Busy Busy Busy

I'm not gonna lie: things have been pretty busy lately.  And when things get busy it also gets tough.  There are some days that balancing a full time job and two small children is easy.  Then there are weeks like last week where it all seems overwhelming.  And last week was a short week!

First off, this is a very busy time of year because we are in the middle of our volunteer training.  Also, my coworker is still on maternity leave so we have been running non-stop covering for her.  That means not only do I put in my regular 40 hour shift, but I put in a lot of extra time on the weekends to train our volunteers.  I do enjoy it to some extent.  Getting to meet new people who are passionate about animals is pretty awesome.  But the extra work is hard on me, the kids, and the Weatherman.  Once a month we also have a volunteer meeting in the evening, which just happened to fall on this past week.  So even though I didn't have work last Monday due to President's Day, I worked Tuesday evening, had church on Wednesday evening, Thursday night I was scrambling to get baths in and get things ready for Friday because on Friday I had a meeting for regional zoo educators 3.5 hours away so I had to be at work at 5:45 so we could get there on time.  We didn't get home until 10pm.  Then Saturday I had to pick up a cake for a zoo birthday party and then there was our training in the evening which I had to come in early for because some of the volunteers were doing a make up session.  So I am only a bit ashamed to admit that we stayed home from church today because I really believed the kids needed to spend time with mommy more than they needed to go to nursery or Sunday School.

Lately I have noticed my patience beginning to wear thin.  I am frustrated easily and feel like there is not enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done.  I have been praying a lot and trying to remind myself to enjoy these moments, because all too soon the kids will be bigger and while they won't be quite so demanding, they won't want to spend time with me anymore either.  Frog Face (who we are starting to call "Bubs" more often so I may soon change his name on this blog) is going to be 8 months old next week.  8 months!  That is crazy!  I have no idea where time is going.  He sits like a pro (but will still often throw himself backwards and bonk his head on the ground), is starting to pull up, still isn't crawling (thank goodness for that!), but eating solid food well (including things like cheerios that he can feed himself).  He is drinking less milk so I am considering moving to only 2 pumps a day at work.  But as any pumper knows, you spend so much time trying to maintain your milk supply, you are always a little reluctant to reduce it intentionally.  Plus, we have an Ipad now so pumping time at work is actually almost enjoyable. He has also slept much better the last two nights in his own crib.  We will see how tonight goes, I am not holding my breath.

Goober is still being her Goober self.  She is out of her sleep-in-the-tent phase and has been sleeping better these last couple nights too.  She still has nightmares and will want us to come lay down with her every now and then, but I'm glad that is over for now!

So that's all for now.  Finding a balance has been challenging.  I often feel like I am torn in two different directions.  On the one hand I love my children like crazy, but they also drive me crazy.  On the other hand I get great fulfillment from my work and I am proud of my accomplishments, but sometimes work seems to demand too much.  I am so very grateful for a secure job that I enjoy and for children who are (mostly) healthy (Bubs is catching a cold). I know many people would love to have what I have.  But sometimes I also just get tired.  So even though I feel guilty about not going to church, we all needed today to recoup.

Found this at Walmart on clearance for $5 (the costume, not the child)

I would say it was $5 well spent

The Weatherman had to get the kids ready by himself on Friday.  Not only did he do a great job, he remembered to take pictures too!

Money Matters

You definitely know you are a mom when you are excited to go grocery shopping by yourself.  I try to coupon shop as a way to help us save money, but lately I haven't been able to since Goober and Frog Face seem to think that sleep is unimportant.  I was finally able to get away on Saturday for a guilt free coupon shopping trip.  I planned and clipped for days to try and save as much money as possible.  I did end up doing pretty well and saved quite a bit of money, but I did spend quite a bit also.  I stocked up on lots of items (diapers, cereal, pop tarts, wipes, frozen pizza, etc.) so we are set for a bit.  That's one of the secrets to coupon shopping: stock up when they are on sale, so that you have plenty to last until the next time they go on sale.

And speaking of money, we got our tax return back!  It was much more than we expected so we were super excited.  I know technically it was our money to begin with, but I am always a bit paranoid when we get a large amount back because I think I filed something wrong.  I did double check everything so I am pretty sure it is right.  But anyways, one of the first things we did was pay off one of our credit cards (we have two).  It felt so good to pay it off completely!  If we stay on task and keep budgeting, then we will be completely debt free (except for the house) by the end of this year.  We just have one more credit card and then the car to pay off.  We are so close!  Once we are out of debt, we will have an extra $700 every month.  We have worked really hard for this though, and once we get to the extra $700 a month, we might splurge a bit for a month or two, but then it is back to the grind.  We are following (mostly) the Dave Ramsey plan and the first is to get out of debt and then (if I remember right) is to save up 3-6 months worth of living expenses.  It really won't take too long to save that up if we are putting $700 a month toward it.  We will probably have to purchase a gently used minivan before too long, so we will try and save up for that as well so we won't have to take out another loan.

Anyways, back to the taxes.  We did splurge and buy ourselves an Ipad.  We have both wanted one for awhile now but just never had the money.  The Weatherman gets to use an Ipad from his school, but there are lots of restrictions on it.  Goober is a pro with the Ipad and works it like the techie that she is growing up to be.  We have only had a week, but I am kinda addicted to it.  Especially since I get to take it to work and watch Anime while I am pumping.  Pumping is much more fun now.  I used to just read a magazine (I had a back-pile of Better Homes and Gardens and Parent magazines, but they were getting a bit boring).  I am actually kind of a anime geek and LOVE to watch them, but haven't had time lately (gee, I wonder why?) so the fact that I can watch anime now while pumping is awesome.

