Getting Ready for Baby

One more quick post before I head to the hospital! This has been such a fun weekend and I am so excited for tomorrow! Here are some pics from the last week. I finally finished my "to organize before baby" list. My mom just asked why I'm posting pictures of my organized drawers right now. Well I'll tell you. They make me happy. Organizing them made me happy and seeing the finished product makes me happy. And I LOVE to see pictures of the way people organize on their blogs. My mom thinks I'm weird. Am I weird? Does anyone else get just giddy over this stuff? Well, regardless, here are some pics for the maybe two readers like me who like to see a little organization. :)

Girls' homework drawer

Spice cupboard (see Shari...I do have one. I have a feeling this cupboard will stay organized for a very long time...)

Miscellaneous cupboard. Cleaning supplies up high away from little hands.

On to my bathroom drawers! (Note to self: stop buying lip gloss)

I always keep a notebook in this drawer and I can't tell you how much I use it! When I'm upstairs and the girls say something funny I don't want to forget, when someone calls and I need to take a message, when I'm laying in bed at night and remember things I need to do the next day... it's a handy place to have it.

These drawers will all have to be re-done once Kole is on the move, but thankfully I've got awhile until then. :)

I switched out some pictures and artwork in the playroom and that finished my list!

Work was done just in time for the weekend. Saturday my parents arrived. YEA! Reinforcement is here! My girls were beyond excited to see grandma and grandpa.

It's always such a nice break for me when my parents are in town. The other night Kenny was putting Addison to bed, my mom was reading with Ellie, my dad was cleaning up dinner, and I was chillin' with my feet up. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Today my mom and I went shopping and bought a few things for the girls.

And a few more things for little Kole. Finally getting into the boy groove! Then we got pedicures and came home and I took a nap while my mom bathed the girls and fed them dinner. I could really get used to this whole pamper the pregnant lady thing.

Next we set up all of the baby gear and I did some laundry. Look at all of that blue! Something I'm not used to seeing in my washer. I packed for the hospital while my parents and Kenny put the girls to bed. Now we're all hanging out watching New Moon (per my request of course). It's been a great way to spend my last day before baby arrives. With my girls I was so nervous the night before, but this time around I'm just excited! Can't wait for tomorrow. Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and well wishes on my last post. I was extremely touched by all of your support. I'm heading to the hospital tomorrow feeling very loved.

Off to get my Edward fix before the big day. Next post will be pics of Kole (not more organized drawers). :)

Kole's Nursery

Finally finished Kole's nursery. I had my last doctor appointment today and will be checking into the hospital next Tuesday, March 30th. Cuttin' things a little close. :) Here's the before:

and here's the after:

A bit more boyish. I ordered the turtle crib bedding from Baby Gap on-line. After this post when I asked for help finding bedding, my mom and several of my blog commenter's recommended Baby Gap. I didn't even know they sold crib bedding! Thanks again to everyone who gave me on-line sites to check out. It was so fun shopping for this.

I kept the frames up and just put new pictures in them. I'm sure I'll replace them with pictures of Kole at some point. Time to turn my scrapbook table back into a changing table!

I found these cute little green bins to hold diapers and books.

Bought all the baby supplies and organized the drawers. I'm finally feeling prepared!

I can't get enough of these Newborn Pampers. They are so tiny and smell so good!

Of course, the other half of the room is still a scrapbook room.

Half of the closet is mine. Full of scrapbook supplies.

And half of it is his. Full of clothes and baby supplies. Kole will learn the concept of "sharing" at a very young age. :)

A bit of mom randomness

(Lovely picture. Addison was being...well...Addison.)

We moved Addison from her toddler car seat into a booster seat this weekend. I don't know why that was the change that did it, but all I've been thinking about since then is how big she is all of a sudden.

