Drew's -1 Month Birthday & Shining Star

It is exactly 1 month until we will be holding our sweet little Drew! As ready as I am to see his precious face, I am also overwhelmed with everything that we still need to do. It hit me yesterday that we only have a month left to complete all of the tasks on my "To Do Before Drew" checklist. ARGGG!!!! Among the many things on the list are: getting both my kids (WOW - it is still so weird to make "kid" pleural!) scrapbooks & baby books caught up, setting up the pack 'n play, packing bags for the hospital, washing baby clothes, painting the upstairs bathroom.... the list goes on and on. I feel fairly confident that I can accomplish most of my goals by October 23rd. However, if Drew comes early... Oh my - I can't even think about it without going into a panic attack! I just have to rest in the fact that the Lord is in control and that it will all be just fine. I'm sure that when that sweet little angel is placed in my arms, I am not going to care about scrapbooks, pack 'n plays, or unpainted bathrooms. :)

As we are preparing Clayton for the birth of his brother, I have realized that he is having trouble grasping the concept of time and when things are going to happen. He still thinks that it is a whole new day every time that he wakes up from his afternoon nap and he can't distinguish between days, weeks, months, etc. I have been trying for the last couple of weeks to teach him those concepts, but I can see how it would be really hard for a 3 year old to comprehend. I started by buying a calendar and having a little "calendar time" in the morning. (It is a stretch, but I am trying to channel my inner teacher. :) )

That was helping a little, but he was still pretty confused. Finally, my smart hubby came up with the idea of making a paper chain to countdown the days until Baby Drew is here. Now Clayton knows that every morning, before breakfast, he gets to tear a link off of the chain. He loves it!



In other news, Clayton was the "Shining Star" at preschool today. He was soooo excited about being the center of attention (imagine that!). He got to bring a toy (he chose his Buzz Lightyear - Kelli & Doug: it is the one that Doug gave him from the office while we were in New York) and a book (How Do Dinosaurs Go to School) for show and tell. He also brought snack for his friends and was the leader in line all day. I knew about all of those fun things from the note that his teacher sent home on the first day of school. What threw me off was a comment that Clayton made on the way to school this morning. He said (very slowly, for dramatic effect), "Mommy, in chapel today.... I get my very own.... parking space!" I was so confused. I said, "What?!?!? What do you do with your parking space?" He said, "I get to sit there during chapel!" Apparently they are preparing our little tykes for Employee of the Month parking one day???