Back to Work - Stay at Home Mommy

Monday was my first day back to work after my 12 week maternity leave and wow what a long day.  I was dreading leaving the kids especially Molly because I pretty much spent every day for the past 12 weeks with her.  I was not looking forward to pumping all the time again either.  After 3 stressful days of pure exhaustion Clifton and I decided I should stay at home with the kids.  Yep that is right I put my two week notice in today with my boss and told him I'm going to be a full time stay at home mommy and honestly it couldn't have gone any better.  I was praying that it would be an easy discussion and that I would hold it all together and be able to explain to him why I was choosing to stay home.  The first thing he said was Congratulations and I'm happy for you so after that I was able to relax and talk to him openly.  It was just too much with my long commute 2 hours a day and I know my kids will only be little for a short time and I do not want to miss out on all the fun things they are doing.  I'm so thankful that God has made it very clear that this is what is best for our family right now.  Clifton has been working so hard lately to make this happen and he knows that I have wanted to be a stay at home mom ever since I had Layton.  I have so much respect for all types of moms working or stay at home moms with multiple kids because I know they both have their challenges.  I'll get to experience both :)  I'm excited to start this new chapter in my life.  I know it won't be easy and I will still be tired just in a different way.  It will be nice to come up with my own schedule and I'm already trying to coordinate in my head when I'm going to clean and do laundry and all the fun things around the house while watching both kids all day :)  I'm a planner can you tell?  So bring on the playdates, trips to the zoo, Seaworld, the park etc.  I know there will be many sacrifices along the way because I'm staying home but the tradeoff is so worth it.  Spending my days playing with my kids. . . .  it doesn't get any better than that does it?  I feel great about the decision so now I just have to make it through the next two weeks.  April 12th is my last day. 

 Layton at the same age

 After school and work Molly did not want me taking her picture.

 Chilling in the nap nanny

Family Time on Sunday

Last Sunday we went to church and then headed to Blackhill and met Clifton's dad and Leigh Ann out at the Community Center.  They were having a sausage dinner and antique tractor show.  Pretty much two of Layton's favorite things so he was in heaven.  It was so fun to watch Layton go from tractor to tractor pretending to drive them.  It was nice to spend time as a family and I think everyone had fun!

Getting pictures of the kids before church is always an adventure.  Layton usually ends up choking Molly and she is usually tired and hungry by the time we leave the house.  I try to time it where she will drink a bottle and sleep during the service.  Sundays are always a little crazy at our house!

 At the antique tractor show:

Another failed attempt of getting the kids picture together.  Molly had on a little onesie that matched Latyon's shirt.

A Fun Friday with Mommy

Last Friday Clifton had a church retreat so I had the kids all day Friday, all night and all day Saturday by myself.  Layton was very well behaved so we had lots of fun just hanging out at the house and playing.  We spent some time outside on Friday evening and the weather has been perfect lately.  Here are a few pics of my little love bugs.

My little chubby sweet baby girl.  I love babies with rolls!  This little outfit was Kyleigh's when she was a baby.  So cute!

 I love when she smiles so big her eyes close.

 Tummy time

 Snack time in Molly's room

 Making Molly smile after our run.

This is Layton's new smile when I tell him to look at the camera.

A Pinterest Playdate

On Friday Abby and Brooke came over and we let the kids play while we worked on Spring wreaths for our front doors.  We all got ideas from Pinterest and decided on one to copy.  Molly and Easton slept most of the morning and the three boys Layton, William and Keaton had fun playing in Layton's room so we got a chance to visit a little while we worked on the wreaths.  I wish we got together and did this more often I had so much fun!