My Purple Pinterest Nesting Nursery Reveal

Her changing table and dresser area. The dresser was my great-grandmother's that I
have had for years. I painted it when my husband and I used it in our room years ago.
I knew one day I wanted to use it in a little girl's room. It was what I matched all my
fabric choices to. 

When I set out to decorate our little girl's nursery, I had no idea that it would become such a hands on project for me. I just couldn't stop once I got started. Basically every element and decoration I either sewed or crafted.

Here is the before picture. The room was set up as our
office and spare bedroom. 

It was most definitely a labor of love for me. Every time I finished one project, I just couldn't wait to start on the next. I think everything came together exactly how I had pictured it.

It would be really hard for me to pick out my favorite part, but I really love the sign above her crib. It probably was my most expensive craft, but I love seeing it from the hallway as I walk by her room.

The funny part about this almost perfect nursery is that she won't be in here much. She will actually be sleeping most of her time in our room upstairs in a pack-and-play since going downstairs for every feeding is not ideal and the room is so close to the kids' room that I don't want them to be disturbed either. And in about a year, I'll be moving everything around and turning this space into Calan's room and Calan and Maisie's current room into the girls' room. Kind of crazy, but at least the room looks cute for now, right?

The view from the door. This room was where he first had Calan before
we moved the nursery into the other room for him to share with Maisie.
I set it up differently this time and love the layout of the small space so
much more. 

I'll be hanging a black and white newborn picture of our little girl
behind the chair once we have our session with the amazing Rob Twilliger.

Here are some detail shots of her crib area. Calan pretty much destroyed the
crib railing when he was teething, so the crib railing cover is not only cute,
but pretty much was a necessity.

I am so glad this dresser is out of our basement storage and in her room.
It makes me so happy to be using it again. The drawers are filled with
her clothes, diapers, and blankets. It offers me so much storage. 

Here are a few more final touches to the room. The kids painted the purple
birdhouses on the dresser for her. Calan likes to remind me that he did it
for his sister. 

Each day this week, I'll break down the room a little more sharing my tips and inspiration for each of the projects. Here is what you can expect:

Tuesday: Crib area. I'll share the tutorials I followed for the crib sheet and railing, as well as some things I learned from making them. I'll also share how I made the sign for above the crib.

Wednesday: I'll share the window treatments and chair area, including the too cute lampshade and footstool.

Thursday: All things changing area. From pad cover to hanging totes to decorations. It is a packed filled area.

Friday: The wrap up and everything else. 

The Big Reveal

So, I have been running myself ragged. I have been cleaning our house from top to bottom. I have been organizing, storing, and staging our home. It has been a bit nuts, but totally worth it. Our house looks great.

And we are doing all of this because ...... We have decided to sell our house.

As of yesterday, our house is officially on the market. I have not wanted to share the news till it was completely official and because we have no idea what we are going to do if it sells. We are leaving a lot up to God.

You see we bought our house in 2005 in Michigan right before the housing market dropped, and as everyone knows, it dropped FAR. We kind of figured we were stuck in our house forever or at least until we could not take it anymore. But something odd seems to be happening in the housing market right now in Michigan, there is little supply and lots of demand and with low interest rates, we just think it is worth a try to see how it goes.

We think that the prices, while still less than what we bought our house for 7 years ago, are at a point where we might break even (losing any money we already put into our house, but being able to leave our house without needing to bring any money to the table).

So we have listed on a whim. If we sell, great; we will figure out the next step. If not, fine; we will enjoy a nicely clean and organized house for a few more years.

So we will wait and see.

We will officially start showing our house on Monday when I head up north with our kids for 2 weeks. We figured that will leave the house open to and available for anyone to come and see it.

However, we did have our first showing yesterday after an agent called asking to see it even though showings aren't suppose to start yet (typical agent). I accommodated the request and we got great feedback, so who knows this might just happen after all.

If you have ever wondered what my house looks like, here it is:

Front view of our house. The obstacle of our house is that it is
on a corner of a busy street. The house faces a side street, but our
 garage and driveway are on a busy street.

You open our house into our dining room. 

We redid our kitchen in 2007. I love having a pantry. Definitely a luxury in
a typical bungalow in our area. 

