My New Job!

Well I guess you can't call it a new job, but it's now my full time job.  Mom and Wife are the titles I'm referred to often, but I'd like to call myself the "family manager" and even better yet "chief family manager".  It just makes everything sound more important if you put the word "chief" in front of it, doesn't it? Well I started full time on May 13th and I've gotta say, it's one of the hardest jobs I've ever done.  My last day working as a dietitian was the prior Friday and it's been quite the adjustment for me.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being at home with my boys, but it's a big change.  Nathan's been on an easier schedule this month and doing an elective (tactical emergency medicine).  From what I gather, he just shoots a lot of guns and plays cops and robbers.  But seriously, he's training with the SWAT team in Peoria.  Not quite sure how I feel about it, but he says its "safe".  I never realized that marrying an Emergency Physician would be worrisome.  He flies with as a Doc with Lifeflight, one of the most dangerous jobs second to crab fishing, and now is training with the SWAT team.  Still pretty cool, but I try not to think about it too much. 

Anyhow, we've had a fun filled last few weeks. I've got to see more of both of my boys now that my schedule is free. Before, it seemed like all of Nathan's days off were days when I was working. We went to the farm park to see the farm animals and petting zoo, visited the zoo, and headed to Monkey Joes. We're trying to squeeze in as much one on one time with Micah before baby gets here. This weekend we're heading to Splashdown water park. At 39 weeks pregnant, I'm sure I'll be a sight. Oh the things we do for our kids. I can't wait to see Micah playing in all the water toys.  He's just now to the age where he's brave enough to do some of the bigger things on his own.   It's going to be so much fun!  I just love my new "job"!

Fun at the farm park

Just monkeying around and Monkey Joes

I love the zoo!

Getting Ready for Baby!

It's so much different getting ready for Baby #2 than it was with Baby #1.   To make it even worse, we're moving 3 weeks after baby's due date and there's no nursery to get ready.  It kind of makes me sad but then I realize, we're not buying any new bedding because we already have boy bedding, Micah's still in his toddler bed until the baby is out of our room, and really we wouldn't have much to fill a nursery right now.  There's not much to shop for either. I wandered around Babies R Us for an hour one afternoon and came out with a pack of pacifiers. I have really everything I need for now and don't want to buy things that we'll just have to move.  I'll get a few bigger things once we get to our new place in Springfield but that's about all I have to do.  I've made many freezer meals for when baby arrives and have a list of quick and easy suppers to prepare as well.  Our moving allowance is covering all of our packing and moving expenses.  We'll just need some help getting things settled and organized once we get there but that's about it.  I say I'm not ready for baby to be here yet, but really there's not much else to be done.  Twice now I've thought I was in labor.  It's happened at 3:00am when I wake up from Nathan coming home from work.  I think this baby is going to make it's start into the world at night.  Both times a big glass of water fixed it but not until I'd already taken a shower and packed my bag.  Really glad we didn't head to the hospital, but I'm hoping I don't blow the real thing off like it's nothing. 

Micah listening for "baby's heart"

Micah's been getting ready for baby too.    The other day we went to the doctor which are now weekly checks.  Micah woke up saying, "baby's heart" because I told him the night before that we would be going in the morning to listen to baby's heart.  He didn't forget and talked about it the whole time we were there.  He even had to check himself to make sure.  We've been talking about baby a lot.  He calls his glow-worm "baby" and it's really cute.  Today we fed baby, changed baby's diaper, and rocked baby to sleep.  I hope he's as loving with his baby brother as he is with "baby". 


Diapering Baby

Feeding Baby

Cuddling Baby

We're still working on a name for our little man. Part of me wants to settle on a name but another part wants to see him before we decide for sure. At the hospital with Micah, Nathan said "why didn't we name him Eli" and I was like "he does look like an Eli". But we'd already settled on Micah. Don't get me wrong, I love the name Micah and it totally fits him now. I just want to bee 100% sure on a name before we call him that for the rest of his life. Guess we'll all be surprised when he gets here.  We just can't wait!

38 weeks 4 days

New Occupation: Stay at home Mom

Such a bittersweet moment.  Today I gave my notice to work that I would be leaving before baby #2 arrives and moving to Springfield shortly thereafter.  I'm not gonna lie. I shut my door and cried a little after the conversation with our Chief Dietitian.  I'm so excited to be able to stay at home with my boys, but I never thought it would be this hard to leave my career.  I truly LOVE what I do and up until Micah was born, it was the most rewarding job I've ever done. My mom always worked and I've had a job since I was 12 years old! Prior occupations include selling food at the State Fair, teaching dance, swim coach, swim lessons, waitress, retail, residence hall nutrition educator, waitress again and again and again, graduate assistant, and registered dietitian. Until becoming an RD, none of the other jobs really seemed to make much of a difference to others.  The Veterans that I work with are so grateful and I love seeing their progress. I've had one guy even lose 80+ pounds over the last year!  I'm sure he would have done it without my coaching, but it just reminds me of why I made this my career path.

Before having children, I never thought I would be a stay at home mom.  My heart was changed three years ago when Nathan had a horrible child abuse case where a daycare worker caused shaken baby syndrome in a 1 year old little boy.  The outcome was devastating.  Nathan came home and said "when we have children, your staying at home".  I wasn't going to argue this, but I sometimes feel like being a stay at home mom is not enough of a "job" for our society today.  Trust me, you spend a day with my toddler and you'd wish you'd gone to "work" some days.  Why is it considered "work" if it's a childcare provider watching my child while I work and not considered work for me to stay at home and care for my own children?  I listened to a sermon by Pastor Van at New Hope Church in Effingham and he made an excellent point.  He said, "there's nobody better to raise your children than you".  How very true.  God gave me the boys that he did because I'm the best mom there could be for them.  If raising my family is not the most important job I could have, I don't know what else would be. 

