Pre-Nesting

Sorry for that little break-- I hate it when I keep checking a private blog and they never post anything but you keep checking just in case!  So I didn't mean to do that to you.

We've been busy with all the holiday stuff, just like I'm sure you've been, but that's not the reason I've been absentee.  Actually, my excuse is lamer than that!  For Christmas, my Mom and Craig put together a book of all my blog posts from the year (which I LOVE-- I love having a hard copy of everything I've written and all the pictures I've posted), but once I knew Craig had ordered my book (this is the third time they'd done this, so he didn't even try to surprise me), I hated to write anything more for fear it would get left off of next year's book.  So I've been waiting for the new year to begin before I wrote any more.

But then Craig assured me that he was quite capable of including all my posts in the next book.  So it turns out I've been silent for nothing.

And now that I'm back, I hardly know where to begin.  I really ought to tell you all about Christmas, but my mind is already on other things (baby things), so I think I'll get that out of my system for now and go back and re-live Christmas in a day or two.  Okay with you?  (Like you really have any say in what I post-- but isn't it nice of me to pretend?)

So, yes, pretty much I woke up the day after Christmas in full-out Baby Prep Mode.  I've been pretty chill about it all during this pregnancy-- I've worried about where to put everyone and how to make our little house work with all these little kids.  But it's all been a mental exercise, pretty much no physical effort had gone into this.

And I wasn't too worried about that fact.  Babies don't take up a whole lot of room when they're first born, and mine are usually pretty happy in a swing or their baby carrier for the first several months, so I figured we could probably put off rearranging furniture and bedrooms until maybe April, or possibly even May.

But on the 26th, several facts hit me like a sledgehammer:

1)  While babies don't need a lot of space at home, it's also really hard to do things like trips to IKEA with babies who need to eat every two or three hours.  It's much easier to do these kinds of chores pregnant than with a baby.

2)  It's going to be hard enough to fit a bunk bed into the van with our four children.  Throw a 5th kid into the mix and it might not be possible any more.

3)  Also, there's a lot to be said for getting everyone used to their new sleeping arrangements before the baby comes, rather than after.  Heaven knows I get woken up plenty at night without having to deal with a new baby and new beds for everyone at the same time.

4)  Craig is home for the week, with no stake meetings and no major projects going on.  It would be a shame to squander such an opportunity.

5)  We have oodles of new toys that we now need to find places to stow.  It makes a lot more sense to figure out where all the big new furniture we'll be getting goes, and then fill in the cracks with the new toys, rather than find places for the new toys and then try to make room for large furniture.  Amiright?

6)  Also, I already mentioned that babies don't need a whole lot of space.  But all their clothing and blankets do need some space.  And there wasn't really anywhere to put those things at the moment.  So we needed more drawer and closet space somewhere.  And preferably somewhere that wouldn't occasionally be rendered difficult-to-access by Colton's nap schedule.


So with all those thoughts in my mind, I decided we may as well go full steam ahead.  So we made a list of all the things we needed to get done this week and began checking them off.  We took the van in to have the brakes and power steering looked at (both of which have been squeaking, but turned out to be fine AND the mechanic didn't charge us for cleaning them-- if anyone would like the number of an honest mechanic in Manassas, let me know!).  We figured out new cell phone plans.  We went to IKEA and bought bunk beds, which Craig had set up before dinner time.  We also got a dresser, because I have this fantasy about having furniture that actually matches.  We got a mattress from Costco.  And next on the list is to take apart the upstairs bunk beds so Colton can learn to sleep on a big boy bed without me having to worry about him falling 6 feet to his demise (or at the very least a very nasty bump on his head).

And then whenever that's all done, we'll figure out who's going to sleep in which room and start moving clothing and possessions to those respective rooms, and hopefully find places for all those new toys while we're at it.

And then-- THEN!-- I will start getting out and sorting and washing all the baby girl clothes I've been saving since Kendra outgrew them nearly seven years ago.  And then I will truly be nesting.



Happy New Year, everyone.  It's good to be back!