6/30/2008

Not An Ear Infection

Well, we are very happy to say that it is not an ear infection. Her throat is very red and swollen, though, so they think it may be hand/food/mouth disease again.

Needless to say, I'm not real happy. This is a very communicable disease that runs it's course pretty quickly. But it is passed in environments that are not kept clean and by kids. It's obviously very contagious in daycare. I'm frustrated by the daycare's in ability to keep their room clean enough and their toys sanitized enough to prevent this disease.

Not sure what we are going to do about this. We'll have to talk. I can't stand our childcare providers since Bailey switched rooms. Between the bully and her constant stream of illness, Kelly and I are less than happy.

Another Trip to the Doctor

Bailey is running a fever again. Coincidently, it is only 2 days after she went off her last round of antibiotics for an ear infections/bacterial infection in the eye. I'm wondering if the antibiotic did not kill the ear infection and that is what is causing the temps. Because she seems to be running around in circles with ear infections, we are going to take her in this morning (even though we may find out that it's nothing). Better safe than sorry, I say.

Her doctors are a bit worried and want to "watch" her ears. I wonder what they will say this time around. I'm sure, if it is an ear infection again, they will want to start testing for larger problems.

Kelly and I are not too keen on Bailey being on so many antibiotics. The problem with ear infections is that they always prescribe antibiotics and we don't think she always needs them. The best medical research says that most ear infections are best treated with pain management rather than antibiotics. And there are all kinds of problems with giving a child antibiotics.

In any event, I will take her in to the doctors. Given that she has had so many, I want for them to take a look. Her fever was up to 102.1 last night, so that definitely indicates that something is wrong.

6/27/2008

For You Bailey

This morning, as I was driving the car, with Bailey in the back seat, on our way to daycare, I heard a song. And as I was watching our daughter in the rearview mirror, and listening to the lyrics, I started crying. And couldn't stop until we pulled up in front of the day care and I had to get out. The entire song through, our Bailey waved her hands and crinkled her eyes at me in the mirror, as if she understood what I was feeling.

So...this one is for you, Bailey.

*******************************************

Gretchen Wilson - Holdin' You

I don't need whiskey to drown out the pain
Or some old umbrella to hold off the rain
Don't have to cross over a river of tears
All that I need is right here

Holding you holds me together
When holding on gets just a little too hard
When this tight rope I travel
Begins to unravel and I feel likeI'm falling apart
Holding you holds me together

You know life's a freight liner on
A runaway track
But I'll take the ride knowing
That you'll bring me back
No fate's too uncertain no distance too farA
s long as ou're here in my arms

Whenever I hold you tight
This crazy world of mine falls right in place
Whatever the trouble is
You find a way to give back what it takes

6/26/2008

Brief Glimpses into Bailey's World















Then & Now

This was Kelly and Bailey at Kelly's company picnic last year...

And this is them this year!

6/25/2008

Breakfast Today

Bailey's breakfast this morning consisted of:

1 scrambled egg
2 pieces of veggie sausage
1/4 cup of fresh black berries
1/2 cup of fresh blueberries
1 4 oz pear yogurt
~1/2 cup of organic 1% milk

I'm sure glad that she likes healthy food, but lordy. She eats a lot! She's growing like a weed, though, so I guess this is normal.

6/24/2008

Another Day

All is good in the McFadden house. We have been super-busy as always. There really isn't much going on, which is why I haven't posted in a few days.

Bailey is 100% better. She is still on an aggresive dose of antibiotics, but the eye infection is gone, gone, gone and we are just making sure it is killed at this point. She is back to sleeping well and eating well.

Recently, it seems that she is spending a lot more time crying and being whiny. I have done some reading and it seems that this is a normal stage and indicates good development. PHEW...it's tough, though. It comes and goes, but it seems to peak over the weekends when she is with us contantly. I assume that we are taking the brunt of it - they don't indicate at daycare that she is acting any different than usual. I am sure that she is feeling out her limits and testing our responses to her.

