Workin' Girl

I thought it would be fun to link up with Kelly's blog today to connect with working moms. She was so right when she said that we are ALL working moms, so I'm not looking to get into a debate about which is better. At this season in our life, it's best that I work right now, although hopefully that won't always be the case. Just because I work doesn't mean I love my child less than you love yours, nor does it mean I love "things" more than I love my child.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's get started =)

I really like to "meet" other working moms because sometimes I feel like I'm the only one out there. I know I'm not, but sometimes it just feels that way.

Before I went back to work 8 weeks post-partum, I wrote this post and looking back now it makes me really sad. It was so hard for me to come back to work and to be honest, I've just recently gotten to the point where I don't cry about it at least once or twice a week. Re-reading that post kind of opened the wound again, and I just remembered how awful it was. I don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer, because I am thankful that I have a job, and I'm so thankful they let me switch to 4 days a week instead of 5, for that I am grateful.

So you might be wondering what I do.   I am a Human Resources Coordinator for a mid-sized company.  We have about 150 employees.  I am in charge of payroll, payroll taxes, benefit administration, benefit reconciliation, 401K, hiring {sometimes}, all fuel/fleet management, training records, training audits, work comp, safety coordination, and whatever else lands on my desk for the day.  Does any of that even make sense to anyone but me?

I am so So fortunate that Gracie is able to stay with my mom and mother in law on the days that I work.  And to tell you the truth, when I'm able to not work full time, I will probably find something part time about 2 days a week.  I enjoy getting dressed and socializing when adults, and eating chick-fil-a without interruption.  And Gracie LOVES the time she spends with her grandmas and cousins, and they love the time with her so that's not something I want to take away from either of them.  I think 2 days would be perfect for me.  I call about 2,347,123,660 times a day and check on her and they don't mind that either.  Also, I get hourly video and picture updates which I love.

The thing I hate most about working is the long drive.  I drive about an hour each way and it's awful!  However, I have used my drive time to catch up on saying prayers or catching up on phone calls.  When I am home, my phone is on silent in my purse and I don't care to be bothered.  When I am home, I am very present with her.  She has my undivided attention until she goes to bed.

I will say that my mindset about work has changed since becoming a momma.  I used to always want more responsibility and want to do more and would work at home, and would get involved with office "politics".  Now, I complete my work for the day and go home and don't think about it again until I walk back through the door.  That may not make some people happy, but my family is the most important thing to me and I will always choose what makes them happy if I have to choose.  I'm not involved in as much decision making as I was before and that's OKAY with me.

I can't wait to see what other working moms have to say!

**edited to add:  I work for a wonderful company and have wonderful co-workers who are very compassionate to my situation and don't give me a hard time if I have to take off last minute for something.  I'm super blessed for that**

A Day in the Life

I have been wanting to do a “day in the life” post for a while now. Not because anyone will think it’s super interesting, but because I want to be able to look back and remember what life was like with an {almost} one year old.

Gracie woke up this morning at 5Am which is typical. Normal she stays awake, but I fed her and put her back to bed in hopes that she would sleep a little longer since I didn’t make it to bed the night before until 1AM. I had a while night of partying reading books. So anyway, she went back to sleep until about 6:30, then I brought her into my bed and we cuddled and played for about 30 minutes and then went into the kitchen. Miss G ate a banana and cheerios while I made my coffee and started the dishwasher:

After that I stripped her down because she was all messy from breakfast and we played for a bit. She is on a big kick right now of only playing with the dog. Our dog, Macy likes to take and destroy all the balls in Gracie’s ball pit, and Gracie just thinks that is the greatest thing and loves to chase her around with the balls that have been destroyed

