Birth Lodge Entry 1 (No, the baby is not coming anytime soon!)

Some friends in a local birth group inspired me to write a birth lodge as a way to commemorate the last few weeks of my pregnancy. This is week 36...

The weeks leading up to week 36 have been tumultuous for me emotionally. During week 35 my mom and I made a hasty drive from Kentucky to North Carolina to say goodbye to my grandfather as he prepared to pass from this world to the heavenly realm all Christians look forward to. I truly feel very happy for him and very little sorrow, but there is a certain amount of emotional trauma when you watch someone go through the dying process. I had never witnessed anything like that before and am still working through it, but I am very glad that I went. He died about forty minutes before my birthday, so that added to the trauma for me. I spent my birthday making funeral arrangements with my mother and grandmother, and traveling back and forth from one place to another. It was rather dismal, not to mention that I relish spending my birthday with my husband and daughters, so there were a lot of tears as I got ready for bed that night. Plus, late third trimester hormones are a total b****. I came home after five days to attempt to get my disheveled house back in order and just found myself exhausted and emotional. Sometimes the drama just doesn't stop. Sometimes it gets worse, but we won't go there. I just hold my husband's hand and we know that everything is alright when we are together. <3

Physically I am starting to feel very pregnant. My hips hurt a great deal, my seasonal allergies are kicking my butt, I'm hot all the time, and having a difficult time getting from point A to point B. But that's all normal, so it's not a big deal. :) I can feel that baby has dropped a lot, so that is always good when you are in the last few weeks. I am in no hurry to get this baby out at all. In fact, I'm in denial that its arrival is this close. Truly! I have everything prepped for our home birth, all of our supplies, etc. We need to do a practice run with our birth pool, but that is something we keep putting off for some reason or another. Have I mentioned that we seem to be in denial? Haha! I suppose we should fill the pool this weekend, but MAN are we busy! 

A week from today, the girls and I will drive to Lexington for our cat's appointment at their local spay and neuter clinic. They charge less than half of our local clinic and include all shots, as well as pain medication--our local clinic charges extra for all of that. HELLO!! That saves us money even with the drive up there.

Here's a little funny for you: Kirsten just asked me if the baby will be here on Monday. Ummm, no. Why would she think that? Her reply was that Monday is Labor Day. I think we need to teach her what Labor Day is about, but BOY did I ever laugh!! Also, I was in the tub the other night and Norah followed me in for a chat. Of course. She instructed me to push the baby out because if I was in the tub (the bathtub, mind you) then I was surely having the baby. Kids are hilarious!!

On that note, I've decided that I'm going to make myself a birthday cake today. Maybe it will make me feel better about my effed-up birthday. 

Is it naptime yet?!

Our week feels like it has been crazy. But then again--I think every week is crazy-busy. Our house is almost fully ready for baby, which is good because our home visit with our midwife is tomorrow! Baby clothes are organized and put into a small chest of drawers, diapers and covers are all prepped and sorted, almost all of the birth supplies are in the birth box, I installed the carseat this evening--which feels super early, but we were tripping over it, so it needed to go someplace! The bassinet is ready, as you have seen previously...that's about it! The birth pool has been inflated once, but we are going to water test it this weekend or next. I wish I could just leave it inflated where we plan to use it, but with two kids and two cats...yeah. I'd have a busted pool faster than I could shake my fist at the offender. I want to crochet something else for baby, but I'm not sure what. I'd want it to be a clothing item. Maybe just one more pair of longies since the weather has been surprisingly cool. I need some scrumdiddlyumptious wool!

Tomorrow is my super busy day of the week: take Ryan to work, visit the chiropractor, run some errands, come home and put finishing touches on the house, pick Ryan up from work, feed my family and stick an apple pie in the oven before our home visit. Oh my word. I'm exhausted already. LOL

Bassinet Up-cycle

I mentioned yesterday that I was cleaning out our bassinet. As I removed the bunting for washing, I noted that it was getting rather old and tired looking, so when I saw the sides for the first time in three years, I realized that the cardboard would be perfect to adhere scrapbook paper to! MOD PODGE!!! Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Mod Podge?! I have had a piece of scrapbook paper on hand for a few months. I purchased it with a project in mind and never--um--completed said project. *shifty eyes*

>.>

<.<

Anywaaayyy...I really loved that paper and decided that it would be PERFECT for this project! Here is the bassinet stripped bare and ready for transformation. 

