William at 3 months

William turned 3 months old last this past Tuesday.  Here are some stats about him:

1. He loves to sit up.

2. He has started talking to us.  Just noises, of course, but he sure likes to express himself.  Mostly he is happy, but sometimes he grumbles.  (Just ask Vickie.  He was complaining up a storm when we went trick-or-treating at Phil's office.  Apparently it clashed with his feeding schedule.)

3. He spits up all the time.

4. He likes to nurse, he likes his binky, and he doesn't like bottles (but he's going to have to learn to like them when I go back to work on Monday).

5. Sometimes he sleeps really well at night.  Sometimes he sleeps in his crib all night.  (Usually this depends on whether I nurse him in the rocking chair, or take him back to bed with me).

6. He loves his sister.  Especially her hair.

7. He likes to grab: sister's hair, clothes, and his binky.  Or someone's hand holding his binky.

8. He recently learned to suck his thumb.  This usually also involves lots of chewing on him hands, looking for his thumb.  Or, he sticks his thumb into his cheek a bunch.

9. He weighs over 20 pounds (probably, since our scale isn't necessarily super accurate).

10. He fits in 12 month tops, 9 month pants, and 12-24 month socks.

And the award goes to. . .

In celebration of the upcoming academy awards, our store threw its own little award ceremony and party on Tuesday.  Dan and I both won an award.

Dan won (with a couple other sales support guys) the "Heavy Handlers Award" for moving anything and everything around the store.  I won the "Newbie Award" for being one of the two new best new hires.

They handed the awards out at the morning meeting, and since I wasn't there (as I wasn't working), Dan accepted my award for me.  He said he got a lot of applause, at least when he accepted my award.  And made his speech about how I wasn't able to be there.  Oh, Daniel.  We love you.

Here's Hoping

Dan has an interview with Lowe's in a couple days.  It's another part-time job, so if he gets this one he would have two jobs.  But it has a guaranteed 20 hours every week, and it pays better than his current job.  And while JCPenney has great hours during the holidays, we are quickly approaching the time of year when Dan starts to get fewer hours, and then they tapper off during the summer.  Which is pretty difficult, especially if you want to pay those pesky bills that keep showing up.

So, we are hoping he gets the job.  Only 3 people are being interviewed, and he should know by Friday if he gets the job.  And, they are also looking for summer help, so even if he doesn't get the permanent position, he could get a summer job with them.

I really hope he does.  I am tired of living in the basement.

We are still here

So, I haven't blogged in quite some time.  Part of that was the busyness of the holidays, and my sister visiting for 3 weeks.  Emily loved having her Aunt Jeanie around.

Also, I got a job.  I am working at JCPenney (yes, just like Daniel).  We have the same job, except he is a permanent employee, and I am temporary.  And he makes a dollar more an hour than I do.  Maybe they will decide to keep me on after the holidays, which would be nice.  I am only working a couple days a week, and I enjoy my job.  Feeling sore for several days afterward, like I did early this week, not so much.  But the job is fun, and most of the people I work with are great co-workers.

Emily also had a birthday, this past Monday.  My parents came over on her birthday, and we are having a party for her tomorrow.  I've been preparing for that, and I have also been making her a Cinderella dress to wear to it.  Which I still need to finish.  And I need to prep all the food.  So I have lots to do.

Also, I have something exciting to announce next week.  Any guesses?

Bad Mother?

Anyone not interested in toilet training read no further.

So, Emily pee'd on the potty today.  Well, she pee'd on the potty because I decided to put her on it, and she just happened to pee.  Her first time sitting on the toliet.  I praised her, but refrained from giving her a prize, although later she got frozen yogurt.  But that was more because I was trying to get her to stop fussing through Project Runway, which we were watching because her dad is at work, and it was girls night.

She would have enjoyed a Japanese cartoon a lot better.  That's what her dad watches with her.

At work (daycare) there is a little boy who is younger than Emily who has started going on the potty.  And I said in my head: Emily is older than him.  But I should wait until she is interested.  Yeah, that's what I'll do.  I just have to be patient.

Then after we got home, I had to use the bathroom, and she was interested.  But she also likes to stick her hand down my shirt and pull up the bottom of my shirt to tickle me.  She may just be interested in Mommy.  I let her flush the toilet after I went, and then I said, hey why don't I put her on?  And she pee'd. And we flushed the toilet again, which was fun for her (although she insisted on shutting the lid first, because I got into that habit once Emily could walk, and then I opened it a little to show her where the water goes) and then we washed hands, which she is a pro at--although today, she kept on getting more soap.  Apparently (and the kids at daycare confirm) washing hands is fun to do.

