The birth story of lil' Carter.

So based on our fast labor experience with Hannah, we knew we weren't going to dilly dally around with this next one. At the first labor pain we were going to head right into the hospital, and it's a good thing we did! Because this labor experience was very similar and nearly as short as Hannah's!

Perhaps shoveling all that snow Wednesday afternoon really was too much for me, because around bed time later that night I started feeling the early labor aches (9:30pm). I showered and laid down for a little bit but that same back ache kept coming every 8 minutes or so, just like I'd had with Eli and Hannah's labors. After about an hour and a half of it, even though it was still very mild and I could almost still lay very peacefully through them, I knew I should probably wake Kevin and start getting things together. It was about 11:15pm at this point. I called the night sitter and we had to figure out how to get her since their van was broken. I felt unsure calling her in already since labor was still so mild, but I wasn't fooling around this time! Kevin went to town and picked her up and by the time he got back nearly 40 minutes later, the pain was definitely starting to get a lot more uncomfortable. She came, we gave her a short bit of instructions, and off we went. It was about 12:30am by this point. Right after we left the house we hit a thick wall of fog. Ugh. All I wanted was to hurry up and get to the hospital now that we were in the middle of nowhere and you know, we're in the truck! I prayed that God would lift the fog, like he parted the Red Sea, and I was pretty frustrated that He didn't, but I did pray the whole way "just get us there, just get us there..." I was starting to moan through contractions now and they were coming about 3 minutes apart, so with a 30-minute drive through thick fog I was feeling uneasy about whether we'd make it in time. BUT we did! Whew!!! We checked into the hospital at 1:10am, and by the time we were settled and I was changed into my gown and all that and the nurse finally checked me I was at 8cm already, water bag still bulging. So I decided to stick it out the rest of the way with no meds. The nurse contacted my doctor to come in to the hospital right away. Contractions continued, hard and miserable, but thankfully short (maybe 30 seconds long?) and with each one I could feel that we were getting closer. The doctor broke my water and while she was doing that the next contraction started coming, and it was time to push! Midway through the doctor gave me an episiotomy, I continued pushing and out he came just a few minutes later! 1:50am, just 45 minutes after getting to the hospital. They laid Carter on me right away and did everything with him right there on my belly. I've never had that before so all the gooeyness kind of weirded me out, but wow, what an amazing experience. Sort of. I mean, I still hate the whole labor process. It hurts. So bad. But I'm so thankful it was short again. And based on Carter's weight, 7 lbs 9 oz, I'm glad he came 2 weeks early or he would've ended up being quite big! I'm just so thankful for the timing of it all! One day before Kevin's 6-day off of work, so he either won't have to take much time off at all and save his days, or he'll get a super long break at home, whichever we decide. Except the fog, the weather was clear. No blizzards! And we keep being told there's a big a snow coming the end of the month. I never did get to try all my Nettle Tea for labor (anyone want it?? I'll mail it to you!), and I never would've expected the lil' guy to come 2 weeks before the due date (Eli was 7 days after the DD, and Hannah was 3 days before DD) even though I was kind of hoping he would, but it all worked out just fine and with the beautiful blessing of Carter James!

Aside from being quite tired, I've been feeling really great! Very little pain, I haven't taken any pain pills or anything since the one immediately after delivery. I've been up and walking around and already enjoying the freedom to sleep on my belly again! =)

Carter was a super sleepy baby for his first 12 hours. I nursed him a little 1 hour after delivery but then he was not interested at all for the rest of the day! I was a little uneasy about that, because I still wasn't confident that he was really latching on well yet. But around 6pm he finally started showing interest in eating and I've been able to get him to eat well every 3 hrs-ish. Which is what I need to go do right now, so I better scoot!

But there's the brief update with much more to come soon!

You can see a lot more pictures over at the family blog!

Maternity Pics - 37 weeks

I'm just over 37 weeks and wanted to get a few more updated pregnancy pics before it ended and I possibly don't experience it again. (see my 28-week photo session HERE.) Some of these I did myself with the camera remote (a very cool little gadget, by the way, as long as you don't lose it), and then after awhile I had Kevin come in to take some pics for me with the kids. For most of these images I applied a Photoshop action from the Dazzle Effects 4 set. I like how they worked for these photos! It's always fun to play with, but it's not very often I can find a good match for the picture. Anyway, the photos...

my fave of the day

w. the kids. not exactly what I had hoped for, but it works.

and the traditional side profile just for good measures
Not much longer, folks!!

B-Day prayer requests.

