Establishing our Routine

Week 2 at work so far has been much better than the first week. I am feeling much more comfortable than I was last week. I think the biggest part of establishing that comfort is that I've gained confidence in her caretakers. Kids R Kids (KRK) just seems to be doing a really good job in my opinion. Every time I peek in on the web cam, it seems like she's doing something interesting...playing in her bouncy seat, going on a "buggy ride" (they have a big buggy that can accommodate 6 kids or something), having story time, playing with the teacher (or eating or sleeping). She's really young but they do what they can to keep her occupied. I was worried that she wouldn't get enough 1-1 attention, but I think they do a good job of spreading themselves out and the ratio at this school is really good, too. At the busiest times of the day there are 4 teachers in there and I would guess there are only about 8-10 kids at that time. By the time I pick her up there are only 3-5 kids and 2 teachers. Very manageable.

I still miss her like crazy but that will never go away. The most I can ask for is that she's well cared for while we're apart, and (knock on wood) I'm confident that's the case.
Ms. Kailah told me yesterday afternoon that Marissa is one of her new favorites...it was funny because I had noticed earlier on the web cam that Ms. Kailah was holding her and talking to her a lot that day. How could you not just fall in love with my sweetie?!!
Judy is coming over tomorrow and will watch Marissa while I work from home. We'll keep this arrangement of 1/week for the next month or so and then we'll re-evaluate. I can always just bring Marissa up to KRK from 10-3 when I work from home if Judy can't make it, but for now it's nice to have a break during the week for both of us.
So in general, I'm happy to report that we all seem to be doing OK with the new arrangement. She's still her fun, smiley self. And I'm back in the zone at work for the most part...just a little more tired :-)
Matt has been a godsend...he takes her to KRK the mornings and handles prepping the bottles. This saves me a lot of time. I feed her, get her dressed and change her and then turn her over to Daddy for the rest of the morning. I handle afternoons...I pick her up around 4:30, feed her, play, go for a walk (she has to take a short nap in here or she'll be real grumpy by 7:00), feed her, bath time, bedtime feeding, book, rock, bed by 9:00). Somewhere in here I shove in dinner for myself, too.

Speaking of that, I am back on The Dinner Afare. The location near us actually will put everything together for you at no extra charge -- instead of you going and spending an hour to assemble them -- and you can just pick up the meals when they're finished. Matt picked them up yesterday (they are right next to his office) so now we have 12 meals ready to go...all you have to do is pop them in the oven/on the stove/on the grill and you're ready!! This will last us 3 weeks (we can work in a easy meal each week and we pretty much go out every weekend) so even though it may seem a little pricey, it's really not that bad. My favorite things are that I don't have to think of what to make each week when I'm making the grocery list, and there's no mess with prepping (no chopping, etc). It is a savior for working moms everywhere!! :-)