Stay At Home Mom - Part One

The number one question I get when I communicate with someone who does not live here, revolves around me being a stay at home mom. The questions come in the forms of “How is being a stay at home mom?”, “Do you still enjoying staying home with Jaxen?”, “Do you miss working?” “Aren’t you so glad you can stay home now?” …and so on.

So my goal is to answer those questions in a two-part blog post. Because it is not an easy question to answer. When someone asks, I normally answer with “Yes, I love staying home. It is great. I’m so thankful.” Which is all SO TRUE.

However / But (don’t you just love those words?) -

I miss working. I have always enjoyed having a job. I miss learning new skills, I miss the stress of a busy work day, I miss the feeling of accomplishment when I do something great or unexpected. Working (for the most part) has always been fun, and a big part of my life.

I miss my work-family. Those of you who have a “work family” know exactly what I’m talking about. They are your people. They know the good and bad sides of you, they take care of you when you are sick, they make you laugh if you are having a bad day, you eat lunch with them, take breaks and chat, when they are on vacation - you miss them… that kind of "work family". I don’t have that anymore and I have been so blessed to have the best “work families” at my last two jobs (12 years total). I miss that.

I miss the income. Granted, I never made a ton of money and it’s not like the income I would make would put us in a complete different kind of living-category. But it was still extra income. And it was nice to have. We do have to sacrifice a little more now that I am staying at home. However - God has been so gracious and good to us. We have more than we need and have been able to live within our means. We always give a portion back to God of what He has given us. Always. And always first. And I truly believe that because we trust Him with our money - He provides!

I miss the break. I miss the drive to and from work, all by myself. I miss leaving my house (and sometimes issues from the home) for different scenery a few hours each day. It’s a different pace, different people, and sometimes just a nice break!

Please know I don’t say any of the above with ill-will. I’m just trying to be open and honest and share things I miss about not working. Nik and I even had a discussion a few weeks ago about whether or not I wanted to go back to work (the answer was not at this time).

And I also am fully aware that our situation could change and the need for me to go back to work may happen. And I will look back at the things I have missed and pray that God will give me a wonderfully-fulfilling job again!

Part two coming…what I love about being a stay at home mom!

First Snow!

We had our first official snow on Thursday! Before that, we had a couple days of flurries, but nothing stuck.

As I was leaving Bible Study that morning, heading out to run errands -

the snow started falling.

Later that afternoon it started to stick!

And this is what everything looked like the following morning.

We only got a couple of inches, but it sure did make everything look so pretty!

The colors have changed, the leaves are gone, everything is dying, it is cold and snowing...

which leads to….

DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS!

Yup. I did it. I caved.

I am done with pumpkins and leaves and fall.

Time to move on.

Be looking forward to a post of my Christmas Decorations (when I’m finished)!

Pictures!

Jaxen wanted a sticker before nap time the other day -

and fell asleep with it on his forehead.

It stayed on the whole time and even after he woke up!

Jaxen loves to help me cook. 

Or help me “cook” (stirring water in a pot)!

All ready to go!

I kept the Jewett brothers at our house one night for a few hours.

Jaxen loved hanging out with these boys! 

Ben, Jaxen, Carson and Thomas

Jaxen dumped one of his toy bins on the kitchen table while I was cooking dinner!

My two favorite boys!

Our Anniversary - Plan G

I was feeling much better come Monday - Thank goodness. That bug I had was terrible! And I’m happy to report no one else got it!

So we got to celebrate our Anniversary on Monday.

The reason the blog post is title “Our Anniversary - Plan G” is because Sunday night Nik was telling me how bummed he was - the way the weekend and our anniversary turned out. He pointed out that we started out with a “Plan A” and by the time Sunday night came, we ended up not with Plan B or C, or D…we ended up with “Plan G”!

And so goes life, right?! Ha Ha.

"Plan A" was to have a little getaway to Lake Placid. But it just didn’t work out.

“Plan G” consisted of calling someone Monday morning (after we knew I felt better and was up to going out) to ask if Jaxen could hang out with them that evening. They kindly said yes!

So at 4:30, we dropped Jaxen off and we headed out.

Guess what we did?!

