Outnumbered

It has been almost one year since I last posted something here. I have missed writing, but simply haven't found the time or energy for it. This isn't something that I just quickly write down at the end of the day; I need to be in the right mood, able to let my mind wander, and have a nice cup of coffee while I type. 

Since it's been so long, I thought about doing a recap of the last year, but instead, I think I'm just going to jump right into current events. Let's just say that this last year was fun, but exhausting. We both worked a lot, had the same routine every evening with the kids leaving almost no free time, spending Saturdays running errands and cleaning up after a busy week, leaving Sundays for some family time and getting ready for the week. I feel like every week went by extremely fast and sometimes it felt like we were struggling to find time for fun family moments between work and our daily routine. And then I found out I was pregnant again, which explained why I was so hungry and tired all the time.

It didn't help that our lives already felt so busy that I was now plagued with all day nausea and lack of energy. There were so many evenings I came home from work and went straight to bed, leaving Tony to take care of dinner and the kids. It all worked out just fine, but it didn't leave any time for us to spend as a couple, or for me-time which I could have spend writing for example. The gloomy dark winter also didn't exactly help with my lack of energy. 

Anyway, the reason I'm now finding time to write is because our routines have completely shifted once again. Four days ago, we welcomed Levi Jonathan into our family and while he is taking his morning nap, I get to type a few lines. I'm sure I'll be interrupted soon. Just like his big sister (who is only 1 1/2 years old but seems to have grown up so much in the last few days) he doesn't like to be put down and prefers to be held and snuggled all day and night. 

For now, our routine is pretty simple: Tony is in charge of Noah and Ava, while I take care of Levi. He gets them up in the morning, makes breakfast, and takes them to daycare. Levi and I wake up around the same time and he gets his breakfast in bed, taking his sweet time. Then we spend all day moving from my bed to the living room, to the TV room, taking naps and eating. It's exactly what both of us need right now. After Tony picks up the kids, we have dinner together and Tony is once again in charge of Noah and Ava, with me jumping in for any quiet activities such as reading stories or playing a game before bedtime with Noah. So far, it has worked out really well and I'm grateful to have the kids in daycare during the day. 

Soon enough though, this routine will change quite a bit. I have extended my maternity leave by a year of personal leave of absence from work and won't be returning to work until September 2018, when Noah starts Kindergarten. After the summer (or even sooner), Noah and Ava's daycare days will be reduced to two days per week and they'll be at home with me for the rest of the week. I am very grateful my work has allowed for this flexible arrangement and I get to have a glimpse into the life of a stay at home mom for a year. At the same time, I know this all will be hard and I will have my moments of wanting to go back to work sooner. 

We will see; I have a general idea of how I think I'll structure my weeks and days, but there will be lots of trial and error and having to be flexible along the way. I'm excited for this new chapter to start and I'm looking forward to reflecting on it here. But for now, we're taking it one day at a time.