Maternity Leave = 3 Month Vacation....Right??

So clearly I had a warped view of what maternity leave was going to be like before I went on it.  Here are some of my misguided assumptions, which have since been proven untrue:

1.  I would shower and dress every day.

False.  Although I have been lucky enough to shower every day, I can count on one hand (and not even use every finger) the amount of times that I have put on "real clothes".  I never understood this concept before, I mean, how hard is it to shower and get dressed in the morning?  I have since come to realize that this is not easy with a newborn for a couple reasons.  First, I am lucky if I only get spit up on twice a day (I have, so far, maxed out at five times in one day) so putting on actual outfits is very unrealistic and unnecessary.  Second, I am not exactly back to my fighting weight, so would have to wear my maternity clothes.  After nine months of pregnancy, getting bigger and bigger, the thought of putting those clothes on AFTER having the baby does not appeal to me.  So the only logical answer is to wear yoga or sweat pants every day to match my stylish nursing tanks! :)

2.  I would (learn to and) cook dinner for Erik every night.   

False.  If learning to cook means pinning recipes that look good on Pinterest, then consider me Top Chef.  But if it means putting those recipes into practice, then I am exactly where I started...an expert at boiling water.  Poor Erik is still coming home from work to an empty dinner table, and ends up cooking for me!  I really don't know where the days go that I feel like I don't have enough time to cook (I guess I do watch a lot of HGTV), but maybe it is still just that I don't want to learn....

3.  I would jump right back into my pre-pregnancy diet and exercise routine to lose the baby weight.

False.  I could easily blame this one on the doctor since they are not allowing me to exercise for six weeks post delivery, but the doctor is not the one feeding me ice cream after dinner or muffins during late night feedings.   I never realized how hard it would be to go nine months eating whatever I wanted, back to watching what I eat.  I knew I should have probably eaten better during my pregnancy to make all this easier, it was just too easy to eat anything/everything while I could blame the baby!  Right now, my excuse is the 500 extra calories I am supposed to eat while breastfeeding, the only problem is, 500 calories on top of the already excessive amount is not what the doctor meant.  I would like to lose the weight and in a timely manner, but right now, my focus is and should be this new baby....and my reese's peanut butter cup ice cream.

(I found this on Pinterest, and thought it was fitting.  It is not Lily, though I am sure she would say the same)






I am not giving up on any of these, I still have over eight weeks left to redeem myself.  Though don't be surprised if you see me at the end of my leave wearing sweat pants, pinning more recipes on Pinterest (not actually cooking any of them) while eating a huge bowl of ice cream.

Also, I couldn't post this without a new picture of Lily.  :)