We walked the mall. I felt like we were in Middle School (isn’t that what teeny-boppers do on their dates?!). Actually, we saw a lot of older couples in the mall that night. We were not alone! But what I loved about it was that we could just walk, and talk, and look around at the few things we wanted to check out. Without a 2 year old touching everything, or needing a snack, or a drink, or a diaper change, or wanting to walk, or wanting to be held….you know….

It was nice. And I came home with a pair of shoes - always a plus!

After the mall, we went to dinner. It was so nice. I enjoyed our time together so much!

While we were gone - we were sent these pictures:

Louka and Jaxen during dinner

Riley and Jaxen cuddling

Jaxen had the best time with his friend, Louka, while we were out. He did not want to leave and cried for a few minutes after we left! She was so sweet with him and wants him to come back and play again. It makes my heart happy to know that he has friends who love him so much!

It also makes my heart happy to be married to my very best friend for 12 years. He just gets me. And I love him so very much! And whether it is Plan A, G or Z…as long as we are doing it together, I’m good!!!

Weekend Wrap Up

Our weekend did not turn out as planned...

Friday morning started with the boys bringing in some firewood. 

Jaxen was so proud of himself, helping out his daddy!

So proud even, that he pulled Nik over so I could take a picture of them together, 

in front of the firewood!

All done!

That afternoon, I had to babysit again - but by the time I came home, we had snow flurries going on outside and a warm fire inside! That kind of night called for my new favorite soup…Sausage & Corn Chowder.

And yes, I ate mine sitting cross-legged directly in front of the fire!

We also went out that night to buy….wait for it…...Syracuse Shirts! We had been invited to attend a Syracuse Football game on Saturday and I wanted to make sure we looked the part. I was so excited to go!!!

That evening I started not feeling well - so I went to bed early…only to wake up a bit later very sick to my stomach. And that continued all night. I didn’t get a wink of sleep until 4:30am, only to wake again at 6:30am. I was sick. I felt terrible. And it was not fun!

We had tickets and plans to attend the Syracuse vs Duke Football game that day - but there was no way I was going. So I told Nik to go without me (I mean, we already bought the shirts!) - plus, I did not need him hanging around me with all my sick germs, getting sick too.

Side note: He was scheduled to preach the following day and he was the only pastor in town - so he could not get sick!!!

So he went on to the game, and had a great time!

A friend found out I was sick and offered to take Jaxen for the afternoon. I was grateful. Jaxen was actually great all morning…but I felt bad for him. I basically sat in one chair, sipping on liquids all day. He got to do pretty much whatever he wanted - but I knew he would have more fun with friends than with me.

And that gave me a chance to disinfect everything in the house before both Jaxen and Nik returned home.

Saturday night was very low-key. Jaxen and I went to bed early, while Nik finished preparing for his Sermon Sunday.

Sunday was our anniversary!

We went to church (I was feeling better, but was extremely weak); Nik preached both services and did a great job (I can give you a link to listen to his sermons online if you are interested); Then we had plans to meet with our small group after church which was so much fun (we stopped meeting over the summer and this was our first time back); Once we got home, Jaxen and I napped; for dinner Nik and Jaxen had leftovers while I ate Ramen Noodles...

Exciting Anniversary, huh?!

After Nik put Jaxen to bed, he was telling me something funny that Jaxen did and I just looked at him and told him how lucky and blessed we are! I know our Anniversary night did not turn out how we wanted but I just love that we have a little boy to love and who makes us laugh multiple times a day!

Both Jaxen and Nik bring so much joy to my life and I am grateful to them!

Catch-up Time - Part II

I left our “Catch Up” post on Thursday….which went a little something like this…

 Good Morning!

After getting ready for the day, we headed to Bible Study at church,

where Jaxen played with his good friend Gabriella.

Then we went to babysit for a family in our church who has 2 girls (Leah & Sadie).

Jaxen and Leah play pretty well together and they played for a long time, but then Jaxen

got mesmerized with Sadie, who is four months old.  He enjoyed playing with her and all her toys!

After Leah went down for her nap - I was trying to put Sadie to sleep. While I was doing that, Jaxen found one of Leah’s dolls and he was emulating what I was doing with Sadie, with this doll. It was actually pretty sweet. I very rarely see Jaxen being affectionate (ha ha) - but he was totally hugging this doll, patting her back and he even wanted this doll to lay down with him for his nap!

It was pretty sweet! And here is a picture of Sadie… she is pretty sweet too!

