Deceptively Delicious

I had heard about & seen this cookbook, but was reminded of it on Oprah the other day. So, yesterday, I went to the store & got a butternut squash. Cubed it, steamed it & pureed it. I was a little nervous about putting it in his mac & cheese at lunch today, but figured it was worth a try. I added a tablespoon to his individual serving and stirred it in where it promptly melted into the hot mac & cheese. He had NO CLUE there was squash in his lunch! I am thrilled! I know she has a brownie recipe that uses spinich that I can't wait to try. Hpefully, we can get back on track with a well rounded diet. I will let you know how it works!

Over the weekend Bailey had a little accident. He was jumping on a bed at Jay's parents house and kin of bit the headboard. He bit a pretty good hole in his lip & knocked his front tooth back a little. He was very swollen & the underneath side of his lip was purple. His little gums were bruised & swollen too. Luckily, almost all of the swelling is gone & his tooth has started to shift back into place a little. I have never seen Bailey cry so much & there was quite a bit of blood. The first night he woke up every hour crying. I felt so bad for him! Luckily, mouth wounds heal quickly & he's back to his old self.

I also wanted to mention that on July 6th, Jay & I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! The past six years have been the best! Thanks, Jay for being such a great husband & daddy!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

We are taking it easy today. We turned down a couple of holiday parties and instead have decided to spend the day as a family. Just the three of us. It should be fun! Tomorrow we have the annual Newton family reunion in Dublin, Texas. We have not been able to go for the past several years, so we are anxious to show Bailey off and eat all of that good home cooking!

We have been so busy since summer began. Bailey had his music and gymnastics classes, which he loved. And the week after next he starts swim lessons. We have been getting together with friends for spray park visits and lunches at Chick-Fil-A. Last week was VBS and I taught 5th grade storytelling, so Bailey was able to attend VBS (it is officially for kids starting kindergarten and up, unless your parent is working it). As you can imagine, Bailey is still recovering!

Last weekend we went to my dad's with our neighbors and went water skiing. Everyone had a great time! We spent all day Saturday out on the boat and Bailey loved every minute of it. He loves to feel the wind on his face. If the boat would stop moving he would say "more boat".

Each day I am amazed at how much he is learning. He is really able to express himself (for example, he just said "mommy, what are you doing?").

Unfortunately, my grandmother has been in the hospital for 11 days. She fainted in her front yard and it seems to have gone downhill from there. They think it was caused by a medication combination that affected her sodium level, but it seems more problems keep popping up. We are all ready for her to be well enough to go home. My aunt has been with her practically 24/7 and when my mom isn't at work she is up at the hospital. Everyone is exhausted! Please keep her in your prayers.

Here are a few recent pictures of Bailey

Summer Fun

This week, my cousin, Dallas & her family were in town. Bailey got to play with his cousin, Nora, who is just 3 months older than he is. They had a great time together. Even though they don't get to see each other often, when they do, they pick right up where they left off.
Monday we took the kids to the zoo. It was hot, but we packed a picnic lunch & the whole family came for the fun. The kids had a blast watching the animals. Dallas got some great pictures of Bailey & Nora, but I forgot my camera. She is going to email them to me, so maybe I can upload them later.
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, my Aunt (Dallas' mom) invited us to her country club for fun filled days of swimming, lunch & lots of ice cream. Let me tell you, that is the life! Both Bailey & Nora had swim lessons this week. The first day they did great! They were jumping off the edge of the pool & going under the water! We were so impressed! Today; however, they both cried for most of their lesson. Oh, well. Maybe they will progress as the summer goes on.

We were sad to see them leave today, but look forward to August when we will all be meeting in Florida. 19 of my family members will be going for a week & all staying together under one roof (a very large roof). It will be a great week!

Well, we have moved Bailey into his full sized bed. So far, he seems to love it. He really likes laying on his pillows & snuggling up under the covers. Not to mention, all of the stuffed animals you can fit in that great big bed! He loves being able to easily get in & out of his bed. And he loves showing his new bed off. Whenever someone new comes over he takes them into his room & shows them how to get on & off his bed.

