The decision for a mom to stay at home or work part or full time is a tough one. We’ve decided there are pros and cons to both sides and whatever a family decides needs to be for the family and the individuals involved. There are lots of ways and reasons to do either. For us, we decided for mommy to return to work and put Corinne in a daycare with some of the sweetest church ladies ever.

So last Monday, after three months of maternity leave, I returned to work. Josh didn’t have classes yet and he did an awesome job of caring for Corinne all week. He was also an amazing husband coaching me through going back to work and leaving Corinne for such long stretches at a time for the first time. Luckily, my clinic schedule was light and I was able to leave early a few days. By Friday, I was so excited for the weekend, it was great. Her crying, fussing, pulling my hair didn’t matter to me too much; I was with my girl!

Then, the following week, it came time to take Corinne to “school.” (We like this term a little better than daycare.) It is easier to swallow for some reason. The ladies in Corinne’s classroom loved on her and hugged her tons. They walked me through the process and coached me, too. “Call as many times as you need,” they said. That weekend and that Monday were rough, but I surprised myself that once I was back at work, I dove in and got through it. I did cry on Monday and was nervous most of the day, but I did it.

Little did I know that it was a team effort. The night before, Josh had put a Van Morrison song on repeat in my car to help ease my nerves. I didn’t even realize it until that evening. I told Josh how much music had helped that morning. He just smiled and asked why. I told him how nice it was to have “that song” playing with the piano and guitar. He then told me that he had done it on purpose. I cried all over again about what a good man I am blessed to have.

The rest of the week flew by. I was able to go feed Corinne at lunch a few times which allowed me to observe things at the school as well. The work these ladies do is impressive. She is a delight to her teachers and especially to me. Again, by the end of the week, I was so ready to see Corinne and be with her all weekend (a three day weekend at that).

We spent Saturday and Sunday running errands, going to church, cleaning, and doing laundry. Since it was a 3-day weekend for me, on Monday, I took Corinne on a date. First, we went for a walk in the park at 8:30 in the morning. She didn’t quite think it the adventure I had made it out to be…she slept the entire time.

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Then, we of course went to Starbucks for breakfast to top off our date. I pretty sure that she thought I was crazy. Admittedly, she can’t talk yet, so I went with it anyway. Once Josh got back, we finished the day together as a family. It was a great day (think Van Morrison’s song “There’ll Be Days Like This”).

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Can’t wait for more fun dates with you in the future, sweet girl!

Ruthie on January 17th, 2010

Grand dad Russ and Corinne finally got to meet in San Antonio. It was love at first sight.

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Corinne took lots of naps on lots of shoulders.

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Corinne reunited with her Grammy and DD for a little R and R.

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Corinne reunited with her sweet cousin Isabella

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We got the unfortunate news that Uncle Russel and Aunt Joy would be delayed at the airport Christmas Eve (something about ice at DFW). We went ahead and ate Christmas dinner, but we held off on opening presents. We introduced Santa Isabella and her reindeer.

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After two days sleeping in airports and hotels, Joy and Russ finally made it in! Corinne was so excited to finally be held by her aunt and uncle.

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After some showers and dinner, we were finally able to open presents and boy were we in for a surprise. We were hoping we would have a little more leg room on the way back to Dallas, but we found out quickly that this would not be the case. Everybody had tons of presents to open!

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In between opening gifts and grazing, there was lots of playing the Wii.

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We also had the treat of getting family pictures.

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We loved our time in San Antonio and hated to leave again. But we think this picture of Isabella and Corinne said it all for all of us after days of eating, opening presents, Wii playing, and shopping.

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We were definitely ready to get home, but we had such a great time, we wished we lived in San Antonio. Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

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Ruthie on January 3rd, 2010

For mommy and daddy, two weeks in San Antonio with a three month old seemed a little daunting. But, the time flew and we had so much fun showing this little one off.

First, we spent some time with the Dyer side of the family. We played and ran errands and sat down for dinner.

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The next day, we had all of the Goebels over so all of the new cousins could meet one another.

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Later, after our cousins left, we opened presents and enjoyed some more family time.

