Five Ways To Prepare Your Home For A New Baby {{Plus A Giveaway!}}

9.11.2015

With less than two months to go before Charlie Beth's due date (!!!), I've started brainstorming ideas to get ourselves and our house prepared for her arrival. The big things, such as finishing her nursery, assembling all the baby gear, and installing the car seat are obvious things that need to be marked off the to-do list, but what about the little things that often slip through the crack? Here are a few not-so-obvious things to add to your list to ensure you are fully prepared for baby's arrival! 
1. Prepare Freezer meals - I already know that the last thing on my mind after bringing Charlie Beth home is going to be making dinner for Steven and me. I would much rather spend time snuggling my baby girl than worrying about planning and cooking dinner. In order to keep my time in the kitchen to a minimum, I've been searching Pinterest for meals that I can make now and stash away in the freezer until we are ready to eat. This way, everything will be prepared before I go into labor and all I will have to do once we get home and settled is pop our meal in the oven, snuggle our baby girl while it cooks, and enjoy our dinner! 

2.  Stick to a laundry schedule - I hate doing laundry. I despise it so much that I literally let it pile up in the hamper until Steven and I run out of underwear and I have no choice but to throw a load in the washing machine (then leave it sitting in the dryer for three days..). This is not going to be a practical when we have a newborn at home, so I've started putting myself on a laundry schedule now. Three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) I do a load of laundry from start to finish (even the folding and putting away part). It's amazing how many clothes Steven and I have between the two of us! My plan is to make this schedule a habit and then continue it even after little miss joins the family.

3. Stock the pantry and refrigerator - I'm the worst when it comes to grocery shopping. Most days, our pantry and refrigerator resembles that of a college student - empty. Because I'm not going to be able to hit up the grocery store as often as I do now (especially right after giving birth), I know that it will be important to keep our pantry and refrigerator stocked up before I go into labor. Thankfully we live close to Publix, so I can stock up on snacks and essentials while still saving money. I've already started making a list of things that I need to stock up on at Publix before going into labor. Included on that list are some of mine and Steven's favorite snacks such as Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, Chex Mix, and Naked Juice. Right now you can save $5.00 on your $20.00 purchase of participating snack items when you share the Publix Snack, Share, Save event with your friends. Click here to find out how. You can also save $5.00 instantly when you buy $20.00 worth of participating items from PepsiCo, General Mills, and Unilever between September 24th and September 30th. 
4. Make arrangements for your pets while you're in the hospital - Steven and I are lucky because we live less than 10 minutes away from the hospital that I will be delivering at and less than 5 minutes from both, my parents house and the veterinarian's office. Our plan is to leave the dogs at the house when I go into labor (especially if that happens to be in the middle of the night) and have my parents pick up the dogs and take them to their house while we are in the hospital. Steven will go by their house and pick up the dogs once we get home and settled so we can introduce them to their new baby sister!

5. Create a postpartum game plan with your spouse - Steven will get a week paternity leave from his job once Charlie Beth is born and then he will be back to his normal routine. That being said, we had to come up with a game plan for who will tackle what chore and when. The plan is for me to handle all the night time feedings and diaper changes (because I will be the only source of food anyway) and Steven will tackle some of chores during the day like loading and unloading the dishwasher, tending to the dogs' needs, etc.. Of course, just like any plan, things may not always work out the way you intend. It's still best to go in prepared with each person knowing his or her duties while mom is recovering from delivery. 

Is there anything else that you would add to this list? Before you go, make sure you enter the giveaway below for your chance to win $15 in paypal cash for you to use towards stocking your kitchen with all your favorite snack time essentials. Good luck!

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15 comments:

  1. You will have to let me know if you find any good freezer meals!! I've been checking out recipes too- it will make life so much easier!!

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  2. Ugh, laundry!!! I wash clothes on Sundays, Wednesdays and sometimes Thursday/Friday is added in for towels. It never ends and I can't even imagine how much more we would have with a baby haha! Can't wait to see you at your shower on Sunday!!!

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  3. I feel you on the laundry, I wash clothes all the dang time and we still have so much for 2 people. I can only imagine how that triples when you have kids! AH!

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  4. You read my mind with this post!! With only a week or so until baby #2's arrival, I'm trying to get the last minute things organized. My big plans for the next week is to make some freezer bag meals that I can throw into the crockpot when baby gets here. I've found lots of good ideas on Pinterest recently. Now I just need to get off my butt and do it!!! xoxo, Annie -HomeofMalones

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  5. I'm halfway done making my freezer meals. I've made 2 pot roasts with veggies, 2 taco soups, and 2 baked oatmeals for breakfasts. I've got some dijon chicken, chicken pot pies, and breakfast taquitos to make still. Let me know if you need some possible recipes! We're hoping we get everything finished before Ella arrives haha..with an actual possible count down now, it's finally feeling real and making me get my butt in gear.

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  6. Great tips! These really are ideas you don't already see all over Pinterest! I love the idea of trading night time feedings for daytime chores, too.

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  7. My no 1 tip is to deep clean before you go to the hospital. It was so nicr coming home from the hospital to a spotless house!

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  8. Laundry. Amen. The only reason I do laundry weekly is because my husband only has enough work uniforms to last him 5 days. Prior to living together, I was on the same schedule as you were - don't do laundry until you don't have underwear. But even though I do laundry weekly now, it still rarely makes it into drawers. Good thing no one uses our basement :)

    Fave general mills product - love me some chex mix! It's perfect for so many fun treats, but good directly out of the bag too!

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  9. Naked Juice! I have one every day! I accidentally got their carrot juice once - I mistook it for their vitamin C drink. I thought it would be horrible, but it's actually pretty good!

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  10. My husband eats yogurt a lot for breakfast, so definitely that. I can't believe that our girls will be here so soon!

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  11. I love chex snack mix!!

    demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. I love Doritos. kraftmaking at gmail dot com

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  13. Some babies are very sensitive to the clothes that are put on them. They will either voice their disapproval of uncomfortable clothes or they can even form rashes if the clothing is not of good quality. Elle Rushford

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