Didn't she JUST look like this? Like yesterday? Every mom says..."it goes by so fast" and

when you're in the everyday trenches of being a mom to little ones - no - it does NOT feel like it is going by fast. In fact, some days go by painfully slow. But, alas, one day you move your baby into a booster seat in the car and there you go. All of a sudden she isn't a baby anymore. And it suddenly feels like it IS all going by fast. Too fast.

I've been remembering a lot of things lately as I get ready to have another baby. Things like how good Pampers Newborn Swaddler diapers smell (before baby wears them of course), how much STUFF babies require, and how NOT fun the last month of pregnancy is. Mostly though I've been remembering things about when my girls were babies. I remember being so overwhelmed with love for Ellie that I was nervous about having another one. How could I ever love anyone as much as I loved Ellie? It didn't seem possible. And then I had Addison. I'll never forget the first night I spent with her in the hospital. She was sleeping next to me on the little rolling table bed and woke up and started fussing. I began talking to her and she just stopped. And her little head turned toward my voice. It was so obvious she knew me. And right then and there I was smitten. Completely overwhelmed with love for her. I cried and cried. And it was then that I totally understood how women can have six or more children and love each and every one of them more than life itself.

There are a lot of challenges that come with being a mom to little ones - the sleep deprivation, the constant clean up, the sibling rivalry, the struggle over every little thing from getting the kids dressed in the morning to getting their teeth brushed at night. But in between all of that you have these wonderful little moments. Quick fleeting moments when you make a connection, when your kids are laughing together, or when they say or do something so incredibly sweet. And you know it's all worth it and you remember how much you love being a mom.

I love sharing these happy moments of my day with Kenny each night. So fun to have someone else who gets it. The other person who loves your kids as much as you do. When we're hanging out each evening we always talk about what Ellie said that was so funny or what Addison did - that most likely wasn't funny at the time but now that it's over - is pretty funny. ;) We talk about things we're worried about - Addison is a horrible eater - is she getting any nutrition at all? Ellie has a hard time staying focused in school - is she picking up on everything she needs to learn? Then we talk about how proud we are of them, how close the two of them are to each other, how much we love them and want the best for them.

I'll be honest. I'm really nervous to have a third. Not nervous about the same stuff that I was nervous about with my first two. Not at all nervous that I won't love this little one more than life itself. Not even nervous about having a boy (although maybe I should be!). Just nervous about the juggle. Will I be able to handle three? To keep it together? Will I still have enough time to be a good mom...and have a little time left over to be me? Will I ever organize, scrapbook, exercise, or blog again!!?? Sounds silly I know. But it's doing those little things that I love some of the time that allow me to be a good mom the rest of the time.

My goal is to just take it one day at a time. That's really all we can do as mom's, right? Focus on and remember the good. Be grateful each morning for a new day to spend with my little ones who mean so much to me. Life is good. Being a mom is great. And if remembering this doesn't help me survive, at least I won't be pregnant anymore!!! (Cue the cheers in the background...) :)

Easter Fun

Last Saturday morning the girls were playing so nicely together upstairs that I didn't want to call them downstairs to the table for breakfast. I just didn't want to interrupt the flow. Nothing like a calm, drama free morning. Plus I was too lazy to make much for breakfast.

So instead, I pulled out this Easter tin I bought for sugar cookies...

and filled it with "breakfast." My girls love to have blanket picnics so they were delighted to be eating breakfast upstairs for a change. Saturday's should be less structured, right?

The Easter tin was especially fun because they loved guessing what each Easter picture was under the food. And don't forget the toothpicks. What is it with kids and toothpicks? If I give my kids a tooth pick, food is suddenly MUCH more interesting. A little trick I use to get them to try all kinds of stuff they wouldn't normally eat.

See. Gotta have the toothpicks.

Speaking of Easter and food, my little candy arrangement is long gone. I was tempted to buy more candy, but thought better of it.

so instead I bought this festive little Easter tree. I'm loving the sequined sparkly eggs! Can't wait for Easter this year. Since it's right around the time I'll be bringing home a new little chick. :)

Here's wishing everyone my favorite kind of weekend. One that's lazy and drama free!