My baby girl just hit the one year mark yesterday and what a year it has been! She has brought purpose and meaning to my life while helping to shape our family's future. I have always been the fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl. My goals were broad and making serious plans to achieve them were not a priority of mine. First came love, then came marriage, then came the baby in the baby carriage...that's when things got tricky.
From the moment I held Mia in my arms and felt this inexplicable connection, my life got quite confusing. I did not want to share her with anyone else. I could not imagine leaving her with another person while I worked all day at a job I wasn't passionate about to begin with. However, we weren't one of the lucky ones who could drop one half of our income while maintaining our comfortable lifestyle. So the first puzzle we had to solve was how to allow me to stay home while bringing in a little income. I have always loved children so I decided why not keep a couple at home while keeping my own? I posted an ad on craigslist and within a couple weeks I had 3 one year olds and our back room went from breakfast nook to playroom.
A had quite a few friends tell me I was crazy taking on 3 in a challenging age group while adjusting to motherhood myself. But, it was not so bad at all. I would take on 3 one year olds to 1 bitchy bank customer anyday! However, there were challenges here as well...our house was always beyond perfect for the two of us; tight for 3 of us; and downright suffocating as an in-home daycare. I was not able to easily pack my little munchkins in the car for an outing and unless one baby stayed home we were stuck in our 1000 sq foot house all day long and I began to HATE our house with a passion. I wanted something bigger. I think many family's face this challenge after a baby, our house seemed to have shrunk.
So here came puzzle number two. How do we get into a bigger house while still allowing me to stay home with my Mia? With the help of Justin's amazing mother we were able to get on track to solve this one pretty quick. We decided to move in with her while renting out our house and saving and shopping for a larger one. Of course, with our baby and two dogs asking to keep 3 kids there as well would be out of the question. So I had to break the news to the families that I would not be able to keep the 3 kiddos after the move.
I was blessed to be able to keep one at her home as a nanny after the move. I have now been taking care of this sweet girl since she was Mia's age and she going to be 2 soon. I have fallen madly in love with this baby and her older sister (who I have had for the summer). While this has been one of the hardest jobs I've ever had it's by far the most rewarding. Nothing is sweeter than getting to witness one of God's creations grow and blossom by the day. And while each day has brought it's own challenges a connection to the children has also become stronger. We have had an amazing summer together; going to playdates, meeting new friends, spending days at the pool and even getting to experience childhood again as I played barbies and make believe with big sis during naptime.
We had another puzzle to solve, however. What comes after this? I will still need/want to bring in an income and as much as I love children I don't see myself changing diapers forever. Mia won't be home forever, either. Although this is a ways down the road I began to really think about what my next move will be when Mia starts pre-school. I was a dork and got a bachelors degree in History which doesn't open many windows. I started working at a bank in management when I graduated school and continued on that track for the 4 yrs before I had Mia. It paid well and allowed me to have weekends off but I never loved banking and most days didn't like it at all. So I definetely don't want to go back to that.
I have always wanted to go to be a cosmetologist, since I started cutting my friends hair at age 12 (if you read this Amber Garland, you'll remember, lol). But a four year university seemed like the more prestegious thing to do after high school. Well, all these years later I still have a passion for doing hair and my dream for my career is to enjoy going to work. With all that said puzzle number three has been solved and another transition is on it's way. It makes since to go ahead and complete cosmetology school while we are not committed to a mortgage payment. So yesterday, on Mia's birthday, we made our final major transition of her first year. I registered for cosmetology school at Franklin Hair Academy and I enrolled Mia in school. I am torn between extreme exitement to finally get to do hair and a sadness that is going to come with missed time from my baby and a separation from two little girls that have become like my own.
