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?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a some of the best shots that I got from my photo shoot with Maddy :) 

I hope you all have a fabulous day, spending time with the loved ones in your life!

My Outing with Maddy

When I heard about Denny's giving away their "Grand Slam" breakfast for FREE across America only on February 3, 2008 - I decided that Maddy and I had to have a day out together :) 

I figured it would be busier early because people would want to go before work. So we went at about 10:30 a.m. That turned out to be a good time, because I only had to wait about 15-20 minutes. The inside lobby was FULL and there were a few people out the door. But it turns out that carrying a new baby in a car seat gets you in the warmth FAST and gets you an automatic seat in the lobby while you are waiting :) I brought some paperwork with me that I had to fill out and I just worked on that while Maddy looked around. 

We got our own little booth. When I sat down, I looked out the window and the line had wrapped the whole way around the restaurant. I totally should have gotten a picture. It was seriously snowing and freezing cold out, but people were totally waiting out there!

They didn't allow any changes to the meal, but you could get your eggs the way you wanted them. It was funny because EVERYONE was there for the "Grand Slam" breakfast so as soon as she asked how I would like my eggs and if I would like coffee - she literally walked away from the table, poured my coffee, picked up the plate from the kitchen and walked back to my table with everything. And the food was fresh off the grill! Maddy was so good too. We had such a nice time together - and you certainly cannot beat FREE!

After that, we decided to stop by Starbucks to see Tim. Everyone kept stopping to talk to us and see the baby. Amazing how total strangers will come up to you to and talk to you when you have a baby. Oh and yes, that is an iced Chai Latte in my hand - also FREE! 

Tim buckling her back up for me. It was nice seeing him in the middle of the day where he works.

His boss offered to get a family picture of us. 

Now I am back home and need to do some serious laundry and cleaning!

Valentine's Day Question

Well, it is 4 am and Maddy is wanting some "awake time" so I thought I would change my background and do a little post. I decided to do a Valentine's background. Valentine's day is such a fun holiday- a time to remember those you love :) I always loved handing out Valentines to all of my friends at school.  I know Valentine's day is still a little less than a month away, but I was wondering how and if you plan on celebrating the day. Are you one who enjoys planning the day yourself or would you rather your significant other surprise you? 

I tend to drive Tim crazy on this one. I usually like for him to surprise me on special occasions (although sometimes I do enjoy surprising him too!) But then I usually bug him for days on end prior to the day asking what we are going to do. He usually responds, "Don't worry about it. I've got it all under control". Which if you know my husband, either means 1.) He really does have it all planned out already and just doesn't want to tell me or 2.) I have been too busy to think about it -but I will get to it before the actual day  ;) -haha - I love you sweetie!

I just thought this needed a picture - so here is one of Tim and I in VA in 2005

Most of the time Valentine's Day for us is not a major event. We save those for our Anniversary :) On V-Day, we usually go out for a nice meal together and then often buy a combined gift for our home. Our first year we got ourselves a coffee table from Pier 1 (I know - romantic, right?). But decorating our home is something we really enjoy doing together.

Just for kicks, I thought it would be interesting to link to the past posts I have done on Valentine's day.

V-Day 2007

V-Day 2008

So how about you? Any plans brewing in your head yet? Who usually does the planning?

Oh and I couldn't go without posting a new pic of our little peanut :)

4 Weeks Old and She is Smiling :)

This is Maddy yesterday on the day she turned one month old. I was talking to her and she could not stop smiling. Now she does it almost every time we talk to her (as long as she has a full belly and a clean diaper :)

We are just loving on this little girl. She is so fun to have around - I think we will keep her :)

She has been so good so far. She pretty much cries only when she needs something. And the last two nights she has slept fro 5 1/2 - 6 hours straight! I am not really holding my breath waiting for this to stick. She is still pretty young. But it's still great to see it start. 

We are so happy that she is gaining weight and is as healthy as ever!  God has been so good to give us this sweet baby girl.

A Challenge to pray during this season of Change

On Sunday our pastor encouraged our church body to watch the inauguration events today- which I agree, everyone should if he is able. This is a historic day in our nation. He also challenged us to say a small prayer each time that we heard the name Barack Obama (which should be quite often :) We were encouraged to pray for our nation, our new president, Rick Warren as he prays for our nation, and the lost souls around us. I decided to take up this challenge (as much as is possible with a needy 4 week old baby :)

Inauguration ceremony:

Runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.  Program is as follows:

Call to order and welcoming remarks — Dianne Feinstein.

Invocation — Pastor Rick Warren.

Musical selection — Aretha Franklin.

Oath of office administered to vice-president-elect Joe Biden.

Musical selection — John Williams, featuring Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, Anthony McGill.

Oath of office administered to president-elect Barack Obama by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Inaugural address.

Poem — Elizabeth Alexander.

Benediction — Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.

National anthem.

I have also recently been thinking about Romans 13 in light of the friendly transition of powers in our nation. I am encouraged that God is sovereign, and that he has established Barack Obama's authority over our nation. I choose to respect, honor, show thanks, and pray for that authority. He will need much wisdom and strength in the days ahead. 

