Where did the time go?! I cannot believe my baby girl is 9 months old tomorrow. She's getting so big and beautiful, and the love I have for her grows with every gummy (but getting toothy!) grin. My heart melts every time I see her little personality bursting through to become a Big Girl.
She has 4 teeth, two bottom came at once, she just finished cutting through her top two at once (they're big and gapped! haha!) and I see the tiny corner of the right bottom one starting to poke through. Busy gums!
She crawls faster than I thought was possible, and she's starting to use one leg so kind of walk/crawl like a dog or something (it's hilarious)
She smiles at everything. She's ticklish (even on her bum! Just like her Mama) She gives this half-chuckle and raises an eyebrow when she thinks something is kinda funny but not really laugh-worthy. She's starting to give real kisses, now she'll start off with her forehead against mine and bring her mouth in for a sweet tender kiss :-) Melts my heart like butter!
She stands against everything, and is starting to cruise a little bit along the coffee table. She'll turn and half-step/half-fall into my lap. She's very very determined! I love that she never does anything half-ass. She studies everything, and when she has it figured out in her head then she just does it. I have no doubt she'll be walking before her 1st birthday.
Her hair is getting longer. I think I can get two tiny pigtails out of it :-) Definitely trying that soon!
She waves, claps, does "So big!" throws herself against pillows cracking up (hopefully she never does that on the floor!) such a happy, calm baby but when she gets mad...oh boy! Ever since birth she is a literal hot head...she gets mad, her head gets hot! She imitates all sorts of things with her mouth, she can twist her tongue (don't know where she got that, I can't!) and she's full fledged into the stage of pulling everything out of everything. Especially "her" drawer in the kitchen that has all her bowls etc. in it. Silly girl!
Aside from that...we are moving this Saturday. Stresssssss!! I had an awful tension headache earlier. I might call it a migraine because I had to keep my eyes closed. Took Motrin 800 a long time to kick in! I'm going to miss this house, our neighbors (Peeches, Mike and Chanel Ray...Yolanda...Kim and Darren...Larry and Sandy) they are all amazing! I'll miss Vae's pediatrician Dr. Rahe (Ray) he's amazing, he was sad to see her last appointment yesterday! I'll miss my sister terribly...I really loved living so close to her, we are best friends. Her and her boyfriend Byron are making their move to Cincinnati/Newport in late August for Byron's job transfer. So my family will be spread throughout Ohio! Me in Columbus, Amber Cincinnati (Or KY, wherever they find a place) My brother Nate in Dayton, and my dad and stepmom Sus back in Good Ole' Lima. All I have to say is...PEACE Dayton!! :-)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Average Salary of a Stay at Home Mother
Hey Stay at Home Momma's!
Do you ever feel like you're working a thankless job? Like nobody believes you contribute because you don't have a legal government job?
I recently saw a comment by a mother on a blog about figuring out the cost of everything we do. It really got me to thinking, and I decided to do the research! So the next time your significant other tries to say you don't have a real job, throw this in his face!!
Childcare
When your child is in the baby and toddler stages, you will pay an average of $8,150 per year ($679 per month) according to data from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. Costs for daycare for preschool age children average $6,423 a year ($535 a month). That cost is for daytime only. If you were to factor in the overnight childcare (like a live in Nanny) they charge on average $623 a week, or $2,492 a month, or $29,904 a year.
Since we, as stay at home mothers, are with our children 24/7, we'll use the Live-In Nanny amount.
Housekeeping
For a medium-sized apartment or house, an individual housekeeper can charge about $100 per cleaning. I personally clean my house once a week. So $400 a month, or $4,800 a year.
Cooking
Prices for personal chefs start at about $10 per serving (so for a family of 4, that's $40 per meal) With 3 meals a day, that's $120 per day, $840 per week, $3,360 per month, or $40,320 per year. There are also extras that some chefs offer, such as spices from the chef's own pantry, storage containers and vaccum sealing (or freezing) to make the food last longer. Add another $150 to the total. So $40,470 per year for 3 meals a day for a family of four.
The average weekly cost of childcare, housekeeping and cooking: $1,091.75
The average monthly cost of childcare, housekeeping and cooking: $4,367
The Average Annual Salary of a Stay at Home Mother is *DRUM ROLL PLEASE*
$75,174
What was that about not contributing????
Do you ever feel like you're working a thankless job? Like nobody believes you contribute because you don't have a legal government job?
