A Day in the Life of a WAHM

It's been two months since I quit my full time job and started working part time from home with a toddler. There was definitely a transition period but I LOVE it now. I can't imagine our family functioning any other way during this season. I mean, we could if we had to, but we are very blessed to be able to make this work.

I've had so much fun seeing Quinn develop and I think Jeremy loves hearing stories when he comes home. I absolutely love teaching her things and seeing her figure things out on her own. Her vocabulary has grown exponentially since I've been home with her and I feel like she and I have a very special bond already.

I've gone through some interesting stages of thought during these last couple of months:

1. OMG, I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Best. Feeling. Ever.
2. OMG, I have to hang out with an independent, bossy toddler all day. Scariest. Feeling. Ever.
3. OMG, how the crap do I get anything done w/ said crazy toddler.
4. OMG, please don't wake up from a nap after only 40 minutes since I haven't gotten enough work done!
5. OMG, I feel so guilty letting Quinn watch a little TV while I get some work done.
6. OMG, thank goodness for PBS, Sound of Music and other educational TV so I can get some work done.
7. OMG, it's so freaking hot outside! What do I do with a toddler on overdrive?!
8. OMG, I think I have this figured out.
9. OMG, I think Quinn is getting bored. Mother's Day Out will be awesome for both of us!
10. OMG, I love our life and I can't imagine it any other way.

I pretty much only get dressed about three days a week, and I don't feel the need to shop for cute outfits since my wardrobe right now is mostly running shorts/tank tops/t-shirts. Blessing and a curse I guess?

Here's what a typical day in my life looks like.

6am - Wake up to work out, run, etc. Once Q is awake, there's not another chance. Running w/ the jogging stroller is killer w/ the hills in our neighborhood and by the time she goes to sleep at night I'm already in my pjs ready to hit the couch for cuddle time.

7:30 - 9ish - Jeremy usually always gets Q out of bed in the mornings while I'm finishing up my workouts. After he gets his goodbye kisses, Q and I eat breakfast, I get some work done and she watches Sesame Street, Curious George, Cat in the Hat and/or other random shows we have on our computer.

9ish - 11:30ish - We do something to keep Q busy. Options include: go to the park, play in the backyard w/ the water hose, slide or pool, go to story time at the library, go to a friend's house for a play date, go swimming, etc. She gets a snack at about 10am and she'll let you know if she hasn't gotten that yet.

*Typically after our morning fun, I shower. (Don't judge: I don't shower before morning play dates, library trips or anything else for that matter.) I try to keep showers to about 5-10 minutes because when I get out, I'm scared to see what Q's gotten into. Sometimes I just put her in the shower with me. It's nice to keep toddlers contained sometimes. HAHA!

Noonish - Lunch for Q. (I like to eat in peace after she's asleep.)

12:30-1ish - Read books and down for a nap for Q.

1:01 - I pray that Quinn will take a good nap a) so I can get some work done and b) so she won't be a monster starting at about 4:30pm.

1-3 - I'd love to say this is my alone time where I lay around and read a book or craft. But, I don't. I sit at the kitchen table, eat lunch and work. Mama's gotta bring in the cash! :) I love that I get to contribute financially to our family and still have this life w/ Quinn.

3ish - 5:30ish - find more busy stuff to do with Q. We'll go stroll around Target or Walmart, play upstairs, visit my mom's house, go check out books at the library, play with Ella, etc. Since it's so hot, there aren't many choices. I can't wait until it cools off and we can just hang out outside all the time.

6ish - Daddy's home! I start cooking and we all sit down to eat dinner around 6:15ish. Jeremy is really good about taking Q and having some daddy/daughter time while I cook in peace.

7ish - bath/books routine starts

Then hopefully by about 8:15 Quinn is out and Jeremy and I have our alone time. This summer we flew through the entire five seasons of Friday Night Lights and now we are on to The West Wing. I've been so blessed to be able to get work done during the day so I can save the evenings for time w/ J. I'd say on average I work about 3 hours a day (sometimes more, sometimes less).

Working full time out of the home was so hard, exhausting and unfulfilling for me. I know a lot of women love it and I love them for that. I have so much respect for my friends who love their jobs and somehow balance family life. Being a work-at-home-mom is just as hard and honestly WAY more exhausting, but I am so much more fulfilled at the end of the day.

Q starts Mother's Day Out next week so our routines will change a bit. I'm looking forward to getting some stuff done, participating in a BSF and getting work done w/out racing against the nap clock. I think Q is probably looking forward to being around friends and her sweet teachers for a while...Mama and Ella don't quite cut it sometimes.

Stay tuned for more on that.

Being a WAHM is hard, but awesome...I feel so blessed and thankful!

21-Month Diva

There are really two main things to describe this month.

1. Do a Deer
2. CHATTY!

Sound of Music
I can't tell you the number of times we've watched songs from the Sound of Music. Notice I say songs because little miss Bossy Pants tells us which song to skip to so she can sing along. She sings these songs over and over all day long. Any time I pick up my phone, she says "Do Deer" or anytime we go upstairs, she picks up the remote and says "Do Deer, So Long Awell (So Long, Farewall), Puppets". Obsessed. That's it.

 

Q likes to line up all her dolls/animals to watch w/ her. 

