A day in the life of a stay at home mom...

I love being a stay at home mom. Simple as that. I get a lot of "well, don't you want a career?", "he'd be fine with someone else watching him", etc etc. But it's my calling, it's who I am to my core and I couldn't/wouldn't change my job. Also, let my preface this post by saying.. I know not everyone can afford or want to be a SAHM. I get that. Just like I want to be here with Legree, some mom's want to be an office. I get that and that's what works for you. I don't think this job is for everyone AT ALL! Not everyone can be heart surgeons, or teachers or construction workers or nurses... so not everyone can be SAHMs either.

Being a SAHM is not all play dates, shopping all day or watching TV all day. It's tough work! I was in the working world for A LONG TIME before I became a stay at home mom. I've worked in several offices, in different capacities for different jobs. None of them came close to this. Is there times when I look around and say "What do we do next to pass the time??" You betcha! That's part of what makes it hard. We don't watch TV all day (usually two 30 minute shows a day is what Legree gets and that's while I cook breakfast and supper). Although, some days are 90 miles an hour and I don't have time to stop or sit down b/c we have too much to do!

We aren't wealthy people (contrary to popular believe that all SAHM husbands are making some big money). Ben makes good money and we are good with alloting money where we need it and being VERY careful with EVERY dollar. That's how we manage on one income, not because we are wealthy and just can. It's a sacrifice, it's a struggle... it's worth it! Since we are one income and not wealthy Legree and I can't go out shopping and spending money on this or that. Our activities have to be FREE! So, you have to get a little creative when it comes to what do in the house, around the house or near by the house that's free. I'm getting better at it. Especially as he gets older and needs more stimulation then just sitting and reading books on the floor all day. We have fun, we laugh, we play, we run around the house, we cook, we clean, we read books, we go outside and play with the dog,we do whatever we can find that needs to be done and/or looks like fun!

So, for those of you wondering what a day looks like at home, this is it...


7:20 Legree wakes up crying for his paci
7:25 Roll myself out of bed and go get him, I can't find his paci either.
7:30 Still can't find paci... oh well, he's supposed to be giving it up anyways
7:32 Turn on Barney and sit on the couch with Legree. He asks me for his cakes (pancakes). Ohh yeah, food.. forgot!
7:35 Start breakfast, mix up pancake batter, and start the frying pan going. Legree is fussing at my feet for his cakes
7:45 Cooking away and Legree is still begging. Give him a yougurt instead till the pancakes are done
8:15 Ate breakfast... now clean up all the syrup all over Legree's chair.
8:30 Finally the syrup is gone.. clean up all the dishes and clean kitchen (while Legree begs to help or gets under foot)
9:15 Done cleaning kitchen, getting everything put away etc. Legree wants to read books. OK...
9:30 After pulling every book he has off the nicely organized shelf he decided he didn't want to read any of them.
9:45 Cleaned up books, make bed... Legree sees his swing out the window and wants to go WEE HIGH! Finish making up the bed, get myself and Legree dressed.
10:00 Dad called and wants us to come over. Go outside to play.
10:30 Come back in from going outside to swing and dodge all the dog poop in the back yard.
11:00 All cleaned up, changed and ready to go to Grandparents house, Legree needs a MAJOR diaper change. Great.
11:15 Arrive at parents. Take Legree outside there to play.
12:00 Inside, Legree and dad play. I cook lunch over there.
1:00 Done eating lunch. Legree tells Grandma and Papa all his news words and tricks from the week. Plays with all their toys and runs around entertaining us. Add in several diaper changes and clothes changes because he eats a lot so he poops a lot... and he's a boy so he gets dirty, OFTEN!
1:45 Leave mom and dad's because Legree is an hour past nap time.
2:00 Carry sleeping baby boy in and put him down for nap. Check facebook/email/blog 2:30 Look around at the mess of toys from earlier in the morning. Decide to wait till later to deal with that. Clean up our bedroom.
245 Watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy (hey, everyone gets a break at your work, I do too. I just have more freedom on what I do with mine).
4:00 Start a load of laundry, fold clothes left in the dryer from a few days ago. 4:30 Check FB/email/blog again (yes I'm obsessed).
4:45 Walk around aimlessly and see what all needs to be done, like clean out our closet etc. Decide I have no time b/c Legree will be up any minute.
4:47 Research recipes online to figure out what's for dinner because I forgot to take anything out of the freezer. Decide on a yummy looking quiche that I happen to have everything for.
5:00 Legree wakes up and in is in a BAD mood. Turn on Barney so I can get supper ready, he screams when I walk away. Sit back down.
5:02. Get back up and start supper. Legree keeps fussing...
5:15 Daddy calls and says he won't be home till 6. Great, cooking supper with no extra hands. OK, not fun but i got it.
5:30 Get quiche in oven. And realize I probbly need something else to go with it. 5:32 Legree gets off couch and throws a temper tantrum to go outside. I put him in time out and watch him scream for 10 minutes.
5:42 Give Legree some Tylenol because he says his teeth hurt and that's probably why he's in a bad mood.
5:50 Ask Legree if he wants to help me make a cake. He goes nuts and is SO excited. I try to decide if I've gone crazy.
6:00 Daddy comes home, Legree squels and dances and forgets our cake.
6:10 Legree comes back to the cake and we mix it up and get it in the pan without any major mess. Pure luck.
6:15 Ben takes Legree outside so I can finish supper.
6:45 Supper is finally on the table (only 45 mins after normal time, oh well). Call the boys in and feel like I'm in Leave it to Beaver.
7:20 Finish supper, clean up Legree and kitchen. Wash dishes so I don't have to do them in the morning.
7:50 Play with my men (my favorite time of day). And hear about daddy's day at work and we fill him in on what we did.
8:05 Ben takes Legree to get a bath. Legree insists I come too (my only quiet time alone, but okay I'm coming).
8:35 Get Legree ready for bed, PJs on, sing songs while we get dressed
8:40 Read Jesus bedtime stories with Legree, say our prayers, drink milk and put Legree to bed (40 minutes later then normal, whoops!).