I recently saw a comment by a mother on a blog about figuring out the cost of everything we do. It really got me to thinking, and I decided to do the research! So the next time your significant other tries to say you don't have a real job, throw this in his face!!
Childcare
When your child is in the baby and toddler stages, you will pay an average of $8,150 per year ($679 per month) according to data from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. Costs for daycare for preschool age children average $6,423 a year ($535 a month). That cost is for daytime only. If you were to factor in the overnight childcare (like a live in Nanny) they charge on average $623 a week, or $2,492 a month, or $29,904 a year.
Since we, as stay at home mothers, are with our children 24/7, we'll use the Live-In Nanny amount.
Housekeeping
For a medium-sized apartment or house, an individual housekeeper can charge about $100 per cleaning. I personally clean my house once a week. So $400 a month, or $4,800 a year.
Cooking
Prices for personal chefs start at about $10 per serving (so for a family of 4, that's $40 per meal) With 3 meals a day, that's $120 per day, $840 per week, $3,360 per month, or $40,320 per year. There are also extras that some chefs offer, such as spices from the chef's own pantry, storage containers and vaccum sealing (or freezing) to make the food last longer. Add another $150 to the total. So $40,470 per year for 3 meals a day for a family of four.
The average weekly cost of childcare, housekeeping and cooking: $1,091.75
The average monthly cost of childcare, housekeeping and cooking: $4,367
The Average Annual Salary of a Stay at Home Mother is *DRUM ROLL PLEASE*
$75,174
What was that about not contributing????
Not My Boobs Anymore
I wanted to breastfeed Vae, but I got complications and it didn't work out. It broke my heart, but she is still perfectly healthy so I'm ok with it. I'll try again with the next baby :-) and I'll do more research so I'm better prepared! This is just a humorous take on breastfeeding. :-) We all have struggles as parents so we might as well smile through it!
Not My Boobs Anymore
From the moment that slippery body slides out of you, your life changes forever. This little person who is half YOU has come into the world and you cannot put into words the new emotions you have.
With those new emotional changes come new physical changes, and you brace yourself to set out on that beautiful journey so many mothers and books have told you about. Breastfeeding. That inexplainable yet unremarkable act that fills your child with the purest nutrients. The sole purpose for those lumps on your chest has finally arrived. Your baby latches on and you are in pure Heaven!
Wait a minute...Heaven? Nobody told me how hard a teeny newborn can suck on a nipple! OW! Now my nipples are cracked, raw and bleeding, and I'm still expected to put that devil mouth back onto it to crack it some more?! Ok...I can do this. It's fine. No big deal.
I've always wanted big boobs. I used to dream about being a Victoria's Secret Model, flashing my goodies in those insanely expensive (but totally worth it because they're so cute) bras. This is probably as close as I'll ever get: sitting at Auntie Ann's in the Mall, whipping my nice swollen ta-ta's out of their discount mommy-bra and instead of adorning it with lace or silk, direct it into the impatient mouth of a hungry babe, most likely drawing the attention of those eager to scream "No pda!"
And now that I have the big boobs...they're realllly big. Too big! I'm engorged! These suckers feel like a water balloon filled to the brim. I just KNOW they're going to burst like that woman who got a boob job and then flew on a plane and they exploded! Help me!!
You know when you go to a club and get a pitcher of your favorite beer, then spend the rest of the evening just sipping on it, leaving it to go dance to that new Lady GaGa song, coming back for a gulp, pausing to text your friends that you're having an awesome night, etc. etc...Substitute boob for beer. Nobody told me I'd be an Open Bar! Boobs on Tap, come and go as you please!
All right, I can accept all that. The rawness has gone down and the kid has mastered the latch. HOLY CROW WHAT WAS THAT?! Baby has a tooth now! Teething rings, frozen waffles, mommy and daddy's shoes. Anything baby can get her hands on during these frantic teething months goes directly in her mouth to rub desperately against those aching gums. "Hey look a boob! Let's chew on it!" Baby gnaws on that thing like it's the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookie ever known to man!
Remember the days when your significant other would hold you close, trail his hands down your sides and massage one of the most tender spots on your body? Pure shivers down the spine. Yeah...those days have been replaced with impatient pinching, blood-inducing biting and spontaneous leaks through shirts in public that keep the men at a safe distance. Momma can't get no lovin' anymore.
