We made the decision for me to stay home with Jack this year and, therefore, have zero income.
ZERO, zilch, nadda.
For years, I have been the breadwinner in our family (which is hilarious on a private school teacher's salary), but now I find myself in the opposite role, the bread...eater. :)
I had loads of anxiety over this year of no income and, to be honest, there were even moments of guilt. I felt selfish for wanting to be home with Jack rather than bringing home the bacon.
In all actuality, it has amazed me how very little one needs to live comfortably. Our lifestyle hasn't changed all that much. We still like to play outside, eat a good meal, and watch a good movie. We now do all those things in a more streamlined way with less waste. We are happy and healthy and...poor.
I've taken to careful meal planning to stretch our dollar. I make all of our bread in our bread machine, plan multiple meals with the same ingredients, and use what we have in our cupboards first. We haven't purchased new clothes this year and are learning to be content with out of date fashion. We cancelled our cable TV and I'm growing out my hair to avoid paying for hair cuts.
Today, Dave's rank list is due. By 6 pm tonight, our half of the residency match process will be complete and totally out of our hands. We've been reflecting a lot lately about our future and it seems pretty wild to think of where we are headed. I think we both actually have fear about that first big doctor paycheck that will be coming our way at the end of this journey. Will we be good stewards of the resources God provides? Will we fall into greed and discontent? Part of me hopes that somehow, we can live very similarly to how we live today: getting by with only what we need. One of the biggest blessings is having all of our friends be in the same financial boat as our family. Socially, we don't do things that cost money. We build fires in our backyard fire pit, we have picnics and go for hikes. How will that change as our social circle naturally changes with us?
Deep thoughts for a Tuesday.
In other news, I've been working my tail end off to further my Usborne book business. Our company recently invested in e-books and would like us to have a way to demo them at our parties. Enter: the ipad contest! Everyone who has consistent sales in February through May will get a free ipad at the end. Needless to say, it's game on for Cami!
Jack is loving meal time and continues to be adventurous in trying new foods. So far, the only things he really dislikes are fruit (sour or sweet) and anything from a spoon. He loves tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, toast with avocado, and drinking water from a glass.
Yesterday, Jack started "talking" up a storm. He's really starting to put together consonants and vowels. Unfortunately for me, when he gets really frustrated, he says, "ma, ma, ma".
Life is grand. We couldn't ask for anything more.
Videos:
Jack and Mama's play time
Jack vocalizes his opinions
Peas - he loves vegetables so much but hates purees.
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