Dur! ... Today I was feeling a bit under the weather, but wanted to get out of the house for a bit and I especially needed more kleenex. Between Tim, Caleb, and I, we've been going through kleenex like nobody's business. Anyway, I decided that I'd get some more packages of diapers while I was there. The past three times we've been there, they didn't have any Parent's Choice size 1 diapers. The third time, we finally talked to one of the employees: None on the shelf, none in stock, and none on order... She said she'd make sure to get some ordered because it didn't look like they had any. Are you serious? We even drove over to Target who also was out of their size one Target brand diapers.
In the meantime, I got a few packages at the Super Wal-mart in Plymouth while on my way to visit my parents and Tim has stopped at a Milwaukee area Wal-mart and also stocked up. Those options wouldn't be so bad if they weren't out of the way.
So... this afternoon (at least two weeks later), I went in and there were still no size 1 diapers. What the heck? Do I just have bad luck or are they not ordering any more? Sure, I could've went with Huggies or Luv's, but those are a bit more expensive and I'm happy with the Parent's Choice brand. I decided to check with an employee again in case they just needed to restock the shelf. Of course the shelf was empty, but her system said there were some in stock. She was kind enough to go in back and check, but apparently they just had a truck come and everything was still wrapped up and stacked so it was hard to tell where they were, let alone to get a few packages for me. I don't know what her name was, but I could tell she genuinely felt bad. She made it sound like they should be there later today when they do their stocking. Tim stopped by there on his way home from grocery shopping. Still none! Tim doesn't get worked up too often, but today with the combination of feeling sick and feeling impatient, he wrote a semi-formal complaint and the manager is supposed to call us back.
I'm seriously considering boycotting!!! Well... maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow.
Goodnight all!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Only 47 days before I go back to work....
The thought of going back to work and leaving my baby with someone else is hard to think about. I'm trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy every precious moment that I do have with Sonya and Caleb. It's such an amazing gift to be able to stay at home for 12 weeks while some new moms can only afford to stay home for 6 weeks.
For now I'm planning to go back to work and try to breastfeed as long as I can. The second part of that won't be easy either. There's not really a nursing room or a whole lot of time for me to pump at work. My boss said I could work longer hours if I needed to extend my breaks or 30 min lunch to accommodate. I'm not a big fan of that idea because I would be gone even LONGER from home and my family each day. I just did a little research and there's no law requiring an employer to give longer breaks or lunches while still allowing the employee to work their scheduled hours. Darn.. I wonder if they'd let me combine my lunch and break times so I have 2-25 minute blocks of time. Also, I wish the private bathroom was on our floor... it takes at least 5 minutes of my break time just to travel to and from the lower level of the building. There's a little closet-like room that I could use, but I'd still need a sink and would end up going to a bathroom anyway.
Right now, the plan is for me to at least work through August or possibly until the end of the year, since my insurance premiums are considerably lower and we already met our deductible with Sonya's birth. I'm hoping we can figure out a way for me to stay at home until Caleb goes to 1st grade so that we'll only have to worry about paying daycare for one child instead of two at that point. Maybe I'd find a parttime job too....
*Sorry for the rant... just stressing out a bit about this a little.*
For now I'm planning to go back to work and try to breastfeed as long as I can. The second part of that won't be easy either. There's not really a nursing room or a whole lot of time for me to pump at work. My boss said I could work longer hours if I needed to extend my breaks or 30 min lunch to accommodate. I'm not a big fan of that idea because I would be gone even LONGER from home and my family each day. I just did a little research and there's no law requiring an employer to give longer breaks or lunches while still allowing the employee to work their scheduled hours. Darn.. I wonder if they'd let me combine my lunch and break times so I have 2-25 minute blocks of time. Also, I wish the private bathroom was on our floor... it takes at least 5 minutes of my break time just to travel to and from the lower level of the building. There's a little closet-like room that I could use, but I'd still need a sink and would end up going to a bathroom anyway.
Right now, the plan is for me to at least work through August or possibly until the end of the year, since my insurance premiums are considerably lower and we already met our deductible with Sonya's birth. I'm hoping we can figure out a way for me to stay at home until Caleb goes to 1st grade so that we'll only have to worry about paying daycare for one child instead of two at that point. Maybe I'd find a parttime job too....
