Day in the Life: Nanny Share

I nanny share on Wednesdays. These events took place on February 6, 2013.
L is 5 months old and B is 16 months old.

6:15a- Original alarm goes off. Press snooze a billion times, waiting until the last minute to wake up. I'm pretty much a zombie this morning. Long days on both Tuesdays and Wednesday exhaust me. I put on clothes from class last night and grab leftovers from last week so I can throw them out at work. I have a 7-day rule when it comes to food, if it's older than seven days I won't eat it. My Oma has a cow if I throw away food at home. 

7:00a- Leave. Take the regular way to work, where I pay the toll. I can't risk being late to work again. Need to leave earlier so I can take the free, long way. Already looking forward to nap time. 

7:45a- Arrive at B's (16mo) house. Am told that they bought me Pepsi, which I am thankful, especially today and get a run down on how the morning went. We watch Baby Einstein until it's time to go across the street to Stink Bug's house. 

8:15a- Gather things and walk across the street. Get filled in on the morning and unpack our lunches. After my boss leaves, I let the babies interact while I make myself breakfast and eat- today it's a bagel and cream cheese and a Pepsi. B has learnt where a bink goes, and keeps giving and taking away L's. He's not excited.

8:45a- Ask B if she wants to eat, by both signing and speaking. She says yes. I give her apple sauce and cantaloupe with water. While she eats, L goes down for his first nap of the day. I also set up B's pack n play and let her play quietly and independently before her nap.

10:15- Give B 4oz of almond milk in a sippy cup before her nap. We recently discovered that she is lactose intolerant, so now she drinks alternative milks. She is asleep by 10:25a. I come out to the living room to see that L is awake, on the monitor. Go get him and feed.

11:00a- L is back to sleep. I join him. We snuggle sleep, with him on my chest.

1:30p- L and I wake. We go wake up B and ask her if she wants to eat. She nods her head 'yes' eagerly. Lunch today is: a pulled pork sandwich, pasta w/ veggie sauce, cantaloupe and water. I also feed L at this time.

2:15p- B's mom picks her up. L and I play for a few hours. I try for another nap (him, not me) but it's a no-go. He eats again at 4:10p and has some floor time afterward.

5:00p- L is down for a nap.

6:20p- Boss is home. Fill her in on the day. Lot's of chit chat and talk before I leave.

7:00p- Leave work. Go pick up my mom so she can stay over at my house tonight. I also pick up dinner since I left work late.

8:00p- Get to my house. Fart around. Watch Bones and GCB (on Hulu Plus) & catch up on blogs from today. I typically try to do this during one of L's naps.

12:30a- Lights out. I know this is late. I need to improve on my bedtime and be more productive in terms of getting things done at night.

What do your days look like? I'd love to know!

5 for Five

I feel like I did so bad this week. I'm not impressed with myself at all. Here's to doing better!

 

LAST WEEK:
1. Finish my study guide for class. I'm counting this one as a success, because by the time I have class on Tuesday it will be done. J and I worked on it for a few hours tonight and are meeting tomorrow after work to finish it. The first test of the semester is on Tuesday!

2. Engage B on more on my days this week. Going to leave this one neutral. I normally have my nanny share on Wednesdays, and that got cancelled this week & my Friday with her got cut short so we didn't really get to do anything. The weather this week is supposed to be really nice, so I have fun, outdoor things planned.

3. Finish my Vehicle Emergency Kits! Nope, but I made some headway. Just need a few more things for it to be finished.

4. Sell my Britax. Didn't do this.

5. Finish the book on my phone and start a library book. I didn't divide up the pages for my reading assignment like I planned to either.

THIS WEEK:
1. Order business cards. I have a high value coupon for Erin Condren that expires at the end of the month. It's for $20 off a purchase and it would be a huge waste not to use it.

2. Read one hundred pages of both my selected reading book and a leisure book from the library. I really feel like this is feasible if I use my time appropriately.

3. Get ahead with blog posts, again. I was doing well for a while, but am starting to scramble again. For example, this post is being written at 12:30a when I should be asleep. Smart, I know.

4. Find an awesome craft project to do, then write about it because crafting is good for the soul.

5. Install Microsoft Office on my MacBook. I received it as a Christmas gift and never did it because I didn't think I'd need it. Well, I someone was trying to explain how to do something in class the other day and I couldn't because I have iWork.

