HE GOT THE JOB!!!

Praise God! Last night my husband was offered the position with the company he really wanted, and they met his salary expectations. He will actually be making 25% more than he was at his last job. Not only is the salary incredible, but there is a great benefits package including full medical, dental, and vision coverage for the three of us, and a 401K which starts right away.

I am so excited for and proud of Gregg that he will finally be earning what he's worth, and in a position that seems made for him. He'll be doing tech support for Jersey Eagle Sales, a large wholesale beverage distribution center in Jersey City (a hop, skip, and a jump away from NYC). They want him to start on January 5, and they're going to fly him out to Michigan at their headquarters so he can learn all the ins and outs of the business. He'll be there for three days, then fly back to New Jersey and start in their office here on 1/8.

And with his salary requirements met (plus quarterly performance bonuses), that means I won't have to go back to work! I can keep being a stay at home mom, which I'm really excited about!!

I'm so glad we won't have to struggle like we have been recently to make ends meet. The money in our account is almost gone. I guess I thought it would last longer than it did. I do have one more paycheck coming on January 2, for an adoption profile I completed at the end of October. It wasn't signed off on by the county by November 30, so it wasn't included in my December check. So we'll have to make our money stretch a bit further for a little while until Gregg gets his first paycheck, but we'll be okay.

God is so good. He has totally blessed and provided for our move back here. Now we have even one more reason to celebrate this Christmas!

A Lazy Sunday

Here I am, enjoying my last day before going back to work. In a way, it seems like forever ago that I left to have a baby and in another, it's like no time has gone by at all. These past six weeks have definitely been challenging, but so rewarding too. I have loved being home with my son. I'm not sure how balancing work with raising a child is going to pan out yet. Plus taking care of all of the household responsibilities. I'm very fortunate to have a husband that helps out tremendously, though.

Hopefully someday I will be able to just stay at home full-time. When I imagined myself having kids, I was always at home with them while my husband went to work. I'd watch Sesame Street and Blues Clues with them in the morning while sneaking in a few house chores here and there, take them to the park in the afternoon, and have time to prepare a nice dinner which would be ready just in time for their dad's arrival home. As long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a mom. I need to remember that even though I work full-time, I am still a mom!

I still get to see my beautiful baby boy every day and watch him achieve all his milestones. And it's not like I'll be chained to my office eight hours a day, five days a week. There are certain things I have to put in time for at the agency, and I need to make weekly visits to the kids' homes when they get home from school. Other than that, I can do progress notes, reports, and treatment plans from the comfort of my kitchen table! I'll still have plenty of hours in the day to spend with my little boy. I just need to keep telling myself that...

Switching topics, yesterday we got a visit from my sister and her husband. Valerie hadn't seen Colton since a few days after he was born. She brought a package of diapers and wipes for him, which was a very nice and practical gift! We seem to be going through those like there's no tomorrow. They spent a few hours with us and stayed for dinner & dessert. I'm so glad we only live about two hours from them so we can get together more often.

Here is a dose of Colton cuteness for the day:

He really isn't too fond of tummy time. Right after I took this picture, he started crying. :(

Random Thoughts

All quiet in the Boonstra household... for now. I thought I'd take this opportunity while Colton is napping in his swing to post something. It's amazing how much he consumes my life. Not in a bad way, of course. Just that a lot of my time is devoted to making sure he has what he needs and is happy.

Being a mom sure changes everything. That worried feeling I used to tease my own mother about, I now have. I have pretty much second guessed every decision I've made since he was born, and when he's settled down after fussing or crying and I go do something else, I feel guilty that I'm not spending that time with him. This anxiety has driven me to read all I can get my hands on about how to raise children. It's definitely helped me not to feel so overwhelmed and unprepared.

The washer, dryer, and dishwasher seem to be going nonstop with all the laundry and bottles Colton goes through in a day. I'm going through more clothes myself. I don't think there's a day that I haven't been spit up on! I've managed to avoid getting peed on when I'm changing a diaper by placing a washcloth over the "sprinkler". Still, there are times when I'm holding him that all of a sudden I'll start to feel a warm sensation and then need to go change my pants. Those diapers don't hold as much as you think.

I think I'm going to start reliving my own childhood over again now that I have a kid. I started recalling many of the songs I listened to as a child, and began singing them to Colton. My sister and I would listen ad nauseum in our playroom to our Sesame Street records. Decades later, I can still remember a lot of those simple but fun lyrics. I was thinking about going online and seeing if I can get some of the records on cd now.

