I am so excited to be starting my new job on Monday! I can't believe today is my last day as a Stay-at-Home Momma, which I have been for the last two years- even before Lucie was born, I was taking care of her as she grew inside me. I am nervous to be rejoining the work force, but also somewhat relieved that this day is finally here. It's bittersweet. I love Lucie, she is a joy to be around, but I need adult interaction, and I need to stimulate myself learning and working. No matter how hard I try, I can't achieve that as a stay at home mom. I know there are some women who can, but I am not one of them.
Today, Lucie and I did a practice run in the morning. I woke up at 4:45 am, showered, got dressed, did my hair and makeup. I ate breakfast. Then, I woke Lucie up, changed her diaper, got her dressed, and fed her. I had time to spare. We waited until 6 am to leave the house. I made it to the babysitter's by 6:20, and I made it to DHL by 6:35. I was home at 6:50. I start at 7am Monday. I think this was a pretty good practice run. It shows that I can leave a little later than I originally thought AND still arrive at work on-time.
You may wonder why I am referring to this as a practice run instead of a dry run. Well, there's nothing DRY about this practice drive- TROPICAL STORM ANDREA is set to arrive today, and it has already begun raining... actually, raining is an understatement. It's pouring. I hope this weather clears up soon.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Decorating the New House!
I've always been a very artistic person. I even toyed with the idea of going to school for fashion and design (to be an interior decorator) when I was younger. Now that we are buying our dream home, I am so excited to be able to decorate and choose furniture for both the inside of the home and the yard.
I have worked out a budget for each room of the house, and I am preparing a spreadsheet which lists each item to go in a room. I can be really organized when I want to be. I am great at planning and making lists. So far, I have most of the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen eating area planned out, but I need to find lamps for the end tables in the living room that are both stylish and that can't be easily broken by Lucie. This is complicated by the fact that Jonathan refuses to buy anything from IKEA, on account of my armoire from IKEA exploding into a million pieces in the moving van when we moved from our apartment to our house in New York.
While Jonathan and I do have very similar taste and can agree on most furniture pieces, I don't think Jonathan can see the big picture of what everything will look like put together the same way I can. He loves the couch and loveseat we have chosen, but I don't know if he is able to visualize what they will look like with the area rug, which comes from a different store. He also does not understand why we need so many chairs in the dining room when we are only a family of three (if we want to entertain, we need a place for the visiting family to sit down!)
For more decorating ideas, follow me on Pinterest!
I am very excited, because the builder is set to start building in the next week. There was a bit of a delay in getting the ground graded and a foot of soil taken off the top, but that's okay, because the builder left room for delays in their building estimate. I can't wait to see our new home begin to take shape! And... since our babysitter for Lucie lives just 2 minutes away from the homesite, I can check in on the progress after work every day!
I have worked out a budget for each room of the house, and I am preparing a spreadsheet which lists each item to go in a room. I can be really organized when I want to be. I am great at planning and making lists. So far, I have most of the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen eating area planned out, but I need to find lamps for the end tables in the living room that are both stylish and that can't be easily broken by Lucie. This is complicated by the fact that Jonathan refuses to buy anything from IKEA, on account of my armoire from IKEA exploding into a million pieces in the moving van when we moved from our apartment to our house in New York.
While Jonathan and I do have very similar taste and can agree on most furniture pieces, I don't think Jonathan can see the big picture of what everything will look like put together the same way I can. He loves the couch and loveseat we have chosen, but I don't know if he is able to visualize what they will look like with the area rug, which comes from a different store. He also does not understand why we need so many chairs in the dining room when we are only a family of three (if we want to entertain, we need a place for the visiting family to sit down!)
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| The Area Rug We have Chosen (Dalyn Monterey from RugStudio.com) |
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| Bronson Reclining Sofa from Havertys.com |
I am very excited, because the builder is set to start building in the next week. There was a bit of a delay in getting the ground graded and a foot of soil taken off the top, but that's okay, because the builder left room for delays in their building estimate. I can't wait to see our new home begin to take shape! And... since our babysitter for Lucie lives just 2 minutes away from the homesite, I can check in on the progress after work every day!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Returning to Work
Two years ago on June 10th, I left a full time career in New York to focus on my health and the baby I was carrying. Well, this June 10th, I will be returning to work in South Carolina, just minutes away from our soon to be home. I have an awesome sitter for Lucie, who will care for her until August, and then we will be either putting her in daycare or finding home based care depending on which shift I work... which is still to be determined. :-)
Everything appears to be falling into place.
Cleaning with a Toddler is FUTILE!
My parents are visiting from New York tomorrow, and while that's great, it also means I need to clean most of my apartment, because I don't want to appear like a total slob. Now, this morning, I started out by picking up all the toys in Lucie's room and putting them away. We can play downstairs today, right?
Well, I attempted to put some of her toys from downstairs in a box so I could vacuum, and as soon as I would place an item in the box, Lucie would take it out. She then went into the kitchen, and found a small individual serving size box of Apple Jacks cereal, which she proceeded to dump all over the floor in the living room. Not so bad, but it doesn't end there.