We always respond - sometimes firmly, if she is misbehaving - and we are hoping to get through it soon. She has started grabbing at our glasses. She knows that is a big, huge no no. She does it to get our attention...or maybe just because she wants them and has no impulse control right now. In any event, that lead to some serious scolding and her hurt feelings.

She still laughs when you tell her no. She'll look over her shoulder and give you a sly little smile. When you tell her no the second time, she laughs. At that point, one of us usually goes over to her and walks her away from the offending location, telling her no. Then she cries. Poor baby.

One new addition to our living room is a potty. We have started to take her diaper off about a half hour before we go upstairs. We open up the potty and let her play with it. She has figured out that she can sit on it, and does. We are not doing any kind of directed action with the potty yet...we just want her to know what it is and to be comfortable sitting on it. We let her watch us go to the bathroom and talk to her about what we are doing. In the next 3-6 months we'll start focusing more on the potty and what it actually does. Hopefully, by 2 she'll be potty trained!

Not much else is going on. It's status quo around these parts.

6/21/2008

Not Allergies

Our "allergies" turned out to be a bacterial infection in the eyes that had settled into the ears and was mere "moments" away from becoming a full on double ear infection. The yeast infection from a while back never went away. So. We left the doctors not with a simple note to give her some Claratin, but rather with another antibiotic prescription (not amoxicillian this time...another one...that tastes like oranges, incidentally...LOL), a yeast medication cream and prescription eye drops.

Have you ever tried to put eye drops into a fiesty, screaming 13 month old child? Let's just say, it doesn't make me laugh. It's no fun. She cries. Hard. And fights. I am the dropper and Kelly is the head holder. I'm not sure how a single parent would do it - although, like everything I'm sure there is a way. In any event, the worst part isn't fighting her (I'd fight too if I didn't understand why someone was putting something in my eye), it's how distressed she is. I mean, shit. It's a scary thing, I imagine. Poor baby.

Anyway. That was yesterday. Three rounds of eye drops later, two rounds of antibiotics and a great nights sleep, Bailey is a new girl. Her dark, purple-ringed eyes dripping with green sludge are clear again. Her bags are starting to disappear and she is not rubbing at her ears.

They want to do a test at her 15 month check up to make sure that her ears are going to be okay. We have a family history of needing tubes to cure chronic ear infections in my family and she may need them at some point. Right now, it's a watch game - see what happens.

For now, here's hoping her latest crop of illness goes away and stays away!!!

6/19/2008

A New Day

I am SOOOOO NOT bitchy today. In fact, I am a full 180 from where I was yesterday. Enough said.

Bailey has allergies. We need to take her in tomorrow and have her checked out. I'm talking full on allergies. Green gunk in the eyes, itchy eyes and ears, big puffy purple bags under her eyes. Benadryl last night cleared her right up, but made her super groggy. She got a great night sleep, but that is not practical for long-term management. We're thinking children's claritin...but need to check with the doctor first.

Oh, and I guess we have to rule out pink eye or a sinus infection as the cause...although I don't think Benadryl would have worked if it were either of those things.

In any event...that is what we'll be doing tomorrow!

6/18/2008

Bitchy

Lord, I am bitchy, cranky, crabby, pissy, annoyed...can you come up with any other adjectives, today.

Wow. I'm in such a bad mood I don't even like myself.

And my throat hurts. Any my head is throbbing and has been for 4 days straight. My doctor says it's just an adjustment to a new medication I'm taking, but fuck. Pardon my language...but if you are easily offended, you're probably not reading my blog anyway. So I'll say it again...louder, for effect.

FUCK.

I'm miserable. And I'm worried about Bailey. She's got lots of green gunk in her eyes. I called to check on her and they were outside, but I know she doesn't feel well. And things are so fucking insane here at work that I can't just take the day off and be with her. And Kelly is in meetings until late in the afternoon, so she can't either. If push came to shove, I could leave...but it would be a huge burden.

I hate everything today. Fuck today. It sucks.

Vacation Time?

I'd love to take a vacation. A real one. You know, one of those kinds where you pack your stuff and head out of reality for a week or so.

I'd like that.

