With only a handful of weeks left before baby girl arrives I’ve been getting super anxious about how we were going to eventually fit them both into one bedroom.
We plan to have the baby with us on our room of course for the first few months but I’ve still been stressing about space, furniture, layout, practicality or them sharing and where on earth I was going to put all the things that 2 girls need.
So, the weekend before Christmas we took the plunge and got cracking with the nursery.
Our first step was to get Amelia out of the cot and into her own big girl bed. Something I knew we had to tackle before the baby arrived because I couldn’t cope with that as well as a newborn. We picked up this little bed in the sale at John Lewis and she spent her first night in it on Sunday before Christmas Eve. I was expecting a battle, for her to be getting out of bed every 5 minutes and trashing the room but I totally didn’t give her enough credit.
She went to bed excited to be in her new bed and slept through with no disturbance. Part of me thought it couldn’t possibly last and as soon as she realised she could get out on her own it would be game over but it’s been a couple of weeks now and she’s not once gotten out of bed on her own. She lays there awake in the morning talking to her teddy or calling for me to come and get her but she won’t get out of the bed until I open the door and invite her to get up.
I almost can’t believe my luck with how well she’s taken to the new bed but I do keep reminding myself that it could all change one day so I’m just enjoying it whilst it lasts. She’s even taken to ‘chilling’ on her bed whilst I’m doing jobs upstairs. I’m finding this super helpful in the morning when I’m trying to get myself ready for work after getting her dressed. Since we gave her the Amazon tablet for Christmas she’s been happy just to lie on her bed and watch Duggee or Mr Tumble whilst I sort everything else out.
Having put her cot back up to the highest level ready for baby Amelia is now more aware that she’s getting a sister; every day she points to the cot as tells me “that’s for my sister” which is lovely to hear rather than her telling us that her sister isn’t coming in her room or that it’s hers and no one else’s. Let’s see how it goes when her sister actually does start sleeping in there though…
In order to fit both beds in, we’ve had to make some small changes to the layout, losing the lovely ladder shelves being the main one which I’m sad about because they looked lovely but the room simply isn’t big enough for everything for they have to go. At the moment, Amelia’s special teddies are taking up residence in baby’s cot which is fine whilst it’s not being slept in but they’ll need a new home once baby girl moves into the room permanently.
We’ve also swapped the units over in the room, moving the chest of drawers to the other wall to allow us to see both beds with the monitor. I’m sure Amelia will be just fine without the monitor now but I still like to check on her in the night and make sure she’s ok so I want to be able to rotate the camera and see both girls without having to go in and disturb them.
The changing table has taken the biggest hit in all the changes; it’s had some major reorganising to make sure all the important things are easy to hand and I picked up a basket kit from Ikea that has a little nappy bin and 3 clip-on baskets that I’m using on the side of the table to keep things close to hand and organised.
I’ve relocated Amelia’s name bunting above her bed and I’m hoping that I’ll have enough letters left in the kit (if I can find it) to give baby girl her name above her cot too. We think we’re pretty set on her name now but I’m afraid it’s going to be a surprise for when she’s born, just in case we change our minds on the day.
The walls are a little bare for my liking at the moment but I have a plan for them; I’ve bought Amelia and baby handmade dolls from Cuddle & Kind which each has their own print that I’m going to mount and frame to be hung above their beds.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to give this dolly to Amelia; she is having the dog (pink dress) and baby will have the lamb. My intention is to wrap the dog as a gift. I will take it with me in my hospital bag and when she comes to visit us for the first time she can open it as a gift from her new little baby sister.
My hope is that she will be excited to have a gift and won’t feel like the whole thing is all about the baby and not about her. I also love the idea of her having something so special to mark the occasion of becoming a big sister.
I’ll take the lamb in my bag too to give to the baby but she won’t understand anything at all on the day she’s born so that’s more about me giving her something special to mark her arrival.
To keep the surprise of the dolls a secret from Amelia my plan is to have the frames ready but not put them up on the wall until after we get home from the hospital; that’ll be a job for hubby whilst we’re all at home together.
These little gifts are so special to me that I think I might do another post about them if you’re interested to know more or see close-ups then keep your eyes open for that.
I honestly can’t tell you how much better I feel knowing that the girls’ room is as organised as it can be, that the furniture is all sorted and the layout agreed. One VERY big job ticked off.
Now just to work out we’re going to fit baby into our room…
Rachel xx
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