Explanation

Told you things would be out of order. Trying to catch up :) . I joined a mom's group when I became a SAHM (stay at home mom). Tonight they are having a craft night. I couldn't attend but I decided, I'll still work on a craft at my home. Catching up on the blog.

Three parades

We went to three Christmas parades this year. We went to Raleigh's, Apex's, and Holly Springs. The photos are not in any order so I'll just label them.

Santa at the Holly Springs' parade. It was gray and cold that morning. It sprinkled throughout the parade but the hard rain held off till Santa went by.

Golden Hawks Regiment (Holly Springs High School marching band). When I told Clara that Daddy's band was coming, she smiled and started dancing when she could hear them playing.

Photos from the Raleigh parade:

Did not get any photos from the Apex parade (got some video of Mike's band playing, though). It was cold and snowy that day/night. I debated on going to the parade and decided if it was not raining, we would go, snow isn't so bad. It was snowing in Fuquay around 4pm so we headed out. The precipitation fell all night and it was freezing. We did not stay for the whole parade, we watched Daddy's band go by and then left. And I had my first experience with a criticizing parent/grandparent (whatever you want to call the man). He "suggested" I put mittens on Clara's hands. I told him I tried. Afterwards I thought of the perfect comeback, next time I'll say "thank you for pointing out what a terrible parent I am."

All parades were fun, despite the cold temps. This winter has been very cold...period.

Clara's pumpkin

Clara's pumpkin from Halloween. Attempted to paint it. The paint I bought didn't stick very well. Oh well, still a nice masterpiece.

Daycare and then my long saga....

We started looking for a daycare in the late fall/winter time during my pregnancy. It is hard to find a daycare down here that is reasonably priced (you get what you pay for). The first place we visited was okay but I left the tour feeling very sad, I didn't want to drop my precious little baby off there and be away from her all day. Okay, so that means that was not the daycare for us. We saw a couple others and really liked the Goddard School. However, they are not cheap and their hours where not feasible with our schedules. So, I went on my own to a couple of daycares in Chapel Hill and submitted an application to one. I was nervous and started to consider quitting work and staying home with Clara. Then a woman from our birthclass said she was going to open an in-home daycare. She wanted to stay home with her child and thought what a great way to still make money too. Needless to say, we were the first to sign up for her daycare. And Clara loved hanging out with the boys.

She learned their names and now if you say "the boys" she squeals and starts naming them. They are her bff's.

It was really sad when my boss would not let me work a flexible (or reduced hours) schedule. Mike and I thought long and hard about what to do. We didn't want to remove Clara from Miss Lisa's, however, we really could not afford for me to quit my job. Luckily many opportunities opened up and I applied and interviewed for several jobs. But did not get any offers. Okay, so had to find a new daycare. Again, the search was, well rather, depressing. There was an opening at a daycare in Apex and it seemed nice and was reasonably priced. We submitted an application to save a space for Clara. But I literally would get sick thinking about having to take Clara to a new daycare. I felt awful, I couldn't sleep the days leading up to having to drop her off at the new place.

But a lot happened at work and we decided it was best if I quit my job. We let go of Clara's space at the new daycare and Miss Lisa watched her till my last day of employment at UNC. My stress level decreased, thank goodness for great people like Miss Lisa.

Studies show that parents, specifically moms, perform better at work if their child is being taken care of by someone/some place they trust and are confident in. Why couldn't my boss see that? It wasn't like I was asking for a permanent flexible schedule. I told my former officemate, I feel like I just went through a bad break up. 10 years of my life, I think, though, I am getting used to it, finally. And something will come along that will be a good fit for me. I feel daycare is a good thing for Clara and want to be able to provide that opportunity to her.

