Little Bits From Today

Filed Under Church, Clothes, Home Sweet Home, Sixteen Months | 7 Comments

This morning we got up and went to the Tuesday morning childcare program at my church. My grandma and I had a class, and Bailey went to the nursery. The kids in the nursery were all different ages (just for today) but it never seems to phase Bailey. I watched her as an older kid tried to take her book, and she pushed her away and said, “No no no!” I’m glad she sticks up for herself. Also, she doesn’t cry when I drop her off, at least 90% of the time. I think it’s because she has always gone to the nursery or some type of morning childcare at least once a week. Also, we leave her with my mom and a few other people from time to time.

I thought she looked so grown up this morning so I took a few pictures of her before we left. I can’t believe my big girl will be in the Toddlers class this fall!

And finally, she cooperates!

Tonight after Jonathan got home from work, he was working on fixing some of our outdoor lighting and I was working on dinner. Don’t worry, it was just spaghetti and garlic bread. You should know by now that I don’t do anything too complicated. Anyway, I had the oven mitt out to get the bread, and Bailey found it and ran off with it. I just managed to find the camera and get a quick picture before she lost interest.

Then later this evening, I was working on cleaning my office. The endless project that never gets all the way finished. Although, someday it will, and I will show pictures! Bailey was wandering in and out while I was cleaning, and she found a Sigma Kappa hat from when I was in college. She had fun modeling it and ended up wearing it for quite a while. She announced “hat” and pointed to it every time she saw one of us. Just in case we weren’t sure.

I’m probably paranoid

Filed Under Church, Sick | 5 Comments

We all know I’m a little bit of a germophobe- but today someone came to the church nursery to drop their kid off (in Bailey’s class) for second hour. Kelli was making conversation and asked the older sister if she was going to her class downstairs. The grandma said no, that the sister had been up throwing up all night. Um, that means the other kid could have germs too. I took Bailey out of her class and my mom and I ended up playing with her during the service while we listened (kind of) to the sermon on the intercom. Bailey also found a fabulous set of pretend keys in the nursery that we are borrowing for the week. (Thanks Kelli!)

I know people probably thought “Oh there goes another crazy overprotective first-time mom…” But if anyone knows me with Bailey, I am really not overprotective at all. I think I am pretty laid back about most things. Floor dirt? Won’t kill her. Fell down? She’ll be fine. But throwing up? That’s one thing I really can’t handle. And I guess I felt like if I left her there and she ended up getting sick, it would have been something I could have prevented. It’s my job to keep her safe and to look out for her. At this age, the kids put toys in their mouths and grab each others sippy cups. The teachers do a great job looking out and santizing and everything, but it’s impossible to keep it 100% germ free when there are 10 or so toddlers in one room!

In defense of our nursery- we have a really good Well Child Policy. However, this does not extend to family members, etc being sick. I told Kelli and Heather that we need to add a little thing at the bottom saying something like, “If someone else in your house is sick or has had these symptoms within the last 48 hours, please keep in mind that your child could spread germs/infection to other children. Be respectful of other families and their health!” And the person who dropped the sick kid’s sibling off? Totally should have known better. That is all I’m saying.

In regards to my post about the pop up trailer: Canape- OMG I did not even think about it being parked in our driveway! I was thinking they would have to pay money to park it somewhere. I would not let them put it in the driveway. Gah. I bet that’s what they were thinking. Jonathon told me they would be allowed to park in our driveway if they bought us an XBox 360 but I’m not convinced. Besides then they would think they could always park there.

