Jan Eminger's blog

Getting my way

I have now returned to work following maternity leave.  For those who did not hear, our last au pair left us once the baby was born.  We were not sure what we were going to do for child care, but were pretty convinced we didn't want another au pair.  Back in January when we lost one, our thought was we'd get one more and then make plans for me to stay at home with the kids.  I worked out the budget and figured we'd be okay.  We'd be a little better if I could pick up a few hours working retail or something, but we'd be fine.  Then after 12 weeks of being at home, I was convinced I'd want a part-time job to help maintain my sanity.  I kept tossing around options for possible employment.  All the while, in the back of my head I wondered if I'd be able to go part-time at my current job.

It just so happens that around April of this year, my department embarked upon a huge project with impossible timelines. Having done this before and understanding the current state of our systems, I estimated minimum of 1-year to complete the project. We were given 4 1/2 months.  Then my boss moved out of the city and started working remotely.  I again wondered if I could work part-time.  I returned to work to find us severely behind schedule.  So when I proposed the idea to my boss that I could work part-time or none at all, it was essentially impossible for her to deny me part-time work.

As of the end of this month, I plan to work 3 nights per week so I'll get to stay home with my children!  I am excited beyond belief!  I never thought I'd be so thrilled with this job!

QotD: It Came and Went

Any last minute summer plans for the weekend?

We have two birthday celebrations this week and then we're headed for the lake next weekend.

Vox Hunt: Latest Purchase

Show us your latest purchase.

Olympics

I love the Olympics!  I don't think that statement covers the magnitude of appreciation I have for the Olympics.   I like sports in general, but for a little over two weeks, I get to watch the less popular sports anytime I want. I have set the DVR to record all showings of the Olympics so I don't miss anything!   I'm sure most people probably think track and field is about as exciting as fishing, but I love it.  One thing I've learned, though, is I need to monitor what I watch around the kids.  Gymnastics is good...the kids run around the family room throwing their hands in the air and doing somersaults.  Platform diving is not so good.  They watched that and Luke immediately climbed up on the fireplace hearth and dove off of it.  I quickly switched to men's volleyball to save myself a trip to the emergency room tonight!

7 weeks and smiley!

It's been an interesting fun few weeks adjusting to life with three kids.  For the most part, all has gone well and Elizabeth and Luke have adjusted to Patrick like champs.  Even the puppy is settling down, much as I hate to admit it.  Patrick has been smiling for about two weeks, but he's only started smiling in response to his siblings this week. 

 

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Most problems arise from the kids smothering Patrick with too much love.

 

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And because Luke missed out on the pictures because he was sleeping...

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(That's not blood; he was eating a marker from Unkie Hotrod!)

Our next new adventure is to see how we handle three kids in a pop-up camper for 10 days (with one day in a hotel for my cousin's wedding).  We're off to South Dakota tomorrow.  I'd like to think this is the year I'll try my hand at a travel blog, but we'll have to see how the days go.

Glutton for punishment

Today was a sad day at the Eminger household.  Andy put down his 12-year old dog.  The tumor on his knee popped last week so we've been dealing with dog blood for the past week.  After having the tumor operated on three times and his ACL repaired 1 1/2 years ago, we decided that it was finally time to let him go.  It was hard watching him chase the kids for food right up to the very end, but it was for the best.  (This is hard explaining to Andy, though.)

Knowing that this day was coming sooner rather than later,  Andy's been looking for dogs.  He's researched different breeds and Saturday found a labrador retriever breeder less than an hour away who had a litter of puppies.  After talking with the breeder, we decided to go for a drive to check out the one unsold puppy.  A thunderstorm didn't even deter us from looking at this dog.  It didn't take long to agree to buy this dog.  It's yellow and was the calmest of the litter.  It seemed to have a great temperament and the kids and Andy loved it.  Okay, so I thought it was really cute, too.  The biggest down side is that it was the largest of the litter.  Its father weighs 96 lbs and this dog will likely follow in its footsteps, especially with toddlers finding great enjoyment in feeding it.

So by the end of this summer, I will have a 3-year old, a 2-year old, a 3-month old baby, and a 4-month old dog.  What was I thinking?

 

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A child's dream

My daughter has recently started waking up in the middle of the night crying.  This doesn't happen every night, but often enough for us to think she's starting to become aware of her dreams.  Last night she woke up crying and when I went in to check on her, she seemed terrified.  Her first reaction when she saw me was to say, "Mommy, I will eat my vegetables."  I'd really like to know what she thought was going to happen if she didn't eat her vegetables!  And does this mean I'm pushing good eating habits a little too hard?

Due Date

How did I spend my due date?  Certainly not giving birth to a child.  That would be ridiculous.  No, I had the fun of taking my 20-month old son to the urgent care center with 107 degree fever.  I'm now two for two on kids who run insanely high fevers.  And the wonderful part is I found out he has hand, foot, and mouth disease which is caused by a virus and therefore can't be treated.  Oh, and it's highly contagious so his sister is bound to get this.  So am I ready for a third child?  Physically, yes.  I've had my fill of pregnancy.  But I am very much okay with this next child waiting to be born until this latest virus runs its course in my house.  We shall see. 

Inside-out

I realized a few minutes ago that I put my shirt on inside-out today.  I managed to make it almost through the workday without a single comment.  Either people simply didn't notice or they were afraid to say something. That's the kind of thing I would have certainly pointed out!

QotD: A Vox "Bucket List"

If you had one month to live, what five things would you do?
Suggested by Acerebel.

1. Quit my job.

2. Travel to Alaska to complete my 50 states and to Africa, Australia, and Antarctica to complete the 7 continents.

3. Complete my kids' photo albums.

4. Probably give birth so I didn't take this child with me.

5. Sleep.  Because if I only have one month to live then I'm probably really sick and won't be able to do much other than this, especially #2.