I tried to put her down for a nap around 8:30, but my poor baby became inconsolable, which is REALLY not like her. She is cutting four teeth on top and I think they were really bothering her. I tried holding her, but that didn’t work and that always works. I finally gave her some tylenol and baby orajel . When that didn’t work I tried milk in a sippy and she threw it on the floor screaming, naturally. So I put it in a bottle and she drank 7 ounces!!! She doesn’t usually have a bottle at that time so I was surprised she even took it, and she NEVER has more than 4 or 5 ounces at a time. And on top of all that I had to swaddle her! I haven’t swaddled her in at least a month. I just couldn’t believe what a hard time she was having because she morning nap is always the easiest. She finally fell asleep around 9:30

While she napped I switched over the laundry, and cleaned out the refrigerator. Here is a little before and after. I am ashamed at how much food I threw away. There are starving people all over the world and I am disgusted about how much I waste. I know that is cliché, but it’s true. I told Eric today that we are making it a goal to not eat out for at least 2 weeks so we can make sure we use all our left-overs.

I picked up the house a bit and got a few chapters read in a book I’m reading before Gracie woke up at 11.

She was in such a great mood when she woke up. We played for a little while, I changed her clothes, and she “helped” me do laundry. She loves to help put clothes in the dryer, but she hates it when she sees folded clothes. She will take all she can in her hands and take them all to different rooms, LOL

While I was throwing her clothes in the washer, I remembered some things I bought for her the other day and got them out of the sacks to wash them too. I loved baby pajamas, especially the kind with feet.

I completely forgot about this adorable cardigan I bought at Target the other day for $4.00!! I couldn’t believe it! It’s a 2T so it won’t fit her until at least next winter, and probably not until fall next year but it was too cute to pass up! It has a really cute lace bow on it

After we did a little laundry, I put G in her bumbo on the the coffee table with snacks and the Sprout channel while I was finishing up my grocery list and menu for the next week {right beside her}. We left the house and decided to meet my Mom for lunch before going to the grocery store. We met at a pizza shop in town and Gracie really likes one of the women who works there and she really likes Gracie. I told her that Gracie was walking and she wanted to see so I got her out of the high chair and told her to walk for Miss so and so and she was so excited to show off and she was so proud of herself. She had the biggest smile on and kept looking back to make sure everyone was watching her. Such a ham! I wish I would have gotten a video of it…

We stopped into a few shops after lunch and then went to the store. Gracie gets really upset when she sees a banana and can’t have it so she totally freaked when I put some in the cart and didn’t give her one. She was about to make a scene so my mom went and bought one single banana so she could have it, such a good Nina. Of course this ended up with banana all over me, Gracie, her clothes, and the cart. I got everything I needed and high tailed it out of there before she could make a scene because she was getting really tired. Needless to say I didn’t get a picture of this.

On the way home my father in law called and said he wanted to come over and see Gracie. This was about 2:30. She normally naps from about 12-2 so he thought she would have just woken up, but today was a little different because we were on the go and she had a meltdown this morning. I tried to hurry home and hope that she wouldn’t fall asleep on the way home. Well, she did fall asleep and slept for about 10 minutes before I woke her up when we got home. She thought that 10 minutes totally refreshed her, which is what I was afraid of. Regardless, she was in a good mood for her G-pa and that’s all that mattered. He only stayed about 15 minutes so I put her right to bed after he left and thankfully she went down easily.

While she slept, I had intentions of finishing laundry, but I picked up my book to read just a chapter or two and ended up finishing the thing! Before I knew it, it was 4:30 and she was awake in a great mood.

We played some more

The FedEx guy dropped off a rug that I ordered the other day from overstock.com. Gracie was really excited about it and wouldn’t get off it for the longest time.

I am really loving this rug! I was afraid that it would be too green, but I think it will work well. I haven’t put it out yet, I just unrolled it a bit to look at it.

Eric came home about 5:30 and I started dinner. I made Chicken Enchiladas, here is the recipe I used:

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 cups of monterrey jack cheese

10 flour tortillas

2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of sour cream

1 can of green chilis

2 tbsp of chipolte seasoning

3 tbsp of melted butter

3 tbsp of flour

* Cook chicken and shred. {I actually put mine in a food processor to make it really shredded and add the chipolte afterwards, but you can do it however you want.} Add half the cheese to chicken.