This summer Bailey is taking music class & gymnastics class. Both classes have met once so far, & I think he is going to enjoy it. If it goes well, I might try to continue at least one of them throughout the school year. In July he will take swimming lessons again, so I hope to have him in the water frequently between now & then so that he can get comfortable with the water. If the past week is any indication of how our summer will be, then we are off to a great start!

Mother's Day & Bailey's Birthday

This was my 3rd mother's day & it was the best one yet. This year Bailey's birthday fell on mother's day & I can't think of a better mother's day gift than my son's birthday! I can't believe Bailey is 2! The time has just flown by so quickly!

The day before we had Bailey's birthday party. It was a hot day, but breezy, so it wasn't too bad. The kids had fun playing at the park & eating cake. Bailey got some great gifts, including a little car, a tricycle, a picnic table & a swingset! They are all big hits, but Bailey could swing & ride his "I-iycle" all day long!

Yesterday we had Bailey's 2 year check up & everything looks great. The doctor even said it is time to begin potty training (I was actually thinking about waiting 6 months before we started... oh, well), so I guess I'd better start reading up on how to potty train. We don't even have a potty chair. I have heard that boys are harder to train than girls, so it should be fun. However, considering I recently purchased a large box of diapers from Sam's, I intend to get my money's worth & wait until we use all of the diapers.

Here is a short list of Bailey's accomplishments at 2 years of age:

-can count to 14

-knows all 26 letters

-can spell his name (I will ask him which letter comes first, what's next, etc. & he knows!)

-knows all primary colors

-knows the following shapes: triangle, circle, oval, square

-talks in very short sentences (mommy, come here. no bed. no mommy)

-has FINALLY, after a year of rejection started eating meat again. Yay! A major accomplishment!

Our trip to Washington D.C.

We have been so busy lately! Between birthday parties, church events & our recent vacation, we are rarely home!

We left on Thursday afternoon to fly to Baltimore where our friends, Justin & Amy picked us up & we headed to their home in D.C. Justin is a Captin (soon to be Major) in the Airforce JAG & they are currently stationed in D.C. (quite a change from their last location of Italy). Jay, Justin & Amy were in law school together
We jam-packed a ton of stuff into 2 1/2 days. Justin & Amy did a great job of being our tour guides. We saw all of the monuments, the Museum of natural history, the archives, the Capital, the White House, Holocaust museum, pentagon, arlington national cemetary, the zoo, the National Cathedral, & Mt. Vernon.


Bailey was such a trooper! He was in a great mood overall, with very few breakdowns. He caught a few cat naps in his stroller, but basically missed his nap for 3 days. Justin & Amy were life savers! They were so hands on with Bailey & he absolutely loved them! They took turns carrying him, pushing his stroller, etc. Justin & Amy made it possible for Jay & I not to miss out on anything. For example, you have to be silent for both the changing of the guard & the JFK eternal flame at the cemetary. They volunteered to sit back with Bailey so Jay & I could see both of those things. Those are just 2 examples. They did so so so much to help. It was like Bailey had 4 parents that weekend! They only thing we couldn't get them to help with was diaper changes:)

We had such a great time & really enjoyed getting to see our friends. Hopefully, their next assignment will be a great vacation spot too!

Prayers Needed

My sister-in-law, Julie, has asked me to post a blog on my website. The woman's name is Taylor Stapleton & Julie works with her mother-in-law. Taylor is pregnant & her baby has a genetic defect. The little boy will either be stillborn or may live a short time. It is a very sad situation & at this time they are trying to decide their birth plan & what/if any medical intervention to take, should their son be born alive.

On Taylor's blog (which is to the right of my blog under "blogs of peopel i think are cool") is another website titled http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ . I really recommend visiting this site. They were on the Today show also.

Please take the time to visit these sites. I know all prayers are appreciated.

Scary!

Did anyone see the Today show this morning? Apparently, a new study shows the cost of raising a child from birth -17 years is $204,000 per child! Although, if you have 1 child you spend 23% more than that & if you have 3 children you spend 23% less. Keep in mind, they said this only covers the basics. It does not include college. They said by the time our kids reach college age it will cost $124,000 to send your child to a public college (Go Tech!) &; $294,000 to send your child to private school. 2 is sounding like a nice round number:)

I did not do an Easter post because I just now downloaded the pictures off my camera. We had a fun-filled & BUSY day. Here are a few cute pics of Bailey.

22 Months!

Today Bailey is 22 months old. It's hard to believe he will turn 2 in just a few weeks!

A funny thing happened yesterday that I had to post about. Bailey hit Jay in the face, so he had to go to time out until he was ready to tell Daddy "sorry". So, he sat in time out, screaming at the top of his lungs....after about 1 minute I asked him if he was ready to tell Daddy "sorry". He gets up, walks right up to Jay, looks at him...then, promptly turns around & goes back to sit in time out. Talk about stubborn!!! I'll admit, we were tempted to laugh, but stuck to our guns. Even though we were due at our neighbor's house for dinner, we made Bailey stay in time out until he was ready to apologize. Usually, Bailey is quick to say "sorry", but last night he wanted nothing to do with it. I think he was in time out nearly 5 minutes before he decided he was tired of being there.

I shared this story with the nursery workers at our church this morning & they were shocked. They said Bailey is so laid back & never would have characterized him as strong willed. I am thrilled he is so well behaved at church, but would love for that to overlap into our home life.

I got a new camera over the weekend. My cousin, Dallas got this camera recently & loves it. My sister-in-law got the same camera after reading about it on Dallas' blog. So, we got it too. I am loving it! We were really starting to miss some great photo opportunities because of the delay on our camera & "hey, Bailey, do that again" wasn't really working. He is so active & I really want to capture all of that.
.We have converted Bailey's crib to the toddler bed. The first week went well, come to find out he was using the time to plan his escape. It sarted with naptime today. He pushed on his bed protecter thing so hard that it, Bailey & half of his mattress ended up onthe floor. It scared him bad enough that I was pretty sure he wouldn't try that again. I was right. He soon decided he needed a new plan. He has somehow managed to sqeeze himself through the 6 inch space between the headboard and the protector. And boy, is he quick! One one hand, it could be a good thing, he can learn to stay in his bed & that will help later on. That being said, I am open to suggestions on how to keep him in his bed.

The good thing, is that his changing table has been converted to a dresser, so there is more room for cute stuff:)

February Update

I feel like I say this a lot, but I am constantly amazed by how much Bailey is learning every day! His newest acheivment is counting to 10. It is so cute. He has also been working on his shapes. He knows circle & oval really well & can recognize square & triangle, but can't pronounce them.

We are definitely into the "terrible two's". Even though officially, he has 3 months to go, we are seeing very clear signs! He loves to throw temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. All he wants to eat are cheetos, fruit loops & cupcakes. I can not tell you how many nights he has gone to bed without dinner because he could not have these items. Time out is what we are using as our main type of punishment. It seems to work well. He has a "time out" spot & will actually sit there until he stops crying or is ready to comply with our request.

Here are some cute pictures that I took of Bailey.

God is Good

Jay has a new job! It is at a firm in Ft. Worth. The interview process moved very quickly (3 weeks. Which is very fast in the legal world). He had a phone interview, an in person interview, then on Friday, 4 of the partners took Jay & I to dinner at the Reata, after I was given a tour of the offices. We had a really nice time & spent about 4 hours with them. We were able to get to know them on a personal level & they made a point to ask me if I had any questions for them. I thought that was nice (especially, since I had a few). They called Jay Saturday morning to offer him the job. We are very excited. For many reasons, this is the perfect fit for us. They are, by their own admission a "family first" firm. They treat their employees excellent, & rarely lose them. This firm has everything we've been looking for, plus SO much more.He will begin at his new firm in 2 weeks.

