Finding Balance

I've been back to work for two months now and feel like I'm just starting to get into a routine. Working full time with two little ones at home is serious work but we are figuring it out slowly. At first I was being crazy trying to do everything... work, play with the kids, clean the house, shop, be a good wife, make time for friends and family... but that wasn't good for anyone. It's hard to continually reevaluate what it means to be a good wife and mother. It's hard to say "It's ok. I can do the dishes and laundry later. My friends won't judge me for having a messy house." It's hard not to want it all. To be everything for everyone.

Evenings after work are still jam-packed full of dinner-play-bath-bedtime-clean-shower-tv-sleep. I think that's just the life of a parent with young kids though. Sometimes we can have both girls in bed by 8:30 but more often it's 9 - 9:30, especially now that it's summer and hubby is home with them all day. That doesn't leave much "me" or "husband+wife" time, but we can usually fit that in on the weekends. I don't know what I'd do without the weekends. They are also jam-packed full of gymnastics-playdates-visit friends or family-shop-clean-park but that's ok. It adds up to a lot more time with my babies and hubby.

And guess who is turning 30 in a few weeks? Thirty! 3-OH! Haha. I'm not really worried about it though. Most of my friends have already passed this milestone and I'm ready to join them. Hubby and I have been talking about our goals and hopes for the next decade and it's pretty exciting... trips, kids going to school, sports, advancing in our careers, getting a bigger house. I feel like the next ten years are going to be awesome. Busy, but awesome.

Brooke is 5 months old already. She's such a sweet, happy baby too. She's sleeping through the night, takes bottles like a champ, and is working on sitting up. She's already outgrown the playmats, bouncer, and swing so those got banished back to the garage. LOL. Most days she just plays on the floor rolling and scooting and rocking on all fours... desperately trying to crawl and sit. :)

Pretty quick after I started back to work Brooke started on formula. I'm still nursing/pumping but my supply has not kept up with her demand. When I'm home with her all day I pretty much only nurse morning and night and she has formula the rest of the day. It's working out well for everyone so that's all I can ask for.

Look at those kissable cheeks!

Chelsea has really improved on her listening skills the last few weeks. Thank goodness. She's such a good girl and I hate when we have to spend a whole night fighting in order to teach her a lesson. I think it's important to start and set rules though, and she usually learns her lesson after only one bad night.

She recently graduated into the 3 year-old class at gymnastics and that has been a new challenge for her. The toddler class was parent participation and the 3 year-old class isn't, so she has a lot more freedom to run wild but she's getting better at following the teacher's direction and taking turns.

It's amazing how quickly she's learning now. I feel like I'm always saying to hubby "Did you know she could do that?" She's singing longer songs, counting, and making up stories and phone conversations. Oh, and she's losing her baby words. One of her first words was nook a.k.a milk and just a few weeks ago she actually said milk for the first time. It made me a little sad but also proud. I absolutely adore my sweet Chelsea.

We just started going pull-up free all day AND night and she's doing awesome. It's definitely still a work in progress, but she's getting there and becoming a little more independent. It's been a long seven months of potty training but it appears there may be light at the end of this tunnel. Whew :)

We spent fourth of July going to the parade and hanging out with friends - barbecuing and playing in the sprinklers. The rest of the weekend was spent with family. Pretty much as good as it gets.