New Stuff & A New Room

Today we worked on the "Baby's Room", which until now has been our second bedroom catch-all. There are items in this room ranging from my sewing machine to Christmas decorations, to my high school track t-shirts and Luke's roller blades. Most of the work had to do with shelving books, (we've had the books and the shelves, but had yet to put them together...), and filing/shredding papers. We also proved our spacial abilities by successfully reconfiguring the closet in this room so that it would hold even more on it's shelves. My hope is that someday soon I'll be able to convince myself to finally get rid of (recycle-of course) the LARGE box for my kitchen aid mixer, under the logic that the mixer never ever sees that box, yet we have carted it around with us for the past five years. I keep thinking, "yeah, but, what if we move" (we won't) "and then I'll want to move the mixer in it's original box to cut down on the chances of it getting damaged..." (we won't even really use it though--I always personally hand deliver it from point A to point B whenever it's moved. Can you blame me?). Pathetic I know, but if we can get rid of that box we'll have room for yet another Rubbermaid tote! That would be huge, as the shelves in our bedroom closet are also bulging (some might say that they are rebelling). Anyways, here is the "before" picture of the room. I hope to someday get to the point where we can post a successful "after" picture to complete the set!

So needless, to say, that my feel of acquiring too much "stuff" as a result of our family's new addition is a legitimate concern. And do you know what is keeping me from sticking to my minimalist mindset that would otherwise prove to be so successful and would keep my husband happy??? The simple fact that baby stuff is so bloody cute. Here: take a look at some early arrivals that have already come in from grandparents (if you look close you can see the tiny shoes and sandals that my mom and I picked up on sale. Ridiculous!) Also, a favorite item that is so over the top cute is this sleep sack, which just so happen to match Mommy's rubber ducky "Jesus Quilt" from Elaine Bassett. Check it out! How cute will we be?...

Sigh. I am being totally won over by this stuff. Also, I haven't even mentioned the stack of children's books that we've already acquired or borrowed. It stands a yard tall when stacked up together. What can we say? I'm a sucker for everything from Goodnight Moon to those pesky 'Berenstein Bears'. I think that I will feel better when we can get our furniture for the room, and I can start putting things away. Other than that hope though, I am afraid that this is just one of the many instances that I am sure are headed my way where I will have to just let up, give in, relax, let go, and move forward all that will accumulate from now on. Once again I assert, that the entire parenting process is a difficult but rewarding and essential challenge for these two first born parents-to-be.

Raising a family in 1000 sq. feet? Bah-child's play! Cooking for more than two in a kitchen that has virtually no pantry space? Bring it on! Carting a family around with one vehicle? Tricky, but who doesn't love the smell of a challenge in the morning! Coordinating a work schedule with the loving demands of spouse-and-parent-hood? I was born ready! And yes: storing an entire child's worth of stuff in a room with no closet? How might you ask? Just get a little creative, and make some much needed "cuts" and it's smooth sailing. The secret, you ask, of our continued "success"? We pray--a lot.