Follow up to yesterday's post...

No recruiting today!

As I sat down to my computer while the boys started eating their breakfast:

Carter: "Mom! This is not what I ordered!"

Lord, give me strength :)

This week...

This week I've been a single working pregnant mother. I'm beat!  Chris scored and amazing opportunity to go deep sea fishing in Alaska and we decided he simply HAD TO GO! It is so hard to get him to take a break and do something for himself that it was a no-brainer for me, even if it meant leaving me alone with the boys for a week.

Then, last week, I was asked to take on a recruiting job. I should have said, "no." I mean, I'm like 8 months pregnant and tired, but I just.can't.say.no. to a recruiting opportunity. I love it. I love the challenge of it. Most of all, I love when I find the perfect person! So I agreed and was given resumes on Friday. Then they told me they wanted a candidate by Wednesday. hmm..

A little panicked, but excited by the challenge, I started calling in the reinforcements. If I didn't have 2 kids to take care of, this wouldn't have been a huge issue, but you can't interview candidates with toddlers in the background - it's tacky. I was able to piece together a childcare plan for bits and pieces of the week and scheduled interviews around already scheduled dentist appointments and babysitter availability. I've completed my interviews and will continue to screen candidates, but right now, I'm in finger crossing mode that we made have the right candidate moving through the process.

So, busy week. That said, I've decided that FOR ME, being a stay-at-home-mom is harder than any job I've ever had. Not mentally challenging, but more exhausting physically and more trying on my patience and my stress levels. I had already noted this before with friends, but having a week of work with Chris out of town, I feel like I really got to experience it more. Normally, if he is gone from us for just a few days, I feel like I need a vacation when he gets back. This time he will have been gone Monday 5a.m. to Saturday at 7 p.m. and I'm feeling pretty darn good Thursday night.

Now, with THAT said, it killed me to come downstairs after 5 hours of interviews to see the kids playing with a sitter. I was missing out! They excitedly told me what they had been doing for the day, what they ate for lunch, and I even found the tattling too precious for words.

As exhausting as it is to be a caregiver 24/7, I could not be a working mom right now. Every now and again it is awesome to have a recruiting job to get excited about, but having to leave my boys everyday.... ugh! Too painful. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with them, even on days when Chris comes home to find me almost passed out on the couch with leftovers for dinner, at least I didn't miss anything.

Dentist

Both boys did awesome at the dentist which is normal for Carter, but even Coen did x-rays, teeth cleaning and flossing! He did so well that he scored these sweet glasses which he won't take off.

Mom for a minute quiz

Being mom means wearing MANY hats. One of them is "translator". While riding in the car the other day, we ran out of songs to sing.

Old MacDonald. Check.
This is the day the lord has made. Check.
Jessus Loves Me. Check.
Etc...

I asked what else we could sing and Carter thought about it.

"I only know: rumor has it, rumor has it, rumor has it (Adel) and... um... We are old. Carry me home tonight." (He was singing these lines, but to the wrong melody).

So there you have it. Your mom quiz for the day.

I'm pretty proud that I figured it out in about 3 minutes, but it required quite a bit of brain power.

The "un" shower

Last night I got a much needed girls' night out with my besties. Some were appalled that I was not going to have a shower for my third son, but it just seemed a little greedy silly to me. They insisted we do something to celebrate this baby and my being pregnant 'cause after all, it is a miracle. I gave in and am so glad I did. We had such a great time at dinner and followed it up with a short walk to an amazing ice cream place.

I was also spoiled rotten with gift certificates for facials, massages, make-up, BABYSITTING and a night away at a spa with one of my favorite girls. They knew just what I'll be needing heading into motherhood of 3 age 3 and under. Nicole even provided post-baby necessities including beer, Starbucks and chocolate. She knows me too well.

Bump update

Wow. Has it really been almost a week since I posted? Sorry. It's been a bit hectic around here. We were at the lake this weekend with some good friends and then just busy trying to catch up before leaving again tomorrow for the big Kale Campout!

Anyway... bump update.

Everything is looking great. I was measuring small, but within normal range so we went ahead and did an ultrasound. No good pictures to share. It was a different tech this time and well... no good photos. Oddly enough, my belly was measuring small, but our little guy isn't little. First time around he was measuring in the 95%.  She did it again because she was so surprised and got it down to the 85%. The ultrasound shows him to weigh about 4 lbs 15oz give or take, but he is at least 4 lbs. AND HE HAS HAIR ALREADY!

It is so weird getting to see so much this time since we only had the one ultrasound with Carter at 20 weeks. The tech was surprised how much hair he had at this stage so, maybe he'll have even more than Carter did..?

We're down to 6 weeks until he makes his scheduled appearance. Let's hope he's on the same page and doesn't want to come early. I'm trying to be ready but keep realizing that I'm missing stuff! Where the heck is the bath thing-y and my boppie? And my baby carrier? I never would have gotten rid of it. Do I need a "nap nanny"? Oh, and bottles. Got rid of those. So much left to do!

Did I mention I agreed to take on a recruitment job at Chris' company to be completed ASAP? Don't laugh. I'm well aware I'm crazy.

Chore chart

I told Carter I was thinking of making a chore chart for him. He got so excited! He insisted we had to do it NOW! We sat together and came up with his chores: 1) staying in bed or his room until his light turns on (on a timer) 2)eating ALL of his breakfast 3) keeping the playroom clean 4)taking a nap without a fight 5)eating ALL his dinner 6)going to bed without a fight 7) mommy has the power to add chores as needed

He gets a toy $1 for each chore he does well and we came up with a list of prizes he can cash them in for. One is a movie date with mommy, another is getting to watch a tv show (he has gotten a little addicted to Blue's Clues so this will hopefully help him choose real play over spending his hard earned money on tv). He can also choose to buy a new book.

I love how excited he is to do his chores! Maybe we'll get him to gain a little weight :)