I love having this work space and pass through that opens into our family
room where I can watch the kiddos.

We mainly redid our kitchen to add a dishwasher. I
could not imagine having children and no dishwasher. 

Our family room with a fireplace that is off the kitchen. The storage is
great to hide all the kids' toys. 

Our partially finished basement is what sold us on the house back in 2005.
We loved the extra living space. 

We use to watch TV downstairs more than upstairs, but with the kids,
I am mainly upstairs in our family room instead. 

This is our only bathroom. Yes, it is small, but there
is a lot in that space. A linen closet is behind the door. 

Our master bedroom upstairs in the bungalow. We moved
our room up there last year, and I love it. We should have done it sooner. 

The nursery that hosts 2 cribs, a dresser, a changing table, a chair, and a table. 

Our spare bedroom, which just is what it is.  

So, that's our house. All we can do is wait and see. We are totally fine with staying put. We love our house and actually get a little sad when we think about leaving it, but we know that we need to move on at some point.

My fingers are (kind of) crossed.

Have I mentioned that I am cleaning?

Looks like new without the cost. Love it. 

I am a woman on a mission, and dang, it feels good!

I actually only have a few minutes to type so I can get back to cleaning. We started with de-cluttering and I have moved on to insane cleaning. Everything is being pulled out, wiped down, put back, and organized. 

I bought this a few years ago
 from Home Depot

Today, I am working on my floors. I get so caught up in just keeping everything swept up that I will be honest, I rarely wash my hardwood floors. They have been a bit neglected. 

I can not believe how shiny my kitchen floor is right now. I am in awe. (Yes, I am patting myself on the back right now.)

Here is what I did to get the best shine without actually refinishing them:

1. Swept and vacuumed them as best as I could. 

2. Wiped them down with a wet cloth to get up any surface dirt. 

3. Washed them with homemade cleaning solution. See recipe below. 

4. Wiped floor down with Rejuvenate Restorer Floor Finish. (An amazing product that really does restore a perfect shine to your floors. It is a must try if you need to revamp your hardwood floors without the cost of refinishing. I love it!)

I know that cleaning floors is not a fun job, but to see all my hard work coming together makes it fun for me. 

Now to figure out how to keep all the crumbs at bay!

Hardwood Floor Cleaner from Nature's Nurture

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup alcohol
• 2-3 drops natural dish soap
• 10-15 drops essential oil (optional)
• Fine-mist spray bottle – 24oz

Instructions 

1. Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake to combine.
2. Sweep/vacuum the floor.
3. Spray cleaner on the floor.
4. Wipe up with a microfiber cloth.

Different standards

I have always liked a clean, organized home. I am one of those people that feels like my life is out of control if my house is out of control. I think better and feel better in an organized house.

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband and I are going through and de-cluttering our whole house. It has been great and I love going into the rooms that we have completed. 

But looking around at my clean rooms makes me realize just how different my idea of clean has become since having babies. 

Cleaning my house has become a whole different ball game. I am lucky if 3 rooms are clean at one time. As any mother knows, while you are cleaning one room, sure enough you little ones are destroying another. 

There are days where I vacuum and days where I dust, but rarely days where I do both at one time. There are days where my kitchen is clean and days when my bathroom are clean, but rarely at the same time. There are days where just picking up everything is all that gets done. There are days where everything is a disaster and it just is what it is. 

My standards of what is clean have definitely fallen. I mean seriously, where do all the crumbs come from? And the fingerprints are EVERYWHERE. It is constant battle that I am realizing I might be losing.

Looking around at all of our clutter, it is easy to see why it is piling up. Things get put out-of-sight-out-of-mind because it is easier than really dealing with it. That logic is getting me no where when it comes to keeping my house clean. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a hoarder by any means. I keep a pretty tidy house. But what my idea of clean use to be, and what it is today are just so drastically different. 

I really need to get in the habit of "Don't put down, put away."

It is a great cleaning mantra to stand by. It really would make times like now when we are trying to dig through everything that much easier. 

We are chipping away and it feels so wonderful and I am so happy to really be seeing a difference. 

De-clutter, organize, and sell

Why is it that you always need a vacation from your vacation?

