Leading up to the delivery of the new baby, there were several things to check off my to do list.
NUMBER ONE:
Pull out old baby clothes.
After a good wash in Dreft we dumped the baby clothes on the table and had a folding (or something like that) party. The girls were excited to see outfits they were brought home in from the hospital. Oh the memories...
Love how Saryn went into her baby mode after reminiscing for a bit : )
Wondering if the only boy in the house would feel a bit left out when we didn't pull out his coming home from the hospital outfit--he was too excited to pull out the Nintendo DS to take his own pictures of the girls.
School seems to be out all the time here for one reason or another and because it's still been a little chilly out, we came up with some fun indoor activities. Blowing bubbles with straws, water and dish soap kept the kids entertained while I kept chipping away at my list.
NUMBER TWO:
A weekend getaway with Jeff before baby comes.
My cousin, Tonya, was nice enough to watch our 4 monkeys so we could do this.
It was my first train ride into the city by myself and the girls were there along with Tonya at the station to see me off. This was a big moment for me : ) .
I have to admit that I was a bit giddy about this train ride. I kept waiting for the ticket man to break into song and dance and start serving everyone hot chocolate--it was so much like the movie The Polar Express. Especially the sound of the ticket punch!
Took a taxi to Jeff's office, met several of his coworkers and then got checked in to the hotel. Jeff sweet talked them (even though we were using hotel points) into giving us an upgrade since it was our last hoo-rah before baby number five. We ended up in a corner suite with 2 great views of the river! Nice!
We had two other couples meet up with us for dinner (Star of Siam--a yummy Thai restaurant) and then we saw the play, South Pacific. I have to say I didn't love the play that much. It was a one timer for me. Still, it was fun to be in the city for the weekend. (Jeff was thrilled to pose for this : ) )
Some of the kids from the cast. They did great!
The next morning, we ate breakfast at a fun place called The Bongo Room. Would definitely go back! Then we headed to a couple museums and off to see a movie...You know...just enjoying life without a house full of kids for a couple days! Very needed indeed. And it's really windy here.
Took the train home and were welcomed with a big sign the kids made. They'd decorated the entire laundry room with paper balloons, streamers and notes.
Back to the list...
NUMBER THREE:
Weeding out closets and organizing the house.
This one took awhile, but the kick off was really by these two girls. Sydney had a friend over and they surprised me with cleaning out the basement game room and closet! They made it sound like they were making a huge mess down there and had spilled something and needed the vacuum. A little while later they had me close my eyes and lead me down to the basement where much to my surprise and amazement saw what these two sweet girls had really been up to. I really have to give a lot of credit to them! They worked their tails off!
Even down to putting toys in right buckets and cleaning the game room closet. It was a treat!
I went to a dr. appointment where the dr. stirred things up making me think that the baby was really coming the next day or two. My mom wasn't here yet and Jeff was in Newark, but the labor pains were getting stronger. I kept checking the flight to see if I could hold off long enough, but in the end it was a false alarm.
NUMBER FOUR:
See Syd's Performance
Sydney had a little Mary Poppins performance that evening I wanted to see, so I was glad it really was a false alarm.
I have been known to cry wolf a few times, but I was glad about that too, because my mom flew in that same night and the baby didn't even arrive for a whole week later.
But, boy did I ever need her! She is the one who can whip me in gear on the organizing front better than anyone I know! My closets have never looked better and my home has never felt cleaner, smelled nicer and felt home-ier.
There were several other things on my to do list, like updating a blog with Saryn's 5th birthday (from November)...
...and Shayla's 3rd birthday (January)...
...along with other fun holidays and things (appointments and such), but those will have to either be backdated or scheduled later. I'm just happy I've got another little one to add to the business of life : ).
