I Got The Job! June 29, 2007

Well, folks, I got the job! I start July 9th, which means I have one more week of maternity leave to get ready. I need to get a parking pass, do a trial run with the babysitter, and figure out what clothes will fit me that are appropriate for work (I still have at least 20 pounds to lose before my old clothes will fit). I may have to pay a visit to Goodwill to find some blouses.

I’m really excited about this job. Yes, I think I’ll enjoy the work, but what I’m most excited about are the benefits and the long-term potential. It’s a well-established, growing company and I hope to be there a long time. It’s small enough that I’ll know most everybody, but it’s growing so there’s room to advance.

The only bummer about this is that we won’t be using the babysitter we had lined up. She lives near my old job and with this new one it wouldn’t make sense to drive down there every day. But she has agreed to let us use her as a backup. We do have someone lined up for daycare that lives near Mike’s work, but I would love to find someone in Lansing closer to our house. If you know anyone who does daycare/babysitting out of their home for a seriously reasonable price, let me know!!

Here’s the truth June 25, 2007

I’ve been a little stressed lately. The kind of stress I’m not used to; it feels different. Its the stress of huge responsibilities. There is so much on my mind but in particular its money, jobs, and child care. I have so much to be thankful for and I know that God is taking care of us as he always has, but yet I still find a way to worry my way into a tizzy.

Thanks to our savings our bills are paid while I’m on unpaid maternity leave, I still have a job despite recent threats of doom and gloom, and we have some terrific friends who have offered to take care of Luke during the day. So everything is set, but somehow this fear creeps up on me that it could all fall through. When it was just me and Mike that fear was there but not so prominent and therefore easier to ignore. With just the two of us we knew how to adjust when hard times came. Now that Luke is in the picture the fear has grown bigger. I don’t know why, its not like we have lost our ability to adjust. I guess it just means adjusting now requires more creativity.

I got a call for a job interview last week. They found my resume on the internet. By either freak coincidence or divine intervention, I already had a babysitter lined up for the exact time they wanted me to come in (I’m hoping its the latter). It would be a great job with a great company. I love my current job and I hadn’t considered leaving, but the idea of working for a profitable, growing company with full benefits is very tempting. But who knows, they haven’t offered me the position yet. I should know by tomorrow.

I’m scheduled to go back to work July 5th. I’m looking forward to it but I know it will be hard. Hard to be away from Luke and hard to manage all the responsibilities in the allotted time. I’ll need to learn how to be more productive and efficient, how to remain calm under pressure, and how to live in each moment, staying focused and not thinking too much about where I need to be later or what needs to be done. Thankfully I’m not doing this alone. God is with me every step and he has sent me an amazing husband and wonderful family and friends for support.

Aldi Meal Planner June 24, 2007

This is just too good not to share! For those of you Aldi lovers out there… they now have an online meal planner. http://www.aldimeals.com/

It’s free to register and it includes your own personalized meal calendar, cookbook, and shopping list. There is a large database of fantastic recipes. There are several ways to search for the recipes you like and when you find what you like, you  just add them to your cookbook. From there you can drag and drop recipes to your meal calendar and add them to your shopping list. You can even add your own miscellaneous items to your shopping list. The shopping list is even categorized by grocery section. How cool is that?

Go check it out!

What a day! June 21, 2007

What a busy day today was! Luke and I drove around running errands for awhile. Bank, post office, boring stuff like that. We did stop in between to visit with Great Grandma & Grandpa and we left with some fresh rhubarb and mint leaves.

Later in the evening Mike and Luke and I headed down to the Lansing Mall to meet Joel Zumaya and get an autograph. We made sure to get a picture of the occasion:

After that we drove downtown to meet Mom and Dave at the blues concert. Luke slept through most of it, but I think he had a good time.

 

So it was a big day, with a lot of firsts for Luke. First trip to the bank, the post office, and the mall. First autograph, first contact with a Detroit Tiger , first concert. Now we’re pooped and ready for bed!

Great night for baseball June 12, 2007

Mike and Luke and I have been watching a lot of Tigers games together. After 9 years of trying to get me interested in baseball, Mike finally got his way. How did he do it? By having a son. Now that I’m outnumbered by men in the house, I need to brush up on my baseball knowledge so that Luke can have the cool mom on the block. Okay, cool might be a stretch, but at least we can talk about baseball together.

Tonight Justin Verlander pitched a 12-strike no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. The last time the Tigers pitched a no-hitter was in 1984. Quite an exciting game, and one that will go down in history for Tigers fans, two of which are pictured below. We snapped this shot as Pudge Rodriguez was frantically hugging Verlander, I think before Magglio Ordonez even caught the ball. This one is going in the baby book for sure.

Pure Joy June 10, 2007

Life with Luke June 2, 2007

Where do I even start? The last two weeks have gone by in slow motion. Rather than tracking the days, my time is divided into 2 or 3 hour cycles. Change him, feed him, hold him, watch him sleep, over and over and over. You can never tell anyone “Oh, he does this and it’s really cute” because the next day he’ll be doing something totally different, or not doing anything at all. It’s amazing to watch him learn. So far in his short life he has learned how to move his eyes toward the light or someone’s voice and also how to keep his fingers out of his eyes. We are too proud.

We tried desperately at first to get him to sleep in the bassinette in our room, and then resorted to having him sleep in the baby swing. That worked a little but it was still tough getting him to fall asleep. A few days ago I set him in his crib for some reason (yes, the room is all done, woo hoo!) and he seemed to love it. No crying or fussing, he went right to sleep. So for the last two nights he has been sleeping in his crib in his own room. It’s wonderful. Mike sleeps peacefully through the night and I get some z’s in between feedings. It has been nice to spend that quality time with Luke in his room. Everything I need is right there – the changing table, crib, and rocking chair. I especially like the 5 am feeding because its that peaceful time of the morning; the birds are chirping and the sun is just coming up. From the rocking chair I have a great view of the ginormous tree in our backyard and the sunlight shines through it so nicely.

Having this baby, this adorable little baby, is teaching me about enjoying every moment. It’s something I’ve always struggled with. I let good moments pass by without my full attention and then all I’m left with is regrets. No more. Luke smiled at me this morning with this great open mouth smile and I couldn’t get a picture and it could have just been gas but I loved it anyway. I imagined he was telling me thank you for all the pain I’ve gone through for his sake. If he only knew.