Update

My mom made it safely to Oklahoma. Hopefully, my dad is surviving at home. Luke is apparently number 1 son in charge :) Mom called today to let me know that Grandpa had a good past 24 hours. He is now able to eat, is off the morphine for headaches, and is going to be starting physical therapy on Monday. What a great report!

I went to the eye doctor today - super exciting, I know. I always get a little nervous. Most people get nervous when they go to the dentist, but I have good teeth - one tiny cavity. My eyes, on the other hand, are a whole different story. They are bad. I got glasses in 2nd grade and wear contacts all the time now. Without them (or glasses), I cannot see much. So, I fear that my eyes will continue to get worse, my retina will show increased thinning (and then tear!), or any other mishap. Today, I received a good report. My right eye had less astigmatism; my left was the same except the axis had changed (whatever that really means....) So, I will continue another year thankful for my sight. Madison played with Andrea who volunteered to watch her for a few hours; thank you, Andrea. Oh yeah, I asked when infants are supposed to have their first check-up and my doctor said before their first birthday is ideal. The place I go gives complimentary first year check-ups. So, Madison is scheduled for her first eye appointment on Monday. It will be interesting to see what they do :)

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.

Praise and Prayer

My grandpa (my mom's dad) had a fall about two weeks ago and hit his head. He ended up having bleeding in/on the brain. He was in the hospital for a week; the doctors were hoping the blood would reabsorb and Grandpa could return home. It did not reabsorb, so they had to schedule him for surgery. Yesterday morning, Grandpa had brain surgery to remove this excess blood. I think they also left a drain tube in there for additional bleeding, but I could be fuzzy on that detail. He made it through surgery and is now recovering in the ICU. My mom is traveling out to spend some time with him. The praise is although weak, he made it through the surgery. The prayer is for healing and strength. Also, pray for my mom's travels and her time in Oklahoma making future decisions for Grandpa with her siblings. Thanks, Everyone.

Trunk or Treat

Just a really quick post.  Last night we went to Trunk or Treat at our church.  It is a evening they do annually where they have inflatables, a cheap food ticket, games, and the highlight of the night… people open up their decorated trunks to pass out candy (like going house to house, but in a parking lot).  It is the first time we went and it was crazy, as in tons of people.  It is open to anyone in the community, so it is a neat outreach event.  We got another use out of the cow costume.  Here is a picture of Madison and her chicken friend from church with the daddies :)

Tights

I finally braved the tights.  I choose the ones with the shoes “built in” since we own no shoes yet.  This is a total hand-me-down outfit from her cousins, and I think it is super cute – all she needs is a bow in her hair :)

                               

                 

Catch Up

It has been a week since I last posted.  I am not sure what exactly has happened – just an exhausting week, I guess.  I had an IEP meeting on Thursday, followed by volleyball that night.  It is fun going to volleyball.  I remember when I started playing again in April, 4 months after Madison was born.  I would leave Jeremy with her and she would cry non-stop the whole time.  I would come home nervous about how it went and he would be frustrated that it didn’t go smoothly.  Tense times.  Now, I leave her; she gets some extra daddy time, and all is well.  I come home to Jeremy saying, “She is such a good baby!”  He is right, but he has also learned some things over the past months as well.  She is just a lot of fun.  She smiles and plays more independently.  She dances and sings (off key and with no similarity to the actual music, but she makes noise when she knows someone is singing!)  She gets excited when I turn the CD player on.  She LOVES being around people. We went to El Vaquero last night, and she couldn’t get enough people-watching.  She is a good eater too – lasagna, lentils, rice, hamburger, all kinds of fruits and most veggies, pancakes, scrambled eggs… you put it in front of her she’ll eat it.  (Although she may give you a disgusted face with weird textures or foods – cottage cheese and yogurt have produced some good ones!)  Today, Madison went with me to a baby shower of a friend who is due a day before Madison’s birthday.  Madison was well behaved and even tried to steal the show once by crawling to the middle of the circle, laying on her side, and waving a perfect beauty pageant wave.  I had my camera, but missed that shot.  Here are a few casual pics of Madison and the mom-to-be.

                                    

                                                 

Otherwise, I have two meetings coming up next week and am a little stressed since I haven’t really started work on them yet.  Maybe I’ll find some time tomorrow to start on them.  I have a five day week coming up , but the next week is a three day student week and four day teacher week (in-service).  That will be a good break.  Have a great Sunday everyone, and I’ll try to post more frequently this week, but I’m not promising anything :)

Weekend

This weekend was wonderful.  I had Friday off and that makes any weekend marvelous!  My brother and his family came to visit overnight on Thursday.  Madison LOVED her cousin Cale.  She couldn’t take her eyes off him.  I wish I would’ve gotten better/more pictures.  On Friday, we went to the zoo.  It was a beautiful day for it. 

 

 

 

Saturday not a lot happened.  We basically just hung out.  Madison played with pots and pans as  I got dinner together.  She found the cabinet herself :) 

 

 

 

Sunday was church in the morning and some park time in the afternoon after her nap.  Jeremy’s cousin had come up from Florida to run the Columbus half-marathon; so, she also stopped by this afternoon.  It was good to see her again.

