Being a Stay-at-home Mom so Far

I've been a stay at home mom for two weeks now and I am loving it!  I am glad that I went ahead and made the decision to quit.  I think I've gotten a lot accomplished in the last two weeks than I would in probably two months if I was still working.  Of course the main reason for staying home is to take care of Kylie.  I didn't want to miss out on anything and I love being able to play, feed and just be with her all day now.  I did notice while I was working that things at home were being ignored.  I wasn't cooking much anymore, so we ate out quite a bit for reasons that I didn't prep for the meal early enough or I was too tired to cook.  I also had a hard time keeping up on cleaning the house.  Also, any projects that I wanted to do kept getting put to the back burner because all my time when I got off work went to taking care of Kylie.  It was hard to split my time up between responsibilities of home and responsibilities of mom.

I just never really felt accomplished in anything at work or home.  It is amazing how more relaxed I am being home now.  I know that being a stay at home mom is not easy, but having the stress of work taken off my shoulders makes it so much easier.  I still struggle to figure out a routine and make good use of my time, but things are so much better.

For example, last night was the first night we went out to eat in 2 weeks! Which is quite an accomplishment considering how much Scott likes fast food and how often we were doing it before.  While working, it was hard to keep up on my meal plans, but this week I stayed true to my meal plan for 6 days!  Some of the meals took some effort, like making home-made fries and biscuits from scratch.  I am actually starting to enjoy cooking again!  Yes, I taught cooking at school, but since that was my job it made it hard to want to do it at home.  I love being able to try different recipes and try my hand at making things from scratch where I would normally just buy already made.  I might even try certain weeks where I only make recipes from pinterest or from a certain cookbook.

This is a banana and peanut butter sandwich covered in chocolate and frozen. Pretty delicious!

Speaking of food, I am also enjoying making Kylie's baby food from scratch as well!  I think it saves us money in the end, although I am not opposed to buying baby food in a jar.  So far, Kylie has already tried bananas, squash (the only one from a jar), avocados, sweet potato, zucchini and apple.  We just have peas and pears left to try until 7 months when she can start her next set of foods.

When it comes to cleaning, I struggle.  I've always struggled with cleaning, this isn't a new thing since having a baby.  I made up this cleaning schedule, but I haven't exactly followed it yet so I hope to start following it soon.  Scott says that it doesn't bother him when the house is a little dirty and I shouldn't worry so much over keeping things clean, but I truly do like a clean house so when I do clean it's because I want to, not because I have to.

I've also been able to get a few projects accomplished and I'll do a separate post on those.  I think the goals that I set for this year will actually get accomplished!  I do have to remember to not get down if I don't get to something that I plan to do.  My first priority is taking care of Kylie and if that takes away from extra projects and cleaning for the day, then so be it.  I have days where I'm more productive than others.  I like that there is flexibility right now.  Some days, I will do things during Kylie's naps and then other days I'll nap with her or just watch t.v. while she's sleeping.

This e-card is too funny!

I just have to keep reminding myself that I don't need to be the mom I envision myself to be right now.  Again, it's only been two weeks! The transition between working mom and stay at home mom will take some time.  I think I am taking steps in the right direction though and I am happy with what I have done so far.  I am also just happy in general. :)

Kylie is growing fast and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to enjoy every day with her.

Lemon Chicken & Spinach Pasta

I tried out another pinterest recipe tonight.  Before I talk about it, I do have to say that I am loving being a stay-at-home mom! It will take some time to get a routine down, but I already love the opportunities I have to cook at home.  I hope to keep checking off new recipes off of pinterest for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! I'm so excited! :)

Back to the recipe.  I had to think of something quick for dinner involving chicken.  I wanted to do something a little different and we were thinking pasta.  I have a great alfredo sauce recipe from school, but I've made it before and I was in the mood to try new recipes.  I found this recipe for Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach (I decided to shorten the name a bit).  I wasn't sure about it as I was missing some key ingredients. I didn't have any half and half or fresh lemons.  I did have whipping cream and lemon juice.  I figured I'd experiment and try it out and see how it worked.  I know that fresh lemons have a stronger flavor and the recipe does call for adding lemon zest also.  To substitute, I did about 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and I thought it was the perfect amount of lemon flavor.  I'm not sure I'd like the recipe with fresh lemon because the flavor would be too strong.

The recipe is a healthier one, especially with the use of half and half and I know that whipping cream does have a little more fat.  I think the whipping cream worked great and probably made the sauce a little more thick.  I have nothing to compare it to though since this is my first time making the recipe.  I did do about 1 cup of the whipping cream.

I also just did the chicken my own way and definitely did not do 3 Tbsp of oil. I probably could have added more spinach and will next time.  All in all, it was pretty good!  Scott really liked it and wants to put it on our regular rotation.  I like thick sauces that cover the pasta and I was surprised that I liked it since there wasn't a lot of sauce on it.

I'm trying to eat a little healthier (although that darn sweet tooth still has me wanting something sugary every day!) and I think this a great dish that I feel good about eating. 

I don't know why it's staying sideways.

Ice Castles

I don't remember when I bought it, but I found a groupon for the Midway Ice Castles for half off.  Last Saturday, the 11th, we went to see them along with Kyle and Brianna.  It has been 3 years since they have been in Utah, so I'm glad we went this year because who knows when it'll be back.  From the outside, it didn't look that large to me, but once you get inside, it is spectacular!  Since we went on a Saturday, it was a little crowded, but the weather was nice.  We took a lot of pictures because they were just so cool!

