More Yard Sale Deals ;)

I found this yard sale on craigslist because they had a ton of baby things and maternity clothes - perfect! It was a pretty good drive (maybe an hour in traffic).

 But it ended up being a fun day out with Madison and worth it for the treasures I got! 

These first two pictures are of a sage and cream bassinet. It was only $15 and I was able to wash all of the cloth portions with no problem. 

It has a little storage bin below for diapers, blankets, wipes - you name it!

 It has a nice "cover" for when the baby is sleeping and even a little mobile which includes a light, music, vibration(of the bed portion). Our plan is to use it in our bedroom initially(fits nicely at the foot of our bed). It also has wheels and is very easy to move so we may keep it in the living room too at times so as to give Rose some "Madison Free Tim" haha! I am very pleased with this purchase!

The next two pictures are of these adorable wood storage/decorative pieces. The frames are painted white, pink, green, purple, and yellow. 

The drawers are actually canvas storage boxes with ropes for handles. 

This piece sits on the floor and comes to maybe my elbow (which isn't saying a ton since I'm so short ;) I'm hoping to store socks, tights, hair bows and the like in these boxes. The only trick will be teaching Madison not to pull them out and dump them on the floor!

This one hangs on the wall and the top flowers are actually picture frames. 

There are also little hooks under the baskets for hanging sweaters, jackets etc. 

Once Rose is sleeping through the night, our plan is for the girls to share a room.

 So hopefully this will make their little space cozier ;)


Oh and did I mention that BOTH of the shelf units together were only $8!!!!

I also was able to nab a few bags of maternity clothes and clothes for Madison that are not pictured. 

I love summer and I LOVE YARD SALES ;)

A Year and a Half!

It's hard to believe but our Madison is 18 months today! Where has the time gone?! I truly do feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital! And in about 2 months we will be bringing her little sister home from the hospital! This year and a half has been such a wonderful journey. We honestly have grown with her as parents. God has been so gracious to carry us through this journey day by day. 

She is doing so many fun things lately. She walks fairly well up and down our apartment stairs (we're on the 2nd floor) holding my hand. And she can pretty much walk beside me into a store etc. holding my hand (although she does occasionally flop on the ground because she wants to go a different way than I am steering her ;) I have diligently working on this because I want her to be able to do it when Rose arrives, but also it's getting tough carrying her up and down the stairs with my ever growing belly!  

To be honest, I don't think she quite knows what is going on with the whole baby thing. She does know that my belly is growing and seems to get a kick out of it. She loves to pull up my shirt a bit to expose my belly and give me raspberries ;) She knows what a baby is, but when we tell her baby sister is in my belly she just puts her hands in the air (her sign for -"where is it?"). So she may have quite the awakening when Rose actually arrives ;) 

My sister took this picture while I was home in PA. I was 30 weeks. 

She seems to becoming more independent each day. Tim and I are always saying to one another, "She is looking like such a big girl!" It makes us a little sad to see our baby fade into the background, but also very happy to see what a fun little girl she is becoming!
She has been:
* running faster
* loves swimming
* saying more words- some of the recents are : pool (poo), church (chur), food (foo), bus (bu), cup (cu) and some more I can't remember at the moment. It seems like last week when we went home to PA and she spend time around her older cousins, she picked up even more words. She especially has seemed to get the hang of how to use her lips, teeth and tongue to make sounds a little better. When we say a word and she tries to repeat it, she is getting much closer to the actual word on the first try! But she won't always use it again on her own. It's been fun though. Just for kicks on our drive home from PA, Tim and I were saying the alphabet to her to see if she could repeat the letters and she could get quite a few out!

Of course with her new found independence have come some more temper tantrums, but she has been responding well to discipline so far. We just pray that the Lord will give us wisdom for each new day to guide in into all truth.  We are so thankful for this little girl!

We got this great profile ultrasound picture of Rose (at 26 weeks) and we couldn't believe how similar it looked to Madison's newborn profile pic.

Rose at 26 weeks

Madison's Newborn picture

What do you think?

We will find out soon enough!

Yard Sale Deals

A few weeks ago, I happened upon a neighborhood yard sale while I was running errands. Maddy and I decided to stop, get out the stroller and walk around the neighborhood to see what deals we could find.

 I think we did pretty well.

