The A Team Week 12: Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

This week (December 8-14), I went back to work! :(  I could have taken a longer maternity leave (it was 10.5 weeks), but since I will have to take off all of Christmas break since daycare is closed, I thought I should head back earlier.  Originally, my boss had wanted this as well.  Then, the Thursday before I go back to work, he sends me an email saying that he is not sure if there is enough going on for me to work full time and that I can work less...what?!  Despite that, I have worked full time for the 4 days a week for the past couple of weeks, and although it is slow my project in Florida (which I've been working on for over 4 years now) always keeps me busy.

Although the Sunday before this week had been difficult (Eric had purposely tried to keep me from Judy Dryer-the pastor's wife at church because he says she always makes me cry!), I made it through this entire week without crying.  However, there was a lot of heartache and everyday I could NOT wait to get back home to my little guys.  Thankfully though, Christina sent me a few pictures of my littlest man on Monday to get me through the day...

Monday and Tuesday went fine, but seemed to take forever as each day I awaited the moment I could head home to get my boys.  Thus, I was VERY excited for Wednesday to enjoy my day off with the boys again.  I did have to wait a little longer to enjoy my time with them though because I had an appointment in the morning.  I went to my appointment and then headed back home alone for a little bit to get a few things checked off my to-do list.  Then, I headed to get the boys and we joined the other IBC moms and kids at the new Wednesday play group for a bit.

I treated myself to a homemade Caramel Apple Spice while I worked on some things at home.

I had to take a picture of this van-made-into-a-truck that I saw on my way to go get the boys...it even had Hot Wheels stickers on the sides!

In the afternoon, Avery took a good nap, allowing Asher and I to enjoy craft time again.  Today, we made some Milk Jug Snowmen (another Pinterest idea) and then had fun playing with the Play Doh diner for a bit again.

Asher helping me with the snowmen

Playing with the diner.

The finished result.

When Avery woke up and our crafts were finished, we headed downstairs to play in the playroom for a bit.  Asher really loves his little brother and spent some time loving on him.  I always wonder how Avery feels about all the attention, and although he does get a little fussy during the moment, he always seems excited when his brother comes by.

The rest of the week was kind of a blur.  We worked and maintained our busy life and looked forward to the weekend for some down time.

Asher has also learned to open and help himself to things in the fridge now (we just installed a fridge lock a couple of days ago).  Surprisingly, he at least seems to take out healthy snacks like fruit, string cheese or the yogurt seen on the counter here.

Avery modeling the hand-knit hat he got from a friend of Eric's.

Avery & Daddy

Big brother so happy to hold his little bro...

"Kiss him mommy?"

Love the crazed look on Asher's face!

When the weekend was here, I was hoping to get a lot done as there were things I was hoping to accomplish for Christmas.  However, my little guy had other things in mind.  It is kind of funny/strange because while I was on maternity leave, Asher wanted nothing to do with me and always wanted Daddy instead...sometimes even to the point of being mean.  Now that I am back to work though, Asher has decided that he needs Mommy constantly and is quite clingy.  Everywhere I went this week, he was close by, wanting to help, play and be held.  It broke my heart as I was frazzled with work and trying to get things down, while also trying not to ignore my kids and make them feel less important.

Around Thanksgiving, Asher also became terrible at going to bed.  He screams and cries almost every night to the point that although I love our pre-bedtime/story time snuggles, I hate bedtime and cringe at the thought of the approaching event every night.  When it is my turn to tuck him in he will cling to me and beg me to sleep in his bed.  It makes me feel terrible as I do not want to give in and get him in the habit/need and also need to care for and nurse Avery.  On the Friday before this week began, I tried something new at bedtime: bribery.  Judge me if you wish, but it worked.  I told Asher that if he didn't cry there would be a graham cracker on the counter for him in the morning.  He didn't cry and the bribery continues, to the point that when you get him out of bed in the morning, the first thing he asks is, "what's up there?"...meaning is my cracker on the counter?   This has gone on for about two weeks now (and although it hasn't been perfect bedtime has been MUCH easier) and I was a bit worried by what would happen when he did indeed cry and we needed to withhold the cracker.  This week though, that happened, but surprisingly he didn't get upset.  He was disappointed, but we explained to him the consequences and that he didn't abide by the deal we had made, and he accepted it!

Asher helping me while I tried to work on the Christmas cards.

My boys enjoying the Christmas tree.

On Sunday, I finished up the Christmas candies and then it was time to deliver everything to our neighbors.  It took a while to plate all 16 varieties and Asher kept coming to monitor my progress, asking what I was doing with them all.  I would explain and he would say one of his new favorite words, "oh"...then he would say, "they're beautiful!".  Once everything was plated, we loaded them all into a basket with Asher in the wagon and off we all went to bring some Christmas cheer to 47th Avenue.

Eric, Asher & our cookies off to spread some holiday cheer!