3 Ways We Are Prepping For Baby #2’s Arrival

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The weeks of this pregnancy are flying by. With the third trimester’s arrival, we are starting to get into baby mode around here. From the car seat, to the nursery, to prepping big brother for his new role, we are getting excited for baby #2’s arrival!

Today I thought it would be fun to share how our baby prepping has been coming along. It sure has been different this time around.

Prepping our home

Prepping our home for our little girl’s arrival in July is at the top of our to-do list this month. We are focusing on 3 areas: her closet, converting Brody’s room into her nursery, and clearing the clutter.

We have decided to keep the nursery in our home in the same room and move Brody into a big boy room. The nursery furniture is already in place and I like the layout of the room, so we thought it would be easier to move Brody into a new space. We are going to give the closet a little makeover. With Brody, the closet became a storage space. With our little girl’s already exploding wardrobe, we are going to need the closet space for clothes.

We have also started to do some serious organizing and purging. It is incredible how much clutter we have gathered over the past two years, so we have added weekly drop-offs at Goodwill to our calendar this month. We are taking full advantage of that nesting instinct!

Prepping the car

I vividly remember walking out of the hospital with Brody in his infant car seat and clicking him in as we drove home. Sheer nerves filled my body. Whether it was the realization that we were on our own or the uneasiness of driving a tiny 7-lb bundle of love on our crazy Arizona roads, I am not sure. Driving with a newborn can be nerve-racking experience. It is finally starting to click that we will be driving around a newborn once again.

We have decided to hold off on a new car for now and we are determined to make our cross-over SUV work as a family of 4. This time, we are not messing around with the car seat installation. Securing a car seat can be tough. With the car seat we used for Brody, I have memories of putting my full weight into the seat and yanking the straps as hard as possible just to try to get the base to be secure enough.

This time around, the new Graco® SnugRide® SnugLock™ 35 DLX Infant Car Seat is making it much simpler! This car seat has been specifically designed to eliminate any guesswork that comes with installing a car seat. A comforting “click” sound let’s you know the base is securely installed. Once you hear that click, you can feel confident the seat is good to go. Another feature I love? The fact that the handle can be adjusted with one hand. This will make it easy to get baby in and out of the seat and transport in and out of the car while also juggling a toddler. I’m sharing my ‘When it Clicks’ moment on my Instagram too! To learn more about the new SnugRide SnugLock infant car seat and other available models, visit: Graco Baby

Prepping Brody

Brody turned 2 in March, so it is interesting to see what he understands about a baby joining our family. It sounds like some fantasy world where he is going to share all of his toys with our baby girl and they are going to play together in harmony. I know the reality of that is going to be much different.

Since it is nearly impossible for a 2 year old to grasp the concept of time, we are going to start a baby countdown calendar when we are about 30 days out from the due date. Similar to an advent calendar, I am keeping my fingers crossed this will help him grasp that a new baby is really joining our family soon.

We have also been reading every book under the sun about becoming a big brother. A couple of our favorites are I am a Big Brother, Dear Baby: Letters from your Big Brother and You Were the First.

It has been so sweet to watch Brody’s excitement when he talks about baby girl, feels her little kicks in my belly, and plays with her baby gear. I am hoping a bit of this excitement will stay around when she actually arrives!

How did you prepare differently for baby #2? What tips do you have for welcoming a new little one to the family?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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