I am officially a S.A.H.M.

That's right folks, I have officially closed out the school year (and six years of teaching) to become a stay at home mom. I have enjoyed teaching and have always known that it is my calling. But when Madison Hope was born on December 22, 2008, my pr

iorities shifted. After maternity leave, I finished out the school year so that Tim could finish his MDiv, but my heart and calling was always with Maddy. Tim has done a fabulous job taking care of Maddy while I was away - but I have missed her so much!

I am thankful to the Lord that Tim got hired at our church: The Orchard Evangelical Free Church to begin as a full-tim College Pastor starting August 1st. God's provision has allowed me to be able to stay home with Maddy and finish my Master's of Arts in Teaching degree at Trinity Graduate School.If all goes well, I will graduate May 2010. That means that I have to finish about about 5 classes, student teach, and write my thesis. I think it will definitely be attainable as long as I begin refining my thesis topic and researching my topic this summer. I begin classes again in

August. I am looking forward to some fun summer activities with the family in Chicago. There are some great free ideas for summer fun in this city.

All in all - it has been a trying, yet rewarding time teaching at

Holy Family Lutheran School on Chicago's West-Side.

I have learned much about life, teaching, a new culture, and my God. And one thing I know for sure: God is good- all the time.I cannot express in words the elation that has come with the knowledge that I can stay home to raise my daughter - at least for now. I have never known a love like this.

I don't have a ton of pictures because our camera as gone M.I.A. - but I will post a few.

Maddy eating rice cereal - so messy!

Maddy is 5 1/2 months already- hard to believe! She is very active- up on her hands and

knees rocking back and forth- dancing -grabbing at everything in site and babbling away. Her most recent sound has been "ba -ba- ba". It's so cute! She has us wrapped around her little finger-that is for sure!

This was Maddy amidst all of the clothes at the "Swap Party"

Tonight as I reflect on a closed chapter in my life and the beginning of a new one - I am encouraged by this scripture:

Psa. 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

6th Anniversary in Chicago

Tim and I went into Chicago for just 24 hours last weekend, but it felt like a week! Our dear friends Kelly and Ryan watched Maddy at our house from 3pm on Saturday until 3pm on Sunday. They did such a great job and we were able to enjoy our time without worrying at all about Maddy girl.

Tim handled the reservations. He found this trendy hotel downtown called "Sax".  We very much enjoyed our stay there. It's one of those places that is so nice that when you walk into the lobby, they offer you a glass of champagne while you are waiting :) 

We decided we would make this a nice weekend as a celebration of the end of Tim's MDiv as well as a celebration of 6 years of marriage. It has been a crazy year for us and we are so glad we invested the time and money into our marriage.

Our room

The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

We walked around the city and enjoyed the beautiful weather on Saturday afternoon and then we got ready to go out to dinner at the Signature Room. The restaurant is on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. The food was excellent, but the view was even better!

We shared "Shrimp Tempura" with a lemon cream sauce as an appetizer

I had the slow roasted duck. It was so flavorful and tender. The weird rectangular-shaped pink thing on the top of the plate was a homemade cranberry sauce. Our waiter (who was this very sweet older gentleman from England named Pryce) said that duck was a good choice because it is very difficult to make at home. At which point, I responded, "Duck?! I can hardly make chicken well, never mind duck!" haha!

Tim had the "Grilled Veal Tenderloin". His was good - but he probably ate half of mine because he liked it so much.

They brought us a fresh fruit sorbet free for our anniversary.

We started our meal at 7:00pm and left at 9:30pm. It was such a leisurely and nice meal (a far cry from one of us holding maddy while eating tyson's  breaded chicken strips and tater tots in front of the tv) haha!

This was our view by the end of the night - stunning!

Afterwards, we went to a restaurant called Hot Chocolate. The executive pastry chef there has been a judge on the food network as well has been nominated as for the pastry chef of the year (nationally) for the past three years in a row. 

If you are ever in the area (especially Amanda Lee :) - we HAVE to take you.  It was very reasonably priced and the dessert was amazing!

We shared a dish called, "S'mores and More" It was made of homemade marshmallows, homemade graham crackers and frozen chocolate nugget. In the small glass to the right of the plate was homemade chocolate soda. It was out of this world!

