Operation Fit Mila: Stage 4

We finally got the furniture organized in our bedroom.  The big dresser on the left is filled with our clothes and the little one on the right has PJ's, blankets and some onesies for Mila (for easy night time access).  We are planning to have Mila sleep in our room until she's sleeping through the night, just like Aiden did.  He was out of our room at 8 weeks because we had him on a specific feed/sleep schedule.  All I did was stop waking him to eat during that mid-night feed and he slept right through.  We have decided to not put Mila on a schedule and see how it goes.  I am deathly afraid.  I guess if all else fails we can put her on the schedule later.

This weekend we plan to put the crib together and I need to put away the last of Mila's things.  We'll probably wait a couple more weeks before we set up the travel crib in our room where she will sleep at night.  We'll probably use her crib for nap time like we did with Aiden.  I think it helped him get used to sleeping in that room, so the transition to bedtime in his own room was not quite so difficult. 

I am really excited about having that futon in our bedroom.  I use it every morning for putting on my shoes.  It's so much easier than my bed because my feet reach the floor better.  Travis is excited about it because sometimes when he can't sleep he goes out to the couch to watch TV.  Not because he is worried about waking me with the TV (I don't care if its on as long as its not loud), but because he is hot or annoyed with my tossing in bed.  He joked that now when he goes to sleep on the couch he doesn't even have to leave the room.  But he did emphasize he won't do that until we get a flat screen mounted on the wall up in that corner.  THAT will have to wait until we have gotten used to the financial addition of Mila.  HA.

Operation Fit Mila: Stage 3

I am FINALLY starting to feel like we're ready for this baby.  Try not to judge me too harshly, but I have started drinking coffee or a Coke around 3 pm so I have the energy to get through the afternoon and evening.  It's been working swimmingly.

Tuesday night I was able to start moving items into the ASPELUND wardrobe.  Wednesday night we tackled a few larger tasks:

1|   I started sorting through all the baby clothes I have accumulated.  I have received hand-me-downs from a few people, but they are mostly 6 months and up.  I also have new clothes from the baby shower and a few random gifts.  With Aiden, I had everything separated by size, so when he reached that size, all I had to do was dump the contents of a storage container in the wash and it would be ready.  That really simplified my life, so I thought I'd do it again for Mila.  Last night I pulled out 3 loads worth of newborn clothes/blankets/burp clothes/towels/rags/etc.  I still need to go through half of Aiden's old clothes to pull out the unisex stuff. 

2|   I reupholstered the dining room chairs.  The last time I did it was right before Aiden was born.  I thought it was time to try something new.  I was bored of the last pattern and I think Aiden has spilled enough milk on it for a lifetime.  I've decided to lay a towel down on the chair he's sitting in hopes of preserving this fabric for as long as possible. 

3|   Travis put together the new dresser, so that's the last of the IKEA furniture for this year.  YA HOO.  This photo shows our old dresser on the right and the new one on the left.

See how BIG it is?!  I am ecstatic.  I moved some of my things over this morning, but I still have a bunch more to go through.  We have a ton of reorganizing to do in our room to accomodate this monster.  There wasn't enough time last night, as Travis did not finish putting it together until around 10:30. 

We are giving Ariel and Robert our old dresser, computer chair and the entertainment center that sits in our bedroom.  The next step is to move all the old items out into the garage.  After that, we just have to set up Mila's crib.  There is no rush on that, since she will be sleeping in the travel crib in our room for a month or so.  I would like to get the crib set up BEFORE she arrives though, for a couple reasons.  One, I'm worried about Aiden being angry or jealous when Mila shows up.  I'm hoping if the crib is in there before she comes, then he won't fight it as badly.  At the moment, he's almost looking forward to sharing his space.  Two, I have a feeling we will have even less time on our hands after this little one shows her face.  It would be nice if we could finish as much as possible before then.

I am extremely relieved with how much progress we have made.  There is still a lot to do, including stitching up a tear in one of the crib sheets and finding the money to purchase a new car seat.  We still have Aiden's, but I've read they shouldn't be used for more than two years after the manufacture date due to updated codes and requirements for child safety.  I think Aiden's is going on five years at this point.  We do have it as a back up though!

I never wrote that list, but I feel like I have some breathing room now.  I only have ONE outing planned for this weekend, so we should have plenty of time to catch up with everything.  I have some errands to run tonight and tomorrow night, meaning I'm not sure we'll get to much at home for the remainder of the week.  At least we're making progress!

