Life as of now...

To sum up life as of now in one word it would be hectic. I started working from home in October and we hired a nanny- then add in the holidays and it made life seem to spin backwards.  With all of the adjustments and changes I was really struggling to understand my new position as a "work from home mom." 

Let's rewind back to the beginning of this journey...

In late August I received a phone call from two former co-workers who had formed their own company and were putting in a bid on a contract that was similar to that of the one I worked on prior to Everett being born.  My co-workers were inquiring if I would be interested in a position on the contract but initially I turned down the offer.  While the thought of bringing in more income for our family was intriguing, Tyler and I knew that, for our family it was best for me to be home with the boys. 

A few weeks later I got another call asking if I would be interested in the position if it were four days a week at home and one day a week in the office.  This proved to be more of a possibility for our family as I would be able to be home with the boys so I accepted this offer.  Once I knew my start date we started searching for a nanny on Care.com.  I knew that this was the site that I wanted to use because I had actually used them when I was a nanny in college and was searching for work.  

I signed up for a three-month membership and posted the following ad: 

I am a full-time mommy who has just accepted a full-time work from home position. I will be working in the home but will not be able to devote my full attention to the children so I need someone to come to my house Monday- Friday. I have two boys, a two year old and a five month old. Duties would include: diapers for the five month old, potty breaks for the two year old, breakfast/snacks/lunch, playtime, reading to the boys, etc. We practice attachment parenting and would love to hire a nanny who either understands that or is willing to learn more about attachment parenting.

I wanted to hire someone who was experienced with multiple children and was either familiar with attachment parenting or was willing to learn and help us practice attachment parenting at home. We had great success with over twelve applicants within the first week of posting our ad.  Of those twelve applicants we interviewed four and ultimately hired Sue who is the perfect fit for our family. 

Sue comes during the day while I am working and it is so helpful to have her there with the boys.  At first, I really struggled with how I fit in when she was at the house because I was so accustomed to being the sole caregiver to the children.  We rearranged some furniture and turned the "man cave" into an office so that I would have a place to work that was separate from the kiddos during the day.  Once a week I travel up north to go into the office and have to be away from the boys.  As much as I loathe being away from them, it actually is nice to be able to have adult conversation.  

While I am at work I do have to pump and there is an AWESOME lactation room at my office! Seriously, it has two lounge chairs, a television, mini refrigerator, books, etc. and I am pretty much the only person that uses it! It is like my own personal break room!  Since starting work Nolan has had to adjust to taking a bottle... that was really tough for him.  It took him about three months or so to willingly take the bottle and even now he still does not like it at all.  As soon as I get home he clings to me and we are pretty much attached for the rest of the night!

Everett has been doing okay with the new changes, he loves our nanny and is learning a lot from her.  She is bilingual and is teaching the boys Spanish; Everett knows how to count in Spanish as well as most of his colors and several animals!   He does have a little trouble on Monday mornings when the nanny comes because he has been with Tyler and I all weekend but by Tuesday he is back in the jive.  One thing that he and I have been doing is having once a week lunch dates where just he and I go out and grab something to eat.  I made a goal this month to spend one-on-one time with him and this has really been helping out with his general attitude. 

So here we are in a new routine, one that I NEVER pictured for us but sometimes life throws you curve balls and you learn to go with it! What about y'all?  Is your life the way you thought it would be?  Are you where you thought you would be?