Choosing baby gear is a daunting task, especially for new parents!  There is so much out there and a lot of factors to consider when making a decision.  I spent way too much time on my registry!  While in the store I looked at everything and scanned a ton of items.  Then while I was home, I’d scour reviews and adjust my registry…. though sometimes this led me to tears.  I really want this but someone said [insert negative review here]!  I swear picking out gear made me question my ability to parent at some points!  Once I let go of finding the perfect thing for each item we needed it went much smoother.

One of my top registry items was a playard of some sort.  They are handy for travel as well as for offering a safe space when mommy needs to step away from baby for a few.  While they aren’t a replacement for a crib, they are definitely a handy piece of baby gear.  When Rissa was first home, we used a playard with a bassinet in the living room while her regular bassinet was in our bedroom.  Those first two weeks she slept so much, as newborns do, that we needed handy places to lay her down.  I also wanted to keep her in sight!

The InGenuity™ Signature Edition SleepEasy™ Playard would have been helpful with the changing table area… but I’m getting ahead of myself!  We received this playard to review with the help of my newborn nephew!
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Today marks the start of my 3rd trimester.  It’s hard to believe it.  On the one hand, it feels like time has flown by, but on the other hand… babygirl just isn’t arriving fast enough!! (But please stay in there, sweetie, until you are done cookin’.)

With 13 weeks left… let’s take a look at what I have left to do from the list I posted up when I hit the halfway point:

1 – Crochet a baby blanket (well, need to learn how to crochet well first… eeps)

Well, I still haven’t started this.  I bought the yarn and asked my mom for a lesson to refresh my memory.  Hopefully I’ll get it made before she turns one…

2 – Paint the nursery (more specifically, this is hubby’s job)

This was completed!!

3 – Train cats to stay out of the bassinet (although they haven’t climbed in… yet)

The cats are staying out of it with no problem… for now.  I’ve been trying to keep them off my glider though.  That hasn’t been as easy.  For some reason, they really love just hanging out in the nursery.

4 – Make plastic canvas Nursery Rhyme pictures (I have the patterns, just need more yarn!)

Haven’t started this…

5 – Find and sign up for classes: birthing and breastfeeding

I got us signed up for a few classes: childbirth, breastfeeding, and bring home new baby.  This weekend is the childbirth class.  I have the BFing class in a couple weeks and the new baby class is mid-September.

6 – Find a daycare for when I return to work

I’m still working on finding word of mouth recommendations before I start checking places out.

7 – Find a pediatrician

I received several recommendations, which is awesome.  One is nearby and is actually within the same clinic as mine and Brian’s primary care doctor.  Now I just need to talk with him and see if he’s accepting new patients.  I hope to have this and daycare sorted out by the end of September.

8 – Purchase whatever essentials we don’t get from dear sweet family and friends that are an absolute must for the first few weeks

Can’t do this part yet until after the babyshower! It’s scheduled for mid-September.  I also have a work shower coming up as well.

Well, at least there really isn’t anything to add to this list!

The holiday weekend was quite productive.  We did some good housecleaning (not just surface-get-rid-of-clutter-cleaning).  With the help of some friends, the nursery is now painted!  Brian also put together my glider, so it’s starting to look like a nursery, which I find very exciting.

Be warned, this post will be a bit picture heavy so you can see in progress shots as well as finished shots.  Enjoy!

(For those curious, I chose green before we knew we were having a little girl.  I still wanted green after that.  I’ll be spending a lot of time in that room and want it to be pleasing to all of us.  Plus, green goes great with so many colors, so I figured it would be easy to work with to make the room feel more “boyish” or “girlish.”  The color is Marsh Fern by Behr.  Awesomely good paint!)

The first pictures show how it looked before the painting party.  Most of the room had been cleared out so it wasn’t filled with storage, boxes, etc. anymore.  The bassinet has been holding it’s own in there.  The ceiling was white while the walls were an off-white color.  You can see a couple spots of the sample paint on the walls.  Brian put some of the sample paint on various walls so I could make sure it dried the color I wanted as well as check it out in different lighting around the room.

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We continue to make headway in our quest to prepare the nursery.  The room is almost (almost!) completely cleared of non-baby items and we were able to get rid of the futon today.  That was taking up a lot of space.

So, we finally got to put together the bassinet that my parents bought for us almost a month ago.   (Thanks again, Mom & Dad!)

Well, ok, so my wonderful husband put it together.  I primarily directed the operation, clutching the instructions and telling him what to do… all while helping to steady pieces a bit here and there as he assembled it.

I really like it.  It’s called Sweetest Dreams Bassinet by Delta.  The bassinet is neutral in color (green!) and has adorable little lambs on the mobile.  It can be in rocking stance or drop down the wheels to roll it.  It seems pretty sturdy and doesn’t appear to tip over easily when in the rocking stance.

The mobile turns the lambs, plays music, blinks lights, and has a night light.

So far, the cats have not tried to get into it.  They’ve sniffed it a bit and laid near it….

Hopefully they won’t try since it’s kind of a high jump.  Our big orange tabby really likes that room.  This is going to be very interesting.  I’m sure he’s starting to miss the futon quite a bit now.