(My sister-in-law took this picture - thanks Amy!)The rest of September was spent making important decisions about our future. The place where I worked before Olivia was born called and asked me to come back and fill in for someone while she is out on maternity leave. This seamed like a good idea on the surface, but there are so many things to take into consideration. I really have enjoyed being at home with Olivia throughout the past 14 months, but I also really liked my job. I wish Olivia had kids to interact with daily, but there aren’t any kids that live nearby and our Mothers of Preschoolers group only gets together about twice a month. So, we thought this might be an opportunity for her to interact with other kids in a day care setting. Plus, as much as I love staying at home with Olivia, I also have been yearning to have more adult interaction during the day. It’s also important for me to keep my professional life active if I plan to run a private practice once we move back to Ohio.
So, after taking all of this into consideration, and after lots of prayer, we decided that it would be a good opportunity for me to take the job offer. However, we decided that doing it part time would be best…not only for me, but for Olivia as well. This way, she will still get to spend time with me during the week days, but she’ll get a chance to interact with others too. Plus, I’m not sure how I would do going back to work full time after being at home with her for 14 months! I’ll start work on October 27 and will work 2 days a week at first. The hope is that I will eventually pick up a third day, allowing us to bring in a little more income, and allowing Olivia to be with kids 3 days a week instead of 2.
The hardest part in this entire decision making process was finding day care for Olivia. I said when I was pregnant with her that I was glad I didn’t have to search for day care because that task just seemed way too daunting…not to mention expensive! Between the Yellow Pages, internet searches, verbal recommendations, and tips from Westchester County’s Child Care Council, I had 40 different providers to look into – that’s right, 40! I was able to cross some of them off the list based upon their location. Some were too far south and some weren’t close to either one of our work places. I called quite a few of them before attempting to visit and the majority of the locations don’t take kids who are under 18 months. That was very frustrating for me to understand, so I’m glad I wasn’t searching for a place for her to stay when she was 3 months old – I’m not sure what I would have found! I visited a lot of places, I can’t even remember how many! It surprised me at the huge differences in places that I found. Some were super clean, some super dirty. Some places were over run with kids and some keeping the numbers small on purpose. All the places were licensed by several different agencies/departments, but it was obvious that the different licenses require different amounts of attention to detail. The rates for each place were slightly different, and unfortunately something we had to take into consideration. We don’t want all of my new paychecks to have to go toward childcare!
After much consideration and several visits, we finally picked a place that we feel extremely comfortable with. It’s close to Chris’ work, so I’ll drop her off in the mornings and he’ll pick her up in the evenings. The staff members are super nice, caring, and devoted to helping the kids grow and learn. There are only 10 kids at this place, with 5 staff members around to help. The kids range from 14 months to 4 years old, so Olivia will have the chance to interact with kids of different ages. The lady who runs this day care out of her basement is very supportive and we are very happy with our choice. The price is somewhat depressing though. We’re paying 5 times what my brother is paying for daycare in Ohio! But, there aren’t any other options for us out here! Some of the mother in my MOPS group volunteered to watch her for a discounted rate, but they all live 35 minutes away – which means driving 35 minutes in the morning to pick her up, 35 minutes back to work, and doing the same after work. That’s just too much! Plus, someone at church offered to watch her as well, but her house is not close to either one of our offices, plus we feel Olivia is just too fast and too active for the lady to keep up with her! So, daycare it is!
Meanwhile, our apartment listing expired and we haven’t decided what to do about that. We’ve been praying so much for God to lead us in the direction that he sees fit. We have done our best to put our futures in God’s hands, letting go of the control ourselves. It’s easier to say but harder to actually believe that what God wants is what we want. Please pray for continued guidance for us…that we may follow the path laid out for us, regardless of our own plans for our future.
As we wait patiently for directions, we watch time pass by. Olivia turned 1, Chris turned 30, my grandma just turned 90, and Chris’ grandma is celebrating her 81st birthday today. Time will continue to pass, Olivia will start daycare and I’ll go back to work. Hopefully God will help us understand, and if it’s in His will, we’ll be able to move back to Ohio shortly after the New Year.
I’ll do my best not to get overwhelmed with what lies ahead, that way you can stay up to date on what’s happening in our lives!
And, as an added bonus, here is a picture of Olivia at the park yesterday!
Notice the left piggy tail - she got icing in her hair and it made the piggy tail stand straight out!
Olivia is truly growing and changing every day. Within the past month, here's what she's accomplished:
Mother's Day
In the car seat, ready to go see family
Learning to share toys with cousin, Elijah
Photo op at Rockefeller Center
Updated Family Photo
Sitting on the window ledge, tapping the window, looking out at the hotel
Ready for a nap - but Mommy wanted to watch the sea lions!
Before her first swim in a pool at the hotel
After her first swim in a pool (it was nap time!)