This week has been full of just trying to get back to regular routines and organizing from a busy July. We are using the next two weeks to get our house in tip-top ship shape. The clutter has started to take over our house and we need an overhaul. 

Our house is only a 1200-square-foot bungalow, and with 2 little ones, a dog, and 2 adults, keeping it organized and de-cluttered is a constant battle. We just went through our basement storage 6 months ago and already it was overflowing with things that either need to be donated or sold. It is crazy to me how quickly it all piles up. 

The organized shelves after we cleaned them out. Sorry, I did not
think to take a before shot, and not sure I would want you to
see how bad it was. It does feel good to have it all organized again. 

Since my husband is working a ton lately, we are breaking up all the cleaning into little hour and a half chunks each night. So far we have gone through our basement and I have done most of the kitchen. I will finish that up and the bathroom during naptime today. We will have bedrooms, family room, closets, and garage left to do. Seems a little overwhelming when I think about it all. 

I am hoping that we are all done by this weekend so that next week I can get ready for my first garage sale. That should be interesting! 

I know that the more clean and organized the garage sale the better the sales, so I will need next week to get every thing clean and ready to go. 

When you have 2 little ones, doing anything extra during the day outside of our regular eating, sleeping, playing, and cleaning routine takes more energy than you would think. Bob and I use to do a lot of house projects before we had kids, but quickly those projects get replaced with just corralling the troops and spending time as a family. 

The beginning of my very, very disorganized sell pile.
Mostly home good items, but it is a definite full of
a lot of miscellaneous items. 

It takes planning and organization to just get those things done. We do less projects as a team and more as individuals. Obviously, one of us needs to be on kid duty when they are awake. The other problem is that you don't want to exhaust yourself doing a project, so when the kids are awake you have the energy to take care of them. They are rested and ready to go no matter what. 

Anyone have good tips for hosting our first garage sale? I know that organization and clear pricing are key. We live on a busy road, so I don't think that we will have much advertising needs. I am just planning on posting a Craig's List ad a couple days before and the days of. What do you do?

On a side note, I had Maisie's follow-up peditrician appointment today. She is doing just fine. The doctor is not so sure on the pnemonia diagnosis and thinks that it probably was just a virus. We will finish out the antibiotics since we had already started them. Other than that, she is back to normal. 

Roommates?

When we were planning for Maisie's wonderful arrival, we (I) decided that it would be best for them to share a room. This kept one room open for a spare bedroom and office and it kept all the baby stuff in one room. In my mind, it was a great idea. In my mind, I figured by at latest 6 months they would be sharing a room. 

Well, great plans are always foiled by reality. Maisie's crib has basically stayed untouched the past 7 months. She sleeps in our room in a pack-and-play. For the most part it has worked. I have actually been pretty attached to my little bug and have been a little resistant to letting her sleep in the nursery. 

But, I am beginning to think that it might just have to be like a ripping off a Band-Aid; I just have to do it. I have to accept that there will be a little bit of a transition and they won't sleep perfectly, but to be honest they don't sleep perfectly now, so what would be the worst that could happen?

Today, they are napping in the same room. This is the second time I have tried it. The first time, Calan woke halfway through and Maisie started to cry, so I moved her to her pack-and-play and settled Calan back down, so he would sleep longer, which he did. She, however, was up, but luckily took an evening nap to make up for her short afternoon nap. 

Today, they both went down pretty easily and have been asleep for about 20 minutes. Their afternoon nap is actually pretty close to the same amount of time. They go down at 12:30 and usually sleep till about 3. I realized if they were sleeping the exact same time, they should be sleeping in the same room together during their nap, so I could do things like actually make my bed and clean up my room during nap time. 

I figure if they both can fall asleep with each other in the room, then it is probably time that they be actually sharing a bedroom. In my mind, I feel like it is time, but in my heart, I am not so ready. I don't know what my big hang up is about it. I am pretty sure that they will do fine together. I just need to try. 

I guess it is time for Calan and Maisie to finally be roommates. 

