daycare decisions

ever since finding out we were having a baby, we knew i'd be going back to work after my 12 week maternity leave. it was my hope that i'd be able to work less than full time and thankfully that is going to happen. (i'll be working 4 days a week, 32 hours). i'm so happy i'll have one weekday at home to spend with my girl. 

that of course leaves 4 days a week when someone will need to watch her. so, a few weeks ago, we launched into looking at daycare options. thatcher and i both agreed we wanted to focus on the home daycare option over a traditional daycare center. i know there are pros and cons to each, but we like the idea of a more intimate environment, and home daycares tend to be less expensive. 

we spoke with 2 nice women who do licensed daycare in their homes. the first one lives just a block from us, which would have been really convenient. i went over to her house to meet her and ask some questions and i really liked her. but one issue was that she has an opening starting in may and we wouldn't need her until the end of june (assuming baby comes on time). she was also the more expensive of the 2. 

the other woman we talked to watches my boss's 2 boys and they love her. the nice thing is, it takes away a bit of the uncertainty to know someone who has used her for many years and has been happy with her care. she lives a couple miles away in richfield, which isn't as convenient as the other option, but not bad either. thatcher and i both went to her house last weekend for a little interview. she has a family who only needs care one day a week this summer, so that would work perfectly with our 4 days a week. so we let her know we'd love to take the spot and she is sending over the paperwork. it feels so good to have this all figured out. she mentioned she's been getting a lot of calls lately, so i'm glad we started this process when we did. i'm sure it will be hard for me to go back to work and leave baby girl with someone, but i think it's going to work out great!