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So...I think I may have convinced DH :)


ktgrok
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To have another baby :)

 

He's not totally sold, but very much more open to the idea. He says we would eventually need a bigger house, but then said, unprompted, that of course they are small at first, so if we were still in this house the first year that would be okay! And on our insurance paperwork where it asked if you might be adding to the family this year he checked maybe!

 

 

He even asked the 5 yr old how she'd feel about having a baby brother or sister, which to me is the biggest indicator he's on board. So..now I just need to lose another 30lbs and get through the holidays, and then maybe we will start baby making. He also said it might be nice to actually plan a child for once, lol! And that he feels bad that he has always reacted kind of badly to pregnancy announcements by me, so maybe if this one was planned he could be happy when I told him instead of just freaking out. (personally, i think he'd still freak out, it's what he does, but whatever)

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That is very exciting!

 

What are ds's plans after graduation? Your house may not be too small if he chooses to go to university far away, like my oldest did.

 

Actually, his top choice right now is in town, so not sure what will happen. I think if possible he will live on campus though. But yes, that is something we discussed. 

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The biggest thing about fitting into this house longer is finding where to put a crib in the little kids room. My options are:

 

Take the closet doors off the closet and use that as a nook for the crib. Probably the best option, although part of me wonders about air circulation with it being recessed a bit like that. There are lots of pictures onpinterest of people doing this. I'd also have to tidy up the storage stuff on the shelf in there, to make it look nicer or something. Like this: closet-crib.jpg

 

Or

 

Put the crib in front of the big picture window (huge window) in the room. I don't love that idea at all. It's a one story house, so it's not a fall hazard or anything, but we'd have to put up room darkening drapes and then I'd worry about baby grabbing the drapes and having something bad happen. 

 

Or 

 

Put one of the other kids' beds lengthwise in front of that window, and the crib where the twin is now. So the two twin beds would make an L shape basically. Not the prettiest idea, and puts a kid in front of the window, which again means putting up some drapes to prevent drafts, but doable I imagine?

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We've done the "crib in a closet" thing. It actually works really well, because it doesn't take up floor space that you're accustomed to having, no one's tripping over it, etc. It was overly hot in summertime in that spot, so we just put a fan pointing in that general direction to help with air circulation and had no further issues. I highly recommend that idea, in my experience it worked out very well.

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We've done the "crib in a closet" thing. It actually works really well, because it doesn't take up floor space that you're accustomed to having, no one's tripping over it, etc. It was overly hot in summertime in that spot, so we just put a fan pointing in that general direction to help with air circulation and had no further issues. I highly recommend that idea, in my experience it worked out very well.

 

I'm so glad to hear that! I really do think it is the best space option. And duh, I remembered we have a ceiling fan in there, so that's not a huge issue really. Right now I have a dresser in there, but I could put the dresser in front of the window, between the two twin beds, and use it for baby clothes, cloth diapers, etc and put a changing pad on top to use as a changing table. Then have the crib in the closet. 

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This is what the room looks like now. I would have to lose the little bookshelf thing in front of the window now, but honestly that thing is OLD. Or I might be albe to fit it somewhere tipped on its side. Oh, and ignore that it isn't exactly spotless...especially that closet. 

 

view%20from%20doorway_zpsbiy5q1vc.jpgview%20from%20sons%20bed_zpsb7btmamy.jpg

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Another option (if they'd fit) would be to turn the beds and put them both on the wall the pink dresser is on now and then put the crib on the right side of the room. No idea if it would fit, but just a suggestion.

I like the idea of the crib sticking out of the closet. I think it would be perfect. If it fits!

that was my orignial thought, but everything won't fit that way. 

 

The crib would fit, I measured :)

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Maybe a trundle bed? After DS3 is old enough for a bunk bed you can ditch the crib and put the trundle under the bunk beds and have a ton of space.

 

I'm not opposed to the crib in a closet idea, just trying to be helpful.

 

If you haven't yet, learn KonMari folding. You might be able to ditch a dresser.

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Maybe a trundle bed? After DS3 is old enough for a bunk bed you can ditch the crib and put the trundle under the bunk beds and have a ton of space.