Diaper stash washed and ready to go

I will be cloth diapering a 1-year-old and newborn come July. Over the past few months, I have been watching deals and purchasing diapers. I had a pretty decent newborn stash with Calan, so I didn't need too many items for that, but I knew that I needed diapers once Maisie is about 10 pounds.

I love that my drawers are stuffed to the max. I mainly use Smartipants for Calan, but they were never on the half-off sites that I follow, so I ended up stocking up with Oh Katy (Katydid) diapers. They are pocket diapers just like Smartipants, but the insert needs to be pulled out before it is put in the wash. They are also much more colorful than the Smartipants that we have. I can't wait to put Maisie in a dress and showoff her cute fluffy butt. 

Calan's diaper drawer, which is full of Smartipants,
GroBaby (GroVia), Flips, and other miscelleneous diapers.

Maisie's diaper drawer stocked full of Oh Katy (Katydid),
Kissaluv, Lil' Joey's, and prefolds.

The overflow drawer, which has prefolds, fitteds, and some
diapers that will fit Maisie once she is bigger. I also keep a
small stash of disposables for baby-sitters. 

We will set up a diaper station in our room once we set up the pack and play. I obviously do not want to head downstairs to change her diaper in the middle of the night and wake Calan. I will probably use our Kissaluvs upstairs at night. I have 10 of them, so that should last me a couple nights before I would need to do diapers. Plus, they easily stack, so it will be easy to set up a small station upstairs in our room. 

Here is a video of my stash:

Third trimester here I come

Well, this is it. The last trimester is here. Baby Girl Wilson will be here in 3 short months and I am definitely do not feel ready. But the sad part is, I am not sure what I really should do. I had everything for Calan and everything is still here somewhere.

For a person who loves organization, I am kind of at a lost on where to start this time. I am not exactly sure why I am having such a block this time, but I kind of feel like an organization mess. I know that I have plenty of time and everything will work out. 

April just flew by. That is making a little nervous that May and June will be just as quick. I know that it will all come together, but I can't help but wonder when it will all happen.

Don't get me wrong. We have done a lot in the last two months switch things around in order to make better use of our house and that has been great. I could not imagine adding another baby to our home the way it was before. Now, we have plenty of space, or so I think.

But, I guess my question is more of what do I really need to do. I need to have the nursery some what organized, but she is going to be sleeping with Bob and I till I know that she won't disturb Calan's sleep too much. So, to be honest adding her to the nursery is not exactly something we need to do as soon as possible. Then there are clothes, I do need to wash items I have purchased and prepare some diapers, but all and all that is just a day job if that. Next might be getting some things from the basement like the swing and bouncy chair, but once again, not something that we need the day we get home.

A part of me wonders if I am missing something. I should probably just relax, sit back, and enjoy my last trimester. Life is going to be crazy those first months. I know this logically, but I don't think that I can completely grasp it till she is here. So, mental note to myself. STOP WORRYING. 

Moving out, Moving Forward

This morning Calan and I said goodbye to our bedrooms and took off for the night at my father-in-law's house. Today we are having our bedrooms repainted and tomorrow we move bedrooms. Bob and I head upstairs; one floor away from Calan, one floor away from the bathroom (any pregnant lady can sympathize with that one). Calan moves into our bedroom. We will finally be able to set up our second crib that has been collecting dust in our basement. I will finally be able to start "nesting" for our latest addition.

It isn't easy for me to see my home in such a disarray. I like having everything organized and decorated. Like any newly wed when Bob and I moved into our home, pictures and memorabilia from our wedding decorated our bedroom walls. Our bedding is still the set we registered for 4 1/2 years ago. What will our new bedroom look like? A big mess! I know that one day it will be all organized again, and knowing me that will be sooner rather than later, but I am not looking forward to dealing with the mess in the meantime.

Calan's room should transfer over nicely. His old room and new room are both painted the same color. I am just hoping that once we start moving the furniture into his room that we have enough space. I am getting nervous that there won't be enough room for everything that I would like in there. The room should have 2 cribs, 2 dressers (one a dresser/changing table combo), rocking chair, and side table. The rocking chair and table will be my bonus if they get in. I just want a spot to sit and read to my children. A spot to cozy up with them before bed. Yes, I can live with out it, but it would be nice to keep it in there.

