The Blessing of FREE TIME

Ah, maternity leave.  As I mentioned in my 38 Week Bumpdate, my company provides 3 weeks paid leave prior to the estimated due date, and 6 weeks paid leave after.  (Now, the 6 weeks is short, blah - but I realize this is sadly more than many others who have zero paid leave**.  I'm not complaining!)

You can't take the 3 weeks on the back-end, as it's use-or-lose. You better believe I am USING IT!  Just a little snapshot in how I have been taking advantage of free time.

First, I spent a good amount of time with our furry gal, with our first born, with others, and by myself:

• Mornings were spent drinking half caf coffee with Enda, or reading on the porch with Enda.  She's in HEAVEN.

• Although I've kept JB in school, I am picking him up a little early so we can hang out more.  And eat ice cream.  We both love this new ritual. (I've also started crying every time we get ice cream.  He looks SO BIG eating the entire scoop, all by himself.)

• James and I made time for several lunch dates. I love it!!  
• I met a new friend, Alane, that I only knew through blog/email/Facebook for coffee. Love interacting face-to-face in this very digital world.
• I go to Starbucks by myself. I've eaten lunch out at a restaurant by myself.  It's been quite nice.  

There were a few things I rarely have time to do that I wanted to accomplish:  reading and watching TV/Movies.

• I read Gone Girl.  I was literally the last person on the planet to do so, and it feels good to be in on the plot.  Great book - and the movie (which I watched the next day) was great, too. 
• I watched two other random movies: Birdman and She's Having a Baby.  The 1980s John Hughes movies resonated way more with me than the new Oscar-nominated one (which I did not get at all).
• I knocked out the entire first season of True Detective in two days.  Seriously one of the best shows I've watched, although intense and super spooky.  James and I are now watching Homeland at night.  I need a good comedy series after all of this!

I took care of the important preparations that I've been neglecting:

• I got all my beauty needs out of the way on Day 1 (waxing, threading, mani, pedi, etc) thinking she would come immediately.  Since that was two weeks ago, I'm due for these services again soon if I want to look my best for her arrival!  I also got my hair done last week.  PRIORITIES.
• I packed my hospital bag. (At 37 weeks, a good 8 weeks after I packed for JB.  #secondchild)
• I made a few things for the freezer, but, (SECOND CHILD) also bought a lot of pre-made things for the freezer.
• I re-read some important chapters from Babywise, Moms on Call, and other books that promote schedules (in hopes we can successfully go that route again, maybe a little earlier this time around!)

Lastly I finished up some things for Baby Girl that I was trying not to stress about (in case they didn't get done). But, I am so glad they're done:

• Her nursery is FINISHED!!! And I LOVE IT!!!  Pictures coming soon, I promise.  
• I made her a sweet bonnet to wear in her hospital pictures, just like JB had a special hat made by his mama in his pictures.
• I started filling in her baby book (particularly the pages that are pre-birth, oops!)
• I took apart JB's hospital wreath and redid it for her.  (It would have been 10 times easier to just make her a new one, but now this one has sentimental value).

• I made her an afghan, which I know seems like a given but I honestly didn't make one for JB.  (He has several from others than he loves, so he's not missing out, I promise.)  This time around I found a colorful, girly pattern that really spoke to me as soon as I saw it.  I thought, "my daughter needs that!".  And, fortunately, I had the time to complete it!  

So there you go.  Nearly 2 full weeks of maternity leave, and quite a lot has been accomplished.  And quite a lot of time has been spent on the couch (not a terrible thing!) or at Target, HomeGoods, and Marshalls (can you blame me with all this free time?)   Now I'm just laying low, laying around, and pondering when she is going to arrive!  If she keeps taking her time I will probably need to come up with a new list of stuff to do.  :)

(** If you want a laugh and aren't offended by some HBO language, John Oliver's overview of the US family leave coverage kills me.  Both because it's hysterical and sadly true…. YouTube Link)