365 days of being a working mama

Tonight I was sitting on the kitchen floor and playing with Claire while the ground beef was simmering. When I got up to flip the meat, Claire started signing "more" and yelling "mama!!". It was so cute! I think she wanted more mama! But that's not the point of this post...

Today was a blah day. I don't have those very often, but I did today. Maybe it was because of Claire's super sad-cry when I left for work with big alligator tears (which is distinctly different than her crabby-cry or fake-cry). Maybe it was the cloudy weather. Or the pregnancy hormones. Or the little misunderstanding Josh and I had before we left for work.

This afternoon while talking to a friend, I realized that I have officially been a working mother for 365 days. Wow. Last year at the end of my maternity leave, I wrote this post. Ever since she was born on April 25th, the date of July 20th, the date I were to return to work, loomed in front of me. It's just amazing how fast maternity leave goes by.

Tomorrow is July 20th, which means I have made it one year. If I had to use one word to describe this year, it would be "adjustment". There have been..

• Adjustments to a new schedule- not getting a lot of sleep when Claire was getting up at night (until she was 9 months old)- figuring out a routine in the morning (whether it be nursing before I left, getting ready while Claire wanted to be held, etc).
• Adjustments (that continue) to our house becoming half-home and half-daycare center.
• Adjustments to having my mother-in-law spend the majority of the day with Claire.
• Adjustments to my nephew, Brody, joining Claire in daycare at our house.
• Adjustments to pumping at work (for 10 1/2 months- go me!).
• Adjustments to figuring out how to keep my marriage as a priority as I juggled being a working mom and a student.
• Adjustments to my various roles- mom, student, wife, employee

While it did get easier, it never got easy. I miss her. I just want to be with her. I have one year under my belt and only God knows how many more to go. As He puts it in His word, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message).