June Mommies March 21 - 27

[3girlsmommy]

Good Morning and happy Sunday ladies!! I hope everyone is still feeling good. We are quickly moving into the home stretch!!

I have a question of the week for everyone(i'm hoping to get myself motivated! )

What have/will you to get ready for the new baby? Will you get a room ready or just a corner of your room? Are there things that you need to buy?

We have done pretty much nothing! I bought a cute little rack w/ cubbie holes to go over the changing table and have thought a lot about projects I need to do but I haven't started anything yet. Hopefully next weekend we are going to build a set of book shelves at the end of the hallway between the girls rooms so that we can move some stuff out of the baby's room. I want to paint my room so that I can move more stuff out of the baby's room and hang it up. I wnat to build shelves and a window seat in our room to get the remaining things out of the baby's room. Then I need to buy my oldest a new dresser and my dh is going to build her a head board and then put her dresser/changing table combo in the baby's room. And lastly I need to go through all the baby clothes and toys and clean them and put them away. Oh and I want to paint the baby's room. We also have a bunch of other projects that we need to get done outside, like put in a brick patio, planting flowers etc but first it needs to STOP SNOWING!

I going to go get into the shower! HAve a great day everyone!!

[mattjule]

I so hear you with this! My list is a lot smaller since we rent and therefore can't renovate anything. Most of my list is things I'd like to buy and I am realizing that I am running out of time to come up with some big chunks of money

I need to make the new baby a quilt-super easy pattern, but I still need to buy half the fabric and actually do it

we need to buy a dresser-right now baby's clothes are squeezed into ds's dresser and hanging out in the cradle I need to dismantle (we are waiting on our tax refund-at least we have a way of getting this one!)

I REALLY want this carrier: www.hug-a-bub.com.au I am trying to figure out if it is more cost effective to order from Australia or from a retailer in the states. Either way I am looking at around $80-90. I thought about making one, it would definitely be cheaper, but it is hard to tell what the dimensions are and without the proper width, I don't think it would work right, plus their fabrics are nicer than what I have available to me.

I want a Moses basket $60: it is questionable if I would be saving all that much if I made one myself out of rope and fabric. If I get one, I will need to make the bedding for it. Again, I have some of the fabric, but not any contrasting colors or anything.

I want a new, nice stroller for Tain $140-200: I am so tired of crappy strollers. He doesn't like them all that much anyway, but I need him to get used to not being carried. I know I can't do it anymore and at 30 lbs, it is starting to be a strain on dh to carry him all the time. I think the hassle-free qualities make them worth the money, but it is irrelevant if we don't have the money, yk?

Birth supplies: 6 receiving blankets, 2 lawn & leaf trash bags (2? What am I going to do with the rest of the box in an apt?!), Large package of chux, sanitary pads

Wanted to have a doll made for Tain and my nieces well before baby is due-who knows how that will go

I also have projects needing to be completed for others: I need to finish my sister's diaper bag, my dad wants a bag for his tools, I told a mama at MDC I'd make her a stretch cotton pouch sling for cost (it's not like I am a professional or anything), I want to make myself some shirts out of dh's old t's or some fabric I have stashed around (nothing fancy, I'm not a designer, but a lot of these boutique shirts have, like, 4 seams. How hard is that?)

That is just the stuff off the top of my head.

[Tanibani]

What am I doing? Nothing (except massive decluttering!!!) I probably should pull out the baby clothes at some point and see what I need. Oh yeah, and when I declutter, I can find room for baby clothes (drawers).

Moses basket: I bought one while pg for first baby $80 and BOY it was the biggest waste of money for me. He turned out to be "high needs" and was only happy being held 24/7. He couldn't sleep alone either. He had to be touching my body to sleep. We co-napped for 8 months until I was finally able to roll away. I ended up giving it away at a LLL garage sale.

Stroller: My favorite is the Maclaren Techo $299? It's an umbrella stroller, but VERY well made. It reclines Here is my review:
http://www.epinions.com/content_63130668676

I also splurged and bought the $99 Volo stroller, but I immediately regretted it... the Techno is all I need.... we'll see...

