Babies harbor a secret vendetta
Look at that face!! My little stinker. You'd never suspect him of evil. Which is good because he definitely isn't evil at all, but there are times that I seriously wonder if he doesn't harbor some serious devious tendencies.
Sometimes I think after I finally pass out he facebooks other babies to get ideas on new ways to torment me and secretly just laughs and laughs.
Right I stuck my foot in the poopy diaper while she was changing me, she totally thought it was an accident! You should have seen the look on her face! ... what? Try to do it again when I'm wearing socks? AWESOME IDEA! 3 hours later: Ohhh Connor!! Guess I'll be doing a load of laundry today.
Sometimes him and Kenzie even team up against me it would seem. They coordinate "I'm hungry" attacks and strike about 2 and a half minutes apart. Connor has got her on a fruit snacks payroll and she is reaping the benefits. Typically he'll fuss and do that sucking at air thing babies do (we call it his plecostomus face) right before they scream their heads off because you're taking too long getting their bottle, so I will get up and run to make a bottle, get back about 15 seconds after he's started his conniption which means I'm not fighting with his arms because he's decided sticking his hands in his mouth might make him feel better and he'll be darned if mom's going to move them aside to put the actual food in his mouth because then what reason would he have to scream at me! Well while all this is happening, my daughter, ever the opportunist, will take advantage of this 2 minute window of utter chaos and remark on how hungry she is. This results in me looking rather on the verge of my own conniption and my daughter solemnly declaring some fruit snacks would be fine, she can even get them herself if it's okay. What luck! An easy fix that she can get all by herself with not assistance from me! ... And even though I'm on to her game it still works because her timing is absolutely impeccable. She will be a great evil genius some day.
I expect my mom of the year award to be arriving any day now.
In Other News! I am officially a stay at home mommy for the time being. Yes friends... On Monday after a lengthy Maternity leave and some unfortunate business with my short term disability pay I resigned from my position at work after much thought and discussions with Mike, we decided it's actually for the best for me to stay home. It was a very unexpected and weird feeling that came over me as I walked out and waved goodbye to my boss and my place of employment for the last 3 years. I've been fired from jobs, I've quit jobs for other jobs, I've been laid off, I've walked out of jobs and then started the frantic search for new employment as quickly as possible... but until now I've never just waltzed in to a job and gave notice so that I could purposely be unemployed. It is a very odd feeling indeed. If you're about to have a kiddo or already have them but are still working and considering staying home, I will tell you some of the things we talked about before making this decision.
Things to think about and talk about before quitting your job and what I've figured out about staying home so far...
- Will your budget allow for it? We found we will be able to live on Mike's paycheck alone, but it will be an adjustment. This means cutting waaaayyyy back on eating out and shopping (no more Target shopping sprees for this girl). It also means you'll start paying way more attention to things you might not have before, like coupons or coupon apps, and the groceries you buy. I definitely started taking a closer look at the groceries I was buying and what food wasn't being eaten and was being wasted. No room for that silliness anymore! Unless you're actually going to go home and make that Spinach Cream Cheese Mushroom Puff, don't be buying all of the crap that goes into making it just for it to go bad when you go home and realize you're exhausted and it's easier to stick a pizza in the oven.
This is probably the most important thing honestly, unless you've got a family that is willing to fund your adventures for you, it's important to make sure you can still pay all your bills, eat, and take care of necessary things as they come up. It's also important to be very honest with your partner if you keep separate accounts like Mike and I do. We have many "joint" bills that involve both of us like our cell phones and the mortgage and RECC even though we don't split our bills in half we had divided up the bills that each of paid based on our salaries, he made significantly more than I did so I paid a few of the smaller bills and then was responsible for groceries and my own private bills (i.e. my personal credit cards, my gym membership etc.). All of that is well and good and it absolutely worked for us, but with me not getting a paycheck anymore it was important to look at the personal debt I had and be honest with him about what I still had left to pay on my 2 cards and figure out how we will pay that down as well.
Don't forget to look at the other little things that aren't as regular as bills you might not have thought about either, for instance with winter coming, my daughter is going to need some new shoes since she's outgrown all her current shoes (thanks genetics for giving her gigantor feet) aside from 2 pairs of sneakers and a pair of boots rapidly getting too snug. I'm working on another post where I'm putting together a winter shopping list for Mackenzie for less than $50. She needs a winter coat, gloves, and boots. And if you know me I like my kiddo to have awesome clothes and am incredibly guilty of going waaayyyy overboard on how much I spend on her stuff so... it ought to be interesting. My thrift and consignment shop skills are about to be put to the test. But thats for another post like I said, pretty sure I just ventured completely away from the topic into another universe.
