New Day Care

Alyssa is 18 months old and starting Monday will be at her 4th daycare. Well really her 3rd. The first place we picked we backed out of before she even started. The second place she went to for 9 weeks. The third place she went to for a year.

Starting Monday she will go to her fourth and hopefully final daycare until she starts school. That daycare is the closest to home she has ever been and has the best ideas so far. I say that because starting Monday I am her daycare. I get to stay home and spend time with my daughter.

I am so excited that I get to stay home with her and get to see her all day everyday. I'm excited to get to see her play and interact with other kids. I won't have to feel the guilt I would get when I would go pick her up from daycare and they would tell me what a horrible day she had.

I started out with 5 kids, 3 families but as of last night one of the families backed out. So now I have 3 kids and one is just a before school kid.

I know I will get more and I just have to have patience and faith. It is giving me time to get my business up at started. I now have a Business bank account and tax id number. I also have an accountant and some clients. I'm officially a small business.

So hopefully the kids come soon and I can start feeling like this was the best decision ever.

Lake Baby

My daughter is a lake baby. She LOVES the Lake of the Ozarks. I swear it is in her blood. We did not get down there until late Friday night (think like 10:30). She did not want to go to bed. I think if we had let her go swimming she would have.

On Saturday morning she was up early to go swimming and play with all her toys that stay at the lake. We then went for a boat ride where she was so tired from staying up the night before, and getting up early that she fell asleep within minutes of being on the boat. This is a huge task for my daughter since she does not fall asleep in people's arms( like ever) or in cars (most of the time).

It was then home for lunch and a nap. Alyssa was the only one in the whole house that did not take a nap. It was then time for more swimming and then FINALLY Alyssa took a nap. But it was only an hour before she was back up for more swimming and another boat ride. On that boat ride she waved at every other boat, wave runner or bird that she saw.

On Sunday it was more swimming and another boat ride where she fell asleep again. This time we were able to get a few pictures. Then it was time to come home. She was so sad to leave the lake and I think she is dreaming of it nightly.

I'm so glad my baby is a water baby, hopefully her brother will like it just as much!

In Home Daycare

From the time I was in high school I knew I wanted to stay home when I had kids. I always assumed that I would watch a few kids in my home so that I could stay home and raise my own.

When Chris and I got married I told him I would work until we had kids and then I wanted to stay home. Well when Alyssa came we knew there was no way I could stay home we just bought a house and things were crazy. I told the babysitter that Alyssa had at the time by the time we had the second child I would be able to stay home.

Well here I am 5 months pregnant with my second child, unemployed and have had both the old babysitter and new babysitter offer me kids to watch so that I could stay home. At first I wasn't sure. (There is still part of me that is really scared about this).

But this is what I have said I wanted to do since I was in high school. I haven't been happy in the last few jobs I have had and I have loved spending the summer at home with Alyssa.

I know it will be hard and I know it isn't the same quality time at home with the kids I would get if I wasn't looking after other people's kids but at least I can see my kids grow up and their big milestones. There is less vacation, yet you are in your own house and have your kids.

I might need a few more nights out child free because of this adventure but how different can it be than raising someone else's kids for 9 hours a day then come home and raise my own?

Now I'm raising my 24/7 and someone else's 10.

I'm scared and nervous but I think it is just because it is something new and something I never thought I would be able to do.

Now I have to figure out how to re-arrange the house so that it is truly child safe and start finding kids. As of right now I have the potential for 4 with a 5th coming in Feb not counting my own two. If I could get it up to 7 or 9 I could hire someone to help me and then I could have small breaks with my own.

Maybe 5 with a few before/after school kids since the bus stop is my neighbors house.

If you are the praying type say a prayer for me. I hope this is what makes my heart and family happy because we all deserve to be happy after the last 3 years I have had!

Sleeping baby

We took the pacifier away about 13 days ago. Before that we would do a breathing treatment then she would give the parent not going upstairs a hug and go upstairs straight into her crib get her pacifier and blanket and go to sleep. Now everything is the same but I'm the one that takes her upstairs every night and I rock her for a few minutes before she goes to sleep.

I love sitting in the chair with her head resting on my chest. I love the way I can feel her body start to relax and her breathing get steady. I love the way if I stop rocking before she is ready for me to stop that she will move her body so that the chair continues to rock. We don't sing songs or read book ( that is done other times) we just sit there soaking in the love.

I have started to look forward to bed time at night. I know at some point she won't want to cuddle anymore but my baby is already growing up so fast I have to cherish the little things and this is what I'm cherishing right now!

Giving up the Pacifier

It is hard to quit an addiction. It is even harder when it is not your idea to quit that addiction. Alyssa used a pacifier to go to sleep at night and during naps. She never used it at any other time and Chris and I had talked a few times about taking it away and we never did.

After a talk last week we knew that we either had to get rid of it very soon or we were going to have to wait until after the baby came. I said I wanted to do it while I was still out of school so that if she didn't like it I could sleep during the day or at least take it easy.

We started on Friday night. She only cried for 10 minutes and then went to sleep. We thought
"wow this isn't bad". That night I went to check on her and found out she had gotten sick from dinner and was covered in throw up. We spent the next 2 hours cleaning her up and her throwing up 5 more times. I wanted to give in and give the pacifier back but Chris made me hold strong.

On Saturday she cried for 15 minutes very hard and then went to sleep. On Sunday it was 10 minutes and not as hard. On Monday it was only 8 minutes and even less.

Tonight Chris is gone for the night so it was just me for bed time routine. She cried for 10 minutes and went to sleep. She then woke up 45 minutes later and has now been crying for about 30 minutes. I have gone up and rubbed her back and rocked her, finally she just has to cry. I hope she falls asleep soon and she is just off her routine with Chris gone.

18 Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain: About 5 pounds. That is about 5-7 pounds less than this point with Alyssa.

Maternity clothes? Yep but I do still wear some no maternity tops and I am wearing a size 14 skirt that fits okay. I really like dresses right now, pants are uncomfortable.

Sleep: I am actually sleeping though the night again I don't have to get up to pee. But when I wake up you better get out of my way. I wake up with backaches a lot of mornings though.

Best moment this week: Seeing the baby on ultrasound today and hearing the heartbeat.

Movement: I feel the baby almost every night now.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: none

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to enjoy a whole show or movie without having to go to the bathroom.

What I am looking forward to: Starting the nursery and buying clothes

Weekly Wisdom: Leave it in the hands of God he knows what he is doing.

Milestones: Well according to my weekly updates the baby is the size of a bell pepper and is 5.5 inches long and weighs 11 ounces. The doctor said he weighs about as much as a soda can right now.

It's a BOY!

Today we went for our big ultrasound. The baby looked very healthy and was very active the whole time we were in there. He kicked and punched and moved all around. He is measuring ahead of schedule and is laying transverse in my uterus. I also have an anterior placenta. This is not an issue now but if it doesn't move correctly can be an issue later but they said everything is fine for now.

I have spent the afternoon looking at cute boy things and can't wait to get started on his room.