Clara's friends

Clara's friends from daycare:

Chance, Clara, Jack, and Braydon

Potty training

Clara is showing interest in the potty so I had a bright idea on showing Clara how to use the potty. Whenever she tells me one of her friends needs to go to the bathroom (she will say "puppy poopy" or "baby poopy" or "monkey poopy") we run to the bathroom and I put the friend on the toilet. Then we cheer when the friend is finished. Clara always tells me when the friend is "all done." So maybe Clara will see her friends using the toilet and will start to think she can too. However, I guess there is that control issue also, she needs to show she can control pee and poop too. But we only change her diaper like 3 times a day so....

A dozen kids

Sometimes I feel like I have a dozen kids. I now change the diapers of monkey, bunny, and baby. I also take her friends to the bathroom, put them down for naps, and feed them meals.

Clara's imagination is growing leaps and bounds. Soon there will be tea parties and sleep overs.

Squeals with delight

One more thing to jot down in the memory, when she started to hug her "friends." And if you say the name of something she likes/loves she squeals with delight and smiles. If you say "Grandpa," she squeals. If you say the name of one of her cousins, she squeals.

puppy...
horsey...
monkey...
giraffe...

Love it!

Thanksgiving 2010

We went up to Virginia again for Thanksgiving. Mike's parents live in Yorktown. The whole gang was there for the day: his aunt and her husband and Raymond and Melissa and their two kids, Preston and Lila Anne. And to top it off, besides Aunt Lauretta and Joe spending the night, Raymond, Melissa and the kids spent the night also. Needless to say, it was a pretty full house.

Well, we were worried, Clara was bunking up with her cousins, she'd be kept up all night by them. Turned out Clara was the instigator of all the games. We put the kids to bed and Clara really enjoyed the fact that she had roommates. She laughed, talked, and threw all her toys out of her bed. Preston and Lila played along but eventually got tired. We heard Preston at one point say to Clara, if you want to see puppy again you won't do that. It was too funny. I removed Clara from the room so the other two could fall asleep. Once they were asleep, Clara went back to bed and fell asleep herself. Of course, she was up early and was lovin her roommates again.

Mike and I took advantage of being with the family and spent Friday out shopping while Clara hung out with her grandparents and cousins (Raymond and Melissa had left by then to go to Maryland for a wedding sans the kids). Got a good start to our Christmas shopping done. Hate to admit it but it felt good to not feel rushed at the stores.

Saturday morning, we played outside in the leaves with the kids. Nice their lawn has trees. Clara doesn't see many leaves in her neighborhood. She loved running through the leaves. And they buried Uncle Michael/Daddy in the leaves. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Clara asked for her cousins by name for several days after the weekend. She missed them. Oh, and she learned who exactly her Grandma and Grandpa are and called them by name. Speaking of Grandma and Grandpa, she sees her Grandpa walking outside and points to him and says "Papa." I was like, yea. Then she saw a man out somewhere and pointed to him and said "Papa." Funny. Anyway, she learned "Papa" and then "Grandpa." And then she called grandma, "Papa." Now she calls both "Papa." She loves her grandparents and squeals and smiles whenever she sees either set.

Here are some photos from the weekend.


Enjoying her time with Grandma B.


Playing in the leaves!

Halloween 2010

So it has been awhile since I wrote. My entries are out of order and probably will be for awhile as I try to get caught up. I've been meaning to post about Halloween but we did not get a great picture of Clara in her costume. So I've been wanting to put her back in her costume so I can get a picture of her in it. She was the cutest bear ever!

So after I figured out Clara's costume, I wondered what Bear should be for Halloween and it dawned on me...lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Found a tiger costume for Bear so I ended up being a lion. Thanks to my neighbor De for helping me put together my costume. I must say, it ended up being a pretty cool costume. Got a good picture of me in my costume with Clara but she was out of her costume by then.

Some photos from the night.

Getting ready to go trick or treating. It was a little difficult walking a dog and a toddler but I managed. I had to take Bear, the tiger, with us...to complete the group.

Clara's loot from the night. She made out pretty good with the candy. She had her first Kit Kat bar that night. She loved it.

Mommy and Clara. This photo is one of my favorites, my costume turned out pretty good and Clara's just darn cute in it (as usual :) ).