First day back

I went back to work last Sunday. I am on orientation (new department, new computerized charting program) so the day went pretty slow. I called Alfonso twice to see how Christopher was. I don't go back to work until Friday, but I will be working Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then Tuesday, Wednesday. Then on Thursday we are leaving for MI for my brothers wedding. I am so excited to be going back to Marquette and I can't wait to see the fall colors! I am also really thrilled to see my family again!

We went to Mexico on Saturday for lobster. I've been dying to go for a long time! The drive is quite long (4 hours each way) but it's tolerable every once in awhile. Mexico's independence day was the next day, so there were quite a bit of flags on the streets and behind cars. Here are some photos of our journey:

Alfonso practicing his trick at a rest stop near San Diego:


Just crossing into Tijuana:


The view of the Pacific Ocean from Puerto Nuevo, Mexico:


Mama and Christopher waiting for the lobster:


Lobster, Dos Equis and the Pacific! What more could you ask for!


They give you rice, beans, flour tortillas, bread and soup along with the lobster. I think it was around $17.00 per plate. Not so bad, but you also need to consider the amt of time and money it takes to drive down! I am so happy that we could go before I started work.

The Baby Walkers

Since Christopher has been three weeks old, we have been taking evening walks nearly every night. It started when he would start crying every night at 7pm. My parents recommended that we go on walks, since it helps soothe a crying baby. Also I needed the exercise since I still had some extra weight.

Soon after we started our evening walks, I met Elsa and Janet. Like me, they have young babies and needed to walk in the evening. I met Elsa and Janet when Christopher was five weeks, and eight weeks later we still hold our evening ritual of walking. The other day a group of kids passed us on their bikes and yelled out "Hi Baby Walkers!" So, we are known through the neighborhood as The Baby Walkers.

Sometimes we will meet in the daytime and hang out at the park together. Here are some recent photos of the park:

Elsa and Carla


Christopher with Carla


Janet with Connor

Returning to MI

I stole these quizzes from my sister Crystal:

Congratulations, you are 97% Michigan!

 

Congratulations, when it comes to you and Michigan, you know your stuff! You must drink pop, vacation "up north", and enjoy the many special seasons Michigan has to offer. Maybe you should write your own Michigan quiz!

How Michigan are you?
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You are 44% Yooper!

You need a little more practice at Yooper-ism. Work on your vocab, go buy more flannel, and eat a pasty.

Are you a true Yooper?
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I just love this photo of Christopher. I love the way his lips form an "O", this is the expression of great concentration for him. Lately he has discovered his hands and has been working on putting his hands and other objects in his mouth. He really likes his burp cloths and puts them into his mouth.

Last night I set Christopher into his big boy bed (aka his crib)and he fell asleep in it. Since this was the first time for him to sleep in the crib overnight, I kinda freaked out and brought him into the room with me. I think I am having some separation issues.

I reenter the work force this Sunday, so it's only going to get worse. Like my mom said, it's a gradual process. One day they are sleeping in their own room, the next they are going to school. Finally they move off to CA and become married and have their own children. :)

New dress

With two weddings in the next couple of months, I needed a new dress. I bought this one at White House Black Market. I don't like the way the model is wearing it, but it looks better in real life. I am still trying to lose weight, but at least I could fit into a size 4.


Also my feet have grown in length so I am now an 8.5. All of my 8 shoes are too small. Will my feet go back to their normal size (I still feel that my joints are loose) or will I stay a larger size?

Family photos

Here are some family photos that we took earlier today:

Christopher is 12 weeks today!

Feeling melancholy

It's 10:30 at night and I will be going to bed soon. Christopher has been asleep now for the past hr.

Today was a good day with Christopher. He loves going outside on walks and is entertained easily. He enjoys looking at new people and visiting new places, much like me.

I love his sweet little voice when he coos at me. It just melts me. It's just amazing to see this little person grow.

I truly believe that motherhood is something that I was meant to be. I can't imagine not being to fulfill this role.

It's going to be so hard to start work again and be separated from my Christopher. :(


Christopher giving me his sideways glance.

Sweatin' it out Labor Day weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was probably one of the most memorable holiday weekends that I can think of to this date. Hopefully we will not have another weekend like this again!

It started Saturday afternoon. I had just woken up from a nap at 3pm and noticed that the power had turned off. I went downstairs to find Alfonso looking for flashlights. Alfonso attempted to reset the main breaker, but nothing happened. Meanwhile I called the power company and reported the power outage. Apparently we were the only house in our area to have an outage. Meanwhile, it was getting seriously hot in our house. This past week we've had a heat wave with the temperature in the triple digits. Our house was beginning to feel like a sauna. Poor Christopher was stripped down to his diaper and rocking in his swing sleeping peacefully.

