Happy Saturday!

We've had a busy day so far here at the Michaels house. Our day started WAY too early because we had a yard sale. Why on earth would we have a yard sale in the dead of summer, during a major heat wave, and in the midst of a major drought? Well because I've been putting it off and my mother-in-law said something to the effect of 'if you want my help, you're gonna finally have that thing.' Ha!! Love ya, Sharon! :-) We've been getting stuff out all week, and Chris' mom has been coming over to help organize and price. We finished pricing last night, during which I had the absolute most horrible headache that I still have not been able to completely shake. Oh well. It was pretty sad setting my alarm on a Saturday for the same time I set it to get up during the week (5:30 am...ughh!!). But up and into the shower I went (yes, I had to take a shower even though I was going to be sitting in the heat...only thing that will wake me up!!) and we were outside pulling our tables out by 6:45. Fortunately our house faces the west so our driveway was in the shade for most of the morning. Sara Kate didn't sleep as long as I hoped she would...she was up around 7:15 or so but played in her crib for a while. Eventually she came out to check things out. (Yes, she likes to carry an old remote around and push the buttons!) She played with my phone (she was talking to no one but she sure thought it was fun to pretend talk!) and had a good ole time entertaining us and our patrons. She has a purple/blue tongue because she discovered that she LOVES grape flavored Gatorade!! I mean, absolute LOVE!! She wanted to drink out of my bottle and so I put some in her cup...she gulped it down and immediately wanted more...and more...and more! It was so funny to us because she doesn't really like juice.
Off and on during the morning, Bob and Sara Kate went inside to cool off, Chris was in and out, and Sharon and I stayed outside and manned sale. We only had one little incident...someone stole a necklace off the table with some jewelery on it. Don't know when or who but all of a sudden the little bag was empty. Ironically, it was Jesus related...a medallion that had the 'Footprints' story on it. Oh well, no biggie. Maybe that person needed it more than I needed to make a buck, and hopefully it'll help them out today and in the future.

Overall, we've had a good morning, minus this mama being extremely tired and still having the headache-that-won't-go-away still pounding away in my head. We sold most of our stuff and made some cash so it was not a bad day. And a BIG thanks to my in-laws for their help!! Currently, Sara Kate is napping and once she wakes up we're headed to our friends house for some pool time and a cook out. Should be fun times! Chris can't make it to pool time because he is playing the piano for a 90th birthday party in Bentonville but hopefully he can make it for dinner. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

What's Up?

I've been a bit of a blog slacker the last few days...things have been kind of hectic lately!! What's been going on? Well, let me tell you! Remember on Friday when I mentioned that Sara Kate had a fever and was feeling a little off?

Well, Saturday she woke up and felt a little warm and was being very clingy to me...I could tell she just didn't feel great. And I figured out it was her teeth bothering her by the way she was messing with her mouth all day. But it was Chris' birthday so we had to celebrate!! Chris' grandpa took us to lunch at a location of Chris' choice, and he chose Penguin Ed's. He loves BBQ!
I felt bad because his birthday was kind of anti-climatic. He spent the morning doing a little project with his dad...installation of a new microwave above our stove!!
Before...
During...
After!
Needless to say, Saturday was busy for the birthday boy. Saturday night, I got the sprinkler out thinking Sara Kate would really like it. She didn't love it as I had anticipated. Then again, she was liking it but then it sprayed her in the eye and then the ear. Then she was done with it! We'll try again another time.
She finished the evening reading her books to her duck...so cute. Look at the curls in her hair!
Sunday was a little more relaxed. And Sara Kate woke up feeling normal and acting like her normal self. We had church, which started with a major melt down and Sara Kate going to the nursery early. What caused the melt down? Well, mean ole mommy wouldn't let her play with the chimes on the drums, which she discovered that morning. Once she gets her mind set on something she is determined to do it, and when we won't let her she completely melts down!
She LOVES to climb these steps! Or any steps for that matter!
I wish Sara Kate was looking at the camera in this picture, but I had to show off this adorable outfit I bought her at a resale shop when I was in Mississippi last month. So cute!
We ran a couple errands after church then headed to Chris' parents for a nice lunch.
Watching Meme grill our lunch...
Sharing her snack with mommy (look at her teeth coming in!)...
And being TOTALLY silly after lunch!!! Fish face is a new thing!
We chilled a little longer and headed home and spent the afternoon doing alot of nothing.
We took a walk to our neighborhood park Sunday evening and let Sara Kate play until it got dark. She had a ball and it wore her out!
Monday started a new week, and actually it's Chris' last week at home during summer break and it's Sara Kate's last part time week of daycare. Monday also marked another first in Sara Kate's young life...her first stomach virus!!! Chris called me that afternoon and all I could hear was screaming and him freaking out about her shaking. Turned out that right about the time he called me, she threw up all over him. And then proceeded to freak him out by laying kind of unresponsive and shaking. He called me back a few minutes later and told me what happened and he said he was taking her to the doctor. En route to the doctor, she threw up again all over herself and all in the car. They got to put into a room immediately but had to wait a bit because of some kind of emergency in the clinic. The doctor checked Sara Kate out, and everything checked out fine but she said that she probably just had a stomach virus. She prescribed an anti-nausea medicine and said Sara Kate was old enough to take a half dose. She never got sick again but pretty much cuddled with me all night. Needless to say, she didn't go to school today and stayed home with daddy. She's doing much better and is acting like her normal self, even though Chris said she was pretty clingy to him during the day. He was pretty scared by the whole situation yesterday (and I'm sure I would have been too if I had been here), but he did a great job of taking care of his girl and doing what needed to be done. He's such a good daddy, and Sara Kate just adores him. We are 2 lucky girls!
The bad thing about her being sick is that she got sick on her duck so she can't have it. And she's very upset about it...she LOVES that thing! She was walking around saying 'duck, duck,' and then last night she found it and pulled it off the washer and when I took it away from her she got MAD!! Unfortunately, I can't wash it in the washer because it plays a song so it has a sound box in it. Time to find a replacement duck!!
Sorry this is so long...just wanted to update on what's been going on with us! Hopefully the rest of our week will be uneventful. And I hope ya'll have a good rest of the week, too!