I started using it when DS was about 20 months. Transition was not difficult (he didn't fight it) because he was held so much so he didn't really mind riding in it.

Prenatal Yoga & chiropractic adjustments are helping me to feel GREAT and energized. But I haven't had yoga in 3 weeks (colds, visitors) and I've been really tired lately.

[wildthing]

Happy Sunday everyone!

Getting ready for baby...one of my favorite topics!! We are not setting up any actual "space" at this point, except a spot to keep baby's stuff-clothes, blankets, diapers. I have a bassinet that I keep out in the livingroom if I put baby down during the day. It has wheels so I can move it from room to rom with me. In my day care, I have 3 under the age of 2 ad a 3.5yo, so I like being abe to put baby down and in my site.

As far as supplies, I have:
8 cloth diapers-either just made or left from Gunnar
4 more cut out to sew
1 wool cover
1 kimono made-just found the pattern I have been looking for, so I will be making a bunch more
about 15 yards of fabric to make more kimonos and blankets
a few layette items that I purchased a few months ago

What I need:
A new car seat-our last infant car seat has gone through two chlidren, so time to replace it.
12 more diapers, at least
6 wool covers
A new sling-a friend is making this for me from a beautiful celestial fabric
Baby quilt-same friend making it, similar fabric

Birth supplies:
Order birth kit, adding in L6W and Afterease
Make or buy cloth pads

Quickly, on the alcohol topic-Personally, I abstain, but that is all the time, not just pregnancy. Also from a family with a history of addictive behaviors, as well as my own behaviors in the past, I prefer to avoid all alcohol as a general rule.
However, I do not beleive that the occasional drink will cause lasting harm. I tend to think of things this way.....if you diet (or drink, or anything really), excessively for most of your life, than one or two days when you don't do it aren't going to help you any. The reverse can often be true. If you treat yourself and your body and baby well every day, then the occasional indulgence is not going to do much. My own personal philosphy.

Gotta go to a conference meeting. TTYL!

[Greaseball]

This baby is going to have its own room, though I don't know when it will start sleeping there. The crib isn't set up. I've organized all of dd's old clothes by size and put them all in a dresser.

I'm putting together a small stash of cd's, and yesterday I got 2 dozen generic prefolds from my aunt. Dh isn't wild about the idea but I told him I'd use them when he wasn't home.

[LizD]

I think common-sense moderate alcohol consumption is just fine. Around the holidays I had a few drinks, not in a single evening, of course ! But I never drink more than one drink at a time, anyway. I had a mudslide on my daughter's birthday and champagne at new year's, and a weak rum and coke here and there, and a glass of wine and a mudslide at my office christmas party. The mudslide is mostly ice cream anyway. I'll have half a beer and, if no one is around to share the other half, pour the rest out so I am not tempted to finish it. I doubt that is even necessary. We have to keep in mind that studies on fetal alcohol syndrome cover a very serious level of alcohol intake. Some wine now and then is no comparison. I also know a few ladies who've smoked pot all through their pregnancy, what I would call fairly heavy use, and have had easy births, healthy kids, no problems. I have had doula clients and a distant cousin who've tested positive for cocaine in labor, which I personally would never do but must admit their kids were just fine.

I drank about the same moderate, occasional amount when pregnant with my daughter, who's now ten, has skipped a school grade and has always been in excellent health. So while I do sometimes feel morbid and worried about it, I really don't believe such small alcohol intake is at all dangerous.

I also have alcoholism in the family history but it has never been a problem for me. I love beer and wine and fun drinks but have rarely been drunk, and months can go by without thinking of buying or ordering alcoholic beverages. Of course others must be more careful, and I have a friend with some kind of syndrome, I forget what it's called, but she cannot drink even a sip of alcohol without getting very drunk, even completely ill. It took her a long time to figure this out and have a diagnosis and now must totally abstain.

We have borrowed a moses basket- we had one next to the bed for daughter and used it a lot, so I plan to use this one as well. I have made some rainbow silk/flannel blankets for me and am making some more to sell & for expectant friends. In fact I am mixing up the dye solutions today. At the consignment store, I got some newborn gowns. Washed whatever old things we have from ten years ago that will work.

