Today when I got home from the grocery store I had to take three trips into the house and I only had 2 grocery bags that were not even half full.  It is becuase all of my kids had fallen asleep and so one by one I carried them in the house, removed shoes and then laid them on the couch, except the baby she stayed in her car seat (who ever invented the carrier car seat gets my shout out here...it is amazing for sleeping children.)  I am suprised they stayed laying on the couch but I will be the last to compalin and the first to enjoy the peace and quiet!

It's 6 pm and I am done for the day.  Unfortunately my kids would major protest going to bed right now.  So here I am eating chocolate whoppers and blogging! Of course I am making sure that they are not destroying the house or harming each other, but outside of that, I stopped caring where they drag the blankets and toys and what they are doing with them.  There will be a big mess to clean up; dishes, books and toys in the kitchen...bedroom.s...living room...bathroom...(sigh!)
This is the most overwhelmed I have felt since my baby was born.  My husband has been on call/working this weekend so since 6 am Friday morning he has been home and awake for 9 hours.  Not that I am complaining (because once this moment passes I will be back to normal) but that it is part of why today was hard (that and the thought keeps coming into my mind that my sister would have been here to help with my husbands long work weekend had my husband not been nice to his coworker and switched last weekend for this one!) 
I think I handled Friday's 24 hour shift much better because I had an out with the TV.  My husband and I have tried not to let TV be turned on on Sundays, but today was a battle within myself to not use it for a break from my kids.  It is one of those love/hate relationships.  I love that the TV can give me a break but I hate that it is a time waster and also my son would never turn it off if he had the choice.  In fact he has made his own TV out of a scrap piece of wood and was pretending to watch it earlier when I declined another request to turn on the TV.
It hasn't helped that my younger son is sick and instead of going to nursery at church I kept him with me.  He did pretty good in the adult classes, but it is hard to keep him from being active, making noise, and distracting other people.  Thankfully most of the adults are helpful and hopefully understanding as they have ''been there before!'' 
Oh! there seems to be even more that I could blame for my lack of ability to keep sane today, but the reality is that ''this too shall pass'' and "that which does not kill us makes us stronger!"  I'm sure this is partly why everyone seems to say that 3 is the hardest.
Well there goes my baby crying, the swing is no longer making her happy.  So here's to motherhood!  The BEST but most challenging job :)

Home

Well we are home.  My brand new baby girl is officially part of our home.  I am glad that she is here and is healthy.  Coming home helps me realize how much easier it was to take care of her before...but it wasn't as fun!    She is a typical newborn, eat, sleeps, poops...cuddles with me during nap time. 
I will admit that I was not near as anxious to come home as my husband was.  Not that I didn't want to be home but because I new I would have to return to being a mom of multiple kids and many "duties."  The responsibility of taking care of things in my home, rather then just being taken care of and having little to no responsibility can be enjoyable.  Not that I would want it very long or very often, but I was enjoying it.  I guess being waited on now and then is just fine.  Being home just makes me feel like I should be taking care of my typical responsibilities.
Thankfully my mom has taken over some (probably most!) of my responsibility around the house.  It is very nice to have her here and also to have my dad here because the boys love playing with him and it gives me a break.  The real life of being a mom of three will begin when my husband goes back to work and my parents leave.  Luckily I have a few days before then.
So until then I will just enjoy the next few days and keep telling myself it is okay to let people do things for me :)

Time: fast vs slow

Normally time seems to go fast. i.e."wow the summer sure went fast,"  "I can't believe my baby is already in school" etc.  In the scheme of the big picture this pregnancy has gone by relatively fast...until yesterday.  The day seemed normal until the evening when it just seemed that time was slowed way down.  I had gotten the kids to bed before my husband got home from church meetings and my mom and I were just sitting at the table when he got home and sat with us.  The thought came to me (as I had felt for the last few hours that there was more that I should be doing since time was going so slow) that this was the calm before the storm.

Now it is the wee hours of the morning and again I find time going a bit slow.  I'm sure that it will speed right back up once the sun starts to shed it's light on the day.  I'm sure time seeming to slow is because of the anticipation of the day...Today is the day baby 3 will join the family.  She was due yesterday and given the past 2 children's disposition to stay inside for several extra days, we were not thinking she would come much earlier and got approval from the doctor to induce today.  Tuesday he said that my body was showing readiness but that the baby was not looking as interested (meaning she is still high in my belly).  I guess my kids just like being all tucked up inside until they have to come out!

I can honestly say that I am gong through a range of emotions for this day: 
*I am excited-ready to meet this little girl, see what she looks like
*I am nervous-everyone says three is the hardest; still not so sure I can handle a girl
*I am anxious-there comes a point that you are just ready for something to be over with.  I have loved being pregnant and have felt toward the end of this pregnancy that not going into labor has been okay since it is much easier to handle her without actually needing an extra hand...but there comes a point when even that though can't stop the anxiety from hitting.
*I am scared-labor is not really that fun and I know that I will be sore and I don't really like having pain...truth be told, I kind of am a pansy.  I know that it won't last long but still the idea it will be there for several days is just enough to scare me.
*I am happy-Life is good, really it is despite all the bad in the world.  This may seem crazy to say I'm happy then mention the bad in the world, but thanks to my Savior and a knowledge of his Eternal plan, I am happy!
*I am grateful-to be able to have another child...to have a husband I love, to have two wonderful (and very trying of my patience) children...to have my parents here to help and also the whole family support that I have felt and know is there among my siblings and in-laws and friends...I think this list could go on and on, I am TRULY blessed and VERY grateful for those blessing!

