One week down.....

So tomorrow Alex comes home from his first week of work in Alexandria, Virginia. And everyone is still alive, unharmed, and relatively happy and well-rested. If only my dog would stop waking me up at almost 6:30 every morning I would be fine. Alex is enjoying himself, and is excited about what he is doing. In this day and age, having found a job at all is amazing, let alone finding one that he actually enjoys and looks forward to everyday. So, even though this means that we are now going to be spending more time apart than together, we still have a lot to be grateful for in our lives.

I am actually amazed at how well the week has gone. Considering I have been a completely and total emotional freak the past few months, I have managed to have a good attitude and remained pretty calm the past four days. I have gotten teary at night, but all in all am okay. The laundry is even done, and folded, and about 80% put away. In a normal week, that is a feat unto itself. Of course, I have had help from sitters part-time this week, which has made a huge difference. We both agree that I have to have help during the week to keep things under control. I am so tired and run down now, I can not imagine what the first few months are going to be like after the baby is born. And thinking of caring for all three kids, the dog, myself, and all the household to-dos on my own for most of the week is enough to make me want to crawl under the covers and never surface again. I can't even think about what would happen if one of us got sick. And forget about trying to move us all down there on my own. Since family is not especially close-by, we have been fortunate enough to have found a couple of great sitters that everyone is happy with. I am very thankful that we are able to have the help we need to get through this transition period in our family's life. I am also thankful that my kids are weird enough to love babysitters.

I am looking forward to having my husband home with us again tomorrow night, even if it is only for a couple of days. The kids really miss him, and have been asking about when he will be back, especially today. I am hoping that him being away and having a new baby in the house at the same time is not too stressful for them (or me!). After next week he will be working from home for a couple of weeks until I have recovered from my surgery. So that will be a nice treat.

And now, off to enjoy the peace an quiet of my house. The kids are asleep, and will hopefully be that way until around 7 tomorrow morning. The house is in pretty good shape, and I only have one load of laundry left to fold. A cup of tea, some DVR'd TV, and off to bed.