I'm So Behind Now That There Are Three

Somehow, having three kids around during the day has more than quadrupled the amount of time to do anything-I greatly underestimated how much time, in fact, just getting out the door would take us.

After all, Emily is Ben's age, and up until now, I have been a record holder for getting the boys' shoes and coats on and buckled into the car. So I figured it wouldn't be that much more to throw one more walking, talking, capable child into the mix.

Boy, so far I have been wrong.

I suppose this is sorta what adopting a toddler would be a little bit like.

We are getting to know each other, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't for her, and I'm trying to keep up with the boys at the same time. Oh yea, and that little thing called my job, too. And this blog, though this is more fun parenting therapy for me than actual work.

So, for anyone out there-any advice on good, cheap entertainment for 2 and 3 year olds? I am going to get a membership to Marbles when we go in two weeks (unless that is a disaster, then I will never take the three kids there alone again...)

And I STILL have to check out the science museum in Durham-I have heard it is amazing, but somehow I just never get myself in the mood to drive out there with all three kids. That might be something I need to take my sweet husband to check out one weekend with the boys and THEN see if I could handle it with the three alone.

One great thing about three? The time FLIES. My days start early and end late, but I swear I have no idea where the time goes. It seems like as soon as breakfast is over and one activity of some sort is done, it is time for lunch and then naps. Whew!

Then by the time we all get outside to play or go for a walk, it is time for stories before Emily goes home-and Bam!, its 6pm. Crazy.

Oh, and now I have got to get to work; I am way behind. Thank goodness the kids are finally napping. Sigh.

Early In The Morning

Now that my husband is working back in town and able to be home every night, my work schedule has changed drastically. Instead of staying up til midnight to get things done, I have been getting up early in the am with Bill, and starting work after he leaves for his work.

And that was going great, until some kind of kid radar went off, enabling the children to sense when I am awake. This morning I haven't even had a shower yet, even though I was up and about at 7am. Why? Because as soon as I started to get in the shower, a little voice scared the c**p out of me, by creeping up behind me before asking for breakfast.

Hearing a voice you aren't expecting while being half dressed is scary, no matter how adorable that voice is.

So, not it is 8:30, the kids are finally fed, dressed, and off playing, and I am FINALLY getting to start some work. Wish me luck in getting all the reports I need to send out done in the next 30 min.

For the most part, I love the flexibility of working from home, but on occasion-like today-where I have deadlines and a list so long of things to do I don't even know where to start (and never mind the kid/house stuff I need to do) I do wish I had more concrete work hours.

OK, I'm off to write like the wind and hopefully have everything sent out as my co-workers get into their offices.

Working From Home

I'm blessed in so many ways, but one HUGE blessing is that I get to work from home. I work for the amazing, wonderful real estate marketing company, Dakno Marketing. I do a little of everything, from creating web pages to writing press releases, and everything I do is just a little bit different; needless to say I have learned a lot!

Working from home has many upsides-the biggest? I get to stay home with my little guys. Instead of spending money on daycare, or missing out on their days, I get to spend every moment with them, and work in my free time to earn money.

Another amazing part of working from home? In times when everyone is sick (like we all were for the last two weeks) I can still work a little, and get maximum rest and snuggle time on the couch. I can take time off whenever I need. Like yesterday was crazy (found out my cold has turned into a sinus infection, so now I'm on MORE meds) so I didn't work. I didn't even turn on the computer.

Though that does mean today I probably have a million emails and I have work that MUST get done by this afternoon. But that is OK, and working a lot today is worth it, because I got to deal with my toddler's never ending tantrums and my doctor visit without any worries about work.

Working from home is also great economically because I don't use gas to get to and from work. Since I am a contract worker (meaning I sorta run my own business though my only "client" is Dakno)I can make my printer ink, paper, pens, and office supplies I used daily as part of my business expenses for tax purposes. Nice. I also don't have to worry about business suits or dressing up, unless I really just want to for me. Sometimes I do put on a cute outfit and go work in my office. Other times, I set up the laptop where the kids are playing and work in whatever I feel like wearing. Super nice.

