Well hello there friends! It has been A MINUTE.

As I sit here , I actually can’t believe how long it has been, although it does make sense to me- life has been a bit chaotic lately, in all the very best ways. So let’s catch up!!

I went back to work the beginning of September and getting into a new routine took some time. Balancing work and motherhood with a toddler and a baby has been an adjustment that took some time getting used to for sure. Much like the newborn phase, the first month and a half after first getting back to work was really all about survival for me lol. I was just getting through the day and hustling until it was my turn to climb into bed at night. Now my routine is pretty cemented and I’m confident enough to say that I’ve got it down pat.

My Monday- Fridays are very structured. They’ve always been that way but I’d say months 7-9 of my pregnancy with Jaxson, things got out of control, like literally, things were a mess. I felt like my life was kind of falling apart but chalked it up to pregnancy and just let everything slide, which was totally fine because let’s be real, when your body is creating another human being, I think just about anything goes. So I didn’t get upset or anything, I just kinda did what I could. But basically, I was SO tired and in SO much physical pain that I wasn’t sleeping, which meant getting out of bed in the mornings extremely difficult, which torpedoed into everything the entire day. I struggled getting Avery up and out of the house on time, I was constantly like an hour late to work and felt like I was barely even a person at work. It was tough for me, somehow I managed and things did not fall apart, but honestly I have no idea how.

As my maternity leave came to an end, I really looked forward to going back to work. For a lot of reasons (love my job, love my boss), but I also really love a schedule and looked forward to what I referred to as “real life starting again.” I was ready to get back to work and welcome a new routine, regardless of the learning curve I knew would ensue in the beginning.

I’m lucky that I am able to work from home 2 days a week, which gives me extra time to be with Jaxson, and be with Jaxson solo while Avery is at preschool. I feel very grateful that I have a job where I have that flexibility and also grateful that I have the one on one time with Jaxson. So it’s been really great!

As you can imagine, my mornings are madness. Especially the mornings when I go into the clinic. I keep telling Joey that one of these days I’m going to have to set up a camera somewhere to film it, because when I say I think my morning routine could be an Olympic sport- I’m not joking. Getting myself, an almost 4 year old, and a baby ready and loaded into the car- with backpacks, defrosted bottles, and lunch boxes, is probably my new definition of what success looks like, FOR REAL. On the two days a week where I get to work from home, we have a little more leniency, mainly because I don’t get myself ready, nor do I make myself breakfast (I reward myself for the other 3 days of hard work by driving through Starbucks after school drop off), so that saves me a good 30 minutes. And if you’re wondering what my husband is doing during my Olympic medal winning morning routine- he’s already at work. He gets up at 4 am and is at work by 5 am during the week. My morning starts at 6 am so he’s actually gone before I’m officially up. Although, sometimes we meet still half asleep in passing as he’s coming downstairs and I’m headed back up. Oh yea, so little guy has been sleeping through the night since week 4, because he’s a HERO. However, I am still up throughout the night to pump because I am breastfeeding. So depending on the time, I sometimes get to say a very early good morning to Joey as he’s coming downstairs to make breakfast and I’m headed back to bed after pumping and cleaning everything up (these are the days right?!?)

Pumping is literally the toughest thing in the world. But I’ll save that vent session for another day. I know its a miracle and a blessing to be able to do, but I have to say one of the best parts about not going to work two days a week, is that it also means I don’t have to pump all day those days either 🙂

Luckily, I feel like I’ve hit my stride. I’m used to the over night pumping, so while it’s tough, I know it’s temporary, I know it’s also my choice to continue to breastfeed and put in this work, I know it’s worth it, and I also know that once I get up and begin the day, I’m going to function just fine. I’ve got the morning routine down, so while it is madness, the steps are the same and slowly becoming muscle memory at this point. The haze and newness of it all has faded and life feels stable again for me. Which is also why I’m back here on the blog! I’m going to commit to at least one post a week! And will try to slowly work up to two again hopefully in the new year!

Other than going back to work, I was also very busy making our Halloween costumes for this year! If you know me, you know Halloween is my favorite holiday and you also probably know that I loathe store bought Halloween costumes. My love language is quite literally creating and dreaming up my family’s Halloween costumes and I look forward to bringing the vision to life every year. And trust me when I say I’m not judging you if you do a store bought Halloween costume, I know I’m a little insane. I just love doing my own take on Halloween and creating something a little more special for my favorite time of year! This year, we dressed up as Jack, Sally, Zero, and frog’s breath– one of my next posts will have all the details!!

While I’m mentioning bringing a vision to life, over the past couple months, I also started to accumulate and DIY some things for my daughter’s 4th birthday party in December (post on that to come after the party). I started planning and designing the party during my maternity leave and finalized everything prior to going back to work so that I made sure I knew exactly what I wanted because I knew work would probably suck up all my energy at first (which it did). So I’m glad I thought ahead and at least had all the DIY things listed out because if I had to dream up this party from scratch now, it probably would not be as cool as I think it’s going to be! I cannot wait to share all the details afterward!!! Avery has also had a BLAST helping me and has actually already invited all her friends from school over for her birthday LOL.

Last month, we also went on a family vacation!! We did a road trip to Zion National Park and everyday I wish we were still there! It was so much fun, literally a dream come true. Every day Avery asks Joey if we can go on vacation again, it’s the cutest thing. I’ll do a round-up post on that soon too, I’ve had a lot of detail requests, as well as links for things we did, so I’ll get to that soon!

Anyway, now that we’re back home, Halloween is over, and the creative aspects of the past couple months are winding down, I’m finding myself with a little extra time to sit down and unwind by opening my laptop and writing again- which has been really nice!

I’m so glad to be backk! Tell me what’s going on with you? What have I missed?