Busy, Busy, Busy

So it's not a suprise that going back to work made me busier than busy, but boy does the time fly!

Weekdays are nonstop! I wake up at 5 am so I can shower and get ready for work before getting Austin up. I wake up Austin at 6 am to eat and change clothes for school  (sounds so much better than daycare). After heading out the door with my pump, lunch, purse, bottle tote, and diaper bag, and of course the precious cargo himself, I have barely enough room left on my arms!

I drop off Austin at school and head to work early so I can pump before making rounds at the hospital. It usually takes from 8am to noon or 1pm to return to the office, when I usually pump again before eating lunch. I pump one more time before going home at 5pm so that I can instantly grab Austin when I get thru the door since Jason picks him up on his way home!

Austin is starved when he gets home so I feed him while Jason makes dinner. Lately, Austin's stomach is an endless pit as he eats, eats, and eats some more before bedtime at 9:30. So Jason and I pass Austin back and forth as we both get things ready for the next day. I try to pick out my clothes and Austin's for the next day, label bottles for daycare, and do any other little task that makes the morning less tedious! Back to pumping one more time before putting Austin down for bed at 9:30pm. Then.....I crash and do it all over again!

This weekend, Jason went off to national guard so I decided to come to the parents to spend the night since I already made a few plans on Saturday to share Austin with friends.

Austin has just started noticing his own hands, which is why the picture is blurry below because he can't stop moving them!

He also loves the colored rings

Cuddling is the best!

We got up in the morning and went to the mall for a nice walk. My mom was excited to get out the stroller she got for Christmas!

After the walk, we stopped in Panera for some coffee. I love this shot I got of my parents just having a blast being Grandparents!

Austin loves his turtles!

We even got a chance to visit with Rachel and Mirabella. Rachel and I grew up together and we just so happen to get pregnant with being just a month apart. It was fun to e-mail each other throughout the pregnancy to share our experience. With Mira coming two weeks early and Austin coming 4 weeks early, they ended up being just two weeks apart! It's so nice to be able to share with each other what our kids are doing developmentally as well as our parenting secrets! Here Austin is 16 weeks...

Everyone always asks if going back to work has been hard....I didn't realize it was this hard until I came down with a bout of shingles yesterday! I didn't really recognize the stress that life has brought me with trying to do it all. I love my job and I love my family, and the two can be overwhelming at times, but at the end of the day when I get to come home to Austin's smiles, it makes it all worth it!
Being a working mom has its ups and downs but I know it is what God has in store for me, because it feels right. These next few weeks will be tough with Jason being gone for the Army but thankfully I can have weekends like these where I get to share Austin with my parents.....and squeeze in a minute or two to blog!