Domestic Goddess

The two words that describe me best right now!

At first, I was overwhelmed.

How am I going to do it all?

Cleaning. Laundry. Cooking. Baking. Organizing. Keeping the family together.

I THINK I HAVE THE ANSWER: SCHEDULE!

If babies thrive on a schedule, so should their moms...with flexibility for play dates and other fun things.

So guess what I did? I made a schedule! Here's what it is...let me know your thoughts.

MONDAY: Pay Bills. $$

TUESDAY: Laundry (clothes)

WEDNESDAY: Cleaning (kitchen, bathrooms)

THURSDAY: Cleaning (living room, bedrooms, floors)

FRIDAY: Meal plan for the following week; Grocery Shopping

SATURDAY: Laundry (sheets and towels)

So what do you think?

I've heard the key is breaking it up. Not looking at the house and saying "I have a whole house to clean today." Rather, by breaking it up in to 2 days, it's not so overwhelming.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Sariah Update

An update on Sariah: She's much better! Her fever was at 100 this morning, and she's happy and almost back to her normal self.

Am I Crazy?

When I decided not to go back to teaching, I had all these wonderful plans.

Re-decorate the house.

Clean out closets.

Be able to clean my home in 1 day (instead of little by little throughout the week)!

This is the first week that I have been able to stay home with Sariah since school got out.

She is sick.

Really sick.

103 degree fever sick.

Is this what I signed up for? Being a mom?

Being in my pj's all day, hair disheveled, glasses.

Letting my little one be in her pj's all day, too, because that's how she is comfortable.

Living room is a mess.

Dishes to do.

Laundry to fold.

Meal plan for the week to be made.

Not caring about any of that because I am rocking my little girl, with her 103 degree fever.

She only wants one person. ME.

And her giraffe.

And her pacifier.

And her blankie.

She wants her mom.

I'm her mom.

Again, is this what I signed up for?

With all my heart, yes.

A girl and her scooter

In a previous post, I described Sariah's TEMPER.

Here is a little taste.

Lately, she's been a walking MANIAC, pushing this little scooter all around the house.

The problem? She doesn't know how to turn it around!

Little Striped Convict

Jared calls these pj's her "convict" pj's.

Sariah was playing one morning before I got her dressed.

It became quiet.

Too quiet.

Then I saw her emptying Jared's sock drawer...one sock at a time.

First REAL Owie

I was trying to capture Sariah's cute playful nature by videoing her while she was playing peek-a-boo with the door. Little did I know that she would get her finger stuck...

Follow me, Daddy.

Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters, there is something which there are no words to express.

Sariah and her Daddy.

Walking around the house, together.

She takes his hand, and leads him where she wants to go.

Happily, he follows.

Learning is STILL FUN

I want to be the kind of mother that allows her child to play in the mud.

I want to be the kind of mother that is alright with her child tasting dirt.

I want to be the kind of mother who isn't afraid of messes.

Playing with food: VERY important part of the learning process!!!

Our little girl STILL is not interested in table food.

She cries when presented with it.

However - she LOVES to stick her fingers in her baby food and squish it between her fingers.

Why am I alright with this?

Because of what is happening in her brain!!

She's learning, she's experiencing, and she's having fun.

So what do you get when you combine a 1o month old with food to play with?

A CHEESY grin (look at those 8 teeth!):



And a Happy Little Girl:

Celebrating in STYLE!

Remember before you were married?

Remember how you craved to go out with your friends?

Remember how you went dancing until 2am?

Remember when you were newlyweds and would go on a fabulous date every so often?

Well guess what?

We're not newlyweds anymore. We've been married over 6 years.

Our idea of celebrating Jared's last week of class?

STAYING HOME, WATCHING A MOVIE, AND EATING!!

What has happened to us?

Dinner: Bamboo Club
Jared: Chicken and Shrimp Curry
Amber: Orange and Spinach Chicken



Dessert: Baskin Robbin's Ice Cream Cake
Ice Cream: Cookies n' Cream
Cake: White



You know what? I wouldn't change a thing.

Give me a night, homework-free with my husband.

Let us cuddle while watching a movie.

Knowing that our little girl is sleeping safe and sound 20 feet away.

Let us eat without interruption and enjoy a wonderful meal.

Give me all of this, and give me all I could ever want.

He's done!

My amazing, smart, dedicated husband finished his LAST class last night. His graduation is June 21. Congratulations, Jared!!! We all are SO PROUD of you, especially me and Sariah.

Another helpless animal...

What is it with me and finding HELPLESS ANIMALS?? This morning, some students came and got me. I soon saw a crowd of students huddling over something very tiny. When I asked them to move, this is what I saw...





I then start looking around, and I see this...





And then further in the distance are these. Think it's his family watching to see what we'll do?






The above picture isn't very good - it's from my camera phone. Anyhow, the first picture is of this poor hurt baby ground squirrel. The kids are begging me to save it and make it better. What do they expect me to do? I'm not sure this little guy is going to survive. I have such a soft spot for animals and it killed me to tell the kids that if I touch him, the others will reject him and probably even kill him. We have to leave him alone and let nature take its course. Was I wrong?

Unexpected Visitor

This morning, I left the house early for work. I normally leave about 7:20, but something told me I needed to leave early. I was walking out of my house at 7:05 when I see this sweet face by my mailbox.







This sweet Rottweiler puppy had gotten out of his home somehow! Anyone who knows me knows my deep love for animals. I WISH I COULD KEEP HIM! Who wouldn't want to keep that sweet baby boy? I didn't know what to do because I couldn't put him inside for 3 reasons. 1 - I have a pitbull who doesn't get along with other dogs. 2 - he is a puppy and I was afraid he would pee all over the place! 3 - I had to go to work and wasn't going to leave him at home. This is what I decided. I put my dog in my room and shut the door, and put the puppy outside in our safe backyard. I then let my dog back into the living room. She's house-trained and I knew she wouldn't pee and told myself I would run home during my planning hour and hide the puppy and then let her out. When I got to work, I had a thought. One of my students' parents knows a ton of people, all who are dog lovers! I called her right at 8:05 and asked her if she wanted a puppy. Thankfully, she did. She's going to surprise her son with the puppy because it's his birthday this weekend and they were going to get him a puppy anyways! I've known her for years so I told her where my house was and allowed her to go get the puppy. What happy ending to an unexpected morning!

Lost in Translation

Sariah jabbers away ALL THE TIME! Anyone care to translate?

Ms. Moneybags!

And so it starts...

Bubble Beauty

I gave Sariah her first bubble bath! She LOVED the BUBBLES! She finally couldn't stand just touching them anymore and did a face-plant...

Pool Cutie

With SUMMER comes the POOL!

I put about 2 inches of water in a $10 blow-up pool and watched our girl go.

She was so mesmerized by the water that I couldn't get her to look up and smile in to the camera!

Monkey Business

I know I post a lot of pictures of our sweet baby girl sleeping, but I couldn't resist! With her foot sticking out, cuddling with the monkey tail...