Rules Schmules

Yesterday I had to pull my baby out of his 3rd daycare. He is 10 months old. He has been in 3 regular daycare's and one of my friends took care of him for a while as well. Another friend who is a daycare provider is going to be taking care of him for the next couple months.

Daycare #1 age 2 - 4 months

She took good care of my sunshine face. Almost to the point that she thought she could do a better job than me. There were a few things she wouldn't do that I would ask her to and I finally stood up and said something to her...3 days later she gave me a 2 week notice to take my baby and go...so I left.

Daycare #2 age 5 - 6 months

This woman was a trip! She had security cameras in all rooms, put the little ones to nap in her teenage sons room (Have you ever been in a teenage boys room? I know I wouldn't want to sleep in there...P.U.!) My sunshine face would come home every day super hungry, had crusty nose and would stink. EVERY DAY. I later figured out that she didn't feed him as much as she should have or change his diaper as much as she should have...like 2 times a day is all. She, after I gave her a paper that had sunshine face's schedule on it, told me a couple days later that he had to go because she had too many little ones under age 2....so off I went, in search of his 3rd daycare.

Daycare #3 age 8-10 months

Oh they seemed perfect. Healthy foods, healthy living, yoga, christian values, clean house, lots of children that lived there to oogle and augle over sunshine face. Everything was perfect.

Then one day when I went to pick him up, both the women in charge were outside and he was inside in his jumper with the 6 & 8 year olds. Then my 8 year old told me that the one let him ride about 2 miles in her little suv in the hatch back (Him, meaning the 8 year old). Drop side crib, giving him medicine when he didn't need it, clothes smelling of cigarettes, lying about things when I would ask her...yesterday I picked him up a couple hours early. She had the door locked. I knocked. She let me in asked me what I was doing there and BAM in my face the smell of cigarettes, then air freshener. She was smoking in the house. My sunshine face has had a cough for 3 weeks. 3 weeks and I'm pretty sure it's all her fault. Smoking around a baby is NOT ACCEPTABLE. I will not be returning. She hasn't called me today...you think she knows she messed up? I do. I also reported her. If you can not go 9 hours without smoking while caring for other peoples children, maybe you shouldn't have a daycare. 

If anyone is looking for a daycare, wondering about your daycare may I suggest looking at the billion page packet of daycare rules that a provider has to read before becoming a provider. It will amaze you what they do wrong...purell is NOT a substitute for soap and water. Daycare #1 thought so.

All of these things are just part of my journey directing me to what I am suppose to be doing. It is very sad that my sunshine face has to be put through this. But I have to think positively, he will be very use to people and probably won't be very shy. He is such a great addition to my family. Now to focus on my family.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time I had a friend. She would listen to my pain, my happieness, my love, my hate and not judge and always had something to say that would make everything negative diminish from my head.

Once upon a time, I thought I could trust her. Once upon a time I shared things with her that some of even my closest of friends, I wouldn't share with.

Once upon a time, I finally wanted to have a sunshine face of my own along with continuing to take care of hers. Then like in most fairy tales...the ones of modern ages...my once upon a time went sour.

She used all of my fears, my insecurities I had shared with her against me. She is now trying to turn her son, my child, against me. Asking him questions about me, making me look like the bad guy when all I do is love him and try to teach him how to be a better person.

Once upon a time, I had a friend, even though everyone warned me to not trust, believe or like her, I did. She was my friend. Now, she is the one that I talk to others about because she is the cause of my pain, anger and my hate.

I was the one that stuck up for her, and why? So she could stab me in the back, push me down a set of stairs and kick me once I hit the bottom. All while I was pregnant.

Never again. I always knew what you were on the inside, but I hoped and prayed for you, that if you had someone who genuinely cared, and not to get something from you like the others do, but selflessly cared for you, that maybe you would change, see life is beautiful and isn't lonely as long as you have your family. But I have learned that once upon a times, they aren't real.