For less than $25 we got the following:

* one red chair - Maddy loves this and carries it around everywhere in the house to sit on.
* two winter hats and one summer hat
* one set of magnetic alphabet letters and numbers- I tried putting them all on the fridge to see how she would like them and she promptly threw them all on the floor and I was stepping on them all while I was cooking (Our kitchen is so small) - so I think I am going to wait a little while on those ;)
* an entire "My Little Pony" castle including ponies, furniture, Hot air balloon etc. (She is so cute playing with this. She even ran and grabbed one of her ponies to bring into the bath with her tonight. I think it will only become more fun over the years as she starts really "playing house")
* push/pull music toy (not sure of the name) - but she drags this thing around everywhere ;)
* a cute white shirt for ME!
* an adorable brown beaded necklace for ME !
* 3 pieces of tupperware for ME!

Overall, it was a fun day walking through the neighborhood and finding good deals with Madison! 

Don't you just love a good yard sale?

Rose Gave us Quite the Scare

Last Wednesdsay (5/19) I went for a gorgeous 3.5 mile walk along the lake with some of my friends in the city. It was pretty warm, I was pushing a stroller, and I forgot my water bottle (yikes!) It wasn't a great combination to say the least. I started feeling tightness and pain on the way back from our walk and even kept taking breaks, but I remained uncomfortable. I came home, laid madison down for her nap and then laid down myself and drank a ton of water. I couldn't help but time was I was sure now ere contractions. They were about 6-10 minutes apart. But eventually stopped after an evening of rest and water.

So when the following Saturday (5/22) I was out hitting up yard sales with Madison, I didn't think too much about the tightness and pains I was feeling again. It was pretty hot out and I was pushing Maddy around the neighborhood checking out the deals (which I found some great ones that I will hopefully post on later). The pain and discomfort continued until I got Madison home and laid her down for a nap. I again laid down again and tried to rest and drink a bit of water (but I was feeling kind of nauseous too, so I couldn't down too much at once.) Maddy and I got an hour of downtime before it was time to church. The discomfort continued, but wasn 't horrible. Afterwards, I was in charge of setting up, running, and cleaning up after a pizza dinner at church. I wasn't feeling great, but kept busy. By the end when Tim and I were cleaning up, I was really feeling pretty bad. I even asked tim to carry everything out to the car for me so I could just walk out behind him empty handed. But again, I thought I would just go home and lay down and drink some water and the contractions would stop.

Tim had already planned to go to his previous boss's birthday party (which was 45 min way) and I told him just to go - that I would be totally fine and would call him if I needed him. Maddy and I got home at 8pm. I laid Maddy down and immediately had some water and laid down as well. Over the next our the contractions got to be anywhere between 4-10 minutes apart and they were feeling more painful. I was on my hands and knees on couch before I finally called tim around 9 and said, "babe, you had better come home" He rushed home as I called the doctor to see what I should do. Since I am only 26 weeks along, my doctor said to head into the hospital to see if they could get the contractions to stop. Fortunately our dear friend Stacey who has babysat Maddy since she was three months old, came over right away to stay with Madison while we headed out to the hospital.

I honestly thought that we would go in, get a shot to slow things down and head back home. But things kept coming up and before we knew it were there over 24 hours. The contractions continued even though they had hooked up me up to an iv for fluids. My last ultrasound indicated that I my placenta might be over my cervix, so they wanted to do an ultrasound before they could check if I was dilated. Things seemed to be progressing, so while we waited to get the ultrasound, they gave me a shot to slow down the contractions and a steroid shot to help Rose's lung development just in case she did come early. They also did a swab test to determine if I might be likely to have her preterm (crazy they can do that!), and a urine test to rule out any infections. At that point a midwife came in

and gave us the worst case scenario - if we couldn't get the contractions to stop, we would have to be flown over to Loyola because they have a high level center to take care of Rose. I did not need to hear that. I started to cry immediately. Fortunately the nurse came over right away to encourage me that there were many steps that they would take before that would ever be a possibility.

After that, we went to get the ultrasound. It was about an hour long and it was already past midnight. Tim and I could barely stay awake. But we were very thankful for it in the end, because the technician let us know that the placenta was just where it was supposed to be, that for SURE we were having a girl (the other tech had been unsure) and she even is mailing us a profile picture of our little Rosebud ;)

By the time we got back to our room, they let us know that the swab test came back negative as well as the urine test. THey check me and I was not dilated yet. So basically they wanted to still monitor me over night. and then stay til the next day so that I could get the "steroid booster shot" -they needed to be spread out over almost 24 hours. The contractions completely stopped by morning. The next day we got to relax and nap as we were taken well care of. I was glad that Stacey was able to stay with Maddy so that he could keep me company.

