Nov 11
Everyone,
Butterfly’s BFF Vinny’s mom and I are pretty good friends. Lala and I were lamenting the fact that we could not get out often enough with little kids. So we put our heads together and decided we should trade babysitting. Last week I watched her kids for an evening and tonight, she watched mine.
Why didn’t we start this sooner? I spend a night at their house and get a night alone with my darling. It was fun last week to have a night away from my house, too. I took my computer and talked to my mom for a bit. Easy easy.
Tonight we did a dance thing with the 8-11 year old girls in my church and their dads. It was our “glad you’re my dad hoe down” and we had a great time. After the hoe down, we went out to dinner at a cute little Indian place. I went there last week with my moms group and loved it. I couldn’t wait to take Juice.
What a fun date. We haven’t been out in ages it seems. I’m really looking forward to being able to get out more!
Safire
Safirebabysitting, dates
Jan 10
Everyone,
We were brave. Tonight was our ward’s annual adult only white elephant exchange party. We love going. Every year we have such a great time and laugh so hard. This year there was some question as to if we were going to go. We both wanted to, but were we ready to leave the boys with a babysitter that wasn’t family? (The last time we had a babysitter was in Utah, almost 6 months ago.)
We, okay I, decided that I was ready and called our normal babysitter to see if she could come. No! The 14-15 year old girls in our church were all having a sleep over together. So that meant that all of my regular babysitters were busy.
An older girl’s mom said her daughter wasn’t doing anything and so I asked her to babysit. Worked out great. She’s really close to me and 16 too. And she has twin younger brothers. So I feel very comfortable leaving them with her.
And I’m glad we did! As we were leaving, Juice said that it was a good thing that Butterfly was staying home because she was driving him crazy today. Me too! We had a good laugh at that one. Poor Butterfly, it’s been rough on her lately. RSV in the house, no one to play with, and a lot of pent up energy. She needed a fresh face to play with and we needed a night without her bedtime games.
The party was a blast. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. We all get together in a circle, a huge pile of presents in the middle, and everyone has a number. When it’s your turn, you get to either pick a present or steal a present from someone else. Once the present has touched three people, it’s locked and that person it it’s final owner.
I’ve gotten some interesting things in the past. Like last year when I was pregnant with the boys, I got a fat burning work out dvd. Juice got a manicure set the year before. We always bring some pretty fun stuff too. Like a bunch of really stinky soaps (sorry Lolli who got them). This year we brought some stickers I won’t be using and cup Juice got at a conference he went to this year. Juice got to pick his present first and picked out a wooden bird house painted as a barn with toy animals stuck to it. It was not functional, but kind of cute.
The missionaries came to the party, and Juice and I were wondering to ourselves what in a missionary apartment could you bring to a white elephant gift party. I found out. It was….
a box of cheez-its with only crumbs inside.
What a lame gift! Worst gift ever, and bordering on not funny. It was the missionaries so I forgave them that. Plus, as the night went on and we saw some of the funny things people brought (VHS tapes, a signed picture of themselves [really really funny!] and random bits of makeup) I was actually kind of happy with my cheez-its box because I would not be bringing home useless junk.
Someone stole it to get a laugh. So I got to pick another one. I picked out a hanging holiday sign with a saying on it about friends and holidays. Something sappy. The missionaries took back their cheez-its box and the person who stole them got to steal something else.
We had the best time laughing and being with our ward and our friends. It ended way too early though so we decided to go to Toys-R-Us and see if we could buy Rock Band 2. They closed at 9pm so we drove around for a few minutes and went home.
All was quiet on the home front. The boys didn’t even peep and Butterfly went down without a fuss and was asleep when we got there. Awesome! I checked the messages and Lolli had called to see if we wanted to get together and play the Wii tonight. Yes!
So as I took the babysitter home, Lolli and CandyMan came over and we played carnival games and Mario Kart. Fun fun fun!
It was a great night and a good recharge for me. Now if only I could guarantee myself several hours of sleep, that would just be the cherry on top.
