Out with the old, in with the new!

There once existed a time in my life where coming home from work was no big deal. I'd greet hubs, we'd chat about our days, pour a glass of wine or crack open a beer, plop down on the couch and relax while trying to decide what we'd make for dinner. Then we'd probably just say, "screw it" and head out for a bite to eat, and some more beers of course, laugh and chat about life, then head back home whenever we pleased, watch TV or relax some more before heading off to sleep.

That was the old.

Then we had a baby. I'd greet hubs AFTER greeting my sweet baby boy. ;) We'd chat about when the baby ate last, when did he nap last, had he pooped yet? Did daycare say he had a good day? Instead of cracking open bottles of beer we were washing baby bottles and prepping them for the next day (Oh who am I kidding?!? We still had beers). We were making dinner at home as often as possible and no longer heading out on a whim.  We would laugh and chat about our baby boy after bathing, feeding, and changing. We'd put him to bed then have some down time to relax and get caught up on our DVR and head off to sleep.

That was the old. And the "old" is now officially OUT.  The "old" is a fable from our days of yore. Now, it's all about the "new!"

I know it has not even been a full week yet since I've been back at work but I tell ya... this week has felt like a year!

Coming home from work now looks a bit like this:

I pump in the car. Ya heard right, folks! From the time I leave my office to the time I get home, there are two freshly pumped bottles and as soon as I walk in the door I don't have to be plugged into a machine, I can start right in with the fam.

I greet hubs who is feeding the baby. The toddler greets me with a giant hug and begs me to come play with him. I explain that I need to take my coat off and put my things down which of course sends him into a major tantrum. He is told he needs to "take 5."

The baby won't be set down without crying so she gets moby wrapped so we can continue on with things. The toddler occupies himself for blips at a time and when his trucks start to bore him he is screaming and whining for attention. Meanwhile, dinner has to be made and although we want nothing more than to give him attention we power through preparing our meal so we can all sit down and eat together.

Dinner lasts maybe 5 minutes before the baby starts crying and before you know it, it gets all "National Geographic" at the dinner table when mom's boob comes flying out to feed the crying babe so we can carry on. The toddler says he doesn't like anything he's been given and wants marshmallows and mixed fruit cups instead. He is excused from the table.

My baby girl has decided to give me the cold shoulder and wants nothing to do with my breast and screams her head off until she is given a bottle. She calms down. The toddler is prepped for bed and for the first time all night both kids are happy and calm. We read three books and just as everyone is having fun it is time for bed after our routine family hug. Hubby takes Little C up and I take P-Nut down to their respective rooms.

After the babes are down the two of us meet for the first time since I've been home, both slightly worse for wear. We glance at the couch longingly and I swear we can hear it mocking us as we can't stop to sit now.

We both get ready for the next day, but not until we've finished our cold dinners. Bottles, pump parts, clothes, coffee, lunches, etc. Did we feed the pets? We are finally done and nothing is sweeter than crawling into our bed.

Well, maybe I lied about that...

Before crawling into bed we creep inside our children's rooms and look at them while they are sleeping. The night's tantrums and baby cries seem like a distant memory. Their sweet little faces, their delicate breath, rosy sleeping cheeks. There is nothing sweeter than that.

So maybe the "old" is long gone and maybe the "new" is kicking my butt every which way to Sunday, but I'll still take it any day.