A friend shared this story with me, and it touched me.
~Kristina
--------------------------------
GOD WORKS IN THE ORDINARY
He [God] Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
A devout Christian heard an urgent news report on his radio that a flash flood was within minutes of entering the peaceful valley where he lived. Immediately he went to his knees and prayed for safety. The words were still on his lips when he became aware that water was gushing under his door. He retreated to the second floor and finally onto the roof of his house.
While he sat on the roof, a helicopter flew by and the pilot asked over the loudspeaker if they could lift him off.
“It’s not necessary since I have the Lord’s protection,” he replied.
Moments later the house began to break up and he found himself clinging to a tree. A police boat, braving the waters, approached him for rescue, but he assured them that the Lord would save him. Finally, the tree gave way and the man went to his death.
Standing before the Lord, he asked, “Lord, I’m glad to be here, but why didn’t You answer my prayer for safety?”
The Lord responded, “Son, I told you over the radio to get out of there Then I sent you a helicopter and a motor boat!”
Nowhere in the Bible are we given the idea that God works only in the extraordinary. Much of the time He supernaturally works through His created order. Many people think God is present only when there is a miracle and that He leads only through signs and wonders.
There are people who always look for a sign. They walk by sight, not by faith. To them, God is only present in the miraculous. God was “really” at the church service if something unusual happened. Many desire and look for “visitations” from God.
But how does that square with God’s omnipresence and the fact that He will never leave us or forsake us?
Isn’t God at every church service? Since God created the fixed order of the universe, would you expect Him to work primarily within that fixed order or outside of it? If God gave us a watch, would we be honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?
Lord, forgive me for looking for signs when I only need to trust Your Word and live by Your promises.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas Ramblings
The wind howls outside, wildly blowing the snow back to the north, whence it came. It plays to my mood this Christmas Day. Over the last few years, the Lord has seen fit to lead Kristina and I ever more deeply into a hand-to-mouth existence. It's a lifestyle I thought I left behind when I moved back to the Ozarks from Oregon. This poverty of circumstance — as it did when I lived in Portland — accompanies a season of personal, spiritual and emotional growth.
Yet as hard as times are, I know the Savior was born into far bleaker circumstances than those in which Kristina and I now find ourselves. He was brought screaming, naked and cold into an awkward social standing and a political maelstrom that literally threatened His life. In context, the story reminds me that my Father's promises don't include comfort, wealth, or the kind of stability I sometimes crave. It's a reminder I often need, if one is to judge by the frequency with which I hear it. "I'll say it again — it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
So He has laid waste to my life again, because that's what it takes to get my attention. I'm disgusted by the conspicuously-displayed wealth of my brethren, yet am chastened for my ugly jealousy. I'm broken by my inability to provide gifts for my beloved wife and beautiful daughter, yet the generosity our families continue to shower on us brings me to tears. Just when Kristina and I think we can't take any more, Christmas comes along to tell us that not only did the Son survive far worse, but that He has provided the escape route from our spiritual poverty. Christmas, then, turns my eyes all the more urgently to Easter. The two are inseparable. They must be so, for without one, the other is meaningless.
That may not seem terribly joyous or hopeful, but indeed, "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."
Come, Lord Jesus. May Your children all be so fortunate as we have been this Christmas season.
Yet as hard as times are, I know the Savior was born into far bleaker circumstances than those in which Kristina and I now find ourselves. He was brought screaming, naked and cold into an awkward social standing and a political maelstrom that literally threatened His life. In context, the story reminds me that my Father's promises don't include comfort, wealth, or the kind of stability I sometimes crave. It's a reminder I often need, if one is to judge by the frequency with which I hear it. "I'll say it again — it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
So He has laid waste to my life again, because that's what it takes to get my attention. I'm disgusted by the conspicuously-displayed wealth of my brethren, yet am chastened for my ugly jealousy. I'm broken by my inability to provide gifts for my beloved wife and beautiful daughter, yet the generosity our families continue to shower on us brings me to tears. Just when Kristina and I think we can't take any more, Christmas comes along to tell us that not only did the Son survive far worse, but that He has provided the escape route from our spiritual poverty. Christmas, then, turns my eyes all the more urgently to Easter. The two are inseparable. They must be so, for without one, the other is meaningless.