Safire
Safirebabysitting, Lolli, ward activities, Wii
Aug 22
Everyone,
Butterfly has a cold. It’s a small cold. There is not snot everywhere. She sounds a little stuffy but is pretty happy most of the time. She fell asleep in the car this morning and stayed there for over an hour while I tossed balls for my dog and Babysitting place’s dog in the front yard to keep an eye on her. (I am dog sitting for a week. Can I just say that I never ever want a German Shepard? They are pretty, but I love being able to pick up Soot when she is being bad.)
We took a trip to the mall to scout out some clothes for her. The weather has dropped to the mid-70s and while that’s not cold, it is when you’ve been having mid-90s for 3 or 4 weeks. I put her in a pair of pants from last year that were a little too big. The length is just right. The waist…not so much. I took her to a few different places in the mall and found that her length is right around a 2T but she would be more comfortable in a 3T. So I will buy 3Ts this time around and she can have some growing room.
After a jaunt at the kiddy play area and some lunch, we came home. She peed on the potty again (yay! And a purple jelly bean today!) and is now up in her bedroom. I don’t know if she’s sleeping yet but it’s very quiet up there. Poor thing…she must be sick!
On a side note, does anyone know how to get purple berry stains out of clothes? Babysitting Place has a huge tree that drops these little purple berries all over and their dog has jumped on me twice with purple stained paws. I am highly annoyed. I have also tried numerous stain removers, soaking, not soaking, hot water, warm water, color safe bleach, etc. Help!
Safire
Safirebabysitting, laundry, sickness 2007
Mar 19
Everyone,
Spring is trying it’s hardest to make an appearance here. We had a few really great days. They were sunny, warm, and the flowers really seemed to spring up. I even realized that I had NO short sleeve shirts for Butterfly. Luckily, my mom was still in town and we went shopping for a few things.
And then, it hit. We got rain all day on Friday, which turned to sleet half way through the day, and then snow by 7pm. We probably got about an inch of ice under the snow again. But luckily, it’s so warm that it didn’t stay at all. I think we have seen the last of the snow, but I could be wrong. The weather has been so wacky. It’s like winter got a late start and now spring is too.
I’m writing my parents’ visit but it’s just not done yet. I will post it as soon as it is. Not a whole lot to say about our lives here. They thought about sending Juice to New Mexico tomorrow and I’m glad they didn’t because I would have had to cancel my Mom’s Night Out with my mom’s group. And I did NOT want to do that! (Especially since they moved it from Thursday to Wednesday night so I could make it when I started being in charge of the teenagers’ activities at my church.)
Still babysitting, but it’s coming to a close. I’ve decided not to continue when The Mom goes back to school in the fall. The money has been nice, the time out of my own house has been nice, but I think it’s time to have my Mondays and Tuesdays back to my self.
Safire
Safirebabysitting, spring, visitors
Feb 23
Everyone,
Finally, Butterfly is well! No cold + no cough + no puking = wonderful! She stopped throwing up on Saturday and stopped having diarrhea on Monday so it’s been much better here. We’ve had a full week.
On Wednesday, I went down to the University of Maryland for their Infant Studies program again. This time I went to the linguistics department. They showed her a short video about talking, and she got to take a book home. No big deal. They did have a little baby face that laughed in between segments of the video and she LOVED it. The researcher said that she kind of got a sad look on her face when the baby would go away. They had me fill out what she says from a sheet of 638 words. Final tally was 304, plus she says some words that aren’t on the sheet like purple. They said typically they don’t see that many words until kids are 2-2 1/2. So we officially have a talker. 
One exciting event on campus was that I almost got a ticket. I was parked in their parking space waiting for someone to come down and give me a parking sticker so I could legally park there. Butterfly was playing in a near by grassy area. The campus police pulled up, and started checking out my car. I told them it was mine and they looked at me, glanced around the car for Butterfly, and went away. I never knew having a child could save you from a parking ticket.
