I can tell Stella is getting bigger and bigger, too. Her movements are really painful at times, and even when they're not painful, they're so strong that they completely arrest my attention. I usually stop and go, "Oooh." She somehow managed to get herself in my ribs yesterday, and it was killing me. It wasn't her feet - just like she had pressed all of her weight against the right side of my ribs. It was really uncomfortable, and I kept trying to coerce her to move.
Overall, things are going really well. Derek and I finally can check off a huge to-do from our list: get another car. We had sold our Outlander over the summer to save up for moving to Ohio - which we all see didn't happen! - so when we decided to stay in the South, we just kept it with one car, figuring it was more economical anyway. In October, we traded in our Corolla for an older Explorer since we knew we needed an actual "baby wagon." It's really big and perfect for transporting a ton of Stella's stuff.
We continued to research different options and we wanted something both economical and practical, so we decided to lease a Civic. With our smaller cars, we seem to trade those in more often, so we thought it better to lease than to buy. Since we're expecting to only have one child, we figured the Civic would be certainly big enough for our needs. It has four doors and a huge trunk, so there's plenty of room for everything we need. We're both really relieved to have finally taken care of that. Phew!
Yesterday, I went and bought a flip-top garbage can for our wet bag, and I got a small basket to hold Stella's laundry. I also bought an organizer so I can get all of her stuff in one spot in the closet. We still have a lot that we need, but we're making progress.
Right now, we need:
1) A Glider/Rocker
2) A Swing
3) Bouncy Chair
4) Breastpump
5) A Floor Lamp
6) A Bookcase (or some other type of organizer for her room)
7) A Highchair
8) More cloth diapers... and more cloth diapers
9) Bottles and milk storage
10) Cleaning tools for the bottles
11) Pacifiers, toys, and of course, activity-related gear
12) A sling/Moby wrap/Baby Bjorn
13) A jogger
Now, that's not necessarily in order of importance, but rather in the order in which I can easily remember it. We recently received our hybrid diapers from Gro-Via, and they're awesome. I'm very happy with those, and I do hope we can get more before Stella gets here.
I know the jogger and highchair can wait since she can't really sit in a jogger until she can hold her head up (say 6 months-ish) and she can't eat solids for a while either. Mostly, I'm worried about the breastpump - so expensive! - and other necessities like cloth diapers and the bottles.
We need some more clothes, but those are so cheap that it's easy to just buy some here and there and we'll have more than enough before she gets here.
Today, I hope to go through and do some more organizing in our kitchen and move some hazardous things to above our washer and dryer in the laundry room. I'd like to get some safety latches and all that pretty soon, but that may be a project for next weekend. Derek will have to install all of those locking latches for our cabinets, so that might take a while.
Derek seems to think that the toilet lockers aren't practical and one should just keep the bathroom door shut. I told him that one of us may forget or something and we should have them anyway. Now, I realize that she won't be crawling and walking and getting into things for a little while, so we just want to get the basics for now. Any opinions on those toilet lockers?
I still feel like we have so much to do and so much to get! It's just crazy. We have 11 weeks until my due date, and about 7 before she COULD arrive. Time is really going quickly.
And speaking of which - I had said in my previous post that my hair appointment was a simple trim. I had been thinking for about a month to cut my hair shorter, but I just hadn't grown a pair and gone through with it. Well, yesterday I decided it was time. I really wanted something that would be easy to maintain and something that I can wash and let air dry. My hair has a crazy texture and it goes everywhere, so having my hair cut to accommodate that is so much easier. I'm not sure if the picture on facebook really captured it - it's not a bob. My stylist (who is awesome - go see Melissa Gower at Park West) pretty much razor cut all of it and it's really choppy. There are some longer, random pieces around my face. I was really trying to avoid a "mom" cut. I guess my reasoning for doing it makes it a mom cut, though. I had been spending anywhere from 30-40 minutes everyday straightening my hair, and I knew that once Stella got here, I wouldn't have that luxury anymore.
Either way, I'm really happy, and Derek really likes it, too. :) Anyway, enough about me! I need to get get organizing my kitchen before this sweet little girl gets here! :)