I plan to visit the consignment store and get a tilted nursing stool, or a new one for now as my back hurts. Either at consignment or babies r us, plan to get a pack-n-play with the bassinette feature. I am not doing a nursery/crib this time but want somewhere for the baby to sleep in various rooms of the house when convenient. We were in a studio part time when my daughter was little, and when we stayed in the studio she slept in the playpen until 18months. She had her own room at our big house, but in the studio it was great to be able to move the thing about or fold it up.

I was also looking at that maclaren stroller. $200 is a lot for a stroller but they do hold up well and are very lightweight. My goal for this new bout of mommyhood is to be even less encumbered than the first time, and we were pretty low on all the "stuff" then except what people bought us. We still have things that are short term like the bouncy seat- thank god we have one that's ten years old, from the days before vibrators and music and lights. egad. I don't think a three month old needs to be as addicted to a vibrator as mom!

The major expense will be from diaperaps. I like their covers, and I think their prices are the best for very good quality. Of course I gave the diapers away all those years ago, and the highchair and the bike seat, and the folks I gave them to still have small children.

It's hard to believe it is almost time really to make sure all this stuff is here. I want to be ready by the end of the first week in May since my daughter was three weeks early. I have moved along very fast and kind of expect this one to be early. I hope so because there is now a chance my husband will be working at bonnaroo, doing sound! I will be sad to miss the shows either way but I sure hope the kid is born before then so I don't have to worry about holding it in those three days. This is still tentative but I am the kind of person who needs to plan out how I will do things under every contingency, however unlikely.

A few weeks ago it seemed way too early to be getting ready and now, if this baby matches his/her sister's gestational age, I only have ten weeks!

A bigger worry is a tooth fell apart the other day and I have to get it pulled. This wouldn't be a problem except it has been so far impossible to get through to the oral surgeon's office. It doesn't hurt, knock wood, but I'd sure like it extracted before it starts to.

[Queen of Cups]

I had the first "are you having twins" question today! It was a very nice older gentleman at church, and I explained that I wasn't having twins, but that since I'm short the baby just seems to be growing straight out in front... I really don't think he was trying to be obnoxious or anything.

We've got stuff mostly ready, actually, I hate to feel unprepared plus we wanted the cats to get used to the new furniture arrangement and not be too freaked out. I've got pictures up at Photogrove - our online photo album. All the clothes/blankets we've gotten so far are washed and put away, and toys are in storage until we need them. The only big thing left to get that's absolutely neccessary is the car seat, though we really want a play-yard with bassinette for our home office. We still have our shower coming up, so I know there's a lot more stuff on the way! We do still need to stock up on diapers and wipes - but I'm going to take it slow on that. DH and I compromised on that topic, we'll use disposables for the first ffew months (like he wants) and then switch over to cloth later if he feels more comfy with it. The man has never changed a diaper in his life!

I fell up the concrete steps on our front porch Friday, and I've been sore ever since. Plus, I woke up today and weighed about 3-4 pounds more than I expected, couldn't get my rings on, and my shoes were tight. I think I worked way too many hours last week and need to stay off my feet for a day or two and drink plenty of water. Any other suggestions?

[2BMamaof3]

Hi all,

I slept in until 12:00 today!!! My DH was with the kids...yay!!!
Mostly I got to sleep in because my 2 year old was up puking half the night. Sigh. My first puked TWICE ever...and spit up only once or twice ever. ZZ (my 2 year old) is a puker. Fun fun.

I don't really know what I need to do before the baby comes. Make sure the house is in order...generally keep it at the same level of cleanliness it is at right now. Maybe sort through some baby clothes (good idea, actually), ready the cloth diaper stash and buy my homebirth supplies. Other than that...let birth happen (well, after 37 weeks anyway )

Hope you all have a good week,
Abby

[Ceili]

We're actually in the middle of remodelling the whole house. We're almost finished with our bedroom, the new flooring has been ordered and should be here next week. DSO is currently cleaning up in there from our afternoon of rewiring stuff.

