40 Days of Lent

Somewhere 40 days got lost in translation. I'll just admit right now that I obviously don't get how those 40 days work (if you can explain it please do). From Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday is exactly 40 days. Holy week started yesterday but Lent doesn't actually end until after Easter service which is next Sunday. That would be 47 days. Apparently, some days don't count and therefore you end up with 40 days by next Sunday. I don't like numbers. Numbers make my head hurt.

Last year I gave up fast food. The year before was alcohol. Prior to that was chocolate. Before then I don't remember but the hubs said it was soda. This year I decided to trump all and give up the thing that so many people are addicted to. Social media! I have to say it hasn't been all that bad though. I'd say that the first week and a half was the worst. On day two I told the hubs that I was thinking it was super easy until I realized all I wanted to do was log on Facebook and brag about how easy it is! This was a sure sign of my addiction. At this point I can honestly say that I do enjoy Facebook (and Instagram and Twitter and Tumblr and Ello and Snapchat) I could definitely never go back and be happy. In fact, I don't know if anyone will even see this since I won't be sharing it online! I'm definitely out of the loop when it comes to events and special happenings in people's lives but I think if I made more personal connections offline it wouldn't be so bad.

With that said, I have noticed that I'm much lonelier without social media in my life. I've been a bit of an emotional roller coaster this Lent and I think some of it has to do with not being able to connect to people. I have been going to my bible study and MOPS but I usually don't have time for much socializing beyond that. I'm starting to feel like I need to find something to do for myself without any kids at least every other week. I'm considering Zumba or some other exercise class. It definitely needs to be exercise class because that's another thing I've been slacking on since I haven't been on social media.

Sharing my Weight Watchers weight loss with everyone I'm connected with definitely helps me stay on track. I've been so up and down that I've been embarrassed to go to meetings! I'm going tomorrow but I won't be surprised if I'm above my start weight by about a pound or two.

Finally, I know I'm just picking up like I haven't been MIA for the past several months but there's one big reason I haven't been writing. I have a terrible biological mother and I don't want her finding this blog and seeing pictures of my family. It's the stuff from soap operas. I don't think she'd do anything stupid but I don't want her knowing anything about me or my family. She doesn't deserve to. I'm debating on if I should overcome that fear and just post regularly like I've been dying to do for the past few months or if I should let her control me and just not post anything so she won't see this. There's some deep stuff for your Monday.

If I decide to keep going I'll be posting some pictures later this week. I haven't even introduced the newest member of the family yet!

The Joys

I finally have a new computer! OK, well, I've had it for a week now but I'm finally writing! It's a huge change going from an Apple to a Dell but I'm dealing and learning slowly. I feel like an old lady trying to figure out a computer for the first time. The downside is I don't have a grandson I can bother for a tutorial on how to use this dang contraption!

On to the news.
For those who haven't been following me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr we have some crazy news. We're expecting our second baby blessing on December 29. Today actually marks the first day of the second trimester so the excitement in my house is growing. Little Lentil, as the baby will be called until we find out the gender, has made my life interesting for the last 13 weeks. With Gibbie I was nauseous for about 20 minutes every several days. With Little Lentil I was nauseous all day every day from about 5 weeks on until I finally gave into Diclegis, an anti-nausea medicine. Diclegis was a miracle except for the fact that it made me extremely exhausted (even on half a dose). I shouldn't complain though. I wasn't able to function without it and my doctor took pity on me and gave me 4 boxes of samples because my insurance doesn't cover maternity and the state of Texas didn't take on the Medicaid expansion (yay go us!). I never even had to fill the prescription. I took myself off of it this past weekend and I finally feel amazing.

Gibbie is super excited to be a big sister. For a while she was telling everyone that her baby brother was in my belly. Now she says it's a girl. I don't care either way. The Hubs says he wants another girl because little girls love their papas. I'd like one to like me. We're set with a name if it's a boy but we're still looking for a girl name. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Since the USA/Germany game is over and Gibbie let me watch it with minimal arguing I'd be do as promised and pop in The Little Mermaid. Happy Thursday everyone!

Stay at Home Mom vs. Working Mom

I am a stay at home mom. The first year of Gibbie's life I suffered from cabin fever because of it. I know now that I didn't do it right. I took the stay at home part literally and because of that I was very lonely and sad though I never did have postpartum depression (surprisingly). Now, however, between MOPS, LWML, Stroller Fitness, and the bible study I go to, Gibbie and I keep ourselves very busy (and sane).