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John and I even got to celebrate with our Santa and reindeer.

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Bethany and Darin came over to share in the festivities and our little reindeer was just too tired from all of the fun.

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A good time was had by all. Merry Christmas!

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Ruthie on December 21st, 2009

My mom took these awesome pictures of Corinne this month. We love how this little one has taken to being a cute and expressive baby. She has numerous serious thinking faces with her studying eyebrows (a feature from mommy perhaps?). And then she has millions of hilarious and contagious smiles.

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This past month has been an absolute joy for Josh and I. Corinne has been sleeping about 7-9 hours at night in her own crib. She has a pretty regular bed time between 9-10pm. As a result, mommy and daddy are sleeping a little, too (other than the late nights staying up wrapping presents and getting ready for two weeks of Christmas in San Antonio).

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As you saw above, Corinne also has started making eye contact and smiling like crazy. We are certain God does this on purpose to help parents who are sleep deprived. She hasn’t laughed yet, but we think she is close. Her coos are soft and sweet with an occasional attempt at a yell. She is just a sweet natured girl. We don’t go back to the pediatrician for official measurements until she is four months, but she is a good 16 pounds staying right on that 100th percentile track.

We have had to laugh at her newest cry which entails her literally boo-hoo-ing. “Mmm-booo, Mmm-boo.” It is so pathetic that it is almost cute. Along with this cry, she has started cooing with “boo” and “moo” added to her repertoire.

Her coordination is coming right along. Just in the last week she has starting grabbing her hands and looking at her hands and feet. She concentrates really hard when she does this…..

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She and daddy play and pretend she is a big girl with boxing matches and smiling contests. Though she can’t sit yet, she is great at holding up her head; daddy makes her look like a big girl sitting up on the couch.

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We’ve had lots of fun moments with Corinne this month including time with family at Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas.

I stopped by the clinic I work at to show off Corinne and one of my physician coworkers told me I had the mark if parenthood. I laughed and asked if the circles under my eyes were that obvious. And he said, “No, look at your shoulder.” I had forgotten that right before I left our home, Corinne had left her mark on the shoulder of my fleece and down my back. I just said “oh well” and left. Corinne was spitting up a little bit at 2 months but in the last month, it has become a regular occurrence. We have investing an twice as many burp cloths as we started with and have laughed plenty of times at our new “marks of parenthood.”

Ruthie on December 16th, 2009

I had some fun with Corinne putting her in her booster seat for the first time to see how she’d do while I did a little baking. It was hilarious. First she wasn’t sure about it.

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Then she smiled and I taught her the difference between baking powder and baking soda.

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Corinne watched as I/”we” made some pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing for a Christmas party for Josh.

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When we were done, we did the dishes and called it a day and went Christmas shopping.

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So fun! She is the cutest girl ever and I can’t wait to get some more time with her in the kitchen. Can’t wait to see everyone in just days.

Ruthie on November 26th, 2009

We headed down to San Antonio for our first family roadtrip and Corinne’s first Thanksgiving. We left two days after Corinne’s first round of shots and it showed. It took 8 hours from Arlington to San Antonio, but we eventually made it (with all of our baby gear) to see some friends and celebrate thanks with family. Can you find Corinne in the picture?

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Monday, we made as stop at the Cabell’s. Wyatt was born just nine months before Corinne and I was able to tell Bethany our news before she left the hospital with Wyatt. Similarly I was born just nine months before Bethany and Bethany’s mom told my mom her news before she left the hospital with me.

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Tuesday afternoon, we saw GG and DD for breakfast at the same Cracker Barrell where we surprised them with the news of our impending parenthood.

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That evening, we visited the Vaughns for some much needed catch up.

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Wednesday, family came into town for a Thanksgiving feast. Corinne was thankful…

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But we quickly changed her into her most appropriate sports attire for this holiday care of Uncle Stephen.

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GG and DD also got in on the action.

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We headed home, and on the way, we stopped to see the Watsons.

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Oh, and we got some family pictures that weekend.

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But Corinne stole the show and our hearts.

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