5 months of maternity leave, 5 months of bonding time, 5 months of a transition for our growing family, 5 months of spending every day with 2 of the biggest pieces of my heart. What an incredible gift it has been.

I had a few weeks of Mama and Claire time before Carter was born, and since we became a family of 4, I’ve spent the days learning how to adapt to the needs of my littles, my marriage, and my home. It was difficult to return to work after Claire was born, but it felt like the natural progression of life as a mother working outside the home. I was a little less productive than my life before motherhood, and I spent a lot more time with a breast pump, but overall, the return to work after Claire felt almost normal and I never questioned it. 

As many things have been in the transition from 1-2 children, this return to work has been difficult. I’ve been more anxious during this postpartum period and experienced more mom guilt as I unsuccessfully tried to split my time evenly. I’ve been more stressed about our home and noticed stronger distractions pulling away my focus.

This maternity leave was different, and as a result, I feel a fire has been lit. I have a new desire to preserve as much time with our family as I can. A realization that the clutter and inefficiencies in our home are literally stealing time away and I cannot allow that to happen. So I’ve begun a journey to building rhythms and simplicity into our home so that my time is reserved only for what is most important… our family and the life we are building together.

It may seem silly for years to come… here goes Mom, decluttering again. She’s always asking “what else can we get rid of?” Or “is there a better home for this?”. I am in a season of life right now of eating the same food every day, wearing a mom uniform, and throwing my hair up into a claw clip after a 2 minute makeup routine, and I am grateful for that.

The reason for all these mom rhythms is the same… so that I can give more of my time to you, my children.

While I yearn to be home with you, I work out of the home as a nurse, to provide for our family and to give you as many opportunities as possible. I could return to work feeling bitter that my leave is not longer, angry that I can’t stay home, or sad about all the moments I am missing. Instead, I vow to continue my work of simplifying, decluttering, and forming rhythms, so that we can live in a peaceful home full of love, with quality time that is not stolen away by a never ending to-do list. I will keep questioning the status quo and striving toward a life that is more relaxed and less hurried.

This blog is my documentation of a journey toward learning the rhythms of motherhood. Thank you Claire and Carter for the inspiration to get started.