Just Me and Pooky

Emmy is now in her 6th week at school (which is going great! I am already amazed with how much she is learning!), so Pooky and I have had plenty of time to ourselves. It has been nice - we have played with a lot of cars and games, we have gone to the playground, play group, and play dates with friends. We have gone out to lunch and shopping. We have had lots of snuggles and hugs. I am really enjoying this time with him.

However, I think he is bored most days. Not having Emmy here all day means he does not have anyone to play with, except me. I try to keep us busy, but there are plenty of days that we don't do much.

Of course just as we are getting used to our new schedule, everything will change. Starting in 2 weeks, I will be doing daycare again for my friend's two little boys. One is a newborn, and the other is the same age as Pooky. I am hoping this will work out beautifully, since Pooky will have a playmate again. Then, of course, everything will change again in December when Gummy Bear is born. I will still be doing daycare after that - I will have 2 3-year-olds and 2 babies - every day. It will be crazy, and I am sure that there will be days that I am pulling my hair out - but I am hoping it will work. I really need to do something to contribute financially to our family, and I would rather do this than go back to waiting tables and being away from the house 4-5 evenings a week. And thankfully, I love kids, so this is the best option for me.

For the next 2 weeks, it is just my baby boy and me. I love it this way and enjoying our time together... but we are ready for our next challenge! :)

Just a Quick Note to Say....

It has been a busy week! I have been watching my friend's little boy, Mr. K, who just turned 2 all week, and it may turn into a permanent gig in a couple of months, which I am excited about. I haven't been doing daycare for several months now, since we thought that we were moving to Chicago and Baby R's mom enrolled her in preschool. So, it is nice to have Mr. K here - he and Pooky have been running around together all week and it has been fun.

Aside from that, we have all been battling colds, and Emmy is running a fever now. The puppy, Ellie, is driving me bananas, doing regular puppy things, and I just haven't had the extra time this week to deal with it.

I am making a cake for my friend's daughter's birthday party tomorrow. It is a lion cake, to match the jungle theme of the party. I will post pictures later. ;)

And I have to report for jury duty at our tiny town's municipal court tonight at 7:00 pm. Who has jury duty at 7:00 a night?? I think it is weird.

Looking forward to the weekend...

One Week 'Til Christmas....

And this is what the temperature was outside here today. I am really not complaining, or bragging, since my friends in the north are freezing cold and buried in snow. But... it doesn't feel like Christmas when it is almost 80 degrees (which is way warmer than normal for us), and it has been this way all week.

Although.... given the choice of this or the weather in Michigan right now, I choose this. ;)

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It has been a busy week! I baked a lot of cookies, wrapped a lot of gifts, ran a lot of errands, took the kids to our play group's Christmas party....

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My little elf, aka Emmy, has been stealing scraps of wrapping paper all week. Then I find presents like this under the Christmas tree.
So far, there are about 5 beautifully wrapped Emmy gifts under the tree, with tags that say they are for me or Ray. I peeked at one, and it was a magnet from the fridge. Not sure what the other ones are, and I haven't noticed anything else missing yet, so that should be fun Christmas morning...
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I am looking for a job again. I have not been doing anything at all since about August, when we thought that we were moving to Chicago. Up until that point I was still watching Baby R full time, but her mom had made other arrangements for her since we were going to be leaving. But we didn't end up moving. And now I am really poor and need a job.
I am contemplating finding a new day care client, which I may still do, but I do have a job interview lined up for Monday, so we'll see how that goes. My problem with getting a job is my availability - I can't be there until 5:30 pm during the week, since I have to wait for Ray to get home to watch the kids. So, not sure how the availability will play out at the interview Monday, so I will keep you posted. Cross your fingers for me, because if it works out I will be super excited.
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Also this week, Ray and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. I love you Sweetie! And many more years to come....

Have a great weekend!

Randomness

So... my laptop is still broken. I am hoping that my darling computer-geek-of-a-husband can figure out how to fix it for me. I am still using his laptop, which is okay, but I miss mine...

Anyways, remember how a couple of months ago, Emmy's poor little face swelled all up because of mosquito bites?? Well, it happened to me yesterday - I woke up with a puffy eyelid. I had been outside the evening before and the mosquitoes were crazy bad. Lucky for me, I don't react quite as badly as Emmy does, so my swelling was completely gone after a few hours (Emmy's lasted for a couple of days). Ray had a good laugh, because I looked like a goober. I guess that is what I get for taking pictures and secretly giggling at Emmy's pitiful swollen face. Karma.

