Stay at Home Mom/Working Mom Tag

I love following vlogs on Youtube and there is one I love she is so dang cute you can find her at ObbsAndLala.  She did this tag and I thought it sounded fun. It's to both a SAHM (stay at home mom) and/or working mom's. Now, onto the questions!

Are you a Stay at home mom or a Working Mom?

  I'm a stay at home mom

What made you come to that decision? 

When I was working I didn't get much money and when we got pregnant we did the math and my entire paycheck would have paid for childcare and we saw no point in wasting time and money that won't be there anyway so we decided it was best for us. Also we both feel that it's better for Lily and our little family if we did and feel that this is where God wants me to be to take care of us all and our home.

Was your mom a stay at home mom or a working mom?

She was a working mom.

How old are your children?

Princess is two and a half and Peanut is still waiting for October to come out.

Are you apart of any mom groups/play groups?

Not play groups but I am apart of a few mom groups online.

Did you always know you wanted to be a stay at home mom?

Yes actually I did right up there after I decided I didn't want to be a paleontologist when I was about seven years old.

How long do you plan to be a stay at home mom?

For as long as I can.

Did you go to school before becoming a stay at home mom?

No I didn't other than High School

If you worked before having children, do you miss it?

No not really. I guess if I had to choose I miss meeting a lot of different people.
What was your job/career before you became a mom?

I worked as a Sales Associate at Spencer Gifts and Victoria's Secret in the mall.

What does your husband/partner do for work?

All I really know is that he works with computers I honestly have no idea what exactly he does.

Do you have a daily routine or just go with the flow day by day?

I started out having a routine but most days I really just have to go with the flow it's hard to stay on a set in stone routine with a toddler and while pregnant.

Do you keep up with the housework or is it shared with your husband/partner?

I do most of it he has his own chores around here so he doesn't feel helpless around the home. Mostly he just takes out the trash and carries the laundry baskets into the rooms for me to put away. Just the heavy lifting so his 'manly muscles' aren't going to waste (men tend to like the ego bust too)

Do you do anything on the side to earn extra money? If so what?

No I don't.

What is the one thing you love about being a stay at home mom?

I love being here with Lily teaching her everything and seeing all her discoveries. I'd hate to miss out on her important developments.

What is the one thing you hate about being a stay at home mom?

It tends to get a little lonely and I also tend to get cabin fever a lot but it's nothing too terrible. 

General Questions:
Are you a Stay at home mom or a Working Mom?
What made you come to that decision?
Was your mom a stay at home mom or working mom?
How old are your children?
Are you part of any mom groups/play groups?

Working Mom Questions:
Do you work out of the home or in the home?
What is your job title?
What are your main responsibilities at your job?
When did you go back to work after having your children?
Did you go to school for this career?
How may hours do you work a week?
What do you do for childcare?
Has your job changed since having children?
What is one thing you love about being a working mom?
What is one thing you hate about being a working mom?

Stay At Home Mom Questions:
Did you always know you wanted to be a SAHM?
How long do you plan to stay at home?
Did you go to school before becoming a stay at home mom?
If you worked before having children, do you miss it?
What was your job/career before you became a mom?
What does your partner do for work?
Do you have a daily routine or just go with the flow day by day?
Do you keep up with the house work or is it shared with your husband/partner?
Do you do anything on the side to earn extra money? If so what?
What is one thing you love about being a SAHM mom?
What is one thing you hate about being a SAHM mom?








Recipe Brought to you by June the Homemaker (love her!)

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3-5 browned bananas 
1 cup brandy/rum (if desired)
1/2 cup butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
butter (for greasing pan)

Recipe:

If soaking bananas with alcohol, ahead of time/the night before, mash up browned bananas in a bowl with brandy and/or rum and let sit in the fridge, covered, for 1-8 hours. Set out butter to soften. Cream 1/2 cup butter and 2 1/4 cups sugar. Beat in 2 eggs one at a time. Add bananas mixture, buttermilk, and 1 tsp vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until combined. Fold in 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips or nuts (optional). Grease two loaf pans with about 2 tbsp softened butter or spray oil. Bake in 350 degree oven about 1 hour, until browned, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cut and enjoy!

