Almost one year ago today, I wrote a post titled, No, I’m Not Tired: The Life of a Working Mom. I looked back at it today and realized how much my life has changed in one short year. When I wrote that post, I had one kid – now I have two. BIG DIFFERENCE.

So I thought I should write an update. And this time I am going to title the post appropriately, because yes, I am tired. Very tired. Four cups of coffee tired.

One year ago, I would get up at 5 am in the morning. And I thought that was early.

I admit that sometimes I write my blog posts for selfish reasons. And today is one of those days. One of those days where I needed to convince myself that everything would be okay in the end.

Nothing too out of the ordinary happened today. Just life. Normal things. But for some reason, it just felt overwhelming today. It just seemed like SO MUCH.

Somehow I ended up with pink eye two weeks after both kids had it.

Both of the kids cried the entire way home from the sitter. And not just whimpers – ear piercing crying. The “I’m beyond being calmed down” cry.

I knew when I started blogging that not everyone would agree with what I wrote. And I was 100% okay with that because I write about a lot of things that some people might consider controversial.

But yesterday, someone made a comment saying that I had not “grown into a mother” in response to an article I wrote about going back to work after maternity leave. She didn’t disagree with the fact I went back to work, but she did disagree with the fact that I felt “more like myself” after going back to work. And that I treated my children as an extension of my job.

There is a lot of crazy going on in the world right now. I won’t lie, it’s scary. I would love to live in a bubble and just avoid everything that is going on, but that’s just not possible.

And you know what, watching all of it can really put you in a funk. You can stare at the TV screen or your phone or the newspaper and cry. Or you can count your blessings.

I saw a clip the other day of a man and his son. They had escaped the hurricane with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Social media and I have a love/hate relationship. Since I have been on maternity leave, I have spent a lot of time scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to pass the hours while attempting to comfort my newborn that has not taken up sleeping at night yet. While it does keep me extremely entertained, it also makes me feel extremely inadequate at times.

Being a mom in this modern world is hard. Everyone splashes their beautiful family pictures and workout selfies and Pinterest birthday parties all over the internet. I have done these things too!! Henry’s first birthday was a freaking fiesta.

I might be writing this post for selfish reasons – to give myself a pep talk. To remind myself that every day won’t be so hard. That I won’t spend every day crying. That this won’t last forever. But I also know there are plenty of other moms out there right now that are probably feeling the same way I am. So I have decided to put it all out there for the universe to read. Again. Because I guess that is kind of my thing now.

My second son, Simon, was born exactly four weeks ago. I am currently on maternity leave from my full-time job.

Two weeks. I cannot believe that it has already been two weeks since Baby Simon was brought into this world. Two weeks since my husband and I welcomed our second son, the final piece of our little family. Two weeks since I had a human surgically removed from my body. Two weeks since my three year old, Henry, became a big brother. Two weeks since I have been the mom of a toddler and a newborn.

It absolutely blows my mind how much my life has changed in the last two weeks. Things are going well for us. It’s definitely not all rainbows and unicorns around here though.

There were a lot of topics I considered writing about for my first post-baby blog post. But since I have been so open about my experience with postpartum depression after having Henry, I thought that sharing how things are going this time around would be fitting.

Mental health is so important. It also happens to be something that isn’t talked about. There is a stigma surrounding people that bring up the fact they need help. It’s a taboo subject. People judge others that admit they have mental health issues. And I’m not okay with that.

At this exact moment, I am sitting on my couch.

Another real life, honest to goodness post from me. Do you expect anything else now?

This one is about good ol’ maternity leave. The day has arrived for me! Today was my last day at work before giving birth. I will have three whole work days off before I go in for a c-section Thursday morning and get to meet my sweet baby boy.

People have been asking me if I’m excited for my maternity leave.

Of course I’m excited, I get to meet the final member of our little family. I get to spend time with him and my three year old and get lots of snuggles and not have to worry about meetings and checking my email and making sure i’m off in time to pick the kids up from the sitter.