There you go... that's my normal 12 or more hour long work day. After Legree goes to bed I normally watch TV with Ben, or seperately if we've got somethingwe want to watch that the other doesn't care to see. Some nights I clean the kitchen after he goes to bed. Some nights I sew. Most nights I get my shower in after he goes to bed. There is just no good way to shower with a toddler in your house by yourself! That's asking for trouble! Most days also don't include trips to my parents house. They didn't get to see Legree this weekend, so that was an extra trip. That time is normally spent playing with playdoh, putting away clothes, painting something, coloring, looking at pictures of tractors or pumpkins on the internet, trying to learn colors/numbers/words, sliding down his slide in his room, going to buy groceries etc. Every day varies but it's all crazy, busy, creative and fun! It's hard, it's lonely being with a 2 year old all day. I don't have much to talk about because it's not very exciting to anyone but me. But it's my job, it's my life, it's my child and I LOVE IT!

21 months...

Well, Legree is now 21 months old! In just three short months my little "baby" will be 2 years old! I can hardly believe it. I know he's not a baby any more, but he's MY baby. Everyday he proves to me he's not a baby by the things he can say or do.. but I don't want to let my little baby go!

21 little updates...

1. Still LOVES John Dee (John Deere)

2. LOVES LOVES choo-choos...

3. Is a little parrot. Everything we say he just repeats! It's amazing to see his vocabularly grow so much in even just a day.

4. Has a thing for pumpkins. At first he called them pumps... now it's something like "pumpumpin". It's so darn cute!

5. Loves to swing... HIGH! Whenever he swings he says "WEE DOGGIE" "HIGH!" and giggles the higher you go

6. Very attached to me and still doesn't want me out of his sight. He has attachment issues and it's going to be rough in Sept. when he starts 2-k.... but he's very friendly and great with other kids, so he'll love it once he gets the hang of being away from family.

7. Has become the prayer police. He makes sure we pray at every meal and sometimes randomly throughout the day he'll just fold his hands and bow his head like he wants to pray. I seize it and pray with him WHENEVER he wants. Part of the joys of being home with him is I can do that with him and he can see that we can and should always stop for more time with Jesus. I guess Jesus knew what he was saying when he said we should all have faith like little children.

8. We're working on taking ba-ba (pacifier) from him. He only has it at naps and bedtime. We started Wed and so far so good. Wed was NOT fun... he still asks for it but I've been trying to distract him with extra fun activities.

9. Likes to play with play-doh now. He likes for us to roll it into a ball and he says Ball! Catch! When he's done playing he likes to go open the drawer I keep them in and put it in there.

10. Still loves food, but has become more particular about what he eats. He likes to KNOW what he's eating and if he doesn't recognize it he doesn't want to touch it. I have to convience him that he likes something.

11. LOVES to eat cheese and asks for it A LOT

12. Loves "candy" which is really just raisins. But he calls it candy and I'd rather him have that then real candy. Poor child is brain washed!