Crayon on the wall

Ugg, today Princess decided that it'd be fun to color on the wall as well as the back of the front door. Unfortunately, since we are renting I have no idea what kind of paint it is other than a pretty brown lol.

So in a mad search to figure out how to get rid of it I turned to the one site that has never failed me: Pinterest.

On there, I found a way using and iron, an old shirt, and a bowl of hot soapy water.  So I figured save myself some laundry pulled out my hair dryer that I bought yesterday to unfreeze my pipes on the air conditioning (why have I never owned one of these magical devices before?) So there I sat blow drying the crayon and wiped it off with a sponge and soapy water. The result? GOOD AS NEW!! I'm now in love with my new purple amazing device!

Tata for now!
Neuriel

Follow me on Pinterest!

Infertility Awareness Week

This week is national infertility awareness week.  I know that yes I am pregnant but I also have a few friends who are facing infertility and this pregnancy took a year to happen for us. I know that a year isn't that long compared to some people but the struggles with the emotional roller coaster is still the same and yet because with this being my second I figure it's different also compared to those seeking their first.

I felt like I was broken after having Princess. It took us three days to get pregnant with Princess (honestly!) I stopped the birth control on the 22 of Dec and started my period that night and on 25 (Christmas) my period stopped (hmm weird). First week of that Jan my Hubs told me he thought I was and guess what I was. Shocked it happened so fast after going through a year full of procedures including 5 biopsies, 4 colposcopes, Cryothareapy, and a LEEP that year and once I had a clear test (fianlly) my doctor said that if we wanted kids we needed to get on it so we did and poof we had Lily.

So naturally this time around I figured 'Hey! It didn't take us that long to get pregnant with Princess, it would happen that fast again!' It didn't happen. As the months past I got more and more depressed. 'What if we waited too long?' 'What if something happened when the IUD implanted and ruined my chances?' More and more what if's just kept coming at me and coming at me. I felt like I was failing my husband for not giving him another baby. Failing my daughter for not giving her a sibling to play with. I didn't want her to grow up alone like I did. It was so lonely. Failing God for not taking advantage of that window after Princess was born to try for more (part of the waiting too long 'what if.') Failing myself for not being able to carry out what I wanted so so much. We didn't tell anyone we were TTC and I was hard to say anything to our families whenever they always ask when we were going to have more. It even got to the point I would come home crying if they asked. My nieces would ask when I would get pregnant again because Bayly (cousin) was pregnant and we're always pregnant together. I was hard to not cry about friends being pregnant no matter how happy I was for them. I was an emotional wrek.

Finally my husband got to the point he he couldn't take my moods and mentioned with it being Christmas again we should just wait a couple months and put TTC on hold to avoid Princess's birthday and Christmas and all the other holidays around then; as well as to take a breather and get it all off our minds. So we didn't really try during December and January didn't take any precautions but weren't trying at all. I guess that was the key. Because I found out the same day we found out  we were pregnant with Princess, my birthday (Happy Birthday me!) We put the romance back into our relationship. Spent more time just the two of us. Enjoyed dates at home (with the free food our families would give us when they had way too much from the holidays) with Princess in bed we would pull out the candles and paper plates (so cheesy) but whatever it was it worked.  I didn't chart or use ovulation kits, we didn't even baby dance much but it happened. Someone told me as a joke that December must be my fertile month and that since we've been through the rest of the months already.  It was what worked for us (I think) but it won'y work for everyone sadly.  No matter how much I want it to.

