My maternity leave comes to an end



I can't believe 8 weeks have already come and gone.  Tomorrow I have to return to work and I honestly would rather stay at home with my kids.  Sure, we had days where we all needed a break but we worked through it and learned a lot from each other.

I tried several different activities with the twins.  One of their favorites was playing with egg shells.  I gave each of them a container of shells and a wooden spoon.  They both liked the way they felt when they cracked open but they soon realized that a spoon wasn't enough.  Cars, hand and their little feet found their way into this messy activity but they had fun!







We also painted for the first time during my maternity leave.  It began with the Color Wonder paints that only show up on the Color Wonder paper.  Then they got this easel, paints, and paint brushes for their birthday so we had to test it out.  The first time we painted, Gabe found a car, drove it through the paint, and then onto my white bedspread!  Luckily, it's washable paint so it came out really easily! 

The twins learned 2 new songs, Deep and Wide and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  They fell in love with the books, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Click, Clack Moo Cows that Type."



One of my favorite parts of my maternity leave was watching Gabe and Eden love on their new baby brother.  Silas is very laid back and easily took a part in our lives.  He ooos and cooos constantly when awake.  His best awake time is in the afternoons when the twins take a nap.  I think he did this on purpose so he can have Mommy all to himself.  I loved our quiet afternoons alone and will miss those the most.

As is life with 3 children, we can't go too long without some type of sickness.  The Thursday before returning to work, Eden and Gabe started showing signs of a rash so the next morning, we went to the doctor.  The doctor told us that Eden had hand, foot, mouth disease (which makes sense because we played with a friend that caught it) but that they both were having an allergic reaction to something on their bodies.  The weekend got rough . . . Daryl and I had to take turns keeping Silas at Rock and Carol's house because hand, foot, mouth is very contagious and terrible for babies, the twins weren't getting any better and sleep wasn't happening at our house.  I called the doctor twice on Saturday but they assured me nothing more could be done.  On Sunday, I was determined that they were going to see Eden and once the doctor took a look at her, she knew the previous diagnosis of an allergic reaction was wrong.  The twins were put on 2 different antibiotics for strep and staph because they weren't sure which was the culprit.  Only after 1 dose of the medicine I can tell a big improvement and I feel much better about returning to work.

There's no doubt, we are blessed beyond belief.  I know there's a reason we haven't sold our house and I have to work but God is in control and He is taking care of us!