I'm mere weeks away from having another baby and can't believe how unprepared I'm feeling. Our master bedroom and bath are under construction and our bed is in the "baby's room." Our complete landscape demo has just begun and our lives are about to be turned upside down.

In hopes of preparing for baby #2, I made an "advent calendar" full of activities with my 4 year old. Some are fun adventures while others are practical things that he can help with to get ready for the new baby. I hope it'll be fun for him and productive for me! We had so much fun with our Christmas advent calendar & I'm sure he'll love this one, too. Our son describes the advent calendar in this video.

We started today, on the first of the month, as any good advent calendar does, and we'll see how far we get. A new surprise each day, leading up to the birth of our new baby! We don't know when he or she will make their debut, so I stopped a few days before my due date. Here are some of the things we have on the advent calendar:

Appointment with midwives & lunch with dad (today!!)
Trip to the San Francisco Zoo
Trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium
Trip to Safari West (this is the big surprise and it's going to blow his animal-loving mind!) DID IT!!
Pick up "big brother" type of books from the library
Make a mobile for above the baby's crib
Take the train to meet a friend for lunch & frozen yogurt
Help make sheets for the crib & makeshift bed
Choose a new book from the bookstore to give to the baby
Pick up tiny plant and plant it on the day the baby's born
Help make a care plan (instructions for grandparents with his routine, etc)

Whew- I feel better already.