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.