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees

* In a sauce pan, melt the butter and add the flour after butter is melted. Add the chicken broth and wisk occasionally until it is thick and bubbly {about 5 minutes}. Add sour cream and green chilis. This will be your sauce

* Take the chicken and cheese mixture and put in center of tortilla, roll up, and place in cooking pan. Do this until you are out of chicken

* Pour sauce over rolled up tortillas and top with remaining cheese

* Cook for 22 minutes, and broil for 3 minutes to brown the top a bit

*Enjoy! We eat ours with spanish rice and beans

These are really really good. I make two different kinds of enchiladas and I will share my other recipe shortly {because who doesn’t like enchiladas?}

After we ate, I gave Gracie a bath and got her in her pajamas. Then she helped with dishes =) When I say helped, I mean she took the spatulas out of the dishwasher and chased the dog around with them

Around 7:30, Eric and I sat down to watch TV. Thursday night is the only night I watch TV pretty much and I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I love a good love triangle, and that show delivers!

Normally, I would try to sew something {or at least think about sewing something} but tonight I am worn out so I think I will just go take a shower, try to start a new book, and go to bed hopefully by 10:30 or 11.

I started writing this blog post about 8PM on commercial breaks, it’s now 9:45 and I realize I probably WAY overshared our day. But I really do want to remember every little detail of our time together because to me it’s so precious.

Operation Get Skinny

I am ashamed to say that I haven't worked out but once or twice since Gracie has been born. I have been enjoying the weight loss benefits of nursing and now that that is coming to an end, I have found that I really need to start watching what I eat. Like... in a major way! Y'all, I'm not even kidding when I say that I ate Chick-fil-a three times last week!

I found a couple of good articles on pinterest that I added to my "Get Skinny" board on Pinterest:

Who doesn't want Carrie legs

Source: ahlanlive.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: ahlanlive.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: womenshealthmag.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: t-tapp.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: lovelyfragile.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I also need to start eating healthier since Gracie grabs anything that is on my plate. It just tastes better from momma's plate. 

Source: lifewithnature.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: gethealthygetsexy.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: tanandtoned.tumblr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: termlifeinsurance.org via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: laceyinloveblog.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I have heard wonderful things about this monster smoothie. I need to give it a try 

Source: singforyoursupperblog.com via Andrea on Pinterest

It's so hard to find time to work out and cook healthy meals. What do you do to stay healthy? I would love to hear some tips! 

2012 goals revisited

Okay, so in order to keep myself accountable, I will have to repost these every once in a while to make sure that I'm staying on track. Let's see how I'm doing since I last posted these:

1. Color my hair at LEAST every 8 weeks. I'm seriously seeing grey, y'all! You would gasp if you saw my roots up close **well I last colored my hair in October and I just colored it last week again for the first time since then, so I guess this is a major FAIL. However, if we're basing it just on 2012, then I'm on track. **

2. Use up all my gift cards for massages at the spa. I have got to learn to make "me" time, something I haven't even thought of since I've had G **win! I went a few weeks ago for a massage and signed up for a membership so I will get one a month until April. We will see after that **

3. Get pedicures once a month **FAIL! and this should really be moved to the top of my priority list. It's not looking pretty. **

4. Stick to my to-do list and actually DO WHAT'S ON IT! (this really should be #1, makes my life so much easier) **yeah, still working on this one. I ALWAYS make a list. I just don't always do what's on it. I get sidetracked too easily. So not a fail, but not a win yet either **

5. Print the pictures I take and not just leave them on the computer ** No comment. Does anyone do this anymore? **

6. Do a load of laundry every day from start to finish. Easier said than done ** FAIL. I had high hopes **

7. Get birthday cards for everyone I know ** Yay for me, I have done this if I'm aware it's their b-day **

8. Study Scripture every day. I love the learning bibles rather than just reading a verse and moving on for the day without really thinking about it. ** I really haven't been good at doing this daily and this is the one I most wanted to stick with. Does anyone have a good devotional they like? I get a devotional e-mail every morning, but I'm normally reading it as I'm flying out the door on my way to work **