This weekend, I worked thirty-one hours straight and loved every minute of it.

What are you goals for this week?

It's Friday, BUT...

It isn't my Friday. I don't get one until next Friday. Because...
I am staying with L this weekend while his parents take their first baby-free trip!

I would complain, if I hated my job and all, but I don't and I'm so excited to be staying with L & Beckett.

I have permission to take L to a family birthday party on Saturday afternoon, which I'm even more excited about. I talk about him all the time but nobody knows what he looks like and now I get to introduce him to everyone! I get to snuggle with my bug for over 24 hours straight! :) Happy Nanny!

*Dear L's 1st Tooth- If you could give us a break until Monday, I'd appreciate it. Kay, thanks. If you decide to have a mouth party over the weekend, be quick and mostly painless, and please happen during the day. This nanny would like at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep.

All About Me: A-Z

Written on February 10, 2013. I think my About Me tab is really the only place where I really give you a feel for the things I like, so I've decided to complete this little survey I got from Chloe. L is on sleeping spree so I have a lot of time on my hands today!

A- Available or married?
Neither? I am mostly definitely in a relationship with the man I love and intend to marry one day, so I'm off the market. Sorry, not sorry. Anniversary: January 11, 2010.

B- Book? If you read my 5 for Five post, I've made it a priority to read more and get started on my goal for 30 by 30 of reading twenty-four books per year. I just finished an e-book called The Deepest Cut.

C- Cake or pie?
Cake, I don't like pie. Unless it's the chocolate kind, but I don't really think that counts.

D- Drink of choice?
Pepsi if I'm out at a restaurant. Normally water at home or work, and apple juice if we have any but that's rare.

E- Essential item?
iPhone, MacBook, and Erin Condren Life Planner. The three things I don't typically leave home without.

F- Favorite color?
Right now it's mint, think Essie's Mint Candy Apple. Love! But more generally, blue.

G- Game to play or watch?
Play: Water Polo. Watch: Supercross, football and hockey.

H- Hometown?
A city in Orange County, CA :)

I- Indulgence?
Basking in my awesomeness after I go on a deep cleaning spree and buying stationary. I love stationary and snail mail.

J- Job?
Full-time Nanny to a five-month-old baby boy and part-time Nanny to a 16 month old girl. College student.

K- Kids and names?
No kids, I like a few names but I'm not sharing.

L- Life is incoomplete without?
My family and friends, Joshua, and my babies. Love and laughter, fun and spaztastic moments.

M- Music group or singer?
Country music wins this, hands down. I've been listening to Florida Georgia Line a whole lot as of late. My favorite songs are Cruise and Get Your Shine On.

N- Number or siblings?
Older step-sister (25), and younger half brother (16).

O- Oranges or apples?
Oranges.

P- Phobias/fears?
Spiders and bees, like whoa. Drowning.

Q- Favorite quote?
"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffes nothing from laziness." Proverbs 31:25-27 (NLT)

R- Reason to smile?
Because I love my life. :)

S- Season?
Summer, summer, summer!

T- Tattoos?
None, yet.

U- Unknown fact about me?
I was never taught how to manage or save my money, so those things are hard for me. I'm getting better and it's a work in progress.

V- Vegetable you love?
Zucchini and broccoli.

W- Worst habits?
Farting around before bed and then I end up staying up way too late, but I still have to wake up for work the next day so I'm tired all the time.

X- X-rays you've had?
Oh goodness. Quite a few. On my foot; I got stepped on by a steer a few weeks before fair so it was like 1,200lbs. My foot wasn't broken, but I do have nerve damage in both feet from farm craziness. Lungs and ribs; several times.

Y- Your favorite food?
Any type of pasta with meat sauce.

Z- Zodiac?
Virgo. August 29th.

Just remember, tomorrow is Friday. :)

A Day in the Life- Nanny of a 5mo.

L is 189 days old on the day this took place, February 5, 2013. 

6:15a- My first alarm goes off. I press snooze as many times as possible before I get up.

6:45- Actually get up and get ready as quick as possible. Skip cute hair, throw it up in a ponytail. Finish packing breakfast, lunch, and stuff for class. If I don't leave by 7a, I'll be late. 

