Precious Moments

Can you guess what she's doing?

A Reason to be Fired Part III

Sorry about the suspense, folks. I didn't have a shift with the new manager for about a week, and then weaning happened, along with mastitis again (fourth time baby! That's like, a record, I'm sure). Anyway, the shift finally came where the new manager was working. He sat down next to me at line-up before shift started and things went something like this:

Me "Are you ***, the new manager?"

GM "Yep!"

Me, hand extended, "I think I made a bad first impression the other day-- I'm Kim."

GM "Kim?"

Me "Yep"

Coworker "Uh, yeah. Me too. Hi I'm ***"

Me "Um, probably not as bad as me. I cried."

Coworker "You what?"

GM "OH. Yeah. You're Kim! Yeah, that was my first day and...yeah."

He seems like a nice guy- kind of annoying right now as he's doing the whole- "find something to correct everyone on so they know who's in charge" thing, but--whatever. I did a similar thing as a teacher, so I understand.

Anyway, things have gone smoothly since then- I've been praying before every shift not to make a fool of myself.

So far, so good.

Well, minus a few typical "Kim errors". Things that only I would do, that make me socially awkward.

I can never seem to avoid those...

First Haircut

The rat tail finally got to me. I couldn't stand it anymore! It had gotten too long, with the rest of the hair having no chance of catching up.

Snip snip!

Ta Dah!

Look how LONG it was!

Silly Mommy! You're so OCD!!

The Face

A few weeks ago, Sam woke up and started doing this:

Seeing us all crack up,

she'd do it again,

and again.

Tricks like this come and go. It was too cute to let it go, so I decided to coin the face with a phrase:

We Love You Uncle Bob!!

A Reason to be Fired, part II

I hang up the phone, frustrated beyond belief, and head upstairs to take a bath with Samantha. As I sit in the tub with her, I start bawling. Sam, thinking I'm laughing, giggles with delight and splashes til her heart's content. I call my mom in and she reaffirms that they are just a "different breed" and are use to 21-year-olds who take their feverish, puking children to daycare or just say "screw it" and don't go in to work without thinking twice about it. She tells me to just call a few people, then call back, tell them you tried, you couldn't and they need to find someone.

So when we get out of the bathroom (the communal speaking grounds at our house) Samantha is surprisingly content to play with a laptop toy, recently loaned to us by a friend. I get online, text/call 4 people without success, and then call the GM back,

GM, "Don't worry, I got the shift covered"

Me, (confused, as he didn't even "answer" the phone) "What?"

GM, "I got the shift covered."

Me, "Great. I just wanted to let you know, I got her to calm down and was able to text/call a few people, but got no answers."

GM (eerily cheerful), "Don't worry about it, it's all taken care of!"





Now, I was a teacher. I'm use to students who throw desks one day, and are perfectly cordial the next. I'm use to starting over and moving on.

But this was a really bad first impression.

I just keep telling myself- what a more honorable way to loose a job, than by taking care of your child...right?

A Reason to be Fired, Part I

I told myself when I started waitressing that I wouldn't post about a table that gave me grief or the pettiness of my co-workers. Those are just part of a job. Like students who don't listen when you're a teacher, or being tired as a mom. They go hand in hand.

But yesterday I experienced something that should not be experienced by anybody at any job--and I need to vent.

Ok, so yesterday was a puking day. They usually go something like this:

Sam pukes. We watch 2 hrs of Baby Einstein while she begs to nurse and then try some water every 10 minutes. Once she holds down the water for an hour, we're good to go.

So when she puked at 7am, and I had a shift at 5:30pm, I thought I'd have plenty of time to get her back on track.

2:00 rolls around and I have only managed to scarf down a pancake as Samantha has been glued to me screaming all day. I thought we were on the tail end of it when she got REAL fussy and wouldn't stop yelling at me for nothing. She had been sipping on some water and at 2:30 her stomach emptied itself out. I'm talking I was soaked. Knowing this was not her typical episode, and that I still had a ways to go with her, I decided to call into work.

