Pregnancy Update

My sweet SIL Katie asked for a pregnancy update, and I suppose it has been a little while since devoting a blog post to the little sweetheart that likes to practice kick-boxing with my organs. I guess I get so busy worrying about the little ones that are outside my womb that demand all my attention that I don't think quite as much about the precious little one growing in my belly.

I believe the above picture is a 26 week picture, although it might be 25 weeks, I can't remember. I'm 28 weeks now, the same gestation I was when Isaac was born. Passing that milestone is always relieving, especially when coupled with the assurance that I am not approaching pre-term labor with the same vigor. On the contrary, things are progressing pretty uneventfully. I had an appointment last week and things are still looking good. The week before was a bit stressful and brought along with it a few days of rather bothersome and hard to control contractions, but things have eased up this week, thank goodness.

As my due date gets closer, I'm realizing how little time I have left to get ready for this little one. Some of the things I still need/want to do before she is born:

• Decide on her NAME! I have a little post-it note by my computer that I add names to all the time, but Jarom isn't horribly crazy about any of them. I'm glad we still have a little bit more time before having to make a decision, although I would like to have it at least narrowed down to maybe 2 or 3 before she is born.
• Get out Emilie's baby clothes and see what gaps need to be filled in. Since Emilie was born in May and this will be a fall/winter baby, I'm hoping that I have enough warm clothes to get her through the winter. I got a few bags full of hand-me-downs so I shouldn't have to supplement her wardrobe too much. I do need to find her an adorable bring-me-home outfit though!
• Now that Emilie and Isaac are sharing a room, I'd really like to paint their room and find some kind of theme to decorate it a little bit that will be fun for both of them.
  
• Since Baby will be born right in the midst of the winter holiday season, I want to try to get Christmas as planned out and prepared before she is born as possible. Job #1 is making new Christmas stockings! I found some adorable fabric this weekend, so hopefully I can find some time to get sewing. I have a vision in my head of how I would like it to turn out, we'll see if I can make it work.

Besides a few big bullet items, I also try my hardest to keep up on the daily rigors of being a housewife. I hate seeing messes all over the house and not having the energy and time to keep on top of things like I need. The kids seem especially adept at creating whirlwinds of chaos in their wake, and don't seem to understand how hard it is for mommy to be bending over picking up toys all the time. I think between cleaning and laundry, and working part-time, and everything else demanding my time, I'm just happy to make it to bed at the end of the day. There will be time eventually to have a beautifully kept and organized house, but as long as everyone is healthy and clothed and fed, then hopefully it will be enough for now.