We have found a nanny/mother’s helper to come back to NL with us and stay for the summer. Her name is Tammi, and she is about our age. She has 3 grown children, and a husband (who is quite understanding and supportive I must say). Tammi is an artist, a teacher, and a professional nanny and doula. She is taking this position because she loves children and wants the adventure of it as well. We are very lucky to have found her. You can read a bit about her here:
http://www.seebeautywith.me/SeeBeautyWith.Me/Hi.html
The only unfortunate thing, is that she will only be with us for the summer. So we are already advertising for a full time au pair for the year. Take one step at a time and everything will fall into place.
Belle has been thriving in her school. So much so, that I am very concerned about what will happen when she wont have that environment back in Enkhuizen. That said, we have enrolled Belle in the Montesorri program in Enkhuizen, and I have been in conversations with the director about what is possible and advisable. Based on the advice, Belle will begin with 2 mornings per week and transition to 5 mornings per week and perhaps one afternoon (since Belle still naps from 1230-1500, this is superfluous until/unless she moves to a shorter nap or no nap, but we aren’t pushing that, as naps are important). This is another reason why we are doing a mother’s helper, as with my job, I cant (as much as I would like to) be there to bring her and pick her up every day for these half day sessions.
So. Our plans.
7 May will be my last day at work in SBI (USRE) here in NC. Unfortunately, our last day in our apartment is 30-April. So we will be packing from now until then, getting some stuff shipped back to NL (the winter things) and then some more stuff shipped back to NL (so we are left with just what we need to travel back) and storing some things with our very good friend David, and giving some things away (that she has outgrown or will outgrow before we are back in the USA). My parents are coming to be with us the last week in April, and although it wasn’t the plan for them to help us move, it is thankfully good timing. At the same time, I am hosting and planning a meeting for about 60 persons for work. So it will be a busy time. the next week is no better, since we have another meeting and then culminating in a big day at work that our group will be hosting. Somehow, I will get it done.
So from 30-April until 12 or 13 May, Belle and I will be staying with David (thank you David) and trying not to spread our stuff around his house (so we can be sure we have everything when it is time to go).
On 12 or 13 May we will fly to Florida to be with Opa and Oma for some last days. And then… they will bring us to MIAMI where we will embark on a 14 day cruise to Barcelona. We are bringing Tammi with us on the cruise, in hopes to use this time as the real bonding and transition for her and Belle. This will be our summer vacation and hopefully a relaxing way to get us back to Europe.
We land in Barcelona on 3 June and will spend at least one night in town (perhaps two) before we fly to Amsterdam. So we shoud be arriving in AMS either 4 or 5 June and will be back home that day.
Work starts up again for me either 10 or 11 June, depending on how we are doing with Belle and her transition into her school and with Tammi.
Whew! It makes me tired just writing it. but I am sure it will be a lovely transition and experience.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Belle is with a babysitter
Ok. I know i have a sad sad life, but I have found a babysitter for Belle, and she is with B right now at the house. It is 8pm on a Tuesday, and although I called her so I could do a business dinner, I am taking advantage of the time alone and am up at a coffeehouse on the corner with my computer and just me.
And I feel guilty and nervous. I hope she can get her to go to bed. I hope that Belle doesnt scream and cry for mama. I hope she falls asleep. I also organized her for next week Monday when I will go out and play with a colleague from work.
Belle is tired today as is mama. cause we woke up at 0500 and while normally B will fall back asleep as I get up to start my morning, this morning she didnt so she is ultra tired. it also doesnt help that I couldnt sleep last night, so we were both awake often as i tossed and turned.
and yes I know. I need to move her to her own bed. but here we are in this apartment here in NC, and there is no "her own bed" to be had. She has her littel day bed in our room in NL. so hopefully she will get used to napping there with our new nanny Tammi. and then slowly i can get her to go to bed there as well.