Now, let me premise this with a) we have a new GM (I haven't even met him yet) b) I've gotten at least 3 calls from managers in the past 3 months looking for someone to cover a shift for people who have sick kids or are sick themselves.

I get on the phone with the GM, and the conversation goes something like this,

Me, "Hey, ***, listen, I can come in tonight if absolutely necessary, but my daughter has been puking all day and she just covered me again with vomit. Is there anyway you could see if someone could cover my shift?"

GM, " You're working at 5:30, right?"

Me, "Yeah, I'm sorry, I thought she would be fine, but like I said, she just puked on me again."

GM, "So you can't come in?"

Me, "Well, I'd rather not- especially because I've been sharing a waterbottle with her all day and she's been puking on me."

GM, "Did she puke on your uniform? Is that why you can't come in?"

Me (dumbfounded), "Um, no- she's sick."

GM, "Tell you what, go ahead and release your shift online (a very handy program I might add!), I'll ask around here if someone can pick up your shift, and you call whoever isn't working and see if someone can cover for you. Can you do that for me?"

Me, (confused), "Um...sure, yeah, I guess. Ok"

So I get onto the online program and after 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to pull up everyone's info, Sam pukes again (where did all that liquid come from?!) and narrowly misses the computer (my lap was the only place she would be content).

At this point I'm in a towel, as I haven't had a chance to change or wash since the first puking incident, have a panicking baby in my arms who keeps shoving the puke bucket away because she thinks it is what is causing her to puke. Seeing as it is now close to 3 and I have come nowhere near finding someone to cover my shift, I call the restaurant back,

Me (fussing baby 2 feet from phone) "Hey *** Listen, I need your help, my daughter just puked on me again- I haven't been able to call anyone yet. Would you be able to find someone for me?"

GM, "You won't find someone to cover your shift?"

Me (arching my neck so fussing baby can't get it) "No, she just covered me in vomit again- I was on the computer trying to find the numbers to call--it's just- I need you to help."

GM, "So, what, you guys don't find people to cover your own shifts here?"

Me (with screaming baby who is swatting at the phone and arching her back), "No- sometimes the managers helps us. I'm covered in vomit- I can't do this right now."

GM, "So you're not coming in without finding someone to cover for you."

Me, "No! My child is sick- do you know someone who wants to watch a screaming puking baby?"

GM, "So what you're telling me is that you're not going to find someone to cover your own shift that starts in 2 hrs."

Me, (baby still screaming, me sobbing) "No- it's just- do you not hear the screaming in the background here? (here I just start crying out of frustration-- which, apparently, is necessary for me to do to any manager/boss I've ever had. God's way to keep me humble, I guess) I narrowly missed the computer as I was trying to look up the schedule."

GM, "Fine, I'll take care of it, but I want you to call me later."


to be continued...

A Day in Which I Decide to Wean

Oh, what a day.

I knew I was asking for it, announcing it on the internet and everything.

Sam was up a lot last night and woke up and


can you guess??













She puked.

I don't know if it was the dairy I tried 48 hrs earlier (the time it usually takes to get a reaction from her) or the bug that's been going around her friends and papa or just the change in the wind--I'm tired of guessing and feeling horribly guilty for something as simple as a bowl of ice cream.

The decision is not an easy one. I wanted to go as long as Sam wanted to, or at least 18 months for the health benefits. I enjoy it, Sam enjoys it, and I will miss it. I was trying to explain to Jeremy the connection I'll be losing,

"It would be like if we could never hold hands again. Yes, we could kiss and hug and such- but no hand holding--you'd miss that connection, right?"

I feel very selfish for wanting to stop, but as my mom said (with a hearty laugh),

"Selfish? Kim, she has not been a typical nursing baby! She's had the food allergies, a hard time gaining weight, needed physical therapy, had the puking episodes, colic-- I'd say you've done very well!"

I still feel selfish, as all those reasons are reasons to keep nursing too.

But I'm just so exhausted.