Stole this from Brianna.

We saw Olaf from Frozen!

This is how they make the ice castles by "growing" icicles.

After the ice castles, we ate at this pizza place called Cafe Galleria. It was super crowded, but really good food!

It was fun to get out, do something and see something different!

5 Months!

Kylie turned 5 months last Saturday, the 11th.  I'm a little late in getting her pictures taken because I've been very busy this week.  It is amazing that Kylie is almost half a year old! Her one year birthday is going to sneak up on me so quickly.

Since we don't go to the doctor for a 5 month check-up, I don't have any stats. But I do have a little list about Kylie!

• She is trying food now!  We fed her rice cereal for the first time on new years day.  She loved it! You'll notice her eying your food if you sit by her.  I bought a high chair for her for $15 off a yard sale site and she knows that when we sit her in it, she is getting food and becomes really excited. She tried squash on Tuesday and her facial expressions are hilarious.  I'm going to start making home-made baby food here real soon.

• Kylie loves to jump! Be prepared if you want to hold her because she will jump up and down like crazy. I also found a jumper for $10 on the same yard sale site. I wasn't sure since she can only enjoy it for so long, but for the price and how much she loves it, I think it was a great deal.

• She still hasn't fully laughed yet and I am impatiently waiting for the day when it will happen.  She'll do a giggle and then squeal after, but she just loves being tickled.
• Just two days ago, she started enjoying rolling from her back to her tummy.  Diaper changing has proven to become a little challenging because once you lay her on her back, she will immediately roll over. Haha.

Kylie got an adorable outfit for Christmas from Grandma & Grandpa Fletcher. She wore it as her new years eve outfit.

 And here is Kylie playing with a balloon:

I didn't get very good 5 month pictures. I didn't even get one with the elephant! Bad, I know, but I was in a rush.

New Job Title

There has been a big change here in the Fletcher household! A change Scott & I are both super excited for.  As of Friday, January 17th, my job title will no longer be teacher.  When people ask what I do for a living, my answer will now be a stay-at-home mom!! 

This decision did not come easily, but it was made quickly.  I always had lingering thoughts in the back of my mind ever since I went back to school about quitting.  As a teacher, it just wouldn't be right to quit in the middle of a semester, but there is a semester change in January that would work fine.  I would go back and forth in my mind about quitting at semester or waiting until the end of the year.  Quitting at semester would be short notice, but I would be able to be home with Kylie and not regret missing out on anything at home.  Also, if Scott got into the master's program, we most likely would have to have someone watch Kylie and I really did not want child care to be an option.  So, me staying home would make sure that didn't happen.  If I stayed until the end of the year, we would have more money coming in to save.  I would also be able to enjoy all the end of the year school activities for one last time.

I always worry about money and it was a big part of me going back to work in the first place.  It wasn't as big though as me not wanting to look like someone who can't handle something hard.  Working and being a mom is tough! And a lot of women do it.  I have quite a few friends who do it and I admire them for doing so.  I feel like they are strong in being able to handle doing two full-time jobs.  I didn't want to look like I was giving up, in a sense.

And then I thought about what would be best for Scott, Kylie and I.  And the best thing for our family is for me to stay home and raise our daughter.  After telling people at work that I was leaving at semester, I never once got the feeling that I was giving up.  I received so much support for wanting to stay home with Kylie.  I knew that the decision I was making was the right one.

I am excited and ready to not miss out on any of my baby's life!

A Californian Christmas-Part 6

On Sunday, the 29th we went and saw our first NFL game! My hometown team of the Chiefs were in town playing against the San Diego Chargers.  There were about 60,000 people in the stadium, so parking was a little bit of a nightmare.  We had to take 2 cars because not everyone will fit in one.  Scott's mom has a handicap parking pass because of her ankles, so that car was able to get a parking spot within 15 minutes of getting to the stadium.  It took our car a little over an hour to find a spot.  We were actually pretty close to the stadium, it just took a long time to get to the parking structure.

The game was a pretty good one! The Chiefs lost, but it was a close game 27-24.  I did read in an article the next day that the referees should have called out an illegal formation on the defense on the Chiefs missed field goal.  Meaning that the Chiefs could have kicked again and then won the game.

I bought us tickets in the family/non-alcohol section, but we were really close to one of the soundboards so it got quite loud at times.  I got a little worried about Kylie with how loud it was and she did cry a few times because of it, but other than that she did quite well! She even slept twice, which was surprising.

Leaving the game was worse than getting in.  Again, the other car was able to get out and on the freeway within 20 minutes of leaving while we were stuck for about 2 hours just in the parking structure.  We then ate at Claim Jumper afterwards.  No playing games this time when we got home. We were all too exhausted from the fun day we had watching the football game.

The next day, Monday we spent the morning watching movies, playing games and packing.  We then ate lunch at a Mexican place called Miguel's Jr. which was pretty good.  We then headed out on the road back home to Utah! We got stuck in some traffic, but once we got through Vegas it was smooth sailing.  Apparently, we left around the same time as my mom and brother and we met up with them in St. George. We got home around 2:00am.  It was a great vacation and we are still recovering and trying to catch up from it. Thank you Fletcher family for a fun time!