Here are the goals I would like to have for the month:
1. Have a baby
2. Keep up with the laundry
3. Continue to homeschool
4. Make meals
The reality, of course, is that there is much more to be done than those 4 things.
This month I have apricots, blackberries and peaches ripe in the garden. I’ll need to take care of these, along with other garden work and other household work.
I’m starting the month at 40 weeks pregnant, but since my babies have all been born between 42 and 44 weeks, I most likely have a bit of time to do several more things before the baby comes. Of course, every birth is different; this one could decide to come earlier!
On the to-do list won’t be all the things I didn’t manage to do last month, such as the sewing I had hoped to accomplish. Winter has been using the sewing machine 6 days a week to work on a huge historical costuming project that she has decided to undertake, and I’ve found it difficult to even iron the fabric for my projects (I did manage to wash a couple of fabrics that I want to use for dresses for myself, but I didn’t end up making a dress for myself, pajamas for the children, or sewing curtains), nor did I finish all of my garden chores. I’m definitely feeling a difference in age and physical abilities in this pregnancy! (Eleven years ago I was 2 weeks overdue and planting 500 flower bulbs in the garden, not stopping until 2 days before the baby was born at 43 weeks. That has been the norm for me in the past!) My desire in April has been to rest as much as possible.
Here are my goals for the month of May:
The Garden:
1. Pick apricots
2. Pick blackberries
3. Pick peaches
4. Harvest artichokes
5. Weed garden
6. Pick other ripe produce
7. Cut flowers for arrangements
8. Fertilize fruit trees (Fruit trees should be fertilized here in February, May, and September)
Organization:
1. Set up newborn size clothing for baby in drawers
2. Finish organizing a place for baby, with lots of help from the rest of the family
Cooking/Preserving:
1. Make peach pie, peach crumble, peach pie popsicles, and cut peaches to enjoy in oatmeal. Freeze any extra peaches.
2. Freeze blackberries
Plus, of course, those 4 goals that I listed at the beginning of the post!
What’s ripe in your garden this month? Do you have any fun projects planned?
It’s always exciting when you hit the month that marks a baby’s arrival! I’m so happy for you.
May is always our busiest month of the year. Our kids public school, so they will have many concerts, projects, ceremonies, and parties happening this month. We’re also busy with 4 baseball/softball teams playing games. We have 4-H animals to get ready for the fair. And many big things are happening on my blog right now.
Basically my May goals are to plan ahead for all of these things as much as possible and try to focus more on enjoyment and less on stress.
Hi Brandy and I can see you have your priorities in the correct order with no 1 have baby :p .
Our goals for the month are to –
– Keep to the budget on shopping this month when we shop on Tuesday, might be hard as we have stocked up to a higher storage level on meat, but shall see how we go. If we are over that will be taken out of next month’s grocery budget instead.
– Plant and succession plant peas & snow as we are now low in the freezer on these.
– Plant some more beetroot seeds to ensure continued supplies.
– Mulch all new planted onion and turnip seedlings now they are big enough to protect them from the heat.
– Continue to harvest our garden produce as it ripens and blanch and freeze any excess.
– Clean and organise the 3 bay garage, my least favourite job as we have a lot of common to this area Redback spiders, and other hairy huntsman spiders, snakes and other critters that naturally inhabit most areas around here. Protective clothing, gloves and long handled brooms and sprays are the order of the day :p .
– Vacuum and deep clean the car and wash it.
– Do some more sewing of craft items that I am low on in my internet shops that have been sold.
All I can think of at this time :).
I just wanted to wish you a safe delivery and a healthy baby! 🙂
I didn’t realize you were so far along! You are a good secret keeper 🙂
I have to get my seeds started so they are ready to plant in the garden when the weather stays warm. I have all the supplies I just have to do it.
I have a huge storage cabinet to clean out an organize, again. This thing never stays organized.
I also will continue looking for work.
