What Not to do When You're 39 Weeks Pregnant

1. Take your children to the zoo without your husband, and without a stroller.
Saturday was Trick-or-Treat at the Zoo day. I wanted the kids to be able to go, but Brian had to stay home to study for his big test tomorrow, and I thought that since they would be walking from Trick-or-Treat spot to Trick-or-Treat spot, that it would be harder to get Ethan in and out of the stroller, so it would be easier to just let him walk. Not the case. We had a paper with clues to seven animals to visit, and we had to get a stamp at each of those animals. Then when we were finished, we brought our paper to the front gate and received a bag of goodies. It was a great idea, and we had a great time, but Ethan did not want to walk! It usually takes us two hours to do the whole zoo. On Saturday it took us two hours just to get to those seven animals. We spent a half-hour, not finding the zebras, but finding the people with the stamps at the zebras. And we spent a half-hour looking for the stamp people at the elephants before realizing the clue was supposed to lead you to the warthogs. (The clue said the animal was from Asia, and the elephants are the only thing in the Asia area of the zoo. The warthogs are just above it.) Anyway, we had a great time, I'm so glad we did it, but it completely wore me out!

2. Get the flu.
Alyssa came home from school on Friday complaining of a stomach ache. We had her lay down to watch a movie, and soon she was throwing up. Luckily, it only lasted a few hours and she was completely better the next morning. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. We were having the Olson's over for dinner, and I made chicken enchiladas and cornbread. I felt fine while making dinner. I felt fine while straightening the house. At five o'clock on the dot I started to feel queasy, so I went to lay down for a couple of minutes. The Olson's showed up just after five. I was lonely in the back room, so I snuck to get the phone to call my mom. I went back to lay down, dialed my parents number, and my dad picked up. I asked for my mom, thought, "Hhhmmm...my stomach's feeling worse," and proceeded to throw up all over our bedroom. Where was my five minute warning that I usually get? Needless to say, Brian entertained the Olson's and took care of dinner and got the kids to bed before taking off to the airport to pick up one of our friends. Ethan started throwing up around midnight, and he was so covered that Brian had to take a shower with him to clean him up. Brian took care of Ethan all night, while I slept on the couch. I was so thankful for Brian's help with everything, but it is not fun to throw up with a huge pregnant belly.