Ode to the Van

Wednesday. One week. Five Work days. Till I get to be a Stay at Home Mom. I guess I should correct and say "Work at home Mom." The weather is fabulous here! It's very difficult to concentrate at work. Today at lunch I spent time out on the patio eating lunch and enjoying the sun. This morning when I dropped Ardyn off at daycare, the kids were playing outside. When I took Ardyn out to her teacher, Ava came running up to me from nowhere. I was so impressed that she knew right who we were! I didn't even see her until she was right in front of me. She said "Hi!" and I said "Hi Ava!" and she pointed at Ardyn and smiled and said "Baby!" and I said "yes! What's the baby's name, do you remember?" and I thought for just a second that I would have to remind her, and I could see the wheels turning, and she suddenly looked up at Ardyn and then at me, and said "Ardyn!" and I said "Good job! Her name is Ardyn!" She was so excited to see us. I wanted to scoop her up and give her a hug and kiss but thought that I might freak her out so I just grinned at her. She was so thrilled to be outside when Ardyn was. It was cute!

I am reading Water for Elephants for my online book club, which was started by the group of moms that I belong to (our kids are all the same age.) So far it's a good book. It's intriguing and I can't help but think something big is at the end. Or perhaps that the end explains the beginning. I also have a stack of about 7 parenting and kids magazines that I have to read, and since I keep not having the time, I made myself carry them around in my shoulder tote for three days, as penance. I feel guilty, but keep telling myself that soon I can relax and read up. I thought maybe if I carried them with me that I might have a minute here or there to pick one up, but no such luck. So finally I gave up and left them at home instead. Besides those things are HEAVY!

Last night we signed the paperwork for our new VAN! Can you believe it! After all those posts about how I will NEVER Drive a van, it came down to me begging for a van. Ha. Can I just say first of all that I heart Stow-n-Go? Ohhh Do I ever. So it's a navy blue 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. We found it at Browning Dodge, locally, which was also nice. We bought it for about $4000 less than it blue books for, which was amazing. It has 25,000 miles and still has factory warranty. They sold it brand new off their lot to their office manager, and she turned around and traded it in for a new vehicle, so it has been taken excellent care of and has had all it's work done right there since she works there. I am thrilled. We looked at 2007 and some 2006 Models in Peru and they wanted OUTRAGEOUS amounts of money for them, and they were so basic with no options, AND they were filthy! Cigarette burn holes in the floor mats and carpet, stains, ACK. Not something I would pay the $20-27 thousand that they were asking! It was insanity. That's like $5-12,000 more than we paid! It has full stow-n-go, captains seats, power drivers seat, power sliding doors, CD and cassette, dual climate control, rear heat/air, read defrost, cruise and radio controls on the steering wheel, the whole deal. It's immaculate and Ardyn's car seat fits so wonderfully! And the stroller. I could actually GET groceries in this thing, and we can all fit! Right now, whoever rides in the passenger seat of my car, has to have their knees touching the dash and their head touching the ceiling/visor. It's crazy. So Saturday we pick up the van. Can't wait! The payments will be less than half what my car payments were. Ahhh. Now I get to sell my car! Today I called my insurance agent to add the van.

I am waiting on two Little Tikes toys for Ardyn. I sold some diapers on diaperswappers and had paypal, so I grabbed up a couple of used Outdoor toys online. Of course they are more indoor/outdoor toys, and I don't anticipate that we will ever leave them outside, because of their value and that we want to keep them clean and free of fading. I got two retired items, which were hard to find. The Little Tikes Peek-A-Boo Tunnel, and the Little Tikes Activity Garden. I remember babysitting for kids who had the Activity Garden and they LOVED that thing. I loved that thing! It's perfect for Ardyn right now, and the Peek-A-Boo Tunnel is great for crawlers and I think she will enjoy it immensely this summer. The Activity Garden I am tracking through FedEx. I feel like if I even SEE A fed-ex or UPS guy on my street I might tackle him. I saw one earlier in the week and it was all I could do to stay in my car. He.

Also new is Ardyn's 2nd tooth. Last weekend and the beginning of this week I made mention that she was really gnawing on my hand, and that the first tooth must be pushing through the rest of the way. Well, last night she smiled at me and there were two bottom teeth instead of one! I know for a fact that there was only one on Sunday night, so it must have came through either Monday or Tuesday. She also has started to make a pig sound in her throat, the first time I heard that was yesterday. It's too cute.

This weekend I am excited to see Carrie, and perhaps Angela if she ever gets her act together and calls me. We are supposed to get together this weekend and go out for supper, since Carrie will be home and Angela will be having the big 30th birthday next Tuesday. I bought her a card back before Valentine's day because I found the PERFECT one. Then I thought that her birthday might be March 28th instead of April 28th so I called her that day and she clarified. I sat right down, filled out the card, addressed and stamped the envelope. Then Evan kept asking me if I wanted to mail it, and I kept saying no because I wanted it to arrive close to her birthday. And now, I can't find it. Ugh! Did I mail it? Did I lose it? Jeez this is insane. I know she will laugh when I tell her this, but really, It's embarrassing.

Today I also grabbed Ardyn's newest shot records from the Dr. Office so that we are ready when we switch to a pediatrician this June. I also got paperwork to fill out for my exit interview at work. Paperwork Paperwork.

I have a new plan. Although I think it's probably too good to be true, I have used a giant wipe off board and tried to schedule certain tasks on certain days. I am hoping that this will keep me on track and doing a bit of things each day, instead of running around too much on one day. If I wake up in the morning and say "all I HAVE to accomplish today is vacuuming and washing diapers" or "All I have to do today is wash jeans and clean out the fridge" or "All I have to do today is get groceries and wash fruits and vegetables." I don't know how it will work. Or if it will work. But I will give it the best try I can. I have it pretty strategically planned. Clean the fridge out one day. Make the grocery list the next day. Get groceries the following day. Wash each type of clothes once a week so that I only have to do a load or two of laundry each day. Wash Diapers every other day. Wash the Dog Bowls once a week. Give them baths every two weeks. Change the bedding every two weeks. That type of stuff. And of course there will be instances when the plan won't work. When I have something going on and won't be home, when Ardyn doesn't allow me to accomplish much. But I think that I feel good about having a plan. Once I feel like the whiteboard plan is finalized, I will transfer it to paper and give it a trial run for a week or two and see if it is feasible or if it needs tweaking or trashing.