Whirlwind

belli painting at 36 weeks

It's been a wonderful but long day. I'm in my 36th week and having a lot more back pain, pelvic pain and much more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions lately. Loss of appetite, (unless it's fruit or I didn't have to  cook it), extreme exhaustion with hour long afternoon naps instead of prepping dinner, flaking on playdates and appointments because I just don't feel like it but then deciding that a 7pm trip to Target is absolutely necessary because I must have the perfect nursing bra before she arrives. Dangerous online shopping habits have begun and the completion of thank you cards has not.

amazing gifts from the baby shower my church gave me!

Then there are the extreme highs where I nest psychotically pulling weeds, planting flowers, organizing closets, finishing the nursery decor, washing baby's things, convincing my husband that hiking in the hills during the afternoon heat will really be ok for me, grocery shop online, work on an artsy baby project with Aiden, dust my plantation shutters, feeling that it's imperative that I master that lullaby on the piano before she arrives, (even though she can already hear my painful practicing process in the womb) and threaten to mow the lawn myself if my overworked husband doesn't take care of it soon. Got to mail that package to our family in Colorado, solidify a name for baby girl,  need to catch up Aiden on his vaccines, put the hospital bag in the car, complete that blog memory post about how cool Aiden is lately, find a date to do last minute maternity family pictures, make a belli cast, fill out that overdue hospital paperwork, get birth ball blown up, and through everything try to make time every day to spend quality time with my precious son during our last days just him and I. It is a whirlwind game of rushing around to get things accomplished before she arrives and at the same time trying desperately to slow down and throughly enjoy these last few days of our family of three.  I am trying to be more mindful in my parenting with my son these days, taking extra time and savoring more moments than usual trying to keep a strong patience level even though all the discomforts are overwhelming at times. Listening to some of his music from our recent music together class can produce nostalgic tears while I get overly sentimental of the fun times we had together in that class loosing ourselves in the fun together and realizing we don't do that often enough... A drastic change in our family dynamics is upon us soon and it will never be the same again. We are so very excited and so extremely blessed about the upcoming arrival of our little angel joining our family of three making us four. Making us complete. We cannot wait to meet her and love her. And with an incomplete "To Do" list or not, we are ready and waiting.