DONE!

I DID IT!!!!

I finished all of my Christmas shopping with a week to spare :) Of course I still have to address and mail our Christmas cards, make some gifts (I have the materials), wrap everything, and bake delicious treats. But at least I'm done with the shopping part. YIPPIE!

My plan of shopping after Teagan went to bed was tough! I almost had a meltdown Wednesday night. I kept on fighting and didn't let the tears get the better part of me.

I'm making a couple of gifts. The JoAnns by me is a busy one, esp for waiting to get fabric cut. So I bought my fabric through their online website last Saturday. I had an email Wednesday that some of the material is not in stock but they'll ship the ones that were. Ugh! It took you 3 days to tell me this?

I bought my photo Christmas cards though Walmart's website. They have the best card prices so I couldn't resist. I chose their ship to store option. Walmart's ship to home option requires a signature. I work, so I'm not available to sign when packages get delivered. I found this out the hard way a couple of years ago. I had to drive 50 minutes one way to the UPS distribution center and pick up my photos. Never again would I ship to my home. So...Wednesday I had a voicemail my photo cards were ready. Fine. I really wanted to shop at Target that night but chose Walmart so I could pick up my cards. I got to the photo counter at 8:15pm. Their photo hours are till 9pm. My Walmart combined their photo counter and layaway counter. I asked for my photos. The girl replies she's not a photo person and the photo people left at 6:30. I hate the "I can't help you" typical Walmart employee attitude. I told her I had a voicemail they were ready. She half a$$ looked and said she didn't see them and there's nothing she can do. I cannot afford to come back. My shopping schedule is tight as is. Duplicate store runs are not an option. Angry Kim came out.  For those who know me (well besides my husband), angry Kim rarely comes out. It takes a lot to push my buttons. I was not leaving till I had my cards!!! Long story short - 2 workers, 1 manager and 45 minutes later they found my cards which were 3 feet in front of me the whole time.

I tried to buy some fabric in their fabric section to make up for the JoAnns mishap. Could I find a price or someone to cut my fabric? Nope.

I then wanted to get a video game which was locked in a case. Could I find someone to unlock it? Nope.

I spent 1 hour, 37 minutes there and got barely anything I wanted.

Target wouldn't have treated me this way. I hate Walmart and I vow to never shop there again. Their low prices are not worth it. I'm done with you Walmart.

I almost cried. When I get angry I usually end up in tears. Stupid female hormones. I pulled myself together, came home and treated myself to a shake.

I took Thursday off from shopping. I was wiped out. I knocked out the rest of my shopping Friday night and Saturday morning (today). I even took a trip to JoAnns. But all is well now and I'm done!!!!

JoAnn's and Walmart will be receiving letters from me this year and they won't be holiday greetings.

Cuteday Tuesday

I have two very cute stories to share. They may be a little too much info, so I apologize in advance. But I can't resist not sharing them.

Story 1:
After work one evening, Teagan and I went into my closet so I could change out of my work clothes. I put on a sweatshirt. My sweatpants were on my bed so started to walk out of the closet. I asked Teagan to come with me. She looked at me then back into the closet then she looked at me again. She ran over to a chest I have in my closet and pulled off a pair of PJ pants. She ran them over to me to give me them. She saw I didn't have any pants on and made sure to give me some. How cute is that?

Story 2: (I'm still chuckling....bahahaha).
While playing on the floor in the family room, Miss Tea noticed the buttons on my jeans. I was wearing a pair of jeans that had a built in belt with buttons on the side. Teagan played with the buttons and got them unbuttoned. She then ran away but quickly came back. She pulled on my leg to follow her. So I did. She took me into the bathroom and patted the lid of the toilet. Baby girl knows that unbuttoned pants and the toilet go together. I laughed so hard.

I don't have pictures from these stories but here is Teagan playing on a computer like mom! And a double cat hug.

Christmas Shopping Attack Plan

I have finished shopping for 4 people (3 are 1 years olds - they're so easy). I have 22 to go. Its 2 weeks till Christmas with only 1 weekend left. Fail.

Bret and I tried to shop last weekend with Teagan in a big shopping area. Fail. It's hard to browse with a little girl that doesn't sit. I need to know exactly what to buy and get in and out. But I don't know what to buy.

I tried shopping online yesterday while Teagan napped. Fail. Shipping prices, shipping dates after Christmas, slow internet, website error messages, not being able to see the product in person really frustrated me.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Time is running out.

This is my plan:
Teagan goes to bed between 7:30 & 8. I will sneak out every night after she's in bed this week and shop. I'll only get about an hour until the stores close. So only one store a night. That means I won't be able to workout, clean, or hang out with my hubby either. It's only temporary. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. I hope.

Pray for parking spots and short lines for me!

You know you're a ftwm when....you schedule your work tasks and then you schedule your mom tasks.

Will I Ever Sleep Again?

As a mother of a newborn, I considered sleep a luxury. It was a treat to sleep. Our sweet girl did not adjust well to daycare the first month and work up every 45 minutes. Yep. You read that correct. 45 minutes. I nursed Tea too so no coffee for me. I remember one night I got 3 hours of sleep and had so much energy! I definitely could not function on 3 hours of sleep now. Its funny how your body adjusts.

With great advice from our pediatrician, Teagan started sleeping through the night at about 4 months. However, the occasional cold or teething would keep her up at night. 

Now as a toddler she sleeps a solid 10-11 hours a night without a peep. Me? Well I still do not sleep continuously. 

I worry more and more about my little girl the older she gets. When I worry I cannot sleep. I have to tell my mind to shut up and stop thinking. I fall asleep well but I usually wake up in the middle of the night and lay there for a hour. And then I wake back up before my alarm goes off. Of course I just lay there till it does.  I never knew I could worry so much about someone. 

