Our "Nursery"

We live in a small two bedroom home.   ....with three children, and number four on the way.  Needless to say, we don't have a nursery.  I much prefer sleeping near my babies anyway.  I love having the baby nearby and nursing/ snuggling through the night for the first couple of years.

When Esther was born, we put a bed rail on the side of our bed and she slept with us from day one.  This time around we have a new king size latex mattress that is rather soft.  I got a mini co-sleeper for the baby to use at first.  After baby outgrows the co-sleeper, we'll probably add the bed rail back on our bed; at that point the soft mattress won't be as much of a concern.

I've been nesting like crazy lately - I think the bedroom is all done and set up for the most part!  I even vacuumed the dust bunnies from under the shoes in the closet today.  Here is our new bed, co-sleeper, and the Gia nursing pillow that I'm excited to try out.  Oh, and the big sister gifts are wrapped and sitting up on the bookshelf there.  (Big Sister shirts and cute little silicone bracelets that say "I'm a BIG Sister!"  They even had a smaller size that I think will fit Esther well.)  The zippered part under the co-sleeper holds my aden + anais swaddling blankets, dream blanket (Black Friday deal!), and a few other blankets.

The co-sleeper still needs to be strapped tight to the bed under the mattress.  I am hoping the little sleep sheep will muffle some of the big sister noise in our small house.  This book light hooks perfectly on the co-sleeper and I can swivel it around so that its not shining right in baby's face.  It will be nice to turn on for nursing without having to get out of bed.  Ross has had this particular one for a couple of years and it has worked well.  I did steal it from him, but ordered him another one.  ;)

On the co-sleeper, I have this organic waterproof pad and this organic sheet.  They are much cheaper than the ones that Arm's Reach sells, fit nicely, and are stretchy and soft.  The waterproof pad is a few inches smaller around than the mattress, but still works well.  I have two of each for when one set is in the wash!  (Note: I have the Arm's Reach Mini Co-sleeper, in case you are thinking of getting these sheets.  You would have to find other sheets for a full size co-sleeper.)

From the other corner of the room you can see: my nicely decorated door (artwork that the girls give to us gets taped up there), handprint canvases, and my birth box on the floor.  (I'll do a separate post on that.)  The bottom drawer of the dresser holds baby's clothes.  The three basket shelf has my slings and nursing cover in the top basket, burp cloths in the second, and extra cloth diapering things in the bottom one.  My new diaper bag is sitting on top of the shelf and is partly packed with a few things (wet bag, changing pad, etc.).

Because we don't know if baby is a boy or a girl, I pulled out all of the neutral clothes and washed them. If its a girl, we'll dump the rest of the 0-3 month clothes box in the washing machine.  If its a boy, we'll have to go shopping!

On my desk I have a baby scale.  I bought that when Esther was having so much trouble nursing, just to be sure she was gaining well.  The shelves contain our homeschool books and toys, and cloth diapers on the bottom.  Baby's car seat is also sitting there, all washed and ready to be installed in the van.

That's about it!  I spared you a photo of the nursing bras and tanks, nursing pads, and pjs in my dresser.  I think our bedroom could use something decorative on the wall above our bed, but otherwise it is nice and cozy and ready for baby.  :)  Now I need to go "nest" the rest of the house....