Me too?

Well, I've been reading the blogs of a couple friends and as I was reading I thought, "Hey, I might have something to say, too." It seemed like my friends were writing to their friends and family about what was going on in their lives. And I thought I could do that. I write the same things over and over in emails anyway. So, here's where it begins.

My blog.


I am a stay at home mom.

This is a humble statement, a simple statement, a statement that many moms make. It is also a loaded statement. It's the "mom" word that loads this occupation with meaning and work. It's a statement I've been longing to make for nearly two years.

I was so sad to return to work when my precious Zoe was only 5 months old, but we figured it was the best thing for our family at the time. The balm that soothed the sting for me was that Dan could stay home with Zoe during the day while I went to work. He was amazing. Dan brought Zoe to work every day at lunch time to nurse and when she dropped her lunch time nurse, he brought her to me at lunch anyway, just to visit. My boss was also amazing. I didn't have a private office, so everyday she'd vacate her office for a few minutes while I drew the blinds and nursed Zoe.

I got two months to stay at home with Zoe when my session finished at the college in Medicine Hat and we moved to Edmonton. Most of that time was spent packing, preparing to move and unpacking and organizing once we moved to Edmonton.

It was more difficult to go back to work in Edmonton, where I got a job at The King's University College, because I had to find child care for Zoe and leave her with a stranger. I found someone I was happy with at first, but grew less happy with as time went on. The thing that kept me going was our plan for me to get pregnant and take maternity leave to be a stay at home mom again. Thanks be to God that he made us very fertile and it didn't take long to get pregnant.

So, at the beginning of June 2007, I began my maternity leave. I love Canada, if only for its Employment Insurance program and the maternity benefits it offers. I get one year to stay at home with my beautiful children and I get paid 55% of my old salary. Pretty sweet. The first almost 3 weeks of my maternity leave were spent being pregnant, preparing for the baby and hanging out with Zoe. We took trips to the park, trips to the Legislature grounds, we painted pictures and coloured, we blew bubbles outside. We had great fun.

Simon was born on June 20 (more on that later) and our "babymoon" (the first 6 weeks of your baby's life, when all you do is hang out with baby and days and nights get all switched around) is just about over. We've still been having fun, but it's taken some adjusting with a two year old and an infant. This blog will be my adventures as a mother, home organizer, church planter's wife, and budding entrepreneur (we'll see).