Hilary Duff sighting!

I tell you what, you haven't experienced fun until you've cleaned baby poop out of a baby chair and numerous stuffed animals. I really don't even know how this situation happened, actually. One minute we're all playing happily, then the all-too-familiar smell of dirty "dipe" and what? How did that get all over in the last 5 minutes? Welcome to nanny-hood. :) Ahh finally the dirty little kid is napping, and terrible Two and I are hanging out downstairs. Whew. Just finished out early-morning cardio dance party, and whoah am I tired! Tossing a 40 lb kid (is that how much 2 year olds weigh? I'm totally guessing here) is good for your upper arm muscles, but gets old real fast. Haha. Anyway, whew. What a workout. This morning I came upstairs to hear "No Stina! No Stina" by a very whiney terrible two. Ugh. What a start to the week! Of course, I stepped right back into "firm yet kind" discipline queen mode, and made it very clear that all the whining wasn't going to be tolerated. Don't know how well that was understood, but a girls gotta try, right? haha. He was convinced his shorts were too big, and wanted to spend the morning dancing around in just a diaper, which I let him do for awhile. Gotta pick your battles. :)
This weekend was awesome- God blessed me with a new friend, Lauren, who I met at bible study, and she is aweeeeeeeesome. We had the best time in the city last night, we hit up the Times Square church (huge, huge, huge church in Times Square, of course) The church is held in an former Broadway musical space, so it's huge and gorgeous and the choir made me feel like I was at an old school revival! I won't be packing up and leaving my current church or anything, but it was so cool to see people of all ages and races raising their hands to praise God. It really was a funny, cool experience to see businessmen, old ladies, and people who looked like they could have been in a hip-hop music video singing and dancing like there was no tomorow. :) And awesome to have someone to share it with, too! My friend Lauren is the perfect "explore the city" friend and I'm thinking it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Too bad after my 1/2 hour of trying to find the best "walk around the city in the rain before going to church" outfit, of course the one I chose was completely innapropriate, for the sun started shining the minute we got there and I was blisteringly hot under my puffy vest. Oh well, you can't win every time :) hehe. Gave us the opportunity to scour the tourist shops for a quick fix to my wardrobe malfunction and make fun of tourists and the funny things they buy. Also- we saw Hilary Duff! We were walking to the church, and Lauren said "Hey, um, is that Hilary Duff over there?" I looked, and yes, it was! She was wearing black leggings, flip-flops, a red tank, and just had a friend or two with her. They were hailing a cab. Not tooooooo exciting, but we agreed that she really did look as pretty in person as she does in the magazines and TV. The cool thing was- today she was on Live with Regis and Kelly and so it confirmed that she was indeed in the city and it was indeed her. (Well, to me it confirmed it haha) Really my first celebrity sighting, so I felt like more of a New Yorker somehow.
(for all you older adults 'grandparents', Hilary Duff is an actress and singer)
And I had a great talk with friend and cousin Crystal last night- so missed her voice and her honesty and loved talking to her- She's going through what I've kind of been going through and basically everyone who graduated recently is too--
the Quarter-life Crisis.
What to do with my life? The big question! Too many options! So it was good to talk to her about what I've been learning so far, although I think I'm still in the depths of the crisis sometimes. You dont' figure it all out in one big feel swoop, you know! Anyway, terrible two and I are hungry, we're going to go scrounge up some food upstairs and have some quality time while baby is sleeping (thankfully :) )
God is good, all the time, we just have to quit fighting him and go his way.
That's what I've been learning :)
christina

