Week 31 - Oh a Squash

Here I am at 31 weeks.  I still feel 10 times bigger everywhere than I think I look in this picture. (scroll down - a lot)

Being pregnant makes me want to knit.  I just finished a scarf for KC's mom and I finished a simple cowl scarf for myself shortly before that.  Now that my winter knitting is complete, I'm doing little things that will make welcoming a new baby as smooth as possible.  I think I may have learned my lesson when Malachi came 3 weeks early and we hadn't bought a car seat yet and hadn't finalized baby names either.  If we had a girl instead of Malachi, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have had a name when she was born.  I think boys names are much easier than girls ones.

1. I've set up the pack n play in a corner of our bedroom in it's bassinet form with the changing station, mobile and organizer that it came with all attached and in place.

2. We got a toddler bed and mattress from some dear church friends for Malachi - so I set that up in his room.  KC disassembled the crib and reassembled it upstairs in a room that we haven't been using and now appears to be kindof a proper nursery.  I bought another mattress pad, washed all the sheets and a small blanket and folded a few matching blankets for swaddling inside.  The room upstairs will be used mostly for baby napping during the day as it will be much quieter upstairs than it will be on the main level with Malachi running around at times.

3. I brought two boxes of bottles upstairs, ran them through the wash and cleaned out a cupboard in the kitchen to make room for baby bottles and cleaning tools.

4. I broke out the pump, cleaned all the parts, put the ice pack in the freezer.

5. I bought two going home outfits - one for a boy and one for a girl.  I still want to get hats for each on Etsy.

6. I organized one side of Malachi's closet for new baby clothes.  Half the rack on that side is made up of 0-3 months items for boys and half for girls.  These are mostly items I found on sale and too hard to pass up even though I didn't need them at that time.

7. We are assembling an Ikea dresser to put in Malachi's room (the puppet theatre will move upstairs to make room for the dresser).  Until now, we've been using bins on the changing table and closet space to store Ki's clothes, but the dresser will really simplify things by having designated drawers and extra storage space to accomodate two little ones.

8. The Boppy is setting in the bassinet with a clean cover and another cover for back-up in the organizer.

9. I set up a course for KC and I to get a refresher on birthing on a Saturday morning.  I found this really helpful before we had Malachi and think we'll just feel better prepared being reminded of some things I'm sure we've forgotten in the last 2 years.

10. KC and I set a deadline to have a final girl and boy name by the end of April.  We have two of each that we both quite like - now we just need to make a decision.

11. I have daycare set up for Malachi and the new baby at CCLC.  I have been very seriously looking for an alternative option, however, as CCLC with two kids will be quite a lot more expensive than I'm really comfortable with.  If anyone has any good recommendations for someone in the Grandville/Jenison area - please let me know!

12. I haven't really been looking for a double stroller.  Malachi really only likes to be in a stroller when it's moving.  I also don't really want to spend hundreds of dollars on another stroller.  If anyone has one they're interested in lending or selling inexpensively, I might consider - otherwise, I think I might try to go without and see what happens.

13. I'm probably missing something.  Perhaps I'll start packing my hospital bag.  Until then, I'll just keep reading in library books, magazines, blogs or just talking with friends to figure out what other things I can do to prepare.  In some ways, I think having had one will make a world of difference in simply knowing what to expect - at least a little - the second time around.  Here's praying we can skip the ICU this time (God willing)!  I'd much prefer to walk my little ones to the farmers market and spend some summery days outside rather than managing medical paperwork between naps during my maternity leave.