January Purchases

I almost forgot to write this post as I have purchased no clothing this month! I am nearing the end of my pregnancy and decided to stretch what I already had rather than buy new items.

When Minimalism is forced upon you

I am so close to the end of the pregnancy now! A couple of weeks left (unless baby extends her stay). In any case I’ve found I have fewer and fewer items of clothing that still fit me, even amongst my ‘maternity’ items. I’ve been packing away items as they no longer fit and my cupboard is looking pretty bare right now!

Here is the run-down:

2 x Long pants (black and grey)

3 x ¾ pants (navy, grey, black and white patterned)

4 x loose work shirts (white, light blue, cobalt blue and black with grey polka dots)

4 x other tops (white, grey, navy and black). Of these the navy and black are ok to wear to work.

1 x black dress which I am wearing more and more around the house as it’s very comfy and cool

2 x shoes. My flip flops around the house and my navy loafers for everywhere else.

I’ve excluded jerseys from my list as I haven’t actually worn on in ages; it is super-hot in CT right now!

So that’s 16 items! Even when I started out on minimalism and was super motivated to cut back I never thought I’d get down to such a limited wardrobe! Being pregnant has forced me to this state and with so little time remaining Ive been determined not to go out and buy more clothing so it has been like a mini minimalist experiment. 

What have been my thoughts?

1. 1Getting dressed is very quick and requires almost no thought. Especially as at any given moment about a third of my wardrobe is in the laundry hamper
2.  I also find I quickly miss items – as in – Damn where’s that shirt – oh no it’s probably in the wash! Skipping laundry for a week is no longer really an option
3. My clothing all seems very neutral, I have no bright colours so at least everything matches everything else more or less (I have yet to brave wearing my polka dot shirt with my patterned palazzo pants)
4. I find I am wearing more jewellery and larger statement pieces. I use these pieces to make-up for some of the monotony I find in my outfits. I look ok every day and most people probably don’t notice that I wear mostly the same clothing but I feel like I am wearing the same stuff all the time and it feels boring without some added bling.
5. The 4 work shirts I bought are exactly the same style (only the colour varies). I found it difficult to find cheap maternity shirts ok for work so when I did find one I bought it in 4 colours. They are all in heavy rotation now as I wear almost exclusively these to work. Maybe a different cut would make them feel a bit more varied.

So basically while I can do such a limited wardrobe it doesn’t really make me happy. I must admit though that it wasn’t a very well thought out capsule. I was very limited in my clothing options as most maternity wear here seemed very ugly and/or expensive. I might have been happier if I had a bit more variety in the cuts/types of tops I had. To ensure maximum mix and match ability I was also very limited in colours – basically black, grey, white and blues. I am craving some more colour!

Sleepy Time!

With three weeks to go before baby comes and still working full-time I find I’ve been almost too exhausted to blog. Life at the moment for me and hubby seems to be on-hold. I have been feeling pretty energetic most days but completely crashed last night. Sometimes folding and going to bed at 8pm really is the best thing to do. 

I am still tired now but definitely much better. It seems that working a full week is more exhausting then I thought it would be. I will have to take things a bit slower in the next few weeks.

I think this weekend will consist of lots of naps.

The horror of too much stuff!

Yesterday we had lunch at some friends of ours we haven’t seen in a while. They are currently in the process of emigrating to Australia. He is leaving next Sunday to find them a house there and she has to finalize all the packing in the next three weeks plus look after their two small children (3 and 18 months).

Their house is understandably a bit of a mess right now and they are sorting through all their stuff but I was still horrified! They have a large five bedroom house and absolutely every room feels like it is crammed with stuff. 

A lot of it is children’s stuff (which seems to be stacked up in every room in the house). How many bits of plastic do you really need to keep a child occupied? How do mom and dad feel being constantly surrounded by all this garish plastic bric-a-brac? I think if I had to pack it all up I would first have a serious cry since the task seems monumental then I would call in local charity and have them box-up and take-away every stack I point my finger at. 

                                                            This could never be me!

A move is always a good time to have a serious purge but most of it looks like it will go with them to Australia since the company is paying shipment costs! I compare it to the one meter cubed I brought with me when I left Belgium and it just seems crazy.

