it's that time again

Josh, Kate, and I are expecting the arrival of a new Bailey some time in May. :-) We've had a fun time announcing our news this weekend. It all began with a phone call on Friday night, where we debuted Kate's "Big Sister" shirt. I'll hopefully get a picture up soon, but here's the basic gist of it. On the front it reads, "I have a secret." On the back it reads, "I'm going to be a big sister." I guess when I say phone call that is a bit misleading. We "called" my parents on Skype & using our webcam we showed them Kate's shirt. Then, on Saturday, we had the Bailey clan over for burgers. We let Kate toddle around in the shirt & it was a full 30 minutes before anyone read it carefully! When Lydia had arrived, I told her privately what the shirt said. She shared her news with Mima, but Mima didn't believe her! She just thought it was Lydia telling a story about Kate being a big sister, just like Lydia. In the end, it was Lisa who first read it & realized the meaning. We had fun letting other people slowly figure out that something was going on in the kitchen with lots of hugs & squeals.

This morning we announced it at church & I got in touch with my sisters. We have a line in our prayer bulletin for pregnant mothers & this line has had someone in it for the last several years (at least 2) continuously. Just last week, it had nobody's name for the first time, and lo and behold -- I was pregnant. Everyone at church had a good laugh about that. We just can't escape those pregnant ladies! I guess it should be no surprise since many of us got married within two years of each other (as many as 6 couples) &, of course, there are people still having children who were married long before my "generation" & some after.

I'm about 5 weeks along & have felt great so far. (I was still feeling great at this time last pregnancy.) I'm hoping I won't have to start the "puke watch" again. But, I've tried to make a list of things to do before I might get sick. Make food & stash in the freezer. Get a hair cut. Pick a doctor. Meet some doulas. Make lesson plans. Hopefully, my mental preparedness will aid me this time round.

sweet poem

My dad sent me this old hymn & it was so sweet, I had to share with you all. It reminded me of what our Pastor has been emphasizing the last couple of Young Mother's Bible Study -- the nobility of woman's calling.

My Lord, I do not ask to stand
As king or prince of high degree,
I only pray that hand in hand
A child and I may come to Thee.

To teach a tender voice to pray,
Two childish eyes Thy face to see--
Two feet to guide in Thy straight-way;
This fervently I ask of Thee.

O grant Thy patience to impart
Thy holy law, Thy words of truth
Give, Lord, Thy grace that my whole heart
May overflow with love for youth.

As step by step we tread the way,
Trusting, and confident, and free
A child and I shall, day by day,
Find sweet companionship with Thee. Amen.

sewing for fall

These are my latest two sewing projects. The first was actually completed some time ago, but I hadn't taken any pictures & more importantly, hadn't convinced my model to put it on for a photo shoot. I love the material I chose (Hobby Lobby) and it was pretty easy to work with. The pattern is Simplicity (easy-to-sew) #5936. I really wanted to include a panel at the bottom, but couldn't find a coordinating fabric in weight to the corduroy I picked out. I initially imagined this would go over a long sleeve shirt, but when I put the jumper on Kate by itself -- I thought it looked pretty cute. So, I guess she could wear corduroy because its September, but no shirt underneath because it's hot.

Two new things in this pattern were zippers & bias tape. The bias tape went well, but the zipper was a bit onerous. As you can see from the close up picture, I didn't achieve an even look in the back, but my zipper works!

Sewing Project #6

Close up of the dastardly zipper! I just noticed that the seams of the back "yoke" don't match up either. I thought it was a last minute mistake in how I tucked in the top seam, but now I see that I probably made a mistake in pinning & basting. Well, live to learn another day!

The adorable model in her new HUGE Sunday shoes. Somehow Carter's Size 6 are about 2 sizes larger than Gymboree sz 6. Go figure! (I paid $3 for them, so it doesn't really matter!) Also, unlike the pattern prescribed, I did a blind hem, which takes up lots of extra material, so it's not really as long as I wanted it. Of course, as a summer dress, this length looks adorable, so maybe I'll let it down once we get to winter time!

