It's been awhile since I have taken the time to write a longer post... Yes, yes, technically this September family update is being published in October.
Doesn't Labor Day always have that "new beginnings" feeling similar to New Years??? I feel that way at work. Everyone gets back from summer vacation and our team has a renewed focus to complete the projects and goals we set for ourselves at the start of the year. This September, it has felt even more so, as Natalie joined our family Labor Day weekend and Junior League (where I've taken on a leadership position) kicks off its new year in September as well. Lots of changes for this family lately!
Things are off to a good start with Natalie. We've had a few kinks to work out this first month, but nothing terribly concerning, just the usual adjusting to someone new and getting her to learn the ropes. She is great with the kids, able to handle our chaotic life, and making lots of new au pair friends already. It's so, so nice to have an au pair in the house with us again.
Part of our new routine is my focus of "working on working less" and spending more time with the kids. I took a paycut at the beginning of the year to work "finance part-time" as I call it, but haven't actually been working the 36-40hrs/week we agreed upon. So, in an effort to actually work less, I signed up for a Mommy & Me class with the babies. I was feeling less focused on them than I had with Oliver, which is common of second/third born. The class has not only been a nice time to take time to play & sing with the kids, but has also been helpful in reminding me of skills, age-appropriate activities, and a great place to troubleshoot our current parenting challenges. I also try to manage Natalie's schedule so she gets off a bit early on Friday afternoon and the kids and I go hang out at the park. I become friends with a mom that has twins just 4 days younger than mine, and we have already done 2 Saturday afternoon play dates with the kids. She was feeling like her twins were just getting dragged around to the activities of her bigs (she has 4!) and so she started planning baby-centric play dates, which we have loved.
Unfortunately, I have a fair amount of travel between now and Christmas, which is unavoidable. We've had Karla, our former nanny, come and help out (6hrs/day once a week), which is giving Natalie a break during the day and frees up some hours for her to help Adam with bedtime in my absence.
Adam & I are also working on spending more time together. We've always been pretty good about giving one another a break (Adam doing happy hour, me doing dinner out with friends), but we were only very infrequently doing date night or spending time alone with the kids. Hopefully, some of the au pair hours we save by me working less can be used for more frequent fun date nights, like the Philadelphia Orchestra Opening Night we attended two weeks ago.
I've got posts on the individual boys in the works, but life continues to be... interesting in our house with 3 kids under 4. Karla told me she couldn't believe how easy taking care of the boys was now, since the 6 weeks she stopped working for us. I wouldn't quite characterize things as "easy", but it has definitely gotten "easier", now that they are more steady on their feet, able to communicate with us, and eating less baby food.
Unfortunately, I have a fair amount of travel between now and Christmas, which is unavoidable. We've had Karla, our former nanny, come and help out (6hrs/day once a week), which is giving Natalie a break during the day and frees up some hours for her to help Adam with bedtime in my absence.
Adam & I are also working on spending more time together. We've always been pretty good about giving one another a break (Adam doing happy hour, me doing dinner out with friends), but we were only very infrequently doing date night or spending time alone with the kids. Hopefully, some of the au pair hours we save by me working less can be used for more frequent fun date nights, like the Philadelphia Orchestra Opening Night we attended two weeks ago.
I've got posts on the individual boys in the works, but life continues to be... interesting in our house with 3 kids under 4. Karla told me she couldn't believe how easy taking care of the boys was now, since the 6 weeks she stopped working for us. I wouldn't quite characterize things as "easy", but it has definitely gotten "easier", now that they are more steady on their feet, able to communicate with us, and eating less baby food.
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