13. Loves to read books and be read to. Especially tractor or train books.

14. Still loves to help clean up and loves when you give him a project.

15. I have some herbs and he loves to help be poor "waneee" (water) on them to help them grow

16. We have to cut his hair about every other week (it really could use it every week) because it grows so fast! And it's so blonde and beautiful!

17. Daddy gives Legree a bath every night. They love their time together and have all sorts of special games and things they do in the tub.

18. Loves to feed Kilo snacks through the window in our kitchen when I open it up.

19. Knows what a duck is now and when you ask him what it is he says "DUCK!" "WUACK WUACK!"

20. Loves to share his food with anyone who will take it from him

21. Is now in love with watching Barney. Ben introduced it to him and now he's obsessed!! UGHH...

Love you little man!! Till next month!

Tractors, Trains and a boys love at 20 months...

Legree is now 20 months old! Well, he turned 20 months about 2 weeks ago. But alas, I am a bum of a blogger and haven't gotten around to his 20 month post. I was telling a friend of mine today that since our baby book we have for Legree ended at 12 months, I was blogging to keep up with all the milestones since then. That's when I realized... I forgot to even blog about all his updates!! UGH.. got to do better!





Anyways, here's 20 updates on our 20 month little man. And no, I do NOT want to acknowledge how close we are to the big 2 year birthday. He's to much of my baby to consider that he will be that old. So, we won't talk about it till it's closer and I am forced to acknowledge it!





1. He said "I duh dew" (I love you) for the first time to me! It was SOO sweet and brought me to tears. Why he said that to me? Because I was letting him play with my hair, I guess he appreciated it.


2. Is talking up a storm! He can say basically anything now!! It's amazing how much he's picked up even the past month or so. It's like suddenly, he can say, well everything!


3. Still loves to eat!! He eats like he's never eaten before at every meal and snacks in between! You would think he'd be a fat boy with as much as he eats, but he's still pretty short and average weight.


4. Still LOVES tractors, especially John Deeres. He can now tell the difference between a combine, tractor and plow. He also knows how to crank up some of Paw's tractors.


5. Loves cof-cof (coffee) and begs for it all the time. I don't give in because I think it's TERRIBLE that he even knows what it is! But his grandparents got him started with it. Since he was LITTLE he'd always beg for it from them and finally one of them (not sure if it was my parents or Ben's) gave in and gave him some thinking he wouldn't like it. Nope, he LOVED it and still does. Ben gives it to him occasionally and his grandparents give it to him all the time.


6. Loves taking his vitamins every morning and asks for "vittys" to make sure I'm staying on top of my game as mommy.


7. Loves to brush his teeth about 10 times a day. Well, not really... but if he sees his toothbrush he makes sure that we brush his teeth immediately. At least he remembers and I don't have to remember...


8. He is mommy's little helper with cleaning now. He always wanted to help while I was emptying the dishwasher, so I let him now. He picks everything up and hands it to me while I put it away. I take out the knives etc before I let him start. He helps me carry the clothes from the dryer to our bedroom, I hand him the clothes out of the washer and he puts them in the dryer and he now knows how to empty the dryer vent of all the lent! He also throws any trash he finds away now. He also loves to wipe things down after I spray them with cleaner (an all natural safe for babies type cleaner). He saw me doing it and wanted to help, so I gave him his own rag and he started wiping with me. He's SOO Good at listening to commands and does pretty well at listening when I ask him to do something.


9. LOVES LOVES LOVES trains now! It's his latest obsession! We watch Thomas the Train all the time now.


10. He has gotten very fond of our dog Kilo. So, now I let him feed her. We go and get her food and he carries it outside (With my help) and poors it in her bowl. He also, does not let me forget to feed the dog. Every day at 5 he says dog? food?... He talks to her all day through the door and tells me about "dog".


11. Thanks to Ben's dad Legree now LOVES pigs! Weird I know... but Ben's dad kept telling Legree about the pig eating corn...and I guess since Legree loves corn he found a friend in the pig. So now when he sees one on TV or on his books he goes nuts. And if you ask him what eats corn he proudly proclaims PIG! And if you ask him if he's a pig.. .he says yes!


12. He can now name most any animal and/or what noise they make.


13. He can read the words car, corn and dog. Yes, REALLY read them!


14. I am working on colors with him but he doesn't seem interested or understand the concept of colors. And I'm really not sure how to teach him... ohh well, he'll get it eventually.