Organization

Filed Under Baby Gear, Bailey's Birthday, Church, Daddy, classes | 1 Comment

Friday night I went to a ladies night thing at my church. I know, you are thinking “Exciting Friday night, Tara!” It turned out to be a lot better than I expected. I mainly signed up because my mom and grandma wanted to go. They had snacks and then we got to pick three classes we wanted to take. The first one I chose was about organizing your busy life. Scheduling everything- including a cleaning schedule. I know some people think this sounds neurotic, but it’s the kind of organization I need if I am going to get anything done. We also talked about communicating better with your spouse to divide up responsibility/time with kids/etc. The second class I did was card making. They had a Stampin Up! rep help us make three cards and a gift tag. They are really cute. The last class was a cooking one. The lady kind of drove me nuts who taught it. She was one of those people, who wants you to know that she has money. Like she kept talking about “having the girls over after golf and just putting together a little lunch” and “I try to buy from the Smokehouse and keep them in business” but it was the way she made her comments. It was just kind of funny. But the recipes were good. She made a chicken dish, salad, bread, and banana dessert. Also we got a recipe for a fish soup that I am going to make for Jonathon.

Sat morning Jonathon got up and took some stuff to the bank for me, then went and bought me flowers! Then I got our bedroom a lot more organized and sorted through our closet to pull stuff out for Goodwill. I ended up with two boxes and two big bags! Yay! I need to do a lot of work on the rest of the house and purge every room, but I’m glad I started. Then in the  afternoon, Jonathon went to Lowe’s and got a board to fix our ghetto baby gate setup and bought more lightbulbs for all the burnt out lights in our house. I am glad he finally did this because it was starting to drive me crazy. But I am working on not bugging him/nagging him about stuff that needs to be done. He also picked up Bailey’s big birthday present while he was out!

Saturday night we had an event for Jonathon’s work. My parents watched Bailey and of course they all had a great time It was nice for us to dress up and get out together too.

Church Nursery

Filed Under Church, Firsts, Nine Months | 6 Comments

Okay, so normally I am very happy with our church nursery. Well, not that I’m NOT happy today, but there’s a story here. I work in the nursery every other Sunday morning, as I have for four years now. I also do paid childcare at church on Tuesday mornings and on Wednesday evenings. So I’m there a lot. I know how things work, or how they are supposed to work. Once in a while, things don’t go according to plan, but it’s usually not a big deal.

Today Bailey was in her little classroom and did surprisingly well when I dropped her off. She has been having her separation anxiety issues at home when I am not near her, but she seems to do better when we are somewhere else. She is much more independent away from home, most likely because there are new things to explore. Which is funny, because my friend Amy’s little girl is the opposite. We were discussing that the other day. But anyway, I dropped her off and she seemed okay. I was working in another classroom during the first service but poked my head in at the end and she was still okay. I wondered if she would last through Sunday School because it would be her naptime, and last week she was fussy then. I kind of expected to be paged.

So I am sitting listening to announcements and my pager starts vibrating. These things really get your attention, but like I said I wasn’t surprised. I picked up my purse (so I could show ID) and walked to the nursery. As I passed the front desk I asked if she was having a hard time. They said no, that she had gotten hurt! What? My baby got hurt in her classroom?

When I got to the door of her classroom, she was sobbing and one of the ladies was carrying her around and trying to distract her with a book. She had a big cut spot on her forehead and it was already starting to bruise. Of course she wouldn’t let them put ice on it. Her nose was snotting all over her face and mixing in with the tears. My poor girl. What happened was that she fell somehow (Jan, my guess is that she was trying to pull up or cruise along the cabinets but I guess I never asked)… anyway she bumped her forehead on the ONE thing in the room that could have possibly hurt her. I have never questioned whether the classrooms were safe, but there is a small hinge on the edge of the cabinet and of course her head collided with like that half inch spot in the entire classroom that could have hurt her.

I ended up taking her to the nursing room and sitting with her a while, letting her eat and calm down. We went back to the desk and talked to Kelli, and I decided to keep her with me for a little while. She was over it, but I wasn’t. This was her first actual injury, I mean one that left a visible mark at least. And of course she has pictures scheduled for tomorrow morning. Time to break out the concealer. After walking around with her for a bit and then trying to sit with her in church, I gave up and took her back to the nursery after all for like the last fifteen minutes.