So this is my last week of maternity leave. I go back to work on Monday. Boo hiss. My supervisor has been really great though about making sure my transition back is as non-stressful as possible. We talked about reducing my caseload to about 4 or 5 "low maintenance" kids and taking on some adoption work to make up the rest of my pay. This would allow me to spend more time at home with Colton. It seems like my agency is really doing whatever they can to keep me, and they understand how difficult it is to return now that I have a small baby.

In other news, Gregg and I ventured out this past Sunday to try yet another church. It was okay. Not great, not bad. The congregation was pretty small but very welcoming. I can't say I instantly felt like this was the church for us, but we'll probably go back. We received a card in the mail yesterday from the pastor thanking us for attending, which was nice.

I'd better go, I hear a baby crying...

Tales of a Pregnant Matron of Honor

Well, I made it. I survived being 35 weeks preggo in the middle of July as my sister's MOH. It was hot. It was humid. But I'm still here to tell about it.

The wedding was really beautiful; very simple yet elegant. My sister looked gorgeous. The dress I wore was amazingly comfortable and fit me great. A lot of people commented to me on how I look "all baby", and a few said I'm going to go early. Yeah, we'll see. Here is the run down of how the weekend went:

It only took us about two hours to get to D.C. on Friday afternoon. We arrived just at check-in time (3pm) and the rehearsal wasn't slated to begin that evening until 6pm, so we went up to our room and relaxed before hailing a cab to the church where we met up with the rest of the wedding party. We did three run-throughs which took the whole hour. Afterwards, my mom, my sister, and myself piled into Rebecca's (one of the bridesmaids) tiny car and sped to the rehearsal dinner site while everyone else walked over. I was pretty worn out by then and didn't really enjoy dinner. The food itself was good, but the restaurant was so loud I could barely hear myself think and my neck & back were killing me.

When Gregg and I got back to the hotel, and we went straight upstairs to the room to get ready for bed. I didn't fall asleep too easily, though. I think I must have woken up about twenty times that night, due to having difficulty finding a comfortable position in bed and hearing the non-stop sirens blaring through the streets below. The hotel was located right smack dab in the middle of everything, which was convenient but also very noisy. It didn't have its own parking garage attached to the building, so who knows where the valets actually put all of the cars. We all got a steeply discounted rate for staying there, but admittedly it was a bit crapulent.

The next day I opted out of the extras before the ceremony, like the bridal brunch and getting my hair done at the salon (which was a four block walk from the hotel). Gregg & I ventured out to find breakfast that morning, thinking we would find a little cafe or something nearby. Ha. The nearest place was two and a half blocks away. I barely made it. The heat was ridiculously oppressive. I spent the rest of the day indoors and relied on Gregg to bring me a sandwich so I'd have something to eat before leaving for the church. I joined up with the girls later in my sister's suite to have my makeup done by Rebecca, then went back to my room to quickly throw on my dress and do something with my hair.

An hour later I was making my grand entrance down the aisle, trying to stay balanced and poised so as not to trip. Humpty Dumpty did not have a great fall, thank goodness. After the ceremony began, I sat in a chair that had been set up for me until it was time for the bride and groom to walk out. I felt slightly foolish, however I reminded myself that it was pretty obvious I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant, and no one would think badly of me. We took a cab over to the reception after pictures and got something to eat at the cocktail hour.

Right before the wedding party was to walk in, the DJ mentioned something about the best man and matron of honor giving their toasts after the first dance. I was not planning on giving on a toast, and hadn't recalled being asked (my sister blamed it on my baby brain), but I thought okay whatever, I'll do it. I have no idea what I said, but everyone told me it was lovely. The rest of the evening was kind of a blur. I couldn't really dance, so I was mostly glued to my chair for the next several hours except for getting up occasionally to take pictures. Gregg and I ended up leaving the reception early and heading straight to bed. Yup, we were the life of the party let me tell ya. We left this morning around 11am, stopping at Waffle House somewhere in Maryland for a late breakfast.

I'm very glad that I was able to participate in the wedding and see my sister get married. I'm also really glad to be home. Being as huge as I am, I just didn't feel "normal". I felt left out in a lot of ways, because I simply couldn't do a lot of the things I'd otherwise do with no problem. I know it meant a lot to Valerie just for me to be there, though.

Now that the wedding is behind me, I can really focus on getting ready for Bubba's arrival. Only three more weeks of work before maternity leave starts. It can't come fast enough. I feel like work has become so cumbersome. I'm trying to wrap up what I can and make sure my charts are in order before transferring all my cases, but instead of winding down, more stuff gets dumped on me that I need to take care of. I'm trying remember to take it one task at a time, and not allow myself to become overwhelmed. 8.8.08 is almost here!!

