Missing Out

FOMO.  Isn't that the acronym all the kids are using these days for Fear Of Missing Out?

My first week at the new job is coming to an end and YAY! We all survived!  I will say I have a WHOLE NEW respect for full-time working Moms.  How do you do it???  While I'm only going to be working part-time, I had to be there full-time (plus some) this week.  That means the homefront is in a sorry state and I will be catching up this weekend.  All while the husband is on call and we try to attend an anniversary party.

I'll be honest:  I almost felt guilty at how much I am LOVING being back in the hospital environment.  It's been a reality check to see what I remember and how things have changed since I've been out of the game.

Regarding the guilt, I"ll give an example:  We have a ton of education to complete online.  They offered us the option of doing it at work, while getting paid for it, OR at home on our own (unpaid).  My new co-worker said she preferred doing it at home so she could do other things.  I was like "Heck NO!  I'm going to sit at work, put the headphones on, kick back, and enjoy the solitude!"  Is that so wrong? ;-)  I mean, nobody asking me for a snack, nobody crying, nobody hurting another one...aaahhhh!

Anyway, I'm so lucky to have a sitter who loves my kiddos so much.  She's been taking them out on fun adventures and sending me pics like these:

Claire is eating like a champ now!!

A picnic at Sawyer Point on the Ohio River!

I'm also lucky to have my husband and MIL.  They are my village people.   One of my biggest concerns about returning to work was the fear of missing out.  What if I miss Claire's first steps?  What if one of them gets hurt and nobody can make them feel better except Mommy?  I am comforted by the fact that they are in good hands while I'm away.

I know my kids are only little once (as my sister keeps reminding me), but I am enjoying this change of routine for one week.  I'm so happy things have fallen into place where I won't be missing out on too much, yet I'll still have time to be ME, in an adult, professional environment where I'm not just somebody's mommy.

I'm looking forward to my days off with them, taking them to the zoo, the pool at the Y, the river, the ball games, the parks, and all the fun summer outdoor stuff we can do.  It's almost like I needed this break so I could appreciate my time with them even more.

I finally feel like I'm getting some much needed balance back in my life.


PS:  For those of you that reached out to me about the Thrive samples, thank you!! I'm working on getting back to each of you!  I've had such an amazing response on here, FB and word of mouth.  I guess a lot of people are tired of feeling so tired!!

The Best Thing

Aright, I'm about to tell you all about my newest obsession.  You've maybe heard of it.

I resisted, rolled my eyes at yet ANOTHER person trying to sell me something.  I won't tell you it's magic, but I will tell you it's CHANGED. MY. LIFE. in less than a week.  After 2 days, I jumped in & ordered.

Have you heard of Thrive?  It's marketed as a nutritional supplement that gives you energy.  Yes, it has caffeine in it (from different sources, all natural).  It also has lots of vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.

The reason I finally listened to one of my old co-workers from my days at the Mayo Clinic is because I was desperate to not be so tired any more.  I was sick of being tired and sick of complaining about it.  I couldn't get anything accomplished when the kids finally did go to bed and frankly, I was NO fun to be around. I know exhaustion comes with the territory with 3 kids under 4, but holy smokes.  I was in a bad way and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

So I asked for a few days' worth of samples figuring I had nothing to lose.  I'm so glad I was curious enough to try it.

Here's how it works -- and this is the best part -- it's SO easy.  3 Steps.  Easier than anything I've ever tried before in my life.  You wake up and take one pill.  You wait 20-30 minutes (hop in the shower, check your email, whatever) and drink the shake mix.  Then you slap apply the patch on a lean part of your body (ankle, forearm, bicep, lower back, etc)  DONE.  You go on about your regular life the rest of the day, take over the world, and just repeat the next morning.

This. Is. AMAZING.  I am the energizer bunny.  I don't nap. (I take that back, I did try to nap one day just to see if I could.  Like, I needed to make sure I still had my magic powers of being able to fall asleep on command, lol!)  I QUIT coffee (which is awesome because it saves me approximately 300 calories of creamer).  I have sipped on it out of pure habit while I started my new job this week.  I stay up in the evenings, instead of collapsing like before, because I'm getting shi* done.

I get up before the kids and I DON'T want to cry into my pillow out of sheer exhaustion. I'm no longer in a mental fog and my eyes don't burn.

It provides appetite control and I've lost a few pounds already by not shoveling every mound of food I come across into my dome.  I'm NOT saying this replaces clean eating and exercise, but it gives you the mental and physical energy to accomplish those things - and more!!

Now, if you are nursing or pregnant, it's probably not for you.  Even though the makers say it's natural products, etc., I would never be comfortable exposing a baby to the caffeine and some of the herbals.  But when you're done with that... and you can barely slug through your day?  THRIVE.  For realz.

Message me if you are interested in a sample pack (find me on FB or by email at tammy(dot)jutzi(at)gmail(dot)com.)  I'm awaiting my first shipment of samples and already have most of them sold!  But you best believe I"ll be ordering more IMMED.

Or if you just wanna stalk the website to do more research (which I did for about a month, ha!), go here: https://tkremer800k.le-vel.com/Login

I wouldn't be sharing this if I wasn't feeling so awesome, no lie.  Nothing I've ever tried before comes even close to this.

