M.D. might have hit a big milestone yesterday with his first tooth poking through but I hit my own milestone this past week and am finally ready to share it with the blogosphere.
I have officially reached my pre-M.D. weight. HALLELUJAH!!!
6 months ago I never thought this day would come. In fact, I was sure that it wouldn't. Nobody ever warned me that when you leave the hospital you are actually bigger than when you went in. You think I'm joking? The water rention and swelling made it almost impossible for me to get my shoes on (I had to leave them untied when we walked out). I couldn't fit into the sweatpants I fit in when I went into the hospital (with a baby in my stomach....).

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't work out. I hate it. There is nothing about it that I like. I don't get that "runner's high". I get winded, and tired, and sore, and crabby. I'll do my share of sit ups or push ups in the comfort of my own home. That's it.
I actually bought the Jillian Michael's work-out DVD (30 day shred). I almost threw that DVD out the window. She's such a bitch. I started the video about 6 weeks post-M.D. (when the doctor said I could exercise without ripping my stomach open). I did half of the video. I can't believe I allowed such a rude person into my house. She doesn't let you take ANY breaks (in fact her quote is, if you want to get fit in only 30 minutes a day you don't get breaks!!)...she says mean things that are meant to be motivational but just made me want to punch her in the face. That was the end of home workouts.
So, once I hit the 6 weeks you-can-work-out phase winter had set in. It was too cold out to take M.D. for walks. We were stuck inside. Perfect excuse for me to not work out.

I gained about 40lbs when I was pregnant with M.D. That's about 10 more than I was hoping to gain. They all showed up in the first 6 months. The last 3 I had heartburn so bad I couldn't eat a thing.

Here I am about 2 weeks before this little boy entered the world. Severly uncomfortable. Seriously looks like I'm just holding a giant inflatable ball under my dress. I'm not. It was big and heavy and sore and awful. YIKES!

I remember my least favorite part about going to the doctor's office toward the end was the scale. Awful. I understand you have to gain weight when you're pregnant...but once you're up around 40lbs over your normal it starts to freak you out a little because you know damn well that baby doesn't weight 40lbs!

So how did it all go away?
Breastfeeding helped. I don't know how or why that burns so many calories, but it does. That took off the first 20lbs no problem.
Then I was left with around 15-20lbs and was done breastfeeding. And it was winter. And i'm generally opposed to any kind of exercise, unless someone's chasing me...then I will run.
This is the part where you can hate me.
I did nothing. I didn't work out. I ate like I always do (Velveeta & Rotel dip at 9pm...YES PLEASE!)
And it's gone. It shocked even me. Sure some of it's a little.....*ahem*....redistributed from it's pre-M.D. location. But the point is that scale is no longer my enemy. I can be excited that it's spring (and closer to bathing suit season) because I know I can wear the same swimming suits I wore last summer and wear them proudly (thanks also to no stretch marks)!

So there it is....my brag-rag for the week. I'm excited. I can't be proud of myself...cuz I didn't honestly do anything. At least I'm realistic about that :)
Hate me if you want...but please don't! I like you too much!

M.D. hit a milestone yesterday. His first tooth. It caught me by surprise...literally.
He has had THE runniest nose for the past few days. I was sure it was a cold. Monday it ran like a faucet. Non-stop. And we all know how much babies LOOOVE having their noses wiped. Yup. It was a challenge.
I picked him up from Miss Michele's house yesterday and got him home. His nose had stopped running. We got home and started playing. One of M.D.'s favorite things to do when we are reunited after a long days' work/play is to give me kisses....big sloppy kisses. He grabs my face with both of his hands and pulls it towards his face. He then directs his mouth either to my cheek (preferable) or my nose (not as preferable...). He gives the best kisses. So we got home and M.D. started giving me his big kisses and suddenly, midway through a big sloppy kiss on the nose, I felt something....OUCH! It felt like a little grain of sand was stuck in his mouth. I pulled him away and pulled down his lower lip. Sure as shit...there's a tooth poking out. Unreal. I mean...real...it really happened, and I'm not stupid..I know baby teeth do start appearing around 6 months. But WOW. I couldn't believe it. He's only been teething for what seems like 100 years. Finally a tooth.

