I love Thanksgiving because it is a day that reinforces thankfulness and gratitude. I wish I could say that I am thankful for my blessings every moment of every day. But there are some days where I forget just how good I have it. I wanted to take the time to tell all of you that I am so thankful for your sticking with me the past six years. These six years have been an awesome time and we have all saved so much money together. You have become like family for me and for that, I am truly thankful.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. See you BRIGHT AND EARLY tomorrow. Hubby will be helping me and we’ll be posting non-stop between now and Cyber Monday. 🙂

Asher & I at his orphanage in Ethiopia.

A lot happens in a year! So many of you were following our adoption journey just one year ago. One year ago, my husband and I had met our son for the first time at the orphanage in Ethiopia. We had passed Ethiopian court which meant that per Ethiopia, we were our son’s parents.  This time last year we had also returned home to the states with him. We had to wait for the US Embassy to investigate his paperwork to confirm that there were no discrepancies. Once he cleared embassy, we could bring him home. We didn’t know if we would clear in one month, two months, three months, etc.

At this point a year ago, I had decided to return to Ethiopia early, without a confirmation from the US embassy that he had cleared. I wanted Baby T (remember when we called him that?) out of the orphanage. So I had booked a one way ticket scheduled to leave on July 30th and planned to take him out of the orphanage and live with him in Ethiopia until the US embassy cleared us to come home.

So much has gone on since once year ago. Baby T came home (I will blog more about my time in Ethiopia and our trip home on upcoming Thursdays) and we became a family of three. We named “baby T” Asher Terefe. I want to say that this past year was all rainbows and butterflies. But that would be a lie. And seriously, there is no such thing as a perfect life without any hitches. But this past year was a great one. Especially when I think about the fact that one year ago today, I was grieving the fact that we had met our son and started to bond with him and then had to leave him in the orphanage while we returned home.

I will recap more of this past year in the next few weeks. One of my regrets for this past year is that I didn’t post more updates to you guys while I was in Ethiopia and also once I returned home. To be honest, I was living day by day and didn’t have much free time to do anything besides bond with Asher. But now, I want to get everything down in writing. So I will be writing more soon. 🙂 I know this isn’t going to help you save any money. But it will give you a glimpse into our life as we became first time parents.

A video of Asher taken just a couple of weeks ago. He’s grown so much!

(A guest blog post from the “hubby” of Addicted to Saving.  Here’s to you, Mom.) 

Here is a good one to think about, Moms….how much are you worth?  I don’t mean measuring your worth in quotients of love, candy hearts, or promissory notes stating “Good for one room cleaning without asking.” No, I’m talking the green stuff – cold, hard cash. How much do you think you’re worth?

I have to tell you, ever since Asher became our son 5 months ago, I am utterly amazed at the amount of work that goes into being a stay-at-home-parent.  Liza and I split the responsibilities of Addicted to Saving – which are many – but they vary from week to week. I do most of my work behind the scenes or at weird hours.  Some weeks I work a ton on the site, and other weeks Liza is burning the midnight oil. But working the site pales in comparison to the work that goes into being a parent.

A good parent, that is.

Those first few weeks I thought I’d never feel rested again. I remember thinking as his cries would wake us at 5:00 in the morning, “Man, it’s groundhog day – I have to keep this child alive again today!”  Now that he’s adjusting to life in our home and life in America, things are definitely better. But keeping him alive is still on the agenda each and every morning, and it takes precedence over all the rest.

(Photo credit: liveinternet.ru)

Be that as it may, the “rest” of the household activities still have to get done, right? The shopping. The blogging. The laundry. The dishes. The vacuuming. The toilet cleaning. The garbage. The cooking. The cleaning. The dog-walking. All of these things that happen in addition to the keeping-the-kid-aliving.  All you parents out there know I’m just scratching the surface.

Since Liza and I and Asher are at home every day, all the time, I’ve been able to see first hand the extreme demands of child-rearing. For any husband (or wife for that matter) who thinks being a stay-at-home-mom is a sweet gig, please refer them to the Contact Me button on this website so I can swear at them  gently refute them in a response email. Running the household operations is the hardest thing I’ve ever done; and I only do it half the time. There’s no doubt I’d completely lose my mind if I was the Household CEO all the time.  (No matter how cute this kid is!)

That’s why I thought this Salary.com piece on “What’s a Mom’s Work Worth?” so right on the money. Liza’s worth about $110,000 according to the crunched numbers, but I encourage you to check it out yourself by going HERE.  Take a screenshot of what you’re worth or send yourself an email, just to remind yourself of how awesome you are from time to time.  Chances are your kids aren’t doing it much. 🙂  Hopefully you’ve got a good husband who encourages, supports, and loves you, and recognizes what you’re worth.  And if you don’t, remember God does!

All that to say, from one semi-stay-at-home-parent to another, I feel your pain. But know this – you are worth far more than a dollar amount. Cliche to say? Probably.  You know what though? There’s a reason those “Priceless” Mastercard commercials were so popular. You truly cannot put a price on the paradoxical nature and love/hate relationship one has with parenthood.

So here’s to you, Moms – keep up the great work!  You are worth every penny you’re not paid.