Keep Calm and Carry On: Some Things

I'm finally starting to feel at home here in this house. It's funny what triggers that for me...it's the really mundane things like developing the muscle memory for that step down into the living room so it doesn't always surprise me. Emptying the dishwasher enough times that I don't have to think about where things go. Knowing which light switch controls which light (ok, that's still a work in progress). Cooking and baking our family favorites in the kitchen. And most of all, having a place for everything and everything in its place.

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I went and took a tour of the maternity unit at the hospital I'll be delivering at this past weekend. I was the only non-first-time-parent there, the only one with a scheduled c-section and the only person without the father present. It was actually really entertaining to watch the other expectant couples (that sounds patronizing but I don't mean it that way). I can recall so vividly how terrified I was at the birthing classes I made it to before Pacey was born - never got to the tour part - and I am so deeply grateful not to be going down this road for the first time. It was really reassuring to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and it helps me to be able to visualize where the birth will happen in a few weeks. It's really weird to know that Hedgehog will be born at a different hospital than his brother and sister. With Pacey in the NICU for eight weeks I got so familiar with our hospital in California and it felt completely natural to have Brighton there. However, this hospital? Contracts with a company that provides post-partum therapeutic spa services. And I? I will be availing myself of this last opportunity to pamper myself for awhile. Plus I'm hoping that an aromatherapy leg and foot massage might mean a quicker resolution of the cankles from hell.

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We actually accomplished enough yesterday afternoon that we had time to hang out in the yard and enjoy a perfect late Sunday afternoon before our first grilled dinner of the season. Just another small event that made me feel so much more settled. We ate our dinner out on the screened porch which is the perfect compromise for me; love being warm and feeling the fresh breeze but hate the bugs and general distractions of being outdoors. Plus, the view made up for the whining, complaining, spilling and endless demands that come with dining with small children.

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We took a walk down our street last Friday evening to deliver the invitations I had printed up for our housewarming party (you know, the ones I forgot to include the DATE on....dooohhhhhhh). On our way home we met some of our neighbors who were out playing with their kids. Their boys are a little older than our kids but definitely in the same age range, and I also learned that the family directly across the pond (sort of our next door neighbors) also have two kids a little younger than ours and she is due with their third, a boy, on 7/15. I actually exchanged a couple of emails with the mom who is on bedrest (can't imagine) and she seems really nice. I'm so excited to start to get to know these people. Hopefully some will make it to our party and those that can't we will likely meet at the neighborhood summer block party the following weekend. Seems like a very congenial group of families...just need to meet the ones who have daughters of babysitting age!!!