The Final Week

I return to work one week from today.  I am currently experiencing very mixed emotions about the end of my maternity leave.  On one side, I very much consider my job to be a part of who I am.  I like the feeling of contributing financially to my family's needs, and feel as though I can maintain my own identity with my job.  Not to mention, I am constantly meeting new and interesting people from around the world!  On the flip side, it is very hard to leave my little Henry.  I have LOVED every minute of taking care of my family during my time off.  Cooking dinner, baking cookies, and playing games all day long with my boys has been exceptionally wonderful.  James just simply loves his school too  much; making the decision to work all the easier.  He loves doing yoga, playing with his friends, endless art projects, and the constant stimulation of a learning environment.  Unfortunately, due to the enrollment demands his school does not offer a part-time option.  Luckily, Henry will be taken care of by someone we know and trust.  It will be nice to have him at home during the day; allowing me to pop upstairs for smooches in between my office work!  That is the other reason I enjoy my work so much; it truly allows me to maintain a healthy balance between my job and family!  I have always said the moment that changes, I walk.

We decided to celebrate James' birthday early, since it would otherwise fall on the week I return to work.  I don't know what we were thinking, but we decided to have it at Chuck E. Cheese.  The best way to describe the venue: Every kids' heaven, and every parents' hell!  So much stimulation: lights, noise, crazy sugar-filled children (no wonder they serve beer).  It was the last time we celebrate at that particular venue.  Next year I am thinking the Children's Museum will be a much better option!

I am hoping the return to work will help me get my Mommy Mojo back.  I am ready to get back into some form of a routine (including routine maintenance on myself).  I miss the gym, and I am ready to put in some serious sweat-sessions.  Last weekend I attended a fashion show at the Chicago Midwinter Dental Conference, and I am attending a swimwear fashion show with a girlfriend tomorrow night.  No better motivation to ditch the last few pounds of baby weight!

Not Candy......Kisses!

This morning I was doing my best to get both boys loaded into the truck by 8:30.  It takes extreme precision, and everything being executed at the EXACT right moment in order to make this happen.  Needless to say, it was a massive FAILURE.

I was upstairs dressing and feeding Henry, while James was downstairs quietly entertaining himself in the playroom.  Silence (while it is something I crave at many moments of the day) is not usually a good sign in our household.  As I walked downstairs, I followed a little trail of pink tinfoil wrappers.  They led me all the way to a guilty chocolate-faced James!  My response was, "James did you eat the candy from the heart bowl?"  His reply, "No Mom, I ate Kisses not candy!"  I went on to explain that kisses are candy. Then James whipped out his new FAVORITE line, "Mom, I just need you to calm down."

I was going to make it a point to bake heart-shaped cookies today, but his little early morning sugar binge makes me think I will take a nap versus taking on the role of overachieving do-it-all Super Mom.  Happy Valentine's Day to me, INDEED!

Mom Fail, Anatomy Lessons, and Lenten Resolutions

This is somewhat of a random post, but that is because "random" is the best way to describe our lives right now!  Our schedule is very "loosely" adhered to these days.  I am trying to take advantage of the remaining weeks of leave.

Unfortunately my laid-back attitude bite me in the a** yesterday.  It was PJ day at James' school, and I completely forgot.  Luckily James had dressed himself in his new bright red pants and a Batman shirt (he frequently wears this shirt to bed, so after some gentle coaxing we avoided a major meltdown).  I swear I don't know what I will do when he outgrows his Batman shirt, he would wear it in the bath if I let him!

James continues to be amazed by the human body, he is constantly making us aware of his new "discoveries."  Which in turn leave us rolling on the floor laughing.  A few days ago James proudly announced how amazing it was that he had nipples.  He then went on to say, "I am turning into a cow, just like you Mom.  I can make milk too!"

I cannot believe that Lent starts today, I usually give something up every year.  However, I feel that giving up my uninterrupted slumber at night will suffice as my Lenten resolution.

Survival of the Fittest

Survival has been the word which best describes the month of January in our household!  I kept thinking, what have I done to deserve this?  First, James came down with a nasty virus (fever, vomiting, the whole mess of nasty symptoms that accompany the flu).  Naturally I freaked out, Henry was only 5 weeks old and the last thing I needed was him catching the influenza bug.  James and I spent our Friday morning in the Clinic; Flu Test (down the nose into the throat.........I wanted to start crying just serving as a witness to this torture they put my child through), Blood Draw, and Chest X-Rays.  The verdict: just a nasty virus served with a side of pink eye.  It took the whole weekend for him to even remotely feel better.  I am on maternity leave, but was feeling like work would have been a hell of a lot easier then facing the task of keeping James from "petting" Henry (his word not mine).

Just as James emerged from the plague, and I started recovering from my zombie-like state.........Henry started coughing and sneezing.  No fever, and was still eating like a champ, so I was not too concerned and chalked it up to the common cold.  Exactly 1 week after my visit to the clinic with James, I found myself in the same predicament with little Henry (at only 6 weeks of age).  Henry had to undergo all of the same awful tests that James did, and my heart broke the moment they told me they would be doing an influenza/RSV swab.  Knowing what to expect this time around, I left the room.  When they told me he has RSV and we were being admitted, my head started spinning.  I had never had to have an overnight hospital stay with James, so this was new territory for me.  I immediately started sobbing and was a hot mess, thank goodness for all the kind an compassionate nurses that were with me!  Henry and I spent 3 nights and 4 days in a hospital room (did not leave once except to return home upon him being admitted.....to pack and take a shower).  Seeing my little baby hooked up to oxygen, an I.V., and pulse monitors was almost too much to take.  I can hardly imagine what it would be like to have a child that is terminally ill; there is nothing worse in this world that seeing your child in pain and helpless.

We are all home and healthy.  Naturally, James passed his pink eye on to me (just happy that was the ONLY thing that was passed on to me).  The past week or so we have holed up and hibernating in our house.  I have to admit that I was slightly neurotic about the thought of taking Henry anywhere in public due to our little scare.  The days have been long: lots of crafts, play doh, legos, puzzles, and I have been adamantly working on disinfecting the house and getting caught up on laundry.  Yesterday, I started feeling a little frumpy (still in PJs at 1 p.m.) but as James begged me to play hockey in the front foyer of the house....I had to chuckle.  Pretty soon I will be returning to the structure of work/life balance, and I know that I will miss these days and crave them just as much as ever.  Luckily, I have a job that enables me to have an incredible work/life balance but there are still days that I miss out on being able to have the leisure of "no agenda."  So I soaked in the moment, and will continue to do so until I go back to work in 4 weeks.

Time to load up the truck, today marks the very first road trip for just me and the 2 boys!  I hope there are not too many tears shed (by me)!