Maternity leave-- a crazy, stressful, tiring, and wonderful twelve weeks. I am very lucky to be able to take the full twelve weeks to spend with the girls, even though our bank account is not liking the unpaid portion of it :). John started working for a new law firm on December 1st, and negotiated 1/2 time during the month of December, so he was able to spend a little extra time with us that month too.
Originally, the plan was to have Emma go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house a few days a week but she freaked out and wouldn't let me out of her sight for the first few weeks after Linnea was born. I think me being in the hospital and having to spend time caring for Linnea really threw her off a little. So I ended up having her with me and Linnea for the bulk of the time. For the first few weeks, it was really tiring and tough to take care of both of them. I will admit that we watched a lot of Curious George those first few weeks. But eventually, we found our rhythm and I got more comfortable taking both of them places by myself.
In January, we got into a routine of going and doing some sort of activity in the morning and being back home in time for lunch and naps in the afternoon. I needed this two hour period in the afternoon to nap myself of snuggle with Linnea, so I made sure that we were home for it on most days. I found quite a few preschool/toddler activities that we tried out. Open Gym for preschoolers, aka "Big Open Gym" as we call it, was a huge hit and the place that we ended up going to the most. We played lots of dolls, puzzles, games, and of course watched a lot of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too. We also made lots of cookies, muffins, cupcakes over the course of the three months-- both real and pretend ones! Of course, the polar vortex kept us inside for several days during those really cold weeks in January. Let me tell you that it is not fun to keep a very active two year old inside for several days straight!
Monday, February 10th is my first day back to work. Most people say that going back after the second kid is easier than the first, but I think this one will be just as hard. I'm really sad to leave Linnea since I haven't been away for more than an hour since she was born (before you think I'm some over worried/crazy mom, let me explain that is is only because I refused to pump breast milk before I needed to. I hate pumping so I avoided it for as long as possible.) but I'm also really sad to leave Emma again. It has been a really fun three months playing with her, going places together, hugging and snuggling with her after nap time, laughing at all of the wonderful things she says, and watching her develop. I feel like while working I miss out on so much, so it was really great to be able to have a second maternity leave with her as well as Linnea.
I am excited to be back to work though because watching two kids is really hard work and I think work will be more relaxing in some ways! But I am really freaked out about getting everything done in a days time, so don't be shocked if I never invite you to my house. It is only because my house is a complete disaster and it will probably only get worse once I go back to work. I have come to the realization that something has to give and in my case cleaning is always last on my list-- besides would you rather spend the day at the zoo with two adorable girls or cleaning bathrooms?
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