My mom picked her up afterwards and asked why she got hurt, if the teachers weren’t watching or if there were too many kids in there. I told her no, that it could have happened at home. Those things happen so fast. Even when you think the area is totally safe, the kids will find the one spot that can hurt them. It’s just bad luck and part of being a kid to have those bumps and bruises… but it did really make me sad. I almost cried, and I know Bailey forgot about it hours ago but here I am blogging about it. I’m really not mad at all or upset with the nursery. She’s a busy girl and pulling up and getting into everything, so I’m surprised it didn’t happen before now. But this also means she is getting bigger and becoming more of a kid and less of a baby.

Anyway, if you made it this far I am impressed. Sometimes it just helps for me to get my thoughts written out. You should see how many posts I have that never made it out of the draft stage.

This picture was taken in Bailey’s old nursery classroom just before Christmas.

So here’s something disggusting

Filed Under Church, Complaining, Seven Months | 7 Comments

Jonathon went to pick Bailey up from the church nursery and she was sucking on a pacifier.

Um, she doesn’t HAVE a pacifier. The workers claimed that she had it at the beginning of the hour (second service) when they got there. No, she didn’t. I was in there when they all got there, and trust me, I would have noticed if my child had a pacifier in her mouth.

That skeeves me out more than just a little bit. Bailey might not be returning to the nursery until after the holidays except for when I am working in there. I would rather NOT have her share pacifiers and get sick for Christmas. She’s only been sick once up until now, knock on wood

I may not be around for a bit… but then again, who knows

Filed Under Church, Family | 6 Comments

Today my dad was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He passed out or something like that during church… got really hot and sweaty and then passed out with his eyes open. I was in the nursery when it happened, but Jonathon called the ambulance and then my friend Faith came and got me. My mom rode to the hospital with the ambulance, and Faith drove Jonathon and Bailey and I there.

He was stabilized once they were at the hospital. Today he has remained in good spirits but maybe a little bit out of it compared to how he normally is. He is doing fine now, but they can’t figure out what caused this earlier.

Let me say, it was not just “passing out.” When they brought him out of the service in a wheelchair I have never seen someone that pale and yellowish. It was really scary to see my Daddy looking like that. I had tears in my eyes because I was freaking out but I didn’t want him to see that I was upset.

At the hospital, they did an EEG, EKG, CT Scan, and some x-rays. His Pulsox was 99% and his vitals were all normal. They still can’t really figure out what happened. He is staying overnight tonight in the heart wing, although they are fairly certain it wasn’t a heart attack. Which was my first thought when I saw how sweaty he was.

Tomorrow he is supposed to have an MRI and a stress test and possibly another EEG for some reason. I think the MRI is for his brain.

Please keep him in your prayers. And us, too. It is so hard to see your dad not strong and in control. I held together pretty well today, at least at the hospital, but I have been kind of a mess at home. We’ve been back and forth all day. I’m sure I will be up there again tomorrow unless he ends up leaving early in the day, but that’s not looking promising at this point

I love my Dad.

Five Months Old

Filed Under Church, Five Months, Food, Play, Sleep, Teething | 2 Comments

You turned five months old yesterday. It’s hard to imagine you as the little newborn I brought home from the hospital just five short months ago. Where is the time going?

This was a month of lots of accomplishments! You started rice cereal on August 21st and liked it from the beginning. After one messy feeding, you started swallowing it and opening your mouth for more. When you get excited about your food, you wave your arms. In fact, being excited in general makes you wave your arms. If you are laying on your back when this happens, you pound your hands against your tummy.

You just started vegetables on September 11th. Your first vegetable was green beans. You loved them- unless they were cold from being in the fridge! Then you made funny faces but still ate them anyway. Today we tried squash for the first time and that was a hit. If we are eating and you don’t have food, you’re not very happy. Especially if we are using spoons. Funny girl You just get solids once a day, though, and you have tried teething biscuit thingies twice.

