Mom, Bean and I are fighting with sharp things!

The title of this blog is the random comment Jacob made to me a few minutes ago, as he displayed a corn cob skewer and Bean brandished a kiddie knife. Ah yes, just another day in the Beattie house. Summer is here, and one week in... my kids are bored. I'm bored. This is boring. Tom and Norah have been in ND for the last 10 days, and life without my two biggest messmakers has been extremly quiet. It's very strange not to have a baby in the house-- I think the last time I went 10 days without diaper changes was four years ago when Tom was gone for a month and Jake was with the grandparents while I worked. But more than that, not having a baby means a certain amount of freedom. When we need to go somewhere, I just say, "hey, put on your shoes!" and tada! we're ready to go. Jacob and Brynn can get themselves dressed, buckle themselves into the car, and when we get to the store (or wherever) can transport themselves without my physical assistance. Although someone will inevetably declare that they have to poop midway through a grocery excursion, this is really a much easier way to live. I almost feel guilty about how much I've enjoyed not having to deal with baby things this last week and a half. Of course I miss my Nonah, and it has been pretty boring without her, but... well, considering my baby duties are about to double I guess I deserve this and I'll enjoy it :)

I've started to get things ready for the impending arrival, sort of. Most of the necessary baby things are still either being used, or are easily accessible-- the cradle, swing, bouncy seat, etc are all just sitting in the girls' closet ready to go. I need to get another dresser before I can unpack the baby boy clothes, but I did get a whole bunch of washable diaper covers. Yes, I have ditched the woolypants! As I stuffed them into a garbage bag I thought of the millions of hours I spent knitting them. But I was so insanely tired of dealing with them, plus they had taken on a toxic odor in storage, so I decided to spoil myself. I went with the Thirsties, which were highly rated on Amazon (where I get free shipping). They were $11 apiece, which is about 2x the cost of woolypants (but minus a thousand hours of knitting and anger). I am in the process of trying to wash the funk out of the cloth diapers themselves, since they were packed in with the stanky woolies.

And what else is there? Unlike waiting for a first baby, when you have everything stacked and restacked and organized, bath products waiting (speaking of which, I wonder where the baby tub ended up? I don't even think I ever used it with Norah), changing table ready, clothes folded and categorized in the dresser... unlike that experience (which I went through with Jake, and even a little with Bean), I have other things to do. I apologize, little fourth baby, I don't have time to sit and caress your tiny clothes for hours on end and ponder the miracle of your itty-bittyness. I will have time to say, "can someone go grab me the Boppy out of the closet?" And I will be ready to feed you. I've been looking forward to digging out all the adorable little boy clothes for several babies now, although every time I pack up more of the girl clothes that Norah has outgrown I get a little sad that I might not be using them again. Who ever thought that I would say that? Not me. I'm really pretty glad that life thwarted my plans and I ended up with some baby girls. Partly because I've liked having girls, and partly because I think that if I was having a fourth boy in five years I might be a little crazier than I am right now.

Tom and Norah will be back tomorrow, and things should get back to normal-- at least for another few weeks until the baby shows up. (Four weeks left, if you're counting with me). I've been napping a lot, and enjoying a little extra time for reading. I'm officially tired of being ginormous, and it seems like laying on my side like a beached whale is the only way to be comfy. Of course, I lay on my side and then promptly fall asleep, so I am not especially productive these days. Oh yeah, and it's really hot out. It's about 95 and humid every day. Even with the A/C on in the house, it's still hot. Laying around and drinking gallons of water is my only defense against crippling cankles.