Hello Friends, 

When I found out we were expecting our second baby, I knew preparing for this little one would look a little different than my first pregnancy. Not only do we have 90% of the items needed for our baby (crib, clothing, etc.) but we also have a very different (and much busier) lifestyle! We live in a completely different town, with a different church, and different responsibilities than before. Life just looks a lot different for us now than when we welcomed our first little one into the world!

A new baby brings a lot of changes, and while you cannot prepare for everything, I am doing what I can to make the adjustment of a new baby easier on all of us.

This post will go beyond just washing baby clothes and preparing the nursery (although, those things are happening too!) and will dig a little deeper into my goals and the preparations that are being made for our second baby.

Let’s jump right in!

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1. Decluttering and simplifying our home

I’ve been doing my best to simplify and pair down the items we own to make our home easier to manage. I will never be a “true” minimalist, but I do strive to get rid of the items we don’t use and only keep the things we use and love.

In the past few months, I have been following Balancing Beams on Instagram, and her content has really inspired me to simplify our home even more. It’s amazing how much easier it is to clean and pick up our home with less stuff. I know this is something I will appreciate when we have a new baby in the house! 

Here are a few areas of our home that I have decluttered:

My closet – being pregnant, there’s a lot of clothing that doesn’t fit right now or won’t work for awhile since I plan to nurse my baby. I got rid of a bunch of items that I don’t ever plan on wearing again and put the rest in storage. This way, my closet only holds what fits, plus the items I plan to wear this fall once the baby is born.

My son’s toys – I got rid of broken items, small trinkets, and toys that weren’t being played with at all. This makes toy pick-ups so much easier!

My craft supplies – I have very little time for crafting these days. I paired down and got rid of craft supplies that have been sitting for years and kept what I plan to use again soon.

My book collection – I love reading and it’s hard for me to get rid of ANY books. However, I went through my shelves and got rid of a bunch of books that I would probably never read again anyways.

My kitchen – There’s some more work to be done here, but I’ve decluttered kitchen items that just sit and rarely get used, freeing up space on my countertops and in my cabinets!

It’s amazing how much of the stuff we own that RARELY (if ever) gets used. If you need to store something, consider if it’s actually worth keeping?

2. Stocking the house with necessities

Yes, I have been emptying our home of many items. However, I have also been filling it with items that I know for sure we will need and use once the baby comes. Household items like: toilet paper, paper towels, tissues and trash bags (this giant box from Amazon is a great deal). Not to mention my favorite laundry detergent, dish soap, body wash, toothpaste, and more!

This way, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll run out of any necessities during the newborn stage – we’ll already have what we need.

And of course, I am stocking up on diapers too! 😉

3. Filling our freezer and pantry

It’s my goal to have 10-15 freezer meals and a handful of snacks ready to go in our freezer. We also plan to do one final meat run to the butcher shop before baby comes. This way, I have simple meals ready to pop in the oven (or my crockpot) and there’s plenty of meat my husband can pull out to cook or grill as well. I’m also putting together a master list of simple meals that my husband can prepare if needed. Between meals from family and friends, my own freezer meals, and the food my husband wants to cook, I *hope* to have about a month’s worth of meals.

I enjoy cooking, so I’m sure after a few weeks, I will be itching to get back into the kitchen!

Here are some of the meals I’m prepping and putting in the freezer (I’ve included links to recipes that are found online, or the cookbook where it comes from when applicable):

For the Crockpot:

• Honey Garlic Chicken 
• Italian Wedding Soup
• Lemon Herb Drumsticks
• Chicken and Sweet Peppers

Already Cooked and Ready to Go:

• Chicken Pot Pies
• Shepherds Pies
• Pre-Made Meatballs
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Street Corn Soup
• Beef Stew

Lastly, I plan to stock the pantry with items we use on a regular basis!

4. Preparing my oldest son’s fall and winter wardrobe

My due date is early Autumn, so I’ve gone through my oldest son’s clothing already and made sure he has everything he needs for fall and winter (so that I don’t need to think about this later!). He has all the shirts, pants, pajamas, shoes, coats and hoodies that he’ll need (in the right sizes) when the weather gets cooler. I’m grateful for our local Goodwill that has provided so many of these items at a minimal cost! 

Here’s a tip for saving money on children’s clothing: check Facebook marketplace! I needed new pajamas in the next size for my son but really didn’t want to spend $12-16 per pair! Nice pajamas in the right size are hard to find while thrifting. Instead, I found a local mama selling a whole BAG of pajamas in my son’s size for $25 on FB marketplace. Now my son has more than enough pajamas in the right size for both warm and cold weather and they were in great condition! I didn’t even keep them all and I still saved a bunch of $$$.

