That's A Lot Of Reasons

Well, Easter seems to have cheered me up a lot, and having some out of town people coming into my house got me back into cleaning mode a little bit (also forced me to fold and put away the PILES of laundry sitting around.) We all know having a clean-ish house helps one's mood enormously. Still haven't hung those pictures, but at least my room is dusted and I have clean sheets! I also have children's candy baskets to sift through sneakily. (For yes, while I'd like to think that the Easter-related lift in heart is solely based upon spiritual refreshment, I do imagine the little treats laying around the house have something to do with it too.)

Unfortunately I forgot that a day of toting around laundry baskets and vacuum cleaners can really wreak havoc on pregnant hips and abdominal muscles, right? Up until now I had been gloating about how this pregnancy's been pretty kind to me in terms of joint pain, but then yesterday evening I realized that's probably just because I've been a lot LAZIER during this pregnancy than any other. Heh.

Other reasons for increased perkiness include but are not limited to:

-The fact that the boys are mostly recovered from their ten thousandth snotty nosed cold this winter, and the germs from said cold have been cleaned from the furniture and clothes. Also? SO HELP ME this had better be the last round of it or I'm just going to give up and BURN everything like they did in the old days after scarlet fever epidemics. Do you hear me? I WILL BURN ALL THE THINGS.

-We have found a couple of teenaged girls (one of whom can drive herself here, can I get an amen) to help us out this summer. It sounds a bit indulgent and all, especially when we're already shelling out money to add on to our house, but here are the sobering facts: come July, I will have a brand new teensy baby nursing round the clock, plus our backyard will be all torn up and unusable. So unless there's someone to help me entertain/occasionally drive the older kids to the pool and playground and such, poor Addy and Eli are going to be watching a LOT of TV.

I want to feel like I can do it all myself. But... there's just no way I'm going to be up for my usual SummerFun! routine of schlepping everyone around to picnics and pools and zoos and play dates and ice cream parlor trips multiple times a week. Er, not that kids HAVE to have that, obviously, but they at least need to play outside and get some exercise and interaction, and, as I said: entire backyard will be unusable/dangerous construction zone. Because did I mention we're also regrading the yard back there, since we're digging everything up anyways? It's been a hollowed out, swampy mess for a long time, but no longer!

The other reason a babysitter is kind of crucial for us is that Jim is planning to do a lot of the inside finish work on the addition himself, which means even when he's home, he won't always be available to help me. So the babysitter who can help out on nights and weekends is going to come in very handy, I imagine. I only hope our chaotic household and my sleep deprived, hormonal, saggy stomached self doesn't scare her off having kids forever! Ha ha, just kidding! Mostly.

-Speaking of construction, it is tentatively slated to begin next week. Next week! What the what. I kind of can't believe it's actually happening. Of course, some snafu or another will probably come up with weather or building permits or equipment breakdowns or something, so for the moment I'm adopting an I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it attitude to prevent unwarranted giddiness, but still. The ball is steadily rolling.

-Okay, this is a big one: next weekend we're actually going away without any kids for two nights with some friends of ours! We rented a house in southern Michigan near a bunch of wineries and little artsy towns and we're just going to relax and hang out, pretty much. It's kind of an anniversary present for both of us, since theirs is April fourteenth and ours is May fifteenth. We had, before having surprise babies and building additions put a dent in our budget, been planning a longer vacation with them this summer, somewhere a little more tropical and exciting, but at this point I'm just happy this trip is happening at all.

-Lastly, I found out my sister and mom are throwing me a baby shower! Isn't that so so nice, for a FOURTH baby? I'm especially excited because with my first baby, I ended up on bed rest after all the parties had been planned. So the out of town one got cancelled, and the one we did have was held in my living room while I laid on the couch. Still sweet of course, but different than I had imagined. I haven't registered or anything this time, obviously, since it's not like we need much of the big stuff (plus FOURTH BABY, greedy much?) but since Addy was born in the fall and this baby will be in the summer, I suppose we could technically use some supplemental clothing items despite having already had a girl baby.

The best part, though, is that this shower will be all about celebrating the baby herself, and how excited we are for her arrival, despite all the surprise and commotion in our lives right now. At my other shower (for Addy) we didn't even know the sex, so it felt a bit like a give-us-a-gender-neutral-baby-item-and-in-return-have-a-slice-of-gender-neutral-cake party! Not so this time. Flowers and fun colors and a pink and white checkerboard cake all the way. And not a single boring-but-practical registry item for someone to feel obligated to buy even though it's no fun!

Also, I'm telling you what, even if I AM on bed rest again for this one, I will sit up long enough to attend this party, I don't even care. I've done this laying around business enough times that I'm not so terrified anymore of breaking "the rules" a little here and there.