Hmm, somehow i have this feeling that i might be out of a babysitting job before long... and that a sweet little girl will have a stay-at-home mom.

Today might have gone better overall ~ in the sense that we did have a few happy moments, and a few long stretches without crying. But the crying has been enough that at times i thought i was hearing it when i wasn't ~ lol. I was looking forward to cuddling a baby again, and i've had PLENTY of opportunity for that. She doesn't "always" cuddle ~ sometimes she doesn't want to stay on my lap ~ but she's probably done at LEAST as much time on my lap as playing on the floor or walking around.

Her daddy got home early, so he came by to pick up his little girl. He said that "M" didn't like her job before, so now to leave a crying baby behind doesn't make it any better, and it doesn't sound like her work place really wants to accomodate her requests for part-time... hmm... we'll see.

I still haven't heard back from the other mom who called me about watching her two girls, so maybe i'll have to check back with her to see if she found someone else (she would've liked someone to come to her home ~ not practical for me with another baby here) or what's up. I haven't felt too impatient ~ but i'm a bit curious where it's at.

Anyway, i guess i should try and come up with something for supper, and then i think i'll see (if Jonathan gets home at a decent time) if we can do some much needed grocery shopping.

More boot camp

Last week I only had my little girl one day ~ Monday. The rest of the week she and her mom were sick (and she wasn't scheduled for Friday). That one day went really well.

This week has been a totally different story. We've had a lot of crying, and missing "mommy." Monday was long because her mom had an appointment after work, but yesterday wasn't easy either ~ every time one of the kids opened/closed the front door, she was in tears ~ and at times, screaming/crying.

This morning her mom came in with her in hopes that she'd settle better, but it actually turned out worse. She's sitting here on my lap and mostly "content" (if you can call it that), but it looks like it could be another long day.

Full-time babysitting is a bit of an adjustment for all of us. Of course, if every day was like the first day, it probably wouldn't be a terribly difficult adjustment, but i feel badly for the poor girl who is having such a hard time with it all, and for the mom who's heart probably rips a little everytime she has to leave her crying daughter.

Personally I'm a little surprised by all the emotions involved... feels a bit like training (boot camp) for our pending adoption. Scarey?? Lol... maybe a little sometimes. It is common for adopted children to cry a lot in the first days or months ~ and who can blame them? But it's hard for most of us to hear the crying and sometimes be totally helpless to calm the child. The reading i've done already is coming back to give some perspective, so that's a good thing... ex. "don't take it personally."

Ok, she's done sitting here... more later (maybe ~ lol)

Today when we came home from church, something smelled strange. First smell at the door, some of us thought it almost smelled like some kind of freshly baked bread (maybe a sourdough type of bread?), but Darwin said "no, it stinks!" As we walked up the stairs and into the kitchen, i realized he was right... it DID stink! Something smelled burnt, like burning plastic? or, burned electonics, i thought. After checking through the house, we focused on the kitchen, and finally determined it was the ceiling fan. Strange... we'd turned it on before we left for church because there was ice building up on the garden doors, and it was on high, or almost high speed when we left, but now it was only going slowly. We ended up pulling it down and something in there was definately fried... and the wires were obviously getting hot. I guess we're not exactly sure what would've happened if we hadn't noticed... but we are thankful that we came home when we did. Earlier we had considered packing a bag lunch and going out after church (to an event in the city)... but weren't sure because of the very cold weather. (After this we ended up staying home). Praise God for taking care of everything! I think i'll try to appreciate the dim lighting in there til we get it replaced (i tend to like it bright)...

Ok, Reagan is WAITING for me to play scrabble with him ~ lol ~ so i better go. I guess i'm the one who got him into the game in the first place :-)

Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me if Jonathan doesn't keep this job long term... not exactly sure why i feel that way. He's still doing a shift at the farm ~ milking ~ about once every week or two, and looks forward to it every time. He is committed to staying at his new job long enough to give it a fair shot ~ so when he gets to helping install the rotary parlour and robotic milkers he might feel more like he's gettin into it. Really, there is a lot to learn and that could be an overwhelming feeling.


Maybe it's all just part of the adjusting... but i think i'm almost a bit reluctant to "adjust" only to have the routine changed again before long.



I've got my older sister's boys over today ~ finally got the little guy down for a nap, so we have a little break from running after him. He's an opportunity for God to teach us a lot! (mainly patience, but probably a lot of other things too ~ including "child-proofing skills?" lol).



My other little girl only came Monday. Both she and her mom ended up sick, so pray they are feeling better soon! And i'm still waiting to hear from the other family when they need me to start.

On Thursday i brought the rest of our paperwork to our adoption worker. With the exception of a few required signatures, our dossier is complete. It feels good to have that part done... but the wait ahead feels like a long time. I guess if i keep it in perspective, it's been almost a year since we first began to seriously consider adoption, and that year has gone by very quickly. And it's not like i don't have things keeping me busy.

