Nesting

Since the move to our new house this blog has been greatly neglected. We have been diligently cleaning, unpacking, rearranging, and generally trying to set up before this little bundle of joy arrives. In the past few weeks I've been mopping, washing clothes that have been in a storage unit for over a year, restocking our medicine cabinet and trying to find homes for so many of the miscellaneous items that reside in one's home. We're getting there.

John has done remarkably well with the move - although he still loves being over at grandma and grandpa Rekowski's house. We visit often - they babysit lots (especially now that grandma is out of school for the summer). John made the transition to a toddler day bed when we moved and is loving it! He's got decorations up on his walls, toys galore, and enough books to start running his own children's library out of his bedroom.

Matt has set up his office in the basement in an attempt to find some peace and quiet from a growing family. Aside from laundry there isn't much reason for the rest of us to be in the basement. So as long as he doesn't mind hearing footsteps above his head - we're happy to let him get some work done without a toddler trying to crawl in his lap every 20 -30 minutes.

I've recently set up shop in the kitchen - call it my nesting instincts. We've got the freezer overflowing with foods that are just waiting to be tossed in the oven after the baby arrives. (I'll try to post some of our recipes/meals in a future post.) Yet, I keep finding/thinking of more recipes that I should make and store for the future. I think this is because I was spoiled with John. I had a few things in the freezer, but I had my mom at the house for a week and my mother-in-law for 3 weeks. Let's just say I didn't worry much about cooking for the first month of John's life.

We're getting there! That's the point. If baby came today, we'd be fine. Enough clothes are washed and baby items relocated that we could bring the little one home with little to no problems. Yet, as I sit here typing....I can come up with a LONG list of things that still 'need' to get done. Oh well! This is the life of a stay-at-home-mom: the chores never end......

Listing Our Firsts

You're supposed to grow a little everyday. It makes you a better person. Sometimes that growth comes emotionally, sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's mental. Our family has been on the move (literally) over the last few days and we're racking up a lists of 'firsts' pretty quickly.

So let's share our list :)

• It's the first time since we moved to IL to have all of our possessions out of storage.
• I have been moving while 8 months pregnant for the first time.
• John spent his first night since he was 4 months old in his own room; mom and dad spent their first night in their own room since he was 4 months old too now that I think about it.
• Last night we ate our first dinner in our new house.
• I got little man's silhouette cut for the first time and it's absolutely precious.
• We've gotten our first room unpacked.
• Our big boy slept in a toddler bed for the first time! (This may have been harder on mommy than John - just for the record.)

I'm sure there are plenty more, but these seem like the major accomplishments. We've got plenty more to come. And lots of unpacking to finish. We're on a timeline here - 39 days until our due date!

Oh, yeah, and we still need to buy a crib for the baby....maybe that will be an accomplishment for next week....maybe not. We'll have to see how the unpacking goes.

Yay!

Putting Things in Perspective

I've always believed that God has a plan for us. Sometimes that plan is so very crystal clear and laid out in front of us. Other times, if you are anything like me, you find yourself wandering through the darkness hoping that you are headed in the right direction. Fortunately, He often shows us some little glimpses of light along the way to help us stay on the path.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:8

Yesterday I picked up my rental car from Enterprise so that my car could be repaired at the shop. The Enterprise staff was kind, courteous and helpful - even making sure to send someone who knew how to install a car seat out to pick me up at the house. However, a gentleman came storming into the office while we were waiting to finalize paperwork yelling and screaming about terrible customer service and being treated with a lack of respect. I don't know all the details of his complaints (mostly because I chose to focus my attention on John and staying out of this gentleman way for fear of being crushed in his wake), but I couldn't help to think that you get so much further with honey than vinegar. We left Enterprise with a Dodge Nitro, John's car seat installed, and many thank you's for being so patient and polite. It really begs the question - Do more people than not walk in hot headed and disrespectful? I didn't think we were acting particularly out of the ordinary (at least not for my family), but the Enterprise staff seemed extremely grateful.

Later in the morning we headed to an appointment over in St. Louis. As we were driving we encountered some traffic, but kept trekking along slowly and eventually saw the accident that had caused the back-up on the bridge. As we drove past there were 3 ambulances, 3 police cars, a Department of Transportation traffic vehicle, and 2 tow trucks. An SUV was smashed to smithereens and a semi-truck was jack-knifed and looked as though the cab was probably now out of commission as well. I didn't notice the driver of either vehicle as far as I could tell, but there was a police officer standing off to the side of the accident near the SUV holding a small girl who could have been more than 2 or 3 years old. All I could think was "Man, our accident could have been so much worse! Thank God for watching over us!"

