Back to Work...Again

The time has come again. My second extended child care leave is coming to an end and I am about to transition from the world of Stay At Home Moms into that of the Working Mom. Times two.

I am so gratfeul to have been able to spend seven months at home with our little guy. The same amount of time that I had with Stella. I could not enjoy my time with my little ones any more than I have been and I am so fortunate to have a job where I am able to do this.

Of course, I am mixed with excitement and anxiety as I spend one last week at home. Going back to work means having a full time job as well as a part time job, but now with two little babes instead of one. I worry about the house, cooking dinner, and being able to have enough energy to be a good mom and wife.

This time, instead of having to find a nanny, the hubby will be staying at home with little Carter as he has been out of work since January. I am comforted knowing that the kids will have one parent around even though I know that eventhough one parent is home, the laundry and the cleaning is no more likely to be done (you all know what I mean.)

We took Stella out of day care last week to take advantage of a rare, end of winter, amazingly warm day. It was declared family time at the beach and aside from being Carter's first time there, we had a blast.

This maked me so thankful for my family and the time that we do have together. Remind me that next week when my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m.

Stella's First Camping Trip

I have been a little absent from the blogging world for a few days but with good reason. I had to prepare for Stella's first camping trip to beautiful South Carlsbad State Beach!

You may be wondering how a slightly compulsive mom like myself could deal with not only camping (dirt) but beach camping (sand) and I must say, it challenged every part of me. It was, however, totally worth it to see Stella run around and explore, smile and laugh. Her greatest thrill was sitting in the dirt and running her hands back and forth to create a dust cloud. How she is my child is still a wonderment sometimes. I got through it by bringing Stella plenty of clothes and shoes (5 pairs) so that when the dirt got too much for me, I just changed her. Stella was nicknamed Imelda Marcos by surrounding campsites. You gotta take a little bit of the haute mom camping, don't you?

The sun came out for the weekend so we were also able to get Stella to the beach. My brave little girl had a blast standing in the surf, letting the waves wash up. She had so much fun that I finally had to pull her out after noticing that her lips were turning blue.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We camp in our 1969 Apache Pop-up Trailer that belonged to my grandparents, so this trip marked the beginning of the third-generation of campers. Although I was still scrubbing dirt out of Stella's nails last night and a pile of sand fell out of one of her pairs of shoes this morning, I see a future of many more trips to come.

"Relaxing"

Wow! What a view to wake up to!

Heading to the beach

Lovin' the surf

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Back to Reality

I have had such an amazing week off with Stella. Not only was it amazing to have her visit with her grandparents (who live 400 miles away) but to also spend the days with her without worrying about having to go to work the next day or being tired from being at work all day long. Tomorrow, it is back to reality.

Times like this make me grateful for having a job where I am able to have time off with Stella but also wishing that I could be a full-time mommy. I have felt like I have learned or seen something new each day and wonder what I miss while I am at work. Luckily, I was able to take Stella to new places where I can watch her enjoy the new experiences in front of her. We have been working on her first steps and she was also introduced to the beach where I learned that we have a water baby on our hands! With the help of a good mommy friend, I had to overcome my dislike of being dirty after seeing Stella's joy in the big wide world of sand. Ick.


Isn't it funny how one can always feel as though they can never win? I love being home with Stella without having to worrying about paying for childcare or missing out on a big milestone. If I was a stay-at-home-mom, I would probably miss the working world and being around other adults. Can't a lady ever be satisfied?! I guess in a way I do have the best of both worlds, working on a teachers schedule with breaks and summers off but I can't shake that "she's only young once" feeling especially since the big 1st birthday is two short weeks away!