One Big Happy Family!

Two weeks have passed since Bill's graduation from the police academy and things are going great. A few days before the graduation we had quite the scare with Allie involving her new babysitter but since it involved the police and charges were brought against her, I can't really talk about it on here, but thankfully, Allie is safe and was fine through it all and we have found her a new sitter already. The new sitter lives next door to us so she's right in our complex and she has a TON of experience watching kids. She's worked in a bunch of daycares, has all her certifications, and I knew her from being at the pool all summer and have seen her first hand with kids. Allie really likes her and did great with her last weekend so I'm much happier. And, with Bill being home we only need her 4 or 5 times a month which is much less than I thought it would be when I initially sought out to find a sitter. I thought with our schedules being so scattered we'd need someone all the time in addition to daycare but our schedules mesh well and we're still with Allie a ton. She's doing well at her new daycare and is adjusting more each day. Her teacher said she's starting to "shine" and she's so smart! She actually said Allie seems to color beyond her years and is extremely smart. I know she's only 20 months and that's not a huge deal, but it definitely made me feel like a proud mama! She even told a little boy the other day to clean up his toys during clean up time! Haha. She's just too much sometimes. She's been sick the past few weeks with a double ear infection and she had a stomach bug yesterday but I guess that is to be expected where she's at a new daycare and exposed to a lot more germs. I just hope she builds up a resistance soon or otherwise it's going to be a long winter...

But in other news, having Bill home has been great. He's doing great at work and is really enjoying his job. It's wonderful having him home each night and at the end of the day when he comes home to us just makes things so much easier. Allie loves having her daddy home and they're so cute together. They color together all the time and do arts 'n crafts. Bills also been very helpful around the house and as he puts it, he has to "make up for being gone for 12 weeks". He definitely did his share while he was gone but it's nice that he's helping me out! I also really am enjoying my job and am glad it's coming into the holiday season so we will be nice and busy. The hours are tough because I start doing 10 hour days so I'm working 50 hours a week but the paycheck will be nice because even though I'm on salary, I get some overtime which I have never had before. We could definitely use the money too. We're doing better financially, all our bills are paid each month, but it's certainly going to take a while to get out debt. But such is the American way I suppose right?! We're just lucky that Bill and I are disciplined enough to only get what we need so we are able to pay off what we can and live comfortably. But I know money doesn't buy happiness and I'd rather have Allie and Bill than money.

The last bit of big news that's happened is my brother, Erik, left for the Army this past Monday and started basic training! We are all so proud of him and I can't wait to start sending him letters and cards for encouragement. He is actually at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC so they will get to him quick! And we just found out a few days ago that last Thursday, him and his girlfriend Sarah got married! I was pretty shocked when he told me but I'm very happy for them. Sarah's a great girl and it makes me so happy to see my brother with a great girl who makes him happy. I know they're young and the time apart with him in basic is going to be hard, but I have all the faith in the world that they will make it and come out of this stronger.

Nine Days and a Nephew!

A lot has been going on in the Dietzel household in the last few weeks, and as hard as things were before for us, things are definitely 100% better and looking up every day. Allie started at her new daycare yesterday and with her new sitter and she did wonderful! I was so nervous for her and now that she's doing so well, I'm not sure why! She interacted and socialized with the kids, and didn't cry for me at all. The sitter picked her up and she came home and had dinner and went to bed for her no problem. It was such a huge sigh of relief and burden off my shoulders. Obviously, I would love to be home with her but that's not financially feasible right now, so daycare is what we have to do so we can provide for her. Allie also turned 19 months the other day and she is getting bigger and smarter every day! I remember when she was about 10 months old and starting to toddle and pull herself up and I would just lay in bed and wish she was tiny again because I missed nursing her and having that closeness. But at the same time I didn't want her to grow up because she was so much fun with all her smiles and giggles. Now another 9 months have passed and I am doing the same thing. Every little thing she does makes me laugh. She repeats everything and uses some phrases at the most perfect times. She loves to dance and read and I think I could sit and watch her do that for hours. She is just the most perfect little girl and I swear I fall more in love with her every day. But, before I start to cry because she's growing so fast, onto other things...
Bill has only 9 days left in the Police Academy! The 12 weeks of torture are almost over and I won't have to say goodbye to him on Sundays anymore and watch Allies face as he drives away. Next Friday is his graduation up in Columbia SC and it's in the morning so we will head up early and come back in the afternoon and have the weekend off together. It will be so wonderful to not have to do his laundry, spend a few hours together because of my work schedule, and then have him go again. Since we've moved down here, it hasn't been just the 3 of us in the apartment for more than a couple days. We've had visitors and people staying with us pretty steadily for the last 3 months. When my friends left the other day and it was just Allie and I, it felt really weird, but in a good way. We're getting into a good routine of daycare and work and that is what we need to really start our life down here. I am beyond grateful for all the support my family and friends provided to me while we found a daycare and sitter because now we can move on and begin our life here. Work for me is going really well and I'm enjoying my job at Aeropostale. It's definitely different being in the management role now whereas before I was just a sales associate but I love it. I really enjoy being more involved and doing the marketing and the floorsets and more of the operational stuff. The hours are tough at times because I have to do weekends and nights but we have it worked out thankfully!
And the other big news of the day is my sister found out what she is having today and it's a BOY! So sometime in February I will be an aunt again to a nephew and I can't wait. I love my niece Ava so much and can't wait to spoil my nephew. I feel so blessed and am so happy for them. My parents are also getting married again this weekend in Vegas and it's just wonderful. After the years of fighting and hardships they went through, to see them so happy and in love now, makes the hard times worth it because I honestly can't remember the last time I have seen them this happy. We may have had to sell our house that we grew up in, but if doing that brought our family back together, it was well worth it. Now we have the new baby to look forward too and the "new" marriage! Wish I could be in MA to celebrate with my family but I am there in spirit, like always. :)