So my new official title is "Chief Family Manager".  Well at least that's the title I've given myself.  Nathan's not too keen on calling me "chief" but I'm sure he'll warm up to it :)  Other jobs included under this title: financial advisor, chef, purchasing coordinator, security officer, janitor, plumber, gardener, childcare provider, taxi driver, and personal shopper.  I'm going to find joy in this new job and welcome all the opportunities that come along with it.  I'm sure I'll make it back into the workplace as a dietitian some day, but for now this is the job that suits me and my family best.  So looking forward to all that it has to offer!

Time out time

So I just have to share about our time out method of discipline.  It applies to all in our house who misbehave.  The other night Micah, Nathan, and Champ were playing ball.  All of a sudden I hear a crash and "uh-oh".  I go running to the other room and the clock is on the floor along with a few picture frames that had fallen down.  When I asked what happened, they all looked at one another.  Micah and Nathan were throwing a ball to Champ.  Nathan threw the ball with Micah right by his side, Champ bumped the ball with his nose into the table knocking everything to the floor, and Micah was the tattle tale.  They all went to time out.  It was a long 28 minutes for Nathan but you do the crime, you do the time :)



The time out chair.

Happy Valentine's day!

My Little Heartthrob!  Just love him to pieces!

 Today was a great day!  Micah and I started our day off early and left a surprise for Nathan, cards and candy for him to find when he woke up.   Micah had a fun party planned at school and he came home on a sugar high with all kinds of valentines from his friends at school.  I just love that they do so many fun activities with them and celebrate all the holidays! On our way home, we swung by Papa John's to surprise Nathan again with a heart shaped pizza and cinnamon bread.  It was a working day so there was no way I could prepare a nice Valentine's Day dinner.  Micah was so cute.  We went to pick up the pizza and he kept saying "pizza, pizza, yummo".  He was really interested in watching them make the pizzas and was excited to see that we were taking one home with us.  The whole way home he kept saying the same thing "pizza, pizza, yummy, yummy".  We came in and were surprised to find red roses, a card and candy!  That man knows the way to my heart!  It was really sweet and I love him more and more each day!
 

We had the pizza out on the table and to our surprise Micah just dug right in!  He was eating the mushrooms, cheese, and even a few bites of the crust!  Who's child is this!  Not mine!  He hasn't eaten anything except for bread, fruit, crackers, and mac and cheese for months!  He was loving it and we were getting a kick out of him too.  We just love him to pieces!  Not a truly romantic Valentine's day but the perfect end to our day, spending it as a family!

Had to get a picture of this one!  I don't think anyone would believe me that he ate mushroom pizza!

It's a Boy!

It's a boy and we're so excited!  Micah is so much fun that I couldn't even imagine anything other than a boy.  I had thought it would be fun to have a girl, but two boys two years apart is going to be a blast.  Nathan and I went to lunch today before the appointment and we were talking about "what if it's aboy, what if it's a girl" and Nathan made an excellent point.  He said, "wouldn't a little boy be fun for Micah.  They'll be so close and such buddies."  I hadn't really thought of it that way.  I knew Micah would be great with little brother or sister, but I can't imagine the fun he'll have with a little brother to romp around with.  He's a pretty rough and tumble little boy.  I can't imagine what the two will get into.  I'm sure I'll never sit down once baby boy gets here!  Most importantly baby is healthy.  It has a 4 chamber heart, 3 vessel cord, 2 kidneys, and 1 little boy part (he wasn't shy). 
Micah doesn't quite get the concept of mommy having a baby, but we're getting there.  We talk about it often.  When we mention "baby" or he sees a picture of a baby he quietly says "shush" and puts one finger over his lips.  He'll grab his baby pictures and give them kisses when we talk about the baby in the picture.  I can't wait to see how much love he'll have for his new baby brother!

Feeling Defeated

I am totally controlled by a 20month old little boy!  How did this sweet little boy get the best of me!  Well I've got to set some clearer boundaries and not give in to everything.  Tonight he went to bed at 6:30 and with no dinner.  It wasn't because I wouldn't feed him.  I tried many times, probably 5 or more.  He just doesn't want to sit in the chair at the table to eat!  We've been pretty laxed lately and let him sit in front of the TV to snack while he watches cartoons and now that's all he wants to do.  Strawberry yogurt and my living room couch are not a good combo for a 1yr old, so this isn't going to go on for long.  On top of all this, we're getting rid of the pacifier again during the daytime.  He was good with just having it at naps and bedtime, but we gave in when he got his bottom incisors and it's been a struggle taking it away again.  Nathan was on nights, Micah was cranky, and I couldn't deal with 2 crabby boys.  We were all happier with the pacifier until now, and we're all going through withdrawls.  Day 2 complete and hopefully we'll only have 3 bad days.  Our pediatrician says, "he'll be cranky for 3 days and then be ok after that" when referring to any changes like giving up the bottle or pacifier.  I wonder if he just says that.  With baby #2 on the way, Micah has got to be good and done with his "baz" (paci) by the time he's 2.  I figure it's not going to get any easier so we'll just tough it out now.  He talks so much without it and absolutely none with it.  I want his language to develop so thats just another reason to say "buh bye Baz".