Seven days and counting...

Wow... that whole procrastinating on picking a name thing is catching up with me. I just realized not only do we not have the "official" baby name yet...we also haven't come up with a new name for the blog! Well, that'll give me something to think about in my free time. ha.

We are definitely in the home stretch, and things are becoming pretty exciting around here! The "big kids" are counting down the days thanks to a little paper chain we made yesterday. This morning, when Tatum saw it, she said "Mommy, the baby's birthday will be on the red." To be honest, I wasn't sure she understood what it was all about when we put it together...but clearly she does. I shouldn't be surprised.

Trevor has been in big brother mode from the minute he heard of the baby in mommy's tummy. He is constantly identifying things that he thinks the baby will like, or things that are the baby's size, etc. He's such a natural first-born and it thrills his mommy's heart to see him embrace the role.

Tatum has been funny. She has really been processing what having a new baby will be all about. She's been anticipating his "birthday" for quite some time and thanks to her, we will definitely have to celebrate this baby's homecoming with a true-blue birthday party. Tatum is fully expecting cake and party hats and well... why not?! I worried for a while that she didn't really "get" that we'd actually have a living, breathing baby at home. So I began to talk with her about the tangible things we'd be doing with the baby (holding, rocking, feeding, diapering). Tatum is sooo ready to be a helper. Yesterday, she sat down on the couch, crossed her legs, and positioned her arms in front of her, asking "Is this how I hold baby mommy?" She is constantly rubbing my tummy, and now wraps both arms around me (as far as they'll go!) explaining that she is "holding the baby."

While we are in the hospital, the kids will be partying at Grammy and Pa Pa's house... and I won't lie- being away from them is one of the things I dread the most. When Tatum was born, we left the hospital a day early so we could reunite our family... this time, I'm smart enough to know that any extra hospital rest is probably a good thing, but WOW, I will miss them. They have been super patient throughout this pregnancy, dealing with the different stages of pregnancy woes. I can distinctly remember the moment Trevor realized his mommy was "back" after Tatum was born. There was day I picked him up and spun him around the room. When I sat him back down on the floor, he looked up at me with an astonished, and relieved expression. Like he'd been waiting for that day for a long, long time. And now, we're almost there!