Will I regret this next April?

I am hiring a nanny, M. She's great! She has energy and the kids are already excited to see her.

I really want to do this legally for a few reasons. It's easier for M, if something happens to my job, she is then able to get unemployment. It's nicer for me, too. I can deduct childcare on my taxes and have a clear conscience.

The governemnent makes this very easy to do. You get an EIN, then the nanny fills out an I-9 and a W-4. It's all spelled out in a nice pdf booklet, publication 926.

Finding information from the state of Washington is less clear. The more you dig, the more confusing it gets. I took the advice of a friend and called a book keeping service and I cannot afford to pay them. So, I will have to weed through the government pages.

First off, according to the state, I need to get a state business license, which surprised me. I fill out the state license form for a Master Business license. The info from this site, hiring an employee, is all I can find. I have yet to find the info on what I need to do to pay unemployment insurance.

What have I gotten myself into? And the book keeper didn't seem thrilled with just setting me up.

Happiness is a cookie as big as your head

Both kids LOVE cookies from the coffee shop. It's more of a special occasion thing, but lucky for me I had my camera in my purse.

Big N borrowed my camera

I was downloading photos I had taken during the day while away from home and thought I would share a few that had somehow appeared on this particular memory card. It appears Big N borrowed my camera. I've let him take a few photos on occasion, typically with me in the room, the camera strap securely on his wrist and tons of instructions on how to keep his thumb off the lens and to be careful with the camera. He took roughly 100 images, and many of the shots I was not aware of.

I like his choice of photos. You could tell what was important to him in his life and then what he found interesting. It is a small peak into his view of the world. There was a complete series of bear. Close-ups, staged shots, bear sitting up, bear lying down, bear on the bed. He had some shots of his sister, tons of dad shots, a few of me, a series of the TV and of the computer. But, the significant amount of teddy bear photos were sweet. This is the bear that N will go to sleep with. When bear disappears for a few day, no one is happy.

Big N has put up with a lot of my photo shoots of him. It did make me realize how much he pays attention when I noticed how he arranged bear for his photo shoot.

Miss you, Big N. I'll be home in a few days!

My trip so far

I am in India for work. There's so much to look at and unfortunately very limited time outside the office. We spent a little time outside the office today to do some shopping. Mom will like what I picked up, which I will have to keep to myself for now. This family of four drove by on their motorcycle. There appear to be more motorcycles in Bangalore than cars, and no large cars by US standard.

The terrible NOs

My daughter has hit her terrible no stage. I think some people refer to this as the terrible twos, but really, it is the terrible-nos.

"Honey, would you like to wear your flower shirt?"
"No!"
"Ok, would you to wear the green pants?"
"No!"
"Would you like to wear your play shoes so you can play outside today?"
"NO!"
"Should Momma put you in your plain shirt?"
"No!" *sob* "I-want-the-flower-shirt!"

All of our conversations seem to go this direction, she says no and then when I offer to do an alternative, she says no she wants the original. Getting dressed in the morning is a major chore. Brushing her teeth is a major chore. There isn't anything that takes less than a 10 minute "NO!" discussion.

We have the emphatic, "NO!" The sad, "no-o," ending with a sob. The short and sweet, "no," sometimes ending with a smile, sometimes ending with a pout. I never realized the range of emotions and the coverage of topics that were possible with a single 2-letter word.

Baby Girl isn't feeling well

My little girl's expression about sums up how she feels. She tolerated my taking her photo on Sunday, but has not been a happy camper for the last few days.

She's so sweet. Every time she gets "sick" she tells me that she needs a bath. It is her sad little voice punctuated with a deep breath and a sob at the end and her big horse tears. I don't blame her. She gets to play in the tub afterwards and we put on clean jammies. Then we cuddle up together under her daddy's big wool blanket. Who wouldn't want a bath when they are feeling awful.

Luckily, Big N isn't showing any signs of getting sick.

Spring day in Seattle

Crazy weather this week! Last weekend it was 70 degrees and today it is snowing. Being in Seattle, that means you pull out the boots and coats immediately. It may not be around tomorrow.

The kids had a great time this evening throwing snowballs into the grass. They even figured out how much fun it was to hit mom and dad with snow.