We're working hard right now. Work for both of us is a bitch...but that story never changes. Bailey is going through a bunch of transition stuff and is super clingy and in need of lots of reassurance. This isn't a problem at all, but it is exhausting to be a child's jungle gym and to have to hold her while you do the little things like make dinner, do the dishes, serve dinner...well, just about everything. Last night a major meltdown occurred when I had to put her down for 30 seconds while I put the Mexican casserole in the oven. Even I'm not good enough to hold her, lift a heavy casserole into a 400 degree oven and still keep her safe.

Or maybe I am, but I'm sure as shit not going to try.

The transition to a new room at daycare has proven to be the only change in Bailey's life that has thrown her for a loop. Her new care providers are fine and the room is actually a better room for her to be in, with more stimulating toys, a better schedule, meals at tables with silverware and chairs, no binky, no bottles, sleeping on cots. All good things. But Bailey is struggling a bit. I think she feels out of her element and unsure of herself for the first time. When we leave her, she is usually just standing by herself watching the craziness of all the other children around her. When we pick her up in the afternoons, she is often playing outside...except that rather than playing, she is sitting on her teacher's lap, watching the others. For our outgoing, lead-the-pack kind of girl, this is an oddity.

No doubt, this is a big transition for her. Toddler 1 is a very big change from Infant 2. Every face is different and the two women who have been caring for her since she was 11 weeks old are no longer in her room. She doesn't see them.

I'm absolutely convinced that she is just plain nervous. She is old enough to understand the change and to assign a quality to it. Rather than just accept, she is trying to figure out if she is going to be okay.

The good thing, though, is that her teachers adore her. She is sleeping just fine - taking 2-3 hour naps on her cot with the other children. She is eating just fine. The major functions that would stop if she were truly distressed are just fine. All indications point to her simply adjusting to a change.

But, as this long, drawn-out post suggests, her Mommy and I are struggling with it a bit. We know that she is feeling less than sure of herself. It is hard to think that she may feel unsafe or scared at any point. It's even harder to know that we think those feelings are for the best. We have both had the extremely difficult reality of leaving her while she is sobbing for us.

This is a tiny vision into what the future will be like. We cannot protect her from everything, and like it or not, her response to things may not always be positive...even if those things are in her best interest. It's so hard to stand by, for the first time, and watch her navigate her world and realize that we cannot (and will not) prevent every bad thing that might happen from happening.

It has really driven the point home, for me anyway, that we are witnesses and Shepard's to a journey that is not ours to make or define.

6/16/2008

No More Bottles

Well, the bottles are officially gone from our home. Bailey is now drinking her formula from a sippy cut in the evening. This is the first step in the campaign to destroy bottle drinking and binky sucking in our house. Just to be clear, this is my campaign and really isn't all that supported by either Bailey or Kelly. The binky will stick around for a while. I am not going to push that issue to quickly. She only has it when she is falling asleep. She never has it during the day, so that is good.

This morning was truly a hard morning for me. Bailey has been all about me lately. I've mentioned that she goes through stages. This week, it's me. She wants to snuggle all the time and she can't seem to get close enough for me. She is obviously needed to be reassured and comforted, and I happily oblige. But I had to leave her at daycare this morning and she was SO not happy about it. She just sobbed. It broke my heart. I cried too. This is the first time that she has actually seemed distressed about my leaving her. It was awful.

This weekend was lovely and we were so happy to find out that our dear friends I&A are pregnant!!! They have been trying for a while and it's such wonderful news that they have succeeded! Brunch with them and M&S was fantastic. I love seeing them. And honestly, Danny is the sweetest, cutest little boy that I have ever met. Seriously.

Anyway. Back to work.

6/15/2008

Pride

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Pride? Not just the fact that I'm surrounded by thousands (35K of them) of my people, but the energy of Pride just excites me. And the boys. And the attitude. And the preening and the sexy androgynous women. I love holding my wife's hand and having it be among the norm. I like walking beside her and having other women check her out (they do) and knowing she's mine. I love the groups of people, the comfort of not being 10% of the crowd, but the ENTIRE crowd.

I love it all.

We didn't go this year. LOL - having a baby who goes to bed at 6:30 - 7:00 PM means that a 6 PM parade downtown in the pouring rain isn't going to happen.

But it was nice knowing that it did happen and that next year, we may make an appearance.

We're off to Pride today. Good fun and lots of gay people!

BTW - Bailey went to bed last night without a bottle or formula. We're starting the weening process. She did great - and didn't cry at all. She's such a super-star!

6/14/2008

Stunned

I can't believe that Tim Russert has died. I didn't know him. I actually didn't watch his show all that often (10:30 AM on Sunday mornings are all about Bailey, really). I didn't read his books.

But I always listened when I did catch him on the news. Whenever a major political event happened I didn't feel like I understood it until he explained it.

What a horrible loss.

Yesterday was weird. Both Kelly and I were effected by a 30-block power outage in downtown DC yesterday. Our buildings were shut down. We had no way home, so we rode the metro out as far as we could get and then her boss picked us up. Strange day.

This weekend is pride. We are meeting up with friends tomorrow for brunch in the city. I am very much looking forward to it!

In my "free" time, which isn't much, I'm busy looking for beach homes for our family vacation next year. That's lots of fun.

Time to wake Bailey up...

6/13/2008

Could Anything Be Cuter?

Than having your 13 1/2 month old child look at you and say "I Love You"? I'm not sure that it could be. My heart is officially stolen.

6/12/2008

I Think I Can...

...I think I can...I think I can...give a shit about work.

I wonder if I keep telling myself that if I actually will give a shit about it today?

6/11/2008

I Should Be Working

Really. I have a million and one things to do. It seems that there is a very fine line for me between busy good and busy bad. I do great under stress (normal stress, anyway) and there is a lot of that going on here at my job. But when it gets overwhelming (like it is now), I just shut down. I don't want to work. I want to play online. I want to search for beach houses for next year's family vacation. I want to look at homes on a lake in Vermont for Kelly and I to retire to. I want to plan Disney vacations. What I don't want to do is process data and create webpages and plan giving baskets for the homeless. I don't want to organize the charity run, I don't want to write letters to donors, I don't want to responded to the million questions and emails I get every day.

So, a five minute break to update you all (I wonder how many people are still reading?) and then off to do all the things I don't want to do.

This past weekend was lovely. It was horribly hot, so we didn't spend much time outside (which bums us all out, as it is Bailey's favorite place to be). We did, however, go to the indoor swimming pool for the first time. Bailey hated it. Then she loved it.

I got her in her swimsuit and held her tightly to me as I entered the water. The water was a madhouse, with kids jumping, splashing, yelling and generally having a great time. I was, of course, annoyed at those kids because they were scaring Bailey. But still. They were just being kids. We waded in pretty quickly, and Bailey clung and wimpered. I got her away from the crowd and we just stood along the side and watched the kids. Bailey loved that part. I never relaxed my grip on her, and I let her cling to me. Just as she was starting to relax, a kid jumped in right beside us and covered us with water. Bailey screamed. The poor kid looked liked he was going to cry. I glared at him. I couldn't help it. I mean, really?

Anyway, after about 15 more minutes and lots of soothing, comforting words wispered in her ear, Bailey began to relax. She started to look at the actual water and even let her legs relax from their vice-grip hold on my hips. By the end of our 45 minute stay in the water, she was holding my hands with the rest of her body floating and giggling while I slowly turned her in circles.

I think it was successful. We'll go back this week.

Then, yesterday, was another big day of change for our Bailey. She has been in the process of moving up to Toddler 1 at daycare. She is currently in Infant 2. Yesterday, they began the process in earnest and Bailey rose to the changes like a champion. For starters, they took her over to the new room at 11 AM, where she stayed for the rest of the day. At lunch time, she sat at the table (NOT in a high chair) and ate lunch with the other kids, using an adult-sized spoon. At 12 (which is naptime), they put her sheet on a cot and she layed down just like a big kid and went right to sleep. She woke up an hour and 45 minutes later and just hung out on her cot until it was time to get up. She did it like it was nothing!!!

When I arrived to pick her up, she was happily playing in the sand table with the other kids and very much enjoying herself.

We're excited about the transition. She's been ready for a while, but her Infant 2 teacher loves her so much that they have done the transition slowly. Perhaps to Bailey's detriment. She needs to get up there with the big kids. And now she is. The transition will be complete within 2 weeks.

Kelly weighed Bailey last night and the scale put her at 26.4 pounds. She's a freakin' big girl!!!

It's been more than five minutes. I've got to get going on my stuff here at work. *sigh*

6/05/2008

Adventures in the Bathroom

I bet you think that means that my family was sick, don't you? But NO. Nothing that simple.

Wednesday night, Kelly gets on the bus at 3 PM, to get Bailey. She sends me an email, asking when I can get home because there are tornado warnings and watches all over our area. Most of the DC-area was under them. I, of course, having a day from hell couldn't leave immediately. And it really wouldn't have been safe for me to be standing in line in the middle of one of the lines of storms coming through. So I stayed put until about 4:45.

My commute took two hours.

I finally got home, after Bailey had already been put to bed. We made some dinner and sat down to watch the news and get the latest on the storms. As we're watching, they begin to describe a storm that was currently in Virginia, but headed directly our way. This storm had produced a tornado already. We continued to listen with renewed interest as they talked about it moving across the Potomac. We begin to look at each other when they changed our "watch" to a warning. The talk on the news become a bit more frantic as they described the storm. They began saying things like "imminent threat" and "seek shelter immediately". They told drivers in our area to abandon their cars and seek shelter under bridge overpasses or in nearby homes. They told people who have basements to go to them immediately. They told the rest of us (we have no basement) to get to an inside room and bring blankets and to do it now.

Before I continue the story, let me just say that Kelly and I are not paranoid people. We've both been through some nasty weather. But the thing of it is, an F5 tornado ripped through LaPlata (a town 8 miles south of ours) a couple of years ago and killed a lot of people. It's not unheard of in our area. It's not even uncommon. And we didn't have a basement, we don't have any real way to protect ourselves. But we can try.

So we sprung into action. We turned the volume up on the TV so we could continue to listen. We gather the cats and locked them in our internal closet downstairs. Kelly grabbed her backpack and shoved some food (protien bars and bananas for us, non-parishable food for Bailey), water, our keys and our cell phones and blackberries. We brought some blankets, a radio and our camping lantern into our downstairs bathroom. I shut all the heavy wooden blinds in our house. And then we watched. We waited a few minutes.

We laughed nervously, wondering if we were over-reacting. And then we decided we didn't care because the weather started to get more serious. Charles County officials confirmed a tornado down in LaPlata (remember, only 8 miles from us) and moving fast. Waldorf was in the direct line of the same storm system and they began to urge people to take the threat seriously and to take precautions.

We called Jodie in West Virginia. Our thought was that if a tornado did come through and something did happen, none of our family lives around here. Someone needed to know. We agreed to call her in a half hour to let her know we were okay. Poor girl. What a scary call.

That was enough for us. We got Bailey (quickly I might add) and closed ourselves into the bathroom. We spent 45 minutes in our bathroom. The storm came through and from our vantage point (huddled together on the floor of an internal room), it didn't sound too bad. The radio reports continued to urge people to take precautions. We stayed put until the storm cleared our area.

In hindsight, perhaps it was a little extreme. But honestly, we're not going to be those stupid people who don't take it seriously and then end up in the direct path of the storm with their child missing. I'd rather be overly cautious and look like an idiot than be a dumb ass and look dead.

So that was yesterday's festivities. Bailey and Kelly are home today because the daycare lost power and it was out all night. They have to shut down for health reasons (the food is spoiled and they have to be able to feed the kids).

Fun times.

Oh, and the icing on the cake? Bailey decided to poop about 10 minutes into our 45 minute bathroom experience. I can only imagine that the toilet inspired her. That smelled nice.

6/04/2008

Reminded

This morning, while I was waiting for Bailey to get up, I decided to ease my frustrations with the Democratic party by aimlessly looking at pictures on Facebook.

