Worky worky

Well, I knew these ten weeks would fly by.  I went back to work yesterday, leaving Baby Clare with Thom John for a couple of days.  ClareBird starts daycare on Monday - and boy, are the teachers excited.  Each day this week, a different teacher has asked me when Baby Clare starts.  It's a relief to know that she'll be looked after by people who are already so enthusiatic about it.  But that doesn't really make being apart from her much easier. 

However, I picked a good week to come back to work - a bunch of people in my group were either on vacation or travelling, so it was pretty quiet.  I checked e-mails, chatted with the people, and even started a couple of new projects.  It was good to keep my brain busy so I didn't end up harassing Thom John all day long with telephone calls.  I was able to keep my mind off of what I was missing with my girl - the naps, the bottles, the walks in the stroller, the tummy time, and yes, even the diaper bombs and the fits of fussiness :-)

Here are some snaps from our last few days of maternity leave:

On a long walk with Pepper:

 Tired dog:

Napping in my arms - I should have been doing something productive (laundry! vacuuming!!), but it was just so darn nice to cuddle with Clare:

Monday morning should be interesting - getting the kids ready and out the door in a timely fashion for a week of daycare - sheets, towels, extra clothes, water gear for Sean, bottles for Clare... and a partridge in a pear tree.  We'll get it all, it'll just be an adjustment.  But it's the weekend now - hooray!

Sister Update

Nothing too new to report - we went to the doctor this morning and everything looks great. Sister seems very comfortable in my belly, so we had a chat with the doctor about stamping an expiration date on this pregnancy. If there's no baby this week or weekend, I'll go back to the doctor on Tuesday for a non-stress test and ultrasound - just like I did with Sean when he decided that he would stay past his due date. If everything looks good on Tuesday, I'll probably get scheduled for an induction late next week.

Today was my last day of work in the office. I plan to spend the rest of the week working from home, and probably Monday and Tuesday of next week, as well. It'll be much more comfortable to work from home in running clothes and not having to endure the 1 hour+ commute each way anymore. I'd really like to just stop working altogether, but I know I'll be happy to have the saved PTO days when Sister gets a cold in September or Sean gets pink eye for the 100th time in October.

An update on the baby pool - looks like Uncle Peter, future Aunt Andrea(!!!!!!!!!!!!), Daddy, Amanda and Katie are knocked out. Sorry guys! Next up is a guess for April 30, so the next few days are wide open. :-)

And we'll leave you with some shots of Sean playing "peeky-byoo" last Friday after daycare with his sheet and blanket ("nay-ket"):

Working from home

I am ginormous. It takes a huge effort these days for me to get ready for work, get myself to work, and then do work. Not to mention the fact that I have to try to work while hearing comments from well-meaning(?) co-workers about how pregnant I am. So, I've been taking advantage of the wonders of technology and working from home once or twice a week.

Working from home definitely has its advantages. For instance, the dress code can't be beat. I feel much more productive in yoga pants than I do in my maternity office wear. Another plus side is that the seating arrangement is much more preferable - stretching out on the couch or cozying up in an overstuffed armchair is way better than sitting stiffly in my office chair.

However, there are some drawbacks to working at home. Snacks are more readily available - it's harder to resist the call of a big bowl of chocolate Chex and ice-cold milk when my kitchen is in the next room as opposed to being in the next state. Also, I admit it's sometimes hard to stay motivated. At work, the constant din of clicking keyboards and people on telephone calls keeps me focused. At home, the background noise is whatever I'm playing on iTunes and the sound of this guy snoring: Pepper spends about 90% of the day like this - only getting up to follow the sun, drink water, bug me for a cookie, or bark at something out the window. I know I'm very lucky to be able to do this, so I do my best to adhere to the work-at-home policies (i.e. - WORK while working at home) :-) All in all, this is a great option for me in these last few weeks (or days? or month? - what do you think, Sister?).