LarkExaltation

Both kids seemed to have a great day yesterday. Sam was excited to see me when we picked him up and told us all about the things he did yesterday, with a little prodding at first. When I picked up Libby she was in a daze. She squealed and ran to me, but she didn’t smile much, just stared off into space. I asked her if she was going to say bye-bye to her teacher and she focused in on her, but then turned and waved to the director on the other side of the window. She was a little more talkative in the car. And by talkative I mean she said “no” to everything we said. While we were out she had a short nap around seven, woke up just long enough to have dinner with us, and then she went right to bed when we got home around nine. Both kids slept soundly through the night and neither were very interested in getting up this morning. Then again, neither was I. I finally got Sam up by telling him they were going to the theater to watch a movie today “huh? what?” Libby was a little clingy at home this morning as we were getting ready. She would run to me and hug my legs. I had to be the one to carry her to the car, and PD said she was a little upset when he left her this morning, but I don’t think it will take too long to get use to the new environment. They said she had a really good time yesterday, so that’s what is important.

On the potty “training” front. (I still don’t think she’s quite there yet, but we’re starting slow) We asked her before bed last night if she needed to go potty. She agreed and while sitting on the potty she let out a little toot and smiled, clapped her hands and “yay…get off” as she lunged for me. I put her back on to make sure that wasn’t the start of something bigger but she assured me she was finished. Only thing is though, when she squatted down to pick up her shorts, she let out another and then tee-teed on the floor… we’re getting closer. Even though I only mean close proximity to the toilet.

Looking forward to more e-updates, hint hint hint!

i love that i’m friends with my daycare worker’s friend! i’ve gotten updates with out having to call and be “that mom”

“just called - she said she’s being perfect - i called her on her cell…she said she hasn’t cried once and she’s playing very well with the other kids”

nap time… (worker called amie)

“she said libby laid down on the first mat they put on the floor, they had to tell her “that’s not your mat libby!” and they moved her to her mat and she was out in 3 minutes … she said she didn’t fuss or anything, she was ready to go to bed … she said you can bring a blanket, but they have plenty of extras. she put one on her today but she kicked it to her feet and she’s in a ball fast asleep … she was laughing at her cause she was so anxious to lay down”

yay!

more yay!

“your baby is having a blast, i just talked to her again for like 2 seconds”

Sam was very excited this morning about getting to wear his swim clothes, for a swim day and taking his lunch in his lunch box. When we got there, he was even more excited to see an old friend. Once we figured out where to put everything, we went back to where the children were gathering and they waved wildly and hugged. I was never really worried about how he would take this change. We use to take gymnastics there, and we’ve been to birthday parties there, so it’s familiar. I just hope he gets use to their schedule, and the lack of nap yesterday doesn’t take a toll on him. Yesterday evening both kids were at meltdown about three hours before bed. Luckily they took about a 20minute power nap in the car on the way out to some friends, but they were still pretty edgy.

Libby is another story. We went to her new class, but PD and I didn’t see her new teacher so we were as lost for whom to talk to as she was for where she was. A little boy from church broke the ice with “where’s Sammy?” Once I realized that the lovely blond lady standing in the class talking to one of the workers was not a parent, I offered up, “Hi, this is Lauren… or Libby, whichever you want to call her.” The lady introduced herself, the owner, and said “you’re Amie’s friend” we shook hands and I moved to where PD was holding Libby. She pointed out a “baby” asleep on a tumble mat, and looked around the room, but wasn’t really ready for us to put her down to go. She was actually clingy to daddy and wouldn’t’ turn around to see me asking for a hug and a kiss. She wasn’t thrilled to go to the arms of a worker, but she didn’t cry. I could see through the window on the way out, she was just looking at the adults in the room, searching for a familiar face.

I still get teary eyed thinking about the people at our old daycare. I was a little sad last night before bed. Something I noticed that goes along with my backup plan to return to the other daycare. My friend from church, who is due three weeks before I am, I noticed on the waiting list for the daycare Wednesday and she will need a spot about three weeks into my leave, . I was thinking her son went to another daycare, PD said that since Libby was there, we would get some sort of priority, like other daycares. However, the child who asked for Sam is her son. They only have one room for each age group… I guess we’ll see how it goes. I figure near the end of the month I will stick my head in the “new” old daycare and see how the progress was coming along. That maybe that way they would think I haven’t totally abandoned them, and I’d get to see them. It is closer to home, and less expensive, so as long as my issues have been met and corrected, why not have them in the running as planned? The new daycare owner knows the situation we came from. I’m not sure if she’s expecting us to stick around for the long haul, but if we can’t have both girls there, I’m sure they’d understand the move. Honestly, I hope they do have room for Evelyn. I sound totally ungrateful about getting into the new place, but as of right now, I really do love it. They have a nice security system that I experienced this morning, where parents need a code to get in the front door. So as long as Libby adjusts well, we should have no problem.