So am I a bad mom for caving into my internal pressures and pushing my child to achieve non-age-appropriate behaviors (cause 1.5 is really too young to potty train) or a good mom for getting her used to the whole process before it becomes a big issue?

(Not that I really think I'm a bad mom.  The lady at WIC told me I was a good mom because I don't give Emily honey or syrup yet.  I mean, why start on syrup?  Emily likes pancakes without them.)

Good Things

Things that I am excited about:

My Granny and Grandpa are moving (or have moved) to Michigan.  So now they are only 5 hours away, and really 5 hours isn't that far.

Danny had a job interview, and we are waiting to hear if he has been hired.  But it went well, so we are hopeful.

Danny got me a Mother's Day present.  Since it is not actually Mother's Day yet, I won't tell you what it is, since I told him he can't mention it until Mother's Day so it will be a surprise.

We got our federal tax return.

We got family pictures taken.

I discovered craig's list.  Yes, I know its been around for years.  But I have started finding furniture, and buying it.  For cheap!  So far we've gotten a nightstand (for $10), which I plan to turn into a play kitchen for Emily, and a dresser (for $20) to replace the dresser that Earl very nicely made Emily--but is huge, and the drawers don't seal all the way (so mice could get in) and one of them falls off its track.

Not that we have mice right now.  But we did have them, and I would like to be better prepared in case of invasion.

Also, I found a patio table that I'm going to paint to match our patio chairs (which have been out in the rain too much, and now need to be painted as well).  And then I will put them all on the front porch, with my flowers, and our house will look lived in.  And I got fabric (50% off!) to recover the chair cushions, so they will match the chair we bought for Emily.

Also, I am excited that the possible weeds in my flower beds, that I took a chance and hoped were perennial plants from seeds I planted last year, are columbine, so I was right, and they have gorgeous flowers.  There are also white flowers right now, and I think they are supposed to come in other flowers as well.  How fun!

Notes

A  few noteworthy things to mention:

1) I got paid!  I thought I would have to wait longer, since I signed something about not getting paid for 4 weeks (since the company doesn't want to do paper checks) but I got a paper check anyway.  So, I got paid.  Now to figure how much will be left over after bills so I can by some new clothes to wear to work.  Or I could do some laundry.  I should probably do laundry.

2) I worked with the school age (or 5) kids yesterday and really enjoyed it.  Mostly because there weren't that many of them, and I played with legos with some of them.  It was just at the end of the day, since they are not there long.  Today I worked with the combined older class (so kids above 3 probably) for about an hour, which was okay as well.

3) Emily got a horrible diaper rash (if you don't want to hear about graphic details, don't read on).  We are talking weird sores outside her diaper area, on her thighs, in addition to diaper rash in the standard areas.  A few days earlier, she had some scratches on her neck (her fingernails were long, so I thought she had just scratched herself), but she also had what could have been a bug bite.  The daycare thinks the horrible diaper rash and her neck are related.

I think she just has a horrible diaper rash because she hasn't been getting powdered, which is what we do at home, but we didn't fill out the paperwork for her to have it done at daycare.

Now the paperwork is filled out, and hopefully the daycare workers will remember to apply it.  Although, as a daycare worker, it is easy to remember diaper rash cream or powder when the child has a horrible rash.  And, Dan says they all seemed concerned that she had the rash.

Job Update

So, apparently, I'm not working with 3 year olds.  I'm working with toddlers--from 10 months to 2 years.  Which is a fun age, right when kids start to walk and talk.  There are an awful lot of diapers, though.  And the head teacher took two days off last week, so I was left to muddle through with people who knew about as much as I did about handling the kids.

But we survived, and on Monday she should be back.


And I get to be in charge of curriculum for the coming week.  I did go through our lesson manual and pick out some things.  Not as many as the other teach did for her week (she planned 2 a day and I only picked 5 activities), but I thought that was a good goal for our class.  Since mostly the kids play with toys, get their diapers changed, sleep, or eat.  There isn't a lot of teaching going on.  At least, not formal teaching.  I do say things like "don't cry, you're fine" and "we use nice hands" a lot.

And the weather is warming up, so we went outside for about 40 minutes on Friday.  It was great.  Except for the one kid who kept on eating the snow.

New Job

So, I got a job.  Or should I say, another job, since I am still Emily's Mom and a house-wifey, which has been my job for the past year.  Which is a full time job.

