that's how much our little one to be will be growing and gaining from here on out with the law of averages. I don't know if anyone finds that as incredible as I do right now. Based on those averages she's most likely currently somewhere between 1 lb 4 oz and 2 lbs 8 oz. We're officially in the final/third trimester with less than 80 days to go. Well that is, if she comes on or before her EDD, so a little give and take is required or rather guesstimated here.

Knowing how different every little one is, it wouldn't surprise me if this one decided to make a late appearance. I've had one right on time and two that were a week or so early. So at this point, my best guess is either much earlier or a bit later. Nice options huh?! Neither of which am I remotely prepared for, mentally or household wise. Though at this time I'd prefer later rather than earlier. More time means more accomplished before her arrival, which is always a good thing. I know I might live to eat my words though. I'm usually so done with being pregnant and wishing it was all over 2-3 weeks before the actual birthday occurs, so we'll wait and see. That is after all, the only thing we really can do!

Resolutions
Some of us make new ones every year.
Some of us make the same one for several years in a row. Hoping one of these days or years we'll actually have enough time or ambition to truly dedicate ourselves to making real and lasting changes for the better.
Some of us find it a great novelty year after year. Starting strong and finishing with little to show for our renewed efforts.
Some of us resolve to not make resolutions. Our plates are too full already or they're seemingly fraught with issues and can be very time consuming.
Some simply pretend they don't exist.

Here's an approach I found note and sharing worthy:
FlyLadies and More: Resolutions
I'll be preparing mine to share very soon.

How to create a 4th bedroom when you've run out of rooms and general housing space.

Solution: Get very creative!!! So the only solution that made sense was to convert the tiny WIC to a nursery for our surprise blessing. That equates to adding more closets into the back attic space (under the roof line on the back side of the house), hopefully later this next year  (2010).  Budgets ran out this year as I'm sure it did for many others. So our original closet plans are on hold. In the meantime we've figured out some temp and not so temporary solutions.

We're adding a couple new (albeit small) walls to box in a closet space. This was space we were previously using as a closet with a closet system added to the walls. Said closet system has found a new home in DD-C's bedroom. Since she's now officially a young teen, she needs space for her expanding wardrobe. Hopefully this will contain it until we are able to add those much needed closets (1 for her and 1 for the master bedroom).

So in our house, bedrooms become laundry and mudrooms. Closets grow and later become new nursery/bedrooms. Oh and hallways become storage/gaming nooks and 1/2 baths... but we'll get to more details on those developments at a later time.

While I may have guessed correctly (or maybe not so correctly) as to whom our gifts for baby "Angels" have been. My DH-C remains silent and won't confirm or deny the identity of these Angels. So to however many of you there may truly be. I send out a deeply heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you!!! Our soon to be baby girl will be all snuggly warm and clean as a result of the many recent arrivals at our doorstep.

RAD= Reactive Attachment Disorder
Oey Veh! What can a mother say?! Life is full of it's own unique challenges for each and everyone of us. Ever feel like a newly found cross to bear is simply too much? Me too!!! This is our most recent finding relating to one of our children. So much fits and finally makes sense. I'm not crazy (at least not yet). My words really have been falling on "deaf ears" for a very long time, so to speak of course.

Links for those with further interest:
RAD Checklist
(27 of 33 points hit the nail on the head for us)
Child/Teen Attachment Therapy and Corrective Parenting
Great overall site for learning more about RAD

It's a double edged sword. Makes you feel good to finally have some answers. Finally the reasoning (why's) to our crazy altered version of family reality are clearer. However, it can make you absolutely sick to think it's been there all along and you just didn't get it and realize it was more than just some variant on normalcy.

Yes, I've shed lots of tears on that note. I'm sure there will be more to follow. Being pregnant and hormonal certainly doesn't negate that natural response. Life is definitely a changing here. We'll keep you all informed as soon as we've completely digested it and figured out what it means for our family. Lots to assimilate, learn, correct and move forward on with a renewed spirit of what it means to be a parent and a family today.

I have to add the disclaimer that this has yet to be officially confirmed by someone in the medical/mental profession. Belief in a mother's instinct is held in high regards in this household. However that opinion will be sought out very soon as we feel we need all the help we can get.

Our cape cod was built in 1920. It was a fixer upper from the beginning, when we purchased it in early Feb 2003. Tiny (not even a full 2x2') closets where all that was available in the 2 average sized bedrooms (out of 4 bedrooms total). Yes, just 2 closets total. Not a huge issue when kids are little like ours were when we moved in. Yes, that also meant no closets in the remaining 2 bedrooms. One bedroom was on the main level at the back of the house. It really was in kind of a weird location and wasn't sized in a manner that made sense to use as a bedroom. It was the second smallest bedroom, so even tho we tried to make a master bedroom out of it for a while. It really was too small to adequately function for our needs. We later converted it to what is now the laundry/mudroom just off the main/full bath and the kitchen and relocated the back house entrance from the kitchen to this room. Much more functional and family friendly.

That left 3 upstairs bedrooms with 2 very substandard closets. The 2 closets sat side by side between 2 of the bedrooms. So we opened up the back of one and knocked the wall out of the middle of the two and sealed up the former front, extending it a bit at one end. While doing that we realized there was untapped potential under the roof line on the front side of the house. We gained a true standard 6' closet in one bedroom with this remodel. Then we proceeded to punch a hole thru the other bedroom wall and convert the under the roof line space into a small WIC. Really the term "small" should probably be noted as an understatement here. The longer wall is seriously only long enough to fit a standard twin mattress against. The short wall, if I remember correctly, is about 2/3's of the long one. Oh yes, one should also note that the ceiling slopes down to a height less than 4' along the outer short wall. However all that being said, note it was plenty of hanging space and held a dresser for this mother's clothes quite well. We also added a closet system to one wall that had a chimney bump-out in it for dad's clothes. Worked out quite nicely! Thru the years, for one reason or another we've played musical bedrooms.

Most recently that meant the boys had the master bedroom and we had the boys' room. We decided after finding out we were expecting our last little one that arrangement was no longer going to work out well for our once again growing family. We needed a space for baby and we were out of bedrooms. We were also out of budget for an addition as we originally hoped we'd be able to get to.

Come back soon for what happened next regarding the Great Nursery Challenge....