Week 35, Day 6 - Things that make me happy!

The past few days have been good ones, I'm starting to get excited about having a baby and that is such a GOOD thing for me!! I got this little flashback the other day of how relaxing and sweet it is to nurse a little baby - and how it was kind of sad for me before, when I knew that Harmony was probably my last baby -- that I would never nurse again. She even quit at 3 months, too! So it was like oh yeah, I forgot about that part!!!

It made me more excited, memories of being in my room for hours on end by myself nursing the baby and just hanging out with my laptop while DH or others took care of the bigger kids. I'm working really hard to BANISH all thoughts of negativity about this baby, and focus on all the good things and -- it's working! It also helps that I am only 4 weeks away from my due date now - it's becoming more "real" and not so very very far away sounding.

I was thinking this morning, about some things that make me happy in my life - I know there are a billion more tiny little things but these popped into my head throughout the morning and I thought I'd share.

1. Clean matching socks in the sock basket for when I am putting together all the kids' outfits in the morning before they get up. I'm usually sleepy and it takes me twice as long to get ready if I have to hunt everywhere for clean socks! **love**!

2. Fun/yummy things to put in their lunches and surprise them with. I enjoy making their lunches and anticipating their reaction and just putting LOVE into making that meal enjoyable for them. DH brought home some donuts leftover from his office last night, and we NEVER buy donuts unless it's a party -- way too expensive at $1 a pop for our family! They were so excited this morning to each pick one out for their lunches! (and I had one...or two...ahem)

3. I'm getting excited about CHRISTMAS!! It's coming early to our house this year since I am going to be having the baby in early December - I plan to hopefully decorate the whole house right after Thanksgiving (maybe too hopeful, since my due date is the day after, but I think the kids will be happy to help me). I am also trying my hardest to get most, if not all, of their presents before the baby comes. I won't be able to shop out of the house -- and I would really love to find some cute sets of Polly Pockets, Monster Trucks, etc USED at the local consignment/thrift stores. So that's what I'll be working on during the days that Lucy is here to babysit. Or maybe Craigslist too.

And!! I had the kids all write down what they want for Christmas, and put it in a Word document - and I found last year's! SUPER helpful because they had alot of great ideas but of course I didn't get them everything they wanted. It helps alot to remember what I got them and what they really loved - also little things like jerky (my brother smokes his own and it is the BOMB so I'm planning to ask him to make some for the stockings & I'll pay for the meat!) and Ranch cornnuts. Things we don't usually buy but they love.

We've budgeted carefully this year so beginning in October, I have had a little nest egg of $$ to spend, with some more coming in the November & December paychecks. It's really fun because in past years I haven't had ANY money to spend on Christmas until December and I always forget about black Friday and the many deals that pop up on hip2save.com. (LOVE that site - you should check it out!!!) It's frustrating not being able to take advantage of these awesome sales unless I take the $$ out of the grocery money which of course, at the end of the month then we don't have enough! So I'm excited...it's also neat to be able to have the money and yet, take my time and watch for the best deals.

Thanks to hip2save, I was able to fulfill Rachel's wishlist for a Bath & Body works "Dark Kiss" gift set. Those are SPENDY and I wasn't sure how I was going to pull that off, buying her that AND other gifts (we have a limit of 5 gifts per child under the tree). I got her FIVE items ($10+ each) when a heads up from Hip2save let me use the buy3get2free sale, + $1 shipping code + 25% off. I wouldn't have even KNOWN about that had I not checked hip2save!

4. Warm yummy raisin-cinnamon-honey-blueberry oatmeal on a cozy fall morning!

5. DH & I went on a date last night, Rachel was urging us to go because she is saving for a trip to Disneyland in the spring with her aunt. We took her up on it, and when we got back?? CLEAN house, dishwasher emptied, trash emptied, OUR bedroom cleaned ("I wanted to cuz it was messy," she said), laundry switched from washer to dryer, new load put in the washer, AND the clean load folded & put away!

WOW! I was totally floored, she is such a funny girl. Doesn't take the initiative to do these kind of things when I'm home, but when I'm gone it's almost like she wants to surprise me so she does lots & lots. But also I think she hopes for a "bonus" in her pay =) =) =) which I am MORE than happy to give. Annnnnnd...this tells me what she is capable of doing when I have the baby - hmmmm. Dishwasher unloading, laundry folding, and cleaning my bedroom are all jobs that I do exclusively so now my wheels are turning. Hee hee.

6. When all the kids remember their backpacks so I don't have to turn around and go right back to school with the forgotten one. It's a 17 min round trip ride - ouch on the time wasted AND the gas in our Expedition SUV! I told James10 to remind me to do a "backpack call" in the morning right before we leave in the car. But usually I'm scrambling to just buckle the little ones and get out of there on time that it totally slips my mind. It's important they have their backpacks because they don't provide lunches at school so they need their packed lunch.

Guess that's it on the agenda today - I'm started to feel the effects of those 2 donuts I had this morning. At least I made myself eat oatmeal first instead of JUST the donuts.