It's Been A While...

I have been back at work for 3 weeks now and so far it's going well.  I definitely miss being home with my kids but it has been nice to have something else to focus on to keep me from tunnel vision.  I think that overall being back at work makes me a better mom and wife.  The time that I have at home is even more intentional and the focus is on quality.  If there were just more hours in the day and I was sleeping more at night it would be even better (and if we would stop getting sick!  We've all had varying degrees of colds yet again since my last post)!     

We enjoyed a special visit from Uncle Harv and Aunt Bettie this week.  What a special treat it's been to have my dad's side of the family visiting here in Redding over the past several months (first Aunt Marge back in October, then Oma in January and now Uncle Harv & Aunt Bettie - now we just need the cousins, their spouses and their kids...hint, hint...)! 

Priya was able to get a glimpse of some of the fun that I remember having when I got to play with my uncle as a child.  She talked about him and Aunt Bettie for days afterwards and keeps asking when they'd come back.      

        

Josiah is 3 months old now and becomes more delightful by the day it seems.  He has made it past his fussy stage (although it was minor for him - the peak of it was during our Oceanside trip which was unfortunate - but we're happy that he's through it now).  He lights up our lives with the most adorable smiles and loves cooing, laughing and "talking" with us.  I got some good smiling & cooing videos but my hard drive space is completely full now so it won't let me download everything from our camera.  We'll have to try again later.  But here's a glimpse of some playtime that we shared together tonight.

Back To Work - and Tired of Getting Colds!

It's official.  My maternity leave has come to an end.  Yesterday was my first day back at work.  But I almost didn't make it...

Sickness has been going around at an unbelievable rate this year.  I've gotten a whopping 8 colds in the past 5 months!  Priya, who never got sick in her first year of life, has had 5 colds in the past 5 months.  Ashish, who never gets sick, has had at least 3 colds.  And even little Josiah has succumbed to his 2nd cold of his short life.  What in the world is going on?!

Everything seemed to intensify the night before I was supposed to go back to work.  Go figure.  Priya turned up with a fever of 103.3 that night continued to fight that high temperature the next morning.  She had been up every hour or so at night struggling with sleep and wanting to be held and snuggled.  Ashish and I were tag teaming with Priya, were fighting our own colds and I was up feeding Josiah, who also has a cold. It was a rough night and going back to work was the last thing I wanted to do after all of that.  But somehow I mustered up all the energy I had and was able to make it (I have very few sick days left because I used most of them during my leave so I need to be careful how I use what I have left).

I was pleasantly surprised by how great it was to be back at work.  I really do love the team that I work with and the welcome back was really great.  And despite how miserable I felt and how tired I was it really was great to be back!

UPDATE Feb 5 - We are all still on the mend.  Priya ended up with her first ever ear infection and is now on antibiotics so that is helping to finally kick her illness.  But man, it's been a long recovery time for her!  By her 2nd visit to the doctor on Wed her fever had climbed to 104!  She has missed preschool all week so she should be pretty excited to get back next week.

It's taken about a week for all of us to start to feel better.  Josiah has been as sweet as can be through all of this.  His first cold was really minor and barely affected him.  This one has been much more severe but through it all he's been pretty mellow and low key.  But he had lost his voice for a while there and was having a really difficult time coughing.  But today he's definitely doing a lot better.

I'm finally starting to feel a lot better as well.  I've been trying to go to bed as early as possible (around 10 or 11) and got in a great hour and 1/2 nap today which felt like heaven!  But Ashish seems to have taken a downward turn today.  He hasn't been able to get much rest this week and is having a more difficult time fighting this off.  We're praying for good health and healing in our family and hoping and praying that the wave of colds has come to an end!