Leaving my babies...

So we're leaving in just a couple of days now. I'm excited to go! I'm nervous about leaving the kids, though.
Tessa is so excited to spend time with Natalie, Sterling and Deanna. She's counting down the days until we go, lol.
I've typed out an instruction manual for our caregivers that ended up being 7 pages long. Wow! Writing it was fun, and I thought it would be cool to paste here...it's a snapshot of our daily lives and I'm sure it's something I'll want to remember later!
We'll see if it fits...it's very long!

Asher usually wakes up around 7:00. We take him a 6oz bottle of milk right away, because sometimes he’ll fall back to sleep if he gets it fast enough. J Usually if he cries for a long time he’s not going back to sleep no matter what.
I like to get the bottle ready before bed at night so all I have to do is throw it in the microwave in the morning. 30 seconds with the nipple off, then put the lid back on and shake it up before you give it to him so there are no hot spots.
Even if he’s awake he will drink his bottle in his crib. Sometimes he’ll go back down until 7:30 or even 8:00. But some mornings he’s up for the day at 6:30.
Once he cries the second time I get him up and change his diaper. Sometimes he’s peed through. If he is I get him dressed for the day then. If not I just change his diaper and let him stay in his jammies until after his morning nap.
He’s hungry when he gets up and is ready for breakfast within 30 minutes, usually. He’ll eat a container of yogurt or a jar of fruit for breakfast, plus whatever cereal Tessa eats or a piece of buttered toast. If he still acts hungry, or if he ate the first jar quickly, he’ll often eat a second jar of food in the morning. He also loves pancakes - the mix is in the bottom of the pantry, I half the recipe on the back and it makes plenty for the 3 of us with lots of leftovers – he’ll eat pancakes all day.
He has some treats on the bottom shelf of the pantry, watch out when you open the door because he RUNS for it. If he grabs one of those snack containers off the bottom shelf I give him whatever he asks for. I’ll just take 3 or 4 of whatever it is out and put it on a dining room chair or side table in the family room where he can reach it himself.
I fill one of his sippy cups about halfway with water in the morning and he’ll use it all day (with refills, obviously.) He wants to use a real cup like Tessa, and he does a pretty good job at first, but eventually he’ll start pouring it out and playing in it, so I try not to let him have anything but the sippy.

Tessa’s usually up between 7:30 and 8:30. If she has a bad dream at night she’ll come into bed with you. We always take her back after a few minutes if it’s in the middle of the night, but if it’s morning I let her stay in our bed. She’ll sleep longer in there, too.
When she gets up she can watch cartoons. I give her a couple of options, but her favorites in the morning are Fairly Oddparents/Spongebob on channel 124 or the Disney line up on 122.
I have to ask her what she wants for breakfast 2 or 3 times, usually. She’ll say “I’m thinking!” – but she’s not, she’s watching cartoons. Her favorites are oatmeal (top shelf in the pantry) and blueberry muffins (bottom shelf in the pantry) which she will want to help make. Other breakfast options are cereal and a peanut butter and honey sandwich, which you have to cut the crust off of for her. I’ve tried making her do it herself, but the kid is stubborn and lazy and she just won’t eat it if I don’t do it for her. I give her a vitamin with breakfast, they are on the bottom shelf of the small cabinet right of the sink.

Asher goes down for his morning nap around 9:30 or 10:00 and will sleep for an hour to an hour and a half. When he starts acting tired or fussy, or keeps coming to you, he’s ready for his nap. He’ll take another 6oz bottle to bed with him, he likes it warmed up. Make sure to put his pacifier in the crib where he can get it, too. He’s really picky about how he goes down…please don’t think I’m insane, I swear it’s him. Put the cowboy blanket over him first, then the crib quilt. He likes one square of the cream colored part on the front next to the right side of his face and the other cream square across his body where he can touch it with his left hand. Turn on the fan in the bathroom across the hall, and the dishwasher or clothes dryer if it needs to be run – but not the washer, because the spin cycle often wakes him up. He usually sleeps VERY well if you do all that and keep the house quiet. I turn Tessa’s cartoons down to 20 or 22 if the dishwasher is on.

