T. has been in gone ALL WEEK LONG. I am now 36 weeks pregnant, and scheduled to give birth in, now, just under three weeks. I’m exhausted! He gets back tonight if the weather in Detroit cooperates and he makes his layover. Don’t you just hate it when important stuff depends on random things like Detroit?! Anyway, I have started the weekly doctor’s appointments AND took the girls to the hospital to get pre-admitted earlier this week…for the most part these days, the girls and I go to the doctor and run other errands while Henry is in school and we have a few hours on our own. They have been exceptionally well-behaved lately, so much so that I question if I took the same girls to town that I brought home. But, regardless of their behavior, taking the two of them places WEARS ME OUT. E. Belle can obviously walk everywhere she needs to go, but she also is a toddler and likes to stray off the beaten path sometimes, so I usually carry her. And just the process of getting them both out of the car and into the doctor’s office or the grocery store and then back into the car….well, by the time I do all that, I just need to sit for a while and blot the sweat off of my face.

This week, I’ve also made trips to three different stores with LOTS of coupons at all of them, in an effort to stock up on essentials and save some money. I think I’ve done a pretty good job, as a newbie couponer, and have saved around $30 at each store. The problem is, after going to all of these stores (two of which I had at least one petite female companion with me), I have to unload and put away all of these purchases. So far, I have put away all of the refrigerated and frozen stuff. The kitchen table is home to everything else.

Despite the fact that I’m tired and huge and have been without my husband for five days, most of this week has been easier than normal. Why? HOW? Because my mom has very generously offered to take all three kids in the evening for the past three nights, from the time Henry gets off the bus until bed time. That means that since Monday, I haven’t had to cook dinner for anybody but myself and I’ve had time to breathe (not literally…I am 36 weeks pregnant) and have some quiet time….alone. 

My mom also had E. Belle yesterday afternoon, so it was just Ivy and I that went to the doctor and grocery store. Ivy is OBSESSED with all of her many grandmas, so we were worried that she would be pretty upset that her baby sister got to go to grandma’s house and she didn’t. To try to avoid that, I told her that the two of us would go to get ice cream by ourselves. We rarely get the chance to do anything, just the two of us, so when we do, it’s always a lot of fun…even brain freeze.