3. 5. 11.

3.
Three weeks from today I'll be going back to school for my first official day as a 'working Mom.'
It truly seems like such a short time ago that Zig and I made the decision that I would stay home with Brooke for the entire school year. I'm eternally grateful to my husband for understanding how important it was for me to have as long as possible with Brooke to figure out how this
'Mom thing' really works. I was so terrified of how school and being a dedicated teacher was going to fit into my new role as Brooke's Mom. Although I feel confident that it all would have worked out, this year at home has been the best year of my life!
I have experienced every season with my daughter - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Penn State football, Christmas, her first snow, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, her first tooth, Spring, rain showers, thunder storms, flowers, warm sunshine, Easter, lazy summer days, family gatherings, and so much more! All without the worry of rushing back to work and spending my days without her!
Although I'll be sad about getting back into the normal grind of my teacher life, I'm super excited about being back with my friends - doing what I love to do! I know I'll check with my Mom a million times a day to see what fun I'm missing with Brooke - but all I can do is remind myself that I need to be thankful for my fantastic job, that I have to work in order to provide my daughter with everything she needs and wants in this life, and that she will see my hard work and dedication to success! I want her to know how important it is to work for what you want in life. I want her to know that although she is my #1 priority and the reason I breathe, I love her enough to provide for her. I hope she understands that someday.

5.
Brooke's newest and most entertaining trick is to give "high 5's" I've been working on simple things with her lately, like animals sounds, shapes, giving hugs and kisses, blowing kisses, etc. She is starting to imitate words and try to make the sounds that we do when we talk, so I do my best to introduce her to everything we see and do. If I'm making supper, I tell her what I'm doing step by step. If we are going for a walk, I point out what she can see and tell her what all of the noises are. When she's playing, we talk about her toys and what they do. I love watching her learn!
She finally caught on to the 'high 5' action with lots of practice - mostly when she's in the highchair eating lunch or supper. We celebrate each bite of yummy food with a 'high 5!' At first, she would just stick her pointer finger out, I'd tap it, say "High 5!," and she'd giggle. Now, she opens up her hand and slaps mine, smiles, and waits for me to say "fiiiiive!" We laugh. A lot!

11.
At 9:02 am today, our Brookie was officially 11 months old. Seriously! How can this be!
My Mom and I are taking her for her 1 year pictures tomorrow and I'm a little nervous about what it'll be like to see her standing by the over-sized "1." That can't be right! She's 1??? Well, almost...but close enough for me to start freaking out!
Her birthday party plans are in the works and everything is coming together! Everything I ordered for her 'cupcake themed event' should arrive tomorrow! I can't wait to have all of our favorite people together to celebrate our little cupcake turning 1! Or is it that Zig and I just want to celebrate the survival of our first year as parents!!!???

So, as my thoughts today come by way of numbers, (and zero pictures!! Sorry!) I'll be returning a few times this week to update about our picture session, a visit with Grammy Kathy, Mommy's trips to school, and the many other happenings of Beam -

Have a great week!