Child Care Crisis

I found an interesting article that I wanted to pass on. For anyone that is considering becoming a parent, you might want to read this article. If you want to read the whole article, you can find it here http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/HomeMortgageSavings/ChildcareCrisis.aspx?GT1=10826#pageTopAnchor
Here is a portion of it:

Wendy Brauner's rent clocks in at $1,800 a month -- what some might consider a great deal in San Francisco. But don't think Brauner is living the high life. With a son, 3, and another almost 6, she was spending $2,750 a month on child care until her oldest started kindergarten last fall -- nearly 20% of her household income.
"I was writing a check for $17,000 to the preschool and wondered why it sounded so familiar," she says. "Then I realized it was a few hundred off what I paid for my first semester of college at Wellesley. It's just an enormous outlay."
I get that. Even with just one child, child-care costs were a major chunk of my own family's monthly expenses until our daughter, Harper, started kindergarten. The tab never came close to the $3,200 a month we spend for shelter, but that was mostly because, as a freelance writer, I can shuffle my work hours as needed. And that saves money -- a lot of money. In part-time day care, Harper never cost us more than $900 a month. Video: Should one parent just stay at home?
Still, it's a serious budget item. And we're among the lucky ones. The cost of child care in this country is one of those little secrets -- like leaky diapers and colic -- that parents just don't share with friends who are expecting.
Forget about the angst and expense of finding shelter that is safe and warm for your new arrival. I'm talking about the sticker shock of handing over a significant chunk of your paycheck every month just so you are free to work. That $2,750 a month for Brauner? That was after taxes, of course. Map: Average cost of child care
Yes, the federal government grants a tax credit of up to $1,050 per child for up to two children in child care. But that's annual: Brauner ran through it in less than a month.

Here comes the bride

Well, there is some background to these photos, so I guess I will start with that... It started about a year ago. I was sitting on the couch with Jaden, and she was looking at my wedding ring. She said, "Mommy, can I have a ring like yours?" So, I told her that my ring was because I was married to Daddy, and when she gets married, she would get a ring. So, she told me she wanted to get married. I told her that you have to have someone to marry, and I explained that it would be a boy. She told me, "Well, then, I am going to marry Daddy." I said that she couldn't marry Daddy because I was married to him. Then, she thought for a moment and said, "I'm gonna marry Bryson." It was so hilarious because she just thought she would walk up to Bryson and tell him that she was marrying him, and he would give her a ring.

Months passed by, and she would mention it every now and then. Then, last night I told her that Mommy and Daddy had to go to work for a few hours, but Bryson wanted her to go to his house to play. She was so excited... Moments passed and then she said, "Well, Neely (Bryson's Mom) will have to take Bryson and me to Chuck E Cheese." I said, "Why would she have to take you to Chuck E Cheese?" Jaden said, "because, they have rings there and we can get married!!!" I just could not stop laughing...

LeCount & I took Jaden and Morgan over to Neely's house this morning, and I told Neely what Jaden said. When Neely dropped Jaden off at home, she was dressed up in this wedding dress with a ring on her finger!! Here are the pictures of the bride and groom. They spent their wedding day playing play doh. What more could you ask for?