So - I'm asking the few of you who read the blog on a quasi-regular basis to say prayers for the gentleman at Enterprise who was clearly in distress, the drivers involved in the accident on the bridge and little girl who looked so lost in the police officers arms. I'm sure they could all use a few extra people who believe God has a plan and eventually He'll put things in perspective for us.

Slow And Steady

It's important to remember that the small successes in life can add up to one BIG triumph. So I try to take the time to do just that every Thursday along with many other moms over at Faith and Family Live!

1. I'm set with gifts and cards for the upcoming events in our life. These include 2 weddings, a bridal shower, a baby shower (for twins), a bachelorette party, Mother's Day, and a high school graduation party. It's going to be a busy month!

2. We're planning on beginning "the move" this weekend. I know that isn't really a success for this week....but getting the phone call saying the rental house will be ready on Saturday seems like a dream (especially since we started a week by week waiting period back in mid-February).

3. A great friend arrived in town yesterday! We don't have any big plans scheduled as of yet, but we're happy just to have Melissa in town to visit. She'll be busy with a conference a few days and we'll be at a wedding on Saturday, but we're just excited to have her here....

Stop Signs Mean STOP!

What a day! John woke up early this morning so we took advantage of it and headed out to get our errands finished before lunch. We were at the chiropractor's office at 9am when it opened. We went to the grocery store and restocked the fridge with essentials such as milk, eggs, and toaster waffles. We stopped by Maryville Elementary to drop toothpicks off to John's grandma so her kindergarten class could do an art project this afternoon. Then we headed to Border's bookstore for story time at 11am. (That's a busy morning for a pregnant mom with toddler in tow!)

John enjoyed story time today. They read 3 Winnie the Pooh stories and colored pictures of Tigger. The cafe even brought all the kids little sample cups of a strawberry smoothie...which John gulped down in about 30 seconds.

We headed out a few minutes before noon so that we could get home in time to eat some lunch before nap time. However, that plan was apparently flawed. As we were departing the shopping center a Ford Focus broadsided our Trailblazer at a four way stop. Now, one would assume that the Trailblazer would fare far better than a Focus in a fight...but you would be wrong in this case! Instead, the Focus had a dented license plate and a small scratch on the front bumper. Our car on the other hand has about $2500 worth of damage according to the adjuster who looked at it this afternoon.

Luckily, no one was hurt. The other driver jumped out of her car to check on us. I'm sure she was pleased to see pregnant woman with a toddler get out of our car. The impact was at the front passenger door, so even though John sits on that side of the car, he was completely unscathed. In fact, he was more upset that mom wouldn't let him out of his car seat during the next hour while we waited for police reports and information exchange than anything else.

By the time we left the scene and drove home, John had fallen asleep - without lunch. He slept until 3:30pm and finally ate a banana around 4:15pm which we are calling lunch. The best laid plans......

The good news in all this...the other gal accepted liability for the accident. Her insurance company already contacted us to arrange for repairs and a rental car. So aside from the nuisance of being in an accident and having to get the repairs completed - all is well. Mom, baby and toddler are fine. The car will be fixed. It won't impact our bank account since her insurance is covering it.

Check John's first car accident off the to-do list....

Sweating The Small Stuff

It's important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week Faith and Family Live! encourages us to do just that!

1. We've had a busy week with lots of appointments and things to do - but we haven't missed or been late for any of them. :)

2. Despite being pregnant and feeling as though I might be out of place, I made it to my Lindsay's bachelorrette party. I've known her since 1st grade and she promised me she didn't mind a pregnant woman tagging along.... Turns out that I wasn't the only preggo there (although I was definitely the farthest along). But I had a great time! We all enjoyed dinner at Bugatti's, went across the way to see That 80's Band at the blues bar - but really ended up watching the last 4 innings of the Cardinal's 20-inning loss, and then I even let Lizzy put $40 in various slot machines at the casino before deciding that my body needed to get to bed.

3. It's now 8:30am and little man is still sleeping! Not really my success...but nonetheless, it warranted sharing. My success should be that I have resisted the urge to do 9,000 chores and instead I've enjoyed the quiet, drank my coffee, watched Good Morning America (not Mickey Mouse Playhouse), and had a chance to say some morning prayers. We're going to have a GOOD day today!

Enjoy this wonderful Earth Day! The sun is shining, the weather is beautiful and we're going to enjoy some time at the park later this morning - we know you're jealous!

Check out other mom's successes over at Faith and Family Live! There are some seriously inspiring women over there!