It has been a stressful few weeks for us. First, we had a daycare scare when our beloved provider, while on her exotic vacation, thought she tore her rotator cuff again and was going to need to close for many months. Four days later it popped back into place and minus a badly sprained ankle she also battled, she was ready to open a week later. Praise be! Of course this happened just days before a super-important, crazy-busy conference at work that I was in charge of planning... so my stress level was fairly high scrambling to find care and wondering about the future. Gratefully she was better the day before the conference and my co-worker and I did a fabulous job so the conference was a hit.
Then ten days after the conference, I got an "you have to come in for an emergency meeting at work" call. My boss and one co-worker were let go due to budget cuts and our whole Education Department was changing structure, our future completely unknown. It was all part of other cuts around the hospital that were done based on budget but the ramifications of the decisions weren't thought through well. It's been a complete whirlwind since. Our department was such a beautiful place to work! So many positive people, doing such great things. Now no one is quite sure what is happening. It has been so very terrible. For now, my sweet senior education program exists until June but unsure about after that, we are in limbo. Thankfully I do still have a job (since we get our family insurance through my work, leaving that before baby is born would be a big stressor) but I don't know how long I'll be there if things change considerably. I have loved my job share situation... truly it has been the best of both worlds! Such a great fit for us these two years. We shall see. I did great self-care dealing with the stress last weekend and continue to encourage my co-workers in any way I can. Having my background of losing my ideal job back in SC, plus Maelee and God's grace in my own life, gives me great empathy for tough situations like this. And since I'm not really afraid of getting fired, I have confidence to stand up for my coworkers and our programs and the good, meaningful work we did. So yep, it's been bizarre.
Then this past Tuesday we had sickness hit. It involved puke in both our vehicles, an 8pm visit to the walk-in clinic, and a resulting FIRST ever ear infection diagnosis for Mr. Eli. By Wednesday they were much improved and minus some interesting diaper changes for Annalee, they are back to normal. I will not complain because so many parents deal with constant ear infections and this is my first battle with it (oh it was rough to see him writhing out in pain, unable to form a sentence). Glad we are through that and can (hopefully) enjoy Easter sans sickness.
I thought about trying to potty train Annalee during this week off from work. That's looking very, very unlikely at this point. Oh well, two kids in diapers is still two kids! :)
 |
| Eli and Annalee this afternoon 3.24.16 |
- Annalee sings often. She loves songs. Last week she sang "Happy Birthday" for over two minutes to herself before bed. Today she sang itsy bitsy "washed the 'bider out" for at least five minutes. I am a terrible mom in this regard, I rarely sing or listen to music and I'm certain she would absorb it all like a sponge if I did.
- Eli is so affectionate. He gives me kisses on the belly or arm, even if it's just sitting at the dinner table. He can also not listen to me to the point I'm at my witt's end... then be giving me kisses ten minutes later.
- Eli hates, hates, hates to see Annalee get in trouble. If he can intervene, he will. I love how he sticks up for her. And spoils her. (ie, I told her I wasn't going to put her back up in her chair for the third time, she needed to stay there and not get down... she got down then wanted up (again) and I said "no", she flips out, so Eli goes over there and helps her in her chair behind my back).
- Eli is competitive. If you want him to get him to do something, add some sort of competitiveness to it and it'll actually get done. Who will win to make it to the bathroom to brush teeth?! Eli. Annalee doesn't care as much about winning.
- Greg is king at bedtime with these two. He has a song to get them to run to the bathroom to brush teeth. And he will read them stories loads better than I. Annalee is hit and miss with stories - sometimes she wants to listen and other times she'll make it a page or two before she wants to go read her own story. Eli would still listen for hours on end to stories.
- Annalee loves the color purple right now. She picks it out and knows it and loves many shades of it. She has two tiny My Little Ponies and the purple one is by far the winner of her affections over the pink one. Her beloved Care Bear is pink but I'm pretty sure if we had a purple one, she'd love it more! Her other favorite toys are Eli's Leapfrog laptop, Eli's doctor kit, light sabers, play picnic food, and her stuffed animals.
- Eli's favorite toys now are the light sabers, legos (he adores lego time), random stuffed animals, and Star Wars anything.
- Eli has a great imagination. At lunch he told Annalee and I all about his dream (Riley (from daycare) and Deker (from preschool) and Eli were on a walk and they found a house with upside down windows and doors and everything and...) twenty minutes later. Sometimes I'm not sure if he really dreams this all or if he just makes up his stories. Regardless, the kid will be a story teller.
- I tell Eli to stop saying poop or pee or some rendition of that at least ten times a day.
- This brother and sister do play very well together. They fight, of course, but overall they love each other and love to entertain one another. They are sad when the other is away for too long. It's quite cute to see them enjoy each other so fully.
Random tidbits to record of our lives right now!
-Heather
