Maternity Leave Reflection

Today marks the last day of my maternity leave, and tomorrow I'll return to my work as a teacher. I had some thoughts and reflections from my last 15 weeks off, and wanted to share them here. 

When our little boy was born 15 weeks ago, I knew that this summer would completely fly by. My punctual baby arrived on the very first day of summer break (and 3 weeks early) which was wonderful because it maximized our time together. His timing couldn't have been more perfect! 

When I first calculated our due date, I anticipated that this summer wouldn't really feel like summer. While part of that is true (I didn't wear a swimsuit once this summer), we still enjoyed plenty of summer fun. Our days have been leisurely, our mornings have been slow, and we've made plenty of memories together. 

Here are some of my favorite moments from our time off together: 

Sammy meeting his brother Jackson was one of the biggest joys of my life. Sammy adjusted beautifully to life with a little brother and has never shown a drop of animosity towards Jackson. The hardest part of gaining a sibling for Sammy was mommy's three day hospital stay. Jack is showered with kisses and tickles all day long from his big brother. 

We had newborn family photos taken and I love how our photographer captured our family of four. I know I'll treasure these photos forever.

We've gone on so many walks. In my early postpartum days my goal was to walk to the end of the street. That then increased to walking around the block. Now we're back to walking our normal route while Sammy cruises on his scooter. It's one of my favorite things ever. 

Jackson's baptism was absolutely a highlight of our summer. It was such a special weekend filled with lots of family time. 

When thinking about my maternity leave with Sammy, I don't recall doing much other than laying on the couch the majority of the day. My goal was to have a shower before the third hour of the Today Show aired. Haha! Dustin would come home from work and I'd be like: "There's absolutely no way I can make dinner. Who will hold the baby?" I don't know if it's a second time mom thing, or a me thing, but maternity leave looked much different this time around. We settled into a rhythm, Jackson got onto a great schedule, and we did much more than lounge all day. Sammy spent lots of time in the kitchen with me and we spent lots of time playing outdoors together. 

Jack and I had some special time together just the two of us throughout the summer. On his off days, Dustin often took Sammy on adventures. They both enjoy fishing and went together several times. I had a few mornings when Sammy started preschool that I enjoyed time with just Jack and I. Nothing beats snuggling a sleeping baby on the couch. 

While Sammy played outside, I usually held Jack in the shade under our umbrella. I have so many pictures of him in my lap throughout the summer. He gets progressively larger in each photo. Haha!

I'm so grateful that I was able to be off 15 weeks as I know many other mothers aren't as fortunate to have had such a long leave. Baby Jack is even luckier as he gets to be at home for 3 more weeks with daddy before finally starting at childcare. I'm not sure what those two will do together all day, but I'm picturing coming home and seeing Dustin mowing the yard with Jack in the front pack. 😉 

I'm certain I'll have some tears tomorrow as I leave my boys at home, but hopefully all of us have a smooth day. Thankfully my first day back is on a Friday, so we will have a slow re-entry. We'll settle into our new routine, and before I know it, it will be Christmas break.  I'm so thankful for the last 15 weeks, and the opportunity it gave me to pour into my family. XX