Stayin' at Home...for a Moment

Bostyn loves his little sister!

2 or 3 weeks old...not quite sure:)

At the hospital. This is one of my favorite pictures.

Chubby cheeks from the very beginning....love it!

Proud Mommy!

Gage and his cousin, Cooper, lost their first tooth about the same time. Since this picture was taken, Gage has lost the other bottom tooth. I can't believe my son is old enough to lose teeth! It must mean that I'm getting older too!

My 95 year old Grandpa holding Taytem. It was the cutest thing to watch. He stared at her in her carseat for a good 5 minutes before I pulled her out and had him hold her. So sweet and precious. I love these moments!

So, it has been so fun being able to stay home with the kids again! This is my second day in a row just hanging out in PJs and doing nothing! Well, I actually did just put a load of laundry in, plus there are two piles on my bed that still need to be put away:) It's hard to be productive when you can just chill and play Ninja Turtles with the cutest little 3 year old! Bostyn is loving having me home and we play together all day long. His new favorite thing to do is fill the kitchen sink up with water and a little dish soap and he cleans all of his toys. He has been doing this for about a week straight and he loves it! Today I helped him clean the farm animals and his little laugh was so adorable when I was playing with the donkey and slipping into the water. My favorite sound in the world is the uncontrollable laughter of a child! I just love any time I can hear my kids laugh hysterically.

I went to Gage's PTC yesterday and he is doing so great with school. His teacher, Mrs. Graham, told me that Gage is improving everyday and that he is very enthusiatic and proud of everything he does. She told me a cute little story about him....The class was taking a numbers test (writing numbers 1-21) and after the class was finished Gage went back to his desk and sat for about 20 minutes (Wow!) and wrote up to 84! Mrs. Graham had to tell him it was time to move onto the next thing or else he would have just kept going! Those are the stories you want to hear from your kid's teacher! Gage was so proud of everything that he is doing and he is coming along so well with his reading.

We pulled out my mom's ancient baby scale to weigh Taytem on Sunday and she weighed a whopping 9 pounds! She will be 5 weeks tomorrow and she is just chunking up! I love her little chubby cheeks. She is starting to follow me with her eyes and it's just so fun to see how they develop and grow everyday. She has been a pretty good sleeper and letting me get between 3-4 hours before she needs to eat, but she has just been going right back to sleep at night....thank goodness!

I'm writing this post today because it was going to be my first day back at work again and I probably would have bawled the whole time! I'm so grateful that I was able to get the extension from the District for another month! I plan on enjoying the next month and being lazy at home with Bostyn and Taytem while Gage is at school. I know it will fly by too quickly, but I plan on savoring every moment instead of dwelling on the inevitable that I do have to return back to work and there's nothing I can do about it at the moment. I love my kids to pieces and they are my world. Each day I'm just going to strive to be the best mom that I can be whether I'm home all day with them or having to work during the day and then being home with them after school. I honestly believe that it's not necessarily the amount of time you have with your kids, but the quality time you give them. Some moms stay home and ignore their kids all day instead of appreciating them. Some moms work and miss out on those moments at home that others take for granted just wishing they could be home to play. I'm that mom who does have to work so we can have a home, food, transportation, and provide for our family. I'm that mom who will always give everything that I have for the benefit of my kids and some may or may not agree that right now what I have to give means that I can't be home with them every waking moment. I know living in Utah it's the norm and expected for women to stay home and I feel that many times others look down upon a mom who has to work when they don't know what's going on in that family. I do not feel that in any way because of me working for the past few years that my kids have suffered. I'm so close with my boys! They are healthy. They are strong. They love me and they love their daddy! I'm not going to lie about how hard it will be to leave little Taytem! I will for sure shed many tears about it, but I know she will be taken care of and that gives me comfort. This is not how I planned things, but this is how the plan turned out!