Practice makes perfect

Now that we're in the home stretch of this pregnancy we're doing our best to prepare the girls for what's to come.  When Kate was around the same age as Elise is now we read her lots of stories about being a big sister and did a lot of expectation setting.  She helped us go through all of the baby clothes and we practiced swaddling. We wrapped Kate in her old swaddle blankets and held her like a baby.  She got such a kick out of our stroll down memory lane. 

Three years later and here we are again.  Sorting through baby clothes, diapers and swaddle blankets.  We wrapped up the girls and their baby doll and let them take turns "holding the baby".  We all had some good laughs and enjoyed the silly snuggle time. 

Kate's been down this road before and as a well seasoned big sister she knows exactly what to expect from a newborn. It also helps that her best friends recently had a little sister and she's observed what they went through at their home.  I can only hope that we're doing a good job of setting Elise's expectations and whatever else that comes as surprise is met with her usual easy going attitude.  In the meantime we're digging out the "big sister" books and practicing diaper changes on the baby dolls. 

Elise crashed on the couch after a fun day with her cousin Madz.

I was in the kitchen on Saturday evening and as I stood there chopping veggies for dinner I marveled at how the oven was baking, the dishwasher was cleaning my dishes, the washer was cleaning clothes, the dryer was drying clothes and the refrigerator and freezer were keeping things cold.  How did my ancestors get anything done I wondered?  I wished I could transport them to my home and watch their reaction to all of our modern conveniences.  Would they feel like a muggle in Harry Potter's magical world?  Perhaps I shouldn't have wondered so hard. 

Today I returned from the grocery store with an entire week's worth of groceries and some much needed staples only to find my freezer and refrigerator were barely lukewarm.  We managed to salvage most of our food by using an old freezer from the garage and all 3 of our camping coolers.  The girls thought it was hysterically funny to empty our food from the fridge into our ice filled coolers.  Me?  I'm not laughing. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to put away all of that laundry that Elise was sleeping on earlier.  Thankfully the Mr. folded all of it while watching preseason football.  I can't believe it's almost football season!

Daily Grateful

• Modern appliances - or at least the ones that work
• Finding a fun card in the mail, the kind that the postman delivers. It feels so good to tear open the envelope and discover untold stories and sweet words from a dear friend.
• Kate's excitement about starting school
• Elise's desire to return to preschool after last week's dry run
• Fabulous foot rub from the Mr. at the end of a very long day
• A husband that let me sleep in TWO days in a row

Comments

[Christine]

I love your daily Grateful

[Swaddling blanket]

Hi there,

Wow nice blog post… babies are really so cute

Thanks,
Crish