Most of the time this is when I go downstairs to work out. I wait 10-15 minutes to make sure he’s asleep before I go. There’s a baby monitor down there if you decide to use the gym. Tessa will come down with you – sometimes she asks to stay upstairs to watch tv or color. Sometimes I let her, but I prefer she come down with me, because she’s not very trustworthy on her own! She likes to listen to her MP3 (which she calls an I Pod) while we are downstairs. She will play in the front half of the basement. She’s not supposed to go on the other side or on the gym equipment, but she does occasionally. Just yell at her and she’ll stop J

If we stay upstairs Tessa likes to color once Ash is down for his nap. Her crayons are in the cabinet next to the fridge – there’s plain white paper and some little notebooks in there for her to use if she wants those. If she wants a coloring book they are in the filing cabinet in the front closet – she knows where to find them. She often asks for a snack now, too – a granola bar, usually. She’s not great about eating breakfast, so I usually give her one. She can watch cartoons until 10:30 – that’s when she should start cleaning her room. When I turn off the TV I’ll often record Chip and Dale and/or Tale Spin in the DVR. They come in handy later in the day.
She’s supposed to clean her room every morning before school. I let her listen to her MP3 (which she calls an I Pod) while she cleans. She knows how to make her bed, but she might need help if the blankets have been pulled out of the end. She also needs to put her toys away, which she knows how to do, too. Sometimes she whines for help – sometimes I give in.
If I’m not going downstairs to work out this is when I shower and get ready. Tessa has a habit of coming in to ask me something or just hang out, so you’ll probably want to lock the bathroom door if you don't want company!
Around 11:00 Asher will wake up. If he’s not dressed yet I do it now. He may or may not need a diaper change.

Tessa will need her clothes laid out for her. All of her uniform stuff is in the South end of her closet. Her tights and socks are in her top drawer. I’ve been having her wear her boots to school everyday because of the snow. She can wear her blue sweater over her shirt in class, and it’s been cold, so I’ve been having her take it and her coat every day.

For lunch I ask Tess what she wants to eat. She likes chicken nuggets, fish sticks, corn dogs, macaroni and cheese, etc for lunch. She’ll often ask for a “buffet” – which is something I made up a couple years ago because she wouldn’t eat a sandwich. So if she wants a buffet I put 5 or 6 slices of lunch meat (doesn’t matter what kind, she likes it all), 3 or 4 pieces of cheese, 3 or 4 carrot sticks, a pile of crackers and half of a sliced apple on a plate for her. Sometimes I add peanuts or raisins or broccoli or something else to it. She’ll drink water almost all day, sometimes she asks for hot chocolate or juice. She can have ONE cup of something other than water a day. Usually not an issue – she’s very used to water all the time.

Asher will probably want a snack when he sees Tessa eating, but he’s not really ready for lunch yet. He loves apple. I slice the whole thing, give half to Tessa and then peel the remaining slices and cut them into small pieces for Asher. He’ll eat the whole thing.

If I worked out while Ash was napping and I have errands to run while Tess is in school this is when I shower – in the 15 minutes that Tessa is eating her lunch. I don’t strap Ash into his booster while I’m showering, because he can get out of it and then fall and kill himself (it’s really not unlikely, the kid has a death wish, I swear.) He almost always hangs out in the bathroom while I shower – I bring some toys in for him, but he’ll still get in the cabinets and drawers. He’s a pain in the butt. Or you can wait until Tessa’s at school and he’s taking his afternoon nap.
Showering is tricky if you want any privacy.

After she’s dressed and had lunch it’s time for Tessa to finish getting ready. She brushes her teeth in our bathroom. The pink and yellow Barbie toothbrush and the crest kids toothpaste are hers. You’ll have to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush for her, otherwise she uses way too much. Asher will want to brush his teeth, too. The yellow sparkly toothbrush is his. Put a tiny bit of toothpaste on it and you can help him brush if you want. Mostly he just wants to chew on it, though. I try not to let him run around with it because I’m afraid he’ll fall and jam it down his throat or something. Nice thought, I know.

I wash her face for her – she’ll try, but she doesn’t do a good job – and I brush and do her hair now. Make sure she doesn’t forget her backpack when she gets in the truck.

We leave for school at 12:00, which puts us there about 12:10. The K teachers will be out to get the kids at 12:15.

When we get home Asher is ready for lunch. He’ll eat a jar or two of baby food or a hotdog and some sliced cheese and crackers or whatever Tessa had for lunch – anything you can get him to eat is fine.

I swear I have to force feed the kid half of his meals. He’s hungry – and if he doesn’t eat he gets really ornery – but he’s reluctant to sit still and actually eat anything. So I hold his head still – whatever it takes so he eats. It’s a pain, but I promise it’s the better option.
If he’s NOT hungry, you’ll know, because he’ll spit the food out. As long as he’s swallowing he’s hungry, but if he spits you can set him free. If you give him a car to play with while he eats it usually helps so he’s not so intent on getting down. Use one of the bigger cars so he can’t push it under the lazy susan in the center of the table.

After lunch we play until naptime. He LOVES it when I crawl around on the floor and chase him. He’s also very into cars right now and likes when I make car noises. He’s easy to play with – he likes almost everything.
He’ll be ready for his afternoon nap between 1:30 and 2:00. Same drill as the morning nap. He’ll sleep for about an hour, sometimes a bit longer or shorter.

