Work It, Mama

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

This picture speaks volumes about where I am in life right now: trying to get my work done while simultaneously trying to nurse my baby.  Refusing to delegate any of my household/mothering duties regardless of deadlines or work commitments.   Pushing through and getting things done even when the lists keep getting longer and the hours of sleep shorter.  Neglected hair, under eye circles, rarely finishing a meal.  Attempting to not only conquer the newborn phase while simultaneously working but committing to actually ENJOY it.  Even on the days that are not so enjoyable.

It's been a busy week of taking call and catching up on work shenanigans.  I'm learning how to set new boundaries and be firm about my limits: there's a new baby in the house and I just can't do the things I used to do.  What you don't see in this photo is Isabelle sitting across from me, working on the practice math test I made for her.  Brees is to my left eating a bowl of soup I cooked up this weekend and coloring in her Dora activity book.  River loves nothing more than nursing on the Boppy while I type away and call out spelling words and make conference calls.  My kids are so accustomed to hearing me talk about diabetic foot ulcers and congestive heart failure and the correct way to use an asthma inhaler that I think they might actually be able to create nursing care plans of their own.  It's their normal.

Shawn is constantly telling me, "You don't have to do that, I'll get it".  But I WANT to do it.  I know that I could very easily pass the kids off to him for bath time or sit back while he takes over bedtime stories but those are the things I want to be a part of.  I miss out on them during the day and there's just no way I'm going to miss out on them at night, too simply because I'm tired.  When I get home from work, I am a mother.  I cook and clean and do laundry.  I give bathes and clean up boo boos.  I harvest vegetables from the garden and hang up cloth diapers.  When the baby is crying, I hold him tight.  When Brees asks for a dance party, I go all out.  And I try to never, ever appear too busy to talk to my ever growing Isabelle for she has so much to say these days.

Things are slowing way down this weekend: I am off the call rotation for the next month which means work will stay at work and our home life will be all ours again.  We are spending our weekend celebrating Brees' third birthday and I can't wait to watch her little face light up when she sees all of her surprises.  She has a fresh new boo boo on her forehead after an unfortunate encounter with a brick wall. Having a nurse for a mother means rarely going to see the doctor, much less visiting the ER.  That little gash on her forehead was doctored up right at our kitchen counter and she was such a trooper, showing us her "monster face" as an example of how tough she is. It is so fitting for Brees' personality to have a battle wound in all of her birthday photos.  Isabelle attended an etiquette class this week complete with proper table settings, leg crossing, and how to walk with grace and poise.  She was most impressed that the teacher's home included a powder room with a bidet and begged Shawn and I to install one in her bathroom ASAP.  That girl... 

They say you can't have it all, there aren't enough hours in the day, being a parent is the hardest job in the world.
Well, they're right.  We are so far away from having any of this figured out.  But day by day, moment by moment, we are doing our best to learn what we can and make it all work.  

This is the good stuff.  And I wouldn't miss it for the world.