Bailey is doing great! He is still throwing temper tantrums, but for the most part, they aren't too bad. He has to go to time out whenever he throws a tantrum, which he hates. He knows where his time out area is, & knows to stay there until he quits crying. He follows the rule pretty well. He has a major love of books. He loves to look at books & has us read to him many, many times each day. He is working really hard on his colors, letters, & starting to show an interest in numbers. He just soaks up information like a sponge! He has a few songs that he likes to sing a long to. It's cute to see him sing the words he knows. His vocabulary is really expanding. It seems like every day he learns a new word!

We're Back

We made it home from our cruise! We had a wonderful time, had perfect weather, ate WAY TOO MUCH food and got nice tans. I definitely think 7 days away was too long. I think my limit for being away from Bailey is about 4 days. One thing that made it hard was not being able to call each day. Also, he got sick while we were gone. He got the bad cold that's been going around. The very congested cough, stuffy nose, runny nose, etc. He is on the mend, thank goodness.

While we were gone Bailey got accustomed to some things he is not allowed often at home....watching t.v., drinking coke, & sleeping with the adults. It has been major baby boot camp around here the past 5 days. That being said, I'm sure you can imagine all of the temper tantrums that have gone on. Now, I know he is not feeling his best, but Jay & I firmly believe being sick is no excuse for bad behavior! Today, Bailey did not get his way & threw a pudding cup across the living room, hitting the wall. He was promptly rewarded with a spanking. After his spanking he marched to the wall & stood facing it crying for 5 minutes. He thinks we can't see him if he faces the wall.

He has been very ugly to Jay this week. He doesn't want Jay even looking at him. When Jay comes near him he quickly turns & faces the nearest wall, stands there crying "no"

Right now, he is in his bed where he has been crying for 51 minutes. This has become our new routine. I am very ready for things to go back to normal! He wins, he has punished me for leaving him!

There have also been some posititve things this week. We are back to working on our letters (he is up to 14) and today for the first time he showed some interest in colors. Today we learned red, green, yellow, blue, & orange. I was very impressed with this new found knowledge. Also, he can count to 3 (my sister has heard him count to 4, but I have not, yet). He is learning new words every day & makes a real effort to try new ones.

...okay, we are up to 58 minutes of crying.....

Even though this has been a very tiring, trying and frustrating week, we are so glad to be home!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! Bailey really enjoyed ripping the paper off the presents and he loves all of his new toys. Santa was good to him this year!

My cousin Dallas and her family came to Ft. Worth for a week, so Bailey was able to play with his cousin, Nora several times. She is 3 months older than him, so they make good playmates. He also got to see the "baby" (Nora's little sister, Elyn). We are still working on sharing, so that was a challenge. He is more than happy to share his "old" toys, but doesn't want anyone playing with his new Christmas toys.

Last week we had our Sunday School class over for dinner. Any child who sat in his new table and chair set did not go over well. Jay said that Bailey would try and pull their chair out from under them. I am sure we will be working on sharing for several years to come.

Bailey is learning more everyday! He can now say "please" and we are working on saying "help" and "yes ma'am". He knows 11 of his letters. He can pick them out and say what they are and make their sound. I am constantly amazed by his ability to pick things up so quickly! He has this shape bucket and he can put the blocks into the appropriate shape slot. He really is a genius:)

On Saturday, Jay and I are leaving on a cruise with 5 other couples. We are excited, but feel very sad about leaving Bailey. I can only imagine all of the things he will learn during the 8 days we are gone. He will turn 20 months while we are away. The hardest part will be the limited calls home we will be able to make. Last time we went out of town he got sick, so I think I am a little paranoid. I know he will have a great time with his Mimi, Grammy & Pop and Aunt Jill & Uncle Jarod.

Here are some pictures of the past 2 weeks.

A crazy few weeks

I can't believe it has been almost 1 month since I last updated. Things have been pretty busy around here the past few weeks. I am enjoying all of the holiday hustling and bustling, but am also looking forward to things settling down.

