LIFE UPDATE: Leaving my job and becoming a SAHM/Blogger

As I write this it is the day after my last day at work and it feels strange. I wouldn't usually work today anyway, yet I found myself going to set my alarm, dreaming about work and then feeling incredibly lonely when I wake up. It feels so final, so scary, such an unknown venture. The decision to leave my job wasn't an easy one, but to some extent the decision was taken out of my hands. I think any change is scary, especially when that change impacts your whole family life. 

MATERNITY LEAVE: Returning to Work then Leaving Again

As I write this I've just realised that it is about a month until I return to work and my tummy has flipped, my heart is racing and I'm wondering where the past year has gone. By the time I return to work I will have had my full year of maternity leave, so I've been extremely lucky and my return to work isn't as simple this time as it was with Isabella. A while ago I wrote a blog post about whether I should return to work or not at the end of this maternity leave and after a lot of deliberation we have decided that I will return to work for a short amount of time and then leave.

DITL: Day off work, playing at home and running errands

Today I thought I'd share another 'day in the life' style post. This day was a running errands kind of day, which is usually what one of my days off during the week looks like. We spent most of the day playing at home, with a quick trip into town and spot of baby friendly baking too. These are the most simple days, but some of my favourite.

7.15am - Isabella woke us up and then sat and watched the lightshow on her monitor until 7.30am when we went into her. My husband was working from home on this day, so he got Isabella up while I went downstairs to prepare breakfast. I love this small amount of quiet time to get thing ready for the day, it doesn't happen very often now so I truly treasure it.

5 THINGS: That have been hard since returning to work

Last week I wrote a post about 5 things that have been easier than expected since returning to work (catch up here), but it's not all been easier. There have been hard times where tears have been shed and thoughts like 'have we done the right thing?' crossed my mind. I never want to paint a picture on my blog that every life decision we make as a family is an easy one, so to balance out my positive post last week I thought I'd share five things that I've found harder since returning to work.

5 THINGS: That have been easier since returning to work

Returning to work for anyone who has been on either maternity or shared parental leave can be a really daunting step. I've documented a lot on here about how worried I was about returning to work and therefore having to leave Isabella. I've now been back at work for over a month and it has honestly not been anywhere near as bad as I had built it up to be in my head. I'd worked myself up, spent so many nights laying awake worrying and not listening to other parents telling me it's not as bad in reality. So I thought I'd share five things that have been much easier than I thought they would be since returning to work, in the hope it will help anyone who is currently struggling with the thought of returning to work.

MATERNITY LEAVE: 8 Ways to Prepare to Return to Work

So, this is the time that I have been dreading for months, but am now feeling surprisingly positive about it all...returning to work. After a full year off I will be returning to work, which I can hardly believe. Where has the last year gone? I can remember my labour and giving birth to Isabella as if it was yesterday, but the rest is just a blur of love, lack of sleep and incredibly special moments. I have been lucky enough to negotiate going back to work part time, so I'll be working three days a week and being a stay at home Mummy the other four days. This was my dream, to be a Mummy more days than I was working and I couldn't feel luckier. I think this has been a big part of feeling slightly more positive about returning to work, my change of contract was organised relatively recently and it's been such a weight off my shoulders. I can finely sleep much better at night!

An update...

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in SUCH a long time! I have been so ridiculously busy! Around my birthday in March I suddenly went from having loads of free time to having full time work, then my Dad kindly said he'd booked to go to Italy for 2 weeks over Easter (with no Internet!) and finally I started a new job and literally haven't had 5 minutes to myself ever since! Oh and my laptop decided to break about 3 weeks ago now and I've been so busy I haven't had time to get it fixed yet! Phew! So it's been an exciting and very busy time, so unfortunately I had to take a break from blogging :( 

But the work load is starting to settle down now, so I'm hoping to have a bit more free time to blog :) I really need to get my laptop fixed because it has all my pictures on it and I can't blog without the photos! My to-do list is never ending at the moment but I'm gradually ticking thing off (does anyone else find that very satisfying?!)

I'm so excited about the sun making an appearance yesterday, it was so sunny and warm! Me and my boyfriend went to a gorgeous pub for dinner, there were. So many people in the garden area soaking up the sun but we weren't quite brave enough! 

Has anyone else suddenly found themselves really busy?