'Twas the week before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas ... and all thru the night
Not  a parent was sleeping, try as they might
One kid was getting better while the other got sick
We hope they are both healthy before we see 'Old St Nick

The shopping is not done and our bags are not packed
But we'll get it done before Friday, and that is a fact
Thank goodness for grandma and papa - oh yes!
Without them we'd be even more of a mess!

:)

You know you hava a toddler and an infant in the house when ...

...

• One kid won't eat and the other won't stop eating (i'll let you guess which is which)
• Peek A Boo gets the whole family laughing ... Emily is quite the comedian
• More than one  person laughs at Emily's one-line joke (told as one sentence: why did the chicken cross the road to get to the other side) :)
• The kitchen is always a mess (ok ok, it wasn't always tidy before either)
• The littlest people in the house now have more laundry in volume than the big people
• You never sleep past 5am. One of the girls is up. Neither is easy to put back to bed :)
• There are nights when you don't get any sleep between the two of them ...
• The giggles and laughter fill the house in a way you could not have imagined
• So do the screams and tantrums ;-)

Love these girls and our little family so much!!

Time is flying by ...

Wow! Maya is now four months old ... and Emily is almost four years old! I can't believe how fast they are both growing up.

Emily is a very sweet, very helpful... and also very 'capitalizing' (she picks out Christmas presents for Maya that are really for her) big sister! So far so good with the adjustment of a new little one in the house. And Maya ... well, she is bright, alert, and does not miss a thing. She mimics faces and sounds she hears all the time now and it's quite entertaining ... and means we are often telling Emily "inside voice" since Maya will match her big sisters volume level :)

Emily's fourth birthday is coming up and it's all about 'Frozen' ... and so I have ordered frozen cupcake toppers, frozen cupcake wrappers, frozen cake toppers ... and so many other frozen things that I am all 'frozen' out :) Emily is sure Maya wants frozen dolls too ... LOL.  This past week we went shopping for a 'big girl bed' (twin) - she is currently in a toddler bed - a reminder of how big she is getting!

Maya just turned four months and she's very mobile - rolling all the time - and very vocal - she talks a lot now :) She has also gotten really good at mimicking - we noticed a new face just the other day - and I realized it is the face I have when I cut her fingernails  She is quite social and loves her 'friends' at daycare ... her favorite thing is to interact with people - especially when they talk to her. she likes to read books and look at mirrors, and suck on pretty much everything. She's now grabbing hair, faces, and more and pulling them in to suck on them :) Pretty cute.  One of her favorite places is still the bjorn - which is where she is sleeping now.  She has also become a bit of a snuggle bug, which of course we LOVE :)

Time is flying so fast and our days feel so busy. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing little family. I wish I could press 'pause' on our busy life sometimes .. but I can't so I try to enjoy the time we have together as much as possible. These months and years are flying by so quickly ...

Eeek ... back to work already!

Yes. It's true. Today was my first day!!! I procrastinated writing this post for quite a while .. I think mostly because I didn't quite feel ready to return to work :)

So how was my first day? It was mixed :) I learned a few things:
1. It is easier to pump at a time that will make me late for a meeting rather than leaving a meeting early. Leaving a meeting early seems impossible.
2. I don't have to pump as often as Maya eats - she eats every 2 hours - today I got away with pumping every 4 hours
3. Maya is totally exhausted after 8 hours at daycare. She has been sleeping since 5:45 (it's 7:16 now) ... while I know she needs her sleep, I miss her and am half tempted to let Emily wake her up (Emily wants to play with her ;-))

Other things I already knew like:
- Taking time to pump is going to be hard and I have to be hardcore to ensure it happens
- I miss Maya like crazy, but am also happy to be back in the office
- Yes, I am *that* mom, I called to check in. But only once :)
- Nothing is as urgent as it felt when I left. Nothing compares to the stress of an infant in pain ...
- Nothing really changed :)

So ... yup ... back to work and desperately trying to figure out a good work/family/sport balance while Maya still wakes to eat every 2 hours :$

Yes, I left early. And I plan to leave early for a while :)

On the up side, came home to a wonderful meal ... yes, the food fairies visited today ... even Apple Pie for dessert! I am so thankful that the Kellers have adopted me :)

Getting snuggles while I can ... how I spent my last few days with Maya

Cutie pie

Morning Smiles

Afternoon giggles