Hen and Chicks: Feathering the Nest

It’s October 28th. The countdown has begun. My referral (if it comes in November) will probably be here at the end of this week or the following week.

So for the last month I’ve started to get serious about preparing for a new baby. Here’s what I’ve been doing lately:

Starting this blog –I’m trying to post every week now, but finding the time is a challenge. It makes me appreciate the many bloggers who I have followed for the last year who post regularly – where do they find the time???

In addition to the content issue, I still don’t think that this blog is formatted exactly as I want it to be. Plus, there are items that I want (a visitor counter, etc) but I can’t figure out how to add them. I think I’ll have to learn about HTML to get the layout the way I want it. All in good time. I’ll get one of my techy nephews to teach me how to do this stuff. Update: I couldn't sleep last night and got online. And -- although I probably didn't do it in an elegant fashion -- I managed to add the site counters. Yeah!!

Also in the last couple weeks I’ve started to list my blog when I post on other sites. How Scary!!!! How can I describe the feeling I have since I started doing this? It’s like washing your underwear in a public Laundromat – the kind of underwear that you probably should have thrown away months ago. I feel vulnerable and a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, I still am anonymous because it looks like no one has ventured into the site yet (well I don’t know for sure because I haven’t installed a counter yet. No stranger has left a comment yet. Update: My newly installed counter indicates I have been visited by people in the Web World -- Welcome!). I think to get any non-family/friends visitors I’ll have to work up the courage to announce the blog on a small site – like my LID group. I want to do that before the referral comes in. Wish me luck.

Sorting through Little Zo Peep’s baby stuff. -- With the help of my trusty babysitter Kristen, I’ve begun to take inventory of baby stuff to determine what I need to buy and what I can reuse. So far, I’ve ordered a new highchair and stroller. I’ll need a new car seat too, but want to wait until I find out how big Libby Doodle Doo will be.

Clothes fall into that “wait see” category too. I have a jillion outfits left over from Zo Peep, but the winter stuff is size 12mo or higher (I adopted her in late April, so I didn’t need small-sized winter clothes). I’ve purchased a couple 6mo to 9mo winter outfits, but I’ve left the tags on until I find out if I’m buying for a 6 mo old, a 9 mo old, a 12 mo old or a 2 year old ( or whatever size she may be).

If Libby turns out to be 12 months or older, I’ll still want to do some shopping for her and not just re-use all of Z’s leftover clothes. As the 2nd daughter and 3rd child in my family, I know all about hand-me-downs. I wore both my older sister's AND my older brother's castoffs. I want Libby to have some things that were bought especially for her. Also I think some items – socks, tights, shoes, etc – should never be handed down. I’ve already thrown out some of that stuff and given the gently worn items to shelters.

Getting the room ready – Libby Doodle Doo and Little Zo Peep will share a room – Libby in her crib (depending on her size), Zo Peep in a full size bed. For the most part I haven't done much with the room yet. I had the room painted this spring and am beginning to rearrange furniture. Once again I'm adopting a wait-see attitude until I can confirm age and gender (although I'm 90% sure I'll get a girl).

I’ve purchased a couple things to put in the room. I got some original artwork from a local artist and framed it. I just ordered letters to spell out Libby’s and Zo Peeps proper names above each of their beds. Zo Peep's bed was painted by a local artist friend. When we cleaned out my mom's house last year I claimed the dresser that matched the bed. I'd like to get my artist friend to paint this dresser in the same wild animal motif as the bed. (Here's a close-up from the bed that she painted).