I'm looking forward to doing the testing again for our homeschool year end ~ even though we're a few months away from that yet. Janique didn't enjoy it much last year, so i wasn't sure if we'd make her do it again this year, but i think we'll have her try again. We'll look at last year like a "learning" experience, and this year should be a bit easier.

Anyway, should see if there's anything else i need to get done while the little guy is sleeping...

Another offer

I don't have my little girl today ~ her mom wasn't feeling well and took the day off. But i've got my sister's little guy today ~ he's sleeping right now.

And I also got another baby-sitting job offer ~ lol. For two more little girls! Their mom is probably taking the place of the other one that i just finished baby-sitting for, so some rotating shifts, but mostly i'll get the day shifts since her husband is home evenings.

I'm amazed at how God has brought me to this point! He has done and IS doing an amazing work in my life, and i hope that in my enthusiasm, i don't get ahead of Him and His purpose!

Yesterday i found out that i'm going to be out of a baby-sitting job as of tomorrow (i have the boys for the day tomorrow, and then she's on sick leave followed by maternity leave). Ok, that's fine ~ when possible, i think it's great for mom's to be home with their children... but i was wondering where that leaves me. (She said she'd still be asking me to watch her boys once in a while just for her own sanity ~ which is fine with me too). I was getting about $200/month from this job, so not a lot, but it makes a difference. (Can't remember if i mentioned, the other job didn't last long ~ she quit her job after a few weeks).

So i've been wondering what to do... do i look for more kids to watch in my home, or look for a different source of income? or just trust God to provide in other ways?

Today after church, our pastor's wife had just been talking with a young family, and then she looked over at me just a few feet away and casually asked "have you ever considered baby-sitting?" So she connected me with this couple who was looking for someone to watch their little girl! (A GIRL!!! ~ lol... just excited because we usually have boys, boys and more boys). She's not sure yet what her hours will be, but i'm flexible with evenings and short notice, so we'll see how it all works out. She wasn't too keen on the "daycare" setting that she'd checked out, so she's happy to have us. I start tomorrow morning.

I'm just amazed (and feeling blessed) at how God is always just ahead of me on these baby-sitting jobs! I hadn't even prayed yet, and God brought this one right to me!

karen

Been an interesting week...

It's been COLD most of the week ~ today i'm not even sure what the temperature was (in the minus 20's i think), but it felt pretty nice! I shovelled snow for my mom & dad (my dad is recovering from surgery), so i got to enjoy some fresh air and do a little "exercise."

On Tuesday morning (about 10-11am?) i had a little temporary scare. I was downstairs and the kids were upstairs when someone showed up at the door. The kids got there just ahead of me, but the lady asked to come in for a bit. It was only when she was coming in that I recognized her as a police officer. Umm, I'm sure the blood drained from my face (that's what it felt like) as the worst case senario played into my imagination. I was relieved when she said a vehicle down the street had been stolen and questioned if we'd noticed anything. Unfortunately we weren't able to help (i actually slept quite well that night) and i do feel badly for the family who's vehicle it was. There was a little funny side to this though... I was still in my pj's! I'd thought about getting dressed first thing in the morning... but i was trying out a new pair of flannel pj's (sleeper style) and they are just SO cozy! I reasoned that i wasn't expecting anyone until afternoon (the boys i baby-sit), so it'd be ok to wear them til lunch time. Lol... so when the police officer apologized for waking me, i assured her we were all up and i was just trying out a new pair of pj's. And then i got to mention that we homeschool (why the kids were home) ~ lol. What kind of family is this anyway? Lol.

So Jonathan has been at his new job 2 weeks now. I really don't know how to comment on that... but i think it's going ok. He said today that he's sure his boss likes him (that's a good thing!) and i think it's just hard to know how he'll like it until he gets more into it all. This week was too cold to work on the project they started last week, so he's been at the shop most of the week. On Wednesday (i think?) Jonathan mentioned at work that the thermometer in his van wasn't working ~ it wasn't heating. So at lunch time his boss sent him to go buy a new thermometer. The about 3 or so, there wasn't much to do, so he told Jonathan to bring the van into the shop and replace the part. :-) Not bad! I think when they get to installing the rotary parlour, and the robotic milkers (Feb/March projects?) it'll give Jonathan a better idea of the work. The other thing the boss is hoping for is that Jonathan might get his class 3 drivers so he can be a relief driver if the other guy needs someone... we'll see.

Tomorrow Jonathan & I are hoping to get the necessary papers notarized for our dossier. Then on Thursday I'm planning to meet with our adoption worker to put everything together and mail it to the agency. I'm not sure how that will all work out because at the time it looks like our financing options might take a few weeks to process... but we have the grant available, so i need to be in touch with the agency early next week to see how that all works.

Anyway, there's a little update again...