I can also tailor the amount of work I do to whatever activities the kids are wanting to do. A rainy day? I might work a lot and let the kids play with their trains. A nice day? I can put off work until night time and spend the day at the park or even just in the yard.

Working from home also enables me to keep up the house, take care of everything here, and cook dinner, so that when my sweet husband gets home from work, we can all just spend time together and relax.

One of my favorite things though, about working from home, is that it gives me another hat to wear. Instead of "just" being mom and wife, I also get adult interaction and something separate from the family that is just for me. When my husband talks about his work, I can also share antidotes about my work. And in a way that many moms can relate to-having my job gives me a place to "escape" housework and kids, and lets me come back to said housework and kids refreshed.

Though working at home, being at home with the kids, managing the house and supporting my husband in every way I can does tend to give a bit of chaos to our days, there is nothing in the world I would change. For me, working from home is the perfect solution to keeping our crazy world organized.

YOUR TURN: What do YOU like about working from home/staying at home? If you work outside of the home, what do you like about that?

Meet Some More Work From Home Mamas I enjoy reading:


Metropolitan Mama
Casual Friday Everyday
To Think Is to Create
I Should Be Folding Laundry
Adventures In Babywearing
Rocks In My Dryer

Behind

I'm still sick, and it actually seems to be worse. I don't think I have the flu, but I am achy everywhere, my head feels like it is going to explode and my chest hurts from coughing so much. I won't even tell you what is coming out of my nose when I blow it. It's gross.


The kids seem to be all better now that they are halfway through their medicine; 5 more days and they won't need the antibiotics anymore. Right now they still have runny noses (similar to mine, gross)but the coughs seem to be going away.

So, we are still alive, though I'm really not at all productive. The house is in pretty good shape, though the playroom is a disaster-mostly because we have been spending all our time there. (I'm there now, using my laptop on the couch, while the kids build with blocks)

I am stressed about my work; I am so very behind and HATE that feeling. I have the weekend to "catch up", and I am quite certain I will have everything done in time, but I still just hate that panicky feeling I get when I am behind. I just hate to let anyone down or fail. I think that is some of my first-born perfectionism coming through.

Anyways, I am now going to start working like the wind while I have a break in the coughing and the kids are entertained. Just wanted to let you all know I was still alive, barely.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

It was a hard two weeks, last week and the week before. Bill was down in Alabama the whole time, while I was in NC with the kids. I talked about how my heart felt conntected to single parents, and military parents. The sepearation is hard, and taking care of the kids is even harder, knowing that no little break will be coming home in the evening; trying to decide if going to church on Sunday will be good, or a fiasco since you're alone with two toddlers.

Friday, Bill got to come home, and today we dropped him off at the airport. The weekend went by way too quickly, and I have so many things on my plate right now that I waiting for something to crash.

So right now, I am desparatly trying to catch up on work that I have pushed aside, and watching a show on the History Channel.

And waiting for my sweet husband to call and tell me he got to AL, which should be about midnight our time. And while it will be a miricle if I am done with my work by then, I'll still be staying up to hear how his flight was, and let him know again how much we all miss him. I already can't wait for him to be home, and he has only been gone for 2 hours.

An Early Start

I don't have much to share today beyond that potty training is going very well so far! Only a few accidents AND yesterday Little Dude pooped all by himself and without getting upset about it. Oh I am so very happy and proud of him; I know he has been scared of pooping hurting, so to see him starting to get over that fear is so wonderful.

Today I have a nice pile of work, and I am actually up way earlier than normal, sipping a cup of coffee, so I can get to work on trying to finish what I couldn't finish yesterday. I have more work coming today, (and the boys will be up as soon as the sun comes up)so I really hope in the next handful of hours I can be caught up.

