The Travis Family Blog: Preparing for Baby

We are in the "red zone" as Phil likes to say. I prefer the home stretch but whatever way you want to say it we could have a baby any day now. I am now past my 37 week mark and we are ready. I think because I have had such an easy pregnancy these last few weeks could be bad. The pregnancy hasn't disrupted my lifestyle or my sleeping habits until now. Monday I had the 24 hour stomach flu and since then I haven't been able to get adequate sleep or rest since.

I am physically and mentally ready to meet his little baby boy growing inside of me. It will be fun to see who he looks like, learn his mannerisms and dress him in all the cute clothes we have collected. I am most looking forward to just cuddling with him and looking over his ever feature with awe and love.

The title of this post is about the essentials, we have them all. Here are the top 5 things that we have ready for baby:

1. The carseat - I LOVE everything about our carseat. It combines two of my favorite colors, green and blue. Phil has had it installed in the car for several weeks and it makes me giddy every time I look at it. Little Monkey is happy to try it out for us!

2. The Crib - My parents graciously purchased our crib for us. Dad spent countless weeks pouring over websites and stores to find the perfect crib for his grandbaby. I think he hit the nail on the head. It was a little bit larger than we thought it was but with some maneuvering of the rest of the nursery furniture it now fits perfectly.Phil helped me to put the sheets on and place the soft blue blanket we got from Two Tulips, a local store owned by a church friend. Mom and Phil helped to hang the lanterns about the crib and I love them!

3. Diapers - We are joining the "granola" world and will be a cloth diapering family. The day our diapers came in the mail was a happy day and over MLK weekend my parents helped me wash and stuff them all so they are ready to be used! We purchased 20 diapers from JustSimplyBaby and are borrowing some newborn diapers from our dear friend Natalie. We also have some disposables to help us get through the first few weeks. I am excited to start this eco friendly journey!

4. Clothes - Little monkey has SO many outfits thanks to the generous hearts of our dear friends and family. I have only purchased a few select items for him and everything else was given or donated. Here is to hoping he stays in 0-3 months clothes for a bit so he can actually wear these cute things! The red basket above holds more diapers (the night time ones with double the inserts), our moby wrap and cute elephant humidifier are also on the top shelf. The hanging shelf on the right holds burp cloths and more blankets :)

5. The Diaper Bag - I am not a huge purse girl but I have had my eye set on a particular diaper bag from Petunia Pickle Bottom for quite some time, however when it came down to actually registering I couldn't justify a $160 bag to carry diapers in so I did more research and visited a fabulous store in Holland Michigan called Tip Toes. They had so many different bags to look at, I found this similar styled bag for only $50 and added it to my registry. It is a JJ Cole bag and I love it. It is very gender neutral and not too girly so Phil won't feel silly carrying it. It is stuffed to the brim with all the diaper bag essentials :)