I’m feeling pretty ready for a baby now! Today the ticker says 5 days until the due date! A couple of tasks that have been weighing on me (a work thing and a car thing) are done and now I just want to clean the house before I go to the hospital. I went to a car seat check this morning and got the seat installed properly and learned a few things about it. My hospital bag has been packed and sitting in the trunk since the end of May. Let’s do this!

I’ve been reading lots of birth stories and pregnancy blogs online to see how other people’s births got started, how long they had Braxton Hicks before it was the real thing, how they knew when it was the real thing, and what other signs of labor they had. But then in one blog I went on to read the posts from their first few weeks with a newborn and it sounded like the new mom was breaking down and crying a lot. I’ve also been told by my coworkers that I should apologize in advance to my husband for how crazy I’ll be! But I still want to get this show on the road!

In the meantime…

We had some hot days last week, and one day Jan and I went to Whole Bowl and Kure after running errands. Apparently I got too much sun in the Costco and Target parking lots!

I got a breast pump that day and now I’m waiting for insurance reimbursement before I open the box and start figuring it out. I think this is the model my coworkers use.

I got a few more things that help me feel ready:

Some basic prefold cloth diapers,

Some cloth wipes (also a spray to use with them),

a wet bag (size small, “Fiesta” pattern) for carrying wet diapers or whatever when we’re out,

a couple of small waterproof pads,

some multipurpose burp cloths,

and a diaper pail liner.

Jan and Patrick got this cute dog sweater – it says 3-6 months; hopefully it fits him when the weather is right for it!

Our garden is very active! This red flower popped out of what we thought was a random weed:

Our herbs and salad greens have gone crazy:

We stuck some seeds in the dirt in the second raised bed planter. You can’t see much from a distance, but they’ve sprouted! It’s pretty cool; it only took them a couple of weeks to get going. There are beans that aren’t doing anything yet, but here’s the lettuce:

And here’s zucchini:

The tomatoes and strawberries seem to be doing great:

These are on the “Early Girl” plant:

Since I haven’t gone into labor yet, we got to go to my cousin’s high school graduation and a family barbecue afterwards. Here’s Andrew playing with his sweet cousin Shaka at my aunt and uncle’s house:

His cousin Molly seemed to enjoy lying down and supervising everyone: