The Loddes: A new beginning as a stay-at-home mom!

I officially became a stay-at-home mom this week!!!

This decision marks the end of a roller coaster journey for me ever since going back to work when Perry was 12 weeks old. I always knew (or thought) that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. But I learned that you often don't really know until you try. John and I had many long and hard discussions about our finances, and we came up with a plan for me to work until February 2018. Fortunately, Apache allowed me to go back part-time after Perry was born (28 hours a week). It really wasn't so bad, and I quickly grew to appreciate the balance I had found as a part-time working mom. Sure, some days felt very long to be away from Perry, but I really thought "I got this". It became harder and harder to go to work as time went on. Perry was getting older, more attached, and had a bigger personality. It was more time consuming to prepare for daycare each day, wake her up, the logistics of getting to and from school/work. Our weekends were filled with errands, laundry, cleaning, and all of the things we felt like we couldn't get done during the week. We weren't able to fully enjoy the time we had together as a family because we had "things to do". Some parents can do it all and make it look easy. But not me. I was fully prepared to work until February 2018, but my company made me go back full-time in July of this year, and I gave up pretty quickly. I didn't want to spend 11 hours away from her every day. It's not that I couldn't do it, it's just that I didn't want to. Time goes by so quickly, and I couldn't justify going to my job every day for a little extra money. Truthfully, I would have kept working if I could have maintained a part-time schedule. But that wasn't an option. I might consider finding a different part-time opportunity in the future, but for now I'm going to enjoy time with my baby, who is growing way too fast! So here I am! A stay-at-home mom! :)

My coworkers had a Happy Hour for me on the day before my last day. Lots of people came (including my favorite "boss friend" in the world, Valerie, who is currently on maternity leave), and I felt very loved and appreciated! My best work friend, Ashley, brought me flowers on my last day and a Nordstrom gift card from the team. How nice?! These people are seriously some of the best. I will miss them so much - Valerie, Ashley, and Sandra (our Admin) specifically. We shared so many laughs and good conversations, and we shared in some of the happiest and toughest times in our lives. When you spend so much time with people, you tend to know each others' business. ;) Love these people!

I can't end this post without giving a shout out to Perry's wonderful teachers at Memorial Lutheran School! Perry started going to school there in January of this year. She quickly grew to love and become very attached to her first teacher, Miss Kristalynn! She loved my baby, and we sure loved her! Perry was only in Miss Tamara's class for the last 6 weeks, but she was the sweetest and most gentle teacher, and we loved her! They bought Perry a Toys-R-Us gift card on her last day, and I know they don't do that for every child. Perry was a teacher's pet. :) Thank you to these wonderful ladies for taking care of my baby! Despite the story the following pictures tell, Perry LOVED her teachers and liked going to school. These pictures were taken when I picked her up. When we get there in the afternoons, she doesn't want us to put her down - hence, the crying. Haha!