ARGH

I hate being home on weekends. I mean, sometimes it is ok, but sometimes, the sounds of kids screaming and bad parenting are just too much. I can hear the older one hitting the younger one, the baby screaming, and a light rebuke from the Dad where I would have been very firm and picked up the older to be set down promptly in the time-out chair until an apology was extracted. ARGH! No wonder he is so out of control right now! And all this acting out stems from his mother gallavanting around all day long instead of being home with her kids, where she should be on the one day off all week long. UGH. Anyway, I'm also frustrated because I just found out b/c of the mom's driving around all day in the car, I might not be able to go to church OR have to be very late. I miss having my own car and driving to where I choose when I choose! I miss having my own place where I could cook instead of avoiding the kitchen on the weekends. I miss Iowa, where there are people who would let me sleep on their couches at the drop of a hat! Crystal, remember that whole semester when I would take over your room for days? Horrible roommate that semester, but we had fun, didn't we? :) haha.
Today I wanted to get my working out, out of the way before showering, and although it was raining cats and dogs I went on my run/ walk anyway. Was awesome, actually, felt really hard-core and even nodding to the other worker-outers (weren't many) I felt we had a certain comradery, being so hard-core about working out and all :) haha. Anyway, it was nice, the rain was warm and heavy, and kept me walking at my super-fast arm-swinging pace. Yep, I'm one of those ladies now. I like it, though. It's proven to be just as good for you as running, and you can multi-task by getting your phone calls out of the way, as long as people don't mind your labored breathing, you're good to go! :)
I am really bummed about the car situation right now, because I met a new friend on Tuesday (she's awesome) and we were planning on meeting up at church tonight. But now, because of the Mom's cavalier usage of (albeit, her own) car, I can't! Ahh! what about the schedule? I switched to Sat. night church because it was better for them! What am I to do now? Anyway, no more complaining, I think i'm going to go upstairs and see if I can help with the 2 year old. He really is out of control at the moment.
love you all
christina

Trust

You know what one of the best things about being a nanny is? The trust.
ok time out... the 2 year old is sitting here wanting to push buttons, so here is a little ditty from him...
guyvtfuygiu76875976 7y7687ndn
Ok, I've got him happy with some coloring pages now...
Anyway, as I was saying, I love the trust. Not of the parents, of the kids! Like how the 2 year old doesn't even have to be asked to let me take off his shoes after coming inside, he just lifts a foot up behind and I change his shoes while he stands there, like one would shod a horse. And how he stands quietly at the top of the stairs with one hand held up, knowing that I'll grab ahold and we'll walk down together. Isn't that great? Love it.
After the first couple months, I thought, there is no way I'm going to be a mother for a very, very long time. The long hours, the constant responsibility, the getting no sleep! I was sure that mothering was something that I would want to put off as long as possible.
But, it's growing on me. I think my stance now is, I love caring for kids, but the next time I take care of kids full time I want them to be my own. There is something that will always be awkward about taking care of someone else's children. Different parenting skills, different ideas of what 6:00 means, different discipline styles (I do, they don't :) haha.)
So anyway, that's how I feel about that. Other than knowing that, I've also decided in the last month or two that I will be finished with my job here after my contracted year. I debated staying for another couple of months, but I feel like for a lot of reasons, it's not the best idea. New York has been a great experience, but I don't think it's supposed to be my home for good, you know? And you know what? Even though I love traveling and living different exciting places, it gets weary on a soul, making friends and settling in somewhere only to have your roots ripped up and having to start over. So, wouldn't it be great to move somewhere that I might want to stay? To make friends and connections that I could really settle into? That's what I'm thinking. I'm not saying for sure where I'll be moving, but you can be sure it'll be within my new rule- within a 12 hour drive of home. :) Also, I know that I don't want to be a nanny anymore, even though I love these kids like mad. I want my own place, my own car to drive to church and not worry when church goes late because it's gotta be home by 10 on the dot. Is that too much to ask? :) So that's how I feel about THAT!
The last week has been pretty fun, I'm trying to really take advantage of summer being here, so we've been going on walks, we've instituted a 15-20 minute cardio dance party every morning (The 2 year old is quite the dancer) and hanging out outside every day. It's weird, being done with school and not getting a specific date when the summer fun starts. You know, the day you get out of school and run home to put your bathing suit on even though the spring chill is still in the air? Well, in the real world, turns out that nothing really changes other than the weather! Weird! So, I had to make a realization- IT'S SUMMER NOW! ENJOY IT! So, we've been trying :) and it's been fun.
ZZ (That was Reily's stuffed puppy, apparantly he wanted to type too haha)
Things here are good, the bump on the baby's head is going down, and I'm not feeling like such a horrible nanny today. 2 year old and I have to go have our special dance party time before the baby wakes up from his nap. Fun! Matt, I'm pumped about your new job, that's awesome! Are you going to have less time to practice your sweet dance moves now that you'll be so busy with the new job? Because I'm getting lots of practice every morning, so you better keep up. At the next wedding you'll be blown away by my moves! :) haha.
love you all
christina

