Job, Pacifier & Other Updates

The past week has been such a whirlwind - and an emotional drain. The job hunt continues -- so far not fruitful at all, but it continues. The situation looks a little more bleak every day as both Matt & I sit in front of the computer almost all day long and still come up with very little in the way of job opportunities for this entire region. So frustrating.

To add to the frustration, while we assume Matt's boss has lost the election, we were not able to get the finality we hoped once the absentee ballots came in, as both sides agreed to a full recount. Now they won't even start counting the absentee ballots until at least next week (instead of this past Monday, which is when they would've been counted if a recount hadn't been ageed upon). If there are ballots they object to & do end up going to court, who knows when we'll find out for sure -- could be weeks. We were looking forward to Election Day if for no other reason than to get it over with & know how to proceed going forward -- having a job or having to look for a job. And we still don't know!

In recent Madison news, we made the decison to pull the plug last week -- as in, the pacifier. Because Madison's rash around her mouth kept coming back, we knew it would continue as long as she used a pacifier. And since it was a habit that we'd have to break someday anyway, we decided to give it a try. Last Wednesday was Day 1 -- and was it a nightmare. Madison literally screamed through her whole 1 1/2 hour nap time in the morning, then cried through almost her entire afternoon nap. She did manage to sleep for a quick 30 minutes out of exhaustion in the afternoon and another quick 20-30 minutes in the early evening. I had told Matt I was willing to give this a try for a day, maybe two, but if she didn't start sleeping, we'd have to give up. I'd rather deal with a mild rash than compromise her health by being sleep-deprived all the time! That night she went right to sleep -- without the paci -- and by the next day, she slept fine without it for all of her naps. We haven't given it back to her since taking it away on Day 1, and so far we seem to be doing OK! After the first day, she seems to have adjusted just fine. PHEW!!

Yesterday we spent Matt's day off visiting friends, running errands, and then spending the rest of the day with my brother & his family. Madison was very interested in her new cousin, Katrina. She would walk to her and say, "What's that? Baby." Then she'd pet the baby's head. Makes me think she's going to like having 'her own' baby when her little sister comes. Below is a picture from yesterday with 'Uncle Matt' playing the part of human jungle gym for all the little girls.