Memorial Day - Thinking Back to a Year Ago

This weekend is Memorial Day and it got me thinking about what we were doing a year ago.  One year ago we were telling all of our family that we were going to have a baby. Click here to read that post.  It's so funny to think how much has changed in a year.  We now have a 4.5 month old baby girl who we love dearly.  We went to the bagel store this morning before church just like last year, but with our little baby in her cute little lady bug outfit instead of in my tummy.  This morning's church routine included a trip to Joyland (in fact our first time to go to church both hours) with time out for breastfeeding (definitely different than last year).  In fact, almost all of our plans revolve around baby girl right now - when she eats, when she sleeps, how she's doing.  So different.  This year's big weekend news is that we started rice cereal with Naomi.  Her first try of solid foods.  It's been going pretty well.  Last year I was thinking about the timing of my maternity leave with my work busy time.  This year, I've been laid off from that job and have embraced being a stay at home mom, which I never envisioned.  We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy, smiley baby.  What a difference a year makes!  Makes you wonder what next year will look like...

:)

SAHM - Goals

So, since we've decided that I'll be a full time SAHM (for now), I've decided that I need some goals much like I had at my previous job.  My ultimate goal (or mission statement as one might call it) is to be the best wife and mother that I can be.  I realize that I can't do that overnight in grand sweeping fashion - after all I'm not an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Housewives Edition" (although if they ever do that, sign me up!).  So, my idea is to set some small goals for myself and as I achieve those goals, I'll set a couple more, and so on.  Many of these may seem basic and you may think that they were already being done.  Although they were being done before, Brian and I did most household chores together and not always in a timely fashion.  Since this is my job, my goal is for Brian to do a lot less and for the quality and timeliness of what is done to go up.  Continuous improvement here I come! 

So below is my current set of goals (in no particular order):

1. Stay on top of the laundry - To do this I will need to do at least 1 load each of baby, darks, lights, and miscellaneous (sheets, towels, or other extras) per week. 
2. Vacuum the living room and clean the kitchen/dining room floor weekly. 
3. Keep the dishes done, counters clean, refrigerator clean, and pantry organized. 
4. Bake something and/or try a new recipe once a week. 
5. Pick one room a week to try to clean really well.   
6. Improve my couponing and sale shopping with regard to food (we've got toiletries taken care of, but there is still more money to be saved). 
7. Keep the kitties fed and watered with clean litter boxes (with the baby here now, this one has become much more of an effort than before). 
8. Workout at least 5 times a week in some way (doing something for myself and taking care of myself makes me a better wife and mom - plus I need to get back into my clothes to save money). 
9. Be affectionate with my husband so that he doesn't think that romance died in the delivery room. 
10. Project - Clean/Organize Master Closet (this became a mess as soon as I started changing sizes on a monthly basis and is still a mess since I am still not back into any of my pre-preg clothes). 

I think these 10 goals are a more than adequate start.  So, for now, I'll stop there.  We'll see how I manage with these and where I go from here. 

Oh, you may have noticed that I didn't list anything involving the baby.  That's because there is nothing about her that is a goal.  Everything about her is a requirement.  She must be taken care of and nurtured every single day and that takes precedent over any of these 10 goals.  So, if anything (or everything) above gets pushed aside periodically in the quest to have a happy, healthy, growing and beautiful baby girl, then I'll still consider myself a success.  None of us needs to be Superwoman for the world, we just need to be Supermom for our kiddos. 

:)

Homemade Bow Holder

I've loved all the bow holders that I've seen out there, but they're never in the colors of Naomi's room and they're usually $10-$20.  A friend of mine had one in her daughter's room that had been made by someone especially for her little girl.  So, I decided to try that myself.  So, I bought some pretty sunflowers and some ribbon (all of it on sale and with a coupon), got some help from a crafty gal with her hot glue gun, and below are the results. 

Pretty darn cute!  I love that they match Naomi's room and that the sunflowers just make me cheerful.

SAHM - Decision Made

To SAHM or not to SAHM, that is the question...

So, on Friday I had an interview for a part-time accounting position.  I was thinking that it might be a perfect solution to my stay at home versus go to work debate.  It was a full time controller position that they were taking down to a part-time accountant position and estimating that it would take 20 hours a week.  That makes me a little apprehensive because in reality, it could end up being closer to full time if their estimate is off.  I was hoping they would also be open to telecommuting, but they weren't.  I really don't think that I got the job for a number of reasons, but as I drove home from the interview I found myself saying, "I really hope I don't get that job.  It's a fine job and a fine little company, but I don't want to have to leave my little girl every day." 

Honestly, I teared up a little bit realizing that I missed her after a mere few hours.  I realized that I love my current job more than I could have ever imagined.  For starters, I'm a homebody at heart so getting to "work" at home is a dream.  Secondly, I love taking care of my girl and my household everyday.  I never knew how much I would love it and how happy I would be until I got to this very point.  Brian had previously expressed a desire for me to stay home with Naomi and has really enjoyed my being able to do that the past few months.  If I hadn't gotten laid off, I doubt we would even be discussing this.  I planned to go back to work and I highly doubt that would have changed.  I liked my job and my job liked me.  But, situations change and sometimes I think God forces your hand when difficult decisions are involved. 

