Make room for baby!

That title could actually be interpreted in several ways. Amy's beginning to "show" in what I keep telling her is a very attractive way (I'm sure all the husbands and fathers out there will back me up on that) as her body makes room for a quickly growing little boy. Oh, did I fail to mention that? We found out last Tuesday that our second child will be a little boy! We're very excited for Sydney to have a little brother, and her awareness of what is going on is very cute. She knows and will tell you that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, and then she'll tell you that she has one in her tummy too. I'm guessing this is natural. Every daughter wants to be just like Mommy, after all. She's not quite so certain when you ask her if she's ready to have a little brother, though, as that word is still new to her and I don't think she is quite sure what it means yet. She may never be sure...

The actual intent of the title, though, was a reflection on all the household activity we have seen since Thanksgiving. Since Thursday, we have:

• moved the kitchen table and chairs to a sibling's home for use until we have room again (in some yet-to-be-determined future house),
• moved the dining room table into the breakfast area and covered it for use as our main table,
• moved the desk and office furniture (along with three computers and hundreds of cords and cables) to what used to be the dining room,
• installed two new ceiling fans with light fixtures in Sydney's current and future rooms,
• run new electrical, phone, and ethernet wiring in the attic for all the changes, and
• purchased a new toilet.

Oh, that last part doesn't have anything to do with the second child. It's just a coincidence that the master bathroom's toilet tank cracked open last week. What a surprise that was! We decided to replace the whole thing rather than trying to track down a replacement tank for the old high-volume/low-efficacy toilet we have had for years. The new toilet is supposed to "just work", though I won't be trying to flush two dozen golf balls or two hundred feet of toilet paper to validate the manufacturer's claims. Sydney, on the other hand, might just...

Anyway, it has been busy, and I owe many thanks to Amy for helping when I would let her as well as some well-timed back-rubs and to my father-in-law for the use of some of the necessary tools and his serving as a sounding board and advisor on the electrical work I had to do. It's nice to get a second opinion before cutting into the house's electrical system and having a reasonable confidence that my changes won't burn the house down...

Now we just have to repaint the old office and set up the new furniture that will be coming in the next few weeks and months to make it Sydney's new room. Oh, and move all of the books from the shelves in that closet to other locations yet to be determined. But hey, having gotten as much done this weekend as we did, I can actually believe we could be done well before the baby arrives and needs Sydney's old room for his nursery!