- What are you going to do with all of this sudden time at home? If I've learned anything during the time I've been home since Connor arrived a little over a month ago, it's that its good to have some kind of routine develop. Nothing so strict that it will throw everything into a frenzy if it's not adhered to to the letter, but an idea of what you're going to try to do each day so that you don't end up on the couch all day, feeding and changing the kid, flipping through netflix and wondering why your kitchen is so dirty. ... Not that that is what I've been doing lately, but there were a couple of days towards the beginning there where it may have happened. Routines help enormously for things like getting the Stinker to start sleeping through the night. It also helps me not feel useless. It's kind of a horrible feeling when Mike gets home from work and Kenzie gets home from school and the house is a mess still and I've got no clue what to do for dinner (although that last one still happens a lot because I never know what anyone is going to want and I live in a house with a couple of real picky eaters) and there's no clean socks for Mike to work in the next day and it's just like UGH! WTF did I do all day? Sometimes these days just happen because Stinker goes into Koala bear mode and refuses to be put down without making sure the world knows he is displeased, and it's incredibly hard to do dishes with a kid that can't hold his head up crashing his noggin into my collar bone and shrieking in my ear from an inch away because I'm holding him but not paying attention to him lol (FYI I've also learned baby boys are much needier than baby girls, Kenzie never put me through half of the stuff he does as a baby!) but generally on most days I have a few hours off and on while he's napping to try and be productive and I've learned I'm much happier (and so is the rest of my family) if I take advantage of it instead of vegging out and doing nothing. I can do that when Mike and Mackenzie get home and it's more enjoyable because I have the option to relax with them if I want to or I can still go into our bedroom and be alone for a minute if I need to, and the house is already clean so I'm not running around trying to do that while him and Mackenzie are home instead of spending time with them. This is still a juggle sometimes because there are days that I want to get much more accomplished than what I actually do so after they get home I'm still running around trying to do it plus pay attention to everyone and usually cook dinner as well. Mondays are proving to be interesting days because it's Mike and Kenzie's first day back to work and school after the weekend, so it's just me and Stinker alone in the house all day till 4 and sometimes it's hard not to just curl up with him on the couch and go back to bed after the morning rush getting Kenzie ready for school and out to the bus and Mike up and out the door for work and the sudden quiet after the previous 2 days of still waking up early for Connors morning bottle and neediness is super tempting to take advantage of some nap time. Sometimes we totally do and I'm not sorry at all =P. Except that now, there are 2 shows on (Gotham and Sleepy Hollow) that I must watch (that's right I said it, don't judge me.) So if I don't do things during the day and get my stepford wife on and have dinner ready by 5, I run around like a lunatic trying to do things right before they come on so I don't miss them or get handed to Child Services for not feeding my child, since she likes to go into a coma by about 9:30 most nights. Which I don't argue with since thats probably when she should be going to bed anyway. Don't look at me that way, most of the time the kid goes to bed at 8 before you start judging me too harshly, but I'm just saying sometimes life happens and it's good to know she's apparently got an internal off switch that shuts her hyper butt down.
Sometimes I think after I finally pass out he facebooks other babies to get ideas on new ways to torment me and secretly just laughs and laughs.
Right I stuck my foot in the poopy diaper while she was changing me, she totally thought it was an accident! You should have seen the look on her face! ... what? Try to do it again when I'm wearing socks? AWESOME IDEA! 3 hours later: Ohhh Connor!! Guess I'll be doing a load of laundry today.
Sometimes him and Kenzie even team up against me it would seem. They coordinate "I'm hungry" attacks and strike about 2 and a half minutes apart. Connor has got her on a fruit snacks payroll and she is reaping the benefits. Typically he'll fuss and do that sucking at air thing babies do (we call it his plecostomus face) right before they scream their heads off because you're taking too long getting their bottle, so I will get up and run to make a bottle, get back about 15 seconds after he's started his conniption which means I'm not fighting with his arms because he's decided sticking his hands in his mouth might make him feel better and he'll be darned if mom's going to move them aside to put the actual food in his mouth because then what reason would he have to scream at me! Well while all this is happening, my daughter, ever the opportunist, will take advantage of this 2 minute window of utter chaos and remark on how hungry she is. This results in me looking rather on the verge of my own conniption and my daughter solemnly declaring some fruit snacks would be fine, she can even get them herself if it's okay. What luck! An easy fix that she can get all by herself with not assistance from me! ... And even though I'm on to her game it still works because her timing is absolutely impeccable. She will be a great evil genius some day.
I expect my mom of the year award to be arriving any day now.
In Other News! I am officially a stay at home mommy for the time being. Yes friends... On Monday after a lengthy Maternity leave and some unfortunate business with my short term disability pay I resigned from my position at work after much thought and discussions with Mike, we decided it's actually for the best for me to stay home. It was a very unexpected and weird feeling that came over me as I walked out and waved goodbye to my boss and my place of employment for the last 3 years. I've been fired from jobs, I've quit jobs for other jobs, I've been laid off, I've walked out of jobs and then started the frantic search for new employment as quickly as possible... but until now I've never just waltzed in to a job and gave notice so that I could purposely be unemployed. It is a very odd feeling indeed. If you're about to have a kiddo or already have them but are still working and considering staying home, I will tell you some of the things we talked about before making this decision.
Things to think about and talk about before quitting your job and what I've figured out about staying home so far...
