At Peace with my SAHM status. Finally.

My big computer that I normally use for blogging and sharing my (300+) pictures that I just downloaded is being slooooow and stupid today, so I will just have to be thankful that I can upload my cell phone pictures on my tiny kitchen computer.

I love you tiny kitchen computer.

Elisabeth is at school right now. Her last day is Thursday and then she has break until August 4th. She is very upset that she will no longer ever be in 1st grade ever again (because she is her father's child), but, she is also thrilled. There will be lots of frolicking as pictured below.

I won't lie, I'm excited she's on break too. Since Julia is older (have I mentioned that she will be 2 next month!!!!!!!!!), she and Elisabeth can actually play together and it makes it a lot easier on me to get things done around the house or when we are out and about running errands.

As I look back at this past year (yes, we have lived in Colorado over a year now! how crazy is that?!), I can't help but notice how much I've changed my views on me being a stay-at-home-mom. I really, really, really struggled with it in the beginning. (See this where I am in despair about the intensity of my children and this where I am lamenting that I don't have a job). I worked full time when we got pregnant with Elisabeth and, since we were both college students and Evan pursued law school right after undergrad, it wasn't even a choice for me to stay home with Elisabeth. And, with Elisabeth's personality, she loves loves loves people and a day care environment was a really positive experience for her. She was so sad when she started kindergarten and had to say good-bye to The Growing Place.

But, with Julia, it's different. Evan was the stay-at-home parent for her first six months during the "after the BAR exam but before Air Force training" wait period. And, when he left for training and the girls and I moved to Pekin before moving to be with Evan out here in (GORGEOUS) Colorado, I worked as a substitute teacher with my mom watching Julia when I needed her to. So, Julia has never experienced a day care. I actually don't think she'd fair well. She's not very social (I'm sure you're shocked) and she likes being home (again, never before heard facts, right?).

But, here's the thing...I like being home now too. I like the schedule the girls and I have. I love the fact that both girls know that there is someone home for them. And with the long hours Evan works a lot of the time, having someone home to get things done around the house, run the errands, and cook the meals is easier on all of us. Plus, the lovely thing about being married to Evan is that, if the tables were turned and it was me with the super busy full time job, Evan would be okay being the one at home if that's what worked best for our family. And, right now, having someone home is working.

Plus, we have friends and things in the community that we throw into the daily grind of being home, so Julia's being exposed to friends and things and learning.

She loves going grocery shopping with me. I let her help if we don't have a whole lot to buy and she is proud of herself when she gets to put food in the cart.

She also helps me with laundry, which is by far her favorite chore. She takes after her Aunt Kyle.


Actually, at times, I kind of feel bad that I didn't get to experience this with Elisabeth. I know, I'm starting down that slippery slope of "coulda woulda shoulda" that all parents go through.

So, I guess I'll have to take advantage of the stay-at-home-mom time I have now with Elisabeth. She's growing up way faster than I thought children could. She can do simple multiplication for goodness sake and is reading chapter books alone after we tuck her into bed!!!

And this one?

Well, she's only a year away from preschool.

Excuse me, I need to go sob into their baby books for a few hours. I'll talk to you all later.