16 months and grateful

Parker is 16 months old today!

He is so goofy!

We had a nice Thanksgiving visiting Himal's mom.  9+ hours in the car with a toddler can be trying, so we drove mostly at night.  I did some major Black Friday shopping, so much so that my purchases wouldn't fit into Himal's mom's car and Himal had to bring the van to rescue me!  Unfortunately, it rained when we were planning on going to the beach.  Himal and I also had to endure awful football losses to our big, in-state rivals; that part of the holiday was brutal.

We are so thankful every day for our sweet little boy.  This year, we are also thankful because I AM GOING TO BE ABLE TO QUIT MY JOB!!!!!  While we will have to stick to a stricter budget, this is the best thing we could hope for.  If Parker were one of those kiddos who consistently napped for 3 hours each afternoon, working from home would be easier, but he's not, so it's not working for us.

For all of Parker's life, my weekdays have looked like this: wake up when Parker does (~7:00 or 7:30 AM); be a full-time mom all day; once Himal gets home after 5:00 PM, hang out as a family of three, eat supper, and give Parker a bath; put Parker to bed around 9:15 PM; do a chore or two; go into my home office and START working around 10:00 PM or so; work until after midnight.  Add in some nights when I have to get up with Parker, and I'm completely exhausted and never able to recuperate.  Poor Himal is stuck alone in the living room 5 nights a week.

We absolutely cannot wait to have normal couple time together and for me to have time to do chores and leisurely activities of my own in the evenings.  I will probably quit around the middle of January.  I am thrilled that Parker will have a well-rested mom during the days and that my nights won't be spent slaving away in my office.  I'm also excited that the house will be cleaner.  I'll also have more time to update the blog! 

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving!  Happy December!