Stay at Home Mommy

I was never one of those women who thought their life work would be raising kids. Sure, I wanted a family and I knew my kids would be the most important thing in my life, but I always wanted a career. I was raised by two working parents and I feel like I turned out OK, so it never bothered me to think about placing my children in daycare or hiring a sitter. I was smart, determined, and had a hard-earned degree. I started out wanting to be the best Occupational Therapist there was and 40 hour work weeks sounded just fine to me. We started talking about children and decided it would be a good idea that one of us have a paying gig before we had another mouth to feed (see, I told you we were smart!) When we finally got pregnant, I still believed that I would be ready to go back to work. I mean how busy can a little baby keep you really? Surely I would be bored out of my mind. Somewhere on the road to getting pregnant, dealing with a complicated pregnancy, and finally having my beautiful baby girl in my arms.....I changed. I no longer woke up excited about work, I woke up excited about what new things my little girl would do today. I no longer craved feeling needed by my patients; my baby needed me and that was enough. It isn't always easy to see in the short-term, but I can always look back and see how God knows better in the long run. Maybe it took us awhile to get pregnant because He knew that I wouldn't be ready to go back to work when 12 weeks had come and gone. Maybe He knew that financially I would have had to if we had gotten pregnant on our time line. Maybe He knew that Andrew's time at home would be few and far between, and Peyton coming in May allowed an entire month for our little family to be together before we entered this storm known as intern year. Maybe He knew that I wouldn't be able to work full-time and come home to another full-time job without a lot of help. Who am I kidding? Of course He knew, it was me that didn't.

So here we are....I am a stay at home mommy. Don't worry, I am still working weekends to bring home a little extra cash (most people don't realize that new docs don't make very much along with their horrible hours) and keep my skills up, but during the week, I am keeping our precious little girl. We are incredibly blessed to be able to manage this financially so early in our lives and we never take that for granted. Sure, we would be sitting pretty if we had my salary too, but some things are worth sacrificing for. Our move to Birmingham next year will probably demand that I return to work, but for now I am concentrating on this precious year to spend with Peyton.

I realize that staying at home isn't for everyone and certainly isn't an option for all those that desire it, but for me it has been such a blessing. I love waking up to Peyton's sweet smiles and I love being able to do all the little things with her that wouldn't fit into a 8-5 schedule. I love being able to have lunch dates with other mommies and friends and I love being able to travel home to visit with our families. I know I probably drive others crazy with the amount of pictures I take and force upon them, but it is so exciting for me to watch her grow before my very eyes. Each day brings a new accomplishment and before I know it, she will be walking, talking, driving, graduating, and leaving us behind to pursue her own dreams. Until then, I'm just taking it one smile at a time :)

Camera Learning

First off, a huge thank-you to Andrew for straightening up the header of the blog. I'm sure some of you thought it was just my creative design...but no, I could not figure out the HTML to get it straight. Although I would like to go ahead and drop in that me and my awesome friend, Doris, did once win a computer programming award in high school. So, people, the knowledge is there.....I just have to dig deep to find it! :)

As you all know by now, my dear husband is INCREDIBLY busy these days and during some of mine and Peyton's free time, I decided to steal his nice camera and play photographer. Here are some of the images I got. I was pretty proud so hopefully you won't think they are too bad. For my professional photog friends out there....just humor me and tell me they are good! ;) I have always felt like I had the "eye" but being patient enough to learn about all the settings and such is not my strong point.



















You can see all of them as well as other pics I snap here

Weekend Off

During intern year, having an entire weekend off is like winning the lottery. On this rotation, Andrew gets 2 weekends off which is so nice; unforunately these are his only days off so he has to work for 2 straight weeks between them. This past weekend was his first break longer than 24 hours, so we headed to Thomaston to let our families reunite with Andrew. haha. They almost didn't recognize him I'm pretty sure. We drove in late Friday night and spend most of the day Saturday hanging around the farm and checking out the latest addition, an apartment above the barn. That's pretty cool huh? We took a break to run over to Gran Jan's to swim and Peyton actually got in the water this time. She spent most of her time on mine or Andrew's shoulder but she seemed to not mind it. Unforunately, I manned the video camera and Andrew had the still camera so all the pictures are of me and Peyton. Oh well, one day when I figure out how to get our videos off the camera for startes and into some type of viewable format and onto this website...you can see Andrew and Peyton swimming. Until then, it's just me...sorry.








"I'm Tired!"



This is how Peyton spent the rest of the swim...doesn't she look comfy?"

When Peyton and I are home, I try hard to take lots of pictures because it seems like she changes daily lately. These are just a few I snapped recently.



She loves to laugh



But she can be serious too.



I took this one because I realized she was getting as long as the changing table. This next one was taken days after she was born...not exactly the same view, but still a huge difference.





When she's happy, she loves to just lay and talk to you.

Peyton will be 12 wks tomorrow (wed) and she is just growing beyond my wildest expectations. Yesterday we went shopping with my mom and put her in stroller without her infant seat...she loved being able to see what was going on and she talked to us the whole time. I'll leave you with this cute face....so sweet!



On a side note, I decided at the last minute to hang out with my mom this week while Andrew works and we left Peyton with my mom overnight so that she didn't have to endure six hours in the car as I took Andrew back to Augusta. It was so hard to leave her, even knowing she was in great hands, but it was great practice for our trip next month...Andrew has a week off and we are headed to San Diego!! Plane tickets booked and we are excited!

New Look

Since I am now the "blog master," I decided the blog needed to be somewhat more visually appealing. I am still tinkering around with it and have to redo the picture at the top, but this is nice for now I think.

