I know I haven’t written in over a week! Not a good thing to do when expecting a baby… people think the baby has arrived 
However, we have no baby yet. I’ve just been very focused on getting everything ready for our little one.
I had a couple more tough days last week. Sometimes late pregnancy is very hard because you get stuck in a rut of feeling uncomfortable and impatient. It’s really hard to just wait peacefully on the baby. It’s a time of change for the entire family, too. I know the kids are getting tired of hearing “this is because the baby will be here soon.”
I made the mistake of trying to loosen our routine last week while working on getting some things done. That didn’t work at all and the kids ended up miserable – and I ended up really miserable. I will keep school weeks very structured from now on. This week we haven’t had any schooling but we’ve been busy doing things during our normal school time and I’ve tried to keep the rest of our schedule on track.
Most of what I’ve done the past several days has been for the big kids. We’ve made playdough and today we are making a “box town.” I’ve been saving cardboard boxes from my co-op shopping trips and today cut various windows and doors in the boxes to make little buildings. The kids have decided what each building is Then we painted them. We’re going to paint some of the flaps I cut off the boxes for roads and some bits of “lawn.” The little town is just big enough for their toy vehicles and some of their smaller stuffed critters.
I’ve let them play some but we’ll be putting it upstairs for a nice novel activity after the baby comes. I’ve also collected up some new coloring books, board games, etc. for them. And I’ve put aside some story tapes and various other little odds and ends goodies for them in a big box for “after baby.”
Hopefully they will enjoy these things and it will help move them through the first few days after the baby comes – when it’s sure to be a little crazy around here! I’ve enjoyed making some of the things with them because I hope they’ll remember us doing those together while I’m a little preoccupied with the baby!
I’ve also spent some time organizing my own work and household paperwork/tasks. That’s been nice because I feel lot more in control and on top of things.
I’m getting to the point now where our outings and activities are getting finished up. I keep remembering how grateful I am to be pregnant, about how much we wanted our little one and how happy I was to finally get to TTC – and that it will not be too much longer before I’m holding our baby. I’m hoping to keep cheerful and positive waiting for him to arrive, because the days go so much better than when I’m frustrated and impatient!
