All Stuffed with Fluff!

I strongly dislike the word "nesting" - I am not a bird, I did not lay an egg, and I do not live in a nest...but I can't think of a better word to describe my insatiable urge to organize the changing table, neatly stack diapers, and fold an re-fold the receiving blankets!  The thing is - the changing table is waaaaaay organized, the diapers are washed and neatly put away in their little diaper bin, and the receiving blankets DO NOT NEED TO BE FOLDED!!  But in this waiting game...no baby, no new house...I am running out of things to do (besides clean - you'd think there wouldn't be much to clean when the house is 90% packed but that is just not the case).

So today I whipped out the newborn diapers (again) and decided to take some pictures of them because they are so damn cute (also, I wanted to send a picture to my Dad to show him what the money he sent us paid for - so I texted him a picture of all the diapers and apparently he couldn't see it clearly on his ancient phone and didn't know to scroll down and read the message I attached so he called all excited thinking it was a picture of the baby...).

But anyway.  What really prompted this post was the fact that once again, I have surprised myself and reminded myself that you just never know what's going to happen and what direction your interests will turn.

If you had asked me a couple of years ago if I'd be a cloth diapering (fluff) addict, I would have laughed at you.  Cloth diapers.  What a pain, right??  More laundry to do.  More work to clean up.  One more thing to keep track of in an already chaotic house. 

But then I tried my first cloth diaper on Jack and it was like heroine (or so I am told...I have never actually tried heroine but supposedly once you try it you are instantly addicted, or at least that's what the DARE program would like you to believe, right?).  I wanted more.  They were SO DARN CUTE.  His little butt all wrapped up in fluffy cloth as opposed to the plastic-y, chemical-filled contraptions we have been led to believe we all need.  Just SO cute, I tell you!

So...I went online and found the website for the bumGenius brand diapers I had received as a shower gift and purchased a few more. Then I started doing some research and added a few more to my stash.  And so it continued until recently escalating into a full-blown addiction that now includes pink, flower-prints, leaopard, purple and more...and I can tell you with certainty there is no end in sight and you can never (NEVER, I tell you!!) have too many cloth diapers.

The actual added "work" is minimal.  I do an extra load of laundry every other day or so (for one kid - that might change when I have two, one of which I am guessing will be going through diapers like they are going out of style).  I actually like folding them and seeing the diaper bin all stocked with fresh, fluffy diapers so I don't consider that work.  And I realllly like not having to buy diapers all the time (we do still use disposables for overnight or when I *know* Jack is about to poop, so we're not completely disposable-free, but I am hoping we will be for Baby Claire).  I also like that when Jack poops in a cloth diaper, it gets tossed down the toilet rather than wrapped up in a 'sposie and tossed in the trash.

I will say that as much as I love them I wouldn't cloth diaper if I didn't have access to a washing machine (I have friends in apartments and condos without their own personal washing machine and I can't imagine the logistics...I generally soak mine, wash them in hot and then rinse in cold...so I can imagine the pain it would be if I had to do this at a community washing machine - and some diapers take longer to dry than others).

I am afraid I have just broached the tip of the iceberg as far as this addiction is concerned.  Maybe I will hit rock bottom...maybe I will continue on my Fluff High and have another baby just so I can keep using these cute diapers (ha!).  Time will tell (and speaking of time, it takes, like, HUNDREDS of years for a disposable diaper to biodegrade so I am not only promoting fluffy baby bottoms everywhere but also saving the earth while I'm at it).

Perks to Country Living

Tonight Charles and I were discussing how this could (and should) be our last Saturday night in the country.  And we are really living it up, let me tell you - it's 9:00 PM and I am in bed, typing this, and halfway watching Charles and Jack struggle over taking off Jack's clothes for his (very late) bath. 

But really, as we realized this actually might be our last week in this house, we started talking about the things we would miss.  Not the obvious things, like pretty trees more than a century old surrounding our house or baby cows in the pasture next door.  No.  Those are not the things we are really going to miss, when it comes down to it.

We are going to miss the little perks to isolated country life - the little things we take for granted but enjoy on a daily basis.  For Charles, this means things like peeing in the back (and front!) yard and being able to walk around naked - even outside - without anyone seeing you.  For me, this means things like tossing the rotten fruit into the back pasture (and, umm, even tossing a turkey into the pond once that went bad when the power went out for several days - enjoy, fishies!) and not having to pick up dog poop.  The dog poop thing is huge...I am going to have to buy a pooper scooper and USE it (or at least Charles is)...it's been years since I last owned a pooper scooper or have had to bring little baggies with me when I take Janga out on walks. 

