Where to begin?

So much going on in my life right now. Dare I say it's a Life in Transition? :)

1. I have officially turned in my resignation at my current job and have accepted a new job in home health. This has been an extremely difficult decision for me to make and one that I have been agonizing over for some time now. I am going to miss the heck out of my co-workers and miss the comfort zone that I have at my current job, since I've been there for three years now. But it's funny how priorities change when you become a mom.

My long hours at work and the fact that I'm working almost every other weekend has gotten to be too much for me and I constantly feel like I'm struggling to keep my head above water. It's no secret that I'd stay home with Truman every single day in a heartbeat and never look back if that were an option in our lives right now, but it's not, and so I have to figure out a way to balance my working life with my mommy life. Right now it feels off balance, with extra weight being on the career and not enough on the Truman-time--he is where I want to be, bottom line. So allow me to introduce home health PT....

I will be working 30 hours a week to qualify for the good health benefits (but once Nate graduates in May I'm hoping his job {eek! did you hear that? two salaries?!?!} will be the one that holds our benefits and I can drop down to about 20-24 hours a week max and forget the benefits part of the deal. I work 36 hours a week (four days, 9.5 hours each including lunch) right now, so the extra 6 I'll have at home is fab. I'll work 3 full 8 hour days and then one half day each week, making my OWN schedule with my own patients and adjusting each day as I please. Yes, home health does in fact mean that I will be driving to patients' homes and treating them there---which of course can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. I myself find all that responsibility pretty exciting. Oh and NO WEEKENDS except on a very rare occasion and even then it would be only one or two patients to see all day. A.Maz.Ing.

So my last day at my current job is Labor Day, because I just didn't have the heart to leave my department high and dry on a holiday. Then I will take 8 glorious days off before I start my new job on Wednesday September 15, and we have purchased plane tickets for all three of us to go see my parents in Jeff City. Um, hello? We are flying with a 6 month old baby sooner than I thought would happen and I haven't even had the energy to freak out about that just yet. I cannot wait to show Truman his grandparents' house for a few days. It's going to be amazing, for real.

I guess that is all I will say about that, since I very rarely talk about my job, but let it be known that I will have some MAJOR changes coming up next month and although the fear of the unknown is weighing on me, the bottom line is I'll get to be home more often. Wish me luck!

2. Along with that transition comes another very positive one that literally just landed in my lap. I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason and it always works out the way it's supposed to, and this is no different. Right when I was looking at my options for new jobs I found out that my friend Erin's babysitter had an opening at her very exclusive in-home daycare. Talk about perfect timing because our current daycare is only for hospital employees, so I knew if I left my job we'd have to find new daycare too. Not an easy task when most places in our area have ridiculously long wait lists.

So anyway, my friend Erin takes her Henry to a small in-home daycare run by a grandma who's been doing it for 31 years out of her house. It's just minutes away from our home (score one--now Nate and my in-laws can even help out with pick ups), it's intimate and exclusive (score two--what I've always wanted for Truman at this age), and it's even less expensive than what we pay right now (score three--didn't think that was possible!). I feel extremely blessed that we even have this opportunity because Lori never has openings because she only takes a few kids at a time and only accepts new families if they are referred to her by a current family. Basically, her list was about 30 families long and she came to us as her first choice because Truman is the right age for her other babies right now and it's just meant to be:)

Truman and I met with Lori last week and we just loved her. She is totally down to earth and knows babies like nobody I've ever met. Her grandson is one of the kids she watches and he's 2 weeks older than Truman and it will be so much fun to watch them play together. I really hope Truman can stay at Lori's for as long as we need daycare and I can just see that she will be a major part of his childhood. Although I'm very pro-daycare centers for the strict state regulations and added socialization with many children, I am so excited to put Truman in an in-home setting now. Having only one 'teacher' that truly knows Truman, instead of multiple caregivers that change shifts mid-day and have up to 12 babies in the room, is key. I'm excited for this new journey for all of us!

