Living the Dream: Being a Full-Time Stay-at-Home Mom

I can't believe I get to stay home every day and take care of this bundle of joy!

I did it! I took a leap of faith and told my boss that I'd like to extend my 3-month maternity leave for at least 1 year until I finish nursing Rosalina. K's job seems somewhat stable at least for the next 6 months (they're looking to hire him on soon, which means health insurance benefits, baby!). Plus, my mother-in-law isn't able to babysit as much anymore, so it just wasn't worth it to pay for childcare when I really, really want to be there for my kids when they're younger.

I love having a little girl... she's literally my living doll that I get to play dress up with.

While it may have seemed nerve-racking to pull the plug with my company, I was scared to death about telling my parents. Yeah, the same parents who both worked their entire lives and paid for my engineering bachelor's and master's degrees. The same mother who told me when I got married that not having a dual-income household is financial suicide and pure idiocy, especially if something happens to my husband. Egad... But I can tell my mom has grown a lot in her relationship with the Lord because she did a complete 180 and said, "I'm proud of you for living by faith because only God knows what the next day will bring." Wow, how amazing it is to have her support!

Gotta start readjusting the budget to live on only 1 income. Thank goodness for friends with adorable hand-me-downs. 

I desperately wanted to be a full-time stay-at-home mom (SAHM) when Dexter was born, and I felt like it was a desire planted by God. So why didn't it happen then? I think the key word is desperate. Yes, it may have been part of God's plan, but it wasn't in His timing and my motivations weren't right yet. I was running away from work, rather than doing it for my family and for God. During that time of working part-time from home and caring part-time for Dexter, the Lord showed me how strong I can be and how much more I can do with His help. Whenever I thought I was at the end of my rope and had no more to give, somehow the Holy Spirit was right there, providing that extra burst of energy I needed to get through the day.

And boy, do I need that strength and perseverance now. Caring for a toddler in the full throes of the Terrible Twos and an infant with a frequent nursing schedule is like non-stop firing on all four cylinders with no weekends off. But then I think about the past two years of sitting at my desk and cranking out technical white papers for clients in every spare moment, and I am flooded with gratefulness that God is blessing me with this period of being a SAHM. I don't know how long it's going to last, if He wants me to continue after this year or to cut it short if K's job goes south, so I made some goals of things I'd like to accomplish in this time:

• Q4 2014: make a will, finish 1 Christmas stocking, finish Dexter's baby book
• Q1 2015: train for and run a 5K (aka get back into shape)
• Q2 2015: finish 1 more Christmas stocking, publish a new crochet pattern

Rosalina just crossed the 4-month mark, and I feel like I'm just starting to get the hang of things. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more in the evenings now that she's getting a little older and is sleeping through the night. Thanks for sticking with me through the adjustment period (and all the baby pics) – I look forward to writing more soon!

A friend inspired me to make the time to crochet a baby hat. Poor Rosalina hasn't benefited from my crochet/knitting skills much at all because of lack of time. Sorry, second child!