*The Doctor basically said that I was having preterm contractions, not preterm labor. They were consistent contractions, but did not seem to be leading to labor. He thinks I have a sensitive uterus and need to just be extra careful to drink plenty of fluids and take the time to rest as soon as I am feeling tightness and pain. I am so thankful that Rosebud did not come early and that she has some more time to keep baking. Thank you all for your prayers!

We ended up watching the LOST recap and finale from our hospital room. Quite the memory!

Savoring the Moment

I sit here in the quiet of our home while my sweet 16 1/2 month old daughter naps peacefully in the next room. Worship music is playing softly in the background; I have a freshly steamed vanilla latte sitting on my coffee table and I just closed my Bible after reading and contemplating Job 6 and 7. I have resolved to savor this moment- the day after a busy four months of Clinical practice and finishing classes for the semester. It was heartbreaking for me to leave Madison each morning to teach other parents' children when my heart was longing to stay with my child and invest my life in hers. But I knew it was necessary for a time. I am glad I did it, but oh so glad it is over now.

So here I sit soaking up the peace of the moment. My heart rejoices with the opportunity to pour my energy, love, and gifts into Madison, my home, and my husband. I fully understand that this gift is not possible for every mom and family and may not always be possible for me. So I choose to treasure these days of watching our little girl discover the world for the first time, of teaching her the difference between right and wrong, of playing silly games on the floor with her. I choose to cherish the opportunity to plan healthy meals for our family and to make our home a haven as a gift to my husband. Oh no- I am not naive, I know that in a few months (especially when baby Rose arrives) these tasks may become routine,ordinary, and perhaps even overwhelming again. I suppose it is the knowledge of that fact that compels me to write this now. I don't want to forget this moment.

Dear Lord,

Grant me a heart full of love, joy, and thankfulness for this time in my life. Help me to treasure the little blessings that you bestow each and every day. Equip me with patience and wisdom to be godly mother who prays for her children daily and trains them in the way of the Lord, reflecting your love. May I honestly be able to say to my children, "Follow me as I follow Christ".

Amen

Belly Pics

Katie Barker, Madison and I all went on a walk in the forest preserve near my house the other night. We had such a nice time together. She was gracious enough to take some belly pics for me. I think she did a really nice job. Thanks Kate!

I can hardly believe that I am 24 weeks pregnant with Rose. There are less than

4 months left now. We are getting excited to meet her.

But at the same time I am really looking forward to spending some extra time with Maddy before #2 arrives ;)

How can eternity influence a mother’s daily tasks?

I first read this on my friend Kelly's blog. I couldn't help but pass it on. What a wonderful reminder as Mother's Day approaches.

[Excerpt from a sermon by John Piper.]

I believe it is a very high calling to be a mom charged with teaching everything she possibly can to one, two, or eight kids.

The women who flourish most and who delight most in that calling—and who are best at it—are not women whose lives are enclosed by their houses. They are women who are aware of the world. They’re aware of God’s global purpose. They’re aware of the ultimate purposes of God in history. They’re aware of things in history and in the far off reaches of the world today that God is doing. And those are part of what they want to build into these children. They want to raise global Christians, world Christians.

A mother will delight most in the little baby in front of her when she has a vision of God and a vision of the world that’s big enough to admit that this little child has a destiny in front of him or her and might become this or that.

If she is totally absorbed in her little home—with no vision for the world—then I think her domestic scene is probably going to shrivel up on her, and she is going to feel that it is small and constraining. But if she sees it in the wider context of what she is a part of in the missionary enterprise, I think every detail of her life can take on a global significance, indeed, an historical significance.

I really believe that. When I used to sit down for devotions with our four boys at home my mind wasn’t simply, “OK I have a duty as a dad: I’m supposed to do devotions at night.” My mind was, “What will they become?”

Ralph Winter used to say that nothing has an impact on kids except what they do daily. So we did prayer & devotions daily.

The goal isn’t just to fulfill some little task that parents are supposed to do. Rather, you’re building men & women who hopefully someday will have absorbed so much of God and so much of the Bible that it’s going to shape their whole world.

