With just seven days until my actual due date (although we’re pretty sure Baby P will make us wait even longer), we’ve officially begun getting ready for her arrival.
Of course you’ve seen us tackling her nursery, but now when we say getting ready, we really mean getting-ready-for-my-water-to-break-and-to-actually-welcome-our-new-daughter-into-the-world. See, pretty much right after we found out I was pregnant we slowly began to wrap our minds around the idea that our family would be growing as my belly continued to expand with every baked potato and chocolate milk craving.
Now you see why I’ve been humming my tweak on an old Beyoncé classic: “I don’t think you’re ready for this belly.”
And only quite recently did we fully digest the concept that we actually made a person. We made a person! There’s a girl in my belly who will walk and talk someday, heck she’ll even have a job and probably be desperately embarrassed about her dorky parents who always have paint in their hair. It’s just such a giant thought that it literally takes about nine months to sink in- which might just be why it takes so long to cook one of these things. It’s probably nature’s way of making sure you’re really ready for the life changing and momentous birth instead of smacking you in the face with a baby after 30 days of gestation. But anyway, now that we have fully been able to wrap our heads around the notion that we’re about to really be parents (!) there are a few things that we’ve done in anticipation of our little miracle’s arrival:
1. Our practical purchase: My obsession with my water breaking in bed or on the couch got the best of me and I convinced John to let me get a waterproof mattress cover to protect our beloved organic mattress and another little waterproof blanket that I can place on the sofa or the seat of the car in these last few days… you know, just in case. And the good news is that they’re not nearly as crunchy and diaper-like as I expected (we picked them both up for $23 total at Bed Bath & Beyond thanks to two of those 20% off coupons). Maybe it goes back to how fiercely I love our house, but it just seemed worth the added security to at least attempt to keep the sofa and the bed (along with the passenger seat of our new car) protected from the wrath of holy-cow-it’s-really-time. Especially since my mom’s water broke in bed with every single kiddo. Sidenote: my absolute dream is for my water to break at Target or Home Depot because I just think that would be hysterical since we practically live there. I know, I’m weird.
2. Our DIY project: This second idea was John’s brain child (I’m telling you, he’s the sweet sentimental one and I’m the neurotic fool who worries about my water breaking). He actually brought it up as my birthday gift back in March by suggesting that we get a fabric covered album and create our own little “baby book” with fun patterned paper and printed prompts that you see in typical baby books like “The First Week Was….” and “First Word…” We love the idea of adding in keepsakes like her hospital bracelet and her little going-home hat along with a ton of photos and even things like her inked footprints (we plan to bring a few pieces of cardstock to the hospital since the nurses will gladly make footprints that we can stick into our little memory book of sorts). So we headed over to Michael’s (with a 40% off coupon in hand) and snagged a sweet 8.5 x 8.5″ album covered in super fun Amy Butler fabric for just $9 after my handy coupon.
We also picked up a pad full of 8 x 8″ patterned paper to use as a backdrop in our keepsake album (to the tune of $6). So our entire DIY baby book project ran us $15 total. And after adding all the decorative paper and leaving room for notes about momentous occasions (along with photos and other memorabilia) we were left with a pretty sweet way to document many of Baby P’s firsts:
And since we made it ourselves we had fun adding in quirky things, like this page of “future predictions” where John and I guessed everything from her hair and eye color to her first word, her favorite subject in school, and even her future profession. It should be super fun for the beanette to look back at all of our goofy (and most likely completely wrong) guesses someday.
Plus the fact that it looks so cute in the nursery is the icing on the cake…
3. Our Burger-meets-baby prep: We’ve actually read quite a bit about how to ensure that your pooch and your baby get along, because there’s nothing we want more than for our first fur baby to happily coexist with our first human baby. And time and time again we’ve heard that bringing home a gift for the dog along with the baby can help your pup associate the baby with good things and feel appreciated and excited upon her arrival. Of course we’ll also be doing the bring-home-a-baby-blanket-for-him-to-sniff-beforehand trick, but ever since John mentioned that his mom got him a He-Man toy when his little sister came home from the hospital I’ve been convinced that something super fun for Burger (like a pup-cake from Three Dog Bakery along with a new chew toy) will make him giddy about our growing fam. So we recently picked up some goodies for him… and can’t wait to see his tail wag when he gets ’em.