Baby Day that is. I had an appointment yesterday--went well, I'm 3 cm dilated already but I know it's common to sit that way for a couple weeks, I'm not effaced, so I'm not getting hyped about labor starting tomorrow or anything. But it is a reminder that the day is coming soon! Specific prayer requests regarding our upcoming delivery:

* Decent traveling weather. Having no snow removal for our country lane other than a shovel and friendly neighbors, we've been seriously snowed in several times in the last month, and I can't help but feel slightly concerned for what it could be like during baby time. Yes, we've delivered at home before but not by ourselves (thanks to paramedics!) and we certainly wouldn't choose to do that again! So pray that the roads are fine that day and we're able to get safely to the hospital 35 min away.

* Childcare. We have a few people in mind to watch the kids when it's "time", so we pray that when the time comes it all falls into place smoothly and quickly and our people are available.

* Labor itself. It's not a fun process, so I'm praying that it too will go smoothly and fairly quickly but not too quickly! Hoping that it will be a fairly fast labor, I'm going to try to do it without an epidural, just because it was so much "easier" to actually feel what was going on, as crappy as it hurts. I'm thankful for the epidural I had for Eli because his was such a LONG labor and I'd had NO sleep the night before, but if it's going to be a short deal then I'm going to try to tough it out. This time I'm going to drink a lot of nettle tea along with the regular raspberry leaf tea the week of labor and see if that helps diminish labor pains. Most importantly though we're praying for no complications and a safe delivery.

* The baby. A strong and healthy baby!

* Breastfeeding. Eli was terrible at nursing and it never did work for us, and Hannah was great, so I'm praying that this baby will latch on right away and breastfeeding will be a joy instead of a heart-wrenching battle.

* The kids. Praying that they will transition well to the new baby and Mommy's new demands.

* Me. Comfort during these final days, patience for the wait, strength to endure labor, and energy for all that is to come.

Again, I know that God has every detail worked out already. Good or bad, it is all for His glory. Thanks for praying, and if you know of any encouraging Bible verses for this time in life, I'd love to hear! You're such dear friends!

Before-Baby To-Do List

We're almost down to 4 WEEKS before Baby's due date! Can you believe that?! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! I don't know why, but I feel so unprepared this time around! I feel so busy and swamped with the two that we have that I'm definitely feeling more than uneasy about how the adjustment will go with the addition of a third! We first heard that the transition was the same as going from one to two kids, but now I just keep hearing how extremely DIFFICULT it is for the first several months! So please, can anyone share some hopeful honesty or tips to make it easier??

I'm also feeling a bit stressed about delivery and all the details surrounding that. The timing with Kevin's work schedule, arrangements for the kids (WHO can be our on-call people, day and night until my parents can get here), the weather (seeing that we've had some MASSIVE snow lately!), and labor itself knowing this time we need to hurry to the hospital to avoid another surprise home delivery! I know God has it already planned out, every single detail, but it's just hard to rest in the unknown.

Pregnancy-wise I'm feeling very good. Sleeping well through the night. (for now!) Earlier in pregnancy I woke up nearly every night to pee almost precisely at 2am, but now I must be so exhausted that once I'm asleep I'm out until morning. And it takes so much effort to roll over at all that I just don't even move. I've had much fewer leg cramps than my last two pregnancies, probably less than a handful total, and that's good. There's nothing like having to hop out of bed in the middle of the night to walk out a cramp that ends up lingering for days. I only have mild heartburn sometimes, and no swelling or anything. But I'm definitely reaching the point where I'm just ready to not be pregnant any more. The huffs and puffs of trying to reach something, the extremely awkward baby movement, and the frustration of not being able to find a comfortable way to sit on the couch. I can't complain though, because pregnancy has been VERY good to me! It's just a bit hard for any woman, and I'm ready to reach the end and meet our baby!

So with that, here is my final to-do list as we prepare for this sweet baby boy:

* Finish hospital pre-registration forms.
* Make arrangements for where kids are going to stay.
* Pack kids' overnight bag.
* Rearrange van and install infant car seat.
* Clean up and prepare guest room. I never reaaally cleaned it after having our windows installed. So it's still super dusty and needs the bedding washed, even though I continue to keep clean folded laundry on there ALL the time now.
* Stock up cupboards and freezer with meals.
* Sew curtains for Eli's room. (I finally found fabric to make matching curtains for his second window!)
* Sew nursing cover blanket.
* Make a list for my hospital bag.
* Figure out snow plow something or other to make sure we can get out of lane if there's snow that week!
* Try on nursing bras again and decide whether to return or keep.
* Purchase Hannah's birthday presents, since her birthday is so soon after Baby's due date. Thanks, Amazon!
* Prepare MOPS activities for February meeting.