I now understand those Hallmark commercials where moms are putting their kids on the bus for the first day of school. They look so proud, but so sad at the same time. I wonder how they direct those actresses to look. Okay, look happy...but look really sad too. But I get it now. I was so excited for him. His first tooth! And at the same time I was so sad...just another sign that my baby boy is growing up. He will never again have that gummy little smile we've known and loved for the past 6 months. Now he will have little bunny teeth (just in time for easter) poking out the bottom (and soon top) of his mouth.
How did we go from here to there so quickly?

M.D. had his first avacado last night. He LOVED it. He loved it so much that I sent some with him to daycare today to have for lunch. I had to laugh at the irony though...as I was mashing up the avacado...mixing...mashing....wait....this looks like M.D.'s poop. Gross. Whelp...he'll eat it! I guess at least this way it comes out looking the same way it did going in :) All Natural!!

The photographer that we used for M.D.'s 6 month pictures wrote a super sweet blog post on her photography blog about him. Check it out here.

ANNNDDD.....The first day of REAL daycare was SUPER SUCCESSFUL!!! M.D. had an awesome day...Miss MIchele was wonderful in that she sent him home happy, rested, full, and with clean clothing on. God Bless Her. She also sends home a little daily report card for him which is very cute. I know the expensive daycare center used to do that for us, but I always figured...for what we're paying you we should get more than just a damn report card! It's nice coming from Miss Michele because then we know how much he slept, ate, wet/dirtied diapers so we know what to expect from him when we get home. She also puts activities he did during the day which is nice to see that he's staying active and engaged all day long!

Funny story...when I went to pick M.D. up from his first day yesterday Miss MIchele mentioned that we had not given her any "safe" foods that she could give him during the day. Apparently the food program called her all up-in-arms because this 6 month old baby was NOT on the food registry. WHOOPS! I explained to her that we make a lot of his food at home to save money. Well apparently since he's in a licensed daycare now he gets their food so it's already included in his cost. Works for me. Sure, I'm a big fan of the idea of him eating healthy natural foods, but the bigger issue was cost savings. If I'm already paying for it...he can eat it. I'll still keep making fresh, nutritious foods at home for the little man but at daycare he can eat jarred foods! SO anyway...back to the funny part. Miss MIchele said she just felt horrible because she sat all of the kids down to eat their food and little M.D. was just staring at them all like, "Where's my lunch!?" She said that she even ate a corndog sitting next to him and his mouth was apparently wide open and drooling the whole time she was eating...just watching her....eat....poor guy! Hahaha. Bad Mom Award! So he's back at daycare today eating avacados and he's signed up to get rice cereal, sweet potatoes & carrots. Any foods we add from here-on-out, we just let her know, and she will add them to his list/food order. Sweet.

M.D. has his first PT appointment tomorrow. Lord only knows what that will entail?? I'm trying to figure out what a physicial therapist and a baby will do together to make a head round? I'm sure they have a strategy...I'm just not sure what yet! Hopefully M.D. cooperates :)

Gooooood Monday Morning :) I'm not usually this chipper on Mondays, but I'm excited for Easter weekend coming up quickly so that is putting me in a happier place!

This weekend was a busy one for the D family. We had M.D.'s 6 month pictures taken on Saturday morning. What an experience. Let's just say...it was the opposite of this.
We tried a new photographer. http://amberborowickphotography.com/. She was amazing. The photos were taken right in her home in which she sets up a make-shift studio right in the front room. She's the perfect person to go to if you are getting baby pictures done because she has a baby. There is nothing better than someone who understands exactly the patience level it takes to photograph little ones...oh! and she has tons of toys, spit up rags, etc so you're pretty much set if you just show up with your baby :) M.D. loved her as well and as a result we got some awesome shots! His photos aren't on her website yet but I will share some as I am able. (If we are Facebook friends I you can find the link on my page). Her prices are very reasonable and overall we were very happy with her.

M.D. tried his hand at a sippy cup this weekend. He is hilarious. He has this weird quirk for, when you introduce something new, he figures it out RIGHT AWAY. But then if you try it again a day, week, etc later he acts like he has no idea what you're presenting to him and acts like a total maniac.
The first time he had solid food he ate the entire bowl of rice cereal I made. No mess. No choking, nothing. Now it is a complete disaster mess every time he eats. I think he's figured out that baby food feels really cool between his fingers. He will literally reach into his mouth grab some food out and play with it. Super. I might need to handcuff him. So , M.D. found a lot of success in his first attempt at a sippy cup. True to nature, the second time I handed him the cup (later in the day) he chucked it across the room. The dogs were terrified.

On Sunday, M.D. and I went to Target to pick up some supplies for the house. M.D. needed an Easter basket and we needed more formula. M.D. decided to be nice and pick up Daddy's favorite treat for him while we were there.

Today is M.D.'s first day of REAL daycare. Not family members, not expensive daycare center. The real deal: Miss Michele's Daycare. She doesn't call it that...it's just Michele's Daycare. But we call her Miss Michele. It's important to distinguish because M.D. also has an Auntie MIchelle so we need to clarify (for our own sanity). The place (we hope) he will be until he goes to Kindergarten. We were referred to this home daycare provider by our friend & neighbor. We are very excited! She is the sweetest and most organized woman I think I've ever met. I could never do her job. We were so unbelievably lucky to get M.D.'s spot. Apparently, there is a huge shortage of infant openings in our town when it comes to home daycares. One woman who interviewed with our new provider told her that she had called 33 daycares and none had openings. Nightmare. We just so happened to get an interview with Miss Michele and loved her AND she had an opening AND she turned down another couple BEFORE our interview just because she wanted to meet us and give it a shot. Love her. We are also really excited because Miss MIchele has another infant (2 is the limit) and he is also a boy and is 7 months old. Perfect. M.D. will have a little buddy to play with every day. This was really a God-Send. Literally. Did I mention she's also being awarded the home daycare provider of the year for our whole county?! Oh yeah.....no big deal. We're very excited!

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

HAAPPPYYY FRIIIDAAAYY!!! :) This day could not come fast enough. It never can. No big plans for the D household this weekend. We were gone last weekend at the wedding and next weekend we will be at my family's house for Easter so this is our weekend to have some R&R (and get some stuff done around the house).
Tomorrow morning we have M.D.'s 6 month pictures. I'm hoping for a better turnout than the 3 month old pictures. Yikes! This time we are going to a woman who lives in our town. She was recommended by some friends of ours who took their two adorable boys to get pictures taken by her. They turned out awesome so I am really excited to get M.D.'s done. Fingers Crossed.
I'm having some issues with deciding on what he will wear for his pictures. My original idea was GENIUS...but there are some road blocks.

I bought these pants for M.D. They're Old Navy cuff-jeans. They don't even show the cutest part in the picture. The cutest part is that they have a white and blue striped liner inside..so when you roll up cuffs at the bottom of the legs it has a super cute pattern that shows.
My genius idea was to get his pictures taken in these jeans. Only these jeans. I love little boy pics in just a cute pair of jeans...no shirt...barefooted. Yes. Perfect.
One problem. I ordered the jeans in size 12 months. That is the size of pants M.D. is wearing right now. The length is perfect. The cuffs are adorable and I'm SO happy. Except one thing. The waist. This little boy is so dang skinny that the jeans are literally 2 sizes too big in the waist. There is not an adjustable waist button inside the jeans...and they are SO wide on him that even a little belt would look awkward. I'm so bummed. I'm sure we will figure something else out. Last Minute. It's not that it matters anyways. His face is so stinking cute he could wear a paperbag and still look adorable (yes, I'm bragging).

So anyways, now that winter has decided to stick around for another million days Steven, M.D. and I are getting WAY stir-crazy. Spring fever has hit. I'm trying to brainstorm inexpensive activities we can do (especially on the weekends) until the weather is warm enough to start some outdoor ones.
All of you MN peeps help me out here! I've compiled a (short) list in my head of ideas, but I'm looking for more! The less expensive, the better! Ready, Set...GO!

1) SEA LIFE at Mall of America
    -Pro: M.D. would be blown away by all of the colors, fish, etc. Also, this is in the MOA so we could do lots of walking around and eat-out while we were there.
    -Con:  Cost. It's not ridiculously expensive but the box-office price is $20.99 per adult. That's a $41 cost if we buy tickets there. A little steep. We can buy tickets online for as low as $14.99 so that would be a little bit more reasonable. We'll see.

2) MN Zoo
    -Pro: We can go for free. Our library has those Activity Passes you can check out for free that give you 2 admissions. Steven & I would use those and M.D. would get in free since he's under 2. 
    -Con: Distance. It's kind of a haul to get there. It'd be a lot of time in the car. Plus, we would be stuck in the indoor exhibits because of the cold.
*Como Zoo is another option as well, although their indoor exhibits are much more limited than MN Zoo. It is closer though and donation only*

3) Local Library
    -Pro: Free. REALLY close by.
    -Con: We have books at home. Baby storytime takes place on Wednesday mornings. Seriously people, does nobody work out of the home anymore?!

Alright....HELP! Input please :)
Have a great weekend!

The Mama Bear instinct (or attitude) is the most bizarre thing I have found in becoming a mother. All of the mothers who read this blog understand what I am talking about. It is the most natural force you will ever feel in your entire life. Every other opinion you have prior to making a decision you go back and forth on. Will that be a selfish decision? Am I making the right decision? Is that the best decision for me/my spouse/my friend/etc? Not Mama Bear. That instict is what drives all of the major decisions you make for your little one and it is the strongest force inside of you. There is nothing (and I mean NOTHING) that can stop it.
Being a mom doesn't mean you won't have tough decisions to make. And sometimes you will stop and ask yourself those same questions. However, there is no fight or flight when it comes to being a mom. When you reach a crossroads where you dont' know where to turn, your Mama Bear comes out and the decision has already been made. You know what is best for your child. You're the Mama Bear. You can't help it. It's pretty awesome.
When I was pregnant with M.D. I was like a lost puppy. Some women talk about pregnancy they talk about how they already "know" their child. They already have the Mama Bear rushing through their blood. I had a little bit of that. I had no idea what was coming.

This pictures captures the precise moment when the Mama Bear instinct hit me like a ton of bricks. That was my child. My #1 job for the rest of my life was set. To protect this child. To make decisions that would benefit this child. The End. Done.

P.S. My stomach was WIDE open at this point. I had no idea. Kind of a sick thought though. Modern medicine is so bizarre.