Thursday I babysat because I didn’t on Monday and Tuesday (my regular days). Monday the dad stayed home, and Tuesday the Mom stayed home. She had a make up class on Thursday so I did my normally thing at her house. Butterfly was so happy to get out of the house and play with Miss Long Hair. And both girls were very good and helpful that day. It was nice.
Then today we ventured out to the Swedish box store and had a great time wandering around. We had lunch there (where she ate half of my meatballs and an entire pb&j plus half a lingon berry tart and milk and a fruit cup…think she has her appetite back?) and I only spent 60 dollars which is amazing for me. I also found the bed I want to get her for her big girl bed. (No, I didn’t buy it.) It’s an expandable bed and has rails that go right onto the bed itself. It’s serviceable and basic looking. But we can dress it up by painting butterflies on it or something.
Well, Juice is home from work early and Butterfly is still napping so I’m going to help Juice throw the ball for Soot. Bye!
Safire
Safirebabysitting, infant studies, shopping
Jan 23
Everyone,
With the start up of Jeff back in school, I have started babysitting 2 days a week at a friend’s house while she goes back to school. Honestly, it’s not my favorite thing to do. But Butterfly loves these girls and it’s fun for her to get out of the house. One nice thing about it is they live out in the country and have a huge yard (plus I believe 100 acres…they rent the old farm house) so Butterfly gets a taste of country life.
They have huge windows all over the house with no blinds (no need, their closest neighbor is across the street about a block away) and I love to watch the wildlife. There are deer galore, geese, crows, birds, raccoons, foxes, ladybugs, and hawks. This morning, I saw one of these:
It was so beautiful and so big. I never imagined that woodpeckers could get this big. Apparently, this is a Pileated Woodpecker. The Pileated Woodpecker is the second largest woodpecker in the United States. They normally live in mature coniferous and deciduous forests, valley woodlots and remote mountain territory. My friends have a wood lot behind their house (which the girls call the Hundred Acre Woods…cute!) so I imagine the woodpecker lives there.
One day, Miss Long Hair started yelling about an animal in their backyard. Now I know they have a ground hog that lives out there (much to the parents’ dismay) so I thought that’s what she was yelling about. Nope, turned out to be two of these:
They were so beautiful, and got close enough to the house that I could make out their whiskers. Sadly, I saw one of them on the road the next morning. But I have never seen a wild one and it was stunning.
I need to start bringing my camera.
I have thought about getting a book on birding at the library so when the kids are sleeping, I can sit at their window and make note of the kinds of birds I see. So far I know I’ve seen crows (there are murders of them…love that phrase…murders), geese, the woodpecker, cardinals (my favorite bird), and orioles (pretty little yellow things).
One bad thing about living in the country: the amount of ladybugs they get in the house. I have never seen so many inside, let alone outside.
Safire
Safirebabysitting, wildlife sightings
Oct 29
Everyone,
I had this great post all typed up yesterday about how I felt like I had the day off, it was great, blah blah blah…then Butterfly needed me. And then the power went out and I lost my post. Grr…
Yesterday was my ward’s Super Saturday. The ladies in the congregation get together and do craft type stuff. I made a holiday recipe flip book and a jar full of scones and a jar of hot chocolate. Yum! Also yesterday morning I went to a local moms of multiples sale they have semi-annually. I bought Butterfly a ride on toy (she LOVES it) and a spelling caterpillar, and a few clothes.
Juice and I actually went on a date yesterday! We chaperoned the youth stake dance. Not the most glamorous date, but we got to relive how we met and talked about how we didn’t recognize any of the songs they were playing. It was a costume dance so Juice was The Man in Black, and I just wore what I wore to the Renn Faire. I’m excited to get my own costume.
It was Butterfly’s first time with a teenaged babysitter. She did really good, considering Butterfly was asleep and all she had to do was be there in case the baby woke up. An easy job for her, and I felt much better about leaving Butterfly when she was already asleep.
A few pictures:
Until next time,
Safire
Safirebabysitting, Butterfly
