What's New?

Top of the Monday mornin' to ya, friends! I hope your day is starting off as fabulous as mine (or better). I mean, I didn't wake up at the beach so there's room for improvement. Still, it has been a good morning. Jordan was around so I didn't have to wake up Merit to take the other two boys to school, meaning that I also didn't have to throw my back out of line as I hobbled across two parking lots with a baby on my hip and two other little goons tugging on my other hand. Isn't it amazing how not having just one of your kids with you makes everything seem so much easier? I bet once Saylor arrives, I'll be feeling like three out in town is a breeze. Because Merit slept in (10am!!), I got a lot done.
Dishes are clean, laundry has been started, and I'm about 4,000 steps into my day. In addition, I've been plugging away on the nursery.

Last week, I bravely moved my two oldest into a room together and that has been...well...going. Anyway, I was determined to have a little room for our newest addition coming soon. Kinley had a room set up about a week before he arrived due to a move shortly before my due date. My other kids didn't have rooms until they were closer to one. It's not a big deal, but since this is my last babe I figure there's some room to spoil her (and me!). I just think a girl needs some room for her clothes! :) I don't have money to make this room the Pinterest perfect place, but I do have some mediocre skills that will improve the look of Abel's bland, tiny old room. When Jordan left on business, I set to work. In a week, I have moved out furniture, moved more in, set the crib up, and painted. Additionally, my dear husband humored me this weekend when he got back and hung some crown molding for me. I'm getting excited to finish cosmetic issues and start decorating. I'll show you more later.
We survived the first week of J being gone. We had some rough moments, but they were made better by friends and family who stopped by to provide a smidge of sanity for me. My in-laws brought over dinner for the boys and girl scout cookies for me and told me to leave and go to the grocery store alone! It was so nice to have an hour. The week went well. Abe had his first appointment with his occupational therapist. By the end of the week, I had noted that he said two new phrases: "It worked!" and "Do it again!"Merit is growing and changing so much, too. This past week he learned to climb up to the top of their outdoor play set by himself and slide down. Big boys.

I'm 27 weeks now. 

Baby is the size of a: cucumber or lantern

Weight: 140

Cravings: Nothing to write home about

Stretch Marks: I think I see a new one every six minutes. Kidding, but yeah...I'm trying to keep them under control. 

Exercise: I haven't been to the gym in weeks. My back pain is awful. I finally broke down and bought a pregnancy belt yesterday. It does seem to help, but the pain is still there and knocks me off my feet at times. I'm a little worried because I have a 5K coming up and it really hurts to run.

New Things: Does a feeling count? I just feel so much more pregnant than I actually am and it gives me this uneasy feeling that she might be early. Watch her come at 43 weeks now that I said that! :/ Anyway, I think that's why I've been wanting to get things in order. Nesting in full effect. I also got her car seat yesterday!

What's going on with her? She's about two pounds and if she's hearing, she probably is starting to recognize Mama's voice.

What I miss: sushi, running, climbing stairs without breathing heavy....you know, the good life.

What I'm looking forward to: Never being pregnant again.

Workin' 5-9

Tumble outta bed
And I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch
And try to come to life

Jump in the shower Skip the shower
And the blood starts pumpin' because I've got a bunch of kids
Out on the street In this house
The traffic starts jumpin' They're already jumpin'
The folks like me on the job from 9 to 5 Moms like me on the job from 5 to 9

Workin' 9 to 5, 5-9
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'

They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy
If you let it

9 to 5, for service and devotion 5-9 for service and devotion
You would think that I
Would deserve a fat promotion

Want to move ahead
But the boss won't seem to let me

I swear sometimes that man is out to get me I swear that kid is out to get me

They let you dream
Just to watch 'em shatter
You're just a step
On the boss-man's ladder
But you got dreams
He'll never take away

You're in the same boat
With a lotta your friends

Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in
'N' the tide's gonna turn
And it's all gonna roll your way

Workin' 9 to 5 5-9
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by

It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind
And you never get the credit
It's enough to drive you crazy
If you let it
9 to 5, yeah 5-9 yeah
They got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you think about it, don't you

*It's a rich man's game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin' money in his wallet

9 to 5, whoa 5-9 whoa
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy
If you let it

9 to 5, yeah 5-9 yeah
They got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you dream about it, don't you

*It's a rich man's game
No matter what they call it

(*Open for revision)
Collaboration by Dolly and Kace

Just another day in the life, y'all. How is your Thursday?

