Almost everyday over the last week or so, at least one person a day has asked me if we just about have everything ready to go for baby. The first couple times it was all I could do to not laugh- cause I totally thought they were joking. They weren't.
A list of what we have ready for baby:
-A storage room full of B's baby gear to sort through then clean and reassemble. (Maybe this doesn't go on the 'ready' list.) ;) Everything (except clothes) is gender neutral so I can't think of any big items we'll need.
-A bedroom with potential to be turned into a nursery. It currently doesn't have any flooring in it (long story short we ripped the carpet up a long time ago and never got around to replacing it). It needs painted (badly). And curtains. And a closet organizer (yep- doesn't even have a closet rod). But the space is there. ;)
-A Christmas stocking for her first Christmas (WAY ahead of the game on this so that gets me points somewhere, right? don't worry about the fact that we only buy Christmas stockings to solidify the name choice. you say it's dumb, i say it's tradition).
-A going home outfit. I ended up at Baby Gap to exchange a pair of shoes for B. They don't sell him in his size so I had some store credit to use and very carefully approached the baby girl clearance rack. I found one outfit and got out while I still could. Entering the girl section should not be taken lightly and without a plan. One clearance outfit later, I chalked my first (and only) girl section venture as a success.
-A 3-pack of bandana bibs. B never used bibs but the ones I did have for him were ones I made and the button snaps didn't last one washing. Swell Shop for Baby was one of the stops on DMMB Mom's Night Out and I couldn't resist taking advantage of their awesome sale for the moms that night (thus the bib purchase). Also, they were super awesome with their giveaways and I felt like we all needed to support them so I was just doing my part. (P.S. I WON a pack of their blankets so my tiny investment totally ended up being worth it. I also won a baby seat thinger(?)- I don't know… we didn't have this stuff with B.) ;)
So overall. No. We haven't done much of anything to prepare for baby but I think that's okay? Maybe? I don't feel like our list should be long but maybe that's cause I haven't given it much thought yet. We (mostly R) keep thinking that 2nd trimester energy thing will kick in this time but so far no luck. (My thyroid is completely out of whack so most days I can't hold my head up straight and other days I'm up til midnight blogging random thoughts.. ahem.)
If I were to make a to do list… here's what it would look like:
-Convince R to paint baby's room, dresser (we're using the one from B's nursery) and book shelves. Talk him into laying flooring, installing a closet and hanging curtains.
-Convince R to help me dig out B's baby gear from the storage room and clean it.
-Dig through my friends' hand me downs. Buy hangers to put it all on.
-Purchase (online of course because you know I don't have the time or energy to face an actual store these days) a working video monitor, and a few things I want her to have all of her own (amber necklace, aden and anais swaddling blankets (like these) oh and diapers- those are probably good to have new, right?). ;) We're also thinking she'll need her own iPod dock (anyone have an old iPod we could buy?)- B still uses his daily/nightly. I also need to find out if my insurance covers a new pump. If not, I need to buy some parts for the old one (and make sure it still works).
-Round up every baby thing we've loaned out over the last couple years. (I take back what I said about that storage room full of baby stuff… most of it isn't actually in our storage room… oops.)
-If I'm feeling really crafty…. make her a mobile and have B help make some other decor items I have in mind for her room.
-Then avoid window shopping online because gah! the little girl stuff is so stinkin' cute and somehow since B was born a mere three years ago, they've come out with a million more awesome baby things. I need to avoid it all like the plague. Like this portable baby nest, these adorable headbands, these shoes I've always crushed on, and a million other super adorable girl and baby things.
Did you feel like you had much prep to do with baby #2? Am I going to be in a huge surprise when I realize maybe we do need to start doing something?! ;)