Amidst the dishes, the diapers, the laundry, and the carpools, might we never forget that we are shaping the world-view of our children. They need to daily see a big vision of God and a big vision of His global purposes.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! May your day be blessed and each day with your child be honoring to the Lord.

Few pics and update

I finished all of my assignments thus far and only have two more major projects due Monday May 10th! My last day of clinical practice will be Friday! I have learned so much from being in the classroom again and really did enjoy my time with the kids. I will miss them, but I have to admit, I just can't wait to be home with this little gal again!

Praise and Prayer Request

I must stop to thank the Lord for giving me strength to finish 14 out of my sixteen weeks of clinical practice this semester while taking classes still at TGS and doing my best to care for my family. I have only 2 WEEKS LEFT!!! That is the praise!

The prayer request is that I would have strength and focus to finish my last few requirements at the end of this semester. Here are some of my upcoming deadlines:

April 26th - My final portfolio

May 3rd - Action Research poster project

May 3rd -Video (of my teaching) analysis and presentation

May 7th - LAST DAY of clinical practice

May 10th - Lesson plan binder, Exit Interview, Action Research poster presentation, Portfolio presentation

After that I am going to finish my Algebra Correspondence course, try to CLEP out of a Health class, and research for and write my thesis. My goal is to have all of those loose ends tied up in order to graduate and be certified by May 2011. As of now, my plan is to do some tutoring part time over the next year while staying home to take care of Madison and Rose (coming at the end of August). Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I much appreciate it! I will be so glad to have this all behind me!

And Her Name Will Be...

Tim and I have decided that the name of our baby girl #2 will be

Rose Lillian Baylor

We both just loved the sound of the names together as we were looking through the names online. We are so excited to meet our little flower at the end of August ;)

We love this peanut

So I took Madison to the pediatrician for her 15 month wellness visit. Here are her stats:

She is a whopping 18 lbs 10 oz. and 30 1/4 inches long -haha :)
I'm enjoying how small she is as my belly is getting bigger!

It's a ....GIRL!

Well after an 1 1/2 hr ultra sound - we found out that Maddy is going to have a baby sister! This kid was so jumpy! It was flipping all around the screen. It was really fun to see. And after all that the tech didn't give me a picture - bummer. But maybe I can get one from the doc. It was such a fun experience though and we are excited ;) We're still thinking through names. Most likely we'll share it once we have settled on one for sure.

Well, since I don't have a picture of the baby - I'll post of pic of me (and my baby belly at 18 weeks) when I was visiting my dear friend Dawn in Boston last week ;)

Numbers to remember: 5, 18, 15

I actually started this post almost a month ago now, but just never had time to finish it. Yea - you could say it's been pretty busy. But the good news is that I am on Spring break right now in Boston, visiting friends and family and when I return home I will only have 5 more weeks of student teaching! Yes, that is the first important number. I am so thrilled to see the end in sight. After that I just have to study to CLEP out of a Health test, finish my Algebra correspondence course, and write my thesis and I will be finished with my graduate degree in teaching! I am just about 18 weeks pregnant with baby #2 and March 31st we will find out whether we are having a girl or a boy! - Again - soooo excited!

The last important number is that Maddy is 15 months tomorrow! The time has just flown by. Each day seems more exciting than the last. She seems to be learning new things each day!

Here are a few of the highlights:

* 12 teeth now (keep your fingers FAR away from her mouth!)

* toddling faster and more confidently

* Mama, Dada, Sof (Soft), Baby, dup (up), cu (cup), da (done) - she watches our mouths carefully while we are saying words to try to copy us, but usually comes out with one she already knows. She knows signs for all done, and please (gets mixed up with soft for some reason), and she has finally learned how to nod yes in answer to a question - communication is getting a bit easier - although she still does her fair share of high pitched screaming for no apparent reason!

* Brings books for us to read to her (her favorites are: old Mcdonald, her picture word book, and her rainbow food book)

* Likes to put things in our trash can (that has a lid on it). The other day I caught her just before she put the remote control in there. She also likes to take things out - ugh....the trash is a big "no-no".

* she has a pretty strong will and definitely knows what the word "no" means and what the consequences are, but sometimes goes ahead with it anyways. but there are those joyous moments when we say "no no" and she turns away to play with something else.... Tim and I usually clap and cheer for her!

* says "mmmmm" and smiles when she eats something she likes

* says "oooooohhhh!" when she sees something pretty or that she likes!

