My last week.

So this was my last week of maternity leave. I'm sad. I return to work on Monday and my stomach aches at the thought of not being with my cheekaboo all day. We had a full week but we were still able to get in a lot of quiet time together, and those are the moments I'll miss the most.

On Monday I dropped Lauren of with my mom. I wanted to have a practice run of what it would be like when I go back to work to figure out how long our morning waking/dressing/feeding routine would take. I left her at grandmas and headed back home to take a nap. I woke up with a start at around 10 a.m. and the house was eerily quiet. I couldn't stand it for long and was back at my mom's by noon, so much for leaving her for the entire day! We ended up spending the afternoon out shopping...3 generations of Reyes girls hitting the stores. We furnished my mom's house with babysitting essentials including a mini crib (thank you, craigslist!). Lauren snoozed through most of it until she needed to nurse in the IKEA parking lot.

On Tuesday, Lauren and I chilled at home. We just did our usual stuff. I took a suggestion from RookieMoms.com and put together a "Day In the Life" collection of photos to record the sometimes mundane events of a usual day...the kind of stuff I'll be missing when I'm back to work. I'll post those photos later.

Wednesday again, we spent at home. Peter came home early and we watched the first game of the World Series. Lauren again had to wear her Red Sox Onesie for luck and guess what? They won!

Do I really have to wear this thing for EVERY game?!

On Thursday, we did another dry run, this time with Grandma # 2. In order to keep my mind of missing Lauren I took advantage of a free day and packed all my errands into 8 hours. I got a flu shot, went to Davis to take care of some things at work (benefits, parking, etc.), and did some grocery shopping. I was fine until 3 p.m. when the thought hit me "Lauren's probably wondering where her mommy is..." and I burst into tears in the Target parking lot. Working mom guilt was with me the rest of the afternoon. Is she going to be mad at me? What am I going to miss while I'm gone? Is she going to be sad? I resisted the temptation to pick her up early and stayed away until 6 PM. Turns out she was fine! She didn't hate me and when I whisked her away to nurse her in the guest room, I didn't let her go until she fell asleep.

Friday was a busy day. We had lunch with Auntie Sarah at a sushi restaurant (she slept though the whole noisy lunch hour) and went to Wheatland to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. We dressed her in her pumpkin outfit and she was a hit with almost everyone that saw her. "Look at the Baby Pumpkin!" little kids said as we walked past. Later that evening the Werners came to visit and we enjoyed some pies (Pizza and Apple Pie from Bishop's).

The weeks almost over and it's gone by way too fast. We're headed to Novato now to spend some time with my brother and his family. Tomorrow, they will babysit while Peter and I head out to Sonoma for a Pinot Noir event where they will be pouring their wines for about a thousand attendees. I haven't been out in a long time and Peter insisted that I go and enjoy myself. I'll try, but I have to remember to bring my pump!