I have not visited your blog in a while because I have been busy with the same to do list! My jaw dropped when I saw your #1. Congratulations! I am also 40 weeks pregnant(#4) this week and usually go at 41 weeks. Hang in there and happy labor when it arrives.
Do take care, Brandy. Your new baby and rest of your family need you to come through this delivery in good health. You have lots of helpers at home to do things in the garden and kitchen. And I’m sure your little ones would love to pick some flowers for mommy, in lieu of lovely table decorations throughout the house.
Keeping good thoughts for you and your family.
May is a really popular month for babies being born. My daughter, along with 3 of her cousins, were all born in May! Hope the arrival of your new little bundle goes smoothly, Brandy.
Goals for this month:
*Try to survive going back to work. I’m usually exhausted for the first week or two when I go back.
*Prep and plant my gardens which is completely dependent on a nice warm, dry weekend.
*Prepare treat trays for my daughter’s bowling banquet (next weekend).
*Celebrate mother’s day amid the chaos of my brother visiting, bowling banquet, my mother going on a day trip to a theatrical performance with my MIL on mother’s day and being completely exhausted from my first week back at work.
*Celebrate my daughter’s 13th birthday (not sure what we’re doing yet either).
*Try to keep myself organized with all the upcoming school events and trips for my daughter this month.
*Prepare a presentation for the Handweavers & Spinners guild meeting this month.
*Just Survive Somehow!!!
Boy, I’ll be glad when May is done!
Congratulations to you and your family on your coming baby! What a blessing.
We have lots of planned activities for this month. We are combining a trip to see our daughter in another city to watch her run her first half marathon and celebrate her birthday. I am bringing chocolate cupcakes.
My mother is coming for a 5-day visit and we will wait until she is here to celebrate Mother’s Day. It has been many many years since I have actually been with my mom for Mother’s Day. It will be a real treat to spoil her. I am taking time off from work so that I can spend the days she is here with her.
I have some gardening to do: putting in some new seedlings, fertilizing, and putting in mulch. I will put in my tomato plants and herbs for growing my herbal tea-chamomile and mint my two favorites. I will also plant other herbs like basil and chives.
I’m sorry, I can’t stop laughing at “Have a baby”. Good thing you are pregnant!
My daughter ands her boyfriend are coming here for a few days after their last final exam on Wednesday and before they return to start their summer jobs at the university (him) and an aquarium as an educator (her). That means that I am busily cleaning, organizing bedrooms, and planning meals. After they leave, it will be gardening – planting, weeding, mulching – and painting the wrought iron porch railings and back porch stairs, which first need to be stripped/sanded and rust removed. Ugh…. It will feel great to get that last task done, though.
Wishing you the best with the baby and your delivery. At “40 weeks” in my only pregnancy, my daughter was 3.5 weeks old. LOL! At least I didn’t have to sit there and wait. I was 41 when she was born and can appreciate that you are feeling your age right now.
I hope it all goes smoothly for your baby’s delivery!
They have been helping lots, especially with cooking, and even doing more of the laundry tasks than usual (my 4-year-old is just the right height to reach the front loaders to move loads from the washer to the dryer!)
Cutting flowers and arranging them is one of my absolute favorite tasks, so I’m still doing that 😀
This will be our first baby born in May! Eight children and each one is born in a different month!
Usually I’m not sitting, but gardening! I’ve been doing a lot more sitting this time and it is very different!
Good luck with your painting. I’m sure it will look nice when you are done.
I was thinking the same thing as Mandy – I didn’t realize the baby is due this month! I’m impressed by your secret keeping skills as with everything else you share with us. 🙂
My goals are homeschooling (we school year-round, but May and June are our winding down months); getting some articles written and submitted for a deadline this week and coming up with some queries for other publications; going back to my own schooling; and trying to get back into the swing of meeting friends for family field trips. We took some time off as the activities were getting to be too much, now we’re a bit refreshed and ready to dive back in – with more white space on the calendar.