I remember right after baby M.D. was born. I held him (obvious from the picture) and then there's kind of this blur. I remember being taken to the recovery room which was right next to the operating room. I remember lots of nurses. I remember looking around at all of the machines. I remember thinking Where's my baby? My baby was not in the recovery room. I lost my mind. I have never sobbed so hard in my life. Thank GOD for anesthesia. I had a gaping wound in my abdominal cavity and I was sobbing. Not a good combination...unless you're physically numb. I remember looking at every nurse individually and asking Where Is My Baby?! I probably didn't ask...I probably demanded. I don't remember my tone. Forgive me. My baby was just fine. He was with Steven. He was only NOT in the room for about 2 minutes. They had to wheel me in first. Steven & M.D. were to follow. I'm sure they covered that ahead of time. It didn't matter. From that moment on my baby needed to be with me. I remember Steven walking into the room pushing M.D.'s little bassinet cart. Biggest smile on his face. Proud Papa Bear. He looked at me. Tears streaming down my face. Oxygen hooked up through my nose. Hair disheveled. He asked the nurse Is she OK?  Best husband ever. I just needed my baby.
Speaking of Steven, he has the Papa Bear instinct as well. A less-recognized but equally important instinct. Everything we do in life now is decided knowing that what is best for M.D. comes first. No questions asked. It doesn't matter if it's not what we WANT to do at that moment. It doesn't matter if it is what is most CONVENIENT to do. It doesn't even matter if it is the decision that will be best for those around us. It matters what is best for M.D. The End. There is definitely a comfort in that. There is nothing better than making a decision and feeling 110% confident in that decision. It's rare in life

We are expanding M.D.'s food horizons. He has started to think that solid food is playtime. Immediately after taking a bite of food into his mouth, one or both hands quickly enter as well and he often times ends up pulling out a large majority and then smearing it all over his high chair, face, outfit, bib, etc. I'm not giving up. BUT, I am giving an alternative option a try as well.

Has anybody heard of these? Baby Mum-Mum. When my sister-in-law, Meghan, told me the name of them I thought she was just being ridiculous. "Mum-Mum?!" Come ON! Meghan had suggested them since M.D. is right about the age when he is teething/picking things up and putting them in his mouth/wanting to try new foods. These combine all three into one. They are pretty awesome!

We let M.D. try them this past weekend. They are a HIT. Okay, not always because he loves eating them. I'm guessing there isn't much flavor packed into a "rice rusk". However, they make a great distraction if I'm trying to get something accomplished in the kitchen.
They're great because they're hard but they dissolve almost instantly in baby's mouth so they don't choke. You still need to watch them when they're eating it (obviously) so they don't slam it down their throats...but it's a good learning tool also for that hand-eye coordination.

M.D. likes to slam the rice rusk against his highchair tray until it turns to dust. He literally demolished one yesterday. He's one tough cookie.

M.D. is 6 months old today. Holy Cow. I can't believe how quickly he is growing up! He had his 6 month appointment yesterday so I have his current stats on height/weight/etc.

Name: M.D.

Age: 6 months

Weight: 16lbs 14oz (This puts him in the 40% percentile for weight).

Length: 27.5" (This puts him in the 85% for length)

Eye Color: Bright Blue

Hair Color: Blonde (sticks straight out of his head like a mad scientist!)

Favorite Food: Sweet Potatoes

Favorite Toy: Books!! He loves "his" book (the indestructable book that he attempts to destroy everytime he sees it) and he's a HUGE fan of "Brown Bear What Do You See"

Favorite Game: Peek-a-Boo, and just giggling in general

Teeth?: Not yet

Mobility: Rolls from back-to-front & side-to-side, sit's up (with some assistance). 
(Thinks he can sit up on his own so he already is getting frustrated that Mommy is helping him with everything...)

Likes: Talking, talking talking! Also loves his puppy Mila so much...it's adorable. 

Dislikes: His inability to crawl (he gets a little frusturated in his attempts), sitting quietly when all he wants to do is go Go GO! :) He also has a very tumultuous relationship with a certain sunflower toy that sits on his jumper. That's a post all on it's own...

Our doctor's appointment was overall very successful. Steven and I had concerns about M.D.'s eczema but the doctor assured us it should clear up once the weather starts to change...which hopefully will be any day now???
We did have concerns about his head (flatness) so the doctor has recommended we start taking him to physical therapy to try to correct the issue. She also gave us a referral to a craniofacial plastics doctor at a large hospital in the metro area. He comes with not-the-best reputation for being personable but he is supposed to be the best in the area when it comes to children. Our doctor told us that she's only sending us to the specialist as a formality, but she does not believe he does or will need a helmet to correct his flat-headedness. 

