Episode 3: Nanny, Babysitters, Real Estate

We have been spending more time researching and viewing homes as of late.  I'm feeling the itch to cash in on these rates and be able to have a place I can call my own (even if the bank owns most of it for 30 years).  We've found our dream home and the property to go with it - now I have to fall out of love with it in order to try to get a reasonable price and be prepared to walk away when we don't get it.

The other things we've been up to are:

• Continuing Elimination Communication with Eleanor.  
• I finished up a pretty major work project (28 users).
• Dale, Monica and crew came for a visit this past weekend.  They are all getting ready for Baby #4 to come in the next week or two.
• Granny is coming to town on Sept. 4th to see and help Monica with her 3 kids and also to visit with us and Eleanor.  It's probably the last trip she will be able to see all of us at once since the Poulsbo Klein's are moving to Nebraska sometime in late October or early November.
• I'm taking a hiatus from projects for a a bit.  Not sure how long that hiatus will be, I'm hoping I can last until after Christmas.

Part of the reason for the hiatus is wanting to watch Eleanor grow up and teach her things about the world at this very impressionable age.  After attempting to leave her with the babysitter while I worked during the day, I quickly learned that that option is not good enough for me.  It's hard enough to completely disrupt her (and my) schedule and daily routine -- it's another to hear (and watch) someone not interact with her hardly at all, especially after I gave a list of activities to do with her.

I work downstairs in the basement while the babysitter is up here with Eleanor.  I was extremely frustrated the first project I hired her for and after discussing it with Scott and others, I gave her the list of things to do.  (Take a walk, play with her in the mirror, watch the Baby Sign Language DVDs and practice the with her, read books, etc.)  I would come upstairs only to find that the babysitter was sitting with Eleanor on her lap watching TV or texting her friends.  Yes, she's only 20, but I really expected better, especially with how she interviewed and since her aspirations are to become a Pediatrician - as well, she volunteers at Children's hospital and claims she has been a nanny in the past.  I guess call it what you will, but I don't classify not doing anything but watching TV with my daughter on your lap as being a nanny.

So, the hiatus is partially until I find someone better who can be a nanny - a temporary replacement for me during the time I am working.  I do somewhat enjoy the work - mainly the feeling of being done!  But also the mini-break it gives me from being Mom and getting to exercise my brain.

What I do not love about work is that I typically get up early with Eleanor, play Mom for a while, work while she naps and while the babysitter watches her, eat dinner and play Mom during the time before Scott gets home, then work more, nurse her to sleep, work until 11 or midnight and then start all over again around 6am when she wakes up.  If only I could do this job on a less stressful deadline.  I'm not sure this job exists!  In the meantime, I'm going to keep my eye out for other writing jobs that I can do primarily from home and focus on my Mom job for a while.

Alright, since I'll be up a couple of times at night with her and at 6:30 am tomorrow morning, I'm calling it a night!

Episode 2: Dinner and a Movie

Date night #2 since Eleanor has arrived.  I know, I know, it's something we need to do more often, but it's not easy when we don't know (or trust) that many people to come hang out with our baby girl!  I have a friend that I knew while at the Animal Hospital and trust her with Eleanor, so she came over while Scott and I went out.

So what did we do?  I've been wanting to see a movie for a while now and was planning to go on my own while Scott watched Eleanor, but I just haven't implemented my plan for a Mommy's Night Out - or as a friend of mine calls it Daddy Date Night (Daddy goes on a "date" with Baby).  I had heard great reviews (via Facebook, so I think it counts more) on Inception and I thought it was playing at our Kirkland movie theater at 7:00. 

Great, except Scott didn't get home until almost 6:30 (he takes the VanPool and is normally home by 6:15 at the latest).  Then our babysitter said she was on her way, but running late due to traffic.  Hmm, maybe we wouldn't make it after all.  Luckily, when I checked Fandango, it said the movie started at 7:20... phew!  So we grabbed some dinner first.

Dinner was very romantic, we drove through Wendy's.  I wasn't starving so I ordered an Apple Pecan Chicken Salad (I had never had this before and normally I'm not willing to try new things if I'm starving!).  Scott got a burger and chili instead of fries.  Alright, so we have our food and we head off to go find parking at the theater.  Found the parking garage (after some bickering over me telling Scott where to go in the parking lot), park and get ready to eat.

