UGH! Followed by a big YIPEEE!!!

Have you ever had to look for childcare?
It is one of my least favorite things to do.

You want to find a place where you know the teachers are educated, attentive and will love your child almost as much as you love them.

But, those places are expensive and have a waiting list.

So we've come to terms with the initial shock of how expensive daycare is. But that doesn't take care of the difficulty of getting into the daycare of choice.

We had both our girls in a wonderful place that took about a year to get into (little sister wasn't even born when she joined the list) up until Nate got laid off in April. Now that Nate is starting his new job this coming Monday we quickly called them up to see if the girls might be able to slip on in, in some miraculous turn of events.

They were able to work big sister in, but as younger slots are in higher demand (due to smaller teacher/kid ratios) we were out of luck with little sister.

Thus the search began.

What makes it more difficult is that right now she's 11 months, but on the 29th she will turn 1. Infant classrooms ALWAYS have an incredibly long wait list. Toddler classrooms are easier. So almost every place we've encountered can't possibly get her in until Monday, the 31st, once she's turned 1. Leaving me with 2 weeks of very little options!

Then there are the centers themselves.
Most of them are really great. All very comparable.
Then there's the one that can get her in next week, costs a fraction of what the others cost (but one has to ask why), the teachers are obviously not college educated in young child development, and overall you just dread that you're going to have to leave your baby there because there are no other options.

Because remember, the good ones have waiting lists.
So you hope that the 1 or 3 people ahead of you (because if it's any longer than that it's no longer an option) are no longer interested.
But until you know for sure, you keep looking.

BUT GUESS WHAT!?!?!?
We got into the Cadillac of daycares!!!



Video monitors, 4 year degrees for all of their teachers, developmental classes, baby yoga, the whole 9-yards!!! Huge sigh of relief—except that they can't get her in until she's 1.

Not a huge deal. We can work it out. The last week my mom will be back in town, so she'll have her then. But next week. . .?? Still not sure. I've got a couple of possibilities in the works. . .

xoxo—Lori

Whew!

Crazy crazy weekend!!

Now that Nate's time at home is quickly drawing to a close (yeah!!) we are working in hyper-speed to finish all projects that we had wanted to get done during this period.

Our house is a little bit of a fixer-upper as I believe I've mentioned before. I don't tend to show too many photos of it because, well, we're right in the middle of it. I don't mind when people come over because you can see quite obviously that work is being done and so the unsightliness of it can be forgiven. But actually taking pictures. . .well, that embarrasses me.

Especially since there is not a single wall in our house that is square and not a patch of floor that is level. If you've ever done any sort of remodeling, then you know that often means quite a bit of jimmy-rigging. We tend to walk away from each phase of a project saying "Well, I guess that's as good as we can expect to get it!"
And then follow through with a caulk gun.

This weekend we tore down the crown molding in the living room (that we don't have enough of once we added a closet to the room) and put it up in the bathroom. It looks pretty good, but definitely needs that caulk gun before I show pictures!!!

I put on pretty coats of blue paint to big sister's dresser and am poised and ready to distress it as soon as a moment comes open.

My mom and I had some girl time at Anthropologie and I walked away with a great shirt and sweater!

Did some party planning, scoured craft and fabric stores for supplies and put my Mom to work when we got home—I was busy painting!!

We also took my Mom to my favorite sushi & thai place. She doesn't like sushi. But I figured she has just never had the RIGHT sushi.

She ate it.
She didn't hate it.
But she still doesn't like sushi.

Oh well, I got to eat it!! (and she did like the pad thai, so she didn't go hungry)

Overall, good weekend. I'm a bit tired from it, but we got a lot done and spent time with people we love. Isn't that what it's all about?

xoxo—Lori

(pictures will come. I promise!)

Squeals of delight!!!!!!!

NATE GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!


True, I didn't tell you about it, but he had an interview on Monday and just called to tell me he got it! So freakin' excited!!! Reservations are being made at Ruth's Chris to celebrate!

Now, Holly Street. . .how quickly can we get the girls back into daycare. . . .????

