Daycare Vent

First I want to begin by saying I LOVE G's daycare. They are so sweet there. Take excellent care of here, are always happy to talk with me when I call and indulge me when I am worried about something even if it is a sniffle. I couldn't be happier.... well that's not 100% true because then I wouldn't have a vent but I promise this is it.

I am a teacher. We have a few more vacations than the average joe. It's the perfect mom job. Well during our interview I *thought* I heard the lady say, you do have to pay us for school vacations but we expect you to keep her home. I thought, no big deal, I DO intend to keep her home, I might send her one day a vacation so I can get some things done but ABSOLUTELY I want to keep her home. Well we have vacation next week and I have an appointment Thursday.... I have asked every week for the last month if they could tell me a day she could attend so I could schedule this. I hadn't heard so I just did it. Today I mentioned it again and they were wishy-washy again. I understand they let their afterschool kids come all day over break so their numbers are higher, but I am still paying for a full time slot and I can't even send her for 4 hours 1 day?!

DH and I talked about it and we view it like this... if we choose not to send her, then ABSOLUTELY we owe them money. No worries about that, but if they refuse to take her for an entire week do we really have to pay? I get their vacations 2 weeks a year, fine but it feels like I am being taken advantage of because I am a teacher. I already suffer with long hours and low pay, no budget, and this year no raise since we are in a contract issue and now I have to pay additional vacation weeks and I cannot send her?

I love them. I REALLY do. They take fab care of G but today I'm a little miffed about money. I see it from their pov but still. Am I totally off my rocker??

Sad mommy moment

Today was a sad mommy moment for me.... well mixed emotions but sad at the same time.

I can't get over how quickly my little girl is growing. It seems each day we hit a new milestone and have such little time to enjoy each precious moment. It's no secret that I was upset about having to go back and finish out the school year this year... but I had to, for our family. As you know G is on her second daycare and we LOVE it!! They are FABULOUS and take excellent care of her, and me! :-)

Well today I went to drop her off. Took her out of the infant seat and went to give her a hug and kiss bye and she started to whimper. Then M, her favorite caregiver came over and G rewarded her with a FAB smile. I was dissapointed but I leaned in to give her one last hug before handing her off and G leaned towards M with a HUGE smile on her face. IT was all I could do to not burst into tears. M smiled kindly and said "she's really happy here." I am glad she's so happy, I just thought I might have a little time before she was happy to go with other people instead of staying with me all the time. It was a sad mommy moment.

Of course tonight though G and I have had a terrific evening. We've played, laughed and cuddled and I am glad that she's in such good care when I cannot be there. Tomorrow I will be prepared when she shows daycare just how much she loves them, even if she forgets to show me how much she loves me.

Holidays Are Tough

Especially when you're married, and even more so when you have a baby. When DH and I first started dating, were engaged, and finally married, we ran ourselves ragged each holiday. We'd need to see my family, his mom, his dad, and quite often his memere. Those are 4 different stops. After we had 4 Thanksgivings one year I gave up.

We began hosting or scheduling family and last year, when we were pregnant, it was a lot easier (except Easter because DH threw a tantrum but other than that...). Now with the baby it's gotten near impossible. With all the invitations it's hard to say no, you cannot see your grandchild, cousin, niece, great-niece etc for a major holiday.

Right now DH is getting ready, G and I are sitting on the couch waiting for the loooong day ahead to begin. I do intend to put my foot down after this madness today is done and work out a schedule about how everyone can enjoy the baby but we can continue to keep our sanity.

Happy Easter!

A Day Off!

Today I have a day off from school which means I get to do my favorite job... being a mommy!!! My little boss had me begin at 5am but I loved it! We got to spend the whole day together, just she and I...

First we picked up the house, she snoozed while I finished, then off to get some Easter pictures done. We were meant to run errands but that didn't happen... instead we went to visit aunt K for lunch! Back home after lunch to clean some more; we are trying to sell our home and we have a showing tomorrow. :-)

The day ended with daddy coming home, dinner and bed. There really is no better job than being little G's mommy. And at 4 1/2 months it is SO much fun!!

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.