fitmoms Archives - Musings Of A Multi-Tasking Mom

A Day In The Life Of A Work From Home Mom

May 16, 2015 | Leave a Comment

One of the most common things I hear from people is asking how I balance everything. The truth is, some days I do a horrible job at it!!! But on those days, I look at what I can do better and consider it a learning experience. Part of parenting is just going with the flow so sometimes I get a lot accomplished…others days NOTHING! But I’ve learned balanced, and to work smarter, not harder. Here is a normal day for me!

5am- Wakeup and workout time. Im a much better mom and person when I get my daily sweat on. Not to mention I feel so much more productive!

6am- QUICK shower as my oldest 2 wake up not long after 6.

7am- Breakfast and coffee and the baby wakes up.

8am- Park time and walk. We have 4 parks withing 15 minutes and all have awesome trails so we go every morning. I get a walk in first and then we play!

10am- Baby takes a nap and this is my work time. My oldest 2 play games, draw,do puzzles and work on colors and letters during this time too.

12pm- Lunch time!

1-3pm- Play time which usually consists of pool, back yard, or bike riding

3pm- Nap time for baby! My daughter also usually takes a short nap and my oldest has a craft box I pull out during this time. I try and get a little work done!

5:30pm- Dinner time

6:00pm- Playing outside or going for an evening walk as a family.

7pm- Baby Liam gets sung to and tucked in by the whole family

8pm- Will and Adalyn go to bed (hopefully)

8pm- Time with my hubby

9pm- work for a few minutes and then BED!

It’s a busy life, I stick to my schedule as best as I can, and I remember to enjoy every moment of it as whats most important is having time with my family!!!

The Drive

March 31, 2015 | 1 Comment

My biggest fear with our move from Virginia to Georgia was the drive. My oldest son gets car sick, and my youngest hates the car. Luckily my daughter enjoys car rides so at least I had one I didn’t have to worry about. The scary part for me was the fact I was driving by myself with all three of them!

Our goal was to leave around 5am so they would sleep a few hours in the car….ya, that didn’t happen! About 30 minutes into the drive Will started getting sick and asking me to stop. Then after we stopped, Adalyn, who never gets sick, started getting sick!! And of course this made the baby wake up so it was a car full of nerves! To add to that, I’m not a big night driver and the highway we were on was all semis. I don’t know if its just me, but they have some crazy lights on those trucks and I swear I felt like I could hardly see the road.

It took us about 2hrs to go 60 miles. I’m not sure who was crying more at the start of the trip, me or the kids haha. I had a nice long chat with God though and one of my best friends said the words I needed to hear, “You can do this!” For me, nothing is worse than when my kids are miserable and it breaks my heart to hear them upset or in pain. It was the longest drive of my life, but we all made it and decided no more long car rides for the next 10 years haha!!!

I did learn some interesting things after spending 13hrs in a car…..

Nacho Doritos are great for kids with an upset stomach! That was the only thing Will would eat and he kept it down!!! Who would have thought?!?!
Rest stops have great outdoor areas for kids to run around!!! And for Mom’s to do some walking lunges and wake up a bit haha
DVD’s players in cars REALLY need a remote control!!! It is super hard to try and push those buttons while on a highway!!!
If your child gets car sick, you can NEVER have too many trash bags in your car. And even if your child doesn’t get sick, have them anyway and space them out around the car!!! Trust me, this is VERY important!!
Kelly Clarksons Heart Beat Song is GREAT to dance to in the car to wake yourself up!!! And it apparently provides amusement for other drivers too!
The first hour and the last hours are the longest parts of a car ride! You need a recording of yourself saying “No, we aren’t there yet!” so you don’t go hoarse.
If your child is watching a new movie, don’t interrupt to ask them if they need to go to the bathroom. They would rather hold it than have to pause their movie.
Cars with third rows should come with a “stretch arm” so you can hand things back to the child riding in that row. Especially when everyone in the second row is sound asleep.
It never fails, the moment all 3 kids fall asleep, you are going to run out of gas!!!!
Coffee is great to keep you alert….but it does cause more bathroom breaks!
Nothing feels as good as when your feet touch the ground!!!!

Big Changes

March 14, 2015 | Leave a Comment

A few months back, my husband made the decision that he wanted to return to school and get his Masters Degree. Only problem was, in the area we live in, he didn’t have a place to do his required clinical hours. So in order for him to return to school, we would need to move. And thus began a very scary and life changing decision…where should we move?!?! We had only been in Virginia a few years, so we weren’t very attached to it, plus snow is not my favorite thing. We knew we wanted to be close to family as its hard having 3 kids, a husband who works long hours, and no one around to help when we need it. A date night would be nice too if we had a family/friend to babysit. Its been almost 2 years since our last date night haha!!!

So we narrowed down our search to GA, TN, and FL. I didn’t have anything pulling me towards FL so we crossed that off quickly. TN was crossed off next as although its pretty and further south, we aren’t the least bit familiar with it. GA was the best and obvious choice. I was born and raised in the Atlanta area and still have a lot of friends and family there. My husband was raised in south GA, but the job market and housing market is not great there for him, plus that holds bad memories as he went through a lot in that area. So Atlanta area was the winner!!!