That may not seem terribly joyous or hopeful, but indeed, "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."
Come, Lord Jesus. May Your children all be so fortunate as we have been this Christmas season.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Aylin 9 months
Aylin is now 9 months!
Over the last 2 months, Aylin struggled with an ear infection for 5 consecutive weeks. That was a struggle for the whole family. In the 5th week we learned that Aylin was allergic to penicillin. She woke up one morning with a rash, that throughout the day, turned into a full on case of hives. Thankfully the hives didn't seem to bother her. After that though the ear infection seemed to clear up, and – knock on wood – we haven't seen any more evidence of it.
She also has stared full on crawling. The kid is all over the place! Once she started crawling, we couldn't stop there, it was even more exciting to pull up on things! So she is into EVERYTHING. But having a blast. Nothing in our house is safe any more! Not even (or maybe especially) the critters!
She's also started to eat some table foods. Around Halloween she got to have her first real sweet potatoes, stuffing, and a roll. Then for Thanksgiving she got to have mashed potatoes, green beans, and a roll. She also got to have her very own pancake (sans the butter and syrup!) last weekend when I made pancakes for breakfast. She LOVES table food. Partly because she loves anything she can do for herself, and partly because it's something new and exciting.
She is now also exclusively on formula. With the lovely ear infections she wasn't taking much milk because of the pressure that sucking puts on the ear drums. So my supply continued to decline. Once she was recuperated from the ear infections and eating better, my supply did not return.
It is so amazing to watch her learn and grow. She is such a joy! She was a Tiger for Halloween, and I took her up to the office to show her off. She loved seeing all of the people at the office. Then we spent some time at Nana's and got to see Uncle Brad & Aunt Kris. It was good to see Bradley while he was home for a bit. We recently enjoyed going to see the lighting of the Bentonville Square for Christmas. We've been getting to spend lots more time with Nana (Adrienne), Aunt Laura, Aunt Melinda, and Granny (Virginia). They take care of Aylin when Jeff has work. She's been having a blast there, and loves to show off for the ladies. We also got to go to the cabin out on the farm and hang out with the Harrison gang for most of the day yesterday. She decided she didn't like the sound of the 4-wheelers, but generally everything else was good. She loved her Papa Joe's toasted bread from the grill.
My new job has been keeping me very busy. I've been in classes pretty much for the last 8 weeks since I first started. I am finally done with classes, and now get to try my hand at actually doing my job! The more I get into the job, the more I enjoy it. But there are still many days that I feel I am in way over my head. I am hoping that will pass as I get more confidence with what I'm doing on a day to day basis. It does frustrate me though when I have to stay late because it takes me longer to finish things than I would like. Then those frustrations turn into distractions because all I can think about is my family at home and how i'm missing out. Those are things I will have to learn to work with, and figure out how better to handle both sides of.
I am praying that one day soon my life won't feel like such a whirl wind, and that maybe I'll be able to feel like I can stop and more fully enjoy what's happening. Because these days I feel like I am jumping from one thing to the next without being able to stop and take a breath in between.
Over the last 2 months, Aylin struggled with an ear infection for 5 consecutive weeks. That was a struggle for the whole family. In the 5th week we learned that Aylin was allergic to penicillin. She woke up one morning with a rash, that throughout the day, turned into a full on case of hives. Thankfully the hives didn't seem to bother her. After that though the ear infection seemed to clear up, and – knock on wood – we haven't seen any more evidence of it.
She also has stared full on crawling. The kid is all over the place! Once she started crawling, we couldn't stop there, it was even more exciting to pull up on things! So she is into EVERYTHING. But having a blast. Nothing in our house is safe any more! Not even (or maybe especially) the critters!