4. Our blog backup: This forth prep step was actually right up there on the practical side with my waterproof mattress cover. We’ve been working overtime for over a month to amass enough extra blog posts to “tide us over” for the first few hairy weeks after Baby P comes home. That means we took on a few secret projects and wrote up a lot of extra Reader Redesigns, Look & Learns, Email Answers, and Burning Questions along with some fun new tutorials to keep the blog from stagnating while we get our “sea legs” with a newborn, so to speak. Oh and we have a killer House Crashing post to share as well. Basically, you can rest assured that you’ll still get the same YHL experience even when our day to day has gone from projects and blog posts to diapers, feedings, and no sleep.
5. And speaking of diapers: We got a bunch of BumGenius One-Size-Fits-All Organic Snap Diapers from a local shop called MonkeyGrass that we love to support (here’s a link to their online shop and for any Richmond people you can visit their store inside It’s Hip To Be Round in Carytown). These cloth diapers alone (which were actually selected as “more convenient cloth diapers” by Cookie magazine) will save us a substantial amount of money over the course of Baby P’s childhood, and we even ordered them in colors that will work for a possible boy down the road, since we definitely want to use the same cloth dipes for multiple kiddos.
Plus our easy to use Energy Star front loading washer and dryer will keep our water and electricity use to a minimum (everyone says you do laundry like crazy with a baby so we figure it won’t be much of a difference to add some diapers to the mix). And since the average baby uses 8,000 to 10,000 diapers between two and three years, we’ll get to keep that many disposables from landing in a landfill. And all the moolah that we’ll save from buying disposable diapers all the time (which is commonly estimated to be between 2-3K per child) means more money that we can put towards future DIY projects (maybe even with the help of our little girl when she gets big enough to hold a paint brush…). Is it weird to be super excited about diapers? Probably.
6. My clothes cleaning ritual: I actually read that washing all new non-organic baby clothing and bedding (as well as the removable covers of car seats and swings) with a cup and a half of vinegar can rid them of most of the chemicals and dyes that aren’t present in organic clothes. So I’ve been busy washing all of our sweet baby socks, onesies, and pretty much everything else I can get my hands on… just so I’m über ready with the purest baby clothes possible. And the funny thing is that they don’t smell like vinegar when they come out of the wash (they’re completely odorless, it’s kind of amazing). Of course I did have one fateful white-blankets-and-onesies-are-now-pink incident (don’t ask- I somehow tossed tiny hot pink leggings in with the whites) but the soft pink cast on everything actually charms me to no end. And I guess I should get used to letting things roll off my back, so it was a good lesson in the whole nothing-will-be-perfect-and-that’s-ok concept.
7. My pillowcase purchase: I actually got a quick tip from a reader that I just had to follow since it seemed like such a simple way to add some cheerful color to the pretty-stark-and-sterile hospital birthing experience. Joni wrote to us and said:
“I have a little piece of advice that may seem stupid but you’ll thank me later. Make sure you have a pretty pillowcase for the delivery of the baby. It will be in a million photos. Mine was so pretty that when I look at the pictures 13 years later, all I see is my gorgeous baby and that fabulous fabric. It’ll distract people from looking at your puffy I-just-gave-birth face”
Well, for those who don’t know me, I can puff up like the best of them. Seriously I broke my nose in college and my cheekbones didn’t come back for nearly a year. I’m a swelly girl (John even calls me Swell from time to time). So the idea of a pretty pillowcase to take the focus off my giant face sounds like a good one. Plus I just love pillowcase shopping. And the best part is that I hunted down this beauty (on sale of course) and John’s family actually got two of them for me as a birthday gift. So springy and sweet right? Just like my May baby on the way. And not only do I plan to use them at the hospital on Baby P’s b-day, but they’ll make such pretty and fun guest bedroom pillows from then on.
8. Our space saving multipurpose solution: We heard from various friends and family members that a white noise machine and a light machine were two secret weapons to help the beanette drift off to sleep (especially in those first few weeks). And although we believed that they both would really make a difference, with limited outlets and surface area in the nursery, we wondered if we could get some sort of a two-for-one solution that would work double duty. Enter our new iPod I-Home dock stage right (we’ve seen it on amazon.com for a good price):
It was another baby item that came highly recommended by friends and fam (since we can upload children’s music and learning songs for Baby P as she grows). And John, in a stroke of daddy-to-be genius, realized that we could download a CD of white noise from iTunes – to the tune of $6 no less – and effectively turn our iPod dock into a white noise machine with the press of a button (we can even leave it on “repeat” for lengthier renditions of “crashing waves” or “static”). Gotta love a $6 quick fix that allows us to cut back on an entire nursery gadget while saving money. But wait it gets better, the particular I-Home dock that we selected actually has a color changing feature, so it can cycle through a bunch of room-illuminating hues (quickly, slowly, or not at all if you turn off the ambient light setting). So not only does it serve as a sound machine and a music player, it’s a light machine too! Jackpot.
