Having finished work just before Christmas, and having finished the mammoth task of tiling the utility room, James and I took a well-deserved break. We managed to visit many relatives on both sides, being fed at each port of call, so we thankfully didn't have to head to Sainsburys much at all! Driving around the country wasn't all that bad - we managed to travel during some fairly quiet spells on the roads, and saw several friends along the way.
One of the most fun things to do over the holiday was to hit the sales, and pick up all the essentials that we might need for baby - plenty of gorgeous clothes, some disposable nappies for just after he's born (I'm hoping to switch to reusable nappies fairly soon after that), and the essential pieces for my hospital bag. Oh yes, and some transportation equipment! We've got a funky baby sling, a Maxi Cosi car seat, a light 'n portable buggy that can either support the car seat or its own seat (the stylish Quinny Zapp), and the main buggy (with thanks to the generosity of my Dad), a Bugaboo Cameleon (with a sand-coloured base and a red soft top bit), which also can take the car seat, act as a pram, or a buggy.
So, once the whole Christmas break thing was over, James headed back to work, leaving me here in the house on my own with nothing but a nesting instinct and Sky TV to keep me occupied! During the first week, I successfully managed to sort out most of upstairs - the baby room was cleared of all musical instruments and boxes, the loft has acquired several new additions, and the spare room now has a mac in it, ready for midnight surfing with a feeding baby (where I can keep myself occupied while James sleeps). Poor James managed to come down with a nasty cold over the end of last week, so Saturday was pretty much wiped out - Sunday, however, was a great day in that we finished the upstairs reorganisation completely, and it's now much cleaner than ever before and we feel much more happy with the prospect of an imminent new arrival.
I'm now 36 weeks through this, and I'm finding it very hard to get comfortable in any position while sleeping, managing no more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time before heading to the bathroom yet again. Nature's way to get you prepared, I guess. I saw my midwife the other day, and it turns out that Mr Bump is looking a little on the large side - fingers crossed, he's not going to be too large before he comes out - the way I'm feeling right now, I'd be quite happy for him to arrive a little early!
So, now I sit here watching things like The Baby Channel, trying to get myself prepared, and shopping around on the Internet for all kinds of last-minute bits and pieces. Currently awaiting deliveries of reusable nappies and a cot, so I'm having to make sure I'm awake earlier in the morning and in the house til at least lunchtime just in case they arrive! And I've managed to catch a load of Buffy episodes on Sky too, so I'm not completely abandoning normality just yet :) I also have some book updates to do, so as soon as I get a few hours spare when I'm not completely exhausted, I'll get working on those.