Catching up with Oboe Part One: Outsourcing Parenting Duties

I know, I know. Once again, I've been conspiciously absent from the blogging world. No good excuse other than just being very, very busy. Hmmm...I suppose I should tell everyone how Owen is doing, but to tell you the truth, I don't really know!

With the official Pistons season kicking off at the beginning of the month (anyone hear about that AI trade?), Dan and I have been working A LOT!. As a result, we've had to outsource our parenting duties.

Thank God he loves daycare! I mean he LOVES daycare. He is getting to the point where he won't even say goodbye to us. He leaps out of my arms and runs downstairs to the other kids before I can even get a kiss. (Insert sad face here) Belive me though, I would rather have him run away from me with joy than cling to me crying. I would be a guilty wreck if I had to deal with that everyday.

We take him to an in-home daycare (Gennie's Little Tykes) and if I told you how wonderful this place is, you wouldn't believe me. He comes home at least once a week with art projects. I get a report card everyday of all the days activities including a down to the minute detail of all diaper changes (3 BM's yesterday at 12:59, 3:06 & 3:53 pm in case anyone is interested). The best part is that I can just tell that Gennie and the rest of the kids genuinely enjoy having him. When we drop him off, the kids run screaming to the door "Oboe!!! Oboe!!".
Oboe, somehow became his nickname at daycare. Even Dan and I call him Oboe sometimes. I suppose he could be called worse than a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. He could be nicknamed something terrible like "pea-brain" or "Shit-sandwich". That would not be good.

Owen's other parents are my mom and dad. They live 5 minutes down the road from me which would have been a horrifiying situation when I was 18. Now, however, it is an absolute life saver. It's nice having my mommy & daddy right down the road. Without my parents help, we wouldn't be able to work where we do and we couldn't even think about having a life!
Babysitters are expensive now!! I suppose it's justified. I am leaving my childs life in the hands of a teenager. I would be a little suspicious of a bargain basement babysitter. Our babysitter is WAY better than I ever was. She has taken classes at the Red Cross and made flyers to promote her services. She plays outside with Owen & takes him on walks. Holy Cow! When I was a babysitter, I used to turn on a video as soon as the parents left, plunk the kid down in front of it and will him to fall asleep early. I was not the best babysitter in the world. Anyway, Dan keeps saying we should just adopt an 18 year old girl to watch Owen. I think he's kidding. I hope. Pervert.

Back to my parents....

They of course love Owen and love having him. For Owen, the feeling is mutual. He loves being over there (even more than being home actually). I love the fact that my parents house will be come like a second home to him (hell, the way we've been working, maybe even a first home). It's a little bit sentimental for me to think that the house I grew up in will feel like a safe place for him too. Sniff, sniff ~tear~. Owen absolutely lights up when he sees my parents. It's like an "Oh boy! Here comes the fun!" type of look.

We are very, very, very lucky to have all the help we do. Dan's mom and day are always willing to watch Owen at a moment's notice. They live about 1 hour away so we don't get to see them as often as we would like. But Owen defintely loves it when we do.

So maybe someday we will be able to take care of our child on our own but not now. God, can you believe we are thinking about having another one?

PICTURES!
My baby sister's bachelorette party was a few weekends ago in Tampa. Here are the only pictures I can show you!

I bought Anne a tiara that said "Bachelorette". It was totally cheesy but Anne loved it! She but it the night before her party and didn't take it off until....well, I'm not sure she's taken it off yet. The last pictures I saw of her were on Halloween and she was still wearing it! Me, Anne and her best friend Bre Anne was the life of the party wherever we went. She tried her hand at lead vocalist for the band.