Oh and while we were prepping left and right we came across this quote, which touched both of us so much that we just had to share it:
“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” -Anonymous
Pretty sweet, huh? We can’t wait to meet our little one. And we’d love to hear what any of you guys have done while prepping for a new arrival (whether it’s a baby, a four-legged friend, a roommate, or even a few weekend guests). How did you get your house ready for the new company?
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Love the progress pics! You look wonderful. :) That is such a beautiful quote!
Sophie says
I’m super excited for you guys! Those first few weeks can be so difficult – but just remember, that’s when everybody learns how to become a family and all of the bonding occurs! The only piece of advice I have is – slow down, and really try not to do much and accept help whenever you can!
Kimberly Gardner says
I just wanted to say, YAY for cloth diapers. We use Bum Genius sized diapers (and way to many others to name) and I love them.
Kathy says
Is it strange to be proud of two adults that you have never met? Well, if so, then I am strange. I hope when my children have children (the oldest are 23 and 21 so not QUITE yet, please) they do it with the same kind of care, thought, attention, and love as you guys.
Nikki says
Cutest stinkin’ belly ever! Enjoy the time you have left. SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP. Wait…I only have dogs.
Question: Where did you get your duvet??
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Nikki,
It’s from West Elm a while back, but since they no longer sell it you might have more luck looking for it on ebay. Happy hunting…
xo,
s
Eileen says
You are a gorgeous pregnant woman! Best of luck to you.
The pillowcase is really beautiful … can’t believe no one ever suggested that to me, LOL!
RLB says
That is so thoughtful of you to front load the blog posts. However, a small request that we get some real-time thoughts about how you’re enjoying Baby P. The first few days and weeks of my firstborn were some of the most magical days of my life.
Rachel says
Well then, you won the Looking-Cute-While-Pregnant lottery. Congrats on that! Like everyone else in blogland, I’m looking forward to meeting darling little Baby P when she arrives.
Tricia says
Sooooo sweet!!!
Kimba says
You are so stinkin’ adorable. You probably don’t feel it, but you are. And I would love to read a “My Water Broke in Target” story.
I fell flat on my monsterous belly in Target when I was about 23 months preggo with my first. I was wearing high-heel boots and just lost my center of gravity. I started stumbling forward and ran at least 20 feet before I landed belly/face first in the children’s section. I was horrified at the time but I can laugh about it now.
Moral of this story? Flat shoes only after month 8.
Katie F. says
Oh so exciting! I have a 1 month old and let me tell you, it is SO FUN! I just love my girl. Anyway – we are going to use cloth diapers, too (Bum Genius) and you might already know this, but they won’t fit until your bean is about 12 lbs. You can always do a fold (old school style) with a cover before that, but just wanted you to be prepared (since it seems like that’s your MO ;)
Good good luck to you, two. You are going to be awesome parents!
Carolyn says
aww I love the belly pics! too cute! I’ll be praying for a safe and easy delivery.
SN: I know you guys love the all natural route just like I do..will you be doing an all natural birth with no drugs? I did it all natural and it really is not bad at all. I read this book called Hypnobirthing and it comes with a relaxation CD which I listened too and I had a smooth, easy, all natural delivery. I’m a big advocate of the all natural way :-)…
YoungHouseLove says
Katie F- Great suggestion! We actually do have a backup plan (Seventh Generation newborn diapers) until she’s big enough to fit into the BumGenius ones that we have. We can’t wait for that day though- all the bright colors are so cute!