* Shopping List:

• OxyClean and a bucket. (ahh, how I've forgotten those days...)
• Binkies (just in case. our old ones look gross)
• Infant socks. (I cannot find the ones we had for Eli!)
• Raspberry leaf tea. (Due date is the 28th, and I'll be shooting to deliver on the 25 or 26th)
• Nursing pads.
• Baby hangars.
  

Maternity Pics

I've been wanting to get some belly pics for awhile now, but no one's here to take a picture of me. And for some reason using the timer on my camera only focused on the background cuz no one's in the picture and then when I pop in the frame I'm just an out-of-focus blur. But Kevin was so kind to help me find my tiny camera remote the other day (it was in the camera bag! ha!), so today, already being done up for church, finally gave it a try. I looked fat and ugly in any standing pics and it was crazy windy, so I opted to try laying down, but it was awkward trying to find ways to lay--what to do with my arms, how to angle my head, and of course how to get a good angle of the belly--all the while going back and forth to the camera to see how they were turning out. Oh the joys, but this is what I got!

28 weeks pregnant

not trying to look dead in this one! more like ready for a nap!my favorite one from the day, I think

It's a.... BOY!

Today's ultrasound went well, and as you can tell from the post title, we found out we're having a BOY! Everything measured just right, if anything ONE DAY ahead of the due date but that's nothing. I wanted it to be a whole family event, and I'm so thankful Kevin could get out of work just a little early and I could work out the kids' naps so they could come too. Before naps I looked up some pictures of ultrasound images to show Eli, just so he'd know kind of what it would look like since I've been telling him for a week now how we get to take a peek at the baby using a special machine. I also found a picture of a woman getting the ultrasound and how she was laying on the table. So as soon as we walked into the room, Eli was telling me to get on the table. Funny! He knew exactly what was going on! I forgot how long it takes to get all the measurements though and the kids were pretty restless, well, mostly Hannah throughout the whole deal. And most of it I really couldn't tell what the images were of. Baby was curled up in a ball the whole time so we didn't get a good shot of his face or body, but we could definitely tell it was a baby! =) But man, I'm sooo thankful that things are looking good and healthy! And we can start preparing for the arrival of BABY BOY!

Pregnancy-wise I've been feeling great! So far, with all three pregnancies that first-trimester nausea has stopped right at 12 weeks! Praise the Lord! And I'm just now starting to actually look pregnant instead of just a little round, haha! And I'm also starting to FEEL the belly, like when I bend down or certain movements. Now to find a pair of good maternity pants! Ugh, it's soo hard and all my comfy pants like yoga pants or whatever are capris and will soon be packed away for the season. Or not, we'll see. Hopefully soon I'll have a picture for you! I really haven't taken any yet!

So dear friends, thank you for your prayers as this ultrasound was approaching! Continue to pray for a smooth rest of the pregnancy!

By the way, tomorrow's the big day!!

UPDATE: Okay, so I guess TUESDAY'S the big day! One hour before my appointment yesterday my ultrasound got rescheduled for next week. Grr... I was so bummed, seeing as that has been the highlight of my week all week and I'd gotten it all hyped up with the kids since I want them to be a part of it too. But since I napped the kids way early and Kevin had gotten off work early for it, I just HAD to get out of the house and do something fun in replacement. So we took off for Lincoln and just enjoyed an evening out. We got two new swings for our swing set and had a yummy dinner at Outback Steakhouse, as a last little hurrah before Kevin's starts outage next week and we have NO family time for an entire month. So that's exactly what we'll be doing this weekend--enjoying family time!

Tomorrow afternoon is my 20-week ultrasound in which we get a sneak peek at our baby AND hopefully find out BOY/GIRL! I didn't think I wanted to know this time, but I do. Having found out with both Eli and Hannah, I know the joy of "knowing" and it really is wonderful. To feel like you already know the baby within your belly. Like the baby is already part of the family instead of waiting for it to be part of the family. It just makes it all seem so much more real. And it's still a surprise, just earlier! It's hard to explain unless you've been there. But I just can't wait! And of course I'm a little bit anxious too because we get to look at the baby. So far all we've known is that it is has a heartbeat. But tomorrow we'll find out if things are really going okay, and that makes me a little nervous, so be praying that everything goes well. And of course, you'll be hearing from me again SOON!! Until tomorrow...