15. When he's playing or being silly he'll say... 1, 2, 3.. .GO! And start running around or dancing... it's SO cute!


16. He loves to read his Bible Stories before bedtime with mommy and daddy and when we tell him to make pretty hands he clasps his hands together and bows his head while we pray. When we are done he looks up at us and smiles so big! It warms my heart. I pray that he becomes a child, boy and eventually man after God's own heart.


17. When Ben comes home every evening he runs to the door as soon as he hears the knob turning and squeals HEY DADDY!! and starts dancing around in delight!


18. Loves to go visit and spend the night over at his grandparents. At my parents he normally wakes up in the middle of the night and gets in bed with them. They love it! At Ben's parents he used to sleep through the night but the past few times he's been waking up in the middle of the night there and sleeping with Ben's dad in the recliner. Thankfully, this hasn't affected his sleep at home (or mommy and daddy would have to end sleep overs). But he sleeps great at home!! Sleeps usually from 8 to 8 at night and a 2-3 hour nap during the day. I can't complain about sleep in this house!


19. Several of my friends have little babies. He loves them and says baby and points to them. He loves to give them kisses and hugs and will bring them their ba-ba (pacifier). He even will bring them his toys to share. It's very sweet and it makes me hopeful he'll be great with any future siblings.


20. He is the cutest, sweetest, smartest and most fun little boy I've ever met! I love him to pieces and cherish every day that God has given us with him. He's growing up so fast and I love to be home with him to see him grow. I hope he will grow to appreciate me being with him every day as much as I appreciate it.





Till next month little man... mommy and daddy love you!!

My baby CAN read!

Earlier this week I noticied something amazing... Legree can read! No, not a whole book, but a couple of words!! I still can't believe it. We didn't teach it to him (yes, I'm a horrible parent and haven't even tried). But we read to him a lot so I guess that's where he picked it up..? Who knows!



He loves to carry around one of our DVDs "Dude Where's my car?" because it has a picture of a dog on it (but oddly no picture of a car). Tuesday he pointed to the DVD and said "CAR". I was like, uhh did you just read that? We hadn't been talking about cars, there was no picture of a car on the dvd.... but I still thought it was a fluke. Later that afternoon we were watching Yo Gabba Gabba and the show that was on was about cars. Before the show starts they show a sign that displays what the shows theme is. So on the screen was the word "CAR", but no picture of a car. He pointed and squeeled out CAR! I knew then he WAS REALLY READING!



So, over the past couple of days I've written it on a piece of paper and shown it to him and he proudly says car. Today, I decided to see what other words he might know. I tried John Deere since that's one of his most favorite things but he looked at me like I was crazy. So, then I tried dog, another favorite of his. And lo and behold he said "DOG". I was astonished! I tried corn next (he LOVES corn and asks for it all the time). I wasn't sure if he could do this one since it's VERY close to car... but he said corn clear as day!



So, I'm going to get some flash cards and see if I can teach him some more... my little child prodigy may be reading whole books in no time!!



Here's a video for any skeptics out there :) Ohh and by the way... he's 19 months old! And excuse my hand and the length of the video, he wouldn't come to me so I had to unplug the video and go to him.

Growing up

Legree is saying more and more words lately and learning more and more tricks. I love seeing him grow and learn. I do miss my little baby, but I love my toddler every day! Here are some of his new "things" and "words"

- He has a tractor book that has a word for each letter of the alphabet. He can say each word that goes with letters A-E (apple, barn, corn, dog, egg). It's so cute and he's so proud!

-Says pumpkin now... well, his version which is "pumpin"

- I pointed to a barn the other day and said what's that Legree? He responded with "Barn, put John Deeah!". I knew he knew what a barn was but I didn't know he correlated barns with where you put tractors! He's picking up more then I thought!

- He spent the night with my parents the other night and in the morning dad was getting dressed. Mom told Legree that Papa was going to put his clothes on and Legree looked at my dad and said "Paw, put clothes on!" She said he said it clear as can be!

-He's obsessed with Kilo (our dog) right now. He loves to go outside and pet her and "feed" her anything he finds on the ground (leaves, rocks, straws). She' a great dog with him considering she really hasn't been around him much (she's an outside dog). She doesn't jump on him and just licks him a lot. And she plays along with him feeding her everything and just takes what he offers.

- He still LOVES (is obsessed) with tractors. He says John Deeah all day and talks about them constantly.

- He's really into DVDs and think all of them are his John Deere DVDs that are Ben's parents house. When he does go to their house ALL he wants to do is watch John Deere DVDs over and over and over again!

