As of yesterday afternoon I have one more thing crossed of the list for baby #4’s arrival! The bassinet is assembled!
I’ve been having a hard time planning for this little one for 3 reasons.
- We don’t know the gender, so it has been hard to buy for this baby. In some ways though, this is a blessing as we aren’t filling the house with mere “stuff”. Each purchase has been very intentional (and I’m going to rely heavily on Amazon Prime for the essentials after baby gets here).
- We aren’t preparing a nursery as we have in the past, because we realistically know this little one will stay in our room for several months, so there is no need to rush moving the other rooms around and redecorating. That will come in time. Thankfully we have a 5 bedroom home, so while space is still precious, we technically have plenty.
- I know that no matter what I plan, and how detailed my plans may be; God’s plan will prevail.
Funny {awkwardly embarrassing} story: When I was pregnant with our son in 2007, which was my first pregnancy, I typed out a 3 page birth plan. Yes, really. I e-mailed it to our whole family. If I remember right it included very little about the actual birth, and a whole lot about the moments leading up to the birth, and the next few days afterwards. It included things like what food could be eaten while I was away, what clothes to wear, how to run the washer… oh yes, back in those days I thought I was the only one who could do it all and the world would fall apart of I wasn’t telling everyone what to do.
I was so upset when things didn’t go my way, and hospital visitors came when worked for their schedule, and not mine (um, like I really had anything going on other than watching free cable TV while trying to heal my ripped open crotch and feed my new baby). Seriously, I was so worked up about an acquaintance visiting unannounced around the time I had planned to go to the bathroom. Yep, I even planned my bathroom trips. HA!
Oh how you live and learn.
My next pregnancy and delivery went much better. I planned very little, and our little peanut arrived so early and so FAST that I didn’t have time to stress. I didn’t even have a real bag packed. It was the best experience though, just going with the flow.
Mr. Awesome noted this week that I was “nesting big time”, his words. I tried to deny it, because I feel like I haven’t “done enough”.
After waking up to a spotless kitchen (that I cleaned in a frenzy last night), I realized he was right. I am preparing in a way. Not to toot my own horn too much, but my nesting skills look pretty good on this house (especially after months of neglecting the daily tidying, as I rested on the couch)!
Note in the picture above my tiny sweetheart is scrubbing the wall. We have no idea what splattered there (my best guess is Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie that came through a certain child’s straw), but she’s determined to get it clean on her own. They learn by example, don’t they?
So the way I am choosing to prepare this time around is by doing what I can while I can, and knowing that doesn’t mean I can do it all.
I’m first and foremost taking care of my health. Something I’ve long thought was selfish is really just me tending to myself so I can better tend to everyone else.
Yesterday I was able to assemble a bassinet and rearrange our bedroom. Today, I may clean the fridge shelves and drawers, but tomorrow I may not be able to get a thing done. That’s OKAY. I’m giving myself grace and not getting bent out of shape over it.
I feel like the internet, especially Pinterest, is loaded with ways to do life, but I’m finding the best way, is offline and in prayer. I’m not falling for all the blog posts about how to prepare, and the top 10 things I need in my hospital bag. I’m instead trusting that God will provide from his abundant storehouse, just as he always does. It may not be the way I would provide or prepare, but as we discovered back in 2007, my plans aren’t always the most logical! ha!
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