Toodles!

I want to know!

So when we found out we were pregnant with our third child we thought we'd let this baby's gender remain a surprise until delivery. But as that 20-week ultrasound gets closer I'm changing my mind! I want to know what we're having! Last week when I was shopping for Hannah and Eli's fall/winter wardrobes I kept wishing I could pick out a little something for the baby too. And it reminded me that it's those little things I enjoy so much when preparing for a baby's arrival. We found out gender with both Eli and Hannah, mostly for planning purposes so we'd know we had the right clothes, but even this time when that doesn't matter as much, I still want to know. I guess I just feel more bonded with the baby when I do little things for him/her that includes it as part of the family even now, even if it's a small something. I would maybe like to make a special blanket for it, but I know afterwards I really won't have so much time. I usually buy everything used for the kids but for each one I've gone and picked out one special new outfit, just for fun. And it will be fun to know which child the baby will be sharing a room with so we can start figuring out dresser storage stuff. And like I said, after Baby arrives we won't have as much free time. So what do you think? If you've found out gender with your babies, what were your reasons? And if you've left it a surprise, how did you do it?

Yup, it's true!

We are indeed expecting Baby #3 due January 28! This one came as a little bit of a surprise but we are very excited nonetheless! I guess I'm about 13 weeks now (I'm losing track this time around!) and finally starting to feel a lot better. Not so much nausea, though menu planning is still much harder than usual. We found out just before Father's Day but I finally had my first real appointment this past Thursday and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. Strong and he/she was kicking around though I couldn't feel it yet. Already getting a little bit of a rounder belly. Since we already have one boy and one girl now, I think this time we're going to wait to find out this baby's gender until delivery! And hopefully that delivery will actually be in the hospital this time! =) So far all is well and we are very thankful but continued prayers are very appreciated!

Here's the story....

THE Birth Story

of
Hannah Elizabeth
born February 14, 2008

Thursday came and early on I sort of felt like it wouldn't be long until Baby came. Not very often but occasionally throughout the day the Braxton Hicks contractions would feel crampy and I'd feel pain in my back. But it definitely wasn't labor, not yet. It was just a clue that something would be happening sometime soon, as in the a day or so maybe...

Kevin and I didn't have any plans for Valentine's Day this year because we never knew if we'd be having a baby or not. But in the afternoon (around 4:00) we decided to go out for dinner (with Eli of course). During dinner I started having very mild contractions, probably about 15 minutes apart. I realized it was probably labor but very early on, so we just continued with dinner and took our time. After dinner (5:15) we went to the mall so I could walk around, as walking is good for labor. Contractions were picking up but still just fine. It felt the same as the early labor contractions I had with Eli all night long. Then (around 7:00) we went home to give Eli a bath and put him in bed. Contractions probably upped another notch and were more frequent, every 3 minutes-ish but still manageable, and I just continued pacing around the house moaning through the contractions. At 7:30, once Eli was in bed, Kevin and I started tidying up the house for the sitter. 8:00 we turned on one of our TV shows (I'm still pacing around the house, moaning. Contractions are only 30-40 seconds long but coming every 2-3 minutes). 8:15 I decided to hop in the shower. Not relaxing and I'm feeling pretty miserable. 8:30 I finish with the shower, get those toiletries packed into our hospital bags, and start crying of the pain. It's getting bad so we decide we're going to call the doctor anyway, even though they had told me to call when contractions were 1 minute long for an hour, which they weren't. They were still only 30-40 seconds. 8:45ish we called the doctor who said to go to the hospital. But as soon as Kevin hung up the phone, labor was over-the-top and I was full-out screaming in pain. I was feeling the urge to push, or go to the bathroom, I wasn't sure which. And before we knew it part of the placenta was starting to come out! So Kevin ran to the neighbor's who is a nurse, and she came over immediately with nursing sheets and blankets and got me laid down on the floor while Kevin called 911. The fire station is only 2 blocks away, so a fireman and the paramedics were there in no time, and in about 10 minutes the baby was delivered right there on our living room floor. 9:17 pm.

The cord was wrapped around her neck twice and it took awhile for her to start crying. But no one was panicked (except maybe Kevin and me) and she was out just fine. They got her toweled off and me onto a gurney and baby Hannah and I were off to the hospital to finish delivery (of placenta), get stitched, check vitals, and recover, while Kevin waited at the house for the baby sitter to come stay with Eli. Through the whole labor Eli was just upstairs sleeping in his crib. I saw (via the monitor) him sit up sometime in the middle but then he went right back to sleep despite all the screaming, commotion, and flashing lights.