*Sorry for the rant... just stressing out a bit about this a little.*
Monday, March 22, 2010
Men can still be romantic... even after they're married
Yesterday evening, Tim had mentioned that he had a "surprise" for me after the munchkins went to bed. I figured it was food (probably chocolate...) since he went grocery shopping while Sonya and I napped in the afternoon. So, we got Caleb in his bed, prayed together and sang his songs. I was sitting in our room nursing Sonya and heard some banging around in the kitchen. I had no idea what Tim was doing in there. Then I heard Caleb say something about food and a blanket. He must've gotten up and was spying on Tim. (He's been a bit of a punk lately while taking his sweet time to go to sleep and constantly getting up to go to the bathroom ... even if he doesn't really have to go... and then getting drinks of water).
Anyway, I was finally done feeding Sonya and went out to the living room. Tim had laid out a blanket and had a tray of different foods: strawberries with fruit dip, bagel chips with Port Wine cheese spread, and 2 Reese's peanut butter cups. Plus, he had bought some Door County Apple Wine and had 2 wine glasses sitting out. Of course, Caleb had to peak around the corner and ask if he could have some chocolate. We sent him back to bed with the promise that we would save a piece for him. Sonya was pretty good for the most part. She actually took her pacifier for a little bit.
We played Valentine's Day checkers. It was a special version that Tim bought me for Valentine's Day, but we've only played once before. There's different activities that your opponent has to do when you skip one of their checkers: Give neck rub, Tell a joke, Kiss me, Do something silly, Talk about 1st date, etc.. We also read through the Bible passages that we had read at our wedding and discussed areas that we could improve our love.
After we cleaned up our picnic, Tim gave me a foot rub while we watched a movie, "Last Chance Harvey," with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
I love my husband. :-)
Anyway, I was finally done feeding Sonya and went out to the living room. Tim had laid out a blanket and had a tray of different foods: strawberries with fruit dip, bagel chips with Port Wine cheese spread, and 2 Reese's peanut butter cups. Plus, he had bought some Door County Apple Wine and had 2 wine glasses sitting out. Of course, Caleb had to peak around the corner and ask if he could have some chocolate. We sent him back to bed with the promise that we would save a piece for him. Sonya was pretty good for the most part. She actually took her pacifier for a little bit.
We played Valentine's Day checkers. It was a special version that Tim bought me for Valentine's Day, but we've only played once before. There's different activities that your opponent has to do when you skip one of their checkers: Give neck rub, Tell a joke, Kiss me, Do something silly, Talk about 1st date, etc.. We also read through the Bible passages that we had read at our wedding and discussed areas that we could improve our love.
After we cleaned up our picnic, Tim gave me a foot rub while we watched a movie, "Last Chance Harvey," with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
I love my husband. :-)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
10 of my favorite things
It's hard to narrow it down to my 10 favorite things, but here is an attempt:
1. Eating chocolate while watching chick flicks (and drinking the occasional glass of wine)
2. Jumping through puddles after a warm summer's rain
3. Listening to music (Some of my favorite Christian groups are Casting Crowns, Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me..etc) I do love most types of music, it depends on my mood. Yes, that includes rap... as long as it's not filled with obscenities and such.
4. Big fat snowflakes... making snow angels after the first snowfall
5. Arsty stuff... Painting, ceramics, and other crafts. I've just recently gotten more into editing photographs. I'm not the best photographer, but I'm getting better at editing so they look a heck of a lot better than when I initally took the picture. I wish I had more time to do them.
6. Learning languages. I was a Spanish major at Ripon college. I also had the opportunity to take Latin and Portuguese. One summer, I started learning Turkish, but didn't get very far. I was going to try and take German while also taking Spanish and Latin, but thought that might get too confusing. I know a few words just because my parents would speak it at home when they didn't want us kids to understand what they were saying.
7. Writing song lyrics, poems, stories, etc. I'm no Billy Joel, Robert Frost, or Mark Twain... but I enjoy writing all the same.
8. Playing instruments. Well, I only play a little piano and guitar. I took piano and organ lessons for a few years in grade school. For guitar, I had taken lessons during recess when I was in 2nd grade and then had a boyfriend in college teach me a few chords. So Tim bought me a guitar for my 25th birthday and I started teaching myself. :-) I would think I could still play a little harmonica if I tried. We had one when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. It's not that hard to play. I would LOVE to learn how to play drums. The college boyfriend tried to teach me a little, but I couldn't concentrate enough to make it work.
9. Singing. I had been in charge of the worship team for CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship) at Ripon College. I'm not even sure how I ended up leading it because I'm not a great singer. It was a total God thing that helped me grow on a personal and spiritual level. Somehow I even managed to become part of the choir when I hadn't taken choir since 4th grade. At least my piano lessons paid off because I could read notes!