You are still nursing A LOT and you are down to usually just four ounces of formula a day- at bedtime. You go to sleep around 8 and wake up about six or seven hours later for a snack and a cuddle, then again around 7-8 a.m. and then you get up for the day around 10. Although I would eventually like to cut out one of those feedings, I can’t complain. And that would just make you more grown up anyway

You are in the church nursery on Tuesday mornings for childcare during Women’s Bible Study. Last week was the first week and you did great. Mommy loves having another day to dress you up, too.

You are very talkative. Your babbling has progressed into chatter, and you make MMM and ba ba ba sounds now. Sometimes it also sounds like “Glooble ba mmmmm pfffft” and other random mixes of noises. You like to grab your feet, and just yesterday you started putting them in your mouth. During the night when you woke up, the feet of your pajamas were soaked because you had sucked on them. Your feet were freezing!

You continue to enjoy Baby Einstein videos. You just started watching Baby’s First Moves and you think it’s pretty exciting. Your favorite toy is still your LaMaze butterfly. We got links to attach it to your carseat. Also, you have used your stroller without the carseat in it a few times now. And we even tried the umbrella stroller one day in a pinch. You didn’t seem to mind.

I think last month you were already rolling both directions. You spin yourself around now too, when you’re on your back. Your feet and legs end up sticking out of your crib and getting stuck. You seem to be teething now, based on your intense need to bite down on my boobies and chew on everything in sight. I can feel little bumps on your gums, but I can’t see anything yet. You don’t really like to let me look in your mouth, either!

Anyway, that’s probably enough for one month. Stop growing up so fast! I love you so much. You are so much fun, and you are the sunshine in my day and you make me so happy. I always tell you, you are my little love.

Bailey’s Dedication at Church

Filed Under Church, Parties, Two Months | 3 Comments

Bailey was dedicated this morning at our church, so I wanted to get a bunch of pictures posted for everyone. She is wearing a gown and bonnet that my mom’s friend made- I loved it but I also thought it was a little over the top But when else can you do this?


Getting a little stressd about the whole bonnet situation…

And here is the dedication itself- there were two other babies being dedicated (different from infant baptism because water isn’t used- this is just a symbol of the commitment on the part of the parents and the church). There were two other babies being dedicated today as well.


We had a lunch at our house today after church, just for family and a few friends. Here are some pictures from Bailey’s first “party.”

Happy Father’s Day!

Filed Under Church, Daddy, Holidays, Two Months | 3 Comments

Today we celebrated Jonathon’s first Father’s Day by going over to my parents house. He got his ice cream cake like he always wants for every holiday

She was up late last night so she slept this morning in the church nursery- yes, this is the second time I have put her in there. But I am the nursery coordinator for the first service hour, and that’s when I put her in there, so I was able to poke my head in about every five minutes and look at her. I think if I wasn’t back there where I could see her, and if I hadn’t worked in there for so long and known how it runs, I wouldn’t have put her in there yet. Plus, our church is huge so the rooms are very age-specific. She is only in with other babies who aren’t crawling yet, so they don’t touch the same toys or anything like that yet.

Bailey was very well behaved all day, which was a gift to both of us! Not that she isn’t usually a good girl, but she was just especially mellow today. After we got home, Jonathon and I were able to take a long late-afternoon nap together while Bailey slept. Then I even made dinner tonight!

Here is Bailey right before we dropped her off in the nursery…

My grandpa, Jonathon, and my dad- the proud daddies

Our little family on our first Father’s Day together- we went to my parents house to celebrate. I was supposed to host it at my house originally but I haven’t had much time to clean lately and it’s just gotten embarassing. This weekend I managed to clean both bathrooms and put away some of the random junk that seems to be laying around everywhere since Bailey has been here… I will really have to do some cleaning tomorrow though because we host our small group here on Tuesday!

Bailey with my grandma while we open gifts… I got Jonathon a mini SD card for his new phone (which is also an MP3 player and his early Father’s Day gift) so now he can start putting music and videos on his phone. Just what everyone needs, right? Someone actually joked about me getting him a life insurance policy for a gift- LOL- but he already has one anyway… ours is through State Farm but I know there are cheaper options out there like Globe life insurance…

Diaper Shower

Filed Under Church, Friends, Pregnancy, Showers | 4 Comments

Today was our diaper shower at church. Each time a couple has their first baby, our Sunday School class throws them a diaper shower. Everyone brings food and a package of diapers for the new baby. So it’s not a huge deal, but something fun to do and it also makes it feel a little closer.