Other tax money plans include getting new tires for the car, replacing the muffler on the other car, switching our cell phone plan from Verizon to StraightTalk (gonna try it out for a month or two and see if we like it).  We want to have a data plan too but I just can't see us spending $150 or more a month on one, so with StraightTalk we would only pay $90 a month.  And if we don't like it, there is no contract so we are not tied down.  Also we plan on setting some money aside for a family photo shoot.  I am trying to put together a color scheme and clothing options in the back of my mind.

And in other news, tomorrow is President's Day!  Because I am technically a City employee, I get the day off.  The Weatherman took a personal day (since school's are still open) and he is going to stay home with us.  We are going to keep the kids home with us in the morning and then put them in daycare for the afternoon and go on a date!  We didn't really do anything for Valentines day so tomorrow we are going out to eat (Chinese food since the Weatherman won the superbowl bet and got to pick the restaurant) and then we will watch Ender's Game at home together.  I LOVE the book Ender's Game and have wanted to see the movie for a long time.  And the Weatherman and I could really use some kid free time.

So that's enough rambling for now.  And now of course, the pictures for your viewing pleasure.

My stud on his first Valentines Day

He didn't get any Valentine candy, but mommy did buy him a treat!

My other sweet Valentine

The best picture I could get of both of them

She wanted to hold him

It almost turned into a wrestling match!

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

I really don't like snow, or winter in general for that matter.  The only thing that makes me a bit excited for winter is the fact that winter = Christmas.  After the holiday season I am done.  Bring on the heat!

I love to look at snow.  I think it is beautiful.  But I really do hate getting out in it.  I hate having to bundle the kids up to head anywhere.  As if getting two small humans out the door isn't hard enough, let's add hats, coats, boots, mittens, and blankets too.  Goober is in a phase where she has to do everything herself so it takes even longer because she has to put the hats, coats, boots, and mittens on herself.  Frog Face just doesn't want to cooperate in general.  Ever since we moved him out of his infant carrier and into a standard rear facing seat, he hates it.  This also means that I can't use those convenient little car seat covers that keep the baby warm.  I put him in a coat and try to cover him in a blanket, but the little bugger insists on poking his hands out, taking his socks off, and flailing and screaming about like a little banshee until he manages to stick every piece of exposed skin he can out in the sub-zero temperatures.  Then he bucks like a little bronco and arches his back so that it is very difficult to snap the buckles.

Then there is driving in the snow.  I am not a fan of driving in general and much prefer to be a passenger.  But since I am the one that usually takes the kids to daycare, I drive in the snow.  Now many places we have lived in the past do a wonderful job of clearing the roadways after a snow storm.  We lived in Ohio for two years while I worked on my Master's degree and they were excellent with snow removal (lake effect snow will do that to an area).  Even when I lived in Kansas City, Missouri they did a pretty good job.  But not here.  Oh no.  Here they always leave at least an inch of snow on the road surface.  And that's on the main roads.  Unless the snow is really bad they won't even plow the side roads.  We got three inches of snow last week so our street was not plowed.  They did put sand down this time so that is something.  But due to the fact that there is always snow on the roads, I have become quite good at driving in it.  Nothing like practice to make perfect I guess.

And once we finally get to our destination, be it daycare or church or the store, then Goober insists on walking very very very slowly since we have told her that she must be careful walking so she doesn't slip.  While I think we had the right idea to tell her to be careful, I wonder if we might have overdone things a bit when she was concerned about our neighbor kids who were running and playing in the snow and she said "they need to slow down.  They might slip."  as she creeped from the garage to the house.

I am also jealous of when the schools get snow days.  I am an educator as well, but even when schools are canceled I still go in to work.  Granted, I am pretty excited when programs are cancelled and I am able to get caught up on office work (which has been piling up because one of my two coworkers is on maternity leave) but when the Weatherman got to stay home with Goober and Frog Face, I was a bit envious.  I wanna play too!

But I don't really want to play in the snow.  I don't like the cold either.  When I was a kid, I liked sledding and building snowmen and making snow angels as much as the next kid.  It is harder for me to get into it now because it is just too cold for me.  Also, there are no hills to go sledding on where I live since everything is pretty darn flat.  So if Goober wants to play in the snow I usually make the Weatherman go out with her.  Over Christmas break though I did go sledding down our hill and street in KC like I used to as a kid.  That was fun.  But still too cold.

All in all, I am grateful that we didn't get more snow than we did.  My family in KC got upwards to 9-12 inches and were pretty much stuck in their houses for a while.  My dad is a professional driver an he had trouble navigating the streets.  If I am cooped up for too long, I get bad cabin fever and definite ants in my pants.  Lately this hasn't happened as often (probably has something to do with never having a free moment and not having the chance to get bored for some reason....) but I still feel the need to be out and about.

I am also incredibly grateful that we have a nice, safe, warm house to come home to everyday.  There are many people who don't have a warm place to come home to and a nice two car garage to park in so we don't have to warm up and scrape the car every day.  Many people don't even have a car!

Yes, there is much to be thankful for.

But I still don't like the snow.

Making snow ice cream

She slept in her princess tent last night.  I didn't care.  As long as she is sleeping and in her room, that's all that matters to me!

It's getting harder and harder to take these weekly pictures

Happy boy showing off his two teeth and his daddy's eyes

After attempting to update this blog for several days and being constantly thwarted by children, cats, chores, and work I finally got it finished!  Only to notice that I wrote about winter and cold and snow a few blog posts back.  Oh well.  This post was better.  And I just don't think I have the time to write a whole new one right now.  I promise a new topic for my next post.