Baby to-do List

I feel pretty comfortable with how much we've done to prepare for this little bundle that is arriving in (gulp) 8.5 weeks. Over the course of the summer, i've tried to get as much stuff done as possible, because the last two weeks in August and the first week of September are going to be crazy. Part of Dan's job involves training new staff members for three weeks, which means we do not see him for the duration of that time. (Ok, we see him a little. But never for meals, or Stephanie's bedtime.) This three weeks includes weekends, which means that everything we have to get done needs to be done already, or get done after that three week period.

Here is what we've done so far:

-Moved furniture out of the nursery. Once Joseph is sleeping for a big chunk of time at night, he'll move into Stephanie's room with her. To make room for the toddler bed we'll be getting, we moved the changing table into the dining room, and the glider into the living room. (We live in an apartment, so space is at a premium.)

-Started a baby registry. I'm not having a shower this time, so I mostly did it to organize my thoughts on what we need for this little guy. 99% of the baby stuff we have from Stephanie is pink, and I just cannot put my son to sleep on pink sheets, or use pink burp cloths for him. I also included things like pacifiers, bottle nipples, etc. We've gotten quite a few gifts already, thanks to my amazing friend who gave us a mini-shower. I also pick things up here and there when I have a coupon. At this point we have about half of what we'll need for those first few weeks.

-Made room in our bedroom for the bassinet. With Stephanie, I put it right next to my bed, and had to push it away every time I needed to get in or out of bed. So we cleared some space, and hopefully it will be easier this time.

-Switched Stephanie's closet. The nursery has a big closet that Dan was using, and an armoire that was for Stephanie. Her enormous wardrobe was bursting from the armoire, which meant there was no room for poor Joseph's clothes. So, we gave the kids the big closet, I gave Dan the closet in our bedroom, and I took the smallish armoire. (Dan's work clothes for both summer and winter need to stay hanging year round, whereas I can switch stuff seasonally. So even though i'm the woman, and have a bigger wardrobe, I took the small closet. Oh the sacrifices of a mommy :)

It seems like we've accomplished so much, and we have. Most of what we have left doesn't need to be done until about that 3 or 4 weeks before baby. This includes:

-Buying a going-home outfit for him.

-Washing all his clothes, sheets, bibs, burpcloths, etc.

-Digging out the swing & bouncy chair, washing them, and reassembling them.

-Setting up the bassinet.

-Buying the rest of the stuff from the registry that we're going to need right away.

-Packing the hospital bag.

-Packing Stephanie's bag that she'll take with her when she spends the two hospital nights at my parent's house.

I'm actually looking forward to doing all those items, especially washing the clothes. I want to do it now, but i'm making myself wait until labor day weekend. I know it will all get done, and amazingly I don't feel stressed about doing it all. Yay for actually being relaxed about something!

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