Dreams can come true

Ever since I was a little girl, I've had dreams of what my life would look like.  I am overwhelmed with thankfulness that almost all of my lifelong dreams have come true.  My main dreams were:

1. To graduate from Samford University (check)
2. To marry my Prince Charming (check)
3. To start a family (check)
4. To be a professional singer (still working on that one) 

And now the newest one to add to the checked list...
     5.  To get to stay home with my baby

That's right...I'm not going back to work!  I get to spend day in and day out with this little nugget, and I couldn't be happier about it!

As a child, I felt extremely fortunate that my mom stayed home with me.  She was available to help out in my classes, come have lunch with me, go on field trips as a chaperone, and was at home waiting for me when I got home from school.  I'd like to be able to be there for my kids the way my mom was there for me.  I didn't think it would be a reality until a few weeks ago.

I enjoyed my job, but what I enjoyed most about it were the relationships I made.  When Will was born, I realized I had never felt more fulfilled in my entire life than I do getting to be his mommy.  I am so fortunate to have a husband who supports me.  We decided that the best thing for our family right now is for me to stay home with Will.

My extended leave from work ends this week, and next Monday was supposed to be my first day back.  I turned in my 2-weeks notice last week.  It certainly didn't go the way I thought it would, nor did I feel as "free" as I thought I would after I did it.  It's a huge change in my life and one that ultimately I wanted, but it wasn't our original plan, so it's really weird for me to think that I'm not going back.  It felt so finite and real to turn in my resignation notice...and scary.  Scary because one chapter has closed and a new one is opening.

However, I'm looking forward to what this new chapter will bring, which includes spending a lot of time with this little guy!

Working moms - I tip my hat to you!

Change

We've been through a lot of changes this month.  My maternity leave ended May 15th, but we decided that I would take additional time off work.  I'll get to be home with Will until the end of August, which means he'll be 6 months when I return to work.  I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with my little man!  The downside is obviously losing my income for a few months.  I've been dabbling in couponing lately, but I'll be getting a little more "extreme" to get us through the next few months.   I'm nervous, yet excited about seeing how much money we can save.  (I will not be as extreme as the crazies on Extreme Couponing on TLC.  We're more into buying only things that we need, and we don't need 100 bottles of mustard or 50 boxes of cake mix...)

Another major change in our lives is we got a new car!  Wayne's two-seater 1993 Honda Del Sol wasn't exactly conducive to a car seat, so we started looking a few months ago for a new car.  Last week, we found one we loved, and we bought it!

So, we had to say goodbye to Little Black Mini-Me Tic-Tac...

And hello to Foxy!

It's a 2007 Acura TL, and as Wayne said, "it's phat!"  

We are very excited about the changes going on in our lives.  I love my temporary life as a stay at home mom and am soaking up every moment I can with Will!