She's also started to eat some table foods. Around Halloween she got to have her first real sweet potatoes, stuffing, and a roll. Then for Thanksgiving she got to have mashed potatoes, green beans, and a roll. She also got to have her very own pancake (sans the butter and syrup!) last weekend when I made pancakes for breakfast. She LOVES table food. Partly because she loves anything she can do for herself, and partly because it's something new and exciting.
She is now also exclusively on formula. With the lovely ear infections she wasn't taking much milk because of the pressure that sucking puts on the ear drums. So my supply continued to decline. Once she was recuperated from the ear infections and eating better, my supply did not return.
It is so amazing to watch her learn and grow. She is such a joy! She was a Tiger for Halloween, and I took her up to the office to show her off. She loved seeing all of the people at the office. Then we spent some time at Nana's and got to see Uncle Brad & Aunt Kris. It was good to see Bradley while he was home for a bit. We recently enjoyed going to see the lighting of the Bentonville Square for Christmas. We've been getting to spend lots more time with Nana (Adrienne), Aunt Laura, Aunt Melinda, and Granny (Virginia). They take care of Aylin when Jeff has work. She's been having a blast there, and loves to show off for the ladies. We also got to go to the cabin out on the farm and hang out with the Harrison gang for most of the day yesterday. She decided she didn't like the sound of the 4-wheelers, but generally everything else was good. She loved her Papa Joe's toasted bread from the grill.
My new job has been keeping me very busy. I've been in classes pretty much for the last 8 weeks since I first started. I am finally done with classes, and now get to try my hand at actually doing my job! The more I get into the job, the more I enjoy it. But there are still many days that I feel I am in way over my head. I am hoping that will pass as I get more confidence with what I'm doing on a day to day basis. It does frustrate me though when I have to stay late because it takes me longer to finish things than I would like. Then those frustrations turn into distractions because all I can think about is my family at home and how i'm missing out. Those are things I will have to learn to work with, and figure out how better to handle both sides of.
I am praying that one day soon my life won't feel like such a whirl wind, and that maybe I'll be able to feel like I can stop and more fully enjoy what's happening. Because these days I feel like I am jumping from one thing to the next without being able to stop and take a breath in between.
Friday, November 27, 2009
We didn't have to, but we did anyway.
The internet monk had a blog post this week, dealing with "cohabitation". That subject is one that's very sensitive to Kristina and me, so I thought I'd drop a little blog post on it.
The church response to our relationship status was the straw that broke the camel's back with me and Kristina going to church. We were attending a church in Fayetteville, to remain unnamed because I still have a few friends involved there. The small group of which we were a part was looking for a new host. We offered up our place, but the leaders chose to disband the group rather than meet in our home. The reason? We were living together unmarried.
We were imperfect followers of Christ then, as we are now. We got married. A few years later, we had a kid. We're happy together now, as we were then. In March, we will have been married five years. We've had some rough times, but the grace and peace of Christ continues to reign, lead, and provide for us. Kristina and I knew that the situation we were in wasn't ideal. We were seeking to know Jesus better, and to know each other better, and recognizing our weaknesses and the realities of our respective pasts, we did so as best we could.
The philosophical and moral arguments about cohabitation aren't really relevant here.
The point here is that the Gospel rejects no one. No one. A Gospel-embracer trusts Jesus to effect the work of redemption. Until we as a body of believers embrace that, we will continue to be a proud and stiff-necked generation.
Click through to see the internet monk's original post here.
The church response to our relationship status was the straw that broke the camel's back with me and Kristina going to church. We were attending a church in Fayetteville, to remain unnamed because I still have a few friends involved there. The small group of which we were a part was looking for a new host. We offered up our place, but the leaders chose to disband the group rather than meet in our home. The reason? We were living together unmarried.
We were imperfect followers of Christ then, as we are now. We got married. A few years later, we had a kid. We're happy together now, as we were then. In March, we will have been married five years. We've had some rough times, but the grace and peace of Christ continues to reign, lead, and provide for us. Kristina and I knew that the situation we were in wasn't ideal. We were seeking to know Jesus better, and to know each other better, and recognizing our weaknesses and the realities of our respective pasts, we did so as best we could.