Rom. 13:1    Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  

Rom. 13:6     This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 

Madison's Birth Journal and the Days Following

As most of you know, on December 22, 2008 I went in for a scheduled induction at 11 a.m. because I was 8 days overdue and my amniotic fluid was beginning to get lower.  The one favor that I asked of Tim prior to that day was that he keep a journal of the times and changes of my labor and delivery. I knew that I would not be able to remember all of the details of the day as things got more intense.  The following is an exact copy of that journal that Tim kept for me on his computer as things progressed. Since I have some men readers, I will not write out all of the details in between each step along the way. But if you are one of those ladies who are interested in the gritty details, like I always am (to Tim's embarrassment :)   you are more than welcome to e-mail me (juliebaylor@gmail.com) or facebook message me about the experience.

Madison's Delivery

11:00 Registration at the Hospital

11:15 Getting settled and changed in the room

11:40 Hooked up to all the monitors -- blood drawn, sugar water making peanut lively!

12:15 watching TV, more blood drawn, Pitocin starts - dilated

 to 2 cm

12:30 Dad goes to steak and shake

1:30 Dr. Bacalar breaks Julie's water; 3 cm and 80% effaced

3:00 After bathroom break, Julie looses lots of water -- contractions begin to be extremely painful

3:10 We start breathing together

3:20 Julie starts crying; Tim calls for epidural

3:45 Julie gets an epidural

4:15 Dilated to 4 cm; 90% effaced -- feeling much better

4:33 Dilated to 5 cm; 100% effaced; -1 position

5:15 Julie beginning to feel pressure from peanut, decides to try to take a small nap; Tim to dinner

5:45 Julie is 6-7 cm dilated; julie put on oxygen because maddy's heart rate was irregular, probably because of rapid descent

7:35 9 cm and in a +1 position; Drs. think maddy will be here in about half an hour.  Julie is still feeling good but peanut is bearing down on mommy.

7:56 Preparing to push

9:15 Episiotomy

9:25 Vacuum

9:27 Madison is born!  21.5 inches and 7 lbs. 11 oz.  Happy Birthday Maddy!

I can hardly believe that Maddy will be 3 weeks old on Monday. We have certainly enjoyed our time getting to know her and love her more each day! The first few nights were quite difficult. She screamed a lot and we still didn't know what would soothe her, so we were a little stressed and very tired :)  But each night has gotten easier and we are settling into a little groove now. She is eating and sleeping very well. Now just to get her to do more of her sleeping at night :) She actually has had some really great nights (sometimes 4-6 hours at a stretch). But that is definitely not consistently. She has some rough nights too.  Overall though, we are just really loving being parents. We had no idea how much we would love it! 

Tim has been back to work and will start back up with school this week. He only has one class one day a week this semester and will spend the rest of his time writing his MDiv thesis, working for the church, and for Starbucks. He has taken to fatherhood wonderfully. He is such a help to me! I have already started pumping and we have introduced a bottle, since I will have to go back to work mid-march and I would like to continue giving her breast milk. So he is able to help with about a feeding a day to let me take a long nap.

 

We are just loving every day with her and are so thankful to the Lord for her safe arrival, her current health, and for the blessing that she is to our family!

Madison Hope has arrived!

We would like to joyfully announce the safe delivery of our sweet baby girl,
Madison Hope Baylor

She was born on December 22, 2008
She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces
She was 21.5 inches long

We are so thankful to the Lord for His love and grace!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!

Happy 28th Birthday Tim!

It's Tim's Birthday and I just wanted to say again how much I love and admire him. He has worked so hard for our family this semester. He has worked 15+ hours a week for our church, 20+ hours a week for Starbucks, and then took 15 graduate credits at Trinity. He has been amazing! It came down to the wire here at the end - he had big exam last Monday and a huge paper due today - on top of that he ended up working 80 hours at Starbucks in 10 days to keep insurance for himself and Maddy. But he pushed through and finished it all. This was basically his last semester of classes. Next semester he will go to one class at TEDS, while he writes his Thesis. The end is in sight!

All that to say, I am so proud of my husband. He is a hardworking man who I know will be a great father to our little Maddy (provided she ever comes ;) - I know this because he is already a fantastic husband! Happy Birthday babe!

Tim was really craving ribs, so on the recommendation of someone from our church we tried this place:

We had a really great time just relaxing and catching up after such a busy semester

As you can see, Tim really enjoyed his ribs :)

We got a seat right by the cozy, warm fireplace

On our way home, we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory to grab dessert to eat while we watched "The Office"

Tim chose their HUGE chocolate cake - his favorite. It was seriously good! Both of us together could not even finish it off. The rest is in the fridge right now, and knowing my cravings lately, it may be gone come morning ;)

All and all we had a really nice time together. Even though it has been a little frustrating waiting for Maddy, I am thankful that Tim was able to finish up his semester and that we have gotten a little bit of time to spend together. God is truly so good!

We go in for the ultrasound tomorrow at 11:45am to see the size of Maddy and where the amniotic fluid is at. Then at 12:15pm we will see the doctor to check if I am dilated anymore and discuss our options. So if you could, pray for wisdom :)