We're getting a new king sized bed (YAY!), my parents are buying us a crib which we're going to use as a sidecar. And once the floor goes in we'll be moving my great grandmothers dressers into our room and donating our old mismatched dressers to goodwill. I'm going to have my bedroom back very soon. I even ordered a new honeycomb shade to go on the window (cordless, we're babyproofing as we remodel).

We have plenty of clothes and diapers and the changing table is all set up. I also reorganized the bookshelves in our living room so that the bottom two shelves are cleared out to make room for toys and books.

I'm waiting until after my baby shower to buy anything else. We still need a car seat and I'm really covetting those super expensive european pram/strollers. I'm trying to find a convincing rationalization for needing one.

I need to order my birth supplies, I should probably do that soon. And I need to figure out where my nighttime gladrags are and maybe get a few more to use PP.

[eilonwy]

Well, Eli is running around naked and dh is chasing him and blowing zerberts on his belly. Everybody's happy, except for me.. I've got really bad heartburn. Oh well, I guess it won't kill me. :LOL

About trusting your body and alcohol: I totally believe in this!!! While I was pregnant with Eli, I couldn't tolerate caffiene, sugar, or alcohol at all. The smell of a frappucino was enough to make me want to toss. I wanted to get drunk at my brother's wedding (two days before I found out I was pregnant) but *everything* tasted horrible, from my favorite kind of beer to ridiculously sweet mixed drinks. I just couldn't stomach it at all. After Eli was born, I learned very early on in my nursing that he is very sensitive to caffiene and sugar. A few months later I had a beer, and learned that if I didn't pump in about an hour, Eli would spend 11-13 hours sleeping. I think I had two other beers before we started ttc NewBean, and I pumped both times before and after so that Eli could have "clean" milk.

This baby is not nearly as sensitive to food items as Eli was. When I drank the beer, the baby seemed to perk up and dance for a while. :LOL Seriously, it was strange. At any rate, I'm fairly confident that this baby will "let me know" as it were.

I've been eating a lot less than when I was pregnant with Eli at this point. Of course, I started the pregnancy ten pounds heavier than my first, and I lost ten pounds less... so I guess that all in all I'm ahead by 20! :

What do I still need for the baby? Diaper covers, and I could use some more prefolds. We started cd with Eli when he was 6 months old and (just barely) in a medium, so his prefolds are the premium sized ones. They're huge! :LOL I didn't realize just how big they were until I saw an infant prefold. Since we won't be using fitteds, we'll need more than the 5 tiny covers we have because I'm anticipating lots of poop (Eli pooped three times per nursing session for the first two months or so! ). At least it won't stink. Ah, I find myself looking forward to the smell of NewBean's dirty diapers. Eli's have been really foul lately. :

I also need some 0-3 mos and 3-6mos summer clothing. Eli was born in November, so all of his newborn clothing will be way too warm for NewBean. By the time it was warm enough to wear summer clothing, Eli needed a 6-9 mos to fit over the cloth diapers. So 90% of our summer clothing is 6-9 mos. It's also all very "boy" because Eli is pretty. :LOL We'll need to get some summer clothing for Eli too, but I'm hoping to get a bunch of stuff from my brother who's son is almost exactly a year older than EliBean. If NewBean is a slow grower like his brother, then we'll be okay for next fall/winter; if NewBean is not a slow grower, then they'll have to share clothing with Eli (who is only now fitting into a 12 mos size) or they'll be bigger than Eli. There's no way to anticipate that before the fact. :LOL

I'm looking at a double stroller, so I can walk with Eli and NewBean. The one I want isn't terribly expensive, so we'll see what happens. I'd also really really like to get a king sized mattress, because with two twin beds and a toddler and an infant, I'd worry about one of the kids waking up in the crack or rolling off the bed. : Eli wakes up with an arm or leg in the crack several times a week as it is, and I can only see it getting worse with another babe in the bed.

[Doodlebugsmom]

I also know a few ladies who've smoked pot all through their pregnancy, what I would call fairly heavy use, and have had easy births, healthy kids, no problems.

Me too, Liz. I was a heavy pot-smoker before I got pregnant with dd. I stopped completely while pregnant and then smoked a couple of times when she was still nursing, but not until she was at least a year old and going hours between sessions. My dh still smokes some, and this pregnancy I have wanted to smoke so bad! I haven't, of course and I won't for a long time.

