Q and A

I've gotten a few e-mails lately asking some of the same questions so I thought I'd pretend to be more famous than I am and answer them for you.

Just pretend I'm Kelly or McMama.

Go ahead keep laughing.

I'll wait.

Ready?

1. How did you and Sean meet and since you rave about him helping you a lot does he have a brother that is single that wants to help me raise my kids?

Yes it was an actual question and I'm not telling who asked it to protect her privacy :) Love you, internet friend.

We met about 8 years ago at...wait for it...church. Sean worked with the Jr. High students at our church and when I started coming to the church I visited the youth group meetings soon after. Neither one of us gave the other a second thought for about three years. Then one day after Ellaine and April hounded us for about a year we both instantly liked the other one and started dating right away. Then we got engaged right away. Married right away. Babies right away. You get the drift.

No, he doesn't have a brother. He has three sisters and each one has three kids, which explains my influx of hand-me-downs. Glory.

2. Did you plan on having your kids that close together?

Um no. Who in their right mind would do this on purpose?

I'm not trying to sound ugly to my kids or anyone who might have chosen to raise their kids like this but I have yet to figure out a system that works smoothly so in our case, no it was not on purpose. If I'd thought I could do it I'd have planned better and made some organizational changes along the way. We got married, pregnant with Ty four months later, and when he was 6 months old got pregnant with Charlie. When she was 9 months old we talked about the possibility in the not-s0-near future of more children and alas! I was already pregnant with Joy when having the conversation. We're truly thankful for our kids and although I talk about the downside of mommyland at times I do thank God for the ability to be a mom.

3. How many cribs do you have in your house?

Three. I'd have registered for two from the get-go if I'd known we'd need three.

4. Why isn't Ty sleeping in a big boy bed? (this one I threw in there because I know some of y'all are wondering...)

He is trapped I mean safely contained in the crib and he is VERY happy there so I haven't wanted to shake things up by moving him just yet. We plan on moving him soon and very soon...or as soon as he learns how to hike a leg and escape.

5. What did you do before you were a stay-at-home mom?

I was a counselor.

No that does not mean I don't NEED counseling. It also does not mean I have it all figured out. My degree was in Elem. Ed and even my mentor teacher said I wasn't cut out to be a teacher. True story. She came to me all worried and mentorish and said, "Mary, I'm not sure you are cut out for this." I died laughing and told her I had no intention of teaching and that student teaching was the worst experience I'd ever had.

We had a good laugh and I graduated having no idea what I was going to do. Counseling was a clear passion but I was bent on not going back to school. That determination lasted one whole semester and I started graduate school 9 months after college graduation. I worked hard to finish my hours and got licensed (LPC) two months before I was put on bed rest with Ty. I worked at my church for a small while and also worked for another church's counseling center nearby.

6. Why does the trash man always come make a big racket during nap time? Sorry it's happening right now I just thought I'd mention it.

7. Why/How do you post almost every day. Aren't you watching your kids? What kind of mother ARE YOU?

Valid questions. Like most of you, I get more out of blogging than I put in. Writing has always been a hobby of mine and since I am at home 90 % of the time, (or more now that Joy is here so she can nap,) it is a way to talk to other people. This is a fun way to learn about other people's strengths, families, faith, and blogging has provided answers to many questions about kids.When to potty train, how to get them on a good nap schedule, etc.

When I was feeding Joy all night I'd sit at the computer and write different posts. Now I often write in snippets of downtime and then compile them during nap time or at night. I often "stock up" on things while Sean is home. When he is home from work he is home all day so I recharge and one of my favorite things to do to recharge is writing. That and getting out of my house!

8. Do you make up words often or is it just me?

Yes I make up words. It's my blog.

9. Do you feed your kids organic/homemade food? Do you make your baby food?

No and No. I do love to cook but selfishly when I have time to cook I make something for the big people to eat!

10. How did you come up with your kids' names?

This is a fun one for any mother! Sean begged me to name a son Ty. I didn't have a boy name I was set on so when we found out Ty was a boy Sean started leaving me things around the house to persuade me. He changed my screen saver to say, "Hi mommy! Love, Ty," "You're my favorite person! Love, Ty," and things like that. Post-its in my car that said, "Ty loves mommy," "God loves Ty," etc. Sean's a hoot. Charlie was an easy one. I had a dog named Charlie (a female) in high school that was the best dog ever. We had a Top Gun theme for pet names in my family so we had a dog named Maverick that lived to be 17 (you hatch people all knew Mav,) and at one point even a cat named Goose. Somebody ran over the cat which was a sad coincidence. Charlotte is a family name on my Dad's side and while she might want to go by Charlotte one day, for now she is 100 % Charlie. I can't imagine her as Charlotte. Joy was one you've probably heard about if you've read here very long. I loved the names Joy and Julie and when we found out she was a girl we also found out about her condition so it made sense immediately to name her Joy. People remembered her name and prayed for her faithfully. And it worked. During this last pregnancy she also helped me find joy in being a mother more than I had before. It's funny how a kid becomes their name isn't it?

I'd love to hear your answers to some of these questions!