Ok, so I'm totally inspired by the blog of
Mrs. Sara Radak. She started blogging again... so shall I! Plus, I want to eat those delicious looking oatmeal cookies. I'm hoping that if I give her a shout out here, she'll bring me some. =)
So I haven't posted since Nathan was one month old... 6 and a half months ago! Epic fail! A lot has been happening since then. Lets see if I can sum it up. We completely remodeled our kitchen. When I say completely, I mean it! The only thing left from the previous kitchen is the hard wood floor on the dining room half. Perhaps for my next blog, I'll do a start to finish rundown of how things went. I think you will be quite impressed. Andrew and his dad did a fabulous job. =)
The kitchen project started to come to a close about a month or two ago. It was a solid 6 months of no cooking here in the Husted house. Luckily, Nathan only needed a microwave to survive. We definitely did a lot of dishes in the bathroom sink and ate more than enough meals at my in-laws house. We were lucky to have them, or I might have REALLY gone insane. Not gonna lie, it was tough though. Its emotionally draining to start a family while undergoing a major kitchen remodel, while being a full time working mom. Phew. If Andrew and I made it through that, I think we might be able to make it through anything. =)
As for Nathan... he's as handsome as ever. He's gone from being a 10lb 4 oz suprise to a 23lb happy bouncing little man. He has two teeth. He can roll over and sit up. He's starting to crawl. And last night, he pulled himself up for the first time... IN HIS CRIB! That was definitely a surprise when Andrew went to check on the noise he was making in the middle of the night. His new trick this week is clicking his tongue. It's so cute. He'll really start going with it if you make the same noise back to him. It's like having a conversation!
I think he had his first temper tantrum last week while I was in Target with him. I was buying a new strap for his pacifier and I decided I'd let him play with it while we were walking around. As he started chewing on it, I thought... "Hmm. Maybe we shouldn't hand a soggy item to the cashier. Here Nathan, suck on your pacifier while you just play with this using your hands." So we get to the check out line and it's time to hand the pacifier strap to the cashier. Well, when I take it from Nathan, he screams! I mean embarrassing scream. Like people probably wondering what I'm doing to my child in the check out lane scream. Horrible. So here I was frantically searching through my purse to find something else to put in his little hands. I hand him my keys. Silence. Silence interrupted by little gasping breaths and a tear stained face. Poor guy. I'm sure these adventures will only get more exciting as he continues to take hold of his little personality.
As for Andrew and me... we're fabulous! His job is still going well and mine is on the verge of being amazing. For more than a year, we've been struggling with the debate of me working or staying at home. Our ultimate goal and dream is for me to stay home, but that's not currently a practical reality for us. What I've been doing is working full time. Nathan's gone to daycare a few days a week mixed with going to his Grandma Janice's two days a week. I've tried to get a promotion, but it just wasn't working out the way I planned. Finally, Andrew and I figured that maybe God was trying to tell us something. Maybe the wise thing to do wasn't for me to take steps towards making more money, but towards spending more time with Nathan. In fact, more time with Nathan was our ultimate goal, so promotions aren't exactly a way to work towards that goal. So an opportunity came about and we took it! ... I'm going part time at the bank! I'll be staying at my branch, doing what I've always done, but with less responsibility. I'll work two days during the week, and saturday mornings. No more daycare for Nathan... just some time with Grandma Janice. Sounds good to me! Sounds perfect, really. Hopefully this will give me the time and stress relief I need in order to feel like a more effective mommy, wife, christian and employee. I feel like for the past 7 months, I've just been surviving. I'm ready to live. I'm excited. =)
One of my first steps towards being a more effective Amy is this blog. It's hard to keep in good touch with friends and family when life gets so busy. This is at least one form of communication that I'd like to be better at. Next step... phone calls and play dates. =)