On the plus side, I am sure next week I will be able to go on a little shopping trip to get some things we need and things I want. I have been pretty exhausted lately as I head into my third trimester. I am hoping this "project" re-energizes me and I get a little more pep in my step.

I promise to post pictures once I feel like the nursery is nice enough to share.

Goodbye Nursery

Calan's bunny nursery.

Like any new mother, I spent quite a bit of time planning and organizing and decorating and loving Calan's nursery. One of the hardest things for me is to see it already changing. I know Calan won't remember it, but a part of me feels sad to see it go. I feel a little like I was gypped. I finished his room last May and one-year later it is gone.

In preparation for moving around bedrooms in our house, we are having a fresh coat of paint put up in the bedrooms this Friday. Bob spent this weekend taking down all my decorative elements of the nursery and our bedroom. Everything looks so bare.

I know that everything is just getting moved around and Calan's nursery will basically just be moved into a new room. It will look very similar and everything will be rehung. Everything will be organized again, and finally there will be space for our little girl.

While I am sad to say goodbye to Calan's nursery, I am excited to get things ready for our little girl and for them to have a cute nursery together. This is going to be a busy weekend, but it is one that will hopefully move us one step closer to being ready.

Baby Proof

Well, it is that time. I have been avoiding it, but I need to buckle down and baby proof our house.

I am not sure if it is laziness or lack of knowledge, but either way, I have been dragging my feet a little when it comes to getting areas in house baby safe. Our little guy is on the move and it is time to get some things done.

Our family room

We are focusing mainly on our family room, which is where Calan and I spend 90 percent of our time. We have moved out our kitchen table to open more space for him and now it is time to make the room safe. We removed our hard coffee table for a softer ottoman. Our first challenge with the room was finding a gate small enough to fit our awkward door size. It took awhile and it boiled down to only 2 choices that would fit a 26-inch doorway. Both were hardware mounted, which we were trying to avoid. The one we choose was the more expensive of the two, but it fit our house style better. I figure that we are going to have that gate up for a long time between Calan, our little girl, and their future sibling. The other things we need to do to the room will be latches on our built in storage doors, outlet covers (of course), fireplace guards, and to remove a few more decorative items.


Since the family room is where we spend most of your time, I'll just be doing some minimum proofing through the rest of the house. Not sure yet exactly what we are going to do, but I figure I am just going to watch Calan and see what he is drawn to and decide as time goes on. This might be the wrong way to think about it, but I figure if the family room is safe then I just have to be sure to really watch him in the rest of the house.

I don't want to remove everything from his touch. I think there is something to be said about learning limits. If I never have to say, "No, don't touch," at our own home, how will he understand it when we are at someone else's. I know that this sets up for disaster in our house, but I'd rather have him learn by breaking our things than someone else's.

Obviously, this doesn't mean that I am going to leave dangerous items around for him to hurt himself on, but having a few things here and there that are potential risks, I think, helps to develop limits.

I guess we will see if my theory holds true. I am always famous for ideals that sometimes miss the reality mark. For now, however, that's what we are going with. A semi-safe house for our very adventurous boy. Wish us luck.

Spring cleaning has sprung

The feeling is amazing when you really start to clear out the old and make space for the new. There is no hidden secret that I like to have things organized, but I am sure that my husband can tell you that in fact I am not a naturally organized person. I am famous for piles and putting things out of sight, out of mind, but not necessarily do I put things away.

On one of the blogs I follow, I read a great saying, "Don't put down, put away." Isn't that easier said than done? It is so easy to just put something out of the way to keep the high traffic areas in your home clean and organized. Our famous "toss " places are our bungalow that is set up as a spare bedroom and office right now and our laundry room and storage room in our basement. 

In the near future, I am going to be losing our "toss" locations. It is going to become even more important to put away rather than put down. 

My husband and I cleaned out our basement this weekend, as well as sorted and got rid of old clothes. It felt so good to get rid of so much stuff that we had accumillated. So many items that I know I just put down rather than put away. It is amazing how quickly things pile up. 

Our laundry room has so much space in it now that we really can grow into. It is amazing when you clear away the the junk how fresh and new a space can feel, even an unfinished, basement laundry room. 

