I know I’ve been MIA for a while, posting has been spotty at best. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing with this blog. There are so many out there, you know? And over the years, I’ve read and stopped reading so many, as I’m sure others have done with mine. I don’t take it personally. But it was fun, especially during lonelier times (remember Texas?) to share with moms out there across the country. But as we’ve settled in here in Utah, life has gotten away from me. I can barely keep up with the family schedule. I miss appointments, run from playgroup straight to play-dates and hardly catch my breath in between.

And I love it.

And on occasion when I had an appointment that I remembered about, there was this great little drop-in childcare place in close proximity to us. I’d swing by, run the girls in and head to wherever it was I needed to be. But about two months ago, they suddenly closed down. Forever. Something about the economy coupled with last spring’s Swine Flu epidemic. And then we lost our last babysitter to grad school. In Wisconsin. And we knew that with my husband’s travel schedule and my weakening nerves we had to do something.

And so we did.

We brought in Nici. From Austria. She’s our au pair. And before you go getting all “oh, isn’t she fancy with her nanny,” let me say this:

Nici is not a nanny.

She is an au pair. An 18-year old girl from Austria who wants to experience a year of life in the U.S. and so in return offers our family childcare assistance during times when we need it. Which for me, really amounts to an extra set of hands to replace the set that I lose when my husband gets on that plane out of town. But she’s so much more than an au pair already, she’s a family member. She’s a big sister to the girls. She joins us at all of the events that we attend, she knows all the kids (and parents) at Pea’s school. She eats with us, she relaxes with us. It’s been amazing. We are so grateful that she is here. Honestly, I could not do this without her. I know there are those of you who do, those of you who have no choice, but we do have a choice and this is the one we’ve made. For our family. And it’s working. And we are thrilled to pieces.

And so, consider yourself up-to-date. And now, moving on…

Pea is a tyrant these days. Constantly yanking her little sister, hitting her, stealing things from her and just generally terrorizing the entire household. I am at a complete loss! I think this is normal for her age? And for sisters so close to one another in ages? I found these little responsibility charts at the local toy store by Melissa & Doug, and thought perhaps they’d help us gain a little control. Kind of manipulate the situation a bit. I think they might be working. It’s been one week and she’s eager to put her ‘way to go!’ and ‘awesome job!’ magnets next to her completed responsibilities at the end of the day. It’s become an integral part of our nighttime ritual.

A big one: ‘keep hands to yourself.’