Ready

I am ready to get back to blogging, and life for that matter. Levi is consistently sleeping for 7 hours a night and only getting up once to eat in the middle of the night. It's kind of amazing. I never had this experience with Evelyn.

So back to blogging and life.

Our Beach Trip:
We went to the beach recently and it was awesome! A few things that I was really worried about were the ride to the beach with Levi. It's a 6/7 hour drive and we had all 3 kids. And it went great. Levi slept almost the entire drive and didn't cry at all. Score! And my other concern was that he wouldn't sleep well while we were there because it's a new place, etc. And again he did great, he slept just fine, in fact he started sleeping longer when we were at the beach and that trend has continued. Yay! And to be honest having 3 extra adults to help with the kids was such a treat. When I woke up one morning and Levi wanted to eat and I wanted to sleep I just plopped him in Grandma's lap and went back to bed. How spoiled was I?! And the actual beach trip with Levi was so cute! Just look at the top of the page. He slept like that for 2 hours, just enjoying the sounds of the ocean and the cool breeze through the tent. Mike was really in heaven watching his son at the beach. Mike grew up on the beach and it is really special for him to share that with Levi. The two big girls had a blast too. Our family friends were at the beach too so Bailey and Evie got to hang with a 7 yr old and a 9 yr old girl for most of the trip. Bailey especially enjoyed the other girls and got to tag along with them almost every night we were there. Evelyn really connected with Grandpa and they went off just the two of them to the park and the pool multiple times. It was really cute =) And I got to catch up with our family friends, Mike's sister, and Mike's beloved cousin. Overall the trip was a huge hit and all my concerns and worries were for naught.

The Saltzman/Johnson/Miller women beaching it up!

Grandpa and Evie, dynamic duo!

Bailey, Evie, and the 2 girls all doting over Levi. Levi's Harem as my Dad said ;)

The Kids:

Since Monday I have been home with just Levi. The big girls have a week on/week off schedule in the summer with their other parents so this week they are both with their other parents. It is really neat and strange to go from a household of all 3 kids to just Levi. It's like I get to live in both worlds at the same time. It reminds me of when I just had Evelyn, except this time I am not a first time Mom so I am much MUCH more calm and relaxed. Like I can actually enjoy this time with Levi instead of being all crazy postpartum. And then next week I get to have all my babies again which is really great too. Having the big girls is a huge help to me, they can hold him, grab stuff for me, watch him for me so I can do other things, etc. And when the big girls are here I am forced to have a very definite schedule to my day and that is good for me and for Levi. I feel like I am really getting the best of both worlds.

He looks so little here, aww!

Me:
Being home by myself with Levi this week AND getting regular sleep every night means that I have a lot more energy. And with that energy comes a little bit of stir craziness and boredom. Levi is amazing but anyone that has been a stay at home mom to a newborn knows that there is only so much that they do in a day and it is really repetitive. I don't love him any less but I am definitely starting to yearn for more stimulation in my day to day life. So now I am trying to figure out ways to get that stimulation. And it's not easy. Most of my friends work full time. I have a few that don't but even still it's hard to plan around Levi, he is pretty flexible and quite adaptable but it is still a bit exhausting to get out of the house with him and all his gear. What I really want to do is start going to the gym again. But they won't let him in the nursery until he is 3 months old. I am literally counting the days. He will be 3 months on Sunday August 7th. The big girls start school again August 8th. My butt will be in a zumba class as soon as those girls are on the bus! I am so excited! In the mean time I am going to start running again after Mike gets home from work. And I am going to start walking with my BFF in the evenings as well. I am really excited. I pretty much go all day without talking to another adult in person. Now I can look forward to talking (and exercising at the same time win/win) to my BFF at least a few nights a week :) I also reserved a ton of books at the library yesterday and I am really looking forward to reading again. I love to read. LOVE. But when I am working it is really hard to find the time to read. Now I have plenty of time and truthfully I want to fit in as much reading for fun as I can because I am going back to school in January and I know I won't have time to read for fun when that happens. I am kicking off my reading with easy and fun books, celebrity memoirs. Yes, it is my guilty pleasure and I can't wait!! I am starting with Brooke Burke's Naked Mom. I'll try to post a review of each book I read. I am really exited about this because maybe some of you secret readers out there will read along with me and leave comments or email me and we can have a little book club perhaps?