As for the QOW, I have to go through all of dd's old clothes and pick out the ones that I will keep for ds. I also want to get some cloth nursing pads. Anyone know of a good, inexpensive place to get them? I also need to wash the little boy clothes that I have bought. We are going to set up our kids' room with big kid beds and get it painted. We figure that until they are ready to sleep in there, we can use it as an extra guest room. We often have more than two guests at one time. Dd sleeps most of the night in her toddler bed, which is attached like a sidecar to our bed. I would love for her to sleep the whole night in there before the baby comes. At least we have a king size so if she still wants to slee with us it's not a big deal. I also want to keep the house nice and clean so I don't have any major work to do in that dept. before the baby comes.

Hope everyone is feeling great today. Rynna, you're not alone. I've been battling heartburn for the last couple of months. It is really, really intense at times. Almost unbearable.

[Ceili]

Not cheap, but I bought two sets of silk/wool nursing pads from earthbaby.com They are so soft. They have some others that are cotton and are more reasonably priced.

[mattjule]

I want a Peg Perego stroller. I originally wanted a Maclaren, but luckily our local BRU carries them and we could try them out. The seat is not very long and ds tends to slide out the front of strollers like that. Plus I need a tray and all sorts of bells and whistles just to get the kid to get in it at all, let alone stay in it a while. Sometimes I feel like I shot myself in the foot with all the baby carrying. He is having a hard time being carried as little as he is right now and it is definitely going to be a shock to him when he is suddenly not carried at all. There really isn't a better solution that I have found. He is still so little that he gets tired in stores/on outings so he needs to be able to rest and I CAN'T carry him anymore. It's been hard. I weighed him at our last mw appt, BTW. 31 lbs. I don't feel quite so bad that I think he is too heavy to carry. I wouldn't change carrying my babies and I will carry this one as much as I did Tain, but it is weird to realize that AP has it's downsides too.

As for the Moses basket-Tain wouldn't stay asleep by himself for most of his first year, either. After the fatigue of pp was over, I would sit in a rocker or chair for a couple hours at every nap and just hold him. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of doing that this time. We have a cradle, but it is really big (for our tiny apt anyway) and there is no where to put it-I need something smaller. I wanted a bassinet, but a moses basket is more affordable and smaller. I am hoping that this baby will be able to nap in it since it is fairly enclosed-he won't feel all that empty cold space around him. (crossing fingers)

I found a site that had the sling I want for $76.50, shipping included! Evidently, they reduced their prices by 10% since they were going to be on vacation. I happened upon it on the last day-they are back tomorrow and shipping vacation orders on Weds. So we decided to go ahead and buy it. That is such a load off!

So we have clothes, diapers, blankets, a car seat and what I hope will be my main sling. (I have about 4 or 5 others-I just can't help myself!) I think the moses basket won't be too bad to swing next month or with a little out of our tax return. That just leaves the things I really WANT, but can't in good conscience put on the need list.

A mama over on TP has some contoured changing pad covers-we have been negotiating for about 4 days now. I think I will be able to get the receiving blankets for the birth, trash bags I need for the birth, and the covers in return for a scrapbooking album I have. That leaves chux pads, sanitary pads and Recharge on my birth supplies list. I am so happy!

We are getting a king size bed too. Our tax refund was mailed on Friday so we are hoping to hit the mattress sales tomorrow (I sure hope it gets here!-all the sales end on Weds). We can get the dresser then, too, but I think we won't try to shop for both in one day-too hard on ds since we want to do some heavy comparison shopping. Maybe I can get my bro to babysit...

I measured Tain's quilt today and am bummed. It is longer than a yard. I have the front fabric for Rowan's and I thought I had the perfect backing-batik I have been holding onto for about 3 yrs-but it is only a yard long and I had issues with Tain's being too short so I don't want to make Rowan's any shorter than Tain's. So that is a step backward. Oh well.

I have lots of fabric for baby clothes, but I don't really NEED any so if I never get around to it, no big deal.

