Expecting Charlie: Part 6 The Nursery

The nesting phase is certainly in full swing in our home. I am 35 weeks today and very impatiently awaiting Charlie's birth. As I drag my big belly around the house, I often find myself in his room, rocking in his chair, carefully refolding his tiny baby clothes and dreaming about the day that our family will go from three to four. Bryan and I had so much fun putting together his nursery. Each time we placed something new in the room, the three of us would ooh and ahh over it and talk excitedly about how much time we have left. Jack loves to play in Charlie's room and I suspect he will be the most excited of all when Charlie is finally here. He has been begging for the last couple of year for a baby brother. I remember the night I told him we were expecting. This big, slow smile made its way across his little face and he said, "you're just joking!" He proceeded to run around the room shouting that he was going to be a big brother. I often wondered if we would ever be blessed with another child. I finally gave up and went back to work thinking Jack would be our only miracle...little did I know I was already pregnant. These last few months have been wonderful, and difficult, but so filled with hope its almost palpable. I have sometimes wished that Jack and his brother would be closer in age, but I am now coming to realize that their age difference has brought me a special gift. I have been able to share my pregnancy with my child in a way that a younger child wouldn't be able to...he understands, he is excited, he can't wait to be my helper. Each day, he lovingly rubs my belly and talks to Charlie(or shouts the ABC song for some reason) and thanks me for being pregnant. He tells everyone wherever we go "My mom is pregnant," and when I tell him that people can tell just by looking, he says"i just didn't want them to think you were fat!" LOL. His excitement and loving care and interest in the whole process is as beautiful a gift as his brother's upcoming birth. I am the luckiest mom in the world. We often wonder why things don't always turn out the way "we" plan...I am coming to realize through this whole process how blessed we are that our life unfolds according to "God's" plan. I. Am. Thankful.