So, my new job is working at a daycare, Kindercare.  (They are a national company, perhaps you have seen their red roofed towers?)  I should be teaching the 3 year olds.  I go in tomorrow for "a few hours."

In related news, Emily started at a daycare today, at a Kindercare about 4 miles from where I will be working.  (Since I get a 50% discount, and since the center where I will be working did not have space for Emily.)  Dan and I went together to drop her off.  After leaving her with her teaching, we turned in paperwork and talked to the director (who gave us the first two days free!) and then left.  I dropped Dan off at work, and then had about 3 1/2 hours to kill before I was supposed to go back to get Emily.

So I went shopping.  First I went to DSW and found some shoes to wear to my new job, since I will be on my feet all day, and my old tennis shoes are dirty and starting to fall apart, and I was not sure if they would pass muster.  So, I got new shoes.  I found some on clearance--white Adidas with purple stripes.  Yea for purple! and for sales!  Then I went to the mall and tried to have fun.  I did look at baby clothes.  And shopping with Emily is WAY more fun.

Emily enjoyed daycare, but did not nap, perhaps because she fell asleep on the way to the daycare (which is only about 20 minutes from our house, so she did not nap long) and perhaps because she is not a good napper.  So she didn't nap, but she didn't cry, either.  Her teacher said she spent all of nap time talking.  And when the teacher said something to her, she turned around and said "what?"

When I got there, she was walking around with all the other little kids.  She smiled at me, and then came over, happy as can be.  I picked her up, and then set her down so I could put her coat on.  Instant tears.  Once I picked her up again, she was fine (but the little boy who realized we were leaving and he wasn't, was not fine).  Out we went to the car, and I set her down next to the car in the parking lot, since my keys were buried in my purse.  I was watching Emily to make sure she didn't take off, and then she sat down.  In the mud puddle.  She didn't like that.

But she did like running around Daddy's office after I changed her clothes.

Not to complain, but . . .

The power to our laptop died. So, I can't post any pictures from my laptop, and most of the recent pictures are on the laptop. So, no pictures for awhile, until we either
a) get all the files off the laptop's hard drive, or b) buy a new power cord (they are like $60 from Dell).

Also, I was very sick yesterday, and spent most of the day on my back. Emily didn't seem to mind, since I was still around. And I still nursed her. So she was happy.

Feeling much better today. Hopefully will go apply for jobs soon.

The potential for lots of mullah

So, Dan and I need more cash. He's working part time, but that's not enough to pay all the bills, much less buy Emily lots of pretty clothes or finance my sewing habit. So, I've been resisting getting a job, because I want to stay home with Emily, and Dan's been saying (probably since before she was born) why don't you get a job that you can do at home, to which I always told him, there are no jobs like that, not really.

Well, I finally gave in, and am looking into getting a job at home. Turns out you can make good money stuffing envelopes. One place told me that I can make $4 an envelope. You do 500-1000 a week, which turns into really good money. Another place says they pay $12 an envelope. I am getting info from a bunch of places sent to me (and not just envelope people, either, also making crafts at home, and I think something else), and then we will see if it really is as good as it sounds.

But, $4 an envelope, 500 envelopes a week, is about $96,000 a year, if you do it every week. That's good money.

Alot better than what Dan is making at his job.

Alot better than what I made working full time at an office.

Hee hee.

It could be a scam.

Dang.

Still, there is potential. Visions of fabric and new furniture are dancing through my head.

Alone with a cranky baby

So, Emily is generally a happy baby. But not after we've sat in the library for awhile, and she is bored. Which, since I have been playing with my blog, we have. We don't have internet at home, so I have to do my blogging at the library. Which is nice because there is air conditioning (we have air conditioning in our bedroom, but that's it), but not so nice because Emily gets bored. Unless it is noisy, and she has lots of people to watch. But then I don't like it.

Dan is working (yea!) now, and he has school in the evenings, so if he goes straight to school from work, I don't see him for a long time. Which he did today. So, Emily and I went on a walk to the bank (which is about 1/2 mile away) and then to the library (which is less than a block away from my house). We got to the bank just before it closed at 5, and then came to the library. So we've been here awhile. Emily even took a nap for a little, which was nice.

Dan is being paid by his school to work at a non-profit that helps sickle-cell disease sufferers and also tests of diabetes. He is the assistant to the director, and he really enjoys it. Apparently he has made a good impression. He can only work 20 hours a week, though, but at least he is employed!