Life and times of a Mystery Shopper

Whoa! I had an eventful day yesterday! Today will be even more so. Yesterday, I did 9 "shops". 7 of them were in medical offices, and the other 2 were at Tommy Hilfiger stores. I had fun with the Tommy stores because I always get to buy something!! I have to buy; they make me buy!!! hahahahaha- That's my excuse. I have to spend $10, and it gets reimbursed. Plus, they pay me for the shop.
The 7 "shops" at the medical offices were for Accent Health. They are the people that have the t.v. programming in the doctor's office. I had to audit the Dr.'s offices to make sure they were complying with what Accent Health wanted (i.e. no competitor media). Those were boring shops, but they weren't hard to do. The only problem that I had was that it required a lot of walking from one building to the next... And, I didn't realize, until after I tried walking in my chunky heels that I had broken my foot/toe that morning.
Earlier that morning, I was sitting on the couch in the back room. I got up and manuevered around the small chair that was right in front of the couch... manuevering brought me closer to the big reddish chair with the loose cloth. I stepped on the cloth with one foot, while the other foot went underneath the part of the cloth that was now tight (because the other foot was stepping on it). I went down. I couldn't walk, so I just sat down for a bit. After about 2 minutes, I just got up and limped around. I didn't think too much about it. I thought A LOT about it when I walked up and down the corridors of the medical offices!!! Today it is swollen and bruised. It is the spot right where the toe meets the foot.
Anyway, today, we have 15 "shops" to do. I don't know how much help I will be, but I will be in one of those motorized scooters when we do the Target shops. I guess I will have to get the walking shoe from my mom. If I had one of those, I think I would be just fine.
Tomorrow I have an interview. I think I have a good chance of getting this job, since they really want someone who is bilingual. It would just be part-time, which means that LeCount can still get his full-time job at the temporary agency he is thinking of in McKinney. I will keep you posted about the job when I know the outcome... I hope she doesn't notice my limp.

The artist, Jaden

Jaden just loves to paint. She has been begging me to let her paint the last few days. I don't let her do it too often because it makes such as mess, and I have to be able to give my full attention to what she is doing (so, LeCount has to watch Morgan). I finally gave in today. She really made some pretty pictures (that's just my UNbiased opinion. Hahahahahaha).

Morgan is now drinking from a sippy cup, by the way. My little genius baby decided that she wasn't drinking from a bottle anymore, so it will make switching to whole milk easier... 2 more weeks until we don't have to use formula anymore!!!! Yea!!!! Now, if I can just get her potty trained...

On to a more boring subject- Our shops are out of control right now. Last week was dead as far as mystery shopping goes, so now we have to make up for it the rest of the month. I have 50+ shops packed into this week alone. It will be crazy, but I just keeping adding more and more shops to our plate whenever I see them. Hopefully, we can get some babysitting help on Wednesday so that we can both work at the same time... that is the best way. We'll see... Andrea, we are calling you first... If you can't do it, we will have to go the paid babysitter route, or just do the best we can with one person.

Another BOOTIFUL day!!!

It is still wonderful outside, so the girls have been playing out there again. This time, I have some pictures.

A BOOTIFUL day!!!

It is so pretty outside!!! Yesterday it was in the 70's, so I took the girls outside for a couple of hours. Then, their friends Rebekah and Joshua came by for a visit, and we went outside again. They loved it (and so did I). We walked up and down the street. I didn't take the stroller. I just let the girls walk. Morgan put her arms up in the air and ran with a big smile on her face. It sure was a great reprieve from the cold. Jaden said it was a "bootiful" day!! Hahahahahaha!!! It looks like today will be nice, too, so we will probably go outside again after their naps.
I'll try to get some pictures of the bootiful weather tomorrow. LeCount had the camera with him yesterday and today as he did 12 "shops" that needed pictures. I hope it is pretty again tomorrow.

How much is it worth?