Due Dates

Several months ago when it came time to start telling people we were expecting our third we also found out that two of my good friends were also expecting.  It was also both of their thirds and we were all due within 2 weeks of each other.  I was first, then one friend was due one day after me and the other friend was due 2 weeks after that.  Well...it is almost my due date and I am the only one still pregnant!  We received a text from the friend due 2 weeks after me that they had their baby boy yesterday.  They got the 10-2-11 baby that I was wanting (I thought the birthday of 'ten to eleven' would be cool).  My other friend delivered on the 25th of September...she had a girl.  So this is the 3rd time that someone I knew pregnant and due after me has delivered before me.  I am not really complaining because in a way life is a bit less chaotic right now, but it would be nice to have all the waiting and wondering 'when' over with!  But as I am learning/have learned you can never predict these pregnancy things especially when statistically only one percent of babies are born on their due date.  Not even the medical field has good odds of telling you when your baby will come!!
So if you want to deliver early I guess you should get pregnant when I do ;)

What a difference a day makes

Mentally what can a day give you?  I have thought about this the past few days...probably because I had mentally planned and prepared for something just to have the date pushed back by a few days.  I thought Friday would be my last OB appointment before this little one joins our family on the outside, but due to living in a small town, scheduling rules and a few other things, I will have one more OB appointment and a few extra days of being pregnant.  It is okay in a way because it is easier to manage things right now, I don't have lifting or activity restrictions (not really but I of course can't do what I could if I was not pregnant) and I get more sleep then I will with a newborn.  So, in a way I have to look at the situation as a blessing even though in my head I was prepared for something else.  Now I could go into labor on my own and avoid one more OB checkup and a few extra days of being pregnant, but given my other pregnancies, I (and my husband) quite doubt it. 
I think part of the mental aspect is that I had worked it out in my head to maximize time...time that my parents are here, time that my husband would have off work, time to get stuff done, etc.  Now I have less time with some things a more time with others.  My 'to do' list just grew exponentially.  I thought I was being on top of things like cleaning and laundry that were done, but I know they will have to be done one more time (not that they are ever truly done but for the maximal amount of time until they need to be done again).  I guess it is good because it will keep me busy and make the days go by a bit faster.  I should just remind myself that a few days is nothing when you look at the whole picture of it has taken almost 40 weeks to get to this point!
So the lesson learned (which I seem to repeat learning very often in my life...I guess I just don't learn some things very well!) is that even if you mentally plan/prepare yourself for something, it can change very easy and so you have to be mentally prepared for that too!

A different kind of preparedness

Today we had an amazing women's conference.  A car full of women from my branch rode together for the hour and 45 minute drive there and then we were enriched for the next three and a half hours before our hour and 45 minute ride home.  We were first enriched by a wonderful lunch and then we were fed wonderful knowledge for our personal lives and families.

The general session was not topics that you would naturally think a church meeting would discuss, but were powerful and pertinent.  The first speaker talked about pornography and it's evil influence.  How it can destroy marriages but also how marriages can be healed after taking the proper steps to overcome the silent spiritual killer.  The men in the church have been hearing this one for a long time now, but now it is our turn and probably because it is affecting more and more more families not just through the father.  There was a statistic given that was mind churning and truly heart wrenching...out of 40,000 people in the survey, 45% said they were "hooked" on pornography by 11-16 years old, 25% were between 17-19 but the scary-sad part was that 9% were hooked 5-10 years of age.  That was a wake up call that the things I need to begin talking about with my children are not that far away!

The second speaker was a lawyer/school teacher who talked about cyberbullying, sexting, and internet safety.  I have heard of these things but was not aware just how prevalent it is becoming...correct myself -IT IS.  1 in 4 youth are cyberbulled and of those not bullied, 65% know someone who is/has been cyberbullied.  This topic along with the other two topics, and I was just awe struck as I was hearing not only the things he had to say but what the ladies in the congregation were contributing. S.C.A.R.Y!  My mind kept asking "Can I just keep my kids little?"  Answer: No! I know I can't so then I was turned to contempation about how I can teach them, help them, protect them from the evil that is everywhere around them.

It is hard to wrap up a two hour mini course into a few words, especially when I am not loquacious in any degree, but my take home message comes down to a few things that I will try to share. (and believe me, the more I think about it the longer my list is getting!!)
1-The Gospel is amazing and we are so blessed to have inspired leaders who have been warning and teaching us of avoiding such evils for years now.
2-The Gospel has the keys we need to start protecting/teaching/helping if we REGULARLY use them (i.e. attend church, scripture study, prayer, repentance...all those seminary answers we could plug into any question posed and they would not be wrong)
3-We need to establish open communication.  Bold in some areas, blunt and with genuine love.  This needs to be there between husband and wife and then between parent and child.  If we don't talk to them, someone else will, and it will probably not be the information we want them to have. 
4-We also need to start EARLY.  If we think that waiting until they age "dating age"...we are too late!  Remember 9% of those polled were hooked to porn between 5-10 years of age.
5-With certain privileges comes specific or certain conditions. i.e. with the internet, there is much good, but also easy access to much evil.  They need to know not to go to such sites and they need to know if they come across a "not so good site" how to quickly get away and to also not be afraid to talk about it so it can be prevented.  There are great resources out there for taking precautionary measures, but I/we can't be naive in thinking this will solve the problem...they need also to be talked to about if they are exposed to things they find wrong.
6-We can't avoid everything.  So prepare, teach and warn for when it does come.
7-We need to not only not do things, but to stand up for others (this is from the cyberbullying part but is applicable in other aspects).

We then split up into two groups and had another great meeting about the importance of family dinner time but that may need to be another post since this one has now reached the "long post" status!