4 Weeks!

After today, Bill only has 4 weeks left of the police academy and then he will finally be home and back to a normal schedule and here with us all the time! His graduation is October 21st in Columbia and I can't wait for it. I am going to be such a proud wife, beaming with such admiration. I know it's cheesy but he's worked so hard and the light is finally at the end of the tunnel. He's done really well so far and will most likely graduate with honors which will mean a lot to him. When we were in college he never worried about his grades or studied a ton like I did, but this time it's different. He's concerned if he doesn't do well and studies every night with his roommate which is good for him that he has someone to live with who also has a wife and child so he knows how difficult this whole process has been.

In other news, I really like my job so far at Aeropostale. Being an Assistant Manager is a lot different from when I worked there before as just a sales associate. I love being able to open and close the store and get all the paperwork and merchandising stuff done throughout the day. I just have a much bigger investment in it this time and I'm really enjoying it. My coworkers are great and the store manager and other assistant are great so I think we will become friends outside of work which is what I was hoping for. The part timers who work there are all high school and college age students and so far they've been very welcoming and nice to me so I'm glad I found and got the job. I got paid yesterday and we are finally back on track to pay our medical bills off and the credit cards. We are in the process of looking for a nice new daycare for Allie and then we will be all set. With my hours we need a sitter a couple days a week for the nights I work late but I used SitterCity.com and a lot of people have applied so I'm sure I will find someone out of that. I've looked at a few daycares and one was awful, but the other seemed better and it's literally a 45 second drive from the apartment and has good hours so she will probably go there. A center isn't what I wanted to put her in, but home daycares here don't accomodate the hours we need. I knew I wouldn't find anything as good as we had at Julies in MA but as long as she is cared for and her development is nurtured, we will be happy.

The last bit of exciting news (for me anyway) is that my sister is coming to visit on Tuesday with Ava. They are coming for 10 days and I can't wait to show them around. Court has never been to Myrtle Beach so it will be a lot of fun and she can spend some time with Allie while I work. All in all, things are going great. They were rocky for a few days but I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, and that God wouldn't give me more than I could handle. And everything that happens has been for the better, trust me!

New Job And A New Beginning!

Well, it's not the most recent of news, but still exciting. I got the job at Aeropostale as one of the Assistant Managers and I start Monday! Tomorrow will be my last day unemployed and I have big plans to go to church, hang out with Allie and Bill, and get things together for Monday. I'm nervous to go back to work because Allie and I have bonded so strongly over the past 3 months. She's such a sweet little girl and we had such a great time adjusting to Myrtle Beach and going to the pool, and the beach, and just getting to know the area. I think I'm actually more nervous about leaving her this time to go back to work than I was when I finished my maternity leave.  And going back to work will be good for both of us. It will give me some time away from her and to myself, and Allie can get used to being with other people and not seeing me 24/7 which has made her very dependent and attached to me. And of course, me getting a paycheck again will make things better for all of us. I never really thought I would end up back at Aero but the job posting caught my eye and I'm glad I went for it. My manager seems great and very understanding that I have a child and willing to work with me on any schedule needs I may have, and the other assistant manager has a young child as well so it's nice that someone else knows what it's like being a parent to a young child that needs you a lot. I can't wait to be in a management role there now because I really enjoyed when I worked there before and this time I will have a lot more responsibility and a steady schedule and income. The DM who interviewed me said there's lots of room for advancement within the company so who knows, maybe I will be able to move up and make a career out of this!

Job?!

Yesterday began Bills 3rd week at the academy so lucky for us, there are only 9 more after this week! The weeks are going by slowly but since my friends Katie and Allye got here and are staying with me to help me with Allie and hopefully get established down here and find jobs, the days are going by much quicker and I am much happier to have people to talk too and go out with. Being home with Allie is great of course and I love her to pieces, but it's hard being home with just her and not having Bill around or people my own age to hang out with. But things have gotten much better and on a positive note, I had a job interview last week for an Assistant Manager position at Aeropostale and I'm feeling very confident about it. I heard back today and got some good news so hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday I will get the call with some definite good news so ::fingers crossed::. The pay is decent and it will 100% help us out to be able to cover all our bills and put the rest of my paycheck towards paying down the credit cards that we've jacked up over the past few months. And not to mention, I will be working again which will be great and make me appreciate the time I have with Allie even more.

