A Family of Five... Surprise! ~www.TheBloggingMom.com~

I was looking through some photos and came across this one. When I checked the date on the photo, I noticed it was taken exactly one year ago today. Man, how time flies! By my calculations, I must have been about 3 1/2 months pregnant at the time. Today I have a beautiful baby boy I couldn't imagine life without (in addition to my other two beautiful children). I can't believe he is one week short of 6 months.

Six months ago, this was me and the happy hubby welcoming Baby Hudson:

I was so absolutely happy when this little guy was born. The good Lord blessed us with the sweetest happiest baby. Or should I say that [nearing 40] he surprised us with the sweetest happiest baby. Needless to say, since his arrival the Phillips' family household has been filled with joy.

Life has changed indeed. I am a stay at home mom a second time around, which is an adjustment in itself. Having to make the decision to stay at home or continue to work was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I suppose because it was so unexpected. I had moved more to the middle school/high school thinking mode versus the diaper changing mode. Keeping in mind that my other children are 13 and 11. It had been a long time since I changed diapers. I must add though that big brother and sister adore their little brother, and the big sister will even change a few of those diapers.

I left a wonderful teaching job at a terrific school working with the most fantastic people, but wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything. I am a firm believer that Madison and Gibson benefited from my decision to stay home with them for the first few years of their lives, as Hudson will benefit too. After all, he gets his mommy ALL day long!!

Believe it or not (most people don't know this about me), I even wrote a book about staying at home when I did it the first time around. Even though I never sent it off to publishers, I do hold an official copyright on the book and it can be found at the Library of Congress. It is titled Building a Home by Staying at Home ~ Reflections from Stay at Home Moms. Basically it is about the sacrifices and hardships of staying at home (whether it be for a year or long term), but it also focuses on how the benefits outweigh all of those. Maybe I will share more about that at a later date. I should pull that out of the basement and edit and add to it this second time around.

Here is my little "Huddie Boy" as he nears 6 months...