The Schmitt Family: We Are Ready!

I finally think that Steve and I are ready for Carter's arrival! I don't think we could ever feel completely ready, but I feel like I have done all of the things I wanted to do in order to prepare for his birth. You know, the long To-Do list for your home, yard, life, etc. that you put off until you have to do it. Well, Carter definitely kicked us into gear! We have decluttered and organized the entire house. I am not kidding when I say I spent two days over Christmas cleaning out our closet and organizing our room! We also rearranged most of our furniture in order to turn what was formerly the guest room into Carter's room. It has been no small task, but I am so glad now that it is done!

This past weekend we finished our final preparations. Maggie came over to play with Abbie on Saturday morning so we could go to storage and get all of our baby gear out. Thank you Maggie! Steve spent Saturday afternoon putting the swing, bouncy chairs, etc. together, with Abbie's help. Abbie loves to try to sit in the bouncy chairs and to push the swing. I am sure we are headed for "fights" over who gets to use them!

This is the bouncy chair we fondly refer to as "pink petal". It is the only true "girl" piece of baby equipment we bought. I am sure Carter will love seeing pictures of himself in it when he is a teenager!

Carter's room is as ready as it can be, considering Abbie is still using the crib. He will sleep with us for a few months anyway, so I am not in a rush to move her just yet! Here are some pictures of his room. Right now it is mainly being used to store Abbie's big girl bed! The crib will go where Abbie's bed is currently resting. I found cute white, brown and blue letters to spell his name above the crib. It is probably hard to tell now, but the "theme" of his room is puppies and trucks.

I recently found some old cork boards during my cleaning, and decided to make memo boards for Carter. It is the first, and probably the last, thing I will make him for a very long time! I am just not that crafty, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

Finally, Steve put in the carseats last night. We took Abbie's out to wash the cover and clean under it. I can not tell you how many stale cheerios and raisins I found in and around her seat! Unfortunately, eating in the car helps us avoid meltdowns on long car rides so I guess I will have to deal with it. When she got in the car this morning and noticed Carter's seat she did not know what to do. She looked confused and said she wanted it "out". Sorry Abbie, I think you are stuck with a back seat companion for a very long time! Later this afternoon, we put one of her babies in it to ride with us and that made it a little better. I can't believe how crowded my backseat looks now! And poor Steve can't even put the seat back far enough to drive the car anymore!