Daily Schedule

Schedules are one of my favorite things...along with hot chocolate, crisp Autumn days, and my family! One thing I have discovered since becoming a mom is that sometimes schedules get thrown out the window. Another thing I have learned is that as soon as you get a schedule nailed down, it changes. I am experiencing that as I type.

Let me say that I love nap time (I should add it to my list of favorite things)! Nap time is when I get most of my work done. It is amazing how much I can get done in such a short period of time when I am not doing double duty and I'm able to focus on one thing at a time.

I am content with the 1 1/2 to 2 hour morning nap and the 1 1/2 to 2 hour afternoon nap that L usually takes. Lately he fusses more during nap time and it takes him longer to fall asleep in the afternoon, which means he wakes up around 5:00 pm and that is a little late.

I am beginning to accept the reality that L no longer needs a morning nap. *gasp*

With all of this being said, here is a look at our future weekday daily schedule (this is a rolling schedule):

6:50 am - Alarm starts going off
8:00 am - L wakes up and we eat breakfast
8:30 am - Off to work in my home office
12:00 pm - Lunch
1:15 pm - Put L down for a nap and back to work for me
4:00 pm - L wakes up and gets a snack (Am I being too optimistic that he will nap for almost 3 hrs?)
5:00 pm - Shut computer off and go fix dinner

My husband usually gets home between 5:45 and 6:15 pm and we try to work out before dinner. L usually goes to bed around 8:30 or 8:45 pm and it's off to bed for us around 10:30 pm.

Is it perfect? No. Does it work for us? Most of the time. Would it work for everyone? Probably not because all families are different with their own priorities and obligations.

Happy napping scheduling!

Reading Books

L loves books. My mom, who is an elementary teacher, says that she has never seen a kid like books as much as L. He would sit for hours and listen to books if he could find someone willing to take on the challenge. He never tires of lifting flaps, making animal noises, touching shiny tractor tires, etc.

One benefit of being a WAHM: I get to read to L whenever he wants. Now, don't get me wrong, I cannot literally read to him whenever because I would spend my whole day reading about Boo Boo, baby's bellybutton and vroom vrooms; however, the opportunity is there and if I worked outside of the home then I would not be able to pick up a book and read for 5 or 10 minutes here and there throughout the day.

There are times when L wants me to read to him and I can't because I have work to do (this should sound familiar to all moms). He doesn't understand why I continue typing at my computer rather than picking him up and reading to him the book that he carried over to me.

I should also mention that although I have the ability to read to L, I do not always have the desire to read to him, but that is an entirely seperate topic that would require its own blog post.

It is the opportunity that I have every day to interact with L that I am so thankful, and it is up to me whether or not I take advantage of or waste these precious moments.

Menu Planning

I am a planner and a list maker. With this in mind, one would assume that I could tackle the chore of menu planning...but I can't!! I don't know why, but I struggle with menu planning. For some reason it is so overwhelming and I almost always give up promptly after I begin to try.

I have typed up lists of meals that I make so I can refer to the list on days when I can't think of anything to prepare for dinner. I have typed up a rotating 3-week menu that I have never used. I have printed menu planners from different websites and blogs, but nothing seems to help.

One day a week I go into the office and on that day I sometimes throw something into the crockpot so that dinner is ready when we get home (usually around 6:30 pm). Check out this blog for some amazing crockpot recipes...this lady has tried cooking almost everything in her crockpot. This blog is also helpful if you want to take a regular recipe and cook it in a crockpot rather than a stovetop or oven.

I would appreciate any tips or tricks you have for menu planning. How do you plan? When do you plan? Do you plan all three meals or just dinner?

2011 is right around the corner...maybe I will have to make a New Year's resolution to menu plan!!

New products in Obber Gobber store!

Today I added a beautiful nursing cover to my store. It is my favorite fabric (out of the three that I have made) and I loved it so much I ended up making myself one! You can take a peek at it here.

I also added two new pacifier clips: a purple one with white polka dots and a white one with navy polka dots.









Thanks for stopping by!

Time Well Spent?

This week was a particularly difficult one for me. L struggled to take good naps and he wanted my undivided attention when he was awake. I am thankful that usually he does a great job playing by himself, which means I get more work done. (Wow, I just reread that sentence and it makes me sound like a terrible mom!)

There was one moment this week when I was about to crack and so I sent an instant message to my wonderful husband explaining everything to him and asking him to pray for me. He responded with telling me that I am an AWESOME MOM and that L is just fine. I told him that L might be fine but that doesn't mean that I am fine.

Making the decision to answer emails and put proposals together instead of playing with L is not one that I enjoy making, but one that I have to make daily.

I share all of this knowing that even if I didn't have an "8 to 5" job that required me to be in front of (or at least near) my computer for most of the day that I would still struggle with having things to do besides playing with and training L. I would have a long "to do" list of all the chores and projects I would hope to get accomplished every day.

Whether you are doing "work" for an employer, your family, yourself, your church or whoever, you face the dilemma every hour of every day...to work or to play?

In regard to choosing work or play, my husband made the following statement last week: "I will never look back and wish that I had played with him less." How true that is for all of us!!

Mom = WAHM

I mentioned last week that I was going to share different aspects (tips, tricks, challenges, benefits, etc.) about being a Work At Home Mom (WAHM). I first want to express my sincere belief that just being a mom means that you are a WAHM. Whether you are the mother of one child or ten children; whether your child/children are babies, toddlers or teenagers; whether you have a full-time job, part-time job or hobby...you are a WAHM!

Work is simply defined as: "To exert one's self for a purpose;" (from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44). Being a mom and trying to raise Godly children is a pretty good purpose!

There is so much "work" to be done when rearing children and managing a household. Being a wife and mom also means that you are a cook, housekeeper, teacher, nurse, playmate, chauffeur, bookkeeper, seamstress and much more.

With all of this being said, er written, I hope that you are able to benefit from my ramblings regardless of whether you are a WAHM by the world's definition or a WAHM by my definition.

Double Wink and Co.

A very good friend of mine, whom I shall refer to as Clementine, and myself have started a project called Double Wink and Co. This project involved opening an online store that you can find here.

If you have someone on your Christmas list that is especially difficult to buy for...check us out!

In case you are wondering where the name came from...well, little L does a really cute thing when someone winks at him...he winks back with both eyes and it has been dubbed the "double wink" and he will now do it on command. This makes Clementine and myself giggle every time and we just had to use it as the name of our new store.

WAHM

I am a Work At Home Mom....I don't know if I've mentioned that before. Just like most everything else in life there are positives and negatives to this situation. I get to be at home with L almost every day, which means I don't miss much of his growing up. This also means that I am VERY busy during the day, juggling time spent with L and time in front of my computer working.

For working mothers who report to an office every day, being a WAHM sounds like a dream come true. Don't get me wrong...I am so blessed to work for a company that does allow me the flexibility of working from home and I am so thankful for this opportunity. However, it forces me to be super organized, be an expert at time management, and sometimes I have to choose between answering an email or responding to an emergency and playing catch with L.

In the upcoming days, weeks and months I will try to add posts on tips and tricks for being a successful WAHM and include some struggles and challenges that I face.