I am on a job hunt again. After we had decided to move to Chicago, Baby R's mom started looking for new daycare, and was lucky to find a place fairly quickly - so I don't have Baby R anymore, which is okay with me - it is nice just having my 2 again all day long. I don't think that I want to do daycare again right now, but I am looking at possibly waiting tables again a couple of nights a week for some extra cash. Wish me luck with the search!

And finally, from yesterday - Emmy walked in to find me applying deodorant. She asked me what I was doing and I explained that grown ups use deodorant to prevent stinky armpits. :)
She looked very concerned and asked if it hurt, and I told her no. Then she said, "Well, I am not going to do that when I get bigger." Hmmmm, we'll see about that!

Blah Monday

Feeling a bit blah today.

First off, it is cloudy and very humid. It should rain. It needs to rain, and I want it to rain so that I don't have to water my grass today. But it refuses to rain. Maybe later.

Secondly, this weekend flew by, and we didn't even do much fun. Our good friends are moving, so we spent a good chunk of the weekend helping them out. I did get to shop for a couple of hours with my mom, and I got to work in the yard for a short time. But that's it. Blah.

Third, over the past 2 months, I have only been watching Baby R 2-3 times a week, as her mom had gotten a new job with better hours. The past 2 weeks I have not had her at all. Today, I now have her full-time again - good because I need the money, but bad because it was kinda nice NOT having her here - for mostly silly reasons, like I got to sleep in for an extra half hour, it was easier to go out and run errands, etc. Not that she is a bad kid, she just isn't mine, so it is different, you know?

Fourth, my 10 year high school reunion is in 1 month. I realized that if I am going to lose that extra 10 pounds that I have been carrying all year, I had better get on my horse - so no more pizza and Coke for me. :( It is depressing, but needs to be done.

Blah.

It Was Too Quiet....

This is what happens when I turn my back for 3 minutes to fold the laundry. I noticed it was too quiet....



Chocolate cereal! Everywhere! Being devoured by the babies!












Yum, yum, yum














Baby R seemed to enjoy it! :)

My Baby is a Bully

He looks so sweet and innocent, doesn't he?

So, my daughter is becoming a bratty big kid (not really, aside from a few incidents, she is very sweet and kind) and now my son is becoming a bully. Poor Baby R - Pook's mission every day is to torment her. And it is easy. All he has to do is touch her leg, and she cries. But even more fun is trying to climb on her back, pull her hair, take her pacifier, yank out her hair bow....
And he does it to Emmy too. Pulling hair is a very funny game. He enjoys chasing her around and climbing on her too. But the difference is Emmy can push him away, or climb up on the couch where he can't reach her. Baby R just sits there and takes it. And cries.

So.... Pooky is the day care bully at our house. My sweet, happy little guy. Hard to believe, but it's true... Not much I can do about it at this age - of course I am discouraging the behavior as best I can, telling him no, telling him to be nice to Baby R, etc. I just feel bad for Baby R. And for me, who spends my whole day consoling a crying baby after my son has just bonked her in the head with a bottle! :)

Change

So, I am done working at the restaurant, and this has been my first week doing day care. The little girl I am watching, I will call her Baby R, is keeping me very busy! I expected the first couple of weeks to be rough, since Baby R doesn't know me very well, and is in a new place all day. And, it isn't any worse than I expected, but it is still rough. She cries a lot, and wants to be held a lot, and we have pretty much been stuck in the house all day, which I am definitely not used to - but it will get better, it will get easier.
That's it - we are just getting used to a new routine. All is good.... :)

*yawn* Something New...

I am not usually up this late - it is currently 12:09 am, way past this mommy's bedtime. My new job is keeping me out much later than I like, so I actually just got home. And who can get home from work and go straight to bed? Not me...
Anyways, I have decided to try something new. I am going to start a family daycare in my home. Just 2, maybe 3 kids, preferably part time to watch during the day. It is something that I have been contemplating for a while now, and I think that the time is right to just go ahead and do it. I am already home with my 2 little ones, why not watch a couple more? Maybe I am crazy, but it kinda sounds like fun.
I already have my first "client" lined up - one of my friends who lives down the street, and who I actually used to work with wants me to watch her little girl for about 4-5 hours, 4 days a week. Perfect.
So, I have been doing some research to find out what I need to do to get registered in the state, I want to become CPR and first-aid certified and all that fun stuff. I will probably start about mid-August, as this is when my friend needs me.
Depending how it goes, I may be able to quit waiting tables in the evenings - I miss being home every night with Ray and the kids, and even though I am only working 3 nights a week right now, it seems like I haven't sen Ray in days...
Alright, enough rambling, time for bed. 'Night.