The week after we returned from our beach vacation was our county's
Fall Break. This was also my very last week of maternity leave.
Honestly, my maternity leave absolutely flew. It makes me sad how
quickly it flew and how busy I actually was. But I suppose that this is
my new reality with three young children: a "break" isn't really a
break. Other than our week in Florida, I didn't really feel like I did
much with the boys while I was on maternity leave and I felt guilty and
sad. I know, I know. I just had a baby. I used that excuse for 11 weeks.
I felt like my boys deserved some fun and mommy-time, too. So I made
myself a challenge that week of Fall Break: I was going to focus on my
boys and do something fun with them every day...and Maclyn would just
have to go-with-the-flow. (She did great, by the way.)
Monday:
I started the morning texting friends who were in town to see if they
wanted to meet at the playground. No one could but my friend Dana was
camping with her family and invited us to come hang out. We ended up out
there for the afternoon and evening and had a fantastic time. They boys
played like boys and I got some girl-time in. We also ran into Heather.
The three of us all have "new" babies and older boys...so while the
boys played at the campground playground we sat with our babies and fed
and changed diapers and laughed and commiserated over the difficult
phase of a young infant. It was wonderful! (side note: since then we
have had a fantastic group text between the three of us... we send
pictures back and forth, give each other "high-fives" and support
through the tough times of our new babies. We hashtag #momlife on our
funny moments and pray for each other during rough ones. It was been a
glorious relief and good-for-the-soul outlet. A misery-loves-company
kind of thing. Not that we are miserable all the time...but new baby
should tell you enough.)
Left to Right: Heather (with Levi - 2 months), Dana (with Eleanor - 2 months), and me (with Maclyn - 3 months)
Tuesday:
The kids and I went out to Mike Miller Park and met up with some
friends for playtime and to feed the ducks. Unfortunately, my friend's 5
year old little boy got stung 5 times by wasps so that kind of put a
damper on their fun. We played a little while longer after they left,
then went home and took naps while we waited for Daddy to come home.
Wednesday:
The day before, I promised the boys each five-dollars to spend at
Wal-Mart if they could not fight. I honest-to-goodness didn't think I
would be dishing out any money. But they didn't fight all day. (Which
tells me they DO have control!) So Wednesday morning we loaded up and
went to the toy aisle of Wal-Mart and spent an hour trying to figure out
how to spend $5 and still be happy. Whew, that was exhausting! I was
very patient with them, even when Maclyn got restless. They ran through
the aisles and quickly realized that 5-bucks doesn't go far. But
lo-and-behold the Clearance section did not disappoint! They each got
some kind of (originally $20) art thing for $2.50 and then a
sticker/coloring book for $2. I was proud of them for deciding and this
opened the discussion of money management (saving!) and shopping sales
to get more bang-for-your-buck.
After our
longer-than-ever Walmart trip, we went home and played with our new
toys. Finley's was an airbrush marker set and Keagan's was a crayon
carving kit. We made homemade chocolate chip cookies and I ate way too
many, then we went on a walk with Stacey and Annie. Our walk was more of
corralling the kids and encouraging them to "come on" or "stay close"
but they had fun and I got some much needed girlfriend time with
Stacey.
Thursday:
I won't lie. By thursday I was pretty worn out. Going going going with 3
kids is exhausting. Especially when one of those 3 kids is a baby. But
must.press.on. And so after breakfast we headed to the library. Maclyn
wasn't really thrilled with the library so a big portion of my time was
spent standing outside quieting her while the boys played in the rocks.
Babies don't understand how to whisper. The boys love the iPads and
computers, I was excited to get a new book to read. I'm trying to do
better in this area. After the library we went to McDonalds to eat lunch
and play in the Play Place.
Finley got a Blue Angels book at the library...his favorite!
Friday: Josh was off Friday so we had a big time...those pictures will have to wait for the next post!