With some of our friends who are TTC I always avoid the topic of pregnancy and just talk about normal everyday topics. A couple they talk to us about everything they have to go through so I don't feel like I'm stepping on toes if I ask how they're TTC journey is going and what Dr's say to them. Yes I'm over the moon about it but I also feel so guilty. I know someone who tried for 7 years before they got pregnant with their first and they got pregnant with their second 4 years after that.

After this pregnancy we won't be going onto birth control, if we get pregnant 'yay!' if not we will know that it has no factor in that result.

Baby dust to all who need it!!

Neuriel


Subfertile Frugalista has an amazing post that is a must read for this topic!

Looking a little better

Princess's room is looking a little better than it was I made a little room in the middle of the floor and I started putting all the baby stuff into the crib that Princess hasn't used in a few months just to get them out of the way and also out of our room so yay!! Lol. We went camping this past weekend and it was a ton of fun and I have decided I really like camping pregnant in the Explorer rather that on the ground in a tent lol. Princess stayed at my parents thankfully I think it'd be too cold for her.

Princess had fun at grandma and Papa's house.

Today I'm 15 weeks and 5 days (most of the counters don't include leap day weird)

I'm feeling really good today. Yesterday I had some bad morning sickness as well as on Saturday morning thankfully I didn't throw up. Baby is moving a lot more now finally. Yesterday I didn't feel much movement and it kind of worried me so I just laid face down for a minute or two until I felt a little kick. Princess woke us up one morning at 5:30 and after she fell back asleep we were just laying there talking and he told me while I was asleep he was rubbing my belly and the baby kicked him and he was so giddy it was so sweet.

"Cravings" of the day are pot stickers: 

Traditional Pot Stickers

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 medium head cabbage, finely chopped
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 2 slices fresh ginger root, finely chopped
• 2 water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 (14 ounce) package wonton wrappers
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chili oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Directions

1. Crumble pork into a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the pork, cabbage, green onion, ginger, water chestnuts, salt, sugar and sesame oil. Chill in the refrigerator 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Place a tablespoon of the pork mixture into each of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wrappers, and seal the edges with a moistened fork.
4. In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Place the pot stickers into the oil seam sides up. Heat 30 seconds to a minute. Pour water into the skillet. Gently boil 7 to 8 minutes, until oil and water begins to sizzle, then add remaining oil. When the bottoms begin to brown, remove pot stickers from heat.
5. In a small serving bowl, mix together the chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar, adjusting proportions to taste.

Disaster Zone

As a warning I will also be using this as a blog for my pregnancy too.

My daughter's room and our master bedroom is a disaster zone of new baby clothes and a pile of my clothes that I'm sorting through to see what I still fit into or will still fit into later on in the pregnancy. Let's just say it isn't working too well lol. I have to wait until august to be able to move everything baby into the baby's room (our roommate moves out then if not before.)

I am 15 weeks now and showing a little bit! 

That's Princess my daughter and my tiny belly!

So far my morning sickness has gone away fully as of 13 weeks. I actually haven't gained any weight I've lost 10lbs so far since I've gotten pregnant. It's kind of weird but I'm not complaining too much yet as my doctor isn't too worried yet. I'm a little disappointed that I'm not able to show more ultrasounds. The insurance company wouldn't cover the NT scan.  I'm feeling movement from the baby! Also my husband has too as of two days ago! So exciting! I think I'm having a boy but Hubs think's and is trying to convince me we're having another girl. Friday was our appointment and the heartbeat was at 159, points to a girl but a lot lower than Princess's was at this point.

Recipe of today is:(I long to crave but the baby isn't too fond of sweets)

Brownie Waffles

Coat your waffle maker with nonstick cooking spray and preheat on medium-low

Stir 1/2 cup butter and 3 oz. chopped unsweetened chocolate over medium-low heat until melted. remove from heat. Mix in 1/2 cup sugar. Then add 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 cup flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, and 1.4 tsp. salt. Whisk in 1 cup milk until smooth.

Pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup into waffle maker; cook 2 minutes.

Makes six 6-inch waffles.