Unexpected Perks

As of this week, I am now officially working outside of the home. I've recently been hired to write tours at our local history museum. It sounds a lot easier than it actually is-- at least that's what I've come to find out so far.

This is the first time I've been away from my sweet babies for most of the day. Luckily, we have family who is so loving and willing to help us by watching our cuties while we're off in what I now refer to as the "other working world."

The "other" world is not exactly as I thought it'd be. Before starting this job, I was concerned about a plethora of issues I'd be faced with: missing the girlies, not liking someone I had to work with, being frustrated with time constraints, etc. But I have to tell ya, so far so good! I enjoy everyone I work with, the hours are flexible, time isn't as big of an issue as I thought, and most importantly I miss the girls, but it's not too hard to handle (for now).

When I found out I was hired, I had less than 24 hours to prepare for my new lifestyle, thus I didn't dwell too much on the fact that my babes would be out of my care for the next few months-- though I was still concerned that I'd be miserable without them by my side all day.

HOWEVER...

At least for now, I'm actually enjoying the "other" world. It probably helps that I love my work, but in addition to this perk I have discovered what it's like to go to the bathroom or eat whenever I want or need to. (This isn't even a perk I experienced while teaching.) And though I'm faced with new responsibilities and the stress of a new job, I can't help but feel calmer than I have in a long time.

I believe I was ready to take on a new challenge. Not that I have conquered parenting by any means, but I could tell that I was becoming "grouchy" mom and that I needed a healthy change. I think almost anyone would like to try something new once in a while, if not for any other reason than to get out of the rut of their same old routine. To tell you the truth, I'm more relaxed and wwwwwaaaaaayyyyy less frustrated with my day now that I have an opportunity to experience work outside the home. Don't misunderstand me, I miss my babies more and more each hour that I'm away from them, but I am loving the break from home and my new adventure at the museum. Honestly though, I'm sure my opinion would change if this job was permanent and not temporary. The fact that I can reunite with my children as a stay-at-home mom once summer is over, is the best perk of the "other" side. And I must say that I feel like one of luckiest people alive to be able to stay at home with my children, yet also try my hand at work outside of the home and feel so rewarded by both experiences.

P.S. These faces help me get through my day!

Gone is the Surprise

Well, one of the best milestones in pregnancy has arrived for me-- the "halfway" mark. Yes, 20 weeks of back pain, weight gain, oily skin, nausea, and sleepiness have all led up to one of the most exciting moments in pregnancy. Just last week we had our sonogram-- and for those of you who don't know about the 20 week sonogram, it's the one where the sex may be revealed.

If you have been reading my posts, you'll recall my desire to have a "delivery room surprise." I really wanted to wait until the baby was born to know what I was having. I figured that I would look at the ultrasound screen to try and decipher on my own what the baby's gender is, but I still would not know for sure. But then this child turned out to be a bit different from our others.

I believed that I would have somewhat of a difficult time trying to guess what sex the little one in my tummy is. In my past pregnancies at the 20 week sono, my girls had their legs crossed, refusing to expose their gender. It always took somewhere around 10-20 mins of pushing on my belly to get them to move into a favorable position so that the specialist could tell us what we were having-- but this child had its own idea. As soon as the scanner went over the baby's lower half, we could easily see that the legs were open. We immediately saw the familiar three little lines and asked if we were really seeing what we thought we were seeing. "Do you really want to know?" she asked. We said, "it's a girl isn't it?" She answered with the affirmative. It's a girl.

A "delivery room surprise" will just have to wait.