What do you mean, what do I do all day?

I've recently had a couple of conversations with friends who either do not stay home with their children, or do not have any children about what I "do" all day. I've also fielded some rude comments about how I don't do anything all day. I don't mind the innocent questions (especially from those who don't have kids- because those that do know that there is ALWAYS something to "do"), but the comments make me want to scream. Like really, they make my whole body shake with anger and it takes all I have to keep my mouth shut (in order to set a good example for my children, because that's part of the job). I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I went to college, got a degree, and worked for a while before going BACK to college and getting ANOTHER degree. And then Liam was born. And I was lucky enough to work from home 4 days a week, and have him in daycare just one day a week. And that one day, he came home tired and cranky. The daycare workers told me "he napped well today. For 30 minutes". 30 minutes....are you SERIOUS! This kid takes 4 hours worth of naps in a day on a BAD day at home! I knew that he couldn't stay there, but at this point, Josh was a student, and we couldn't afford for me to quit my job. Thank goodness a fellow SAHM (Stay at home mom) friend of mine was willing to watch him. This was a much better arrangement, and when I would pick him up from her house on my office days, he was the well rested, smiling baby boy that I knew. She seemed to really enjoy him, and to put his needs right up there with her own kids, and for that, I will always be so thankful. She is a wonderful friend, and I would trust her to watch him again, if need be. It's a good thing she was a good friend too, because I went to her house, sobbing, when I got laid off and our family no longer had a "real" income. So that's how I became a SAHM. And now, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am so thankful to have a husband who is comfortable living on one salary (it's not a huge salary, by any means, but it's more than enough to live on), and who thinks it's important for me to be at home with our sweet kids. I'm not one of those "If you don't stay at home, you're not a real mom" SAHMs. There are a lot of those out there, just as there are a lot of "If you don't work outside of the home, you're not a real woman, are lazy, and are setting a bad example for your daughter" type working moms. I take a more neutral stance: To each their own. Some women feel like they are more balanced when they work outside of the home and have something for themselves in the way of adult conversation. Others work because there is no way for them to get by financially on one salary. I stay home for a variety of reasons, some of which are: Financial: It costs a small fortune to keep two kids in full-time daycare, and the majority of my salary would be spend doing just that. Other: They're only kids once, so why miss it? I don't live close to family who would be able to watch them I want to be in charge of what they learn, what they watch on TV, what words they hear, and just how fast they grow up. Josh works crazy hours. Really crazy ones sometimes. I feel like if I were to work, the kids wouldn't see either of us very often. I know that there are women out there who can do it all. My mom did when I was little. She worked, went to school, kept the house clean, and still had lots of time left for me- she coached my softball team and took me to 4-H, and did all of those "Mom things", so please don't think I'm saying if you're not at home with your children, you're making the wrong choice. Staying at home is by far the toughest job I've EVER had. The hours are horrible (generally, if things go as they should, you work from about 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m., and then you are on call for the remainder of that 24 hour span), the pay is worse, and there are times when I actually hide from my children because I feel like I'm about to go nuts (this doesn't happen often, and I make sure they are in a safe place before it does!). I am CONSTANTLY doing something, whether it's feeding, cleaning, paying bills, doing laundy, wiping noses, calming fears, enforcing time-outs, pulling two cranky children through the grocery store as quickly as I can in order to get them out of there before a meltdown occurs. It is physically and emotionally exhausting, but you can't sit down, because someone needs more juice, a butt wiped, or a bandage on a non-existant cut. And you can't have a meltdown, because you are in the process of teaching your toddler to control his, and that just wouldn't be setting a good example. It takes me 45 minutes to do a chore than would normally take 15, because I have one "helper" and another one that just needs to be held while I am doing it, but I can't do it without the helper becuase he's learning, and he enjoys helping so much. I know some people think we sit around in our pajamas all day, but if we do, it's because we can't find a moment to get into the shower or change our clothes. Some people think we stay home at watch TV all day (Oprah, anyone?). The only TV on at my house is Mickey Mouse, Super Why, and Special Agent Oso. But not all in one day, because that's just too much TV. Some people think we eat bon-bons on the couch. I don't eat on the couch, I either eat with my kids at the table, or, if we've had a particularly busy morning, I eat standing up in the kitchen while I clean up the mess leftover from the kids lunch. So this post has turned into a short novel. If you're still reading, it wasn't meant as a rant, or a "Man my life is hard, please pity me" post. I know that I choose this, and I see my lay-off at work as a blessing in disguise. It's meant more for those people who say SAHMs are lazy, or who just wonder what we do all day.

Spring is Springing!