* Loves being naked - haha

* Still loves her thumb, especially if she is tired, upset, sick or just feeling out of sorts

So there you go: 5 weeks of student teaching left, 18 weeks along with baby #2, and a 15 month old active little girl running around!

Seared Scallops with Snow Peas and Orange

I found this recipe in my March Real Simple magazine. The picture just looked gorgeous and the recipe simple - my kind of meal, especially after a day of teaching.

Tim and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. In his words, it was very "clean". The flavors melded together so well and it really was so easy to make! He even gave it a 9/10 rating ;) We have both been rating new meals I make and then I write the rating right on the recipe so that I remember how we liked it. I give my own separate rating on flavor and then one as well for "ease to make" - VERY important! Here is the recipe if you would like to try it out.

Seared Scallops with Snow Peas and Orange

Takes 25 min to make, serves 4

1 cup couscous (I make mine with chicken broth, a little butter, and salt and pepper)

2 tsp, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

16 sea scallops (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 orange

3/4 pound snow peas

1. Cook the couscous according to the package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2tsp of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pat dry the scallops, season with salt and pepper, and cook until opaque throughout and golden brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm; wipe out skillet.

3. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 4 strips of zest from the orange; thinly slice the zest.

4. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the snow peas, orange zest, and salt and pepper and cook, tossing until the snow peas are just tender, about 2 minutes. Serve with scallops and couscous.

Happy Days

I got an e-mail from Tim while I was at work with this picture attached and a note that said, "Mom, I'm just eating my graham crackers with dad and I'm really happy!"

I love my sweet hubby and my "baby" girl ;)

Date Night Out with Friends

Sunday night Tim and I got a baby sitter and went out on a late Valentine's date with our dear friends Tim and Katie. We had decided we wanted to try some place in Chicago, so I had been doing some research on recommended restaurants when I found out that the day we were planning on going out was the beginning of "Restaurant Week" in chicago. This is where a 160 restaurants in Chicago agree to put out a prix fixe lunch and dinner menu including three courses (appetizer, entree, and dessert). After much research and conversation between Katie and I, Barker ultimately looked at the menu and picked Fornetto Mei. It turned out to be a pretty good deal since just our entree normally would be the same price as our entire three courses ended up being.

It was a nice little romantic place. The food was very tasty, but the portions were small. I think Katie and I were comfortably full, but the boys said they could have eaten some wings afterwards -haha :)

My first course- crab cakes. They were delicious and the sauce had a little kick to it that was amazing!

Tim got the Beef Carpaccio for his first course. It was very interesting as the beef is raw under a bed of arugula, parmesan, and capers.

I got the Lobster and Crab ravioli. It was splendid!

Tim got the pan roasted, dry-aged 8 ounce steer tenderloin. He seemed to really enjoy it.

I got the tiramisu for dessert and Tim got the molten chocolate cake. We were so excited to try them, that I forgot to get pictures ;) But they were divine!

Afterwards, we walked down a few blocks in the snow to grab some coffee at Starbucks. We all just enjoyed catching up on life and discussing vigorously whatever topics came up. It's not often you come across a couple that you mesh with so well. We are so thankful for our dear friends and the past 10 years we have gotten to know them. We value these times as we know soon the Barkers will be going to Boston to help our friend's Dawn and Nate church plant there.

I am pretty sure I am thinking, "What do I do with myself without a 14 month old climbing up onto my lap right now?" Haha - It was so nice to get out just with other adults!

It was definitely a night to remember.

Maddy and Her New Cousin Noah

Tim, Maddy, and I drove to MO last weekend to visit my brother, his wife and their new baby Noah. We had such a wonderful time lazing around, watching the Olympics, playing Mario Wii, and best of all, snuggling the new nephew!

This is Maddy sacked out in her car seat on our way.

It cracked me up that she pulled her blanky over her head ;)

My brother showing the Noah to Maddy.

She was very interested and learned how to say, "baby"

Shannon and the sweet little guy

SMILES - and no wonder - see the Chinese food in the background? YUM!

Maddy playing in Noah's cradle

My brother and his little guy

Tim playing 2 player Wii by himself while holding the baby = talent ;)

Maddy did really love having all of the baby toys to play with!

We forgot how nice it was that newborns sleep wherever they are

We went to their church with them. It was a long drive, but it was worth it.

We had such a nice time seeing them all again!