- Loves to "help" mommy sew. He loves that my sewing machine is a machine really. He loves all the knobs and the loud whirling sound

- He calls Daddy "Ben" now which Ben DOES NOT like. I thought it was funny at first, but now I'm trying to correct him. He picked it up from me talking to Ben and saying his name.

- He is currently in LOVE with peanut butter on graham crackers.

- He has been very curious and interested in the potty lately. He knows where we go potty... if I tell him I need to potty and where should I go he takes me to our bathroom and points to the potty. He's sat on our potty and his little potty a couple of times. He grins from ear to ear and is so proud. But we haven't had any "results" in the potty... but I'm sure it will come with time!

A minimalist approach...

I've been in a bit of a funk for the past week. Why you might ask? That's a good question! I couldn't and still can't quite put my finger on it, but I thought being productive this weekend will help light a fire up under my butt and get to working!!

I read a blog this past week (one of those you find on a friend of a friend of a friend's blog). I wish I could find it again, but alas it's gone to blog never never land. Oh well, the idea of the blog was minimalist approach to life and belongings. Not that you have to shed EVERYTHING but just go with the minimal amount of stuff to make life EASIER, LESS COMPLICATED and CLEANER! Sounds like a good way to go for a mama in a funk. Now, I am about as opposite of a minimalist as they come. In fact, I'm a bone a fide pack rat! I just can't seem to part with anything, especially of Legree's. It ALL has meaning!

But I'm going to try to do better and clean up and clear out! My best friend Megan and her husband Andrew are on the road to adopt another baby this year. While trying to raise funds for it they are throwing a yard sale at my church! I'm so excited! So I decided I'd "kill two birds with one stone". Actually kill three with one stone... here's why...

1. Go for the more minimalist approach in our house, de-clutter, organize etc.
2. Give everything we are getting rid of to Meg and Drew to help raise money for adoption fees
3. Get the house ready and cleaned out to put on the market this spring

WHY WHY WHY didn't I do this before?? I guess I needed three big reasons to get my butt in gear. So, here's my goal, one room every weekend. This weekend I did the big one... THE KITCHEN!

I took EVERYTHING out of the cabinets, scrubbed the insides and outsides of the cabinet, got rid of everything we haven't used in the past year (or ever in some cases, sad I know). Now I already have a HUGE stack of things to give to Meg and Drew. I'm sure some family out there could and will actually use. Now my cabinets are clean organized and sparkly AND I would be perfectly happy with ANYONE (even potential buyers) to look in my cabinets AND I can already feel a weight lifted off of me and my funk clearing.

Next up? The hallway closet and Legree's room... SCARY!! But I don't have to worry about it till next weekend, because I'm pacing myself here :)

28 years and counting...

Today is my birthday... when I was younger that was cause for celebration overload. It still is a reason to celebrate, but not nearly the same way. You know what I mean, don't you?? It just isn't the same. And that is OKAY with me!! For real! Today was just another Wednesday. Just me and my little man, with daddy in the evening. We went to Bible Study this morning like any other Wednesday and hung out the rest of the day at home. Our normal Wed. routine.

My mom came over to say hey and wish me happy Birthday. I told her I should be wishing her a happy birthday because she did all the birthing and the work to get me here!! I realize that birthdays should really celebrate the mom's more then the child now that I'm a mommy myself. Legree's birthday will always be etched in my memory much more then my own!! I got tons of phone calls from friends and family to wish me happy birthday. I also got TONS of Facebook happy birthdays. That means more to me then anything! I love my family and friends and I love having an "excuse" to talk to them and catch up. So, talking and hearing from everyone is my birthday presents.

Ben got me a sweet card, tulips (my favorite, which luck of all lucks are in season around my birthday every year) and a Joann's gift card to support my sewing/crafting habit. We're going to go out this weekend to celebrate when Legree can hang with his grandparents. It's NOT fun taking Legree out to eat. I get more stressed out about him talking and annoying other people that it's just NOT worth it. Since it was my birthday I didn't want to cook and wash dishes like normal, so I heated Legree up some vegetarian corn dogs, left over peas and cut up a pear. I had a lean cusine Pizza and Ben had cereal for supper. REAL CLASSY! LOL, but it was perfect because I'm here, I have the Lord in my heart and with us and my wonderful family by my side. What else do I need??

And bc I never take pictures of myself...a cute one of the Geesy Bear to end this post...

(He was eating cake at his cousin Ava' 2nd Birthday party, hence the reason there is frosting all over his mouth! )