our little pumpkin & returning to work

Well the wonderful bliss of my maternity leave has finally come to an end. It was an amazing 14 1/2 weeks at home with my sweet girl. There was one point, around 7 weeks, when I thought I was ready to go back to work...not because I wanted to leave Teagan but because I missed teaching and the interactions with the people that I work with. Then at about week 10 I suddenly started dreading leaving Teagan and wishing I could stay home with her indefinitely. I had full on meltdowns for the next 4 weeks...and no, that isn't an exaggeration. Maybe not every day for the 4 weeks, but I'd say every other day would not be stretching the truth. Patrick was super sweet and supportive through it all. He had the idea that he would take off work for my last day of maternity leave so we could have what he called a "family day of fun." ...and that it was. It was such a perfect day. He gets full credit for that one too...I never even hinted around about it.

We started off our family day of fun with breakfast at Flying Biscuit. what, did you expect someplace else? :) We then headed to the Kinsey Family Farm in Gainesville to take Teagan to her first pumpkin patch, followed by a trip to the outlets, and finished it up with a trip to Pinkberry for some fro-yo.

Family Day of Fun

starting the day off right...Teagan is already exhausted from all the fun

excited about T's first halloween! 

christmas tree farm in the background...we might have to bring Teagan back for a tree :) 

talks with dad 

workin' it for the camera...and no, we did not pose her like this. :)

sweet girl's first hayride! 

she enjoyed the hayride a lot more than taking a picture by the sign 

tired girl offering up some sweet snuggles to her daddy

ending the day right...and don't judge me. i like my toppings. 

 other random fall festive pictures :) 

hangin' with dad

first day back to work

The morning of my first day back I'd say was as I expected...lots of tears. I started crying the second the alarm clock went off that morning. for real. I seriously do love my job and my tears weren't because I had to work but because I had to leave Teagan and hated the thought of missing any sweet moment with her. The rest of the day ended up being a little better than I expected.  I am fortunate to work with so many wonderful people who were very thoughtful and caring when I got there. I was greeted with sweet goodies, tight hugs, and excited smiles from my students...and even a sweet friend who shared some tears. We're also fortunate to have found someone who is super excited about being able to take care of Teagan. She is the mom of one of my students from last year and lives only 3 minutes from the school. Her excitement about Teagan makes leaving her a little easier (still not easy...just easier), knowing that she will still be loved and spoiled. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have ever made it to work that day if I would have had to drop her off at a daycare. I even got a little visitor on Thursday. :) 

Hoping I'll be able to make it through the 5 day workweek coming up. 

sweet cousins

Last week, Teagan and I headed to North Augusta to visit with my family before my maternity leave ended. It was our first night away from Patrick...I was a little nervous about it, but Teagan ended up doing great! Here are a few pictures of the sweet cousins. :)

Caroline being sweet and allowing Teagan to borrow her bumbo. 

oh.my.word. can't tell you how many laughs this one has gotten out of me. 

 ...another funny face from Caroline

...and Cayden finally agreed to join the pictures. impossible to get them all looking.

happy 3 months!

Sweet T, you have brought so much joy to our lives in the last three months. You stole our hearts the moment we met you and continue to more and more each day. As much as I want time to slow down and for you to not grow up so quickly,  each new week brings something fun with it and makes it a little easier. You are becoming more interactive, smiling and talking to us a ton. We think we may have even heard a little chuckle out of you but no full on belly laughs yet. You've also started to frown right before you begin to cry. oh my, you break our hearts with that one. You're still sleeping pretty well through the night, 9pm-7am, sometimes with a little 5am wake up call for your dad to come and give you your paci. You're still holding up your head well and absolutely love 'standing'. Tummy time has become less of an event, at least for the first 3-5 minutes-you were even working on rolling over the other day but got too frustrated before it happened. You spit up.... a.ton. You've gotten better at controlling your little hands and getting them to your mouth (looks like you might be favoring your first two fingers on your left hand). You're in size 2 diapers & size 6 months for your footed pjs. You've started to recognize familiar things-you smile when you see me or your dad, you also smile when you see Olivia the Owl and Waud L. Duck-your first 2 best (non-human) friends. 

Big Things at 3 Months

You love smiling...and when you get on your mat with Olivia you smile, coo, and flap your arms at her. It is so sweet to watch you recognize things. 

why a picture of our wall art and speaker? oh, because there is a chance you might think these are your friends too. You've always loved looking at them-I think it is the contrast of the dark color against the walls. The other day, after we had been out of town for 3 days, we got home and your eyes went straight to them. You smiled and cooed at them-you either knew you were home or think they are your friends.

very content sitting up in your bumbo

 sometimes tummy time isn't so bad...

and sometimes you even fall asleep...

...but then you wake up and realize you are on your tummy

...and decide you do not like it after all :) 

oh and you continue to get cuter and cuter. we may be slightly biased though. 

 and you continue to grow...that's why we are retiring this laundry basket from our monthly photoshoot-you do not like how small it is. 

3 month photoshoot

I can't stop laughing at this one. I think it is her impression of her dad on a roller coaster. :) 

Comparison Pictures

We love you to pieces sweet one.