It was a long and bumpy ambulance ride to the hospital. It was just uncomfortable since labor still felt unfinished for me. But Hannah and I had a warm welcome when we arrived at the hospital emergency room, and they all clapped for us. It was very neat. And the paramedics gave us a little teddy bear as a keepsake. Kevin arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes later with all our bags and gear. And then we were able to settle into our room for the night.

Eli's labor lasted about 20 hours. I labored at home all through the night but even still we were early when we went to the hospital in the morning and had to walk around the hospital and wait in triage for quite awhile before ever getting fully checked in for still a long day of laboring. I definitely did not want that to happen again, so this time I stayed home for as long as the contractions were manageable (I planned on having an epidural). But somehow everything with Hannah's labor just progressed sooo quickly there was no time between when the contractions were "too hard" and when she was coming already! And the water never did break until her head was coming out, so it was just all fast on its own and a complete surprise!

And there we have it! Little Hannah Elizabeth was born at home on Valentine's Day!

(check my last post to see more pictures)

Baby is here!

Hannah Elizabeth
7 lbs, 6 oz
19.5 inches
February 14, 2008 9:17 pm

It was a VERY fast labor and ended up being a surprise home birth! Kevin, our neighbor who is a nurse, the fireman, paramedics, and Eli upstairs sleeping in his crib were all there for the speedy delivery. It was crazy but God was working through all of the situation, and everything turned out just fine. We were then taken to the hospital to get cleaned up, check vitals, and recover. We're all fine and home now! Baby is very mellow, nursing well, and healthy! More details on the labor story are sure to come, either tonight or tomorrow probably. But I at least wanted to post the news and share some pictures....

Soon!

Just wanted to share an update from today's OB appointment.... I am 1 week + 2 days from the due date, and right now I am 2-3 cm dilated. The cervix is soft but still long (not effaced). And the baby has dropped and her head is right there! It was very encouraging to hear! It doesn't mean she's coming tomorrow or anything, but at least I know my body is getting ready! Hopefully in the next week we'll get to meet Baby Girl!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for our soon-to-arrive Baby Girl! I am thankful that God has brought me through a healthy, full-term (as of this Sunday), decently comfortable pregnancy. (pic) I am thankful for the joy she already brings to our lives. I am thankful that God already knows all her days. He knows when she will arrive and how she will arrive. It seems every couple days I'm saying to myself, "Ooo, I'm glad I didn't go into labor that day! ...Eli was throwing up, or our family to watch Eli was stricken with the flu, or this event was going on." GOD KNOWS. He knows the number of her days, who she will become, who she will marry, if she marries. He already has that all planned out, and it's exciting to think about! I can't wait for the story to all unfold and to meet my beautiful baby girl...

In the meantime, here are my prayer requests for these last couple weeks and delivery:
* comfort and good rest through the rest of the pregnancy. I'm feeling great, BUT in the evenings around 8-10pm Baby Girl starts going crazy in there and her movements are very uncomfortable! she's running out of room in there!
* good timing of labor. Because we have to depend on other families to watch Eli while we're in the hospital, I pray that the timing all works itself out such that we're not inconveniencing these wonderful friends who have offered to take care of our sweet boy.
* natural labor BEFORE the due date! (please!) Or just patience, maybe. I went 7 days past the due date with Eli and though it doesn't seem like a big deal, it was. I was comfortable but the emotions you go through as each day passed was pretty awful!
* obviously, for an uncomplicated labor and healthy baby
* that Baby Girl can breastfeed just fine. I had a miserable time with Eli. He just could not get it, even though I was doing everything right. We tried for several weeks, but even after seeing two different lactation consultants, it wasn't any better and we gave up. It was very emotionally challenging as a mother who really wanted that relationship with her baby. So I pray that it goes better this time!
* the transition for Eli as we welcome a new baby into our home. In a couple weeks he'll be 19 months, so he doesn't really understand what's going on. He'll find out soon enough!
* safe travels for family and friends that will be visiting soon after!

Okay, I think that's about it. Thank you all for your wonderful prayers! I'll keep you updated!

For more thankful posts, visit Iris! Have a great week, dear friends!

36 weeks

Haven't posted a pregnancy pic on this blog for quite some time, so here ya go. I took this today...

Busy at work!