Not that I want her out of my bed. cause i dont. but I am worried that she doesnt sleep as well because she is with me. and not getting good sleep isnt healthy. if it wasnt for that. we coudl co sleep til she decided it was enough. :O
i am exhausted, which means taking advantage of this time is actualy hard for me. cause i want to also be in bed at 8pm and instead will be heading back around 930 or so.
different things in the works now. have to start the packing process to get back. and this is sad and stressful all at once.
plus work is weird right now. lots going on, and my job is morphing into something but i dont know what. and there is a territorial pissing contest happening and i feel stuck in the middle.
ok off to do something else with this computer and my time.
And I feel guilty and nervous. I hope she can get her to go to bed. I hope that Belle doesnt scream and cry for mama. I hope she falls asleep. I also organized her for next week Monday when I will go out and play with a colleague from work.
Belle is tired today as is mama. cause we woke up at 0500 and while normally B will fall back asleep as I get up to start my morning, this morning she didnt so she is ultra tired. it also doesnt help that I couldnt sleep last night, so we were both awake often as i tossed and turned.
and yes I know. I need to move her to her own bed. but here we are in this apartment here in NC, and there is no "her own bed" to be had. She has her littel day bed in our room in NL. so hopefully she will get used to napping there with our new nanny Tammi. and then slowly i can get her to go to bed there as well.
Not that I want her out of my bed. cause i dont. but I am worried that she doesnt sleep as well because she is with me. and not getting good sleep isnt healthy. if it wasnt for that. we coudl co sleep til she decided it was enough. :O
i am exhausted, which means taking advantage of this time is actualy hard for me. cause i want to also be in bed at 8pm and instead will be heading back around 930 or so.
different things in the works now. have to start the packing process to get back. and this is sad and stressful all at once.
plus work is weird right now. lots going on, and my job is morphing into something but i dont know what. and there is a territorial pissing contest happening and i feel stuck in the middle.
ok off to do something else with this computer and my time.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Our spring weekend
What a wonderful first day of spring yesterday was. Such gorgeous weather and a lovely agenda. we didnt spend the night with "day day" which we are accustomed to, but instead made plans to meet up with him in the am.
Day day had put together the radio flyer tricycle that we got for Belle, and he put it in the truck and brought it over. so we actually walked up to Elmos for our breakfast and she rode her trike. She was happy as a clam. It was cool and hot at the same time and a good time was had by all... until of course... my mom called and my buttons pushed even tho I promised myself I wouldnt... i have to do something about this, because it isnt healthy for me and certainly not for miss B.
mom and john met up with us at Elmos and the breakfast was mostly uneventful. miss B grew tired of it after a while and mom wanted her to open presents. she picked up a nerf ball and that was it. so we took her outside to play and payed the bill and took off.
we walked up to the farmer's market, and I think that B and I had the most fun. the rest of the gang seemes intent on leaving and getting on with it, which is just unfortunate. as this isnt fair to B and in fact anyone else. cause the journey is the experience. but to be fair day day had lots to do yesterday and John of course probably lives in that world as my dad does.
when we got back to the apartment, we sat outside enjoying the weather for a bit. but B wanted to nurse and so I took her inside for a nap. perfect timeing she was asleep in minutes, and at 1500 mom came in with a lovely wake up call, which worked wonders for us both.
belle was havign the best time and it gave mom and me the opportunity to slip out to do a bit of grocery shopping, and i was even able to sneak in a load of laundry ... amazing what a little distraction can do.
dinner was very late, we didnt sit down to eat until 730 or so, so the b was pooped and ended up walking into the house on her own and sitting in her bean bag to watch backyardigans... she is so cute and grown up and just wonderful.
I know she feels so much more secure when mommy is with other adults that she loves and this is why she feels ok to wander off and do her own thing.
the downside to being a single parent is, that when it is just me and her, I think she feels the need to be on my side always. cause there isnt another adult around if i walk out or somewhere... her mood and behavior are evidence of this.
mom and john will go back to clt today. and i am a bit sad, cause this is probably the last time or close to it, that we will be with mom until maybe late 2011. who knows, but i have no plans to come back stateside and i cant count on anyone doing the trip over. nice that we get to be together some. i just wish mom had taken a bit mroe opportunity to come over for the months we have been here.