Well, I know there aren't too many people who realize what is going on in our house since LeCount and I were both laid off. It has been beautiful and hard at the same time. I have taken the lay off as a blessing because it will make me a stronger person, and it has allowed me to spend A LOT of quality time with my family. What does it cost to stay at home with your family? Here is a calculator you can use to see if you can afford to quit working and stay at home with your kids: http://life.familyeducation.com/calculator/stay-at-home-cost/55187.html Our plans, unfortunately, were not calculated. We were not told, for example, "Save as much money as you can for the next 10 years because in 2007, you will both lose your jobs and will have to figure out how to live on unemployment until further notice." If that had been the case, we could have planned a nice little nest egg of money to survive on. Of course, that would be a "perfect" world. Instead, we were thrown into it. It has taught us a lot, and we are in a position now that we have never been in before. We can not buy in bulk or have a lot of storage. We have no sugar. We are down to one roll of toilet paper. The days of walking through the grocery store and picking up everything that looks good are over. No more stopping at the gas station whenever we see a good price.
I know it's hard to believe, but imagine this... When we were laid off, we lost 2/3 of our income... that leaves us with 1/3!!! So, for a nice round number, let's just say that we were making $100,000 a year. 1/3 of that is $33,000 a year. A lot of families live on that amount. However, our bills are based on what we made before. Other than day care, we have the same bills as before.
Yes, we are working hard every day. First, we are putting in resumes and applying for jobs (at least 40 a month). Second, we are watching the kids full time. Last, we are doing mystery shopping.
The mystery shopping is going well. We are making it grow... Trying to bring in more and more each month. However, it takes a long time to get paid. For all of the work that we have done for the month of December, we have only been paid $12 so far. But, we keep plugging along because we know that the work we do today, will pay us in March.
I had 2 "shops" yesterday (that is what they are called, the assignments, I mean). I went to the movie theatre for one shop and a hardware store for the other. When I got home, 4 1/2 hours later, LeCount asked me how much the theatre shop paid. I said, "$20." He said, "$20!!! Is it worth it?" I just asked him if he had a better idea to bring money into this house. What's funny is that I would make that amount in less than an hour at work, but now that I have no job, I will spend 3 hours on a project for that amount. What is the alternative?
LeCount is still trying to find full-time work. He is now thinking of a temporary agency. I am trying to find part-time work with night hours, so that he can work during the day. I don't want to put the girls in day care again.
I am putting this out there to be real with everyone. I know the people that see our blog and see all of the stuff we do may think that we don't have a care in the world. It's really not like that. We just don't voice our troubles to everyone.
Thinking on it, it would have been easier to save up for this day to stay home with the kids and leave the job on my own terms. However, if it had been left up to me, I know that I would have never felt like I could leave because I wouldn't feel like we could live on just LeCount's income.
How much does it cost to stay home with your kids? A lot!!! How much is it worth? It's PRICELESS!!!!

BYU Bound

We went to see the Marrs again yesterday. Kevin will be leaving soon to BYU, and now the race is on to spend as much time with him as we can before he is gone for 5 months. It's sad for me, but I know it is a happy time because he will be getting a degree and learning to live away from home. I'll miss him, so I guess we'll keep in touch with e-mails and phone calls and probably letters until he is back home for the summer. The girls really enjoy hanging out with Uncle Kevin. It is amazing to see how far Kevin has come from 3 1/2 years ago (when Jaden was first born). Kevin was scared to death to hold her, and really didn't want to come near her... Now, he is right at home with both of them. We'll miss you, Kev!

Funny Things

OK, I ran into a couple of funny things today that I just had to post. First, check out the mini episodes on motherhood. You may relate to some parts, and other parts, not so much: http://inthemotherhood.msn.com/ And the other thing is an e-mail I received that made me laugh... Here it goes:



Why, Why, Why?

Do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That hurt, you stupid idiot?

'Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

Chuck E Cheese

Cousin Kacey got to stay with us for a couple of days, so today we stopped by Chuck E Cheese for a little while. The girls had fun!!! Jaden hit a milestone today because for the first time ever, she went up into the thing that all of the kids climb on and into. I don't know exactly what it's called, so I put a picture of it in this blog. Anyway, Jaden has attempted to climb the stairs up into the tubes several times, but she has always come back down shaking and crying. Well, today, she went up there like it was nothing. She and Kacey crawled through all of the tubes chasing each other and going down the slide.

Where's my camera that I asked for?