Over the next month, Bob and I will be getting our spring cleaning done. On our April short list will be clearing out and organizing our bungalow, getting our carpets cleaned, and having a few rooms repainted. All of these chores are in preparation for moving around all of our bedrooms in May. 

I can not wait to get those things done. I feel like I am pretty behind on planning for our little girl. But after this weekend, I really am feeling energized and excited to get our house ready for littlest arrival. Bring on the nesting; I like this feeling. 

What is on your spring cleaning to-do list?

Never Felt More Domestic

Well, maybe I have felt more domestic, but the domestic life definitely makes me laugh. I think that it is hilarious that nothing excites me more then when I get something new for my home. When did I become that person? I use to love new shoes, and now I love siding, and faucets, and paint colors.

I am pretty sure that I am not alone. I chuckle every time one of my friends updates their Facebook status with how excited they are for new windows, or wood floors, or couches. For me, it is my new dining room table that has me so excited and geeked for dinner. It arrived this afternoon and I could not be more excited. 

I love making my house a home and I love the way it feels when my family is taken care of. So, I understand where my desire to decorate and organize my house comes from. I do not just see a table and chairs. I see family dinners and fun conversations around that table and in those chairs. 

But, those feelings definitely make me laugh because they came so quickly and naturally. I do not even remember not being the person I am today. I feel like the second I owned a house; I wanted a home. Even when it was just my husband and dog, it mattered to me; just like how I know that it matters to so many of you. 

Cleaning Day

My sister and I joke that when we went to bed as kids, somehow the house magically got cleaned. But it wasn't magic, it was my mom. Since she worked, at night after my 3 siblings and I went to sleep was the easiest time for her to clean the house. I am sure we could have helped more, but I was kind of a bratty child and I do not remember helping too much. Shame on me, I know.

As a stay-at-home mom, it is obviously mostly my duty to keep the house tidy. My husband does help a ton, but I know that overall, I should be the one cleaning. Some days I totally feel like cleaning and others it feels like such a struggle to get started. However, today my mom is coming into town for the night, and of course, that means I must clean.

Shark Vac Then Steam Mop

When I clean my house, I usually decide what my priorities are and then go from there. For example, my bedroom, front room, and basement are low priority rooms; so I do them last. I usually start with throwing a load of laundry in and then get to work on the family room or kitchen, which ever one is bothering me more. After those rooms are cleaned up minus the floors, I move on to the bathroom. From there, the low priority rooms get a wipe down, usually bedrooms followed by our front room. After those are done, I do the floors, vacuuming and then sweeping and washing (if needed) our hardwood floors. This all usually takes me a total of 3 hours if I am doing everything, but I usually spend about 2 hours. And that's my routine.

My number one favorite cleaning tool is my Shark Vac and Steam Mop. It makes cleaning my hardwood floors a piece of cake. I highly recommend it. It was the one thing that I asked for this past Christmas. My father-in-law ended up getting it for me and he thought I was nuts for wanting it. But I love it and use it all the time. It is so light weight and easy to maneuver. Love it!

I asked a few friends on Facebook this morning what were some of their cleaning tips. Here are their answers:

On the flip-side of cleaning, I do LOVE a clean house! It is time to stop delaying and start cleaning. Here I go ...

Yep, I Cloth Diaper

It is amazing to me all the decisions that face new parents. What kind of delivery do you want? Midwife or doctor? Hospital or home? Who will be your pediatrician? Breastfeeding or bottle? Will you make your own baby food? Will you vaccinate? Will you cloth diaper?

I am so happy that for this pregnancy basically all those decisions have already been made. I am open to using an epidural, I love my OB, I would never have a home birth, I love our pediatrician, I love that I get to breastfeed, I make my own baby food, we vaccinate, and yep, we cloth diaper.

When I dreamt about being a mother, I never dreamt I would cloth diaper. A few former colleagues of mine at The Detroit News told me they cloth diapered, and each time, I would make sure that they knew I would never, ever do that. Well, never say never. I would love to tell you that our reasons are environmental, but the truth is we are frugal. The idea that we would be able to use our diapers for years to come and for multiple children and we would not need to continuously buy diapers really appealed to us. I just had to convince Bob that poop was not an issue.

