Basic Family

The All American Family:

1-dad

1-mom

Children (to taste)

Combine together with a plethora of life experiences and cook with trials until the love shines through 

We are your basic family. Nothing really jumps out and says, "hey, you! Yes, you, over there, look at me!"  That's really the beauty of it all. We are the average family, doing average things. In a world of Pinterest perfect, incredibly talented moms and perfect job dads...you have is staggering be raggedly across the finish line. I don't mean to talk down on us. Don't get me wrong I am extremely happy and proud of my family. Hence the reason I started this endeavor. My husband David and I have been married almost six years. In that time we have had our share of ups and downs. The best highlights would be our two daughters. L is three going on fourteen and E is growing fast at six months.

Being a mother was everything I never expected. I graduated with my eight year bachelors degree armed with a teaching certificate. Imagine my shock at the height of the recession that there were no teaching jobs for me. Instead I became a food service manager and helped put my husband of a year through culinary school. Fast forward to the birth of L. I loved my job and yet the thought of leaving her was akin to cutying off my arm. As the next couple years went by I struggled with postpartum and seasonal depression, weight gain, being a working mom and a basically a general sense of failure.    I had always swore I would never put my child in daycare, and yet here she was 45 hours a week. Someone else was raising my child. They taught her to crawl, they saw all the milestones, they did all the cutesy crafts and activities. I on the other hand rushed to run errands and maintain the family before bedtime.

As David graduated and jobs changed and rotated on us we eventually bought a home and decided we would try for number two. As we discussed this David became a Sous Chef one step closer to his dream job of being an Executive Chef. Just before E was born David applied for an executive position. Knowing how hard it was leaving one child each day and looking at the reduculius amount of money we would be spending I began my campaign to stay home with my girls. Finally just before she was born David agreed and I quit my job just after she was born. This is huge friends, at the time I was making more money than David was and we had become accustomed to living a certain life. I am starting this blog as a way to document the pitfalls and triumphs of figuring out this whole parenting thing.  We welcome you along for the ride and invite you to learn from out mistakes along the way.