Nesting, nesting, nesting

I'm enjoying these final days of quiet before our lives get turned upside down again by a tiny person. It's been a while since I've been here - just under seven years, to be precise, and I'm enjoying the time to really lean into it. I have the advantage now of perspective and experience... and though both of those things tell me that doesn't make parenting any easier, or mean that this one will be a breeze (far from it - I've learnt all children are very different!)... it has meant I am determined to soak up every minute of these hazy days. With our eldest hurtling towards her teenage years this summer, I'm all too aware of the old adage - "the days are long but the years are short". 

And so the last few days have been spent sorting and organising, nesting and cleaning, journalling and praying. 

We are all so excited.

On Thursday my fabulous Dad came over and spent the day working through a list of DIY I handed to him. Since we did the big room swap back in October, the girls and our room have remained unfinished of those final touches... and knowing what I know about the newborn haze and craziness, I didn't want to risk leaving those little jobs until after baby's arrival.

It's amazing what those finishing touches can do, isn't it?

The girls are loving their new bedroom - loving the independence, loving the freedom, loving the space. And I am loving having an entire floor removed from my cleaning rota! Part of the deal of the attic was that they would take responsibility for cleaning their room and the bathroom. So every Saturday, they rope in their buddy, and our neighbour, Kiara to come over and play "Hotels" with them. It basically consists of cleaning and tidying, but hey if it works? I'll go with it!

Meanwhile, our bedroom has had some finishing touches put in too... not least of all the addition of our little Moses basket, ready for round 5! Amazingly we kept it - Heidi had used it for her dolls for the last few years and handed it back to us when she turned 10 in March. I had never got round to rehoming it before we found out that we would, unexpectedly, be needing it again!

So now I'm finishing off some last bits - cleaning everything one more time, sorting the boys room, making sure the baby's room is ready and adding the last bits and pieces to the hospital bag.

We still can't quite believe this is happening!

But we can't wait to meet our littlest person!