New School

Well, the kids started a new in-home daycare on August 25^th. It has been one hell of a month for Brad and I. I’ve taken some time off of blogging because of what was going on in our lives. But this blog is for us- to capture our moments, the good and the bad. I’m happy to share it with you, but this is our digital scrapbook, our avenue to share our life and to recap what has gone on.

The past 8 weeks have been difficult for us- there have been moments, actions and words that have hurt us deeply. We are working hard on trying to heal, but, for me at least, I still struggle. I can’t speak for Brad. We deal with things differently.

One of the things that we have dealt with is losing our amazing Nanny, Mandie. We never wanted to lose Mandie. We never wanted our kids to not see her every day. At times, we often wonder how we even got to this point. It started out as Brad and I being concerned about our kids and then seem to spiral out of control. No one saw eye-to-eye on anything and the result was us having to leave Mandie.

We are so blessed to have had Mandie raise our kids the past two years- she was the best thing for them when they were just babies! We absolutely love her- she became family to us. We miss seeing her every day.

But, there is light at the end of this tunnel. We found an in-home daycare. Just three blocks down the road from us. A co-worker, who knew of our situation, found a posting of our new school and sent me the information. I called right away and set up a meeting to visit. Tracey came with me to interview and we both walked away feeling very good about the daycare and Miss Sandra who ran it. Brad and I went two days later with the kiddos and sealed the deal.

When I first interviewed with Miss Sandra, she was comforting ME about our situation. She had made me feel better about everything. I knew she was the perfect fit if she could comfort me- she would be the best comfort to Sage and Evan.

It’s been 4 weeks since we started with Miss Sandra. The first 3 weeks were extremely rough. Lots of tears. LOTS. It was a huge transition for us. Everything changed. Everything! Each part of the kids day was different. Even when they were home, we were developing a new routine. Each day was hard. And I think it broke us more than the kids.

But today- today there are no more tears. Today, we wake up and start our morning routine. Each part of their day seems to be a routine. They know what is coming next. And Sage and Evan do everything together. They are excited to go see Miss Sandra and their friends. They run to the car- not kidding!

It’s glorious!! They are thriving!

This was not the direction we ever wanted to go, but I’m a true believe that “Everything happens for a reason”.  We hated going through it, but we knew there was a reason. Right now, I can see a “reason” and I’m sure I’ll see many more “reasons” as the years go by. I can already see a difference in Sage and Evan. She is more outgoing, she loves playing with all the kids and talks to anyone she meets. Evan is doing everything on his own (he’s tooo young to be a little boy!!) and he is talking so much more and even tries to sing when Sage sings J

I’m also thankful for the support we got from our family. My mom and dad both calling to check in on us and how the kids were doing in those first several days and weeks was comforting to Brad and I. And Mandie who was always checking up on the kiddos. And so thankful for Tracey who was there to help us talk through the ideas of a daycare school setting for the kids and interviewing with me! Getting feedback from her being a teacher was so important and really helped us make the right decision!

And I’m not sure how I would have gotten through every day without Alicia, who checked in with me, who answered my phone calls every day and even let me come over a few times to cry on her shoulder.

This experience has definitely stretched Brad and I in our parenting, among other things. I’m thankful that we’ve remained united and agreed on every situation we are dealing with.

We’ve enjoyed this time that we spent just focusing on us, the kids and getting priorities in order!