Calm is strength!

I survived. Yes, I survived my first night totally on my own with both boys. We are all still alive. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

And Greg says I even look calm and happy. He's clearly delusional. 😝😝

Greg has a lot of crazy, amazing things happening at work right now, causing him to pull in long hours tonight and tomorrow night. 😁 Judging by how sensitively and gingerly he approached me tonight, it was evident he thought I was going to have either lost it or be in tears. But alas, I was OK. I still am. 💪🏻💪🏾👶🏻👶🏻

Despite meltdowns/tantrums from both boys during bedtime and a few other challenging moments throughout the afternoon, I managed to take things in stride, remain at least somewhat calm, and even find some hilarity in the insanity that is the reality of raising two boys under three. 😂😂

Both boys were comfortably asleep by 9. Will chose to continue happily reading and talking to himself for well over an hour after he went down, while Dan just wanted to continually comfort nurse and snuggle until drifting off to sleep. We are blessed with two awesome sleepers so far -- keep it up, boys! 💤💤💤

It's also hard to believe that Dan is already a month old today. 😳Well, he was born May 31, and with only 30 days in June, today will have to do. Time is already flying, and I need it to slow down. Now. 🌟🌟

I've been told it gets easier. I know it will, and I think that knowledge gives me newfound strength during the trying moments. 💪🏻💪🏾💪🏻💪🏾

This too shall pass. Repeat. 💗💗

One day, the boys will be old enough to play together. I can't wait to see what their relationship as brothers blossoms into! 👶🏻👶🏻

And in the meantime, I will continue to embrace educational expert Fred Jones's favorite adage -- Calm IS strength. 🙏🏻😩🍼🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Grandparents rock!!

I never really got to know my grandparents growing up. I was never close to them. 😔

The fact that Will -- and eventually Dan -- already has such strong connections to and relationships with both sets of his grandparents is beautiful to see. Even though neither set lives close to us, we treasure the time Will has with them whenever they visit or we make the journey to them. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

My amazing mother-in-law recently shared an article with me that highlights how special and meaningful the child-grandparent relationship can be. I want to continue to encourage, foster, and honor this bond while I still have the chance to, certainly before it's too late. 👶🏻👶🏻

I hope some piece of the article resonates with you and that your children get to know the true beauty of a grandparent in their lives. 

💗💗💗

As my MIL said, "I'm so sad that my boys did not have this grandma and so happy to be this grandma for your boys." 💙💙

And we are beyond lucky to have you, Grandma!! 💞💞

http://www.upworthy.com/a-letter-to-my-mother-in-law-about-my-3-boys?g=2&c=ufb1

Feminist dads rock!

Greg is definitely a feminist dad. Thank God for him. 😍😍😍

Too exhausted to write more, but definitely check out this article! Definitely worth the read. 🌟🌟👏🏼👏🏼

http://www.scarymommy.com/shout-out-feminist-dads/?utm_source=FB

Ahhhhh!!!

There's nothing quite like a nice, warm shower at the end of a long day of Mommyhood, especially when you're soaked in your own breast milk. 😂😂😂

Yes, it was definitely one of those days. 😫

Dan likes to turn into a monster at around noon and refuse to calm down until I either nurse and/or continually hold and walk him around. I know this is normal newborn behavior, but when combined with a cantankerous toddler with regular tantrums, it's a hot mess. 😫😫

I know it may seem like I usually have my shit together, but today -- and especially this afternoon with both boys -- was not the case whatsoever. I took everything in my power not to have a screaming or crying tantrum myself. 😩😩😩 And, of course, the DMV traffic was a nightmare, per usual, so Greg couldn't get home until later. 😫😫😫😫

My great friend Catherine told me today about "rage rooms" she heard about on a documentary where you can go in, scream, and throw things until your heart's content. Yes, they exist. And the most popular customers? Teachers and stay at home moms. 😂😂

I know; this too shall pass, but today made me question why anyone ever has more than one or two children. Y'all deserve real gold medals and designated sainthood.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌟🌟🌟💗💗💗

Dan will be up again soon, so to bed this exhausted Mama goes. 💤💤💤

So grateful!!

