Nesting

when i was this far along with bayli, garrison and i were living with my parents, in between apartments. our lease was up with our first apartment, and the next apartment wasn't ready for us quite yet. i started getting so anxious because i knew we would need to do quite a few home improvements on our next apartment before it would be ready for baby, and i just had a feeling that she would make her arrival early. when we finally got the apartment, we rushed to get the home improvements done, and then finally the day came when we were no longer using the nursery as a storage room and so i could finally sort through all of the hand-me-downs, gifts, and purchases i had made for our new baby. that nursery got set up speedy quick and it instantly became my favorite room in the house.

well, we are not moving or in-between houses this time around. and once we found out that we were having a girl, and realized that i already had all my girl supplies from when bayli was a baby... my desire to sort through them all, and clean them, and picture a new little life form growing and developing in them became something i couldn't stop. needless to say my "nesting" urge came on quickly.

over the Christmas break Garrison took some time off work and he helped me get all of the baby supplies down from the attic, set up the crib, organize the closet, and even built some extra shelves inside the closet for extra organization... he sure knows the way to my heart.

we still have just a few of the big things stored in the attic like the high chair, breast pump and bottles, and some of the larger floor toys. but besides that, everything has been sorted and organized and stored away in the nursery ready for our new little arrival. sadly, my nesting is complete.

we started the process early so that we could get Bayli ready for her sister with a better concept of what life would be like. we have a little stuffed piggy whose name has now been changed to "baby sister" that will randomly need to be swaddled, and played with, and read to, and sung lullabies to, and rocked to sleep, etc. we are using this time to teach bayli that certain toys and diapers and blankets are only for her baby sister and that she can't play with them. that she can't put anything in the crib, and that she can't climb on or into the crib. during her nap time we will say "you don't have to take a nap if you don't want to, but baby sister is sleeping (as we lovingly refer back to the swaddled pig "sleeping" in the crib) so you have to be quiet. if you're too loud you will have to go into time out." little things like this have made a huge impact on both getting her excited, and more prepared to be a big sister and mommy's little helper.

with this mindset of knowing that Bayli will be involved in the daily chores of having a new baby, we decided we wanted to store the baby's clothes, diapers, toys, etc in a way so that Bayli could reach them, and easily access the items to help me out. i didn't want them to be in a dresser that was out of her reach, or that i worried she might tip over. i didn't want them tucked away in the closet because by some miracle she still hasn't figured out how to open doors yet, and i wanted them stored in containers so that she could easily see what items were inside.

so... at target they had their large metal baskets on sale for 10.00, and those small white baskets in their "one stop" for 3.00. i used an old TV stand we already owned as a make shift dresser, and stored the items away! if you really want to know the organizational breakdown of the containers, i have the clothes, socks, and hats stored in the red bin, the blankets/swaddles in the silver bin, and the diapers and diaper creams in the yellow bin. in the three smaller white bins i have one for books, one for toys, and one for burp cloths, bibs, and washcloths. the bigger bulkier blankets and extra crib sheets are stored in the closet, along with the bigger toys that won't fit in a basket, and the boxes of clothing in the next bigger size.

just like in our old apartment, the nursery has quickly become my favorite room of the house and i find myself sitting on the rocking chair starring at my two littles' beds and just can't help but get exited and fall more in love with both of them. i just can't wait until that swaddled piggy is actually a baby! 3.5 more months!!