busy busy bees

My oh my has it been a busy time in our house lately. This past Saturday my husband left for his first time doing summer training with the Army Reserves. We spent 8 years with him in active duty Army and during that time he deployed to Iraq for 15 months when our oldest two were 16 months old and 4 months old, and then about a year and a half after he returned he had to leave again for a 12 month duty in Korea. That time we had upped it to three kids who were 4, 3, and 9 months when he left. His active duty contract ended back in January- at which point we had increased again to four kids who were now 6, 5, 3, and 8 months. Even though I can certainly adjust to dealing with life while he is away at this point, it doesn't make the time go by any faster. At least this time it's only for three weeks. I don't want to say that I don't think I could handle any longer than that, because as an Army wife I know that you do what you have to do, but I certainly am counting the days till he comes home. Let's face it, someone who is getting to the "super pregnant" stage and whose love language is quality time and has a home and four kids to take care of just doesn't really want to be doing things without her husband.

We have been keeping busy to help make the time go a touch faster, Saturday we got up and went to the zoo. It was hot and crowded, but we still had a good time. Afterwards we came home and vegged and watched a marathon of Tanked on Animal Planet because I felt so wiped out after spending the first half of the day out in the sun.

 

Sunday we all got up and went to church. I seriously considered skipping it, but I knew Terry Virgo was going to be preaching that morning and honestly I didn't really know anything about him, but I am SO glad I went!!! His sermon was so on point and funny, but also very reassuring that we ARE more than conquerors because Jesus is our righteousness and he is the same whether we feel like we're doing okay or we feel like we are total scum. If the church posts the video of his sermon online I definitely want to link it here. I hope they do, because I think my hubs would have gotten a lot out of it as well. 

Monday...I don't really remember what on earth we did on Monday, lol. Tuesday, however, I got it in gear and got ALL the laundry done- which in a house of 6 is a big deal- and vacuumed and swept and mopped and just generally busted my hump all day long because I knew that Wednesday there would be no time. Yesterday we were going going going non-stop. We got up and took Canon to summer school and then went to Wal-Mart to grocery shop. I don't even remember the last time I was in a Wal-Mart before then. I usually do my  grocery shopping at Aldi, but I was already on that side of town, it was the only place open that early, and there were some things on my list that I knew Aldi wouldn't have. It felt like it took forever to get everything in the cart and check out, probably because the store is so much bigger than an Aldi, but we got it done and got back to the house. Groceries were unloaded and put away and I sat and had a bowl of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and cheese. Next thing I knew, it was time to go pick up Canon and then head over to my mother-in-law's house. I got a chance to sit and rest and chat with her until I left to go to my 28 week prenatal appointment. It was time for the glucose test. I don't mind taking them. The sugary stuff doesn't make me queasy or anything and I don't mind getting poked by the needle either. I headed back over to my mother-in-law's house and picked up the kids and we headed home for dinner of not-so-healthy but fast frozen pizza.

Seems like I barely sat down before we were leaving for church. I volunteered to do child care for the ladies' bible study on Wednesday nights and I didn't want to call and say I was too pregnant, or too tired, etc. I don't really think there is going to be a time in my life that I'm not somewhat tired and/or somewhat inconvenienced within the next 20 years, so why not just embrace life the way that it is? There ended up being only one other kid besides my own, but I think my boys enjoyed being out of the house and getting to play in a different setting. We ended up getting home around a quarter till nine, so everyone just got changed and went to bed. I think we were all ready to just be still and rest by that point.

Funny, last night I thought I would take it easy today, and maybe it's the hormones, but I just can't seem to sit still for too long! While Canon was at summer school I washed clothes, cleaned out the van, and switched car seats around to accommodate for our fifth blessing. (I know I still have 12 weeks left, but I'd rather do it now before I'm too big and awkward to manage it myself. ) After we came home from picking Canon up I got to work shredding chicken from the crock pot and doing other things to prep freezer meals. I've never really done make ahead meals/freezer meals before, but I've always wanted to give it a try. With a baby on the way, why not start now?

I feel like I still need to finish up the laundry and clean up the giant mess I've left in the kitchen. I want to be able to watch the Thunder play tonight in the peaceful setting of a clean house. How on earth will I keep my house clean when I no longer have nesting hormones to keep me going?