In other news, we've been living down here for two months now and we are adjusting very well. Bill loves his job, Allie is doing great and loves going to the beach, and even though I miss my family terribly, I am adjusting a lot better than I thought I would. :) Hopefully things will come full circle for us soon and we can start saving again to get the house we so badly want!

Police Academy.

Bill left for the police academy on Sunday morning and I must say, it's pretty lonely being home alone with just Allie. But at least we have each other! She cracks me up everyday and she's getting a lot better with saying "yes" and "no" at the right times and differentiating between the two so that makes things much easier because she responds to me when I ask her things. She's been sick since Saturday though so being here by myself has been tough. She's been waking up a lot at night and has not been her happy self during the day. She had a really bad ear infection and fever when we went to the ER Sunday morning but at least it was something the doctor could diagnose and we could get medicine for. At about 12:30 Sunday morning we tried to give her Tylenol because she was burning up but almost instantly Allie threw it up, as well as most of what she ate I think for two days all over me! It was awful! But a tubby took care of that and we spent the whole night snuggling on her bedroom floor and watching Elmo because her fever was too high for her to sleep. Hopefully the medicine clears up the ear infection though because I can honestly say there is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain. I think any mom would agree with that...

But anyway, Bill loves his job here which is great. At least making the move down here for the job was a good idea! I am still hardcore searching for a job but no luck so far. I'm applying for anything. Retail jobs, waitressing, receptionist positions, and I keep looking at the state website for jobs with DSS or in the Juvenile Justice system which is my ideal job but those are hard to come by with budget cuts everywhere it seems. I can honestly say I think about money most of the day and worry about bills and how we are going to cover everything but I am really trying to think positive and know that God has a plan for me and when the right job comes up, it will happen. The academy is 12 weeks and Bill graduates October 21. After that he will get a (small) raise which will be nice and then he can start doing overtime so that will help us out too. And for the first time in months we won't have to count down to the next time he has to leave for an extended period of time and leave Allie and I, which I know is so hard for him. For now I'm just glad we have a credit card to cover things, I just wish we didn't have to use it and run up the balance more for the time being. But it's a continuous cycle so if that's the way it has to be, so be it I guess. I just hope in the coming months I can make some friends and Allie and I can really find out niche here. I'm happy, but also lonely and a little down. I miss my family so much and my job at BSU a ton. The RAs go back for training in a few weeks and to think I won't be there really upsets me. I keep saying "we" when I talk about the school in reference like I still work there and Bill has to correct me. It's like second nature. I should probably work on that though...

That's all that's going on for now. 2 days of the academy are down, only a whole bunch more to go!

Disney!

I'm sitting outside writing this blog because 1) the weather is beautifu instead of stifling hot for once and 2) Allies schedule got royally messed with while we were in Disney (it was vacation after all) so she doesn't go down to sleep very easily anymore and she's screaming and I couldn't take it anymore. But believe me, I'm not a bad mom, sometimes you just have to let them "cry it out" because if it was up to her she would run around playing until she fell to the ground and passed out. But anyway, Disney was great. Bill's parents took us and we had a blast. We went to the Magic Kingdom first last Saturday and saw Mickey and Minnie right away and while you could tell Allie was a bit nervous, she didn't scream or run away so I consider that a success. Someone also told me that I was "the most excited mom they'd seen in a while" so that made me happy. I really wanted her to enjoy her time there and share my enthusiasm which I think she did. She absolutely loved the Country Bear Jamboree, and the aquarium exhibit at Epcot that followed the Finding Nemo ride. She actually went on a lot of rides and did great. She napped at the park for a little bit which I was surprised she even did but getting her down at night was quite the hassle. By the end of the trip you could tell she was exhausted and just needed a good nights sleep in her own crib with her toys and "sound spa". I have to say though that I think one of her favorite places was Blizzard Beach. She adores being in the water and they had a nice wading area there so she could walk around and play but I didn't have to worry about her falling in. She went down some slides (she even got stuck on one!) and liked it when I pushed her on a tube in the lazy river. Seeing her have so much fun made me wish we had a nice kiddie pool here so she could hang out in it and I could sit in it and not have to constantly be on edge but we have a pool at the complex so we'll take it! I definitely wish Bill could have come with us to see how much fun she had and how she would light up at certain characters or get up and start dancing at shows we went to see but since he's the only one working, he couldn't afford to take time off. Hopefully we can go back soon though and he can be there to take her on rides and be part of the enjoyment.

But now it's back to reality and the reality is, I need to find a job! We found out that when Bill goes to the academy for 12 weeks we lose the break on rent we got for him being the Courtesy Officer for the complex so now I absolutely have to work so we can make ends meet and maybe have some money left over. I've been applying for jobs left and right and am just praying I hear from someone. It puts a pit in my stomach to think about having to put Allie back in daycare but it may be for the best. Her attachment to me is becoming very intense so it may be beneficial for her to be away from me for a bit each day. At this point I will take anything though so I'm on the hunt. Here we go!