Working mom!

So here is the update to those out there that are on the fence about whether they should go back to work or not:

It's actually not all bad.  In fact for this working momma, it has been pretty good.  Some things that you will need to make it successful are:

1) a supportive husband!  Thankfully for me, Aaron was in charge of both breakfast and dinner (by the way he did an AMAZING job, and I ate like a queen).  I did the menu planning (I LOVE menu planning) and he made it happen (he even hosted 5 folks for dinner last night, way to go Aaron!  I was amazed by this non chef who has in the last 2 weeks turned gourmet);

2) child care that you feel good about!  The 1000 times a day that I thought about little Ruthann and knew she was in good hands, made all the difference;

3) a rewarding job, one that you really ENJOY going to;

4) a positive attitude;

5) and you have to be able to give yourself massive amounts of grace!  No, you aren't going to be able to be a momma, a full-time worker bee, run a 3:15 marathon, make visits and/or treats your friends everyday and hang out with high schoolers outside of school every week.  That is completely unrealistic!  So although, these are things I've been able to do in the past I've have to make some compromises with myself.

And although I was only able to go out for a run 2 times this week, I think next week I'll do better.  I have lowered my exercise goals to 3/4 runs a week, not much from someone who is used to hitting the trails everyday, but realistic.  And I am probably only going to log about 10 miles a week, again down from around 20 pre-baby!

So maybe I'll have a different opinion in a month, but it has been a nice start.  My time with Ruthann is sweeter than it has ever been.  My time with Aaron is more valued.  

Doable, check!  Maybe even enjoyable!  What a rich life I lead.

Aaron, the deer slayer, killed this buck last Saturday, 2nd of the season... hooray for free-range meat!

yum, yum, yum, every now and then we still have pizza night.  Here is our greek pizza.

Ruthann hasn't been able to go swimming at the pool recently, so we had to try on her newest swimsuit in the tub.  Ruthann typically takes one bath a day, she LOVES the water. 

Terrible quality photo, my apologies, but totally hysterical, here is Ruthann fighting the swaddle, she is a great escape artist and resists sleep anytime we have visitors at the house, equally as social as her folks.  

We sent this picture to my cousin Anne this past week.  We LOVE being in Sitka, but we always are missing our great families back home. 

My favorite time of the day is wake up time with Ruthann, she is in her sweetest just after a nap.

Ruthann had more bottle time that ever before this week.  She LOVED holding the bottle!  One day her dad said she started shaking, almost looked like she was convulsing with excitement when he brought out her mid-morning snack.

This is my favorite Ruthann face these days, she puckers out her bottle lip and just hangs out looking as if she has jowls. The guy holding her is looking pretty good too!