Nesting

The weather is so much cooler now, which I am very pleased about! This week I had at least 3 nights of excellent sleep, although there are still some muggy evenings. As a result of the improved sleep I have been feeling energetic (comparatively speaking, mind you), and have accomplished a lot this week. A lot of what? A lot of nesting.

These blinds were made the week before actually, but this week I took them down again, and revamped them so that they hang better. Even Brian might notice how much neater it hangs now (although he said they looked good earlier when they were pretty sloppy :p ).

Other nesting things:
I packed the kids clothes/emergency items and put it ready and waiting in the van (which better be home when I go into labour!)
I made a bunch of meals and packed them in the freezer for those inevitable bad days.
I checked with my babysitters what sorts of plans they had this week (and next).
I bought a rocking chair.

Matthew has said (two weeks ago already mind you!) with his hands thrown up in exasperation
"The baby is never going to come!"
He really wants to go sleep at his friend Oliver's house with Melanie.

Unlike Matthew, though, I'm still not in a hurry. I can find another week or two of nesting type work to do.
I could even spring clean.

39 Weeks

Well, actually, the picture is a week old by now.
Today I'm hoping to dedicate the day to getting ready for baby.
Cooking, baking and packing kids bags.
Because I had a fabulous sleep and nothing else planned today.

Making room

We thought another set of bunkbeds would come in handy. I picked another used set on Saturday, much to our childrens' great delight.

Nathan and Matthew got the "new" bunkbed in their room, since the new one doesn't need a separate ladder. Their old ladder was shoved against the closet door--which was rather inconvenient. We had tried hanging the ladder off of the long side of the bed, but that consumed too much of the valuable play area (which is already quite small). Right now the boys' room has become the "train room" and they almost always have a complex train system set up--so large that I often have to undo part of it to open/close the door. Walking across their floor can be quite hazardous!


For the last week or two Daniel had been climbing into Melanie's bed by standing on a Rubbermaid bucket and climbing over her rails. Unfortunately once he was there he could not get out by himself, so he spent a lot of time waiting there for me to come and take him out. (His siblings aren't supposed to lug him around--thought they try when I'm not looking!) Now the old bunkbed has been transferred to Melanie and Daniel's room, so Daniel can now have a big bed of his own (which he was obviously very envious of!). He can also get in and out himself, which he's thrilled about, and which I am less so, especially in the early mornings!

As you can see Melanie and Daniel's room still has plenty of space for play and for other furniture (like a cradle in September, the Lord willing).


Thoughts of Daniel:
"I love my new bed!"

"What do you mean I'm not allowed to shake these rails back and forth? I wouldn't wreck them, I'm ever so gentle, Gentle is my middle name!"

Thoughts of Mommy:
"You're just way too little for that massive bed!"

"What happened to Baby Daniel!!!!!"

On a scary note, yesterday Daniel managed to get up the ladder onto Melanie's bed! Thankfully he hasn't managed it since--he gets confused by starting under the wrong side of it. That same day he also managed to climb up the barstool I have in the kitchen, and was STANDING on it handsfree and grinning at my panic stricken face. Then he said "SIT!" (He knows very well he's not allowed to stand on a chair, AND he also knows it scares me, SO he loves to do it.

Organizing requires messy beginnings

The one room in the house that is almost always neat is a disaster right now.

Sad but true, the newer things are easier (read: more fun) to maintain. Hopefully this is not the case when I deal with my children. :o

These wonderful children are also packing kitchen stuff for their own camping trip, as I refused to let them help me pack. I will not even allow their father to interfere in the food packing department, so they did not take it personally. I think Nathan did most of the packing, Melanie most of the supervising, Matthew most of the entertaining, and Daniel most of the interfering.

(Some of the entertainment.) These shoes look a bit more challenging to walk in than heels, but I am only guessing.

Trying to Chill

It's awfully hot here.

Laying on the floor is cooler than working around the house.

It's also cooler than packing for our one night camping trip that I have to be ready for tomorrow.

Wussy me

Yesterday morning we opened everything up in an attempt to get the indoor temperature down below 25 degrees. With no success.

By bedtime yesterday I was like the proverbial grasshopper dragging myself along, or, like one loaded down and exhausted mid-portage.

The air conditioning is on now, and I feel like I'm alive again. Like a huge surge of vitality.

Maybe I can clean up, look after kids, and get excited about the camping trips we've just booked.

Matrimony

When I'm big, I'm gonna marry H--!
(Why? ask I)
Because she loves me. Whenever I'm silly, she laughs and laughs!


John, I'm going to marry you when I grow up.
(No, says he, I'm going to marry D-- from my school.)
After ten seconds of sad reflection Melanie accosts his younger brother...
Well, then O--, you can marry me!


I'll stay single 'til I find a girl that likes a grubby face and a good time.


Mommy.
I'll take mommy.
No one else will do.

Waitings

Mommy, it's three mores days 'til Friday, right?

And the next day I wake up it'll be two more days.
And then the next day when I wake up it'll be one day.
And then the next day when I wake up it will be Friday!
Right Mommy?

Re-org

We're discussing a kitchen reno again, which has put me in a reorganizing mode. Thankfully Philip is putting up with it, and even encouraging it a little!

First attacked was the bathroom:

Didn't know the change table could fit in it! There is only 1cm clearance for the door to open/close, but that's enough! Just as long as we can fit through! I really can't believe we didn't do this before, 'cause it fills up the bathroom to the max and clears up bedroom space. Also, a great benefit is that all diapers can get changed by the FAN, which, for Matthew's business, is VERY helpful. I replaced the laundry hamper, which no longer fits, with the baskets at the bottom of the change table. Now I need to train the kids...lights, brights and darks. Think they can handle it?

