23 weeks old, soapbox opinion, and weekend recap

23 weeks

Ready for a long post? Today I feel like writing.

This weekend went by fast! I'm pretty much a single mom on the weekends, but I love spending every second with my girl. I'm so glad that we waited to have children until we were in a position for me to be able to stay at home with her, because there is just no way I would ever want to put her in a daycare. It irritates me to no end when I hear people tell me that I'm "so lucky" I get to stay at home with her. No, I'm not lucky. It was a choice we made long before we were even married, and we made conscious decisions along the way to support that choice. We bought a house we could afford on one salary. We drive cars that are paid for and don't require spending $100 to fill up. (Contrary to what seems to be a popular American belief, you do not need an SUV when you have children) We don't waste our hard earned money by eating out all the time. We cloth diaper. We paid for Ethan's undergraduate and graduate school along the way and didn't take out loans. We pay off our credit cards in full. We don't go into debt for anything (other than our house). It was REALLY important to us for our children to have me be a stay at home mom, and we worked our butts off to make it happen. Yes, I do have a part time job. That income is "extra". It isn't figured into our budget. That was also a choice that we made so we weren't depending on my income for anything. I also only work at my job because Lily comes with me. If Lily weren't able to come, I wouldn't be at my job.

Don't get me wrong: I know there are some situations where parents don't have a choice (divorce, death of spouse, etc) or don't want to have a stay at home parent. If a family does want to have a parent stay at home, they can find a way to make it happen. It might entail major cutbacks on extras (cable TV, shopping, dinners out, etc.) or a total lifestyle change (downsizing, a less expensive vehicle), but it IS possible. It might also mean waiting a bit longer to have children. When there's a will, there's a way. I get so tired of hearing people whining about not being able to stay at home with their children and that it's their heart's desire blah blah blah, especially when it's obvious that they could do so if they made changes. These people do not get my sympathy. Simply put: If it is truly your heart's desire, stop complaining and giving excuses for why you can't possibly afford to stay at home. Make it happen. If it's not your heart's desire, stop pretending like it is, because the whiny martyr parent thing gets old real fast. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Not my style. My own parents made it work to have my mom stay at home with us on one teachers' salary. My sister and I might not have worn Lilly Pulitzer clothing on Easter or eaten filet mignon with a side of caviar every Sunday for dinner, but we were happy, healthy, well cared for, and we learned the value of a dollar.

Moving on to the weekend recap...

Aneli came over on Saturday, and we went to Ru-San's for the sushi buffet. She had brought some strawberry cake from my favorite bakery, A Piece of Cake, so we had fun eating cake and catching up while Lily napped after lunch. We were watching some videos on YouTube (Gotye, Gotye covers, and Ok Go) - and unfortunately became infected with the Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know" virus. As in, we can't turn the song off on our mental soundtracks and find ourselves randomly singing lines from the song. I also call it "It's a Small World After All" syndrome.

Our couch was returned to us too, and I decided to take Lily's 5 month picture again. Of course I marked it as 5 months and 8 days for documenting purposes....but I just wanted her picture in the same spot since I really think it makes a major difference in seeing her monthly growth as far as perspective goes.

5 months, 8 days. Sweetness and light. And yes. She is mostly always this happy.

My Greek family moved to a brand new house which is about 10 minutes away instead of 45 seconds. Oh my goodness! Their new house is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful architectural details like exposed wood beams and beadboard. Don't get me started on their kitchen. It's probably the most amazing kitchen I've seen....and I've seen some amazing kitchens in my day. I'm so happy for them since they looked high and low for the longest time to find the perfect house for them. It's almost 5,000 square feet, so it's literally twice the size of their old house. The kids and I had a lot of fun playing ping pong in their finished basement, and the house is within walking distance to a frozen yogurt place...we're definitely going to have fun this summer until they leave for their annual 7 week trip home to Greece. It's also easier because they have extra bedrooms, and now I can just put Lily down in one of the bedrooms, and the kids get me to themselves. At their old house, I had to put her in the living room corner and constantly remind the kids to be quiet. We were home by 11 and went straight to bed.

