Tuesday, August 23, 2011

happy day

i have to go back to work next wednesday and am dreading it.  don't get me wrong, i enjoy my job and like my coworkers, but i LOVE staying home with my babies and hanging out with other moms.  staying at home is often exhausting and can get frustrating, but i love pouring everything i have into my 2 yr old and 2 month old.  i wouldn't trade the days i have with them for anything.
i feel like my biggest calling in life is to be a mom.  james' and my current plan is for me to stay home when we get the house paid off (which we are on track to do in 6 1/2 more years), but we might change the plan in a few years so i can spend more precious time with the boys while they are young.  there is no greater joy than spending time with your children--watching them learn, grow, smile, laugh, make you laugh, etc.  it is funny that before i had parker, i was convinced i would never enjoy staying at home.  i still don't enjoy cleaning, but i love spending time with the boys.

parker is at a fun stage right now--talking more and gaining independence (potty trained and sleeping in his big boy bed!).  paxton is the sweetest little bug--sleeping from 9pm-5am regularly.  i love nursing him, cuddling with him and smelling his sweet skin after bath time.

i realize this post is overly happy, but we had such a great day today and i want to remember these times when i am back at work and debating if i want to stay at home. 

this morning pax woke up at 5am, nursed for 30 minutes, and then i met a friend at 6am to run 3 miles.  after coming home, showering and hanging out with parker, pax woke back up at 8am and we got einstein brothers' bagels before 5 of the neighborhood moms came over with their babies and toddlers.  we had sweet fellowship (and lots of "rahhhr" screaming and running around from the 2 year olds) and celebration in the joy of good things happening in a friends' life.

parker and i ate left over pasta for lunch and then the two boys and i took a 3 hour nap!  hallelujah!  when we woke up we went over to a neighbor's house to let the kids play outside and then i took the boys to qdoba for dinner.  parker and i read stories for 40 minutes and paxton shared the sweetest smiles.  after the boys went to bed, another neighbor came over to talk and now i am editing pictures of my sweet little lovies.

not every day goes as smoothly as this, but i love the time i get to spend with other women when i stay at home.  it is bittersweet going back to work knowing the group will keep hanging out without me, but i hope to maintain friendships that have deepened this summer throughout the year.

and because i can't end the post without a picture or two, here are a couple pics of the 2/3 year olds over today.  love yall!!


2 comments:

Kimmie said...

I can always so relate to your post! I have to go back to work in 2 weeks and I want nothing more than to stay at home with my boys.
It's great that you have such great neighbor/friends. I love the last pic of the boys!

Life and Times . . . said...

I teach school so I have more "going backs" than most. I always dread it. I love being home with my son, but I've also found that dreading it is a bigger problem than actually going back. Once I'm back in the swing of things, I'm (usually) okay. Of course, if my husband said I could stay home tomorrow I'd be all over it.