working mom vs. stay at home mom

Adjusting to being back at work has been much harder than I originally planned. The beginning of the school year is always hectic, but it eventually slows down. However, this school year isn't showing any signs of letting up. At the end of every school day I spend countless hours in front of my computer sending emails relating to my extra duty as fourth grade team leader. By the time I am done, it's late and I'm worn out and I don't have the energy to do my own work. All I want to do is go home and play with baby Bryce (who won't be a baby much longer). With the stress of this new school year and my all around negative attitude towards it and the lack of time I get to spend with Bryce, Jason has suggested that I consider staying home with Bryce.

Before I started teaching, I had always said I wanted to teach for 3 years and then have a baby and stay home. Once I began my career as a teacher, I decided that I put too much work into my degree to only use it for 3 years. We ended up waiting a little while before starting our family and I decided that staying home wasn't for me. Well..........now that I have a child and I know what it's like to stay home (LOVE summer and maternity leave) and to work, I'm beginning to question things all over again.

I LOVE that Jason thinks I should stay home, but it really is a big decision to make, not only financially, but emotionally, too. I worked hard to get my job, I love the people I work with , and overall, I love what I do. I honestly never thought this would be a decision I would be faced with.

I'm considering all the pros and cons of this situation. We both agreed that maybe there was a reason we haven't had any luck selling our house. Maybe it's God's plan for us to stay in this house and me stay at home with Bryce. If we were to sell our house and move, we wouldn't be able to afford for me to stay home. When I think about everything that goes into this decision, I get even more overwhelmed. I've got to stick it out for this school year, so it will give me some time to really think and pray on it. I will be sure to share the final verdict when we reach one!

shoes

It was cool this morning so I put Bryce in this cute little Winnie the Pooh outfit. I just love the little hoodie and I wish I could remember who gave it to us. Jason was helping Bryce stand this morning and he was trying to walk when I realized this outfit had shoes that matched. I know shoes are kind of pointless at this age, but it completed the outfit and made for a good picture. I swear we looked at the shoes and decided which was right and left, but it still looks like the shoes are on the wrong feet, ha!

Bryce would rather be standing than sitting.

He will be walking before we know it!

Our sweet boy!

fall is here

Fall is finally trying to make its debut. While we're already a few days into fall, I've still been sweating at recess everyday with highs reaching into the 80's. The temperature has dropped a couple of times and we have been able to open the windows and let the cool crisp air blow in. I love all the things that come along with fall. Here are just a few...............

I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, but Yankee Candle makes it smell delicious. The house feels so warm and cozy with this candle burning. The candle light is kind of nice, too.

I could eat chili for lunch and dinner everyday in the fall.

We love going to the apple orchard to pick apples. We are looking forward to taking Bryce with us this year. I don't have much luck with apple pies, so I stick to caramel apples.

I've said this before, but I just love college football. Jason and I only went to TECH for a year, but it was enough to make us die hard HOKIE fans for life!

Jason and I don't have as much time for TV as we used to, but we try to make time for our Monday night shows, Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. This year's season premieres were hilarious!

7 months & an ear infection

Does this look like a little boy with an ear infection? He just seems too happy!! Bryce started getting a runny nose last Friday. It bothered me a bit, but I thought it was probably just a cold. He developed a cough throughout the week and I kept trying to convince myself that it was just a cold. I didn't like the sound of the cough this morning so I had Jason make an appointment this afternoon. The doctor said Bryce was doing a good job of not letting us know that he had an ear infection....no ear pulling, not overly fussy, and no temperature. Thank goodness my motherly instinct was telling me to take him to the doctor. We got some "bubble gum" medicine and some ear drops and we are hoping we continue to see this happy smiling face while he recovers!

Bryce is 7 months old today and he is changing every day.

• He loves pulling himself up, whether it's on his toy box or holding on to our hands.
• He is getting better at crawling everyday (video to come).
• He is trying to lean over into a crawling position from sitting.
• He loves to eat.........he likes all the jar food we have given him except green beans. He really loves bananas and sweet potato puffs in his mesh teether.
• He has slept through the night the last 2 nights. (I know that it could be a fluke, especially with the ear infection, but I'm hoping we have turned a corner in the sleep routine.) I even had to wake him up today to go to Kelly's.
• He has the cutest smile and he loves to show it off!
• He is still wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• He has had 3 great weeks in the nursery at church.
• He is becoming more and more aware of the things around him.