7:00a- Leave. Take a different way than normal because I don't want to pay the toll fee of $4.60. Take notice that the swells are super small and mentally compliment myself on my tsunami evacuation plan. There are some places where the beach gets really close to the road and they would definitely be washed out in the event of a tsunami.

7:45a- Made it on time! Get attacked by the dog because he's stoked that he doesn't have to be alone all day. Get filled in on how last night and this morning went. L was last fed at 5:30a. Boss leaves for work. 

7:50a- Start a fire! This is a beach house, no central air or heat. Also turn on the TV to watch the news. L plays on the floor.

8:00a- Puppy joins me on the couch.

8:02a- L decides he needs cuddles too. Can tell he's starting to get tired, decide to feed him early so he doesn't wake up hungry. Routine: gripe water, 4oz formula, gas drops, burp.

8:15a- L is asleep.

10:35a- L wakes. We play and have snuggles until 11a when he gets hungry, so I feed him again. Then we play until 11:30a.

11:30a- L naps until 2:15.

2:20p- Feed, then floor time. L sleeps from 3-4p and wakes as I try to tranfer him.

4p- More floor time. He's getting more and more content playing with toys, as long as he's sitting up. Tummy time s no-go as of late. We're working on it. I also put in his laundry and start to work on the mornings dishes during this time.

5:30p- Feed L, then let him play some more. This is when I finish the dishes, switch the laundry and pick up our messes from the day before The Boss gets home from work.

5:45p- Baby takes a mini nap before his mama gets home! Wakes up at 6p because the dog barks at my boss coming through the front gate. He (dog) is very excitable. Talk to my boss about the day, discuss how much the baby is, review plans for tomorrow, and I change for school.

6:35p- Leave for class. Get there at 7p, which is good because I thought I was going to be late.

7:15p- Class begins. US History until 1886. We turn in homework, meet in groups for an upcoming project, professor lectures for about a third of the class, then we watch a movie.

10p- Class gets out. Discuss the night with J, and see if he's going to come over for dinner later in the week. He does, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings on Thursday. We've tried to go on the weekend two different times, an hour and a half wait or more both times!

10:30p- Leave school. Get home about fifteen minutes later.

10:45p- I'm home! I fart around, take a shower that was way too long, text J the homework, catch up on YouTube, eat Chipotle from earlier, and check Twitter and Instagram.

1a- Lights out.

Are you tired, yet? I am. This is my Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. :)

5 for Five

I'm linking up with Jenn and Jessica for this week's 5 For Five! Do you have today off? I do, and I'm spending the day doing homework and laundry. I'm saying no to procrastination. ;)

LAST WEEK:
1. Drink 32 ounces of water per day. (3/7) I did okay, but not stellar. The last half of the week was awesome as far as water intake went. I was pushing 64 ounces for two days this week. Making my way to my goal. Yeeah!

2. Check out my selected reading book for class, read The Nanny Book, and with one more leisure book from the library. Ideally finish the book on J's iPad as well. We're you able to keep track of that? I decided to return The Nanny Book, and check out two leisure books from the library. My selected reading book for class had to be transferred from another branch and is waiting for me once the library opens on Tuesday. I'm about halfway through the book that was on J's iPad. I downloaded it to my phone. The books from the library are: Gone by Michael Grant, and Divergent by Veronica Roth. The book on my phone is called The Deepest Cut by J.A. Templeton. 

3. Not let my Valentine's Week be a flop! I did everything I wanted to do, with the exception of the craft, which couldn't be helped. We're going to finger paint this week! Should be interesting. :)

4. Work on my bedtime. Fail x7. 

5. Get enough veggies, and bring my food to work everyday! Didn't get enough veggies, ate out for lunch on Thursday. I went to Ruby's. Got a BLT on Sourdough bread. I'm kind of obsessed right now. I could eat one everyday.

THIS WEEK:
1. Finish my study guide for class. Divide my selected reading book into a dedicated number of pages per day. I only have the book for three weeks, if someone else wants to check it out.

2. Read, and engage B more on my days with her. Obviously we read and do fun things, but I still feel like I could be doing more for her.

