How Did This Happen?

I'm sitting here looking at my schedule for this week (and a little beyond), as well as trying to prepare things for our new childcare-giver that will watch the boys in our home on the days that I work...and I see that I'm working 13-hour shifts on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday AND Friday. Due to my employer being a little short-staffed this month, I've picked up an extra day this week (as well as picked up an extra shift in each of the last two weeks) Don't get me wrong, the overtime pay will look nice on my next couple of paychecks, but I just got to thinking about what my plans were a year ago when I decided I would be a stay-at-home mom once Breckin was born and work solely on my cleaning business. But no, here I am again, working full-time.

When I had Breckin, I started getting more into my cleaning business, A Modern Cinderella. It was going pretty well those first few months, but then became very slow over the holidays. Our savings was beginning to run out as Jake was trying to keep up on all of the bills on just his income rather than two full-time incomes. So, we sat down and decided that I should at least look for a part-time job - maybe something evening and weekends so we wouldn't really have to worry about childcare. So I started the job search and applied to various part-time positions. My old supervisor randomly called me one day to tell me about a new company she was working for and wanted me to come on as a front desk person. I had thought it would be part-time, but found out in the interview it was only 3 days a week, however it was 13-hour shifts, so it added up to full-time hours. I thought it would still feel a little part-time being that I could be home with my boys 4 full days out of each week as well as have open days to fill with cleaning jobs as needed, so I could still work on my cleaning business. (And I would also have a full-time salary I could count on in the meantime!)

Now here I am, pulling 48-52 hours a week in the last few weeks and looks like the next few as well. Not to mention, still have a couple cleaning jobs scheduled in there somewhere.

So much for being a stay-at-home mom. I went from stay-at-home mom/self-employed to thinking about working a part-time job to now working full-time. I'm right back where I started.

Oh well, I tried.

Family Update - January 2011

I'm going to start a series of little family updates - posts that include little tidbits about each member of my family and the goings-on with them. I have a lot of family and friends on the other side of the continent and I love to try and keep them in the loop as best as I can!

Well, we'll start from the bottom up...
Breckin turned 5 months on January 8th. I can't believe it's almost been half a year already. It definitely is a whirlwind. These precious moments pass all too quickly. We have been enjoying this new personality in our family. He is like Tanner in so many ways, but also still very much his own little person. He is particularly mommy-attached (but I don't mind that too much) and he definitely loves to be heard. He squeals all the time and loves to have plenty of attention (much like big brother). We switched him into cloth diapers this month. I love them. It is going to be so much better for him (and the Earth!) This is what they look like:

I'm getting so into them and plan on ordering more. I just found these ones and I'm ordering them this week:

He is eating cereal already and has started rolling over. He should be sitting very soon! Currently his favorite toys are his Jumperoo and exersaucer.
Tanner is a happy and bouncy little 5-year old. We are signing him up for Spring Baseball this month and he will start in March. We will soon be signing him up for Kindergarten as well! He will be attending Laurel Hill Elementary in Mount Pleasant. He is our little artist - very imaginitive and always drawing pictures (he is quite talented for his age!) He also loves playing games on our new Wii. Since he is at home with me now and not in pre-school, I have been prepping him with Pre-K and Kindergarten workbooks. He is such a little smarty and I know he will enjoy being in school. He is looking forward to warmer weather so he can run around in the sun and go swimming!
Naturally, I would come next in this lineup, however, I feel it's better etiquette to speak about everyone before myself.
Jake will be turning 33 in just under a couple weeks. (He may kill me if he finds out I announced it!) He has been playing on a recreational basketball league this season with a group of friends he usually plays beach volleyball with in the spring and summer. (And he's been catching a few games of beach volleyball when he can too.) He is loving his role as daddy to our two wonderful boys. He is going to take Tanner camping this spring with a group of other dads and their kids from our church, Seacoast. They went on one last winter and had a great time.
And well, me...most of you know the gist of what's going on with me these days (hence, your reading of this blog right now), but basically I'm still trudging through trying to lose my pregnancy weight - less than 5 lbs to go and less than 15 to my goal! I've been doing Insanity and I absolutely love the results it's been giving me. I highly recommend this workout if you are serious about getting in shape! Other than that, I'm enjoying my life as a stay-at-home mom. I am so blessed that I'm able to do this. Of course I'm still working on my cleaning business, but it definitely allows for much more time with my boys. The business is steadily building and I'm thankful for that. I am currently looking for an evening and weekend part-time job. I had an interview at a local gym last week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it. I should find out very soon. Like Tanner, I too am looking forward to warmer weather - I've had all the cold weather I can take! It has not felt like South Carolina these past few weeks! I'm so excited to take Breckin to the beach so he can be a little beach bum like his big brother. I'm going to have a blast with them out there this spring and summer and I can't wait!
Well, that's all I've got for now! :)