A Week with Mimi and Papa Stan

This semester is Bert's last semester of seminary...whoohoo!!  As he was trying to figure out his class schedule back in December he was having a little trouble since he works full time (limited availability) and has already had many of the classes that were being offered.  One day as I was meeting with one of the girls in our small group she asked me if we had checked into J-term classes.  I responded saying that wasn't really an option b/c we couldn't afford for him to take off an entire week of work (especially with baby #2 just weeks away), but in the back of my mind I started trying to figure out if it could possibly work....if I could work for Bert that week, who would keep Emily, etc., etc.  Ummm??

Side note....Bert and I share a job.  We are the office managers at Archwood Building Company in Raleigh.  I started working at Archwood as the office manager in June of 2008 shortly after we moved to Wake Forest.  When I was pregnant with Emily we decided that if it was possible we would really like for me to only have to work part time, and for Bert to have a more full time position.  So, after talking this through with my boss he agreed to let me start working one day a week and Bert would work the other four.  The one day that Bert wasn't working he would go to class in the morning and we would have a girl from our small group keep Emily for us and during the afternoon he would keep her.  We started this schedule in March 2010 (before I had Em the first week of April) and it has been amazing.  We are so thankful for the flexibility that it provides. 

So, back to this semester.  If I were going to possibly work for Bert that week we would need to first check with our boss to see if it is a possibility and then find someone to keep Emily for us all day on Mon - Fri.  Our boss, Michael, thought it sounded like a good plan, as I have lots of tax documents to prepare during the month of January.  I was needing to prepare all the W-2's, 1099's, etc. sooner rather than later as we're not sure when Hannah's going to make her arrival.  So, now on to my child care conundrum.  I had the idea to check with my parents to see if they might like to keep Emily for us that week.  Emily was already going to be down in GA b/c we were down there for Kristi's wedding (see previous post).  My parents were excited about the idea and said they would LOVE to.  Although I could hardly stand the thought of being away from her for an entire week I completely trusted my parents and I was very thankful for the opportunity for Bert to knock out a class and for me to work all week. 

So, that's what we did.  On Sunday afternoon Bert and I loaded up the car and headed back to Wake Forest without our little Emily.  Many, many tears were shed by me as we were leaving (up to this point the most I had ever been away from her was for 2 days), but thankfully (for Bert) I did calm down.  I knew she was going to have a great week!  

She did have a great week.  She is quite the picky eater, but she really put on a show for them by eating great, sleeping great, and being a joy to be around.  I was thankful.  We got to skype with her every day but one.  They did such a good job taking care of her!  Mama was patient with my list of notes (written and verbal) that I left her, and was really sweet to e-mail us updates through out the day telling us how she was doing. 

We could not have been more excited to see Emily when my parents pulled into Wake Forest with her on Friday night.  I literally jumped up and down.:) 

I don't have many pictures from that week (b/c I wasn't there), but here are a few that my mom took. 

My dad (aka Papa Stan) is the official hair dryer.  My sister and I remember him drying our hair every night when we were still too little to dry our own.   Now he loves drying Emily's hair for us.  I'm thankful for memories like this!  

Playing in Mimi's Tupperware cabinet.  She looks like she's been caught.:) 

Mom and Dad, thank you so so much for keeping Emily for us last week!  She loves her Mimi and Papa Stan so much and I know it was so sweet for her to be able to spend this time with y'all.