Frugal "Survival Mode"

I'm in survival mode right now.  Actually, sometimes it feels more like "barely surviving" mode!

Even though Baby "Gem" will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday, we've only been home from our second hospital stay for a week, so we really lost the first two weeks for settling in.  He's also still been on the bili-blanket for his jaundice, which makes life a bit more complicated.  (He always has to be plugged into an outlet!)  Add all that to the normal adjustment to having three kids under five, and you've got one tired, stressed-out mommy! 

While we're adjusting to our new family, I'm letting a lot of things go!  For instance:

Meal Planning - We have been greatly blessed to receive several dinners from friends and members of my church moms' group.  That has been so wonderful!  When we haven't had a meal from a friend, I've been making pasta.  And we'll eat cereal for dinner if it comes to that!  Right now, I just don't have the energy or organization to cook, and that's okay.  Friends who have three or more kids tell me I will cook again . . . right? right?

Couponing/Shopping - I was briefly tempted this week to try to make it to Harris Teeter's Super Double coupons.  Luckily, I stopped myself in time and decided that the preparation and effort to make the trip was not where I need to be spending my energy right now.  I have a good stockpile from my August bargain shopping, and now is the time to use it.  There will always be more sales to rebuild it later!  One surprising benefit for my couponing, however, is that I used my downtime in the hospital to totally clean out my coupon box.  Now whenever I have ten spare minutes I'm cutting out my back inserts, so when I do get back to couponing I should be totally organized!

Rules/Routine - As a caveat to this, I should say that we are getting our girls back into their bedtime and quiet time routines, as they were of course totally off them while we were in the hospital.  Sleep is definitely very important for everyone right now!  However, yes, I am letting other things slide.  For instance, I have suspended all my normal limits on movie time.  Right now, if I need to put on a DVD for the sake of all of our sanity, I do!  I'm also not worrying too much about balanced meals.  I remember that GiGi spent the first couple of weeks after LuLu was born eating mostly goldfish crackers, and she lived through it. ;-)  I'm also *trying* not to stress about getting back to a rhythm in our days.  I know that it will take some time to figure out what will work best for the new version of the family.

Blogging - Of course, you've also noticed that the blog has to be on the back burner for a little while.  However, I still have a couple of cool guest posts to run.  Beyond that, I hope you'll just bear with me.  I'll be posting whenever I can.  I also can't wait to share with you soon how I'll be attending my first blogging conference in October!

Well, that's about what my life looks like right now! 

What about you?  When have you been in "survival mode"?  Do you have any tips for me?  I could definitely use them!