She refused to drink out of a sippy cup today, which is sad, because we had gone almost a whole week bottle free. Oh well! So, I gave in and gave her a bottle of juice, because I was starting to get a headache from her screaming. Now, the reason we were weaning off the bottle is two fold. 1) She is too old. 2) She's bitten holes in most of the nipples so that when a bottle is left on it's side, it leaks quite a bit, almost immediately.
Now, the juice I gave Lucie was Juicy Juice's Fruit Punch, which is red in color. She proceeded to dump the bottle sideways so I now have red juice to get out of the carpet. This would not be so upsetting if we didn't have to break our lease in a few short months to move into the new house, and need the carpets and everything in the apartment to be stain free, and the same condition we moved in at. Red juice is not so easy to clean out of a carpet.
I am beyond frustrated, and I am just giving up at this point until Jonathan comes home, because cleaning with just myself and Lucie home is just not working. I clean something, she immediately messes it up again. Might as well wait until Jon can get her upstairs and clean while she takes her nightly bath and has reading time with her daddy.
Well, I attempted to put some of her toys from downstairs in a box so I could vacuum, and as soon as I would place an item in the box, Lucie would take it out. She then went into the kitchen, and found a small individual serving size box of Apple Jacks cereal, which she proceeded to dump all over the floor in the living room. Not so bad, but it doesn't end there.
She refused to drink out of a sippy cup today, which is sad, because we had gone almost a whole week bottle free. Oh well! So, I gave in and gave her a bottle of juice, because I was starting to get a headache from her screaming. Now, the reason we were weaning off the bottle is two fold. 1) She is too old. 2) She's bitten holes in most of the nipples so that when a bottle is left on it's side, it leaks quite a bit, almost immediately.
Now, the juice I gave Lucie was Juicy Juice's Fruit Punch, which is red in color. She proceeded to dump the bottle sideways so I now have red juice to get out of the carpet. This would not be so upsetting if we didn't have to break our lease in a few short months to move into the new house, and need the carpets and everything in the apartment to be stain free, and the same condition we moved in at. Red juice is not so easy to clean out of a carpet.
I am beyond frustrated, and I am just giving up at this point until Jonathan comes home, because cleaning with just myself and Lucie home is just not working. I clean something, she immediately messes it up again. Might as well wait until Jon can get her upstairs and clean while she takes her nightly bath and has reading time with her daddy.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Decked Out Dad's Day Giveaway!
Hosted by
and
Co-Hosted by Tyrneathem and Funny Postpartum Lady
Celebrate Father's of all kinds this Father's Day! Decked Out Dad's Day is all about Dad whether he's a traveler, a techie, the chef, or even the stay at home man!! Make Our Own Network is thrilled to bring you over $1000 in gifts for Dad. There are 6 packages worth over $145 each!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Movie Experiment
Last October, my husband won tickets to see ParaNorman. We decided to go to a Wednesday matinee, as he was working nights. It was empty. As in, me, hubby, and the baby were the only three people in the theater. Lucie fell asleep in the first five minutes and slept the entire time, but even if she had screamed the whole movie, it would not have mattered, because there was no one there to bother.
I really wanted to see Iron Man 3. My husband suggested we see it at a 10:30 am matinee on a Saturday, since he is working days now. BIG MISTAKE! Apparently, down south, people are early risers even on the weekends. The theater was packed! I guess that's because at 10:30 in the morning, it only costs $6 to get in. Well, Lucie started to fuss during the preview for "The Hunger Games." I knew then that I wasn't going to get to watch the whole movie. Just about the time Pepper Potts comes in contact with the antagonist, Lucie starts yelling. I should probably let you know I was already standing against the side wall of the theater holding the baby since she had been wiggling all over... I had been there for about 15 minutes. I had left my purse, Lucie's stroller and her shoes at my seat with my husband.
I ducked out of the theater with Lucie in my arms. I called my mother. What to do? Well, I had to go back in the theater to collect my things, of course. I tried as quietly as I could, all the while also trying to keep Lucie quiet, to collect these things without disturbing everyone else. Kind of hard because we were in the first row, but hey, they were all kids once, right? They should understand. I had contemplated waiting for a noisy part to go in, so no one would hear Lucie if she yelled, but then, she yelled most and grabbed her little ears when the noise started, so it must have hurt her little ear drums. I went in during a sound effects lull.
I told Jonathan to watch the movie. One of us should enjoy it at least. I was annoyed, but hey, I had already missed most of the beginning, so if one of us was going to see the movie, it should be him. As we walked out Lucie started saying, "Dada, dada!" She did not understand why we were leaving Daddy in that noisy dark room. I took Lucie out and began to walk around the mall where the movie theater is. I was upset, but Jonathan is usually so giving... it was my turn to give him something. He paid me back later by giving me space to watch HGTV while he played with Lucie and he took her grocery shopping. He also took me out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I <3 fajita chicken taco salad!
All in all, I would say the movie experiment failed. Lucie is not ready to go to the movie theater. I guess I will have to wait until Iron Man 3 comes out on Blu Ray, which may mean watching it in our new house. I guess I can wait... so long as nobody spoils the ending for me!
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