Loading starts at 3:15, I usually leave the house when Ash wakes up from his nap. Ideally I’m there by 3:00, that way I can park and turn off the car to wait instead of inching along – because that’s not good for the truck or the air. Anyway, if he’s not up by about 3:15 I wake him to go.

By the way – when you leave you can just leave the dogs in the house. I keep the gate to the front room up and shut the bedroom and bathroom doors and they’re fine inside. Just make sure there’s no food on the table or counters, because they’ll eat it while you’re gone.
Oh, and also about the dogs – sometimes Ash isn’t very nice to them. He tries to stand on them and he sometimes grabs at their ears or faces. The girls are nice, but I always yell at Ash to get off them or be nice or be soft, and we show him how to be soft by petting them nicely.

After school Tessa needs to change out of her school clothes. She has sweats and other casual clothes to wear, but she almost always choose pajamas. Whatever. She’ll be hungry after school and will want a snack. The beef jerky in the pantry is for her after school – she can have 2 pieces or some crackers, or cheese, or carrot sticks, or fruit snacks. Don’t let her have too much to eat, though, because then she doesn’t eat dinner and then she wants a snack at 8:00 at night, which is a total pain.

Asher eats dinner after we get back from picking Tessa up from school – between 3:30 and 4:00, usually. If he didn’t have baby food for lunch that’s what I give him for dinner. If he did have baby food for lunch I try to give him real food, instead.

Tessa does her homework while I’m feeding Asher. She had a sheet of math work that she can do by herself. When she’d done check it and put your name at the bottom. She’ll need help reading the instructions on her other homework sheet. In the small drawer next to the dishwasher is her pencil bag with her stuff in it – pencils, erasers, sharpener, etc.
After she’s done with homework she can watch cartoons. Curious George is on channel 11 at 5:00. The Simpsons is on Fox at 6:00. Between 5:30 and 6:00 is kind of a wasteland, so this is when I use Tale Spin or Chip and Dale from earlier in the day. She can not watch Family Guy.

Asher has a bath every other night. Tuesday night and Thursday night will be bath night – but if you want to give him a bath on an off night that’s fine, too. It helps calm him down a lot of the time. The easiest way to do it is in the kitchen sink. We scrub out the right side and move everything on the counter and in the other side away from him. The water should fill the sink about half way and should be pretty warm, but not hot. He likes to splash, so watch out. And he tries to stand up, so keep an eye on him all the time. His towels, washcloths, soap and lotion are in the top of his closet, and his pajamas are in his top drawer.
He can have a bath with Tessa, too, but I think it’s harder to do it in the big tub because you have to be all bent over on your knees the whole time – and Tessa plays too rough with him.

He’s ready for bed between 5:00 and 6:00. I try to make him wait until 5:15 or so, but there are nights he’s just too tired. He gets really whiny…you’ll know he’s tired. Put him to bed with another bottle, same drill as naptime. You can turn off the bathroom fan after he’s been down for an hour or so. If he wakes in the night we turn the fan back on – the white noise really helps him sleep for some reason.

Tessa eats dinner between 5:30 and 6:00. If we’re eating something she likes she eats whatever that is. If not, I make her something different. Grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, buttered noodles, quesadilla…her favorite is homemade pizza. She likes to help put the sauce and cheese and pepperoni on. I’ll leave a boboli crust in the bottom of the pantry and you can make pizza with her one night if you want. There’s also a can of “Dora Soup’ – which is another favorite.

After dinner she usually wants a bath. (usually 6:00 or 6:30) She’ll play in there for close to an hour, usually. She needs help washing up and putting lotion on after she’s done. She can get herself dressed. After her bath she can watch a movie in our room or play in her room with her toys. We try not to let her have a movie EVERY night. She’ll want dessert after her bath, too. She can either have ice cream at the table or popcorn. If she’s watching a movie she’ll want the popcorn in there, but she makes a HUGE mess, so you have to threaten her with her life if you let her have it in the bedroom, or you’ll be cleaning up popcorn for an hour. Her movie is usually over around 8:30 or so.
Before bed we read. She usually reads her school book to Daddy and then I read her a chapter or two out of whatever book we are reading or a couple of her short books.
When we’re done reading Matt tucks her in bed – remind her to go to the bathroom first. Sometimes she’s ready for sleep and sometimes she wants to play with her leap pad, which is fine. She’ll fall asleep while she’s playing and we just turn the light off and cover her up again when we go to bed.



Notes:
If either of them get a cut or anything there is Neosporin in the small cabinet right of the sink on the bottom shelf. There are bandaids there, too. All the other first aid stuff is in the linen closet in the big Rubbermaid container on the bottom shelf. There’s also a first aid kit in the truck under Asher’s seat – fyi.
All the kid medicine in the house is on the bottom shelf of the same small cabinet. Dosages are listed on the back.