Ever since I started getting up at 6:00 every morning my days have been incredibly productive and I've been knocking things off the baby to-do list like crazy! Just this week I completed:

#7 washed the baby's clothes and bassinet bedding
#11 got our overnight bags part-way packed
#12 wrote up Eli's schedule for our friends who will be watching him
#15 washed the sheets and tidied up the guest room for family and friends who will be visiting soon after baby's arrival
#4 moved the rocking chair out of Eli's room and downstairs to the living room
#3 finished Eli's quilt for his toddler bed:

(quilt front)

(quilt back)

and #28 on 101 Goals list: updated photo album (until 3 days ago we didn't have any pictures developed from since Eli was born! and now I've completed his first 10 months!)

Many of the remaining to-do's are in no rush. Now that I have the quilt done while I have time to sew, everything else related to the toddler bed can wait until sometime within two months AFTER the baby is here. And since the bassinet will definitely crowd our bedroom and takes no time to bring up from the basement and set up, we'll wait until closer to the due date. And it's not time yet to order the baby carrier. However, I AM hoping to tackle the basement starting this weekend or so. It's quite a disaster, especially since I've recently taken down more things to be stored away (Eli's clothes).

So that's how we're doing! Today's prenatal checkup confirmed that baby is in head-down position, so that's very good! We'll just keep waiting!

Getting Organized

Amy had a list of her things she had to do before their baby Sarah arrived. So I'm going to follow in her steps and get my list going! I can't believe the time is almost here!

THINGS TO DO BEFORE BABY COMES:

1. Find and set up toddler bed.
   
2. Purchase toddler sheets.
3. Finish quilt for toddler bed. completed 1/18/08
   
4. Move rocking chair downstairs. completed 1/17/08
   
5. Tidy up basement. (it's out of control again!) completed 1/19/08
   
6. Pack away the latest of Eli's clothes that he's outgrown. completed 1/17/08
   
7. Wash baby clothes, including bassinet bedding. completed 1/14/08
   
8. Clean the car seat. completed 1/19/08
   
9. Install infant car seat. completed 1/20/08
   
10. Finish Eli's first-year memory book. completed 1/22/08
    
11. Pack bags (lists are already made).completed 1/14/08
    
12. Write up Eli's daily schedule. completed 1/14/08
    
13. Order new baby carrier. completed 2/2/08
    
14. Bring bassinet up from basement and put in our bedroom. completed 2/3/08
    
15. Wash sheets and tidy up guest bedroom. completed 1/17/08
    

The list may continue to grow as I think of things. But hopefully I'll be checking things off at the same time! Just 5 and a half weeks to go! (or something like that)

6 weeks and counting...

...Or something like that. Until Baby Girl's arrival!! Now that Christmas is over I've finally gotten busy getting things organized. Once Baby Girl outgrows the bassinet in our room and is mostly sleeping through the night, the two kids will be sharing a room until we move in the fall. So I've been busy organizing Eli's room--the dresser, closet, and toys (since we got more at Christmas). I wish I had some "before" pictures to show you of Eli's room and closet. But I'm pretty excited at how it's looking now! I was planning on buying a second dresser and just putting it in the closet, but at this time of year I was really looking to avoid making that purchase, and I came up with an even better solution! Eli will share the dresser and closet, so each child gets two drawers and half the closet. And for additional storage for burp cloths, bibs, towels, washcloths, and sheets I got a medium-sized plastic drawer system from Target. It's just the right amount of space and doesn't take up nearly as much of the closet. The bottom shelf of the changing table used to hold stacks of blankets, but I've moved those to a laundry basket in the closet and put toys (puzzles n such) on that shelf instead. And since I don't have a big dresser in the closet I was able to squeeze in a hamper for Baby Girl. (I'd like each person to have their own hamper and laundry day. Just makes things easier.) So now all that's really left is to move the rocking chair downstairs and find a toddler bed for in its place. But that can wait just a bit longer. Once we move the rocking chair out, we won't have nighttime snuggles with Eli, and I will really miss that. So for now we'll just enjoy it. I'm also working on sewing a quilt for Eli's new bed. He won't transition to that until a month or two after the baby, but I imagine I won't so much have time to sew then, so that's why I'm getting it done now. It gives me a project to work on during this long month of January anyway, as I'm sure I'll be getting quite antsy and restless as the due date approaches!

Newly organized closet with basket of blankets, storage drawers, and hamper.
Left side is for Eli, right side is for Baby Girl.
Toys on bottom shelf now.

The toddler bed will go where the chair and space heater are.

Just another room shot.
Notice the ABC wall hangings I made.