transitioning

i have officially been a stay at home mom for two months!  overall it is going really well, but with every transition comes positives and opportunities for growth.

a couple of weeks ago, james and i had a little spat in which he shared that i was throwing off his routine by wanting to go to the gym at 8:45am instead of his usual 9:30am.  for 3 years, james has faithfully gone to the gym nearly every day he is home (a mini escape from the boys if nothing else).  now that i am home and the class i like to attend at the gym is at 8:45am, we've been going earlier.  no big deal, right?  it's really not, and james willingly goes at 8:45 to make me happy, but it is a change.

in the afternoon when the boys nap from 1-3, james used to have a couple hours of peace and quiet all to himself.  he could choose the tv show, he could do yard work, he could do whatever he wanted.  he pretty much still can, but there is another adult in the home--change.

one major positive with me staying home is that we have so much time together.  our relationship is at one of its strongest points and we've enjoyed nearly every day of the last two months.  when KDO starts in the fall, we will be able to play tennis, go on lunch dates, etc.  however, an opportunity lies in not spending so much time together that we go crazy and want to kill each other.

to remedy this potential pitfall, we are trying to give each other as much time to ourselves as possible.  james gets $2 movies since he is a firefighter, so he's seen every movie in theaters right now (and the dark knight twice).  he encourages me to go out in the afternoon, but without spending much money and with most of my friends working or at home with their kids, i've come to need a hobby (hello, blog!).

financially, we've made no major changes.  james still enjoys golf with his friends and i still shop at gymboree. we've made an effort to eat out less both for health and cost, but we still have our weekly sunday lunch at qdoba (keepin' it classy!) and eat at chick fila more than we should.  we still don't have internet on our phones and try to live (semi) frugally, but our lifestyle is the same.

i know i am still in the honeymoon stage of staying at home (how long does that last?), but am loving our new family arrangement and am thankful for the blessing of james and my sweet (crazy) boys.  love!