oh my...it's august!

well, it's baby month. i'm freaking out just a little. i have no idea how to take care of three kids under three and a half. we have no idea if this is a girl or a boy so the nursery is not at all in the sort of shape any mommy would want to bring a newborn home to. the girls' quilts are far far from being done. i still have a few more closets to organize. everything that i did deep clean and reorganize has now been cluttered again.
 but that's not what it is all about anyways.

 and i am starting to relax about it all and on sunday i came to the conclusion (while glancing around our bathroom and taking in all the scattered bath toys, my old purses that the girls like to play with while i get ready every day, the dreadfully messy shoe situation on my side of the closet, the huge pile of ironing etc etc etc) that it probably won't look spic and span around here in the same way it did when we checked into the hospital to be induced with little R in 2008. i remember being so bored and having everything perfectly laid out and in the perfect spot for weeks leading up to her arrival... i would vacuum every day and dust every day, contented knowing that should she arrive at any moment, the vacuum lines would still be there and every wooden surface would be immaculate when she stepped foot in her home for the first time and looked around. hum. not so much this time. i'm okay with that. i think!
all that being said, i think it is safe to conclude that i cannot take on any more custom orders until a few weeks after baby arrives. just a little too much i need to tend to around here.

and one thing i really need to prioritize is my time with little m. i am scared for her--she will lose her big sister to preschool three days a week and somewhat lose me to a newborn all within a few days. i think that might be a lot for a 20-month old to handle.

if you all have any advice on how to make the transition easy or easier for her, please share it! i've been praying about this since the moment i found out we were expecting!
hope that those paragraphs weren't too whiny. we really are excited and are definitely counting our many blessings. we're just nervous!! now on to the good stuff!
 since the gender suspense is just about killing me i thought i would offer up a contest to all of you to help the time before we know if we'll be seeing more pink or adding in some blue go faster! so here are the details:
leave a comment on this blog post with your guesses as to the following:
-gender
-date of birth
-time of birth
-weight
-length
here are some possibly helpful hints about the girls' stats etc so you can make an educated guess! ha! if there's anything i've learned it's that babies and kids are unpredictable in every sense of the word!!
-our first born R was 7 days late--i was induced
-R was 7 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches

-our second born M was 8 days early
-M was 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches

-i have been measuring a week ahead of the due date this entire pregnancy--with the girls i was at least a week behind
-the ultrasound tech told us to be ready for baby anytime between the middle to end of august
-the due date was originally sept. 3 then they moved it to sept. 1 and then to august 29th
- i really really want this one to arrive before sept 1 (school cut off)
-most people who decide they need to stop and chat with a big pregnant lady trying to cart two kids through the store have decided that this one is a boy.
-i still think it is a girl but goodness--with all the boy comments i have no idea now!
-my husband predicts boy
-i never craved anything with any of the pregnancies, but i have strayed a little from my vegan diet this time around and i started eating chocolate--more to help the migraines at first and now out of habit!!
-i think that my belly shape is pretty much the same as it was with the girls
- heartbeat at my 35-week appt was 130s/140s...prior to that visit it had been in the 140s/150s

my chickadees and my neices at the park this morning!

alright! make your guesses!! i will pick one winner out of all the correct gender guesses, one winner who comes closest to date and time, and one winner who is closest on size to all receive some chickadee chickadee fall goodies! you only need to leave one comment with all your guesses!! thanks for playing!!