Daycare Goodbye

The end of April we said goodbye to two of our favorite girls.  Kylee & Cameron spent so much time loving and molding my kids and I will be forever grateful we found them.  I don't know another family that loves like them.  Thank you for being part of my tribe girls!

A {quick, easy} USEFUL gift to show your thankfulness…

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, it was late :(

I just wanted to share a gift we have our sitters this week for Thanksgiving.  I thought about grabbing a gift card to Starbucks or for a pedicure, but decided that was more suitable for a birthday.  Instead, I got them a basket of thinks they use while caring for my children every day.  We included snacks {mac & cheese, granola bars, goldfish, applesauce pouches, juice boxes, etc.}, paper products {toilet paper, paper towels}, cleaning products {wipes, bleach wipes, hand soap, hand sanitizer}, & a few other random items like laundry detergent {our sitters wash the kids clothes if they have an accident--potty or paint}, gum, chapstick, hair ties, gum, bandaids, & ibuprofen. Plus a little chocolate and a sweet note on this free heart Thank You printable.  The best part about this gift is that you can make it whatever price range you want {I also included a gift receipt, so they could return anything they wanted to}

Don't forget to show love to some of the people that help keep your family together {school/dance teachers, babysitters, grandparents, preschool drivers, aunts, friends, etc.}

No Kids

Written late 3/11

As you've heard by now, we're done with our sitter.  My mom was supposed to take our kids next week while our {now former} sitter was on spring break, so we just bumped it up a week.  I can't go into specifics on the old sitter yet {for legal reasons} but know that we interviewed a few potential nannies tonight and I have two more on Friday.  I'm 95% sure we've found our match {pending background checks, a  test run with the kids, etc.} and I couldn't be more excited!  So say a little prayer for us as we finalize things.  God-willing, we'll be back to a new normal routine soon!

In the meantime, I'm so extremely blessed to have parents that will take our kids with a phone call.  I know many kids go with grandparents for an entire summer, but I must say, I'm so ready to get my kids home!  I've cried every single day they've been gone.  The goodbye was brutal on me, but it's even the little things like walking into a messy playroom, finding a picture Jordyn drew, hearing a kid at work giggling, etc.  I'm so thankful for FaceTime, but tonight was hard.  It's bittersweet actually.

Luckily, Adam and I have been super busy this week, so I haven't had the time to dwell that they're gone.  I'm trying to find the positive out of this situation, so here are a few things we've done since the kids have been gone…

Ate dinner at 9p--on the couch

Got our taxes done

Went to lunch together

Picked up a winters' worth of dog poop

Interviewed several nanny candidates

and we have a happy hour and dinner out scheduled for tonight

I've also done a photoshoot, stayed at work late, squeezed workouts in the morning, ran outside without worrying about a sitter for the kids, and caught a cold.

While we undergo this transition it will be stressful, but we're very anxious for this new opportunity.  We were more than ready for a change.

Our Valentines {Daycare + Preschool + Friends} 2015

We finished the kids' Valentine's for daycare {Thursday}, preschool {Friday}, & Friends {Saturday}

less than 50 cents a piece

Jordyn's were easy.  I took a photo of her with her hand held out {and away from her face}, added the text 'I'm a SUCKER for you!' and printed them {at a local 1 hour photo--not great quality, but I'm sure they'll all be thrown away anyways}  Last night Adam cut the two slits in them, Jordyn handed me suckers to 'thread' through them, and then I gave them back to her to pack.  Easy peesy {less than 5 minutes after printing}. 

less than $1 a piece {with packaging} -- I think it would also be cute to just tape the car to the photo, too.

Cullyn's were also easy, but required a few more 'supplies' I took a photo of Cullyn, added the text 'I WHEELIE like you!' and printed them {Again--at a local 1 hour photo}.  I had a leftover clear bags from a previous project, but you can also get them at craft stores.  I bought the race cars at Dollar Tree {3 cars for $1}.  I sealed the baggies with washi tape that I had on hand. 

Quick, easy, inexpensive. -- which is nice considering we made dozens! :)

yet -- personalized, cute, & fun.

Thank you Pinterest! :)

2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 Valentine | 2012 Valentine's Day | Our 2013 Valentine's Day and Night | Our 2014 Valentine's | 2014 Valentine's Day | 2015 Valentine Treats | 2015 Valentine's | 2015 Valentine's Weekend

This & That {v.42}

Did this:
Celebrated Halloween all week
Carved pumpkins with friends. Daycare Halloween party.  Preschool Halloween party.  
Handed candy out at Aunt Ashley & Uncle Myles for Trick or Treating 
Took the kids to the dentist.  Cullyn's 1st time. 
Listened to Adam's Band play at a Halloween party
Edited...lots
Had 9 photosessions
Watched football with soup on Sunday

Instagrammed that: 

Shot this: 

Edited that: 

May Day Baskets

I swear we did May Day baskets last year, but I can't find a post about them. :(

Anyways Mayday baskets are one of my favorite memories as a child.  We would run home from school, make a bunch of mayday baskets, and then my mom would spend the evening driving us around from house to house so we could jump out of the minivan...run up the the front door...place the basket on the ground...ring the doorbell & run away as fast as we could.

It was all fun and games until one year when I went to my friend Jena's house {we always used the door inside the garage, I was young so I think I just assumed this was their only door?!} and accidentally pushed the button to close the garage door instead of ring the doorbell....good times!

[Popcorn Puff, Mustard Pretzels, Yogurt covered Cranberries, Cherry covered Raisins, Mini M&Ms, & Gummy Worms]

Anyways…we don't really have neighbors with kids, so we just give to daycare friends and our friends' kids.

Pay It Forward | Daycare Provider {March}

For our RAoK for March 2014, we bought a dozen gourmet cookies and sent them to daycare with the kids.  The card said 'Thank you for being so sweet to us'

Related Posts :: Paying it Forward in 2014 | January PIF | February PIF

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my two little Lucky Charms!

It worked perfectly since this was the week we're leaning about the color green :)

{Daycare Treats}

{breakfast}

{snacks}

{Activites}

Look how little my Jordy girl was last St. Patrick's Day.  And Cullyn wasn't quite here yet.

Valentine's Day 2014

This year Valentine's Day fell on a {SNOWY!} Friday, so I was able to be home with the kids.  

Treats for my Valentine's this year...

Jordyn {2}-socks, nail polish, chapstick, suckers, & snacks--all of her favorite things! | Adam {husband} - healthy snacks with little love notes. | Cullyn {10 Months} -LUVs diapers, I'm BANANAS about you, o'FISH'ally mine Goldfish, and you're my main SQUEEZE applesauce.  

Jordyn {except for the sticker and tie on the bag} made little treats for the daycare Valentine's Party.

We need 'smote' friends like you.  We included graham crackers, a mini chocolate bar, & a few heart shaped marshmallows.  Jordy approved of the marshmallows!  :)

Then we packed up and drove to the zoo for Jordyn's Zoo Tots class.  They talked about pink flamingos and made mini fruit pizzas.  

After the zoo we headed home for lunch.  

We had heart shaped everything on Valentine's! :)

Cullyn wasn't feeling great, so I made the decision to take him to the pediatrician {because what fun is a holiday without a sick kid} :(  

Sick boys = extra snuggles and group 'naps'

 After Cullyn's appointment {double ear infection} we came home and played

 Gram & Papa even sent a special Valentine's care package! :)

Adam & I celebrated our Valentine's with a hotel stay the weekend before, but he still surprised me with my favorite wine, chocolates, & wine gummies. :)

Previous Valentine's Posts::
Our 2014 Valentine's | Our 2013 Valentine's Day and Night | 2012 Valentine | 2012 Valentine's Day | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  

We are laying low tonight.  For a few reasons, one of them being my sick little man.  I took him to Urgent Care last night {so neither of us had to miss work tomorrow}.  Of course on the way there he fell asleep and was an angel!  I was trying to tell the doctor that he has pretty much been been crying in some form {whimper all the way to scream} for the past 36 hours.  He looked at me like I was a freak and recommended some over the counter cream for his diaper rash and told me he's teething.  Urgent Care doctors {not all, but this one, the one I swear I always get} really irritate me sometimes.  I should have just waited and taken him to our Pediatrician this morning.  Nevertheless, I've been up with a sad baby boy since 2am.  :(

I know he looks happy at the clinic, but he truly was NOT happy!

Our neighborhood celebrates Trick or Treating {or Beggars night like they call it…isn't that weird?!} the night before {last night}.  It was pouring yesterday morning {and was supposed to continue through today}, so for that reason {& a few others} we cancelled our plans to to do the whole 'costumes and strollers' up and down the block last night.  Of course it ended up clearing off and being a PERFECT night for Trick-or-Treating.  So we decided to go over and visit Auntie Ashy & Uncle Myles to help them hand out candy.  Luckily the kids are still a little too small to understand what they missed.

Treats for the daycare kids today. {Last year we made faces on little plastic Mandarin Orange containers}

The night before last, Jess and I took the kids for a little Trick-or-Treating in a little portion of our town.  The weather was good & they held the event a little earlier, so it worked out great.  Jess and I did decide that next year we will be bringing some booze-filled tumblers for the event though! :)

We also celebrated Halloween with a party at daycare last Friday.  Miss Kristie asked me to help with the party {my IRL friends know I live for stuff like that.  Yes, I am so that mom!} :)  We took decorated pumpkin cookies, hunted for candy, and took photos in their halloween costumes.  {we planned to paint pumpkins, but ran out of time, so we just sent them home to do with their parents}  Super fun, a little tricky since the kids are 4mo, 6mo, 13mo, 15mo, 2, & 3, but I can't wait to do it again next year!  Also?  I can promise my hubby that I will not be having 6 kids! ;)

Our Zoo... Zebra {J | 24  months} & Giraffe {C | 6 months}

So even though we missed out on trick or treating last night, we still did plenty of celebrating!

PS...Trick or just isn't what it used to be, huh?  I swear when we were kids, the streets were FILLED with kids and we SPRINTED from door to door.  That being said, I'm not sure that we'll participate it much 'open' Trick-or-Treating because of all of the sickos out there. :/  What are your thoughts on this?  

Halloween 2010 |  Halloween 2011 | Halloween 2012

How to throw a Halloween Party for 6 Kids for under $10

I was asked to help throw the Halloween Party at daycare this year.  {Side note…I am totally not one of those moms that finds this a burden…I LIVE to be asked to be the 'room mom' :) }  Since 5 of the 6 kids are two and under, I didn't want to spend too much money on this party.  We planned it for two hours, so I figured we would need about 4 activities.

All images taken from Google

We started by getting the kids in their halloween costumes and taking an individual photo of each as well as a group photo.  I downloaded a free, printable Halloween banner from the internet {40 minutes, free} Then we decorated pumpkin cookies {luckily my mom is awesome and made all the sugar cookies for me ahead of time, making this a super easy event} with frosting. {30 minutes, cookies & colored frosting} After cookie decorating, Miss Kristie let the kids hunt for Halloween candy outside {20 minutes, a bag of candy} Lastly I brought mini pumpkins for each kid to decorate a pumpkin and take home as a favor {30 minutes, 6 Mini Pumpkins & Paint}

Camera | Had at home
Printable Halloween Banner | Downloaded from a Website {free}
Bag of Mini Pumpkins | $3
Paints | Had at home
Halloween Candy | $4
Cookies | Gram made with J
Frosting | $3
Sprinkles | Had at home

May or may not want to budget for adult cocktails after spending a day with six kids, three an under! :)

Are You Going Back?

So this was obviously started before I went back to work, but got lost in all of the drafts!  {seriously, I have 37 different blog posts started right now!} 
------------------------

From the second we shared J was going to be a big sister, one of the first things people asked me was 'are you going back?'

I know they mostly asked it because we have two children in a year and a half, and therefore will be paying daycare for two for a long time!  {4 years to be exact, because J has an October birthday}

And as much as I would LOVE to be a stay at home {heck, even a work at home} mama, I knew the answer was yes.  My dream is to eventually do photography full time {sending the kids to daycare just 2 days a week} but at this point we are unable to make that leap without making some big changes.

And as horrible as it sounds, we just aren't willing to do that.

We love that our kids will have a lakehome to retreat to with friends {not just boating but sledding and camping and all fun outdoor things that kids should experience--like a fort and a tire swing and running through open grass}.  We love that we're able to take nice vacations {both with and without children}.  We love to do fun things that make awesome memories without having to plan and save for them.

So, at this point, I'll be thankful that I have a job that is flexible and allows me to come and go as it best fits my family.  I'm able to work just 4 days a week, some days from home, and not miss a single event my kids are in.  Yes, I miss things daily while they are at daycare, but thankfully, I'm able to pick them up by 3:30 each day and have a 3 day weekend with them every single weekend.  And on those three days we're together, we're able to go out and do fun things instead of sitting inside the condo going stir crazy.

It may not last forever, but for now I'll count my blessings and be thankful for what I do have.

Down Time

Well I had no intentions of writing a post today [other than the scheduled one] but they kicked me off my work computer to replace it with a new [faster] one [if only it were a mac!] so I'm left with nothing to do for a few minutes...

Speaking of computers...I bought my 'new' mac last Thanksgiving [so 2011] and it's full.  THE WHOLE STINKING HARDDRIVE IS FULL!  {insert lots of crying and foot stomping and whining here} :(  So...I have to do through a delete some of my 2039850349590486094 photos and decide what I can part with since I'm currently deleting 500 photos to upload 500 photos [talk about a pain!]

Also a pain [or more scary I guess] is the fact that Jordyn started a new daycare today.  Ugh!  I guess I never really followed up after this post, but loooong story short, we found a sitter.  We checked out two daycare center/in-home sitters/nanny applicants a night for over a week.  After finding a 'possession of a pipe' charge on the potential nanny, we opted for the state registered in-home daycare center.  A [hopefully] perfect mix of structure and lieniance.  She's has an education background, which helps too.  Okay, I forgot where I was going with this blurb....Adam dropped her off today and she didn't give her the stink eye [which if you know us in real life, is a big deal], instead she went to the new sitter and never looked back.  So Adam ran! :)  So thankful for a good first day drop off!

We had our Gender Reveal Party yesterday!  After making it FB and Instagram official, I threw something quick on the blog.  [you may have missed it because I had a scheduled post & Jordyn's 14 month post in there too--when it rains it pours on this blog!] But I'm back tomorrow with a full post of H2's gender reveal party details!  It wasn't perfect...waking up to negative degree temps [plus wind chill], dad getting 60 miles from home before realizing he forgot the generator, and the ridiculous amount of sunshine hiding the precious blue lights, but it was still perfect.  Just what I wanted!!  And we had twenty-some family members come to celebrate with us.  So stay tuned for lots of photos!!  :)

At the end of this month I'll be leaving for a work trip.  While I'm very excited to cross another thing of my Bucket List [taking a solo vacation], I'm getting more scared & less thrilled each day.  Don't get me wrong, I have full intentions of making the best of this by ordering room service in and taking up as much space in the bed as I want, but mostly I'm sad to leave my husband and baby toddler home for a full week.  Yes, I know people do this all the time.  It will be fine.  I will survive.  But it's still going to be hard.

Speaking of traveling.  I'm pretty sure we're locking in our 'summer vacation' this week.  We'll be vacationing with the same friends we did last time.  Only north instead of south this time! :)  I couldn't be more excited!! Bring on the cabin at the lake with a nanny for the week.  Whoop whoop! :)

Ok, back to reality.  The new computer is up!
Hope you all had a great New Year's & enjoy your short week!!

And just like that we're done...

Written a couple of weeks ago...

Miss Courtney just informed us that she would be done watching Jordyn.  Over the past few days I've felt a flood of emotions.  I feel like I'm going through a bad breakup...the kind where you have a flood of emotions hit you one right after another. I knew we had one issue, but I thought we had moved on. Is it something I did?  Does she not like my kid?  Maybe she's just overwhelmed?  Could we make things better and keep going there?  Was I a bad 'daycare mom'?  All weekend I kept going through the house looking for all of the things they've lent us this year...a push toy, clothes, shoes, coats, a baby carrier, even maternity clothes.  It was literally like collecting pieces of our life the past year and packing them up, memory after memory.  In the past couple of days I think I've felt it all...

I felt shocked.. I was numb when I heard the news.  Thinking not now, not when I was bombarded with a million other life things; work, holidays, sick pup...  Of course it's always a possibility with an in-home daycare provider, but I never thought it would happen to us.  I'm not sure it even set in the first night.

I felt hurt..I couldn't help but take it personal.  I know I shouldn't, but I felt like she didn't want my baby girl anymore.  Like she thought she was bad or something.  I felt like she was ending not only our friendship, but our children's friendships too.  I wondered if it was me.

I felt sad..Oh was I sad!  I was sad our babies wouldn't grow up together and be best of friends when they went to school.  I was sad that we probably wouldn't share family dinners or [zested] cocktails on the deck anymore.  I felt sad that we weren't only loosing our sitter, but friends too.

I felt mad..So mad that everything was ending.  Mad that we have to spend the next week trying to find someone to 'replace' Miss Courtney, when nobody will do.  Mad the my little girl has to be thrown into a new daycare where she wont know anyone.  Mad that we didn't see this coming & mad that we didn't have a backup plan in place.

I felt stranded..We still have no idea where miss J is going from here.  Luckily we have awesome family that is totally stepping in for now.  She's done at daycare Wednesday and Grandma Joy is taking Thursday [as already planned].  Auntie Esha is going to come stay with her all of next week.  Aunt Ashy and Aunt Lisha are taking the following week.  From there?  Not sure.  Right now we're meeting with two in home daycare's, day care centers, and nannies each night.  Here's to hoping we find something we're comfortable with before the new year.

It's taken a few days, but...I understand.   I understand she is going through a lot in her own life right now.  She is a wife, a mother of two [young] children, a student, an employee, plus a friend, daughter, sister, aunt.....all of these things hold great responsibility and take a lots of time, energy, and effort.  Although I am sad for all of us, I hope for nothing but the best for their entire family.  She has helped give my daughter grow and develop during one of the most crucial years.  I just pray that we can still be friends; that our babies can play together on Fridays and that we can have adult nights & family get together's with their family.

The Best Part of Jordyn Going to Daycare

Is when she comes home with things like this...

Sickday

Yesterday Miss Courtney's youngest [C] was sick with a high fever and red checks.  Of course it was 'just viral' [a mother's most hated phrase] and she offered to keep Jordyn still, but Adam and I decided to keep her away for a bit.  I know she was already exposed [the sucky part about sickness in children...you never know until it's too late] but we would we would give it a day or so.  


Thankfully, even though we don't have grandparents in town, we both have flexible jobs.  I was able to go into the office from 5-10a and Adam went in a little late.  I spent the afternoon working from home and hanging out with two of my favorites!  It was a win for all, well except poor C!  :(  


Grandma J [YAY for Grandparents!] is coming to watch Jordyn & Murdock tomorrow so J doesn't have to go back to daycare until Tuesday [Monday is President's Day & my sister called watching J on her day off].  By then everyone will be healthy again...right?! :)  


Also...not sure if it's because I've been a mom for a while now [ha, like 3 months is a 'while'] or if it's because J is a little older, or maybe I just plain got lucky, but I totally got laundry done, dishes done, my bathtub scrubbed, finished my book, and some photos edited.  I haven't done that much in one day since I delivered Jordyn! :)  #Winning!  


Speaking of editing photos...I'll have to update you all on that soon too.  So behind...my new life moto! :)


Feel better soon C!

PS...I have a feeling that 'sick days' when my kid isn't sick are going to be my favorite!! :)