The power company said that they would come to our home as soon as possible (we reinforced that we had an infant) but it could take as long as 48 hrs. Without electricity and no air conditioning, we were in a jam. Alfonso called up our good friends Diego and Julie. They said that it was okay for us to spend the night, but they had guests visiting from Philly. We would work it out since they also have an office and we could just sleep in the office.

We spent Saturday night at Diego and Julie's. We brought out pillow top and laid it out on the floor of the office room. Christopher had his own little area off to the side and fell asleep by 10 pm. Meanwhile Alfonso was calling air conditioning companies to come and repair the AC (we believed that the AC unit was linked to our loss of power). Since it was a holiday weekend, we were having difficulty reaching technician's. We were able to reach a few companies, but they would not be able to come until Monday.

Sunday morning Alfonso went back to the house and the power had been restored. He made more phone calls to technician's, but they would not be able to come until Monday. Since we purchased the house less than a year ago, we had a one year insurance that would cover us if anything went wrong in the house. Alfonso called the insurance company, but that policy had been cancelled the day we moved in. Alfonso was able to find the company on our paperwork and left a message with the insurance company, but we did not hear from them until the next day (Monday).

Alfonso had bought two fans from Walmart (Home Depot was sold out) for almost $200. After a couple of hours of sitting in 90 degree air that was being blown around by the fans, we decided to spend another night at our friends house.

Christopher sweatin' it out




Monday afternoon the AC technician visits the house. We had a bad capacitor but he was able to replace it in five minutes. Total cost was $300. Now we have electricity and AC!

We ate dinner at Diego and Julie's and then start to pack up to go back home. Earlier in the day Alfonso had a premonition that what if the electricity and AC were not working again. I reassure him that everything should be fine...

Since we had taken seperate cars, I was the first to reach the house. When I pulled up into the driveway, I am pushing and repushing the garage door remote. Nothing is happening. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I open the front door and sure enough we do not have electricity.

"Alfonso we have a problem..."

Once again I am on the phone with Edison. I am on hold for over fifteen minutes when a second call comes in. It is the Edison repairman asking if we have no power again. Indeed we do not have any power, and yes we have tried resetting the main breakers. He will be by shortly..

At 8:30pm the Edison repairman shows and determines within five minutes that we need a new breaker. He advises us to find an electrician to replace the breaker. The repairman leaves as quickly as he came.

There is an electric repairman van that is always parked on the street a couple of houses down from us. We walk over to the house and ring the doorbell. A young guy without a shirt answers us from his balcony. "Excuse us, do you know whose van this is?" He answers that it is his. "We know that it is late, but we really need your help." We briefly explain to him what is going on and he says that he will be down in a couple of minutes.

He takes a look at our main breakers and confirms that we need a new one. By this time it is 9pm. Alfonso runs to Home Depot (we aren't sure if they are open especially since it's Labor Day weekend). At 10pm Alfonso returns (he forgot his wallet the first time around) and the guys set to work replacing the breaker. By 10:30pm we have power and we are up and running. Eternally grateful for our neighbor we wrote him a check.

We slept almost 12 hrs that night. Now we are working on working on getting the reimbursement through the insurance company.

New job, new decisions

Last week I interviewed for a new position on the surgery floor. The nurse manager offered me the job on the spot, so I accepted. This will be a full-time day position, so I would be working three days a week from 7am until 7:30 pm. For the past four years, I have been working nights (7pm-7:30am) and I have been wanting to switch to days for a long time. Working nights has it's benefits; there are less tests and procedures, little doctors, and usually some down time that allows you to catch up on your work. However, sleeping all day before and after a shift along with the constant schedule change on your body can be very difficult.

Now that I am working days and Alfonso is working nights, what about the baby? Not only do we both work 3 days a week, we also have to work 2 weekend days in a pay period. Also, Alfonso (for example) cannot work on a Monday night with me working the following morning (thereby his shift running into Tuesday morning at 7:30 with my shift starting Tuesday morning at 7am). Finally we agreed that I would be working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday during the day, and he would be working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at night. We would have Saturday off together, but this does not include Alfonso sleeping until 2-3pm on Saturday after 3 nights of work. It's very difficult, but I hope that we can manage. We have thought of alternatives in case this does not work out.

We are looking into day care, since we need to consider some backup. Sending Christopher to daycare really petrifies me. Images of Christopher crying without anyone picking him up or someone mistreating him keep flashing through my mind. I know that this is not the case at most day care centers, but this is what I keep thinking about. When I was younger my mom stayed home and watched all four of us. We never went to daycare, so perhaps my fear of daycare is related to me not having an experience with daycare.

Next week I plan on looking at day care facilities, so perhaps I will feel a bit better. I do not start work for another two weeks, so I have a little bit of time left.