It was supposed to be for us and for my friend Sarah but they had their baby on Thursday! Andrew Isaac, 8 lbs 6 oz, 210 inches long, and very cute! Congrats to the Johnsons! We usually have one diaper shower per “quarter” for whoever is having their first baby- so ours was scheduled this early so that they could have it before their due
date. It was moved up from two weeks ago when we had a snowstorm, and her baby came early, so that didn’t work out after all. Jonathon and I dropped their half of the diapers off afterwards and Sarah was crashed in a recliner with the baby.

My friend Faith came and hung out with me during the shower, and we just sat around and ate and visited with everyone. I wish I had taken a few more pictures- it seems like all I get is shots of people sitting around and I like “action pictures” better. This was also our first adventure with the video camera, so it was exciting to get to use it. Sorry to anyone who got videotaped while eating. But everyone had a good time, I ate way too much, and we really got stocked up on diapers! There are even a few people who said they would bring them next week- so tons and tons of diapers. Thank you to everyone who came

My friend Kim and her hubby- they are expecting their first baby on July 14th, so exactly 3 months behind us… only they are brave and they aren’t finding out the gender!

With Jen and Faith

I had to take a picture of the collection when we got home! I don’t think we’ll have to buy diapers for a while

I’ll take a rain check on that!

Filed Under Church, Showers, TV | 1 Comment

Diaper shower today was cancelled. We got up and went to church this morning, but there were not a whole lot of people there. LOL, “not a whole lot” at our church is still several hundred. They said that they wanted to wait two weeks so that there would be a better turnout. It is kind of ice-stormish here again. Ameren is really having a rough time this year. So now I can look forward to the diaper shower on the last Sunday of the month… it’s also for my friend Sarah, so hopefully her baby stays in until then!

The woman who was put in my room in the nursery to help was really nice. She was a vet, so I asked her about our cat’s gimpy leg. She made me feel much better about it and agreed that it was probably something not “correctable” but that we could get her pain medication for arthritis or whatever. I’m not buying prescription pain pills for my cat for the next ten years (she’s only six now).

We are currently watching the new season of 24. It seems a little weird so far- which is why I’m also on the computer at the same time. I’m having a hard time getting into it.

Michael Mwesigwa Passed Away

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Today my husband got a phone call from someone at our church. I could tell it was bad news by the look on his face. For some reason, I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about.

When Jonathon hung up the phone, he told me that Michael Mwesigwa died today. We don’t know a lot of the details, and I am not guaranteeing the accuracy of anything. But this is what he heard:

Michael’s chance of survival was only about 10% from the beginning. Lately he had been having some problems with allergic reactions and also with getting his blood pressure stabilized. They said something about different medications not working, and they couldn’t find a good solution to the blood pressure problem. I heard that his wife knew he didn’t have long and that she was by his side.

They said she was “prepared for it.” Are you ever prepared for that? I think even if I knew for years that Jonathon was going to die on a particular day, I’d never be prepared or ready. I’d always want another day, another moment…

It scares me to think how fast your entire life can change. One day this was a happy family of four. The next thing they knew, five short weeks later, their house had caught on fire and the husband and father was gone.

Please say your prayers for his wife, Nicole, and their two little boys. And go hug your spouse and your kids tonight. You never know how much longer you’re going to be able to do that.

Michael Mwesigwa

Filed Under Church, Random | Leave a Comment

Thanks to Kevin for the link to this article about Michael Mwesigwa, the guy who rescued his two little boys.

If you are a blood-donating type person, you can donate in his name at St. Johns. Even if you don’t have the same blood type as him, he will get “credit” for your donation toward his account and it will help offset the cost of the blood he has used.