The philosophical and moral arguments about cohabitation aren't really relevant here.
The point here is that the Gospel rejects no one. No one. A Gospel-embracer trusts Jesus to effect the work of redemption. Until we as a body of believers embrace that, we will continue to be a proud and stiff-necked generation.
Click through to see the internet monk's original post here.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Aylin 7 months, and Reflections
The last 2 weeks have brought with them a lot of changes to our lives. About 3 weeks ago I interviewed for a Replenishment Analyst position at Walmart. A week ago this past Thursday I was made an offer and promptly accepted. This is a big step for me, but brings with it lots of changes for our family. I will now be management, and not hourly. So I will be required to work longer hours. As well as 1 Saturday morning a month. This also means more income for our family. In addition it means that I see my daughter less.
In amongst the big job change, we also are transitioning Aylin to staying home with daddy. The daycare has been gracious enough to let us stretch out our already paid for month, into next month and move her to part time on Tues/Thurs thru 10/15. This means Jeff has Aylin at home Mon/Wed/Fri. This was our first week, and things went fantastic. This also means that I don't get to see my daughter as much because I don't get to spend my lunch break with her. But she seems to be doing so much better at home with daddy, than in daycare. She takes better naps, I think she may even be eating better (it's hard to tell), and most importantly; she gets to spend good quality time with daddy. With this change, Grandma Adrienne/Aunt Melinda/Granny (Virginia) have volunteered to watch Aylin when work comes up for him that is either not on a Tues/Thurs, or once we are no longer part time at daycare. (THANKS GUYS!!!) This will be a huge help, and we are very thankful for their willingness.
We have, as most people in the present economy, found ourselves financially unstable. So far we have managed things well, but we never seem to know where that next chunk of money is going to come from that will keep us from disaster. But He has been faithful! Either work for Jeff has come available right in time, or like this past week: I received a check from Walmart from their associate in critical need fund. I had never thought that I would have been a candidate for the fund, I assumed this was for people worse off than myself. However I was highly encouraged to apply. The fund is designed to help an associate cover mortgage, or utilities in circumstances exactly like ours (any many others too). All I had to do was fill out a form, provide copies of the bills, and 4 days later I had a check. Praise God! It was just in time for the mortgage, and also allowed us to fill our propane tank for the winter!
I have also had the unfortunate experience of seeing the ugly side of people once again. Which always seems to be so hard on me, becaues I tend to always try to find the good in people. But I saw the ugliest side of my boss yesterday. I had been told by my boss that if I finished a very important (import) project by the end of this past week then they would release me to my new job starting Monday. So all week long I worked my tail off, recruited help outside of my department, and managed to get the task complete by 3pm Thursday. I sent my celebratory and FYI this project is complete email. In addition to calling my boss since she was not at the office. She told me first thing Friday morning she would talk to my new boss and see about getting me switched over. I was also supposed to go and meet my new team at 9am Friday. So in the time that I was using the Mother's room immediately before the meeting, and then the 1 hr team meeting that I attended my current boss (who sits next to me) sent me an email that told me my new start date would be 10/10... no explination just 1 sentense. So I gave her the benefit of a doubt and thought OK maybe she means thats when I won't be tansitioning any more and I won't be asked to help train their new person after that date. I waited for a bit to see if I could discuss with her in person. But she was no where to be found. So I emailed her and asked if that meant transition, or what? Then I left to use the restroom. In that time (2 minutes?) she came back responded to my email, no your start date is 10/10, and was gone again... so then I was mad. I had been promised one thing, and now it was not happening, and I felt like I was being used. So I wait impatiently for her to get back to her desk so we could discuss. She finally returns and is promptly on her phone... see a pattern yet? I'm being avoided. So once she is finally off her phone I ask her; "So what's the story here?", she responds: "What do