Wishing you a safe and wonderful delivery. Congratulations to your whole family on this new wee one to come!
Rest Brandy,I went to 46 weeks with the first two, around normal time for the rest except the youngest that was 8 weeks early thanks to me getting the flu. I think 8 different months of birthdays is good, you have a celebration almost monthly plus spread out the costs. Our 6 were born within a 12 wk span and Hubby and my own is in the same time frame. We got to the point of just having one big party for friends and family and then the child got to chose the menu for the day of their birthday.I figured we saved about half of the costs by doing that.
My May goals
http://chefowings.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-goals.html
My May goals are the same as your first four! We are 40+ weeks pregnant and have been told that if baby does not make her appearance by the end of the week she will receive some “encouragement” because of health concerns if I’m allowed to carry her longer! Luckily, here in Kansas, we have fruit set on our trees and on our strawberries, but I honestly don’t expect them to be ready until the end of May or early June – so I have a bit of time to adjust to having a toddler and newborn before the garden needs me too intensely.
Blessings on your upcoming delivery!!
With the fall you took last Oct. and the injury to your pelvic region I sure hope this delivery goes well. You are in my prayers. I so wish I could bring you a meal and help with your children so you could have a little ‘down’ time before the big event. I admire you spirit very much. God bless.
Ha. I love how you put ‘ have a baby’ on your to do list. It’s not like you are risking to forget This one 😉
My projects for May are simple
– do best to try find some more life/work balance. Unless emergency no office work past 7pm!
– continue to look for another job
– cook as much from scratch as possible
– go over some of the Craftsy.com classes I have being subscribing to
– sew a dress for myself (got some nice cotton fabric on sale do $1.99)
Congrats again on your upcoming arrival 🙂 Wishing you a safe, easy delivery!!
My son just celebrated his 12th Birthday last Tuesday 4/26. He was born on his due date because I was induced since I had gestational diabetes and my final ultrasound showed he’d weigh between 9 and 10 pounds. LOL boy was that wrong! My now 5’6, 155# tween was born weighing 7lb 2oz!
As always, beautifully inspiring!
Lucky kids. I was born on my sister’s 10th birthday. Not fun when you are little but hitting milestone birthdays isn’t that big a deal when she is also hitting a milestone but hers is 10 years greater than mine. 😀
Oh, I understand. I do enjoy the “task” of bringing flowers into the house, myself.
I was on bedrest for the last couple of months of my pregnancy with my twins. That was the year my 6-year old son learned to cook. He did all of the daytime cooking for us for several weeks. What I discovered was he felt very proud of his contribution to our family. I was very glad that that opportunity had come about, as a result of a difficult pregnancy. I am guessing that your kids, (especially the 4-year old who isn’t yet as capable as the older children due to age/size), are deeply glad to be of service to you at this time.
Oh wow! That’s interesting!
I feel like when the fruit starts coming, it’s less work than I have in January and February in the garden. The fruit this month isn’t too hard to deal with; freezing is simple and easy, and the children can pick the fruit.
I imagine you’ll have your baby before I have mine. Have a great week!
I like your craft class reminder. I have some videos I have been wanting to watch and I haven’t had a chance to watch them. Maybe I can watch those this month!
I really do have other goals for May but mostly I have two main goals: get through it and find alone spaces. My husband’s got all sorts of extra days to use up at work, my son and his family are moving in with us between their home that’s on the market and the home they hope to buy here in our state. I kind of thrive on alone time and quiet, it’s my creative refuel time and it’s going to be more of a stretch for me than anyone else in the house as they are all the sort that like to commune all day long daily with one another, lol. I like them all, that is their saving grace. My alone space today consisted of the half hour drive back from the grocery store and that is my only time alone for the next 10 days. I have plenty of projects planned.