in two weeks we are off to my sisters for easter, and that should be lovely. we didnt invite mom and john, cause of the yuckyness that john has been doing with Sara. mom now knows we are together at easter, i am sure she wonders why we are excluding her, but it isnt my story to tell.
this week should be tough, cause i have to push off all other meetings to do a face to face on tue-wed that i am not prepared for. however, if it goes the way the last one did, it shoudl be quite productive.
i hope to gather some of tammi's time this coming weekend, so i can do a first packing job for sending stuff home. as I want to have as few bags on our long trip as possible.
another time i will write about the situation with the house repairs, as i dont want to work myself up right now.
at 0739 belle still sleeps, lovely
Day day had put together the radio flyer tricycle that we got for Belle, and he put it in the truck and brought it over. so we actually walked up to Elmos for our breakfast and she rode her trike. She was happy as a clam. It was cool and hot at the same time and a good time was had by all... until of course... my mom called and my buttons pushed even tho I promised myself I wouldnt... i have to do something about this, because it isnt healthy for me and certainly not for miss B.
mom and john met up with us at Elmos and the breakfast was mostly uneventful. miss B grew tired of it after a while and mom wanted her to open presents. she picked up a nerf ball and that was it. so we took her outside to play and payed the bill and took off.
we walked up to the farmer's market, and I think that B and I had the most fun. the rest of the gang seemes intent on leaving and getting on with it, which is just unfortunate. as this isnt fair to B and in fact anyone else. cause the journey is the experience. but to be fair day day had lots to do yesterday and John of course probably lives in that world as my dad does.
when we got back to the apartment, we sat outside enjoying the weather for a bit. but B wanted to nurse and so I took her inside for a nap. perfect timeing she was asleep in minutes, and at 1500 mom came in with a lovely wake up call, which worked wonders for us both.
belle was havign the best time and it gave mom and me the opportunity to slip out to do a bit of grocery shopping, and i was even able to sneak in a load of laundry ... amazing what a little distraction can do.
dinner was very late, we didnt sit down to eat until 730 or so, so the b was pooped and ended up walking into the house on her own and sitting in her bean bag to watch backyardigans... she is so cute and grown up and just wonderful.
I know she feels so much more secure when mommy is with other adults that she loves and this is why she feels ok to wander off and do her own thing.
the downside to being a single parent is, that when it is just me and her, I think she feels the need to be on my side always. cause there isnt another adult around if i walk out or somewhere... her mood and behavior are evidence of this.
mom and john will go back to clt today. and i am a bit sad, cause this is probably the last time or close to it, that we will be with mom until maybe late 2011. who knows, but i have no plans to come back stateside and i cant count on anyone doing the trip over. nice that we get to be together some. i just wish mom had taken a bit mroe opportunity to come over for the months we have been here.
in two weeks we are off to my sisters for easter, and that should be lovely. we didnt invite mom and john, cause of the yuckyness that john has been doing with Sara. mom now knows we are together at easter, i am sure she wonders why we are excluding her, but it isnt my story to tell.
this week should be tough, cause i have to push off all other meetings to do a face to face on tue-wed that i am not prepared for. however, if it goes the way the last one did, it shoudl be quite productive.
i hope to gather some of tammi's time this coming weekend, so i can do a first packing job for sending stuff home. as I want to have as few bags on our long trip as possible.
another time i will write about the situation with the house repairs, as i dont want to work myself up right now.
at 0739 belle still sleeps, lovely
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
just do it
Yesterday I called my friend Dawn, after months of procrastinating, to go for a walk at work. and I scheduled it into my day for the rest of the time that we will be here. I also called my friend Andrew and organized to have dinner with him on Thursday and maybe Friday. Strangely enough, as I was perusing Motherlode I found a comment by another blogger (sorry that I dont have the right reference) about if you think of someone, call them, then, at that moment. I am sure this is a reference to being mindful, to be in the moment. We put things off, and as a single working mom, what I put off the most is stuff for myself. I will only be here in the states for another 6 weeks or so, and I havent done nearly the amount of re connecting as I had hoped to. What is up with that?
So this week, I have had lunch with someone that I really havent talked to since our mutual friend passed away 1 year ago tomorrow. which reminds me that I MUST call and send a card to this friends widow. which I will pause now to do...
