Bed

I've heard the wise advice to leave a child in the crib until they climb out or you have to have it for the next baby. I was beginning to think we would be moving Anthony's crib to college with him. He had never attempted to get out. He's nearly three years old! A few weeks ago we started having some problems with Aiden climbing into the crib with Anthony, but we never had a problem with Anthony climbing out. I was relieved. Aiden was in need of a toddler bed before he was two, although I didn't break down and actually move him until he turned two.

Then, last week, all four of us were napping at the same time. It's a rare phenomenon around here. Suddenly I heard voices and realized the boys were awake from nap. I got up and went to get Anthony out of his crib only to have him run to me from the living room. I was shocked!

I asked, "Anthony, did you climb out of your bed?"

"No, I falled!"

He was so serious when he said it. It was too cute and very hard not to laugh at his pain. Sure enough there was a huge red mark on his forehead. So, this is a picture of Anthony's last night in his baby bed.


Today, he helped me assemble his big boy bed. Do you think he likes it?



I think he loves it! Look at that mischevious grin! Do you think we'll ever get any sleep???


Luckily, my little one still loves his sleep, just like his Mommy!


Have you ever seen anything so precious as a sleeping child?

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas Day! Here's a glimpse of our day in pictures!

Presents!




Guitar! Aiden's favorite gift.


Anthony's favorite is his camera. I don't have a picture of that though, because evidently the camera has changed a bit since Aiden got his last year for his birthday. Instead of taking the AA batteries that Santa bought for it, it required AAA batteries. Poor Anthony didn't get to play with his main gift on Christmas day.

My favorite gift. My sweet husband handmade this placard for our business. I am the CFO (chief financial officer) and co-founder of Bailey, Inc. I am the CEO for AJ2, the subsidiary company of Bailey, Inc. He used my "clients" to give it a "hands-on" feel. I love it. There's more to it, but I have to finish assembling it. I'll take another picture when it is hung.


Stockings! Both boys picked up their really cool Mickey Mouse underwear that Santa was really excited about, looked at it, threw it aside and continued to look for something fun! Ha!


Ball!!!!


Anthony was so excited because he thought Daddy got a box of wipes!


Cooking!


We all got really neat shirts from Mimi and Papa! They have Cracker Landing on them. That is the name of the house on Little Gasparilla Island, our favorite place in the world. I love the shirts!


Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Today was a wonderful day! Patrick did some last minute shopping. Then, I did some last minute shopping. :)

Max found a new place to sleep, the drawer with the dish towels in it.



We had a good time of worship at Maple Avenue Christian Church. The boys loved seeing Mrs. Lauren and Mr. Tom. We got there a little late though, so we had to sit in the overflow section! It was packed! Then, we came home and ate our traditional Christmas Eve meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken in honor of my precious Japanese friends. It was yummy!

We took pictures in front of our Christmas tree. (The boys were not impressed with this idea.)





We made oatmeal raisin cookies for Santa Claus. Daddy and Aiden talked about it earlier in the week and decided that was the kind of cookies Santa Claus would like. Mommy really thought Santa Claus would like some chocolate chip cookies too. So, we made both.





And we opened our first present! New Jammies!!!



Now the boys are safely tucked away in bed. I wonder when Santa will be here???

Merry Christmas from the Baileys!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Gift!

Christmas Traditions

We have several wonderful traditions in our family for Christmas. One of my favorites is buying our Christmas ornaments. We choose ornaments for the boys and one for our whole family.

This year we finally bought ornaments for each of our babies in heaven.

Hannah Grace - December 18, 2005



Colin Michael - August 25, 2006



Airen Lee - November 1, 2007



Dash Liam - August 11, 2008



I did great picking these out and telling them what to write on them, until the man stopped and said, "I've never seen Airen spelled like that." My immediate thought was, "I've never seen her either." We finished and I cried a little, but am so happy we finally were able to do this for our babies.