[rubelin]

Hello! I've been sick all week with a cold, so not fun! It's finally going away and I hope it is the last for a long time! I was barely sick at all when I was pregnant with Ben, like one day only, so this was a new experience!

I was just working on my "things for baby" list yesterday. There's not a whole lot that we need, but most of it is things I'm sewing, so I have to get moving on it pretty soon. I have been wanting to paint the bedroom (for 18 months now!), but am just now starting to get motivated enough to really think it will happen We need a dresser for Ben before I can put any of the baby's stuff away, but I have already gone through all the clothes and most of it has been washed.

We have a Pack'nPlay that lives at my parent's house and we'll use the bassinette from it in the living room to keep the baby close and maybe beside the bed for times when we'd like to spread out a bit (and have marital relations ) We're also getting a Snuggle Nest so that the baby can have a bit of personal space on the bed. Ben slept in a crib for most of the first year, so we aren't 100% comfortable with sleeping with a newborn yet.

I'm making a new sling (don't really like my old one) out of this cool woven cotton I've had for years, just need to dye it and find a good clip (the one good thing about my old sling was that it had an adjustable clip instead of rings, made it very easy to lie a sleeping baby down!)

I'm making my diaper bag and it's mostly cut out, I just need to find a good lining so I can finish it. I'm also making the changing pad and wetbags to go in it. Oh, and I need to make a pail liner and some PUL sheets for the beds.

I have a few dozen diapers to finish sewing up for my newborn stash. I've been doing a few every couple of days and it's been fun. Oh and I have a HUGE stack of wipes to overlock.

So it's mostly sewing things which won't take a ton of time once I have all the things I need and the painting will probably just be a weekend's job. Now if we could just get the money together for the new dresser, I would feel so much better!!

DH is groaning about getting some dinner, so I'd better go! Hope you all had a good weekend!!

[LizD]

we used the moses basket right from the beginning with daughter. sleeping with her evolved from falling asleep with her nursing in the bed with us, but since we had a low bed the basket was just as easy, really. we have a hard enough time sharing a king sized bed - we both enjoy *sleeping* alone and actually sleep better apart a lot of the time. but it was never a problem to put her to bed somewhere else and take her in with us later. i think being in the basket from the beginning might have helped with that, but she was also a really mellow baby.

anyone else having lots of braxton-hicks contractions? sometimes i think it is a contraction but it is the baby squashed up into the front and making it feel hard when the rest of it feels like usual.

my midwife recommends everyone wear a maternity support belt. she says it supports the muscles well and gets the baby into a nice position. anyone have any thoughts on this or brand recommendations?

[seedling]

Getting ready for baby/nesting...Has hit me BIG TIME. Okay, besides sorting thru tons of paperwork and trying to get myself somewhat organized in that regard, I'm going crazy doing stuff everywhere else too.

I'm now convinced that we have to find a way to get the roof on the barn replaced this spring. So I'll be calling for estimates soon. And then trying to figure out a way to finance it. I've spent the whole weekend riding my DH's a** about getting the mowers serviced. Looks like that will be finished in the next week. I *just* about have my whole garden cleaned out and ready for fresh mulch. I just have one small bed on the far side of the house left to do. There are tons of fence repairs that I'm going to try to get DH to do over his spring-break...my thinking here is that dog is going to have to spend some more time out-of-doors come June and will need the fence to be less easily escaped from (we have a big fenced in back yard but our dog is neurotic and thinks that he has to be inside and entertained all day/night long).

On the inside of the house, I'm really wanting to do a few repairs to the finish on the tub. I've spent the weekend working on painting the upstairs landing...this has taken the whole weekend because when our house was built (in the 20's) the people put up wallpaper on un-primed walls. So it's taken me 8 years of frustration and three layers of wall paper to get to a semi-paintable surface (our dining room and one bedroom were in the same shape and those I painted long ago...I just gave up on the staircase and landing). Well, I want to finish the landing b/c there is enough room for shelving which we really need. We also have some repairs to one wall in the playroom which I'm trying to convince DH's dad to come over and finish (started a year ago!) so that we can paint that wall and put up shelving. And I think I'm calling a handyman tomorrow to come give me an estimate for repairing a whole in the ceiling (not the roof, just the ceiling from where we had duct work installed to heat/cool the upstairs) in the landing. Yes, I'm spending my tax return money in my head...money that should go to savings....bad girl, bad girl.

