the brooding hen

So in case you haven’t been paying attention, I am, in fact, pregnant.  Over 30 weeks pregnant, to be exact.

In my “free time,” I’ve been obsessing about projects around the house.  It’s primal instinct, right?  Birds painstakingly build their nests, twig by twig.  Here’s what I’ve figured out about my own (and honestly, I think a lot of other women’s) nesting instincts.  I go through two separate, very different phases.  The first phase starts really quite early, around the beginning of the third trimester.  This phase is about preparing our “nest” for the new bean.  It’s about an urge to finish the nursery, tie up loose ends of old projects, organize our world.  During this time when I was pregnant with Addy, we finished off almost every room in our old house.  Her nursery was one of the first done.  I would find myself just sitting in the glider chair or rearranging her tiny clothes in her dresser…again.  We’ve been a little more crunched for time with this baby, but it still hasn’t stopped the notion in my mind that his room has to be done, even though he won’t sleep in it for months.  And the bathroom that he and Addy will share, well of course that has to be completely remodeled.  As I type this, I know these things seem a little silly, but it doesn’t stop the feeling that they have to happen…yesterday.  Maybe it’s just the hormones or about being physically in control of something or being scared of having absolutely no time to finish them later or just about a sense of accomplishment.  Anyway, the point is, it’s consuming me right now.  So for anyone curious…here’s a sneak peek at the theme for the nursery…

If I haven’t posted pictures of his finished room and their bathroom by the end of May…I ask that you not mention it to me personally because I’m sure it will be a touchy subject, but be sure to check that I haven’t chained poor Jason to the door frame.

So then the second phase…the seriously irrational phase.   This is when some women disinfect their nest with a toothbrush or try to paint their toenails or shave their legs for the first time in months.  It’s characterized by an odd burst of energy to do things that, at the time, make perfect sense.  It isn’t until after the baby’s born that you laugh about it.  The Sunday morning on the day Addy was born started with a trip to Sam’s.  I think it’s important to note that we are not Sam’s Club frequenters and actually haven’t been there since that day almost two years ago.  We spent around $300 that morning.  We bought more frozen food than would fit on our freezer.  It was perfectly logical to buy flats of tomato soup that we wouldn’t finish until Addy was a year and a half old.  I’m still using the gallon-sized Ziploc bags from that shopping trip.  What did I think I would do with all of that soup?  I mean seriously.  Anyway, I gave birth to a perfect baby girl that night.  The doctor placed her pink slippery little body on my belly and we fell in love with her…

And we can’t wait to do it all over again.  Love.