Counting down...

I have a little over 3 weeks until baby Button #3 is due! Ack! My list of things to get done seems much longer than the amount of energy I possess these days. The past few weeks have held lots of nighttime trips to the bathroom when I would rather be sleeping and Ava hasn't helped matters by deciding she needs something almost every night anywhere from 1am to 5am (really, how can you not find your pillow when your head is on it??)! I think giving in and putting a nightlight in her room may be helping. Only time will tell. For a long time she seemed not to have the ability to stop playing or looking at books and fall asleep if there was any light in her room, but something had to give, and so far she's been sleeping through the night without calling for us. I don't think I can handle the nighttime demands of a newborn along with her needing us in the middle of the night every night.

I'm a little anxious about the timing of this baby's arrival as the restaurant Mark manages is moving and the official opening date is the day after my due date. He already works about 60 hours a week, and the two days leading up to the opening they have intense training scheduled (when he helped another restaurant open, these were 16-18 hour days). I selfishly hope the baby does come at the due date so he doesn't (okay, so I don't) have to endure those long days. However, I know Mark and know he would hate to miss out on this time of transition with his crew at the new place. So even though this pregnancy has left me more uncomfortable that the last 2, I almost hope I go a few days late so he gets the chance to open the store and see it running well and then can focus on us. Otherwise, I know he'll be itching to go in and check on things. As it is, I know he probably won't take more than a week off (if that) because of everything going on at work. I'm praying that all those moms who have told me the 3rd baby is generally easygoing are right about our 3rd! God's timing is perfect, though, so I'm doing my best to trust Him.

One project I've been working on is going through both kids' closets and organizing the outgrown girl things and trying to decide what of the boy things are worth trying to sell/give away/donate to Goodwill. While I was working on this last weekend, Ava discovered her dress-up clothes (because we have limited space for toys in the main living area, I often rotate toys out for a while) and Carter, ever the mimic, brought me a dress he wanted to wear. Since Ava had a crown, he also wanted one, but I wasn't sure where to find one at the moment. He spotted a very outgrown winter hat and handed it to me, exclaiming, "Crown!"

Thanks to a great sale coupled with coupons, I stocked up on Trix yogurt, which we'd never had before. I think Carter likes it!

We've been outside a lot these days enjoying the perfect weather. Since the rediscovery of dress-up last week, Ava has spent most of her days as a princess and while I did give in one day and let her wear her princess shoes in the car while I ran a quick errand, I haven't let her play outside in all her princess glory. Today for lunch, I did agree that she could wear her shoes, crown and purses outside (she also loves her princess shirt - you may notice she's wearing it in the picture from last week).
Mark and I couldn't stop laughing when she noticed her reflection in the back door and started posing.

Never a dull moment around here!