For a brief moment I did consider going back to my supervisor position at Levis in our outlet mall after my maternity leave was up but because it was only part time I would be working to pay for day care and not have anything left over. That didn't make sense. The Hubs and I both wanted Gibbie to be brought up in a way that made sense to us and not let someone else do it their way .

Finishing my degree is still on my to do list but one of the reasons I haven't gone back to school yet is because we don't have a childcare option. Ideally, someone in our family would watch her, I'd finish school, then I'd go back to work with a very flexible schedule so that I could still do the PTA stuff I've dreamed of doing.

With all of that said I do wish that I had the ability to provide for myself and my daughter if (God forbid) anything at all should happen to my husband. At this point, though I do sell Pampered Chef, I would lose the house and car and probably have to move in with Satan my sister unless there was a miracle of a full time job that didn't require a degree and paid very good money.

Posing this question to Facebook and Tumblr I almost assumed everyone would say they'd stay home if they could. I did get a few with that answer but one friend said she was very glad to show her girls what being an independent woman is about. Of course that made me wonder if maybe by not having a degree and staying at home is going to end up sending Gibbie the wrong message. The social media consensus is that working from home would be perfection. It's such a hard decision for me to make. My mom stayed at home and I thought it was wonderful but she did literally come from a very different generation. The Hubs' mom always worked full time and it was a great example but he was alone a lot. I'm really just hoping that I can find a nice balance with The Pampered Chef and I'll be able to boost my business and not have to worry about anything at all.

What would you do if given the choice?

Links:
This is the article that got me thinking about this topic.
This one seems a bit harsh but I get why she says what she says.
I love this blog and the writer recently quit her job to be a stay at home mom to her two children.

Finally, here's a picture to fulfill your cuteness quota for the day:

Tuesday Topics - Catering to Your Kids

It's quite possibly the biggest fight you'll ever have with a toddler. I used to dread this time of the day because I didn't know if it was a battle worth fighting. DINNER! Seriously, I can't even with this fight. I always said I would never make two dinners to please us and our kid but it has come to that lately. I tend to try recipes on the fancy side that attract a more grown up taste so I end up making the kid a grilled cheese or a pb&j so there's no fight over her not eating dinner.

This past weekend I decided that this is just ridiculous and it needed to stop. My goal is to make more kid friendly meals and maybe only have one night of making her something separate. This week it will be Friday. I'm just making us fried rice with shrimp and Gibbie hates rice so she'll get her sandwich.

I've definitely let it become a habit for too long. Tonight we had tacos and black beans. Gibbie loves beans and has always eaten a deconstructed taco with us. She did end up eating some of it but not before asking for a sandwich twice. Proof enough for me that I need to break this habit immediately.

I met a mom through MOPS two years ago who basically said she wasn't going to have the battle. She put dinner in front of her husband and three sons and they could decide if they were going to eat. If they didn't eat what she put in front of them then they just didn't eat. Upon hearing this I thought it was a great idea but never stuck with it. The Hubs is pickier than Gibbie so there'd be a lot of nights of me eating alone. Best friend J once said that she had heard that anyone needs three bites to tell if they like something. The first bite was to see if their taste buds liked it, the second to see if their stomach liked it, and the third to see if the two agreed.

My Facebook friends gave me a wide variety of answers for this one. One friend said she makes the kids something to eat at 4:30pm and then have dinner with her husband later. Sometimes it's the same meal, sometimes she does a more grown up recipe. I actually did consider that at one point but I don't think it really fits us. Another mom said 95% of the time the kids eat what her and her husband eats. She even has a rule that if one of the kids says they don't like whatever it is then he has to eat a bite of whatever it is for each year. (Example: Kid is 6 years old, kid says he doesn't like green beans, kid has to eat 6 bites of green beans.) She goes one step further and doesn't let the kid have an after dinner treat unless he eats it all. My lovely Best friend M plainly says, "Eat or go to bed hungry...kids are not gonna starve in one evening."

I am totally leaning more towards how Best friend M feels about it. I think The Hubs is feeling a bit more lenient though. I even tried for a while to implement a sort of three bite rule. Three bites, if you don't like it, I'll make you a sandwich. Truth be told, Gibbie can handle a meal she isn't thrilled about it. The Hubs and I do it on occasion when a meal doesn't come out as well as I had hoped for it. So why should I, as the main cook of the house, have to do extra work? I am starting to think that the point of this topic is to talk myself into it. OK, I can do this.

Here's a cute picture to show you why I have a hard time not giving in:

Finally, if there's any topic suggestions you'd like to know my humble opinion (as well as my Facebook friends) leave a comment and let me know.