Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Curveballs

I have to say life has been getting more and more busy lately. And the curveballs keep on coming! Mike got laid off just a little over a week ago. He had an inkling that it was coming, but didn't know it would happen so soon. His whole studio was closed and as a "plant closing", CA requires at least 60 days notice. So he continues to be an "active employee" until April 16, though he doesn't have to go to work during that time. Then he has 13 weeks of severance which carries us (with benefits) through July. After that, we're on our own. I am praying he finds a job before July, because if we go on my benefits, it is extremely expensive (more than triple what we are paying through Mike's company), which means not only do we go down to one paycheck, but that paycheck is smaller than normal.

We just finished refinancing the mortgage right about the time Mike got his news, so that is a blessing in disguise. At least our mortgage payments are lower. We went from a 5.375% to 4.75%, saving us about $300 a month.

I also agreed to be the room mom for both Amanda and Kevin's rooms at daycare. I thought this would be a relatively easy assignment. Boy was I wrong. I went to a parents meeting last week and the director was all doom-and-gloom. Apparently admission is down to 80 kids (from 120 last year) so they are struggling financially, including not having a secretary anymore. They need tons of support for various fundraisers and other upkeep stuff around the school. I, feeling guilty, agreed to help with most of it.

My work is also in the throws of busy season, so my weekdays are filled with struggling to keep up with my growing pile of work. We've had several rounds of layoffs at my company as well and my workload keeps growing as the crew keeps shrinking. I am constantly amazed at the amount of work we can keep up with daily, with such a skeleton crew.

The kids continue to thrive. Amanda's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She is currently learning relationships and is always asking how everyone is related to her, then she repeats it all back to me as often as she can. "Kevin is my brother, Andrew is my cousin, Zach is my cousin, Erin is my aunt, Kathy is my aunt...." and so on. She is also learning the difference between a boy and a girl, though she hasn't asked what makes them boys and girls yet! LOL!

Kevin was up to 15 pounds, 10 oz. at his 6 month appointment. Not quite as big of a gain as he usually has in between appointments, but the doctor didn't seem worried. Just told me to start him on solids. I am still nursing which is a huge accomplishment for me as I only made it 6 months with Amanda. Kevin still nurses directly from me (Amanda would only take a bottle by around 4 months), so I am enjoying the bond we have.

That's about it for now!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Belated Anniversary

Mike & I celebrated 6 wonderful years together on Sunday (January 31). My parents watched the kids on Saturday night and we went out to see Avatar IMAX 3D. We were also supposed to go to dinner, but we filled up on popcorn and drinks at the movie theater! lol! Good thing we went when we did though, because Sunday both kids got sick. It's now Wednesday and Amanda is STILL sick!

Anyway, here are some pics from the last several days. Kevin started on solid foods last week. The first pic is taken by Amanda, the second is one I took.


And this was Amanda getting ready for bed the other night. She is such a ham, and loves to look at herself in the mirror.