New Years'

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years'. David and I ordered pizza and watched the ball drop on EST, so 11 our time. We turned everything off and headed to bed after that, but were still awake when the clock struck midnight and there were celebrations around us. Duke (the bloodhound) was less than thrilled with all the noise, and I was hoping baby girl would sleep through it. Thankfully, she did, and the noise died down quickly.

We did some running around yesterday and I got a new phone. The Samsung S III. I LOVE it! I had a Samsung Fascinate before, so this is basically just the improved version of what I had before. The best part is we bought it at Walmart for half of what the carrier was charging, and we had a gift card so it was basically free. Can't beat that.

January 1st is also my Daddy's birthday, so I called to check in and wish him well. I really miss being around my family, but we're managing with lots of phone calls and occasional Skyping. Here's a picture of me and my Dad from a trip to Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon a couple of winters ago (this is on the Oak Creek Canyon overlook). This isn't the best picture, but I love it because we were freezing (it started snowing!) and having a hard time standing still long enough for the picture. There's a whole series where one or the other of us has our eyes closed or are squinting from the glare. It was a good day.

I have the rest of this week off from work. This morning I took Tennessee to daycare, and I have a long to-do list to get through before the weekend. First on my list is putting away all the Christmas decorations and getting the house cleaned up. As much as I enjoy cluttering the house with holiday decorations, I love how open and fresh it feels when it's all put away.

Today I'm also working on my resume'. I don't know if it will be necessary, but I feel a shift coming and I want to be ready. I haven't updated it since I got my current job over two years ago, so it's time.

Decisions

Yesterday I posted about my child-care dilemma. Truthfully, what I want more than anything is to be able to stay home with my precious baby and enjoy this time in our lives. While I know this is not an option, I am looking ahead to the future when it could be. More acurately, I'm looking ahead to when I could work part-time, or at least less than my job requires me to now. Most weeks I'm lucky to complete my work in 50 hours, and it isn't just me. When I first started my co-workers warned me that the job would never be done in 40 hours a week. But I didn't care. I was young, my husband was days away from deploying, and we had no children besides our Bloodhound Duke.

Two years later I'm a mom, wife, full-time student, and more than full-time worker. And I hate it. I hate missing so much of Tennessee's life. So I'm thinking something part-time. Maybe something around 20-30 hours a week. In a perfect world, I'd be one of those moms who is very Stepford, but brings in extra income by doing crafty things or writing books or something. Woudn't it be great if I actually could get paid to do what I love??

I have to stay with my current company until April, but I am seriously considering a more family oriented career at that point.

Curve Ball

We moved to Florida from Arizona in July. I knew absolutely no one within hundreds of miles. Having a full time job, going to school full time, and having a 6-week-old baby meant I needed to find trusted daycare for Miss Tennessee. We started with the FCC list the base provided to find someone nearby that we could trust. Someone who was licensed and held to high (seriously, extremely high) standards. There were several providers in our area, so I started calling. I met several really nice women, but none that could help me. The problem was, no one out here watches infants, and those that do either lived way too far from me, or don't watch children during school breaks and summer. My job is extremely unflexible, so if hubby is deployed, I would be up a creek.

I finally found one person, not connected with the base, who could watch Tennessee for a price I could afford. At first it was good, but as time went on there were more and more things that made me uncomfortable leaving my child with her for any length of time. There were several times I contemplated quitting my job and finding something, like local stores or restaurants where I could work in the evening when David was home.

I felt like Tennessee was safe with this woman, but she was extremely unreliable, so I kept looking for another provider. Low and behold, I found one. One through the base, one I loved. Her family is really sweet, the other kids are great, I was HAPPY. Fast forward a few weeks, to Friday night, and I get a call saying the provider is giving me notice because all of the other kids she watches are older, and she can't do the activities with them she wants to if she's busy taking care of an infant. So I have the next couple of weeks to find what took me months to find before.

To be fair, I understand infants are a lot of work. Mine happens to be very independent, but she is definitely more needy than a toddler. More diapers, more meals, etc. More than anything, I am sad because, for once, I though I had it all figured out. But I guess that's life.

When I told my parents my dad said he wished he had retired last month when he was offered an early out so they could move to FL to help out. Now, the earliest he could retire is May. Aren't my parents the greatest? Willing to move cross-country just to get me out of a child-care bind. I have to admit, right about now I'm wishing it were a viable option.

Wish me luck in finding someone else I trust to watch my sweet little girl.

Christmas 2012

Sorry for the picture dump, but I have a couple of weeks to catch up on!

Christmas comes and goes so quickly, doesn't it? We prolonged out Christmas a bit by first celebrating with my family in Arizona, then coming home to Florida for Christmas Day. I wish I could have spent Christmas Day in AZ, since no family loves Christmas like my family, but I am grateful for the 4.5 days (nowhere near long enough!) I had back home.

 

 

 



We crammed a lot of family and friends into those few days, but I am anxious to get back and spend more time with the people I love. The pics are all out of order, but were all taken in AZ.

