Mon-daze

I began this week by allowing myself to "sleep in," i.e. not wake up to an alarm clock.  I woke at 6:15, late enough to make me feel I had gotten a little extra rest (despite waking every 2-3 hours to go potty or shift positions), yet late enough that I felt I had squelched most of my early-morning productivity.  The lack of a structured schedule this summer has really taken a toll...as much as I tried to have us follow a basic daily schedule, remaining flexible for our varied activities, about the only thing we've really stuck to is our Bible Bee work.  And even that has not been as in-depth as it could (should?) be.

As late as I finished my quiet time, everyone else but Lucan was still asleep--we were all up pretty late last night, as the kids and I hung out at the N's house (just around the corner) for the kids to play while I visited with Eilene a bit.  I decided that I didn't want to skip my exercise time, so I gave Lucan his milk and a banana and plunked him in the stroller.  We set off for a nice long walk, and it was good to move again.  I've been a bit slack the last couple of weeks and had only walked maybe a couple of mornings instead of my almost-daily routine.

Everyone was still asleep when Lucan and I returned.  Kenna and Mom woke and joined us before too much longer, and I finally dragged the older kids out of bed at 10 a.m.  (We MUST get to bed earlier tonight!  This schedule will NOT do at all when we begin our school year!)

After a late breakfast, Charis, Kenna, and I headed out for a few errands.  We went to Walgreens to take advantage of some back-to-school specials--our church is doing a community outreach, trying to put together 700 backpacks for needy kids, and next Sunday is the last day for collecting items.  I had just a few things I wanted to get...I must say, homeschooling actually means our school shopping is drastically reduced!  I did stock up on more dry erase markers and mechanical pencils, plus a 3-subject spiral notebook for each of the older 3 kids, which will be a bit of a change from their loose leaf notebooks we've used the last few years.  We'll see how we like this approach.

Anyway, we headed to Charis's orthodontist appointment, and then to the library.  Then I treated the girls to lunch at McDonald's (shhh!  Don't tell the boys!), and then home again for some rest time and Bible Bee work.  I managed to sort through some piles of baby boy clothes that I've been given (or in some cases, have been returned--we gave Lucan's clothes to a boy from church, whose mom is passing them back to us now!).  It looks like our new baby will have PLENTY to wear...if we can get him through the first few weeks with the very few newborn size clothes we have!  Guess it depends on how tiny or big he is whenever he makes his appearance!  I'm not one for purchasing newborn clothes anyway...they outgrow them so fast...but I do like to have a couple of things they can appear in public in right away!  At least it's summer, and we don't have to worry much about layering!

So, one more thing checked off the to-do list.  I'm actually starting to feel mentally prepared for having a baby in the house again!  I've been physically ready for weeks, LOL.  I'm getting SO uncomfortable, and sleeping is almost as much of a chore as being awake these days.  I wake up feeling achy or in pain--I've had nighttime contractions and/or shooting pains in my lower abdomen pretty much every night, multiple times a night, and it's far from restful.  I can't lie on my right side very long before I get stabbing pains in one particular spot, but if I only sleep on my left side, I wake with a stiff neck and a sore shoulder.  I know, I know, it's all worth it, right?!  But it definitely makes for a loooooong last month of pregnancy.  I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow, though, so hopefully the end is in sight!