Should be a lovely day, and I plan on spending most of it outside with the boys. And I'm planning on getting a nap in; hopefully the boys will nap at the same time for me.

A Stay At Home Fear

Well, technically, I suppose I am a work from home mom, but my paycheck generally goes into savings or into paying for unneeded items-like toys or the like. So my part time job doesn't cover any bills, or buy food, and certainly wouldn't support us if something happened to my husband's job.

And that is my fear, and probably the fear of all stay at home parents. What happens when the bread winner gets laid off?

My husband found out yesterday that his company laid off some really close friends of ours, all guys and gals who had been with the company a long time. He also found out that more lay offs are coming by the end of Feb/March, so needless to say, we are slightly nervous.

I have faith we will be fine no matter what happens. We follow Dave Ramsey's advice on finances, we have an emergency fund and no debt besides our house and Bill's truck, both of which are easy to manage. Plus I'm working, and that money can be easily applied to bills, food and the like.

But, for what about those stay at home parents that don't have a work at home job? Well, I had a few ideas that I thought I'd share:

*Offer to watch working friends kids for half what they are paying for daycare. This works well for me since I do have a degree in Early Childhood Education, but for anyone already staying at home, watching other kids can be a great way to generate income while helping friends cut their bills too. Some states have laws over home day cares and accreditation, so that is why I advise just starting out with a few friends or neighbors kids, so you can keep it under the table and not have to pay for all the state licensing, insurance, and the like. Also, they are probably kids you are familiar with and have watched from time to time anyway! I would suggest not having more than 4 kids (including your own) to watch, so I could watch two other kids, at about $100 each a week.

*Work nights so the bread winner can have days free to go to interviews and search for jobs. Wal-mart, love them or hate them, right now is doing great and the two near my house here in Mobile are hiring.

*See if a company that offers health care to part time employees is hiring. Starbucks is/was one such company. I worked there through college and after because of the great benefits, quitting only when I got pregnant with Little Dude because two jobs was just too much. I don't know if they still offer benefits to people averaging 20hrs/week, but it is one place to look at. You can also check out Forbes Top 100 Places to Work to find companies with great benefits.

*Try being a contract worker like me. Send out your resume showcasing your typing, writing, computer and editing skills and emphasizing how you are a quick and eager learner and see if any marketing or web based companies can use you for data entry, editing, or writing. Even go by places like ManPower to see if they can place you somewhere.

A Break in the Treading

Anyone that knows me knows I am not a terribly great swimmer. Comes from growing up in the mountains; not a ton of chances to swim outside of our knee deep backyard creek.

Since Thanksgiving, I have been desperately treading water, though not in the literal sense. You see, I can barely keep up with everything I have to do, need to do, and want to do. In fact, over the last few days, I had been feeling my treading getting tired and not so strong.

Yes, I was slowly sinking as the piles of work, cooking, laundry, cleaning up TOYS, getting Christmas things done, catching up with everyone before driving BACK to Alabama, THE KIDS, cleaning the house, WASHING EDDIE (our very smelly dog), trying to even maintain and build this blog and, oh yea, BREATH and SLEEP just kept getting deeper and deeper.

So today, and I have dropped everything, and am spending time with my in laws, letting them help me relax, take over the kids for a bit and give me time to tread water in their oh so awesome, heated, indoor pool.

Nice. Right now, I am glad to take a break from the not so fun sinking I was going through back home and trade it in for some oh so very fun, sorta swimming, family hangout, treading water, relaxation time.

Blogging Boot Camp

As many of you know, besides being a stay at home mom, blogger,vlogger, and new addition to the world of reviewing, I also work a really fun paying gig at Dakno Marketing.

Whew, my days are full!

So really, I don't have much time to work on simply trying to figure out this blog world I find myself enjoying so much! Enter: Blogging BootCamp offered by Dakno Marketing.

