6 days, 36 minutes to go, but who's counting??

We've been very busy getting ready for Jackson around here.  Kyle has been checking off all the items on his to-do list and we're getting there. . . slowly but surely!  I haven't been a whole lot of help, but these days I'm doing good to keep Ellie fed and entertained each day!  I've had to be creative since it has been so hot and I really don't feel like leaving the house. 

One day last week she told me she wanted to do a "project."  I'm not even sure where she picked up that word, but I came up with a project for her to do.  We went through a magazine and found a bunch of pictures of dogs and cats.  We sorted them and I let her use a glue stick and glue them down onto paper.  She had fun doing it, but then she wanted to pull all the pictures back off.  The mom in me wanted to let her, but the teacher in me was about to have a heart attack.  Why would anyone do such a thing???  She also put the glue on her lips and called it chapstick.  Other than that, she did well for her first time using glue! :)

 Finished product

Last weekend, we took Ellie to Chuck E. Cheese.  We've only taken her one other time since she was old enough to actually do anything and she wasn't too crazy about it.  She had fun this time.  She especially liked going down the slide and putting the coins into the slots.  Kyle had to play a lot of games simply because Ellie kept running around putting her tokens in!

Ellie has also been such a big help while I've been trying to do things around the house.  A few days ago, she helped me sweep and mop.  It probably took twice as long and I was ready for a nap afterwards, but she did a great job!

 Love this look . . . she's really concentrating!

 Just being silly!

I can't believe that we're less than a week away from having another sweet baby.  Ellie is very excited and will tell everyone about how she's going to rock him, feed him, change his diaper, and share her toys with him.  (We'll see about that last one.)  She has been practicing the last few months with her baby doll, Lily.  I'm actually very impressed with her mothering skills.  She can put a diaper on her doll like an expert, and when she hands Lily to you, you have to hold her "like a baby" with both hands and bounce her.  She doesn't like to be rocked.  She's also very empathetic.  She will bounce Lily and just talk to her.  It's the sweetest thing.  I think she is going to be an amazing big sister!

She is also starting Mother's Day Out next week.  We have her open house on Monday night and her first day is on Thursday.  She's never been in that type of environment for longer than an hour (like church and the YMCA).  I'm a little nervous, but know that it will be great for her.  Now I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't go into labor before next Friday.  I might die if I have to miss her first day!