After a hard day's night:

Wonderful Weekend

One that you want to last... It started off with the amazing experience of seeing our son in utero via ultrasound. I took the rest of the day off on Friday, and besides calling everyone to tell them what we're having, did laundry & packed for our trip up to New Jersey. We left shortly after Gregg got home from work and arrived at his parents' around 10pm.

My sister's bridal shower on Saturday was a huge success. It was a lot of fun and great to see friends and family I haven't seen in a while. Already the proud mama, I showed off my baby boy's first pictures which everybody oohed and aahed over. I got a lot of comments about how good I look.

The next day, Gregg & I had Sunday "dinner" with his family before leaving to head back to PA. That's one of the things I miss about living in Jersey- my MIL's home cooking! I filled up on roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, homemade bread and chocolate cream pie with ice cream. My mother-in-law took my measurements for the dress she's making me for my sister's wedding. I've gone from a size 8 to a size 14! We found a nice pattern together on Ebay, based on the style I wanted.

Now it's back to the daily grind. I had to teach a foster parent training class this morning, which I worked on until 11pm last night. This was the first time, believe it or not, that I put a powerpoint presentation together. Thankfully, my technologically savvy husband showed me what to do. The class actually went pretty well, and I received some compliments on how informative it was.

Here are some pics from the shower:

My sister with her bow bouquet and obligatory silly shower garb.

The cake, modeled after the invitation and our theme, which was "April Showers bring July Weddings"

Me and my mom

My dad with his girls, the bride to be and the mother to be

My sister, Valerie with her fiance, Bill

Me and hubby

And here's my 19w5d shot:

Bobbing For Apples

Wow, these last few days have passed by in a blur! I'm so grateful to have some downtime right now. I *finally* started at Family Care Services this past Wednesday. It was weird after not going to work for two whole weeks. I think I got too used to the time off, because the job is kicking my butt! There is SO much to learn and honestly, I'm overwhelmed which everyone there keeps saying is perfectly normal and I'll get the hang of things eventually. The program director, who's my supervisor, is great and very patient with me.

I can't help feeling like an idiot though, because I don't even know yet where I can get a stinkin' pen to write with. It's been like my first few days at school or something; I have to learn how to do my job as well as learn the agency "etiquette" and where things like office supplies are. My co-workers have been very helpful with stuff like that, thankfully. I've already met four of the kids on my caseload along with their foster parents, and accompanied another social worker on a home visit to see how it's done. I feel pretty good so far about the job and can tell it will be so much better than my last one.

The one thing I'm not crazy about is all the paperwork involved. There's just no getting around it in social services though. The "bigwigs" in government handing down the money have gone to the extreme making sure we do our jobs correctly, we're doing everything we can do protect the well-being of the kids we're in charge of, blah blah blah. Of course, all that is very important but it's ridiculous when you're spending more time writing progress notes than actually meeting with clients!

I also learned that I have the potential to earn more money if I take on more cases. I'm considered full-time with a caseload of seven, but could take as much as 10-11 if I felt comfortable. The agency is also offering dental and vision coverage in addition to medical benefits and a 403(b) plan that they start contributing to after six months whether you put anything in or not. Since we only have the health benefits through Gregg's work and a flex spending plan for everything else, I'm taking advantage of Family Care's dental and vision insurance for both of us which they pay 100% of.

After a three busy days of trying to cram all this new knowledge into my head, I am so glad the weekend's here. Last night after dinner, Gregg and I went to the new Lifeway Christian bookstore to get the study guide we need for small group. They didn't have it, so we left and stopped at Bruster's on the way home for ice cream. We both ordered Apple Pie flavored cream in a waffle cone. Yummy!

Today we went to the Apple Harvest Festival out near Gettysburg which was really fun. There were like, a million people there, and the temperature was up in the eighties! Not the typical Autumn outdoor event I was looking forward to, but oh well. There were times the sun was so strong it made me dizzy and light headed. I felt better after chugging a sample of apple cider at one of the stands. In addition to all the apple-themed stuff, there were all kinds of arts and crafts booths, concession stands and a tractor pull.

Gregg especially liked the displays of the antique machines. They had several old car engines from the original model-T days, a steam powered apple corer/peeler and an old washing machine. A good time was had walking around, eating overpriced food and yes, even buying a homemade apple-y craft. My feet were hurting by the time we got to the car and I was ready for a nap!

