Project Preparation

Most of the mamas-to-be I know make a list in the months or weeks of waiting of everything they would like to get accomplished before baby comes. Of course sometimes babies surprise you and come a lot sooner than you would expect. (Isn't that right, Mom? My mom had NO clothes, NOTHING ready, and didn't even know she was in labor when she went to the hospital and had me 6-8 weeks early after only 20 minutes. Dad almost missed it parking the car. My dad didn't even think she was really that pregnant since she had only gained 15 pounds and hardly had a belly. Doesn't that short labor story just make you sick? No fair! I was perfectly healthy, though small and went home the next day.)

So, back on the subject. Here is my list of things I would like to accomplish before Justus arrives. The first list is high priority/necessity stuff. The second list is the stuff I hope to accomplish, but if it doesn't get done, we can still live. What things were or are on your list before your child arrived/arrives?

High Priority

*Pack hospital bag and have a list of phone numbers ready for calls
*Pack a diaper bag for the kids with some changes of clothing/favorite toys for when they go to a friend's house during the labor
*Figure out what Justus' middle name will be
*Have baby clothing washed and sorted by size (I have a huge tub of 0-6 M boys clothes in my bedroom but it needs to be freshly washed and put in a dresser and sorted based on what we need first)
*Have Justus' baby scrapbook prepped and as much done ahead as possible
*Purchase a nice car seat (we sold our infant seat last year at a yard sale when we realized it was rated one of the cheaper, least-safe models. A friend recently offered me a Graco Snugride that has only been used by one child so we might not have to buy a pricey new one!) This same friend sold us a really nice bassinet for $20 which is already in our bedroom!
*Wash bassinet linens and baby blankets
*Get a van (obviously we won't have the van here "in the flesh" until our baby comes and my in-laws come to visit and bring it, but it is an important thing on my checklist. The fund is looking very good! We have to insure it this month.)
*Have baby boy announcements ready and envelopes stamped and addressed so that all we need to add is info and pictures
*Have my Fall newsletter prepped and ready with labels and stamps on envelopes and ready to go
*Have a large supply of thank-you notes on hand, whether homemade or purchased at yard sales or on clearances
*Have a huge pantry supply of easy, but healthy kids' snack foods (which will not only help the kids but help a ravenous nursing mama)
*Have at least 20 meals in my freezer for the tiring post-birth days
*Have a large diaper supply on hand (thanks to recent deals we have quite a few stocked up for Jer and for Justus). Thanks to diapers I've made, the generous loan of a bunch of high quality cloth diapers (thanks Heather!) and the Fuzzi Bunz I recently got at a yard sale, Justus should be taken care of in this area!
*Stock the nursery with plenty of snacks, cups, kleenex, and diapers so I won't have to think about that right after having a newborn. Make sure that I don't get scheduled during August and September for nursery duty.
*Stock the household with necessities. (Thanks to freebies at Walgreens this is pretty much done. I may just need to load up on toliet paper and paper plates, but we have enough toothpaste, medicine, make-up, body wash, and razors to last us a year!


Lesser Priority

*Make enough homemade laundry detergent to last us the rest of the year. (Will probably only take 10 minutes!)
*Have relatives birthday cards ready to go and in my binder so they just need to be mailed on the right days. We have lots of August and September birthdays!
*Have Jer's wooden name letters painted and hung on the wall
*Update my clothing inventory, writing down the clothes each of the kids have for the fall so that I can know what I might need to look for at yard sales this summer
*Have a Big Brother and Big Sister gift ready to give the kids when they meet baby Justus so they will feel important too (Last time Ali got a little doll carrier/car seat with a new little baby boy doll from Grammy and that doll's name is still Jeremiah after 2 years!)
*Pack up my Sewing Corner of the living room and convert it into a Baby station where we can store a car seat, diaper bag, diapers, and toys for tiny babies (I won't be sewing for a few months anyway!)
*Organize our bedroom to try and have more space in there since we will be sharing it with a little one again.
*Make up a bunch of learning centers/projects for Ali to access so she can work on the Small Beginnings exercises when I'm nursing the baby. (Project ideas taken from the excellent book, "Mommy, Teach Me!" by Barbara Curtis.
*Make a Chore Chart with Ali that she becomes accustomed to so that when the baby comes, her daily chores will be habit for her.
*See if Jer is remotely interested in trying to go potty on the potty chair. I'm guessing no.