A Change is going to come!

I can't believe I'm about to say this..... I've been waiting such a long time for these words to pass by my lips! Oh what an exciting day this is!

Changes are going to come....

changes that frighten me..... excite me.... make me happy... make me anxious..... make me nervous... make me giddy and want to jump for joy!

OK, here goes...... JASON GOT A JOB!

Yes, people... you heard it hear first! As I write this entry, he is meeting with HR signing all his new hire paperwork, taking his drug test and discussing his start date! (We think he'll be starting as early as Monday!)

So, here's why I feel the way I do about it:

I'm overjoyed that finally after years of looking someone finally saw his potential and said "We want you to be a part of our team!"

I'm in mourning..... for 5 years Jason has been the #1 reason our house doesn't look like a tornado blew through! He's done the majority of the cooking and cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping since I returned to work 2 years ago. I'm losing my househusband! I'm going to have to start cooking (which I don't mind), cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, scrubbing floors/toilets/windows, etc!

I'm excited that after all these years, we'll be a 2 income family again! Things are not going to be as stressful financially as they have been! We might even be able to afford to have date nights and family vacations!!!

I'm nervous because, although my baby girl is 3 1/2, we have never had to entrust anyone with her day to day care. Either Jason or myself were home with her for every day of her life! She'd have sleep overs with the grandparents... and we'd have a sitter for her for an few hours here and there.... but never away from one of us (or a grandparent) for more than a few hours. Soon, she'll be in day care! We're lucky enough that for the summer.... she'll be spending 3 days a week with our amazing friend Nicole (who has her masters degree in early childhood education!!!!!) The other 2 days she'll get to spend with her Auntie Chandra and another great friend Mishelle (another Masters Degree in Education!!!) Once summer ends, and school starts back up again Keira will start pre-school. We're thinking that since she'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall of 2011, she should start Jr. K this fall. We'll see what we find by way of pre-schools and waiting lists!

I'm anxious because this is a big change for our whole family! We have a routine now... and it's going to go out the window! We're going to have to make some major adjustments to everyone's sleep schedule. We're going to have to change up dinner time, wake up time, breakfast time etc. We're going to have to start putting together brown bag lunches for the whole family! We need to figure out a new schedule that is going to work for the whole family.

With all the mixed bag of emotions... I am most of all proud of my husband! He's been overlooked, under appreciated, criticized and judged for the last few years. It's been a rough road to get where he is.... not everyone understands the roll of a stay at home father. I know it took me a while to stop resenting him for me having to go to work every day while he stayed home with our little girl. Once I let go of my anger (at the situation - not him) I realized that if I couldn't be home with our little girl.... there was no one I'd rather have home with her than her father! He is an incredible father... he has raised a happy, healthy, well adjusted little girl. Most of all... I have been so happy to have witnessed the bond between them grow stronger and stronger every day! I am so thankful to have met and married such a good man!

Enjoy this last day with our little one... then it's off to work you go!

Time flies when you're....

going crazy, having fun, traveling, gardening and working.

Recently, Keira and I took a trip out to Las Vegas with "Broken" Grandma Dub in tow to pay a visit to WLAH... aka Wyatt, Lindsay, and Addison and Huckleberry Dog! I say "Broken" Grandma, because I was "Amber the torturer" and picked up mom from the hospital after her hand surgery and put her in the car to immediately drive out to Vegas. I mean really... what better way to recover from having your finger bone shaved down and 2 pins put in your finger than by jumping in the car for a 10 hour bump filled drive!

In all seriousness though, I thought we should take advantage of Mom's time off work and my Holiday (Good Friday) and go pay a visit to Keira's favorite cousin... and two of my favorite people. When we planned the trip, I didn't think Mom would go directly from hospital gurney to passenger seat! I thought she might have a couple hours to come to and change her mind! We were both wrong though... her surgery started several hours behind schedule and that's exactly what happened!

Since we got such a late start, hitting the road at 8:36PM, we decided not to push it to Barstow and stayed the night in Bakersfield. Mom and I, in all our recent travels, have found that we have pretty good luck with Comfort Inn and Comfort Inn and Suites, so that is how we determine what city we'll rest our heads in.... but when we arrived to the GPS navigated Comfort Inn... we discovered it was a Baymont Inn. We decided to chance it anyway, since it was close to 1AM and the room rate was just $75 for the night. Wow, it was a nice room... comfortable beds, nice sheets, pillows, towels. There was a fridge, microwave, tv, in room internet, and a continental breakfast in the morning. There was also a little putting green outside our window. This will definitely be somewhere we'd stay again if we decided to break up our drive (and we did on the way home)!

We arrived at WLAH's house in what I think was a record time. Since it as a work day, Wyatt wasn't home, but Huckleberry, Addison and Lindsay we happy to greet us. Lindsay is always such a great hostess! She is quite the homemaker and has the most delicious recipes picked out for our stay! If only I ate that way at home every day.... I'd be fit and healthy and very satisfied! During our stay we enjoyed the following, Pecan Crusted Chicken with a beautiful salad, Sprouted Bean Chili, Salmon, and Rack of Lamb. I had never had rack of lamb before... I was a little nervous about what it would be like, but I loved it! I think Keira loved it more than any of us! She mush have had 4 cuts all to herself! At one point Wyatt looked over at her as she was taking a bite off the bone... he said she had her eyes rolled back in her head and looks like a great white shark devouring it's prey! I was glad that Keira was able to experience trying something new... and that it was a favorable experience for her! I do think though, that Keira most enjoyed the homemade bagels Lindsay had.... eating 5 in one day!

Easter Morning, Lindsay discovered during her morning walk with Huckleberry that the Easter Bunny had paid Keira a visit! Thanks Lindsay!! Keira was so excited to walk down to the park, finding treasure filled eggs every 5 feet to fill up her basket with! At that park she found egg shaped chalk, beautiful dress-up necklaces, and a hopping chick. Who knew that Easter was so exciting! I love these magical moments in her life!

We decided to break up our drive home and left Vegas after Easter dinner. On our way home we decided to stay in the same hotel in Bakersfield, knowing that the rooms were nice and the price was just right! We had a great drive... very uneventful. We mostly missed the high winds that were on the forecast and only had a few minutes of heavy downpour! We arrived home early enough on Monday that we were able to spend some time with Daddy, Grandma and Papa P before Keira's bedtime. All in all... when all is said and done it was a good trip. We had an uneventful drive, a nice visit with family, and good food in our bellies.

A little green...

Lately I've been inspired by several women in my life to makes some changes in how I live. One of the changes I'd like to make is to live a little greener.

This week, inspired by Lindsay, Mom, and Nikki, Keira and I started planting a garden. We don't have a lot of space in our backyard for a huge garden, but we’ll manage. So far, we’ve planted Bell Peppers and Broccoli. I still have a little more work to do to get the rest of the planting area ready. Once we move a couple plants and do a little more weeding… we’ll plant some Cherry Tomatoes, Green Onions, Spinach and eventually some Melons. I am excited to show Keira where real food comes from; not just from the grocery store.

I've also recently started kitchen composting. Right now, it's tough to get Jason to support the garden composting, but I'm hoping to prove that it's not something that will take a lot of effort from either of us and that it'll be great for our yard. Now I just need to find a small composting bin for our backyard that is not too expensive. I think I might be going with the one offered through our county composting program. Hopefully before long we'll start seeing some "black gold."