Getting Ready

Little signs all over the house that a baby is coming. I made slings for both big kids. Got the co-sleeper out, although I put it in Talia's room and it now has books in it. Cloth diapers are all organized. Today I did the last and most important thing. I got two new car seats and had them professionally installed. Alex's car seat was HUGE so I downsized him to a booster with a 5 point harness and purchased an infant seat. It's a very tight squeeze.

I am in love with the service I received from the Safety Center at the Children's Hospital here in Madison. The car seat guy TESTED out the car seats I wanted and rearranged them into a few different configurations. The seats were cheaper than in the store (and the infant one is really cute). He took the new seats out of the box for me, put the infant seat together (that awning thing had to be completely assembled...), installed them properly into my car and then re-installed the infant seat-- not because it wasn't done properly (the indicator on the seat said it was fine) but because he didn't want the baby's head to flop around. I always say I'm going to write to a company to praise a worker for great service but this time I will really do it! Thank you Jim! There is NO WAY I could have done that myself. I was afraid Talia would be jealous that everyone got a new seat but her and also she says she wants to sit in the middle so she can hold the baby's hand but she seemed ok about it. She said she was happy to be sitting next to Alex again (I had separated them because I couldn't haul Alex into the middle with my growing belly). She did say she was squished and there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY she will be able to buckle herself. I am currently taking bets as to how many days it will be before we purchase a minivan.

Now that I've completed that last and most important task, I'm ready for baby. The only thing I haven't done is finish the baby's quilt. I need about a week of undivided attention for that so... it's a long shot, but possible. We're supposed to get a big snowstorm tonight so either I'll go into labor or make the kids watch tv all day tomorrow (or let them TRASH the entire house) so I can sew...