Feels Like Home Again

Shawn's been home since Thursday night.........thank you Lord. Having him home has been more amazing than I'd envisioned - 6 weeks was way too long. And we're going to do our best not to have to go that long in the future. The timing of his arrival was such a blessing - I'd had a rough week at work and with a couple of days off and a weekend, we could actually spend time together. And I'm loving every minute of it.

His reaction to the belly was definitely comical. I don't think I've realized how much my mid-section had expanded. He took notice immediately and that was fun. And I swear that it's gotten bigger by the day since he's been home. I'm blaming him for none of my clothes fitting and the oh so sexy maternity pants that I'm sporting these days. Nothing says "hot" like elastic waist bands that stretch all the way up to your boobies. The sad part is that I'm not complaining one bit - I'm actually slightly scared that I may never want to wear regular pants again. These things were built for comfort and me likey!

So in the past 4 days, my poor husband and I have dinnered, shopped, cooked, visited, state-faired, and daycare researched ourselves to death. He's going to need to go back to work just to get a break from all that we have going on. Friday was a full day of shopping and running errands. Shawn was so sweet to buy me some maternity clothes and we had a good time looking around. We had dinner with my parents Friday night for my birthday - they call it "dinner" but I called it "glutton fest 2009" - the amount of food was ridiculously delicious! Saturday was spent barbecuing for Christie and Chuck (it was our turn to deliver dinner for the new parents) and I escaped for a peaceful mani/pedi before we dropped off dinner, kissed baby Cohen, and met up with friends and family to continue my 30th birthday celebration at Victor Tango's. Side note - I had no idea chicken and waffles could be so delectable - yum!

And you'd think we would slow down from there, but wrong. Sunday we hopped on the Dart Rail and made our way to the fried extravaganza known as the Texas State Fair. This was Rock's first visit and the food did not disappoint. The dog show, however, did. Being preggo, I can give you a review of each and every bathroom in Fair Park. Every 20 minutes, I'd look at Shawn and he'd find the nearest restroom while waiting patiently by the nearest homemade fudge and ceramics station. I was surprised by my unwillingness to eat anything deep fried - I thought this pregnancy thing gave me free reign to eat like an 8 year old stuck in Willa Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Sadly the fried butter, fried pecan pie, fried Twinkies, and fried latte did nothing but repulse me. I settled on 3 giant freshly-squeezed lemonades and a caramel apple. Tired, sweaty, and in need of a shower, we made our way back North and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Bring on Monday! Waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we decided it was time to visit some daycares. We are still leaning towards a nanny for the first year, but insist on keeping our options open. Thankfully I'm able to take 3 months off of work for maternity leave, but childcare for such a little person is a serious decision. So I made a shortlist of nearby daycares to visit and we set up appointments to go check them out. And boy did we receive an education! Our first stop was a private daycare facility that had excellent reviews. It was amazing. Web cameras throughout the facility where parents could log in anytime to see their child learning Spanish, playing instruments, or sitting in tiny chairs at tiny tables working on big computers. Everything was immaculately kept, sanitized, and organized. Children ages 5 and below were so well-behaved, groomed, and dressed perfectly in matching uniforms. There wasn't a Kool-Aid stain to be seen! And for the low low price of $1400/month, our little 3 month old blob (I say that with love) can sleep, swing, and be fed by master-degreed child education specialist. I get that the exquisite curriculum provided here will be uber-beneficial for a preschool aged child and I see no problem with spending that. However, our little blob won't be speaking Spanish, playing the violin, or trading commodities with Japan online for at least another year. Moving on....

The 2nd daycare was also private and similar. While there were no web-cams (the Director told us they fear that pedophiles can hack into their system at anytime and don't wan to risk it), it was a tad cheaper and still very nice. The retina scan, fingerprint, and identification code security system did not disappoint. However, the same philosophy that applied above - Baby Mueller isn't going to absorb all of the amazing activities available, so not sure we want to pay college tuition for a professional to change our baby's diapers.

The 3rd stop finally paid off. I had heard from someone at work that the church close to our house had a fantastic infant nursery and daycare system. So we stopped in. Very secure facility - I didn't have to provide a blood sample to gain access, but it was acceptable. There was a clean and friendly environment. The Director took us straight to the baby room and both of us were impressed. We instantly felt like this was the ideal place for Baby Mueller. And the price was right - not comparative to a small jet yet not cheap enough to cause concern. Unfortunately we had to sign up for the waiting list, but we're hopeful...

Just to be thorough we made one last stop to a daycare in a nearby neighborhood that I found online with good reviews. The old building was questionable, but I reminded myself to keep an open mind. Then we entered the front door. Well security wasn't an issue because there was none. There were no adults in sight and no one greeted us. Just as I noticed the horrible carpet needed a good stretch, we saw a toddler standing in the door completely unsupervised. It was as if he was begging us to free him. Shawn immediately turned my shoulders around and we walked out. I'm still haunted by that tiny boy's cry for help...

So this is definitely the beginning of our search, but at least we're making progress. I thought it was early to start looking. After visiting these places, I'm thinking we should have started at conception.

I'm sure I've exhausted Shawn, but thankfully for his sake, I'm back to work and he can enjoy some much needed R&R. Brisket is over the moon excited to have Daddy home.........Halley - well she likes to keep her feelings bottled up inside. I'm dreading next Monday when he leaves us again, but am so incredibly thankful for the next 5 days we get to have him home.