Transitioning from Stay at Home Mom to Working Mom

Well, I finally found a job that would accommodate the hubs and I both working and child care for the Minion. Unfortunately, the child care is my job and I'm in different rooms than my daughter; which as you can imagine for a child that has rarely had to be separated from me it is the pits. The first day was an unmitigated disaster. She cried. I cried. It was unpleasant. Today was the second day, and honestly it wasn't as bad as the first. She still doesn't appreciate  me not being with her 24/7 but she did play with the other kids and participate a little.

To be honest, I was surprised at how hard it was for me to just be in the next room with her screaming. I honestly thought I'd be fine since I was there too and could see her. NOPE! I bawled like a baby as well, as my "baby". Nothing more embarrassing than trying to be professional while crying uncontrollably. Thankful, that she seems to be getting used to being there, though it may be a long while before she's looking forward to it.

- MinionMommy

Spring.... I love Spring!

Right about now, I'm remembering that this time last year, I was living in Arizona and it was already hot. Not t-shirt hot, I'm talking about "do I really have to go outside for any reason because I may melt" hot. And this is just spring time, not middle of summer when it's even more sweltering outside and your A/C poops out because it's running 24/7! So, now that I'm back on the coast, I'm feeling quite thankful that our hot days during spring are only about 70 degrees outside with a light breeze and that most mornings it's still cold enough to need a sweater. I sort of missed that. Another thing I missed: going outside and enjoying the weather; instead of making a mad dash to wherever the A/C was on. You never notice how important these little things are to you until you suddenly go without, and even then you might not realize you missed them until you get them back.

In other news, I (and the hubby) have been helping my parents redo the backyard. So far it has been a HUGE project, but we are finally seeing some improvement. So now there's a space enjoyable enough to enjoy the weather. :) We probably have a few more weekends of work to go, but I'd say it's coming along nicely. Here are some before and after pictures.

        

 As you can see, it's been a long process that started a few years ago. But it is finally coming together and soon we'll be finished. Some grass, some cement, and some other finishing touches and it will be the perfect backyard to enjoy some peace and quiet.

-MinionMommy

P.S. Thanks to all of my friends who have come and helped at some point in this project. You have no idea how much it is appreciated.

Stomach Bugs Suck

Nothing worse than when your child gets sick. But what's worse than that is when they get the stomach bug and you can't really do anything for them to make them feel better other than offer crackers and pedialyte or anything else that might entice them to eat or drink without puking their little hearts out. I'm definitely glad we found the pedialyte popsicles. The minion will eat that slightly more often than she will drink the stuff. So this last week we've been doing lots of laundry.... so much laundry. I've decided I can handle diarrhea til the cows come home blue in the face all day everyday, instead of puking. I'm a sympathy puker. Last time she was sick and we were at Wal Mart not realizing she was sick in the first place and she threw up all over me and I, being the sympathy puker that I am only managed to hold it in for like 2 minutes before puking right next to her. SO EMBARRASSING! I just couldn't help it. *sigh* Thankfully, a nice older woman came over and helped me clean up while the hubs walked off so he wouldn't puke and bought us some clean clothes. Anyways, hope you all are having a healthier April than we are currently having.

-MinionMommy

Potty Training Wars..... Pt. 1

So this week we decided to buy the Minion pull ups and try to potty train, since she's just a bit too tall for regular diapers to fit the way they should. I was feeling optimistic since we've been lazy training her for months i.e. having her sit on her potty every once in a while and she'd go every once in a while. Now she despises sitting on the little potty and wants to sit on the actual toilet and play with the toilet paper. She's peed, but won't go number two on the toilet. Twice now I've had her on the toilet to no avail and not 5 minutes later she's filled her pull up. *sigh*  Guess I should just keep taking her in there regularly enough and eventually she should figure it out, right????? *crosses fingers* On the bright side this kid loooooves to flush the toilet. Loves it. To the point of throwing a fit if I flush it for her. She cracks me up. For anyone that's wondering the nighttime pull ups are super absorbent, possibly more so than diapers are.

Which reminds me, she's sleeping in her own little bed 6 out of 7 nights of the week, of her own free will. What?! I'm pretty excited about having my side of the bed to myself again. It's been nearly two weeks of nearly undisturbed sleep!

-MinionMommy

p.s. I'm taking any pointers I can get as far as potty training goes.