I am so excited to be kicking off my mom and lifestyle blog at this start of 2018! One of my Christmas presents from my husband was a photo shoot in Nashville while we were back home for holidays. He wanted it to be a surprise but quickly realized I needed A LOT of prep before I was camera ready. Obvi, since this includes (but not limited to) tanning, hair, nails, makeup, outfit, and childcare which takes time to organize and execute.
My baby boy, Pax, had two surgeries last week. He had a bilateral myringotomy (ear tube placement) and an inguinal hernia/hydrocele repair. Both surgeons were willing to do the surgeries at the same time. You think I would not have been nervous in comparison to when my daughter has had major surgeries, such as a craniotomy/tumor resection, or spinal rod placement, but it still made me anxious to think about my baby undergoing anesthesia. He did amazing and is back to his wild self, other than the occasional fussy moments which we treat with Tylenol in case he has post op pain. The biggest changes we have seen so far is that he doesn’t scream or fuss when lying flat for diaper changes, or wake up crying in pain from his sleep. I think his ears were really hurting him when he was laying flat, but now he finally has some relief! Do you have a child or know anyone who has had ear tubes placed and witnessed any immediate results?? Comment below and check out our video from Surgery Day!!
Sometimes a small room can be perfect for its function (and less to clean, holla!). But you want to make sure it doesn’t feel small, cramped, or cluttered. It is all about scale. Most of the bedrooms in our current home are small, and as much as I would love a king size bed, or crazy wallpaper with giant palm leaf motifs, it just would NOT be to scale. Those things would make a room look even smaller. So, let’s talk about what you can do to make a small room feel bigger.
For the last 6 years, I have been a part-time stay at home mom (SAHM) and a part-time nurse. I feel very fortunate that my employer has been so understanding of Sayla’s needs and the intermittent medical leave I was able to take when necessary. After eight weeks of maternity leave at the beginning of this year when Pax was born, I returned to my job. Pax attended daycare a few days a week while our LPN, Peggy, continued to watch Sayla while I was at work. It has been very difficult maintaining a job, being a mother of a special needs child, and an infant, wife, caretaker of the home, and managing Sayla’s healthcare, even though I really want to do it all! I was also accepted into a part time Nurse Practitioner online program starting this fall. This is hard to admit, but I’m choosing to be real with y’all right now…one of my biggest struggles is taking on too much, and not being able to commit myself 100% to any one role, so not giving each one my best. (Another struggle is my habitual run on sentences) The stress I have put on myself to try and do many things, is just not fair to anyone, so I have decided to stop being a “part-timer” with many roles, and focus on being a “full-timer” at home. No more work, and no school. My children (and the hubs) are my priority and they need 100% of me right now. Sayla has her upcoming surgeries with many pre-op appointments, and I am excited to stay at home with Pax, just as I did with Sayla the first years of her life. I am blessed to have this option, and thankful for a husband who supports my new full-time gig. This will not be for forever, but for right now, it’s the best choice. To celebrate the first week of my new full timin’ mom status, baby Pax and I decided to road trip it with my sister in law and niece to Charleston, SC, to see my brother and other sister in law. Sayla was with her dad and is not stable enough to travel right now, but she would have loved the ocean breeze as much as we did!
I look forward to many more adventures with my babies. Out of all the part time commitments I had, I chose the hardest role to commit to full time, but I know it will be the most rewarding. Any SAHM sanity tips would be appreciated, so leave a comment!
I have heard many times “I don’t know how you do it all!” Special needs child, infant who breastfeeds, work, maintain household, organize Sayla’s healthcare…list goes on. Truth is, I don’t do it all, I have help. I didn’t always have help, but I will spare you the ugly details of my life before help existed! We do not have family that live close…not even in the same state, so finding help has not been easy. I don’t like to ask for help. Could be a pride thing, or I don’t want to bother anyone, or it could be that I’m a control freak? But I just cannot do it all on my own.