As I'm lifting my shirt for the last (please let it be the last) feeding of the night, the vulture child grabs my boob possessively and shoves it deep into her mouth. I start to wonder, "What the HELL was I thinking, choosing to breastfeed?!"
Then I look down, and catch hold of those sweet little eyes gazing up at me saying "I love you, Momma. You love me more than anyone else." That innocence and pure dependency, that unrequited love, that complete trust and faith she has in me, that I will give her anything in the world. I will take care of her. I will let her chew my boobs to beef jerky and suffer the late night engorgement just so I can see that look in her eyes.
Oh yeah...THAT'S what I was thinking.
Not My Boobs Anymore
From the moment that slippery body slides out of you, your life changes forever. This little person who is half YOU has come into the world and you cannot put into words the new emotions you have.
With those new emotional changes come new physical changes, and you brace yourself to set out on that beautiful journey so many mothers and books have told you about. Breastfeeding. That inexplainable yet unremarkable act that fills your child with the purest nutrients. The sole purpose for those lumps on your chest has finally arrived. Your baby latches on and you are in pure Heaven!
Wait a minute...Heaven? Nobody told me how hard a teeny newborn can suck on a nipple! OW! Now my nipples are cracked, raw and bleeding, and I'm still expected to put that devil mouth back onto it to crack it some more?! Ok...I can do this. It's fine. No big deal.
I've always wanted big boobs. I used to dream about being a Victoria's Secret Model, flashing my goodies in those insanely expensive (but totally worth it because they're so cute) bras. This is probably as close as I'll ever get: sitting at Auntie Ann's in the Mall, whipping my nice swollen ta-ta's out of their discount mommy-bra and instead of adorning it with lace or silk, direct it into the impatient mouth of a hungry babe, most likely drawing the attention of those eager to scream "No pda!"
And now that I have the big boobs...they're realllly big. Too big! I'm engorged! These suckers feel like a water balloon filled to the brim. I just KNOW they're going to burst like that woman who got a boob job and then flew on a plane and they exploded! Help me!!
You know when you go to a club and get a pitcher of your favorite beer, then spend the rest of the evening just sipping on it, leaving it to go dance to that new Lady GaGa song, coming back for a gulp, pausing to text your friends that you're having an awesome night, etc. etc...Substitute boob for beer. Nobody told me I'd be an Open Bar! Boobs on Tap, come and go as you please!
All right, I can accept all that. The rawness has gone down and the kid has mastered the latch. HOLY CROW WHAT WAS THAT?! Baby has a tooth now! Teething rings, frozen waffles, mommy and daddy's shoes. Anything baby can get her hands on during these frantic teething months goes directly in her mouth to rub desperately against those aching gums. "Hey look a boob! Let's chew on it!" Baby gnaws on that thing like it's the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookie ever known to man!
Remember the days when your significant other would hold you close, trail his hands down your sides and massage one of the most tender spots on your body? Pure shivers down the spine. Yeah...those days have been replaced with impatient pinching, blood-inducing biting and spontaneous leaks through shirts in public that keep the men at a safe distance. Momma can't get no lovin' anymore.
As I'm lifting my shirt for the last (please let it be the last) feeding of the night, the vulture child grabs my boob possessively and shoves it deep into her mouth. I start to wonder, "What the HELL was I thinking, choosing to breastfeed?!"
Then I look down, and catch hold of those sweet little eyes gazing up at me saying "I love you, Momma. You love me more than anyone else." That innocence and pure dependency, that unrequited love, that complete trust and faith she has in me, that I will give her anything in the world. I will take care of her. I will let her chew my boobs to beef jerky and suffer the late night engorgement just so I can see that look in her eyes.
Oh yeah...THAT'S what I was thinking.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Royal Mess
I was tempted to post pictures of the state of my house, but I think the laughter that would surely follow would send me burrowing into a hole of shame!
We are Grove City bound! Chris was hired as a maintenance technician at the Sherwin Williams factory right outside Columbus :-D :-D Big smiles!! I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard, and I am so happy that it is finally paying off and he is getting what he has more than earned. We are heading there Wednesday night and staying through Saturday so Chris can start training and I can explore the city and find us a place to live. The company has very very gratiously taken the burden off and is putting us up in the Hilton! Fancy!! I am so excited :-) We have to be out of this house by June 1st so hopefully I can find and secure a place this weekend or soon after. Our house is a crazy crazy mess of furniture pushed around to paint the walls back to their original colors, boxes half packed stacked on top of boxes fully packed. All rooms are half organized, bags for Goodwill, a garage stuffed with stuff to be taken to a consignment store. I bought lots of tubs so that all of our storage things will be taken out of cardboard boxes so rain will no longer ruin our things! Needless to say, all this mess in our house has cause a bit of stress. One because there's not a lot of space to move around, and two because we have an 8 month old haha! Poor thing tries to get into everrrrrything and I'm sure she's getting tired of being moved back to her "safe area."