Yes, I know I sound nutso. I just know it took me 18 months to feel like doing ANYTHING house-repairish with DD and I'm panicing about living with all this stuff that long (though I've lived with so much of it for 8 years I don't know why it's bugging me so bad right now....I went thru a major "I hate my house, it's a death trap, how can we raise a kid here" phase right after DD was born. I'm hoping that I can avoid some of that by having some projects finished before baby arrives).

I've sorted thru and put away all of DD's small clothing. Got the dresser second hand and painted it a couple weeks ago. Her room is set up with the baby's crib (which we didn't use till she was 14 + months) and baby's dresser. If we can get the shelving finished that'll free up room in our room to set up a bassinet (in storage). We probably won't use it but it'd be nice to have it just in case. I'm just about done completing my cd stash. I'm hoping to find some size 0 kissaluvs but we'll see. My homebirth kit is here but I've still got to figure out the pool issue and also get a few random supplies.

So...mainly, I'm driving my DH crazy. All he wants to do is watch basketball and fart around on the computer (in addition to grad school and a full-time job) and I'm pinging from one project to the next nagging him to join in. I did this with DD too. I'm waiting to fizzle out. It'll happen but I hope I get some major stuff accomplished first!

Oh, and heartburn? It's my constant companion. I could have nothing but water all day and still have heartburn.

[Greaseball]

I fell down the stairs! But I landed on my butt. Our stairs are really dangerous and steep. So far this is the second time I've fallen, and dd and dh have both fallen once.

[wildthing]

Oh Greaseball!! OUCH!!! Are you okay?????

I fell down the stairs at our rental house when we were cleaning it. Hurt my tailbone and knee. I hope you're okay.

[rubelin]

ooh, keep all your "falling-down-stairs" vibes away from me!! I am being so extra careful, I can't deal with brusing my tailbone this year (I've done it quite often through my life and it's miserable) I hope you're not too bruised!!

Wow seedling! You make my piddly bedroom painting job seem silly! Though you've reminded me that we do need to get the garden in shape soon. We went camping last Sept and dumped everything back there when we returned and it really needs to be taken care of. We've also spent the past 5 years trying to decide about getting grass put in. It's a small space (abt 100 sq ft) and we can't decide if it's worth getting a lawnmower. We've got to do something, though, as it's warming up and I want to get a little pool to float in The flower beds are looking nice and lush from all the rain we've had, but it's looking a little wild out there!

I think the baby finally moved aroun last night!! He's been SO low and kicking me in the hip bones (and the bladder ) but now he's more in the middle, even above my navel finally!! Now if he could just get his head down, I'll be a very happy camper!!

Robin~

[irishgreengables]

ummm...where did that huge tummy come from this past week? I swear I just went from, "Is she pregnant or chubby?" to "Wow -- what are you...like 10 months pregnant?" in a week's time. It has thrown off my whole equilibrium.

re: getting ready. We spent last weekend going through newborn stuff that we had gotten 3 years ago when we thought we were adopting a newborn domestically. Thankfully, we kept everything. We also transitioned the kids to their own room. DS, who is an introvert and likes alone time going to sleep, falls asleep in his toddler bed, while DD falls asleep in our bed. Then, DD gets moved to her toddler bed -- in same room as DS. Then in the morning, DH moves both DD and DS into bed with me. We wanted to do this now so that they do not associate the transition with the baby coming. We had thought we might do all 3 in our room, but we're pretty sure DD and DS will not sleep through crying and nursing etc. We also put baby's stuff in room with DD and DS, although she will sleep with us. This week, DH will finish changing table/dresser he is making. We are a lot more lax about preparing for this baby than we were preparing for first 2 to come home.

It is really hitting me that I have never parented a newborn before and I am getting nervous. Starting with toddlers was alot tougher emotionally, but easier in terms of everyday baby care stuff.

Peace,