Maternity Leave Farewell

Five months, two weeks, five days. 

Eight pounds heavier, four inches longer. 

Summer, fall, winter.

Today marks the last day of my maternity leave. 

On Monday, I'll wake up to an alarm clock, pick up my old morning routine of breakfast and getting ready, and then I'll hit the road for work. Only this time around, I'll have Viv's company on my morning commute. 

I look back to see how little she was when we first met her- my first day of maternity leave- and see how much she's changed. I won't utter "Where has the time gone?" because I've carefully taken note of each stage so far. I've made a point to notice each day. Some hard days I wished away. Some cuddling moments I wished would last forever.

But here we are on the last weekday before I actually have to know which day of the week it is. The last day of Ryan being the only one to leave the house before the sunrise. 

And today we are emotional and nostalgic, but most of all grateful.  Grateful for our allotted time to get to know each other. To fall in love. To make memories and routines. To read, play, sleep, talk, cry, laugh, and grow together.  On account of the end of this special period, today we celebrated in the most ordinary of ways.  

Watching the bright snowfall and the moving people and cars.

 Reading a new book together.  

Buying my little girl a pretty pink shirt and a matching one for myself :) 

This week, like the 23 previous ones, has been a heartful. 

I'm sure this time next week I'll be sitting at work, looking at pictures on my phone and missing her terribly. But I'll find contentment looking forward to her bright smile and warm embrace welcoming me home at the end of each day. 

Baptism Mimosa Bar Setup

Vivian was baptized on December 14th in front of a small group of family. Following the baptism, we hosted a luncheon at our house. This is the mimosa bar I set up for the occasion: 

I chose gold because it had to match with the Christmas decorations we already had up around the house. The wreath is something I made three years ago out of coffee filters and gold ribbon, but I was happy that it perfectly complemented the bar and filled the otherwise bare wall space. 

 Instead of using tags around the glasses, these markers write directly on the champagne glass to keep track of whose drink is whose! I made the angel tag holder out of wire a la Pinterest tutorial and printed the signs in blank ink, outlined in gold marker. 

Though depicted empty, these smaller containers held cut-up pineapple wedges and raspberries. In the glass bottles, I had three different kinds of juice to mix in with the champagne: classic orange, orange peach mango, and grapefruit.