I have enjoyed every month and the milestones Bryce has reached, but the past month has been the best so far. He is at such a fun stage right now and I am so sad that I have had to go back to work and miss his sweet smile and personality every day. I know it's a part of life so I am cherishing every minute I get to spend with him in the morning and evening. I don't want to wish my life away, but I started counting down the days until summer vacation as soon as school started! I knew having a baby would be exciting, but I never knew Bryce would bring us this much joy. If I posted a picture of myself, my smile would be just as big as Bryce's!!

clean boy

Is it bad if you can't even remember the last time you gave your child a bath? Well, we remember the last time we gave Bryce a bath, but we don't really want to admit when that was. This week has just been a whirl wind. We normally give Bryce a bath every other night. He got his regularly scheduled bath on Sunday, which means he would have been ready for a bath on Tuesday. I had back to school night Tuesday and I was just getting home when Bryce was ready for bed so he didn't make it into the bath that night. We should have given him a bath last night, but it was our first night with the middle school youth group and we got home right at bedtime again. We finally got Bryce into the bathtub tonight and he had a ball.

disturbing

I had Back to School Night last night so Jason and Bryce had a father son night. They came and brought me dinner at school and then they went shopping and did boy things. They went shopping at all of Jason's favorite man stores and then came home and played dress up. Yes folks, this is the sight I came home to last night!

Jason's Uncle Marty gave this pacifier to our nephew, Chase, and it has been handed down to us. Aren't we lucky?!?

This is rather disturbing.

He still looks dag on cute despite the hideousness.

B.E.A.Utiful Day

The weather has been SO nice for the past few days. Yesterday we took Bryce for a walk at Three Lakes Park after church. He enjoyed eating his banana as we strolled through the woods.

Mommy and Bryce

Daddy and Bryce

Bryce took his first ride in the front of the shopping cart yesterday. He loved being able to look around. There is lots to see at Walmart! I didn't have the diaper bag so we had to take a picture with the cell phone which ended up being a little blurry.

Let's Go HOKIES!!!!

I'm not a big sports fan, but I LOVE college football. I enjoy watching the HOKIES play and keeping up with the rankings. I think Bryce man enjoys watching football, too. Jason got home from golf in time to watch the last few minutes of the Tech game today (which were the only minutes worth watching....ha!) and he held Bryce since he hadn't seen him all day. He was impressed that Bryce was so content just sitting and watching the game. Bryce was quick to turn and look at Jason when he got excited about a play. It was too cute!

Bryce was excited about the Hokie win!

Our little Hokie

Our big eyed boy

video post

Bryce is becoming more active and more animated as the days go by. A picture didn't seem like it would really get the point across so I tried videos. Jason insists we need to get a video camera since the clips from the digital camera get so distorted by the time they make it to the blog. Oh well. Bryce has been pulling himself up to standing when we hold onto him, but just recently he has started to do it all by himself. You can tell he has to work so hard to get up...........listen to his breathing. Too cute!

I don't think there is anything better than a baby giggle! Laughing always turns into the hiccups. I think he takes in too much air while he is laughing.

Bryce loves spinning his ABC wheel.

We attempted to take some video of him starting to crawl (or attempt to crawl) but none of them were that great. He can move himself about 2-3 feet before he gets mad.

I'll try not to wait so long in between posts next time. It's just hard making time for all my many roles these days (mom, wife, teacher, youth sponsor, and just being me). Oh yeah.....did I mention that Jason and I are youth sponsors for the middle school kids this fall?! We took the students to play laser tag this week for the Kick Off. I'm not sure taking on this endeavor was the smartest thing to do with an almost 7 month old, but we really felt like this was something we should do. And I don't think Bryce or Nana will complain about their weekly Wednesday night play date as a result!

bananas

We are having so much fun trying out new foods with Bryce. He has liked everything we have given him except green beans. They were the first thing we tried so I think if we went back to them now, he might like them. Since the last food update, we have added applesauce, squash, carrots and pears to the menu. He loves them all. He really enjoys the baby bananas so I tried putting a real banana in the mesh food bag and he LOVES it. We took some pictures of him eating it tonight, but the video is just the best. All his little slurping noises crack me up!

I don't have any pictures of his latest accomplishments, but he is getting better at pulling himself up and dragging (almost crawling) himself across the floor. I feel like he just started sitting up and now he is doing even more. He's growing up so fast and I'm missing it being at work ALL day. I'm having a very hard time adjusting to being back at work this time. The start of the school year is just SO busy and I can't seem to get ahead. I'm hoping I do soon because I would love to spend more than 4 hours a day with Bryce :(

toothbrush

Bryce's new favorite toy is my toothbrush. He found my toothbrush one day when he was looking in the bathroom mirror. He has figured out how to get it out of the holder and into his mouth. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but when he does, he will know how to brush them!

daddy's boy

Here is Bryce in Jason's motorcycle glasses. I think he looks like an alien. I am pretty sure Bryce will follow after his daddy in his interest for hunting, but I hope he doesn't want to ride motorcylces, too. Jason is very safe on his and has never had any problems, but I don't want to have to worry about my husband AND my son on the motorcycle.

playing

Bryce enjoyed playing in his toy box tonight!

growing up

Bryce has figured out how to feed himself his bottle. He has always tried to help, but he has finally been successful. He doesn't know how to hold on to the side, but he gets a good grip of the bottom rim. He used to hold on to it and shove it into his mouth and then it would fall out the side. But now he seems to get it!

Holding a bottle is not the only thing he has mastered. He can put his pacifier back in his mouth correctly, he can turn off a light switch when I tell him too, and he is starting to pull himself up on his own. He is growing up so fast.