Can't even believe it.

Wow, I am staying home with my kids. I can't even believe I ever made the decision....I am thouroughly happy with it but just can't believe it. I always said I would be a working mom. I think I just figured out that although I know he will be fine in daycare that wasn't good enough for me. It's not good enough when I can spend all day with him. One day I just said I love my job but I can work any time. My kids will only be this little for a limited time and that is too precious to me. So, I did it. I quit. I left teaching last year to return....I don't know....years from now. Very scary at first but slowly the fear subsided and left behind a contentment and joy for my decision. It is so nice on the eve of "going back to school day" to think that I am not going back. I don't have to go to meetings or be away from Eli for nine hours at a time. When all the teachers I know and love are sitting in meetings I will be at the park or on a playdate. Both sound so much more fun than meetings you dread thinking about the things you should be doing in your classroom instead. I will miss my students and colleagues but I won't miss not seeing my kids. I won't miss late evenings and being tired because I have work to do, not to mention dinner, dishes, or any other chores that come up. I was afraid I would really miss my job....it's really funny....I don't miss the work at all, just the people.

Camping....it's a piece of cake!

Ha, if you camp with friends that have a son the same age as Eli and they wear each other out or you bring a long an entire extended family to help in the chasing. A whole day of running out in the fresh air really wears a momma out. It is exhausting and I had help. I can't even imagine what that would be like with 2 children. Yikes....they will keep me on my toes. Thank goodness that we have friends and family that enjoy camping as much as we do.

The summer has flown

Wow! The summer is flying by. I can't believe how fast it has gone. I suppose all the home improvement projects have helped it fly past. We have hardly gone anywhere this summer. We did take Eli camping with some friends of ours and we went to visit my sister in Chicago. Other than that it has been a homebody summer. This weekend we are going on the annual camping trip to Kidney Lake with the Howlett's. We always have a good time but the weather is always cold and rainy so, we will see what happens this weekend. What a speedy summer. Before we know it Will will have to go back to work.

Old friends..never change

Oh, it had been too long since the 3 of us had been together. We weren't even lucky enough to all make it to each other's weddings and still we all made the time to see each other this summer. Claire came up to WI to visit family and we all decided that it had been too long and it was time to get together. What I love about "good" friends is that no matter how much time has passed it's like you were just talking to each other yesterday. You can always pick up where you left off. You don't get many friends like that and when you do you have to keep them because they are precious. I often take for granted the friendships I have not remembering just how hard it is to find friends like that. Life seems so busy but it always slows down when you are spending time with a good friend. We had a wonderful afternoon and we can't wait to do it again. In the meantime we will all keep in touch. I know life keeps getting busier and busier but there is always time for a good friend.

Looking back

I can't even believe that Eli has been home for 1 year and 2 months. Time has flown by. This past week we have been transferring all the hours of video we took during the past year onto tapes and it was amazing to see just how small he was. It still floors me to know he was once that small and unable to do much of anything. It has only been a year and I have already forgotten what it was like to have a baby that small. I am amazed that he has grown up so fast. I don't even remember what it was like to have a baby that couldn't even roll over. Some things about Eli have never changed. He has the same laugh and shout he had when he was 4 months old. It was so great to see those videos again. I am so glad we took so many videos. I hope we make the time to do that for baby #2. Looking at the videos I see that I was blinded by my motherly love for Eli. His hair was crazy for a while and I thought it was so cute. Looking at it now I wish I would have cut it sooner, it would have looked less chaotic. Oh well, you live and learn.