I have this good friend of mine from college, John, who has traveled extensively. He is one of those really cool people who travels without a plan, without an agenda and immerses himself in the life and local culture of the place that he is in. He has done some amazing things. The stories, memories and pictures he carries are fantastic and just talking to him, you know that he has lived in ways that most of us never will. He is truly an amazing person to have in my life and my deepest hope is that Bailey will get to know him. In some ways he reminds me of my brother, Rodney. Like Rodney, John has friends everywhere. He knows people all over the world. He's laid back, fun-loving and smart. He can hold his own in any discussion and he knows when to shut up and drink and dance the night away.

So, I was scrolling through his pictures. Some from the British Virgin Islands, some from Brazil. And each picture was more amazing than the next. There were shots of him and his beautiful boyfriend on a stunning boat, sailing in amazing surroundings. Shots of them sliding down sand dunes into crystal blue water. Shots of stunning little towns in place I could never pronounce. Shots of him getting ready to hike, of beautiful cliffs, sleepy towns and local people. Honestly, he captures with his camera the flair and energy of his travels.

And I was so jealous. I spent a half hour dreaming about what my life could have been like if I were a different person and had made different choices. I was never a free spirit. I craved stability my entire life. One of the least important reasons that I fell in love with Kelly was her stability. But in those moments, I actually think I felt a pang of what might have been regret. Not real regret. But that tiny piece of my heart that carries my brother around, suddenly became a huge piece of my heart and I got that itch to travel and see things and places that I've never seen.

It made me sad. I looked around my stable bedroom, at my (what felt like in that moment) tedious life and imagined for just a minute who I could have been if I hadn't fallen in love with Kelly, gotten married, taken a 9-5 job, bought a house and had a baby.

Then I looked at the clock and felt frustration as I realized that it was 7:10 and Bailey was still asleep and I needed to get moving so that I could get her changed, dressed, fed, out the door to daycare and still catch my bus at 8:04. I closed my eyes for a minute and felt the wind on my face of some unseen country and then opened my eyes and got back to the business of everything that needed to get done.

I walked into Bailey's room, mentally timing out the next half hour, to make sure I could get it all done. Opening the door woke Bailey up, and she sat up, all sleepy eyed. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed her sleep rag, holding her arms out for me to pick her up. I did, reaching down and pulling her baby soft, sleepy warmness to my chest. We sat on the edge of the chair and she laid her head on my chest and snuggled deep into my arms. We sighed with each other, Momma and daughter. We sat like that, with my nose buried into her soft hair, my hand gently rubbing her back, her body pressed as close to me as she could be, her head on my breast, for about 5 minutes.

In those five minutes, I remembered, I felt with all my soul, every reason why I have made the decisions that I've made. My love for that child and for the life that Kelly and I have created, is so much more important than any traveling I may have done. In the end, those wonderful life experiences that I could have had, would have ended up as faded memories and photographs. But holding our daughter in my arms, I realized that she would never fade. She, and my wife, are my reasons for life itself.

Not Happy

I am so not happy with the Democratic Party right now. I know that there are many Obama supporters who read this blog, and please know that I mean no disrespect. But I don't like the man and I don't believe his rhetoric about change.

I am one of those angry Clinton-supporters. And I'm very angry. My gut says this is wrong, but I also can see that I am having an emotional response to a political situation. I am not on the trail with Clinton or Obama and maybe I'm wrong.

I don't see how he can win. I don't believe that he can. I think we're going to get another four years of a Republican president and I think McCain is awful.

Obama has a lot to do to win my support. I hope he doesn't offer Hillary the VP slot. And if he offers, I hope she doesn't take it. I would hate to see her take number two to a man that I don't believe in.

I see two options. To vote a Democratic ticket to support my party or to not vote. Since I openly mock people who don't vote, it's probably a safe bet that I will vote against what my heart says is right.

For now, I'm checking out of politics. I don't believe in the system anymore and I don't believe that the right person has the nomination. To say that I feel left behind by my party is an understatement. If I could convince myself that McCain wouldn't screw the country, I'd vote Republican. But that will never happen. I am a Democrat, and I believe the party deserves my loyalty, even when I completely disagree with the direction.

Onward to November.

