can i just mention the fact that i just realized that 2 months is actually equivalent to 8 WEEKS?

and holy granola batman ... i have A LOT to do.

for example... 

15-ish orders for necklaces.  which yippee!  is money in the pocket ... or actually money that will quickly move from the pocket to various shopping locations in the attempt to fulfill christmas lists ... because as much as i would like to claim a completely homemade holiday around here ... we all know that isn't gonna happen.

cora wants a pumpkin.  from santa.  and i am overwhelmed by the possibility that FINDING an actual pumpkin at the very tail end of december will be remotely impossible.  (and a certain someone that i'm not going to mention ... stella ...told her that "santa is magic.  he can do anything.  he has flying reindeer.  someone that has flying reindeer can grow a pumpkin in the winter."  crap.)

16 current evaluations to complete before early february ... at work.  each one approximately 2 hours in length and about 1 hour to write up.  which if i calculate that correctly ... is basically ... AN. ENTIRE. WEEK. OF. WORK.  and i still have to do all of the other daily tasks associated with my job.  so in other words.  when am i gonna find the time?

the baby has next to nothing.  minimally ... yes ... i'm a third time mama here ... i am fully aware of what a baby needs from a minimal point of view. 
diapers.  clothing.  blankets.  car seat.  burp cloths.
diapers ... i think i saved some of our prefolds or at the very least rescued them from the to be used as rags pile.  not sure that i can even remotely remember where covers are.  i have no pockets for baby-ish size.  and he could potentially wear all pink and purple pocket diapers from age 6 months on.  (apparently the thought of having another baby ... or that the surprise! grand finale! baby would be also receive the nickname of little boy blue ... was no where in my brain when ordering cute little pink and purple cloth diapers!  oops.)
clothing ... so lucky.  a friend has willingly thrown donated a box of 0-6 month boy clothes so that she could finally get that giant box out of her storage room we didn't have a naked little boy blue.  except.  their boys were more summer-ish ... and there is a lot of short sleeve action happening in that box.
blankets ... most of which have been overtaken by the just slightly baby obsessed little girls that play in my basement with oodles of baby dolls.  i don't even remember which blankets are real and which ones are baby doll blankets anymore.
car seat ... unfortunately it will be too cold to walk home from the hospital.  which is only about 2 miles away ... so technically ... walking is an option.  but ... oh yeah! ... we live in minnesota.  in january-ish/february-ish ... freaking ass cold.  not the weather you take a new baby out in willingly.  same friend mentioned above said her little guy might be out of his car seat by then.  but what if he's not? 
burp cloths ... probably not a must on everyone's list ... but ... oh my holy goodness ... if you've ever seen my babies as little tiny things you will eagerly note their preference for sucking down the milk so wonderfully and then spitting it all up a mere minutes later.  (and still managing to gain weight like nobody's business.  i make pure whole milk ... i'm thinking.)  so burp cloths?  a must.  and i'm pretty sure the previous baby ones are no where to be found at this point in time.  or are just plain uck. 

my car is a mess ...
i need to do about 5 loads of laundry ...
i don't have a breast pump ...
i haven't even started the baby quilt ... but i have the fabric! ...
i have to get cora completely moved out of the baby room ... and into the big! girl! room! ...
oh yeah ... and they need a bunk bed option ...
because we soon realized that stella tends to sleep ON cora at night ... and cora isn't such a big fan of that.
i need to get through the girly-girl clothes so that they both fit in a single dresser ...
i need to make sure that everything is in order at school so that i can walk out one day and not feel oodles of anxiety over what will happen while i'm gone ...

and at the very least ... i want my girly-girls to know that i love them.  absolutely and completely.  all the time.  that they aren't being pushed out by this new little love.
even when i'm crabby and chaotic and rushed and dying to get them in bed so that i can have a few free minutes all to myself. 
even when i'm yawning as they tell me for the 68th time about something that never even made sense to me the first time around.
even when i forget the fact that they have been asking me to buy teddy grahams at the store ... and i've been to the store 3 times and have never once remembered the freaking teddy grahams. 

whew. 

honestly?  sometimes getting it down ... on paper ... or the internets ... or whatever ... makes it look a little less threatening.

there are so many people dealing with so much more than all of what i have to do. 
i just need these little reminders to be more thank-full. 

so ... i'm thank-full ... right now.  for my 2 months.  my 8 weeks.  and my 56 days.

(and yes ... for your information ... i totally had to use a calculator for that.  i'm allowed to blame pregnancy brain.  aren't you glad i don't teach math?)