A Different Kind of Nesting

The last few weeks I have been laying on the couch in pure exhaustion every free moment I have. I pant going up stairs. I shuffle my feet when I walk. Rolling over is impossible. I gasp for air when I bend over to tie my shoes. When is this whole "nesting" thing going to kick in? You know, the burst of energy that makes me want to scrub down my whole house and go shopping for all those baby items? Where's that?

We have yet to buy a diaper. A wipe. A binkie. A blanket. A burp rag. Jeff's going to be making a lot of trips to Wal-Mart in our first few weeks as parents.

I just don't have any baby motivation. I'm excited for the baby to come, but I think a part of me still thinks it's such a distant idea that I haven't been inclined to prepare the house. At all. I just keep hoping and praying that so called "nesting" will happen one of these days. And hoping it's a day before the baby is in our arms.

While I haven't experienced the typical nesting, I have been preparing for the baby in a way I didn't really expect. I had to work general conference weekend and I missed Elder Bednar's talk Saturday afternoon. On Sunday I decided to catch up on all the talks I missed. I am so happy I went back and watched Elder Bednar's talk because that is how my unexpected nesting began.

He talked about things parents should be doing to provide a good spiritual upbringing for their children. That's when it hit me. I have a little future missionary about to enter our family. Do I know all the things I need to know to be a good example to him? Am I really ready to be trusted to give him the spiritual nourishment he needs?

I decided it was time to kick up my gospel game. It has been a neat experience as I've taken the time to sit down and try to understand things I haven't fully understood before. Jeff is a fountain of church knowledge and I have enjoyed our long discussions about my gospel questions.

I have always heard giving birth is a spiritual experience, but I didn't expect the experience to start happening before I was in the delivery room. So even though the house doesn't look like we're so close to having a baby, I like to think I'm a little more prepared to be a parent.