Preparing for the Baby

I've been trying to spend a few minutes every day or two preparing for the baby's arrival. I spent some time over the past two weeks washing all the baby's things and slowly starting to get things organized in the baby's room. It feels like a huge, daunting task, so I'm trying to take it one step at a time. As you know I'm also not supposed to do much so it's making it seem like there's so much more to accomplish when I'm can't even carry around the laundry basket. Sigh! Even the simplest tasks bring on the contractions and it's very frustrating for me. I know what's important, but I'm having a hard time staying put and not doing much.

On that note...here's a little glimpse into what's actually gotten accomplished for the little person's arrival.

First up...the crib! It's all put together WITH a mattress, mattress cover (and sheets that aren't on it yet! Might as well keep them clean until they are needed!) It's nice to see it more as it will be...


Mom G-K will be making a perfect crib skirt for the baby, but until then I threw on a hand me down version that was never actually used as far as I can tell!


Next up...the baby got a nice soft rug! It's supposed to be navy blue, but it certainly looks more like black to me! Oh well! I had originally wanted something really colorful and fun, but didn't find anything I was really excited about! The best thing about this rug is if we ultimately do find something better for the baby's room, this will work great in the guest room! Win-Win!



As luck would have it, the Pack and Play we wanted is discontinued. Mom and Dad G-K tried to buy it for us at the store, online, on Amazon...you name it! No luck. I tried too...no luck! So instead...they splurged and got us the Baby Bjorn version for travel. It'll be great because it only weigh 11lbs, unlike the typical Pack and Play. Anyhow, Julie gave us the Pack and Play they used when their girls were little. It isn't exactly like what we picked out, but it will do the trick for having a place for the baby to sleep and be changed downstairs for the first couple of months.

They said it was missing some parts perhaps so we decided to put it together and check out if it was usable. Surprisingly it's missing some major parts, namely the metal dowels that actually hold the whole mattress part up! How do you lose those? Anyhow Michael thinks he can fix it with some wooden dowels. If so, it'll be perfect for us for a while - and then it can go to Mom and Dad G-K's house for our visits in the future.

Here's a picture of it mostly put together:


The next project was putting together the high chair to ensure it was good to go and didn't need to be exchanged for one that wasn't broken (just in case!) We know it won't be used for a while, but at least we know it's good to go when we want to use it!
Here it is...very retro looking! We picked this one out based on advice from all my new mom friends out there. They all said, pick something that can be easily rolled around, and can be most easily cleaned. This one only has two pieces of plastic that are molded to form the seat. That's exactly two things that might potentially need to be wiped down. And the tray is one solid piece as well-and diswasher safe! Easy peasy! (hopefully!)


We also ventured out one night to spend all our Baby's R Us gift cards on some last necessities. Here's just one small stack of our loot!


I've also worked to start pulling the room together. It's coming along...slowly. Here's one view...


See we actually have a changing pad now. The pillow will get relocated eventually but it's living here for now.


Lastly, we now have clean baby things that are actually put away in the dresser and ready to be used.
From the bottom drawers up...
We have blankets and receiving blankets:


Changing pad covers, crib sheets, and Pack and Play sheets:


Clothes that will fit the little person right away (hopefully!)


Bath towels, wash clothes, and bigger clothes that won't fit yet:


And at the very top drawer, we have diapers, wipes, baby first aid and grooming kit, and I'm not sure what else will go here yet. Burp cloths perhaps? What else do I want more handy so I don't have to bend over and search for?