♡ Ten things to do before your baby arrives ♡

     Morning mamas! Seeing as it's the month in which we celebrate Mother's Day, I thought this could be the first of a bunch of motherhood-related posts that I've been excited to share. Maybe it's a selfish notion, but I think we moms deserve to be celebrated for at least the whole month of May, don't you? haha

 PHOTOS BY ADRIANNA JOY PHOTOGRAPHY          

     I really adore these photos that my sweet friend AJ took a few months before Alice was born, and remembering back to this moment takes my mind to such a calm place. It really is a pure and unconditional love we have for these little humans that we've never met, and we would do just about anything to keep them safe and happy. I look at that belly now and see Alice all curled up in there, her eyebrows furrowed like she does so often, her little feet peddling an invisible bike (aka constantly jabbing me in the ribs.haha), and her little head with all that hair she was born with. I'm so glad she's with us now!

     Anyways, here are 10 things that I always try to get done and have ready before I have another baby, and whether you're expecting yourself or you know a friend or family member that could use some help preparing for their little sweetie, I hope this list is helpful!  

♡ Ten things to do before your baby arrives ♡

      1. COMPLETE: Use the last couple of weeks to officially complete packing your hospital bag and/or preparing your home-birthing space, down to the last tiny detail. At least for me, there were always just a couple tiny things left to set up or stick in the bathroom for postpartum care that I kept putting off thinking I had time, and then all the sudden I didn't.haha Get 'er done!
      2. FOOD: Stock your freezer with meals that can be easily reheated or cooked in the weeks after you give birth. Time moves so fast and it's way too valuable for naps or showers if you get any to spare, you'll be so glad for those casseroles and soups (frozen pizzas, pot pies, veggies, fruit for smoothies, etc) that you can just pull out and have prepped in no time at all. Also, something I've never done (but have been told is amazing) is finding a fresh grocery delivery service. Sounds worth a look to me!
      3. SELF-CARE: Maybe I'm biased, but I think if anyone ever deserved to 'treat' themselves, it's a woman about to bravely deliver a watermelon-sized person out of her body.haha Getting your hair done, or going with friends to get a manicure and a pedicure is a wonderful way to get in a little R&R. Oh man, I can almost feel that massage chair on my back with my feet in that hot water, and think, then you'll have cute toes and fingers going into labor! haha In all seriousness though, sometimes we don't really have the budget for extras like that, so don't forget you can look on Pinterest for loads of great at-home pampering ideas.
      4. CLEANING: Enlist a couple friends or family to help you clean your house from top to bottom, or better yet, find a good cleaning service to do it for you! This is a tip I got from a friend before Evelyn was born, and it was SO worth it! The little cleaning service  she recommended was nowhere near as expensive as I thought it might be, and I cleaned up all the items and things before they arrived and then they just did all the deep cleaning (bathrooms, windows, floors, walls, baseboards, cabinets, etc) It was SUCH a blessing and relief to be able to rest while that was all getting done, and to know that I wouldn't need to stress about mopping while snuggling my newborn.
      5. NECESSITIES: Make sure that you're all set with basic living necessities because it might be very difficult or even impossible to get to the store for a little while afterward. Make a list of items for your bathroom, kitchen, cleaning closet, laundry room, and pantry that you'll want to be sure and have on hand. Also, I highly recommend Amazon prime if you aren't already a user, as you can easily have any of those items delivered right to you in a day or two:)
      6. LOGISTICS: Prepare your birth announcements as much as you can beforehand, empty your phone storage and camera cards, stock up on thank you cards, make sure you're all caught up on bills and deadlines, and have a photographer already picked out and ready for your call to action. You'll be SO glad you did!
      7. SLEEP: Oh man, I can't express how important it is to stock up on sleep as much as you can before your baby arrives! I was lucky that the older kids were in school when I was due, and then Richard willingly took the younger girls out to the park and such in the afternoons so I could just pull the covers over my head for some Zzz's. Those few solid nights of sleep and daytime naps were SO vital to have more clarity of mind and less fatigue going into the labor and delivery. 
      8. BABYSITTING: Meeting all the needs of your other children and/or pets while you're adjusting to your new norm, trying to relax and heal, plus meet all the demands of your precious newborn can be really overwhelming. Having a couple willing friends or babysitters on hand will be such a relief for after your baby arrives, so you can have the peace of mind knowing your dog is getting regular walks and your other kiddos are getting their baths and story-time.
      9. EMERGENCY: Besides getting the car seat properly installed and adding a window shade, I highly recommend having a little emergency box or bag in the back of the car or under the seat. I get such fuzzy mom-brain with a newborn, and more often than not I'll forget to refresh the diapers in the baby bag or forget it altogether, and I've been saved so many times my emergency box. Pack it with diapers and wipes obviously, but also a couple extra outfits for baby, some fruit snacks or granola bars for other kids, a couple water bottles, infant tylanol, an extra pacifier, some ointment or lanolin, a few breast pads, an extra shirt for you, hand sanitizer, you get the idea:)
      10. DATE-NIGHT: One thing that a lot of people don't think about until it's too late, is that you probably won't be able to go on dates without your new baby for a long time after they come. Not that those trio dates aren't fun in their own way, but they're quite a bit different in many ways. Fitting in a couple extra nights out with your sweetie while it can still be just the two of you will help you recharge a bit and really be on the same page going into the birth.

     And that's it for today!

PHOTOS BY ADRIANNA JOY PHOTOGRAPHY 

     Thank you so much for visiting today, and I truly hope that this is useful to you in some way! I would really love to hear if there are any tips listed here that stand out to you, and also please share any special ways you prepared for your baby that I didn't mention.

     Have a great rest of your week friends:)