Greg goes back to work tomorrow. 😥😥😥

I know; I know. I'm blessed he got THIS much time off (4 weeks). He was originally planning to take up to 6 weeks, but I can tell he's getting eager to return, and Dan is doing so well. So, we figured this timing made sense. 😁

Yes, I will miss him. Greg has been an absolutely phenomenal help this last month, with Will, Dan, Dexter, the house, meals, the yard, everything. He even managed to get several house and garden projects done, including a complete reorganization of our entire basement this weekend. The layout is completely different and SO much more inviting. It's not done yet, but I'll post a few pics! 💪🏻

Greg and Will have a really special connection now. Will is completely attached to Dada and prefers him right now, which works out well with Dan practically living on my boob. 👶🏻🍼

I treasured the time the four of us had last week, especially after we got our house back following our houseguests' visits. We really tried to make the most of it!! Have newborn, will go to a brewery AND winery on the same day! 😊😜😉🍷

My turn to rant for a moment -- This country is absolutely ridiculous with the lack of quality, consistent, or long enough paid maternity or paternity leave, as we all know. Greg is fortunate enough to work for a team that allows him to use his accumulated sick time for paternity leave. He has an absurd amount of days saved up too, so this worked out well. And I'm lucky with the timing of Dan -- and my new job -- to not worry about using any leave this summer as a teacher. Even though I delivered him on May 31, I still burned through my remaining sick days and had to use our union's sick leave bank to ensure I was paid through June 21 (Our school year was longer this year due to our high number of snow days) So, I will start the fall with a very limited number of sick days and two small children. Joy! 😫😫😫

Back to positive things, though. I'm beyond grateful for Greg and all he does for our family! And I know there's a teeny tiny part of him that's excited to get back to work tomorrow too. 😉👏🏼😝

The dreaded 6 week wait!

I'm getting antsy. 😝😝😝

I hate the six week rule. 😫😫😫

I'm fine with the no swimming and pelvic rest. It's the no working out that drives me a bit nutty. 😜😜😜

With Will, I was so overwhelmed being a new parent that the six week rule didn't matter. For some reason, the wait seems a lot longer this time around. 😁😁

I know; I know. 

Six weeks really isn't THAT long, and I shouldn't be rushing back into any exercise too soon. My body has been through a traumatic event and needs time to fully heal. And the six week appointment is where my doctor can give me the all-clear. 😊

In the meantime, I'm still trying to get in a reasonable amount of movement every day with daily walks with Dexter and the boys. But it's not the same. I really miss Barre (Shocker, right?!). I would love to go back to the studio soon and attend a class, modifying as much as I did into my 40th week of pregnancy and avoiding all ab work. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with the 6 week wait! I know I can suck it up (I only have two weeks left come Tuesday), but I also know my body and would not do anything stupid.

Help!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

New job!!

It's been quite the awesome week so far! 🌟🌟🌟

After over a month of house guests, we finally got our space back to just the four of us Monday morning. While we are certainly grateful for ALL of the help my awesome in-laws and parents provided us, it's such a relief to finally get into a daily rhythm and routine as a family of four. Such a blessing!👨👩👦👦

Dan continues to be an amazingly chill and easy baby, practically sleeping through the night already. 💤💤 I know there are bound to be regressions, but we are enjoying every good night we can get right now! 

Nursing is finally hurting less. I am grateful for all of the advice and support many of you have given me. Thank you! 🍼🍼🍼

Perhaps the biggest news of the week -- I have a new job starting in August! I will be the brand new ESOL Focus Teacher at Northwest High School. This basically means I will be a kind of case manager and "guardian angel" for 45 RELLs (students recently exited from ESOL services) in grades 9-12, all of whom are chronically ineligible (GPAs less than 2.0). I will pull into their academic classes and pull them out of classes to provide individualized support. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

This is my kind of dream position right now -- flexibility, access to and working with kids all day, and the opportunity to collaborate with teachers across subject areas to find creative ways to best meet the students' needs. I couldn't be happier or more excited!! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

I interviewed and was offered the position on Tuesday. Apparently, the principal ran all over the parking lot and school trying to find me shortly after the interview (I was in the Media Center visiting a friend). She then called me, and I found her in the office. 😜

"The job is yours. Please say you'll accept," she said. She's a no non-sense kind of leader I love.

"Of course," I replied. 

I was warned this might happen a truly felt confident about my decision. 💗💗

It is bittersweet leaving behind such a wonderful staff at my current school, but I had to listen to my gut and intuition about keeping options open for next year. It was a heck of a long process that started in February.

And it was most certainly worth the wait! Here's to new opportunities and beginnings!! 🌟🌟🌟