More Nesting...

I've been doing lots more nesting lately. I'm about 5 weeks out from my due date...and time is winding down! I've been feeling the urge to nest lately, but it's probably not the typical-pregnant-lady nesting. I'm making lists of things for my husband to do that I can't do myself (hanging curtain rods, taking heavy boxes to the basement, digging out totes of toys, etc.). I'm also tackling things on my to-do list like crazy...but it includes painting floors, painting walls, catching up on scrapbooks, putting away piles of papers, getting all the tax information ready to go...and the list goes on. Not much of it has to do with the baby right now...but it all has to do with getting the house (and my state of mind) ready to go! It feels great to see the to-do list getting smaller! I'm not sure why I get such satisfaction out of seeing things get crossed off!

Olivia and I spent time completing one of the projects on the list the the other day. We have some words to hang up in her room, but they were all different colors. We sat down together and painted them all bright green. The color contrasts the pink walls in her room well and we are trying to help her get her room all settled before baby arrives.

We've been potty training for the past few weeks and it's going very well. We had a few rough days in the beginning, but Olivia is really getting the hang of it. She is initiating trips to the potty now without me setting the timer. She has been announcing her trip to the bathroom, but yesterday she starting just going by herself and requesting that we stay out of the bathroom while she goes. We haven't tackled nap time or bedtime yet, she still wears pull-ups then. But, she's been waking up dryer each day, so we'll probably tackle that soon. We still have some diapers in the closet, but Olivia knows that "diapers are for babies," so we're trying not to use those anymore. She is set on being a big girl and likes using the potty.

The only bad thing about potty training is that I can't stop dreaming about it! If I'm not dreaming about potty training in some way, I'm dreaming about childbirth! My nights aren't so comfortable anymore...not because I'm physically uncomfortable, but because these crazy dreams wake me up several times a night!

We took Olivia to a sibling class at the hospital on Monday evening. She got to diaper a baby doll and carry it around the birthing center with us when we went on a tour. She saw the bed that mommy will sleep in, as well as the bed daddy will sleep in. She got to play with the toys and games in the waiting area, and she even got to color a t-shirt for her little brother to wear after he is born. She was really excited to go to the hospital and even thought it was time for her to go to the hospital to meet her baby brother! Not yet, Olivia...not yet!

Speaking about the baby and giving birth...I'm ready! Not because I'm sick of being pregnant and am extremely uncomfortable, but because I really want to meet this little guy! He is super active and I'm so curious to see who he is! I think I'm not as anxious about giving birth this time because I know a little more what to expect. I have a 'bring it on' attitude right now and I'm hoping that I can keep that up until he's born!

Olivia has been memorizing a verse of scripture and knows it very well. Chris and I want to instill the word of God in her at a young age, so on top of praying at meals and at bedtime, we take her to church and are having her memorize scripture. The first one we started with is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." We have her recite it at times when she starts to get upset and begins to whine, "I can't....." We feel the application is important for her, even though she's only two years old. So, we want her to know that she doesn't need to say "can't" and that she really can do things with the help of Christ's strength.

The next scripture we are going to focus on is Exodus 20:12: "Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." It's a long one, and I've considered just having her memorize the first part of the verse, but I don't want to confuse her later when she learns that there is more to the scripture. Application is important with this one as well. When Olivia begins to disobey, we want to have her say this scripture and learn to understand what God is truly saying. I'll keep you posted as to how that goes....

Chris has been busy lately. He's working in the office during the day and is doing some architecture as well. Then, he's doing more architecture in his free time in the evenings and on the weekends. He started a blog to let people know about his work and to show some of his visuals. If you'd like to check it out, here's the address: http://www.chriskannelarchitect.blogspot.com/

I need to go get some more things accomplished now. I'm trying to take it easy because I seem to have low iron right now and have been exhausted lately. So, I'll get some things accomplished, but will still take it easy (so as to not overwhelm myself, and so as to appease my husband!). :)