SAHM

Mitch said it would be ok if I borrowed the blog space for a post.

The last few weeks have really been a transition for me. I went from being a work-a-holic to a stay at home mom. I know I wasn’t working a ton before we moved to Virginia, but I was working and contributing to the household income. And I really enjoy working. And it was nice that Jarom got to spend so much time with his daughter while I was at work. He really enjoyed the days of just him and Jenna. But now real life happened, and we are a typical husband/wife duo. He works at the office all day, and I work at home all day taking care of a 7 month old. I had a really hard time feeling like I was doing something worthwhile.

For those of you who know Jenna, she is pretty much the easiest baby ever. She is on a very predictable schedule, she plays by herself for hours, she eats really well and sleeps even better. So I had a hard time filling my days. I would try and play with her but she really doesn’t need me to play with. She is just fine playing by herself with her toys. She also takes two really long naps every day, so that was time that I had to kill also. I couldn’t really do any housework or unpack because we are in a furnished apartment that really isn’t that big so housework takes maybe an hour. So I was getting pretty bored.

After the first week, I stopped moping around and found stuff to do. And now that we are moving into a new house, stuff to do has found me! I have become the secretary making all sorts of phone calls to get things done for our house and to register our cars. I had to shop around for insurance and that has taken a couple of days. It was also pretty stressful because we close on Monday on our house and needed insurance by then. Also, what is up with insurance companies charging double what others charge for the same coverage??? It was a bizarre but incredibly useful learning experience. I now know all there is to know about home insurance and auto insurance. I finally got everything settled with that. I have also decided that staying in the house all day is depressing. So, Jenna and I take field trips every afternoon in between her naps. Sometimes we run actual errands, but sometimes we just hang out with McKenzie and Kenna (Jenna’s cousin and her mom) and go to the mall or a store to window shop. Those are always fun trips.

I have also had to make a conscious effort to stop feeling like I need to be working. I know that Jenna needs me and we are so blessed that Jarom has a good job that enables me to be home with Jenna. So I have relaxed and started enjoying my baby. Here are some fun things she does every day.

- Every morning, after she wakes up, she will just lay in bed and talk to herself for about an hour and a half. I like this time of day because I can still doze and I love listening to her. When I do get her up she has tons of smiles for me. That is the best part

- She is usually very hungry after sleeping for 12 hours, so she eats a big breakfast. She usually is waiting with her mouth open for me to shovel in the next bite. It is very cute.

- Then it is bath time. Jenna loves nothing more than being in the bath tub. I sit and watch her as she plays. It is pretty much like sitting in the splash zone at Sea World both because Jenna is getting chubby enough to look like Shamu, and because she splashes so much that the entire bathroom is soaked when we are done. She also loves the “baby in the bathtub”. There is a metal fixture in there that she can see her reflection in. She thinks it is so great. She tries to share her toys with that baby and laughs and talks to her the whole time. It is hilarious.

- Then it is naptime. In the afternoon, we run our errands and usually have a crawling lesson. These don’t go so well because she is so good at sitting up, she would rather do that. She has also become a master reacher. The child's wing span increases by about two feet if she sees something she wants. But she is getting close to crawling and if you put her knees underneath her, she will sway on her hands and knees for a good two seconds before she lunges forward and gets what she wants. I guess I need to put her toys further out of reach.

- We also have walking lessons. I hold her hands and she takes steps all by herself. She can also stand if she holds on to something, like a chair or coffee table. Who knows, maybe she will just start walking and never crawl at all.

- We usually squeeze in some jump-jump time in her doorway jumper. She still loves it so much and has a blast in it. She gets pretty good air too. We are worried one day she will jump right out of it.

- Then daddy comes home and it is dinnertime and play time with daddy. Jarom is sad he cant be home all day having so much fun with Jenna, but someone has to earn the money!

So, as you can see, we have a good time together. It is a hard adjustment, but I am happy for the time I get to spend with my baby. I was considering looking for a part-time job but I will probably put off that search for the time being. We are so happy to be here in Richmond. It already feels like home, like we belong here. If all this snow would stop, it would be that much better.