This book just isn't holding my attention...

Mike:
Umm, yeah, he is still the love of my life, that's not changing :) He has been putting in long hours at work, especially the weeks we don't have the big girls. And all his hard work is starting to pay off. It looks like good things are coming his way at work, I can't say more now but I'll elaborate soon. I am very proud of him. Very. You might be aware that this Sunday is Father's Day. And in my previous post I put a link to his gift from me and the kids. I made a book for him that documents the kids and his journey as a father. He's just incredible. And the sacrifices he makes to be the family man and father that he is are amazing and so appreciated by me. Because of his hard work and determination I get to stay home with the kids. I get to go back to school. Having this opportunity to do whatever I want because he is supporting our family completely is such a gift. A huge wonderful gift. And I plan to make the most of it. His hard work and sacrifice is not going to be for nothing. I am going to nursing school to become an RN. And once I am an RN I will make enough money to support our family by myself if, god forbid, he were ever unable to work or lost his job. And I will work part time as an RN so that we can have savings for retirement, college, and vacations. I am really excited. So is Mike. :)

How adorable is Mike?! We were going for our nightly walk with Levi.

Nursing:

I am really excited about this new chapter in my life. I have tried 2 other careers up to this point in my life. I was an Art History/Museum Studies major in college and I worked in museums for a couple of years. And after that experience I made some amazing life long friends but realized that the museum world was not for me. I love it, but it is very high brow/snobby/political. Now I love being snobby, I do, and I really enjoy high brow/intellectual stimulation. But I couldn't see myself being like that all the time, it is only one aspect of my personality and I couldn't live and beathe it everyday. So went back to school to become a teacher. I wanted to work with kids, I wanted to make a difference, I wanted summers off ;) And again, after actually doing it I realized that it wasn't for me. I love kids. But I don't love everybody's kids. And I don't have the patience to be there for everyone else's kids and mine. And unfortunately my own kids were suffering because by the time I got home I had nothing left to give to them. Plus the public education system is really broken and it was incredibly frustrating to deal with that everyday. So now I am on career number 3. And I really see this as THE ONE. Third time is a charm right? I have never worked in healthcare. In fact until I met Mike I never even considered it for myself as a career. Mostly because I am so math/science challenged I assumed I couldn't do it so I never even entertained the idea. But after my most recent experiences in hospitals I really can see myself in that role. And it is not so different from teaching, especially preschool teaching. I dealt with bodily fluids of all kinds when I taught 2 yr olds. At least this time I can have an intellectual conversation with the people who's blood/pee/poop I am dealing with. But really, I have a very caring side to me, a nurturing side and I think nursing will really suit me. I also have a bossy, controlling side to me and that too will lend itself to nursing. And though I am afraid of the science and math required to get my nursing degree I look around me and I can't help but think, if all these people can do it then why can't I do it? I love a challenge and this certainly will be stimulating for me. So I am really excited to start this new chapter in my life. And I LOVE being a student, it's my favorite job in the whole world. I have ALWAYS loved school. In a school setting everything is so clear. What is expected, how I will be assessed, and what the outcomes will be. I know if I do the work I will get the grades, period. It is so simple and almost instantly gratifying because I can see my grades within days of taking exams. And the classes are so short that I don't get bored, by the time a class is getting boring to me it is ending. And then I get to start something new. I've never had a job that was that quick paced and diverse and instantly gratifying. If I could rationalize it to myself I would just be a full time student. I would take photography classes, guitar lessons, dance classes, art history classes, just everything, I would just study anything that peaked my interest. What a luxury. Maybe when we are retired :)

As you can see I am ready. Let's go!