Meet the Cockrill's: Day Number One!

This family is just so sweet and a lot of fun but they will definitely help me sleep at night!
Let's just say these kiddos like to keep me on my toes:)

Today, Friday, July 30th was my first day with this family.

The Mother is a trainer at a local gym and keeps quite busy with classes and clients.  She is so nice and lots of fun!  She has such a good energy about her and I really like that.  However, most of her classes are bright and early in the morning so that means I get to be up by 6am or so everyday now...yay! haha!  Hello Coffee you are my new best friend!

The Father has started up his own insurance group here in KC and stays extremely busy.  It sounds like he has long hours but hopefully it will get better for him in the future!  Also, the Father's parents live in my home town, Maryville so we have something in common!  Plus he is a big Mizzou fan...go Tigers!  Very cool all around:)

Now for the kiddos....
Owen is 2.5 and definitely all boy!  He very much enjoys getting into everything, causing mischief, and climbing on everything.  He is cute but man, quite the hand-full!  He is definitely in that "terrible two's" stage...but it's really not that bad, I have seen way worst unfortunately!  He is working on using his manners, "being gentle" (this is a tough one..he really likes to rough house the doggie and occassionally Miles), and using his words and feelings instead of throwing temper tantrums.  Haha...I can already tell this one is going to be interesting:)  Owen enjoys "pig juice" (his name for GoGurt Yogurt), his Cuppy (a stuffed frog he carries everywhere), and making messes, haha!  His favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus" and we sang it quite a bit today.  He recently learned how to open and shut doors which makes me very nervous because when he shuts a door he slams it and I'm trying to teach him that it's not ok to run outside whenever he wants...I know somebody is going to get hurt..eek!  Then today he decided to squirt something called "Boudreaux Butt Paste" all over the kitchen floor...it was impossible to clean up!  What on earth is that stuff?!  Like I said...he keeps me on my toes, it's good for me though...right?!  The "Butt Paste" was a lil' far for the first day though...it could be interesting to see what's to come..yikes!
Ps. My hands still smell like it...gross!  Butt Paste?  Man, is this for real?  Way different then being covered in soy sauce and stirfry...haha!

Miles is 1.5 and already the love of my life!  He is by far the sweetest, cutest baby boy.  Full of smiles and nicknamed Milo.  I just want to hug him all the time!  Today we sang, "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and he would say..."e-i-e-i-oooo" it was the cutest thing EVER! teehee.  Love him!  I also want to nickname him Linus because he has this adorable "blankey" he carries around with him everywhere...it's so precious.  He's just so cuddly:)  I also learned that he loves blueberries and he has learned how to tip his sippy cup upside down and make big water messes...oh boy!  Once again...keeping on my toes:)

Then there is Bernie.  A very lovable mutt.  The poor pup really gets harassed by Owen.  Like I said he's learning to "play nice" and I don't think he realizes quite yet how strong he really is...the doggie gets really irritated and I try to do my best to keep Owen away from him.  This dog is really sweet and lovable though!  We will have to go on some walks in the near future:)

Anyways, this family is a lot of fun and I'm very excited for my future with them.
It will be so neat to watch these kiddos grow and I really hope it works out for the best!  I'm wanting a long term gig with a family so we'll see how this goes!  This is my first "nanny experience" for my new future and I'm so excited for the things that may come.  As long as they like me I think we'll be good to go:)

Things to learn on my first day:
You will smell like butt paste at the end of the day....oh boy!

                                                                       Much Love with Miss Mandi!
                                                                 Stay tuned for much more to come...

The New Adventure: Mandi a Nanny?!

So here I am on this new, amazing adventure to KC.
I never imagined living here but here I am and I'm completely in love so far!  Who would of thought you could "fall" for something so quickly;)

Ben asked me to move here a few months ago and after much pondering...I decided, let's do it!
After weighing my options I realized that this is a chance, an opportunity for not only a better and happier life but more possibilities for a better future.  It just makes sense!  Education wise, career wise, and just so many more open doors to go through and just have the ability to enjoy life to its fullest.

We found the cutest lil' house in Waldo and the location is just "prime" to anything and everything you could imagine.  The Plaza is literally a 3-4 minute drive, my college that I will be attending is maybe a 5 minute drive (if that), and shopping, bars, beautiful parks and fountains, and entertainment galore.  I think I have found a new heaven...at least for now!  It's so funny because when I thought of KC I imagined "old, industrial, and dirty"...completely different then what I expected!  I also thought I would completely lost all the time but so far getting around has been a piece of cake (knock on wood!).

I finally "feel good" about something again and it's so nice to be brought back to life after so long.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Columbia dearly and especially everybody there.  Columbia is what really helped me grow and learn about not only myself but the real world as well.  Even though Columbia had it's set-backs and I felt as if I was treading water for the past 4 years...a lot of good came out of it.  I would of never met some of the amazing friends that I now have and the love of my life, Ben Davis:)

So, moving to KC I knew I had to make some changes.
One of them is to get out of the friggin' restaurant world or at least the one I was in.  I love people but man, in the serving world they can be just darn right cruel.  For the past 4 years I worked at a restaurant I really grown to love.  Mostly it was my co-workers.  They became my family away from home and I'm so thankful I found that job!  My heart is so big for that place it's just plain old ridiculous:)  At the same time it became way too personal.  I have now learned that a job should just be your job...I mean, make it fun while you're there but keep it business and don't get too "sucked in" because once you do, you're doomed!  I have no regrets but the past few years have been way more stressful than they need to be at a part-time job and I have experienced more "hurt" than I ever have had in my life.  I hate to say it but I have truly been "unhappy" for the past 2 years.  It's so weird because I'm always so "happy go lucky" and a big ball of positive energy...there really isn't a day where I don't have a smile on my face.  However, deep down I was hurting, bad.  So...change is good, right?  What do I love?  What truly makes me happy?  I have a list that is never ending and although it's pretty easy to please me I realized something so simple, I absolutely adore children (especially well-behaved, polite, cute ones...haha!)  Really, if I could walk away with a smile on my face everyday from a job I truly loved then, well...that would just be wonderful!  Kiddos are just so fun!  They have no reality of the "real world" yet and enjoy everyday as if it was their first.  I don't know at what age we lose that in ourselves...but I wish we  never did.  Life was always so much more fun when we were young and naive, right?  So, what would be more perfect that being a nanny?  I decided to look into it.

I worked in a daycare before I moved to CoMo a few years ago and absolutely loved it.  It was by far one of my most favorite jobs.  I also looked into changing my major to Elementary Education (I would love to have my own classroom someday!)  For now I think I just want to finish out my Public Relations degree but it could be a possibility in the future!  UMKC has one of the best education programs so it would really be quite perfect:)  Then on and off I have babysat for different families since I was 13 years old.  I definitely have experience with the kiddos, that's for sure!

A really sweet family, The Cockrill's, contacted me pretty quickly after posting my resume online and here I am...a nanny!  I also lined up another family (The Douglass's) to "nanny" for starting the 2nd week of August as well.  A nanny...40-some hours a week!  Wow.  I am so excited to begin this new journey and do something different.  It will be exhausting but rewarding and I'm hoping this is a job where I find much happiness!  So, I'm thinking this "nanny" thing could get quite interesting...so I decided to share my experiences with you.  Hopefully it will bring much amusement and laughter to you and make your hearts as big as mine!

Here we go...
Just call me Miss Mandi;)