This is it...

...my last day as a stay-at-home-mom! I'm overwhelmed with emotion as I stare at the screen tonight. Excitement. Fear. Joy. Sadness. You name it and I've felt it on this day, May 31st, 2011.  Tomorrow I return to my part time job for the next couple weeks, until I eventually return to a full time position on June 16th. Tomorrow is Brooklyn & Bryson's first day at their new school! Bryson is excited, I can tell! He's so full of smiles and coos nowadays that nothing can get his stomach in knots. Except for some gas every now and then. But that passes, as we all know! He's such a joy of a baby! He smiles when we lean over to pick him up out of bed, or when we talk to him and poke those chubby cheeks. He is his daddy's child, that's for sure!  Always cheerful and optimistic. 

Brooklyn and I had a great day together today! We went on a morning jog, watched a favorite DVD together, played on the living room floor, ran around outside...but most of all, we shared lots of hugs and kisses! She is such a sensitive and sweet little girl. When she first started hugging us, it took lots of bribing and then we would get a lame one-armed attempt of a hug. But now? Oh boy, does she have it mastered! She wraps her little arms around you, lays her head on your shoulder and sometimes you'll even get lucky with a 'muuu-aaah!'. It'll make you feel like the most special person in the world. Well, it has that effect on me, anyway. And she was full of bear hugs today. I couldn't help but wonder if she didn't feel my haywire emotions. 

I have been at home nearly full time since March 18, 2010. I had a very difficult time leaving Brooklyn every day to go to work, so I left my job and took on the challenge of being a full time mommy! As I've expressed in the past, I couldn't hang being at home all the time. I yearned for a professional challenge. So I found this wonderful part time job that kept me busy for the past 6 months. But even that didn't fill the void that was created when I abandoned my career aspirations last March. I'm humbled and deeply grateful to have accepted a similar full-time position back at my former employer, beginning June 16!! I'm so excited to resume that part of my life and feel complete again! But with that decision comes the anxiety I referred to. Anxiety for my dear Brooklyn, who isn't the best at transitions. She takes a while to warm up. And she warms up best when my leg is nearby for grasping:

I'm certain that she'll grow to love her new teachers and thrive in our new routine. But in the meantime, I'll be wearing water-proof mascara, drinking lots of caffiene, and will probably require some extra support until I get in the jive of juggling the life of a working mom. 

Short funny

Here's a short and common conversation between Brooklyn and I:

"Brooklyn, are you hungry?" "Dya!" "Do you want some chicken?" "Bock bock!"

Cracks me up every time!  The chicken ain't bockin' no more, sweetie! 

Here are a couple cute shots of her helping me in the kitchen last night:

First Smiles

It's official! Bryson is consistently smiling back at us!  I'm not talking about the gassy/dirty diaper smiles, but real smiles in response to us...and the wall decor. No, that's not a typo. He is smiling at our wall decor! What's more weird than that?  His sister did the same darn thing! It's just so bizarre! Both kids have been equally intrigued with this decoration that hangs above our heads in the living room. Bryson was actually cooing at it for several minutes this morning. I thought he was talking to me until I looked closer and realized that his focus was over my head.  For a split second I think I was actually jealous...why does this thing get all the attention?  :)

Girly girl

Isn't it funny how kids seem to be naturally inclined to play with 'gender appropriate' toys? Without any encouragement from us, Brooklyn has developed a shoe & flower obsession! She can't walk by a pair of shoes without trying them on.

For a while there, she was under the impression that if she hovered her foot over the shoe that it would magically stick! So if you can only imagine her exictement at the shoe store one day! She pulled shoes down left and right, and with careful concentration, she hovered her foot over each one. The shoe store employees got a big kick out of her!

Now she realizes that it takes effort on her part. But she brings her foot to the shoe, rather than taking the shoe to her foot. It's exhausting (& impressive) to watch her efforts without intervening. But it's good for her...she's learning so much & so fast!

 Here she is all dolled up to go outside and pick flowers!

 Two fistfuls of flowers with her easter bunny, and she's one happy gal!

 No matter how full her hands are, there is always room for another beautiful dandelion.

 With kids running and playing everywhere at her cousin's birthday party, Brooklyn was focused on one thing, and one thing alone: FLOWERS!

 I almost left out the best shoe pic...

How do I look, Daddy?

Oh, and she's discovered stickers! Oh, the joys of stickers! They stick everywhere, see Mom? :)

And Bryson? Well, he not only looks like his daddy, but he enjoys the same pasttimes as well!  Here he is snoozin on Jackson's chest...

Here they are cheering on the OKC Thunder together:

But too much cheering causes this to happen again:

 

Miss fix it

We're at a fun developmental stage with Brooklyn, where she's learning how things work and how to put things together.  Her newest pursuit is buckles.

Buckles, buckles, buckles: they're everywhere!  And she's aware of each and every one of them.  

She spends a large chunk of her time concentrating on them. Sometimes it causes funny faces and even a protruding tongue from time to time. But when she gets it together, a series of claps are in order.

She's also an organized clean freak! If she finds a paper towel lying around, she'll wipe down surfaces.  She even picked up the broom and tried sweeping yesterday.  And organized: when she's done eating something, she separates her food, putting every single piece of the undesirable food in one section of her tray. Is she going to be one of those people that can't allow their food to touch on the plate?!