Amazing

4 1/2 months is amazing. LOVE being a mom right now. G is sleeping through the night :-) And she is SO much more interactive. Her awake time is real quality time and I couldn't ask for anything more than the little family I have.

I've been back to work 4 weeks now and I finally feel like I have my class back in order and back to myself. Things are good at work, although I am still unsure what I will be teaching next year. No position at K or 1 for next year. Don't want to move to 2nd with this class again so am looking to move buildings.... we will see.

New daycare continues to work out great. I can't even say how happy I am each afternoon when I pick up DD. She is smily and giggly. The "teacher" who takes care of her knows her so well. She was telling me how DD likes to be put down for naps and it is SO true.

Everything is going amazingly well and I cannot begin to describe just how at peace I am with the world currently. I hope it continues... of course getting 6 straight hours of sleep helps! :-D

So Much Has Been Happening!

Well new day care is just amazing. Everyone there LOVES G and I don't even worry at all. Each time I call they talk with me about how she's doing and tell me funny stories from her day. When I go pick her up, she's smiling and even lets out a giggle when she sees me. G was with her auntie for 2 days and missed daycare... today she went back and they fussed all over her and told me how much they'd missed her when she was out. I feel REALLY good about new daycare and couldn't be happier that things have worked out.

Little G is now sleeping (mostly) through the night. She goes to bed by 8:30 and only wakes up once between 2 and 4 to eat... and she goes right back down. I then need to wake her at 6:45 so we can leave. (I've probably just jinxed myself!!) She is rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy. She freaked us out one night when we went to check on her and she was tummy sleeping. Pedi says it's fine though, now she's strong enough to handle it.

G is using her jumparoo, sitting in a high chair (no solids yet), and becoming increasingly more mobile. She's my big grown up 4 month old baby now and I am so proud of her.

1 year ago today....

I got my first positive pregnancy test! (and my second) Then I called DH from the supply closet at school during breakfast on pajama day. And that afternoon was told I was having a miscarriage. Then on the 16th of March, 2009 I was told, that no, in fact there WAS a baby.

Right now I am looking at our little miracle snoozing next to me on the couch and am as happy as I can possibly be. We are so blessed, our little family.

Talking it out

Old daycare called yesterday when she didn't show up. I told them she had a drs appt (true) and that we'd call them later to let them know what's going on (not true). G had an awesome day at new daycare and each time I called, they didn't rush me off the phone and encouraged me to call again to see how she was doing.

Last night though I knew we had to let Old daycare know she wouldn't be in today as well... DH offered and I took him up on the offer. They asked why and he said he didn't want to get into it but that they should receive a letter tomorrow. The man said "so no notice and no payment." DH said just read the letter and we can talk about it if you'd like. Not even 2 minutes later both our cell phones started ringing.

I answered mine thinking I'd hang up if I got uncomfortable but it was the wife. She asked if I knew DH had quit daycare... of course I knew! And she hoped it was nothing they did. That's when I shared with her how uncomfortable I was with one provider there with all those children. She launched into a story about how terrible her health is (not helping your case!!) and how it was the last appointment of the day. I told her I understood and I do not begrudge her her health and know about needing to go to the dr but it wasn't a one off thing and reminded her how she took a pilates class during daycare hours with my mother in law! She protested that she could take those classes at night if that would be better....

I told her I need to look out for my daughter, we do not believe they held up their end of the contract and if they'd like to pursue the 2 week notice money they were welcome to. She told me she was going to let it go, kept telling me how sick she was and I simply told her, we like you as a person but I need to have G in a space that's safer at this point. What's funny though is she seemed most hurt that we lied on Friday when we gave our notice. I explained that we didn't want her to be mad at us and take it out on G and that we intended to have G stay there this week and honor half of our notice but I thought about it all weekend and just couldn't send her back.... especially when new daycare said they'd take her right away.

It didn't go the way I planned but I am glad it's done. Today they will get the letter with everything in writing that we discussed last night. I've contacted my friends who also attend this daycare to let them know exactly why we are quitting (my MIL didn't think it ok to tell them the truth!) and DH and I are wrestling with calling DHHS for the safety of the other children. I hate to do it but what if something happened to a child while there was one caregiver?? I am glad she and I talked it out and now I know that she understands why we're quitting.

Daycare Drama DONE!

*Hopefully*

We interviewed a daycare on Thursday and I spoke to two others Thursday and Friday. On Friday we called our first choice and they will take G starting MONDAY!!! Hooray! Did I fill you in on what happened at daycare last Friday?

