Making a List, Checking it Twice...

I’m a list maker. It’s one of those things I can’t stop myself from doing. I keep lists at work, and other lists at home. I sometimes think I’d lose all bearing in life if a list wasn’t there to nudge me in the right direction.

This, for the record, is just one of my personality traits for which I probably need therapy.

The other day I lost one of my lists, and it was a doozy. The “To Do before Baby comes home” list was long and only partially checked off. When I realized that it was gone, I panicked a bit. What if I couldn’t recreate it? What if I forgot to do some all important task? My Mom (dear that she is) tried to help. “It will be fine, even if you don’t get everything done. The Baby will not care.” She was right, and somewhere deep in my psyche, I knew that. It was still difficult for me to just let go though, so I went about recreating that missing list.

Truth be told, we don’t have much left “to do” anyway. I’m a fairly organized person by nature and most of the big stuff has been marked off for a few weeks. Still, I felt better when I could hold another list in my hand and mark off all the items that we’d completed.

So, what’s left?
• We need to reorganize the family room (though it’s now known as the “toy room”, and rightly so) to make room for infant related stuff. That’s the room we spend most of our family time in, and we want to carve out a space for our newest addition to enjoy it also.
• We need to go to Wal Mart or Target for a little shopping trip. Nothing extravagant, but we want to pick up all of those little items that we’d like to have on hand, but have thus far neglected to purchase. Those first weeks go by so quickly, we’d prefer to spend as little time running errands as possible.
• We need to find birth announcements. Evidently I’m the only person left in the world who wants to buy the little cards and write the info inside. So far, none of the retailers I’ve visited have carried any at all. Going to Hallmark this weekend. Surely they still have some.
• We have to put batteries in, well…everything. (Note to self: Consider buying stock in Duracell)
• I need to finish Baby Boy’s quilt. Honestly, I’m not sure this one is going to get done in time, but I’ll try.

Other than having the baby and bringing him home, that’s pretty much it. The end is near, and we are so very excited to soon be welcoming home another sweet little guy to hold and snuggle and love. There is so much we want to share with both of our boys…so much we want them to experience and marvel at…so much that we hope they won’t miss…..

Maybe I should make a list?

Almost There...





this pic is of me
in 2008... still haven't
taken one this time
around...but you get
the idea!  :)



I won't lie to you.

I've felt better.

Lately my back aches and my feet look like hams (with chubby sausage links for toes).  Everything gives me heartburn.  I can't move very fast, and sleeping is a challenge.  I'm exhausted all the time.

But, you know what?  None of that matters - not one bit.  In a month (or maybe a little less), with God's blessing and the assistance of a wonderful doctor - we'll be welcoming our second little boy into the world.  I can hardly wait!! 

I want to know if he'll look like Little Guy, or if he'll have a dimple in his chin like his Daddy does.  I wonder if his hair will be dark or fair and what color his eyes will be.  I want to cuddle him and smell his soft babyness and cherish every moment of the wonder that goes hand in hand with having a newborn. 

There are other things I wonder about too....will he be healthy?  Will he be happy?  Will he like to sleep?  And will our parenting skills (which are not yet anywhere near perfect) be good enough?  Will we be able to show both of our boys just how amazing and wonderful we think they are?  Will they know how much we love them?

I'm hoping the answer to all of those questions is "yes".  Time will tell.

For now, I'm just enjoying the excitement and the anticipation that comes with the light at the end of the pregnancy tunnel.  Every day is a little like the night before Christmas... I know something amazing is going to happen.  I just don't know all the details yet.

So bring on the heartburn, the fat achy feet, the sore back and sleepless nights!  For, very soon the current discomforts will be nothing more than a memory, and I'll be holding my sweet Baby Boy in my arms. 

Nothing else matters.  Nothing at all.

Fishing with Grandpa!

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa took me fishing at a little pond on his farm. I don’t think we caught anything, and honestly don’t imagine my line even had a hook on it, but I do remember having a ball hanging out with my Grandpa and feeling (at least a little bit) grown up.

When Hubby, Little Guy and I went to Kentucky for our vacation over Memorial Day (to see my Grandma), my parents and brother also were there visiting. While we were there, Little Guy got to go to that same pond with his Grandpa (my Dad) to do a little fishing too! They both used some kiddie fishing poles (purchased at garage sales), and had only weights and bobbers on the end of their lines.

LG kept saying, “I have a bite! I have a bite!” He didn’t of course, but the joy on his face was priceless. It didn’t matter that no fish were caught, or that Grandpa had to help throw out the line pretty much every time. Little Guy had the time of his life, and I’m pretty sure his Grandpa did too.

My Grandpa passed away over twenty years ago, but I have a feeling he’d be very happy if he knew that his old pond was the setting for another generation’s introduction to such a fun pastime.

Early Birthday Festivities

  

This was the poster that we hung
on the front door to greet out guests.

Little Guy will be turning three in late July. However, since we are expecting his younger brother to arrive in July as well…we decided to have LG’s 3rd birthday party in June.

Saturday was our big day.

We let him pick out the theme, which was trains. I made the invitations (though didn’t take a picture – oops). They turned out pretty cute, I think. I used scrapbook paper to assemble a train on the front, and put a vintage looking picture of Little Guy inside (wearing his engineer outfit of course). We decorated with balloons and bunting and a train poster for the front door.

