Life with the Leibrocks: Two big firsts

So little did we know that when we stayed home from Canada that we'd be embarking on a whole new challenge that made us even more thankful that we decided to make the difficult choice to stay home.

On Aug. 28, just shy of turning 15 months, mommy caught Brinley trying to climb out of her crib and getting dangerously close. I was watching the video monitor saw her wedge her little foot up over the side and hoist herself up and almost had a heart attack. I yelped and ran in there as fast as I good. My entrance must have startled her because she put her foot back down on the bed.

We found out that the crib could go one notch lower so with a sigh of relief we lowered it as low as it would go. But, the damage had been done. That night she climbed all the way out and she hit the ground with a thud. Luckily she was not hurt, just surprised and even a bit pleased with herself. And there really was no going back after that because she would try to climb out whenever we put her in there. We even tried the pack n play which she wasn't able to get out of, but tried really hard and would make the whole thing tip which made us nervous as well.

So even though we didn't want to put our not even 15 month old daughter in a toddler bed, we knew we didnt't have a choice. We made a trip to Babies R Us and baby-proofed the heck out of her room, converted her crib to a "big girl" bed and then held our breath as we put her to bed that night.

Miraculously, she did quite well. It was even easier for us to sit and hold her hand when she laid down because we didn't have to wedge our arm through the crib bars. Plus, having her get up in the morning and play in her room for a bit before we got up was actually pretty sweet. Also, I think she liked the idea that she could get out of bed if she wanted to and the new found freedom of being able to roam around her room as she pleased was pretty sweet.

Since those first few nights and with the start of daycare, we've regressed a bit on sleep but seem to be back on track. She does sometimes get out of bed and then fall back to sleep on the floor but we pretty much leave her there as long as she seems comfortable and is safe. Also, she did fall out of bed once but didn't even wake up so we just scooped her up and put her back in. So there you have it, big milestone achieved!

The second major first that we had in early September was Brinley's first time going to daycare. Matt and I really did our homework and checked out a bunch of home daycare places, centers and got lots of good advice from friends. We chose a really great center and felt good about our decision. I however, was not at all prepared for how hard this would be. Drop off during that first week were absolutely hellish. She would scream, I would fight back tears, and even have to pry her hands off of me. It was so so so awful.

Then to top things off, she got sick almost immediately and basically hasn't been well for more than a month and a half. Matt was just training in at his new job and couldn't miss work and so I had to take a lot of time off work in the beginning which made all of this so much harder. And if that wasn't enough, I started to notice things about our daycare center that I didn't love. Not major things, but just that it started to become clear that this wasn't the right fit for our family.

All of this craziness and changes really made me lean heavily on God and I joined our Sisterhood ministry at church which has been such an incredible blessing. There is nothing like being embraced by the body of Christ and little did I know that was about to be my answer to all of the daycare troubles as well. The first night at Sisterhood our leader asked for prayer requests and I started to tear up explaining my daycare situation. Within minutes, I had 3 leads from ladies at the table. One lead looked really promising but didn't pan out. However, through pursuing that lead another friend recommended someone she knew who used to do home daycare for awhile and might be interested in taking on one kiddo. I contacted her and it all seemed to just fit perfectly. I absolutely 100 percent believe that this was God orchestrated and we could not be happier with our situation. I honestly thank God every single day that we have found this sweet family to care for our little girl and pray that it will continue to be a situation that is great for both of our families. Praise the Lord!

Whew. The end of August up until now (Oct. 16) has certainly been one crazy ride, but I'm glad we seem to be on the other side of the crisis. Matt is loving his job and it's so awesome to see him so happy. He loved being home with Brinley too, but knew he needed something more. Although his current job is not his dream job, I'm able to see what a huge blessing it is for all of us. It feels good to establish a new routine again and I think we are now at the point when I can breath a sigh of relief. Probably just in time for the next challenge God has in store for us, right? ; )