Monday, June 20, 2011

Thankful for the things I don't have to give up...

Well, the transition back to work over the past two weeks has been fairly easy. For me anyway. It's been nice for me to get out of the house on my own for a few hours. I love the people I work with, so it's been nice getting to have more adult conversations throughout the day.

Justin, on the other hand, hasn't had as smooth of a transition no thanks to Eloise not wanting to take a bottle. We thought we had prepared her enough for it, but Justin soon saw the wrath that is hungry-Eloise-what-on-Earth-are-you-trying-to-feed-me? After a few days of her pretty much crying her self to sleep, then waking up just to start it all over again, I researched and bought a fourth kind of bottle for her to try. She started out great with it, but still had her moments. Now on week three, we are hoping for smooth or even just smoother sailing. Justin has had a couple really great evenings with her and they have such a great time together. Eloise loves her Daddy.

These past couple weeks going back to work has really opened my eyes to realize how hard it must be for moms (and dads) to go back to work full time. With being on maternity leave for 12 weeks, I got into the habit and maybe not appreciating all the time I got to spend with Eloise. Now that I'm back to work, even just part time, I've realized how lucky I am to still get to enjoy so much of that.

I love that for the most part, Eloise will sleep 8-9 hours a night. (Hallelujah!) But I'm thankful that those nights that she wakes at 4:00am that I can tiredly go to her knowing I don't have to be to a job in 4 hours. I can enjoy that time with her even with sleep in my eyes.

I'm thankful that my husband will let me get a shower in before he leaves for work. And I'm thankful that on a couple mornings a week I get to cook us breakfast. I'm thankful that on most mornings I get to enjoy a cup (or two...) of coffee while I sit for a quite moment, waiting for Eloise to wake up.

I'm so utterly thankful to be able to sneak into the nursery while she is starting to stir, and just watch, in amazement this beautiful gift I have been given. Thank you God for these moments! Sometimes it's still hard to believe that she is mine. I'm so lucky to get to see that huge smile on her face when she realizes Mommy is there. I help her stretch and rub her back. It is her (and Mommy's) most favorite time of day.

I'm thankful for the time. The time I get to just let pass by. I'm not hurried to get out the door. I'm not hurried to get a diaper changed. I'm not hurried to get her bathed. God has taught me so much already. You can ask anyone close to me, and they would tell you I've always been one to go, go, go. Not enough time in the day. I thrived off being busy. Those days are gone (for the most part) and I'm happy, oh so happy, to just let life happen. I guess I'm blessed to have a baby who sleeps and naps well so that this go, go, go Mommy can get a lot of "going" done while baby sleeps.

So today, I'm thankful to have this morning to write these thoughts down. As I sip my second cup of coffee, I'm thankful that Daddy was able to cut his early morning workout short to put Eloise back to sleep while Mommy took a shower.

Oh so thankful. Oh so blessed.

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