Dairy Barn Preparations: Part III

We're still slowly (but surely) piecing the baby's room together. It's frustrating because (a) I have an exact vision in my head of how I want to decorate (which NEVER happens), but, financially, we can't afford to do it exactly that way so I'm having to really stretch my creative skills to accomplish similar results for less, (b) I can't do very much physically because of the giant basketball residing in my gut which leaves me depending largely on Stephen to do the majority of the grunt work, but (c) poor Stephen has been having to work so many hours at now three different jobs because of our financial situation and the lack of luck in finding a "real" job so he doesn't have much time to devote to working on the baby's room.

Thanks to Angie's and her mom's generousity, though, we at least have the most important piece of furniture for the baby - the crib. I think they bought it for us because they, for some strange reason, weren't too keen on my idea of just putting Baby Neener to sleep in a drawer or a basket. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and even with Stephen's busy schedule we were able to put it together within a couple of days. I think it looks very lovely and sophisticated, even without a mattress. But, oddly, Stephen doesn't think Baby Neener should have to sleep on the hard wooden mattress platform, so I suppose we'll be making a trip to my mom's sometime in the near future to pick up the crib mattress that Ella used a few years ago. I can't believe how much he's spoiling this child already. A cushiony place to sleep? Geesh, then what? I suppose he'll need clothing and food, too? Stephen's parents also generously gave us an old dresser for us to use in the baby's room. It needs a lot of work done on it, but we've bought the new hardware for it and Stephen has even starting sanding it, so hopefully in the next week or two it will be completed.

We made a spontaneous trip to Bolingbrook, IL, yesterday to visit our favorite store, IKEA, and found lots of cheap fun stuff for the room, like light fixtures and wall hangings and even a very basic changing table that kinda looks like it's made out of matchsticks. We're hoping it'll be sturdy enough to hold his ginormous weight considering the fact that everyone is under the belief I'm going to give birth to a forty-pound baby. We were even lucky enough that Angie was willing to make the long trek out into "the 'burbs" to see us for a little bit and have dinner with us. I think she really enjoyed listening to me whine the whole time about how badly my back hurt, watching me hike my maternity pants up every thirty seconds, and witnessing me occasionally hobble around like Frankenstein with a bad limp when the baby would press on my sciatic nerve. I personally can't think of any better way to spend your Saturday evening than with Pregnant Kim.

Keep your fingers crossed that progress will continue and I'll have more to report soon. Otherwise, my impatience may kill me. With Stephen's assistance. I get the feeling he's not the biggest fan of the impatient side of me.