My New "Career"

Nevaeh & Chelsea

I am VERY blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with Chelsea and not have to work outside of the home. This blessing comes with some sacrifices but the benefits most definitely out weigh those sacrifices. It has been wonderful to be a full time mom and spend so much time with Chelsea. I love that I get to watch her grow everyday, see her daily routines develop, see her personality develop and see her change. Well my "career" as a stay at home mom has evolved a little bit. A few weeks ago we got new neighbors. These new neighbors were looking for a babysitter for their five year old little girl Nevaeh. They approached me and asked if I would be interested in the job. After Brad and talked about it and after much thought and prayer Brad and I decided helping out this family (it's a single mother) would also be a financial blessing for us. So I now have a 2 month old and a 5 year old that fill up my days. My day with Nevaeh start pretty stinkin' early. She comes over at 5:30 am. This is not a problem most days because Chelsea usually wakes up around 5 am for a feeding so I'm usually up anyways. The days that Chelsea decides she wants to wake up at midnight and then again at 3:30...those are the days that it's difficult! I take Nevaeh to kindergarder at 8:45 am and pick her up again at 11:30 am. Then I have her until about 3 in the afternoon. She's a very well behaved little girl and very smart. This new babysitting thing I've got going has taught me a thing or two. A) I'm much better with infants and toddlers than I am with school aged kids. Everyone thinks that I am crazy when I say that because school aged kids are so much more independent and you don't have to deal with "terrible two's" or tantrums or diapers but I just LOVE babies and toddlers. I'd much rather hang out with a 2 or 3 year old than a 5 year old. B) kids can eat a pb&j sandwhich every single day and not get sick of it...ever. C) The Nickcelodeon channel is inspired by God and I don't know what i'd do without it. Now don't get me wrong, I don't just stick her in front of the tube and let her eat pb&j's all day. We do her homework, and math flashcards and she colors and plays with playdough and plays outside too, but my goodness sometimes Spongebob is an answer to a prayer!

Since I've started to watch Nevaeh, Brad and I have been talking about and looking into me possible getting an In-home child care license. There are several steps that need to be taken before I could become licensed but it could be a possibility at some point. It would allow me to take in a few more kids, which would supplement our income, while allowing me to do what I ultimately want to do, which is be home with my own children. No final decisions have been made. Brad and I are still researching and looking into this so it should be interesting to see where my new "career" takes me!