The Cost of Not Being a Stay At Home Mom (Infographic)

If you are a SAHM, you’ve no doubt probably run the numbers.  Is it more cost effective for you to work in the “real world” to bring in a second income to the family?  Or, could it actually make more sense for you to be a stay at home mom?  For this calculation, you have to be able to analyze the cost of the services you are performing as a stay ah home mom.  The infographic below does an excellent job of just that.

I think any mom can relate to the multiple hats and multiple responsibilities you have throughout the week including housekeeper, CEO, psychologist, facilities manager, computer operator, daycare teacher, and more!  So, if you are feeling down, take a good look at this infographic and evaluate yourself properly.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your job is not a “real job”!  Value yourself properly moms.  Your job is essential for the running of the family.

p.s. – The below analysis shows nothing about an income you can make at home.  So, if you are a SAHM who has found a job working from home, then just add that income to the bottom line.

(Click on the image to enlarge).

Via: DegreeSearch.org

At Blanketmybaby.com, we love all things moms, dads, babies and families.  Anything that can make families stronger, we want to promote and share.  Go moms!  Go families!  We love to be a hub for awesomeness to share about families, like the infographic above.  We also do baby blankets.  If you need a cute gift for a family member or friend, check us out.  We do personalized blankets too.

Filed under Education, Info, Infographic, Marriage | Tags: sahm, stay at home mom jobs, stay at home moms, what is mom's work worth | Comments Off

Gatlinburg Vacation Videos

We recently took a long weekend to Gatlinburg with my wife’s family.  What a crazy fun town it is.  Their family has had a condo/timeshare there for years.  My wife went their as a little girl and this year, she got to take her own baby to the resort, something she never thought would happen.

Emil has been growing up fast already.  He is crawling and tough to keep an eye on, but man is he a joy.  I love being a father!  This first year has been amazing, from wrapping him in his first swaddling blankets, to seeing him grow into a sleep sack and beyond.  He is precious, and I am so proud of him as my son.  What is amazing to me is how much joy he brings into ours and others’ lives.  Often times when he sees a stranger now, he’ll say “Hi”.  It’s hilarious.  He is a lot of work, but what a joy!

Here’s a look at our recent trip to Gatlinburg.

 

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Meeting The Great Grandparents

Back in October, we took Emil on his first road trip.  It was about an 8.5 (normally 7) hour journey up I-75 to meet his great grandparents.  Emil will be too young to remember this trip, but fortunately, we took some video to capture the trip.  My parents grew up about 15 minutes from each others’ houses.  They were high school sweethearts, and as a family, it’s been so nice to go “up North” and be able to visit both sets of grandparents.

One of the true joys of having Emil born into our lives is the increased connectivity between your family.  For the older generations, I believe a baby brings memories, smiles, joy and hope for the future.  Plus, they get to do all the fun stuff with the baby, knowing that it’s not their turn for the 2am feedings.  Ha!  But Witni and I have both experienced a new depth of understanding and intimacy with both our parents and grandparents.  There is a sense of empathy for one another because you are now experiencing something in having children that is simply inexplainable until it happens.  The same goes for being married, but this is just another deeper level.  I love it.

While we were on the trip, we were able to talk to my grandparents about their parenting experiences and ask for tips and advice.  The result was priceless, and I’m happy to say I was able to video some of those interviews as well.  The following passage has been deep on the hearts and minds of my wife and I.

Deut. 6:1-9

¹ These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

I am so excited to be able to pass down the love of our Lord to our son.  I cannot wait to tell him how much God loves him.  I cannot wait to impress upon him the love of the Father – that the heart of the Father is that we “may enjoy long life”.  What a blessing to be a parent.  What a great responsibility.  The Lord chose one family to bless the nations.  His plan has always been to use the family as a way to bless the earth.

In the video below, you’ll see clips from the Sztanyo grandparents and being at the Britt farm (my mom’s side), with her mom and sister.  We also got to take a stroll on the Britt farm through their exquisite tree grove.  Our dog Legend, got to come as well.

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We Have A Son!