3. Finish my Vehicle Emergency Kits for B and L. These are definitely in progress and I bought some semi-ugly clothes for both kids at a second hand shop over the weekend. If the clothes are too cute, I'll take them out and use them. See what I did there? :)

4. Sell my Britax Boulevard 70-G3 so I can buy a Diono Radian RXT for L. I need to clean it and post it on Craigslist. Which is so, so bad. But I intend on using the opportunity to teach the buyer about proper child restraints and showing them how to properly install it.

5. Finish the book on my phone and start one of my books from the library.

Toddlers Love Valentine's Day!

On Wednesday, during my nanny share, we had a little celebration. Nothing big, just B's first time ever having waffles and a yummy themed lunch! I planned on doing a craft with B but she took a three and a half hour nap after lunch.

She had organic blueberry waffles with a bit of syrup for dipping and apple sauce, for breakfast. I gave her one waffle but she ate two and all her apple sauce. I wasn't expecting her to get the hang of dipping but boy did she learn fast.

Lunch was heart shaped pasta and red sauce, with carrots in B's...because I'm sneaky like that. :)

The Valentine pasta was purchased from World Market. I wasn't expecting much from it in terms of taste, but it was ah-maz-zing. If you can get your hands on it, do it. B LOVED it and had two helpings!

We hope your Valentine's Week was as spectacular as ours!

Happy Friday (:

Spread the Love Blogger Swap!

Last month, two of my favorite bloggers Erin & Megan joined forces and created the #SpreadTheLove Blogger Swap. I received goodies from Julie. 

Everything is so perfect and I love it all! She also included sour candies that were SO good (I think they were Lifesavers Gummies) I ate them too fast to photograph them. :) I can't wait to burn that candle! Thank you so much, Julie! 

Want to see what I got my swap partner, visit Amy's blog! 

Write It Down, Link It Up: Love Letters

Joelle over at Something Charming is hosting another handwriting link-up! I missed the first one she hosted, back in November, by mere days. So I'm glad I get to participate in this one! Being that it's so close to Valentine's Day, the theme, of course, is Love Letters.

I wasn't going to write one to J and post it on here, because that'd just be really weird and I wasn't comfortable sharing a legit love letter with you guys. So I decided to write one to Tiny Face and L, as this is their first Valentine's Day...

Without further ado:

I'm not even going to tell you how many times I started over. It's shameful. I'm not even crazy about how it turned out. What Joelle says is true, you can never practice enough!

5 for Five

Last week: 

1. Get myself up to three scheduled blog posts. Got 'er done! Look out for those next week. I still have three more in draft that I need to finish. 

2. Drink 64oz of water per day. Big huge fail. I barely got in 16oz. I drank too much soda, too. This is going on the list for this week too. Less soda, more water. I also think I need to work up to that much, so I'm going to start slow. 

3. Read two out of the four books I picked up from the library. Nope, didn't do this either. I think I'm just going to turn three of them (reference books) and get other ones. The one I am going to read is called The Nanny Book. I downloaded a free book onto J's iPad that I'm really into & it's part of a series, but since it's not on my device I don't get to lose myself in the book like I normally would. 

4. Purchase and start reading my book for History class. Fail. Decided not to buy it, if I don't have to. Going to check the library to see if they have it and I can check it out for an extended period of time rather than the typical three weeks. 

5. Keep up with my studies. I didn't do my homework on Wednesday like I'd planned, and I know that realistically it won't always happen, but everything is ready for class tomorrow. I consider that done!

This Week:

1. Drink 32oz of water per day. Starting slow to work my way up to 64oz. That's my Life Factory glass bottle times two. This is definitely feasible. 

2. Check out my selected reading book for class, read The Nanny Book, and with one more leisure book from the library. Ideally finish the book on J's iPad as well. 

3. Not let my Valentine's Day week be a flop! I have so many ideas planned to celebrate at work and I'm trying not to let myself become overwhelmed. I need to finish planning them and gather the things I need.  There are two link-ups I'm participating in this week, as well (not including this one). 

4. Work on my bedtime. I want to be in bed by 10:30p every night, with the exception of Tuesday because I have class. My goal for Tuesday night is 11:30p. I've been incredibly tired because I'm not getting enough sleep. 

5. Get enough veggies, and bring my food to work everyday. Also need to remember to bring snacks! 

What are your goals for this week?

Cora The Camera

I finally invested in a Nikon D3100!