Oh, which reminds me. Her new obsession is the DVD collection. She figured out how to open the doors to our entertainment center and now takes each DVD out one at a time, looks at it, then tosses it aside. If I move to pick them up before she's done she gives me a look that says "What do you think you're doing mom? I'm not finished yet!" And then she'll patiently sit there while I pick everything up, then proceed to pull everything out again. Oh child...
She's standing!! YESSS!! Two days ago, she was trying to get the can of pop on the coffee table (another new obsession) and without even thinking about it just pulled herself to her feet! We went NUTS!! And ever since then it's like second nature. That's one thing I love about her, as soon as she figures something out it's like she's always known how to do it. She doesn't slowly learn something. She studies people and what they do, never really attempting it but you can see the concentration in her eyes as she takes it all in, watching her fingers slowly make the same movements. Then one day she'll just do it, like Nike :-) Like the pop can mentioned above. The first time she got ahold of a can, she grasped it with both hands and tilted it to her mouth, just like we do to take a drink! The kid knows how to drink! She's gotten ahold of Landon's chocolate pediasure and two mountain dews. Wired and sticky! Luckily most of it got on her clothes and the floor then in her mouth haha!
She also got her third tooth :-) Just barely poking out but it's there and it just has a tiny sliver of gum to break through. No wonder she's been so grouchy the past few days!
Hmm I think I'm going to go make spaghetti and homemade meatballs for dinner! yummy!!
We are Grove City bound! Chris was hired as a maintenance technician at the Sherwin Williams factory right outside Columbus :-D :-D Big smiles!! I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard, and I am so happy that it is finally paying off and he is getting what he has more than earned. We are heading there Wednesday night and staying through Saturday so Chris can start training and I can explore the city and find us a place to live. The company has very very gratiously taken the burden off and is putting us up in the Hilton! Fancy!! I am so excited :-) We have to be out of this house by June 1st so hopefully I can find and secure a place this weekend or soon after. Our house is a crazy crazy mess of furniture pushed around to paint the walls back to their original colors, boxes half packed stacked on top of boxes fully packed. All rooms are half organized, bags for Goodwill, a garage stuffed with stuff to be taken to a consignment store. I bought lots of tubs so that all of our storage things will be taken out of cardboard boxes so rain will no longer ruin our things! Needless to say, all this mess in our house has cause a bit of stress. One because there's not a lot of space to move around, and two because we have an 8 month old haha! Poor thing tries to get into everrrrrything and I'm sure she's getting tired of being moved back to her "safe area."
Oh, which reminds me. Her new obsession is the DVD collection. She figured out how to open the doors to our entertainment center and now takes each DVD out one at a time, looks at it, then tosses it aside. If I move to pick them up before she's done she gives me a look that says "What do you think you're doing mom? I'm not finished yet!" And then she'll patiently sit there while I pick everything up, then proceed to pull everything out again. Oh child...
She's standing!! YESSS!! Two days ago, she was trying to get the can of pop on the coffee table (another new obsession) and without even thinking about it just pulled herself to her feet! We went NUTS!! And ever since then it's like second nature. That's one thing I love about her, as soon as she figures something out it's like she's always known how to do it. She doesn't slowly learn something. She studies people and what they do, never really attempting it but you can see the concentration in her eyes as she takes it all in, watching her fingers slowly make the same movements. Then one day she'll just do it, like Nike :-) Like the pop can mentioned above. The first time she got ahold of a can, she grasped it with both hands and tilted it to her mouth, just like we do to take a drink! The kid knows how to drink! She's gotten ahold of Landon's chocolate pediasure and two mountain dews. Wired and sticky! Luckily most of it got on her clothes and the floor then in her mouth haha!
She also got her third tooth :-) Just barely poking out but it's there and it just has a tiny sliver of gum to break through. No wonder she's been so grouchy the past few days!
Hmm I think I'm going to go make spaghetti and homemade meatballs for dinner! yummy!!
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