I dont know if this is appropriate to do. But I did send a condolence card to mark the date that Mart passed away. I always think of these things, and the things I would like to do, but then somehow the days slip away and I dont do them. Silly. Cause these are the important connections, and not this meeting or that meeting at work.
I wish I could keep that in mind throughout my day.
Belle is doing well. She is blossoming into the most beautiful and happy little girl. She wants so badly to count on her little fingers and she does it, 1, 2, 5, 9, 2 :) and she tries to sing her abc's when she washes her hands. And I am not allowed to do it with her anymore.
Funny how they pick up habits like that. ANd sometimes, just doing something once becomes a habit. so i warn everyone, be careful, dont do it if you dont want to be doing it everyday.
as I am well aware since we are still nursing to go to sleep at night, and she still nurses off and on all night long.
So on my list when we return to NL, is to get her into her own bed at home. I will start with her naps (i think bringing Tammi home with us will only help this) and hopefully as the time goes by we can move this to her bedtime as well. Cause although i am perfectly fine with goign to bed at 8 adn getting up at 5. she doesnt sleep as well with me in the bed. and i want her to be healthy and happy.
so i have all grand plans to write more often. but i am practical enough to know this may not happen. so i will strive to write a little bit about our day everyday. even if it isnt witty or important.
because who judges what is important? and I already miss all those days when she was a baby. and wish I had those thoughts on paper (or digitally as the case may be) now.
news; we hopefully have found an au pair to bring home with us. her name is Tammi and she is my age. she is quite a character and I believe an old soul. I sure do hope it works out.
I will try to organize a babysitting gig for our Jen K in the next weeks. and I want to propose to tammi to do a baby sitting gig as well.
i would like to do some out on the town with some friends before I go. and as much as I love B, I know i dont get invited fro these because of her and my habit of bringing her everywhere with me :)
I need to see when miss Andrea is coming into town and organize the sitter for those evenigns... i think i will do that now
tot ziens
So this week, I have had lunch with someone that I really havent talked to since our mutual friend passed away 1 year ago tomorrow. which reminds me that I MUST call and send a card to this friends widow. which I will pause now to do...
I dont know if this is appropriate to do. But I did send a condolence card to mark the date that Mart passed away. I always think of these things, and the things I would like to do, but then somehow the days slip away and I dont do them. Silly. Cause these are the important connections, and not this meeting or that meeting at work.
I wish I could keep that in mind throughout my day.
Belle is doing well. She is blossoming into the most beautiful and happy little girl. She wants so badly to count on her little fingers and she does it, 1, 2, 5, 9, 2 :) and she tries to sing her abc's when she washes her hands. And I am not allowed to do it with her anymore.
Funny how they pick up habits like that. ANd sometimes, just doing something once becomes a habit. so i warn everyone, be careful, dont do it if you dont want to be doing it everyday.
as I am well aware since we are still nursing to go to sleep at night, and she still nurses off and on all night long.
So on my list when we return to NL, is to get her into her own bed at home. I will start with her naps (i think bringing Tammi home with us will only help this) and hopefully as the time goes by we can move this to her bedtime as well. Cause although i am perfectly fine with goign to bed at 8 adn getting up at 5. she doesnt sleep as well with me in the bed. and i want her to be healthy and happy.
so i have all grand plans to write more often. but i am practical enough to know this may not happen. so i will strive to write a little bit about our day everyday. even if it isnt witty or important.
because who judges what is important? and I already miss all those days when she was a baby. and wish I had those thoughts on paper (or digitally as the case may be) now.
news; we hopefully have found an au pair to bring home with us. her name is Tammi and she is my age. she is quite a character and I believe an old soul. I sure do hope it works out.
I will try to organize a babysitting gig for our Jen K in the next weeks. and I want to propose to tammi to do a baby sitting gig as well.
i would like to do some out on the town with some friends before I go. and as much as I love B, I know i dont get invited fro these because of her and my habit of bringing her everywhere with me :)
I need to see when miss Andrea is coming into town and organize the sitter for those evenigns... i think i will do that now
tot ziens
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