(post) Nesting Mode

Remember a few months ago when I wrote a post about the state of mind I was in – and dubbed it (pre) nesting mode? That time where I felt my mind racing with a billion things that needed to get done before the baby arrived, but then sat down on the couch instead of doing any of them?

Well, I’ve reached another stage of pregnancy mode now. It’s called (post) Nesting mode. Basically, it’s the same. There are still things I am thinking about that need to get done – more packing, cleaning (ahem, this house? Atrocious), laundry and so on. But instead, I do nothing. I call it a night as soon as I put Evalyn in bed and you’ll find me in bed during most of her naps, as well. But, hey, at 39 weeks pregnant, I dare you to challenge me on that mindset.

Thankfully, somewhere in the middle of these two stages – pre and post nesting – I did manage to hit the nesting stage. May and some of early June was spent packing, organizing, making freezer meals and doing some deep cleaning. And now? Now, I rest.

I look at my floors that are desperately screaming out, “Wash me! Vacuum me! Swiffer me!” and I scream right back, “Wash yourself! Vacuum yourself! Swiffer yourself!”

Perhaps I’ll get another spurt of energy before the baby arrives, if this heat breaks, but if not? Meh. S/he probably won’t notice a few crumbs on the floor when s/he arrives. And, quite frankly, I can’t begin to care.

In other news – today marks 39 weeks of pregnancy. I’ve officially entered “Operation Get Baby Out” mode and am trying all of those secret tricks that people tell you about. Even though I know they probably won’t work – just as they didn’t work for Evalyn until 40w5d.

So now I’m taking my pregnant, post-nesting booty to bed to drink red raspberry leaf tea and devour the equivalent of fifty pineapples. Worth a shot, right?

(pre) Nesting Mode

Everyone knows what nesting is all about. You know, the stage in pregnancy where Mama overcomes the tired, the achy, and the blah and decides to get to work and get cracking on things that need to get done to prepare for baby’s arrival. With Evalyn, I nested hard core. I arranged and rearranged her room. And then did it again (times 300). I canned approximately 492898 jars of salsa, peaches, pears, and jam. I cleaned out closets. I froze enough meals to feed my family for the first seven years of my daughter’s life. I nested, like whoa.

But so far in this pregnancy that little ol’ nesting urge has yet to appear. What I have discovered, however, is that there is another instinct that is occurring. Maybe it’s a second pregnancy thing?

This my friends, is the (pre)nesting stage. It is the stage in which you think about nesting. You write lists about the things you are going to do. You tell your husband about the things you are going to do. You plan exactly how you will do these things you are going to do.

And then? You sit on the couch and eat spinach dip.

Up until today, I’ve blamed the lack of nesting urges on the fact that I simply did not have time to nest. I was hoping that I was just pushing them away, knowing that grading and other work related junk had to come first.

And then yesterday? I finished grading my very last papers. (Insert hooray right about here). That meant work was done. It was time to move on. Evalyn was scheduled for daycare this morning since I anticipated that I’d still be working, so I figured I’d get going on all of the things that have been floating around in my head the past few weeks.

You see, although there’s not much to do to get ready for the baby him/herself, since we pretty much have everything waiting in the storage room, there is a lot to do in other areas.

Hello, crazy people who buy a house that needs may-jah renos right at the same time as having a baby.

We get the house May 31. Four weeks before baby is due. We are keeping our apartment until July 31. Four weeks after the baby is due.

Somewhere in there, I have to pack, organize and get things moved. And the husband has to replace the roof, paint the entire main floor and replace all the flooring in the house.

So, yeah. Nesting has got to happen.

My master plan is to have as much as possible packed and moved into the basement of the new house when we get possession on May 31. There is a lot we can survive without for a few weeks before the move is official. That way, I will reduce the amount of work my friends and family who will feel sorry for me I have to do after the baby comes.

But? I feel like it’s still a bit too early to really start.

So this morning? Instead of starting? I thought about starting.

I wrote lists. I made plans. I envisioned garbage bags of clothes to go to Goodwill and boxes of neatly packed and organized possessions to move to the house. I wrote a May list, a June list and a Post-Baby list highlighting all the crap that needs to be done in that time frame. And then I put the lists, all nice and neat with checkboxes beside each ‘to-do’, on the counter.

Where they will stare at me day in and day out. Taunting me to make progress.

But of course, I didn’t actually do any of the things on the list. I just thought about them. And thought about how I could get started when she went down for her nap this afternoon.

Which happened 30 minutes ago. And here I sit. On the couch, with my delicious leftover seafood alfredo, a huge glass of icy cold water, and my laptop open to Pinterest.

Welcome to (pre)nesting mode, my friends.

Freezer Cooking

You might remember that one of the tasks on my "pre-baby nesting projects" list was to stock my freezer with some pre-made food for once the baby is born.

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to chip away at this and on Saturday, my SIL, Logi, and I tackled this task big.time.

While we were in University, we usually had one big freezer cooking day at the beginning of each semester so that we would have meals to fall back on during the busy times. Now that I'm expecting a baby in September and she's going back to her job at the most chaotic time of year in September, we decided it would be great to keep up the tradition.

We had planned, wrote lists, and done our shopping previously in the week so when we woke up Saturday morning we were ready to get to work.

The kitchen got messy and our feet got tired but over the course of the day, we made 4 lasagnas, 5 pizza casseroles (recipe coming soon), a large pot of chili, 8 mini meatloaves (recipe coming), and 99 meatballs (recipe coming) to split between the two of us.

After adding this to the bits and pieces that I've done over the past few weeks, my freezer is now stocked full of meals that are mostly portioned to feed the two of us, but some are bigger in case we have company.

Here's the list:
5 beans and rice
6 lentil-rice soup
2 dozen twice baked potatoes
2 dozen breakfast burritos (well, at least there were two dozen - I know the Dude has already managed to make his way into these before work in the mornings ... maybe they won't even last until baby arrives)
6 Mexi-chicken
18 Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
BBQ Venison
2 dozen Cheesy Zucchini Muffins
2 Lasagnas
3 Pizza Casseroles
4 Mini Meatloaves
49 Meatballs
2 Chili

Plus a few things I've picked up on sale:
6 packages of bagels
3 packages English muffins
10 tortillas

I'm hoping to do another few dozen muffins and some loaves of bread for toast and the Dude's sandwiches when the time gets closer but for now, I think we're all set!

What are some of your favorite freezer recipes?