preparation

As it's probably known if you follow me on any social media platform: I have raging baby fever! But then, I've had it since I was a tiny girl playing with dolls and pretending to hold them in my tummy. It's only been growing since the moment I met my firstborn. Times, sure, where I thought to myself I was mad to ever want to do it again, but daydreaming and pinning away all things newborn regardless (ps here's my newborn pinterest board if you're as crazed as I am right now and like to stare at cute babies to placate yourself).

Oh wait, are you just here for my pre-baby list? Awk... If you want to skip the journal entry, scroll down to find my pre baby #2 list!
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But oh, my has it reached new heights since meeting Dan. I've been pestering him to his wit's end about family planning since we were dating, poor guy! It was a topic I had to learn to keep to myself and reel in my daydreaming, getting-ahead-of-myself tendencies if I didn't want to spike his anxiety. He always assured me yes, he wanted babies with me, too, but not right now so hush.

Until one night in June. Aidric was fast asleep in bed. Dan and I were snuggling, in peaceful quiet. Friends was probably on in the background. My head laid on his chest, he said, "Hey." Nudging me up with his shoulder, he was pausing for my attention. I turned my face up to him, and he said, "As soon as we move, I'm ready to stop birth control." My heart stopped--then swelled.

I made that man immediately regret his words as I didn't stop kissing his face or talking about a little baby Williams for the rest of the night. I believe I immediately announced it on Twitter, then made a new private board on Pinterest for all my planning. What he failed to realize in that moment, was that he had just told my brain and my heart it was go-time for baby! I've been planning and dreaming with a fervor ever since.

Now we're in to September, our November move on the horizon. The way my brain works, knowing my cycle begins near the end of the month, I am already prepping for a December conception. Ha! That being said, I'm feeling how close our lives are to changing drastically between a cross-country move and growing our family, so my planning brain has sprung into overdrive.

​I know that now that we're just a few months out from beginning to try, it was time to start a prenatal vitamin. I brought this up to D, but he wasn't so sure. It brought on his anxiety to realize we were getting so close. You can imagine how excited I was when he recently ok'd it, and you can bet I went to Target the very next morning to pick up a bottle. The next morning, I filmed a little intro to what I want to be a video journal of our journey to our next baby. I'm nothing if not sentimental. I had such a rough (to say the least) experience with my pregnancy and first year of Aidric's life. I want everything to be perfect and soak up every moment this go-around. And so, a list was born.

my pre baby Number 2 list

*A couple of disclaimers: I know this is ambitious and idealistic. That's ok! I'm not being rigid with this, rather it's just a bunch of goals which will improve our lives as we work towards them, and make us more ready to add another babe. Secondly, while some of these will take some time to complete including stretching into my next pregnancy, this is not an exhaustive list. Once we're pregnant, I'll be making a 'pregnancy to-do' list. These are simply things I'd like to sort out as much as possible before we're pregnant. 

> Complete living will (designate caregivers)
> Declutter
> Organize office + shop operations
> Support our family working from home
> Establish regular exercise routine + clean up diet
> Completely potty train Aidric (bedtime + errands)
> Complete A’s baby book + keepsake boxes
> Sort through photos + home videos to purge/print/archive
> Make special memories with A
> Take family photos
> Write down family traditions
> Keep youtube video journals
> Journal + blog regularly
> Establish personal + family routines
> Take our big honeymoon
> Start saving for baby
> Set up aidric’s savings account
> Change name
> D adopt aidric
> Get family on cohesive insurance

If you have a list with anything different, I'd love to hear what you have on yours in the comments!