Granted, Dakno Marketing is geared more to creating real estate websites and blogs; however, when it comes to getting the most out of your blog optimization, increasing traffic, and reaching your full blogging potential, the lessons in Blogging BootCamp cross all blog categories!

And no, I was not paid to blog about Blogging BootCamp, and in fact my boss and co-workers don't even know that I have written about it-that is how much I love my job and our services! I am even writing about them in my free time! (Though I guess now they do, because they read my blog. Perhaps now is the time to ask for a raise?)


If you are thinking of trying to move your blog beyond the "information updates" to "respected blogger of your subject" then consider taking Dakno Marketing's Blogger BootCamp-you will be amazed at how quickly the inside tips, tricks and best practices will work to make your blog one of the best!

Sweet Sunrise

Gosh, I don't know the last time I watched a sunrise; I had forgotten how amazing it truly is. This morning, JR's feeding timed up right before the sunrise, so I pulled a chair outside and nursed him on the back patio while we waited for the sun to come up.

It was just amazing, and filled me with so much inspiration for our world, our lives, and our future. Sitting there with my son-snuggling with him and talking to him-while watching the sun come up, just reminded me how very unimportant and insignificat things I stress about are.

As most of you know, my computer died this past weekend, and I ended up having to buy a new one. I did get all my files switched over, but I am still trying to learn where they are and figure out this Windows Vista (I had Windows 2000, I think...) organized everything again, and most of all catch up on all the TONS of work that piled up for me at Dakno. All of yesterday I was stressing out over how I would ever find the time to catch up on everything that had piled up on me.

But this morining gave me a breath of fresh air. Sitting, listening to the world around me come alive as the sun started to warm us all up. In the big scheme of the world, I am so small in insignificant, and I have all my needs and majority of my wants satisfied. I have a healthy family, lovely boys and a wonderful husband. We have jobs that pay well. In fact, I have the best of both worlds with my job-I stay home with my sons, and work when they nap or when I have extra time at night.

So, overall, nothing to stress about today, because years from now it won't matter if I had to let my boss know I couldn't finish a project on time. But it will matter that I spent the morning with my son, watching the sun rise.

Yes, I think I will remember this morning into my nineties.

Time

Some of my friends and family wonder how I do everything I do. Honestly, most of the time I don't feel like I do that much! The key, I think, is organization:

Whenever I have work to do for Dakno, I prioritize what I can get done quickly, and try to save big, on going tasks for weekends, or nights when my husband can take the kids for a few hours. Otherwise, I work when the kids nap.

For my blog, I have been doing posts during some of my nighttime feedings for JR, and I have been trying to write a few posts ahead of time (like this one I actually wrote on Monday) but then schdule them to post later in the week, when I know I will be too busy to spend time wrting for my blog.

With the kids, even though I like organization, when it comes to them, everything is pretty go with the flow. I do my best to not stress if we can't make a playdate on time, or miss library time, as long as I can get them out to play outside at least once a day, I am happy. Being flexible with their needs, (and putting those needs first) makes it easy to schudule everything else around them.

If I know we will be going to a playdate at 10, and that is working out with feedings, etc, then I know I can plan to get the kids lunch and naps by 12, and then start working by 12:30 or 1. Or, if we miss playdate because of a JR feeding, then I will take the kids for a walk, and then do my best to have them naping by 1, and start work around 1:30.

What if JR won't nap when Little Dude does? I make sure he is comfortable, fed, has a new diaper and toys to look at, or a swing to play with, and I put him down to entertain himself while I work. In the cases where he is unwilling to be put down, I wear him in a sling and let him watch me work. Usually after a little bit of wearing, he will fall asleep for me.

When do I clean the house and grocery shop? I do all cleaning in the afternoon while dinner is in the over. I geneally try to cook things that I can be unplugged from-like deep dish caseroles, or other such oven items. That way I can walk around tidding up the house before Bill gets home (and because really doing it before hand never works, the kids just pull everything out again anyway). All errands I run first thing in the moring, as early as possible so as to not have to mess with afternoon lines and so that I have the rest of the day to devote to kid outtings.