Carolyn- Good question! We’re keeping an open mind about the birth (since we know we can’t control everything about the experience- not even close- and don’t want to be disappointed if things don’t go exactly as we picture them going). We’ve prepared for a natural birth since the women in my family have a history of accelerated births (my mom had me, her first, in an hour from her water breaking) so we’re not certain there will even be an opportunity for any pain meds and we definitely wanted to be prepared. We’ve mainly been reading up on the Bradley Method when it comes to pain management and John is THE BEST coach. We’ve been practicing for the past few months so we feel pretty prepared, but we’re also trying to be very flexible about how things will go because we know that there are many things about birth that can’t be predicted or controlled so as long as we end up with a healthy baby and a healthy momma we’ll be thrilled. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Erin C. says
You two are giving Martha Stewart a run for her money.. is there any detail you don’t think of?? I can envision you with a magazine, tv show… heck- whole empire some day. (The blog is perfect on its own though!) I am seriously so excited for you guys… thank you for all of the wonderful advice and for letting us share your excitement in the arrival of Baby P :)
Annie says
love the baby book. And no it’s not weird to be excited about diapers. I love our cloth diapers and will tell anyone who will listen about them. We love our Bum Genius and all the other brands we have!
KG says
Yay! Soooo happy for you both, you’re going to have so much fun with a little one cruising around the house. They really are the best.
Sentiments aside, I have a completely superficial question – where did you get that striped top in the third photo? I’m about to be going for baby number two and I LOVE it!
(and I LOVE this blog, it’s my daily dose of design goodness, so thank you)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey KG,
It’s from Old Navy actually! And not the maternity section. I’m a fan of just grabbing stretch cotton shirts in medium or large which stretch over the baby bump just fine (thanks to my short torso they’re long enough for me). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Susan says
So excited for you guys! Looks like everything is ready whenever Beanette is. Enjoy this precious, precious time because your lives will be forever changed.
Danielle says
You are adorable first of all! And I love your thought of your water breaking in Target or Home Depot and although it would be a little embarassing, you wouldn’t have to clean it up!
It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row in terms of the things you can actually plan for. You guys will do great! I can’t wait to see the little Beanette, as you lovingly refer to her.
Hannah @ The Nanner Republic says
I’m so happy for you–what a wonderful time in your life!
I hope you have a smooth delivery and enjoy every moment of welcoming your daughter into the world!
tasha roe says
great tip on the vinegar. i never knew that.
we used bumgenius diapers with my 2year old. they worked great but wont fit the newborn. she was 8lbs and couldnt fit into them until she was aprox 2 months old – 12lbs or so. have a back up plan. ;)
good luck!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tasha,
Great suggestion! We actually do have a backup plan (Seventh Generation newborn diapers) until she’s big enough to fit into the BumGenius ones that we have. We can’t wait for that day though- all the bright colors are so cute!
xo,
s
Stephanie says
What a great post! So exciting! And nope, it’s not weird to be excited about the diapers! My son is 18 months, and I am afraid I still get excited about them (I am just a little bit addicted to cloth diapering.) Just wait until you see how cute her little tushie will be in that nice fluff! You will be even more excited about them! :) (ok…how many times can I say excited??)
I love the baby book, by the way!
Chelsea says
That is the cutest little brother t-shirt ever!!! I bet the anticipation the next few days is going to be intense… Good luck guys!!
Kelly says
We use BumGenius one sized as well and LOVE them. I have no idea why more people don’t.
One tip: If you haven’t already, buy at least 24 of them. Then you won’t be washing diapers every waking moment.
We also use Country Save detergent. A little goes a long way. We’ve been using cloth diapers since August, and we are still on box two of the detergent. With a HE machine, we only use an eighth of a scoop.
Have you seen BG’s Flips? I wish they were out when we bought ours. We might get a few for traveling. It’s hard to fly with an entire bag of just cloth diapers. You use a biodegradable disposable liner with them. Genius.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for all the diaper tips Kelly! They’ll definitely come in handy.
xo,
s
Sarah says
So excited for you guys! Your nursery is adorable, and so is that belly! We have an 11-month-old girl and she has been so fun.
I have 3 of the Organic Cotton Bum Genius diapers among my cheaper pocket diapers, and they are my favorites! I also love my Bum Genius diaper sprayer which comes in very handy.
A note on the white noise – it worked wonders for us. I played it LOUD on my iPod dock, swaddled her, and she would stop crying and drift off.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
We also got the BumGenius diaper sprayer and can’t wait to try it out. We heard it works wonders on reducing the smell factor so you can store dipes in a tin until they pile up enough for a full load. Oh cloth diapers, why are you so exciting to me?!
xo,
s
Karla says
We also used (and still use) an ipod in our now 13 month old daugther’s room. We did the same thing and downloaded some white noise (for us the Happiest Baby on the Block worked wonders) as well as some lullabies. We also have a sound and lights toy in the crib. For the first several months the crib toy didn’t make any difference but then she really got interested in it and now turns it on herself. She still uses it to fall asleep at night and to put herself back to sleep when she wakes in the middle of the night. Enjoy these last days and enjoy your journey into parenthood!