 

I'm not opposed to the crib in a closet idea, just trying to be helpful.

 

If you haven't yet, learn KonMari folding. You might be able to ditch a dresser.

 

I did think about a trunde bed. Although we JUST bought those twins, lol. But I think DS would be sad not to have his bed "on display" like his sisters. And when DS3 is old enough not to kill himself on the bunk beds the youngest would still be of age to do so, if he/she ends up like the others. So I think we just have to forget about bunk beds. 

 

I do like the idea of KonMari, but my kids help put their clothes away and such, so I don't know if they would ruin it. Also, that third dresser is currently just used for storage, we only have clothes in the pink and blue ones, and they are by no means full. I could consolidate but then kids would be confused as to what goes where I think. 

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Ugh....now things are going south at his work. Talk of shrinking the IT Security team, talk of relocating the department to Atlanta, etc etc. A new guy has come into the company, in a high position, and he knows nothing about security and is being a horses rear end. All of which is making my husband very nervous and goes directly against my campaign for another baby. GRRR!

 

the thing is, my husband is well placed to find another job. Possibly for the same or better salary. He now has a CISSP certification he didn't have when hired, which is a big big deal. But...it's an unknown, and he HATES unknowns. Hence, going into security as a field, lol!

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Zounds, having a CISSP is truly awesome! I would concentrate on supporting and encouraging his career, and preparing your body. Wait until circumstances are on your side instead of something to argue against.

 

Yup, that's my plan. I'm going to keep my mouth shut for the time being. 

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The crib in the closet nook looks neat and will make the room seem bigger...just don't put a shelf right above it as in the picture. I would never sleep again for fear that its screws come loose and everything falls on your baby. :)

 

LOL, speaking of which...notice that in the pictures I posted of the room as it is, there is a shelf missing over my daughter's bed. The 3 year old managed to climb up on some step stools (before the bed was there) and hang from it, ripping it from the wall. only my kids...sigh. 

 

But now DH knows to mount anything in the house super securely. And he's now paranoid. So if he did put up a shelf, it would be one strong enough for an elephant to stand on at this point! (the other shelves in the room are in fact super strong now. But the bracket for the missing one got messed up so we haven't replaced it yet. 

 

What freaks me out is that if you google "crib in closet" you get lots of them with curtains around the nook. That terrifies me! My kids would strangle themselves or something. 

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Yup, that shelf in the closet would have to go. We had the same one and it just gave way one day. I was in the room at my sewing machine and watched it fall. No one was anywhere near it. It was not holding heavy items, no extra fan blowing on it or anything.

 

Congrats on maybe baby! I read your other thread and was rooting for you! :)

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Yup, that shelf in the closet would have to go. We had the same one and it just gave way one day. I was in the room at my sewing machine and watched it fall. No one was anywhere near it. It was not holding heavy items, no extra fan blowing on it or anything.

 

Congrats on maybe baby! I read your other thread and was rooting for you! :)

 

I think what I might suggest is we take down that top shelf, then build some short shelves on the sides of the closet, for small items. Or put the crib to one side to make room for some storage on the other side....maybe something from ikea. Because Ikea. 

 

Or get the Ikea crib with the drawers under the crib. Think I will need that. 

 

In good news, my husband already has some recruiters hitting him up on a nearly weekly basis, and an old coworker, actually the guy that the new guy replaced, has a start up company and is probably looking to recruit my husband in the next month, and then his current boss (direct boss over him) is saying he may leave, and already has 15 million in venture capital lined up to start something, and has said he would need my husband for that project. So it's not like he's staring into a void. Myself, I can just trust it will all work out. My husband doesn't have that ability, lol. 

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LOL, speaking of which...notice that in the pictures I posted of the room as it is, there is a shelf missing over my daughter's bed. The 3 year old managed to climb up on some step stools (before the bed was there) and hang from it, ripping it from the wall. only my kids...sigh.

 

But now DH knows to mount anything in the house super securely. And he's now paranoid. So if he did put up a shelf, it would be one strong enough for an elephant to stand on at this point! (the other shelves in the room are in fact super strong now. But the bracket for the missing one got messed up so we haven't replaced it yet.

