8.23.2013

Relief

Today marks three weeks until our scheduled C-section to meet our new baby.

THREE WEEKS.

That is not a lot of time.

At this point with our first, Sophie, I was ready. Hospital bag packed, stroller assembled, crib built, nursery set up, car seat installed. And I was sure I would go at ANY. MINUTE. I didn't go super early (just a couple of days), but man, were we "ready".

With Lillian, I felt like I should do the same thing, so we were just as ready. It was a scheduled C-section, so it was a bit easier to prepare the need-all-the-stuff-together date, but still. We were "ready".

And this one??

The crib is still in 5 pieces.

The nursery is still in shambles.

Clothes are still in boxes.

And I am napping more than ever.

NOT GOOD.

So last night we had to do some shopping because our first (remember, Sophie, from above?) is starting school in just over a week. A week this coming Tuesday. ???????????? Where the heck did the time go???????????? And while we were shopping, we may as well pick up some things for this baby that is also coming super soon.

Now I have new baby things in my house again. :) :) NEW BABY THINGS. And for the first time this pregnancy, I'm really starting to get excited. I know everything can still go downhill or be mega hard (and probably will be), but we are actually moving in the RIGHT direction...instead of just napping and hoping some elf or fairy will come at night and take care of everything for us.

Here are some of the adorable things we bought!

We needed the gender-neutral going-home outfit (and the hanging out in the hospital outfits). We zipped off to Bonnie Togs, a gorgeous (and affordable!) children's store full of baby and children clothes.

Our baby will be lounging around in the following adorable Carters outfits:

These onesies are perfect - no snaps along their sensitive bellies, only at the diaper area, sweet soft shoulders, and cute animal prints, including HIPPOS!! I love hippos. Seriously. If you live in Canada, you've probably seen the House-Hippo commercials, and let me tell you, if it wasn't an advertising lie we'd own one. YESTERDAY.


This sleeper set is so sweet...and as a family that has never found out what they are having, all our babies have worn ducks at some point or another. This one will fit right in. ;)

 
And this adorable teddy bear set is the let's-break-outta-this-place-and-get-back-to-our-normal-chaos outfit. I felt guilty that it says I *heart* Mommy, but Ben assured me that he didn't feel left out and so we bought it and now it's what's happening. I still feel guilty.
 
I also felt like we needed a new diaper bag - we've used the same one for both babies and it's old, ripped, tired, and falling apart. So we bought this one - instead of the backpack version we used to have, this is a cross body one. It's manish enough that Ben won't mind carrying it and if we have a boy they won't mind having their stuff carted around in it. We found it at Wal-Mart and it's Fisher-Price. Best feature? That pocket on the left with the orange hole in it hangs onto your wipes so that you have instant access to them. GENIUS.
 
Our last purchase? This.
 

Because you know. Nipple bootcamp is also just three weeks away.

*sob*


8.20.2013

Pinterest - WIN!

Pinterest makes me want to be a better mom, crafter, cook, friend, and writer.

Pinterest makes me REALLY tired.

Such high expectations, Pinterest. SO HIGH.

But I found something that I thought I could handle and try without too much fuss.

Via Super Mom Moments
Did you know you can pop corn in a microwave with just kernels and a paper bag??? Neither did I. Pinterest said we could, though. I had kernels. I had a willing husband to buy me paper bags while I stayed in my pyjamas all day. And voila! A Pinterest test was born!

According to the awesome blog of super moms, Super Mom Moments, you just take a regular paper lunch bag, 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels and make some magic in your microwave for 2 minutes. Just put the kernels in the bag, fold over the top twice, place the bag in your microwave folded side down, and nuke it for 2 minutes (I set it for 3 just in case).

I of course made sure Ben (the willing husband) stood next to me in case it caught on fire.

And I of course didn't believe it could work until it was over.

BUT IT DID WORK.

A bowl of popcorn, comparable to a bag of microwave popcorn in volume, made without butter, salt, chemicals, and other yellow goo that you find in microwave popcorn. Crazy HEALTHY popcorn in minutes (it did take more than 2 minutes...no more than 3, though...I listened to the popping just like the regular microwave popcorn packaging tells you too and stopped it when the popping slowed to 1 pop per more than a second)!

Now to turn this popcorn into caramel corn. But HEALTHIER caramel corn, so it's okay. ;)

8.19.2013

Monday notes

Some notes on this Monday:

  • I have reached the point in the pregnancy where nothing is comfortable and everything hurts and is hard. I find it ridiculous that this point comes WEEKS before a baby should be born, instead of in the last week. Seriously - who thought up this timing???
  • The girls and I are still in our pyjamas. Last night may have been a record of no sleep with no visits from babies. I was kept up by needing to pee, being too hot, and having horrible dreams. Pregnancy dreams are SO vivid, so the bad ones are even WORSE than if you had them when you weren't pregnant.
  • I think lunch is my least favourite meal of the day. It takes a bit to figure out what to make, then to make it (especially with my giant belly), then to get the girls to the table, then to settle them down to pray, then to eat...which takes me no time, but could take them EONS. How long does it take to eat a sandwich?? Too long if you're 2 and 4.
  • Sophie starts school soon. We're having a baby soon. And yet nothing is in place for these things to happen. I'm trying to not to panic, but then I get tired and nap and then I wake up and realize that I accomplished nothing but avoiding panic. On the list of things still to do: get a 2-compartment lunch bag for Sophie (schools here have two 'nutrition breaks' instead of the usual one lunch, so you have to essentially pack two different lunches); a first-day outfit; a come-home-from-the-hospital outfit for baby; get Soph's backpack ready; get the hospital bag ready; buy tiny diapers; buy labels for all of Sophie's stuff; put the nursery together; bring up and dust the bassinette; and nap. Seems doable, right? OI.
  • I'm so blessed that my girls are okay with a lazy mama this summer. Usually we'd be at the park every day; some days the park AND the library; and even some days the park, the library, AND have a picnic! This summer has been lots of movies, and lounging, and taking advantage of our tiny postage-stamp-sized backyard where the coolest thing to do is dig in the dirt. They haven't launched a full-scale mutiny, yet I still feel like I'm failing them somehow.
  • We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl...all we know is it's a human baby. Some people congratulate me on this decision; others are annoyed that we didn't find out. It's funny that it's so polarizing. Did you find out what you were having? Why or why not? With our first, Sophie, we totally decided not to so we could enjoy the surprise. With Lillian, our second, we tried, but she wouldn't give it up! With Charlie, our baby in heaven, we never found out or decided either way because there was no time - they were gone by 11 weeks. And with this one? It's our last. We're all done after this. So why not keep with tradition, not find out, and enjoy this one last surprise until the very end.