We’re still unpacking, rearranging, cleaning, organizing and decorating, but it feels great to settle down a little bit.
In the meantime, I turned 7 months pregnant this weekend.
Whoorlita (is that what we are calling her? Whoorlito and Whoorlita? Wito and Wita?) is kicking like crazy, as well as making my hips feel like I’m an 80-year-old arthritic during the nights. Good thing I donated my maternity body pillow to Goodwill TWO WEEKS AGO. Seriously. How ridiculously stupid could I be? Ridiculously stupid, apparently.
Over the weekend, my extremely agile and handsome husband (forever indebted, D) put California Closets to shame when he turned the kids’ run-of-the-mill closet into a shelving haven. And it only took 13,000 trips back and forth from Ikea! Which means 13,000 ice cream cones!
If you have followed this blog over the years, you know nothing gives me more pleasure than organizing. I had a maniacal grin on my face for the entire duration of unpacking clothing bins and setting up this closet. (I even rearranged the clothing that will remain in the clothing bins for the next couple of years. By size. And season. FOR I AM AN ORGANIZING GODDESS.)
(Or crazy.)
Although the new place has 3 bedrooms, we’ve decided that the children will share a room. To be completely honest, I transitioned from OMG THAT COULD NEVER WORK to BEST! IDEA! EVER! in the span of 10 days. I’m truly super duper excited. Speaking of children sharing rooms, have you read this post by Rebecca? Beautiful.
I’m curious, though. How many of you have children that share rooms? Any words of wisdom? Obviously, Wita will be in our room for several months until she can make it through the night, but I’m excited for the day she and Wito can say goodnight to each other from across the room.
Which brings me to the next question…what should Wita sleep in for the first couple of months? Wito slept in his own crib in his own room at 2 weeks old, so we haven’t dealt with this issue before. We have a Moses basket, but frankly, I would really like something not so close to the floor. Should we assemble the crib in our room? (We have the Stokke Sleepi, so it’s pretty space-efficient.) Buy a bassinet? (I am so in love with the Cariboo Folding Bassinet, but not sure I can justify the cost for the short time being used.) You should know that sleeping in the same bed is not an option for us personally, although I have absolutely no problem with you doing it. Peace be with you!
You see? THE QUESTIONS. They burn. Please help.
Carrisa
April 6, 2010 at 10:01 amOh just dump out the contents of your dresser drawer and shove her in there. That should work fine.
My mom did that with me. Just don’t forget she’s in there and close the drawer. I still have nightmares of being buried alive.
OMG HAHAHAHAAAAAAA. I mean, I’m sorry for your nightmares. ;)
san
April 6, 2010 at 10:02 amI don’t know what they’re called but there are those babybeds that are designed to stand right next to a normal bed… they look like
this.
.-= san´s last blog ..Happy Easter (Bread)! =-.
Sarah
April 6, 2010 at 10:06 amMy son slept amazingly well in the Arms Reach Mini co-sleeper for 4 months. It was the best sleep either of us had, totally spoiling a new mama and he’s now 21 months. It was small and portable (it had wheels). I’d nurse him, lay him back in it and he’s sleep. It was heaven.
After he outgrew it however we have failed to find something he will consent to sleep in alone. So we have been bed-sharing since then, which was not my intent.
Sarah, Ohana Mama
April 6, 2010 at 10:09 amWe did a bassinet in our room for the first couple of months with Leah. Cam slept w/us (he was a co-sleeping kid until 5…yeah, FIVE!) and Leah had her own room for 2 years of her life (lucky girl!).
But now, Cameron and Leah share a room – I just transitioned Leah into a twin so now they are both in twins, within arms reach and yes, they say “good night bro-bro” and “goodnight Lili” before they go off to night night land.
It’s the sweetest ever!
I’m in the process of redoing their room right now since we got rid of the crib. We’re going for beach bungalow/surf style (of course ;) )
It’s way more fun than I thought it would be and the kids LOVE sharing a room!
I bet you will do the room fantastically – can’t wait to see it!
And you look marvelous, woman! Makes me want to be pregnant again (so not gonna happen!)
.-= Sarah, Ohana Mama´s last blog ..Easter, Maui style =-.
Jen
April 6, 2010 at 10:14 amChicco pack & play w/ the bassinet in the top! The bassinet is very comfortable & of course you can use the pack & play for many uses afterwards. If you already have one, you could take it to your parents house so they have an extra one for travelling.
sizzle
April 6, 2010 at 10:18 amI liked sharing a room with my sister when I was a kid…until I didn’t. I think it lasted until I was six or seven. :-)
.-= sizzle´s last blog ..Bet On It =-.
Amy --- Just A Titch
April 6, 2010 at 10:19 amI mean, I’m nowhere close to being a mom, but the whole “Peace be with you!” bit at the end about co-sleeping made me laugh out loud.
Also, I can’t wait to see how adorably dressed and coifed Wita is sure to be.
Nicole
April 6, 2010 at 10:20 amThis might be my first time commenting though I have worshipped the ground you walk on since you shared how to curl hair on Hair Thursdays (I believe) with a straightening iron. No jokes, I did a whole post on my love for that post. It changed the life of my frizzy curly hair as I know it.
