Family Friday (vol. 39): Sisterhood is Blossoming

This week was my third week of full-time work after maternity leave and to be honest, I’m running ragged. Mark’s work schedule (while temporary) has him gone from 6:30am until close to 8pm. Piper is still getting up twice a night to nurse (though she’s STILL on a nursing strike during the day ) and Shea hasn’t been sleeping fabulously either. Add to that the dog who’s under-exercised in these winter months and attention deprived with our chaotic lives, and she’s up in the middle of the night, too.

Pass the caffeine drip!

Work has been going well and has been BUSY but manageable until this week. I’m still learning all the players in the game and becoming acquainted with all of our processes, policies, etc. A few random challenges at work that have caused me some stress and I am quickly remembering why being in management can be both rewarding and exhausting. I am hoping for a more boring week next week.

On the home front, I hit the ground running and don’t stop until at least 8:30pm. Every minute of my day is accounted for. If I’m sitting, I’m pumping. If I’m in the kitchen I’m cooking, washing bottles, packing lunches, loading the dishwasher for the millionth time. Rinse, repeat. My workouts are definitely what have fallen off the most – as much as I tell myself I’m going to workout come 8:30pm, the time comes and I can very easily convince myself that I deserved a whopping 45 minutes of downtime before I hit the hay.

Piper’s bedtime has been falling close to 6:30/6:45pm but honestly, she’d love to go down at 6pm and I just can’t give up that little bit of time with her in the evenings. If we get home at 5:15pm, I only get to interact with her for an hour and then she’s off to bed as is. Sigh.

The real blessing as of late has been the relationship between Shea and Piper. A week or so ago, it was like a flip switched and Shea went from being indifferent towards Piper to playing a full-on motherly role. One day on our way home from work/daycare, the baby was crying and the ENTIRE way home Shea repeated, “It’s okay, baby…it’s okay. It’s okay, baby…it’s okay. It’s okay, baby…it’s okay.” It was 90% ADORABLE (and 10% annoying).

On a daily basis Shea is asking to hold Piper and read to her, just as we do with Shea each night before bed. Shea wants to wipe her nose, change her diaper, kiss her hi and bye – the whole bit. It absolutely delights me to see their bond forming and to see how they look at one another – with sheer admiration. I am finally understanding why people have children closer to together in age

We’re hoping for a recharge this weekend and some quality family time! Our second to last weekend on Whole30 – woo!

Be well,

from Prevention RD http://preventionrd.com/2017/01/family-friday-vol-39-sisterhood-is-blossoming/
via Heart Based Marketing