Tick Tock

Everything is on a countdown these days. Countdown until Josh's last day at Biola (3 days). Countdown until his graduation (10 days). Countdown until his first day at his new job (15 days). Countdown until my last day at Biola (29 days). Countdown until baby #2 comes (58 days...give or take). Tick. Tock.

And clock just keeps on ticking.

First things first - Josh's departure from Biola. It will be very strange to return to work next week without him by my side. I take comfort in knowing that my time at work without him is limited as well, but it will be sad and strange to lose my carpooling buddy, my lunch companion, and my favorite distraction from work. Though we have worked in different departments, we are deeply ingrained in each other's work lives just as we are in our personal lives. It has been another level of sharing that not every couple gets to partake.

Josh hasn't only been my husband, but my co-worker for the last three and a half years that I've worked at Biola as well. In a way, we are "going our different ways" career wise - fortunately, for both of us, those "different ways" happen to be in the same direction, steered straight into building our family. :) Our roles our changing, and I'm sure this transition bears more adjustment than we anticipate - though all welcomed and eagerly anticipated!

Still, it will be strange to not have those car rides home together where we get to rant and rave like a couple of overly worked office slaves sharing mutual grievances at happy hour. It will be sad to lose those daily lunches (kid free, mind you) that we get to just joke with our fellow workers about who brought the worst leftovers or what meetings must we endure this week. And it will be awkward to lose those spontaneous moments of inside joking when you just know you "had to be there at work" when something hilarious happened.

And yet, the closure to this chapter in our lives is perfectly timed. I couldn't be prouder of Josh, venturing beyond what might be familiar and comfortable and ready to step up into the role of "full time breadwinner" for the Pardy home. I am blessed beyond belief to share a partnership with him, and inspired at his dedication to provide for his family. We are some lucky gals in this Pardy home, thankful to have a husband/daddy who is not only willing, but excited to take on the task of balancing work and family. His graduation from Biola with his Master's next week will only culminate the last 6 years into a final moment of recognition and appreciation for the time that we have spent there. Sort of the perfect ending, if you ask me. (Thanks, Lord!)

So, as we check off one of the many new ventures we are about to embark upon....So long, "co-worker" Josh. You will be missed. But, I'm sure glad I get to be next to you in the passenger seat of life...somewhere we will always get to take the carpool lane. ;)

My Big Job Promotion

A family update from the Pardys!

As many of you may have heard by now - there is some transition coming to the Pardy home! Josh has accepted the position of Director of Admissions and Marketing at Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, CA, just about 25 miles from where we live now. Not only are we excited for him to transition into a new position that will be exciting and challenging, but the best news to us is that this change will also allow me the luxury of being a stay-at-home-mom! Woohoo! Double promotion for us!

This has been a prayer on our hearts ever since we knew we were pregnant the first time around. I knew that it was unlikely I would be able to stay home when we had our first child, but we continued to be hopeful and prayerful as we worked towards this goal. It was insanely heart-wrenching to have to leave my baby at home in the (albeit, utmost and best) care of another. Especially in the early days, it just ripped my heart out to hear her scream as I had to walk out the door. There is nothing like that feeling, and I will never missthose kind of mornings having to depart from her. Even now, my heart leaps out of my chest if she is clawing at me like a little koala bear and I have to hand her over...those mornings are rare, but they are still torture. What can I say - I miss her! I want to be home with her! And so, it is with full joy and gratitude that I am counting the days until I get to stay....all day...all week...all the time. I can't even fathom it.
This day is a long time coming. Not only have I hoped for it in the last 18 months since Matilda's birth, but truly all my life. All the women in my family have been able to stay at home to raise their children. I've been in awe of them for years, exposed to the life that I had to view as only luxury, a goal just out of reach. This is not to say that my life as a working mother hasn't been equally fulfilling or even that I haven't reaped loads of lessons from the balancing act that it is. Indeed, it has taught me a world about appreciating the time I get with my baby as well as how to maintain relationships and interests outside of the home. I'm also thankful that having to work outside the home forced me to take leaps beyond my comfort zone - learning to trust others to care for my child, trusting God to be in control of it all in His timing, and struggling to keep all the balls in the air between home life and work life chaos. I'm also walking away from this job with the utmost respect for those mothers who have to continue working to support their family (you can do it!) while I still honestly struggle to understand those mothers out there who make the choice not to stay home even if they can afford to (this is certainly an individual choice - I'm just saying it is very difficult for me to understand!) All that to say - I can't wait!

Certainly, this new chapter in life will not come without its days of challenge. I have no grandiose expectations of acquiring limitless "free time" or "me time" or staying in my pajamas all day (though, no promises on that one in the early days). In my head, I would love to admit to the fact that I dream of a house that is tidy, orderly, and consistently perfectly maintained in Mary Poppins fashion, with a home cooked Barefoot Contessa meal on the table every night, exquisitely garnished with herbs I grew myself. Okay, so maybe my dreams are a bit farfetched. But, there is also the practical and realistic side to me that knows there will be days when the absolute highlight of my day is when I got that spit-up stain out of the onesie, I'm ordering pizza on the phone in one hand and pulling my child down from climbing the curtains in the other, and how I measure my motherly success based on the sheer fact that my children are still alive and breathing when their father gets home from work.

Ah, the beauty of motherhood. Is there any more unpredictable job than this? I feel so honored that the Lord has blessed me with this new title of "stay at home mom". To me, I'm delighted to feel that I've hit the ceiling in my career. I just can't imagine anything better than this.