Work life

A little over four years ago,  I graduated from nursing school.  The whole time that I was in school,  I was convinced that I wanted to work in labor and delivery.  However, a few weeks before I graduated,  I found out I was pregnant with Maggie which meant that I had to stay at the hospital I had been working at in order to qualify for any sort of maternity leave.
My hospital didn't have any positions open in labor and delivery and I wasn't up for trying new departments while pregnant so I stayed on my med/surg/oncology floor where I had worked as a student. 
I didn't love it,  at times I hated it,  but I got along with my coworkers and I was comfortable. 
In April,  a labor and delivery position opened up and the recruiter called to ask if I was interested.  After a few interviews,  I got the position.  It meant working night shift for the first time ever, but it was what I wanted.
It's now been about two months and I really like it.  In three weeks,  I will be switching back to day shift which will be easier on the girls and on my husband's schedule for work.
It's just really hard to start over, especially after being so comfortable in my old unit. I like the people on this unit, but I don't know them in the same way.  I definitely don't have the same comfort level in my skills that I had before.  I've gone from being the resource person to needing a resource person.  I know it will get easier but I am far from it right now. 
Here's a cute Lucy picture to cheer up this depressing post.

Getting strong

As I've mentioned before,  my girls are only nineteen months apart.  I lost most of my baby weight with Maggie but then I got pregnant with Lucy right away so it didn't matter.
Lucy is currently 25 months old.  I am not pregnant (although I hope to be pregnant soon) and I need to get rid of this baby weight before she starts preschool.
A few months ago,  we bought a treadmill and stuck it in our bedroom.  I bought a couch to 5k app on my phone and started running.  I was running five days a week but then I sprained my ankle and took three weeks off. I have five more runs until I finish my program.  I think my belly is a little flatter but mostly I love how good I feel after I run.
As the mother of two young girls,  I worry about how my body image will rub off on them. Instead of focusing on the fact that I'm running to lose weight,  I tell the girls that I am running to get stronger. This is not untrue but I think it's important to focus on strength over weight.  My girls are young and they would probably not pay a lot of attention if I said I hated my stomach or that I'd love to lose 20 pounds.  But eventually they would hear and parrot those things and I never want them to feel too fat or not pretty.
Today when I was finished running,  Maggie asked to walk on the treadmill.  I turned it on the slowest speed and encouraged her to go at it.  She kept telling me how strong she felt and I was so happy.  I want to bottle this feeling for her for when she's fifteen and feels inadequate.
I want to raise strong, smart, caring women and I'm starting with strong,  smart,  caring girls.

Kfest

Every year during the last weekend in August,  my parents' church hosts an epic party called  Kirchenfest, which supposedly means church fest in German. In the 25 years that my parents have lived in their town, I've missed it only twice.  The girls have gone every year since they were born. 
The whole town gets together to eat, drink, dance and get together.  There are games for the kids, a raffle,  and an auction.  It's huge!
Every year,  my mom has shirts made for the girls and my nephews that say "Kirchenfest Kutie" or "my first Kirchenfest" for the newest babies.  Lucy turned one month old at her first Kirchenfest.
The highlights this year were meeting "Mickey", "Minnie" & "Cinderella". Maggie was finally old enough to enjoy playing the games and won a fabulous inflatable horse that she named Thomas.  Lucy played some games too but only liked the ones where she got to throw things.
It's so fun to watch the girls enjoy something that was loved so much as a kid and I love watching my friends' kids run around together just like we did at that age.

Kfest

Every year during the last weekend in August,  my parents' church hosts an epic party called  Kirchenfest, which supposedly means church fest in German. In the 25 years that my parents have lived in their town, I've missed it only twice.  The girls have gone every year since they were born. 
The whole town gets together to eat, drink, dance and get together.  There are games for the kids, a raffle,  and an auction.  It's huge!
Every year,  my mom has shirts made for the girls and my nephews that say "Kirchenfest Kutie" or "my first Kirchenfest" for the newest babies.  Lucy turned one month old at her first Kirchenfest.
The highlights this year were meeting "Mickey", "Minnie" & "Cinderella". Maggie was finally old enough to enjoy playing the games and won a fabulous inflatable horse that she named Thomas.  Lucy played some games too but only liked the ones where she got to throw things.
It's so fun to watch the girls enjoy something that was loved so much as a kid and I love watching my friends' kids run around together just like we did at that age.

School days

Maggie had her first day of school this past week.  She's going to a three morning a week program and could not be more delighted. 
As I expected,  she was shy around the other kids but she never cried so I'll call it a win.  I can't wait for her to make friends and have play dates (even though I'll have to clean the house more often). I'm also excited to make friends with the other parents in the class, especially since we don't have a lot of friends with kids.
Monday is the first day where we drop her off. 
I hope this class brings her out of her shell a bit and helps her to blossom. 

Back when I wrote on this little blog...

I haven't written anything on here forever,  obviously.  So much is happening in our lives and it's so hard to find time for anything extra.
But I miss having a record to look back on of the changes our little family goes through on a daily basis.
Today the girls and I met up with a good friend and her son at the park.  The kids ran around for three solid hours (and I was so busy visiting that I didn't take any pictures! )
The girls had a great time and passed out on the couch during our "sleepover" movie so it was a great day for everyone!
Before Lucy fell asleep,  she decided to sit in her princess chair to have a better view of Merida.

Nine years

I moved to Chicago a little over nine  years ago with my best friend from college. Within a month of moving here, my college boyfriend dumped me. I was 22 and convinced I would be single forever.
My roommate and I lived in a family/residential neighborhood that was nice but not a lot of fun for two young girls. We usually spent our weekends younger,  hipper neighborhoods like Lakeview or Lincoln Park.
On the weekends that we were short on cash,  we would go to the neighborhood bar down the street - the drinks were cheaper and we didn't have to pay for cabs. Of course, we were less likely to meet new friends/a new boyfriend for me.
One weekend in March (9 years ago today), we decided to hang around the neighborhood. We had thought we had seen some cute new guys moving into our building that afternoon so we made a toast on a shot of Malibu that we would meet our new neighbors (we were watching a lot of Friends at the time and we were looking for our Joey & Chandler). On a whim, we also made a toast that I would meet the love of my life that night.
We sat at the bar and after a little while two guys started talking to us.  It turned out that they actually lived downstairs from us. (The cute guys we thought we saw moving in were never seen again but these guys were really funny and were always willing to lend us their laundry room key when we lost ours.)
We laughed about how we had talked about meeting our neighbors and probably would have left it at that but then two more guys walked in and started talking to us. One of the guys told me had just moved back from Florida. We started talking and then it was closing time. I wrote my number on a piece of paper and told him to call twice because I probably wouldn't answer the first time.  He called me the next day and we've been together ever since.