I so wish I was joining in all the baby welcoming but that part of my life is past (at 48 a pregnacy would not be a good thing) and I am blessed to have my two mostly grown kids:) I pray all of you who are expecting have “easy” complication free deliveries and healthy babes!
My plan this month is to finish the many projects I have started or need to complete: The new pontoon bimini top, a zippered case for said top for when we are trailering it and recovering the big couches cushions so the dogs claws don’t do any more damage to the old foam (the couch is 30+ year old and hubby LOVES his couch :/ ) We found automotive vinyl at a white elephant sale in a huge roll – that will be the first layer and then I need to make washable/removable slip covers for them.
Next up will be getting the potatoes in the ground, picking up and planting a new apple tree and then hardening off the tomatoes and peppers, getting all the started herbs planted out and starting the tender veggies (melons, squash, cukes) Then I’ll need to make the trellis/arbor for our new grape vines I am starting this year.
I need to find a good sale on choco chips, gluten free flour and noodles, canned fruit (just a bit to get us thru til summer) as well as freezer bags for the produce that should be coming ready by the end of May and cat litter – lots of cat litter – with 5 cats, I am going thru alot more litter than I had budgeted for (oops)
And finally, figure out a balance between outside and inside chores so one isn’t always getting neglected and stick to my menu plan even when i really, really don’t feel like cooking (which happens to be pretty much every night)
My wishes to you for a safe and speedy delivery!
This month my goal is to spend only $100 on groceries. My normal budget for the two of us (plus our dog) is $300 so this will be a big adventure. Our pantry and freezer are in good shape so it is possible. Also will continue eating at home, baking our bread and the usual items like that. Today is May 1 and so far, so good, I haven’t spent any money ;). One day done, 30 to go…
Of our 8, 3 have birthdays in June! Now, I admit they are all adopted and I had nothing to do with those birthdays, but WOW! June is a busy month, since 2 of those birthdays belong to kids that still live here.
I’m very excited for you!
I am the same way. If I don’t get down time alone, I find that I create it. When I had so many young children at once, I found myself staying up later and later so I could re-group. That’s hard on the body, but that’s what it takes for me to re-charge myself. I get it! I love my family very much, but sometimes need a little space. Good luck with finding that perfect balance for yourself.
My three babes were all early; the last one by only nine days. After he was born, i asked if he was coming home with me since the first two didn’t. I was told, “Of course!” I was not prepared at all! Ha! Joke was on me! They’re still my blessings, that’s for sure!
My goals for the month are pretty much what someone else mentioned;
*Survive the beginning of my Summer job; on my feet 6-8 hours a day
*Survive a few days with two, or maybe all three, of my sisters.
*Think about planting a small garden. I’ve bought three tomato plants and two rosemary. They’re thriving in the window, but our nights are still near freezing.
*Make sure there’s enough chocolate goodies and pre-made meals for my husband while i’m gone a few days. If not, he’ll buy rather than cook.
*I really need to walk more. I don’t know how to ramp it up when this is the busy season.
*Sleep more if/when i find a way to add more walking! 🙂 Sleep is under rated! (Just sayin’)
Since you’ve been through the process many times before, i’ll just wish you an easy time of it with many helping hands along the way! We’ll miss your wise council and beautiful photographs but look forward to meeting the newest member of the human race!
We were foster parents for 15 years and during that time I became convinced that so many of our children feel irrelevant to the survival of the household and that is a loss to them. NOt just of skills, but of the feeling of being really needed. Our foster children always learned about gardening and canning when living with us and I always made sure to tell them how we would not be eating, say salad, if it were not for them helping us to plant or harvest or process it—I remember hearing one child tell his worker with pride that we were old (we were 35 at the time!) and would not have been able to put food on the table without his help. Not exactly true, but true enough for him to feel good about being useful. We rob our children when we don’t let them contribute to the survival of the household.
LOL…one day done, 30 to go….