Bailey's newest thing is being obsessed with Elmo, or Nelmo, as he likes to call him. He has already begun playing with his Hokey Pokey Elmo doll, which is supposed to be a Christmas present. He found out that I had hid him in the guest room, so he would constantly go to the door, knock and whine, "Nelmo, Nelmo". I admit, I have given in a few times and let him play with it. I found a temporary replacement and it seems to help. It is a small Elmo beanie babie that goes with him most places. Tonight I was rocking Bailey and he was calling out in his sleep "Mama, Nelmo", "Mama, Nelmo" It was really cute!

We also got Bailey this Mickey Mouse stuffed animal that is as big as he is. He really loves it! He calls it "hot dog" (for any of you whose child watches the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you are familiar with the hot dog song at the end of each episode).

Saturday, we went to brunch with Santa at the Fort Worth club. We had a great time (thanks Jim and Barbie!), but the kids were not crazy about Santa. It was pretty funny!

18 Months!

Sunday was Bailey's 18 month birthday, so I thought I would list some of the things he is doing. This post is mainly for the grandparents and aunts/uncles. So, if you are a friend, thanks for bearing with me through this brag fest!

Of course, he is incredibly active! He can follow simple commands (ie. go get mommy a diaper and lie down or bring mommy your shoes). He loves to have tasks to do! He is such a helper! He is really good at helping to load/unload the silverware out of the dishwasher (usually, I am not wanting him to do this:))

He loves to build with legos and blocks and is really good at it! He likes to pull his stuffed animals around in his little wagon. He love to play on his swingset and in his sandbox.

He knows sign language for "more", "ball", "finished", "elephant", & "zebra"

I could go on and on, but I will end with a list of words that Bailey is saying.

Mama

Dada

Shoe

Sock

Outside

Inside

Water

No (surprisinly, he RARELY says this)

Uh oh

Bye Bye

I love you

Mmm good

Ouch
Hot
Cold

Car

Bath

Cool

Cheese (smile for the camera)

Ooh doggy (thanks granddaddy)

Bailey (which sounds like Bay)

Pop (what he calls Jay's dad)

Jack (a friend of his)

Trick or Treat (sounds nothing like trick or treat, but he carries around his halloween bucket, knocks on the door and says deek o deek)

night night

So

Here you go

Trick or Treat

Even though it is not officially Halloween, we have already attended 3 Halloween events. We are going to get our money's worth from Bailey's monkey costume!

We went to Boo at the Zoo (a fun trick or treating event at the Fort Worth Zoo that included cool pumpkin carvings, seeing the animals and more!), a party at our church and THE MOST AMAZING Halloween carnvial you could imagine (at the Ft. Worth Club, where my in-laws are members)! The carnival had a bounce house, craft stations, picture taking, caricature drawings, snakes from the zoo, a juggler, a balloon animal maker and several children's games. Then there was the food....from funnel cakes and mini corn dogs to mac and cheese and roast beef sandwiches (and that's just to name a few)! A desert table and even better, an ice cream bar!! They even had Halloween margaritas! They also had a D.J. and a dance floor for the kids to get their groove on!


Believe it or not, we still have more parties to attend! Our social calendar hasn't been this busy since Bailey was born! I am excited that this year Bailey will be able to go trick or treating on Halloween. He is really good at knocking on doors, so I think he will have fun.

September at the Newton house

We have been so busy lately! Time is just flying by and Christmas will be here before we know it! Our weekends seem to fill up before I realize what's happened! Jay and I ran our second half marathon (well, technically it was a 20k, which is about a 1/2 mile shorter than a half marathon). We had a great time and got our workout in before 10 am!

Bailey is getting cuter by the day, if I do say so myself. He is learning so much, so fast. At Sunday school they have taught him something pretty cute. They say "Bailey, show me your pretty eyes" and he bats those long eyelashes at them. He knows it's cute and really gets a kick out of it.

He has these new houseshoes that his Mimi got him that he loves to wear! He LOVES wearing shoes. Every day he bring me his shoes and says "Shoes" and sits down ready for me to put them on. He also loves trying to wear mommy and daddy's shoes. We put my tennis shoes on him the other day and he walked around in them FOREVER!

