Back to work!

I went back to work last week. I wasn't excited or agressive about looking for a job but I met with one recruiter and went for an interview and got the job. It is a part time (25-30 hours per week) accounting position at the City of Hallandale. My hours are from 10am - 3pm. We live in Hallandale Beach so it is literally 1.6 miles away from our house! It all happened so fast - as soon as I accepted the position I immediately started stressing about finding someone to take care of Nina.

I spent a couple of weeks looking for a nanny. We interviewed about 10 different women and ended up hiring my parents housekeeper, Elisa. She is a 23 college student, studying Business Admin. She goes to school at night so watching Nina during the day is perfect for her schedule. After meeting everyone, she definitely stood out in the way she interacted with Nina. She held Nina the entire time we interviewed her and Nina was all smiles. The week before I started my job, she came over to see how Nina's day went and so I could show her how to do things the way I like - control freak! The first day was tough, I cried as soon as I shut the door. But the next day was better and now it's fine. When I come home now and see how much she loves Nina before she leaves, I know we made the right decision. Not to mention, Elisa does housework! She cleanes our tiles, vacuums our bedrooms, does our laundry and makes our beds! She is just an awesome person - we are so lucky to have her.

Here she is on their first day together:

Every day, Elisa takes some pics of Nina while I am at work. I never put shoes on Nina (probably because I love to go barefoot) and she has tons of them that she received as gifts. Elisa always puts shoes on her, it's cute to see them on.

Elisa takes Nina out for walks everyday before her afternoon nap.

I was sad about going back to work and the thought of seeing less of Nina and leaving her with someone else was so tough for me. But now, a week later I feel great about it. I do still miss her every day while I am away but coming home and seeing how excited she is to see me with her arms stretched out and a huge smile just melts my heart. I have more energy (I thought it would be the other way around) and just feel like life is great. I feel lucky to have found such a great job and nanny.