i dreaded it for over an hour at work. i was not looking forward to picking up the kids yesterday. i just knew i was going to break down. i think i cried for an hour. it’s not the easiest thing, working on spreadsheets through a tissue. i kept wishing PD would offer to go with me, but i guess this was really something i needed to do on my own. on my way in the door i told myself to not go into too much detail if not needed. i walked in and there were boxes in the hall, so i joked about which box they had packed libby in. her teacher of course was telling her not to forget her in a month and that she would miss her, didn’t know what she would do while she was out. she is still under the impression that this is just a transitional thing and she’ll be back in a month. i couldn’t bring myself to tell her otherwise, but i can’t stand that she’s going to find out the way she is. i can only imagine what they’ll think when we don’t show up in a month. i really do care for them, it really could have been handled better. but this is just it i guess. monday we’ll be at the new daycares. pd keeps telling me, which i’ve only ever agreed, that they’ll be in more stable environments. and no matter how much we like the director and her teacher, this really is the best thing. i’m very happy for them and their new building though. it turns out they’re moving right in on wednesday. no move to the other daycare or private school. just think, had i only been more informed i may not have stressed out and i wouldn’t have had to go through the heartache. but then, there would be small issues that go along with being understaffed that would still be bugging me.

last night we took a trip out to our friends on the lake. brought the camera but didn’t think to take any pictures. my sister taught sam to cast a fishing rod, and he even got a few nibbles. nibbled the worm right off the hook. beth said he looked around like “huh? what’s going on?” we grilled burgers and watched comedians on the comedy channel. the kids started getting really tired, so we headed home early, as usual. unless libby fights it for hours, she won’t really go to sleep anywhere but her car seat (on the road) or her own bed. i’m impressed that daycare manages to get her to nap on a kindermat, but it’s also with the help of a paci. we’re lucky that they agree that it is only to be used at nap time.

the kids and i are trying to convince dad that we need to go to the p-a-r-k today. i’ve been in the mood to walk some trails, get fresh air. i’ll need to drug the kids before we go, both woke up with stuffy, runny noses. i think dad has to study for finals next week, so maybe he’ll need a break this afternoon.

reading my babycenter.com email about my kids development today says that libby should have a vocabulary between ten and fifty words. i remember making a list like this for sam, so we opened up a spreadsheet (i can’t get away from them) and started a list of “libby words.” we went ahead and broke down the phrases, even though she doesn’t always use those words independently of each other. we’re up to ninety-two. i’ll probably post it at the end of the day just to see what else we hear her say, that we can’t remember first thing in the morning.

this has been an emotional week for me. full of ups and downs. stressed out for the moving daycare, so excited for the spots at new ones, and then i find out that our daycare has a building and are working like mad to get in it asap. it is an older building that needs a good bit of work, so i am happy that we are starting the new daycares monday, but i’m going to miss libby’s teacher and our director VERY much. since the beginning i’ve loved to listen to them talk about my kids, to my kids and watch them play together. i can remember the first thing libby’s teacher ever said about sam, that she loved seeing him at school when she would pick up the after-schoolers and she couldn’t wait until libby’s hair came in like his. she loves his hair. the director calls him the most handsome boy. and we wonder why our kids are so spoiled? even if they do say that to all the kids, they are definitely spoiling mine.

yesterday when i picked up the kids, i found libby laying on desk, with her head on a soft baby doll, squealing in laughter while her teacher is tickling her chin. she had said she was being “the only good one,” sitting on the floor while the other played wildly. she looked over and said “hey!” and waved to her teacher, so her teacher waved back and told her to come sit with her. i’ve mentioned they’re a bit understaffed, so i’m glad libby can be a stress reliever. i know she’s mine. just looking at her brightens my day.

tearing up now, this is ridiculous!

i sobbed last night. PD must have thought i was losing my mind. obsessing about it all. in my head i know we’ve made the right decisions, but it’s really hard to come to grips that these people i’ve cultivated relationships with, i’ll probably never see again….

gotta love those pregnancy hormones! i can only imagine how this postpartum is going to be.

i’m telling myself that in the event that we can not get Evelyn in the new daycare when it’s time for me to go back to work, then we’ll probably move them both back depending on the condition of the new building. it’s been closed since may i believe and you can tell from the outside, however i’ve been told the inside looks great and the major project they’re planning is to take up the old carpets and use area rugs. always a plus in my book! it wouldn’t make any sense for the three of them to all be in different places.

… it’s the other.

but at least all is well.

Apparently when the mechanic was checking something behind the dash he disconnected a circuit from the battery to the alternator (unknowingly?). So basically while driving my car yesterday I drained my hoss of a battery.

the car died twice on the way to my sisters. one time was turning onto her street, luckily! it took about ten minutes of calming down for PD to remember he noticed the light out on the dash and went out to fix it. Six dollars (yay battery warranty!) we have a new battery and a running car….

…. again.

(edit: I’d also like to add a special YAY for my sister and her husband! Without them we would have had a REALLY hard time getting around this past couple of weeks. They’re so loving and supportive. And of course, great informational resources! Yay Beth and Chris!)

a word, that in this case means, Amie is SO cool for pulling just the right strings! (because that’s the first word that came to mind - sad, i know) THANK YOU!!!!

We got in! Libs has a new daycare, near by, to start Monday! And Sam starts Kids Camp Monday at the Gym! I got them all registered at lunch today! I’m so excited!

Can ya tell!?

Did I mention I got my car back yesterday!?

It’s like a friggin’ country song in reverse!

I love You!

… IT’S A GIRL!

I had been waiting to see if I could get the ultrasound transfered to digital to post, but that’s not going to happen for two reasons. One, the equipment is expensive and my boss can’t find the software to lend me his. and Two, the ultrasound didn’t get recorded. You can see that it tried to, but I’m assuming it has something to do with how they had it hooked up. It wasn’t the typical ultrasound room at the doctors office. I’ll take the video again with me to each appointment until I can get another one done. I have no doubt they’ll want to take measurements again.

We’ve decided to name her Evelyn Rae.

We’re big into family names, Samuel Tobe was named after Paul David’s grandfathers, and Lauren Elizabeth “Libby” was named after my sisters Rita Lauren and Elizabeth Ann.

Evelyn Rae is Paul David’s grandmother’s middle names, Reba Evelyn and Virginia Rae.

We haven’t had all positive responses on it, but we love the name, and have had lots of support from some stating that it’s gorgeous, beautiful, very classy and original, not too popular. I think we rank #65 on the Social Security Popular Name List.

I’ve always loved older names. However I probably won’t be naming any children after my mother’s dad’s parents. Now they have some original names! Guy Levi and Izetta Opal - Wow! Not that I don’t like them, just don’t think that would go well with my very generic last name.

After all my stress about daycare and such, I think things are coming around. Of course this seems like a short cycle for you guys as I only posted about it yesterday. I finally decided to explore some options. Look for places I know my son and daughter(s) will be happy. After work yesterday, I picked up PD and the kids and drove to my prospects to look around. Monday, Samuel will be starting summer/after-school care at the gym where we use to take gymnastics. Libby and Evelyn are on a waiting list at a daycare about five miles from where PD and I work, doctors and home. It’s new and has a great layout. The one thing PD can’t stop going on about is the potty that’s actually IN the two year old room. It’s the best cubby system, changing station, little kid potty I’ve ever seen. The owners really knew what they were doing. That was a big issue for us when Sam was potty training. The daycare that had been working with us, which had a connecting potty to the room, had gone out of business and the new daycare we started going to stopped taking the younger twos to the restroom down the hall. Still not sure why my almost three year old was in a younger twos class, but that’s another issue all together. He seriously regressed with that, and he was still having accidents in Pre-K a couple of months into the school year. Luckily, that is behind us with him. I have a friend who has agreed to keep Libby for a month or so, hopefully until we can get into the new daycare. The waiting list for Libby is only four kids long, and I’m hoping that when they call for updates, the other parents have already found spots for their children elsewhere. PD has also agreed to take the week he’s between semesters and work. I’m surprised he hasn’t opted to work on campus between semesters. I’m not going to say the little bit of extra money wouldn’t help, but I’m sure whatever it takes to keep our kids, and friends, happy.

On another relieving note, when I stepped into the directors office to tell her our last day would be Friday, she let me know that they had found a building near by and that it should be only around a month and they’d be moving in. There would still be a transitional period at the private school down the highway, but it wouldn’t be more than a month, she seemed really excited. Talking to PD on the phone this morning we’ve pretty much decided whichever place calls to say they’re ready for us will be the one we go with. Of course that depends on the condition of this new environment, however I’m very happy with how she has described it.

The car…
I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned this, but we’re use to the car stories no?
… will be ready today hopefully. I called yesterday and the lady who answered said he planned to have it off the lift yesterday and today it should be ready and they would have the final price.
The story: Almost two weeks ago, we were driving home from church and we thought the transmission had gone out. It turns out the clutch fell apart? I’m not sure how all of that works, but it’s a LOT less expensive than a new transmission. Which we had pretty much decided if that were the case we’d just scrap the car and get a new vehicle. So a new clutch and new axles (they really needed replacing - we already knew this) later we should be getting it back today. Hopefully for less than what I have budgeted for it. We’ll see. We’re still looking into the buying a new vehicle idea, but at least we have some more time and don’t feel so rushed. I hate being rushed into big decisions.

The financial aid: PD and I struggled with getting financial aid set up for him to get back into school. We were finally able to get him in this summer and things seem to be going well. His scholarship is only suppose to be supplemental, however it is awarded before they ever put in the grant and loan information. It is suppose to be adjusted after the fact, but this time it wasn’t. When we got the aid refund we thought we had only the loan, but it turns out we got part of the grant too and part of the loan was rejected by the school because he was “over awarded.” So part of the loan that we use for supplemental income while he’s in school for books, gas, food and such… we have to pay back to Vocational Rehab because of the miscommunication between them and the university. Oh, and we don’t get the part of the loan that was rejected. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that it’s just that much money that we wouldn’t have to pay back in the future, but when you have $700 something to spend on a car, and other various expenses… lets just say I’d rather have it now and pay it back when PD gets paid more for his education, than “suffer” now and look back at the growing experience.

I’m not really worried. I know we’ll be taken care of. It’s just that human side of me that starts worrying and stressing.

And to close, I give you a picture of what went on yesterday afternoon when we got home. I was on the computer looking up a recipe for a pasta salad and chatting with a friend who is trying to pull some strings to get us in the new daycare faster, when I hear from the dining room. “MOM! Libby’s on the table! She’s trying to get the chocolate! Mom! LIBBY’S ON THE TABLE!” of course this is no surprise to me, the girl is a really good climber. I think he was more upset that she was getting to the chocolate before him. I caught him with three cake bites yesterday before dinner. Each time I made him put it up until after dinner. He may have ended up with one out of all three bites.

what’s happening in this photo? i dumped my bag to get to the camera, when she went for the keys, he went for the chocolate!
please excuse the mess.

Oh and she can now get her own paci out of the drawer. Usually reserved for nap/bed times. I can’t decide if it’s time to break her of it, or just move them higher out of her reach? She is still teething a bit, and that’s been the only thing she will take during those stressful toddler times.

I’m very proud of the salad. It turned out very pretty… most of the things I make look quite, normal.
The salad:
One bag of Veggie Wacky Mac - cooked
One large zucchini - peeled, quartered and chopped
One cucumber - peeled, quartered and chopped
One apple - peeled, cored and chopped
Three small tomatoes - diced
1/3 of the Turkey Ham we had left over - cubed

The dressing - because we didn’t have any I had to look up a recipe and improvise for the stuff we didn’t have around the house.
1/3 cup of light mayo
1 cup skim milk
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
sprinkle of Italian seasoning and basil
sprinkle salt & pepper
2 tsp garlic salt (next time I’m going to just use 1 - the sprinkle of salt I had already added and the salt from the meat was a little much for PD - but he still liked it)

it called for plain nonfat yogurt, but we didn’t have any left. PD seems to think that would have helped with toning down the salt

The cake bites recipe we got from a co-worker, she made strawberry and devils food. They’re amazing! We made german chocolate saturday. You just make a box cake, crumble it up and mix in icing, refrigerate until cool (about 20min). Shape into balls and freeze (about 20min) then dip in chocolate. We used Bakers. Co-Worker used Almond Bark. Both are YUMMY! one box cake makes about 50 cake bites.

Dipping them reminded me of the miracle pill from Miracle Max’s on The Princess Bride. “the chocolate makes it go down easier, but you have to wait 15 minutes for potency, and don’t go swimming for an hour”

It’s crazy how much we’ve been through with daycares. I’m starting to wonder why we ever left the first one. Oh wait yeah, Samuel was a year old and in his highchair and the “caregiver” was standing in the hall chatting to another caregiver when I went after work to pick him up.

Last September we moved to a daycare closer to Sam’s school, closer to home, closer to work. About two months later, with out notice, the institution was sold. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new director/owner. Not long ago, she decided to sell the building to lease it from the new owners to cut costs. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding and the building owner thought that she had bought the daycare business. I’m really not sure how all of this actually works, but it’s getting confusing and frustrating. Once the mistake was realized the building owner decided that she was going to basically kick us out, and start her own daycare. At first they had high hopes of being in another building in a couple of weeks, it was pushed back to the end of the month. Now that is probably out of the pool of ideas and they’re thinking about setting up a temporary camp, for lack of a better word, at a church/private school, down the highway the opposite direction from where I need to be. At first my thoughts are to just let Sam stay at the after-school care at school put on by the YMCA, he LOVED it last year, and I would just let Libby go with the masses to the new location, until they found a permanent location. Lately though, I’m finding myself wondering if I shouldn’t just find a new daycare all together. There have been so many closings lately. I just don’t know how this is going to work out. I love the workers at our daycare, but…

I just don’t know.