Today was so much fun, I can't wait to do it again tomorrow

I'm convinced Noah knows something is up.  He must know his cushy life at home all day with mommy is coming to an end. There is no other explanation for the angry, destructive little being that has taken up residence.  He wakes up in a foul mood, hell-bent on making our formerly jovial mornings into a battle of wills.  He demands a banana upon arriving in the kitchen and then throws it on the floor while screaming at me for a waffle (that he will not eat).  He screams when I attempt to put on his tennis shoes (BUNCHY MOMMY!  BUNCHY SOCKS!) and when I straighten his (non)bunchy socks and attempt the shoes again, he screams that he wants his sandals.  But then the sandals appear, the socks are removed, and he refuses to put them on (BUNCHY MOMMY!  BUNCHY SOCKS!  Dude.  THERE ARE NO SOCKS IN THIS EQUATION.).  Sigh.

I took him to the bookstore today for story time and to play with the (rumored) train table and upon arrival he proceeded to run at high speed for the magazines and plow into a stack of them.  He knocked them over, fell himself, and cried like there was no worse pain in the world.  And then, when the promised train table was non-existent (thanks for NOTHING, Skokie BN), he angrily threw himself at a bookshelf and smacked his head on the shelf.  Commence more screaming.  We high-tailed it out of there and I figured he must be hungry.  I handed him his cereal bar and he threw it on the ground.  Sigh.

After the book store debacle, I thought we had a few minutes to run into the store to pick up sunscreen for him.  At the store, he saw a decorative pillow with an airplane on it and grabbed it.  When I explained to him that we were not taking the pillow home and removed it from his vice grip, he tried to throw himself out of the cart and screamed the entire way through the checkout.  Sigh.

We went to the library after his nap today.  We ran into a neighbor and her son.  The boys decided to chase each other and scream at the top of their lungs throughout the entire children's section.  My first warning to him was met with a high-pitched scream.  Then we got thrown out of the library.  Sigh.

When we got home from the library, I asked Noah to help me clean up the toys in the backyard since we're expecting rain.  I told him we could play with his dump truck tomorrow.  He turned to me, screamed, and threw himself in a pile of mulch.  Sigh.

Perhaps it's this cough he can't seem to shake.  Maybe it's the two year molars acting up again.  Could be that it''s just "toddler behavior".  But I think maybe, just maybe, he knows the jig is up come June 7th and he's giving me all he's got until then.  In the meantime, I'll just have to keep hugging him a little tighter and daydreaming about my quiet, peaceful cubicle.

What DO I get myself into?

This is what happens when I am left at home with a feverish toddler who decides to take a monumental nap.
We start with icky carpeted stairs:

And end up with icky, UN-carpeted stairs! Ta-da!

Wow, they actually look BETTER in the photo than they do in real life, if you can even imagine.  They are, in fact, in terrible shape and I got the "look" from Tim when he got home.  You know the "look"...the "I can't leave you alone for one minute without you painting/destroying/removing something in this house" look.  Followed by a heavy sigh and a trudge up the (UGLY) stairs.  It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission is my policy.

What were once glorious, solid wood stairs are now cracked, rough, and uneven.  As soon as I started tearing up the carpet, I realized I had opened a bad can of worms.  I have a bad feeling this DIY refinishing project is going to turn into a DIY calling of the hardwood floor guy and handing over a check project.  Sorry, honey.

Terrorizing the "town"

I love having a kid to do my bidding.  I wanted to laugh today so I taught Noah how to be Godzilla.  It was awesome.

Noah as Godzilla from Sara Smith on Vimeo.

It's always "ten more minutes"

Current evening conversation in the Smith house:

Me: Noah, it's time for bed.  You've got your jammies on, your teeth are brushed, and we read three books.  Time to go night-night.

Noah: Ten more minutes. (Ten Mo' Mint-es)

Me: No, Noah, not ten more minutes.  No more minutes.  Time for bed.

Noah: One more book.  (One Mo' Boo-ak)

Me: No more books, time for bed.

Noah: One more minute! (One Mo' Mint-es)

Me: TIM!  Somehow this has to be all your fault!

*********

It looks to me like Noah has begun the dreaded stalling.  For a couple of months now I've been giving Noah minute warnings to let him know that a transition is coming up.  "Ten more minutes until nap time." "Five more minutes until we have to get in the car."  "Two more minutes until you have to give the toy to Tommy." etc.  However, this approach seems to be back-firing as now HE is using them on ME.  Our bedtime routine is now a half hour longer than it was a month ago.  It can take up to 20 minutes just to get shoes and coats on and get out the door.  I've begun padding our schedule just so we can make it places on time.  All because the little dictator has learned how to stall.  Pretty soon he'll be asking for water at bedtime, then he'll need an extra kiss and hug and a "new blankie".  I really thought we had a few more months until this affliction hit our house.  