And it was one thing when we were living just the three of us and the whole family was basically on my diet. But now there are five other people constantly eating/cooking/baking/ordering stuff I can't have. The simple thing of putting my butter on the food made for dinner keeps slipping people's minds and I end up having to make my own dinner at the last minute. --even if what IS for dinner is in itself dairy free. I've just started crying when everyone is called for dinner and when I ask if my butter was used I'd get,

"Oh, sorry Kim--I totally forgot!"

She'll be 15 months next Wednesday. We're already down to 3 feedings a day, so I'll be cutting one out every 2 days and finish with a nice cuddly nursing the morning of the 18th.

Then let the celebrations begin!

(Lasagna, chocolate martini, ice cream, Cola Cake at work...)

And a preview to tomorrow's post...

When I called work to tell them my baby had been puking all day and just puked all over me again (3 hrs til my shift started) the response I got was,

"So, did she puke on your uniform? Is that why you can't come in?"

Daddy's Little Firecracker

2010

2009

Health Update

I realized the other day that I haven't given a health update on Samantha after all the testing. I've been a little gun shy posting this, as I don't want to jinx it.

Sam's last puking episode (that lasted all off 15 minutes) was May 8th.

All the tests done in May, and a few since then-- including getting a urine sample (which is lots of fun getting from a female one-year-old by the way)-- they all came back normal. The docs have asked over and over what had changed, as she is a perfectly healthy (albeit small) 14-month-old now.

The only thing we can come up with is that we moved.

Our apartment always had a dead animal/dirty diaper smell to it whenever it got hot outside, and about once a week there was a funky smell outside. My dad says many places will put down new carpet, but not new padding underneath. The odd thing is, this was one of the nicer complexes in town.

I guess we'll never know.

In similar news, since May she's gained 2 lbs (amazing how quickly you can gain weight when you aren't puking). Within 4 days of learning to crawl, Sam picked up on sitting up, pulling up to stand and cruising furniture. She quickly added climbing to her tricks as well. Such talents have lead to a steep learning scale for us too. The coffee table, kitchen table, couches, chairs, and drawers are no longer safe to store stuff. Outlets, stairs, wires, trashcans, doors and dog food are all suddenly very interesting (boy I was spoiled not needing to worry about this stuff for over a year).

She's a very happy baby now, and it brings tears to my eyes to see her exploring and being independent.

It brings a totally different type of tears to see what she's getting into and how long it takes her to fall asleep now (she's pulling up to stand now, remember), but let's focus on the positives here:

My baby is HEALTHY!!

Welcome SITS Ladies!!

Many of you may have noticed a few new things around here- the most obvious being me. I never thought blogging would be so...so...so similar to homework at times! I'd gotten behind and there was so much to blog about, I almost contemplated giving it up-- I had 8 unfinished blogs and several buzzing around in my head. I just didn't know where to start!

Then I got The E-mail-- I was on the schedule to be Queen for a Day! I suddenly got the urge to clean the house, in preparation for the 400+ visitors to pop in. After vacuuming, sweeping and dusting, I then got to work on the blog.

A new background, some extra gadgets, and blogs posted/scheduled- and I think I'm ready.

So WELCOME SITS LADIES!!

For those of you who don't know what SITS is, visit them here! I've found some fabulous blogs and "met" some wonderful ladies who make me feel special by leaving me comments every now and then (you can check them out on the right there).


Ladies, feel free to mosey around. To get a good feel of what kind of stuff goes on around here, check out the following:

1) My genius daughter, talking at 3 months

2) My life with colic

3) My unforgettable six-year-old sister Lucy

4) The occasional snippet on health issues

5) Typical Tuesdays, where I ask for help/opinions

I do ask that you don't leave spam (eg: "Nice/cute/adorable/funny blog! Please stop by mine!").

After all, I just cleaned! :)

Sweet Thang

You get the idea.

Samantha the Giant

A good friend recently had a baby girl.

Who weighed 5.12

Since that was Sam's birth weight,

and I don't remember much her first 3 months of life,

I had to compare.

I walked in with my tiny 1-year-old

and suddenly was holding a giant.

Baby Fashion

Clothes are soooo last month