Can you tell that with the school year finished, I have more time to blog? :) I have been having fun preparing for baby in my extra time.
We needed to get a new bassinet, but I wanted to just use a Moses basket this time around because it is much smaller, more portable (since baby might need to nap in different rooms on different days), and non-toxic. I absolutely detest that virtually all baby products in the US come doused in flame retardants, which are known carcinogens, and are what I believe the biggest culprit behind SIDS. Whenever possible, I try to avoid them.
Amazon carries a really nice Moses basket. They also sell an organic mattress pad for it, but that may or may not mean it has been treated with funky chemicals, not to mention it looks thin and stiff because it is covered in plastic. The bumper pad I found was nice, but too pricey.
Instead, I opted to buy barrier cloth and wool to make a mattress, and flannel and sateen tape to make the bumper. I already had wool batting in the house for the bumper, so my total cost was far less than getting these items ready-made, plus I had fun making them.
Thinking about getting a Moses basket reminded me that back in Germany when my brother was little (he is 16 years younger than me), my mother used a special hanging cradle for him, which he loved. This contraption basically consists of a soft spring attached to the ceiling that moves very gently up and down and side to side if the baby stirs at all, with a net hanging from the spring that holds the Moses basket (or a pram top or car seat - recommendations in the Old Country are not subject to the same safety concerns as here). Sadly, amazon.de does not ship this item to the US, but I was able to get it from a different online vendor in Germany. I was getting nervous that it would not arrive in time, but it did get here in less than 3 weeks total.
This beautiful hanging cradle now adorns my room, though we do also have hooks in the ceiling in two other rooms of the house should it need to be moved for a nap. The motion of this cradle is almost magical. I like to bump it when I lie in bed just to admire it. It swings/rocks about 70 times per minute, mimicking mom's heartbeat and motions. I can see why babies would love it!
For now, Boaz gave it a little test drive, and certainly enjoyed that.
As I mentioned in a previous post,
my mother-in-law had given my bedroom a fresh coat of paint on her last
visit here, and had also decorated the room with some new pictures and
other items. She did not hang any pictures on the walls above the bed,
because she knew they were likely to get knocked down by little people
sleeping in my bed.
One
morning this week, I woke up and thought, "I should stencil something
onto this wall!" and did just that. It took me all afternoon until
almost midnight, but I got it done in one sitting. There really was no
other option as I was using a projector, and there would have been no
way to get it to line up exactly a second time if I took it down in
between working on the project.
This is not the room I plan to give birth in, but these verses always make me think about pregnancy, birth, and child rearing.
A look around the rest of the room. It is the smallest bedroom in the house, but I really like how it turned out. This will be my little quiet retreat during the postpartum recovery.
The girls were all impressed with my art work, but one of their big brothers quickly gave me a reality check when I overheard him telling his sisters, "It's not like mom is some great artist or anything, she just used a projector to throw it on the wall, and then drew it on." Oh-kay! I agree it's not the Sistine Chapel, but it was tedious work, and took a lot of time.
In
addition to the bassinet, I also wanted to make a quilt for baby. The
fabrics I had on hand had actually been picked out for a blanket for
Boaz, but I never did get around to making him one, so I was going to use it this time around instead. However, once the
quilt top was assembled, I realized it was far too big for a little
baby, and would indeed be better suited for Boaz, who is now in his own toddler
bed (and mighty proud of it).
Miriam really has an eye for making things look pretty. She not only put the quilt on his bed, but then went on to decorate his little "den" by matching the safari theme of the blanket with a stuffed elephant, a book about a giraffe, and a tissue box of the same color. Then she snuggled up with Boaz in his bed and read stories to him. :)
Miriam and Becca have been wanting to learn quilting, which I thought they are just a tad too young for, so instead I picked up some pre-printed/quilted flannel top for them that they could use to practice just the layering, quilting, and binding part on, without having to actually do any piecing. Once they are done, those little quilts will be plenty warm for the baby - not like we really need much in the way of blankets in this summer heat.
Yesterday, my husband and I finally also settled on a girl name, after already having chosen a boy name some time ago. This is pretty unusual for us to do ahead of the birth, especially because both names were picked by me this time. Don't ask what they are, though - we won't tell until after baby is born and named. Announcing baby names ahead of time is a rookie mistake that seems to invite others' unsolicited opinions. ;) Both are New Testament names, so you can have fun guessing if you like.
And with that, we are all set for baby here, and are just waiting for his/her arrival any day now. :)
And with that, we are all set for baby here, and are just waiting for his/her arrival any day now. :)