Now I'm not stealing his thunder

     

  I have wanted to do this post for about a month. I have waited because my husband has changed jobs, and I wanted to just gush about him, but I left it so he could announce it first. Now that he has, let's open the floodgates.

          Let me start by saying he worked his Las job for almost 12 years. In that time he played the role of the steady paycheck. Meanwhile I worked toward my career, got my career, fought for my career, got laid off, started a new career, went on maternity leave and have since returned to work...it's his turn ( not to say I'm not still moving forward with what I'm doing,  but this isn't about me).

         My husband recognized the hamster wheel we were stuck in, and put himself out there to improve our lives. What's more, he genuinely seems happy, exhausted, but happy. I can't begin to express how proud and thankful I am for him and all his hard work and love he has for our little family.

         Cale is my person, in every sense of the term, and I am incredibly blessed to have him in such a pivotal role in my life.

       K, Luv ya, bye!
       Nancy

Biggest Mistake I Made on Maternity Leave

         

          It's confession time. Since hindsight is 20/20, I can now look back on my maternity leave and realize what my BIGGEST mistake was.

          So, I feel like I'm not alone in what my expectations where. I thought I'd be on leave, I would accomplish so much around my house, I could do some of the things I wanted to do for me, and it would be great. At first, this was all true...then Jake was born. Suddenly, I'm trying to get stuff done, get enough sleep, successfully breastfeed, successfully get him to sleep, and it was overwhelming and exhausting, and I gave up on accomplishing ANYTHING. THAT was my biggest mistake.

          So absolutely, in the beginning, I should have taken a deep breath, and accepted that my laundry was piling up, clean, but not folded, and napped when I needed to. But, I fell complacent, and house bound and thought how much effort it would take to get stuff done and keep Jake happy, or god forbid, leave the house with the baby solo. I rarely left the house without Cale, and drive? NOPE! I think up until about a month ago, I drove maybe 7 times in 2 years.

         Well life recently smacked me in the face and reminded me to wake up! I'm an adult, and need to get my crap done. Does it take longer to clean my house? Absolutely, I have a 1yr old to keep checking on if I don't hear his baby shark toy singing, or I'm being chased hearing "mum mum mum" behind me. But I CAN do it. Driving? I'm driving the car and taking the car to work, which sounds small, but it was like NEVER parked in my work parking lot before. I also drive with the most precious cargo to me giving me stink eye from the backseat (no pressure).

         All of this may sound SO small and insignificant to some, but I feel like I'm starting to be my own human again, not exclusively a caregiver (a role I love, but not the only role I want to play). So in conclusion, biggest mistake I made was under estimating myself.

        K, Luv ya, Bye!

        Nancy

Jake is independent, but is Mommy?

   

    I can't begin to tell you how many times I've thought to myself, " if I had just a little time at home without Jake around I could get stuff done". Well I dropped Jake off at the sitter about 2 hours ago, so I didn't mess with his schedule...know what I've done? Miss Jake! Seriously, there are times where I groan and say, "dude, 5 min, please"...I had 2 hours, and actually cried at one point. I would say, this is probably the first time I've been alone in the house (excluding miss independent, Alice) since he was born...and it's blowing my mind.

         I suddenly felt like I took our time together for granted, and I would love to tell you, this experience will change me, and I will treasure every last second, but let's be real here. It does make me smile, because it shows me I genuinely adore being around the kid, so much, I can't even Express. I do have to say, yes he loves being with me too, but I love his independence too. When I dropped him off this morning, he sat smiling and waving for me to leave. I guess this is a gushing post really. There you have it, I love my kid, and his personality is incredible.

         It's seriously a good thing I've figured out how to do stuff WITH him, because I'm way less productive without.

       K, luv ya, bye!
       Nancy