First Day Back ...

So today was my first day back at work ... what an interesting experience.

For those of you who don't know, Brendan graduated from Law School on Saturday and has decided to stay at home and watch Skyler while he studies for the FL Bar, while I go back to work. I joke that he must think that I sit around and eat cheezy poofs and watch soap operas all day to think that he can watch the baby and study for one of the most important (if not the most important) and definately most expensive exams he has ever taken.

The issues with going back to work started yesterday. I was supposed to pick my car up from the office, but when I called to ask about what time, they told me I needed to bring a doctor's note first. Well it was already 4:15pm and I didn't have the form for them to fill out! (For those of you who know how hard it was for me to get the FMLA paperwork and permission to be out of work, this issue is completely ironic). I didn't start to get my stuff together until last night b/c I was so busy with family and the activities of the weekend. So, last night I was frantically searching for my paperwork, uniform, phone charger - half of which I could not find, giving up around 3am. Brendan and I then had a long debate about how best to get me to work without disturbing the baby's schedule and making it to where I could get home. I ended up taking the ghetto rider against Brendan's advice ... he thought it might break down on me. I don't know what he was talking about b/c the car rides great for as old as it is and the AC is perfect.

My normal shift is from 11am - 9:30 pm 4 days a week. But today I had to be to work at 8:30 am b/c I was supposed to be in inservice training. This morning I got to work on time and headed to my training. I was so proud of myself b/c I was actually on time - 8:30 am. When I got to the training division I was told that the training actually started at 8 am ... I felt horrible that I was late on my first day. I explained that it was my first day back in 4.5 months due to my maternity leave. Seeing the frustration in my face, the woman seemed sympathetic and hesitant to tell me that the training actually started yesterday! When she called the coordinator to reschedule the training, I found out that my name had previously been taken off the list for training by my office and that I was rescheduled for another date!!! It actually worked out for me though b/c I was able to use the time to get my doctor's note and get the things together that I needed.

Going back to work was like Christmas. I got a GPS system, file cart, my car back, my fuel card and my toll card!!! Very exciting. I also got to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I worked really hard to get the baby's stuff organized and even wrote a schedule and washed bottles in the middle of the night so that the day would be smooth riding. To my excitement there were no phone calls in the middle of the day with frantic questions or hysterical crying. I got a few phone calls from Brendan during the day to tell me how the baby was doing and let me hear Skyler laugh and talk. I was pround of myself b/c I only made three phone calls home for check up's on the baby!

After a long day at work, I headed home, proud of how well we did with this big change in our lives. I went to the church to meet up with Brendan and relieve him of the baby while he continued with the meeting. I was so excited to see the baby and was sure that I would get the biggest smile ever! I was shocked to see that with all my preparation I forgot some tiny details ... I forgot to tell Brendan how much formula I had premeasured so Skyler got 7 ounces of formula to 6 ounces of water. I also forgot to show Brendan where all of Skyler's clothes were so that he could get him dressed, or even just pick out an outfit for him before I left. This made for an interesting outfit when I came to pick up my tired, hungry son. I am putting a picture up of the outfit. It would have been much cuter to see it on him, but he was so tired and was crying so hard when I got him home, there wasn't much time for taking entertaining pictures. Brendan told me that he found the shorts in the hamper upstairs (he thought that they looked cute and paid no head to the fact that it was the dirty clothes hamper). He said that once he found the shorts, he realized that he had no idea where the shirts were. I was not suprised at all to see that the shirt that the baby was wearing was a Gator shirt.

How disappointing to find that with all that preparation and thought we still missed a few things! But, all in all it was still a good day as the baby still had two arms, two legs, 10 fingers and 10 toes, Brendan was still a proud father, and the baby had all of his naps :)

So, although I didn't get that biggest smile in the world from Skyler, we still made it through one of the most difficult days of my life!!!

Thanks to all of you who have helped us along the way and that are going to help us!!!

We love you all,

Ally