Some love and a rant, lucky you

Internet, I got my new baby today!

No, not that one.

I finally got my new car! We've been saving up ever since this baby got on it's way, and we took home our Honda Odyssey last night and spent the better part of today installing car seats. You guys, I'm driving 5 car seats around. And in a few months they will all hold (loud) children. We put the oldest three in the third row, Mico is on the drivers side, Sera is in the middle, and Pippa is on the passenger side. In the middle row we put the infant seat behind the drivers seat, and we put Viv's seat in the centre and slid it all the way forward, so I can hand her stuff from the front and she can't poke the baby, plus it gives the big kids more room in the back. The seat right behind the passenger seat is out, so there's lots of room for entering and exiting. The kids think the new car is cool, and it is SO MUCH EASIER to shove them all inside when there's room for them all and I don't have to crawl over anyone or anything to ensure all dependants are safely buckled up.

Cool. So I like my awesome (and clean!) supervan. Anyways.

I've heard a lot of parents discussing the topic of kids clothing recently, specifically dressing little girls like little girls. Okay. I agree completely that a preschooler running around in a tube top and miniskirt is inappropriate, HOWEVER. It's one thing to dress your daughter in age appropriate clothing, it's a whole other thing to constantly dress your girl like she's a china doll.

As a mother of three girls, I can tell you that they come in different shapes and sizes, and I would never put the same clothes on my two year old as I would my 3 year old, simply because they are so different. Picture this:

Sera is 6, she has a normal but solid build. This kid won't break easily, she's not a tiny little thing, she is average. Clothes are made with kids like her in mind.

Pippa is a pixie. The child turned 3 in February and wears size 18 months clothing. And it is roomy. She weighs less than 30 pounds. She is a feather, but she eats like crazy. Things fall of this girl, but she's the one people admire and hold up to their Perfect Little Girl Image. Pippa can wear anything and make it look dainty. She's the perfect breakable little china doll.

Viv is 2, and is twice as big as Pippa and 3/4 as big as Sera. Viv has baby fat, she's a chunky lil' girl, and she's wearing clothing for girls twice her age. Putting her in some crocheted little dress would be ridiculous.

These girls eat the same things, play the same things, breathe the same air. And they are so incredibly different, body wise. I don't see how putting Viv in leggings is unwomanly, she's 2! She's not a woman, she's a baby, and if she doesn't want to wear a lace dress, fine. You try and put it on her.

Since I've been gone...

Internet, I am 8 months pregnant. I don't know how that snuck up on me, but earlier today somebody asked me and I realized I had no idea. A bit of internetting and calculating and BOOM, 8 whole months. 32 weeks today, actually. Only 8 more weeks to go, although I've got a pattern of delivering my babies 2 weeks before they're due so... I'm going to operate on the 6 weeks to go train of thought.

I've been organizing the hell out of our house ever since the kids got out of school, and I don't know how I achieved it, but I think we are organized. We spent a lot of time at Ikea and bought many shelves, and we literally got rid of anything without a designated place. My goal is to keep us organized until the baby comes.

I was dreading the thought of keeping 4 kids entertained throughout the entire summer while gestating, so we enrolled the kids in various summer activities to keep them out of my hair. Mico and Sera are learning a new language at a day camp, which gets us all out of the house by 9 am on weekdays, and Pip and Viv are being babysat three times a week by two neighbour girls who are new to babysitting, so I'm using my "free time" to clean up and organize and return phone calls, as well as keep an eye on the four girls. I'm hoping to be able to leave the kids with them for a few evenings next summer, I think they could totally handle it by then.

The nursery is done, I'm not really sure when that happened but I put sheets on the crib last week and realized that I didn't have anything left to do. It's painted, furnished, and stocked with diapers and clothes. It's also a rather small room with a wall of floor to ceiling windows, so decorating pretty much went like this:

Build a storage centre over one entire wall, floor to ceiling. Buy some grey curtains for the floor to ceiling windows. Paint the two remaining walls turquoise. Spend two months wondering what to do now. Buy a super comfortable full size daybed and set it up alone, while 7 months pregnant. Drag a white nightstand in there and buy a pretty lamp. Decide it needs to be artsy, so spend 4 hours painting an enormous family tree, complete with photos, on the remaining wall. Buy a million diapers, baby socks, and white onesies in size newborn, and fill up that wall of storage. Get out the other baby clothes and put them away, knowing full well that you'll only dress the child in cute clothes when you need to go out. Otherwise, it's white onesies all the way, baby. Buy bedding for the cool new daybed. Surprise husband when he comes home from a work trip: The nursery is done!

No, there is no crib. I'll be co-sleeping with this baby until he or she starts sleeping through the night or stops nursing and/or needing nighttime feedings. We'll buy a crib in a year or so, maybe. I guess. We'll see.

SO. To wrap up. We pretty darn prepared, and treading water.