LONG WEEK

We made it!

If I survived this week, I can do anything, right? My first week back; A away the ENTIRE week (due to some lovely airplane mechanical failures); JP's emerging molars; and AA's bottle fiasco. Whew ... I'm beat! And I'm so thankful to have Fridays off!

BACK TO WORK

I cannot even begin to count the number of times I thought about kissing my cute babies during my first two days back at work!

We are all surviving! Miss Emmy tells me that the kids have done great ... AA is scarfing down her bottles without fussing! She's napped well and just loves all of the noise. JP hasn't acted any differently with his little sister in tow. Whew. I've enjoyed seeing friends at work and cleaning out the cobwebs in my brain!

But ... I definitely have some adjusting to do! With A away this whole week, I've been challenged with getting us all out of the door clothed, fed, and ready for the day by 7:15 a.m. The bigger challenge is after work ... racing to pick up the kids on time, making dinner, bathing, and bedtime by 7:00 p.m. How do single parents do this?! I just don't get enough awake time with them! Thank goodness for three day weekends!

TOMORROW

Tomorrow is March 7th. This date has been on my mind since I started my maternity leave in early December. It's funny how those two words can cause such a flood of emotions. Tomorrow I return to work. Tomorrow I get to be a professional again wearing suits and high heeled shoes using big people language. Tomorrow I will be reunited with colleagues and friends and patients. Tomorrow I will be challenged intellectually.

And tomorrow I will miss my kids like crazy.

Although there were definitely some long nights and long days, all in all these last 12 weeks flew by. I really tried to soak in each moment. I witnessed my sweet JP become a big brother. Over the last three months he has really grown from a baby to a little boy. I am so thankful I was home during this transition helping him in his new role.

And I still cannot believe I have a baby girl! She brings me so much joy (and anxiety!). I've tried my hardest to attend to her needs and lay the foundation for her development. AA learns something new each day. She is full of life and smiles. I will always cherish this wonderful time I've had discovering who she is and attempting to learn how she works.

When we were at the science museum the other day I saw this quote on the wall and instantly felt my eyes fill with tears:

It's totally what I've discovered on my maternity leave. My kids have taught me so many things. I'm just so blessed to have such a healthy and loving family!

I just pray that I can find that delicate balance between work and family soon!

VICTORY

Ding-ding-ding-ding ...

we have ourselves a winner ...

round #2 (actually more like #87!) goes to ... mamma!

After rejecting her morning bottle and a few attempts at her noon bottle, I took reign! With a new bottle system in hand, I combined many suggestions I received over the last 24 hours ... AA was stripped down to her onesie, propped in front of the mirror in her vibrating chair, and she listened to me sing in a loud baby voice ... as she latched on and never stopped until the bottle was empty! She then screamed for more milk! I hurried to the kitchen to heat up more and she again scarfed it down. Pure joy!

For her next feeding she fussed just one time, and then took a bottle from A! (And she was actually clothed and in his arms).

Whew.

ANXIOUS

She may be cute ... and a good sleeper ...
and an early cooer ...
and she may have already mastered the social smile,

BUT ...

she WILL NOT eat from a bottle.

and it's driving me crazy.

Actually, anxious may be a better word. This strong willed little gal won the battle today ... and I feel so defeated! After her little escapade with rejecting the bottle last weekend (even though she took it just fine on many occasions as a younger infant), I've tried the bottle here and there this week without much success. Since A was home all day, we decided to do a "dry run" today (in anticipation of what life will be like come Monday). I fed her at 6:45 a.m. and the plan was to try the bottle at her normal scheduled feedings throughout the day. And so we tried. She was perfectly content all day ... until she felt the bottle touch her mouth! Instant screaming. Really loud screaming. And then silence once the bottle went away. We tried everything ... A fed her, I fed her ... we made the milk really warm and then cold. We sang while trying to feed ... I rocked her, swayed her, stood in front of the mirror with her, propped the bottle up while she was on the changing pad ... changed bottle sizes. The 9:30 a.m. feeding came and went ... and so did the others ... our thought was she'd become hungry enough and surrender.

Nope. After NINE hours, she did not drink a single drop! And she seemed happy in between attempts. I finally caved at 4pm and nursed her. I lost.

Let's just say that this next week will be interesting!

FIELD TRIP

On my very last day of maternity leave, we journeyed to the cities on a field trip. We took the kids to the Children's Museum in St. Paul. Although JP wanted to explore every exhibit, we spent most of our time in the "Habitot" area ... a great place for people his size to run around and explore nature through various senses. (There was even a place for babies to get down and play, but well, I'm still a bit of a germ freak, so AA was carried!) I'm totally exhausted! I tried to capture JP's joy many times ... but this kid did not stand still for a second!

He went ice fishing:
and made a music video:

and waited patiently* for his turn to drive the bus

(*yeah, right!)

He played puppets:

and AA just watched all of the commotion!

By early afternoon, both kids were ready for naps:

JP was asleep before we even left the parking ramp!

What a fun day!

GIRLS

My dear friend L drove down today with her two girls. JP was over at Miss Emmy's so my house was for girls only! L's little girls are simply adorable ... I can't wait for a few years when the age differences won't matter as much! Evie is five months older than AA ... which seems like five years at this stage (even though they are the same size!). These two were very interested in one another!

Some day they'll be able to chat away just like their mommies!