I only had one sheet of the afore-mentioned paper, but I got too excited waiting for Ryan to come home with more and put that one on ahead of time. :)

Eeeekkkk!!!!! Isn't it adorable?! Want to see a close up of the paper? You know you do. ;) 

It's navy and cream: soooo sophisticated for either gender.

Ryan came home with the rest of the paper and I could barely force myself to prepare supper and feed my family (and myself) before fully delving into this project. It took surprisingly little time (but it DID take a good third bottle of Mod Podge) and the pattern is a bit off in some places, but it looks AMAZING! LOOKIT!

I had a leetle bit of leftover fabric from a project I began earlier this year that I knew would go perfectly with this gorgeous paper. I wanted to make an actual fitted sheet, but just barely ran short, so it's more like a mattress sleeve/cover-thing. I'm going to put some elastic "belts" on the back to help it stay in place like a sheet. It's too cute not to utilize, really. :) 

See what I mean? Adorable!!! I should find some fabric to re-cover the shade that goes on those little pegs, but I've honestly never used the darn thing. It annoys me and I feel like I can't see baby well enough when it's on. 

So there's my super easy bassinet up-cycle! I'm so pleased with it and I can't wait to put baby in it!

Baby prep! Could this be nesting?

As of tomorrow, there are only six weeks left until my EDD. WHOAH. That isn't much. I realized that I have more than just cleaning the house to do. Baby clothes are just sitting in piles in a corner of our living room, the bassinet has yet to be prepped, I need to make sheets for the bassinet since we don't have any anymore, I need to make mama cloth...you get it. Plus, my house is just not ready. At. All. Lol I need to get stuff deep cleaned, organize, steam clean the carpets, clean the couch cushions with alcohol and vinegar...again...you get it. Haha! Now who wants to come do regular cleaning every day so I can do this stuff? ;) 

Today I scrubbed my kitchen floor by hand and organized *part* of the kitchen. What can I say? I suck at keeping house and my blood pressure hates activity. Not much gets done at once before I feel the sensation that I may faint. Haha! 

Guess what I get to treat myself to tonight? I'm refinishing the bassinet!! Yep! The fabric bunting was just looking old and tired, so when I stripped it off for routine washing, I realized that I could give it a fresh new look by Mod Podging some super cute scrapbook paper onto it! I will post my results tomorrow. :)

Ukulele Challenges

My little Kirsten turned six last week. SIX!!! Where has the time gone?! One moment we are here:

 (Isn't that the most perfect little face?!)

And the next moment we are here:

(Still perfect! 💖)

Her daddy and I gave her an ukulele for her birthday. We are homeschooling this year--first grade already!--and we would love for her to become musical. She is working so hard and really loves playing an instrument. But let me tell you...keeping an instrument tuned around here is easier said than done. The first time *I* tuned them (we have an old plastic one for Norah that plays surprisingly well) it took me an hour. I am not kidding. This mama is NOT musically inclined. By God's grace, I found a free app that listens to the notes and shows me on a scale how close I am. A few days later, that hour has now reduced to a few minutes. PRAISE THE LORD! Since I'm doing this multiple times per day--little fingers, you know--this simplifies my life and reduces my level of tears greatly. 😉 I even love it so much that I think I am going to take up the ukulele myself, getting one of my own for my birthday. Don't judge, I'm actually doing pretty well and I do NOT play instruments. Haha! My husband thinks it's HILARIOUS that I can't hear a note and replicate it, especially where tuning is concerned. He's also been the recipient of a few hand gestures for laughing at me. Don't worry, the kids aren't around! 😉

All in all, back-to-school has been a fun success. We actually started a few weeks early because we will surely take time off when the baby gets here next month. OHMYGOSH. NEXT MONTH!!! Here is the wreath the girls and I made. I finally assembled the wreath a couple of weeks ago after having had the supplies for a full year. Again, don't judge. 😉 The apples were their craft for school today. Granted it is still August, but since it already says "fall", I won't have to change it out for quite a while! Haha!

Happy August! (Can you believe it's already here?)