Operation Fit Mila: Stage 2

Well, the IKEA wardrobe did not go as well as planned.  Putting it together wasn't that bad.  I think Travis and I make a good team.  I sit with the instructions and pull out the little pieces in advance so it's ready for him.  There were a couple times when I had to help him maneuver a piece, but he did the bulk of the work. 

Most IKEA furniture comes with a wall anchor to prevent the furniture from tipping over on people.  Nice feature.  Since that is a semi-permanent state, we wanted to arrange the furniture in the room the way we want it to be to make sure it will all fit together.  Turns out, it didn't fit.  Somewhere in the mix, we did not measure something right, so our plan did not work.  Instead of putting the futon in the guest bedroom, we are going to put it in our bedroom.  To help make room for that, we moved the rocking chair out of our room and into the guest room.

We still don't have the room completely set up.  We piled a bunch of crap on the bed so we would have space to put the wardrobe together, but you get the general idea.  There is so much room in that thing - I can't wait to fill it!  But at the same time, I get exhausted thinking about rearranging everything in the house.  Pregnancy gives you the nesting instinct - the problem is lately I haven't had the energy for it.  I get stressed every time I walk through my house and see stuff I want to clean/organize/rearrange. 

I need to make a list so I can tackle it rationally.  I just might do that tonight.

Operation Fit Mila: Stage 1

We got the new office area set up.  It used to be in the guest bedroom, but now that will solely be a bedroom for guests.  Well, and for the cats to hide in.

We were a little irked to find that the drawer system we bought does not fit completely under the desk.  Oh well.  More table top space?  Aiden woke up yesterday morning and noticed the new furniture right away.  He immediately wanted to get out his colors (Crayons) and have some art time at the new space.

I'm really excited about rearranging the house and having new furniture, but I'm getting anxiety about how small our house is starting to feel.  This desk makes the walkway from the living room to the kitchen a little more snug.  We moved Aiden's toy chest from this location to another spot in the living room (you can actually see the end of it against the back wall in the photo above).  After it was there, I recalled that this was where Aiden's baby swing used to sit.  The same one we will have to pull out for Mila.  Ugh.  Aiden is going to have to give up some of his toy space.  I guess we can move his toy grill out to the patio?  Meh, I'll deal with that later!

Oh, I checked the other night - the desk name is BESTA.  Travis moved everything he could into the new desk.  There are still some things we will probably end up storing in the wardrobe once we get that set up.

Stage 2: HEMNES dresser, will probably have to wait until a few moments of free time this weekend.  The schedule is pretty jam packed, so I don't know if it will happen for sure.  We have a kid's birthday party, a night at the comedy club and a baby shower.  Ahhhhh!

20 weeks

Halfway there!  I still can't believe we're going to have another baby.  I also don't think I've really come to terms with the fact that we are having a girl. I was thinking about how I will need to get new clothes for stuff like Astros games (if we can ever get up there for one again) and birthdays.  After I thought we were having a boy, I looked at those onesies and imagined getting photos of Colin in the same outfits.  Things will be a little different now.  Although I do plan to reuse the Illini gear.  No reason a girl can't wear orange and blue!

Our surprise gift this year: It's a girl!

Travis and I had a mini freak out tonight.  We were putting Aiden to bed and Travis was in the closet, "We have to fit two sets of clothes in here."  The logistics of fitting a second child into a 1300 sq. ft. house is insane.  We want an armoire for the guest bedroom, I'd like to get some corner shelves for the kids' room, and I'd love to get a buffet table for the dining room.

In order to put the crib in Aiden's room, we need to move the futon out of there.  I was hoping to move it into the guest bedroom, but then we need a computer desk somewhere else in the house - a place to do bills and store our computer.  WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT THAT?  Travis and I decided we need a bigger house.

The Colorful Corner

Travis and I have been meaning to get something to help store Aiden's toys that are out in the living room. I want them to stay out there so he can get to them whenever he wants, but I didn't want a pile of toys in the corner. We finally decided on this from Home Depot:

It's a 9-cube shelf with four canvas drawers. Travis organized it so that all the balls are in one drawer, all the musical toys are in a second and the trucks in a third. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm very happy with it so far. The best part is we have a place to set all his toys while we vacuum!

PS - Travis put the foam mat together like that. I would never put it together out of numerical order. ;)