I didn't put this video in with the Christmas pictures because I didn't want to overwhelm people with pictures and videos all at once. This video is a little reminder that no matter how grown the 3 year old seems to be, she is still a toddler that doesn't understand everything. A little background on the video: for weeks leading up to Christmas, we told Jaden about Santa. This is her first year acknowledging that she could sit on Santa's lap, ask for what she wanted for Christmas, and she would expect to see it Christmas morning. So, she asked for a teddy bear. Then, she decided to ask for a camera (which I had already bought for her weeks before, but she just didn't know that)... So, she went back to Santa and told him that she also wanted a camera. This video is from Christmas morning. She is opening Santa's gift. Even though she got the bear that she asked for, she is upset because there is no camera inside the box with the bear. You have to have the volume on to understand this video. Enjoy!

Peek A Boo

LeCount and I were working all day today, so my mom came by to watch the girls. It sure was nice because we were able to get 4 "shops" done!! If we had had to do the assignments alone, we would have only gotten 2 done today. Anyway, the girls had a BLAST with Grandma Leslie. I got to see one of the funniest things I had ever seen Morgan do when my mom put a blanket on her head. She walked around like a ghost for awhile before taking the blanket off and saying "peek-a-boo". So, she keeps handing me the blanket now to put it on her head. This is a clip of her peek-a-boo game. Listen closely at the end for when she says "peek-a-boo".

Morgan has been mimicking all of the short words and sentences we say. It is so cute, but you have to listen closely, and kind of know the context to understand what she is saying. She'll say "Thank you", "go", "stop" and "I love you", and when she wants something to eat, she says "yum, yum". Today, she even said "diaper". When I thought that is what she said, I asked LeCount to check her diaper and see if she was trying to tell us she was dirty- and sure enough, she was! She's an incredible little 11 month old!!!

My favorite Christmas pictures this year

Merry Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas!!!! I have to start by saying something that isn't Christmas related (because it is on my mind right now). I picked Morgan up and tipped her upside down, and she started giggling really hard. As she did that, I saw 2 top teeth!!! Yay for Morgan!!! They haven't actually popped through her gums yet (which explians her crankiness the past 4 days). They should be out in a couple more days though- too early for a picture.
Now on to the Christmas celebrations: On December 24th, we had Aunt Audra, Uncle Clay, Aunt Roxanne, Aunt Chris, and cousin Kacey over. We all had a good time eating, opening presents and chatting. The girls had fun going wild throughout the living room. I put some of the pictures in the montage, but I am going to put some of my favorites up as regular pictures seperately (for those that can't sit through a 2 minute montage of our Christmas pictures).
Today, Christmas day, we woke up at 8:30AM (to Jaden's scream that Santa had come to our house). We had a VERY small Christmas- one present from mommy and daddy, one from Santa, and Grandma Frances left one present for each of them, too. You can't tell we had a small Christmas because they got presents from Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and friends, too. They were inundated with gifts!!
After we opened gifts, we got the food ready, and Grandma Leslie, Grandpa Lyale, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Amy, and cousin James came over. More presents, and more fun for all of us!!!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this Christmas special (including those who are out of town)!!!

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Allergy season continues

Morgan is still suffering from allergies (going on 4 months now). Mine has cleared up for the most part, but Morgan is at the yucky runny nose stage. Jaden has been trying to help me by wiping her nose. It is just so funny to see them interact. I just had to get a video of them.

Christmas in Melissa, TX

I took Jaden to the Christmas Celebration in Melissa tonight. It is going on every night until December 31st, but this is the first time we made it out. It is actually a fundraiser to raise money for Up to Par Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes awareness of teen suicide prevention. The organization is planning to use the money to have 30 assemblies in high schools around the area to educate schools about preventing teenage suicide (taken from the McKinney Courier Gazette Star). They were supposed to have real snow, but were not able to raise enough money. Instead they had a playground, 75 or so lit Christmas trees, a lit up maze through the 7 acres, Santa, and hot air ballon rides (on Fridays and Saturdays). Jaden was happy just playing on the play equipment and seeing Santa. The next day, I was talking with a friend, Dawn, who lives in Anna, too. She said that the fundraiser is actually going to help the man running the Christmas in the Park. She asked him where the money was going. He told her that is was going to help put together assemblies in schools in the area. When she asked what the money was actually being used for, he said it was to pay him for going around to all of the schools to speak... Hmmmmmmmmm... Watch out where you put your money. We didn't donate anything, but now seeing Jaden's picture with "Santa" (who is the man who put all of this together for his own gain) is kind of creepy. Therefore, I removed his picture from this blog.