My big struggle is that, financially, it makes no sense whatsoever for me to not go back to work.  The numbers just don't add up - my salary would definitely exceed the cost of even the nicest daycare.  I'm an accountant, this is just against my nature.  But... we can make it work with just Brian's salary and how do you put a price on getting to spend everyday with your baby? 

So, after much discussion this weekend, the debate was finally concluded.  Brian and I have officially decided that I will stay home with Naomi, for now at least.  If at any point our situation changes such that I need to go back to work or I feel ready and wanting, then we will re-evaluate.  In the meantime, if anything happens to come along that allows me to earn some additional money while still staying home with Naomi (other than Jazzercise, of course), that would be awesome.  Who knows, maybe I'll discover a whole new line of work or passion during this time. 

But for now, my passion is my baby girl.  I'm excited to watch her grow and learn in this exciting time.  I look forward to summer activities like Tiny Tots & Tunes, first swims, first swings, play dates and anything else that comes along.  I feel so blessed and happy to be able to stay with my girl and I'm relieved that the decision is made.  I pray that we have made the right decision and that God continues to provide for us. 

Signing off...

The Accidental SAHM  :)

SAHM - A Work in Progress

As a mom, I am definitely a work in progress.  I'm sure all moms feel this way, but I feel a little extra this way and following is a bit of my tale of why.  If you've read my story from the beginning (around March of last year), then you know that I felt God tugging at my heart to have a child.  Part of my reluctance to follow this call was knowing that He would definitely work on me if I took that leap and I wasn't so sure I was interested.  When God works on you, it's just not comfortable.  It's like a deep tissue massage or physical therapy - uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but you're better and/or stronger when it's done. 


One area that I knew would be the first construction zone was my selfishness.  I have typically been a selfish person especially with my time.  Since I've been married to Brian, this has gotten better.  He is a very giving person and it's been rubbing off on me.  However, a kid leaves little room for selfish desires.  Now even my most basic needs, like meal and potty breaks, take a back seat to the baby's needs (most of the time).  There isn't any one big thing that I'm no longer able to be selfish about, it's just lots of little things.  Sometimes I just don't get to do what I want to because Naomi is tired, needs to eat, or is just done with whatever it is that I'm doing.  I miss some of the freedom, but really the weird thing is that I don't even think about it half the time.  My brother joked with me the other day that my Christmas budget got eliminated and my response was, "that's okay as long as Naomi still gets hooked up".  I smiled to myself as I realized that I'm becoming a mom that doesn't think twice about making sacrifices for her kid and I like that change. 

The other areas that have been worked on involve our habits.  This one is actually a change for both of us.  We now eat at our dining room table (instead of the couch in front of the tv), both to set an example for Naomi and to get her accustomed to sitting in her high chair during meals.  We generally clean up our dishes immediately after a meal instead of putting it off until "later", whenever that ended up being.  In general, we've just been keeping a tidier house.  This is in large part due to the fact that the house suddenly seems a ton smaller now that we've got baby gear everywhere. 

We'll see what other ways this mommy thing turns into its own version of Extreme Makeover. 

My Accidental SAHM Status

So, for those that don't know, I received notice of my impending lay-off during my third trimester and my official last day was February 25th, during my maternity leave.  Somehow, I have become an accidental SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom).  I have never envisioned this for my life.  In fact, I wasn't even too sure about the whole motherhood thing to begin with.  Becoming a mom was the single biggest act of faith in my whole life.  Once we decided to have a child, I pictured myself going back to work and planned for pumping, bottling, daycare, and all that stuff.  Clearly God had other plans for me. 


Once Brian and I learned of my pending unemployment, we began to start thinking about whether or not we wanted me to just go ahead and stay home with Naomi and if we could manage that financially.  Fortunately, it does look like this is possible, although it will be a bit of a lifestyle adjustment.  Brian kinda wants me to stay home with her, but is okay with whatever I decide to do.  I have no idea what I want to do.  Part of me misses working and part of me just can't imagine leaving her.  It may also be a good time for me to try to finally get my CPA, which at this point will probably take a couple of extra classes (as requirements have changed slightly since my graduation) and a serious review course.  It's a lot of time and money though.  Or, I could even go a completely different direction.  Maybe, I could even find something that I could do from home, who knows?  So, what to do? 


At this point, I have finally applied for unemployment.  This requires a certain number of job search activities a week.  So, I am meeting my requirements and have even applied for a couple of positions (half hoping that my resume gets lost in the shuffle).  Meanwhile I've been finally getting my house in order (something I meant to do before Naomi arrived) and just doing my best to enjoy my time with our baby.  Otherwise, I figure we are just waiting.  Waiting for God to make clear the path, to find out if He means for me to just have an extended maternity leave of sorts or for me to stay at home with little girl for a while.  This morning at church, a friend of ours asked who was taking care of the baby and I explained about my layoff and our current situation.  She immediately said, "Maybe it's a God thing!"  Maybe it is; I've had that thought a lot since all of these wheels got set in motion.  I stepped out on faith when I embarked on this journey and now I just have to keep faith in His plan and provision for our lives.  So, say a little prayer for us and if you know of any way that I can be both a stay at home mom and an accountant, let me know.  :)