I had an upsetting incident this morning before we left when I took Tess for a walk. This stray cat around our building that is really nasty just recently had kittens. The kids on our street thought it was a good idea to put out cat food and water for them just ten feet away from our door. When I went outside with the dog, I noticed the cats by the bush on the opposite side of the stairs leading up to our unit. As we were coming back from the walk, Tess started getting all worked up because the mother was sitting there staring at her making these creepy sounds.

Now, our dog goes nuts whenever she sees a cat. When we lived in Florida, she jumped right through the window in the living room, tearing out the screen, to go running after a cat that was across the street. I don't think she's out to harm them; she just thinks they're fun to chase.

She started pulling on the leash so I had her sit, knelt down and petted her to try and keep her calm. I made sure I got my keys ready, stood up and walked towards our door. Tess kept pulling towards the cat and her kittens though, and an altercation ensued. The cat hissed and lunged at her, stratching her on the nose. When I saw the blood, I freaked out which didn't help the situation. I started yelling at the cat to get away and yelled up to Gregg who was probably still in the shower and couldn't hear me anyway. I'm sure I must have looked like a complete raving lunatic to all the neighbors at 8am.

I tried to go around to the backyard, but the psycho cat followed us. After she was clawed, Tess backed down but the cat kept coming after her. I just froze where I was, afraid that if I moved anymore she would hurt Tess again. She sat down right in front of us and kept making those horrible banshee-like noises. We must have had a stand-off for at least five minutes there before finally I held the leash firmly in both hands, turned around and walked the other way. The cat went back to her kittens, and now I still couldn't get back in the house. Gregg saw me from the window kneeling with Tess in the parking lot and I motioned for him to come outside. I started crying and told him what happened. He told me to go inside and unlock the back door while he brought the dog around the side of the house.

This is not the first time this particular cat went postal on our dog. It happened about two weeks ago, again right outside our door. I was actually standing on our stoop, just about to turn the key in the lock. I was hoping Gregg would call Animal Control then, but he forgot about it. It's on now. That cat has got to go. Vent for a minute: How is it that by law I'm required to leash my dog in public but cats are just allowed to roam free? I understand the reasoning that some breeds are by nature unpredictable or vicious towards humans but in this case the cat attacked my dog. Not once but twice. If I had a tranquilizer, I'd shoot the thing myself and sell off the kittens. And not to the neighborhood kids who feed them!

It reminds me of the Mad About You episode when Jamie's sister adopted a cat from the shelter and it turned out to be a baby Puma or something. It went psycho on Paul and Murray, their dog, and had them trapped in the kitchen. They had to sit up on top of the refrigerator! Funny stuff, but not when it actually happens in real life.

Another Update

So we might have finally found a place. We went to look at a townhouse a week and a half ago that will allow a dog. It's an end unit about five minutes from where we're staying now with new tile, new carpet, a brand new dishwasher and nice spacious backyard. The man who's renting it out is a friend of someone we know from church who basically lobbied for us, since this guy was reluctant to let us have a dog there. His friend was persistant, and Gregg got a call one day asking if we'd like to come see the rental. We both really liked it and sent back the application a few days later. We're still waiting to hear from the guy whether or not we've been approved, but we're hoping!

This week was really tough for me professionally. We found out that the state put a temporary freeze on funds allocated to our program, so I and my supervisor had to scramble to come up with a plan to reduce spending which included shifting a staff member over to another department. The executive director now also wants me to take on more clients in order to meet budget requirements and manage the program at the same time. I've found in the last few weeks that I'm doing so many administrative tasks that I barely have time to focus on the clients that I do have already, and they require a lot of time and energy. We serve a very difficult population with many different needs.

I'm starting to wonder, again, if I'm really made for social work. I took so many years off from it exactly because it stressed me out so much. I think I needed to know though, if I could go back; if I wasn't just selling out by not using my degree. I'm completely comfortable saying that this is something I am not cut out for and don't want to do long term. That doesn't mean that I'm going to quit tomorrow, but it has become clear to me that this really is not the career path I want to follow- which is a relief in some way.

This Wednesday Gregg is leaving for Nashville to attend a worship arts conference and will be away until Saturday. So I'll have this big house all to myself while he's gone. I hate when he goes away on business because I can't stand to be apart from him. I'm going to spend some time with my sister in the meantime though, which I'm looking forward to. Straight from work on Friday I'm driving down to her place and staying into Saturday. We plan on going into Baltimore that night to have dinner and see the sights. I'll also get to see her new puppy, Sophie, and talk about wedding details! Since Gregg will be flying out of BWI, I'm going to pick him up from the airport on my way back to Pennsylvania and we'll ride home together.

I'm hoping this week will go smoother and that we'll hear something soon about the townhome. It would be nice to move out by the end of the month!