Let me be the first to tell you, poop is not an issue. Modern cloth diapering is awesome. Diapers are cute, washing is a snap, and I don't touch poop.

Here are some myths that kept me from cloth diapering:

Myth #1: I have to touch the poop to get it in the toilet

There is a great invention called the diaper sprayer that easily attaches to the toilet and does all the work for you. All I do is lay the soiled diaper inside the diaper bowl, touching un-soiled parts of the diaper and spray downward. Poop is gone, hands are clean, and the diaper is ready to go in my diaper pail.

Myth #2: I will be doing laundry all the time

It is true that a baby does increase your laundry loads, but my diapers do not make it any worse. Ever since Calan was about 3 months old, I wash diapers every 3 to 4 days. That is just one load twice a week. When he was a newborn, I did diapers probably three times a week and that is because he went more often like most newborns and I had fewer diapers for a newborn requiring me to wash more often. With two babies in cloth, I will probably have to do diapers every other day, but now that I am so use to it, I don't see it being an issue.

I should also mention that I thought I would have to touch the diapers to get them in my washer, but I do not touch a thing. I take my pail liner filled with dirty diapers and empty it into the washer throwing the liner into the wash too. Pretty easy, right!

Myth #3: I will have to deal with diaper pins

Modern cloth diapering is great and offers so many options. In fact the amount of options can be intimidating, but once you do a little research into the different types, you realize that cloth diapering can be as easy as putting on a disposable. We mostly use pocket diapers for Calan. A pocket diaper from the outside basically looks like a disposable diaper. It closes by either Velcro or snaps on the outside. On the inside, it is lined with usually a soft micro fleece that will wick moisture away and has a pocket that is stuffed with an absorbent insert. We personally like this type of diaper because it requires less drying time in the dryer and once stuffed is basically like an all-in-one, which is actually the closest to a disposable of all the cloth diapering options. I highly recommend looking for a local cloth diaper shop that hosts information classes. If you live in the Royal Oak area, No Pins Required in Ferndale offers a class. We took a class at Little Seeding in Ann Arbor because at the time it was the closest option that we knew about. The class totally convinced us that cloth diapering was for us and explained so much in just an hour.

Myth #4: My nursery will smell like poop

Since you flush the poop in the toilet, my nursery never smells. My diaper pail is nothing special. It is a regular plastic, flip-top trashcan with a Planetwise diaper pail liner and that's it.

Here is a link to a few more myths if you want to learn more.

We have been cloth diapering Calan since he was 7 days old. Since then, I have bought one package of newborn diapers and one package of size 3 diapers, and both packages probably a total of 10 diapers have been used. I keep a few disposables around for babysitters to make it a little easier for them. I actually cannot wait to buy girl "fluff" (cloth diaper lingo). There are so many cute girl diapers. I can't wait to add to my stash!

Diapers shown in video: Smartipants, GroBaby (now called GroVia), Flips, Bumboo Bamboo fitted, Thirsties Duo Wrap, and Wonder Wrap one-size covers (which have been discontinued, but any cover works, I just got these half-off). Not shown were my favorite diapers for night time, which are Sustainablebabyish Organic Fleece Fitted Diapers
 

Stuff I think I need

Right now, the thing I think about most is trying to figure out the things we need versus the things I want for our next baby and for our home. If I wanted to be honest, I really do not need anything for at least the first few months. We have the necessities ­‑ clothes, diapers, pack n’ play, and infant car seat. But there are some things that I think that we need before the baby gets here.

My short list includes: a second crib, a tall dresser, a second pack n’ play, a double stroller, several more cloth diapers and a convertible car seat for Calan.

Luckily, we did not know what we were having the first time around, so most everything newborn-wise is gender neutral. It won't matter what we have, we have what we need right away. 

However, my list of wants is soooo much longer. While I have always decorated our house on a pretty tight budget, with so many room swaps, I would love a few new things to go with it. However, I know that those things will come in time. Eventually I would like a new bedding set. What we have now won’t exactly match the paint color we have upstairs.

