We are Ready

disclaimer to post...camera acting funny so i apologize for bad focus and exposure where you see it. ok now that thats out of the way,

Well the day is here. We have been waiting patiently and slowly getting ready, one weekend at a time for the last 9 months and tomorrow, we will finally see star trek.

just kidding,



but we decided not to see it tonight, and just go home and wrap things up leisurely. We have had a wonderful sunday with Ak at his grandparents since saturday to giving us time to get the house ready and time to relax.

t's mom was here helping out with the school, (it's the cleaning that's the really physical hard work) she also helped to harvest lettuce crops with the kids.



ak loves to get packed for grandmas. he decided to wear his hard hat too because Grandpa Ted and i were repairing a hole in the ceiling in the garage when Ak stepped out the door. "uh oh! construction! better get my hard hat!" (ted almost fell through while working in the attic the other day! whew! like daughter like father! (t did it too when she was little)






so this sunday we went to costco, got a bunch of food for the freezer, went to get T a massage from our friend Luna Wood at vidaluna.com.

then a trip to ikea to get a few things, most notably a yucca plant for our ritual of planting something to symbolize the new birth. this plant has 4 stems, symbolizing the four of us!







We have put a lot of thought and energy into transitioning our family with ak. We have been preparing him in a number of ways on the new addition. friday we had a family celebration and celebrated the three of us with some carrot cake and some figure toys to tell the story of our family up to now.







also to tell that story, we made a book for ak that has pictures expalining his life, from the first picture of him in mommas belly to the last picture of our family looking at mamas belly.


photo by madicyn

We want him to know that the arrival of the new baby will not usurp the attention and love he receives from others and us. This baby is, “his baby.”

If you bring a present for the baby please be sure to also bring a present for Ak (We will probably even have a stash of gifts that people can give). Many advised us that this was helpful in lessening the resentment/jealousy experienced by the older sibling.

we are also not to putting any, “you’re the big brother now,” pressure on him. The best thing is to allow him to be who he needs to be.

Saturday I spent a good two hours putting together his "big brother gift" a kitchen from Mellissa and Doug. (that's a brand name) it takes up his half of the bird room. the other half is designated to baby g.



We have added a second mirror this time to the area for movement. along with a movement mat from ikea versus an everlast excersise mat that we used with ak.






we transformed our living room back to a house since T's school finished this past friday. its temporary for the summer so we aren't putting too much into it, but are very happy with this summer setup and we are looking forward to eating at a regular table and i'm sure friends and family are looking forward to having somewhere to sit when they come over.

















new in the living room are some accommodations for ak,

we are doing things diff this time in regards to babycare logistics. last time we had the changing table in the bird room, two rooms away from our bedroom, even though the baby slept in our room. umm....



so this time we picked up the malm dresser from ikea which makes for a perfect changing table. along with it above the table is cabinet from ikea. i didn't like it initially because for the ornation, but T said that i could leave that off.



a lot of people ask me what's the difference between modern and contemporary, or what constitutes modern furniture, or aesthetic. this is a prime example. there is no use for this thing on top of the cabinet. its just for show. in modernism, form follows function. therefore modern furniture = lack of ornation.



we also got T a descent chair, (also in the bedroom) otherwise the eames lounge chair would do just fine. This chair is more ideal for nursing than an eames rocker. sorry t! this chair is great because its stable which is ideal for nursing. but if you want you can give it a little bounce and it has a nice rocking motion to it.

here's t with ak back in the day!



montessori says: don't move when nursing, therefore all concentration is on nursing. no distractions

same thing with the baby changing table. last year we had a mobile above the table to distract ak while we changed him. Now we know that this is a perfect time to see baby eye to eye, communicate what we are doing and connect.

we will be connecting with convenience as T's parents gifted us 6 months of cloth diapering service. we are very grateful. it helps with the cotton diapers that we are committed to using. we wanted to do that with ak, but never got around to it.
'
so who says that baby #2 doesn't get the love that #1 does! Im shooting this pregnancy HD! i will be the nerd dad in the op room strapped with my slr and HD camera. no dorky bluetooth earset or anything, im geeky, not dorky.




T's mom rocked the sewing machine and made us a cestina for the baby out of a doggy bed form ikea, (i swear ikea doesnt pay me to write this stuff). once the baby is big enough (around 2 months) we will transition him or her to the floor bed. we have installed some pics of us next to said bed.

we also added a self care table in ak's room. a place for him to brush his hair and look in the mirror






ok, got to go to bed. tomorrow's a big day!