Maternity Leave

I feel like people have always touted the government as having great benefits.  There are a lot of great benefits, however, there are NO maternity benefits.  None.  You can use your vacation and your sick leave but there is no disability benefits or paid maternity time off.  The state of Virginia does not provide any disability pay either.  I have been very fortunate that my family and I have been prepared to allow me to be home with my sweet boy for over three months.

Before Dean came, I had grand ideas of what I was going to accomplish while on maternity leave.  I thought he would sleep for hours at a time and I would be able to organize the garage, organize my craft room, and do some scrapbooking and sewing too.  The last time I had an infant was over seven years ago and clearly, my memory does not serve me correctly.  It's an accomplishment if I shower these days.  This kid needs to eat, be changed, or held ALL the time.  

I have been able to get a workout in every now and again.  Mostly, we go for walks around the neighborhood.  I can't tell if he likes it or not but at least he's quiet.  I also do the Post-natal Boot Camp and it looks a little like this:

The joys of a sleeping baby!

Sadly enough, my time at home is coming to a close.  I'm going back to work a couple days this week and then a couple days next week.  After that, I'm back full time :(  Dean and I were playing after a diaper change and he gave me a couple of giggles.  He has only giggled once before and doesn't really know that he is doing it but it made me cry.  All I wanted was for him to laugh for me before I went to work and he did it.  It made me the happiest mommy and saddest mommy all at once!

It's not all sad this week though because after five weeks with her father, Julia is coming home!!!

Life is a little crazier with both of them demanding my attention but I love them and I'm going back to work so it won't be that bad!

New baby!

I left you and made another blog that was more private.  It  was a flop.  Not only did people not want to sign up with their emails to read it but I stopped posting.  It was a lose/lose situation.  So here I am again.  I am making a new effort to write and I am giving you another opportunity to stalk me in the privacy of your own homes!

What have I been up to?  Well, at least one thing.  Having a baby!  I am now the mother of two.  One boy and one girl.  Dean is a serious little boy that has been demanding things of me all day for the past three months.  Julia has been a great help to me.  She is such a little mommy and loves giving her little brother kisses.  It's so wonderful to see the two of them together.  It makes me feel like I've done something right in my life.

The above picture was taken the morning Dean was born.  That is why Julia's hair looks like something out of the 80's.  That crazy girl stayed up almost until three in the morning waiting for her little brother to arrive before she finally passed out.  Of course, he decided to come at 3:47 a.m.  She just missed it!  I gave birth at a birth center in Alexandria, VA, which I will fill you in on those details in another post.  In short, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful, for the most part the delivery was also, and in the end, I had a handsome little boy to take home.

I have attempted to get back into being active since he was born but it's been a struggle.  Shocking, I know.  At three weeks postpartum, I ran my first 5k.  I have also been going for walks with Dean, occasional runs by myself and have recently started doing Lindsay Brin's Post-Natal Boot Camp.

I am following the twelve week program and so far, I hurt!  I know it's been a long time since I have done a crunch but oh my!  I can't move at all without feeling my ab muscles scream.  I'll be posting later some beginning stats and pictures so I can keep track of whether the program worked for me or not.

That's it!  Just a quick check-in and teaser of blog posts to come!  Here's a couple pics of my little guy to truly make it worth your while: