Zoo Passes and Vans are great!

We loaded up our van on Thursday for a wild adventure. We had 5 babes in car-seats, 3 mommas, 3 strollers, and enough "gear" to keep all of the mommas and babies happy for the trip. I love the size of this van. I used to think it was overkill, but we've used it to full capacity several times now. I hate driving several cars to go places as a group because much of the group experience is lost in transportation, but this van allowed all three families to ride together and enjoy the full spectacle of my children crying most of the way to Louisville. ;)


I'll also just say that babies in the van should always be buckled into the car seats or they may fall out of a non-moving van. (See my friend Deborah's blog for proof positive that falling out of a stationary van does in fact leave big ugly ouchies). Two of the five kids fell out of the van while we were getting car-seats situated.

After some crying fits by several of the children (two of which were mine - the other had a big ouchie on his head) we finally made it to the Lousivlle Zoo. We are members and we highly recommend becoming a member of your local zoo (or the closest one you have). Our family pass gets us in as often as we want for free, and we frequently get coupons for getting other people in too. For all 8 of us we only paid for one admission. It does help that non of the kids are old enough to be charged admission yet.

Although it was hot, we had a great time looking at the animals, watching the children interact with one another, and talking with other adults.

Here are a few highlights of our day: Kenna's first kiss - well really, this was not the first of the day heck I think Charlie may have even beat Jackson to the "first kiss", but you get the idea.



And for the "after the kiss" picture, you see how much she liked the Weber boys' kisses.

Morgan is hitting the stage where she realizes that she is "big" compared to babies, but that she is actually quite small when compared to adults and some animals. The first exhibit was of the orangutans. It was holding on to something above the glass and it was right up against the glass. When I heard her say "Mommy, get me out of here." I quickly undid the buckle of the stroller and picked her up to walk closer - then she yelled even louder "Mommy, get me outta here!" Ahh, now the dummy momma figures it out - she wants out of the building not out of the stroller.

After we decided to steer clear of exhibits inside of buildings/shelters, she was fine and back to her normal self of enjoying the animals. Just after seeing the giraffes up close and personal Morgan decided to ride this giraffe.

That look of wonder is one of the things I really love about that kid.

Traveling family

We're trying to keep our "weekends" (Sunday and Monday - the store closed days) free to do family things and not much else.

This weekend, we went to Indiana to visit Michael's brother Carroll and his wife Sarah. We had a great visit of bicycling around their nice neighborhood and hanging out on the front porch. The also cooked us a great steak lunch.

Morgan enjoyed the wide open spaces for running around, Kenna enjoyed tasting lots of grass and leaves.

After leaving their place we went to Cliffy Falls State Park to camp. It was a nice, quiet evening. Morgan played in the campfire ring for about 45 minutes straight. And who says that 2-year-olds don't have long attention spans?

Kenna Crawls!

Ok, it is more like a crab walk at this point, but heck she made a good 3 or 4 foot of forward movement today toward an object.

Over the past month I've tried every enticing object I could find to get her to continue moving forward instead of dropping to the belly and doing the fish-swimmy-thing. I put down the beloved-goldfish (you know that yummy, but completely unhealthy eatable things), I put dangerous toys in her path, I put the non-puke-proof camera just out of reach. None of it worked.

Today we stopped by Sportsman's Warehouse (checking out the competition's selection and prices - not shopping) and she crawled directly across the floor to reach the hanger that Morgan had removed from the PFD that she was wearing. I moved the darn hanger and she came after it again without the silly swimming thing!

Ahh, gone are the days of leaving Kenna unattended and unstrapped down. We're firmly into the mobile mania days!

The real reason I hate work

Is because I really love my work. I do love my job at EKU. I also completely enjoy working at Mike's Hike and Bike. When I work, I really want to give full effort and energy to my work. It is very frustrating to me that I can not do that because I have those two cute babies that need and want their momma.

Sometimes I just wish they didn't need their momma so much so I could focus and complete some other tasks. I know this is selfish, but heck I'm human and I am selfish. I just want time to do my own thing and be who I want to be without being relegated to taking care of the whims and needs of a 2-year-old and 7 month-old. Sometimes it's the little one that drives me crazy by being too demanding and sometimes it's the older one.

I think this is just the struggle that many working women feel. We love our kids and want to be with them, and at the same time we love/like our work and feel important there. I guess I'm just not cut out for this full-time split personality thing. I have a really hard time not resenting the job for taking me away from my kids and my kids from taking me away from my work. I'm hoping to eventually be able to convince my supervisors at EKU that I deserve to work part-time, but with benefits. I'm not so sure they're ever going to go for it, but I have to keep hoping that I will be able to have some work that I enjoy (and gives benefits that we need) and have plenty of time with my kids to home school and just in general be a part of their lives.

I can really tell a big difference in my relationship with Morgan since I'm not working this summer (I've been to the office several times already, and to the store at least a couple of days per week). I feel much more connected with her and can avert major tantrums and meltdowns just by knowing what is causing the problem. Of course, sometimes I don't know the problem, or I am busy trying to keep Kenna from eating the power cord to the fan, or I'm just so darn tired of averting the meltdowns that I can't avert the issue with Morgan, but I definitely feel much more connected and like we're back in sync again.

I'm so not looking forward to going back to work full time in the fall.

Going to the Zoo

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Morgan is becoming quite adept at pretending. Earlier today, we pretended to drink the bath water, for example. We pretend quite a few things daily.

This evening she was talking to her Dad about the raisins that she needed to feed her animals at the zoo. We talked about what animals she will feed the raisin to and then she suggested that we actually go to the zoo. So, while I'm prepping my "I'm making plans and we'll be going to the zoo next week" speech, her dad immediately says "Let's get in the car and you drive us to the zoo, Morgan."

To which her reply was "No Daddy, we need the van." So, we changed how we were sitting on the chaise lounge (now it is a van).

She drove us to the zoo, told us what we were seeing as we went. We saw koala bears eating eucalyptus leaves, giraffes with 7 bones in their necks, turtles with hard shells (as opposed to the ones with soft shells), dolphins, monkeys - who eat raisins, as well as others that my Pear Cider brain can't think of at the moment. Sometimes we were the animals, sometimes, she was the animal.

She drove us between each animal area and asked us where we wanted to go/what we wanted to see next. When we told her we were tired and hungry, she said she'd drive us to the aquarium to eat "chicken fries." All in all it was a great fun-filled evening of "going to the zoo."

I was already planning on taking her soon; now I really have to get moving on that plan. We're members so it really only costs gas money to get there. Last year we used the heck out of our membership. We only have to go two times for it to be "worth it." We went to the Louisville zoo at least 4 times, and the Cincinnati Zoo at least 3 times (half off there). So, we for sure got our money's worth out of it. I think we'll probably go every couple of weeks this summer. It is a nice long day of interesting stuff for her to do.

She has been watching some National Geographic video that we got from Mike's sister Laura. She loves it - maybe we should get a membership at the Aquarium as well. Anyway, the video talks about the difference between fish and dolphins/whales. It discusses humans and dolphins being mammals and that fish aren't mammals. Morgan is really trying to figure this mammal/human thing out. Several times a day she talks about that she is a human and that she is a mammal. She knows that dolphins and whales are mammals, but she is still a little confused about the other animals in her life. She's not convinced that Hyena and Lester are mammals - she knows they're animals. She's just not convinced that they are mammals, but not humans.

Really, even though at times I just want to wring her neck (she is 2 and a half, you know) I really enjoy being with her and watching her explore her world. OK, I don't necessarily enjoy watching her explore her world by testing my limits and biting her sister, but in general I do enjoy her.

Another New "Van"

Since opening the cycling store, we've decided to try to bike more frequently. We've taken the bikes and trailer so many places recently that it does seem like we've got a new van.

On Friday, I biked with the kids to the park, then went to Mike's mom's house to drop off Morgan while I went to work in the shop. Then of course, after work, I biked to go pick her up.

On Saturday, we took the bike on the first weekly Mike's Hike and Bike family ride. Then Mike took Morgan and dropped her off at his parent's house for the day while we worked at the store.

Sunday, we took the bikes and the trailer to the grocery store, then later to visit friends, and to Mike's parents house to get a bigger PFD for Morgan.

Today, no - we didn't take them to go canoing we can't carry the canoe on there, we took the bikes to a restaurant for dinner, then to the video store. I'm already noticing the difference in my ability to pull the trailer and in biking with just increading the amount I'm biking in the last week.

River Guides Again

Michael and I got to guide a trip down the Kentucky River today. It was a rather short jaunt – about 5 miles. I think we took our youngest patrons yet. Morgan, 2 and a half, took her first down river canoe trip. And Kenna, 7 months, took her first canoe trip ever. Speaking of firsts, it was our first trip down this section of river as well. We should have done it earlier.

The girls (and their guides) had a delightful day. The weather was perfect. We were on the river before the river became crowded. We did not have any mishaps.

Morgan had a great time leaning over the side of the canoe and running her hands in the water. While “on shore” she had a splendid time swimming. She really was proud of herself for moving so well in the water. We of course are delighted that she still likes it so much. She wasn’t too fond of the craw-dads (crayfish) that she saw in the creek. I think she preferred to think of it as her own little swimming pool – not where the animals live.

Kenna, after become more comfortable in her PFD (personal floatation device), enjoyed the trip. She slept for a good bit of it in my lap while I paddled. I wasn’t much help to Michael during the paddling today though, because she was in my lap the whole time. Because she’s still so small, when she sits with the PFD on, it is just a little longer than her torso; so, it lifts her chin up. That really makes her angry. As long as I was holding her, she was content to look around and watch her sister leaning out of the boat. At rest stops she enjoyed playing in the boat (a good “play pen”) and watching the rest of us swim. At the second stop, we went wading and she enjoyed the ride on Dad’s shoulders.

It really was a great day. A few more weekends like this one and we may just decide we can “get out” around here.

Now Summer!

So many things are happening so quickly these days. First, I am off of work for the summer (sorta, I still have my own projects to work on). It turns out that I don’t have to reapply for my job; so, I’m going to work there next year as well But secondly, and more importantly, our store is now open!

Mike’s Hike and Bike opened last Wednesday. We had a great sales day on Saturday (6 new bikes, 1 used bike, and lots of accessories). I think the community was really ready for what we have to offer.

Now on to info about my darlin’ girls, Kenna has two bottom teeth now. She really likes pears and mixed vegetables – not so happy about bananas or avocado. She still doesn’t know how to crawl forward. I’m starting to feel bad for her because she always gets stuck in a corner and can’t get out; which causes lots of fussing.

Morgan is very “into” pretend right now. She can take absolutely any item and turn it into amazing things. She is becoming a polite little girl (as opposed to a toddler). She knows the name of the store, recognizes the logo, and will tell anyone what the store is called. Say “Mike’s Hike and Bike” as fast as you can, and that ‘bout sounds like what she says. :)

Long Time Gone

Ok, so it has been wwwwaaaaayyyyy too long since I've written here. There have been so manythings going on I don't even know where to start. Humm. The short of it is this:

1. We are opening a bicycle and hiking/camping gear store in Richmond. We will open in a couple of weeks; so, all of our spare time is spent at the store. I'm in charge of data entry and general bookkeeping. Michael is in charge of merchandise, store fixtures/layout, and generally getting the place ready to open.

2. I have only a couple of weeks left of work for this school year. I don't know if I'll be back next year or not yet since I have to reapply for my job and it has not been posted yet.

3. Kenna is sitting up, crawling backwards, and just all around being a cute baby.

4. Morgan is a great child. She is a very kind big sister (still), and she's lots of fun with her immagivitiave/pretend play that she has recently started. Morgan has gone on her first boyscout camping trip. She had a grand time.

Back to work now, and I hope to post more soon.

Home again

We returned from that week-long road trip relatively unscathed. It actually was quite nice to visit new places, old friends, and old places.

While on the road, Kenna manged to (finally) successfully roll from her belly to her back. She had the back to belly thing figured out for a while now. I realize that she did these things in the "incorrect" order, but you can't tell her that. :) Anyway, back to the rolling thing. She managed to pull this feat off while Michael and I were setting up the tent. Let's just say that we put her on the trailer, a nice safe distance from the edge, and within a couple of minutes she was on the ground yelling. Luckily she landed on the freshly placed sand on the tent pad. It was not too firmly packed; so, she was scared, but not injured. Still, not one of my proudest moments.

An item that ranks near the top of our list in usefulness is the little portable potty that we have stashed in the van. Morgan made use of that potty more times than I can remember during our week long trip. It folds up the size of a dinner plate and comes with small disposable bags; so, you can just dump the "stuff" no fuss- no muss at your next pit stop.

One of my favorite memories from the trip involves a trip down a dead-end road. We looked on the map (you know that fairly crappy one that you can pick up at Wal-Mart for about 5 bucks?) and found a campground (as indicated by the little tent on the map) in the general direction that we were headed. Upon driving down several roads we found that what we really had was a place you can pitch a tent and not campground. It was getting late, Morgan was hungry, her parents were hungry, Kenna was over the car seat. So, we decided to go ahead and cook dinner there even though we knew we were not going to camp at the end of the road (that is right at some one's driveway). Michael and I were a bit disappointed at the circumstances, but we were up for making the best of it. Morgan reminded us how good the circumstances were by declaring with glee "We're having a picnic in the dark!"

Road trip

We are currently parked in a shopping center in North
Carolina. The Panera Bread company right outside the
van should open in time for the girls to awaken.

This will give us just the right start to the next leg
of the road trip. Mike will be able to get coffee
without having to get the stove fired up.

We've had a great trip so far. Morgan seems to like
the picnics on the flatbed tailer we are towing.

Although she does get tired of all of the sitting in
the car she is doing well on this long trip.

Everyone enjoyed the visit with our friends in
Maryland. We were sorry to have to leave them. They
were probably glad to see this big noisy clan go.

I'll try to get pictures of Morgan's first ocean
experience posted soon. She wasn't too impressed with
the water or waves, but she did enjoy the sand.

I should know by now

I really should. I should know if I want to actually go to the store and look around/browse and make a couple of other stops along the way that my eldest daughter will decide to nap on the drive.

I should know by now that if I don't think I will have time to crochet or read at all so why take it with me that I should for sure pack those things into the car.

I should know by now that waking Morgan up before she is finished with her nap is just asking for tantrums for pretty much the rest of the day.

I should know by now if Morgan refuses to sit on the potty after a nap that she will end up peeing in some inappropriate place (like the stool at the library).

I should know by now to make sure that the diaper bag has an ample supply of Kenna (cloth)diapers before I leave the house because she will of course need to be changed.

I should know by now that the emergency diapers in the van are pretty much too small for her.

I should know by now to never attempt to change a disposable diaper that is on Kenna any place besides a bathroom because poop will inevitably be all over her entire body.

I should know by now that you can't find parking close to anywhere you want to be in downtown Lexington.

I should know by now that a blue sky and sunshine does not mean that it is warm outside.

I should know by now that my jacket on top of Morgan will not be thick enough to stifle the yells of "It's cold, Momma." (especially after not completing a nap).

I should know by now that the books I'm going all the way to the downtown branch of the library to pick-up will not be there for me to get.

I should know by now if it crosses my mind that I don't really want to try to do my errands by myself because it will not be a relaxing browse that I should ask Michael to go with me or ask him to keep the kids.

I should know by now that Michael is wonderful and loves me because as soon as I walked in the door after this "should-a-known" day he took the girls and left me home alone.

Hit and run, water lines, pneumonia, and other woes

Hit and run...that's what I was almost charged with last week.. I was driving Mike's truck to work because he was going to be doing some work on my van. Let's just say it doesn't drive quite so easily as my van (even though they are the same size and basically have the same controls, engine, etc.). When I realized that his truck was just too big and had too much of a turning radius to easily get into the parking spot, I, like any rational person, decided to back up and go somewhere else. As I backed up, I hit the car next to me! UGGG talk about frustrating since I was running to get to my office to get some things done before my class started. I decided to move the truck to the other parking lot, and walk back over the offer up my insurance info and whatnot for the owner of the other car (who was not around). Well, someone who saw it happen, caught the eye of a cop and told them that it was a hit and run. I passed the cop and heard him saying that on his radio. I immediately told him why I moved the truck (it would have blocked the entire parking lot) and that I was coming back to write down my info. That was quite a mess.

Speaking of wide things, Michael was widening our driveway on Saturday and Sunday. While trying to even out the drive on Sunday, he hit the water line to the house. So, then entire rest of the day on Sunday was spent repairing the damage that the utilities company so eloquently explained as "your problem Bub."

And to top that all off, Michael woke up with an extremely high fever at 3 AM - if it's not one reason to be up in the middle of the night it's another. He went to the doctor today and found out that he has pneumonia. He's beat - especially because before heading to the doctor's office today, he spread a dump-truck full of gravel in the driveway this morning.

To top off that I didn't want Michael around the kids much today because we weren't sure what illness had befallen him, our sitter has strep throat and can't watch the kids for a few days. So, we had to call in the back-up team - my Aunt to sit with the girls this morning. She was not scheduled to arrive until after my classes began. We could have called Michael's mom, but she just got out of the hospital yesterday. The foot she had surgery on has an infection. I ended up taking Kenna to work with me this morning. I wonder if I'm the first woman to give a test with a baby on her hip; I hope not. I will just say that the sling that I use was a perfect way to keep Kenna happy while I was giving the test (American Sign Language, so that means I had to sign the test to them).

It's just been crazy, but hey at least we have health insurance to cover the doctor's visit and chest x-ray today. And, the prescription comes out of my pre-taxed reimbursement account. I reckon there is a silver lining somewhere in all of that.

I love having two kids

There are just some great moments with two kids that I can't even imagine having only one child and missing out on those special treats.

This morning, I took the girls to story time at our local library. We are regulars there. :) This morning, I went into the story time circle to sit next to Morgan for part of the program. Kenna was in my lap during part of that time. I decided to let Kenna practice sitting up by putting her on the floor in a sitting position right next to her sister. Morgan immediately put her arm around Kenna and gave her a kiss. She kept her arm around her for the remainder of the story. She occasionally would look at her or talk to her about the story Ari was reading. It was the greatest feeling to have such a wonderfully sweet daughter. And it was great to see the delight on Kenna's face because her sister was next to her.

You just don't get moments like that with only one child. I am so blessed!

You know you're getting old when

Michael and I went to an Old Crow Medicine Show concert at EKU recently.

We knew we were out of our league and among those of the younger generation when the college students used the glow of their cell phones instead of lighters to sway to the music.

Potty news: "R" says "rrr" for Poop on the potty"

This is one of my favorite new sayings of Morgan's. She has a toy that sings a little song for each letter of the alphabet to help with phonics. "R says "rr" R says rr. Every letter makes a sound. R says "rr." You get the idea.

When my little cutie pie sits on the potty to make a poop she says "rr" (just for fun grunting noises). After she got the idea that R says rr, she just can't help herself but to tell us that "rr" is for poop on the potty! We've tried to convince her that really "P says p. and P is for Pee-pee, poop, potty." But she just doesn't buy that yet.

I'm just wondering what Margaret (our sitter) thinks when she takes Morgan to the potty. :)

On other fun and happy notes about the potty, Morgan has only had one accident (knocking loudly on my wooden desk) in about 3 days. She is going completely by herself. I usually know that she's going potty by the shouts of "Momma, I want nemo treats." or "I want those in the box." She has been happy to perform for the treats for a while now, and she was even self initiating potty breaks frequently. I think the breakthrough came when we were at the park with just underwear (not a Dora underwear diaper) and she peed without telling us or pulling the pants down. When we had to leave the park because it was too cold to run around half naked I think she really got the idea of the real benefit of not peeing in her pants.

I'm a recovering addict

It is true! I have all of the classic symptoms:

1. shaky if I don't get my fix,
2. Irritable,
3. irresistible urge to get the stuff now,
4. Obsessive thoughts about the object of my desire.

Michael and I began phase 1 of the South Beach Diet (again). The diet is really a lifestyle change and we (along with the rest of Mike's family) began following the principles of the diet about a year and a half ago when his mom had a heart attack.

There are three phases of the plan. Phase 1 is the most strict about what you can and can't eat. Basically the goal of phase 1 is to break your addiction to unhealthy carbs (refined processed sugar, white flour, white rice, etc.). We were successful in doing this before and we lived in phase 3 for a long time. In phase 3 you eat pretty much whatever you want, but you pay attention to how much and when you're having carbs so the addictive nature of them doesn't take over.

We hit the point where we weren't watching them so much anymore and they are all over us again. I can tell you that Sunday and Monday were some difficult days around here! I'm feeling much better today.

By the third day of any new venture it starts to become comfortable and routine. Today was my turning point in overcoming the addiction. I attended a training session at work today. When I arrived there were donuts, fruit juice, and pizza available. I was really glad I had my bag of nuts and my water bottle with me. Sitting in the front and opposite side of the room from the food was also helpful. I didn't go near the table with the food. I didn't stare longingly. I didn't even think about the pizza and donuts after the first glance.

Traveling for work

This weekend I took my first business trip for my new job. Luckily the colleague that I share an office and the rental car with really likes babies (that or she fakes it really well). My co-worker was really understanding about Kenna joining us for the trip. She didn't mind the stops to feed Kenna, the (short lived) crying during the middle of her workshop presentation, or the distraction caused by a cute baby in a room full of women.

Kenna was a great traveler. We had to drive 5 hours to get to Paducah. She spent an entire day in a workshop and then spent another 5 hours in the car. All in all it was not much of a baby-fun trip, but she did not complain at all. I think she only cried twice - both involved changing her diaper when she was hungry.

The rest of the family stayed home for this trip since Mike already had a commitment with the Boy Scouts. I hope that they can join me for future trips so we can still have family time.

The job is going well so far. Kenna has gone to work with me almost everyday. I've found a great place to make milk. Instead of taking over the conference room to pump milk, I've found a furnished, but vacant office I can use. I share an office with two other folks; so, finding this office to use has been great. I can continue to check e-mail and work on my projects while making milk.

Morgan seems to really like going to "Ms. Margaret's" house. Margaret watches a couple of other kids and Morgan seems to get along with them and enjoys playing there. She even took a nap there the other day. I basically live in denial that Kenna goes there. I think she is being well cared for, but I still don't like the idea of her being taken car of by someone else (besides me or her dad). I cry about it some days more than others. If this position were a part-time job with the same benefits available (even if I had to pay more for them), I'd be much happier with the situation. As it is, I'm off to bed now so I can go into the office tomorrow morning before taking the girls to the library. I'm still trying to be an "at home" mom while working a full-time job.

The Compact

At my friend Gretchen's blog I learned about something called "The Compact." The basic concept is to take a break from buying new things. Her challenge is for February. I was up for and it and talked to Michael about it. He was willing to try it too. We figured "Why wait" so, we're already starting.

I used to rarely buy new things. Used items were my staples. Since I started earning a decent living for myself, I found myself buying new for most everything. I'm not big on shopping; so, I think I kept the habit of shopping new (evevn though we've been only partially employeed for the last year and a half) because I didn't have to go "digging and scrounging" for what I wanted.

Today we had the first opportunity to put compacting to the test. I was in serious need of some new work clothes. I have not gotten my shape back after having Kenna and I had to start work this week. In addition to clothing for my bottom half not fitting, none of my "professional" shirts fit either. I think since Morgan was still nursing during more than half of my pregnancy with Kenna, the normal gain in bra size when nursing a baby was compounded.

While Morgan was visiting Ms. Margaret (her new childcare provider) Mike and I went to the Salvation Army store in town. We chose that thrift store because we'd never stopped by there before.

It was our lucky day. We went through the blouses and pants racks. Michael is a great helper because he will keep looking and hand me additonal things to try on while I'm in the dressing room. I found about 8 new shirts and 3 pair of pants and a skirt to buy. The shirts were marked $1.99 each. Pants were slightly more expensive. The great news is that they were having a "bag sale." The cashier handed out plastic garbage bags and told us that we could put as many fabric items in the bag as we could fit. The price for the entire bag was $4! I basically got a new wardrobe for $4 and 30 minures of my time.

So far I'm liking the renewal of my more frugal shopping ways. I just wish I had read Gretchen's post before I went to Lexington and bought a new breastpump (thanks Gretchen for the parts, they are for the same brand I bought).

3 Days of work...So far so good

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a new job. I started work on Monday this week. The job is going well so far. I’m meeting the people in nearby offices and getting myself settled. I’ve only cried a couple of times about it in the past week, which is actually fewer than I expected.

Of course I have been in denial about the job for quite some time. Several aspects of it really hit home this week.

First, I really wish that I had been more proactive in pumping milk for Kenna all along. Now, reality hits that she is going to have to take bottles on occasion (more than I’m willing to admit - still) and sometimes we’re gonna need milk when we didn’t expect to need it. Right now, I only have 1 feeding worth of milk in the fridge for her. I already know that she’ll need that on Friday if not before then. It is just so much easier to feed her than to pump. If I could just bring her to all of my meetings we wouldn’t have this problem. The saving grace of the pumping and bottle feeding is that she doesn’t mind the bottle at all, which breaks my heart and makes me relieved at the same time. Read as: major fit of sobbing on my part.

She has gone to work with me everyday this week (not all day everyday – again fits of crying when I left her on my first day). She is a charmer and has caused me to meet people even more quickly than I probably would have without her. No one at the office seems to mind that she’s here with me this week. She will continue to go to work with me when my schedule allows. I just don’t think that college students want to see their teacher’s baby during class time.

Secondly, the nice neat little schedule that Michael and I had worked out for when I would be at the office, when he would be at work/teaching, and when we would have overlaps of schedule to require other childcare coverage was just a pie in the sky dream. From my very first day of work all of that was thrown out the window by the fact that several meetings that I’m required to attend were already planned – one of them during playdate time! The rest of them were during times that I planned to be watching the kids. So, our plan of having my aunt watch the kids one morning a week and Mike’s mom watch them one afternoon a week is just not working out.

This is what has caused the most recent bouts of crying. It is so hard to come to grips with leaving the kids with someone else. We’ve decided on an in-home childcare provider. All of the kids she watches currently have been with her since they were born (2.5 year old twins, 15 month old, 6 year old). This speaks well of her. The only reason she has an opening for our two girls is because she was watching another set of twins that started kindergarten and no longer need her services. Morgan stayed with her for about an hour today just to see how things would go. Morgan had fun playing with the toys. I’m not sure how much she interacted with the other kids there. We’re only paying for part-time care for them; so, they will only be with the woman a maximum of 5 hours on any one day. We don’t expect to take them there 5 days a week, but we do have that option since we have to pay for the full week if we take them or not.

Some other reality checks about the job are actually a good ones. I knew I would like the work, but I am reminded about how much I like going to work and having adults to talk with (I've not worked since the end of September). There is one other person at my office that has a year old baby and others who have children. I’ve enjoyed talking with them about our children, but it is also nice to talk with my colleagues about other topics and to contribute professionally again. All of this doesn’t make it easier to leave the girls, but it does make it bearable and even enjoyable while I’m there.

Some other good news is that my insurance and paychecks start on January 15th! Yipee that's a great perk. I started work this week and will get paid on Monday.

The last perk of starting work is the exercise I'm getting. My office is .5 mile from my house. So, by walking to work and home at least once a day that's a mile of exercise on hills. Plus, I'm usually carrying Kenna or pushing the heavy double stroller while carrying my backpack full of books, snacks, and water. This should help the overly shapely body of mine get back to a more normal shape and back into my pre-pregnancy clothes at some point sooner than if I didn't have to go to work.