I have a son!  My wife, Witni, gave birth to our son at 2:13pm on September 8, 2010.  The total delivery time from when her water broke at 5am on September 7th to when he was born was 33 hours.  33 hours of labor!  My wife is a superwoman.  And not only did she go through 33 hours of labor, but she delivered vaginally.  Unbelievable.  I was right there coaching her the whole way, and it must have been the hardest night of our life, but we were rewarded with our little boy!  Emil Regan Sztanyo was 6 lbs and 13 oz when he was born.  Emil (pronounced like Emmit) is after his great grandfather, a WWII veteran, Christian patriarch and humble man.  He is almost 89 years old, and he played a round of golf with my brother last week.  Regan means born into a royal family, which we believe he is born into THE Royal Family, those adopted by our Father.

What a joy and a blessing this little baby is to us.  We had been praying for him to come for a long, long time.  A few years ago, we were called out of a high school ministry, Young Life, and knew God was telling us to start this business and have a family.  A year and a half after trying, we were pregnant with little Emil.  And now, we know we are completely blessed by his arrival.  God gave us this blessing, and helped us through the delivery.  In fact, in those final hours of the night, as my wife was suffering through the pain and exhaustion, we prayed like we had never prayed before.  We prayed for this baby to come, for the pain to cease, for the desire to push (we never got to 10 cms), for mercy and for deliverance.  He heard or prayers.  There were so many scriptures going through our minds, but none more prevalent than this one:

¹ Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.² In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one’s youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Psalms 127

The sex of our baby was a surprise to us, and when he finally did come, they asked me if I wanted to announced what he was.  I was so overwhelmed with relief that it was over for Witni that I had completely forgotten we didn’t know what it was!  So, I looked down at our baby, as he was laying on Witni’s chest, and emotionally blurted out, “it’s a boy!”.  What a blessing!

I have so much to write that I think I could write a book.  Emil is 4 days old today, and he is doing better each day.  We are breast feeding, and after some help from a lactation expert at the hospital, little Emil has acquired the “taste”.  He is eating better and better each day.  He was a bit jaundiced, and we had to take him in for tests the past few days, but he didn’t have to go on the “billy” blanket.  He got a little sun today, which I think he rather enjoyed.  He has so many people who love him already that he doesn’t know how good he has it.

Ok, enough for now, I’ll be sure to write much more later.  If you want to watch a bit more of the delivery (PG rated), here’s a video.

Filed under Marriage, Pregnancy, Uncategorized, Videos | Tags: birth, children, emil sztanyo, kids, labor, Pregnancy, son, vaginal birth | Comment (0)

Nursery Work & Date Night

It’s another Saturday night and are the soon to be parents out on a hot date?  Not so much.  G.G. is here (gorgeous grandma), and she and my wife are busy working in the nursery again.  All the nesting is coming to a peak as we are less than a month away from this new little miracle to join our lives.  I played my part today and hung a light fixture (only one call to my Dad, thank you very much) and screwed in a door hanger that is tree and bird themed.  Outside of that, it was work around the house on some other chores, tend to my garden and workout.  Now, I’m off to the store to get some homemade pico de gallo ingredients to go with all my great romas!

I can’t say we are all baby all the time.  Yesterday at work, my wife was about to call me and ask for a night out.  Little did she know that I had already made a reservation at Buca di Beppo for a date night.  When she got back to her desk, the email for our romantic evening out was awaiting her.  She called to say thanks and that it was the one restaurant she wanted to go to.  Score one for this guy!  We ate a yummy lasagna dish, and for a $10 coupon off of a $20 meal, it was not an expensive night out at all.  While I was planning to go to Yagoot for the Sztanyo creation (rasberries, Cap’n Crunch and dark chocolate chips), my wife had been craving The Cheesecake Factory.  So, off we went from Rookwood to Kenwood and about a half hour later, we enjoyed a piece of white chocolate rasberry cheesecake at Panera with some hazelnut coffee.  MMmmmm.  We were stuffed!  But at the end of a work week, it was great to take my wife out on a date and be together.  We figure date nights may be rare in the near future, so we should enjoy them now.

Filed under Marriage, Uncategorized | Tags: buca di beppo, cheesecake, date night, marriage, nursery | Comment (0)