you mean?". I explained that she had told me if I completed the project that she would release me to work with my new team. She looks at me blank and said: "I never made that commitment, I'm sorry if you got that impression, but that's not what I said"... WOW I was blown away! I told her that actually that was what she said, and that I worked my ass off to get the project done because of it. Then I was told "Well that's what is expected of you any how", to which I responded "I realize that, but I would never have recruited the help outside of my department to complete it, if I hadn't been told to get it done in that time frame. Because it would not have been necesary if I was going to be around for another 2 weeks I could have completed it on my own. To this she responded "I really don't appreciate this attidute after all that I've done for you"... Again WOW I felt like she had just thrown it in my face that she had assisted me in the right contacts to help me apply for the position I am going to, but I also felt that she was throwing in my face her help in the check that I received for assistance. It was just rotten all the way around! I was also told that she had to look out for the interest of her team, and that she needed me to be around to train the new person... the new person whom she wasn't even sure if she would be starting Monday or not. I explained to her that there wasn't much in the way of training that I could do in 2 weeks for someone (who may or may not be around) who did not have access to our systems, and was not familiar with them already. But that doesn't matter, because I'm pretty sure she hadn't even thought of it before I brought it up. Somewhere after our confrontation she decided to "see what she could do to move me over to management for this Monday, but I could come over for 1/2 days to help train when the new associate started". Who knows if it actually happened or not, because at this point I obviously don't trust anything that comes out of her mouth. Needless to say I can't wait to start my new position. It would not have been such a huge deal if she just wan't able to make the change happen, and just told me that... But she told me she never made that promise in the first place, like she had no intention of even trying! People can be so horrible some times!
Now on to happier things: AYLIN!
She is now 7 months old. She sits up beautifully on her own. She has 2 teeth! Both on the bottom, the first arrived Labor Day weekend, the second started about a week later. We think that she is starting to know that mama is me, and dada is Jeff. Alto she has multiple associations for mama and dada. She makes the most hilarious wounded dinosaur noises. She'll growl and gurgle really low sounds from the back of her throat really loud, but they are happy sounds! She CHEWS on EVERYTHING, she especially loves glasses (like the ones on daddy's face). She loves to be out and about, Walmart, the mall, the fair, anywhere there are new people she loves it. She's eating babyfoods with meats in them, but doesn't much care for the chicken and noodles kind. We got very mad over that one. She does like the sweet potatoes and turkey, and spagetti w. meat. She also LOVES her baby mum mum rice crackers and her veggie flavored corn puffs. She's also learning to use a sippy cup. She loves it, even tho she makes a mess and hasn't quite figured it out yet. We usually give her pedialyte in it and she'll kind of play with it. But she loves anything that she can do on her own (rice crackers and sippy cups especially). She is a very independant little booger. She's thinking about scooting a little. When on her belly she pivots to one side or the other. And occasionally sticks her bottom in the air, or raises up really high on her arms. But hasn't done both in combination yet. We tried real banana's once, but really didn't like those. She watched her first movie: Milo & Otis and loved it. It was a great distraction while we were teething w. tooth #2. Her hair is starting to get thicker and longer. But is still as wild as ever. It stands on end at all times. As soon as it's dry after a bath it poofs up again, no matter how much I brush it flat! But it's adorable so I'm not worried about it. Daddy calls her his little dandilion. She also (if you can imagine) has a temper like no other. When she gets mad or frustrated there is no turning back. Watch out world! These tempers are usually associated with trying to get our bib off She HATES to wear a bib now, and pulls and pulls until she gets it off. If she can't get it off then full blown tantrum ensues. She also managed to get her shirt off at daycare. Apparently once the bib was off, the shirt had to go too... not looking forward to the I-wanna-undress-myself phase... isn't this a little early for that? Pictures soon to follow!
