Time flies...

Dear Blog,

Time flies. I'm so sorry to have neglected you recently.

In my paltry attempt to make up for my busy, whirwind life these past two weeks, here's a bit about what's been happening. I hope you enjoy the catchup!

1. 35 weeks came...

and went.

2. Last weekend was spent making freezer meals. Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy (nor free iota of time or set of hands) to document it, but here's how I helped get us stocked up for when baby arrives:

• made two fryer chickens in the crockpot--season and forget it!--that turned into 2 8X8 pans of chicken spaghetti hotdish; 4 two-cup containers of cooked, cut chicken ready for whatever stirfrys or yummy dishes we can dream up; and 3 quarts of scrumptious chicken broth.
• made one large pork roast in the crockpot--season and forget it!--that turned into 4 large containers of pulled pork for sandwiches, Thai dishes, or something equally as good.
• 7 two-cup containers of spaghetti bolognese sauce
• 6 two-cup containers of sloppy joe mix
• 2 loaves of pumpkin bread
• 1 loaf of zucchini bread
• 1 large batch of granola
• 4 pizza dough balls
• 28 breakfast burrito wraps
• 18 chorizo, bean, and rice burritos
• 2 8X8 pans of lasagna

And I think that was it. All in all, I probably spent about 11 hours over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the kitchen prepping, cooking, and cleaning. So not terrible. And now we've got a whole lot of food to use up once Baby Melbs arrives! A small price to pay for how useful it will be later on!

3. We received a lovely package from my mother-in-law, Mary, that contained the beautiful and gorgeous quilt she made for the crib. It matches the set that we were interested in perfectly! I couldn't believe it!

Isn't it just darling? I can't wait to wrap up Baby Girl in it and snuggle her tight as I rock her to sleep :-)

Also included in the care package (which I love to get, even at this age...I must remember to pass those onto our daughter when she's old enough to get mail!) was another quilt we can use for downstairs, some clothes, Jake's baby blankets (which almost made me cry--how sweet we get to wrap up our little girl in all that history!), and a strand of butterflies to hang, and I thought, "Hmmm...I bet this would make a great mobile for the crib!" And with a little finagling, here's what I came up with:

4. Jake and I also finished setting up the nursery--what a relief! Well, I should say ALMOST as we still have a small bookshelf to put together. But that'll be easy-peasy. So here's the snuggling corner, all set up...

...and the changing table, all ready to go. We're using disposables for the first week or so until the meconium poops have passed and because we had them to use up! Then it'll be onto the cloth diapering adventure...

...and then the crib corner. Oh wait, what do I see? Is that a letter? Yes, but it's the one I gave before--in place! The rest have been photoshopped out :-)

And because I don't want to torture my dear mother toooo much (because I know the effects of Karma), here's another letter, but where it will go, who shall know!

5. 36 weeks is here--one more week until full term! Both Jake and I are having a hard time really comprehending that Baby Melbs could arrive at any time. We're trying to savor our time together, in this state of two-person family that we're in right now, before we welcome our sweet addition and have to reconfigure how we operate and function. Which might take some time, but, as the point of this post goes--time flies! So either way--we'll survive, and hopefully well enough to savor all the moments of Baby Girl's infancy to the max!

So, Blog, I hope that this has made you feel better about my recent two-week absence. I did miss you and hope to update you with more cheer and happenings soon.

Love,
Alyssa