Karla
Lindsay says
Wow, you guys are READY! Good luck with the last bits and I LOVE the idea of iPod as noise machine! What a great multi-tasking machine! I’m definitely stealing this when I have kids!
Good luck, guys! Really happy for you two!
xoxo,
Lindsay
nicole says
So excited for you! I hope everything goes smoothly!
Rachael says
We use bumGenius as well–can’t say enough good things about them! Just wanted to say, however, that if you have a HE washer you may have to experiment a bit with washing, since apparently the lesser amount of water isn’t quite so good when you’re really wanting to agitate the diapers.
Another thought–we found a diaper sprayer to be INVALUABLE. It makes the whole cloth-diapering process so much more user friendly–you can buy a sprayer, or whip one up yourself with a kitchen sink sprayer assembly hooked up to your toilet line (which is what we did, since we had an extra sprayer from a kitchen sink remodel).
best of baby luck!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Rachael- We actually got the BumGenius cloth diaper sprayer and we can’t wait to take it for a spin. It’s already all hooked up!
Sara- Yup, we actually already picked up some newborn sized Seventh Generation diapers to tide us over until our one-size-fits-all BumGenius dipes will work for Baby P!
Amanda- We just googled “free baby book” and found some templates online so we could see all the typical questions and prompts – that way we could take what we liked and leave out what we didn’t. You can personalize one for yourself that way! Hope it helps.
CarMaj- Good question! We actually just slipped it into the scrapbook (it has those clear plastic sleeves, so we didn’t need to hold the sheets of paper in place with tape). And as for cloth diapers, as long as you wash them at a high enough setting they’re 100% sanitary and germ free (and so is your washer) plus you use a diaper sprayer before you put them in the wash so there aren’t any gross solids banging around in there. That would be super nasty. Hope it helps!
Jennifer- Yup, we definitely plan to cover the home-related changes that our casa endures. We like to keep things focused on home improvement and decor, so we probably won’t go into strollers or baby clothes, but how we store a ton of baby toys or how we attempt to keep our house looking decent while it’s full of highchairs and walkers is definitely something we plan to touch on. Stay tuned…
xo,
s
ESBlondie says
You two are going to be great parents. Thanks for sharing all of your fun and useful tips.
Ashley @ The Design Thief says
OMG, I love the pillow suggestions. It’s 100% true. Besides being cute, it makes it clear that it’s 100% yours, and not the hospital’s.
Before we had our daughter, a year ago, I spent a night before she came cleaning out our fridge. Like everything, I pulled out all of the shelves and cleaned the until they looked like new. The first few weeks of life with a newborn are crazy, but there is lots and lots of food brought by supportive friends and family. We seriously ate without cooking for about 2 months. It was nice not to worry about dishes, and know that our fridge was as new as they day we bought it… no fishy or lurking smells to contend with.
Good luck, you guys! We’re pulling for you!
Sara says
Just to throw this out there with all the other unsolicited advice you get! :-) You may want to look into some newborn sized cloth diapers. Our sweet boy was 6lb9oz at birth and our BG’s didn’t fit good until he was about 9-10lbs. I know they say they are good for 7-35..but not the case when your baby is born with small thighs! Of course, you can always wait until she actually gets here to see if you will need them in a smaller size! Best of luck to you for a safe and healthy delivery! Can’t wait to “meet” Baby P!
Amanda says
Congrats! Love the book idea. If you guys ever get around to it would love to see what other pages you included, that would be a great gift I could make on the cheap!
Thanks and Congrats again.
Ashley says
I think it’s best not to have any preconceived notions (i.e. that you are prepared, that you will have a chill baby, etc.) because it WON’T happen. I thought that because my husband was laid back, my baby boy would be too and he DEFINITELY was not. Big time colic, never napped. It was rough.
Love the vinegar tip, never heard that, wish i’d known when I had baby #2.
CarMaj says
Too cute!! You guys are as ready as ever!!
Quick question, did you just paste the 8×8 patterned paper into the album/scrapbook?
Also, can you/someone explain cloth diapers?? I cannot understand how they are clean after, well, the obvious. I really want to use them when our little one’s born but I also don’t want it to be a disaster!!
