Flying Solo

Bailey will be eighteen months old come the 11th of October which means that at church she will be eligible for nursery. We have been nervous about this day for some months now but as the day has drawn closer we have been more and more ready. Bailey had gotten increasingly unmanageable in Sunday School so something needed to change. We accompanied her to nursery for the past few weeks. Today I commented to the nursery leader that I did not know how she would handle it without us and she wisely mentioned that eventually we would need to try. Reluctantly I left her today.

I don't know why it is so hard. I think a part of me is afraid that Bailey will be seen as just another kid. Bailey is so special to me and I want to make sure that everyone sees her that way, it is hard to let her stand out on her own, without my intervention.

In the end she did great, she whimpered a bit when I left but then resumed playing. Her favorite toy in nursery, the rocking chair. The nursery leader said she did really well. My little baby is growing up.

Home Alone

Eegads I'm going crazy. Jennifer went with her mother and grandmother for the weekend to attend a wedding in Northern California. Being alone makes me realize just how much I love those two. I am going insane here on my own. It seems like me head is always buzzing, I can't concentrate or focus on any one thing. In a nutshell, I'm a basketcase, I cannot wait for them to come home.

Games Bailey Plays

Bailey is starting to get more and more creative. Recently Jenn purchased two new end tables that each have a really generous enclosed shelf area. Bailey was playing with the cupboard doors, as she is wont to do, when Jenn noticed that she had disappeared. Then she saw little fingers poking out of the louvers and the mystery was solved. Unprompted by us Bailey shut herself inside the end tables. Now we hesitate to use the shelves because we don't want to mess up what has become an ideal play area.

Bailey New Vocabulary

Bailey is an incredible communicator. She has gotten really good at expressing what she wants or what is bothering her, all without words. Teaching her some rudimentary sign language has really helped. She can sign "please", "thank you", "more", "outside", "milk", "water", "baby", and "sleep". Now she is also developing her spoken vocabulary, current hits include "ma-ma", "da-da", "up", "down", "toes" and "mmmm...that's some tasty fried chicken". Okay maybe not the last one but it is still adorable.

Our Eternal Family

Well all of the road blocks were finally cleared away and last night we were sealed to our daughter for time and all eternity. There was such an amazing feeling in the temple last night. Even Bailey could sense it. As soon as Jenn dressed Bailey in her white dress she was so calm. She just sat quietly in Grandma's lap and held her parent's hands when the time came. She was a model of decorum and reverence. There was a lot of crying as we were surrounded by friends who were able to share the event with us. Words do not do feelings justice, as I read over this I realize that it does little to convey the sense of warmth and love that were there. I will then simply say that I do believe that the temple is a special and a sacred place and I am so grateful that I was able to join my family there and that Bailey is now sealed to us for time and all eternity.

Along with all of the warm and gooey good feelings there was also a deep feeling of responsibility. I felt that before Bailey was sent to this earth that she was promised that this ordinance would be done for her. Now Jenn and I need to walk up to our covenants, not just for each other any more, but also for Bailey. I do hope I can measure up to the man that she needs me to be.

Jump Sasha Jump

Too cute not to post.

The Birthday girl opening her present from "Bailey"

The birthday girl, aka "The Underbite Avenger"

I love taking pictures of Sasha, she has the greatest faces.

In the end, no one was left standing.

This was actually one of the fun falls, she didn't get hurt until later.

It's too bad no one got a picture of me trying to squeeze through this.

Our niece, Bailey's cousin, Sasha turned...had a birthday this past week. The party was at a place called "Jump Man Jump" which we had never been to before (although it did occur to me that they should make sure their phone number has no similarities to that of a crisis hotline). This place was amazing, it was a gallery of assorted bounce house type diversions. If you think getting a large group of children together in giant inflatable amusements is a recipe for injury, well you would be correct but its nothing that they cannot just walk off. Kids are resilient like that.

Bailey had a blast and the birthday girl was an adorable hostess. After each gift she would announce that the giver was "the best friend ever" and then give them a hug. It was also good to see some family. I believe a good time was had by all.

Don't Knock It Until You Try It

When Bailey was new to eating solids, she loved her vegetables. Carrots, peas, you name it. Well since entering toddlerhood and discovering that she has an opinion she had decided that vegetables just were not her thing. We tried different types of veggies, different preparation methods even hiding them in foods, all with limited success. The answer came one day when Jennifer was getting ready for another futile attempt at preparing Bailey's veggies. Jenn had the bag of frozen peas and carrots out and Bailey reached for it. Obviously she did not know what it was but seeing no harm in it, Jenn gave her some of the still frozen veggies, she loved them, she asked for more. So Bailey eats her veggies frozen, who would have guessed?

Temple Sealing

Well the time is finally arriving for us to be sealed to Bailey. One small hitch though (of course), when our ward clerk entered Bailey's blessing into the computer he mistakenly marked that she was Born in the Covenant, that is already sealed. This has the potential to delay our temple plans until we can get that corrected through Salt Lake. It is our hope to have the sealing performed on Saturday night. Hopefully that will happen.

Baby Blessing

Well we got to finally bless Bailey last Sunday. We crossed our fingers and went ahead and did it in sacrament meeting. She was actually great. She stood on mom's lap so that we could place our hands on her head. The bag of gummy bears we gave her may have had something to do with her being so mellow. We are now trying to set a time to take her to the temple for our family to be sealed. I will definately post some pictures when that happens.