We are finally starting to get some warmer weather here in Iowa! I think it's funny how where you grew up influences your whole perspective on this. Me, being from Southern Illinois, says it's about time it hits 65!! And my friend Molly, who grew up in North Dakota, says "Wow, it's already 65!" Regardless, we've had some days nice enough to get outside, which is a HUGE relief after being cooped up inside all winter!

Sharing the wagon. Shortly after this photo, Liam was kicked out for kicking :)

When we're walking, if I look behind me, this is what I see

And if I look in front of me, this is what I see (Liam runs the WHOLE walk, no matter how far we go- 2.5 miles? No problem!)

Sometimes he likes to pull the wagon. We have to stay very close, because he likes to take her off road.

Can you tell he's so much happier when he's outside?

Sickness

We have had a terrible few weeks when it comes to germs around here! First, Liam had a fever, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The fever didn't worry me, but he was covered from head to toe in a rash, which had huge hives on TOP of that. I was told it was viral by the quick care place, and that it would go away on its own. After almost a week of it not going away (the fever lasted 3 days, but the rash and hives lasted longer), I took him in to see his regular pediatrician. Turns out he had scarlet fever and strep throat. No wonder he wasn't feeling too well! So they put him on antibiotics (only the second time he's ever been on them in his life- the first was when he was a newborn to treat pnemonia). The rash slowly got better and the hives went away. I was so excited that I could get back to life as normal!

Just a few days later, I ended up going to quick care on a Sunday to get antibiotics for my strep throat. I took them, and on Monday was no longer contagious. I got up and packed my bags to go to the gym. I didn't really feel like working out, but since Liam had been sick, I would do anything to get out of the house- even run with a sore throat! I had everything ready to go, and then Liam got up. I took one look at him and knew we weren't going anywhere. He had pinkeye, and, it turns out, a double ear infection. The antibiotic he was on wasn't good for those things, so they had to switch him to one that treats all three of his ailments.

Both of the kids and I have had terrible colds too, but we are finally getting over this. I was telling Josh that it's kind of ironic that he's the one exposed to all of the junk at the hospital, and yet, we are the ones who are sick all the time. He made some crack about having a super immune system and then woke up with a sore throat the next morning... it's not strep, but it's that fun cold that we've all had!

Oh, Liam!

Those words are uttered around here a lot. Liam gets out of bed and helps himself to whatever trouble he can find before he decides to wake us up. The other day, he decided he wanted some strawberries for breakfast, and this is what I found:

He had gotten them out of the fridge, rinsed them in the kitchen sink, and got a fake knife from his play kitchen to slice the tops off. The funniest part is not in the photo, because he ate it, but there was a strawberry sitting there with a big gash taken out of it that he had cut with this knife.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

I just dealt with my little guy turning 3, now it's time for London to turn 1! Again, it doesn't seem like it's been a whole year, but I couldn't have asked for a better baby. She's always smiling, and is such a joy to be around. We didn't want to have a big party, since she is only 1, but we wanted to do something, so we had some friends over for a play date/party. There was a carnival theme, and fun was had by all :)


Here's the food: Puffcorn in the cute little popcorn boxes, hot dogs, and caramel apples...except the caramel exploded in the microwave just before party time, so they ended up just being apple slices :) A couple of the treat bags are in the background with balloons tied to them.


The Happy Birthday Girl after her cupcake- or at least the icing! This is the messiest it got. Liam never got messy on his 1st birthday either...maybe they have my neat-freak genes!

Cupcakes- I was tired of decorating cakes at this point, so I went with cupcakes. Liam

really liked helping me spray the pink on the icing and do the sprinkles.

This is the only picture I got of London at her own party...isn't that terrible of me? The pic of her eating her cupcake was taken on her birthday, when we were celebrating with just Josh, Liam, and I.

Fun Party!

Liam got invited to a Birthday party a week after his for his friend Jack (see Jack's cake in the previous post). It was at Iowa Gymnest, a gymnastics place that we had never been too. What a fun place! Josh was post-call, so he got to come to the party too, and I think that we had just as much fun as Liam did. Here are some pics of the fun

Liam and Josh in the pit of foam blocks. There was a trampoline right by the pit, so you could jump right in.

Liam on the Trampoline

London Yelling at me. This child is constantly yelling :)

She had fun crawling around on the springy gymnastic floor.

Cake!

I've been up to my ears in cake lately! I really enjoy making cakes, so it's been fun to have reasons to make them! My friend Missy and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Molly- the theme was Baby is Blooming, so I made this flower cake.
The week before that, our friend's little boy turned 3, so I made this cake for his party- just one week after making Liam's Toy Story cake.

Like I said, it's nice to have an excuse to make cakes, because it's not something you just do for the heck of it- otherwise you have an entire cake sitting around the house! I'm about caked out for now though, so for London's party, I'm going with cupcakes- simple, but cute ones that match her theme. That will give me enough of a break to want to do another cake soon :)