list, to-do's, and random thoughts

To Do's

There are a few "major" things on my to do list before we hit the 37 week mark. I'm 33 weeks and a few days now, which basically means it's game time. The list includes:

-having the house cleaned

-having the carpets cleaned

-packing our hospital bags

-installing the carseat, and stopping by the fire station to make sure it's been done correctly

-writing thank you notes from my last two showers

Thanks to the long weekend I've already managed to wash all of Norah's clothes and bedding, make a "last minute essentials" trip to Babies R Us, and place an order from The Honest Company.

my little helper

Will assembled the swing and pack n' play, and I'm going to borrow a rock n' play from a neighbor to see if we want one or not. Things are really coming along!

Baby  Research

I've been trying to do all the research I can to prepare myself as much as possible to make Norah's first days, weeks, and even months home as smooth as possible. This research includes friends, relatives, books, blogs, and whoever else I can solicit an opinion from really. A few blogs that have give me a lot of perspective are:

Mother's Niche

Carolina Charm

Lucie's List

Spot of Tea Designs

I've used these blogs to help my create everything from my hospital packing list to our "must" have baby products.

I've also been CRAZY about reading birth stories. I've leaned more toward specific bloggers birth stories, as I find blogs specifically dedicated to birth stories tend to be focused toward natural birth or home birth and I want a good mix of everything Plus I will be at the hospital, and there will be an epidural, so those don't really apply to me. Mama and Mou has a ton of birth stories from different bloggers and they have been a huge help in preparing me for what to expect.

Third Trimester Thoughts

It really is true that your body will start "practicing" for sleepless nights around the third trimester. I swear whether it's me having to go to the bathroom, Will coming to bed late, the dogs wanting my attention for something, or no good reason at all- I manage to get woken up at least once a night. I don't even fight it anymore, and honestly, I don't really mind. I know this is only a small taste of what's to come. I actually almost enjoy the extra quiet time to myself since my day time hours are filled with so much hustle and bustle.

God bless the husbands of pregnant women. Obviously being prego is no walk in the park, but I also doubt it's fun living with a woman who packs on 30 pounds, can barley control any of her bodily functions, is raging with hormones, and is overall a mental basket case for the better part of a year.

Not sure if this is just me or not, but all of this baby-baby-baby on the brain has me thinking about babies plural. I am in no huge rush to have other kid, but I also don't want my kids to be too far apart, and I know we want 2 or 3. I also know I don't want to have any children past my early 30's if I can help it. Obviously I will take them when I can get them, but this is just what I think is best for me and our family. We will see how this first one works out of course, but I'm already excited to see our little girl interact with a sibling. After my body gets a break.

That's all for now folks. Thank goodness for a relaxing, fun filled three day weekend, and here's to another week of the grind.

Happy Monday! Linking up with Amanda.