Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Lots of missed blogging...

After returning to work from my maternity leave, my life got CRAZY!!! I was promoted within the first few weeks back from designer to art director at Kohl's, and was given the Disney account. At first, the Disney account was suppose to be a small, one-time project, but what it turned into was so much more. I became the department head creative director on the project. I personally designed all the packaging and in-store marketing, and then art directed several designers through the web and printed direct mail and tab materials. I then would guide the company through all the many many Disney graphics and make sure that everyone was following all the Disney and Kohl's graphics guidelines. On top of all of this, I also managed and designed packaging for several other brands in the store, including Apt. 9, Lauren Conrad, Elle, Jumping Beans, Mudd, St. Nicholas Square, and Princess Vera Wang. I say all this because, though this was an exciting time in my life, it was also extremely stressful. I was working through several nights a week. One time I was even taking to my boss, who was on vacation in Paris, on the phone at 3am, to get a project done. When I got home from work, I would spend the little time I had with my little baby Sam, and then work or sleep. On the weekends, I would work! Either for my job, on projects and cleaning around the house, running errands, or on things for my church calling as 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency. Obviously, that left zero time for my blog. I am so sad about it, too, because I missed recording so many sweet moments of my Sammy's life and now those memories are all jumbled or gone. In March, 5 months after returning to work, my mom was visiting and I was talking to her about how stressful my job was getting and how it was causing a huge problem in that all of a sudden my milk supply had vanished. I went from being able to easily pump 20 oz. first thing in the morning, to maybe being able to get 6. She suggested that maybe it isn't my job, but rather that maybe I am pregnant again. I thought to my self there was no way, but decided to take a test to be sure. It was POSITIVE!!! Holy cow! It was so weird standing there with a little 8 month old baby and thinking to myself that I was pregnant.

By time I reached the end of my pregnancy, I knew that I couldn't keep my life going the way it was. I was so stressed at work and was growing more and more irritable and cynical. I developed a pretty bad twitch in my arm. and most of all, though Sammy LOVED being at the Kohl's daycare, I hated that I was missing so much of my baby's life. On December 1, 2014, my little Kate was born, and on December 1, 2014, my life took a turn for the wonderful. I decided to quit my job and stay at home. It was the best decision I ever made. Somedays are really hard, and we are now really poor, but I love all of it! I love that I am not missing any more of Sam's days and getting to experience all of Kate's. Now that I am home, my life isn't any less crazy, but it is a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable. I am really hoping to get going again with my blog and start recording all these moments, so I don't forget them. First things first, I want to catch up recording a few things. I will work on them starting now :) Here is my list:

Trip to Hawaii
Trip to Atlanta
Pregnancy with Kate
Kate's birth
Sam and Kate's first Dr. Appointment together
Kate's blessing
Trip to Atlanta for baptisms and to meet Maggie
Facts about Sammy I want to remember

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