In order to not have to work when the baby is born, I spent a lot of time working in January and February. I completed my two week AT and also stacked up on regular drill days. This was a bit of a burden on the family, particularly Thomas who ended up having to take a few sick days when childcare didn't go as planned, thanks to illnesses or snow days. However, we persevered. After I do my two weeks (or whatever amount of time, depending on the year), Thomas and I typically make a big purchase, something we have been wanting, but couldn't really justify buying. Actually, if I am honest, it is usually me driving this ship. My first year of "part time," I actually spent 3 months working and we bought Jack's bunk bed and new kitchen appliances; the second year it was a trip to Disney World; and this year it was a new couch. I have hated our couch since almost the day we bought it. It looks nice and is comfortable for a few minutes, but once you sit on it to watch a movie, you quickly realize that looks can be deceiving. As a result, I have spent the past 6 years hating that couch. Additionally, even with the accompanying chair and ottoman, it did not provide enough seating for our family of 5, at least not with the way the kids like to sprawl. So despite the fact that the old couch was fully functioning and not necessarily needing to be replaced, I really wanted a new one. I used the pregnancy as an excuse, not that I needed one, and made Thomas join me at a furniture store. We settled on a new sectional and patiently waited the 4 weeks the salesman told us it would take to get here. Then, we waited another 3.5. Finally, the day arrived and our new couch was placed in our living room. The old couch was relegated to the office, where it can serve as a place for short sits and Thomas moved the chair and ottoman to a new reading corner in the master bedroom. A pretty successful arrangement if I do say so myself!
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| Old couch in it's new home |
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| New couch! |
The very same day that the new couch arrived (and I can't believe the length of that paragraph I just devoted to a couch!), we had another furniture delivery. Thomas' father wanted to buy us something nice for the baby. However, after hand-me-downs from neighbors, the baby shower, and our own process of slowly stocking-up, there wasn't much we could thing of. Then, he offered a bunk bed for the girls. Those who are unfortunate enough to be in the position of listening to my regular ramblings know that we have struggled with what to do with bedrooms when Luke comes home. The first few months aren't a problem, we'll keep him in with us (in a separate sleeping area), but the long-term presented a problem. Jack is a little old to have to share a room with a baby. Moving one of the girls in with Jack was a short-term solution, and Anna and Kara can be a bit of a volatile combination. However, the girls indicated that they really wanted to share a room (of course, Jack also thinks it would be great to share a room with the baby), so when Thomas' dad offered the bunk bed, we decided it was definitely worth taking him up on. He ordered it on a Tuesday, and it only took 4 days to get here. So, now the girls are in one room. It has only been 5 nights, but so far the arrangement is working out well. Thomas unassembled and reassembled Anna's old bed to create a guest room for two in Kara's old room (for when friends come up to help with the baby, after they leave, we will transition it to Luke's room) and we are one step closer to "ready."
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Enough about furniture, onto the nesting. Lately, I can't stand how much of a mess the house is. My kids just have way too many toys that seem to migrate from their designated areas. It drives me crazy! Additionally, all of a sudden I am noticing how dusty everything is. I am pretty good (although not great) at straightening up and keeping clutter at bay. I vacuum and mop regularly. Apparently, however, dusting is not my forte and all of a sudden when I walk into a room, it's all I can see (as a sidenote, the girls like to play "Love It or List It, based on the HGTV show, so we get regular opportunities to "tour" the house, pretending to be prospective buyers and oddly enough, I do tend to see things a bit more critically). Anyway, I am slowly trying to get a handle on things. This week, I tackled all the kid areas. I organized the playroom, moved all of Kara's toys out of her old room, and did a complete top to bottom cleaning in Jack's. It's a start and it feels good to have accomplished something. The office is my next big project. The state of the bookshelves makes me cringe (my kids like to play "library" which means nothing on the shelves ever looks good) and again, the dust is a bit overpowering. So, that will be my project next week. Then, I need to do the master bathroom. Hopefully after that I will feel like my nesting urge has been satisfied. In a perfect world, I would find a way to remove every single item, except maybe the toaster and knife block, from my kitchen counters. Even though others seem to successfully manage that, I fully recognize it is just not realistic for me. So, I will try and settle with organizing the office and getting the bathroom back in shape (this is another one I blame on the kids--all of the girls jewelry is mixed in with mine and their bath toys have taken over our tub and are now slowly taking over the shower).
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| Newly organized playroom, bins are labeled with words and pictures. |
This may be the least interesting blog I have ever written. But, I have come too far to turn back now.
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