We looked high and low for the perfect ornament for our little boys. For some reason, these mischievous little rascals jumped out at us. I just love them!

Aiden's



Anthony's



And here is our family ornament.



We definitely feel like we're living in an igloo!!! It's been cold here! We're excited because today it got up into the 20's!

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

What's in your hair?

Hairdresser to Aiden: "I'm just going to blend this a little bit."

Aiden to Hairdresser: (looking very confused) "No, I don't have a blender in my hair, it's just red."

Entire hair salon: Laughter until it brought tears!

A Disney Christmas?

Me: (singing) "Jingle Bells, Jingles Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride . . ." (You get the idea!)

Aiden: (very distressed!) "NO MAMA!!! It's Tinkerbells!"

Our Week in Pictures

We had snow, snow, snow! Ready to go play! Doesn't he look like a Smurf???


First sled run of the season! You can't see him, but Aiden is in front of Daddy on the sled. Unfortunately, the camera battery died after this picture. Aiden jumped on a sled and went down the hill all by himself before we knew what had happened. He loved it and is now a sledding solo Pro!


My sweetheart brought me roses! The beautiful sunshiney color makes it hard to believe it's 9 degrees outside right now!


First Snowcream of the season!


Hey, this is yummy!


Mmmmm, goooooooodddd!!!


YOU SCREAM, I SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR SNOW CREAM!!!!!!!!


Aiden made Puppy Chow for his gift to his Preschool teachers! What? I have chocolate where???


Preschool Christmas Party was so much fun!


Aiden giving Mrs. Cindy her present. He was so proud!


Happy 3rd Heaven Day Hannah Grace! We miss you baby girl!



Ice Storm 20008


So, I didn't sleep much last night. I spent the majority of the night praying my huge tree in the front yard didn't go through our windows. Here are a few pictures of the front of our yard!
















So glad we're all safe! But not looking forward to the clean-up!!!!

A New Adventure!

My sweet husband, Patrick, wrote this on his blog:

"Over the past year (actually a little longer than a year) Angie and I have been praying through and considering the idea of working with and/or leading a Next Gen Church plant here in Illinois. There have been tons of questions and tons of fears but in the end we believe this is the directions that God wants us to go. We have gone through the formal assessment process and as it stands right now we will be seeking to work with a lead planter probably somewhere in the Western Chicago Suburbs (think Aurora area). We do not have a lot of details at this time but we would ask that you take some time to pray for us as our family will be going through a tremendous amount of transition over the next few months.

As we move further along in this journey both Angie and I will make sure and pass along the details. We are excited about this new opportunity and look forward to joining God in the work He is already doing in the lives of people."

I am so excited about this new adventure God has planned for us! And I'm a little scared. Please pray for us!

Someone's Doing Something Right

Patrick has a famous phrase in our home, it goes something like this, "maybe, just maybe, we're doing something right." It gets said when one of our boys "gets it" and makes us proud.

Over the Thanksgiving holidays Aiden made me proud and I just want to share. We were shopping with my Mom and our niece and the boys at a mall in Abilene. It was prior to Thanksgiving, so I was surprised to see that Santa was already out hearing children's wishes. The children got very excited when they saw him. So, we asked if they wanted to go talk to him. There wasn't even a line! We were planning on getting their picture made, but once we saw the exorbitant amount of money for a package (you couldn't just get one picture), we decided to put that off for another day. So, I thought, we need to Prep them for this, help them tell him what they want for Christmas. So, I asked C.J. what she was going to ask Santa for and she named princesses, mermaids, and a very detailed list of toys for me. So, good, she's got the right idea. So, I turned to Aiden and I said, "Aiden, what do you want to tell Santa?" And to my shock and surprise this is what he replied,

"That it's Jesus' birthday. Christmas is God's birthday."

Wow! I got tears in my eyes. My three year old understands Christmas better than I do sometimes. Somewhere we did something right!

