my July to December list

Last Thursday we found out some big news: a baby boy is on the way! Graham Christopher Luce. I found out a wee bit early, but even so, I am 18 weeks, which means this pregnancy is getting very close to being half way over! Especially since the doctor has already told me he will need to be born several weeks early, due to my past vertical c-section. So we're looking at 4 months before he arrives, and I have a list of "want to's" that feels like it's a mile long to try and complete before then.

Here are some of the heftier items on my ever lengthening list:

1. Potty training Adrienne. If nothing on the list but this got done, I could live with that. It's always been a personal goal of mine to never have more than one child in diapers at a time, and if we can keep the dream alive, I would be a happy mom indeed.

2. Move Adrienne into her big girl bed. She and Marianna have bunk beds and will be sharing a room just as soon as the switch is made. I'm nervous because she is the greatest sleeper on the planet, and I hate to mess with something so good. But it has to be done, and Nathan says now is better than later, so we are looking at the transition taking place sometime in the next few weeks.

3. Establish an everyday routine starting in August. Summer has been fluid, to put it mildly. No two days ever look the same, and routine is something of the distant past. But starting when school starts up, I'd like for us to get on some kind of general schedule, that will include time for chores, school, playing, resting, etc. I'm hoping having this established for several months before the baby comes will make it easier to keep it up after he is here!

4. Finish all Christmas shopping by the last week in November.

5. Plan and implement Graham's nursery!

6. Sew. I haven't sewn in 6 months, and I want to get a few things cranked out for all three of the kids before our little guy gets here.

7. Work on building some age appropriate aspects of independence in each girl. There are a lot of things I do for Adrienne and Marianna that I know they could do for themselves. I do it because I can, but come December, some of those things I'm going to need the girls to take over and do themselves. I figure it's better to get them used to doing it now and ease into it, rather than throw a curve ball at them once the baby arrives.

Will it all get done? I'd be kind of blown away if it did. But I don't see anything wrong with setting the bar high and going for all the gusto. We'll see how it goes but one thing is for sure, come December, whether these things are in place or not, Marianna and Adrienne will be the proud big sisters to a new baby brother. And compared to that, none of the other things will seem all that important.

my camera makes a comeback

I'm afraid the month of June went by without a single picture snapped, and after 5 months of extensive usage, I'm sure my camera was wondering, "Why the neglect?". I think I'm going to have to blame the heat for the month long absence. I definitely prefer taking pictures outdoors, but around these parts, June was brutal. July has actually been much, much nicer, resulting in the camera's return from sabbatical.

On the 4th we went to lunch with Nathan's family, and afterwards I tried to get a shot of the girls I could use for a new 20x20 frame I got for my birthday. I'm toying with the idea of using one of the two I got of the girls together, but it's hard for me to commit to any picture that is going to be that large. Any thoughts on which one I should use? Nathan thinks one, and I think another.

reality check

I had the Today Show on one morning last week, and there was a lady on talking about time management. She gave a handful of shocking statistics, with one in particular totally blowing me away. According to her information, the average stay at home mom spends 4 hours per week playing with her children. Not a working dad, or even a working mom, but a stay at home mom. Wow.

After the shock wore away, that number made me sad. It made me realize how easy it is to lose sight of what it's all about, because I don't think many stay at home moms go into the venture anticipating just over 30 minutes a day spending quality time with their kids. That is so outrageous! Yet I can see how it happens. Life. Busyness. All of it can creep in, and without intentionality toward something else, the things that really matter can go away without you hardly even noticing.

It was really a wake up call. Not to spend more than 30 minutes a day playing with the kids, but to think about carving out sections of time throughout our day for nothing else than sitting down and doing things with the girls. It made me see how important it is to prioritize our reading, puzzle making, picture drawing, game playing time together. Those are the things I want to do every day, not just the days that happen to be slow and I have a few extra minutes before it's time to run the next errand or change the next load of laundry.

What are my girls going to remember about their childhood when they grow up? Who can say, but I sure hope many of their memories are filled with things they did with Nathan and me, spending time together.