Getting Ready for Baby #2

I thought I was unbelievably behind with this pregnancy and then I realized I didn’t post my before baby bucket list with AG until 35 weeks.  Hey Hey! Maybe I’m a little more on it than I thought. Then I quickly realized (thanks to a look back on this blog) that her nursery was pretty much finished by this point. You win some, you lose some. Anyhow, we are 9 weeks away from little man making his arrival. There is a lot I need to do and start thinking about. In true Leah fashion, here is my to do list for getting ready for baby #2.

 

Before AG was born, I had a freezer full of meals ready for her arrival. They were such a lifesaver. Even though my mom was with us for two weeks and did all of the cooking while she was there, they were great for our first days alone. Here is the list I made for AG’s arrival. I’m sure I’ll head to my Pinterest board for ideas for some others as well.

This is something I didn’t think about the last time around. Now that I’ll have a two year old at home with a new baby, I want to create something for her while I nurse. If Luke is anything like his sister, we will spend most of our days nursing. While I know AG won’t be entertained with these boxes the entire time we nurse each day, I want her to have something new to do. My plan is to use the craft boxes you can find at a local craft store. I plan to fill it with some dollar store items that are new to her. I don’t want to spend a fortune creating these boxes but I’ll do whatever I can to make nursing with a toddler around go smooth. I also have some activities I plan on only letting her do while I nurse. One being playing with the iPad. Others are some Melissa and Doug sticker pads and puzzles she was given for her birthday (that she has yet to play with because I hid them for when brother arrives.) I’ll make sure to do a post about the nursing boxes I create along with how they actually work when Luke arrives.

I want to have a gift for AG to give to her at the hospital from her brother. I have absolutely NO IDEA what to get her. I was thinking some sort of baby doll or toy but she really has enough of that. I want the gift to be something she’s really into and will absolutely love. If he came tomorrow, the gift would be something having to do with Elmo, Mickey or Princesses.  Looks like mama has some shopping without the mini to do…Target here I come!

This goes along with the nursing box. I plan on putting together a little bag for things for AG to do when she comes to visit. Again, I plan on visiting the dollar spot for these items. A few books, crayons for coloring with a book, maybe a few small toys and some of her favorite snacks. Again, I’ll definitely post when I check this off the list.

One of the best things I did with AG was created a notebook. In the notebook was all of my lists. What to pack for the hospital, things to do before baby, weekly checklists that I had printed and taped inside, pictures to take at the hospital, etc. All of the important information I needed having to do with birth was in this notebook. At the hospital it is what I used to record AG’s information after she was born. Every day (after she was born) had a page. On that page it had every time she went to the bathroom, how long she ate for on which side and how long she slept for. The best thing about this was that everyone knew where it was and what to do. So if a nurse changed her, she recorded the diaper. Same went for hubs and my mom. When the nurses or pediatrician came in to check on how she was doing I just showed them the notebook. I didn’t have to worry about remembering how many wet diapers she had or how long she ate. We did this for the first two weeks she was home. I also took this notebook to her first few pediatrician appointments, it was such a big help. After that we did move to the baby connect app, which I also thought was great. The benefit to using the notebook in the beginning as opposed to an app was that anyone could record things instead of needing my phone to do it on the app.

This was definitely easier before AG. Since I was off for 8 weeks before AG’s arrival (they joys of summer break) I had lots of time to myself. I spent my days relaxing and crossing things off my to do lists. Things are a bit different this time around. I’m going to have to make an effort to use AG’s nap times to take time for myself. Whether it’s just putting my feet up watching TV or checking things off my list. I also will definitely make sure to get a pedicure or two towards the end!

I’m hoping my mom will come a few days before my scheduled delivery date. That way she can help with last minute items and hubs and I can have one last date night before baby. He loves going to movies and I am someone who would rather wait for it to come our on DVD and watch at home. Since it will be one of our last dates before baby, I’ll give in to a movie he wants to see and pick the restaurant for dinner.

Family Date
One of the things I have on my list to do as a family is for AG to make a build a bear for her brother. I hope she’ll really understand what we’re doing and not want to keep it for herself. Even if she does, I think it will be something special for us all to do together. That, plus dinner and ice cream as a family sounds like a perfect before baby family date night!

I shared what I packed for AG in this post. I’m going to have to go back through that post

I do have an inspiration post coming for L’s nursery. Unfortunately, he won’t have one in this house. I’m completely bummed about not being able to have a decorated nursery to bring him home to. We moved to TX last September. We aren’t in love with the area and know it’s not where we want to stay and raise our families. Our lease in this house is up in January. We don’t know what will happen then, but we know we most likely won’t be staying in this house. I didn’t see the point in going all out on a nursery when AG slept in the rock and play in our room for the first three months. I hope that we will be able to get back home to FL soon and find our forever home where I can decorate AG’s big girl room and Luke’s nursery. Until then, I’ll plan away on Pinterest for when that day comes.

Daddy Survival Kit 
I went all out before AG and made this kit for hubs. To this day, it’s one of my most viewed posts on SMWL. I won’t go all out this time around, but I’ll make sure to have some of his favorite snacks and treats packed for the big day.