As I am quickly approaching my due date (3 more months!), I have gotten into nesting mode. I’m not quite there physically (actually DOING the nesting because I’m waiting for a break in my schedule!), but I have a lot of ideas of things that I need to get done and things that we need to purchase before the birth! I sat and made a list this morning, and I thought I would share. Mostly this is just for me… I love making lists :). I feel like we need to put a little bit extra time and effort into preparation this time for several reasons: 1) This is our third… meaning we have two other children to take care of and it will be harder for me to get out with three kids, 3 and under, 2) We are going to have to make more meals since it’s not summertime. When we had Ethan, we didn’t have to worry about meals because we had all meals in the dining hall! 3) I will be home more, BUT with a newborn and previous breastfeeding issues, I want to make it as easy as possible the first month or two.
We had budgeted in the next several months to buy/pay for many things that we need. Then, I found out last week that I will be receiving a stipend from the school for writing curriculum, so we will be able to buy all of the things that we need in December instead of waiting until mid February to get our last few things (I would rather get them soon :). So, we can put money in savings from my January and February pay checks. Praise God for His provision! This will be especially helpful since I won’t be returning to work after I have Levi.
My plan is to do most of this over the holidays because I will have 4 weeks off (and Robert will have a substantial break as well!). Some of these things aren’t related to the baby, but are just things that I want to do/buy before the baby gets here.
Things that we need to do/buy:
· Clean out all closets and drawers
o Get rid of clothes, toys, shoes, etc that we don’t need/use (give them to someone who needs them!!)
· Organize all of the kids’ things (we will be moving everything around)
· Do a “deep clean” of our house (it’s honestly been a while…)
· Touch up paint some places in our house. Work on our yard (it needs some work!). Work on our garden. All of these things will be done with the help of my sister and brother in law in December :). We are exchanging our time and energy to help each other with some projects around our houses!
· “Freezer Cooking/Baking”
o Biscuits
o Protein bars (not sure that these will freeze well, we’ll see; if not, I will make some anyway for labor!)
o Pizzas (we might just par-bake the crust and freeze those)
o Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies (There are two things in these that help with lactation: oatmeal and brewer’s yeast… I will change up the recipe a bit to make it more healthy. There is also a recipe for peanut butter ones, but it the recipe definitely needs some revising.)
· Buy a deep freezer (Robert is hunting this year and we’re hoping for a lot of deer meat!). Regardless, our freezer is so tiny and I think it would make things much easier to have a way to bake/cook a lot at one time and just pull from the freezer (once a month freezer cooking!). It would help us to not eat out much at all, and to just be able to throw something in the oven would be nice! We’re hoping to find a great deal on Craigslist when it comes time. I have found a few for about $50-$100. We’ll see what we find!
· Possibly buy a Grain mill attachment for my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer (this will most likely be bought with Christmas money… at least it will go to the purchase of it!). This is something that I have desired for a long time because it is SOOOO much healthier (most of the nutrients oxidize out of flour very quickly) and it will be cheaper in the long run. I can buy organic wheat berries for 79 to 89 cents a pound. Organic whole wheat flour is sometimes twice that. And, making things from scratch is definitely MUCH cheaper. Most of the time you’re paying for things because of the convenience. And, it’s less healthy.
· Buy Cloth Diapers: One box of BumGenius Flip Diapers, and one box of BumGenius Econobum Diapers (only $100 for 1 ½-2 days of diapers. This is SO much cheaper than buying disposables!!)
· Possibly buy a Bebe au Lait Nursing Cover: these are awesome because they have a wire in the top part so that you can actually see to latch the baby. I’m very excited about this because I think it will be much easier to nurse in public (this has been a huge issue for me in the past). This is on my “wish list” at the moment and isn’t necessarily a priority.
· Possibly buy a sleepy wrap. The sling that I had with Ethan (I had a Hotsling when he was a newborn… not talking about my Ergo) he outgrew REALLY fast (at that time they didn’t adjust), then it shrunk in the dryer. I highly believe in and recommend a sling or wrap for a newborn! This is another item on my “wish list.”
· Buy breast pads, nipple cream, etc. These are necessities. I’m looking into buying cloth breast pads. We’ll see.
· Buy a Sunshine Kids Radian Car Seat: We have to buy a new car seat because the three that we currently have won’t fit in our car. We have a Mazda Tribute, which is a small SUV, and we can’t afford to buy a new car. It’s much cheaper to buy a new car seat. These car seats are made to fit three across one seat. They are VERY narrow. Most car seats are at LEAST 18 inches across and this one is only 14 inches across. It’s also made with metal framing and seems more comfortable. The one that we want is the Radian 65, but it looks like they are in closeout, so we may have to buy a Radian 80 (they’re more expensive but look more comfortable). We’ll see what happens! We may have to buy two of these if the carrier still won’t fit in the car. I’m praying that it will fit because I would hate to have to buy two car seats right now.
· We need to pay off our midwife, set aside money for her assistant, and set aside money for a lactation consultant. This was already budgeted… and our midwife is close to being paid off :). It’s a great feeling. We also need to purchase our birth kit from In His Hands. This website is awesome because it is a family business, and it is local. People from all over the country purchase birth kits from here. The guy who runs it actually met his wife here at camp :).
· If we can, I’d like to stock up on some food/grocery items. I budgeted a little extra in January for this, so it should work out, but it’s not high on the priority list. These are things I would like to stock up on:
o Buy these things in bulk at Sun Harvest or Whole Foods:
We have a pretty stocked pantry right now, but with the holidays and Spring coming up, we will be eating a lot more at home, so it will deplete quickly!)
We have a pretty stocked pantry right now, but with the holidays and Spring coming up, we will be eating a lot more at home, so it will deplete quickly!)
* Hard White Wheat berries (to grind into flour)
* Rolled oats (mostly for breakfast cookies, baked oatmeal, and granola)
* Sucanat
* Beans (pinto and black)
* Rice
* Whole wheat pasta
o Other Whole Foods items:
* Shampoo/conditioner (we’ve decided to buy their 365 brand because it is $4.99 for 32 oz and is free of all the toxins that we try to avoid!)
* Dish washer detergent (we buy BioKleen and it is cheapest at Whole Foods… it works awesomely with our well water)
o Costco: (I may buy meat at farmer’s market… we’ll see!)
* Several whole chickens
* Several pounds of ground beef (if we don’t get deer meat)
* Several pounds of link sausage and breakfast sausage
* Several dozen eggs (I won’t buy more than we can use with-in a month or so… but we do eat a LOT of eggs)
* Toilet paper (32 rolls of a recycled brand)
* Laundry detergent (ECOS brand… a 220 load container for $14!)
* Organic frozen veggies/fruits (5-6 pound bags of organic broccoli, mixed veggies, corn, green beans, etc)
* Organic peanut butter (this is actually cheaper than making our own!)
* Organic Eggs
* Butter
* Organic Canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and paste
* Organic Eggs
* Butter
* Organic Canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and paste
o Vitacost:
* Vitamins (the kids have plenty, I will just need more prenatals) and fish oil (we have plenty, but the kids will need some Nordic Naturals). These are definitely worth it. Not only does it help their moods when I consistently give it to them, it also helps their immune systems!
* Herbs for milk supply (haven’t decided which ones to buy yet)
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