Friday, April 1, 2011

On a roll....

Look at me.....second blog in a week. At this rate, I could get carpel tunnel any day:) This has been a good week. I have had a lot of stress surrounding our current daycare situation. Callum goes to a preschool close by and Claire stays at home. I am very fortunate to have such a flexible job. I work from home on Monday and Friday and then I am able to bring her in to the office on Wednesday if need be. My mom comes up on Monday nights and stays until Thursday after I get off work. I am very thankful for her help but this whole thing is a bit stressful. So I went to pick Callum up yesterday and the closing staff told me tomorrow would be her last day. I was shocked. I mean, I wasn't really close to her. She is a nice girl and I liked her but I was surprised at the turnover the preschool is having. So I took the opportunity to ask her about her true feelings about the daycare. I seriously feel like I am selling my soul to keep Callum in this daycare because I want him to have consistency and socialization. Well she basically told me she wouldn't recommend it to others. Ok, so I go home, pretty down wondering what I am going to do. Daycare is expensive and it makes me sick to move Callum again. I decide to look at craigslist and see if their is anything in my area for two kids that could work with our budget. Well I am reading and I come across the following add:

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In-home Childcare ~ 15 years Experience (156th & Fort)

Date: 2011-03-29, 2:58PM CDT
Reply to: comm-8nbvg-2293838252@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Hi!! My name is Jennifer and my family & I moved to Omaha 6 months ago from outside the Grand Island area. I have worked with children for 15 plus years. I have previously taught 4-5-year-old preschool for 3 years before being blessed with the opportunity to run my own in-home center for the last 8 years in our previous community. I believe that God has blessed me with a kind, loving, caring, compassionate and patient personality to make my passion of working with children a wonderful success! I have had the privilege to work with many families over the years that have led to lasting bonds & relationships. I strongly believe in the statement "It takes a village to raise a child"! It surely does! We all have strengths that contribute to raising strong, independent, helpful, compassionate human beings.

I am a mother of two wonderful daughters, ages 7 & 11. I am looking to do full time Mon-Fri care (part time considered if hours fit our school schedule) for 1-3 children within my home. I will provide a safe & loving learning environment that keeps your precious ones challenged & active! We are blessed to live one block from a park as well as one block from Saddlebrook school/community center & library that offers excellent opportunites to participate in. Also, during the summer, I would plan on taking them on fun-filled trips to the Children's museum, the Zoo, Fontanelle Forest and to various swimming & park activities along with my girls.

I can provide you with superb references from previous families I've cared for in my home daycare previously, as well as references from previous employers and a perfect driving record as well. I also am First Aide/CPR certified . Please send me a message if you feel this is something that may be a fit for your family and I will contact you to set up a time to meet. Serious inquiries only please. Thanks so much!!

Location: 156th & Fort
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2293838252

Copyright © 2011 craigslist, inc. terms of use privacy policy feedback forum


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Well, this woman just so happens to be one of Callum's first preschool teachers and she is amazing!! So I emailed her and she called me last night. We laughed, we dried and above all we will be a new team from here on out!! She said she would take my kids and quit looking and she is giving us an amazing deal. I am truly thankful and feel like God had his hand in this completely. What a huge relief!

It is obviously a big deal.....I blogged about it, we all know that takes an act of God...and it did!;)


I know everyone is chomping at the bit and when I say everyone, I mean Cari and Jenny my 2 blog readers. I still love the iPad! I have to work late on Tuesday and will not be home in time to do Callum's night time routine. So the iPad has an app with children's story books that you can video record yourself reading to the child while the book is also on the screen. So I just got done reading/recording two books for Callum for Tuesday night. I am excited to see how he handles it.
The way I am going , I may just update you about that too!

Seeing things with less stress,
Micaela




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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Remember me?

Seems about time for a blog update, I mean, it has been, what, 9 months. Yep seems time for an update:)

I now have my beautiful daughter, Claire Ann. She is sweet, funny and so much more then I could ever expect. You think once you have had a baby you have it all figured out.....but that is just not the case. At. All. Lately my patience has been shot. I just get frustrated way too easily and at the end of the night when I go to check on them and kiss their little cheeks I just feel the overwhelming amount of love, so powerful that it hurts. And then comes the guilt. Did I really have to get mad about that? Couldn't you have played with Callum a little longer?

You know kids are amazing. I love that Claire knows me and that she is the happiest and most content when I am holding her.....at least I would like to think so. What I always tell Callum is that I wish the world loved other people the way Callum loves his mommy. I think you can tell your child's personality on a deep
level when they are children. Callum is sensitive, very particular, loves structure but above all, that boy can love. He is deeply loyal.....almost to a fault. I am not an affectionate person by nature but as I have gotten older I have tried very hard to to be extremely loving to my children. I want then to understand that the love I have for them is overwhelming. I love how Callum loves his sister. He can do his thing for hours and not say much to her but then out of nowhere I see him go over to her and whisper " you know, you are my best girl". I love how Claire loves Callum. She will look at him and smile huge. Sometimes he won't see her and she will start yelling until he looks and then she smiles at him. Again, overwhelming love.


The past couple of weeks have been great and hard all at the same time. Malick came home for two weeks and left yesterday . So while he was here I only had to give Claire her baths because Malick took care of Callum's. It was nice to be a team and get some breaks. So now after getting use to all of that, he had to go back to Auburn. This is hopefully about over. It has been the biggest challenge ever.

The highlight of the week came on Friday morning when I arrived at the Apple Store at 7:30am in the freezing cold. I had been planning all week to go and get the iPad2 and I knew I had to get there early and that their would be a line and still no guarantee I would get one. So, I get there and I am not the first, I am the tenth!! Holy cow, it doesn't even open til 9am! I may have not been the first but I without a doubt was the dumbest!! It had snowed in the middle of the night and do you think i wore my boots that were sitting by the door? Nope. I wore slip on flats.....with no socks! Yep, I stood in the snow and thought without a shadow of doubt that at 845 I would have to have a couple of toes amputated. It was horrible. The woman a couple of people back dug out a pair of miss matched socks from her purse. I took them and had more gratitude then I have felt in a long long time. I mean, I had already taken my coat off to take my cardigan off and wrapped it around my feet. But I did get the iPad....actually I got two. I bought my mom one too. She has helped us a ton since I have had Claire. She comes up every week to watch her so that I can go to work and we don't have to put her in daycare. She is making a huge sacrifice and I wanted to get something that I knew she would love. Boy does she! And boy do I!!!!! This thing is amazing. I mean so amazing that for me it is life changing. I can do so much on it, like type this blog. So many things. It has helped me unwind the past couple of days. Malick said I would be fine without him because I have the iPad:) I am excited about the iMovie app. When I was in college I loved making movies. So I cant wait to make things for the kids. I have messed with it a little but I want to learn more. So, tomorrow night I am going to a iPad class at the Apple store to learn more, and then come home and share with my mom the knowledge.



Here is my heart beating in two little bodies.


Whelp, that about wraps it up. See ya in 2012:)

Kidding, I kid. I hope to do better at this. No promises.

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