The New Baby Boy is due to arrive in the next 6 weeks or so. I feel like it is one of those 'ready or not' moments in life. We have a bassinet setup in our bedroom already but not a single package of diapers or formula graces the shelves in our pantry.
We've both been through this multiple times before so we're in that mindset of knowing that you don't have to have everything before the kid arrives. One funny thing is that PW put a potty chair on our registry and someone got it...so we'll have that in storage for a couple/few years until he's ready to tackle that obstacle. LOL
PW's mother mentioned that our youngest right now is 8 and that we were 'almost free' in terms of doing things in our lives without having to worry about kids. I don't see having a new baby as a negative or something that will control or wreck our lives. We have plenty of family members clamoring to be the first to watch him and babysit and, unlike new parents, we'll be more than happy to give them that chance.
I've done some work out in our yard. I raked part of it, spread some grass seed and fertilizer, and am hoping to see that barely discernible haze of green from the new shoots any day now. There is a lot that can be done with this yard. It is apparent that not much was done to start and even less done in terms of maintenance over the years. I just looked under our deck and you won't believe how many leaves are under there!
I'm also working on our old house to get it on the market. We have people in there now patching holes, painting, and doing some maintenance type stuff so that we put the best face on it when somebody comes to look. I also need to have more stuff thrown out and a U-haul so that I can bring what we're keeping over here in one trip.
After that's all done we'll have to clean the carpets, clean the floors, do some yard work there, and then we'll be good to go. There aren't enough hours in the day and while you may be thinking, "Hey, he has four kids, I'm sure that they are helping." you'd be mostly wrong. MD and her boyfriend have lived there, rent free, for months but only got off their butts to do some stuff after I did all the work to empty the attic.
What did emptying the attic mean? I brought down enough old clothes to fill the back of the Highlander, with seats folded down, from floor to ceiling to take to Goodwill. I carried down six window air conditioners, two fake Christmas trees, old suitcases, some old furniture, boxes of old beanie babies, boxes and bags of Christmas decorations, two old computers, and a bunch of other stuff by myself. My shoulder is not feeling too good but what can I do, it has to be done.
I asked Oldest Son to help and was told, by him, that he's too busy. He works nights (7-7) and is going to school too, but I remember dropping everything and helping him to move at around 10pm one night because of a crazy roommate. Oh well...
Nobody really wants to help but nobody wants anything thrown away and, "Hey Dad, can I borrow some money?" still seems to apply.
Amazing how this all turned into one big rant, eh? :-)
It will all eventually get done and we'll own only one home and have nowhere near the amount of 'junk' that accumulated in the old one so that's a good thing.
What really makes it all worthwhile is that I have a wonderful wife and a new baby on the way so life is good.
Posted by bbarton at May 16, 2008 10:56 AM