Do parents every stop worrying? I know my father doesn't. He's so cute. I usually get some sort of safety device every Christmas and I'm almost 30. I think he still gets nervous when I walk with scissors. 

I worry about my daughter's happiness. As a toddler she gets frustrated and upset. I know this is common for her age, but I want her to be happy. I worry about how the choices I make affect her. Is me working the best for her specific personality? Is she happy at daycare? Is our parenting style helping her? 

I would like to think my worrying will decrease as she gets older, but then I think about her being a teenager. And I know I'll worry more. 

Ahhh, a joy of parenthood: worrying. 

You know you're a ftwm when....you worry fulltime. 

Minivan Momma

Remember how my car's satellite radio was busted? I took it too the dealer about a month ago and they had to order a part. My husband worked from home on one of my off Fridays so it was easy for me to drop off my car. I had no idea what I would do when the part came in. Then it came to me. Our good friends the Ws live near me and work at the same company I do. I politely asked with a lot of pretty pleases if they could drive me to work one day. They're wonderful and accepted!!! Thank you G and L!!!

On Monday the car went to the shop. The part ordered didn't fix my radio and they gave me a rental.......a minivan! It was a Dodge caravan. I'm not going to lie. I liked it.  I just need Teagan to play soccer so I can be a soccer mom, then my mom transformation will be complete. 

Teagan liked it too! One evening she really wanted to go into the garage. I had no clue why. I finally took her out there and she just wanted to touch the minivan. She giggled when she did. It had ambient blue lighting above the track that ran down the center of the van's ceiling. That was pretty cool to a toddler. She loved to point and show me it. While driving, she would kick her little legs. I think she liked the extra leg room. 

My car ended up being in the shop 4 days. This cracked me up. Four days to fix a radio. They ordered a different part each day. The fourth part on the last day was the winner. 

So I drove the mini van for 3 days. 

Pros:

-Automatic doors. Enough said. 

-Space!

-It sat up high. So easy to put Teagan in her carseat. No bending over for me.

-It was clean! with new car smell. No spilled cheerios.

-It had satellite radio. 

Cons:

-Extra blind spots

-Poor gas mileage

-It's a minivan

Overall verdict: I would not be against getting a minivan when we have more kids. Anything to make my life easier. 

It's sooooo nice to have my little car back though. It's a sedan and can zip around. I now realize how little it is, but I still love it. I missed satellite radio so much. Its been 4 months since it first went out. I love the channel "Kids Place Live." The songs and skits make me laugh. They sometimes play good parenthood songs. I first started playing it for Tea but now I find myself listening to it even after I drop her off at daycare. For those that also listen "There's a carp in the tub...". Ahaha. 

You know you're a ftwm when...your have discussions about the awesomeness of minivans with your coworkers. 

I'm Here

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. December is a busy month and this week was extra challenging. I'm here with lots to blog about. I'm just trying to find the time. Standby...

Cuteday Tuesday

Don't you love how kids can turn anything into a game? Here is Miss Teagan being very cute standing on a box after running errands.

I'm the king of the world!

Heavy Weight Lifter

Daycare Sterotype

I came across a comment on another blog recently. The commenter had a view that mothers should not work and that daycares do not love children.

As hard as it is sometimes, I try to respect that people can have different opinions then me. I'm fine with the commenter believing mothers should not work. Obviously, I don't share her opinion. But what sparked my attention is the statement that daycares do not love children. There are many stereotypes about daycares that aren't fully true. I will address some here.

(1) Stereotype: Daycares do not love children
Most people google over children. When out in public strangers will smile, talk, or even play games like peek-a-boo with my daughter. I myself light up when I see a little kid doing something cute. People love babies and little kids. How could you not? And daycare workers especially do. They choose their profession and I doubt its because of the pay. People choose to work in early child care development because they care! With my daycare, the owner treats the kids as if they were her own. The workers are always asking Teagan for hugs and kisses, and tell her kind words. I found this stereotype to be ridiculous.
Fact: Daycares LOVE children

(2) Stereotype: Anytime your child is sick is because of daycare
Illness can spread in daycare, just like work, or any facility where people are in close contact to each other. No doubt that some of Teagan's colds came from daycare. But just because she's sick doesn't mean that evil daycare did it every time. She got her first cold at 7 weeks old while I was on maternity leave and stayed inside the house. Children come in a lot of contact of people and germs at daycare, at home when people visit, at the grocery store, at parks, at friends/realtives houses, etc. I know stay at home kids that get sick too.  To make the comment to a working parent that their child became sick at daycare is not fair. We carry some degree of guilt for working. To say our choices are making our kids sick is bothersome. Why do people feel they need to blame how the child got sick? Does it matter? You never hear someone saying to a stay at home mom that their child is sick because they're not exposed enough.
Fact: Kids get sick from ANYWHERE.

(3) Stereotype: All bad behavior is learn from daycare
I have heard people say whenever my daughter shows a negative behavior that she has learned it from daycare. Again, the blame game is played. I ask once more, why? Did you have a hidden camera at the daycare to know this? Children are sponges. They pick up on everything. My daughter one day found a Q-tip and put it in her ear. I have never Q-tip-ed her ears. She must have seen me or her daddy do it ourselves. Adults can have outbursts or show anger or sadness. Our little sponges pick up on this. Who knows where a child learns something. Instead of blaming, lets think of something constructive together to solve the problem.
Fact: Kids are always watching and learning and imitating EVERYWHERE.


You know you're a ftwm when....a sick day when your kid is sick is nothing like a sick day when you are sick (instead of pjs and laying on the couch, you get crabby baby - fun!).