And above all? I have an awesome, amazing husband that loves jumping in to take care of the kids and give me breaks from them, which gives me the chance to really play with my blog, or if I need too, work. Thanks, Sweetheart!

Here We Go....

Well, we have decided to go ahead and make the move to Alabama this Sunday. So, I will be packing tonight and tomorrow, loading the van (and hoping everything I packed fits...) Saturday, going to Mass Saturday night, and then taking off on the crazy 12 plus hour drive at 5am with the kids. That is the plan, anyway. Hopefully it will all go smoothly, but boy, I will be soooo glad when the drive is over and we haven't even left yet...Overall though, it is best to do it now, get settled, then fly back for Little Dude's second birthday and the opening Wolfpack Football game, and go to Cole's 3rd birthday party, hold Little Dude's 2nd Birthday party, then fly back after our friend Nik's second birthday party on the 7th. I am really sad we will miss Nate's 3rd Birthday, but at least we will make a few of Little Dude's friend's birthdays before leaving for 9 months.

I will be doing some updates along the way when possible thanks to my wireless card for the laptop and (I hope) catching up on my Dakno work, as I have been slacking lately. With a house full of people and my Dad staying with us for a few days while he worked in Raleigh, it has been hard to find the time to chase the kids, clean the house, make a list of WHAT to pack, PACK, and work on the computer.

And now, I am off to do some work for my boss, and then fall into bed, as I am crazy tired! Take care, everyone!

*OH, and I will get zoo pictures up here at some point tomorrow; I know I am late posting them for the family and friends eagerly awaiting them!*

Not so sure about today

Well, I did have big plans to take Little Dude to the park before 9am, but he is still sleeping and honestly I feel too tired and swollen to rush out the door after he gets up. So, I am thinking today might be a day to walk around the mall or something. I wish I had someone to go with; that always makes window shopping more fun!

It is already 82 degrees here. Wow. I love hot weather, but this is a little on the extreme side. On top of having an oven in my belly, having to wear maternity hose, AND having a little toddler to entertain just makes being outside way to hard and makes heat exhaustion way to dangerous.

So, overall, I am not so sure what I am going to do today. I have work to do for Dakno that I am going to catch up on during Little Dude's nap, and since my maternity leave starts soon, I need to get notes together for training some new girls to take my place. (I have to say I feel quite proud they hired 3 girls to take on what I do; I had no idea I was that valuable!)

Anyways, today is a lazy, pregnant, hot day where Little Dude will probably have the run of the house because I'll be to hot and tired to run after him...thank goodness the weekend is almost here!

Working around the house with a Toddler

I have a very active toddler boy who loves to explore everything. This can be hard to keep up with when I have to do computer work for Dakno (my work from home-part-time job) or clean up before (gasp!) company comes, then I really need the "help" to be more than pulling the laundry out of the basket as I try to gather it in there, or take off with pens from my office for future artistic wall art...

So, what works for me? How do I keep sticky fingers off my walls while I am busy trying to keep up with my chores? I let him help. As simple as that. When I vacuum, I give him the hose extenders and a duster, and he runs around coping me, rubbing the tubes on the floor and rubbing the duster on the walls. When I am doing dishes, I pull up a chair and put his plastic dishes in a little bit of soapy water in the sink and let him go to town splashing and "cleaning" his plastic dishes. When I am in the office I give him post-it notes to go to town putting on some paper. We also have an extra computer board and mouse that he plays with on the floor beside me while I work.

Letting him participate to his ability level lets us do things together while still letting me get important things done AND keep him in my sights. No more heading out of the office to silent shenanigans going on in the playroom. (we all know silence is BAD).




So, that is what works for me! Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW tips!!

Today is Here!!

