A little more info... or not

I tried the baby name website again with my full name of Amanda rather than Mandy. The names we got this time were Phoenix (for a boy) and Lilliana (for a girl). The girl name is interesting to me since my grandma's name is Lillian. I tried a few of my friend's names and came up with Nikki & Devon or Johnathan & Leah. All very normal names compared to the ones that mine and Jesse's came up with. Had my mom followed this advice, my name would've been Tina and my brother's would've been Jaylon. I did hear from Mrs. Hammer and she got Charles & Allison. While she didn't care for either name, it did spur a conversation with her husband about future names! YAY! If you want to give it a try, use this:

Find More Baby Names

... Well, I thought I had more to say, but now that I'm typing this I can't think of what I was going to say. My heart is definitely going out to some people who are still REALLY struggling through infertility. I may now be pregnant, but I still understand the heartache and hopelessness. I'm also praying for those who are facing decisions on what to do next, and I'm rejoicing with those who are celebrating milestones in their answers to prayer.

In other areas of our life, Jesse's band is playing their first concert tonight. You can read about it on our family site. I'll be posting soon about how it went.

Oh, I also did want to say that it looks like I might be opening my own in-home daycare after going on maternity leave. Doing so will allow me to stay home full-time with my baby. I've been reading a lot into it and figuring out what I have to do to be certified in the state of Oregon. So far, I've found that there's A LOT of rules, but they are pretty manageable. This is something I've thought about doing many, many times over the years. I have about 9 years of experience working with kids of every single age group. I am currently working in the nursery at church with infants to 3 year olds. I am CPR certified (although it's adult certification right now) and have my food handler's card. I've already been through child abuse training (learning to recognize and report it). In fact, because of my previous jobs, I have been a mandatory reporter for child abuse. I love working with all age kids and before I got my job at the hospital, I was trying to become a nanny. Doing my own in-home daycare sounded right up my alley, but it just didn't seem logistically feasible before.

Then I had a lady at church recommend that I do it. When I told her that I was thinking about it, she said that I would for sure have her 2 kids as clients (one is now 2 1/2 and the other is 2 months old). She goes to another friend of her's right now, but that friend is quitting to go to school in the Fall (which is right about the time I would be having my baby and wanting to stay home). Right now, she only needs daycare for 4 hours a day, but it might be more full-time by the time that rolls around. She gave me some information on the going rate of child care, which helped me to realize that I'd be making a lot more money than I initially thought (meaning that I could watch fewer kids to bring in the amount of income I need). I think that I could watch my baby and this friend's 2 kids and have one more child which would meet all of my financial needs without overwhelming me. My best friend said that I could for sure watch her daughter as well (who is now 10 months old). I would love that and feel 100% confident about working with these people and being able to handle the job. Although, this would mean 3 kids under the age of 2 and the regulations allow me to only have 2. My saving grace would be that both babies might be at my house at different times of the day, allowing it to only count as 2 kids under 2. I also might be able to get away with it if 1 of the 3 is my own child or if my best friend's kid is so part time that it doesn't count (although then I can't count on her as a steady income). If those people don't work out as clients, I have several more options including referrals from a family member who does their own in-home daycare AND the lady who is currently watching my friend's kids but will be quitting soon. The family member has too many people who want her and she said she'd be glad to refer them to me. And the other lady will be quitting so all of her families will need a new childcare provider. Fortunately, for me, I live in the same area of town that they do too. There are MANY more rules about fire safety and medications and discipline and planned activities and supervision and injuries that still make it a complicated issue, but I'm feeling like this might be the answer to our prayers about my job.

Well, now I've got to get ready to see my husband, the rockstar, perform at his first gig! And, I need to find a stick to fight off the other girls with too!