Now, unless you think I'm bragging . . . both Aiden and C.J. sat in Santa's lap. Anthony was very content to watch the whole affair from the safety of the stroller. C.J. was a little shy and after naming off that long list for me the only thing she would say was "toys." Aiden, on the other hand, began giving a long list of specific toys he wanted. So, I prompted him, "Aiden, what did you want to tell Santa about Christmas?" And Aiden said, "Christmas is God's birthday!" Santa stuttered a bit. He wasn't quite sure what to do with that little red head on his knee. I hope it made Santa think a little bit.

Isaiah 11:6

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
(emphasis mine)

Funny Times

Several things have happened recently that just made me laugh out loud!

Broken Eyes

We spent some time in Texas visiting Nan and Grandaddy recently. The last night we were there the boys went to bed very late. Then, I had to wake them up really early, around 5:30, in order to make our flight out of Love Field in Dallas. I went in and picked Anthony up out of his bed. He grunted and curled up into a little ball on my chest, content to snuggle down and sleep some more. I was cheerfully saying, "Wake up Anthony! Wake up Sweetie! It's time to wake up!" But he wasn't waking up. So, I sat him next to me on the bed and tried again.

"Wake up Anthony, open your eyes Sweetie!"

"NO!"

"No? Why not baby?"

"My eyes er bwoken." (translation: My eyes are broken)

It was so cute!!! Poor baby did not want to wake up and open his eyes to those bright lights. But as soon as he heard Grandaddy ask if he wanted a donut things were different! Those little blue peepers flew open and he asked for "chawquit!" (translation: chocolate)

Our New Pet

When I was a little girl I had an imaginary cat. Her name was Snowball. She was a beautiful long haired, solid white kitten with blue eyes. I would carry her everywhere with me. Snowball stayed with me as an "imaginary pet" for many years. I haven't thought about Snowball in years.

Monday, as we were boarding the plane, Aiden told me he saw a cat. I thought, "hmm, someone has a cat in a carrier on board." Then, I saw that Aiden had his two little hands cupped in front of him like he was carrying something. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "Carrying Cat Mommy." Oh, of course, why didn't I think of that? :) As the day progressed, we found out that Cat was a boy, he was orange and white, and that his name was Lovely. He is evidently very soft and loves to be pet alot. He enjoyed going to the Galleria in St. Louis and he likes to ride in the cup holder of the double stroller. He seems to be a very well mannered cat too, as he asked Max (our very real cat) if he could "Please" share his food. :) I love my little boy's imagination!

What are you drinking?

Anthony: "Whass dat?"

Me: "Kool-aid, Mommy's making Kool-aid to drink at lunch."

Anthony: "Oh, right! Mermaid!"

National Adoption Day

Today is National Adoption Day. This time last year we were filing paperwork to finalize Anthony's adoption. God has a heart for orphans. James 1:27 says,

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Take a little time today and have a conversation with God about what He wants you to do about the more than 130 million orphaned children throughout the world.

The Tunnel

My "tunnel" has been pretty long and dark this week. I struggle with depression. It's something I've battled for years. With the help of a good doctor, some medication, and some rest, things have been a lot better over the past three months, but I'm not cured of this problem. There are still times that life gets to me. There are times it seems to be overwhelming. There are days that are much worse than others. I was talking to a friend one day about this and we decided to give it a new name. Saying to someone, "I'm having a bad day," just doesn't cut it most of the time. So, it's now an "elephant day." Well, I've had an elephant week.

A lot of those that read my blog would think, well yeah, Patrick just resigned, of course you're having an elephant week. But, ironically enough, that has very little to do with the current attacks that are getting to me. And I do believe they are attacks. Satan takes situations from our lives and uses them to incapacitate us.