My children do a[i] lot[/i] to help. I’m not worried that they won’t be helping. They make meals, fold and hang all the laundry, do lots of chores (do a search for chores and you’ll see the assignments) and they will be helping with organizing things for the baby. They’re hard workers!
Because my two oldest have learned to work hard and have reached a certain age, they’re often hired by other people to do hard jobs, and they also volunteer to help others. Just two days ago, my 12-year-old spent several hours of his own accord helping a family load their moving van. The next day he spent several hours helping someone butcher their chickens. Please don’t think that my children don’t work or contribute to the household. They do quite a bit.
I also believe in leading by example. I won’t ask them to do everything when I’m capable of working, too. We all work together. If I was on bedrest, that would be different. I’m just getting older and carrying this baby differently than my others, so I’m going a lot more slowly than in previous pregnancies.
I believe that teaching our children to work is one of the most important things that we can teach them. My parents taught my brother and I how to work hard, and they set an example for my children, too, with their hard work–and my children help them, too.
My goals for May:
HEALTH –
Keep logging my food on MyFitnessPal and sticking to my calorie goal.
Walking up and down the stairs at work 4 times on my way out for the day (we are on the second floor of a 2 story building).
Riding my exercise bike at home and using the hand weights 5 days a week.
MENTAL –
Do my Brain Games puzzle book 4 nights a week.
GARDEN -I’ve been neglecting my own yard while I cleaned/fixed up my fathers house –
Clean up pond.
Keep composting.
Clean up, weed, rake leaves
Figure out a better to do list for June and make a trip to Lowes to get what I need (fertilizer for sure).
HOUSE –
Put in a new vanity/sink/counter in the hall bath over the long Memorial weekend.
WORK –
Work 12 hours overtime over the month.
I’m praying for a safe delivery for you and the baby.
I am wishing for a safe and easy delivery of your baby! I always have lots of energy at the very end. Now I am back to the beginning and feeling like laying around every chance I get. I am 31 now and I had my first at 24 and even that short span feels really different to my body. I need to do a better job at training my children to help around the house. I was working hard on training them to do things for themselves but I always find it easier to do household chores myself. It was a task to get my husband to help around the house without being asked (even though he is happy to help and works very hard) and I know I will be doing my sons wives a disservice by not training them now. I know your children and husband are taking great care of you and you will be ready once the baby comes.
My goals are;
Take the goodwill pile to the dropoff station
Mend the growing pile of clothes
Make time to organize the spots in my home that are getting cluttered (I have no tolerance for it and seeing it makes me sad)
Work on decorating my home (we moved 8 months ago and most of the walls are still bare. I need to bite the bullet and purchase more furniture too)
Organize maternity clothes and put away everything I won’t be able to wear this year
Change the baby’s clothes from 12 to 18 months and put away all the 12 month clothing
Groom our dog Nikki Noodles
Plan meals using food from the freezers and pantry
Libby,
I feel the same at the beginning of pregnancies. I don’t have morning sickness, but I am very tired at the beginning!
Good luck with the clothing swap and decluttering! Those are my two least favorite chores. . . . Some chores I really love and enjoy (like gardening) but those two never bring quite the joy while doing them for me–just gratitude that they are done when they are done!
My goals are
-pull out clothes the boys have outgrown
-organize the pantry downstairs.
-organize my holiday decorations, sell/donate ones I no longer use
-put in my garden
I have 2 foster kids, this months there is a lot going on. I am hoping to accomplish the first two goals.
Dear Brandy,
Congratulations on your soon-to-be newborn baby! We can hardly wait for pictures.
My husband and I planted okra, carrots, squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, various types of beans, and corn in our garden this year. I just finished pruning all of our fruit trees, today. We’ve got nearly 2 acres of blueberries and blackberries that’ll be ripe for the picking real soon. We plan to can lots of food this summer, enough to feed our family through Fall & Winter. We just butchered our hog, and also froze 80lbs of chicken, so our freezer is full. We’ll save a lot of money by not grocery shopping for a long time.