Backwards in time

I was thinking today about my mother-in-law coming for a visit this weekend and it made me think of the last visit we had. It was 6 months ago. She kept expressing the desire to meet my neighbor and friend Kathy O. I was planning on getting the two of them together during that visit.

She called and told me her flight was late...she told me to just stay home until she landed, she would call and let me know. I wasn't really looking forward to the late plane because it was going to be in when my then 2 month old was napping. I got the call and she told me she had a ride and I didn't need to come to get her. Then she hands the phone to someone. "Hi Jill. It's Kathy O.!" I was so shocked. Kathy had been flying back from a business trip and ended up transferring onto the same plane that my MIL transferred onto. They were actually sitting right next to each other the whole way and realized who each other were by my MIL talking about Ian, Sam & Connor. Amazing.

Connor was 2 months old then. Kathy O. was on the plane with my MIL, Cathy N. This time when my MIL flys in there is no way of that chance meeting again because my neighbor has since passed away.

I wish I could go back to our last visit and tell Kathy to not get that foot surgery. It caused blood clots to travel to her lungs and she passed away.

I miss her every day. I see her house, her husband, her dog, her beautiful yard. But I never see her. She was a dear friend to me. I loved that woman. I still do. Every time I knit something for a friend or family member, I will always think of her. She's the one that taught me.

If only I could go backwards in time. Just this once.

Number One

Here goes. My first blog. I'm not really sure what I will be getting out of this, but would like to share my life with someone who will listen.

I have a husband and two wonderful sons, one step, one bio. My stepson is 8 and my biological son is 7 months. Having him has really made me think of the mess ups we have had with the other one. Like "Ow, I smashed my finger in the door. <crying)" "Are you bleeding" "NO! <still crying>" "Eh, you're fine" "<cries>" Poor little guy. You know what that did? Now every time he hurts himself, a tooth comes out or anything else that there is blood involved, even if it's not his own, he totally freaks out. Soooooooo...we won't make that mistake again.

Parenting is interesting. I think no matter how old you are, once you are a parent, you do what any other person with kids does. Do your best to keep them happy and alive! No one really knows what they are doing at first. The first kid ALWAYS has it harder. Always. They are the "guniea pig". The second kid has it way easier and the other kids, well, more than two and they just jumble in there all together somewhere. We only have the two and that's all we will have.

My pregnancy was tough. I hated being pregnant. I couldn't smoke, I couldn't drink (not that I'm a chain smoking alcoholic or anything, but I was 30 when I got pregnant) I couldn't eat the things I really wanted after the 6th month because we found out I had gestational diabetes. That sucked. I had to give myself insulin shots every night and test my blood sugar 4 times a day. Suuuuuuck! Then the last couple weeks I ended up with pupps or puppps, however many p's are in that. It is this horrid rash that is on your belly and legs, it can spread other places too from the pictures I saw on google, but I was lucky, if that is what you would call it, and I only had it on my belly and legs. I ended up getting this Aveeno bath oatmeal stuff and after 3 baths in that, it stopped itching so much, which was lucky cause then it was time to go in cause I was getting induced.

Labor sucked. I couldn't get an epidural because my platelet count was low and being induced made labor worse than I ever imagined. Ladies, if you are reading this, don't get induced unless you have to. Especially if you can't have an epidural. I am not joking either. I was in labor for 24 hours, pushed for 1 1/2, got prepped for surgery, had a c-section and at 9:56 am January 27th, my baby was born. My sunshine face. I love my stepson, don't get me wrong, but when that little baby smiles at me, my heart melts. I love being a mommy. If we had tons of money and I was guarenteed my pregnancy wouldn't suck again, I would love to have more babies, stay home with them and teach them how to make mud pies and volcanos and jump in puddles with them after it rains and all kinds of other things. Being a mom is a blessing. It really is and any mother should treasure the moments with their little ones, cause someday they will be all grown up blogging about being a mom (or a dad).

Thanks for reading.