Losing count... 23 weeks? It's nesting time!

First, some unrelated pictures.

Our town's Christmas tree the night it was lit

They both want Daddy to hold them. People are asking how he's going to hold one more. We're not sure yet.

You're how old? Three?

Yep, three! And I want a fire truck!

I should be 24 weeks on Saturday. I had a pregnancy ticker last time that helped me keep track, but it annoyed me because once I passed my due date it started counting the days back up. I was a little insulted that the designers of the ticker hadn't thought of that. Women go past their due dates all the time! It should've gone down to zero and then been like "Jenny is ___ days past her due date! Give that lady a medal for patience!" But it didn't, so I didn't get a ticker this time.

I had forgotten how wonderful pregnancy gets about halfway through when I start really nesting. My house is clean and decorated for Christmas! The laundry and dishes have been under control and I am undertaking large organizational projects that normally I would put off forever. On Monday my parents took both the girls to their house for the afternoon and in about four hours I transformed our craft room from a disastrous, shameful mess into a space we can actually use! I wish I'd taken before and after pictures. That room was where craft projects went to die, but by Monday night it was nice enough that on Tuesday I had my friends Megan and Jenn over to make Waldorf bunting dolls. (Well, Megan and I made dolls and Jenn gave us advice and tried to get some knitting done.) Yesterday I went through all the girls' clothes, got rid of some and packed most of the rest away. I'm almost done with that. I washed Robert's newborn clothes too and they are hanging in the Robert section of the kids' closet. It's a little early but I figured I might as well since I was in the mood!

Our little house is going to require some work before this baby comes or it's going to feel super cramped. We have three bedrooms, one of which is the craft/guest room. There is no garage and very little storage space. But the other day when I was cleaning out the craft room, as I piled up at least four tubs worth of stuff to haul to Goodwill, I thought, even if I lived in a mansion with a craft room three times this size lined with drawers as far as the eye could see I wouldn't want all this stuff. And no matter how big the room was it would still be a mess. So we have been regularly and ruthlessly hauling stuff to the thrift store. We have a tub that we keep in the dining room and we keep filling it up until it overflows every two or three days. We'll need some extra space for when we bring in new Christmas stuff. We asked our families to please take it easy on us this year, especially when it comes to toys. Hopefully by the time Baby Robert arrives we'll have plenty of space for him and his stuff! Someday we'll have a garage and another bedroom, and perhaps a sunroom. Someday.

My belly is getting "out there" and it's a different, more bubbly shape. I've gained about ten pounds and it looks like I'll end up weighing a little less than I did with Ivey at the end. A lot of my maternity clothes that fit the two times before are too big this time, so I've had to buy several new things. Sometimes I think I haven't felt the baby kick in a long time and I get worried, but usually it's just because I've been running around too much and once I sit down I realize he's fine. Jordan's been able to feel him for several weeks, but not as much as he could feel the girls.

Overall, this pregnancy has been way nicer, especially when compared to Suzi's. Robert is a sweet little boy.