Today

So, today the stroller tipped over, and the baby inside. (no time for details now, but I wasn't entirely at fault) but anyway, SCARY! One of those "I'm a terrible nanny (for all you mothers, you know this as the "terrible mother moment" moments. Of course I remained "calm" rushing him to the doctor and waiting for 20 min. to hear a nurse say that he, in fact, only had a bump and a scrape. AHHHHHH! Rough day! Plus, tonight is the official 6 month (we've been putting it off) review, so great timing, Christina!
BUT, after 2 weeks to worry about the talk (the review) and countless times singing through the "Cast all my cares upon you" song from a Psalty musical I learned back in the day, I'm actually feeling ok about it. Regine assures me that they will mostly have good things to say, and that I love their children and that alone is reason for the parents to be happy :) Also, I have some things that I would actually like to go over with them, so it will be a good adult talk, not the scary "you're a horrible nanny" confrontation I've been dreading :) haha. Isn't it funny how the more you think about things, the worse it could go? You have all day to worry about a talk, and by the end of the day, you're thinking you're going to be fired and shipped back to Iowa for renting too many pay-per-view movies while the kids have been napping! (True story, by the way)
Anyway, so that's good. I'm feeling mature and adult and confidant about how I've been doing as a nanny, even though the baby DID have a pretty bad fall today. At the doctor's office (where I think they were somewhat amused at the fact that I took it upon myself to stop by without an appt. for a little head bump) the nurse was like "Oh, yeah he looks fine, this kind of stuff happens all the time" Which was exactly what I needed to hear. Of course, driving there I'm picturing a look of horror followed by the dialing of 9-1-1. :) Me and my crazy imagination :)
I'll write more later, but if any mom's out there have encouragement or stories about their "horrible mother moments"/ "we've all been there" stories let me know! :) love you all!
christina

