Winding down...?

So let me think of what's new... I am really excited to be leaving my job, but these last couple of weeks are really stressful. Everyone keeps going out of town and my co-workers are all quitting. Some friends and I counted how many people have left since I started (almost two years ago) and we got to 60. Our entire group is around 100 people... In any case, I'm really relieved to be getting out. I've been researching about being a nanny, and trying to figure out taxes and other key details. I'm really excited. I'm hoping to get back together with the families this week or next to meet Maddie and her parents and go over some more details about the schedules and feeding habits, etc. etc. Roxanne seems to be getting off of her schedule since her daddy has been keeping her. She has him wrapped around her little finger. She seems to nap and eat whenever she feels like it. But I think overall, they are doing pretty well together. Justin's better able to feed her solid food than I am. We've started on sweet potatoes, which are the first things I've made with the new Cuisinart. With one large sweet potato, I was able to make two full trays of baby food. It was really fun and easy. Next week I want to make pears and apples. I also want to try avocado, which apparently Roxanne can have now. I really love the baby food cookbook we have. It's super easy and has lots of good information about what to feed and when. I'm still confused about when I can start doing things like Cheerios, so I think I will wait until her next doctor's appointment and I get clearance to give them to her. In the mean time, I've got a set of fruit and vegetables I can give. She's finally getting much better about eating solids. I"m looking forward to spending more time with her and keeping up on her development. I hope I'll get to see her first steps, and the first time she crawls, and she'll still get to be around other babies. I am hoping this will be the perfect situation. So far, it has clicked well. I will be making almost the same amount of money (my pay now minus child care costs) and I will be salaried, with paid vacation and sick days. But for this week, Roxanne and her Daddy are best friends.

Can you hear my sigh of relief?

I just submitted my two weeks notice at work!!! I have accepted a position as a nanny for two families in Morningside. I will be watching an adorable boy named Ben who is 9 months old, and a little girl named Mattie who is 14 months old. I will be working at Ben's house, and the best part is, I get to bring Roxanne!

All of this came together this week, and I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid I would jinx it, but I'm so excited! This is a new chapter for my family, and I can't tell you how relieved I am. I start the new job on August 4. Yay!!!!!

Hmmm

I can't think of anything specifically exciting or new right now. Roxanne is still being adorable, and she is getting more and more grown up all the time. Her top left tooth is still coming in, and I think I can see a corner of the right one now. She has started grinding and clicking them together, which makes my skin crawl, but I have to say I can understand the inclination. I bet it's really weird to have teeth for the first time...

Roxanne is well again, and she's very spunky. She and Katie have been reaching some new levels of bonding, which is good. She absolutely loves her, but we try to keep the contact closely supervised since Katie smells like old gym shoes mixed with rotten eggs, and because their last visit ended with Roxanne having a Katie hair sticking out of her mouth. She tried to bite Katie's face. I think it's her new greeting. She loves to put my face in her mouth and blow rasberries.

Justin and I are trying to talk through whether or not we will be staying in our apartment. There are pros and cons on both sides, so for now, the consensus seems to be that we will look a little, but unless we find something awesome, we will stay. The annoying thing about Atlanta is that rentals don't get advertised until they are vacant, so our lease ends on September 30, and while I'd like to start looking now, there won't really be anything for us until late August or early September. In the mean time, I'm turning into a Craigslist spaz, checking the rental listings almost daily. It's kind of a hobby now...

Look what I found

Grumpy and Tired

Roxanne isn't feeling very well today. As of Sunday morning, she had yet another runny nose and cough. Sigh. She was able to go to Andrea's, but when I called to check on her today, she told me she was very uncomfortable and fussy. Her report card said "grumpy" and "tired," which is a first for Roxanne. She usually has "happy" and "chatty," and sometimes "playful." I'm hoping it's just teething, since her top left tooth is just starting to poke through. It looks HUGE. I can't believe how old Roxanne is getting. She's so cute and grown up.

We spent part of our stimulus check this weekend on some new clothes for everybody. We got Roxanne some clothes for fall, in 12-18 months. I hope that size works for her. The clothes at Baby Gap are so cute. Everything is navy, khaki and kelly green. We even got her some grey and kelly green striped leggings. I am in love with them. They were also having a sale, which made everything even better! I looked at Gymboree, but I really just prefer Baby Gap. It fits her well and I like the solids and bold patterns rather than animals and things. But I still like Gymboree, I just prefer Baby Gap for Roxanne. Old Navy is cute, too. Justin wants to get her a couple of things from American Apparel baby clothes, since he loves her in really basic pieces, but I don't know. I do like the karate pants they have. They are adorable. We'll see...

In sad news, the couple who were buying my breast milk had to give their baby back to the birth mother. Apparently she changed her mind. I can't imagine how sad they must feel, and I wish I could do something to help. They were so excited. Adoption must be a hard road.

Well, we hope everyone is doing well! It's been a while since I've posted, but only because I've been trying to post to the Atlanta Parent blog more. The editor e-mailed and asked me to be sure to post plenty this month because she featured my blog on the Atlanta Parent home page. You can see it here. Pretty neat!

Back to Square One

So, I finally got an e-mail from the other job prospect today. It was very very nice, and they said that they really liked me, but in the end had to go with someone with more applicable experience. I guess that's the deal with the publishing industry. Lots of applicants and a rather small pool of jobs... I think maybe I'm just looking in the wrong areas. I can't really apply for more freelance work at the moment either because my one client takes up all of my extra time. Sigh.

Roxanne, I hope you read this when you are 16 and realize that I am not a horrible pitiful whiny person, I just love you very very much and wish I could spend more time with you. And I want you to learn that moms can have jobs and families and be happy with both. I will soldier on and fix all of this. And eventually, when I'm a published author, we'll all laugh about my paralegal days. Right?

One no and One unknown

Just as an update, the contract position I was hoping for is a no for now. It's one of those things that could maybe be an option down the line, but since the person is not sure how much work she can guarantee me, she doesn't feel comfortable taking me on as an employee yet.

Still waiting on the other position. They checked my references on Tuesday afternoon, so of course I've already decided that they must have offered the job to someone else yesterday, but we'll see. Sigh.

In other news, Roxanne has started saying "dada" and it is very cute. It sounds more like "dzadza" if you can imagine that, but either way, it's very cute. She also officially likes bananas. She ate almost an eighth of a mushed up banana last night, which is a lot for her. Andrea has been trying to give her oatmeal during the day, but apparently she's not having it. And yesterday Andrea said she was "grumpy." She is teaching Roxanne to wave. It's very cute, although it's hard to tell whether or not she has any idea she's doing it when she waves.

The picture is Roxanne wearing her bonnet that Grandma got her at Agrirama. They are made by an employee.