Over the years I have had many different insecticides. The vast majority of them have been tossed; while I have used just a tiny tiny fraction of the material treating plants. So, I am cautious and careful. To get rid of the backlog of dangerous and outdated items I filled two black plastic trashbags and hauled them up to the hazardous waste facility. I had to make an appointment and everything; but the disposal was free (thank you, current state law and San Mateo County). I felt really good after I had gotten rid of all those old toxic items; but, still needed something for each of my potential pests. My theory is that I need an appropriate treatment for each of the bugs that I am likely to get. Nothing works on everything anymore--the good old days of mega-powerful, mega-toxic treatments is long gone. So, for all those typical sucking insects I have Marathon. For insidious mites I have Avid. The hole in this theory then would be........(everyone, come on, in unison:)......thrips! I have heard great things about Conserve. But, before I heard about that one, I bought Knox-out, which was being discontinued. I had floral thrips on my outdoor growing streps last summer, and cleaned them up after two sprayings. Another reason for getting the Knox-out was that I have a couple of scale like infestations on some of my greenhouse plants and outdoors on my cacti. The inside pest is a dry white scale that gets onto orchids and bromeliads. Outside, the pest is a cactus spine scale (or mealie), that overwinters by making an unsightly white thingie on the spines. This spray, because it has residual action works to rid this pest. Since orchids are growing in bark, it would be difficult to get the Marathon into them. With the cactus the scale is on the spines, so I'm not sure how well Marathon would work on them though I am guessing that they have a more active phase when they are on the plant body, but I can't see them. I just remembered a fourth class of pests--catapillers and cabbage moth larvae, which eat holes in foliage and eat out the insides of flower buds before they open. For them, I use the bacillis spray (formerly sold as Di-pel). I guess I really don't deal with many fungal problems though--but I use Lysol on mildew. I think that covers just about everything.

I have 3 kids - my 2 girls are ages 4 and 6, so we have washed lots of bedding in the last few years! I would suggest a quilt or coverlet instead of a comforter. The Company Store, JC Penney or Target quilts have all held up as well as I have needed them to. Keep in mind when your daughter is elementary age, she may wish to make some changes in her room, and the bedding is often the easiest to change, so whatever you pick does not have to last forever. Avoid white or light colors for staining reasons and if you can find a subtle pattern, it may camouflage even further. Your MIL can certainly make some accent pillows to go on the bed - my kids love their bolster style pillows. On other thing that you may consider is adding a row of heavy-duty hooks somewhere that your daughter can reach (or can reach in a couple of years). This would be handy for hanging the PJ's that she takes off in the am and puts back on in the pm or bags with her "activity" stuff like dance shoes and leotards, karate uniform, soccer shoes, etc. Depending on your closet and/or mudroom set up this may not need to be in her room, but regardless, little girls collect lots of bags and love a place to put them. Your room is adorable now. You made great choices with paint and fabric already! Have fun with the little one. Here some unsolicited advice - take it or leave it: Also, don't fret over her moving to a big girl bed - lots of fun things are to come. It is much easier to potty train, get rid of pacis, etc, when they are in "big" beds. One other suggestion to lessen the trauma for her moving to a different bed is to set her bed up in her room and leave the crib in there. Talk up the big girl bed but keep putting her in the crib until she asks to sleep or nap in the big bed. After a few successful naps/nights, then move the crib out. With a new baby on the way, she needs to have some "Choices" and this will increase the likelihood of success. Best wishes!

LOL, Nicole, I'm glad you survived the night. Now about 11:00 you'll be wanting a nap. I know I think 5 is so young too. I know I never liked to go away from my Mom when I was little, and I'd get so homesick. I would go to stay with my Gramma and Grampa in the summer for a week. I'd be crying after we left our house. One time they had to bring me back. And it was 50 miles. After that they made sure there were 2 of us, usually cousins, staying at a time. There wasn't much to do on the farm. You couldn't play with the kittens, they were kinda wild, and the chickens pecked at you. Leslie

Do you need that tall white armoire, since you already have the built-in drawers and the large closet? If yes, then I would put the tall dresser where the head of the bed is now. If there is room, I would put the crib on the wall you first suggested, between the window and the built-ins. I would get a changing pad for the top of the built-in and use that as the changing table. It will be very convenient in the middle of the night when you are sleepy to just move to the left and change her, rather than taking her into the bathroom. I would try the rocker and ottoman in the corner where the windows meet. A perfect place to sit with the baby. Congrats on the new addition!