Whoa, Blogger. Down boy.
I’ve been waiting all day to post but of course on this day, when I have inspiration, Blogger was down for a long time. So I will post what I remember of my brilliant words.
This morning I conducted my first Freecycle transaction. A nice older lady came to my house to pick up the past 4 years’ worth of Real Simple magazines that I have been hoarding. I finally decided to part with them but of course I wanted them to go to a good home and Freecycle was perfect. You should see the stuff that people give and take. Someone is offering empty cat litter buckets today. Yesterday someone else gave away a fire pit, and yet another gave away a freestanding gazebo. I intend to freecycle much more once I go through the neverending closets worth of stuff we have accumulated and must get rid of now that we must make room for The Peanut. It was a great feeling to know that someone else can use the things I no longer have use for, and it was much easier than a yard sale. I recommend it!
The current plan for the new addition is to put him in the office/guest room, the room I love so much that I painted 2 walls brick red. It is The Room of My Own, and I am very sad to give it up. For one brief shining moment I considered having the boys share a room, which I know is a perfectly fine solution, but now that Kyle is sleeping through the night pretty consistently, I really don’t want to disturb him. He’s a pretty light sleeper, and I know that an infant’s cry would surely wake him. I have some time to deal with this because the Peanut will sleep in our room for a few months at least.
Anyway, to convert the office/guest room into a nursery we will be making the changes gradually. Step one is to move the office setup. Current plan for THAT is to purchase an office armoire and put it right where the dog lives. We’ll just move her over. So this means I have to choose an office armoire. I am particular (no, really?) and I have a list of criteria and so far nothing has been perfect. I suppose I could have something custom made, but that would not fit the “affordable” criterion. Oh well, at least it’s a project.
Step two is to put a crib in the room. We are keeping Kyle in his crib for as long as we can, and since he has not tried to get out yet he gets to keep his for a while. We are going to borrow a crib from some friends and keep the guest bed in there at first as well.
My latest quandary is the dresser/changing table situation. Kyle still gets changed on his changing table. The Peanut needs a dresser. So. Should I get a dresser and use that as a changing table for the Peanut? What do I do with the changing table once Kyle is done with diapers? (Oh the thought of that just makes me shiver with glee.) It probably won’t look right in the Peanut’s room because it’s pine and the Peanut’s crib is gray ironwork.
Duh. I just realized the answer is at the beginning of this post. Freecycle, or maybe eBay, or maybe someone I know will have a baby and I can just unload it then.
S@L says
Hey friend – what happened to your e-mail address? I just sent you an e-mail that bounced. Send me something so I can e-mail you!
Me
Freakazojd says
WOW! I have never heard of Freecycle before, so thanks for writing about this – I signed up right away as we’ve got to do the same thing (get rid of stuff to make room for baby).
Funny that you’re calling your baby “peanut” – we’ve starting calling ours “nut.” If he/she inherits our senses of humour, they’re going to be a nut, so we figured we might as well go there now. ๐
Mom says
Wow, what happened to the master bedroom/office plan? Having your office out in the open will force you to be neat (not that you are not neat) and Real Simple-which you just gave away-has that type of organizing stuff in it! Good Luck!
suz says
What about buying a dresser for Kyle with a changing table mat on top, move the changing table into Peanut room (crib will be in your room for a few months), then when you are ready to move Peanut into his room, use Kyle’s crib and changing table nad return/Freecyle the borrowed crib?
Jackson is just about too long for his changing table, which makes me sad since he is much more manageable on it.
Hope all is well!
Suz
Kelli says
I’d never heard of Freecycle either and am so glad you posted about it.
I’ve been hoarding Real Simple & Budget Travel magazines for years and finally – once I was packing up in NY for the move back back to Boston, got rid of them…I kept thinking I’d look back through them for ideas but never, ever did. So, I’m glad you found someone to take the magazines off your hands that will use them!
Also, on a completely different note, thanks for your comment on my post yesterday.
You are a sweetheart.
Katie says
I’ve been Freecycling for a while. It’s a great way to get rid of stuff, but I also got that cute little rocker for Luke from it too.
Your home improvements/room changes sound similar to ours. I was sad to see my sewing room go, too. The room we changed wasn’t big enough to keep the guest bed so now no guests can stay here until we get a sofa sleeper. Unless they don’t mind the couch.
Tina says
OK, I’ve tried to post this comment twice already and blogger keeps crashing… so here goes…
You’d be surprised how well Kyle will sleep through the Peanuts’ nighttime crying. Juliette and Cosette slept in the same room on vacation last year, and Juliette fell asleep- and stayed asleep- through Cosette’s non-stop crying. If only I could learn that trick.
Lisa (Tina's sister) says
I love how you answer your own question by the end of the post! ๐ I think there is always someone looking for hand me downs. I know I’m hoping for some from Tina, when I get pregnant!
graymama says
I have been a freecylcer for quite a while now. It is great! You could post a “WANTED: Armoire” and see who responds to you.
Also, we have never owned a changing table. We just change Buddy wherever whenever. No need to fret about getting a new one ๐