It’s finally here! November! This is the month we get to meet our little Ziggy. There is an outside chance that Ziggy could come in December, but she’d have to be extremely late – later than Nicole! I think Ziggy will be on the later side, just not that late. I still can’t believe that I’m already 37 weeks pregnant! Time has flown by.

I’m doing much better about tackling my pre-baby to-do list this time around. I think it helps that I was working, and am now on Maternity leave so I feel like I really should be doing something if I am staying home.

So far I’ve…

• Installed Ziggy’s car seat, set up the diaper pail & changing pad, and organized all of Ziggy’s clothes.
• Steam cleaned 2/3rds the apartment, cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen floor & cabinets
• Moved the bulk of my domains to a new registrar as I’ve grown disenchanted with my previous one and they were to expire *tomorrow*
• Purchased and set up the new hard drive as I am, yet again, out of space due to being a trigger happy momtographer

I’ve been rearranging furniture so we once again look like we’re moving with stuff all over the place. At least this time should be easier and quicker getting everything put away. I do have to assemble Ziggy’s rock-n-play, but that shouldn’t take much time at all. The crib will take longer. Thankfully we’re not planning on using it for the first couple of months.

I’ve also purchased the last odds and ends we needed for Ziggy. We decided to take a different approach this time around. With Nicki we started with very little and I sent Domingo to the store to pick up anything additional we needed. It was a strategy that worked well, given we had two sets of hands and only one child. This time I am also leery of cold & flu season. Everyone has had their flu shot, but the shot isn’t perfect, and doesn’t protect against the common cold. I want to reduce possible exposure, as well as have as many helping hands home as possible. I ordered perhaps a few more sleepers and cool weather clothes than we’ll need, but I wanted to be prepared.

And of course, because it is November, I’ve been monitoring the Black Friday deals. The leapfrog 3 tablet we’re thinking of getting for Nicki is already reported to be 10% off at Walmart. Once the news came out, Amazon immediately dropped the price. I haven’t snapped one up yet. I suspect there will be a better deal before the shopping season is over.

I also suspect there will be some home goods deals we’ll be interested in. Target has a collection of the OXO pop top containers that we really like. I have a crazy suspicion it’ll be one of their deals. I haven’t seen it before, and when similar products have popped up a month or so before Black Friday there ended up being deals.

Our initial plan (as much as these things can be planned) was to space out Nicki and Ziggy between 30 to 36 months which would have put Ziggy’s due date between January and June 2015. Then one evening while I was giving Nicki a bath I just suddenly felt so ready to have another child. Domingo and I decided the timing was right. A few weeks later Ziggy was in the making with a due date just a month and a half earlier than our initial time frame. Since then the timing has just felt so perfect. We couldn’t have planned things any better.

* There is a possibility (depending on when Ziggy comes) that between holidays, company issued paternity leave, and vacation time Domingo will be able to take off the full month of December to stay home with us. How wonderful will that be? Christmas time is our favorite time of the year, and we could get the whole month to spend together as a family of four.

* California allows for pregnancy related disability to start a four weeks before the due date. For me that means a bit before Halloween. I will be able to go to Nicki’s preschool Halloween party. That might not seem like a big deal, but I’ve been racked with guilt over my absence at the Mother’s day party. All us moms were invited for a special lunch. Out of Nicki’s class of 12 only one mom didn’t go: me. I was too new in my job, and too short of vacation days to get away. Her school posted photos on facebook. Every child was sitting in his or her mom’s lap for story time. Every child except mine, who was sitting by herself in the middle of the rug. Worse.Mom.Ever. She didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I wasn’t there, and I’m sure at this point it’s been long forgotten mother’s day just like I’m sure she won’t remember the Halloween party by this time next month. But I will remember.

* There’s a tax advantage to having a baby late in the year vs early. That’s because the dependency deduction and child tax credit are not prorated on the birth of the child. (Not that I advocate trying to plan your child around when it’s most cost effective, but if it happens to work out – hey, who am I to argue?)

* Speaking of financial benefits, we can take advantage of black friday sales to stock up on any extras we need for Ziggy. We plan to have most of the necessities purchased before she arrives, but there are some things that are hard to predict. Will Ziggy like being swaddled? Nicki didn’t. Which swaddle blankets will Ziggy prefer? We can take advantage of seasonal sales to help fill any gaps we might have.

* In the cool anecdotes column, if Ziggy comes as late as Nicki came, Ziggy and Nicki will be one day more apart than my sister and I!