My second project was completed this morning. I love my fabric choice (Hobby Lobby, again), but I'm not sure I LOVE the style of the dress. I tried to customize the fit a bit more this time; but the dress still ended up too large all over. So, maybe it'll be a better fit in the Spring or even next Summer. Funnily enough, the thing that gave me the most trouble was the pocket. I just couldn't understand their directions & didn't know what the end product (the inside of a pocket) really looks like. Now that I know, I'll be adding pockets onto everything! The collar went surprisingly smoothly, and once I remembered how my buttonhole foot worked; the buttons went as smooth as silk. I even have a button foot that helps me sew on buttons! Now that is a tool every one of you should invest in. Well, everyone of you who hates hand sewing, that is! (I stink at it!)

Sewing Project #7

I also made the bow! Now, it wasn't that hard, but it doesn't look that great & I'm not convinced that it's cost effective. The true test will be to see if it lasts (wear & tear) as long as a boutique bow.

I think I'm going to try to make a purse with the remnants of the corduroy & this paisley fabric. Wish me luck!

interpretations on a smile

One reason I love taking pictures is that some moments that happen too quickly for the mind's eye to register can be captured on film. These images can enrapture us or cause us to giggle. I find this particularly true with children because their expressions can change a mile a minute. Adults have usually figured out what to do when they are in front of a camera. Don't put your finger in your nose, don't blow bubbles, don't look at somebody you aren't dating yet with eyes of adoration & love. You get the picture! Well, this picture captured these cousins in a moment. Even my grumpy child adds some character to the shot! I can't get her to smile these days (for pictures, that is!). Enjoy....

Nathan (4.5 years), Lydia (3 years), Caroline (19 mos), Kate Sourpuss Bailey (20 months)

I can't figure out what this expression is saying. She knew I was taking pictures of her. . . Jennifer, can you fill in here?



She's smiling behind her choc-ate finger licking goodness. She helped Mima make the frosting for the brownies. yummy!

Nathan had a great time in the pool although he didn't enjoy the bigger kid's splashing, so he stayed in the hot tub w/ Lydia most of the time.

Bonus reel:

no more utopias

Our Young Mother's Bible Study is embarking on yet another book, this time we're lucky enough to have the author of the book leading the study. :-) Our pastor. He's compiled some sermons he preached about two years ago on the family (the true cause of our summer of babies) and some other material into a book he has entitled Edifice, which he describes as concerning the life cycle of the family, from early marriage, young children, empty nesters, even difficult seasons such as divorce, remarriage, etc. As I did my preparation for our study on Wednesday, I was struck by this particular section, and I wanted to share it. It was particularly significant to me because earlier that day I had read a blog that described a homeschooling family of four children who sounded like they have everything together. She published her family's scheduled & included her children's daily checklist of items to accomplish. While her children work on their independent school work, she bakes bread. Dinner preparation is 45 min- 1 hr each night (even with a nursing baby & 2 year old). Every morning before breakfast, before supper, and before bed the two older children assist their mother with chores (including closet organization, drawer organization, folding laundry, putting it away) which put me & my one child household to shame! Her point in having drawer & closet organization on her daily/weekly list was that if you keep it up, it won't ever be a chore that takes a lot of time. Although this may be true, I just didn't know how I felt about each working member of the household having the responsibility of checking one drawer every day! It seemed a bit OCD to me. This did NOT stop me from feeling guilty about my 10 drawers that hadn't seen an organizing hand in months (maybe years!). I'm not trying to say that this lady was telling others that their schedules should be carbon copies of hers. It just seemed as though her list of tasks was insurmountable! (Cleaning, Teaching, Nursing baby, Making Supper Cheerfully with 2 year old, etc.) Again, the guilt was of my own doing, not Blogger Lady's. This also happily coincided with a laundry issue! I have a houseguest (more on that in another post) who found our clothes sitting in the dryer, took them out & folded them in the most magnificently neat way I've ever seen, and then apologized for "not doing a good job!" I waited for Josh to mention that someone else MUST have folded the clothes, but apparently, he thought I just got extra creative that day. So, spurred on by my drawer organizing blogger & neat folding houseguest, I tackled my junk drawer, and three of my dresser drawers -- refolding, throwing away, sorting, and making sense out of mayhem. I would take pictures, but my dresser mostly holds jammies & unmentionables & the last time I posted a picture of a bra on the web, people were scandalized. Anyway, that was my day.

At night, I opened up the first chapter of Edifice to read this, and I couldn't believe what a timely balance God had brought to me that day. I will quote most of the section & summarize some parts.

