The End of an Era

On Thursday, June 12th, I went back to work. You were just under six months old. I hadn't planned on taking such a long maternity leave, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did. The timing could not have been more perfect. We had planned to have a practice half-day at school on Friday, June 6th. So on Thursday, June 5th, I spent the whole day just soaking you up as though I would never see you again! Really, though, it was just an ordinary day. But since it was the end of my term as a stay at home mom, I want to remember every detail of it. First of all, it was Chelsea's 9th birthday. You were both very excited to celebrate with each other.

We celebrated Chelsea's birthday the night before with a doggie sundae from Bruster's, a family tradition we were excited to include you in this year.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, she started off her actual birthday with a grooming appointment. While a spa day would be an ideal way for Mommy to celebrate a birthday, Chelsea is not too fond of pedicures. But we had company coming into town and she was stinky, so off to Petsmart she went. While we were out, we dropped off your bucket full of stuff at school. Everyone was so excited to see you and they couldn't wait for you to start! We also stopped by my clinic so that I could add photos of you to my desk. I felt a little more comfortable returning to work knowing that I'd have your smiling face waiting for me at my desk! Since we were over that way, we stopped by Daddy's office and visited him. All of the ladies in the office oohed and ahhed over you, and I stole a Coke. We headed back towards Petsmart (since Chelsea was probably almost done) and stopped by Old Navy to pick up a few things. I got the call that Chelsea was done, so we went back over there to pick her up.

I remember marveling at how many errands we had accomplished in just a couple of short hours. I thought about how long it would have taken me to do all of those things before you came along. I've certainly become much more efficient now that I'm a mom, but of course, it takes four times as long to get out of the house. I decided that it probably evened out, and the errands would have taken just as long before you, too. Still, I felt productive either way.

Anyway, the maid service was at our house still (did I mention we had company coming into town?), so I didn't want to head home yet. We had already accomplished everything on our to do list, so I decided to find a pet-friendly patio for us to hang out on. There's a Whole Foods in the same shopping center as that Petsmart and Old Navy, so I tied Chelsea up, and we went over to the salad bar to pick up some lunch. Chelsea got a treat, and you sat on my lap while I enjoyed some garlicky kale and brownies.

I nursed you, and we just sat outside and snuggled and enjoyed the beautiful summer weather. After about an hour or so, we headed home. We played all of your favorite games: mirror inspection, standing baby, looking at the fort, grow big, Elliest bear, Ellie-copter, and pillow fort:

After playing all afternoon, Daddy came home and we did our usual solids/bathtime/bedtime routine. I nursed you to sleep, sang the Ellie Rose song I made up, and kissed you goodnight. I cried a little bit as I packed up your bag for school, but Daddy hugged me and reassured me that we were making the right move for our family. I knew he was right. I know you'll learn so much and have such a great time! I went to sleep, dreaming about all the fun we'd had over the last six months, and all the fun you were about to have bouncing between us and school.