Ready Or Not...

When I went in for my 36-week checkup a week and a half ago, Ruthie was clearly in no hurry to make her debut. But at 37 weeks, she had flipped into position and progress had already begun. (Lots of progress, I felt, considering I'd had very few contractions up until that point.) As we left the doctor that afternoon, it was finally real that - ready or not - Ruthie is coming, and soon!

There are plenty of preparations to be made right now. The second crib is full of all kinds of non-baby items, the clothes are still in the attic, and the car seat needs to be washed and installed. Diapers and new bottles need to be purchased, and it might help if I packed a bag for the hospital. (One thing I have done is order her lovey...which, honestly, might be the most important thing of all if she's anything like her sisters!) But even as the days tick by, the nesting instinct has yet to kick in.

What has kicked in is an increased desire to do special things with the bigger girls. I know that life for them (for all of us) is about to turn upside-down, and I want to make the most of the little moments we have right now with a semblance of normal.

We've made special breakfasts...

...and sampled the batter.

We've played dress-up...

...and gone for carousel rides.

We've played in the snow...

...and the tents...

...and the rice.

We're playing games at night, and lingering extra-long in bubbly baths. We're meeting friends at the "Chicken House" for lunch, and we're savoring extra time for story time. Today, we even cashed in some very generous gift cards at Barnes and Noble and treated ourselves to a cookie with pink sprinkles. We're trying to laugh and smile and enjoy these days as much as we can, because as absolutely wonderful as having a newborn in the house will be, it will also be challenging. We so eagerly anticipate Ruthie's arrival, and yet...for right now, I'm hanging on to the sweet moments we're having, just the four of us.