This was a weekend of a lot more prep for the baby by doing a lot of piddly stuff that added up to a lot of work.

One of the things we got accomplished was simply getting the car seat out of the attic, cleaned up, and ready to go.

The tricky part, though, was putting a seat back into our van that we’ve never used and then figure out where each kid would now sit.

Trust me, it was a lot harder than it sounds.

But now the seat is in the van and we’re one step closer to being ready for the baby girl.

With only 16 days left until our first baby girl is due, we take you on a tour of the recently completed baby’s room, which used to be our screened in porch.

For Christmas I tried to put together a special surprise for Jennifer and the kids, including our little girl who has not yet arrived.

After consulting with our friend Captain Jeff, who does all of the printing of shirts and mugs and bags and stuff for both Rosary Army and That Catholic Show, I came up with the logo for The Catholics Next Door that you see on the top left of this website.

My hope was to get t-shirts printed with the new logo and give them to my parents, Adam Hamway (our producer), Jackie Resciniti (our board operator), Jennifer, and all the kids.

And for Jennifer, I wanted to get her a shirt to wear now while she’s pregnant, and another t-shirt to wear later.

And I wanted the shirts for the girls to be pink.

In the first picture you’ll see the onesie Jeff printed for the new baby, and below is a picture of Jennifer wearing her oversized maternity shirt.

We’ve all been enjoying wearing them as a family.

Plus my Rosary Army and That Catholic Show t-shirts were really getting worn out.

So a few minutes ago I’m in the kitchen, working on show prep for today and tomorrow, when I heard a truck in the driveway.

It was a UPS truck, and yet we haven’t ordered anything.

I was thinking it was probably a book or DVD or something sent to us for The Catholics Next Door, but then the driver got off the truck with a pretty large box.

My first thought was that perhaps either Jennifer or I had ordered something for Christmas, and completed forgot we did, and it was just now showing up.

I took it inside, opened it up, and was totally confused to find a package of newborn diapers.

The invoice slip was hidden in the bottom of the box.  Apparently a good priest friend of ours must have been listening to the show the other day when we said we were still in denial about getting ready for the baby and it was too funny of an opportunity to pass up.

Here’s what the note said:

“I hope this helps on the Diaper front!  Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!  Peace, Fr. Bill Kessler”

Diapers from a priest.  Never thought I’d see the day.

You rock, Fr. Bill!

Jennifer and Greg at 38 weeks pregnant:

And just to prove that he’s not really THAT fat, here’s Greg when he’s not shoving his stomach out (but still, this is enough to get him started on the Abs Diet this week):

And in deciding a pose for today’s Due Date Countdown picture, we took a front and back picture of Jennifer. She straightened her hair out today. She’s had straight hair for every child delivery, so in my opinion, she’s ready for labor now.

And lastly, just in case she wanted to make a donation to Locks For Love (I’m hoping not yet – I LOVE the long hair), this is how much would be cut off.

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

We had a nice, laid back evening hanging out with our friends Mac and Katherine (hosts of Catholic in a Small Town Podcast).

Three of the kids passed out before midnight but three more made it to midnight.

Very strange to think we are now in the month and year when we’ll become parents of a baby girl.

Should be an interesting 2009!