Time passes so quickly — I can’t believe Jonah will be four weeks old on Friday! Sadly, that means that my leave of absence has run out, and I have to return to work by this Sunday. Even though I only work part-time, I’m sad to have to share my time between my kids and work. At the same time, I feel incredibly lucky because when Micah was 6 weeks old I had to go back to work full-time, and I feel l missed him growing up in so many ways because of it. Working so little (and from home) will also help our nursing schedule stay regular, and hopefully that will keep my supply where it needs to be. In the grand scheme of things, a few hours every morning from home won’t kill me, and I’m still able to spend the majority of my time with my kiddos. Of course, someday we’ll be independently wealthy and neither of us will have to work at all, right? 😛

This week also marks the start of this semester’s second session, so I’m just getting started on two new classes. It’s funny how even though I love learning, I’m really getting burnt out on being in school. It’s a little bit frustrating how slow everything is moving and there’s still no end in sight. I wish there were accelerated programs for transfer students that allowed for sequential courses to be taken concurrently…that would save so much time! The problem is that because I changed my major all of my graduation requirements are completed except for the major course track itself, but that means only one or two courses a semester are getting me closer to graduating and the rest are just fluff to make sure I don’t lose full-time status for financial aid. Hopefully I can find a way to get done quickly and graduate — I’ll never be done learning, but I can’t wait to be done with college!

I also had my first postpartum visit with my midwife this week, and even though they aren’t comfortable clearing me for actual exercise (their policy is never before 6 weeks for liability reasons) they are encouraging me to move more as long as I’m careful not to overdo it. I was hoping to do a lot more walking outside with the kids, but summer seems to have started early and I don’t feel like I should be pushing a newborn around in 90 degree heat. Instead, I’m going to do two weeks of T25 (modified so I’m not jumping yet) until I’m cleared to workout without limitations. There aren’t many gyms near here, so running and at home workouts are my best options right now. I haven’t decided exactly what my plan is after that, but I’m missing weight lifting a lot so I’ll probably be spending a lot of time in our little garage gym. I’m also hoping to (finally) convince my husband to teach me martial arts. He taught until right before we met and I’ve always wanted to learn, but since we’ve been married any time our schedules give us enough time together I’ve been pregnant. He’s managed to get onto day shift now, and I have no plans to get pregnant again for at least a few years so the timing is perfect! If he agrees, I promise at least a couple of pictures of me making an idiot of myself trying new things…

I’m also going to be keeping a daily food diary on the blog starting tomorrow. After Jonah’s second appointment with the pediatrician we discovered he’s a great eater — he’s already 8 pounds 8 ounces! — but it’s not normal how gassy he is. Generally a super gassy breastfed baby has something to do with the mother’s diet, so I’ll have to spend the next few weeks monitoring everything I eat and how gassy he is on a daily basis until we figure out what’s making his so uncomfortable. I admit that with the lack of sleep these first few weeks I’ve been eating a lot of takeout and frozen pizza, so I suspect that his issues will improve greatly as I start cooking again. Of course, keeping track of what I’m eating will also help me as I start to take getting back in shape seriously, so even if his issues go away I’ll aim to keep that going.

All in all, it’s a crazy week but life is good! Even when I’m stressed I have these faces to keep me smiling…