Hi friends, I can't believe we're coming up on our last week of April. That's insane. This post is going up late, again. Maybe I should call it Saturday favorites. But to be fair, I had the post almost done when my nanny had to leave suddenly due to a personal issue, so my work time was cut short. I love our new nanny. She does great with the kids. But, I've had the kids home with me for six years now, and my goal is always to keep them home with me until they are ready for preschool around three.
However, relying on nannies means you're always relying on someone else's obligations and schedules; it always kind of feels like my work is last on the priority list after the nanny's schedule, doctor appointments, and whatever else that comes up. And if anything happens to the nanny's schedule - car trouble, sick, etc. I'm left scrambling. While I'm beyond grateful for the flexibility, for six years it's been constant scrambling, and without family to call here for a backup, it's starting to wear on me a bit. I almost signed up baby girl for school at KK's school, which I love, but I didn't, and now they are full, which is such a bummer. I did add my name to the waitlist, so we will see. So now, I'm exploring some daycares (three days a week) that come highly recommended by people we know. The mom guilt is real, though.
If you've had experience switching between in-home care and daycare, I'd love to know. But, I'm guessing it is 100% dependent on how much you love your daycare/school, or how much you love your nanny.
What you may have missed this week:
I reposted one of my most popular recipes with some fresh new photos. If you've never tried my honey oat bread (just oat flour, so a quick bread), you simply must try it out!
On the gram:
New Meal Plan Posted
A new meal plan is now live in the library of resources for FREE to Hungry Hobby email subscribers.
Easter Recap
We had a small, quiet Easter this year with just us and the kids. I combined the box of goodies my Aunt sent with some Target stuff I bought for Easter baskets. My Aunt also sent a box of pre-filled Easter eggs, so all Mr. Hungry and I had to do was hide them. It was rainy out, so the kids did the Easter egg hunt in the house, in their pajamas, before church. It was definitely a little weird having Easter just be us this year. My SIL was out of town with her kids, and obviously, the rest of our family is in Arizona.
We also ordered catering from Whole Foods, like we did over Christmas. This time, I give it a 7 out of 10, not bad, but not amazing. I didn't take a picture of the lone slice of carrot cake we all shared. I bought it thinking I was the only one who liked carrot cake, but you know how kids are when they see their mom eating something they can't have, all of a sudden it's the best thing in the world. KK was obsessed with the cream cheese frosting, and KJ loved the cake part; baby girl liked it all!
Arizona Photoshoot
When we were in Arizona for spring break, we were able to have our friend who always does our family photos in the fall do a quick photoshoot! That was something I dropped the ball on last fall after moving; in fact, I didn't even send Christmas cards. I was glad to get a photoshoot for this school year! It was fun to do a spring photoshoot, and it might be my new favorite thing! I converted them to a small image size so as not to overwhelm the blog memory storage. They are a bit grainy, but I still wanted to share them!
Muffins and Misses
KK and I got rained out on his way to muffins and misses, his school's Mother's Day celebration. My umbrella just flipped right over on itself, and we got soaked. I've been laughing all week about how my "Arizona umbrella" has never seen weather like Texas.
I ordered this umbrella at the recommendation of KK's teacher, who said it's the best umbrella ever. It has a vent to help keep the wind from flipping it inside out!
Wasps Nests
So, apparently, wasp nests are a thing here. They just build nests all over the backyard. KJ insisted on knocking one down, and we found out they had larvae in them. It turns out (according to Mr. Hungry's coworkers) that this is a thing here in Texas; they build the nests, and you get spray and a broom to eradicate. The lack of wildlife I've probably been exposed to as an Arizona native is likely vast.
ISR Lessons
Baby girl is starting her fourth week of ISR, and although the first two weeks were rough, she's gotten the hang of it now and loves swim lessons. I thought I'd mention it here since last year I wrote a whole post on my experience sending three kids through ISR vs traditional lessons.
PS her swim lessons are probably also why I feel like I'm scrambling more than usual. They are every day for 10 minutes, but unlike in Arizona, where my instructor was 5 minutes from my house, the closest I could find was a solid 20 minutes away. So 30 minutes there (20 minutes to drive + 10 minutes to change her), 10 minutes lesson, and 30 minutes back is a lot. But, she will likely be done this week or next at the lates,t provided there aren't 8 million more rain delays, so that's good.
Fitness
So fitness is not going that great haha
First of all, I've been sick for two solid weeks. The first week was cold, and I think I recovered from the cold, but I had really bad allergies, so I caught another cold. Or I've had a sinus infection this whole time, who knows? But something got me this last couple of weeks, which is VERY uncharacteristic for me. I hardly ever get sick, much less sick for a prolonged period of time. So, that's annoying.
And I've been rehabbing my shoulder, but was still able to do the lower body, thankfully. Lower body and abs, ha, ha. But, honestly, sometimes I do feel like it would be easier not to work out at all. But then I remember that I'm not working out for weight loss, I'm working out for health and longevity. I've got my eyes set on long-term health, building muscle so that my body is strong as I hit peri-menopause and menopause in the next decade or two. I've seen firsthand how much better my clients do in those stages when they have been regularly strength training before that, so I want to set myself up for success.
Flashbacks
Gluten-free Banana Oatmeal Muffins
20 Healthy Peanut Butter Desserts
Sarah says
Your family photos are lovely! And having moved from Arizona back to the midwest and back, I can empathize with the some of your adjustments. Hang in there and find joy where you can!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Ha ha adjustment is right! The spring is gorgeous right now- so many beautiful flowers everywhere so I try to stop and pause and think about how I've never seen that before, a real traditional spring. It really is gorgeous! So I'm using that as my pause and breath reminder!
A Different Sarah says
My mom was an incredible homemaker who enjoyed keeping her kids at home, and she was never employed. BUT, she also believed that women who opt to be SAHMs should not lose their identities and, actually, at least part-time employed SAHMs are happier overall, have an occupation when the kids are all school age, are better mothers because they aren't mothering all the time, and set good examples for their kids about balance. Also, everyone needs a break from each other sometimes, and daycare provides that too.
She used what was then called Mother's Day Out before we were pre-k eligible.
She would advise you to opt for 2-3 days per week of childcare that you know is going to happen (i.e., the daycare). Yes, you'll still be the one on call when your kids get sick, but that happens less frequently. I think having all three kids in some kind of school/daycare at the same time will be good for you and for them.
Arguably, you will be less stressed when the kids are not in school and it also will probably mean that they get more of your focused attention when they're at home because you're not trying to squeeze in work at every other possible moment. You'll have scheduled work time and scheduled mom time.
As I don't have kids, I cannot comment on my own experience trying to do this. But I admired my mom so much as a mom and, much later in my life, as my friend. So I channel what she would say and give that to you.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Okay this was such a sweet comment! And actually after I wrote this, the one friend I have who also uses a nanny told me she will be putting her kids in day care when they youngest is 18 months, so that made me feel better! I do think my youngest going 2-3 days a week will be a good thing. My husband and I talked about it at length this weekend and if we find a place we like we may put both the younger kids in 3 days a week this summer and my oldest will do camps. It will be expensive but so much less stressful and therefore when I am with the kids, as your mom would say, I can be more present and happy. And honestly right now, I have the nanny when the kids are sick and it's so stressful because they just want their mama. I'd rather be with them when they are sick then always half trying to work and feeling guilty. So again, I think it will be good! I will miss them being here all the time, but again, I think that will make me appreciate the time with them and spend a lot of quality time versus being stressed all the time. I'll definitely update when we find a place and how it goes. Thanks again for the words of encouragement!