We kept our guest list small, only inviting Grandparents, uncles and aunts. Little Guy chose the menu “Pizza and breadsticks”. We added salad to the offerings, but in hindsight LG had the right idea. The pizza was quickly devoured, but we’ll be eating salad all week.

I baked the cakes (two 9x13” pans, sat side by side) and then carved the 3 out. The cake itself was brilliant blue – per LG’s request. I froze the carved cake before decorating, which I will always recommend if you are frosting a carved cake. Those ‘crumby’ edges can be pretty frustrating. I topped the cake with Thomas the Train and his two coaches. I love using toys as cake toppers, since they double as décor and playtime fun. We ate our blue cake with a side of chocolate ice cream (another birthday boy request).



the 3 cake



He wanted to blow out candles this year, but I had
to hold his hands while he did that... he wanted to
grab the train off the cake before we got the pictures!



The party was a great success! LG had a wonderful time surrounded by those who love him most, and he was quite the entertainer. He gave everyone a tour of the house, showing off the baby’s room, and his own.

In addition to the outpouring of love and affection showered upon him by family; he received an array of wonderful presents and cards. There were (among other things), some toys, fun puzzles, little dishes (that he can really use in the kitchen), an art easel and accessories, and a Thomas the Train pillow! What a lucky little boy we have, and what a wonderful early birthday party.

When the last guests had left, he turned to me and said, “Aw Mom, I miss my family”. How cute is that??


Birthday Boy with his cake...  If you look closely, his
little brother is kind of in the picture as well.



{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama to share one moment...via a single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember...

Bumper Pad Recycling Project

Back when I was pregnant with Little Guy, I found an adorable crib bedding set on eBay (gently used) which I purchased for a great low price. It was a brightly colored farm themed set, and it fit perfectly with the design idea I had in my head. It was also pretty gender neutral, which was important to us as we knew we wanted more children, and didn't feel we should need to buy a different bedding set for each child.

This particular set included a crib skirt, quilt, bumper pad, mobile and decorative pillow shaped like a barn. We used everything except the bumper pad in LG's nursery. I know that many people have used them successfully, but having read a few horror stories – we chose to stash our bumper pad in storage. I knew that someday I’d think of something I could do with it.

As we recently began to get the nursery ready for Baby Boy, I came across the bumper pad again. Though we are reusing the bedding and décor from when this was LG’s room, we also wanted to give it a little different look. I had one corner that didn’t really have any wall hangings, and I decided to do something with the bumper pad to rectify that.

When LG got his bunk bed last month, we removed a few framed prints and a wooden shelf from his wall. They no longer fit with the much taller bed in place. I used those three frames and the shelf as the foundation for my new idea.



supplies at a glance

I carefully removed the fabric from the tube of bumper pad batting, and then cut out the shapes of a pig, a lamb and a chicken. I also cut out several of the gingham flowers. Using some of the reverse side of the bumper’s fabric, I made a background for each of the framed pics, then collaged the cut out images on top. The end result is fairly festive and adds another tie-in with the rest of the room’s look.

Ready to hang

Oh, and other than a half hour of my time….this cost nothing. (My very favorite type of project). Also, I’m going to use some of the bumper pad batting to create a bolster pillow for Little Guy. His new bunk bed is placed near the wall, but the design of the bed allows for a gap between his mattress and the wall. For some reason he gravitates to that space while asleep. I’m hoping that this new long pillow (which I’ll cover with some Thomas the Train fabric from my stash) will give him a more comfortable night’s sleep.

End result!  The little stuffed critters on the shelf were rattles that we had when LG was a baby, but never really used.  They made a nice addition, I think.



I'm Still Here...Just Tired



so I haven't been washing clothes by hand,
but some days it feels like I have been...

 If you are wondering where I've been lately... here's a quick glimpse:

My fantastic Hubby and lovely Little Guy took me on vacation over Memorial Day to see my Grandma and other extended family in Kentucky. It was a long trip, but worth every minute of pregnancy-related travel discomfort. I’ll share more on that trip later this week.

We finished the Baby’s room! Hurrah! The furniture is in place, the curtains are hung, the closet is organized with all those adorable tiny clothes and the itty bitty diapers are stacked in their sorter. This is a small thing really, but it sure meant a lot to mark it off the old "to do" list. We’re ready whenever our new sweetie pie wants to join us.

Though his birthday is truly at the end of next month, we are having a birthday party for Little Guy this Saturday. Next month will be busy enough with the arrival of Baby Boy, and we want to make sure LG gets as much fun and attention as he can before he has to start sharing the spotlight. I still have some general cleaning to do around the house, and will be baking/decorating the cake. Otherwise, we’re almost ready. Little Guy certainly is, but then he’s been a bit obsessed with his birthday for a few months now. We’ll do something small on his true big day too.

Oh, and I’m kind of exhausted. That’s really the biggest reason I’ve been absent from the blososphere. It isn’t that I haven’t had things to say….just no energy left over to say them. This pregnancy is really kicking my energy level to the curb! After the craziness of this week however, I should be able to get back in my usual groove (I hope). We shall see.

I promise to post at least some short bits throughout the week. Hope you are doing well.