I may never leave the house again.

Lately I'm developing a sinking suspicion that life is about to change. I mean really change {way to state the obvious, right??}. Here's the funny thing though, when it comes to the baby I'm not overwhelmed at thought of all the baby stuff. I'm used to sleepless nights, nursing, pumping, bottles, etc. As long as we are at home, I think I got this {here's hoping!}. It's the whole leaving the house thing with three, three and under, that has me terrified.

When Jude was first born I remember wondering how will I ever leave the house and get two kids in and out of the car. I'll never forget our first trip to Target. It was hilarious, and my mom was even with me! We seriously made a game plan for who to get out first and when to get the cart. We were so proud of what we had accomplished, but I remember thinking I would never do it again solo. Ha! Fast forward to nowadays, and we go at least once a week.

Target has always been my safe place. They have the big double carts. I can strap the boys in, load them up with goldfish and for an hour or so I'm golden. At least I used to be. It hit me last week in the midst of meltdowns, that even Target was no longer safe. Nowhere near done getting all our groceries {but of course we had a cart full of Easter goodies!}, Jude started getting antsy. My bag of tricks was empty. We'd gone through two boxes of goldfish, frosted animal cookies from the Dollar Spot, three bags of fruit snacks and two granola bars between the two boys {talk about healthy eating, I know!}. The Hot Wheels cars I'd bribed them with for good behavior were getting thrown out, and Jude was now barefoot with his socks in his mouth. I quickly snagged the rest of the items on my list and wheeled our way over to the checkout. Sadly things got worst.

As I'm unloading all our items, George is shaking his camping first aid kit that is filled with quarters he has been earning for good behavior at home. He was so excited to be able to buy his new Hot Wheels cars. I think the rest of Target was just excited for him to pay so the loud quarter shaking would stop. Barefoot Jude was still not happy and managed to find his box of goldfish which in fact was not empty. Following brother's lead, he too started shaking his box yet the noise quickly ended as goldfish went flying everywhere. Cut to me trying to be that mom that does right and frantically tries to pick up all the goldfish. Sadly the other customers behind us were not amused and wheeled right on past us with their cart, crushing all the goldfish. I tried, right? At this point I know it is time to leave, so I decide to save our little banking lesson for another day and go ahead and tell the gal to ring up the cars. I throw the bags in the cart and started to exit, but my oh so sharp three year old caught on and screams, "But I haven't paid for my cars!!!" Keep in mind his $4.23 to pay for said cars is all in change. And I've already paid on my credit card. G starts counting out each quarter on the moving checkout lane, and the sweet checkout girl just picked it all up, put them in a bag and handed to me while he wasn't looking. And finally, with Jude's socks still in his mouth, we were out the door!

As I loaded the boys and all our goods into the car, I had a brief moment of frustration/embarrassment/exhaustion, but then moved on and recognized who cares. Who cares that my boys lunch just consisted of a meal of preservative-filled snacks {they had a healthy dinner!} or that we caused quite a scene in Target. And who cares that people were staring at said scene and seeing my big bump and questioning my sanity. Jude managed not to choke on his socks, and George learned the value of a dollar. No one was injured. No damage was done. But I do think when this third baby arrives, we may never leave the house again. Thank goodness for online shopping!