Checklists

To do:
- Change to the winter sheets. It is 6° outside, it is about dang time we had the flannels on the beds.
- Pull kids' short-sleeved shirts out of their closet. And the shorts out of their drawers. It is 6° outside, it is about dang time they were packed away so Peter would stop trying to wear them every morning. Yeesh.
- Have the kids clean the rat cage. And the litterbox. There will be much grumping and groaning. Use it as a reminder of why we will never get any more pets. Just say NO!
- Make dinner using leftover brisket. Can I make Mongolian beef with brisket?? I hope so! Cravings... they are a real thing.
-Fold the laundry. Thank husband for washing and hanging clothes by folding laundry. Can be done any time over the next few days while he is at drill, but just remember that the laundry is a never-ending cycle and if you wait your living room will turn into the closet. Just get it done.

Baby prep: Because 10 weeks is not enough time!
- Need an infant car seat.
- Need a stroller. Do they make them smaller since the last time I got a stroller? I have no room to store a stroller, and yet... The dream is an Orbit, but the sticker shock on those puppies.... yikes! I'll certainly settle, but I need something small and compact that won't take up my hallway...
- Research small, compact stroller and infant car seat combos with a reasonable price tag.
- Finish quilt
- What do I put in a hospital bag??
- Freezer meals! Who likes chopping veggies? I'll take all the help I can get!
- Swaddle blankets - Check! My in-laws gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas! Yay!
- Clothes - for 0-3 month, Check! We'll play the rest of her life by ear. Haha!
- Fix my Baggallini. Poor thing. I wore it out after Peter, the strap needs to be reattached. Easy fix!
- Make (or find) a few sheets to fit in the cradle. (Have you seen my beautiful, antique cradle?? I love it!)

Done this week:
- Renewed the tags for my plates on the suburban. That was a hefty blow. Michigan is really expensive! They have roads to maintain, so the 20% price hike in vehicle registration and the extra almost 10 cents in gas tax/gallon had better make some pretty roads!
- Oh, cars.... Funny (or not) story... We were driving home from the church (I think) when a loud, inconsistent thumping started ringing out from under my seat. Jonathan (driving) pulled over and we tried to figure out what was the deal. It sounded like a soda can was rattling around in the engine block, but when we slowed down it stopped. We heard it a few days later and finally managed to find the problem. A metal piece of something that was welded along one of the long lines of the car as a cover had come off. Rust had eaten through the welding and knocked it loose. Michigan is NOT kind to cars. Snow, ice, and road salt is NOT kind to cars. This all despite the fact that I get the car cleaned pretty regularly to avoid rusting problems.
- We finally got Jonathan's car fixed. The bearing we had replaced last year was bad. Fortunately the part was under warranty, so the shop fixed it for free. I love this mechanic! He, his mother, and his wife run a good, honest shop.
- I got a watch. My parents sent birthday $$, so I got a fun watch. I'm saving the rest for my trip to Texas in two weeks.
- Speaking of trip, I got flat shoes to go with my dress I'm wearing to the wedding. My poor feet... I've been wearing one pair of shoes since about October. Slip on Crocs. Not the sandal kind of crocs, they're actually pretty nice and you wouldn't know they were made out of foam. But after months of wearing nothing but that I knew I needed something nicer for church and for Chandler's wedding.

I'm trying to think of anything else, but at this point I feel like I'm rambling. So I'll just end there and throw in some pictures of the kids from when we went to the fire station with the scouts: