Spring Cleaning

So over the weekend I started cleaning some stuff in my basement. This must get done soon! The Dancer is moving to a more sophisticated girly room downstairs. I am a bit nervous about it but that's another post (she won't move down there until early summer). We also cleaned the girls' rooms on Sunday. Today I cleaned a cupboard in the kitchen that had some bottles in it. Sweet Baby girl has been bottle free now for 2 weeks! She has been formula free now for almost a week! So I was able to clean out her bottles. You would think I would feel good about this. Its always nice to have a cleaner house. Well, to me Spring cleaning means its Spring. Well if its Spring then why in the world is there enough snow on my side walk for my hubby to have to get the snow blower out?

SHE'S THE WINNER!

I visited my family on Saturday for lunch at the Cafe which is open again! My sister and her hubby talked about a hockey game they were going to that evening. Now I was a bit surprised to hear my sister talk about going to a sports event. Just didn't seem to be her pick of an evening date.

So I said "You and your Hubby like hockey"?

She nicely replied "I guess so."

So I took that as she was not a bit excited to go.

The next day my brother-in-law called to tell me that he might be needing a sitter for their baby in maybe March 2010. He told me that at the hockey game he bought my sister a raffle ticket and she just happen to be the lucky one to win a $1,000 TRAVEL VOUCHER!

I bet she is thankful she went to that hockey game after all!

Yippie!!

I can feel the baby moving around in my tummy! Its not really kicking me yet but I can sure feel it moving in there. I can't wait for my apt. in a few weeks to find out what it is.

I told my hubby on Saturday that we will probably end up with a house full of girls and my sister will have all boys. Then yesterday we were looking at some things at Fleet Farm and I saw a family with 3 boys and a baby girl. So then I got to thinking maybe we'd end up like that... 3 and one. As Rose would tell me, I don't get to pick what it is.

Perspective of a 5 year old

So today when I was getting ready in the bathroom Rose was watching me curl my hair. I looked at her and said "Oh no I got a pimple today, how did that get there"?

Now I didn't really think Rose would have much of an answer but I guess 5 year olds know more about pimples then I do.

"Well, I think someone told God to put that there".

First I laughed. Then I said "Someone better not be praying for me to get pimples".
So if the person out there praying for me to get pimples is reading this OH PLEASE STOP!

PS. I usually don't care to share that there is a pimple on my face but I just found Rose's perspective of how it got there so funny.

Mothers know everything!

When I got pregnant with Sweet Baby Girl my sister was also trying to get pregnant and have a baby. She had gotten pregnant just a few months after me and I was very excited for us to go through being pregnant together. However God has all the control over our lives and he decides what is best for us. Sometimes the things he decides for us to go through or not easy ones. Sometimes they are joyous.. As most of you probably know my sister had a miscarriage and we did not get that chance to go through our pregnancy together. My sister had a rocky road the last year and every day I prayed God would answer her prayers and give her the chance to be a mommy.



I was not trying to get pregnant again so quickly. When I found out I actually got alittle bit freaked out. I didn't understand why God would give me another child so soon and not my sister. I mean I already had 3 girls! I remember telling my mom I was expecting on Christmas Eve and I started crying. I was excited to have a baby again but I was so sad for my sister. I felt it was her turn.



Mothers know everything! My mother told me not to worry. She said it would be just like the last time I got pregnant. My sister would get pregnant not long after me. Years ago if someone would have told me Mothers know everything I probably would have laughed and said "Whatever". But since I have gotten older and become a mom myself I realized my Mother does usually know what she is talking about. She is usually always right.



So I waited. I prayed. My girls prayed for their Auntie. I hung a cross in my room for decoration and the Dancer said I could use it to pray at night for Auntie M. Well somewhere somehow in God's plan he answered our prayers.



My sister is PREGNANT! She is going to be a Mommy! I could not be more excited for her. I really wish I could have gotten the Dancer on video when she was told she was going to have a cousin. She was so excited. She started jumping up and down. Maybe somehow even at the age of 7 she felt too that God had answered her prayers. Now she reminds me that we pray for a healthy baby.



Everything is going very good for my sister. I know she has been worried but its in God's hands. She has actually had a few ultrasounds and the baby looks good and has a good heartbeat. She even had the chance to give her husband a scare and make him think there were twins in her tummy but she is only having one baby. I will save that story for her to tell.



So if you didn't know I am going to be a Mommy again and an Auntie, now you do. And when my Mother said it would work out like it was supposed to the first time and we could go through our pregnancies together she was right. We are about 4 weeks apart! I couldn't be any more excited for the both of us.



Please don't tell my Mother I said she is usually right.

**Update**

My Sweet Baby Girl is running a fever again. She is napping and I hope she is better when she wakes up. She won't eat anything but she is drinking milk and juice. She loves the neighbors puppy. They have a white fluffy puppy named Chopper (so cute I want one). She was so crabby and I noticed Chopper outside and I pointed to him and wow did it change her mood. She started smiling and pointing (I think she wants one too)!

Of course hubby is sleeping again too. He is worried I will get sick... not sure why. Mom's don't get sick days.

Stinky Burps

Oh help me.... my husband came home from work early yesterday and wow did he look terrible. He said he wasn't feeling well. I am sure he had a fever. Well, he has been sleeping most of the time and has also been burping. The first few times I was like hun you need to stop that. I had a house full of kids and of course would like to set a good example. Going around all day burping didn't seem right.

Well, he gave his burps to Sweet Baby Girl and holy cow do they stink. You sure don't want to be too close to her. She started getting alittle fussy lastnight and felt warm but no fever so she went to bed early and slept good for a few hours. She woke up in the night and was crabby and running a fever. Of course still burping those stinky burps too. So I finally woke up enough to give her Tylenol and get her some milk and the little stinker decided she wanted to play. I hardly had the Tylenol in her mouth and she was laughing and smiling and waving her arms. I was so tired. So I did my best to ignore her playing and finally we both feel asleep cuddling. She seems to be better this morning. She isn't running a fever at all and is eating some kix finally. But she is still burping those stinky burps.

Of course Hubby is still sleeping and its 9:45am!

Diapers

You are probably wondering what I have to say about diapers. I went to Wal-Mart lastnight to get a box of White Cloud Size 3 Diapers. I couldn't find them where they usually are. So I looked around a bit. I noticed on an end cap a few packages of small ones in the White Cloud Brand. Well if you have ever studied the diapers at Wal-Mart you would know that White Cloud is not the most expensive diapers and they are not the cheapest. Everyone likes something different and I find these to be similar to Huggies. Well I finally asked a lady that works at Wal-Mart where the diapers are and she said "Oh you are the sixth person looking for them today but they have been discontinued". I actually looked at the lady and said "Well you can't do this. These are the only diapers I like and I am having another baby". She just laughed at me. Seriously I loved these diapers. I will not use the ones that are cheaper because I find them to be sandpaper like things you put on a child's bottom. So I ended up buying Huggies and yes, 3 packages of smaller White Cloud Diapers for the Wynn Baby in my tummy! I then told my husband we should maybe go to the next closest Wal-Mart and buy out what they had left. He wasn't to thrilled about the idea so we came home. I paid $16 for 96 white cloud size 2 diapers and $20 for a box of Huggies that was filled with 96 diapers. That is a $6 difference just for them to say Huggies. Ok yes, its just diapers but imagine someone taking away your favorite pair of underwaer and never giving them back! I am sure Sweet Baby Girl is going to be devastated and I can picture her telling Baby Wynn our soon to be Sweet Pea that they are really missing out on White Cloud Diapers.

Yeah, I will get over it but its going to take some time. These were my favorite diapers.

I have two dates!

Oh I am so excited! I have a date on Friday, April 17, 2009! Yes, a date with the ultrasound technician. What could be better than that? I had first made my apt. for the following Friday but the lady who subs in my daycare isn't available that day. So I of course pondered the idea of closing for the day which of course Hubby did not like because I don't charge my families when I am closed. Then there was the issue of what to do with our children during the apt. So I just called and got it a week early! I am so excited. I am hoping we are able to find out if its a boy or a girl.

Speaking of baby and what it is- Did you know I got a speech from Rose on where babies come from? Yes, she told me all about it. She told me that God goes POOF and the baby ends up in my tummy! God makes the baby a boy or a girl. Rose said God gets to pick that part but we get to name it. She also told me we should name our baby Sweet Pea. So Sweet Pea it shall be. Well, for now anyways.

Ok so onto my second date. I figured since I don't ever leave my children with a sitter and go out. I am going to leave the whole daycare with the sub after my ultrasound and go on a lunch date with my Hubby! It is very much needed. The break away from home is needed and who doesn't love food?!?

Sadly my dates are almost a month away. At least I have something to look forward to.

Its going to be a long day

A normal day for me would start by my alarm going off at 6:45am. Well today I was supposed to have a child arrive early. Way too early. So I set my alarm for 6:10am. Well the problem is whenever I have watched this child she arrives LATE. Usually by an hour. So when I was asked to watch her I was told 6:30am. I kind of figured she would be late. Then I got to thinking what if this is the time she is on time. Well she wasn't. She arrived at 7:05am. Awe I could have slept longer. It wouldn't have been such a big deal getting up early but Sweet Baby Girl woke up lastnight and was up for almost an hour. Of course she slept this morning until 8:20!

This morning at 6:45am the phone rang. Now I thought it was going to be a daycare parent. No it was the Tax Guy! I am sorry but who wants to talk taxes this early in the morning? Seriously who calls people at that time?

I can just tell this is going to be a long day. I think I am going to need a snickers candy bar!

Please Pray

Longer ago I came across a few blogs that caught my attention. So since then I have been reading them. I enjoy hearing the every day stuff these mothers have to say. Well you may have noticed a link on the bottom right hand corner of my blog. It says MckMiracle. This mother has 4 children and keeps very busy with them. Her little guy is a miracle. They did not think he would be born alive. They were told in the womb he had issues with his heart. Well this little guy was born as healthy as could be. However this turned for the worse this weekend and Little Stellan could use our prayers. I have never met this lady or her family but after reading her blog for many months now I feel like part of me does know her and I am hoping for the best for their boy Stellan. If you would please pray for him.

its my party and I will cry if I want to!

So about a month ago I was trying to think about Sweet Baby Girl's birthday party. Every little child turning one needs a party but what do you do? Who should be invited and what should the menu consist of. All that fun stuff.

Well we bought her a special cake, had some pretty princess plates with the number 1 on them, 2 birthday balloons and invited just a few family members. We went with something alittle different for our lunch menu and did a hot dog bar. I had Hubby make hot dogs on the grill and had some different fixings for them like onions to chili. I had also made a couple pasta salads.

Then of course you talk about it all morning to your little one how its her day and everyone is coming to see her.

The guests arrive and all heck breaks loose. Sweet Baby Girl invited her guests in by CRYING. And she cried and she cried. Its not like I invited people she didn't know! She even had a morning nap before guests arrived. We have come to notice that she does better in small groups. She does not like big crowds of people and she does not like being the center of attention.

Well when it came time to have birthday cake you would think most 1 year olds would love having a cake in front of them and would dive right in. I planned for it to be a messy mess! It was nothing of a messy mess. She sat there for a minute and did nothing. Then she cried.

So then she got a nap.

So in the end the cake was what I most looked forward to. And like I said I planned for a messy mess. That it was not. At least not until Rose got into later that night when I was in the laundry room and she got frosting all over the floor. But its ok it was her party, her day. When she is older we can show her the pictures and instead of telling her she made a mess we will tell her she CRIED most of the party! Of Course I still love her and I wouldn't trade her for the world. Not even a messy cake!

Cake Balls

I just got done making Cake Balls! They are Delicious. To die for! My mouth is watering just thinking about how yummy they taste. Are you wondering what Cake Balls are? I will tell you.

I was reading a blog of another daycare provider I have talked with for some time. Sadly we haven't met yet but anyways, I was reading her blog and she posted a recipe for cake balls and commented about wanting to make them for her son's graduation. I figured I would give it a try. I am so glad I did. Like I said- they are to die for. So delicious.


What you do is make any cake mix out of a box you would like. I really recommend Red Velvet. After baking the cake while it is still hot dump it into a large bowl. Add one container of frosting. You can use any kind but I would recommend Vanilla. Stir it all together and mix it well letting the cake crumble. Once that is finished take a cookie sheet and line it with wax paper. Roll the cake mixture into round calls. You will need to pack these tightly. Almost like you do when you make hamburger patties!





Once all the cake is rolled into balls refrigerate them for at least 2 hours. This will cool them down and hardened them some.



After your 2 hours are up take them out of the frig. and melt Almond Bark Chocolate. Best to melt half a package at a time as the choc. will harden. Roll each ball into the choc. and place back onto wax paper. I also took about 4 balls and added coconut to them. You can be creative and melt butterscotch chips and drizzle those on top as well. If you are a peanut lover you could add chopped nuts to the top as well. The choc. will harden fast so you want to add your coconut or other ingredient to the top right away. I found it easier to sprinkle coconut on top rather than roll the choc. ball into the coconut.

These are so yummy but I think I already told you that. I only tried one and I shared it with my Hubby. I am hoping I can contain myself and not eat any more. My plan is to have them last until Sunday when I have company.

If you look closely at the pictures you will notice that I allowed Rose to help be but she got mad when I wouldn't let her eat one. I am so mean. So she got mad and ran off.

Vacations

I am looking for someone to take over my house for oh maybe a week! I want a vacation! I want to go where its warm, not hot but warm. Maybe 65-70 degrees. A place where I can sit around in my PJ's a relax! No phones allowed! Yes, I know I am dreaming. I think I would settle for even 2 days.

Anyways, today my wonderful Brother T and my Auntie R are getting on a plane and flying to Texas. I will admit I wish I was going too. They will spend some time with my grandparents in Texas and then drive back with them.

My brother M will be going to Washington with a friend he met in College. His friend lives out there and M will drive to his home with him, spend some time there and then fly back. He has never flown before. I don't think he is going until sometime in May.

Hopefully they all have a safe and peaceful trip. Well I dunno about my Auntie R. My brother T is alot like me.... doesn't ever stop talking. So a peaceful trip for her might not be an option!

About this flying thing- I think its one of those things a person should experience at least one time in their life. I took a plane to Washington DC when I was in High School for a group trip. I got very sick on the way there. The girl sitting next to me sure didn't want to sit next to me again on the way back home! I guess I don't blame her. It really wasn't my thing though. It was an interesting experience. I will say though I wouldn't want to fly alone.

My Baby is a year old!

Sweet Baby Girl enjoyed her first ride in the wagon yesterday!

She loved it!

So I spent some time over the last few weeks making a short video of all Sweet Baby Girl's photos. I tried to add music and its not working. I can not get the music from Hubby's side of the computer over to mine. Maybe its because I bought the music from itunes. So I tried to post 4 times yesterday and it wouldn't work and I also tried to post it this morning. So I guess if you want to see the video you'll have to come over and watch it! Everyone is welcome!

My Sweet Baby Girl turned 1 yesterday! I can not believe a year had gone by. She has grown so fast and is learning so many new things. She never had a bottle yesterday either! We're still working on the nuk. I am better about not giving it to her than daddy is. She's not walking yet but the doctor was pretty positive she would be by the time she is 15 months old. So we'll see.

Yesterday afternoon I took her for her 1 year check up. She is 19 pounds 6 oz. Amazing how she started out so small at just 7 pounds 9.5 oz. she is alittle bit small for her age but nothing to worry about at this point. Rose was the same way when she turned 1. I was a mean mommy and made her get 2 shots on her birthday. But afterwards we went to Wal-Mart as a family and The Dancer and Rose picked out a small gift for her and we went to DQ and ate supper with Auntie M, Uncle T, and Grandma and Grandpa. On Sunday we are having Grandma and Grandpa over for birthday cake! I can't wait to see what she does with it. Of course she is getting her own little cake.
As far as yesterday being St. Patrick's Day we had to do something little to add green to her day. The silly Leprechaun came while we went for a walk and turned our milk GREEN! The kids thought that was pretty neat.

Master Bedroom Suite

So I have almost finished my master bedroom suite! Then I got to thinking that who is going to see it? Its upstairs and that's all that is up there. So I wanted to share some pictures. I still need to purchase new shades or blinds for the windows. The ones we have are from the previous owners and are bit old. I also want to get a bed skirt for the bed. I am all about good deals so I need to tell you. I had to purchase 4 curtain panels for the windows. I found some that were originally priced at about $20 a piece at Target. That is crazy. Well, I got them for alittle less than $10 each. Now that is a deal to me! I also got the quilt on clearance. Not sure the actual price. I think it was supposed to be $50 and I got it for $32. I got my shelf for my angels from my sister's garage! That I think was free.

This is the room after we painted half of it bright

yellow and decided it was not the color for us. Also before

we cleaned up the mess!

This view is when I am standing by the window.

The shelve on the wall is displaying my angels!

My favorite part of the room is my angels!

The door next to the shelf is for our walk-in closet!

This closet is the size of our old Master Bedroom at the small house.

When I first saw this room I almost fell over. My first thought was

"Its bigger than our whole house, I am buying this house. I want this house"!

View from the door. Behind the crib is a huge desk. I use it to store all my scrapbooking stuff. However when we moved it yesterday it started to fall apart. There is also a window back there with the same curtains as the window you see in this picture!

Master Bathroom with shower.

Mom

Of course Sweet Baby Girl is still calling me Amy and not Momma like she used to. Its ok I am over it. Well sort of. The other day I was joking with one of the 5 year old daycare girls. I told her that maybe if all the kids called me Mom then Sweet Baby Girl would. This little 5 year old is very bright so she knew and understood I wasn't seriously saying she needed to do that.

So anyways, I noticed this week when The Dancer leaves for school now she says "Good bye Mom." I know she is partly doing it so that Sweet Baby Girl will learn again to call me Momma but I think there was part of her that was ready to call me Mom. I have never told her she had to call me Mom and I've never said she couldn't. I did have to awhile back tell her not to call me Mam. That I just don't go by. Its just a great feeling when you're called Momma or Mom for the first time.

I was sitting here thinking about one of the first times I was with Hubby and his girls. This was not long after I met the girls. Rose was just a bit over a year old and The Dancer had just turned 3. Wow did she have an attitude. I am sure somehow at 3 years old she knew who I was. She knew I was that girl that Daddy liked. Hubby didn't have alot of furniture in his house either when I met him. He had this really gross chair. The Dancer always called it her chair. Oh did she get mad if I sat in it. Why would anyone want to? It was seriously gross. Trust me when I moved it that chair was history. There was one night I said to her "Please go get your pj's and I will help you put them on". Well she was not listening to me. Hubby told her a few times and I told her again. Well finally I said "You really need to listen." Oh she did not like that and in her room she went and she tried to slam the door shut. Well she didn't have a normal door. In the old house it was a sliding door. But she tried so hard to slam that door and tell me she didn't have to listen to me. I am so greatful we are done trying to slam doors and she is calling me Mom!

The hat

Sweet Baby Girl has really been into pointing at things that she wants. She points with one little finger and waves her hand up and down. When I got her up today from nap she started pointing at her hat on her dresser. I gave it to her and she left it on for about 20 minutes. I didn't think it would last that long. Maybe she knew she was having a bad hair day!

Wordless Wednesday

(This is what happens when you live with all girls!)

My story and picture!

So I was told I haven't updated my blog.... Hmm, I just posted yesterday. Nothing has happened since then except I received the 10 boxes of girl scout cookies I ordered. I am alittle bit bumbed to have found out that the carmel delights contain coconut. Coconut isn't something I enjoy. Oh and yes I really bought 10 boxes! When my friend's daughter asked me if I wanted to purchase any I was hungry! She was so excited when I said 10 boxes. I put some in the freezer and will also share with mother now that I find out there is coconut in the carmel delights. She likes coconut.


So anyways I was told it would be nice if I added a story and a picture to my blog today. So here is a picture of my family room. The family room does not get used at this time because of its looks and it is located in the basement. If you look closely at the picture you will see that there is a wood dresser in there. That was left here by the previous owners. I can tell you why. That things is so darn heavy we will be leaving here as well (if we ever move). There is a black futon and also a matching couch and chair. So its a bit strange a person who already has furniture for their family room wouldn't do something with it and use it. Well here's why- My sister hasn't painted it yet! If she would have gotten it painted for me when she helped paint the rest of my home we'd be able to use it. The room also needs new carpet. I think the previous owners used it as a bedroom or for a wild child. There is color crayon on the wall and stains on the carpet. You can also kind of see from the picture there are 2 different colors on the wall. Purple and funny looking beige. Our hopes in the future for our family room is to add an egress window. We have gotten an estimate but need to at least wait until Spring (if that ever comes). We have also talked about turning our basement into my daycare and removing the toys from our living room. However if I move my daycare to the basement I want a small kitchenette for making snacks and lunches (I know I am dreaming but I did say small). Most of this also depends on if our baby is a boy or girl. If its a boy The Dancer would like to move her room downstairs and give her current room to the baby. So until them we will wait to work on our family room. We also want a bathroom down there. Which we have gotten an estimate on also (wouldn't it be nice to win the lottery).
So anyways, there is the story of my family room. Its amazing how fast a person can fill up their space. I still can't believe we used to live in a house 3 times smaller than this one. I could never go back.

My $25!

Well, its Monday Morning! Ok Maybe I should say that differently. Again its another Monday Morning. Which ever one doesn't sound as exciting is the one I want! Its always hard to get motivated on Monday mornings. Once the day gets started it usually isn't so bad.

Everyone is feeling better! Please whatever my Husband says he was not sick. Maybe he had a tiny headache but he sure looked like he was feeling ok to me. I am glad we're all feeling better. We had a relaxing weekend and got lots of rest.

The best part of my weekend was I got $25 free to spend at Target! I got an offer in the mail last week that was for $5 off a $50 purchase. Spending that much money is not hard to do at Target. I try not to go there often. Then the next day I got another offer. If I registered for a baby registry I got a gift card for $20. Ok who doesn't think it would be fun to run around with the scanner and scan a bunch of stuff!?! I really had no need to register. Plus have you looked at baby stuff recently? You almost have to know what you are having or you can not buy ANYTHING in advance. Everything and I mean everything was Pink, Blue or Purple. What ever happen to green and yellow? The very little they have in those 2 colors seems to be rather boyish or girlish. So I put diapers, wipes, q-tips, baby shampoo on my list. There was no need for a registry but I just wanted the $20! So I ended up with about 15 things total. Now it didn't even work. It brings up my old registry from Sweet Baby Girl (on-line it did yet as of Sunday night). But hey at least I got the $20.

No I did not really buy myself anything special. I got Sweet Baby Girl some new sippy cups that she picked out, baby yogurt snacks, mac and cheese, eggs, 2 gallons of milk, chips, and a few other items in the grocery area. I also found some really cute birthday plates and invites that have a 1 on them. Best thing they were on clearance! Can't beat that. Sweet Baby Girl seemed to like them (she was with me). I was pretty happy with my savings! It worked out well to use the $5 off also!

Well, I hope everyone has a great week! I have a feeling ours is going to be busy!

The Chewable pill and Influenza A

So I just went into the bathroom and noticed a pink thing in the garbage. Kind of looked like a piece of candy. After a careful investigation I figured out what it is. Both the big girls were given chewable amoxocillin after visiting the Doctor on Monday. Rose does not like taking hers at all. Sweet Baby Girl got Liquid and also hates hers. I have to hold her down. Yesterday I caught Rose as she was going to put hers in the kitchen garbage. Well now I find one in the bathroom garbage. This is not good. I have a daycare toddler who is allergic to this kind of medication and if she would find this she would swell up like a balloon. So I have watched carefully to make sure the girls take their medication and do not lay it some place for this toddler to find it. I can tell that Rose had to of sucked on the pill for a short time. What next? You gotta love them even when they do wrong. I do give her credit for being so sneaky at 5 years old! She isn't going to like it tonight when its medicine time. She's going to have to sit with me at the table as I watch her chew it up!

Influenza A- No you do not want it. Yesterday as the day went on The Dancer kept getting worse and worse. She at one point was coughing so bad she was fighting back the tears she hurt so bad. She had a fever of 103. So Hubby took her back to the Doctor and came home later to tell me she has Influenza A. They claim we caught it yesterday at the beginning.... ok what the heck does that mean? She has been sick all week. They did give her an inhaler to help when she is coughing. I was really hoping to be at the end of this not the beginning. I feel so bad for her. She is always the one who gets the sickest. It always takes her the longest to get rid of this kind of junk as well. I am blaiming it on a poor poor immune system. Her birth mom had no prenatal care when she was pregnant with the Dancer until she was in her 8th month of pregnancy. Supposedly she didn't know she was pregnant. Well hello sister. How could you not know? Your body goes through so many changes. That is a whole different post. Anyways, I am going to check into getting her some type of vitamin or something that might help her fight off some of the little stuff or at least help her so she don't get as sick as often. So hopefully after a weekend of rest everyone will feel better soon.

And only 5 more days for Rose to take her chewable pill. They even smell like bubble gum!

Being Honest

As a daycare provider I am licensed for 12 children. At times though it is only legal for me to have 10 kids at one time. Best way to explain it is it goes by the ages of children. It does make a difference how old the kids are in care. Staying within numbers can be a hard thing to figure out when you first become licensed. Well, when I got the call the other day about taking a Foster Care placement my first response was "I only have room for one child in my daycare so I do not think it would work out". The social worker felt I could get it approved to have the extra children. Ok long story short it was approved. That meant with my children, daycare children and foster care children I could have a total of 12 children here. However that meant I was actually over by 2 children though because of their ages. Now I will be honest I felt "Oh I have watched 12 children before I can do this, not a problem". Well, I am going to admit something here. No I could not do it. The ages of children really make a difference. There were 6 kids here that were just 2 and under. They were all in diapers. I was sick, my girls were sick. So after a small meltdown I needed to be honest with the people involved that I couldn't do it. Not always an easy thing to do but it wasn't fair to the children. Not mine or the others I was responsible for. I do feel really bad that I asked for the foster care children to go to another home. But I am also happy that I had the ability to be honest. I feel bad. They were good kids but It was just too many children in my home in the morning when I had no help available. I was offered foster care support group. Ok please tell me how I am supposed to go to a support group at night when I need to care for 6 children?

But now I do need to say something else that is bothering me. Now I am sure I will look like the bad one at Social Services because I asked good kids to be removed from my home. However my thought on this is- there is a reason why daycares have a limit to the number of children we can have at one time. This includes our own children. Not only is it for the safety of the children in care but for the providers sanity. Can you imagine the nice paycheck at the end of the week if you could have a total of 20 kids at one time? Yes, it would be great. But what would those kids have learned? How much attention would they have gotten? So I do agree with daycare licensing when it comes to limiting the number of children we can care for. I am also a bit frustrated that social services would allow me to take a family of 3 as my first placement when I would be going over in my daycare licensing. Having a child here 24 hours a day is much different than having a child here from 8am- 5pm. Those who go home at 5pm don't need me to give them a bath or wash their clothes or do all that other motherly stuff. So its very different. So I am a bit upset that they placed me with a family of 3 for my first placement. But that is just my thought on it. It was an overwelming experience to be honest. I think if I wasn't feeling sick it would have been much easier for me.

On another note: The Dancer missed school on Monday because she was still sick and that is when I took all the girls to the doctor. She went to school Tuesday and Wednesday. Last night she was coughing so bad she almost threw up a few times. So she of course couldn't sleep. So again she missed school today and is sleeping/ coughing now. Rose thankfully did not have school this week until Wednesday. She went because she seemed fine. Well Hubby had to carry her off the bus when she got home because she was sleeping. This morning she seemed ok and at lunch time ate slower than a turtle and told me it was too hard to eat and she couldn't go to school. She is also napping (she only naps when she is sick). Sweet baby girl took her normal morning nap and wouldn't eat any lunch. So she cuddled with me and fell asleep and is sleeping along with the other 2 girls. She is still coughing and has a runny nose. My hubby who has not coughed once, nor have I seen him blow his nose came home early from work today to supposedly help me since I am not feeling well. Yes, you say how kind and thoughtful. Well where is he? He's upstairs sound asleep!

Wordless Wednesday

I am not feeling well today at all. I just want to crawl into bed and cry every bone in my body hurts. I haven't been able to eat all day and I have been coughing non-stop. To top it all off I have changed 8 poopy diapers. One was so bad it required a bath. So I do not have the energy to find the camera and do a picture. I will try tomorrow if I am feeling better. I feel so bad for my girls because I am sure this is how they felt on Sunday.

First Placement

In about an hour or so I am going to become a temporary home for 3 sisters. Yes, that means I will have 6 children in my home at all times. That does not include when my daycare children are here. Its going to be busy. All I can really say is we are getting our first foster care placement today. I am hoping everything goes well.

Oh wait it will be 7 kids if you count my Hubby! I will do my best to keep my blog updated but please know I am going to be a busy women!

Monday

I would like to say its a Marvelous Monday but in no way shape or form is it. My children are sick. All 3 of them. They have not been feeling good all weekend. The Dancer missed her dance show yesterday that she has been looking forward too. Rose actually started getting feverish on Thursday and missed out on pajama day at preschool. So today I will take all 3 of the girls to the doctor. I closed my daycare for the day. After getting over the fact I do not get paid when I am closed for a day I get a phone call from Hubby. He got his hours cut at work. Oh the joys of this economy we are living in. I can only hope it gets better real fast. Not only for us but for all the others who have gotten job cuts. About 2 weeks ago they cut 30 employees from Hubby's work. Now the remaining employees will go from 40 hours a work week down to 32. Half the company will get Mondays off and the other half will get Fridays off. Yes, a 3 day weekend sounds great but sadly the paycheck will suffer. Awe the joys of life! You think he'll be in charge of the dirty diapers on Fridays for me? I can only hope. As I finish typing this I too am starting to cough like the girls.