Thanks for being patient with my absence over the last 5 days! The wedding Steven & I attended was absolutely beautiful. We missed M.D. tremendously but were able to spend the whole weekend with him which was very nice....even though he did catch a little cold while we were gone :( There is absolutely nothing worse than listening to your baby try to breathe out of a stuffed nose. 
 

Have you ever heard of this book? I've wanted to read it since it came out. I remember that it was a big deal. OMG! Did you see that children's book with "fuck" in the title?! Who would ever write a children's book with a swear word in the title?! I think I heard about it on GMA. It was that big of a deal. Apparently, it's not really a book to read to your kids. I suppose you could. There are worse things that parents do to their kids. I just read about some guy in Montana who was sentenced today for waterboarding his kids. Yeah. No joke. It's real.

So my assumption is that this book was written for parents who have trouble getting their little one to go to sleep. An understandable and very common problem. So far, with M.D., Steven and I have been very lucky when it comes to bedime.

For as much as this little monster cried and screamed and wailed during the day for his first 3 (4) months of life, he knew when it was time for bed and he was ready to go. And ready to stay....(asleep, that is). 90% of it was that he tired himself out. The other 10% was that God wanted us to care for this child until the end of our lives...and he didn't want the end to come too quickly.
Another credit that I will give Steven & I is that we have been VERY regimented when it comes to M.D.'s bedtime routine. We did not sleep-train him as a newborn. P.S. What on earth does sleep-training mean? I read about it online EVERYWHERE and just used it because it sounded like it fit, but it's really a bunch of bullshit. Find me a parent who can "train" a baby to do ANYTHING that it doesn't already do on it's own, naturally, I will bow to them. Sleep-training-my-ass. Pshhhhhh....
Anyways, ever since M.D. has started sleeping in his own room in his big boy crib (around 3-4 months) we have stuck to a bedtime routine and not strayed. M.D. goes down for the night between 7-8pm every night. That sounds like it's not very regimented...an hour time gap?! BUT for a 4,5,6 month old..that's pretty strict. It also depends on when we get him from daycare, whether or not we stay at M.D.'s grandma's house for dinner after picking him up, etc. Usually this closer to 7:00-7:30 bedtime.
M.D. gets his nighttime bottle around 6:30-7pm. Then it's bedtime. We lay him down...awake...and turn on his fish/lamb/mobile/dog/whatever the heck has batteries that work and will lull him to sleep. He doesn't fall asleep right away. Even to this day. He's a human...not a robot. BUT the point is...he stays in his crib. He sometimes fusses, sure. He's a baby. And we go in and we put his pacifier back in his mouth and give him kisses...but we don't pick him up. He doesn't get to come out. It's bedtime. What a bunch of assholes huh? :)
But it works! It was hard at first. Sometimes he still tests us. But 9 times outta 10 we lay him down and he is asleep within 15 minutes. FOR THE NIGHT. He will wake up and eat again around 6am. BAM! At least we got one thing right :)

We went to that homeshow I mentioned in a previous blog and everybody was all goo-goo-ga-ga over M.D. in his stroller. On our way out the door one vendor stopped us to take a peek. He said, Oh what a cute little guy, how old?
We said, 5 months.
He said, Is he sleeping through the night...HAHAHA just kidding...I remember that age.
We said, He actually is sleeping through the night.
He said, (nothing)...then, Well don't expect that next time! Your next one will probably have colic!
We said, Nothing. Been there, done that :)