 

                       

 

Christmas Day in our house got a late start since Tennessee slept until about 10. She had stayed up until about midnight the night before, and we joked that she was waiting up for Santa. It actually worked out well since it gave me time to make breakfast (biscuits and sausage gravy). Mmm.

Tennessee woke up during breakfast, and I snapped this picture of her playing on her floor mat:

 

Look at this happy face!

We opened presents after breakfast, none of which were purchased by me! Our family sent so many awesome gifts for Miss Tennessee that I didn't have to. And David and I decided not to do gifts for each other, but to simply purchase a few things we each wanted over the last couple of months. I got some new clothes to fit my post-baby body, and David got a bunch of gaming stuff. 

 

 

After presents we got dinner started in the crock pot. Around lunch time we made my mom's homemade eggnog recipe (the only eggnog I can drink) and spent the rest of the day eating, watching movies, and enjoying our first Christmas as a family of three.

 

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Bring on 2013!

 

New Day

I finally found a new babysitter for my sweet little girl! I have been less than happy with the daycare situation we had before, but was having a hard time finding anyone around me who watches infants. Toddlers? No problem. Infants? Good luck. I've been continuously checking in at all the resources around us, and no one ever had a spot open for an infant. Until now.

I can't tell you how good it felt to fire her old babysitter Friday morning when I dropped Tennessee off. I was nice about it, because I needed her to watch Tennessee for the remainder of the day, but I'm so glad I did! It was the perfect day to do it, too. It seemed as if every day I took T there I heard more family drama that I absolutely did not want my daughter around.

Long story short, yesterday was the first day at a new daycare. Tennessee was so happy when I picked her up - and so was I! One of the dads was picking up his little girls (whose names are ones we considered for Tennessee) and playing with Tennessee when I walked in. So nice to be surrounded by happy people. All of the other kids in this daycare are part time, so Tennessee was the only one going to be there today. My guess is she'll be as spoiled there as she is at home. And I'm ok with that.

Catching Up

Holidays - such a busy time of year. It's also one of my favorite times of year because it's normally filled with family, friends, and really good food. This year is a bit different since it's my first holiday season away from home. Even so, David and I have managed to sneak in as much family time as possible.

Thanksgiving week:

The Friday before Thanksgiving we packed up our Bloodhound Duke, baby girl Tennessee, and what felt like everything we owned and started the long drive from Northwest Florida to Virginia. We decided to take the long way there and drive the short way back. It ended up being a 15 hour drive through Alabama, Georgia, SC, NC, and finally into VA. We got there just before midnight, and were completely exhausted.

Sunday morning we got up drove 2.5 hours to PA to meet David's aunt and uncle for lunch. It was their first time meeting Tennessee, and only the second time (first was our wedding) I met them in person.

 

Monday David and I drove into D.C. for the night - without Tennessee! The little mini-vacation was a gift from my in-laws, and while we both really enjoyed our time away, I was ready to get back to my baby girl!

Tennessee on the swing at her grandparents' house

Makes me think of the "It's so FLUFFY!" line in Despicable Me!!

Cousins Corinne and Tennessee

 

We decided to leave on Thanksgiving Day, and drove to Knoxville, TN for the night. It was so nice to split the trip into two days! And even nicer to drive through some beautiful country. I'm only sorry we didn't have more time to explore the area on our drive back. We will definitely have to add that to our my ever growing list of trips we need to make in the near future.

Next up is our trip to Arizona on the 15th. Less than two weeks! I can't wait to be back in the land of my people!

Busy, Busy

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. I work in property claims and with Hurricane (or superstorm) Sandy, quickly followed by winter storm Athena, work has been oh so busy. I have heard many stories and seen many pictures of the devastation. Most of the people I have talked with had damages such as roof leaks, wind damage, flooding, lost utilities (some still don't have power), and even a few whose homes are no longer standing. As a result, I've been working lots of overtime. It also makes me take a step back and enjoy having a warm house and a hot shower every day.

I've also been busy with homework. This class ends next week, then I immediately start the next. I'm looking forward to it since I only have two more classes left, and will graduate with my Master's degree in March. I. Cannot. Wait.

Thanks to how busy I have been, my house is a mess. Especially the floors. A husband and dog will turn shiny travertine floors into a smudgy, dirty mess in .53 seconds. My floors haven't been cleaned since last weekend. Ugh.

On a happier note, David's grandparents drove in from NC this evening. They have a time share in the next town over, so we're letting them settle in tonight before seeing them tomorrow. Also gives me a little more time to clean house before they see it! They're here until next Friday, which is the same day my vacation starts and we make our drive up to VA for Thanksgiving. I wish I could have taken a few days off this week while they're here, but after maternity leave my PTO is somewhat limited. David on the other hand, is a lucky guy and gets Monday off for Veteran's Day, works Tuesday, and then his vacation starts Wednesday. I must admit I'm a little bitter about that...

Oh, I almost forgot, David moved Tennessee's bassinet into her nursery for me this evening, so the plan is to let her sleep there on her own tonight. My less than 1700 square feet house suddenly seems enormous as her room is on the complete other side of the house from mine. Here's hoping we both get some sleep tonight.