 

What freaks me out is that if you google "crib in closet" you get lots of them with curtains around the nook. That terrifies me! My kids would strangle themselves or something.

I noticed the missing shelf right away and it made me wonder about shelves in the closet falling on the baby. :)

 

Other than that, I love the idea of the crib in the closet. I turned two little (tiny) closets into little offices for my boys. They have desks that fold up against the wall. They love them. They have little lamps in there and can close the slatted doors behind them for a little privacy. I'm all for turning closets into other things.

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We are actually switching all the kids to one bedroom. Bunk beds have worked great here, for the first grade and up crowd. With rails they're quite safe. Failing that I agree trundle beds work well.

 

I'm partial to cribs in closets. I don't even paint or decorate cutely :D. The room will have a bunk on each side and the crib in the closet. This leaves us space for two more kids on trundles if we need the room.

 

The other bedroom, which is currently our boys room, will hold bookshelves on one side, toy shelves on the other, and each kid will have a shelf with four clothes bins in the closet. I wish I'd thought of this sooner because it makes much more roomy and easier to clean than our current setup. The house is still small but then we aren't so cramped and needing to upsize.

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I did think about a trunde bed. Although we JUST bought those twins, lol. But I think DS would be sad not to have his bed "on display" like his sisters. And when DS3 is old enough not to kill himself on the bunk beds the youngest would still be of age to do so, if he/she ends up like the others. So I think we just have to forget about bunk beds. 

 

I do like the idea of KonMari, but my kids help put their clothes away and such, so I don't know if they would ruin it. Also, that third dresser is currently just used for storage, we only have clothes in the pink and blue ones, and they are by no means full. I could consolidate but then kids would be confused as to what goes where I think. 

 

 

We have 5 kids in a 3-bedroom rental house (we owned a 4 bedroom house when we got pregnant....ugh!) Anyway, because DD13 is so much older and still newish to the family she has the smaller bedroom alone. The new baby slept in our closet until the last week and that worked just fine. Then I got tired of dealing with the kids' laundry messes upstairs so I got a crazy idea to move all their dressers downstairs to our master closet near the laundry room, haha! This involved baby moving upstairs. So we currently successfully have 4 kids in 1 bedroom...and oddly they love it!  

 

For the bunk bed, have you considered taking off the lower rung(s) so the toddler can't get up? Our DD2 is about to turn 3 and is quite adventurous so we took off the bottom rung of the ladder so she can't climb up on the bunk bed. But DS7 can easily get up there, he enjoys the challenge ;) It's the Ikea wooden bunk bed. DS5 can get up there but he's less likely to fall off and he's old enough to usually obey the rules. Plus their bedroom is strictly a bed-room now....they sleep there and read in bed, that's it. So not much time for goofing off. 

 

Also, Ikea has a lower "bunk bed", the Ikea Kura bed. That one would be less of an issue if a kid fell off, though harder to keep them off of it in the first place IMO. 

 

I'd do that ideally, a bunk bed for the bigger kids, a crib on the opposite wall, and 2 dressers in the closet with hanging organizers if necessary. If only you get stuff out of the dressers you can Konmari them. I did that to the little kids' clothes after moving them to my closet and I fit 4 kids' worth of stuff into two dressers (Ikea Malm 4-drawer and Ikea Hemnes 3-drawer). It's amazing how much more fits comfortably that way!

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We have 5 kids in a 3-bedroom rental house (we owned a 4 bedroom house when we got pregnant....ugh!) Anyway, because DD13 is so much older and still newish to the family she has the smaller bedroom alone. The new baby slept in our closet until the last week and that worked just fine. Then I got tired of dealing with the kids' laundry messes upstairs so I got a crazy idea to move all their dressers downstairs to our master closet near the laundry room, haha! This involved baby moving upstairs. So we currently successfully have 4 kids in 1 bedroom...and oddly they love it!  

