Reality sets in

It happened today.

I flipped the calendar to February and one date in particular caught my eye.

Only two weeks until my due date. Wow. Where did the last nine months go? My first pregnancy with Olivia seemed so slow moving. This pregnancy flew by. Or time sped up.

After my initial panic this morning, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that Benny and I have been preparing for Valentino/a's arrival since New Year's Day.

The crib is assembled. Olivia and Valentino/a will share a room, so we had a little rearranging to make the two beds fit in the bedroom. I had a weeklong conversation with big sister Olivia about the crib that went something like this:

"No, you can't sleep in the crib. The baby is going to sleep in there."
"No, you can't nap in the crib. That's for the baby."
"No, you can't put your dolls in there. It's for the baby."

Eventually Olivia said to me "Momma the baby is going sleep there (pointing to crib) when I'm a big sister." Yes. we got it.

We washed, folded and put away the infant clothes, hats, socks, mittens, blankets, etc. Olivia was happy to match the socks for me. She also had George, her monkey and best friend, try out many of the baby's items, including the Baby Bjorn and baby bathtub.

All these cute onesies from 2009 are making a second appearance in 2012.

I forgot how small the newborn onesies are and was amazed as I tried to remember Olivia being that small and quiet.

We lost the backseat of our car after Benny installed the infant car seat. We will soon lose our living room as the pack and play, swing and bouncer are placed in the center of our house. I packed my hospital bag and the bag for the baby. We finalized the plans for who is watching Olivia when the time comes to go to the hospital.

Lastly, we received the baby's going home from the hospital outfits. When we were pregnant with Olivia, I asked my sisters to pick out a newborn girl outfit and a newborn boy outfit for the baby's big day. Olivia had the cutest polka dotted dress. Colleen and Rachel didn't disappoint this time either.

If Valentina is Anya Marie, she will wear a cupcake onesie, sweatshirt and pants home from the hospital.

It's so adorable. Olivia asked if she could wear it.

If Valentino is Jack Benny, he will be rocking his first button down and cargo pants on the ride home.

Who knew boy stuff could be cute?

Now the only thing left to do is wait.