I’m so glad that it’s cooling off around here… it means I can wear scarves on a fairly regular basis 🙂

Really need to get a bedskirt/dust ruffle for our bed… or learn how to make one that will fit our ridiculously high bed frame.

Side View – took this one the next morning, hence the sleepy look!

I’ve officially started my mat-leave.  I wavered back and forth, talked with Chris about it, and finally decided that it was the right decision.  I haven’t been sleeping or eating well, and I’m still not quite over this cough + cold.  My midwife told me at my last appointment that with the way things were looking, baby boy might come as early as 37 weeks if I didn’t cool it.  So I decided to do just that – whatever can keep him in the cooker longer is fine by me.

I’ve gotten a few things off my checklist:

• Finished decorating the nursery!
• Purchased ingredients for freezer meals and got 2 of them knocked out
• Done with antenatal classes
• Created a checklist and partially packed the hospital bag

It was nice to finish those 2 meals.  I made a double batch of salsa, then used some of that to make a double batch of taco soup.  I also made Pioneer Woman chicken spaghetti.  I’m planning to make spinach casserole and the filling for chicken enchiladas some other time this week.  All of those things can go in Ziploc bags rather than pans so as to use less space in our little freezer.  I decided to be nice and reserve a big bowl of the soup for Chris’ dinner that night.  I knew he’d be disappointed if he came home, smelled taco soup, and then learned that it was frozen solid.

Speaking of food for Chris, one thing that I forgot to include on the hospital bag checklist was snack food for him.  I remembered to get things for me {the c-section rate is so low in NZ that eating during labor isn’t usually a problem… although I can’t imagine being too hungry once I’m at the point where I need to go to hospital}.  I guess I figured that Chris would fend for himself.  However, if baby boy decides to arrive outside of hospital cafe hours, Chris will be stuck with vending machine fare.  The last thing I want is a husband who’s cranky and hungry while I’m in the middle of labor – the only one allowed to be cranky at that point is me 😉

You want to know something else?  My mom is coming in less than a month!  I have a great mom {great dad, too} and I can’t wait to see her.  I’m thankful and appreciative of all that she does, and I’m very grateful that she’s willing to travel for 24+ hours, fly halfway around the globe, lug 100 pounds of baggage behind her, and stay with us for 2 weeks.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – she doesn’t know where the airport is here, and we just may not let her leave.  When I told my dad this, he said that he’d come after her, which is really just further incentive to keep her here…!

Have a great week, everyone 🙂