The booty shop

We took Jaden to the booty shop today (her words, not mine- she can't say beauty, so she says booty). She got her hair braided, in time for Christmas. She hates the process, but she hates getting her hair done in general. She cried and complained the whole time (1 1/2 hours), but at least it's over now. Kara, the hairdresser, gave her the head she practices on to keep her focused on something else. It worked for about 5 minutes. The rest of the time, we had to sing songs and try eveything to distract her... We won't be doing that again for awhile- I am EXHAUSTED!! But, it was worth it.

A look back- Baby Jaden

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I put together this little montage because I don't want to leave out Jaden's milestones. When Jaden was born, I wasn't blogging. I missed blogging about the first 2 1/2 years of her life. This is a recap of what was missed. This is from birth to 6 months. I don't want to overwhelm you with precious baby pictures all at once, so I will put them on here in 6 month increments. Jaden was born August 5, 2004 at 3:16 PM. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Enjoy!

Mommy Jaden

Jaden has been doing this for awhile, but last night, I decided to take some pictures. She loves to play mommy to all of her baby dolls and stuffed animals. She sits them up in chairs to eat or watch T.V., and then, she puts them down for a nap. It is so sweet because it is all for real to her. She gets upset if Morgan disturbs her baby while her baby is trying to sleep. Usually she'll have 3 babies asleep at one time- all laid out on the couch, floor or bed. This is just a small look at her work.

Playing at Willow Bend

Yesterday, Saturday was a big working day for us, and so is today. LeCount and I have an assignment to do a theatre check at the Dallas Cinemark on Webb Chapel. It's an all day check of "I am Legend". LeCount can't stand Will Smith, and since he is the main character, it is kind of funny that we got that assignment. LeCount did the check yesterday. He took a break at about 5 PM and met us up at the mall. I decided to take another video of Morgan's walking because she is walking 90 % of the time now. As you can see, she is still a little wobbley. The girls had fun seeing Daddy, but they paid more attention to the toys than their parents. Hahahahaha!!! At one point, Morgan knocked a little girl down (the little girl was probably about 16 months or so). After knocking her down, she pinned her down. She had her whole body on top of her, and then, she gave her a big, nice and wet kiss!!! I would have gotten a picture of it, but I was too busy trying to break it up. Everyone around her was laughing and saying how cute it was. The little girl that she tackled just laid there. Even after I got Morgan off of her, she didn't want to get up. I guess she wanted another kiss (that is what I was afraid of). Morgan loves to kiss everyone, but I have to draw the line on kissing strangers... They could have a cold or something!! Hahahahaha!!
Today is my turn to view "I am Legend" all day. I am going to have to accidentally on purpose go into some different auditoriums, because that is not my kind of movie. Some of these theatre checks are long and drawn out, but this is our worst one (and best one in terms of money) yet. I have to be at the theatre by 11:30AM, and I will be done with my assignment by 3:00AM tomorrow morning... So, about 15 1/2 hours!! But, this is our work for now. At least. for the most part, it's pretty laid back during the day. The hardest part is after I get home. I'll get home at about 1:00 AM (If the manager cooperates and gets me a report on time), and I will spend 2 hours working with numbers and entering the information on the computer.
Well, 9 more days until Christmas!!! Jaden is so excited!! Everyday she asks me if it is Christmas yet. Of course, Morgan is clueless about what is going on... It will be fun when both of them understand.