2015 has arrived and January has flown by. James' 4th birthday is this Wednesday and I am making plans for a fun homemade chocolate cake (confidence thanks to Gretchen Price and her delicious Moist Chocolate Cake) while his desired birthday theme fluctuates between Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and Mickey Mouse. I'm thinking it would be pretty awesome to have "May the 4th be with you" written on a Star Wars cake, and his fourth birthday won't be coming by again. I'm also torn on whether or not to invite people to our home. While Ray is the more private type and he would be happier with a quiet celebration with only our family and his parents, I have always loved parties (especially birthday kinds of parties) with lots of noise and decorations and food and, of course, the traditional Pinata. There is also the fact that James has not made any friends yet since we moved and it pains me for him not to have any socialization opportunity (mostly because it is my responsibility to schedule playdates... but, because I lack a car at the moment, I'm having difficulty). Ultimately, our at-the-moment very tight budget will determine the size of the party.... Phooey.
Anyway, as for the real dilemma: I love being a stay-at-home mom and I truly believe that being a mother is my highest calling and I am devoting all of my energy, time, and effort into it (also of which housekeeping is no small part); however, I can't help but feel that some of my talents are wasting away. I love to draw and I was a pretty decent artist in college, or at least my professors believed that I had great potential (Check out my Deviantart page if curious). Drawing or doing art of any serious nature seems impossible under my current circumstances. I have a desire to contribute in some way to our family's monetary means and it would be so awesome if I could somehow commission my art and make money off of one of my passions. I have in the past considered doing daycare in my home, but I get discouraged when I look at the laws and prerequisites and classes for the state of Florida's in-home daycare. Another idea is selling my breast milk after my third baby is born (due April 3rd) like this mom in Deseret News. That would be a lot of work and I would need to focus on my diet and eating habits (I sometimes skip meals for laziness).
So, I have a few options, but none are easy or simple. I guess that is the way of life though.
Note: I would LOVE to pepper posts with recent pictures of our family, but my Macbook charger has died and all my pictures are on my Mac or stuck on my camera. Holiday shots will have to wait a little while longer. :'(