3. Enough of that boring adult stuff and onto the fun stuff. I survived the trip to St. Louis for Keri's bachelorette party and so did the boys! I was gone a total of 24 hours and honestly, it wasn't heartbreaking to be away from Truman like I feared. I mean, don't get me wrong---I could not get home fast enough and then spent all Sunday cuddling the poor boy to death. But I really did enjoy myself and had fun with the girls, too.

Truman did just fine with Nate as mister mom. :) He went down with a bottle at 7:45 just like he would do if I were home nursing him to sleep, woke at 1 am and took a bottle, then fell back asleep without difficulties (!) until 4 am, when he took a little more of a bottle then slept until 6 am when he was ready to rip for the day. I'm so happy he took bottles at night instead of needing to nurse for Nate's sake. That could have been much worse. :) I've said it before and I'll say it again: my child never ceases to amaze me and any time I get nervous about an event he always always handles it like a champ.

I also made it home with 25 ounces of milk (after pumping and dumping 7 ounces after the bars...sob) and going through security was no big deal at all. Whew! I plan to write a post about it someday to help other breastfeeding/traveling moms out there. Someday, my friends. Someday.

Wanna see some G-rated pics of the party itself?

Jack the dog was the only male allowed.


A very Keri flower


yummy food


sparkle in plastic


Keri's real sparkle




The crew before dinner


Classic pose


Keri's favorite fountains in St. Louis, in front of the Art Museum. Ignore the cranes, please.


Me and the lovely bride. I must be trying to squat down to her height or something, hence the odd leg arrangement.


So much fun!

4. My brother in law, Jon, bought Nate and I tickets to see Keane last night. He is the ultra-hip music-crazed guy in our life who tries to open our minds to non-mainstream music. Many years ago he introduced me to Keane and I just love them, even though many people haven't heard of them at all. So when he bought us tickets we were pumped and the band did NOT disappoint. Thank goodness the concert was on a Tuesday night so I could sleep in a bit on Wednesday (my day off) because I'm too old to be up that late. But I forgot how much I love concerts and wish we went to more of them. My ears are still ringing from the incredible volume and I literally felt the bass waves hitting my arm hair and making it tremble last night, since we were in the sixth row like big pimps. So worth it, though. Loved it.

5. Let's talk poop now, okay? I thought Truman's poop would change from the sweet-smelling, harmless 'breastfed' poo when we began 'real solid' foods like actual veggies and fruits. I had no idea that a little bit-o-rice cereal would do the trick. Holy crap, my son has smelly poops now. It was no joke today and smelled like an actual human/adult variety and was totally not expected. Then I got really sad that his poops were no longer the same for some reason. Only I would be sad that his poop changed but it really did hit me that he's growing up before my very eyes. And now I must spray away this foul poo stuff before I wash his dipes which totally changes the game, yet again. Lesson learned: rice cereal will make your baby have an adult GI system.

6. He is now obsessed with putting his toes in his mouth even though he couldn't quite get it last week. It's stinking adorable. Still loving his high-pitched squeals and partial rolls, too, and today he napped on his side almost face down with his arm around his seahorse. I couldn't handle the cuteness, for real. Oh and speaking of the culprit rice cereal---he totally digs it now. I mean, he's actually opening his mouth and swallowing 90% of the stuff now and I can see that when we eat dinner he's totally like, 'Dudes--where is MY dinner on a spoon? Gimme now!' And so we do. And I just can't fathom that I have a baby who eats solid food but he does and he is in love with it. Video to come...

7. My whole family, including my little brother who hasn't had the pleasure of meeting his only nephew yet!, is coming in town Friday! Cannot wait for some family time. They will die when they see how much Truman has changed even from the Fourth of July when mom and dad were here last. Can't get over it.


That's it for now, folks. Transitions galore and a little poop talk on the side. Always a good combo.