Work, Birthday Parties, and Big Girl Bedrooms

Where to begin??  Life has been a whirlwind lately.  If you have kept up with my blog than you know that about a month and a half ago I started a new job.  That would keep anyone busy alone, but on top of learning a new job, I had to go to a business IT course called ITIL taught by HP. Think back to college, and a semester's worth of material.  Take that, and cram it into 2 and a half days with a test on the third day.  Sounds painful, right?  This course is a big deal to my company, so I knew I had to pass.  I did, and am ITIL certified!  The next week, I took my first test of the Epic Security Coordinator certification.  As an Epic Security Analyst, I give people the security they need to do their jobs in the EHR accordingly.  It's an awesome, challenging role that I love, and I have to complete my certification by our software upgrade in September.  I passed that test with flying colors, turned my project in yesterday, and have one more test to go until I am certified.  I feel like I am accomplishing so much in my career and have never felt more proud of myself.  It is a great feeling!

My personal life has been going quite fabulous as well.  Mini turns 2 in September, so the last few weeks hubs and I have frantically (ok maybe him not frantically lol) trying to plan her birthday party.  It sounds like 2 months is plenty of time to prepare, but for two working parents it isn't so.  I knew that I wanted her party to be fun.  Her first birthday party was all about the parents and the parents' family and friends.  Selfish right?  (I've been told that my party wasn't the first of its kind ;))  This time around is going to be all about her and her friends.  We found this wonderful place called My Gym of Colleyville.  For any parents in the Colleyville/HEB area, I highly recommend you check it out!  It is a gym for little kids, and they have classes throughout the week for different age groups.  They also have set times of "Free Play" where your child can just run around and play without structured activities.  Hubs and I have been wanting Mini to join some type of play group or pre school a couple of times a week, and this is perfect for our budget and schedule!  They also do birthday parties, so we decided on the My Gym for K's 2nd birthday party.  I am stoked!

So, crib talk now.  The big debate on when your child needs to graduate from the crib to the toddler bed.  We haven't quite reached that milestone yet, nor do I want to.  I love having my sweetie safe and sound in her crib, without wondering what the heck she could be getting into!  One problem we are running into is her throwing toys between the crib and wall.  Her bed has been positioned on the corner of the wall since she was born.  I have loved it in that spot, until she started throwing her favorite blankie and Lamby behind there.  It is not fun to move a 200 lb crib back and forth at every nap time.  Instead, we decided to move it flat against one of the walls.  Another change we made to her room is the letters that hang on the wall.  My sister made fabulous letters that spell out "Kate."  That is the nickname we decided to call her before she was born.  I can count on one hand how many times I have called her "Kate."  She has always been Kathryn, Mini, Mins, or K.  My sister helped me make new letters and they turned out awesome!  We also hung her toy bag that was attached to her crib on the wall.  She became quite good at pulling out toys while she was supposed to be sleeping.  Check out her new room, and let me know what you think!  :)

I am really loving the new layout of her room.  Soon we will be changing the crib to a toddler bed, and I can no longer call this space a nursery.  Sad, but at the same time so very exciting!

Oh, did I mention she is turning 2 in September?  Eeek! :)

My New Gig

Changing jobs is a pretty big deal.  Not that I would know, because this is my first time (in my professional career).  I knew it would be challenging but was unsure of what to really expect.  2 1/2 weeks ago I became a builder on the CareConnect Security Team at THR.  Same company, same department, just new role.  Instead of providing site support for the electronic health record at the hospitals, I provide the behind-the-scenes build (security, to be more specific).  What does that really mean?  My team controls what a user can see and do when they log in.  We are the gatekeepers.  The way in.  And I love it.  When I became certified in the software 2 years ago, I knew that security was what I wanted to do.  So here I am, finally doing it!  I never in a million years would have thought I was to grow up to be a computer programmer.  It's amazing where life takes us sometimes....  :)

The Working Mom

I honestly can't believe I'm writing this.  But this is my blog and a place where I can write and no one can say anything about it, right?

Lately I have seen a lot of posts on social networks from stay at home moms who go on and on about how wonderful they have it and how lucky they are to stay at home with their children, and how they can't imagine having to work and put their kids in daycare.  This is so annoying frustrating for me, being the working mom that I am, to read that kind of crap stuff.  Every mom, working or staying at home, is doing the best for her family.  I am an example of that.