10. My family! Of course, I had to save the best for last. Tim is my amazing and most wonderful husband. I don't know where I'd be without him. Caleb is my precious and helpful son and Sonya is my itsy baby whom I love to pieces. (My extended family: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents.... we're all a very close knit family even if we get stubborn and argue with each other. I can't imagine my life without them.)
Darn... I forgot one. God should be on that list too. Although, God is everywhere and in everything so He is a part of each and every item on my list of 10 favorite things. So I guess I got that covered.
Until next time,
-Michelle Marie
1. Eating chocolate while watching chick flicks (and drinking the occasional glass of wine)
2. Jumping through puddles after a warm summer's rain
3. Listening to music (Some of my favorite Christian groups are Casting Crowns, Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me..etc) I do love most types of music, it depends on my mood. Yes, that includes rap... as long as it's not filled with obscenities and such.
4. Big fat snowflakes... making snow angels after the first snowfall
5. Arsty stuff... Painting, ceramics, and other crafts. I've just recently gotten more into editing photographs. I'm not the best photographer, but I'm getting better at editing so they look a heck of a lot better than when I initally took the picture. I wish I had more time to do them.
6. Learning languages. I was a Spanish major at Ripon college. I also had the opportunity to take Latin and Portuguese. One summer, I started learning Turkish, but didn't get very far. I was going to try and take German while also taking Spanish and Latin, but thought that might get too confusing. I know a few words just because my parents would speak it at home when they didn't want us kids to understand what they were saying.
7. Writing song lyrics, poems, stories, etc. I'm no Billy Joel, Robert Frost, or Mark Twain... but I enjoy writing all the same.
8. Playing instruments. Well, I only play a little piano and guitar. I took piano and organ lessons for a few years in grade school. For guitar, I had taken lessons during recess when I was in 2nd grade and then had a boyfriend in college teach me a few chords. So Tim bought me a guitar for my 25th birthday and I started teaching myself. :-) I would think I could still play a little harmonica if I tried. We had one when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. It's not that hard to play. I would LOVE to learn how to play drums. The college boyfriend tried to teach me a little, but I couldn't concentrate enough to make it work.
9. Singing. I had been in charge of the worship team for CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship) at Ripon College. I'm not even sure how I ended up leading it because I'm not a great singer. It was a total God thing that helped me grow on a personal and spiritual level. Somehow I even managed to become part of the choir when I hadn't taken choir since 4th grade. At least my piano lessons paid off because I could read notes!
10. My family! Of course, I had to save the best for last. Tim is my amazing and most wonderful husband. I don't know where I'd be without him. Caleb is my precious and helpful son and Sonya is my itsy baby whom I love to pieces. (My extended family: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents.... we're all a very close knit family even if we get stubborn and argue with each other. I can't imagine my life without them.)
Darn... I forgot one. God should be on that list too. Although, God is everywhere and in everything so He is a part of each and every item on my list of 10 favorite things. So I guess I got that covered.
Until next time,
-Michelle Marie
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A new blog...
I haven't used a blog since the year right after college, but have sincerely missed writing about random daily events and thought-provoking entries, etc. Since I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to writing, I always take so long in typing and re-typing what I want to say. I'm guilty of writing paragraphs upon paragraphs only to decide that it wasn't worthy of being available to the public eye and then highlighting the whole darn thing and deleting it.
I'm not quite sure what this blog is going to be "about" or how often I will post entries. I don't even know exactly where to begin anymore. It's funny how I keep telling myself that I want to start another blog... with a new fresh start and just totally forget I even had the other one. Then I'll have a paragraph or two typed up in my head of exactly how I would begin. If only it was that easy. My first blog was in Xanga and I pretty much had that one all figured out. Now, technology allows you to do so much more with a blog and I feel like I'm going to have to start all over getting familiar with the formatting and other capabilities that the blog world offers. *sigh* Well, it'll be something new to do while stretching my mind a little bit while I'm at home with two kids.
Here's to a new beginning....... Enjoy.
I'm not quite sure what this blog is going to be "about" or how often I will post entries. I don't even know exactly where to begin anymore. It's funny how I keep telling myself that I want to start another blog... with a new fresh start and just totally forget I even had the other one. Then I'll have a paragraph or two typed up in my head of exactly how I would begin. If only it was that easy. My first blog was in Xanga and I pretty much had that one all figured out. Now, technology allows you to do so much more with a blog and I feel like I'm going to have to start all over getting familiar with the formatting and other capabilities that the blog world offers. *sigh* Well, it'll be something new to do while stretching my mind a little bit while I'm at home with two kids.
Here's to a new beginning....... Enjoy.
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