making room for baby #2
Here is a little glimpse of what we are up to with preparing for Vivi's baby sister. Originally, before we found out we were expecting, I had planned to have Vivi and any new sibling share a room. Our house isn't very large; we have two bedrooms (the master + Vivi's nursery) and the basement has a small bedroom, but it isn't exactly cozy enough to put a tiny person down there. However, once the reality set in that we are adding on again to the family, I started to reconsider the whole sharing a room thing. I think it's really great for siblings to share rooms, and I do plan to make that happen in the future, but I began having flashbacks to the early weeks and months of Vivi's life, and recalled the general sleep deprivation that plagued me. It was really tough, and I think I also had a mild case of baby blues. I'm praying this time will be different; I know it's going to be tough, but I hope that my experience of having been through it will give me better perspective as well as just being better at taking care of a tiny baby. At any rate, Vivi is a good sleeper, but not an especially heavy sleeper, and I'd prefer not to rock her toddler boat with a newborn feeding schedule during the night. I also really want Chip and I to have our little space, so I'd prefer not to put baby in our room. All that being said, I started thinking about turning the dining room into a bedroom, which I think it formerly was. It has two closets, and two doors, and I think the arch to the living room was added at a later date, so it isn't much of a stretch. I love the open feel of the house, but I'm willing to change it up to add on to our family. We talked it through, and decided to install french doors where the arch currently is, in order to keep the area flexible and open when needed, but it will be easy to close off for a nursery. We have actually already had them installed, the nursery is painted, and the furniture is in place. I just have some art projects to do, and one furniture piece needs to be updated (that old hutch in the photos above). It has been really fun to freshen the space - I already love it so much more with the changes! I finally got the mid-century sideboard I had been hunting for ages, although it will be a changing table instead of a buffet, and we re-wired the house so I installed the sconces I've been daydreaming about, too - it's just for a nursery instead of a dining room! It's really fun to re-purpose part of the house - makes it feel new. (And as a side note, we are turning our little sunroom into a dining room - I really want to have a family dining table, so it's not going away, in case you were curious.) I'm looking forward to sharing the end result soon!
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