Back in November, we began the process of my husband applying to jobs. He had to have filled out our 50 applications, but we weren’t hearing anything back! He has lots of experience, has gotten rewards at work, and has a higher degree than many people in his field, but no one was calling! We went ahead and started fixing up our house to sell, we painted a few rooms, sanded our back porch, and removed the dated wallpaper in the laundry room. And began de-cluttering!

Then we got a call in February. It was for a part time job, but it was at the hospital my husband REALLY wanted to work at. If you are familiar with the Atlanta area, then you know it is very busy and has a lot of traffic. Both things my husband wanted to avoid. BUT it was super important to us to be in a good school system and close to my family members which meant we were praying hard for this one hospital to call. And they DID!!!! Out of over 50 different applications he put in, the one we wanted the most called to schedule an interview!!!!

The interview went great, but the only problem was the job was not full time hours which meant a pay cut. We did the math and with my income, we knew we could make it work. We decided to go ahead and put our house on the market so if the job came through, we would be ready. And then we waited. We heard nothing back for over a week. During that time, THREE more calls came in asking my husband to set up interviews. Another week went back and no call back from his dream job. We were disappointed, but we knew God had it in control. Then, out of the blue, over two weeks after his interview, they called and offered him a FULL TIME job at the hospital he really wanted!!!! One week later, our house was under contract!

This whole process has been exhausting, stressful, and nerve racking, but it helped teach me again how important it is to trust God and not to make plans because it is all up to him! Now we are in serious packing mode as we leave in a little over a week!!! Luckily, my AMAZING in-laws are coming up from south GA to help us move and get settled in. The drive is going to be rough though as its 9hrs and my oldest son gets badly car sick and my youngest son hates the car. Plus, the baby is still nursing and REFUSES a bottle so we are going to stop often so I can nurse him. At least my daughter loves the car and hopefully leaving super early will make things a bit easier.

Needless to say, my life is a bit crazy right now. I won’t be taking on any new personal training clients/nutrition clients or hosting any Jamberry Parties for awhile. I have also put a hold on advertisers on this website and the facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/workingathomemoms ) starting this Friday until May. I’m so sorry for any trouble this causes anyone. If you need a personal trainer, I have a few great ones I can recommend until I’m back to working again.

If you have traveling and moving tips to share with me, please please please post them below! My kids are 4 1/2, 3 and 9 months so I’m happy to have any tips to make this process easier!!! For those in the Atlanta area, I can’t wait to meet you all in person and thank you so much for following my blog! I’ll be renting in the Conyers area, while looking to build in Walton County. Share your tips with me on home building, finding schools, finding churches, and fun kids activities in that area!! I’ll try to keep everyone updated as best I can. Thank you for your support and baring with me during these big changes <3

WHY?????

December 2, 2014 | 2 Comments

One question I hear all the time is “WHY are you working from home??? Aren’t you busy enough??” The answer is a simple one, for my kids because doing this gives me MORE time with them!!! I have a Bachelors in Psychology, Personal Training Certification, and Nutrition Certification yet I choose to work from home because it’s the easiest!!! Before Liam was born, I was lucky in that I could usually get 3-4hrs of work in each day. Will and Adalyn took long afternoon naps plus were in bed by 7pm each night. I had tons of free time to write meal plans, workout plans, and help clients one on one. When Liam was born my plan was to take a few months off from personal training and then take on the same work load. But I couldn’t do that!!!

Will and Adalyn stopped napping, Liam would only sleep on me, plus with nursing Liam wakes up a ton at night. I found that I was too exhausted and stretched too thin and had no time for anything extra, not to mention once all the kids went to bed, I usually passed out. But I still needed an income source as we prepare for a big move, buying a new home, and my husband cutting back his hours as he returns to school soon. So what was I to do???

I stay home with my kids because it’s what’s best for MY family and its what my husband and I both agreed on. I never want to miss a moment of them growing up, but I still needed to bring some income in. That’s why I share a few products I love with people. It’s a win for me AND my family AND clients! I introduce people to amazing products, spend less time working and more time with my kids, yet still am able to bring in a full time income. The most important thing for me is to be present for my kids all the time. They only have a few years with me, and sharing products and getting paid for it has made that possible for me and my family!! I love my personal training business and clients and can’t wait to get back to that full time one day, but right now this is what is best for my kids, and provides me with no stress!!!

Sharing a product is not for everyone, and to be successful with it, you need to make sure it’s a product you use daily and love. If its not something you love, you will dread trying to share it and people can tell that!! The reason I have been successful is because I use the products I love daily.

Its an easy win for me. I work from home not to be a millionaire, but because I want time with my kids!! Its an accomplishment in my book to be able to make a full time income, working a few hours a week, loving what I do, and never having to sacrifice time with my kids. Sure I don’t watch much TV or do anything other than work once my kids go to sleep, but for me it is totally worth it and I wouldn’t change it. Oh, and it also helps to have a great planner and be super organized. That and coffee keeps me on track each day!!

Amazon Associates Disclosure