Of course we had to try their hot chocolate. You could get any kind that you wanted (light, medium, or dark). I got the dark hot chocolate. It was 87% dark chocolate and the rest milk. It came with a homemade marshmallow. I would go back just for the hot chocolate :)

All in all, we had a fantastic time together in the city that is under an hour from our house. We have been thankful for our time near the city of Chicago. We are looking forward to enjoying all that the free concerts and activities that the city has to offer this SUMMER!

 I only have 5 more teaching days left until I can enjoy it!!!

Traveling through life together

Last Saturday the day of Tim's MDiv graduation finally arrived. It's been so interesting to look back over the past years to see where the Lord has brought us. In fact, Sunday May 24th is our 6 year anniversary.  It's hard to believe that 6 years ago we were just 23 years old,  fresh out of college, newly married, and moving to Virginia Beach. Tim went to seminary there for 3 years. Then we both taught and coached at Greenbrier Christian Academy. It was in Chesapeake, VA that we bought our first home, loved our first home,  and then sold our first home. We look back at those 4 years in Virginia with fond memories. We made so many great friends and had some really great times! 

I can hardly believe that this summer it will have been 2 years since we moved to the Chicago area for Tim to study at TEDS.

It was a bit of a hard transition, but we are so happy that we made the move. Tim has absolutely loved his study here at TEDS. He has been challenged intellectually and spiritually. Seminary has certainly been a challenge for our family, but we are thankful for God's continual grace and strength in both of our lives. God truly is good all the time. All of these challenges have made us who we are as individuals and as a couple. I wouldn't change a thing. Tim has written a very sweet blog in reflection of our past 6 years traveling through life together.  He is  a much better writer than I am.

 

I am so proud of Tim and how hard he has worked to get this degree and to graduate Summa. His hard work and intellectual prowess have been noticed and praised by professors here at TEDS. He took on a part-time job at the church and a part-time job at Starbucks just to help us pay the bills (Chicago is the 2nd most overpriced city to live in-just behind Los Angeles!) 

And yet, through all of his hard work and dedication, he has made time to spend with me and now with our little girl Madison. 

He truly is an amazing husband and father. Marriage isn't always easy. It's such hard work some days, but he has been willing to work hard with me to make it work. 

 I am glad that after 6 years, we have never given up- it has been worth it all to walk through life with my best friend by my side. Happy Anniversary babe. I Love you.

New Pics

I would LOVE to write more right now, but life is so busy. So I will just post some new pics instead :)

Maddy's First Easter

Maddy and I were in Pittsburgh, PA visiting my twin sister Rachael and her husband over Easter. I flew by myself with Maddy girl while Tim stayed back to work on his thesis. He joined us halfway through the week. The first flight with a baby was quite the experience. But I will leave that crazy story for its own blog post.

I don't have much time (or energy) tonight, but I had to post a few pics of our sweet girl on Easter Sunday. It is hard to believe that she will be 4 months this Wednesday!

Things I thought I'd never hear, see, or say...

So I have had some fun, crazy, and wild times teaching on the Chicago's west side. I was on my hour drive home the other day and I thought I would make a list of some of the things that I have heard my kids say, seen my kids do, or things that have come out of my mouth that I thought NEVER would!

Things I hear frequently from my students:

1. "Ms. Baylor - he wasted his milk all over the floor!" - evidently wasted can be used in place of spilled. They would also say, "I wasted the pencil shaving everywhere!"

2. If one of my students are angry at another student, they might say, " Ohhh - Little Boy (or girl) - you better watch yourself or I'm gonna..." and that is when I step in and usually say - "Your not going to do anything. We don't make threats to one another in this school.

3. If something doesn't look right - maybe a little weird, a student of mine would say, "Man, that's jacked up!" 

4. I was trying to get the kids in and out of their lockers in a timely manner, when one of my boys said, "let's get movin' people: time is money and money is time". I immediately died laughing!

5. One time when I told my student that he was in trouble for acting out in class, he was so mad with me that he said, "I'm gonna tell my mom on you". I quickly said, "This is not your mom's classroom" :)

6. When they don't think something is fair, they will say, "That's Bogus!"

Tattle Tales I hear DAILY:

* Ms. Baylor, He called me a "B" - and yes, it is the bad "B"

* He said my mama (or if they are feeling creative- he said "my bald headed mama") - I don't know exactly what that means, but evidently isn't good because the always seem offended. I used to ask what the other person said about their mama - but they would just repeat themselves again..."he said my mama!"

