Happy Valentine's Day

It’s my birthday today! My favorite gift to myself is pictures of Aden!  He’s been getting better about letting me take his picture but I’ve got to be fast!

I hope everyone has a lovely day!

~Michele

It was an awesome little store with a closed-in kids play area.  SWEET!  I put Aden in the play area and headed straight for the boys clothing area.

The next thing I hear is a lady saying, “Is this your baby?” I don’t have a baby any more (sad) but what the heck I better turn around and check.  The lady is staring at Aden.

I follow her gaze and see that Aden has pulled down his shorts and is peeing on the floor. In the play area.  On the rug.

“Aden, what are you doing?” I say as calmly as I can while trying to get over the barricade to him.

To her grace and my gratitude, the cashier was more than kind.  Of course, I had to buy stuff to make it worth her while to clean up the mess which she had done by the time I could get back from the bathroom from cleaning up my potty-trained (sometimes) son.

I should have taken a picture.

~Life as Mom

I thought I would be a lot more scheduled and disciplined but I think I expected too much.  The biggest challenge has been to relax and to let go.  To just enjoy being with my son.  Believe it or not that has been a challenge for me.  It is not because of Aden either, he is absolutely wonderful and possibly the easiest kid in the world to get along with.  It has so much more to do with me.  I expect great things from me and I am my own boss now.  Boss wants lots of things done! Yesterday!  Learning to give myself a break has taken some time and I’m still working on it for sure!

Here is our daily routine!

8am Aden wakes me up sweetly by saying, “Moma, I sleep good.  I wake up.”

9am Breakfast and if I’m lucky I can interest Aden in the morning cartoons on PBS so that I can do my 20 minute yoga session. (Happens about twice a week.)

10am Make a point to get my teeth brushed and get dressed!

11am Either stay at home and do housework while Aden plays or watches TV or go to a park or the museum.

12pm Think about getting lunch.

1pm Try to get Aden to take a nap.

2pm Get the TV off and if Aden is sleeping, work on computer.  If he is not sleeping, make a point to go outside and play! Now it is warm enough to swim! Yea!

3:30pm Think about getting dinner ready and straightening up the house.

5-6pm Patiently await the love of my life to come home so I can hand over the kid!

Thank goodness for FRIDAYS! My mom takes him on Fridays and I wait all week for the day to come! Then when it gets here I don’t know what to do with myself! Too many options! Too much freedom!

I am definitely getting into a routine.  I’m not really a routine kind of person.  When I start seeing the routine I get restless, incredibly restless.  So yes, I am getting to that point where all I want to do is plan some trip somewhere.  I always feel like I’m master of my own destiny when I plan a trip somewhere. Plan it out, set it up, and make it happen.  Such a feeling of accomplishment!

I am trying to channel that energy into my photography work now.  Something I feel like there is just never enough time for!

I’ve reopened my Etsy shop and started filling it with my photographs!  Please check it out!

Rollen-Hanson Gifts Etsy Shop

Aden and his Butterfly

Aden rescued a butterfly from the pool with his favorite bug-rescueing net yesterday fulfilling his mission in life and making him like his hero, Diego.  This is why I want to stay at home.  No, we are not doing ABC drills every day, but we are having a good time. 

I let Aden use my camera for a minute and he got some decent shots!  I plan on starting a new page called Aden’s Creations, showcasing his photography and artwork.  I don’t know if he will be a creative genius or not but he is already learning that the camera is terribly important to me.  Especially when his fingers stray towards the lens.

~Life as Mom

As a new stay-at-home mom, I am still getting my feet wet.  I am learning new routines, new sources of frustration and new sources of joy.  Although we don’t have a strict routine established yet, we have ditched the pacy (or shi as Aden called it), and are learning to use the potty.  I think we have a ways to go on that one. 

One of the best toy purchases I have made recently was a bug catching net.  Endless hours of entertainment for a young boy of two! We have already caught spiders, butterflies and lizards!

Unfortunately, my fear of spiders and most bugs doesn’t help in this source of entertainment.  However, I am NOT afraid of lizards and can be of great help to the young champion rescueing whatever lizard he can get his hands on!

~Life as Mom

New Piano

 I missed taking a picture of Aden yesterday, but today Aden got a new piano from his Nana and it was just so cute watching him play it and sing songs.

~Life as mom

What will the end of this year be like?  Who knows? I have no idea but somehow knowing that it is all up to me and that, at least for this year, I won’t be having de ja vu every day of the week excites me!  If it weren’t for people in my life who were used to risk-taking and their support, I think I would go crazy.  Thank you Jamie, Renee and Cori! And thanks to people like Chris Guillebeau who are inspiring people like me to change the world and be unconventional!  I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Guillebeau on his Unconventional Book Tour last year in Tampa!

The Unconventional Book Tour - Tampa

My goals for the year?  I actually sat down and worked out a monthly grid at the beginning of last year.  When I reviewed it in December, I realized a few things.  Some goals were actually reached!  Some weren’t even touched.  So I can either try to add those back in this year or develop more fully the goals I did reach and expand on them.  This year – develop photography and blogging business. Make some money! Ha! If it weren’t for this external pressure to validate my decision to stay home, I wouldn’t even think about money and just do what I love!  Yes, I do intend to do that but if it weren’t for my husband there would still be the need for survival!

Being a full-time Mommy with Aden 24/7 is what really scares me!  His daycare did such a wonderful job with him and now his development, potty-training and manners will be all up to me!  This is what I wanted though, to be with him because time is short.  I can’t bear the thought of only seeing him on the weekends anymore.

After the bath

 ~Life as mom

I feel horribly guilty for not taking as many pictures of Aden in 2010 as I did in 2009.  He probably changed the most this past year.  Although to be fair; compared to when I was his age, I have much fewer pictures.

Day 1, shot with iPhone.  I intend to get a few apps for my iPhone in order to help me get these photos to come out clearer but in the mean time I’ll torture you with grainy photos.  Happy New Year!!

Aden January 1