The posts have been few and far between lately because Peyton and I have been doing a lot of traveling. Andrew was finishing up his first rotation and pulling some major long days/nights along with some overnights and Peyton was not letting me get much rest so we went to T-town for a little while to get some help from the grandmothers :) While we were there we stayed busy attending an old friend's baby shower, my mom's retirement reception (yep, she's a retired Grandmother! She's heading to nursing school in a few weeks), a family wedding, several birthday celebrations, and lunch with my best friend. Never a dull moment with this mama and baby!

For a couple of weeks, I was having a really hard time getting Peyton on any type of schedule. It kind of blew my mind because up until then she had been doing so well! But she had a mind of her own and it did not include sleep for mom! Thankfully, we are on the upswing now and after a few helpful hints from the doc and some rest at home courtesy of "Gran Jan" we have had several really good days at home. Peyton's naps have become longer which allows me time to do the all important things like eating, going to the bathroom, and preparing the next bottle. On glorious occasions when all these things get done, I might do a load of laundry or think about dinner ;)

My little girl is 11 weeks old today and I'm already seeing how fast she is growing up. Last week she weighed 12lbs 10ozs and was in the 90% for weight. After laughing at my face, the doctor assured me this was completely normal for breastfed babies. Phew! She's smiling so much now and starting to laugh every now and then. She absolutely loves watching tv (she gets this from dad) and don't worry...I make her watch educational shows! The other night she was watching her favorite show Caillou on PBS and Andrew made the mistake of trying to change the channel....he learned his lesson fast! You think I kid, but just come see for yourself. When I don't have my child parked in front of the tv (come on people, I promise it is no more than 30 mins a day :), she loves tummy time or sitting in her bumbo while I read to her. She has also really started enjoying bath time so we try and do that as often as possible. We also usually have at least one outing a day to keep mom from going crazy; I'm trying hard to make these normal errands or just walks around the neighborhood instead of heading straight to the mall (which will send me straight back to a full-time job if I don't watch out ;).

Here's some pictures for your enjoyment:



Peyton and I before Stephanie's baby shower



Bath time! Look at that chubby tummy!



Just chillin at Mimzy and Pop-pop's



Pop-pop likes when I am awake and smiling :)



Naptime! Daddy and his girls



Daisy wants in on the Bumbo action



"Uncle" Cal gets to meet Peyton when he leaves NYC to make it to Brooke's wedding



A little blurry, but look at those eyes! She's always on the go so I think I am going to have to get out the big guns camera to keep up with her!

Until next time.....

Things I've Learned

Things I've learned about being a parent:
1) All those things you said you would never do....you will.
2) You no longer matter...seriously. This child comes first no matter what and that's surprisingly ok with you.
3) In the middle of the night when you are frustrated beyond belief that you are not asleep....a single smile makes you not mind if you never sleep again.
4) You do what works...if that is allowing your child to watch tv so that you can shower...your child watches tv.
5) No one cares what you look like anymore...as long as your child is cute, you don't have to dress to impress ;)
6) Everyone has an opinion...the only one that matters is yours.
7) Your daily conversations almost always mention poo.
8) It is a requirement that you take as many pictures possible and force them on as many people as possible ;)
9) It is a big change for your marriage but so rewarding to look at your child and know that she is half you/half him for better or worse!
10) Even if I have to do more laundry b/c the diapers are becoming too small....I will not waste free diapers!

Portraits

As mentioned in previous posts, Andrew is extremely busy these days. Besides being the resident blogger around here, he is also the photographer. He has taken some really nice pictures of Peyton, but he hasn't had time to sit down and give them the editing that they deserve and require to print, post, etc. Along with that, I have neglected to nail down our friends Matt & Kate to take some of their awesome photos of our family (don't worry, this WILL happen). We are so in love with our Maternity Pics from these guys, we won't let Peyton get past her first year without some Altmix love :) With all that said, I wanted some nice pics of Peyton and I knew the grandmothers would love me to show up with hundreds of prints for them to choose from. So....I bit the bullet and chose a cute outfit, took her to one of those mall places, and ta-da.....we have billions of pictures of our little pumpkin. She did great...she has lots of practice as a print model courtesy of dad and I think the photos turned out great for what they were. So, here ya go - little miss priss!!



Look at those pouty lips...she gets those from mom :)



You know that's cute!!



"Mommy, don't drop me!!"



And, after my wardrobe change ;)

It's Friday night, I'm up late with a sleepless little girl letting the swing put her to sleep. Andrew's expecting a short day tomorrow, so maybe the next post will be about the fun things we got into over the weekend.

July 4th

So my friend Courtney over at Always Room for Moore is making me look bad by getting her July 4th pics up already and her little girl is only 3 weeks old. Guess I better get moving huh? :)

Since Andrew was on call during the weekend of the 4th(which requires him to stay at the hospital), Peyton and I decided to head to Thomaston and spend the holiday with family. We just relaxed with my mom since both the boys were out of town and rode over to the big city of Manchester for fireworks with the Etheridge side of the family. We had a great time...Peyton loved (slept through) the fireworks and Mommy ate the complete carnival diet consisting of funnel cake, ice cream, and hot dogs...if only they had been selling cotton candy! I'm pretty sure this was the first 4th I have spent away from Andrew in like 10 years so he was definitely missed.....

Peyton of course had about 10 4th outfits...we made it through 2!



Precious watermelon outfit with matching sunhat



Flag dress that Gran bought me....and my cute headband!



Peyton and Mommy



Peyton, Mommy, and Great-Granma (my mom's mother)



Peyton and her Great-Pawpaw (my dad's dad) They are such early birds, I was still in bed and Peyton still had on her PJs



Peyton and her Great-Grandma (my dad's mom). She is absolutely in love with this little one! :)



Andrew's pitiful view of the fireworks :(

Happy 4th! (a little late)