Hmm, a plastic knife, but no fork (for my SALAD!) and no spoon for Scott's chili.  Perfect!!!  At this point, it was almost 7:20 already and I knew we didn't have time to drive back over to Wendy's for utensils, so I ate my salad with a knife... sort of like using 1 chopstick to stab and lift things to my mouth.  Stupid Wendy's!!!  But at that point, it was more comical than anything, so I stabbed the chicken and ate it and tried to find the apples and candied pecans.  That part of the salad was good, the lettuce and the bleu (or they call it blue) cheese was not delicious.

The rest of the date night was pretty uneventful.  At one point in the movie, I leaned over to Scott and suggested we skip out early and go get some wine and rent the rest of the video on Netflix.  The movie was pretty captivating and while Scott said "That's fine, whatever you want" or something to that effect, I got the feeling that he was there for the duration.  Not that I was itching to leave, but I thought it might be more fun.  After spending $19 on a full-price movie, however, we sat there!!!  Seriously!?  No movie is worth $19 in my opinion, but... I guess that's why I almost never go to them anymore!

Future date nights will likely consist of dinner, talking, and drinking!  :) 

The best news is that Eleanor was pretty good for Malia and she (Eleanor) was sleeping in our bed when we got home, so we had a cocktail in our own (and much cheaper) bar... while we both checked our email/facebook and watched TV. 

Hmm, I guess we sort of missed the point of connecting, but I think we both got a welcome break from the bambino for a couple of hours and we will work to have more "re-connecting" dates in the future!

Now, to enjoy the last weekend before my Hell week which will consist of watcing 28 - 1 hour video sessions for work and then writing a report.  WHILE managing my husband, who has ear surgery on Monday, and my daughter.  Thankfully, the babysitter/nanny is lined up to help out a bit.

Baby crying means I'm done with this post!

Stay tuned for Episode 3 - Coming Soon!
Sabrina

Episode 1: Adventures in Babyhood

First, welcome to the Blog.  I have a few others that I work on, but this one I am intending to be less private than my others. 

I'm intending to write about my life as Eleanor's Mom and to share the everyday things that we experience.  Judge if you will, it's only natural - or at least that's my belief.  The number one thing I have learned about being a Mom so far is that there are MANY different ways to parent and everyone probably thinks they are doing what is best for their baby.  The beauty of it is, that each Mom or Dad gets to parent the way they want to!  Surely, my way isn't what you would choose... maybe bits and pieces are similar, but surely there are other things you disagree with and I accept that.

While I listen to advice, I don't like to listen to criticism - even though sometimes it's hard to ignore!  If you feel like commenting on a post, please be respectful of mine and others' decisions and opinions.  You can disagree, but state why - no Debbie Downers for the sake of simply being contrary!

That said, let's start with where we are today... just a few days past 6 months!

Generally, I believe in attachment parenting.  For me, that means doing what feels right.  Holding her, even when she naps.  Wearing her in a Moby wrap or Ergo when possible.  Co-sleeping at night.  Not scheduling naps.  And my most recent fascination is Elimination Communication or as some like to call it Natural Infant Hygiene.  I had only VAGUELY heard of the concept of trying to potty train by going sans diaper.  I saw this book at the library and wanted to learn more and now I am really looking forward to trying it.

I started observing when I started reading, but since I was on a work project, I was unable to really focus on her cues until yesterday (7/27).  Already, I'm feeling a bit more in tune with her cues.  I think I'm going to continue to observe for the next couple of days and if I think she has to go, I undo her diaper and put her over the toilet. 

I was on a call for work this morning when I thought she was making signals that she needed to poop, I was right.  I made the sounds - click, click, click while she was going and then went and put her over the potty for a few seconds (she had already gone in her diaper, but I was trying to associate that clicking sound with the toilet).

This afternoon while out on our errands, she fell asleep, when we got home I took her pants off, took her diaper off and held her over the sink - nothing.  I thought she probably already went and that I missed the "after nap" opportunity, so I let her go without her diaper for a bit - not too long after this, I felt a warm sensation on my leg - yep, time to wash those jeans!  :)

I'm not brave enough to go sans diaper yet in public, but I'm hoping that I eventually will be able to do that and to astound people when she is potty trained by the age of 1 1/2 instead of STARTING at 2!

Still interested in this Sneak Preview - click 'follow' to receive updates.
Sabrina