On having help.

Supposedly I am in the "honeymoon" phase of this pregnancy. No longer continually-on-the-verge-of-puking and not yet impeded by my large and in charge belly full o' baby. The second trimester. And while I am glad the nausea has passed and I am enjoying my still limber days, I am EXHAUSTED and not feeling so honeymoonish!  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have three children to care for while growing this baby. Or maybe it's because I am old(er) this time around. Maybe it's because my husband is 600 miles away and we just moved and we are NOT settled and organized yet...whatever the reason...I am TIRED. Which means when I put the kids to bed I fall asleep and stay asleep all night every night. Which in turn means this here blog has gone a bit silent. Post-kids' bedtime is typically my blogging time. Now it's just my sleep time. Oops. 

But tonight I managed to stay awake past the kids' bedtime. (V for victory!!) So I am BACK! And I am happy to report that we are settling into life here in Minnesota. We are slowly finding our new routine. Our groove. I personally am loving having my parents around to help (they are both retired!). It's the simple things like not having to drag all three kids out the door in the morning to bring Isaiah to school that make the biggest difference. Or leaving Hannah napping at pick-up time. It's the big things too. Like having dinner on the table every night at 5pm...without having to cook it!!!  Seriously that one is AMAZING. Oh and the other day I went to my one hour new OB patient appointment by myself. It was so quiet and peaceful. (Historically I have brought my whole crew with me for the majority of my OB appointments so this was like a dream come true!) I am loving this arrangement. I just hope the feeling is mutual...

This week has gone so well in fact (...besides having to peel a crying Charlotte off my torso for preschool drop-off on Friday...) that I have been feeling good and strong and whatever the opposite of a hot mess is until soccer practice on Friday afternoon. See I had promised the kids a trip to Walmart for a new toy on Friday after school (to celebrate the end of the first week at a new school). When I made this promise I didn't realize Isaiah had soccer practice that same afternoon. So I pushed back the shopping trip until after practice. Seemed like a logical solution to me. Isaiah and Charlotte didn't agree. I dragged them (against their will) to practice and forced Isaiah onto the field. Just as I was being lulled into believing I had everything under control disaster struck. In the form of a toot gone wrong. So wrong in fact that new underwear and pants were necessary. Unfortunately I did not have either of those items on my person or stowed away in the van. We improvised with little sister's spare dress (two sizes too small!) because the show had to go on! As I was walking into Walmart with my three children, one of whom was going commando I accepted the fact that even with all the extra help, I am still a hot mess. A hot mess that needed to make a purchase ASAP...

*Edited to add. I did not stay awake long enough to type up this post last night. I fell asleep after the first paragraph. Thankfully nap time today is proving to be a very productive time for me.