Nesting

It was wonderful to have a 3-day weekend to get more organized and make some progress on de-cluttering our house. If our girl is walking, we'd better be ready! OK, I really don't think she's going to be walking at 13 months, but I want to be prepared just in case. We've started on our care package, which we are trying to keep very small at the recommendation of our agency. Sounds like most of the mail to our SWI is delivered via bicycle, and anything more than a large padded envelope may be delayed or not delivered at all. So we settled on a small blankey/lovey (not sure if the bodiless duck is cute or creepy, but the size is right), a teething book, a photo album, two disposable cameras and a letter with a short list of questions for the nannies. Plus, I think I'm going to add some candy for the nannies to share. I would love to include toys for the other children, but I can't come up with a way to do that and keep it to an envelope-sized package. The book is very fun, even though my husband teased me for buying our little girl a "John Deere" book. It doesn't have words, just adorable farm animal illustrations. The pages are stuffed with crinkle paper, so very fun and tactile. The pig page has a squeaker, the sheep page has a rattle/bell, and it has a teething toy on a thick bungee in a back pocket of the book. I think it's precious. Speaking of precious, I was surprised when the highchair we agreed on was the in-your-face pink Prima Pappa. I love the way it looks in the kitchen -- a big ol' obstacle announcing that a baby is finally on the way! It's full-on baby assault in the next week with a shower Thursday night, one Sunday afternoon, and one thrown by my co-workers next Monday. It's overwhelming, and I always struggle with the onslaught of gifts. We so sincerely appreciate every item that is given to us, but it is hard to express that sincerity over several hours of opening gifts. The reality of it all is hitting home. Hard. Could not sleep last night, and sleep is my #1 talent. Somehow, I don't think that part is going to get better...