 

For the bunk bed, have you considered taking off the lower rung(s) so the toddler can't get up? Our DD2 is about to turn 3 and is quite adventurous so we took off the bottom rung of the ladder so she can't climb up on the bunk bed. But DS7 can easily get up there, he enjoys the challenge ;) It's the Ikea wooden bunk bed. DS5 can get up there but he's less likely to fall off and he's old enough to usually obey the rules. Plus their bedroom is strictly a bed-room now....they sleep there and read in bed, that's it. So not much time for goofing off. 

 

Also, Ikea has a lower "bunk bed", the Ikea Kura bed. That one would be less of an issue if a kid fell off, though harder to keep them off of it in the first place IMO. 

 

I'd do that ideally, a bunk bed for the bigger kids, a crib on the opposite wall, and 2 dressers in the closet with hanging organizers if necessary. If only you get stuff out of the dressers you can Konmari them. I did that to the little kids' clothes after moving them to my closet and I fit 4 kids' worth of stuff into two dressers (Ikea Malm 4-drawer and Ikea Hemnes 3-drawer). It's amazing how much more fits comfortably that way!

 

We also have 4 kids in one bedroom.  We have a twin over full bunkbed for the 3 girls.  We don't use the ladder at all because we ordered it from a store in another city.  Long story short, we ended up with pieces from different kits and the predrilled holes on the ladder didn't match up to the bed so we could never safely attached the ladder.  Because of the distance I didn't want to unassemble the thing and drive back and try to get pieces that fit together.  Which turned out to be a good thing.  The older kids can easier climb to the upper bed by using the edge of the lower double bed but the toddler can't get up there at all.  Toddler has a crib but he almost never sleeps in it, he prefers to sleep on the floor or under the crib or with the girls or in the other bedroom with the boys or the couch (in other words anywhere but the crib is fine with him)

 

And we have several of those Malm dressers too (we have the 6 drawer versions) and they hold a serious amount of clothes.

 

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Yes, I definitely have plenty of clothing room right now! The dresser in the closet in the picture has old cloth diapers in it (as do some/most of the rubbermaid bins in the closet) and extra blankets that don't fit in my linen closet. But...I have now cleared out other space for those blankets, so they don't need to stay in there anymore. So that one could be used for cloth diapers and baby clothes, with a pad on top to make it a changing table. It would fit in front of the window, between the twin beds, perfectly, with just enough room for a narrow trash can to use for a diaper pail. Although a diaper pail by the head of a bed might not be the best idea for the person sleeping in that bed, lol!

 

And the other two dressers have plenty of room in them still.

 

The only storage issue will be the clothes stored in the top of the closet, but those could move to the master bedroom closet I think. 

 

Unfortunately, DH got a call from his boss yesterday letting him know, unofficially, yes it is time to start looking for another job. He thinks everything is going to hit the fan in March if not sooner. So DH will start looking...which means he doesn't even want to discuss babies right now. But, he's much less stressed than I expected him to be. The big issue is if he can find something with the same salary he has now..he's paid very well and is at a fortune 500 company. 

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We're rooting for you! I'm sure once DH's job issues settle down he'll be willing to consider it again.

 

We lived in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment when #3 was born. The first two already had bunk beds in the one bedroom, and our bedroom wasn't big enough for a crib. So the baby lived quite happily in the dining room for several months until we moved. His crib was right beside the table, and he often napped while we ate or did school, while still able to see me. In all honesty, it was great.

 

Now, he's upstairs in bunk beds with his big bro, and we have had no issues. He climbs the end of the beds (not the ladder), literally jumps from the top bunk to the floor, and falls out of bed while sleeping...and doesn't even wake up. He's been fine.

 

My middle was in a bunk bed at 18 months. No issues.

 

YMMV, (obviously you know your own kids), but I don't really get the bunk bed danger thing. My kids are far more likely to get hurt riding their bikes in the driveway than on the beds.

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It may make a difference, regarding bunk bed safety, to state that we have ceramic tile floors in there, not carpet. My son has already broken an arm falling down on the same tile. (we don't know exactly what happened, he was running, fell, and then screamed. Not sure if he fell awkwardly, fell into the rungs of a chair, or what.) And although he climbs well when paying attention, when he's distracted he's horribly clumsy. He is like me, and has a habit of tripping over his own feet six or seven times a day, walking into walls when turning a corner, etc. I can VERY easily see him playing up there and falling backwards off of it on to his head on to the tile floor. Not good.   