Work Visit

I had my 2 favorite people visit me at work this afternoon, and it made this Friday 100% better. Not that it was a bad day, I was just VERY tired because I stayed up too late last night hanging out with friends on girls night. :-) But Chris was headed to Bentonville to go over something with his grandfather, and him and Sara Kate stopped by my office on the way. Yea!! During their visit, Sara Kate was so tired that while I was holding her she was almost falling asleep on my shoulder. I decided to keep her at work, figuring she would fall asleep, and Chris could go to grandpa's and do their practice without worrying about an overtired and fussy baby (the get together involved the piano, which is why I thought Sara Kate should stay with me and nap). She fell asleep in my lap and stayed like that for the last hour and a half of my day. I was able to work on a giant spreadsheet report that has been driving me crazy, but my sweet baby in my lap made it all better.

Right about 4:30, she woke up! Perfect because it was time to go home!
She's been great all evening. She ate a whole piece of pizza for dinner (can you believe that?!?), we played outside with Meme and Poppa, we shared some ice cream while watching 'Whale Wars,' and we played blocks. But I just put her to bed and she's running a fever. :-( Not sure if it's her teeth or if she picked up my cold I got last week (and so lovingly shared with Chris...although neither of us has had fever). Hopefully she wakes up in the morning happy and feeling better because tomorrow is a certain daddy's birthday (that would be Sara Kate's daddy!)! :-) Happy weekend! And an early happy birthday to Chris!!

Big Day for a Big Girl!

Today was a big day for Sara Kate at school today!
She moved up to the next classroom so she's in the Frog room now! She's gone from a tadpole, to a pollywog, and now a frog. Her next move will be out of the baby section...wow, that makes me sad to think about! I talked to her teachers when I picked her up and learned a few things about her new room. They gave me a bag with her bottles because they strictly use cups (in her previous room she was using a cup at breakfast and lunch but they still gave milk in bottles). Another thing I learned about her new room is they transition from 2 naps a day down to 1 nap a day, and nap time is between 12 and 2. They also stop the swaddle (yes, crazy to think she still gets swaddled for naps, but she has for naps only and it's worked like a charm!). The next thing I talked to her teachers about was meal time. I have been taking her breakfast and lunch every day, even though they serve lunch and have a weekly lunch menu. They said all the kids in that room except 1 little boy eat the lunch menu so I am thinking once Sara Kate starts going back to school full time in August maybe we'll try her eating off the lunch menu. She can be so particular sometimes and I wouldn't want her to not eat what they are having and then be fussy because she's hungry. But sometimes she's not particular at all. Maybe eating lunch at school and the variety they offer will help her 'open her mind.' Ha! The last thing I learned about her new room is they have a more defined 'schedule' like big kids, and it involves snack time, work sheet time, arts & craft time, outside play time, hall time, and circle time, all broken down by times. Such a big girl schedule! Sara Kate has been with the same 2 teachers, Miss Alison and Miss Betty, in each room she's moved to. They told me today that she started with them and she will end with them. We love the 2 of them, and I'm so glad they've moved with her class. We will definitely be sad to leave them when she moves to the next room.
Even though she moved to the next class today, she didn't have a very good day (which is unusual because she's normally great). Miss Betty's comment was, 'Thursday will be better.' Ouch!! :-) She did say that it was a chaotic day for everyone since they were moving kids around and stuff like that. It started off bad for her when I dropped her off...she was happy as I carried her to her classroom, she handed her teachers her lunch box, and then she clung onto my neck like a monkey. She would not let go and did not want me to put her down or let her teacher take her. But I had to leave so I passed her off and she cried sooo hard...I could hear her crying all the way out the door. Breaks my heart!! After lunch, Sara Kate crashed for nap time but then she woke up confused about where she was and she started screaming, which woke up some other kids. Once again, ouch!! She had cuddle time with Miss Alison, which made everything better. The other not so good thing about her day was that she got bitten on the arm by another kid!! They said Sara Kate was playing with toys and another kid tried to come up and take her toy and then bit her. Sara Kate was in no way at fault but it did scare/hurt her and that resulted in more cuddle time with Miss Alison. I had to sign an accident report, and I got all the information about what happened. I know kids go through phases like biting, but I REALLY hope that Sara Kate doesn't go through the biting phase!! So that was her day. Exciting and frightening all together. We still are very happy with her school. She's obviously thriving and learning, and her teachers just love her...even teachers from other class rooms in the building tell me how cute and funny she is. Hopefully they will still think she's cute and funny when she's in their class. Ha! My baby girl is growing up!