I couldn't handle the poor quality of the photos on my blog anymore, and I want to be able to capture the little things in life- especially while I'm at work! L and B are growing everyday, and I want to be able to capture special moments for their parents. Especially for L, his extended family lives quite the distance from him and don't get to see him everyday. 

I also had a hovering Pin It button installed. So, if you see a post you like and it contains a photo, you can pin it straight to Pinterest! That being said, I will try to include at least one photo per post so that this is an option. I'm beyond thrilled to be able to provide my readers and little space in the interwebs with better photos. 

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend! 

See y'all on Monday.

A Nanny Rant...

I am a nanny. I am very active on twitter and I see what other nannies write. There are hundreds upon hundreds of "nanny problems" anonymous accounts who retweet problems nannies are having that we can, for the most part, relate to.

The other day a tweet was RTed that I had a major problem with. Not due to the subject at hand, although I disagreed with her tweet in it's entirety, but because the girl was a nanny with a public account who was judging and ridiculing not only her bosses but parents around the world.

The tweet essentially said that if your child can feed and dress himself, he doesn't need to be breastfeeding anymore. If you knew me, you'd know that I believe in extended breastfeeding. It's been proven that breast milk has nutritional value past two years of age. It's something I plan on partaking in when I have children, but I think breastfeeding in general is an extremely personal decision.

My friend Molly responded perfectly: "It's none of your business. Just because it's not the right choice for you doesn't mean it's not for them. How dare you judge them!"

My point is, that if you can't be supportive of the family you work for, as long as what the parents are choosing to do isn't harming the children mentally or physically, don't work for them. Just don't do it. You make the rest of us look bad when you bitch about how much you hate your job. The rest of us enjoy what we do and you're making us look bad. Your judgey attitude is completely inappropriate and you have absolutely no right to talk like that about your employers.

The end. :)

New Monday Link-Up: 5 for Five

I've decided to start a new Monday link-up! I still love 'Hey, That's Pin-tastic' but don't always have something to contribute. So, I've decided that I will be doing 5 for Five every week, and when I have something to contribute to HTP, I will just do two posts.

How It Works:
     1. Set five goals that you want to accomplish over the next five days of the work-week.  
     2. Share your goals with all of Blogland.
     3. Power through that list during the week.
     4. Come back the next week to share you how did.
     5. Set some more goals for yourself, and repeat!

Pretty simple, right?

For the week of February 4th...

1. Get myself up to three scheduled blog posts. They will not go up next week (due to Valentine's Day goodies), but I want to have them there and ready. I like knowing that my readers will be able to count on something being posted, even if I'm having a really busy day!
2. Drink 64 ounces of water per day. I have a Life Factory water bottle that I've been using to help me drink more water- because it's cute, duh. I was doing really well for a few weeks, but have stopped as of late. I felt a ton better when I was drinking more water, so I'd like to get there again.
3. Read two (out of four) of the library books I checked out last week. They're due back ON THE 19th.
4. Purchase and start reading my book for history class. We had to select a book from a reading list to read and write a seven page paper on, I decided on In The Devil's Snare. I'd like to finish this early to get it out of the way, as it's not due until the thirteenth week of class. 
5. Keep up with my studies! We have a take home quiz due Tuesday night and I'm getting my book today. That's a little too close for comfort! I plan on doing my homework on Wednesdays while the babies are sleeping, from now on. 

January Favorites That Aren't

I haven't worn makeup or really done my hair all month, with the exception of a date night or two. At work, nobody sees me (a majority of the time) with the exception of the babies and their parents. I have to wear my hair up in some sort of bun because when I wear L on my back, my hair gets in his mouth if I don't.

I started school on Tuesday and my class doesn't get out until after ten o'clock, making my day about eighteen hours long. Then the next day I care for two babies instead of one for a greater part of the day. That makes for one tired nanny/ student come Wednesday night.

Someone found my blog by using the search terms 'nanny day in the life', so I've decided to work on that. Every week I have three different schedules, so you get three versions of my nanny day in the life. Ready for this chaos?

This weekend is Supercross. I'm stoked, so is J. Of course, pictures will be taken, the scent of racing fuel will fill the air and fun will be had. Ready for a throwback?

Taken January 23, 2010. We'd been dating for thirteen days. Apparently the way to a man's heart is by buying tickets to amazeball sporting events. ;)

Happy Friday!