9 month check-up

Yesterday, Madison went for her 9 month check-up. I cannot believe that it has been 9 months since she was born. Time has definitely moved quickly (after the first 9 weeks!!) So, here are her stats:

Starting Weight: 6 lbs, 12 oz Starting Length: 18 in
Weight at one month: 8 lbs, 0 oz Length at one month: 20 in
Weight at two months: 9 lbs, 9 oz Length at two months: 22 in
Weight at four months: 12 lbs, 2-1/2 oz Length at four months: 24 in
Weight at six months: 15 lbs, 13-1/2 oz Length at six months: 25-1/2 in
Weight at nine months: 18 lbs, 7 oz Length at nine months: 27-1/2 in

Starting Head size: 13-1/2 in
Head size at one month: 15 in
Head size at two months: 15-1/2 in
Head size at four months: 16 in
Head size at six months: 16-3/4 in
Head size at nine months: 17-3/4 in

6 months old… just learning to sit 9 months old… great sitter and crawler!

Weekend

This was a big/busy weekend for us.  We went north on Saturday.  We stopped at the fruit farm Jeremy worked at as a kid to pick up some apple cider and capture a few pictures.   

                                    

          

                                

Then, we went to see his aunt, uncle, and cousins that we hadn’t seen for awhile.  They have a dog at their house, which was a new experience for Madison.  She was jumpy and leery at first; after about an hour, she decided she might be brave enough to at least sit more relaxed on the floor where the dog also was.  From there we to my parents’ house for nap time.  After nap, we went to my brother’s place for his annual fall party.  It had been some time since I had seen all my siblings and their kids, so this is one reason we headed home.  We put Madison in her Halloween costume for her big entrance; we figured we might as well get some mileage out of it!

Megan (Madison’s cousin) stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Saturday, too.  So, Sunday morning they played a bit together.  Megan is 5 months older than Madison – definitely more mobile, but more petite.  It is fun to see where Madison will soon be – and a little bit exhausting to watch how fast they get when they can walk!

   

We headed back for church on Sunday morning.  It was baby dedication Sunday.  And, although Madison was already dedicated at Salem, we thought it was important for her to be dedicated in the local home church as well because dedication is both a commitment from the parents and the congregation to raise the child in Christ’s love.  Jeremy’s parents were able to come and captured a few pictures. 

The work week starts back up again tomorrow.  We hope everyone has a great Monday.

The Park and More Fun

I took Madison on a walk the last two days because the weather has been absolutely beautiful.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t love sitting strapped down for too long, so 30 minutes is about as long as she’ll go.  I usually try to take her out and give her a little break at the park – to swing, slide (with me), etc.  Today, I let her crawl around.  She was instantly on target for the green plastic slide – I didn’t figure head first would be the best way to go, but I did manage to snap a quick picture before she made it to her destination. 

                                      

Madison is working on some other big girl things, such as :     

standing by the dishwasher

eating real food

showing “how big” she is and clapping

No other big news.  Jeremy has applied for a number of open positions in his field.  We’ll see where God takes us. 

Pictures

On a mission to get to mommy                and               posing for a picture

This is one of the cutest things she does, “the lookback”; the picture doesn’t do it justice :)

                       

When you never want to let go…

School Story

I know I just posted, but I just thought of a little story from school on Friday. In my science class, the lead teacher usually does a question of the day to get to know the kids. Well, Friday, she shared she had lost her grandma. So, her question was "On a scale of 1 to 10 how to rate your relationship with your grandparent (of your choice)?" The kids were open and a little emotional; it was neat to see them so real. After the transition to lab activities, one of my kids came up to me and said, "Mrs. Yoh, I really want to give you a hug right now. Because I am just feeling so sad." Then, he walked away and went about the lab. He didn't try to hug me because I tell my students that I don't usually hug at school because sometimes people say things and teachers get in trouble - plus it is a little uncomfortable hugging kids in the midst of all their puberty hormones. But at this moment in time, I felt like maybe he needed a hug and I shouldn't make my policy so black and white. I felt appreciated. And for all you grandparents out there, high schoolers openly admitted to loving their grandparents... way to go!

Over a week

It has been a long time, and yet, I hardly know what happened.

• My parents came Monday night to spend their Tuesday with Madison - who was completely spoiled by all the attention!
• On Wednesday, we went to get professional pictures of our little 9 month old at Target. Despite working on her second top tooth and fighting a cold, we got a few good pictures. We got a few pretty funny ones too. We only bought a family picture and a sheet of wallets of another. That's really all we need. She is usually well photographed - although we have been slacking off lately, which is why there are no pics on this blog ... again!
• Thursday night I had parent teacher conferences, so Jeremy did it all after school. His job would have been easier had I remembered to leave the car seat at the sitters, but I didn't. Soooo, he had to backtrack a bit to the high school before heading to the sitters. I was frustrated with myself, but it happens.
• Saturday, we took Madison to her first party. A little girl from our small group, Lilah, turned one and had a party. We forgot our camera, so I'll have to get someone to email me pics so I can post some. The kids at the party were all pretty cute. Madison played with the balloons with with the birthday girl. And took a little boy's sports rattle from him ... he's younger by a few months, so he couldn't do anything about it. Hopefully, this is not an indication of anything to come :) We went to Saturday services at our church last night. It was a smaller crowd, which could be a nice way to connect with a few more people if we keep going.
• Now, it is Sunday morning, and Madison is sleeping; I am catching up online; and Jeremy is reading.