Friday morning DH went with me to daycare. We decided we would tell them that we were giving one week's notice. When they asked why, we were going to say we couldn't afford it. We did this and the man was pretty upset. He cited the contract we signed saying that we agreed to give 2 weeks notice. Then he picked up the baby carrier and took her out of the room. DH and I left and I was in tears saying how I didn't get to say goodbye and didn't like the feeling I got when he took her out of the room. DH offered to take her to work for the day but that wouldn't be practical either especially with him still in his first 60 days with this company.

I had severe anxiety all day long and was thankful that I had a workshop day and it even got done early! I got to daycare by 2:30 and was never happier to see my princess. We left with a "see you Monday!" knowing full well that I would not let my child return to that daycare again.

Spoke to the other daycares that day and was waiting to hear back from #1 choice that afternoon. Phone FINALLY rang at almost 8:00 and they said they could start her Monday. :-) Relieved that she has a safe place to go that we are comfortable with. They are pretty much the complete opposite of first daycare... durring the interview didn't get into certain things, but I never doubted for a moment their love for the children they work with, and their passion for kids in general. When I spoke to owner/operator she said "You know, we're really excited to work with her, we kinda love her already." Just so relieved. And the best part is that she is literally 2 minutes from where I work!!

So daycare drama is done.... moving on to getting back to a normal routine. :-)

Daycare Drama Day 2

So G went back to her regular day care this morning. Everything was normal. I went to work much cooled down from Monday afternoon ready to call day cares and get going on our search. The day was busy but good I even taught drama after school like I usually do on Wednesdays. It was a busy day. Got to daycare to pick her up and was reminded why she's switching.

I got out of my car and could hear yelling. Something to the effect of "DON'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING. IF YOU DON"T WANT TO HELP THEN YOU CAN JUST BE QUIET!!!" I opened the door as usual and all fell silent. I couldn't tell if he was yelling at his wife or a child but either way, that's not what I want my child exposed to. He was much calmer by the time I came up the stairs and he handed me the baby while his wife talked with me about her day but the memory of his angry and loud voice still echoed in the room. It was not a pleasant situation. I was glad she and I were going.

I got home, thinking about the daycare thing and started feeding the baby. Phone rang, it was the daycare in the town I teach in and they want us to come interview tomorrow!!! I had hoped for a spot there when I was pregnant but they were full... now it looks like they can take on one more baby so I will chat with them tomorrow. Many of the other teachers send their children to this daycare so it comes HIGHLY recommended. Actually, my fabulous co-workers were going to bat for me because it's really hard to get in there. Crossing my fingers that it all goes well tomorrow and I can give notice on Friday!! Now the question is... I have to give and pay two weeks notice... do I send her those two weeks? :-/

Daycare Troubles

Daycare went great for about a week...

I don't know if I shared on this blog but before we sent G to daycare DH called to talk with them about her start date and one of the daycare providers was out and would call us back. I asked DH if that meant there was just one adult with all those kids... he of course didn't know.

I knew I needed to find out but I was afraid of the answer (yes I know, terrible mommy). I thought about it all weekend and was going to ask Monday but the opportunity presented itself...

I got to daycare at my regular time (4:15) and came through the front door as usual. D called down "Who's here?" And I called back "G's Mommy!" I went upstairs and there were at least 8 kids running around the upstairs not to mention my baby in his arms. Usually the second daycare provider is also there but she was no where to be found. So I asked.... Where is K? And he replied "She had a Dr appointment." I packed up G and we left. I called DH and was upset...the law in Maine says that 1 provider can have no more than 6 children at a time and no more than 2 of those children can be under 2 1/2. D had 8 kids and AT LEAST 4 of them are under 2 1/2... I was not happy. OH and my MIL shared with me that she thought it was weird because K took a class with her at noon time 1 day a week... she thought it was odd that K was at pilates pilates and not at daycare.

Today I began looking for new daycare. She had to go back there and will need to be there until we find something else but I am disappointed. THey are SO nice and EVERYONE past and present customers LOVE them. They've always had top ratings in safety... but they are out of compliance with the state regulations. Those regulations are there for a reason. What if something were to happen with only one provider there and I knew this was their practice and could have prevented it. So G is going to find a new daycare to attend.

But just because people are nice and others are willing to trust their children to them, doesn't mean that I have to be comfortable.... I need to do what's right for baby G and our family.