The Extended To-Do List

I was trying to decide which I should post about: feeling overwhelmed or the progress on the basement since the last post. I decided I need to write about the basement progress but the overwhelmed feeling over-rode which one to write about first.

One of the reasons I feel overwhelmed is all the things that need to transpire by Halloween. The underlying reason I feel overwhelmed is all the day-to-day things that happen to slow down or get in the way of getting those things done.

Here is the to-do list:

1. Get the basement finished to the point of passing the final inspection.
2. Plan Ethan's 8th birthday party (probably 2...friends then family).
3. Plan Ethan's baptism which at this point is probably going to be combined with blessing a baby.
4. Figure out and implement all the kids' Halloween costumes.
5. Continue organizing my room to make room for a baby cradle.
6. Sort through, wash, and find somewhere to put newborn baby clothes. (This would be much easier if the basement is finished.)
7. Shop for, buy, and make a flannel baby blanket that I crochet the edge of for this new baby. (This has become a tradition for me.)
8. Assuming the basement gets done sometime around when the baby is born, whether it's before or after, there's a lot of rearranging and organizing that needs to happen with beds and rooms before the baptism and blessing.

This list is somewhat in order of importance. Ethan's birthday is 9/17, the baby is due 9/30, the baptism will probably happen on Halloween, and then of course, Halloween. The thing that's crazy is that ALL of these things are MAJOR things and I can't change when ANY of these things happen! Well, I guess we could change the baptism but to be fair to Ethan it can't be postponed for too long. I'm already postponing it a couple weeks beyond what it would normally be as it is.

Then there's the day to day things that are making me crazy. I am SO sick of sticky spots on the floors and counters and the stains on the carpet that seem to be multiplying daily. I'm sick of the spilled water (among other liquids) in front of and around the fridge from Garrett thinking every last thing that could hold even a few drops of water he's got to fill with water from the fridge. Sick of the constant laundry and dirty dishes. I currently have every single basket filled with clothes at the moment. Only one has dirty clothes, yet the hampers seem to be at least half full of dirty clothes already. I am so so so tired of deciding what to have for dinner and shopping for and making it, and then cleaning it up. Eating seems like a low priority right now and just another chore.

Jon's availability is not helping matters. The total number of hours he works fluctuates and his side job hours are hard to keep track of but I'm tired of hearing when he comes home, "I've got work to do tonight". Like I told him the other day, even if the basement was not a factor (which obviously is a MAJOR factor!) when a stay-at-home mom consistently gets no break in the evening (and especially a pregnant mom) it gets to be a little too much to handle and not a good scenario. Now add in all the stress of the basement and the timeline and everything else I have to do, and I just might be in the crazy house before it's all over!

"One" of the things that could make anyone crazy are all of Garrett's antics. I say "one" because of "all" of them. His most recent as of yesterday is taking his diaper off and trying to go potty. This would probably make most mom's glad to know their child was willing to start potty training but given all the above situations it does NOT make me happy. I was planning on waiting until the baby was a few months old to start that. This morning he and Tanner went in the bathroom to go "potty" and were in there a while. I'm sitting at the computer and can hear them. At one point the door was opened and I could really hear what is going on. I then heard Tanner and Garrett laughing at the same time I could hear Garrett apparently just standing and peeing on the floor. I had pulled the potty seat out yesterday for him to try since he kept taking his diaper off anyway. So he had two potties to choose from within a foot of where he peed. I made him clean it up and then he took off while I made sure it was completely dry and then went to his room to get him back into a diaper and realized there was a wet spot on the carpet and he was going into the closet to hide...or something, who knows. Every single time he is sitting on the potty or standing in front of one he has not done anything. Yet he can relax enough to pee on the floor several times now. He is such a crazy kid. Here is something that he did the other day that I just HAD to take pictures of.

If you couldn't tell, that's my two year old holding part of a tampon. His brother left my bathroom door open which allowed him to go through my drawers.

Before I saw the ones already in his room I saw him crossing the hall to his room with a handful of unopened ones and he went and deposited them in his toy bucket for later.

The one last thing that is on the to-do list that stresses me out is deciding on a name for this baby. Nothing quite seems to feel right. Even if I've leaned toward one name for a couple weeks when I try to put a middle name to it, nothing goes or has been over-used. I've actually even thought of a couple first-middle name combinations that I like for a day or two but then start to not like either one of the names. Anyway, just another thing for my brain to think about. Maybe after Christmas is over I'll just have the normal daily stresses to look forward to.