Ethan was involved in a minor car accident last night - nothing major, but his car has to have some bodywork done. I feel sorry for the guy who hit him...I would really hate to hit a car and then see a police officer step out. My car has to go back into the shop because it has started acting up again so the valve adjustment was obviously not the fix. Honda won't charge us again since they obviously misdiagnosed the problem. So, Ethan's going to get a rental car since it's covered by insurance - and I will drive that while my car is in the shop, and he'll drive the Valiant. The third car definitely is coming in handy here.

This morning we got up at 10:30 (yes, our baby really does sleep until 10:30), and then had a fun videochat with my parents. They got to see her rolling both ways, and she "talked" to them for a bit. I also tickled her to get her to laugh, so they were able to hear that too. I was hoping they would be able to come Memorial Day weekend, and they just let me know that they'll be here, so I'm so excited! It will be great to spend time with my parents. Of course Ethan will be gone all weekend (as usual) and it will be crazier than it usually is due to it being a holiday weekend. I also won't get to see my mom again until we go up to Ohio at the end of June, so I'm thankful for the chance to get to spend some time with her before the summer starts.

After Ethan left for work and Lily went down for her afternoon nap, I did some housework. When she was up, I decided to bake some banana muffins. I really believe in exposing kids to new sights and sounds whenever possible, so if I'm doing something new I make sure Lily is in a position to watch. We had some soon-to-be overripe bananas, and I haven't baked in a while. My neighbors are always thrilled when I bake....if I announce it on Facebook, I get texts asking for a taste. Allrecipes.com is my favorite website for looking up new things to try. I like it because of the review system. If a recipe is rated 5 stars and there are over 7,000 reviews....uh...yeah, it's probably going to be good. The chances of 7,000+ people being wrong are pretty slim. Sure enough, the muffins were totally delicious. If you're looking for a way to use up bananas or just want to wow some overnight guests, this is the way to go.

I also organized my closet which was a loooong overdue project. I'm sure my sister will be thrilled when my parents return from their visit at the end of this month since I always send my clothes to her first. Ethan and I have an agreement that I can shop whenever I want...but if I buy more clothes, clothes in the closet have to go. Otherwise we'd just run out of space, haha.

I was actually planning to go to the mall this weekend to walk around with Lily and do some fun shopping, but Gap was having an online sale that was better than in-store, so I just ordered what I wanted from there for myself, and snapped up these adorable ruffled chambray bloomers for Lily.  Aren't they sweet? They will look perfect with so many of her summer tops!

Free shipping, and I can just take back whatever doesn't work. Honestly, I do most of my shopping online....it's just easier and saves so much time. I've always preferred online shopping though whenever possible.

 I bought a new swimsuit from Land's End, too. Thanks to a few stretch marks from my pregnancy with Lily (which appeared AFTER delivery...ugh what a gyp), I've decided to wear a one piece this summer. My stretch marks aren't actually bad at all and are mostly below where the top of my bikini bottom would be - but you have to treat them like scars, and sun exposure for scars in the first year is not a good idea as it can permanently darken them. So, I'll be rocking a one piece this year! Then I ordered sunblock for Lily (Blue Lizard Baby) and for Ethan and I since we'll need lots of it this summer. I take sun protection pretty seriously since we've had some occurrences of skin cancer in my family on both sides. Please, research your sunscreens that you use on your children. A lot of the ones on the market don't use the safest of ingredients and can cause hormone disruption. I highly recommend the Environmental Working Group's website as a resource when choosing a sunscreen for your babies and for your family. We're planning to take her swimming for the first time this week on Tuesday! It will, of course, be documented on video.

Hope you all had wonderful, relaxing, and productive weekends!