And no - I did not get “baby fever.” Just for the record.

That afternoon Jaxen had some diarrhea issues, which leads to diaper rash, which leads to him

kicking and screaming during a diaper change, which leads to a very runny dirty diaper being kicked at me, which leads to me having diarrhea all over my pants leg, which leads me to carrying that very runny diaper across the house, all the while dripping the contents of it on the floor and still having a very upset little boy who is covered (covered) in diarrhea, which leads to a bath, which leads to him not wanting to sit down in the bathwater because it stings his little diaper-rashed-tooshie, which leads me to calling Nik and asking him to come home and help! Nik saves the day by helping me get Jaxen cleaned and sitting in the bath (and happily playing) and then cleans up the trail of diarrhea while I change my clothes. A day in the life…!

Finally - a happy boy!

The diarrhea continued, as well as the diaper rash, all night. 

But we stayed on top of it. 

One more story (non-disgusting) - 

Jaxen has been enjoying playing with his ABC letters on the fridge 

and on Thursday night, Nik noticed how he was grouping them…color coded! Like his momma! 

We had a good laugh about that!

Catch-up Time / Bake Sale

Here is a little catching up on our life from the past week…

Last Sunday, Jaxen was awake a bit earlier than normal (thank you, time change) and so Nik, Jaxen and I all went to church together! (Usually, Nik heads to church about 30 minutes before Jaxen and I). Nik was laughing at me when I told Jaxen to stand up so we could take a picture - apparently every Sunday I take a picture of Jaxen and sometimes of us both - so Nik named it our “Sunday Selfie!” Since he laughed at it, I made him take a picture with us!

That afternoon Jaxen and I took a nap. And while we napped, Nik (the best husband ever) went to Happy Hour at Sonic to get me a soda and then rented us a movie!

And good thing he got me a Large Vanilla Coke - because I needed the extra caffeine and sugar to continue making goodies for a Bake Sale! I think I mentioned on here that we were having a Bake Sale  - it was to raise funds for the youth to attend the Nazarene Youth Conference next summer.

So Sunday evening - I continued baking…

All in all - I made: 60 muffins, 2 pans of brownies, 1 chocolate cake, 2 batches of bark, 42 protein balls, 1 batch of munch mix, 1 batch of spicy crackers and 2 loaves of cinnamon bread. And I had the best time doing it!

While I baked, Nik and Jaxen hung out.

And I had to take a little break during the night to enjoy a helping of Spicy Crackers with my coke! Those crackers are addictive. Good thing they sold. But now, I just want to make more!!!

I finished baking and getting everything setup on Monday. This is how the table looked when I left Monday night. And a ton more baked goods were brought in on Tuesday!

And this is what our cute little boy looked like during his nap on Monday.

So this past Tuesday (Election Day) was the day for our big Bake Sale! (Our church is a voting site, and so we thought it would be a good idea to hold a bake sale). And it went really well! I’m actually thrilled with how well it went. We had so many baked goods donated from people in the church and they all looked so yummy - which means that they sell well.

Jaxen tried “helping out” at the Bake Sale, but pretty much ran wild for a few hours (right after these nice pictures of him, sitting, were taken!).

Notice his lunch box, and do you see that it is full of candy? That was meant to be given to him through out the day (as he was being good). But he saw it first thing in the morning and I relented and let him have M&M’s for breakfast. After the running wild thing, I decided that was not the best decision I had ever made!

Jaxen is wearing a deflated soccer ball on his head (as a hat) and he insisted that the secretary’s door had to be closed. He was pretty much a mess! After lunch, I finally took him home!

I went back to the church to take over for Nik around 5:30pm, and around 7 I texted him this picture:

We only had 6 items left! And at 7:48pm - we were sold out!!!! I could not believe that we actually sold every single item. (Normally, when we have worked bake sales before, there are always items left over). Not this time! I was so happy.

Wednesday we hung out at a friends house in the morning, napped in the afternoon and then went to church that night. Pretty typical day.

Have I mentioned on here that Jaxen is back to a good sleeping/nap schedule? For awhile there, he was sleeping about 11 hours and only napping for 45 minutes. Which was not enough time (for him, or me!). But now, he is back to sleeping about 11-12 hours at night and 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours during the day. Hooray!

**********

This post got longer than expected, so I will tell you about our Thursday another day!