Thanks for the vinegar tip too!! That stuff is amazing!!
Jennifer says
Yay! She’ll be here before you know it! Enjoy your last week just the two of you, and try to go do some things that are a little less convenient with a baby like see a movie, eat dinner out, or just sit around and be lazy ;) By the way, do you guys plan to share how you chose and store those bigger baby goods like high chairs, bouncy seats, etc?
Christan says
Love the pillow case idea – never gave that much thought and will definitely be doing that with our next one. LOVE IT. Prepping, for our first, was fun but something I do, for my guests, is cut fresh lavender, from my garden, and tie it up with pretty ribbon and leave a little bouquet on each pillow. Always get compliments on how nice it smells when they drift off to sleep. Another idea, about the diapers, is I’m a stay at home Mom and my daughter is now 15 months and along with teaching her sign language (which has been AMAZING in our communicating with each other)…I’ve taught her to use the big potty. Yeap, you read that right — 15m old and using the big potty already (not 100% of the time but we’re down to maybe 1-2 diapers a day now). They are such FAST learners at this age. It has saved us HUGE amounts of money in both the diaper area and water (with washing the cloths) just to flush :) So maybe some food for thought :) Have fun these last few weeks. Remember nothing lasts forever. It’s an amazing journey.
Laura says
I’m a doula and I’m here to remind you (because you probably know already) that few labors start with waters breaking — only about 10%. Chances are, it will happen in advanced labor. Having said that, a waterproof mattress pad can never hurt with a little person around!
Just hoping to ease your sofa-and-mattress anxiety a little. Wishing you a wonderfully happy birth-day!
YoungHouseLove says
Laura- Thanks for the reminder! All of the women in my family actually had their water break first (they also all have accelerated labors, just a few hours from start to finish if that) so it’s what we’re thinking will happen to me as well… although we’re definitely ready for anything!
Christan- Wow! 15 months is amazing. We bow down to you! That would be pretty awesome if we could pull that off…
xo,
s
Caitlin in MD says
This is a phenomenal post. I am expecting my first baby in August and have bookmarked this to refer to later in the summer as I get ready for his arrival! Thank you SO much. And best of luck to you in the coming weeks :)
Cheri says
I LOVE the idea of cloth diapers, less waste and less money spent (my two favorite things, besides my husband and two puppies). My only reservation is the whole germ thing, in your tub and washer. How do you avoid that or protect against it?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Cheri,
We got a BumGenius diaper sprayer so the idea is that you rinse everything into the toilet and then just wash them as you would any other soiled item of clothing (like dirty soccer pants or grass stained shirts). From the reviews that we’ve read (which are pretty much all raving) they come clean every time and don’t have any odor or issue with germs in your washer either. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lindsey says
So cute! I know most first babies are late but don’t count on it! I went into labor a month early! Yikes. Luckily we were uber prepared and ready for our little man to make his arrival!
{The Classy Woman} says
Oh, my gosh how cute are you?! You are ALL baby. Can’t wait to meet her on your blog. :)
I’m very impressed with how prepared you are. I got a lot of great ideas from your post. The idea about the pillow case sham-FABULOUS! It’s so true, photos you’ll have for a lifetime deserve to have a punch of pretty fabric!
I like the iPod docking station too. Such a great idea and it can be used for her or you guys so it’s really multifunctional, love that it lights up. I think I need one for myself. Just $50 is a great investment!
Love your personalized baby book. Why settle for what store brands come up with, so much more fun to make your own. Where the heck do you guys find the time to do EVERYTHING that you do? It really amazes me sometimes. You are one lucky gal Sherry! I sometimes wish my hubby was into home improvement and crafty projects, but he just isn’t. LOL
The vinegar trick is a good one. It’s a great fabric softener substitue as well. If you add 1/8-1/4 of a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle or softener compartment it will soften your clothing and works miracles on towels! It takes any residue from soap and removes it making your towels able to absorb so much more. I actually wrote a post a few months ago about 1001 uses for white vinegar.
Here it is:
http://theclassywoman.blogspot.com/2010/01/1001-uses-for-white-vinegar.html
xo
Karla
Moe says
O. my. goodness. Your post made me tear up! There is absolutely NOTHING that compares to bringing a new baby home. I have done it twice, and each time, I felt like there was this invisible bubble of love that enveloped our household. Everyone is so happy, everyone is extra gentle, and the bond that you form is like nothing else. For each birth, the first week I would FORCE myself to take mental notes to just sit and cherish the time with baby. I felt like I was pregnant forever, but that 1st week goes by in a heartbeat. (not to mention the first year is over in the blink of any eye)
Just try and be in the moment as much as you can with that baby, because they grow so fast! Love your blog!
