We're Moving to Atlanta

Well, I'm a bit of a slacker because we've known for almost a week now that we would be packing our bags for Atlanta. Luke received a job offer last week and officially accepted it on Friday. It's a very exciting offer with one of the largest, if not the largest, interactive agency in the country. They are providing us with relocation assistance including a temporary apartment until we can sell our house. It's really a wonderful package. So, we're off to Atlanta. He starts his job on March 5th. Yes, in less than 2 weeks!!!! I'll post more details as soon as I have them!

First Ear Infection

Last Monday, Hailey had her 6 month checkup, including shots. Her stats are now: Weight: 16.63 lbs, 56th percentile and Height: 26.5" 70th percentile. She's a long one! No wonder she's already too long for her 6 month clothes. Well, I think it's a combination of the height and her gigantic thighs. Really, they're huge!

Three days after the shots, Hailey started running a fever. On Saturday, Grandma Scott and I took her to the doctor where they promptly made me feel like a bad mother by declaring that her fever was 103 and rushing out of the room to get Tylenol. Helllloooo...I had been giving her Tylenol the whole time, I just didn't give her the last dose in case they prescribed something else. I didn't know her fever would spike up. Plus, our stupid thermometer at home is completely inaccurate. Anyway, they diagnosed her with an ear infection.

Now, we've begun the battle of the medicine. It's not just that she doesn't want to take the medicine. It's that she flat out refuses. You get any dropper full of anything near her mouth and she clenches her little lips so tight that it takes a tire jack to pull them apart. It's ridiculous, but twice a day we continue to fight the good fight. Each time we get about half down her throat and half on her shirt, on my shirt, on the chair, etc. If anyone has any suggestions for making this easier, I'm all ears. I just don't want her to hate medicine for the rest of her life. I can just see me chasing her around the house with the dropper when she's 3. Yikes.

Evaluating the Value of Work

I don’t write about the work/family topic as much as I should. If I wrote about it in proportion to the amount that I think about it, I would have a blog on the subject every day. These are the questions that I most often grapple with:

• Will my children be better or worse off for me having worked during their childhood?
• Will I look back at my life and regret spending all my working hours away from them?
• Do I even have it in me to stay home with them every day?
• Can a teacher at a daycare or preschool teach them more than I can?
• Am I going to have discipline problems with them because their parents aren’t around enough to offer that steady hand?
• Am I a better mother for trying to do it all even if I’m not always successful?
• Will my daughter(s) look up to me and respect me more for working?
• Can I even afford to stay home?
• Am I being selfish for wanting to work?
• Would I become Bree Hodge (formerly Bree Van de Camp) if I stayed home?
  

I ask myself these questions every single day. Usually multiple times a day. There are times when I think that I’ve absolutely made the right choice, and others when I think that I’m ruining everything, mostly my child. I guess that the most frustrating part is that I’ll never know what the answers are. All I can do is try to achieve the best balance that I can and be flexible in case my family needs me to make a change one way or the other.

I hope that one day Hailey and her yet unborn sibling(s) will read this and understand how difficult the decision is. Well, one day they'll understand because they'll probably go through it themselves. That's a scary thought.

PS: I’m not pregnant again, people. Get with the program. I’m just asking hypothetical questions!

We Have a Tooth!

First, let me say that the answer is "yes" I did jinx myself. After I wrote the blog about her great sleeping habits, she failed me the next three nights. However, last night she slept from 7pm to 5am. Very impressive indeed. Oh wait. Now I've jinxed myself again!

Anyway, we have our first tooth cutting through. It's on the bottom right side. You can certainly feel it, and see it if you look really carefully. She hasn't been super cranky (that's because she has her Mommy's pain tolerance), but she is trying to bite on everything!

Also, she started her new daycare today. It's called Legacy Academy, and it's only about a mile from our house. I won't be able to visit her at lunch anymore, but Daddy's going to go see her a few times this week to make sure that she's ok. The only negative is that it's $60 more per week than the other place. Yeah, I said per week! Welcome to parenthood!

Zzzzz!

Hailey has finally started "sleeping through the night," which really means that she will sleep for more than 3 consecutive hours. Two nights ago she slept from 7pm-3am and last night she slept from 8pm-2am. I'm not going to get too excited because it seems like it's always one step forward, two steps back, but I think that the baby food is really helping. Last night she ate a whole jar of squash and then a half a jar of carrots. I think that she is starting to understand that the food will fill her up just like milk will. Now, she gets excited to eat when I pull out the jars just like she does when she sees a bottle. It's amazing how fast they can connect the dots.

Anyone want to take bets on whether or not just mentioning this new development has jinxed my chances of her sleeping even longer tonight????