On My To Do List

Finish painting big sister's dresser
Sand and paint little sister's dresser
Make curtains for the girls' room
Finish the apron overlay to the skirt I made months ago
Tailor the skirt I made months ago
Help tear up old wood flooring in bedroom
Help tear up carpet in girls' room
Make/Design little sister's bday invites
Plan little sister's bday party
Crop & order photos to fill the empty frames floating around my house
Design pallet headboard/bed (not sure how far I'm taking the idea yet)
Make pallet headboard/bed
Pick out paint for bathroom
Sand kitchen cabinets
Paint kitchen cabinets
Paint kitchen
Figure out window treatments for my bedroom
Make magnetic board thing for photos over sofa
Order photos
Edit & order photos from the last 2.5 years (minus lake house vacation!!!! I did that!!! HUGE FEAT on my part) and put into albums
Make Tinkerbell/Fairy Halloween costumes for the girls (inspiration came early this year!)
Reupholster & refinish the antique love seat we picked up on the side of the road 3 years ago & has been sitting in the basement since (I think I've finally picked out fabric)

How about you??

xoxo—Lori

Presents in the mail!!

Who got a lovely, fun package in the mail?



I DID!!!!

Thank you QuiltHome.com!!! Beyond speedy, as always (free shipping and received in 2 days rather than the 3–4 promised!!) and wrapped so pretty along with a personalized note. Love doing business with them!!



Now I need to time to sew. . .(always seems to be my problem!!)

Other news at my house that I've very excited about—we've ordered new flooring for both my bedroom and the girls'! We have so many things going on at our house it's an absolute whirlwind!!!

Thank you Mom for visiting so we can dump our kids on you and get some work done!
You don't mind, right?

xoxo—Lori

Progress on the dresser!!

This weekend I was able to work on the first of the 2 dressers!
They are going to be so stinkin' cute you won't be able to stand it!!

I forgot to take the official before photo, but here's what I can give you:




So I got everything sanded down and the first coat of paint on.




I was able to get 2 coats on all the main parts but for some reason, I'm not looking forward to painting these little baubles.



I believe I would be tempted to keep this white if I didn't know what was coming next. But this blue is much too amazing not to get excited about!!!!




It's going to be freakin' AWESOME!!!

If I hadn't just bought new dressers and painted my bedroom walls green, I might be tempted to just steal the dressers back for myself!!!


xoxo—Lori

Being a Mom

This will be a very obvious "duh," but being a mom is hard work. For the other mom's reading, I'm sure you know what I mean in a way that non-moms won't fully understand unless they become moms.



To top it all off, I find it hard not to compare my mom "skills" to other moms around me.

Mom A puts her baby only in cloth diapers. . . .we use disposables, does that make me less environmentally savvy and am I doing my child a disfavor?

Mom B stays home with her kids. . .I work, so does that mean I'm neglecting my kids somehow?

Mom C's kids are always so clean with cute, matching little outfits and bows. . .it doesn't matter what I do or how many times we bathe them, my kids tend to get DIRTY. Why aren't we more "put together"? and are my kids too rambunctious?

You know what I'm talking about?? or are all of you Mom A, B, & C and I'm alone on this one?? :)

Perhaps I wouldn't be so hard on myself if I wasn't so aware of the fact that I'm going to mess up.

Something.
At some point.

And I don't believe that any Mom knowingly does the thing that makes them mess up.
So I'm on the watch.
Trying to take cues from other moms.

Probably doesn't help my inner-struggle that I read a lot of blogs written by stay-at-home or work-from-home moms. They're way of doing things has become my ideal.

Funny story.
(OK, not really a story, but anyway. . .)

I found out not too long ago that my Grandpa, bless him, was concerned about what kind of mom I'd be when I was expecting my first child. Luckily, (for me and my child!!) he was very pleasantly surprised to see how well I did with her when we went home for a visit one year.

I'm not mad or hurt by his initial concerns. In fact, I understand where he's coming from.
I'm not a traditional mom. I'm sure in his way of thinking, a traditional mom is the only good way to be and anything else has it's cause for concern.

While we were on vacation at my Aunt & Uncle's lake house, before they left, my Aunt put her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye and told me that I was doing a good job.

Maybe it's silly, but I almost cried.

I think we all want to hear that.
That someone can look at our kids, see that they are well behaved, happy and secure and know that in spite of our shortcomings, we're doing something right.

So Bobbi, if you read this, which I'm sure at some point you will, Thanks. You're words of encouragement mean so much!

And everyone else, You're doing a good job, too.



xoxo—Lori