Message From Maddy

In case the writing is hard to read, the shirt says, "I'm a Big Sister". Yup - I am pregnant: 10 weeks along and due at the end of August. Maddy and this little one will be about 20 months apart. Let's just say, it was a little bit of a surprise, but now that it has sunk in, we are very excited! We had an ultrasound last Friday. It was amazing seeing that heartbeat and our little squirt swimming around. I have been nauseous and tired as is to be expected, but otherwise things seem to be going well.

This is a picture of a picture since our scanner was acting up. Sorry that it's not too clear.

In his heart a man plans his course,

but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

We are continually thankful for the Lord's wisdom and Sovereignty in our lives.

He is so good and we will forever praise Him.

Back in the classroom again

On January 13th, I started my Clinical Practice for Trinity Graduate School. I am in a local 3rd grade classroom Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 4pm. I will be there until May 7th. I have spent the first few weeks observing and helping the teacher wherever I can. Now I have started teaching Spelling and Reading. I pick up on new subject a week until I have full control of the classroom for 2 weeks. After that, I will begin to give the classroom teacher back one subject a week until she has full control again before I leave. I do have a Spring Break in March, which will be nice.

The transition was a little tough at first. The hardest part was leaving Madison again. Fortunately, she is such a happy go lucky girl and seems to be content no matter who she is with (boy and I glad!). She does cry when Tim and I walk out the door (which breaks my heart -and makes me feel good at the same time that she misses me), but the babysitters always say that she stops crying within 10 seconds and is as happy as ever. Fortunately, Tim is able to move his schedule around (since he works Saturdays and Sundays, so that he can watch her on Tuesday and half of Wednesday. Then we have two university girls from our church who we know well and trust and pay to watch her on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. And our dear friend Kelly watches her Wednesday morning while Tim has a meeting. So there is quite a bit of change. But fortunately, everyone is willing to come to us, so Maddy can be in her own house and sleep in her own crib. We are so blessed by the Lord to have such a good group of people to help us out with our little gal! It sure does make it a lot easier to leave every day when I know she is in good hands.

Here are some pics from January ;)

Before I started teaching, our friend and former student/soccer player Ashton came to visit, so we went into the city and went to the Shedd Aquarium and then walked to the Adler Planetarium. They were both FREE that day!

Maddy LOVED seeing all of the fish!

This was our view on our walk from the Aquarium to the Planetarium -Gorgeous!

It was pretty cold out - so Maddy was all bundled up ;)

These are just some fun pics of play dates Maddy and I had with friends before I started back to work - so much fun!

Sick Days

On Tuesday night of last week (the night before my first day of Clinical Practice in the classroom) Maddy had a fever of 101.7. She was sad, clingy, and cranky. I felt horrible! This was her first fever and I couldn't be with her the next few days to help her ride it out. I was so sad! Fortunately, Tim was gracious enough to cancel his meetings for the next two days to stay home with her. Wednesday morning the fever still hadn't broken, so he took her to the pediatrician and they said she had RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). So that has basically meant about 9-10 days of coughing, runny nose, very little eating or playing, and LOTS of snuggles (which Tim and I really did treasure because this child very rarely sits still!).

Ok, I will heartily admit that this picture is horribly unflattering. But I just had to include it because it encapsulates how we ALL felt at the end of last week - blah!

Then Wednesday night I got the stomach flu (yes throwing up and everything!) I was miserable! I was up most of the night and still sick into Thursday and Friday. Tim was so sweet and stayed home to take care of Maddy and I. Then Thursday night Tim got sick (stomach flu) and unfortunately I was still not feeling well. Then Friday night in the middle of the night Maddy threw up in her crib. We were both up tearing sheets off, changing her clothes and calming her down enough to get her back to bed. It was horrible. Finally, Saturday we started feeling better. Maddy's RSV stretched out through this week and seems to just be wrapping up (thank goodness!). And then ( you wont believe it) but Tim and I both caught a nasty head/chest cold from Maddy (the way adults get RSV). I think we are almost finished with it all now.

This is a pic of Tim and I (once we started feeling better) when Mads was still so snuggly and attached to her thumb. I don't think she took it out of her mouth more than a few times over the past 10 days!

I have to admit, I am not always thankful for health until my own or my family's is jeopardized! But now that we are all starting to feeling better I am thankful for our health!

12 Month Stats

I took Madison to her one year wellness visit today and she measured at 28 inches tall (10-15%) and 16 lbs. 15 oz. (5%). She is still our little peanut! They gave her two more vaccines and had to draw blood for an iron test. She's so tiny, they had a hard time finding a vein and even once they did, they had a hard time getting much blood out. So they ended up pricking her finger as well, to squeeze a little more out - poor kid! But while she was screaming, I noticed that she has her top right 1st molar coming in the back! I couldn't believe it! That's her 8th tooth. She can really chomp up her food now!

One of her new favorite snacks is ANYTHING with peanut butter on it (she gets that from her dad!) Her favorite is probably peanut butter and jelly though.

She is officially using a straw cup; no more bottles! The challenge now is to get her to drink enough in a day. She has such a poor attention span (she gets that from me I'm afraid ;)

I am thankful to the Lord each day for our healthy little girl!

FREE Calendar Poster

I just ordered my free calendar poster from Shutterfly.com. There are 8 different style options to choose from. The size is 16x20 and normally costs $19.99. All you have to pay is $4.99 for shipping! Just use the code: FREECALENDAR. Hope you enjoy!