9. Look for at least a little bit of positiveness, no matter the situation ** I think I have been better at this **

10. Have NOT ONE bad thing to say about anyone. I need to make Ephesians 4:29 become my life verse **I think I have been better at this too. It doesn't make anyone feel better to think mean thoughts or say something bad about someone. I rarely said too many mean things before, but I probably gave my opinion on a situation a little more often than necessary. I'm working on banishing all mean thoughts **

11. Pray together before meals ** No, I actually forgot about this one **

12. Take more vitamins **FAIL, And there is no excuse. I even carry them in my purse**

13. Work towards paying the house off so in a few years I will be able to stay home with my babies ** This we have been doing very well at and are right on track. **

14. Make the bed every day ** Neutral. I have been doing better, it's probably made 75% of the time. **

How are you doing on your goals for the new year?

Misc. Monday

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Instead of doing a weekend recap post, I'm just going to do a list of a few things we did this weekend along with a few random thoughts because these totally don't flow together well!

1. Saturday night my sisters came over and watched Gracie so Eric and I could go out for a friend’s birthday. We never get out, this is maybe the 4th or 5th time since G has been born {over 11 months ago} that we have been out. It was one of my best friend's birthdays so we decided to go. I only took one picture the entire night and it was before we even left the house. We are such old people, we made it home by 11PM.

2. I am obsessed with Grands wheat biscuits. Has anyone tried them, they taste SO much better I think!

3. I have a ton of these hair clips available in my shop for only $4.95 with free shipping!! {shameless plug}. They are located in the hair accessory section titled "Her Crowning Glory"

4. I have GOT to get more organized. This is one of my goals every year and I fail miserably every year. I have so much on my plate right now and feel so chaotic when I don't stick to a routine. I found a website called Just Mommies that has a great cleaning schedule that I think I will be able to stick to. It has a printable calendar that I can keep on the fridge. It outlines small daily tasks, and larger monthly tasks. I swear, I clean my house like every 30 seconds, but we have a little tornado running around.

5. I was always so sad about Gracie getting older every month, but I am LOVING this stage with her. She is such a funny little thing. She can walk and "talk". She will carry an entire conversation with me, I just have no idea what she's saying. We got her a bunch of outdoor toys for her birthday and I can't wait until it's warm enough to play with them. She really started to enjoy the pool at the end of last summer, so I'm hoping she still loves it this year because I already have a ton of cute bathing suits for her. I need to make her a little personalized sun hat and beach towel to match her suits.

6. I am on the hunt for the perfect homemade body lotion. My skin is so dry and sensitive and needs extra care and any scented lotion won’t work because it just dries my skin out more. My friend gave me her “recipe” which was coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax, along with whatever scent you like. I tried it out and it was just awful. I had an old bottle of body spray that lost the sprayer top so I decided to poke a hole in it and pour some scent in the lotion. I thought it was genius. Well friends, I will not lie, the lotion smelled like vodka and I could not stop gagging. Maybe some people don’t mind smelling like vodka, but I’m not one of them. It was an epic fail. Does anyone have any good lotion recipes, or a store bought lotion they love? I have already made the perfect homemade body scrub that I’ll share shortly!

7. We went to my parents house tonight to watch the Super Bowl and my poor baby fell and busted her lip AND got a bloody nose. I just about died. I think it may have traumatized me more than her! We gave her an ice pack and she thought that was the coolest thing, This is our little trooper after the accident

She had story time with Papa afterwards and felt much better

8. G is going through some major teething right now and has been walking around with a sock in her mouth non-stop. I t’s a clean sock, so you don’t have to worry about that, I just thought that it was funny that she wants a sock of all things

9. I am on a really big kick right now of wanting to sell our house. Eric pretty much has to talk me out of it every day.

10. Gracie can tell you the sounds of a cow, a bear, and a monkey and it’s so cute. Not like I’m biased or anything

I think that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope y’all had a great weekend!