One month to go!

It's just one month from today that we'll become a family of 4 (plus Ranger)...give or take a week or so, haha. Logistically, I feel totally ready. The room is basically done, and I bought a few things such as bottles, blankets, a new diaper pail, etc. I made a list of things to get done before the baby arrives, and it's almost complete. Last week I even made mailing labels so that I'll be ready for birth announcements/Christmas Cards. Avery's hand-me-downs have been washed and organized, and I bought a cute little "going home" outfit, along with a diaper cover and headband for newborn pictures. We also bought new carpet for the family room, and it is being installed in about 2 weeks. It will be nice because we upgraded the carpet pad, and it will be more comfortable for all the times I will be sitting on the floor with the new baby.

There are some things I feel like I should do...but I really don't need to until she arrives. I don't have the pack-and-play set up in our room yet, since I know it only takes 5 minutes to set up. Last time around, we had a borrowed co-sleeper in our room for about a month before Avery arrived because I was nervous about setting things up. We don't have the car seat in the car yet, but know I that can be installed in 5 minutes as well. I'm just not as worried about those little things like I was before Avery. 

Another thing we are working on (again) is potty training with Avery. We started again this weekend, and I'm not doing it the way I was 2 months ago. I do think she is ready, but I don't think a "three day" method is going to work for us. I'm trying to be more patient and realize this may take several weeks, or even months unfortunately. My goal is to work with her while we are home, and to still put her in diapers when we go places, and nap and bedtime. I thought at first this might be confusing, but she already knows the difference between her diapers and underwear, and seems to be fine with it. We're having lots of accidents at home, but she is aware of it and is normally in the process of trying to get to the potty while it's happening, so for now we're going with it. Travis went to the dollar store and we made a little prize basket that we are keeping in the bathroom as an extra incentive. She seems to actually be pretty excited about it. It would be nice if she was somewhat potty trained within the month, but we'll see. I don't want to put so much pressure on her or myself because neither of us need the extra stress haha. Here she is with one of her "prizes" for peeing on the potty (a football.)

Some things that I am not sure if I'm ready for are the sleepless nights with a newborn, and all of the attention they demand. I know it will be different this time having a toddler around too, and I just don't really know what to expect. I'm thankful that Travis will be taking some time off in the beginning and I won't be on my own right away. I'm excited for Christmas with Avery this year because I think there will be things she'll start to remember and be excited about, and I hope it will be fun for her with a new baby around. 

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On a completely different subject, Avery had her Halloween party at preschool yesterday, and she went as Minnie Mouse. We have our Trick-or-Treat on Friday, and I'm hoping to get some better pictures of her than I did yesterday, but she is just so hard to photograph because she doesn't like the camera for some reason!! She looked so cute, and she had so much fun at the party! All the parents brought in a treat, and I brought these little clementine "pumpkins." 

Avery helped me put them in the tray, and she put all of the celery "stems" in them. She loves helping me in the kitchen.

She was super excited about eating them, until she had a cookie...then she just wanted cookies, but they were a hit with some of the other kids. Here are a few pics of her in her costume, and I'm looking forward to a fun Halloween on Friday evening!