I am so excited I can hardly contain it!! TODAY is the day Bill and I get to go out to dinner, and then see INDIANA JONES in a theater! YAYAYAYAYA!!! John is going to baby sit Little Dude for us, so we can stay out as late as we want. Oh I am SO EXCITED! I don't even know how I am going to wait until Bill gets off work!

In other fun news, we are going to Pullen Park today to meet up with Wendy and Mia-super fun! Little Dude loves the bumper boats and the train, so he is going to have a blast!

Tomorrow we find out if my due date is being moved up or not, based on the baby's size. I kinda hoping it is not moved up, but at the same time, it would be nice to be done being pregnant a little early now that it is getting really HOT here. As long as JR comes when he is ready, I will be fine whenever it is. Even if I go two weeks beyond the 15th of July...sigh.

Then, after my doctor appointment we will be having play date with Jess and Kip-super yay! I haven't seen them in almost 3 weeks because of one or the other of us having things happen that mess up meeting on Fridays-so THIS Friday we are meeting. I am hoping we can try to find a strawberry field to go to with the boys, but we may have missed the window of good strawberry season. I will let you know later on Friday.

As you may have noticed, I am messing around with the layout of my blog-I'm trying to figure out right now how to get some cute design next to words like "blogroll" and "about me" so that instead of having to scroll down to find and read everything, all the info can be easily linked to from the main page-I'll work on it this weekend. My nice little header is courtesy of Scraplog, but I did have to mess around with the html code to get it to fit in normal looking dimensions. I wish I knew how to mess with the code for my layout design in general-I really want to have 2 sidebars, so I can put ads and banners on the right and then my blog related stuff on the left and my writing in the middle...again, I will work on this more this weekend.

I have learned so much about computer code from working at Dakno Marketing, that it really is quite exciting to put my skills to work on my own blog now! Also, I have been able to do a little copy writing for client websites and blogs and that has been a super fun addition to being an Virtual Assistant. Sounds like I'm all tech-y, eh?

Stay Away...

Well, it happened. I am now sick with the stomach thing that started with everyone last week. Thankfully, I am not too bad, others in the family were much worse off, but still, not fun.

I felt I should update a little though since I had not written all weekend. Here is the update:

*Damian, Justin and Robyn came into town to finish up some wedding details (Damian, best man, Justin and Robyn, getting married) and crashed with us for the weekend (guys, I really hope you don't get sick) It was AWESOME to see them! And super SUPER fun to have all our friends over for a few "lets catch up" parties.

*Buzz finally quit barking Sat. and decided it was much more fun to just dig holes in the yard. Since our yard isn't anything to be impressed with, I really don't care about the holes so long as the barking had stopped. And for taking care of Buzz for the weekend, Joe and Andrea brought us DIAPERS! AWESOME! So, I am thinking I will offer to babysit Buzz more....

*My Little Dude is all over his stomach virus, as is Grandma and Grandpa; however, like I said above, it started hitting me last night....sigh.

**On a side note, I found out that anyone with diarrhea should not have dairy products, as the enzymes that our stomach uses to break down dairy gets flushed out and we have to give it time to build back up after our stomach returns to normal. How did I find this out? Since Little Dude wasn't eating, I got him some PediaSure vitamin/protein drinks. Then he started throwing up. Freaked us all out, so we called the doctor and he told us that the dairy was the reason for the sudden throwing up. Niiiice.

*Dakno is going great and I am learning TONS about optimizing key word searches for blogs and websites-it is super fun to try to figure out creative ways to place key words for search engines to find WITHOUT looking like I am spamming. Kinda like a game really; see how many times and ways I can say "So and So Area Real Estate Information" to get a certain web page or blog to show up when people are looking for "So and So Area Real Estate Information". Might sound boring, but trust me, it is pretty fun to do.

Alright, well it is raining, and I am going to let Eddie back in now, and try to lay down on the floor while Little Dude climbs on me. Normally this is a fun game we play, but today, it will simply be because I have no energy to do anything else for very long.