No more posts for the next few days! Steven and I are heading out to a wedding tomorrow afternoon and won't be back until Saturday night. Nana is babysitting/dogsitting/housesitting (in that order) while we are gone.
If you get sick of re-reading my posts here are some interesting articles that I enjoyed today :)
Homemade Baby Food (this I especially liked because I thought making FRUIT homemade babyfood would suck. It might. But this makes it seem at least a little easier.
Citrus Lane Baby Gift Box review. I had never heard of this before but it would make a great gift idea for someone's baby shower or a child's birthday...who doesn't like presents every month!?
Chili Bar?! Yes please! Such a cute party/gathering idea.
Edible Finger Paint. I'm super excited about this. I had been looking for something similar now that M.D. has figured out he can grab food out of his mouth and smear it all over his highchair tray. Let's turn that into art! :)

And finally...some adorable pics of M.D. playing at daycare. He loves tummy time now, especially when there's lots of toys to play with. He was a big fan of this inch worm yesterday! (*Sorry for picture quality*)

I think I'm going a little nuts. Everybody who's had a baby knows that besides feeding & changing your baby...and sleeping very little...the activity that takes up a lot of your time after giving birth is.................................................................................thank you cards.

Yup. You will be writing tons. TONS. When Steven & I got married we split up the thank you cards between the two of us and wrote them out over the course of 2 evenings. Quick, easy, done. When you have a baby they get drawn out...over LONG periods of time. You have your first baby shower...thank you cards.....maybe a second baby shower....thank you cards....you give birth & people come to the hospital....thank you cards....people come visit at your house....thank you cards....the baby gets baptized....thank you cards....OMG!!!!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you t...h...a..........
Exhausting. The next baby gift I give I am specifically going to write in the card, Please don't send me a thank you card. I know you appreciate the gift & I'd rather you spend time with your new baby than write me a thank you card for this rattle you've already received....3 other times...Love, Laurel.

So here's where I went a little nutty. We sent M.D. to the expensive daycare center for 1 day of fun & friend-making. Prior to sending him we did 2 tours of the facility. I dropped him off the day of his care and also picked him up. At none of these visits did anybody mention anything about paying them. What!? Drop-in care is obviously something they don't do very often because nobody seemed to be able to give me a straight answer. So I called. M.D.'s expensive day of fun was March 1st. I called and left a voicemail with the center on March 4th (Monday) asking somebody to call me back so I could find out how to pay them. Nobody called me back. WTF!? Don't you want my money??? The problem is...my "Laurel" side is saying, Sweet! Free expensive daycare day. Walk away Laurel. This is your blessing of the day. While my practical side is saying, Laurel! You have to find a way to pay them! They are your back-up daycare. They'll never take M.D. again if you don't pay them for the 1st time!!! 
**Notice my "Laurel" side and practical side are considered opposites...hmmm.... :)
Well, my practical side won-out...and apparently my insane side. Because I came up for a solution for how I was going to make this business take my money...whether they liked it or not.
I wrote them a thank you card.
Yup.
I know.
I'm an effing idiot.
But I did. I wrote a thank you card. I wrote thank you for taking such good care of M.D. and here is your check for an exorbitant amount of money that I really can't afford to pay you but I have to because my practical side says you'll deny me future childcare if I don't...phew. Okay so I kind of wrote that...a lot of that was more read-between-the-lines implied. I enclosed the check, licked the envelope, and put a stamp on it. I was actually proud of myself. How thoughtful they would think I was for not only paying them (when they clearly didn't want me to??) but also writing a thank you card to the staff.
I mailed the thank you card at 1pm on Friday, March 8th.
At about 2pm on Friday, March 8th I realized that I am a fucking lunatic.
I will be the laughing stock of this daycare center. A THANK YOU NOTE?! Geesh.
Let's ignore the fact, for one second, that I live approx 2 miles from this establishment, AND pass by it on my way home from work EVERY DAY. Let's just ignore that for a minute and focus on the fact that I MAILED a THANK YOU NOTE with MONEY because I couldn't get anybody to tell me how I was supposed to pay them for daycare. This is the bus of insanity and I'm the effing driver.

THANK YOU...for listening.