Are You Lost?

Yesterday was the day I officially got kicked off my custom domain (which was WAY overdue) and went back to my address being a Blogger address. I checked my stats today and noticed that my typical numbers have been down since yesterday. My assumption is that several of my readers had TodaysDailyDose.com linked either from their blog or from some other source and therefore are not being redirected since that domain is now open. Hopefully everyone finds their way back eventually.

I noticed this morning that today is the first day since returning home from our vacation that I've felt relatively normal. I'm not entirely sure that normal really even exists in this house, but I did get out of bed before 9 this morning and didn't feel like I immediately needed to head back to bed. Which is probably good, because my kids were definitely up for the day.

I also noticed this morning that we desperately needed groceries. Well, okay....so I noticed that as soon as we got home on Sunday night. But whatever. We needed them today for sure.

I don't generally take my kids shopping with me for a few reasons:

1. If I'm coupon shopping, I simply can't keep my coupons, list, and kids straight.
2. I like to get a break from them, so I usually go at night when my husband is home with the kids.
3. I tend to lose track of the things on my list and end up running back and forth through the grocery store about 7 times to get everything on it.
4. There's generally not room in the cart for both kids and food.
5. I hate the looks and comments. YES, I have three children under five. And YES, I'm pregnant again. NO, we're not Catholic. YES, we think they're all a blessing. And, for the love of....whatever.....YES, we do know what causes it!

Unfortunately, today I had no choice. I had to get to the store before late tonight because I have cooking club tomorrow and needed to get my meals made and frozen before tomorrow morning. (Who would have thought that an entire chicken and rice meal won't freeze in less than 12 hours?) So I took them along.

Things actually went pretty well. There was minimal whining and I managed to get through TWO grocery stores to get everything that was on my list...on sale. We also happened to arrive at Meijer shortly after they did all their manager special markdowns, so we scored some 25 cent organic yogurts and some 99 cent OJ half gallons....which was perfect since both yogurt and OJ were on my list anyway. :) On the downside, I literally thought I was going to pass out when we reached the check-out line. I hadn't eaten nearly enough for breakfast and it was ridiculously hot in there. At least to me.

But we're home now and....Whew! I'm wiped!

While the kids ate lunch, I put the groceries away....which included washing and re-containerizing the grapes and blueberries. I know. I'm proud too. I have set out my aluminum pans for my cooking club meals, labeled each aluminum foil "lid" and am now attempting work up the energy to make 7 pans of chicken and rice. It's actually the easiest thing on the planet to make, but when you're 6 months pregnant and you just took all 3 of your toddlers to two grocery stores....well, let's just say this momma needs a short breather!

I have about a bazillion things to catch up on business-wise and am attempting not to get burnt out with all the catch-up work that's constantly on my mind. I realized today that I'm just about to enter my 3rd trimester with this little one and - HELLO! Where's my 2nd trimester energy boost?!

Actually, I can't complain. I did get a short burst of energy that lasted about 4 weeks last month. I did lots of organizing and planning in that time, so I guess that's better than nothing. With the baby quickly approaching, I'm going to try to start making some meals/foods ahead of time like I did last time with Reagan. It really was a blessing after she was born (and even shortly before she was born) to just be able to pull something out of the freezer when I was too exhausted to cook. Co-author Gretchen does OAMC every month, which I find totally admirable, but having tried it myself....I also found it way exhausting. So I like to do a little at a time, making extras when I cook my regular meals. So I'll be trying that again. I'd like to make a list of all the foods I'm going to freeze, but...well, I have this thing with lists. I make them and then....I lose them. It's horrible, I know. But it happens. Way too often. So maybe I'll blog the list. Then I can't lose it!

Ok, I believe I need a bit more sustainance and then I will be set to go on making all those dinners. Wish me luck!