A Couple Of Firsts

 Well I have to say that I received a lot of really encouraging and thoughtful messages from friends through texts and facebook messages on Monday for my return to work. I had an inbox full of e-mails from my blogging friends letting me know that they were thinking of me. A surprising number of people reached out to me in one form or another and I feel incredibly lucky to have so many great friends in my life. It doesn't matter if I don't know you blogging girls in real life, you are there through writing, letting me know that you care and that is a pretty special thing.

Monday, March 17th- also known as St. Patrick's Day was my first day back in the real world! It was also the day that Rob's folks went back to Ontario. So our morning was a busy one. The in laws left with Rob before 8 am. Alina and I were left to eat our breakfast together and to get ready for our big 'first' days side by side! I went onto facebook to find a bunch of messages from friends and family wishing me a good day. I saw a message from my mom and I decided that I could brave phoning her. I knew that if I talked to her I might burst into tears at any moment. But the conversation was good and brief. It was true, I had a hard time talking without getting teary. As the clock ticked closer to 'that time', the more upset I was feeling. I was trying to tell Alina in a cheerful voice that she was going to daycare and that she was going to have so much fun. But I'm sure I didn't sound too convincing. The drop off ended up being just fine. Alina was happy to go in and play with the toys and I made my goodbyes quick.

Once I dropped off Stinky, I realized that I was headed back to work for the first time in over a year!! It was insane to think that I hadn't worked since last year on March 1st. I have never been lucky enough to have that much time off of work since the day I started working over ten years ago. I rushed up to the door and met up with one of my colleagues. She's pregnant with her first and I couldn't help but feel a bit envious that her adventure is just about to begin and my first year is already behind me. I stepped through the doors and she asked me if she could give me a hug and welcomed me back. It was just what I needed. I put my things away and the phone rang and I ran to answer it. After my first phone call, I felt confident that everything would come back to me and I relaxed. It was a great day. The weather was gorgeous, the customers greeted me with big smiles, most of them asking me how Alina was and making me feel really welcome.

Before work, during and after- with my green beer that I feel like I earned!!

 Rob ended up picking Alina up fairly early and the two of them had a great afternoon. I was so happy to hear that he was going to get her early. He got a full report from our daycare provider. Alina got upset about fifteen minutes after I left and later on when someone else was picked up by his daddy, she cried. When Rob got to the door he could hear her crying. When she saw him she said, "Daddy! Daaaaddy!" and crawled right over to him. Even though it was sad, Rob was thrilled. He explained that he understands why I'm so sad to not be around her all of the time, he's so happy because he gets to be the one that picks her up and spends extra time with her after school and before I get home from work. It's nice and I think Alina is very lucky that she gets to spend extra time with him. It's a special thing spending one on one time with each other.

Rob and Alina walked to the pharmacy and strolled in five minutes before five. I was so excited to see her smiling face. She was pretty happy to see me and that made my heart all warm and fuzzy. Rob snapped a few pictures of her in the store, watching me work.

 Then we all walked home together. I held her in my arms the entire time and Rob pushed the empty stroller. It felt so good to see her and she was content playing with the buttons on my coat for our sunny, evening stroll home. Once we got home, Rob fed her supper, while we drank our green beers. We ended up facetiming with Rob's parents who were stuck at the Winnipeg airport. (They didn't end up getting home until 4 am. Thanks a lot Air Canada.) We had a really great first day and I hope that the rest of the week is as good!

 Thanks for all of the support from everyone. I promise I won't go on and on about being back at work anymore. It was just such a big deal in my life and now that I've gone through the first couple of days, I feel confident that we can all do this. (When I got home from work Tuesday, Alina was bathed, in her pj's and Rob was heating up her dinner. I was so impressed! If this is how it's going to be, then I have nothing to worry about!)

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 So here's to one full year with the coolest, happiest little baby human I've ever met! It goes by so fast, yet I can hardly remember when she was that small!!