I don't think they'll let us light our Christmas tree on fire in the front yard in the big city (yes, we did that here, with several volunteers from the local fire department on hand - their idea - and OMG let me tell you, those things are SUPER DUPER EXTRA FLAMMABLE and burn up in no time!!).  I am pretty sure the neighbors won't let us set off fireworks at any hour of the day and night we choose and I am also pretty sure they won't be happy if we collect our weeds and other junk in a large "burn pile".  And yes, I realize that the entire last paragraph involved all of the things we won't be able to light on fire once we move.  Ha!

These things are small and the trade-off is huge (no fire ants, a Super Target and Starbucks!) but I know, even now, that I will miss pieces of our country existence every now and then.  Especially when there is rotten food in the fridge.

:::Oh...and in case you are wondering...STILL NO BABY!!!:::

The Imminent Arrival of Baby #2

The end is near.  I'm not just in the homestretch...I'm a length from the wire and closing in fast. 

This pregnancy is almost over.

Or, so I believe. 

See, when I went in for my 36 week check-up with Jack, I was (WARNING: cervix talk ahead!) dilated to 1.5 cm, 50% effaced (for you non-moms that means my cervix was thinned out 50%), and my uterus was measuring 37 cm (a bit on the big side). Jack was born at 37 weeks exactly.

So last week I went in for my 36 week check-up with Claire and guess what? The stats are exactly the same.  Exactly.  And today?  I am 37 weeks pregnant.

It's not normal for pregnancies to be exactly the same - they are all different, even with the same mom.  So I don't know WHY in my head I was expecting her to be here right at 37 weeks...but, I am.  I think I'll be meeting her in the next few days.  If I'm wrong...well, then I hope she can wait until at least next Sunday or the following Monday because we will be moving that weekend (keeping fingers crossed on that).  So I either want her here now with a few days of recovery under my belt before we are signing closing papers and moving to a new house, or I want her to arrive after we are actually in the new house (how ideal would that be - to bring her home to a house without having to worry about scorions in the bed!). 

But either way...be it another day or several more weeks...she is on her way and there is no denying it.

Before Jack was born, I remember writing about how it HAD to be easier to get some sleep and how it HAD to be better once the baby was actually here.  After all, I am now in the phase of my pregnany where I am lucky to sleep for 40 straight minutes before being awakened by either my very-full bladder, calf cramps or some other pregnancy-induced sleep-inhibitor.  But I know better now than to think that it's going to be easier when the baby is born...what crack was I smoking when I thought I would get MORE sleep when the baby was born???

I now know that, as I stumble to the bathroom for the eighth time in one night, I can climb back into bed and lay there in relative peace...even if I'm not asleep.  Newborns don't allow for that luxury. Oh no.  If I am up with a newborn I'll be up on her terms...not mine.  If she's not tired, I won't be sleeping.  I won't even be able to just lay there wishing I could sleep.  If I recall (and I may have blocked these memories from my mind in my anticipation of Baby Girl), I will be wishing I was asleep as I pace the room for hours on end bouncing a cranky baby.

And sometimes I find myself thinking, "It will be easier this time - it HAS to be easier!" and I get all confident and am feeling all great about things and then I remember one little variable I didn't have the first time around - JACK.  That's right.  The toddler will be thrown into the mix. So maybe it will be easier (I am, after all, more confident in my parenting abilities and probably most importantly, I have learned to live by the mantra "This Too Shall Pass" - so I am better able to see the light at the end of the tunnel).  But what I am not sure of is how I'll manage two little beings who need me, and will likely need me at the same time (and for some perspective here, I know I am not the first person to ever have two kids and I know parents with more than two kids who have survived so I *know* we will get through it - I just sometimes wonder *how* we will get through it!).

But today, here I am...not working any longer and very grateful for that (who KNEW I would be this tired!).  I am spending time with Jack (admittedly, a lot of it is in front of the TV).  Our house is mostly packed except for the things we need.  Baby diapers are washed and organized.  My birthing center bag is packed and in the car.  The car seat is installed. 

All we are waiting on is Baby Claire to arrive.