Working Mommy

Melissa over at Stafford Stories has been hosting a series this past week on working mothers, or mothers that work outside the home. All mom's work, but some have the option of staying home with their children and some have to work outside the home. She's been focusing on the later, as she is a working mom herself. I'm not guest blogging on her page, but it has been very interesting to read how other working mom's do it so I thought I'd share my story.

April 2010 Summer 2010 Summer 2010 I always knew I would be a working mom. It's what I was raised with, 2 parents who worked hard to support our family and give my brother and I a good life. Since I work in environmental science and work for the government and Chris is a teacher, we certainly aren't rolling in dough! When I got pregnant, my job certainly wasn't easy, seeing how there's alot of 'physical labor' involved in soil sampling and field work. On top of that, I was due in the middle of our busy season. I was completely stressed out, and I kind of figure that might have helped push me into going into labor early. Sara Kate came 2 weeks early, so my maternity leave started 2 weeks earlier than I expected. Because of the timing, I still ended up taking phone calls periodically and answering emails during my 8 weeks off. And as the end of my time at home inched closer, I started to dread going back to work more and more. I liked our little routine...Sara Kate would not really want to go back to sleep in her pack n play after her early morning feeding, but she would fall asleep on my chest. She wouldn't nap in her bassinet, but she would nap on my chest. We spent many parts of many days like that, and I loved it. I cherished those sweet naps we had together, and I got emotional thinking of it ending. But back to work I had to go. I was lucky though, because Sara Kate got to spend the summer with her daddy before starting 'school,' and I think that was such an important bonding time for them.
Sara Kate's first day of 'school' - August 2010 Going back to work, and balancing work and baby and house hold duties and husband wasn't easy...and it was just plain exhausting at first, even though I was very fortunate that Sara Kate started sleeping through the night right after I went back to work. And at times, it still is definitely exhausting! How do we manage? As for meals, Chris and I meal plan for the week and we grocery shop together on Sunday's after shop...lots of nights he does the cooking, depending on what time I get home or what we're having. As for laundry, we tend to do it all on Sunday's and the occasional load on Monday night...Chris or I will load the washer, I usually swap loads, and alot of times he folds while I rock Sara Kate to sleep. As for cleaning, well, that's a tough one. I WISH I had a maid, and I'll be honest and say that I'm so jealous of all the working mom stories I read that have a maid to come clean every couple of weeks. I try to vacuum a couple times a week to stay on top of the dog hair, clean bathrooms on weekends, but most importantly, I try to de-clutter at the end of every day (pick up toys, books, mail, etc.). Cleaning is something I struggle with and don't think I'll every really get a good handle on...until Sara Kate is old enough to have chores, ha! KIDDING!! :-) And as for time with friends or just alone time, we don't have much of that, but we do have Chris' parents in town who have been available to watch their grand daughter at a drop of a hat.
June 2011 Our daily schedule looks a little something this:
5:30-5:45 - I get up, shower, and get dressed, finish anything that needs to be done for lunches and load the car
6:45 - I get Sara Kate up and dressed
7-7:10 - out the door and on the way to daycare...she's dropped off by 7:30 and I'm on my way to work (I have a 45 minute commute from home to office)
7:45-8 - make it to work
8-4:30 - work...sometimes I stay until 4:45 or 5 to clock a little extra over time
5:15-5:30 - home from work (depending on what time I leave the office)...Chris picks up Sara Kate when he gets done with school...occasionally I have to pick her up if he has after school obligations but her 'school' is open until 6
5:30-7 - one of us cooks dinner, the other plays with Sara Kate, we eat as a family, and we clean up the kitchen
7-8:30 - play time, outside time, run the occasional errand as a family
8:30-9 - bath time for Sara Kate (she gets one every night, and alot of times Chris does it or we do it together), pick up clutter, and get ready for bed
9:15 - Sara Kate is usually asleep and in her bed by then
9:15-10 - get lunches packed for the next day, finish picking up, blog, internet, bills, tv, spend time with Chris
10-10:30 - I'm usually worn out and asleep!
April 2011
So that's a snap shot into our day and my life as a working mom. As I stated, I struggle most with cleaning, and Chris and I are trying to do better about spending time together. We have a good partnership, Chris is a wonderful father, and we have a GREAT baby. I think that has really helped our transition into parenthood a little easier. Be sure to check out Melissa's blog HERE and read other working mom stories. And a big thanks to her hosting such an informative series!
July 2011