Asher’s foods are all on the bottom shelf of the pantry. Most of the snack foods for Tess are on the very top shelf – so she can’t reach them herself.

Asher bangs his head into something hard (usually the table) constantly. Don’t worry too much about it. He’s always trying to climb onto a chair, so we keep them tucked all the way in – that discourages him a little bit.

If you lose a pacifier there are more on the second shelf of the corner cabinet. That’s also where the bottles and bibs are for Asher. Washcloths – to clean him up with after he eats – are in the second drawer next to the oven in the left front corner. His baby spoons are in the silverware drawer in the far left compartment of the bottom tray.

Tessa’s MP3 player is in the cabinet next to the microwave on the second shelf. To turn it on press and hold the play button (top of the flower) then hit menu (top of the player) and choose music, then his play again. It doesn’t hold a charge for very long – only 2 or 3 times for her to listen. The charging cable is in a small Ziploc bag in the same cabinet – it plugs in to a USB port.

Asher loves cookies. If he’s reaching for the fridge and whining he probably wants a cookie from the jar on top. Give him half at a time – he makes a mess.

Tessa likes the Wii and has tried golf, bowling and boxing so far. She’s pretty good, and she understands about the wrist strap. She can play if you want to play with her.

Asher sometimes plays in the dogs water in the laundry room. Just keep the light off and he usually doesn’t go in there. If he does I shut the door.

The dogs need to go out first thing in the morning – around 6:30, usually, although they’ll probably just wait until you are up. They’ll want to go out again around 7:30 or 8:00. After that they usually are fine until 4:00 or 5:00 – they’re used to staying in all day. I don’t like to let them out when there are construction workers around, because sometimes they’ll run off to see them. They’ll want to go out 2 or 3 more times at night, though, and we always let them out right before we go to bed.
Their food is in the large orange and black Rubbermaid container in the garage. Usually we’ve been filling the funny pitcher-looking thing with food and leaving it on the landing to fill their bowl with. They can eat whenever – we just fill their bowl when it’s empty.
When we get up in the morning I do a quick once-over the family room to make sure the dogs didn’t puke in the night. They don’t very often, but I’m pretty sure Asher would play in it if he ever found any. Paper towels are under the sink, plastic bags are in the right cabinet under the island, and carpet cleaner is on the top shelf of the linen closet.

Tessa sometimes ties things to the dogs collars or around their necks – she knows that she’s not supposed to, so don’t let her.

Tessa will need to return her school book on Tuesday. She’ll bring another one home with her that afternoon. She needs to read it aloud 3 times before Friday and then return it for a new one. Before she takes it back the sign off sheet in the Ziploc bag needs to be dated and initialed by you.

There are pretzels in the center console of the truck for the kids if they are hungry in the car. They’re not good about waiting. Tessa can share with Asher so you don’t have to keep reaching back to him.

The diaper bag is in the laundry room closet. It’s pretty well packed, you’ll want to add a bottle if you go anywhere with him. There are snacks in the side pockets for both kids, medicine in the inside back pocket, etc.

Asher is teething, so if he’s very ornery for no reason it may because his gums hurt. His Tylenol is in the medicine cabinet on the bottom shelf. He gets 2 droppers full and can have it every 4 hours if he needs it.

Pots and pans are in the corner cabinet next to the oven. Cutting boards are in the right cabinet under the island. Feel free to look anywhere for whatever you need – we’ve hidden all the good stuff J

If you need to shovel the driveway the shovels are at the end of the garage against the North wall. There are gloves and hoodies on the landing. If you need ice melt for the front porch it’s at the bottom of the garage stairs. I try to wait until Asher is down for his nap to go out, but if I can’t wait then I just make sure not to leave the kids inside alone for more than about 20 minutes. Tessa knows to come get you if she needs something. Don’t worry about making it perfect or anything – just so you can get in and out. The truck has gotten stuck on the driveway several times if the snow is deep enough. We usually have to shovel all around it so the tires can get some purchase on the concrete.

Call if you need anything. We’re 5 hours behind you, so as long as it’s not morning you should be fine to reach us on our cell phones. We’ll probably call at night to tell the kids goodnight…I’m not sure how often, though.

My parents live in Sandy and have told me several times to make sure you have their phone number. They can be at out house in about 15 minutes if you need anything – and if you tell my dad it’s an emergency I’ll bet he can make it in half that time J
Home number is 572.3221
Cindy Cell 641.5894
Kevin Cell 330.0951

FYI, Deanna’s cell phone is speed dial 7 on the phone.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
We really appreciate it.