Amber Martin says
Hi Sherry,
I am also super excited about cloth diapers. I am using gdiapers. They are a hybrid where you can use a biodegradable insert or a cloth. I will mostly be using cloth for our little boy and the bio inserts on occasion. I never thought I would be so excited about diapers. Are you going to be using cloth wipes also? I plan on making my own and using them at home to save even more money. I have the nursery almost done, just a few items left to purchase and we’ll be ready. Only 5 weeks to go for me!
What are you packing in your hospital bag?
Amber
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amber,
We actually plan to start out with Seventh Generation all natural recycled wipes to begin with and then see if we can handle cloth wipes (which we’ve seen that you can make in many online tutorials). Time will tell if they work for us! And as for my hospital bag I’m afraid it’s basic and boring: clothes for me to leave in, a going home outfit for the bean, an extra set of clothes for John, a camera, our phones and chargers, our insurance cards, etc. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Candace says
Love love love that baby book, I did something similar for my kiddo, who is now a whole 2 years old. I write letters to Kade (my kiddo) every Monday talking directly to him and about what he did and just snippets of his life that his Daddy and I feel the need to document. I’ve got a whole book of scraps of paper written to him, and I just actually started “Monday Memorandums to my Child” over on my blog. I love the idea of him having these letters to read when he is older, so it’s just a thought since y’all are so talented in the writing department, although the Beanette will get lots of great reading from this blog I’m sure! :)
PS. I’ve had the duvet that matches your PB pillowcases for a year now and I love it, that organic cotton is SO soft! :)
Katie B. says
Congrats and best of luck in this waiting period! love this post– and it’s oh-so-helpful since we are awaiting our Bean or Beanette in about 5 weeks.
i have to thank you, because when i was freaking out about bedding (http://wp.me/pmXBi-eO), friends pointed me to you, and your tutorial on the dust ruffle was just what i needed.
and now with the DIY Baby book? did you know that i was in the same boat – not able to find exactly what i wanted – (http://wp.me/pmXBi-gD) i am definintely heading to Michael’s today!
thank you for your posts and inspiration. Best of luck, and can’t wait to hear the news!
~Katie B.
Kimberly says
Great post!
I love how in the baby book you put together you used your first names on the page where you’ve each guessed at specific things about your baby. There will be a time very soon when you will only refer to yourselves as Mommy & Daddy with anything connected to your baby. :0)
Wishing you strength and peace during your delivery.
You will adore parenthood.
Kimberly
Elizabeth says
Couple things: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the white noise sounds from iTunes. My daughter naps to #3 (hair dryer sound)!
Second: Love the pillow idea as well! I will have to keep that in mind.
Lastly: Advice that was given to me before my daughter…get some super nice shampoo and conditioner to bring to the hospital. It feels so good to take that first shower post-baby. The shampoo and conditioner just makes it all that much better.
sophia says
Cheri has a question about germs and cloth diapers: as long as your hot water cycle is at 120F, it’s hot enough to disinfect in the wash. As for baths and such, well, you’ll find that baby poops in the bath whether they have cloth diapers or not,…and again, the 120F rule applies.
We loved our cloth diapers (motherease) and used them for both of our kids!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sophia,
Thanks for that tip for Cheri!
xo,
s
Kathleen says
The biggest surprise in my son’s birth was that everything that got wet when my water broke wasn’t damaged or stinky – even two days later when we got back to it. Ah the human body!
My midwife suggested I stay in bed with baby as much as possible for the first two weeks and wow, what great advice. If you can swing it, rest is incredible.
All the best for a smooth delivery and arrival!
amelia says
wow – just seven days away? where did the time go? feels just like yesterday when you and John shared the happy news with your readers! Wishing you all the best and super excited for you two and burger to welcome a wee one into the family. I will for sure keep this post in my library for when it’s time for me, my hubby and fur baby to introduce a human baby into the mix. I really love the iHome IPod docking station – i’m thinking of buying it now just incase they stop selling it (i mean, i love music and light changing boxes!).
Kelly Clawson says
Love the quote! I am going to repost it on my FB! Love it!