seven ways to pass the time waiting for baby to arrive

Baby's 'due date' was this past Sunday, but I'm finding ways to occupy my time while we keep waiting!

It's a strange thing to live in this sort of limbo.  I find that I keep saying to myself, "One last grocery trip before baby comes," or "I'll scour the kitchen sink one more time," or "One more load of laundry... this will be it before baby," or "This will be my last batch of yogurt before baby arrives."  And then, a few days later, I'm doing all those things again.

In any case, here are seven ways I've been passing the time -- maybe some of them will work for you other expectant mamas, too?

one

We may as well start with the most important thing: Wear sweatpants.  Every day.  All day, if you can get away with it.  If you need to go out or look presentable for something, change into something else -- and then change back into your sweatpants as soon as you can.  Only change out of them to wash them, and use those hours to wish you had another pair as comfy as your favorites.  {I'm wearing these ones these days, in black, and wishing I had a gray pair, too!}

two

Realize that it's yard waste removal day, but your husband has already left for work.  Haul 18 bags of leaves etc. from the garage to the curb, made more difficult by the obstacle course of your brother-in-law's stuff filling the garage to the brim.



Decide that while you're at it, you may as well take out not only the weekly recycling, but also try to empty the shed of all the extra trash and recycling a certain someone {cough, not me, cough} keeps piling up in there.



Survey your work with pleasure, thinking of all the garbage and clutter you've now removed from the premises!

three

Do laundry.  Tons and tons of laundry.  You've already washed all the baby clothes, so start staying more on top of the regular laundry than you've ever been in your life.  Wash the sheets, of course, but then wash them again five days later just because you can.  Comb the whole house for every towel you can find and wash all of them.  When you've truly washed everything that can be washed, don't worry -- you can do it all again in a couple of days if you're still waiting around for baby.

four

Take a final trip to Target and spend too much money, stocking up on necessities for the days ahead and successfully passing a happy morning with the toddler in tow.  Getting things done and passing time, all rolled into one.  Two birds, one stone and all that.

five

Decide to finally try making your own shampoo so you can avoid both the expense of store-bought natural shampoos and the chemicals of store-bought cheap shampoos.  Castile soap, water, jojoba oil.  What could be easier?  And it works great!  Success.

six

Head out to your favorite thrift store with toddler in tow.  Find three pairs of 2T pajamas for $1 each.  Purchase.  Sit in nice rocker / glider chair in great condition with $40 price tag.  Consider coming back to buy with a bigger vehicle to put it in.  Call thrift store the next day, only to find it's been sold.  Try to mitigate disappointment with a Dove chocolate egg left over from the Easter candy.

seven

Finally get a day that isn't cold and rainy.  Head outside with the toddler for a walk around the neighborhood.  Take the camera, and take pictures, because hey - she's so cute and so sweet.

{bonus}

Okay, so this actually happened last week, but a great way to pass some time in a highly enjoyable fashion is if you happen to have a wonderful friend offer to take you out to dinner one night, sans kids, and you just get to relax and talk for a few hours.

Then maybe you have another wonderful friend who takes you out for a pedicure!

Oh, that's just me?  Well, I'm pretty lucky -- I have some great friends.

Very fun to have a little pre-baby pampering.

{For more quick takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.}