 

Basically, he has the adventurous no fear personality of my husband and the spaciness and  total lack of coordination from me. A really bad combination! I'm positive he has proprioception issues (as do I) but it's not bad enough to qualify for therapy. He's also sensory seeking, so swinging from things, rolling around, etc. Which is fine when he's concentrating on what he's doing, but when he's not...oh boy. 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

UGH! The big job he was going after, with the signing bonus and excellent insurance benefits turned him down. I'm so bummed. Supposedly he didn't do well on the assessment thing they had him take online? So...either me messed up the math test or he's not psychologically compatible I guess? He's upset about that part. He has his CISSP, he's not dumb, so it's hard to believe that his test results were the reason but that seemed to be what the recruiter was saying. It's weird. 

 

There are a few other jobs out there he is looking into, but now he's thinking he may stay where he is at for as long as the job lasts (they are probably moving the whole department to Atlanta in 18-24 months) and just seeing what comes up. Recruiters have his info. And his boss is trying to get him a raise and a promotion/new title, so that when he does jump ship he has that on his resume. 

 

Of course, I can't wait 18-24 months to try to conceive given my age. And so now DH has to be convinced to try anyway. 

 

In the meantime I have my lab work to check vitamin levels and such on monday, and will get into the dentist in the next couple of weeks. Might as well keep doing what I'm doing health wise. 

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I'm so sorry the job didn't pan out. That sucks :(

 

Yeah, and honestly, it's really just that they seem to think he wasn't good enough, which is crazy. He's SO smart and good at his job. So now he's feeling down. He was actually considering turning down the job if they offered it, as the friend of his that is working there now (only been there a week or so) said the culture is really....not stimulating. Very straight laced and boring. So maybe it was the personality profile that said he wasn't a good fit, and not the math test thing. i don't know. I bought him a new pillow and am cooking comfort food for him. I hate for him to feel badly. 

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Yeah, and honestly, it's really just that they seem to think he wasn't good enough, which is crazy. He's SO smart and good at his job. So now he's feeling down. He was actually considering turning down the job if they offered it, as the friend of his that is working there now (only been there a week or so) said the culture is really....not stimulating. Very straight laced and boring. So maybe it was the personality profile that said he wasn't a good fit, and not the math test thing. i don't know. I bought him a new pillow and am cooking comfort food for him. I hate for him to feel badly. 

 

I had a friend at a company I was applying to tell me I scored too high on the assessment exam. I don't know if that was said to make me feel better, but she was pretty emphatic that it wouldn't be a good cultural fit for me. That might have happened to your husband.

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I had a friend at a company I was applying to tell me I scored too high on the assessment exam. I don't know if that was said to make me feel better, but she was pretty emphatic that it wouldn't be a good cultural fit for me. That might have happened to your husband.

 

I'll pass that along, thanks!

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Yeah, and honestly, it's really just that they seem to think he wasn't good enough, which is crazy. He's SO smart and good at his job. So now he's feeling down. He was actually considering turning down the job if they offered it, as the friend of his that is working there now (only been there a week or so) said the culture is really....not stimulating. Very straight laced and boring. So maybe it was the personality profile that said he wasn't a good fit, and not the math test thing. i don't know. I bought him a new pillow and am cooking comfort food for him. I hate for him to feel badly.

If he was already feeling this way then maybe this job was not the best for him. God works in many different ways, sometimes we mourn the loss of something (a job, a scholarship, whatever), and won't realize til years later that it just wasn't the best for us. Hope your dh understands at some point that maybe it had nothing to do with him or the test, it was just not meant to happen.
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This is off topic, but a couple posts made me think of it. I have seen things on Pinterest of people using dressers to make mini-loft beds. You put a couple of dressers together, with something at the end and then put the mattress on top. It's taller than a regular bed, but not as tall as a bunk bed, but it frees up space in the room where there used to be a dresser (or two). I was looking into it because we have small bedrooms, but the ceiling slope, making it difficult to have a bunk bed.

 

Just a space saving idea for people who are looking to fit more kids into small houses!

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