Master List: Preparing for Ian's Arrival

I don't know if it is my love for planning, my love for lists, or nesting going into hyper drive, but I have been writing out lists, schedules, planning my days down to the minute, and trying to make sure that I have a good handle on things in general as Ian's arrival fast approaches.

I am starting to realize that this body has its limitations which makes my plans, lists, and nesting move a little slower than I prefer (and I think I hear GrandTiti and Miss Cathy chuckling to themselves because I've admitted this).  For instance, my sciatic nerve has left me immobile for most of the weekend and last few days, and when I have insisted on getting up, it has been with a severe (and painful) limp in my right leg.  Thank God for a husband who is willing to help me around the house and with Addie, and a wonderful little girl who finds ways to play at the dining room table and is not demanding. And I cannot wait for my mommy-to-be massage later today to help relieve the pressure on that nerve. 

Needless to say, the following list is what I would love to accomplish before Ian arrives.  Is it a realistic list? Probably not. Ummm.... let's make that a no- hence why I have changed the name of the list. But I love having goals to work towards.  Without goals, I feel like I am traveling without a map or final destination.  This is a list that I have printed out for Ian's baby scrapbook.  I look forward to seeing how much I am able to accomplish, and one day I will probably look back on my list and laugh at how idealistic I tend to be.

For most of the items, I'll add a little note.  All of it makes sense to me, but for someone else, it might not make sense.

To Do Before Ian Arrives As I Get To It

• Clean out under my bed- go through the shoe tubs
• Clean out floor of our closet- I have some crates of Addie's school stuff that was up on the shelf but has been brought down for my convenience
• Clean out dining room buffet- go through the drawers, toss old towels, make room for Ian's baby feeding gear
• Purge out kitchen cabinets and drawers- I love having a cleaned out kitchen- less stuff means more creativity for me
• Clean out guest bathroom- basically my general cleaning since the guest bathroom is small
• Clean all blinds in house- something my mom used to do.  Take the blinds down carefully, put them in a soapy tub, lay them out on the lawn to dry, hang them back up.  Fresh and clean! Just remember to label them for each window.
• Clean out sofa table drawers- You know how "stuff" finds its way into little drawers without any one's knowledge
• Clean all baseboards- Ummm... okay, so this one may not happen since it would first of all be hilarious for anyone to see (me, the human bowling ball, rolling along the floor as I scrub the baseboards), and secondly, is it even realistic for me to be on the floor at 7 months pregnant.... need I say more!
• Fix and attach dining and living room curtains- my aunt Ruth gave me some burgundy panels that go well with our furniture and would soften the edges of the window visually. 
• Move bench from bathroom to entry and recover- we have a bench that we never use in our bathroom.  I think it would be a nice entry way addition and make it easier for guests to put their shoes on if they had a place to sit.
• Find 5 photos in the main part of the house to replace with photos of Ian- I am not one to add frames to our decor (more frames means more things to dust), and I have never been someone who can't replace one thing with another.  We already have plenty of frames, and I like their placement.  I just need to decide which photos I will replace with pictures of our little man.
• Repaint playroom- the playroom will become Addie's bedroom.  GrandTiti and Belinda have purchased a beautiful bedding set and matching curtains for Addie, and I want to paint the room to coordinate perfectly. 
• Sand and paint Addie's bed- my friend Sherri gave us a twin bed headboard, foot board and frame.  We are going to sand it and paint it white along with a dresser we were also given by a dear friend.
• Set up Addie's new room- because Addie and all of her trinkets have to fit in her new room, I have to pare down her things, and set her room up for sleeping and clean, uncluttered play.
• Bring all newborn/infant gear and related items out of attic- yes, my handsome man has to go back up in the attic one more time for me.  We have all of Addie's baby gear (pack 'n play, swing, bouncy chair, car seat, baby carry sack, etc.) still up there.
• Clean/ wash all newborn/infant gear and items- because they have been up in the attic for at least two and a half years (maybe a bit more for some items) I want to wash and disinfect all of it before Ian uses them.  I also want to find homes for all of the gear so the house remains organized and clean.
• Repaint office- our current office will become Ian's room.  He will be sleeping in the pack 'n play in our room for the first 6 months, but I still want to have his room ready for him, although it is not as much a rush issue as Addie's room is.
• Sand and paint rocking chair- I bought a rocking chair for myself back when we first moved to Florida and I was teaching. I used it in my classroom every single year.  It has been a lightly stained wood, red, and white.  Now I am going to paint it brown to put it into Ian's room so I have a place to nurse him when we have company over or when I just want a quiet place.
• Set up Ian's room- All of Addie's current furniture will move into Ian's room.
• Repaint Addie's old room- Her current green room is not going to cut it for the man's sports themed office I want to give Brian. 
• Set up new office- All of our office furniture will move into Addie's old room.
• Have a baking day and freeze extra breads, muffins, and pancakes- My friend Sherri has already volunteered to come over and bake with me.  I cannot wait to put a date on the calendar for this.
• Cook at least 12 meals and freeze them for after Ian arrives- during the last few weeks before I go in to deliver Ian I'll be doubling and even tripling my recipes so that cooking and feeding my family is the last concern I have (especially since I will be overly concerned about feeding Ian).  I know that family will be pitching in with a few meals, but I want to make sure that on the other days, I have a plan and everything is covered.  I trust Brian to boil some pasta and stick a frozen casserole in the oven, as long as the rest of the meal is taken care of.  He is so cute when he talks about how much he is planning to help me the first week we are home.
• Pack my hospital bag (2 weeks before due date) - my C-section due date is already set 1 week before my actual due date, so I should be okay with the timeline I have chosen.  Of course, I like knowing that everything is all set.  Brian, on the other hand, will probably grab a few things on our way out the door.  That's just how he rolls. That and the fact that men generally need less to make them look good.  And my man is just naturally handsome.
• Pack Ian's hospital bag (2 weeks before due date)- I have already started putting things in his bag.  I couldn't help myself!
• Pack Addie's bag (2 weeks before due date)- for her bag, I have already begun a list.  Books that I think she'll want (not sure if I'll pack Chicka Chicka Boom Boom in her bag or mine), lotions that she needs for her hair and her skin (to help ward off eczema), etc.  My aunt has a playroom full of toys, dolls, books, games, and things like that so I won't be packing much in that area, except for Taffy.
• Write out list of “little things” about Addie for Titi Elsie (start now)- My aunt is awesome in every sense of the word with Addie, but there are certain things that only a mother knows about her child like- she needs to be put on the potty before you go to bed for the night so she won't have an accident, or her hair needs to have the frizz control serum put in and combed and styled immediately after her bath so her curls have definition, or she has preferences about braids or pig tails on different days, or if she wakes up crying at night for no apparent reason, just hold her and love on her, asking her questions on why she is crying just turns up the volume.
• Do a thorough Deep Clean of whole house (1-2 weeks before due date)- this is a dream....
• Create a new “idea” for our schedule for the first few weeks which includes lots of time for me and Addie, me and Ian, Me and Brian, and Mommy rest time- I'll have the rest of my life to clean the house...