I thought I should get some videos up of us doing our ordinary everyday stuff so that starting next week, when Travis misses me and E, he can watch us and pretend we're still here. The added benefit is that all of you who want to see some of the highlights of our extraordinary life can do so too!
Here's Ethan being cute and trying to get Travis to give him one of favorite things to eat: paper.
Next up is vertical video of Ethan jumping in his Johnny Jumper. He fell out of love with it for a while and we reintroduced him to it this past week. Well, absence must make the heart grow fonder because he's crazy about it again. (I took this video vertically and didn't have time to make it horizontal. Sorry)
Now you can see how Ethan crawls like a big boy now and really gets around. My favorite part is when he crawls to the window to look for dad. We, meaning me, E and Lex, like to wait by the window when he's due home.
This video is evidence of how helpful Ethan is. Almost 11 months old and already loving to unload the dishwasher. Is he a stud or what?
Last, but certainly not least, we have a video of what it's like when E wakes up from a nap. Or at least what it was like today.
In other news, Monday I had a feeling I should check my old email account. I did so and found an email from the sitter we'd found (through sittercity.com) that was going to tend E while I was in class. She's a stay-at-home with two little boys and Travis and I had driven down to meet her and her husband. They seemed like great people and we were relieved to have somewhere trustworthy E could go while I was in class. In any case, she said they've had some family situations arise and she can no longer watch E. She apologized a lot and I feel sorry for her and for whatever has happened with her family.
But now I feel beside myself with what to do with E. I've scanned the site for other sitters and didn't find anything promising. Plus, I really don't have the time to check references, do a background check and meet them in their home. I called just about every (I might have missed a couple) day care in Spanish Fork, Springville, Provo & Orem and they're all on waiting lists. I found one that wasn't and do you want to guess how much it is? $496 a week. That's right. A week. They don't do part-time care, so even though I only need him watched 4 hours a day, it's still $496 a week. We debated training Lexie to watch him, but I don't think I can rely on her.
I feel beside myself. For the first time ever, yesterday I was driving home from an errand and thought, "Right now, I don't even care about finishing school. To heck with it all. I want to buy flowers and plant a garden and live a normal life." (I was driving by a nursery when this thought occurred, hence all the plants involved.) My mom is checking with people she knows to see if anyone would be interested in watching E. Nonetheless, I don't want someone to watch him that will feel put out by it. I want someone who genuinely wants to care for him.
This probably sounds really gripey and whiney and I'm sorry for that. At the end of the day, I know that God will take care of everything. But it's a little unnerving to know that my classes start in 6 days and I don't know what I'm going to do with E. If you know anyone who is a sane, trustworthy individual that would be interested I'd love to know. If not, words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated at this point in time.