Going off clothes

Hi, all! Okay, we'll start with today and work backwards.
First, a confession.
Living in New York has gotten hold of me in a bad place.
A Shopping Place. Not like I'm picking up every Louis Vuitton bag I can afford, but I definately am getting out of my league on this whole shopping deal. So, today after buying a pair of fannnnnnnnnntastic white pants for summer (white is so hot right now haha), I called my brother William and committed to a summer-long clothing fast. Actually, I told him "William, I decided I have to go off clothes for the rest of the summer," to which I had to quickly add, so he didn't think I was joining some sort of nudist colony, "Going off buying clothes, Will, not wearing them!" Thought I wouldn't have to do this again, but it's come to this. So, loyal followers of the blog, it's up to all of you to keep me accountable to a summer of no more pants, shoes, bags, or jewelry. It'll be tough, but it'll force me to get creative with the ole sewing machine and the clothes I've already got, Yep, the ones piled up on my bed so the cleaning ladies could get to the floor :)
Ok, rewind.
Spent 4 days in Indianapolis with Tina.
(Airport moment-flight delayed 4 hours and didn't get into Indy till 3:15 am. Spent almost 8 hours in the airport and read an entire book purchased at the airport book store)
An awesome time. A strange time, because it was really the first time I had spent time with her since her marriage, and I tell you what, it's a strange adjustment. I really had no clue that I would be so thrown off by her blatant change in priorities, namely, me moving down the list. Hanging out with my best friend, chilling at the pool, seeing her being such a awesome little wife was sooooooooooo awesome, but really weird seeing her put him first, change plans because he had a sudden whim, or get crabby because she hadn't had quality time with him in a couple of days. What what? I realize now that I had some pretty unrealistic expectations going into the weekend, like that she could just have a girls weekend and let her husband fend for himself for a couple of days and be fine?? Anyway, so all in all the weekend was awesome and we had an amazing time. I even got to go Extreme canoeing, and have the scrapes all over my legs to prove it! Also Tina was able to take out some aggression on me by slamming me in the ear with her paddle, which I of course overreacted to and started bawling, ugh how embarassing! But it was good. (Well, not the ear-slamming part, but the weekend"
Then, I headed back to New York intending to spend the next day cleaning my room and chilling at the house, but decided to take a day or two at the sweet apartment we were borrowing in the city instead. My parents didn't really care how clean my room was, right? So I headed to the city and lounged in the sweet Upper West Side apt, walking down the streets and shopping at the little corner groceries and pretending I really belonged there. A sweet day, actually.
After my parents got in
(Airport story: my parents' plane circled above La Guardia for so long that it actually ran out of gas and had to stop in Pennsylvania for gas... got in 2 hours late)
we spent the next couple of days hanging out all around the city, walking through Central park twice in the rain (it rained a LOT.) , going down to Ground Zero, eating at awesome EXPENSIVE restaurants, going on a sweet boat ride, watching a slightly innapropriate but really funny Musical (from ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmazing seats) called the Producers, and pretty much a great time. Although, taking a farm guy all around Manhattan, I've found, is, at times, the express route to Frustration City. This city involves lots of walking and lots of opportunities for debate, so you can imagine how much fun a couple Nichols' had with that :) haha. It was good to show my parents my "getting around the city" skills, they got to see me sing in the choir at church, and we got to laugh our behinds off at the umbrella my dad had been carrying around all weekend, which had a very inappropriate phrase written on it. Cindy laughed and laughed! I think my favorite part of the weekend, though, were the mornings. We would get up and have big meals of whole wheat pancakes, eggs, and coffee and discuss all the stuff we'd do that day. Then, we headed out to the day, one day to a boat ride and an unlimited soda mug, one day to stroll (well, my dad doesn't really stroll, we had to trick him into walking through Central Park at all!) through Central Park, and the last morning we took a train up to my New York home. It was great. Loved having them here, but I am looking forward more than ever to being able to hang out with my family at HOME, where things are free, dress code is ultra-casual, and the only stress is discussing how many cars to take to church on Sunday. :) love home. love love love it. :) Iowa, my heart is yours :)
Getting back to work this week was good, but tough. Seems that in the week I was gone, the parents un-did all of MY parenting techniques. Unfortunate, to be sure. Still trying to remind the 2 year old that just a couple weeks ago he was FINE with eating at the table and going without all the hitting of his brother. Last week the bad habits were back with a vengance. But, it was good to get back to routine. Vacation can be exhausting! This weekend was nice, but I will write about at a later date because I gotta head to bed now.
love you all!
christina

Pics to tide you over

worked until 9:30 last night.. whew, long day. Also, don't you hate it when someone says "Hey, are you available later so we can 'go over some things'?" You spend the whole day worrying about the impending doom that is "the talk" than it turns out to be something totally harmless. That's how I'm feeling today. Anxious that the "talk" the employers and I are going to have later is going to be a big "what Christina's doing wrong" talk. Ahhhhhh! But, I gotta keep giving it to God, trying to do what he says in Phillipians 4:6,7-- 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Here are some pictures of my parents here and I will try to write about our fabulous time while the kids nap today.
Love you all!

Mom and I with the Statue of Liberty, on our Circle Line boat ride- HOW FUN!!

Good looking girls

Here's Tina and I on my trip to Indy,
first pic is us before canoeing, second pic is us at her pool...I bought this new amazing hat for 4 dollars at Walmart---sweet :)

will write about my amazing week off in Indy, and exploring the city with my parents, at my earliest convenience :) gotta work at 5 am tomorow, so I better get this weary body to bed. Love you all!
christina