Tomorrow...

Tomorrow... begins a new chapter in our lives of being Bassets. I go back to work.

Tomorrow... I will once again prepare to welcome 20 or so smiling and energetic faces, along with some that might not be as smiley or energetic to be there. ;)

Tomorrow...ends 5 wonderful months as a stay-at-home mom, but brings with it the determination to make that a reality again in the near future.

Tomorrow...brings with it many emotions- some good, some bad. I feel the excitement of a new school year. That familiar itch to get back in the swing of "all things school" starts creeping up inside of me, but with it also comes a twinge of guilt and longing for my sweet girl that I will leave to be apart of it.

Tomorrow...I get the best of many worlds. A world with a job that I love and people I love to work with- blended with the sweet world of being a mommy and wife.

Tomorrow...brings the unknown. What will our schedule look like? How will we adjust? As an ultimate planner, this frightens me. However, I know it will all work out in the end and I will look back at this time and wonder why I was so afraid in the first place.

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But...for today, I will savor each and every last drop like I do my morning coffee. Slowly, tenderly, making it stretch for as long as I can with gentle sips.

Today, I dressed my sweet daughter up and got her ready for storytime at the library. Making faces at her while I got the best reaction in the world. A giggle and a smile.

Today, I lunched with friends and their precious babes. They humbled me with bouquets of sharpened pencils ("You've Got Mail" reference intended), a calendar for our bustling new schedule, and a heartfelt dvd of sweet moments and music of my family to take with me on my daily trip into the working world.

Thank you Kerri and Stacie!

Today, I cuddled my baby girl as she brushed my cheeks with her hand and fell to sleep for her afternoon nap. I know this isn't the last one of these, but it is still a little bittersweet. (just wait for the weekends and breaks my dear!)

Today, I marinated steaks that eagerly await my husband to grill. We will soak up the evening with playtime, stories, and preparations. We will end the evening with sweet pillow talk and reassurances, and I will know once again that I am the luckiest wife in the world to have a man like him in my life.

Today isn't just another day, it is the day before tomorrow. And we will be ready, despite a few tears and anxieties....because we know that another sweet mommy will be watching and caring for our little one, just as if she were her own. We are ever grateful for her and the tomorrow she will help us build up in our little bug.

"The sun'll come out-

Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may"

- from the Broadway Musical, "Anne"

New

I love how the things that are familiar to me are constantly new discoveries for my little one. She looks at them with her baby blues and with such focus. I want to be inside her precious brain: seeing the wheels turning, processing, learning, loving, maybe even hating. What does she think? What does she absorb as she takes everything in?

Everything is new and fresh to her, not cast aside as the everyday. the ordinary. the mundane.

Take for instance, a plastic, sour cream container. When was the last time you looked at it with new eyes? Discovered that it rolls, the colors that it has, the sounds it makes when you hit it. Or...how victorious you feel when you can lift it with both of your hands?

When was the last time you were able to reach your toes? Your feet even? When was the last time you tried to put them in your mouth just because you could and because you didn't know the difference or care who was watching? --- She thinks they're just as yummy and entertaining as ever.

Or....noticed a new friend for the first time that doesn't look at all like the other faces you've seen. However, he kind of acts like you (by putting almost everything into his mouth too) so you think you'll get along just fine.

Do you remember the touch and feel of a book for the first time? Being able to look at the pictures and touch it, trying to do what you've seen your mommy do and turn the page. Then, get so excited when you actually do it!

A hat. The feel of pick-a-boo. Realizing that you can take it off someone's head. Then..when it is on your head...what it smells like, what it feels like, wondering what is this thing for? I just know it makes me smile.

Tasting something but not knowing what it is or what you're even supposed to do with it. But, smiling after the fact because of the silly faces those big people make at you. Then, reaching for the spoon because you think that you've got it all handled and can take it over from there.

New. Each day is filled with it.