Changes

There are some changes happening in the Justinich household mainly with me(Stacy) but it of course affects us all. I have decided to stop doing childcare for my niece. The reason is because of Evan, it is getting to hard to take care of both of them the way I need to. If I am chaning Sophia, feeding her a bottle or rocking her to sleep I can't get to Evan if he is getting into anything, or something worse such as choking or having a seizure. The other day he threw all the kids toothbrushes into the toilet while I was feeding Sophia. Evan is just getting to be such a handful that I need to watch him all the time. When I originally started watching Sophia it was so she did not have to go to a home daycare with other kids where she could get sick or not get as much attention as she could at my house. Plus, it would be some extra money for our family. I think it was a good situation for us and my brother and his Fiance. So while I am sad to not see my sweet niece every week I know it is better for me to be able to focus on Evan at this time.

So once Sophia is in her new daycare I will have 4 mornings available. I am going to apply for a substitute yard duty with the school district, but until that happens I am going to be more dilligent about cleaning my house. Not just the front of the house but the whole house, it has been neglected lately. Now that my hubby is working days he is not in our bedroom and I can get in there and clean it, make my bed and open up the windows. I know this is old fashioned thinking but I really want to have the house looking decent when my husband gets home from work. I also try to have dinner started so that we can eat early. This will not happen everyday but I think this will be my way to show my appreciation for him working so hard to support our family and my staying home to care for Evan.

So here is the plan for my free days. Keep in mind that this is the plan and anything can disrupt the plan at anytime.
8:00- 9:30 clean, fold and put away laundry
9:30-10am - pick one extra thing to do, clean shower, wipe down cabinets, organize, etc. The detail work.
10am-11:45 - Do whatever I want. Scrapbook, watch Tv, computer, read sleep, shopping etc.

When Evan gets home I really want to spend some one on one time with him. So we will do coloring, workbooks, Dynavox time, Signing Time or just play whatever Evan wants to play.

I will probably have to pick up the front room again in the afternoon before I start dinner and again before I go to bed.

I also want to spend more quality time with the other two kids. For Gabriel I will play Legos with him or go on bike rides. For Cynthia I think we will start by looking for prom dress patterns and materials for her Jr. Prom dress. Also, we can go have a Starbucks or go to the show or go on walks so we can have those Mom/Daughter talks.

I also have respite set up for every Thursday from 4pm -9pm. So Rudy and I can plan some double dates or individual time. This way I can use all of my respite hours and have some free time as well. So if any of my friends want to get together for dinner, coffee, or just conversation, I am free on Thursdays. I think this will help with my feelings of being overwhelmed, overstressed and just generally stressed out.

So I think these changes are for the better. We will see how things go.