Thursday, December 23, 2010

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas/ Everywhere you go/ There's a tree in the grand hotel/ One in the park as well/ The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow

Now that LB and I have this week and next off (I enjoy this part of my teaching schedule), the house is coming together for the holidays.  A good thing, too, since we hosted a caroling party this evening.  The tree is up, the windowsills are festooned with battery-operated candles (the pets too often try to leap at the real ones), and the stockings are hung over the heating grate.  It's really quite a nice space in which to pass the time, if only I had the chance to sit and enjoy it a little more.

This morning, we went downtown early to see Santa and have our picture taken.  I was set against going this year, until a coworker mentioned that her daughter's favorite Santa picture is the one taken the Christmas before she was born.  So, off we went, in a Bean-revealing shirt, to sit next to Santa in the window.  It was more fun than I expected, but has made today particularly long and exhausting.

Yesterday we met the last of the midwives (we thought we'd met them all, then in came this new lady!), and she was not worried about any of my questions, thought our birth plan looked great and very well thought-out, and had us schedule the next 4 appointments.  That means, we now have appointments through January 19th...which is after the Bean's due date!  This is getting quite close, now.

LB put the crib together today, and we moved the extra furniture out of the Bean's room, so now our second bedroom is starting to come together.  The crib looks HUGE compared to how I imagine the Bean, and I'm sure it won't look much smaller once she arrives.  I can totally understand why people put crib bumpers and blankets in there, just to make it look cozier around babies!

New projects await us, now: finishing curtains for the Bean's room, recovering the glider rocking chair we got from Freecycle, and finding a place for the Bean to sleep when she first comes home.  Three and half weeks until our due date - ack!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Grouch's Lullaby

A Grouch's Lullaby
From Sleepytime Bird

Sleep, sleep, sleep/ Go to sleep, my little creep/ Born to live in a big trash heap

I have to laugh when my "What to Expect" app tells me that sleep is going to become harder this week/month/trimester - somehow, I don't think it gets much worse than staring at the wall for 90 minutes in the middle of the night, despite getting up to use the bathroom, have a snack, read quietly, or drink some warm milk.  Of course, now that I've said that, my brain will find some new way to torture me tonight. 

It's become entertaining to watch The Bean move around - she's usually on my right side, and apparently head-down, because it's pretty easy to feel her back and butt move by as she flips around.  Earlier this week, I pulled out a maternity support band that a friend passed along -  it was huge and uncomfortable this summer, but now it feels like heaven.  I hadn't realized just how heavy my belly is getting until I take off the band after work, and immediately everything becomes more work. 

We bought our tree this weekend, and I am currently sitting with the smell of pine from behind me, and Christmas carols playing outside (yes, we have a light display that plays music.  We're THOSE neighbors).  Incidentally, at what point did "Amazing Grace" become a Christmas carol?  It always throws me when that one comes on.  As it just did.

The Bean's room is still not ready, but we are approaching readiness on the library, so hopefully we will be able to assemble the crib soon.  For some reason, having a place for this baby to sleep is the thing that I've latched onto as "see, we're not ready!" My coworkers keep reminding me that 6 weeks is not that long, and I keep thinking about how the time I have left is the same time I will have at home with The Bean when she arrives, and neither of these thoughts is helping me calm down.  This may have something to do with the craptastic sleep, come to think of it!