"Too much Christian family literature borders upon utopianism and is therefore frustrating in its application. The author prescribes the "path for the family" in whatever particular area he is addressing. The steps are followed, but change is slight, slow, and painful -- if it occurs at all. Is there something wrong with me or my family? Do we lack faith? Perhaps we need another perspective. And the cycle of frustration begins again. This lack of biblical realism about the Christian life in general and the family in particularly is the result of a failure to consider adequately the subject of cross-bearing. Being a Christian entails bearing the cross of our Savior in our daily lives. . . The Christian family is not exempt from cross-bearing, and any attempt to address it's problems and posit potential answers to its many challenges must take into account the fact that God's purposes for the family require the discipline of the cross. This does not mean that positive, even monumental change is impossible to attain in this life. Meaningful, lasting, biblical change requires repentance, self-denial, fervent, prayer, and mortification of sin. . . Expectations for family change must be realistic in the light of sin and progressive sanctification. They must be placed against the backdrop of God's sovereign purposes that he is working out in each family and in each family member, thereby producing in each family member the life of Christ.. . .
Too many Christians live as if the goal of dealing with problems is to achieve a place in life where problems no longer exist, that sanctification involves strife-less marriages, sinless children, a veritable utopia on earth. It will never happen. . . God gives us principles, purposes, and goals for which we are to strive by trusting in his grace and promises. they do not eradicate sin or create lives of ease. they enable us to approach the inevitable sins and pressures that arise in this sinful world with hope and patience, knowing that our labors are not in vain the Lord."

This passage struck me as so applicable to the guilt & frustration I was feeling about setting my own house in order. Blogger Lady wasn't prescribing any steps to fix a certain problem, but I believe the application was still viable. It seemed to me that she was describing such a Utopia to me, where there are no messes that can't be tackled in a day, no children that don't enjoy a rigorous list of chores to be accomplished daily while doing 10 or 12 subjects, including 15 minutes of piano practice & 15 mins of voice practice. (What does 15 minutes do for you???) In another post, she told how she sought God's wisdom in dealing with problems in her children. IN all three stories that she told, God saw fit to answer her prayers in a matter of days, and within days of applying her God-given answer, her children's attitude or problem was tackled!

During our discussion at the Bible Study, It just struck me that consciously or unconsciously many of these books or blogs on parenting and marriage set up this paradigm. . if you do follow these steps or principles (godly & biblical as they may be), you will "fix the problem" in your marriage, in your child, in your family. This even descends into issues like sleeping through the night, breastfeeding, and a myriad of mothering issues. Follow these steps & you will gain these results. Although the advice or principles in this type of literature may be perfectly appropriate for you and Bible based, God may not see fit to give you success even if you are doing "all of the right things." There's no magic formula. The family, in all of its facets, cannot be "fixed" or even "checklisted."

In light of this, I tried to think of what MY daily checklist should look like. Instead of trying to control my circumstance to the enth degree and trying to create artificially an environment that supposedly fosters cheerful attitudes, a hard-working Spirit, and a love for God by making sure that all the corners of the house are clean or even that the clothes are folded a certain way. . aren't there things that are more important? I tried to think of some things that SHOULD be on my checklist. . Have I communicated God's love to Kate today? Have I read to her? Have I communicated on a deeper, spiritual level with Josh today? Have I loved him? I'm sure the list could go on & each family's list would look a bit different. Cleanliness is not next to godliness, Organization is not next to godliness. All of those things should be counted as mere tools in the wife's arsenal for creating a loving, God-honoring environment that works hard to serve him & each other. They are not ends of their own. Our goal is not to recreate Utopia, the fictional land where everything worked perfectly. There was a perfect economic model, a perfect political model, a perfect societal model. We must have this biblical realism that perhaps reads the books, reads the blogs, applies biblical principles to Christian family living, but acknowledges that serving God involves bearing the cross, as individuals, as well as families.

So, what would be on YOUR list?

crocs

Rei.com is having a great sale on Crocs in some colors & sizes. They are $8.83. Some little birdie thought of a great plan if they don't have the color & size that you want. Order ones at a great price & then take & exchange them at a Crocs stand, like in the mall. Then you get what you want for a great price! I already bought this season's on ebay, so I may not join this particular fray, but have fun! Also, if you ship them to a local REI, the shipping is free. I imagine they also have similar prices in the store. Here's the Link.