I was looking at the calendar and wondering how time flew by during this pregnancy. I’m already in week 32 of pregnancy, and I still have all these cooking projects I want to do: no-knead brioche! Scallion milk bread! Browned butter miso chocolate chip cookies! Semi-traditional almond cookies! Passion fruit cake! More alfajores! Cream puffs! Will I actually accomplish making all these things, or will these go into a long, long back log of things I’ll make when I’m finally able to come up for air and breathe after the baby has arrived?

Nesting is defined as an instinct that finds moms-to-be preparing their homes (also known as their “nests”) for their baby’s impending arrival. While we have certainly been gathering items needed for Pookie Bear’s arrival, and I’ve been taking classes on childbirth, breastfeeding, etc., and also listening to endless podcasts about the birthing process and motherhood, the other kind of nesting that comes to mind is… just getting stuff done I want to do, like bake all these not-super-necessary things I noted above. Some of it may even be freezer friendly (I’m looking specifically at the scallion milk bread or the brioche, yum) to stock up on food to easily reheat or toast once baby arrives, once I don’t have much time or energy to make food. I also want to stock up on freezer-friendly, homemade food for our freezer so that we’re not reliant on takeout or delivery, as well. It’s a long list of things that have to get done, so I keep having short pep talks with Pookie Bear each day to take her time growing and wiggling around in my uterus, that she can’t come too early, otherwise we won’t fully be prepared for her. And doesn’t she want us to be physically and mentally prepared to take care of her and ourselves?