6/03/2008

Our Promise To You

Bailey,

We promise to love you, unconditionally, for the rest of the time we are together on this planet.

We promise to set limits and expect you to follow them, and to understand when you are just too tired, hungry or cranky to NOT push those limits.

We promise to expect you to take school seriously, and to dedicate ourselves in whatever ways you need to help you succeed.

We promise not to set standards of success by grade scores, standardized tests or salary, but rather help you find and develop the standards that will make you feel sucessful.

We promise to show you ways that you can be give back to the world, and we promise to be right by your side, giving our share with you.

We promise to teach you about fiscal responsibility early, by making you earn your allowance and by allowing you to spend and save what you earn on the things that are important to you.

We promise to accept the love (or loves) of your life without judgement.

We promise to remain whole individuals, with a life outside of yours, so that you can see two strong women living fully in their worlds.

We promise to love each other, and to express that love in many ways, so that you can learn what real, honest love looks like.

We promise to help you find peace when you need, offer comfort when you can find it, and move through pain and grief when it comes. Because it will.

We promise to not shield you from real life, but rather help you see the world around you with clarity and understanding.

We promise not to expect too much.

We promise to apologize and be honest when we are wrong. And we will be.

We promise to let you take the lead when it is appropriate, even if we are uncomfortable with the choices you make.

We promise to teach you how to drive as soon as you get your permit.

We promise that we will clearly explain our expectations of your behavior and when you do not live up to those expectations, we promise that the punishment will fit the crime.

We promise that we will not be your friend. We will be your parents.

We promise that when you are an adult, if you want two more friends, you'll have them.

We promise that you will always have a place to call home as long as we are alive.

We promise to plan, save and invest so that you will not have to care for us financially when we are old.

More than anything, Bailey, we promise that you are safe with us. That we will never hurt you and that we will provide a place for you to run to when you need it. We love you.

6/02/2008

A Day In The Park

We had an absolutely lovely weekend! I mean, honestly, the best weekend we've had since before Bailey was concieved.

It all started on Friday night. Bailey went to bed as usual, but didn't get up in the morning until 9:00 AM. And she didn't wake up on her own. At 9:00 AM Kelly was chomping at the bit and had to go wake her up. She was still sleeping peacefully. We did all of our shopping and she was a perfect angel. She hung out in the cart without too much drama and then, after having been so good, was allowed to walk (holding my hand of course) through PetSmart. She did without having one fit and without trying to make a break and escape. Once we got home, she ate like a champion (think, a full cup of squash, soy hot dogs, no-sugar applesauce and enough watermelon to drown her) and then went down for her nap. Where she slept for 3 hours. She was up again, happy as could be. Had a great dinner and then we played outside for a long time. She went back to bed, super-happy and sleepy.

She slept until 10:00 AM on Sunday morning. And again, she slept that late on her own. When we finally woke her up, she was still sleeping. We woke her up and again, she was just a ball of sunshine. Honestly. The most perfect little angel. She ate a hearty breakfast and then we were off for a day at Watkins Regional Park. I was needing to get out and enjoy the hot weather. We have been searching for a playground close to home and some space for us to enjoy. Well, this place delivered!!! It was absolutely fantastic!!! The playground was huge with an infant section that was fantastic. There was huge open fields, tennis courts, walking and hiking trails. A wonderful nature center designed for children with birds, walk-in cabins and all kinds of really cool interactive stuff. There is a train that takes you on a 10-minute ride through the park. An old fashion merry-go-round. And a working farm. It was absolutely awesome. Best of all, everything is free. The only cost is $1 for the train ride per person and $1 for the merry-go-round. We had an absolutely fantastic time. Bailey loved it all.

The only issue arose when it was time to eat lunch. We grabbed our cooler, threw down our blanket, got out our sandwiches and were promptly swarmed by flies. It was absolutely gross!!! But, all in all, it was a great day.

Bailey fell sound asleep on the way home and stayed that way for another three hours. We had a great night again last night and then she slept like a champion.

Talk about an easy weekend. I realize now how much I need to cherish the down times like this. They are rare, but when the come, they are fantastic. As for me and Kelly...well, let's just say we enjoyed the time alone.