* Ms. Baylor, he's all up on me!

* He stabbed me! (usually just poked them in the back with a pencil) - kids are so dramatic!

* Ms. Baylor, he called me out of my name! 

Things that I have said while teaching that I never thought I would:

* Go sit down, you're all up on me!

* I'm not playing!

* You don't need to use your hands to get someone's attention or to say excuse me 

* Everyone sit down right now or i'm going to take your recess for the rest of the year! (as soon as it came out of my mouth, I knew that I totally didn't mean it - I was just stressed. I quickly had to backtrack and let them know that is not what I had meant.

Sweet Card from Peanut

I received this at work today :) I have a precious daughter and a thoughtful husband!

My first few days back to school and away from Maddy

I have been back to teaching for two days now - I think there are only about 52 days left til summer! The hardest part was leaving her for the first time. The night before when I did our little night time routine and put her to bed, I came out of the nursery just sobbing! I did not expect to feel quite so sad! I never thought I could love a little person so much! The next morning was a little tough too, but I was surprised how well it actually has gone at school. Fortunately, I was so busy during the day, that I did miss her as much during the "thick of the day". And I am getting to leave right at 3:30p.m. So I am getting home right around 4:30p.m. 

As far as getting into teaching the kids again, I was nervous that I would feel like a sub and would have to really work to get the kids to fall back into line(and the way I like the line :) But they actually wowed  me and jumped right back into things. We have enjoyed catching up on things together. But of course, I have had to show them right away that it cannot be all fun and games- I let them know pretty quickly that I mean business! So far, so good. I am so thankful to the Lord for the smooth transition! I am sure that there will definitely be days that I am ready to pull my hair out, but I hopefully, the thrill of Summer almost being here will outweigh those times! Thank you so much to all of those who have been thinking of me and praying for me in this transition. You are such a blessing!

Tim has been taking care of Maddy for us as he is home working on Church work and schoolwork. 

He has been doing a fabulous job! I have loved seeing them together - so sweet! I am glad that they get this father daughter time together. He loves her as crazy much as I do - and he has enjoyed these special moments with her. I am so thankful for his love, care, and concern for our family. He is such a sweet husband. 

As you can see - he has found his own way of doing things :) This is how I found them when I arrived home after work one day!

Pals Already!

Oh and I almost forgot! I came into Maddy's crib the other day to pick her up - and she had ROLLED OVER!! She hasn't done it since, but I was so excited that she did it for the first time - I can't wait to actually see her do it at some point :) She is growing up soo fast!

Life Goes On...

I can hardly believe it, but my maternity leave is just about up. I head back to teaching on March 16th! I have LOVED being at home with my sweet baby girl and I can't quite imagine being away from her from 6:30am - 5pm every day!  But I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to have 12 weeks home with her. I value each moment. Fortunately there are only 11 weeks left until summer! And Spring break is just 4 weeks after I go back :)  I am also very thankful that Tim will be able to stay home with Maddy while he works on his MDiv thesis. I know this time will be a special time for him to spend with her. I would appreciate your prayers as I do my best to balance teaching 20 fourth graders at school and a husband and daughter at home.  I am thankful that the Lord will "never leave me nor forsake me" - He is so good!

Here are a few recent pics of Maddy. Hope you enjoy :)

Her cute little feet

She has gotten so much better at holding her head up and keeping her legs stiff when I hold her

Her leopard print outfit :)

We have found that no matter where we are in the living room, if the tv is on, she will crane her neck just to see it. Tim had her resting on his lap looking up at him (originally) in this one - what a stinker :)

Chicken with Asparagus and Roasted Red Peppers

I recently made this recipe for Tim and we loved it! I was feeling bored with the recipes I had, so I typed in the ingredients I had (chicken, roasted red peppers, and asparagus) into Allrecipes.com. Among others, it spit this recipe out for me. It was so delicious, I will most certainly make it again! And it's healthy too! You should definitely give it a try, it was super easy! I adjusted it for just two because Tim hates leftovers :) But you can double it if you want more (and you might!)

