Blessed Beyond Measure: The A Team Week 13: The Long Haul

Week 13 (December 15-21) was my 2nd week back to work and surprisingly was MUCH harder than the first week. I missed my boys terribly and dreaded going to work every day making for a very long week. On Wednesday I had to get Eric from an appointment that I didn't want to take the kids to and had so many things to get done at home for Christmas that we put them in daycare for the entire day while I worked at home, picked up Eric and did all of my Christmas shopping. It was a good day and very productive, but made getting through the remainder of the work week that much more difficult. On the plus side, putting the kids in daycare also gave Eric and I a chance to have a quick lunch date together at Panera.

Apparently, this is what happens when Daddy does baths: Hairstyling??

...and the comb-over

Video: Avery

By Friday I was a wreck. My heart literally hurt, I missed my boys so much! I had a really hard time dragging myself to work and sat at my desk in tears when I got there. As I put my things away and began to get ready for the work-day ahead, the day got even worse...I realized that I forgot bottles! ...so I worked as long as I could stand it and then packed up all of my things to go home to work and pump. It made the day even more chaotic, but on the bright side it allowed me to get home faster, even if my boys were not there. That night, Eric picked them up from daycare and I could not wait to hold my baby boy in my arms!

We shared a lazy evening at home with the kids, followed by a non-so-lazy evening after the kids were asleep finishing up Christmas cards.

On Saturday morning, I had so much on my mind of everything I still wanted to accomplish that after hours of laying in bed awake, I headed downstairs to enjoy the soft glow of the Christmas tree and a snuggle with our pup.

Then, once everyone else was awake and ready, we headed to Portrait Innovations to get some family pictures taken and use up a gift card that we had been given after Avery was born. We were hoping to get a few good shots of the kids, but were surprised by Asher having absolutely zero desire to participate. He frowned the entire time, buried his face in my arm and covered it up with his hands. At the very end we were able to get a few shots with a smile when the photographer asked him if he wanted to get some pictures holding his baby brother and he was very excited about that! I was a bit disappointed by Asher's grumpiness, but it made choosing pictures much easier as 95% of them were nothing I cared to purchase. (Photos to come shortly)

Eric & Avery at Tazinos for lunch after pictures.

The remainder of Saturday and Sunday was spent hanging out with the boys, getting things ready for Christmas and for a baby shower that we were having at our home after church on Sunday for the Palmer family.

On Sunday after church we enjoyed a great time of yummy food (provided by the Petersens) and fellowship with friends and families from church. At the end of the party, all of the little kids had already gone home for nap time, so it was just a few adults and the bigger kids left. They all decided to gang up on Eric and try to bring him down. Thankfully, he survived!