In the past, I would have been freaking out over the loss of pay. Patrick starts a new job tomorrow, at Wal-Mart, and we are grateful for that opportunity. It's a definite pay cut, but I'm not concerned about that, my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Instead, I'm dealing with loss. I'm concerned about missing my husband in this new job situation. I'm not used to sleeping alone. But mostly, I'm really missing my babies. I should have found out the gender of Dash around this time. I had daydreamed about telling family over Thanksgiving dinner. We just celebrated Airen's first Happy Heaven Day. Many friends have just found out they are expecting or have just found out the gender of their babies. I'm thrilled for them, but I want to know why it can't be me? Will it ever be me? I've seen so many little red-headed girls I lost count! Beautiful babies have come home to their forever families through the miracle of adoption this week. Will I ever get the chance to adopt again, like Patrick and I so badly want to?

My babies here on earth are growing. They are growing FAST!!! Anthony has started potty training and no longer needs speech therapy! Aiden is gaining knowledge in leaps and bounds. He amazes me with his mental development everyday. They both need me less and less everyday. And I'm sad about that.

I love my sons so much. I love being a mother. I want to be a mother to more. So, it's been an elephant week. My tunnel is dark. I'm asking God those burning questions again. I'm praying for guidance and wisdom again. And do you know what I've found? I know you will be astounded by my revelation! I've found no deep theological answers, only this:

God is still in the tunnel, carrying me, even when there are elephants in there with me too.

He tends his flock like a shepherd;
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart;
He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11

Come and Worship

As most of you know Aiden started preschool this fall. On Thursdays he gets to hang out with Pastor Burdick who has a guitar. Aiden really likes the guitar and he talks about Pastor Burdick alot! They learn some really cute songs with great messages. We had the chance to record one of our personal favorites. You can check it out for yourself...

http://www.logonix.net/~dtboy/Aiden-Come%20and%20Worship.mp3

Harvest Party

One of my greatest memories from childhood involves the night before Valentine's Day. The kitchen was filled with the smell of strawberry cakes baking. My mother, with a list of my classmates in hand, carefully created an individual, personalized, heart shaped cake for each of my friends. She did this seven years for me. That was approximately 400 cakes. Not to mention that she was also doing the same thing for my brother, at the same time. I wish I had a picture of one of them, they were beautiful. I'll never forget my seventh grade year on Valentine's day, my friends and I realized we were too old to be allowed parties at school. We were discussing this at lunch and one of my friends mentioned how sad she was to not get her cake that year from my mom. I think about those cakes, every Valentine's Day and sometimes in between. Sometimes I catch myself craving one, usually it's when I'm really missing my Mom.

Before I had children, I often wondered if I would be capable of doing something that would have such a lasting impression on my child. One of the reasons I decided to learn how to decorate cakes was because of the memory of those Valentine's day cakes. I wanted to provide that special memorable snack for my child. Then, I began to work in daycares and the school system. I realized that times are very different now. Due to many safety and health regulations, most schools will no longer allow you to bring in homemade treats. I understand the rules and the reasons they are in place, but they sadden me. I began to realize I wouldn't be able to provide the same things for my children that my parents did, just because it's a different world.

Then, Aiden began preschool and last month the teacher asked for a parent to bring a special treat for the Harvest Party. I asked if it could be homemade and she said yes! I was so excited!!! I literally jumped at the chance.

Aiden's Harvest Party was alot of fun today!

Bob and Larry, all dressed up, playing a game with one of Aiden's teachers, Mrs. Amy.


Aiden's class (and some siblings, Anthony did not want to be in the picture though)


Aiden telling his friends about "my pumpkin patch cake"


When Aiden saw the cake for the first time he got so excited. He kept telling everyone there was a "pumpkin patch cake" and that "my Mommy made it for me." He was a little confused, he kept telling people it was his birthday. And he got very sad when he realized he would have to wait until snack time to actually have a piece of the cake. He ate the pumpkin that fell off the truck. :)


When that little face lit up at the sight of that cake I understood all of those strawberry cakes more deeply than I ever have. I was overwhelmed by a love for my child. And yet, there was another emotion mingled in there for me, a deep gratitude for my Mom, a striking appetite for her presence with me, and a tiny bit of hunger for a Valentine's day cake.