My parents paid for my undergraduate AND graduate school.  You're damn straight I am going to use that education and make a career for myself (which I am doing)!  I would be lying if I said that when I was younger I thought about staying at home and raising kids like my mom did.  Well, reality set in, I grew up, and I found that I liked working.  I cannot sit at home and do nothing cook and clean.  I got married, had my sweet baby girl, and prepared myself to put her in daycare.  My wonderful parents decided 6 weeks into her life that that just wasn't going to happen, and my mom would help out and watch her.  So here I am, able to go back to work, and Mini doesn't have to go to daycare.  OUTSTANDING.  I know how lucky/blessed I am, and I have never had a second thought about the safety and well-being of my child while I am gone.

There is something about having a life outside of Mini that is healthy and just seems right.  I love getting up, putting on nice clothes and doing my makeup, and being around grown ups.  During my pregnancy leave I think I wore sweats 95% of the time.  Eww. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the weekends or getting off work early every now and then, but I am very happy going to work.  On top of that, Mini has a very close relationship with her dad and grandma. You can't beat that.  It just irks me so bad when people judge working women, like they aren't doing the best for their children.  I chose to work, because our family income is over doubled, I can pay for my daughter's college education, I can shop, go out to dinner, and just do things that we want to do.  You always want to provide more for your kids than you were given.  Well, my life was pretty damn perfect, thanks to the most amazing parents ever.  They worked their butts off to give my sisters and I a perfect childhood.  Kathryn may not grow up in Southlake, but she will most definitely grow up healthy, happy, loved, and provided for.  She's going to start violin lessons when she's 3, take dance class, play sports, and anything else her little heart desires.  Eventually, but the time she is 3, we will put her in a pre-school to prepare her for Kindergarten.  She is going to be ready to take on the world, all while I work.   Shocking, huh?  A working woman who is happy.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone in this post.  Maybe no one will read this and it doesn't matter.  I just had to get this off my chest.  I never thought blogging could be so therapeutic... :)

Day Care & Flu Shots

Today was an interesting day.  To try and explain: James and my work schedule is basically completely opposite.  James goes in to work at 3pm and gets off at 1am.  He has Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off.  I work Monday through Friday, 7a-4p.  Basically, Mon-Wed we play tag.  He watches her, then my mom watches her, then I pick her up and take her home.  James gets off in the middle of the night, I wake up a few hours later and go to work.  And it starts all over again.  Half of the week we don't even see each other.  But, that's the sacrifice we have to make in order to a) have a day off together (Saturday) and b) have Kathryn not go to day care.  Needless to say, this schedule has been hard on us the last few months.  My surgery and being out a few weeks didn't help.  Today we started seriously considering day care, in order to relieve my mom a little (she has her 3 days a week) and to try and keep our sanity.  It wouldn't be more than 2 days a week. As a working mother, I can't imagine dropping my child off with a complete stranger.  It quite frankly scares the s%$# out of me.  On the positive side, my Mini would make friends with other babies (no more than 4 to be exact), and would be taught different things each day.  On top of that, the day care I am considering has video monitoring.  Meaning I can watch my baby online all I want.  Heck yes!  My job involves a computer 100% so this is pretty sweet!  Although I could see myself going insane watching her all day....lol.  Back to it....this is my dilemma.  One that I thing doesn't involve a choice.  So, I am going to stick to the positives and look at what pre-school (I am no longer going to call it the dreaded word day care) can do for her.  Teach her, socialize her, and immunize her.  Well, maybe not the last part, but at least she wouldn't miss her entire Kindergarden year!

After that big decision, I had to take Kathryn to get her flu booster shot.  Yuck.  I am the ridiculous mother that cries more than her child does at the doctor's office.  And today James wasn't there to hold Kathryn so I could step outside the room.  I had to suck it up and hold my baby's hand while she received the shot.  Lucky for her (and me), it hardly phased her.  Nothing a paci and Momma's keys can't cure.  I swear everywhere I go people want to steal my child.  She is just that beautiful.  Such a charmer, such a flirt.  All the nurses just thought she was the biggest ham!

Afterwards, I took her home and laid her down for a nap.  She woke up screaming crying drenched in sweat.  It was either her shot (which I know was sore, because mine hurt like heck the day I received it) or her tooth.  I think it was a combination of both.   So what do I do?  Well let Kathryn run around naked of course!

 That top tooth is really starting to poke through!  My sweet Mini is just going through the ringer.  So, Mommy gave her a warm bath, big bottle and we snuggled on the couch and watched Dinosaur Train.  I'm embarrassed to admit how much I like that show.  :)