The Neverending Checklist

Hello everyone! It has been a bit of a gap since my last post but I figured that would give me a little bit more to blog about.  We had quite a week starting Tuesday.  Gianna had her two month check up. She is a whopping 10lbs9oz.  Growing great. I mentioned to the Dr. about all of her stomach issues.  She seems to think that she may have some reflux and a lactose intolerance. Already cutting all dairy out of my diet, a week later, she is a completely new baby. She is actually sleeping through the night, which is just changing everything about our everyday activities.  

This weekend we had two birthdays and three baptisms to attend.
 A few weeks ago Rick and I had a conversation about how stressed out he was before we had to leave for the grocery store. He had expressed how much of a hassle it was to leave with all of the packing and such.  I had to just laugh and remind him that his job was simply to WAIT as I did all of the preparations for leaving.  Having two little ones in diapers, the space in my diaper bag is cut in half. I have to make sure to pack diapers and wipes for both of them, an extra outfit for the baby in case of a blow out.  The occasional need for Desitin, baby powder or Tylenol involves a separate tiny bag. I always pack a small Tupperware of random snacks; pretzels, cereal and of course I can't forget the emergency meltdown piece of candy, which I usually end up eating myself.  Once I have packed for the kids there is a tiny bit of space for things that I may need.  Wallet, Chap stick, hair-tie.  It is amazing that pre-kids I used to have a purse FULL of junk although then, it seemed to be all essentials. By the time I have mentally gone through a checklist for every child in my head and considered every possible emergency and melt down we are ready to get into the car.  Then comes the outside checklist. Do we have everyone's car seat in place? Are we going anywhere that requires a stroller? Will it be cold enough for an extra jacket or blanket?  It is never ending.  So by the time we actually get into the car and start to pull out of the driveway we usually have to stop in order for me to run back in and get my cell phone or a pacifier.  When we arrive at our destination I have usually forgotten something. Thankfully it's not something huge, usually just Richard's sippie cup or Gianna's burp rag.  Sometimes this process by itself wears me out and it does take me a little bit of time to recover.  It's nice that I finally got to explain this to Rick.  The planning that it takes to get four people ready to leave the house isn't just an after thought of, "Oh ya, the kids need their shoes and socks on."  It takes a lot more brain power and planning that sometimes starts the night before we know we will be going somewhere.  My goal is to not be so discouraged about this and to not stress so much about it either.  I want to enjoy myself on the rare occasion I do get to leave the house!!
I hope some of you mom's can relate, whether you  have one or multiple children.  Give yourself a pat on the back!