Nesting

At nearly 23 weeks, the fact that we'll be welcoming a baby this summer no longer seems quite as abstract as it used to. Lena's growing belly is a constant reminder and undeniable presence.


With 4 more months to go until we meet our new baby, there's a hint of nesting energy in the air. At this point in the pregnancy, many families would start to think about setting up a nursery or beginning to make an actual nest for the baby. Since we don't have any need for a nursery (our babies don't sleep in cribs), and our nest is already well established, there's not much that we need to prepare before our little one arrives.

We'd been hesitant to share the news of our impending arrival with our landlords, who live in the renovated barn behind our house. They used to live in our house, but decided that it was too small once they were ready to have kids. If they thought it was too small for one baby, how would they feel about us adding a fourth child to the square footage? Last week Lena's belly outed itself when our landlords were over fixing some things, and luckily they didn't threaten to evict us (not that they'd be able to, legally, of course). But they did ask us if we were still planning to stay and where we were going to put the baby. You know, because a newborn is like a whole 20" inches long and sometimes weighs as much as 10 lbs. so clearly it needs quite a bit of extra space.

We explained that we have little need for baby gear, and that our bedroom has plenty of room for a sixth family member.

our bedroom is all bed
(3 futons (king, queen, and full) squished together)

Jaz, Lena, and Lukas, about to wake up

For the first two years of their lives, Luke and Jaz sandwiched me in the night because they were still nursing. After they were weaned, and when I was pregnant with Zeben, they started snuggling with Lena instead. These days Lena sleeps with a king-size pillow on either side of her, for belly support and to act as a bit of a barrier between her and the kids (and their exceptionally sharp toenails). Zeb and I sleep together on the other side of Lukas. We're not clear yet about how the sleeping configuration will change once Leo joins the bed. I'm hoping that the solution will be clear when the time comes.

Even though we don't have space or need for a true "nursery," I can understand the desire to prepare one. I do want to do something to our house to make it look like we're expecting a new baby. I'm planning to turn my dresser into the baby's dresser (I barely use it anyway since my clothes are all stacked on shelves that line the perimeter of our bedroom), and make a little changing station on top of it so that we have an upstairs spot for diapers (our most beautiful changing table that Lena's dad made for Luke and Jaz is downstairs in the mudroom, across from the washing machine (the only place it would fit in our entire house!)). And I'll probably hang a mobile in that vicinity as well, and make it seem like a bit of a "baby space." I'll also get all the tiny diapers out and stack them on the changing table shelves, and refresh our supply of baby creams and lotions.

Otherwise, all of our nesting energy will have to go into making things (t-shirts, onesies, quilts and carriers) for the baby. Just last week, we were gifted our very first baby present, a gorgeous hand-knit cap, made especially for Leo by a long-time friend and crafty mama.

Leo's first gift

I realized that if I make one thing for the baby per week for each of the remaining weeks, I'll probably get to finish everything on my list. That said, the project at the top of the list will probably take me more than a week. It's going to be a quilt (my first ever!), but right now it's just a stack of fabric. I picked all different prints that reminded me of summer.

Beyond crafting tiny, soft loveliness, I'm working on figuring out the best, safest way to turn the bakfiets into a bicycle built for five (!). A nest on wheels, I suppose.