The one item I did need to purchase was a nice pair of dress shoes for this winter. I found these on Amazon and they look great! 

5. Completing our family photo books

If you read some of my blog posts from last year, you’ll remember that I have been catching up on our yearly family photo books for the past couple of years! This has been a VERY time-consuming labor of love. However, with the exception of a few photos from 2017-2018, I am finally caught up to 2023! We have four family photo books gracing our shelves that we thoroughly enjoy looking at. At the end of this year, I hope to put together our 2023 photo book (maybe I’ll even get a head start!). But in the meantime, it feels good knowing that I am (mostly) caught up before the baby comes.

>>> I have been using Shutterfly to put together 8×11 yearly photo books. They have turned out great!

6. Putting together a nursing station in our bedroom

For the first few months, we plan to have the new baby in our room (before room sharing with his older brother). So, I have enjoyed putting together a little baby-nursing station in the one corner of our bedroom. It’s a moveable organizer with drawers and a tabletop, so I’m planning to have these items within reach:

• Diapers and wipes
• Water bottle and snacks (for me)
• Blankets and swaddles
• Burp clothes 
• Newborn sleepers and onesies
• Pump and supplies
• My Bible, books, and journal 

I’m still organizing this little corner in our bedroom, but it’s coming together. The final touch will be adding the pack n play where baby will sleep. 🙂

7. Deep-cleaning our bedroom

While I love nesting and caring for my home, deep-cleaning is not at the top of my priority list! I would much rather spend my day decluttering or organizing some random part of my house – but cleaning? Not so much.

However, deep cleaning our bedroom (where baby will be sleeping) IS a priority to me! A lot of time will be spent in our room healing, resting, and caring for baby, so it’s important that the bedroom is clean and organized. This is one task I plan to tackle in the month leading up to my due date… so that everything is fresh and ready to go!

8. Preparing post-partum supplies

This time around, I have a much better idea of what I want to have on hand – based on what I used last time! I put together a small checklist of items I need and have been slowly gathering them together (you can see my small list of essentials here). Beyond the usual feminine hygiene items, I also decided to prioritize a couple things that will help me heal and recover:

• An electrolyte mix for rehydrating and restoring minerals – something extremely important post-birth and during breastfeeding. I would typically just use something like coconut water mixed with fruit juice and salt, but for the busy newborn days, I opted for this quick electrolyte powder I can dump and mix in my water.
• A high quality progesterone cream – last time I used Progessence Plus from Young Living which I did like. This time however, I am going to be trying Progest+ (a topical progesterone) instead. This is to help with hormone balance after birth when progesterone and other hormones are at an all-time low. I’m also hoping this may help with the “baby blues” if needed.
• Red Raspberry Leaf Tea – yup, the famous “pregnancy tea”. I drink red raspberry leaf tea ALL the time (even when I’m not pregnant) but it’s also an amazing herb for hormone balance, extra minerals, and promoting a good milk supply. So, I made sure to buy another giant bag which will last me well into next year. (Trust me, this is a much cheaper option than the tea bags you buy in the store!).

These things are absolute essentials, but the postpartum season can be really tough, so I wanted a few extra items to help my body with the transition.

9. Spending time with my family + doing things I enjoy

Spending time with my little family – just the three of us – is important! It has been “just the three of us” for so long, it’s hard to believe that we will soon be a family of four!

Once baby comes, life will look very different – for awhile. Throughout this summer, I have been trying to make time for things that I enjoy such as journaling, reading, and even doing a couple of jigsaw puzzles. With all the baby preparations and our busy ministry schedule, there hasn’t been a lot if extra time for this kind of thing, but I have managed to fit them into the occasional quiet Sunday afternoon.

10. Preparing my body, mind, and heart for birth

Birth is quite a monumental event. I’ve had my fair share of nervous excitement – at least I have a better idea of what to expect this time around!  I’m doing my best to prepare by praying through any worries, reading books to educate myself (the more I know about birth, the less I fear), keeping my body active and limber (stretching and walking), and preparing a list of Scripture verses to meditate on before and during labor. Natural birth is amazing, and while the unknowns can be a bit overwhelming, it’s an incredible experience and I’m getting so excited to meet our baby!

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of other “little” things I have been doing to prepare for baby, but the big things boil down to those ten.

For any other expecting moms (whether it’s your first, second, third, etc…) I hope this post has been helpful and has given you some ideas on preparing for your next baby! If you have anything to add to my list – suggestions, tips, etc. please share in the comments below! I would love to hear from you!

Until Next Time,