A few weeks ago, I read something that really encouraged me in the area of motherhood. It talked about how being a mom is in fact a full time job and there is no reason why we shouldn't approach motherhood any differently than we would a "regular" job. This really spoke volumes to me because I know that if someone employed me, I would do everything I could to stay organized, meet deadlines and produce quality work. The difference in my current position is that I technically don't have deadlines for everything and I don't have anyone to answer to except for my husband. This reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend a few weeks ago and (I'm probably going to butcher the quote) but she said something to the effect of, "It's one thing to be a stay at home mom...it's another to be a good stay at home mom." There are mom's who can be present with their children but not really be present. I don't ever want to get lackadaisical in my parenting and I want to make sure that my decision to stay at home is not in vain. I want to approach motherhood with the professionalism I would any other career.That being said, my first step towards intentional parenting began with going to Target and buying a planner. I'm terrible at organization and I needed something tangible to help me keep track of life. It's actually been incredibly helpful listing out all future appointments alongside regular weekly activities and mixing in all the things I have yet to do. I really believe it's made me more productive and efficient with the time I've been given. I truly believe this will be a beneficial habit to start so that I can stay sane when Baby #2 arrives. Another thing I've started to incorporate is building a consistent schedule for Kaiden. He needs structure and the end of our 2012 was completely unstructured (which I believe is a huge reason he is having trouble napping, therefore causing a completely different set of other issues I've been wrestling with.) Part time pre-school is not in the cards for us and so I've found several social environments he can be in without mom being there. Twice a week he will be attending our base gym's daycare while I go to my pre-natal yoga class. He also has his regular, one-hour speech therapy every week at our home. And we just started attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) which is two hours, once a week. I attend a Bible study while he attends his 2-year old class which is structured just liked a pre-school. His activities include circle time, lessons, crafts and free play. That's one activity every day for four days  out of the week. The best part is, it's all free. (However, I do have to volunteer at the gym to earn free hours which will give me yet another opportunity to get him out of the house and playing with other kids.)All this to say, our new schedule and approach to the week has been keeping me very busy. Add in the daily things I do to maintain the house and the extra attention he requires, and you can see why I've been a pretty inconsistent blogger as of late. As much as I want to keep five entries a week going, at this point I need to prioritize and eliminate the lesser-important things until I can find a good balance. I want to keep Kaiden busy but I also need to make sure I make time for myself before this baby arrives...because once she comes, there won't be resting for a while...