First Blog! Warning- Super Long!

*As this is my first blog and I dabbled into introducing *me*, it is extremely long. I don't foresee future blogs being so lengthy.* :)
Hello World,
I am going to use this blog as my new diary. Seeing how this is a website which is being made for public view, I won't get too detailed on some subjects and there may be parts of my life that I leave out but for the most part I would like to use this to get out my daily thoughts. I usually post "status updates" on Facebook but as a stay at home mother and wife there are far too many thoughts which run through my head on a daily basis and sadly my one year old is not yet into intellectual conversation.
The thought of a blog came to me today as I was cooking dinner (apple braised chicken from scratch, yum!), listening to classic rock on the radio and dancing in the kitchen with my daughter. Thinking that moment in time was so untouchable and timeless made me want to scream to the world how happy I was right then and there. There are so many positive and negative aspects to everyday life and so many thoughts to be discussed, why not start a blog?
So with my first entry I will talk a little about who I am and also about my day. I am a 24 year old woman who is very happily married and the mother of the most wonderful one year old girl, Loreli. I am currently expecting my second daughter, Evalyn who is due March 7th (32 days from today!). Currently I am not working and enjoying quality time with my family.
If someone had told me when I was 20 years old that in four years I would be married with children and be a very domesticated housewife/stay at home mom I would have laughed in their face! Growing up I was very independent and always felt that I had a strong purpose in life, that I was meant to be well known and make a huge impact on the world. I envied people in careers both creative (desert chef) and legal (lawyer) and dreamed of becoming a famous singer or actress. Whatever it was that I was going to "grow up to be," I knew it was going to something amazing.
I followed my heart instead of my brain as I ventured into the "real" world on my own. I allowed my romantic relationships to take over my life path and soon lost sight of my big dreams. At the age of 22 I found myself single, living in a small town where I knew hardly anyone and working at a full-time desk job that I did well at but was not in the least satisfied. I began thinking about where I wanted to go in life and making serious plans to get there. And then I met the man of my dreams. Ah yes, another romantic relationship to take hold of my path in life... but at this point I had sworn off changing my life goals for a man.
James and I moved quickly through our relationship. We bought a house after only dating for five months, we were engaged eight months into our relationship and found out we were pregnant with our first child the day after our one year anniversary. There is no doubt about it that this man swept me off of my feet and completely changed my life. When I fell in love, I knew it instantly. Suddenly the rest of the world did not exist and all that I wanted was to create a life with him. What I did to make money no longer defined who I was. I became his other half, his partner for life.
Becoming a mother undoubtedly completed my transformation from independent woman to domesticated housewife. I'm sure there will be more than a handful of times that I write about the effect motherhood has had on me but to sum it up quickly... the moment my daughter was placed into my arms for the first time was the moment my world changed. From then on I wanted to make our home beautiful and sanitary (every inch of it), create delicious and healthy meals to fill my loved ones bellies, and spend every possible moment with the two people I love the most.
And so here I sit... an extremely domesticated, obsessively clean, someones other half, baby wearing cloth diaper using housewife. My favorite parts of the day are giggling with my daughter, making brownies from scratch, eating dinner with my husband and that moment right before bed when I turn all of the lights off and get to admire the cleanliness and beauty of the house we have made a home.

Now on to my day...
This morning as I laid in bed I was so incredibly comfortable. I don't get very many moments like that being that I am eight months pregnant. I had just had one of the very rare nights of solid sleep and I absolutely did not want it to end. Then the lovely "rhinitis of pregnancy" kicked in as it does every single morning and I rushed to the bathroom as I gagged. Yep, eight months in and I still yak every morning. "Rhinitis of pregnancy" is a lovely pregnancy symptom in which the mucus in my nose has multiplied and my sinuses are swollen. Every morning as soon as I wake up I quickly hop into a hot shower and allow the steam to help me alleviate my gag reflex.
Feeling and smelling clean and ready for the day, it was quickly time for my husband to leave for work. I usually naturally wake up just in time to shower, get dressed and make the bed right before he heads out the door. My daughter Loreli was waiting with smiles and giggles, ready to start our day as usual. The morning and afternoon was like any other. I gave my daughter breakfast, washed the dishes in the sink, cleaned off the accumulation of objects from the table, thoroughly wiped down the high chair and swept the floor. After breakfast I put in a load of laundry, straightened up the living room and office and dusted while my daughter watched Baby Einstein (what I like to think of as baby crack) and played with her billions of toys.
As soon as I was done straightening the house and felt settled for the day it was time for lunch. Again I multi-tasked and as I fed my daughter chicken nuggets (two pieces at a time so she doesn't shove it all in her mouth, chew and then spit it out) I too managed to get down my own lunch. Another thorough wipe down of the high chair and sweeping of the kitchen floor and we were finally ready to play. Loreli and I played for a good two hours. I have been trying to teach her to count. She has yet to say the number one but knows that right after one comes two and three. I figure if I repeat the things I'm trying to teach her as much as possible then she will remember them. It gets a little repetitive and is not so entertaining to an adult but I think it's working.
Finally came one of the best parts of the day... nap time. While Loreli is still an only child I have been trying to soak up every single moment of our alone time as possible. I take every chance I can to snuggle close to her during nap time. I love to sit and admire her beauty and existence. Even at a year old I still can't believe she is my daughter, that she came from me. Sometimes I manage to snooze with her for a bit but today was not a day I was able to zonk out.
When Loreli woke up I treasured and locked away the moments of smiles and hugs I received. Loreli then got the rest of her lunch while I began cooking dinner. When she was finished eating (more like a little pre-dinner snack), she brought half her toys from the living room into the kitchen (because she can't ever be more than two feet away from me) and began playing. I made my favorite dish, apple braised chicken. We had eaten this a few times before when I was on the Weight Watchers diet but my husband had always made it, I hadn't ever ventured into attempting it myself.
Two hours later the apple braised chicken and green beans were done, Loreli had just eaten her dinner (mac and cheese and blueberry yogurt), and my husband walked through the door. After dinner I did the dishes and my usual after meal clean down of the kitchen. I then boiled cloth diaper inserts while my husband worked on fixing the cracks in the nursery door. My final task of the night was to start my second "nesting" project, which is to clean and reorganize the bathroom. Since we have to wait for our tax return to redo the nursery and really get ready for Evalyn's arrival, I have been making it a point to clean and organize every other room.
It's amazing what one can find in a drawer or cupboard after not looking in it for nearly three years. I found boxes of pads and tampons completely covered in dust (in two years I have only had one period since I've had back to back pregnancies), ovulation test strips and fertility vitamins (all of which were expired and thrown out... I don't think we need any more assistance with procreating!). On the plus side I was able to collect enough to have my shower bag ready for the hospital. As my body began screaming at me I gave the cleaning a rest for today.
And so that was my day today. It's pretty much how every day goes. To someone on the outside it may seem monotonous and dull but for me everyday is the best day of my life. I take complete pleasure in the simple and little things of life.