Second up was the dining room:

We simply rotated the table. There isn't any room for the leaf this way, so the buffet will have to slide over...which means the computer desk may have to go...(which is a much much much longer story, but we do hope it will go some day...and the phone base put on the buffet where the comp desk is now)


As for the buffet, I have plans for that too:

Stuff it with books, and also some baby toys yet too. Our current bookshelf has always had kids books falling out quickly. Phil is not as impressed about that, since, after all, a buffet is not for books and toys. To quote: "that is just not right, Roze!" But since we don't have an alternative in stock, he may just put up with it for a while. :)

Living Room:

Phil has always disliked the former set up, as he feels you're much much too far from guests, so it looses the guezellighite when we're chatting. I've always thought that was a benefit, 'cause then you don't need to be too intimate... I guess we've got different outlooks. :p Notice the piano is still on towels. We're "trying out" this new arrangement.

As for the piano, it was making some weird creaking noises, so perhaps, we may not be able to move it anymore without destroying it entirely!

And we've got all sorts of plans for painting, renovating, etc. In fact, we may now have all the world's problems solved too! (haha)

Blue blue green Christmas

Phil is at a work Christmas "do" right now.
I am at home with the kids
Who aren't listening to me
And are fighting with each other.

I am SO not jealous.
I guess I could clean the house
Or feed the kids.
Or pack for Wednesday...

Instead of moping.

Baptism Plans

We hope to have Daniel baptized Sunday Dec 6 in the afternoon service. You are welcome to come! We still need to confirm when on Sunday it happens, so check late in the week to see if we've changed it to the morning service or not. The afternoon service is at 4pm, so if all goes as planned, we will have some snacks coffee and dinner at our house for people that need to travel a long way. Let us know if you think you can make it!!

Overdue

After two weeks of being pampered, I am on my own today, with the kids. That means I have to actually take care of them myself. This morning my husband prescribed "something fun with the kids" as a priority today, and said I should forget about the curtains. Forget about the curtains??? But I've only got two weeks left and hardly anything done yet!! I can't forget about it! Maybe I'll do it when they're in bed instead. ;)



I notice by my avid blog readers that only news of the baby is interesting enough news. So perhaps I'll pass on blogging for while...after all, the grandparents are all out here to see the grandkids for themselves...which makes pictures a little stale.


As an aside, everyone but me (judging by all the comments on Sunday at church) seems in a hurry for me to have the baby soon. I'm only officially one day overdue yet, and in absolutely no rush to go into labour.

(Yes, I KNOW,
no pain, no gain
but still...)

Spoiled

We have so much.

We can do so much.

We have so much fun.

We are spoiled.

And soon we'll have some new little monster to join our party.

Preparations

The baby room is now all set.

But Melanie really thinks it's her room. She said she's happy to have the baby in her room so she won't have to be sad by herself anymore. Perhaps being the only one in the house who sleeps by herself has been taking it's toll on her.

Getting ready for bed:

Eeyore's birthday is the only Pooh story they want this week.

After all, birthday's are very important!
We just had one...and another one coming up any day (or week)!

Spare room downstairs; left side is my side, right side is Phil's.

The pantry shelves that he made divide it up so that we get along better.
I attacked Philip's side today, and who knew it was so very big? There's actually plenty of room for less than luxurious bedding, and the freezer door (an upright) can still open!

I'm sure the sorting and cleaning was not approved of by my husband, but as I didn't want to sacrifice MY side, I figured while he was gone at work, I'd make a sacrifice from him.

I'm so sweet.

Some day I should pack up some newborn stuff for the hospital run. Once I do that I'll be thinking "any day" instead of "any week", so I think I'll wait 'til the day of. :p

Stinky feet and new rooms

"Smell my feet!!"

"Eww!"

"That's gross!"

In preparation for junior, we have had to do a bedroom switcheroo. The boys were in the biggest room, but since Melanie will have baby for company--which includes cradle, change table, nursing chair, etc, she now gets the big room. The boys are reminiscing in their former room.

I doubt they will miss it once their bunk bed gets put together. There were some complications putting it together. The completed project will have to wait. As it is, the room looks super cramped with the crib in there, but that will go soonish, I hope.

Melanie is probably enviously contemplating the joys of a bunk bed.

Big Sister Soon To Be Birthday Girl

Melanie is excited about babies. And she gets her own baby soon!! She'll be a big help, I hope--if she's willing to share. Sharing is not a strong point with her (she takes after me! :o ).


A friend's baby got baptized a few weeks ago, and an older sibling of the baby told Melanie that she used to look like that. She was pretty impressed by that, and repeated that to me several times.

What a big girl she's becoming!! She loves to help out, loves playing with her brothers, and loves doing girlie things.

She is also excited that she gets the baby in her room! I just switched the kids around...we'll see if they get any sleep tonight!! She gets the big room now, so we can fit change table, cradle, dressers, etc...all in one room. A chair for nighttime nursing would be a bonus too, I'm sure. Tomorrow I will have to try clean up the disaster I started!

She's getting better at putting effort into making things, and is starting to concentrate harder on more challenging things. Sure is fun to watch the kids grow up!

When asked how old she is, she'll say:

"Two!"
"And you're having your birthday in October? Then how old will you be?"
"Two!!"
(I'm pretty happy with that. She used to insist she was four like Nathan, then five, so she could be older than him. Now she's got it right...but it might take a while for her to adjust it to three. Maybe she'll want to stay young. ;) )