Saying Goodbye

Today was my last day of work. I know that I still have 2 more months before baby is due, but the timing was right to quit now. We'll be going to Florida next week for a whole week, and instead of taking a week off of work and then quitting a few weeks later, my boss and I just decided that it would be easier to have me stop working now. It was a day full of mixed emotions. I was sad to leave Grace. I've spend two years helping her learn and grow. I felt like I was abandoning her in some way. It was a really similar feeling to when Tony and I left Bratsigovo in Bulgaria. I am also feeling some excitement because I can now devote my time to preparing for our baby. It also means that baby is coming so soon!

My experience as a nanny was a terrific one. While it wasn't the career I saw for myself upon graduating from college, it was so wonderful to have a boss that respected me and understood life's situations. I wanted to do something nice for them to say "thanks" for being so good to me and letting me help raise their children!

I made this cookie bouquet:

It's basically sugar cookies with shiny icing. They are on lollipop sticks and stuck into some floral foam. It's time consuming, but fairly easy to do. I was (luckily) able to practice with Morgan while I was in Indiana, so I knew what to expect and what could go wrong.

I also wanted to write the kids and their parents little notes to let them know how much I'll miss them and how much I've enjoyed spending time with them.

This one is for Grace:
She loves panda bears, so I took that and ran with it. I used my Silhouette die cut machine to cut out these cute little pandas, then used some chalk to give them some rosy cheeks to make them look more "girlish." I also added the little bows. Grace loved the card and immediately realized that the two panda bears were us.

For Clay:
I went with a robot/space theme. I'm not sure if he'll like it, but I tried my best! It's always difficult for me to make cards for males. I feel like they don't appreciate it as much as girls do :) I used my Silhouette again here, cutting out the robot and the letters. I added the little details to the robot with my super-awesome silver Sharpie marker. Tony really liked this card a lot, so I'm confident Clay will like it, too.

For the parents:
I just did a basic thank you card. I hope I expressed how grateful I am that they treated me so well during my employment. I plan to keep in touch with them and see them from time to time. I am going to Grace's dance recital at the end of May and I'm really looking forward to it.

It's a really strange feeling to know that I won't be working, but Tony has some web development jobs lined up for me which kind of settles the stress of my lack of paycheck. We're getting closer to baby's appearance and I couldn't be more excited. It's a really great feeling to begin a new chapter of my life and begin raising my own little girl.