Right now we are learning about Noah and the Ark. He loves to make the animal sounds as he puts them in his toy Ark. I am not sure how much of the story he is grasping, but I figure if I keep telling it at some point things will start to sink in. At any rate, he loves playing with the Ark and the animals that go in it.

First Day of School

Well, the first day of school was a SUCCESS!! He did cry when I left, but was in a great mood when I picked him up. His teachers said he did great! Ate well, napped well, and played well. They say he was very easygoing and laid back! Today was his second day and when I dropped him off, I was prepared for crying, but he stretched out his arms to his teacher and was ready to play! What a relief!!



I know this is a short post, but I have to leave to pick up Bailey. Enjoy the pictures

I Wuv Ooh!

This is Bailey's first sentence! It is so adorable to hear him say "I love you." Even though he can't say his "L's" or "Y's", it is very obvious what he is saying. I tear up every time he tells me his new sentence. He is doing some very cute things these days! Today, I put him in his crib for nap time. Clearly, he wasn't tired because I checked on him 30 minutes later and he was laying quietly on his back reading a book! He was flipping the pages and studying each one carefully. It was unbelievably cute! He played very quietly in his crib for 1 hour before falling asleep. WOW!

This weekend we went to my Dad's and took Bailey out on the lake. He really loves being on the boat. It is so calming to him. We also went to Chuck E Cheese's for the first time. Suprisingly, he was not scared of Chuck E. Me, Jay and my dad won lots of tickets playing games, so I think it was a fun evening for everyone.

Next week Bailey starts mother's day out, so I will be sure to write about how it went!

Going To School

Bailey will be starting day school (mother's day out) next month. I am a little nervous for him to be away from me all day, but I know it will be good for him. He is going one day a week and I will be able to get some errands done and maybe even get the house cleaned!

I am in a group at church called CCM (caring christian mothers). Our fundraiser for the year is actually something very practical and useful and I encourage you all to buy it :) They are labels from http://www.stuckonyou.biz/ I ordered some to label Bailey's sippy cups for school. You can also get ones that iron on to your child's clothes. They have permanent and removable labels. They also have address labels if you don't need any for your child (If you do order some, put FUMC Hurst in the fundraiser box).

Bailey is 15 months old and has 12 teeth! Four of them are molars, so we had a few rough nights while they were cutting through. He can run now, so that makes life interesting! We are keeping busy and trying to stay out of this heat. We have been swimming several times this summer and Bailey does pretty good. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their August!

Movin' & Groovin'

Since last I have posted several things have happened:

1. We celebrated the 4th of July with family
2. Bailey has become an expert walker
3. Bailey went to his friend, Aidan's birthday party
4. Two of Bailey's top molars have broken through
5. Bailey's cousins have moved into our neighborhood

On the fouth we went to the Concert in the Gardens and it was really great! My Aunt Donna took everyone. Bailey's second cousin, Nora was in town, so Bailey had another baby to hang out with. Don't they look cute?


Dallas and Nora were in town for a week, so the kids had several opportunities to play together. I think they had a great time!

Bailey is walking with no trouble now. He can even walk well with shoes on. I think he will be running soon because he tries to go so fast! He is really enjoying this new level of mobility! He also just got his first two molars. I am very excited about this because meat will be easier for him to eat. It takes him so long to chew meat (especially chicken) so I am hoping this will speed up the chewing process for him.

Our family went to Houston over the weekend to visit Chris, Theresa and Aidan. It was Aidan's first birthday party. It was great to see them and their new house! We really enjoyed getting to visit and watch the boys play. One of the toys Aidan got was a motorized ATV for children. Aidan was not too interested in it, but Bailey thought it was the BEST thing EVER!

Jay's sister, Julie and her family bought a house one street behind us! We are so excited! Now, Bailey and Andrew are getting to play together all the time! Also, it's great for last minute babysitting! So, as you can see, it's been a very busy month and it's only half over!