Back to work...

When we got back from Vegas I had one more day at home before I had to go back into the office.  :(  I worked from home though and started the big task of going through all those emails that had piled up.

Maxwell is really into play-do lately.  He will play for a long time and would play multiple times a day if I let him.  I just wish it wasn't so messy!

Doing both my "jobs" at the same time - Mommy and Division Manager

Video - She is a little talker!!

It was so hard to do but I went back to the office on July 9th.  :(  Time for the new "normal" of limited time with the kids in the evening, days filled with meetings, and pumping at work 3 times a day.  The amounts of pictures I have will now tank since I'm at the mercy of what Brittany sends me during the day.

Brittany sent me this pic - - Emmalyn was doing fine at home without me. (She's such a pro with that tummy time!)

I had prepped Maxwell days ahead of it so he did okay with me going to work.  I cried at home but not at work, so that was good.  The worst part is just that I am so tired!!

Aunt Brittany seems to be having fun dressing Emmalyn each day - she's always so cute with bows in her hair.

Brittany was super mom and took all 4 kids to the splash pad.  She's super awesome.

Hanging out at the splash pad with all the boys.

It was "7/11" so of course you have to have a slurpee!

I was thrilled when I made it to the weekend.  It was nice that I went back to work on Wednesday, so the weekend came quickly.  While it was sort of nice to be back at work it was also hard.  I have self-imposed a 12 week rule.  I did this with Max too.  I recognize that it's hard to leave your kids and go back to work.  It's tempting to think about quitting.  But I figure that I spent 12 weeks at home with the new baby and at the beginning of that time, I wanted to "quit" being at home and go back to work.  So, when I go back to work I have to work at least 12 weeks (the same time that I spent at home) before I can make a decision to quit.  I don't want to make a knee-jerk decision but it helps to know that I CAN make that decision once I hit that 12 weeks.  Peter and I continue to structure our lives that we could make it work on one salary if we had to with minor lifestyle changes.  So staying home IS an option but I know that I get a lot of fulfillment and joy from my job.  So any major decision like that has to wait until I can see beyond the emotional haze.

It was nice to spend time with Max at Kindermusik.  He even sat away from me and ALMOST on the blanket for story time.

Our dear friends, John and Jessica are moving back "home" to Minnesota.  They have been great friends to us in Texas.  We are going to miss them and their girls dreadfully.  :(  This was at their going away party.

Max is doing AMAZING at swimming lessons.  I'm really proud of him.  He's really catching on.

He is sometimes a pill though.  He seems to being saying "no" a lot lately and threw a tantrum this week, which isn't something he usually does.

Emmalyn is a little jabber monkey and talking all the time.  

It looks like she might have little blonde hairs coming in, might I have a little blonde baby??

She has started sucking on her hand.

We are turning on the white noise for Emmalyn at night and it seems to work for her like it did for Maxwell.

She likes being on her play mat!

Her typical routine is sleep, eat, then play.  

When we lay her down at night we put her down in her crib still awake and she will fall asleep on her own.  If I am laying her down after nursing, she will go to sleep without the binkie BUT I have to leave my nightstand lamp on until she is fully asleep.  If I turn if off when she's awake, she freaks out.  

The routine is much different when we are trying to get her down during the day.  During the day, she MUST have her binkie.  If we lay her down in her crib she rarely sleeps for long and she has to be fully asleep before laying her down.