Now the Baby Can Really Come!

I've mentioned before how much I'm enjoying the chance to mark some milestones and finish up some projects and get past certain dates before the baby is born. After each one, I think, "Now the baby can really come because this or that is done!"

Here are some of those things:

~ the first day of summer

~ the week of Vacation Bible School being over (since I was very involved with the music)

~ reaching 37 weeks and officially being full-term

~ the first day of July

~ getting my bag packed for the hospital

~ buying small gifts for the boys and getting them wrapped and packed so we can give those to them when they come to the hospital to visit (a Where's Waldo book for Josiah, another one for David--Where's Waldo is a huge interest of the older boys right now--and an animal sounds book for Tobin)

~ my last committee meeting before the birth

~ getting the laundry caught up

~ "finishing" the nursery

~ "finishing" it again later, when Jeff hung the mini blinds

~ really "finishing" it a third time when I put up the outlet covers and did a final cleaning

~ demolishing my pile by the telephone as I sorted through and dealt with each paper (a near miracle, in my mind!)

~ yesterday, the thing I had to do was clean out the refrigerator :)

At some point, after a day of particularly vigorous activity, I asked Jeff if he thought I was nesting; and he said, "Ever since I met you!" So true. :)

A few people have asked whether I'm having my big energy spurt before the birth. I keep having it...and then, no birth...so I have a lazier, less productive day...but then by the next day, I'm ready to get at it again and work hard on something else. Today has been a sluggish day for me, and I'm grateful that the big get-ready-for-baby accomplishment was done by someone else today, rather than me. But I'll get to that in a minute...

One of the biggies that I knew I wanted to have done before the birth was having a new family picture taken to replace the one hanging in my bedroom that shows Jeff and I with Josiah and David while I was heavily pregnant with Tobin. I still love that picture; but since it was out of date with no Tobin visible in it, it was time to update it. :)

My original plan was to have Lisa take a picture of us since she was planning to be in the area; but life got in the way, and it didn't work out. Thank goodness for a back-up! Misty graciously agreed to shoot some photos of us, so on the 4th of July, after we watched the parade, we headed to the beautiful arboretum for a quick photo shoot. I love how she captured the boys' personalities in these pictures! And I love having such talented friends!! :)

~ this is the picture that I'll enlarge and hang in our bedroom to replace the other one...it makes me smile to see it, especially Tobin's little hand and the silly expression on his face :)

~ we happened to see a mama duck in the pond with lots of ducklings around her...David was getting a little too enthusiastic and close to the water so I was trying to rescue him before he fell in :)

~ two of my sweethearts!

~ the standing pictures of Tobin were the best...standing unsupported is still a relatively new thing for him, and we cheer wildly when he does it :)

~ I love this picture...sometimes little boys still need their daddies to be close by!

~ doesn't he look so proud???

After this photo shoot, I really felt like, "OK, the baby can be born anytime now!" because, of course, you can clean your refrigerator after the baby is born, but you can't go back in time to capture a maternity picture. ;) Thank you, Misty, for being available to share your time and talents with us!!!

And so, we come to today, when the big accomplishment was done by someone else. Julie Sacra, hostess, seamstress, and friend extraordinaire, finished making some Roman shades for the windows in our bedroom; and she and her daughter Emily came by to hang them this morning. I LOVE them! I love how the colors go with our walls and trim, I love how the fabric design goes with our Jerusalem mirrors, I love how she got the lines in the fabric to actually hang straight :), I love how it's so easy to raise and lower them so that during the day, I can let the beautiful sunshine come in, and at night, we'll actually have privacy. :) I just love everything about them! Isn't it grand when an idea you have in your mind actually turns out every bit as good as you had imagined? Once again, I'm so grateful for talented friends! Thanks, Julie!!!

I was specifically hoping that these shades would be up by the time the baby is born so that at night, when I sit in my glider rocker and nurse the baby by the light of the little lamp beside me, the whole world won't be able to see in. :)

One more thing done... OK, Baby, you can really come out now!!! :)