Emily manages to get around now. She isn't crawling, but she has learned how to roll over, and she can rotate in a circle (not sure how, she doesn't move very fast--we're talking minutes to move around, usually). She also sits very nicely. Sometimes she falls over. But I've left her alone for a shower, and finished without her crying (she used to get upset about being alone). So that's good. She has started to definitely prefer me, as well. If we are around other people, she wants to have me there. If she can't see me, all bets are off. Also, when she is lying in bed between Dan and I (like when it is early morning and she is hungry and I'm to tired to be upright and feed her) she will kick against him to get closer to me. This usually means that I end up right on the edge of the bed, because if I scoot a little away to give her a little room so I don't squish her, she scoots closer.

She is very cute.

Here is some proof. (Oh, and she is now very happy, playing with my camera. I took some pictures of her being happy, but I don't have the camera cord to upload them. I will (try to) post them next time. In the meantime, here is a video of her after she had some supper.)

Money, Money, Money . . .

. . . by the pound.*

So, I've been typing my Grandmother's missions journal. My Dad is paying me, and after completing the first section, I got paid! Woo hoo! Dan says I can spend money I make on what I want, because the guy is supposed to provide for the family and the wife can spend her money on herself.

I think I'm going to buy fabric to recover the pink chair.

About the pink chair. It is pink, almost a salmon color. I like pink, on clothes, and I HATE salmon. It is a fishy color. Neither pink, nor orange, and much worse than either. Plus, it is a big, pink chair. Who really wants a pink chair? I guess someone did, once. The best part was that we also had a salmon colored lamp, and we have pink pillows (which are a nice pale pink) and a pink throw, and we used to have a couch with pink in it. So, with all of them together, it looked pulled together. Except, it was the living room, and I hate salmon.

A long time ago, someone made the chair a slip cover. Dan's mom at some point dyed it blue. And then 10 years and 4 kids plus pets happened, and the dye faded in parts, and the slip cover looks worse than the chair, which has seen some use.

I've been dreaming of covering it in green toile**. Unfortunately, I can't find green toile. Fortunately, there is blue toile, which will (hopefully) go rather nicely with the turquoise pillows I made from fabric I bought when Dan and I were still dating. I also found some plush gold fabric, which was on sale, it being a remnant (almost 3 yards, though, and 54 inches wide). Since the walls are supposed to be a pale gold, the gold fabric should work nicely to cover an ottoman Dan said he would build me. Maybe now my living room won't look like an old lady living room (from all the pink). We are also going to spread the bookcases around the house, instead of having them all in one room. Like they are now. And they are all different.

*Lyrics from "Pete's Dragon," a great Disney movie. You should go watch it.
** That fabric with scenes from the french country side, with ladies is poofy skirts feeding guys grapes, and stuff like that. All printed in a color, usually on a white background, only sometimes on a colored background, but the kind I want is on a white/cream background. Pronounced "twall."

Having a Baby Girl!

I had my ultrasound today, and I am having a baby girl! Here is a picture of her. Her head is in the bottom right of the picture, and her arms are up by her face.


Dan also got a job, working at a flour packing plant. Sometimes he comes home covered in fine white dust. He works the second shift, from 3PM to 11:30PM. So I see less of him now. But he has a job!

I've been busy looking at baby furniture, strollers and car seat travel systems, and bedding sets.
As well as doing housework and working on craft projects.

Fun Times in Indianapolis

Dan and I moved down to Indianapolis about a month ago, right before the tornadoes and then all the flooding happened. Talk about timing. We didn't get hit with anything worse than thunderstorms at our apartment, but a tornado went through part of our ward, and the river across the street from us flooded. There is a park along our side of the river, and it was flooded for a while. The river went down a couple weeks ago. We drove along the river when it was flooded, which was fun,.

My mom and sister came and visited us this past week, which was fun. I spent lots of time shopping and going out to eat with them. Dan tagged along the first day, but then he let us have some girl time the next day. The last night they were here, we went and saw Nim's Island (Dan and I had already seen it) at the dollar theater.

Dan and I also went and saw Kung Fu Panda at the IMAX theater up in Nobelsville. We got a refillable bucket which will get us free popcorn if we ever go back. School has been out down here in Indiana for a while, so there were lots of kids at the theater, too.

Dan's friend from Brazil, Joseph Hayney, and his wife, Megan, came and had dinner with us about a week ago. So, we are keeping pretty busy.

Dan also got a job. Woo hoo! He will be doing construction with a couple members of our ward (a father and son team).