Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's Back to Work I go...

The time has come. This week on Wednesday I go back to work after 12 blissful weeks of maternity leave. And believe me, blissful is the right word. I think there are two major contributing factors to the bliss: 1) Savannah was at daycare still, and 2) Caleb is a laid back lil man. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my little girl, but we actually had to keep her in daycare in order to save her spot. I fantasize all the time about what life would be like as a stay-at-home-mom with both kids in tow. However, I will say that I chose to keep her home a few times over the holidays, and I have to admit....I have a new respect for stay at home moms, particularly when bringing home a newborn.

When you're a first time mom, all your energy can be focused on that new baby. However, I can imagine that when you're a stay at home mommy and you bring home subsequent children, that adjustment period is not so relaxing for mom.

It has been pretty relaxing, albeit it probably took me having Caleb so soon after Savannah to realize all the easy parts of having a newborn. It seems that each phase of motherhood has its major challenges, and it's easy to forget the things that come easier now. For example: As a newborn, one of the biggest challenges is the frequent feeding times and complete dependency. However, Savannah can easily feed herself now and plays independently (MOST of the time). But she is now in the "Terrible Twos" stage, (as we like to call it, the "Terrific Twos") which means frequent temper tantrums. She is highly needy on an emotional level. It is completely exhausting as a parent, at least for me and Tim. But it's easy for me to take for granted the fact that I no longer have to feed her every three hours. On the flip side, having her makes me appreciate the easy part of having a newborn...I mean lets face it, basically all newborns do is cry, sleep and eat. They're pretty portable too.

So Caleb and I have enjoyed our days together.

I feel more emotionally prepared this time. I have to be, or I wouldn't survive. Not that I won't miss him like crazy. Honestly, this time what I'm feeling is probably more like how a teacher feels when she has to go back to school from summer vacation. I'm not sure how I'm going to do all that I've been doing now once I add an eight hour work day on top of it. It's quite intimidating/depressing/daunting. But ultimately it's a choice. Although I'd love to stay at home, right now, it's what we've decided is best for our family. More on choices later...

I'll miss the ability to nap a couple of extra hours longer in the mornings so I can function a little better during the day. I'll miss the extra hour or two here and there to bake a special treat. I'll miss the ability to hit up the grocery store at 2 PM on a Thursday. But most of all, I'll miss all the time with my big buddy. Caleb is such a joy. So far, he's taken the world in with ease. Before I had him, and it was just us and Savannah, we thought, "How can our world and hearts expand AGAIN?" But somehow it just happens, and it's like he was never not in our lives.

Although this week is going to be tough, I'm ready as I'll ever be to tackle this transition. I'm lucky that I like what I do, that I have a very family friendly company, and that I even HAVE job. Yep; we are richly blessed and I'm not about to forget it.