(Please note: I'm kidding. A little.)

(Also: It's actually more like 24 hours with no vacation, days off, or sick days rather than 5am-9pm, but who's counting?)

the one where I get testy about stay-at-home moms and their time

Happy Saturday morning to ya. I sat down at the computer with shooting pain going up into my back because I've seen every single Alvin and the Chipmunks episode there's to see and instead of trying to relax on the couch with a squirmy three year old--the one that's always awake--I'm here. Guzzling coffee and ignoring the pain in my back as best I can. April is going to be a difficult month here. I'll be solo parenting for most of it. Earlier this week there was a light that made me hopeful. I met and interviewed a potential babysitter. I hate relying on other people, especially with something so precious! When I posted the job on care.com I even wrote to "please not apply if you aren't interested in becoming a part of their lives". I think that's pretty clear, straight-forward- don't you? Well, after speaking with this girl and doing some background checks, I reluctantly hired her. I always feel this way after asking someone new to watch the kids. I thought it would be easier when we moved home because I thought everyone around here would know the person or know someone who does and have some extra info to set my mind at ease. The trouble is, I need sitters during the day for the other two while I run Abel to therapy and everything else under the sun. Everyone already has a job or school at the times when I need someone. So, I hired her because she appeared to be bending over backward for me, rearranging her work schedule so she could definitely be available three days a week. She even said, "I think in life it's most important to connect with people. I'm here to help mothers out. I want a large family and I hope someone will do the same for me when the time comes." Alright, gal. Let's see what you've got. She even came with a calendar and wanted me to schedule times with her in advance. When I came home, the kids were happy and fed and the house was cleaner than I left it. Score! I talked to her about the extra therapy that Abe might be starting and she said she had a job interview in Knoxville (making that her 3rd job!) at that time, but that she would be happy to reschedule to accommodate me. Within five minutes of leaving, she had supposedly called and rescheduled the job interview. "See you Tuesday!" she happily texted. Then yesterday she texted me telling me she got a job in a different state and could no longer work for me. Sayonara. 

I guess I'm bothered by it mostly because my time is important, too. In the four years that I've been a stay-at-home mom, I've noticed a recurring theme that many people demonstrate to me over and over. My time is not as important as theirs. When we lived in Louisiana, my neighbor put my name down on her kids' school contact list (without asking me) and would have me running all kinds of crazy errands for her. Her house was one of those you'd see on Hoarders, no joke. One day, she asked me to break in which consisted of pushing the door open until the trash can fell over ("don't worry, just leave it") and entering to rummage through her kitchen to find her son's medicine and take it to him at school. SURE BECAUSE MY TIME ISN'T IMPORTANT. Another time, she wanted me to take her daughter some new clothes to school so obviously I thought that was pretty important so I rushed over there expecting to find a young girl who started her period unexpectedly or got in trouble for wearing shorts too short, or something else big. Nope. She just changed her mind about what she wanted to wear that day. You think I'm joking, but this sort of thing happens all the time to stay-at-home moms. Ask so and so, she doesn't have a job! So when I lovingly crafted a job posting online, set up a time to interview, and hired someone indefinitely, I expected that to be it. Now it just feels like a huge waste of time. You know what I could have been doing during that time? Finally showering after days. Stuffing my face with chocolate ice cream. Working on the laundry. Cleaning the kitchen. Enjoying a double nap time that is just so rare. Calling the insurance company to figure out the hospital bills past and upcoming. Calling the company that we order Abel's bionic ear from because the cord and headpiece broke for the millionth time. Just because I'm not paid for what I do every day, doesn't mean the schedule we've created here isn't important to the functioning of this house. It doesn't mean that it's not important to me! Time is super precious to a stay-at-home mom. I'm going to have very little of it this month and that's what is on my mind when you tell me I've wasted my time by hiring you. God has called me to be here with four children that aren't yet in kindergarten. I'm to be pouring myself into them, guiding them into a budding relationship with Him. My role is to create a happy home here that demonstrates God's love. It's important. ..and hard....and time consuming. As a society, can we stop telling mothers it isn't? I'm a servant to Him by serving them and finding caregivers that reflect the importance of that. 

So what did I say to her? " Congrats on the new job!" Obviously, it wasn't meant to be. Then I resisted the urge to also say April Fools at the end of the text. ;) 

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." -Psalm 127:1