Thankful

Yesterday my mom babysat Camden while I went to the dentist (not exactly my idea of a fun outing, but still, I figured it would be nice to get out of the house for a little while). It was completely ridiculous how much I missed that little boy for the 2 hours I was gone. I wasn't worried about him; my mom is a fantastic mother & I knew she would do just fine with him. I just missed him.

And that got me thinking: had I not quit my job, I would be returning to work very soon. I would spend the entire day away from him, not just a couple of hours at the dentist. I am so thankful that I get to stay home with my little guy (thank you, Matt).

I love our days together. I love that he wakes up sucking his fingers because he has realized he's hungry before he even opens his eyes. I love that he's in his best mood after he's eaten breakfast; this is when we sit and "talk" every morning. He smiles, and studies my face, and kicks his legs, and tries his best to talk back to me. I love that he likes the sound of the shower and (usually) will sit contently in his bouncy seat cooing at the animals that hang overhead while Mommy gets clean. I love that I (usually) know what it means when he gets fussy; sometimes that means it's nap time, sometimes it means he needs a change of scenery, and sometimes it means that he just wants to be held.

I love that I know all of these things because I spend every minute of every day with him. I know that being a stay-at-home mom isn't for everyone. To be honest, when I was pregnant, I often wondered how I was going to handle it. Would I be bored? Feel unchallenged? Miss adult interaction? And you know what? There are some days that I feel like I'm going to go stir-crazy if I don't get out of the house, and there are some days that I miss turning to a co-worker to tell them a quick story I just read. But mostly, I just feel lucky.

And thankful.