On Sunday I knew I was going to have to go out and do a big shopping trip. I told Chris this, and he said he wanted to go out first and pick up paint, so we could get started this week on at least one of the rooms. Yipee! So I said sure. He took Troyer and Noah with him. It turns out that he decided that since Troyer turned 10, it was time for The Talk. Yikes! Already??? I wasn't so sure Troyer even wanted to hear it, he always yells and covers his ears when I mention girls at all, LOL. It turns out they were gone for quite a while. When they finally got home, Noah couldn't wait to tell me all about it. It was really embarrassing, LOL. My electrical engineer husband of course described it as being like "plugging in a cord into an outlet" LOL. So Noah told me how gross that was and he didn't think he'd want to "plug it in" anywhere, but then his imagination took over and he started suggesting other places to "plug it into" and I just didn't know what to say! LOL *Sigh* I don't think *I* was ready for the talk!
Anyway, it took them a while longer than I thought it was going to to get back, so I didn't get started on my shopping trip until after 4. I took just Levi with me, and this time I remembered the sling! It was getting really old having that carseat take up room in the cart when I was just carrying him on my shoulder anyway, and it was hard to push the cart with one hand. I am glad I remembered it! We stopped at 3 stores, and he was wonderful through all 3. He stayed awake through the first 2, but didn't cry at all. I did have to nurse him in each parking lot, before I strapped him back in his seat, but at least he wasn't crying while I was checking out! He did get a little cranky at Super WM, the last store, but it was because he was tired, and as soon as I got him to sleep, he slept in the sling for the rest of the trip. I think my brain also fell asleep, because even though I had a list in my hand, I kept skipping items and having to go back for them. I think I lapped the store 3 times, because they put things like light bulbs and shampoo on the opposite side of the store from the groceries. Ugh. By the time we got home, he was seriously hungry for more than a snack in the back seat, so Chris unloaded the groceries from the trunk while I sat down on the couch to nurse Levi. Holy Cow, my feet were SORE! I was out a total of 5 hours, most of that time with the extra weight of the baby strapped to me. It must have been quite a workout, because my leg and butt muscles are still sore today. I also spent more money than I should have. Because Chris was so late, making me have a late start, the bank branch that actually opens on Sundays was already closed, so I had to use my debit card instead of cash, which I prefer. I was also buying some clothes and bins for starting to pack up the house for painting, but those things don't come out of the grocery budget, so I wasn't paying attention to the total bill. Oops. When I got home and added it up, I found out that now I only have about $35 for the next two weeks. Good for milk and peanut butter, I guess, LOL.
Not surprisingly, after being rocked to sleep so wonderfully all evening, Levi was prepared to be awake for quite a while. That's ok, I thought, the price to pay for him behaving in the store, I didn't mind. I watched some tv, then got on the computer for a while. I really wanted to drop into bed, because I was so worn out from carrying him everywhere, so I was waiting for him to drop off to sleep. He would keep nodding off while nursing, but wake right back up again when I tried to lay him down. Finally I gave up at 1:30, when he was asleep on my shoulder, and took him to bed with me so I could get some sleep. We had gotten home at 9, so he had been up for 4 1/2 hours.
He slept for 2 1/2 hours, until 4 am. I had hoped for more, but didn't mind getting up, as maybe he would go back to sleep in the bassinette and I'd get some more sleep. Well, guess what? He wouldn't sleep. He would fall asleep on my lap, but as soon as I even tried to get out of the chair, his eyes would be wide open again. Ugh! Finally I got him to lay down, it was 6. Chris was already up and in the shower. I knew that it would only be a half hour or so before Micah and Caleb were up and bothering me, waahh. But worse than that, do you know, within 20 minutes Levi was crying? He just would not sleep alone. I laid in bed and cried myself, LOL. After 5 hours of power shopping with that baby strapped on, and then getting only 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I was going to have to get up with the rest of the boys and start the day. My feet *still* hurt, and my butt hurt from sitting in the chair most of the night, and now my stomach hurt from not enough sleep. I had Chris bring Levi to me in bed, and I nursed him until he fell asleep, but it was not until 7 am! The boys did get up, but they were really good about going down and watching tv and getting themselves breakfast so I could rest in the bed. It wasn't a deep sleep, but it beat getting up.
Of course, being a Monday, I knew it was going to be a bad day. Mondays are laundry day here, plus it's a fight to get the boys back into school work after 2 days off, and I had a lot of cleaning up to do after a weekend, because I usually put things off. I was right, and Monday lived up to its reputation, LOL. By the time Chris got home I was getting a second wind, but I was still sore and tired. He so nicely offered to make dinner for me, and I was able to get a little more laundry done. There is a lot I didn't get done, though, so I will be playing catch-up all week.