Talky Talky
Quinn doesn't stop talking. Ever. She wakes up talking and goes to sleep talking. She asks a lot of questions and repeats things. A lot. People are always telling me she talks a lot for her age so I guess she's talking early, but my goodness the girl doesn't stop.  I guess I shouldn't complain since I love being able to have little conversations with her. I love it when I talk to her and I can see the little wheels turning in her head. She has a really good memory so she will bring things up out of the blue. It confuses Jeremy sometimes, but I usually pick up on things since I'm with her all the time now. Sweet, smart, chatty little girl! Some of our favorite things she says right now are:

-Mama/Daddy seenic (for Mama sing it.)
-No don't you. (for Don't want to.)
-Breasfas (Breakfast.)
-Oh Places Ago (the book Oh the Places You'll Go)
-So pitty. (So pretty. Everything/everyone is so pretty.)
-Siwwy ___. (Everyone/thing is silly. Silly Ella, silly Mama, silly trash truck, silly Elmo, silly boy, etc.)
-Oh Dee Eyes (Edelweiss from the Sound of Music.)

Here, she was saying "Quinn hair so pitty."

One last thing before the multitude of pics.

Sweet Spirit
We've noticed Q has such a sweet spirit. I hope she is always like this. She's very concerned that she is going to do something to make people sad. This doesn't apply to Ella apparently because poor Ella is still tortured by Quinn on a daily basis. :) When we are going to see someone (like family or friends), we always tell her to give them a hug and a kiss. So, when we get in the car, she says "[Insert name] hug, kiss, so sad." She knows if they don't get a hug and kiss, they'll be sad. She also doesn't like it when Mama and Daddy get sad. She's been going in some time outs and she'll sit there and talk the entire time and say "Daddy so sad. Sorry Daddy. Hug, kiss, sorry." How do you keep her there!!? I love that sweet, kind, empathetic spirit. I pray it stays that way her whole life!

Poor Ella had no idea what Quinn would do to her simple dog life. 

Here are some fun pics to wrap up the month!

This is Baby Katie and Quinn insisted that she was buckled in as well. 

Starting her early.

Q finally discovered ketchup. Mighty Fine might be her new favorite place! 

She starts Mother's Day Out in September!

A fun Sunday for everyone. We didn't even try to put her clothes on to go to my Mom's. No nap that day. Yes, it was that bad.

First snow cone!

A nice visit w/ Pawpaw and Sherrie.

Fun playdates w/ Harper this summer!

I love watching her problem solve and invent things. She made this up!

She's been figuring out how to drag things up and down the stairs. Very determined. 

I kept hearing her say "It's glasses." I didn't know what she was talking about until she came rolling into the kitchen!

July Happenings

Here's a quick recap of our July (which FLEW by):

Fourth of July
Jeremy's mom came in town and Quinn loves her Granny! I'm so glad to have such a great relationship w/ my MIL. On the 4th We went to the splash pad by my mom's house, had burgers for lunch, took naps, and then had dinner at mom's complete w/ Quinn's first bowl of ice cream and her first hot dog! (I have no idea why...I guess I just never buy them and she's never had one.) We went to bed by about 10pm so we missed out of fireworks again this year. Maybe next year we will be brave enough to keep Q up that late. We got to swim and play w/ Granny on Friday and have dinner at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican place, Jardin Corona. Huge, cheap margaritas and amazing salsa! Sunday, we went to church and then my dad came into town to hang out w/ Quinn. She loves her Pawpaw and talks constantly about Pawpaw's truck. So funny! 

Allison's Shower
We got to celebrate Allison and Baby G on July 13 and I was honored to host the shower at our house. We had so much fun prepping for the shower and we kept telling Allison we needed her help since she is our uber crafty friend! We can't wait to meet that sweet baby! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was that Jill and Noah got to come visit from Minnesota! We miss them so much! We got to hang out with them quite a bit and we got some of the gang together on Sunday evening to have a BBQ and hang out like old times (and by old times, I mean pre-kids).

Q and her future BFF, Keeva.

One of my proud crafty moments: I spray painted those branches!

Jill and I dipped animal crackers in candy melts. New. Favorite. Snack!

Q gave Baby G a 12 months worth of gifts. One for each month.

This guy is our financial planner...scary. I can totally recommend him!

Family Reunion
We headed to Comanche, TX (yup, that's a place) for a reunion on my dad's side of the family. The place itself is honestly pretty depressing and boring, but I enjoy seeing people and chatting. Poor Jeremy is a trooper to go and sit around all weekend. Quinn had fun playing and seeing family she hasn't seen in a while and I was proud to show her off. I'm praying that one day, we can convince all the older folks to move the reunion to a place that would be more fun, like by a lake or something. We'll see...

I made these magnet boards for the auction. The money from our auction is what pays for the next year's reunion.

Lake Fun
Last weekend we got to visit the lake in Sweetwater, TX. (And by lake I mean swimming pool at the lake house where there used to be a lake.) My sweet sis-in-law Abby invited us to her family's place and we relaxed by the pool, drank margaritas and had some good quality time together. I know my mom loves it when all her kids are together. Mom and Emily rode with us from Austin and Quinn did great on the way there watching opera songs over and over again and talking up a storm. We were all praying she would go to sleep. Then on the way back, Q was a bit of a toot and I felt sorry for my mom. Emily put her earphones in and we all prayed we would be back in Austin ASAP. I don't know that they will be riding with us again any time soon...it is exhausting with a chatterbox, busy toddler!

Quinn loved Justin and Abby's dog, Sage. She reminds us of Lexi.

Little Miss Sunshine.

Ella is afraid of the water and can't swim very well (she looks like a spazz). Jeremy was trying to teach her.

Lovely ride home.

The windmills in West Texas. Love it!

Favorite part of this pic: Abby's awesome shirt.

Mama's lake snack.