What a blessing to have such a nap-happy little girl! 9 times out of 10, Charlie sleeps 2 1/2 to 3 hours every afternoon…and sometimes even a bit more. She’s always been a great sleeper. I don’t know what I would do without this precious ME time.

I am so excited because my sweet friend Emily has a crib (mattress included) and changing table that she is GIVING us. Her little girl just graduated to a big girl bed and she wants it out of her apartment. How is it that we have such generous people in our lives?? I called Vann and told him about her offer and he didn’t hesitate: “We’ll make it work.” Tim Gunn would be so proud!! Now comes the task of figuring out where we will put these new pieces of furniture. Charlie has not attempted (knock on wood) to climb out of her crib, and considering she’s just a petite 25 pounds, we will most likely have use of it for awhile longer. I wouldn’t want to uproot her at this point anyway, she’s going to have enough adjusting to do!

I think we’ll put the crib in the office and the pack n’ play in our bedroom (which is teeny, by the way) so that we have some different options for napping/nighttime. Baby B won’t be taking 3 solid naps for a bit, so we have some wiggle room. The office is a pretty popular room for me and the cats, so I’d hate to have it closed off three times a day! I’m hoping this baby is flexible and will be a great sleeper just like her big sister.

Speaking of generosity, my mom’s group is coordinating meals for us for after our sweet girl’s arrival. Auntie Em did this for us the first time, and I just don’t have the words for what an ENORMOUS blessing it is. After the family has left and life settles down a bit, it is just so wonderful to have your community coming by to drop off a meal and stay for a chat or to hold the baby. It is an unbelievable, overwhelming blessing, and I will cherish each visit.

It’s hard to believe that 3 weeks from Monday we’ll be meeting our girl. I’m still on the look-out for the perfect gift for Charlie from her “baby sister”. I’ve heard of these funky, handmade dolls from a company called Bamboletta (one of my favorites, named Maya, is pictured below) that I’m currently lusting over…so we’ll see if I can settle on something soon. Today Charlie and I got started on Christmas shopping (as I need to be pretty much done by Thanksgiving) and there is so much to be done!!!!!