With the year coming to an end, it was time to make a decision.It had been on my mind for a while.I was pretty sure what I wanted to do, what I thought felt right.But I wasn’t sure it was going to work or if it made sense.Our current situation was working really well for us.For our family.Aya really liked going off to work, and I liked staying at home taking care of Ellie.And it turned out I was pretty good at it, too.But would it make sense to keep this arrangement longer?Well, after much thinking and debating, we ended up going with our gut feeling. I’m happy to say that I’m officially changing my status from unemployed, to stay-at-home-dad/homemaker.
FIRST CHRISTMAS
I didn’t know what to expect for Ellie’s first Christmas.  She’s not quite a year old yet, so I knew she wouldn’t be opening her own presents or really get what was going on. But I was expecting her to be her normal excited self. If she’s excited for a normal Monday, then why wouldn’t she flip out with excitement over Christmas with the site of packages, bows, and pretty paper? But after her nap on Christmas Eve, she woke up with a fever and wasn’t quite herself. Aya was getting over having a cold and now Ellie had one too.   Even so, I thought as soon as we got to my grandma’s she’d put her happy face on and still be excited.
A DUDE, A BABY, AND CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
Aya loves shopping. Whether she buys anything or not, it doesn’t matter, she loves going out and browsing and shopping. She loves an all-day shopping marathon that includes visiting a minimum of a thousand stores and stopping for her latte. And after all that “shopping”, she might come home with nothing and still be happy. I on the other hand, am not a huge fan, especially when we are out all day and I come home empty handed. It seems like such a waste. I’ll talk myself into buying things just to feel a sense of accomplishment. And with me doing the bulk of Christmas shopping this year, I was trying not to get overwhelmed. Not only was I going to one of the busiest malls a week before Christmas, but I was also bringing my baby.
ELLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how she does it. And so I feel better about it, I take it as a compliment.
Ellie will be at my mom’s all day and poop maybe once. On the weekend when Aya handles most of the diapers, Ellie will poop maybe once. The rest of the week, all day every day, EVERY time I change her diaper, she has a fresh batch out of the oven waiting for me. “I found the Golden Ticket.” Lucky me…