*********

Me: Noah, it's nap time.  Let's go upstairs.

Noah:  No!  Noah singing!  Ten more minutes.

Me:  Sigh.

This Week's Wrap-up

Let's update shall we?

I officially accepted the job and start June 7th.  AAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  And then I promptly tore apart my closet and thanked my lucky stars I did not donate all my work clothes like I had planned during my spring cleaning/we might sell the house/holy shit what the hell is going on meltdown.  So that's awesome (job and clothing for job).  The not awesome?  My work/suit pants are too big.  I KNOW.  I'm as shocked as you are.

******************************

We've secured Noah's spot at the home daycare (dayhome?  what do we call this arrangement?) and I'm happy with our decision.  We went out on a limb with this one because this is S's (the caregiver/daycare operator/business owner) first time out of the daycare gate.  We don't have any references to go off of (other than the provided ones from past nanny-ing and fellow graduates of her masters program) but she seems to check out.  Hello, she has a blog about her BABY.  We are of the same cloth.  (OF COURSE I Googled her.)  My father said this: everyone has to start somewhere, everyone needs a chance to succeed.  Very true, grandpa, very true.  And so we signed the contract, gave a deposit, and have a start date of June 21st.

******************************

Which brings me to this: I have two weeks of childcare that need to be filled.  So far I've conned  asked my sister to do a week (for pay, of course.  I'm not heartless.)  I'm now on the lookout for another week's worth of childcare.  Think I can find a lovely high school student who wants a little extra cash?

******************************

We're getting rid of our satellite TV service and going wild with just Hulu and Netflix.  Are we totally frugal and forward-thinking or just plain stupid?  I'm not too worried...Hulu has Real Housewives so I think it'll work out.

How's your week treating you?

Downtown High Rise Office Building or Bust!

**Update:  We found a great in-home daycare that I am thrilled about!  This is all just going a little too well...Universe, consider yourself heard and damn, you're OBVIOUS.** 

Your collective finger crossing paid off--I got the job!  Believe me when I say this was pure luck.  And I am not a lucky person.  If anything, I usually have pretty bad luck.  But somewhere, somehow, the universe has decided to make this one thing happen for me.  I am grateful.  I am also sad.  Sad because this means that life is going to be changing soon and pretty drastically.  And changing in a way that is a "have to" vs. a "want to".  Thank you to those of you who have chatted with me this past week and pulled me up by my bootstraps.  I appreciated hearing how you are a mom AND an employee and you do both with aplomb.  Your kids are thriving and happy little ones and you're working (for want and for need).

After much soul searching I think my issues with working again have been less to do with leaving Noah in someone's care (we'll find a good fit, he'll be fine, I'm sure) and more that our planned future is changing a bit.  Starting work now means no second baby right now.  Which is ok.  It is.  I think.  And like a friend told me today:  MANY women have two kids and work.  It's very possible down the road.  So we'll shelve that plan for a while longer and in the meantime we'll make some more money, get ourselves into a better financial position, and really, REALLY appreciate that our family, as it is today, is pretty fantastic.  Noah is an amazing little guy and I am so very lucky to have had him all to myself for two whole years.

If you have any words of encouragement, I could really use them right about now.  I'll be over here learning how to "put on my big girl panties and deal".

P.S. I know some of you who read this may work downtown so be prepared to make some lunch plans with me.  I'm an excellent lunch partner.

A little something: Download & Print

Let's move that sad and depressing announcement down a little, eh?  But, as a swift update, I am meeting with my old firm on Friday to discuss coming back...that's good news!  Can you all collectively cross your fingers at 10:45 am on Friday for me?  (Btw, this is totally the lazy woman's way of going back to work...no resume submitting, no interviewing.  I know I'm lucky if this works out.)

Those of you who know me well, know I have a "thing" about invitations/stationary/paper goods.  I love them.  In a kind of inappropriate way.  I can spend hours trolling blogs, Etsy, and the little paper boutiques in my neighborhood for beautiful stationary and creative invites.  What I love even more is when I can find beautiful invitations for cheap.  When I came across Download & Print, I may have fallen out of my chair.  Take a look at some of the lovely designs:

The designer, Anna Skye, is pretty talented.  And the VERY BEST PART?  You can download these all for FREE.  Yes, free.  As in no charge, nada, zip, zilch.  If you have a good printer, you can print these at home for the cost of paper and ink.  Or you can save the .pdf and take it to a printer.  I'm in love.  I hope you are too.

(Re-reading this...I sound like a paid reviewer, which I am not.  Just a simple girl with a love affair for pretty designs.  And free stuff.)