- Will your budget allow for it? We found we will be able to live on Mike's paycheck alone, but it will be an adjustment. This means cutting waaaayyyy back on eating out and shopping (no more Target shopping sprees for this girl). It also means you'll start paying way more attention to things you might not have before, like coupons or coupon apps, and the groceries you buy. I definitely started taking a closer look at the groceries I was buying and what food wasn't being eaten and was being wasted. No room for that silliness anymore! Unless you're actually going to go home and make that Spinach Cream Cheese Mushroom Puff, don't be buying all of the crap that goes into making it just for it to go bad when you go home and realize you're exhausted and it's easier to stick a pizza in the oven.
This is probably the most important thing honestly, unless you've got a family that is willing to fund your adventures for you, it's important to make sure you can still pay all your bills, eat, and take care of necessary things as they come up. It's also important to be very honest with your partner if you keep separate accounts like Mike and I do. We have many "joint" bills that involve both of us like our cell phones and the mortgage and RECC even though we don't split our bills in half we had divided up the bills that each of paid based on our salaries, he made significantly more than I did so I paid a few of the smaller bills and then was responsible for groceries and my own private bills (i.e. my personal credit cards, my gym membership etc.). All of that is well and good and it absolutely worked for us, but with me not getting a paycheck anymore it was important to look at the personal debt I had and be honest with him about what I still had left to pay on my 2 cards and figure out how we will pay that down as well.
Don't forget to look at the other little things that aren't as regular as bills you might not have thought about either, for instance with winter coming, my daughter is going to need some new shoes since she's outgrown all her current shoes (thanks genetics for giving her gigantor feet) aside from 2 pairs of sneakers and a pair of boots rapidly getting too snug. I'm working on another post where I'm putting together a winter shopping list for Mackenzie for less than $50. She needs a winter coat, gloves, and boots. And if you know me I like my kiddo to have awesome clothes and am incredibly guilty of going waaayyyy overboard on how much I spend on her stuff so... it ought to be interesting. My thrift and consignment shop skills are about to be put to the test. But thats for another post like I said, pretty sure I just ventured completely away from the topic into another universe.
- What are you going to do with all of this sudden time at home? If I've learned anything during the time I've been home since Connor arrived a little over a month ago, it's that its good to have some kind of routine develop. Nothing so strict that it will throw everything into a frenzy if it's not adhered to to the letter, but an idea of what you're going to try to do each day so that you don't end up on the couch all day, feeding and changing the kid, flipping through netflix and wondering why your kitchen is so dirty. ... Not that that is what I've been doing lately, but there were a couple of days towards the beginning there where it may have happened. Routines help enormously for things like getting the Stinker to start sleeping through the night. It also helps me not feel useless. It's kind of a horrible feeling when Mike gets home from work and Kenzie gets home from school and the house is a mess still and I've got no clue what to do for dinner (although that last one still happens a lot because I never know what anyone is going to want and I live in a house with a couple of real picky eaters) and there's no clean socks for Mike to work in the next day and it's just like UGH! WTF did I do all day? Sometimes these days just happen because Stinker goes into Koala bear mode and refuses to be put down without making sure the world knows he is displeased, and it's incredibly hard to do dishes with a kid that can't hold his head up crashing his noggin into my collar bone and shrieking in my ear from an inch away because I'm holding him but not paying attention to him lol (FYI I've also learned baby boys are much needier than baby girls, Kenzie never put me through half of the stuff he does as a baby!) but generally on most days I have a few hours off and on while he's napping to try and be productive and I've learned I'm much happier (and so is the rest of my family) if I take advantage of it instead of vegging out and doing nothing. I can do that when Mike and Mackenzie get home and it's more enjoyable because I have the option to relax with them if I want to or I can still go into our bedroom and be alone for a minute if I need to, and the house is already clean so I'm not running around trying to do that while him and Mackenzie are home instead of spending time with them. This is still a juggle sometimes because there are days that I want to get much more accomplished than what I actually do so after they get home I'm still running around trying to do it plus pay attention to everyone and usually cook dinner as well. Mondays are proving to be interesting days because it's Mike and Kenzie's first day back to work and school after the weekend, so it's just me and Stinker alone in the house all day till 4 and sometimes it's hard not to just curl up with him on the couch and go back to bed after the morning rush getting Kenzie ready for school and out to the bus and Mike up and out the door for work and the sudden quiet after the previous 2 days of still waking up early for Connors morning bottle and neediness is super tempting to take advantage of some nap time. Sometimes we totally do and I'm not sorry at all =P. Except that now, there are 2 shows on (Gotham and Sleepy Hollow) that I must watch (that's right I said it, don't judge me.) So if I don't do things during the day and get my stepford wife on and have dinner ready by 5, I run around like a lunatic trying to do things right before they come on so I don't miss them or get handed to Child Services for not feeding my child, since she likes to go into a coma by about 9:30 most nights. Which I don't argue with since thats probably when she should be going to bed anyway. Don't look at me that way, most of the time the kid goes to bed at 8 before you start judging me too harshly, but I'm just saying sometimes life happens and it's good to know she's apparently got an internal off switch that shuts her hyper butt down.
Alright. My time is up people are home now! Until next time <3