ANYHOW. We just had our 2nd babe (a girl as well) 3 months ago and I would suggest NOT buying anything until she arrives. I know as a lover of all things organized (I am one as well) you are thinking “CRAZY WOMAN. HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST SUCH A HORRIFYING THOUGHT!” but the thing is we had a bassinette that my mom kept from when I was born and though both kids used it – it was for such a short time on both counts. 6 weeks for our son and 4 days for our daughter. I vote you use your Moses basket for the first little bit and if it just isn’t working you this post would indicate that you could have a backup (The Stokke Sleepi)that you can send set up right away.
I only suggest this because we also are NOT co-sleepers. And yet, my recovery from my c-section was such that getting up (even to the bassinette) quickly to a crying baby at night was not easy so for the first 4 weeks she stayed in bed with us. GASP! I was more shocked than anyone about it because it was something other people were more than willing to do, but it was NOT FOR ME! All that to say that things could easily not be the same with Wita as they were with Wito so you might want to hold off on making big new purchase until she’s here.
Also, I think the idea of the kids sharing a room is great – even though ours don’t. I shared a room with my little brother growing up and I LOVED it. The good and the bad. My hubby was an only child though so he doesn’t get it and figured since we had the room the kids could have their own. Pros and cons to both.
What fun to be planning all of this! Enjoy! Oh, and the closets? MARVELOUS!
Point well taken! Thank you, Nicole.
Leslie
April 6, 2010 at 10:27 amMy kids kind of share a room, and there is an 11 year age gap between them (older is a girl, younger is a boy). They have sliding doors between their spaces that can be opened or closed, and they each have their own doorway to the hall.
There is nothing cuter than when they leave the doors open at night, and in the morning, all you hear from the toddler is Hi! Hi! HI HI HI! because he is SO EXCITED that he can SEE HIS SISTER!!!
Sundry
April 6, 2010 at 10:31 amThis is a terrible suggestion expensewise but I loved the bassinet function of our Bugaboo stroller for both kids. I parked it right next to the bed, then sort of inched it further and further away as they got older, before eventually transitioning them to their room.
Also, with Dylan I had NO desire to cosleep and yet for several weeks he ended up on our bed propped in a Boppy pillow, which of course is hideously dangerous and I’m surprised he lived and I do not recommend such a course of action.
DUDE. I didn’t even think about our Bugaboo. Thank you!
.-= Sundry´s last blog ..Peptalking out loud =-.
HollyLynne
April 6, 2010 at 10:38 amThis is what we opted for (although of course we don’t know how it’ll work out yet!)
http://www.amazon.com/DaVinci-Futura-Cradle-in-Espresso/dp/B000OP795A/ref=br_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IEBVIWLSHEO7P&colid=1FCCEA8666TRV
We chose it because it looks nice in our bedroom and isn’t made of plastic or painted in pastel colors. We even got black sheets for it (from Sheetworld.com)
.-= HollyLynne´s last blog ..Beanself =-.
Amanda
April 6, 2010 at 10:46 amWe just had our daughter Christmas Eve and friends were kind enough to lend us their Mini Arms Reach Co-Sleeper.
LOVED IT. We used it up until about a week ago because my baby is a giantess and very wiggly and keep getting herself wedged sideways at night and so I’ve moved my cradle that I kept downstairs up to our bedroom and retired the Co-Sleeper.
The cradle is nice and oh so pretty but I liked the fact that the co-sleeper could be right up against the bed and I could just scoop her up, feed her and put her back without getting up.
If you have a moses basket you can buy a stand for it. My girlfriend used one and she had a stand that she’d put it in at night.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Bits. =-.
Melissa
April 6, 2010 at 10:49 amWe’re planning to have our boys share a room when the baby is older… Andrew is 5 months old and sleeping through the night, but that’s because he has his own room. There’s no way he could fall asleep with our almost-4-year old Oliver’s LOUD bedtime shenanigans. Maybe after the baby’s first birthday? We’ll see.
I don’t have any advice on what the baby should sleep in, since both my boys refused everything but their cribs. We put Andrew’s crib together in our own room and he slept there for 10 weeks BUT that was only because my mother-in-law stayed with us during that time. (Yes. I know. SCENARIO PLEASE TO AVOID. Unless your mother-in-law is really really awesome.) Otherwise we would have moved him into his own room after a month or so, because a) the crib took up too much room in our room, and b) my husband CANNOT be quiet when getting ready in the morning (is that a guy thing?) and always woke up the baby (and me) unnecessarily.
I’m sure your baby girl will make her own preferences known too. :)
Also: You look incredible. If I could look like that while pregnant, I’d have 6 more kids. Or at least one more.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..losing it: update #3 =-.
miguelina
April 6, 2010 at 11:00 amWe have enough bedrooms as, but the boys share a room. The baby has a nursery, but his older brothers have cleared the spot for his bed when he outgrows the crib. It’s so much fun for them – and cute!
(Plus, it simplifies bedtime for Mama and Papa.)
We have Matthias in an Arm’s Reach, but it was a gift. If I were you I’d use a Graco Pack and play with a bassinet. Then you can take it with you when you travel, or when Wita needs floor time and to be protected somewhat from big bro.
whoorl
April 6, 2010 at 11:02 amOkay. Here’s my beef with the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. While I totally agree that it is the easiest, most comfortable arrangement to have your baby right there next to you (especially for breast-feeding and C-section recovery), I’m afraid that the baby will get so used to sleeping next to me that she will never transition into her crib. Like EVER. And then I will die 1,000 deaths.
(God, I sound like such a tyrant.)