19 March, 2012

Preparation


Call it nesting or call it freaking out. In between living life, nursing the worst cold ever, and so much more I am actually sort of getting ready for baby. Considering that I am 37 weeks now and both the girls were born between 37 and 38 weeks I best call my prep done.

The basement isn't finished, which means no nursery. That means this kid is another dining room baby. Yup, we're adding to the empire. Both the girls spent the first six months of their life sleeping in rotation - empty room - dining room table - empty room - dining room table. Considering that there isn't an empty space in this house 90% of the time that means the dining room table it is!

To make myself feel marginally better about this situation I did a few things around the house in preparation. The first was new cover for the little pad in the bassinet. I picked out a couple of flannels, Ann Kelle Izzy flannel to be specific, and whipped up these little covers. Honestly, I measured poorly, but they cover and I'm sure baby won't mind that they are a little short.

Remembering that literally half of the first 2 months or so are spent nursing, and knowing that my girls would happily spend that time parked in front of the TV if I let them, I've been gathering. Books, colouring books, puzzles, stickers - anything that will hopefully keep them engaged and not cranky about the being that will literally be sucking the life out of me.

We've got some classics for reading all together - Alice in Wonderland and Grimm's Fairy Tales. Some books that appeal to The Monster's sense of wicked curiosity and insatiable appetite for medical and natural knowledge. And puzzles for my Evil Genius who loves to spend her time plotting and purposefully putting things together just so.

The girls share the biggest room in our house. And the childless, middle aged couple that owned the house before us thought it would be a great idea to put French doors on that room. So pretty, but oh so impractical. Even though I redid their room last summer, I never got around to replacing the curtains on this windows. Knowing that I'd be up and about at all hours with the dragon in my belly I thought I better replace them ASAP. We'd had enough cheap lunch dates/free babysitting at IKEA this winter for all of us to fall in love with this fabric. An hour on a sunny morning and they had new curtains. Double layered and they actually block out a pretty good chunk of light.


Of course the prep does require some handmade. Not my handmade - I can't knit to save my life! But we did receive this gorgeous hand knit blanket from a friend. We worked together for years in my last job. Thanks to Twitter and FB we've stayed in touch. One day she came over for a visit and gave us this blanket. I can't wait to have cuddles with baby and this.

She's also a bit of a DJ, so she'll appreciate this bit of clothing we've also gathered.

10 comments:

Carla said...

Good morning Cheryl. I finished your book and love every single page : ) I started up up and away because I am overrun with scraps like everyone else. As a Mom of 6, I know the first few weeks will be a blur. Enjoy it.
Everything else can wait....although we would like to see baby. Blessings on you all.

Suzanne said...

Hello, Cheryl! I too finished reading the book this weekend. I was so incredibly inspired. You and Amanda Jean covered so much ground. I can't wait to sort scraps and get busy.

Good luck with the nesting. It's all coming together, I see.

Josie McRazie said...

My kids were always in mu room as well for at least four months! All theses Mommy's who think they NEED to know what kind of monster they are going to have so they can do the room just crack me up! They aren't in their room in the begining! LOL! Plus I am wobbly when I get up in the middle of the night and I think if I had to make my way to a different room I would have ended up falling down the stairs! oops!

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Ya, baby nearby seems to be optimal for lots of us, myself included. Wonderful that you are feeling well enough to carry on as usual; I loved that last period of time before the little one was born to dream and project and wonder. May all go well for both of you.

peacedgoods said...

Your kids are so lucky to have such a talented and creative mom. I would be happy sleep in your dining room.

Victoria said...

I agree with the comment above. I bet your kids would be happy sleeping anywhere... even under the dining room table, (which actually was a favorite place of mine as a kid!)

Best wishes on EVERYTHING!!

Amanda Jean said...

I sure love those curtains!

Magan said...

Cheryl- I'm so impressed you made an appearance on #talknt tonight! Congrats on the baby and the book. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with it soon ;). Best of luck

Nicole said...

Best of luck cheryl....enjoy the brand new little one...if arrival hasn't happened it will soon...

Lines said...

Hi Cheryl! I don't know how I missed this post! :) Your photo makes the blanket look so awesome! I hope you're getting lots of baby snuggles with it! Congrats again! I can't wait to visit - PS - LOVE the baby RUN DMC shirt!! I need to get my hands on one of those for the future ;)