I would also love a headboard. Our bed is going to go up against a window and to protect us from cold drafts in the winter, I would love a little something between us and the window. New side tables would be great too. Right now we have one, but I am sure my husband would like one next to him.

In the dining room, I would love a new rug to go under our new table and maybe some better lighting options. Unfortunately, there is not an overhead light in there, so it gets a little dim. Another great thing would be a coat rack. We use our coat closet for my husband’s clothes. We have a larger closet in the basement, but we tend to be a little lazy and our coats end up wherever, but usually on the back of our dining room chairs.

My husband wants us to get a new car; most likely a minivan. It is going to be a tight squeeze traveling with 2 babies, all our stuff, and our loveable dog Elle. I know this, but not sure if mentally I am ready to move to a minivan. I drive a Passat wagon right now. Our first vacation will be to my mother’s over Labor Day weekend. It is a 5.5-hour drive sans children. We will see how we fit then if we haven’t gotten a new car before.

So our list of needs is few, and our (my) list of wants is many, but it will all work out. As long as life is at least mostly organized and I have 2 happy babies and 1 happy husband, it will be fine. I just have to remind myself how blessed we are to be welcoming our second child into our lives and everything else will just workout. 

The logistics of the situation

For me, trying to keep life organized and functioning is one of my biggest concerns when it comes to having my 2 babies. My mom sometimes thinks that I am a little over zealous to put it mildly, but disorganization really stresses me out. If I can avoid it or plan around it, I am a much calmer and pleasant person to be around.

So, where do I begin this time around? Last time, I came across a great book The Organized Mom: Simplify Life for You and Baby, One Step at a Time. It was my organization Bible. It really helped with tips and tricks to de-clutter and organize each room of the house in preparation for baby. It even had great checklists for things like my hospital bag and diaper bag. I still reference it from time to time.

This time, I feel like I am floundering a little trying to get things organized. While I haven’t really started yet, I have so many ideas and plans in my head it is crazy. In order to organize my 1,200-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 1-bath, no closet space bungalow for our next family addition, I am going to have to switch up 4 rooms in my house. It is going to be a lot of swapping and moving around, so we have decided to hold off till May because Calan will be a little bit older and I want to enjoy his nursery for a little bit longer. (I really spent a lot of time planning his nursery and I’m not ready to uproot it yet.)

So here is the game plan. Our living room is going to become a dining room, our bedroom will become the nursery, the nursery will become a spare bedroom and office, and the upstairs bungalow will become our master bedroom.

The first move will be the dining room. Because of a good deal this past weekend, my husband and I bought a dining room set. It will be delivered in a couple weeks. This move will open up space in our family room, which currently has a small 4-person table in it for dining. That space will become a kid corner. We rarely use our front entrance room that is set up as a living room. When we first moved in 5 years ago, we just did not have the money to buy a dining room set and the furniture that is in it was free to us from our parents. It is just what worked out. Now, we will be able to utilize that space for many, many family dinners. Plus, by Christmas we are going to need a second high chair and I don’t think that we would have been able to make that fit in our family room. So move one, opens more living space and utilizes more functioning space in our house.

The second move will probably happen in May and that is the great bedroom swap of 2011. Right now, our bungalow is set up as a spare bedroom, office, and basically the dump space of the house. We don’t really use it, except when my parents come to stay. We currently use the biggest bedroom on the main floor as our bedroom and the smaller bedroom as the nursery. We would not be able to fit the 2 cribs, changing area and dresser in the current nursery. The babies will share a room in what is currently our bedroom. I have decided that having them share a room is what is going to be best for us. Obviously, our newborn will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room till he or she is able to sleep through the night. But after that period, having the babies share a room, I think will be healthy for them and easier for me when it comes to organizing their toys,  clothes, and cloth diapers. Plus, it still gives us a chance to have a spare bedroom and office space. My parents live a few hours away from us and while I can, I would like to make sure there is a bed for them to sleep on when they are here. The spare bedroom also gives me additional space for maybe toys and play area, as well as in the distant future, room for a third baby without having to do another crazy room shake up.

So, that is the plan. Not sure how it is all going to shake out. Not sure how it is going to get all done, but we are going to do it and take it one step at a time. Only 152 days left till my due date. Plenty of time, right?