Today my husband finished building our clothesline. I done the math on savings, and if we line dry 10 loads of laundry each week we’ll save approx $40 each month. We also just got out of our contract with our cell carrier and we’re saving $120 a month now.
This month we’re going to turn our office into a large walk-in pantry. We’ve also got friends coming to visit who want to help us build an extra hog pen for our new hogs.
At the end of the month we’re going to visit our friends homestead in Missouri.
Jenny~
My goals for this month are all over the place, including trying to clear as much of our land as I can (or clean it up anyway). It’s just getting to me and I’m tired of only using a small portion of our 2+ acres, even if we are broke.
I’m also working on canning, going to various appointments and lots of other things this month. I am envying your garden producing so much right now. Mine has garlic that survived the winter and sprouted up on me (yay) and the chocolate mint is finally coming back..oh and the chives are doing well. Past that I’m looking at dirt waiting for seeds to germinate or potatoes to pop out of the dirt and feeling anxious waiting for those little seedlings to appear :).
My list for this month can be found here…
http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2016/05/monthly-goals-may-2016.html
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. My husband is one of seven kids and all of them still live around the local area. We now, officially, have birthdays in every single month between the seven kids, their spouses and their children. It was funny watching that slowly develop over time :). Although we still got a good amount of birthdays in July.
I don’t doubt it at all. Just from reading your blog I can tell how well you and your husband have parented your children. I am sure that you and others find them to be a true joy to be around.
Funny, how that works isn’t it? We have 5 Children: July, August, September, October & November births 😀 Prayers for you on a healthy delivery and baby.
We finally caved into our desire for fresh herbs and started a patio garden. It’s very challenging to grow your own food when you live in a small apartment, but we hope to step up our gardening game once we have a house!
brandy: congratulations, i didn’t know you were pregnant again. i hope things go well for you. i’ve always wondered if you have your babies at home? that would be a nice story for you to tell us about since you are an expert now. this month i am planting my little garden, some things in pots and some in a raised bed. i sure am grateful that you put me on to swiss chard. that is my favorite vegetable now. i think i will have some tomorrow with some rosemary bread. yum, yum. again congratulations to you and your family and i hope you have an easy delivery. let us know when it’s born.
Nancy,
So glad you like Swiss chard! I didn’t know about it until my husband’s family shared it with me.
All of my children have been born at home.
I announced the pregnancy 5 posts ago, in a post entitled “Anticipation.” You can find all of my recent posts in the right-hand column.
My three boys were all born in August. Had they been born on their due dates it would have been 16th, 12th & 15th. The first two were 11 days early and the last one two weeks late. My Dr. was going to Alaska for 2 weeks and I told him he had better either get this child delivered or buy me a ticket! No one else was delivering my baby but him. He induced me 2 days before he left…darn, I’ve never been to Alaska!!
Brandy,
You are an inspiration! Best wishes for a safe, smooth delivery, and a healthy, happy little one!
Heidi
Do you mind me asking your age, Brandy? I finally was blessed to start my family having my first at age 30 and it was rough! I was unbelievably nauseous the entire pregnancy, I developed gestational diabetes, delivery was extra painful with what is known as double contractions, and then I developed a blood clot in my leg as a postpartum complication. I got the most beautiful baby so it was all worth it, but how I wish I could have started younger.
I turned 40 last month.
May I offer a suggestion on nausea? Eat more protein. Check out the site “Blue Ribbon Baby” for great suggestions on meals. I found that as long as I eat enough protein, I am not nauseated at all Forget that “saltine cracker” myth. Start the morning with something like a bit of leftover bean soup, leftover chicken from dinner, or a hard boiled egg. Have a high-protein snack before bed. It makes a huge difference!
Should you choose to have another, I wish the all the best in health! It sounds like you had a rough time of it!