Chicken with Asparagus and Roasted Red Peppers 

 

Rated: Prep Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes 

Submitted By: MKATES Cook Time: 25 Minutes Servings: 2 

"Chicken, asparagus and red peppers are cooked together and served with chopped tomatoes, cheese and a 

splash of vinegar." 

INGREDIENTS: 

1/4 cup chicken broth 

1/2 pound boned and skinned chicken breast halves 

salt and pepper to taste 

1/4 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 

inch pieces 

1/2 (7 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and 

chopped 

1/2 clove garlic, minced 

1/4 cup chopped roma (plum) tomatoes 

1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, or to taste 

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 

DIRECTIONS: 

You have scaled this recipe's ingredients to yield a new amount (2). The directions below still refer to the 

original recipe yield (4). 

1. Heat the broth in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place in 

the skillet. Cook 15 minutes, until chicken is almost done. 

2. Place asparagus, red peppers and garlic in skillet. Continue cooking 10 minutes, or until chicken juices run 

clear and asparagus is tender. Place tomatoes in skillet during last 2 minutes of cook time. Sprinkle with 

vinegar. Top with mozzarella cheese to serve. 

Nutrition 

Information 

Servings Per Recipe: 2 

Calories: 190 

Amount Per Serving 

Total Fat: 5.3g 

Cholesterol: 67mg 

Sodium: 518mg 

Amount Per Serving 

Total Carbs: 7.2g 

    Dietary Fiber: 1.8g 

Sweater Coffee Mug

Tim surprised me one day a couple of weeks ago when he came home from Sbux with this mug (that I had been wanting for some time :) 

 He said that he saw it was the last one and decided to bring it home for me! I was so excited! It has been my new favorite mug  since then. 

You know what I mean, right?  Even when guests come over you secretly grab that mug before anyone else does because it is your favorite :) haha -- maybe that is just me!

Does anyone else out there have a favorite of something that you make sure to grab even if others are over?

Valentine's Day Out With Friends

For Valentine's Day this year, Tim and I had decided to go out to a nice restaurant in the city with our friends Tim and Katie and Scott and Lindsay. After much deliberation, we decided to go to the steak house, Shula's.  We were all excited to go out together, when the Logan family caught the flu and Scott and Lindsay were not able to join us. We felt so badly for them and missed them dearly.  We would still like to go out with "the whole crew" at some point.

 

This is the four of us at our apartment before we left. We were fortunate to have two of the graduate school girls from our church agree to babysit Madison for us. They were so sweet. We were so thankful for their help. Maddy just about slept the whole time - so we are hoping we have them hooked as sitters because they think it's a piece of cake :)

This was us trying to get a family picture right around Maddy's bedtime - so she was freaking out. We kept trying to bounce her and try to get her to be calm for just one second - I couldn't help but laugh!

Ok - this one is better :)

As much as we both missed Madison while we were out, it was nice for us to get out without her for a few hours and spend some romantic time as a couple - much needed :)

We found out that Shula's had valet parking for $12, so we decided to take the Barker's car into the city. I won't go into the details, but the trip was quite eventful - maybe Katie will add more details on her blog :)  Long story short - Google Maps brought us beneath the Restaurant on underground streets with the same names - weird! 

The restaurant was inside of a Sheraton Hotel. This was Katie in the lobby checking out the centerpiece. Those were actually real flowers!

The restaurant is owned by a former football coach - so it was interesting because it is fine dining but the pictures on the walls are all of football players. But as you can see in the picture below, they are in very nice frames :)

In this picture, Tim was making fun of Katie and I for taking so many pictures. And in all our picture taking, I didn't get any of the food! 

The steaks were just gorgeous coming out of the kitchen. 

But the aroma and taste beat the presentation by far.

 Everyone at the table was just perfectly silent as they tasted their first bite.  Then their was a quiet gasp of delight around the table as each person tasted his steak. I had the 8 oz. filet mignon. It was absolutely divine! We all decided that it was the best steak that we had ever tasted. I guess they raise their own cattle and have higher standards for themselves than even the FDA.  If you like steak, you should try Shula's out. They have them all across the East and Midwest. It was pricey (think $10 more than Ruth's Chris) but definitely worth it for the experience. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day as well! What did you do on the special day?