Anyway it is their choice I guess but does affirm to me how much my perspective has changed since choosing a more minimalist lifestyle.

Otherwise we are doing ok with our baby list so far. We have almost all the items I thought were essential and I haven’t caved-in to extras yet.

Yesterday Hubby said neighbours wanted to give us a travel cot and he was keen. I said no. We do not have the space to store one (we don’t have a garage or store room). He said we could use it for baby to sleep in, I said yes but we agreed to have her in the bassinet we already have and then transition her straight to a mattress. If we do go visit friends and want to put her down for a nap we can always put her on a mattress there with some pillows around her. So no travel cot. I am happy about that. I feel like our flat is clean, de-cluttered and sober. I find it peaceful this way and want to preserve that peace, something I think will become even more important to me once I am in all the chaos that can be looking after a small child.

Anyway tonight those friends are coming to visit us and I am very curious about their reaction to our flat, maybe they will find it too austere and small. To each his own.

My Essential Baby gear List

So we are into the final stretch, less than six weeks until the due date. With that in mind and now that we have a designated nursery we figured it was time to slowly start collecting all the gear and supplies we would need during the first three months. We decided to focus only on the first few months as other items could always be bought or borrowed as needed and we didn’t want to over clutter the house. So items like feeding chairs and most toys we are ignoring for now.

 

I made a list of essential items I figured we would need straight away. This is my own personal list and not everyone may agree but it is based on quite a bit of research and cross-checking with other peoples lists. I am planning to breast feed initially (so fingers crossed that works out) and we have also decided to use disposable nappies for new-born stage and only graduate into cloth diapering later on (which we will try on a trial basis and see how we get on).

Checklist: Baby Essentials (0-3 months)

Clothing:
[ ] 4-8 undershirts or onesies
[ ] 4-8 one-piece pajamas (or nightgowns until the cord falls off)
[ ] 1-3 rompers
[ ] 4-7 pairs of socks
[ ] 1-2 pairs of scratch mittens – not 100% sure on this one yet
[ ] 1-3 hats

Sleeping:
[ ] Bassinet
[ ] 2-4 fitted water proof sheets
[ ] 4-6 soft, light receiving blankets (can double as burp cloths or nursing covers)
[ ] Sleep sack or swaddle blanket

Diapers:
[ ] Changing table pad
[ ] 6-10 dozen cloth diapers and 6-8 diaper covers, or 2-3 large boxes of disposable newborn-size diapers
[ ] Diaper pail
[ ] Disposable wipes, baby ointment and barrier cream to prevent rash

Bathing:
[ ] Baby soap
[ ] Soft washcloths
[ ] 1 plastic infant tub
[ ] 3 soft hooded towels

Feeding:
[ ] 2 - 4 nursing bras
[ ] Pump (not immediately necessary)
[ ] Milk storage bags (not immediately necessary)
[ ] Breast pads + Nipple cream

Basic care:
[ ] Baby nail clippers or blunt scissors
[ ] Baby thermometer
[ ] Petroleum jelly, surgical spirits and sterile gauze (for circumcision care)
[ ] Bulb syringe or similar for suctioning mucous


Transport:
[ ] Infant or convertible car seat (with optional mirror to see baby while driving)
[ ] sunshades for car windows
[ ] Sling or baby carrier
[ ] Stroller (not immediately necessary)

It may seem like a lot of items but this really is a much pared down list compared to some I’ve seen. We decided to not rush out and buy many items but put out feelers instead. We have been pleasantly surprised at the response, friends, co-workers and even neighbours have pledged us all sorts of stuff. We even have big ticket items like car seat, stroller and bassinet sorted. Most people seem happy to let us sort through their garage for useful items. We have also received free samples of lotions, shampoos and nappies from antenatal classes and various stores. It makes me happy to think we have nearly everything on our list and we haven’t spent anything yet. 

I am starting to think the baby sector might be a bit like the wedding sector – lots of pressure to buy everything new and shiny and make a big production out of the whole affair. Since our wedding is what started me on the path to anti-consumerism and minimalism I am stoked I can apply the same principles before getting sucked into the baby marketing machine (which mostly seems to be about scaring parents – ie you need this product for your child’s safety/development/health etc).

I try to remind myself every now and then that our parents got by without all this stuff and we turned out mostly fine :)