And I promise not to turn into that person that's blowing up your FB, Insta and blog feeds about Thrive.  But I do love telling people about how great it makes me feel.  It's truly giving me my life back.

How time passes

Every time I think about writing a blog post, I tend to get overwhelmed at all the things I've missed posting: photos (because what Mom DOESN'T have her iPhone photo storage near full at all times?), stories about the funny or awful or wonderful things the kids are doing, Mom & Dad adventures, products I'm loving, recipes or workouts I'm trying...

So I guess my best attempt is to take it one post at a time and not try to cram so much in.  But I can't make any promises.

This sleepy head is up and RUNNING at 6am every morning.  I can usually get him to lay in bed with me for another 30 minutes.  He's obsessed with watching movies, specifically Despicable Me and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  Over and over again. Totally new territory for us.

 This little angel babe LOVES to be in on the action.  She can't sit in one place for too long.  I think she's gonna be a mover and a shaker!

 I've been trying to eat healthier - isn't it always a struggle?  But this was SO easy.  Threw some Mahi Mahi in the pan with some seasoning (LOVING Flavor Gods Everything Seasoning right now, I get mine on Amazon - of course), some steamed broccoli with a teeeeny tiny bit of Light Italian dressing and some strawberries.  I could eat this meal every day!  And it took maybe 10 minutes to put together.  I'm trying to eat more fish, but I don't eat Tilapia, so that leaves Cod and Mahi Mahi that are readily available around here.

 Picnic-ing at the park on weekends Daddy is working.

 Trying to entertain the big kids with a luxury pool:

 This little boy.  He's about to turn 3 and is just SO MUCH.  The tantrums are beyond epic.  He has such a sweet heart though, so we'll keep him ;-)  We've also been attempting potty training, but he's a tough nut to crack.  He'll be 100% on point for 2 days, then completely reverts to Baby Status.  I don't get it.

 Lovin' on Baby Sister.  Morgan is such a good big sister and helper, she just adores Claire and I hope they grow up having the same bond that I share with my sister.

I've been going to Pilates and loading up all 3 kids to go workout at the YMCA. The loading and unloading alone should totally be considered a workout.  I want to do more cardio but it's been hard for me to fit it in (let alone muster up the energy for it).

Even though this post is not exciting, it is our every day life and I am loving every second of it. (Except when all 3 kids are screaming at once, then I'm not so much loving it, lol!)

Hey May

Just popping in to say "Hey!" and share what's going on lately.

Life with 3 kids is a whirlwind and I can't believe how fast time is passing.  May is half over already (?!) and has been crazy busy so far.

And Little Miss Claire turned 6 months old this month!!  I also weaned her from nursing because I'm going back to work...More on that in a minute.  Weaning her was way more emotional for me this time around.  I'm sure it was because it was really hitting me hard, the realization that she is our last baby.  I will never again breastfeed.  I will never gain have a scrawny squishy little newborn baby.  And now I have to stop typing about it before I start crying!

My photography assistant

 She is just such a joyful baby - always so happy and smiling (and drooling!).  Her sleeping is much better now, she goes down around 7:30pm and might wake up once in the night for a paci, but we stopped feeding her in the night.  She then sleeps til about 6am, sometimes later.  She cut her first tooth (bottom middle right) and has taken it like a champ.  She's starting to eat more solid foods, but that's been a struggle - she continues to spit a lot of it out.  We are taking it very slow.

 My husband's cousin got married last weekend and they asked Morgan and Joey to be the ring bearer and flower girl.  It was so much fun!

Someone was holding the baby while we wrangled the wedding stars.

I couldn't even handle Joey is in his little tux:

This was my Rent the Runway dress that ended up being too small.  Womp womp.  SUCH a fabulous dress.  And because I have no shame, I'm putting it out there for the world to see.  Let it be known, I couldn't get it zipped up the back.  Typically they give you a backup size for free, but the next size up wasn't available.  It just wasn't meant to be :(  Fortunately, if it doesn't fit and you send it back immed, they refund your money minus shipping.

 Cousin Annabel came over to play with Claire while the mommies got their makeup done for the big wedding.  Our family goes all out, lol!

Claire is 1 month younger than Annabel, and much, MUCH larger, ha!

 Makeup done!  I love me some MAC makeup.  My friend Jennifer hooked us up with a MAC girl to come to my house and transform us.

 I'm pretty sure sure this was the best day of their lives:

 And I have to say, as much as I complain about their bad behavior, they ROCKED their roles like bosses.  I was so proud of them both!  They are at such a fun age for this stuff - they danced and partied and stole cake balls all night long.

I miss blogging.  I miss sharing.  I miss engaging with my people (that's YOU!).  I hope to be a little more active now that I feel like things are a little more under control around here.

As for the decision to go back to work, I started hunting seriously back in February.  I went on several interviews and every one of them offered me the job.  I started to get extremely picky, realizing that if this was going to work, I needed a job that would work around our family.  As a nurse, I'm so blessed to be able to find that kind of flexibility.  I ended up accepting a part-time job as a Chemotherapy RN, which is what I was last doing before I had Morgan.  No nights.  No holidays.  No weekends (except an occasional Saturday short clinic every couple of months, which will actually work great for my family situation right now).  I've got care lined up for the kids and I am really excited about this new era.  I think it will make me a better mommy, wife, and person.  I start tomorrow, so wish me luck!!