In amongst the big job change, we also are transitioning Aylin to staying home with daddy. The daycare has been gracious enough to let us stretch out our already paid for month, into next month and move her to part time on Tues/Thurs thru 10/15. This means Jeff has Aylin at home Mon/Wed/Fri. This was our first week, and things went fantastic. This also means that I don't get to see my daughter as much because I don't get to spend my lunch break with her. But she seems to be doing so much better at home with daddy, than in daycare. She takes better naps, I think she may even be eating better (it's hard to tell), and most importantly; she gets to spend good quality time with daddy. With this change, Grandma Adrienne/Aunt Melinda/Granny (Virginia) have volunteered to watch Aylin when work comes up for him that is either not on a Tues/Thurs, or once we are no longer part time at daycare. (THANKS GUYS!!!) This will be a huge help, and we are very thankful for their willingness.
We have, as most people in the present economy, found ourselves financially unstable. So far we have managed things well, but we never seem to know where that next chunk of money is going to come from that will keep us from disaster. But He has been faithful! Either work for Jeff has come available right in time, or like this past week: I received a check from Walmart from their associate in critical need fund. I had never thought that I would have been a candidate for the fund, I assumed this was for people worse off than myself. However I was highly encouraged to apply. The fund is designed to help an associate cover mortgage, or utilities in circumstances exactly like ours (any many others too). All I had to do was fill out a form, provide copies of the bills, and 4 days later I had a check. Praise God! It was just in time for the mortgage, and also allowed us to fill our propane tank for the winter!
I have also had the unfortunate experience of seeing the ugly side of people once again. Which always seems to be so hard on me, becaues I tend to always try to find the good in people. But I saw the ugliest side of my boss yesterday. I had been told by my boss that if I finished a very important (import) project by the end of this past week then they would release me to my new job starting Monday. So all week long I worked my tail off, recruited help outside of my department, and managed to get the task complete by 3pm Thursday. I sent my celebratory and FYI this project is complete email. In addition to calling my boss since she was not at the office. She told me first thing Friday morning she would talk to my new boss and see about getting me switched over. I was also supposed to go and meet my new team at 9am Friday. So in the time that I was using the Mother's room immediately before the meeting, and then the 1 hr team meeting that I attended my current boss (who sits next to me) sent me an email that told me my new start date would be 10/10... no explination just 1 sentense. So I gave her the benefit of a doubt and thought OK maybe she means thats when I won't be tansitioning any more and I won't be asked to help train their new person after that date. I waited for a bit to see if I could discuss with her in person. But she was no where to be found. So I emailed her and asked if that meant transition, or what? Then I left to use the restroom. In that time (2 minutes?) she came back responded to my email, no your start date is 10/10, and was gone again... so then I was mad. I had been promised one thing, and now it was not happening, and I felt like I was being used. So I wait impatiently for her to get back to her desk so we could discuss. She finally returns and is promptly on her phone... see a pattern yet? I'm being avoided. So once she is finally off her phone I ask her; "So what's the story here?", she responds: "What do you mean?". I explained that she had told me if I completed the project that she would release me to work with my new team. She looks at me blank and said: "I never made that commitment, I'm sorry if you got that impression, but that's not what I said"... WOW I was blown away! I told her that actually that was what she said, and that I worked my ass off to get the project done because of it. Then I was told "Well that's what is expected of you any how", to which I responded "I realize that, but I would never have recruited the help outside of my department to complete it, if I hadn't been told to get it done in that time frame. Because it would not have been necesary if I was going to be around for another 2 weeks I could have completed it on my own. To this she responded "I really don't appreciate this attidute after all that I've done for you"... Again WOW I felt like she had just thrown it in my face that she had assisted me in the right contacts to help me apply for the position I am going to, but I also felt that she was throwing in my face her help in the check that I received for assistance. It was just rotten all the way around! I was also told that she had to look out for the interest of her team, and that she needed me to be around to train the new person... the new person whom she wasn't even sure if she would be starting Monday or not. I explained to her that there wasn't much in the way of training that I could do in 2 weeks for someone (who may or may not be around) who did not have access to our systems, and was not familiar with them already. But that doesn't matter, because I'm pretty sure she hadn't even thought of it before I brought it up. Somewhere after our confrontation she decided to "see what she could do to move me over to management for this Monday, but I could come over for 1/2 days to help train when the new associate started". Who knows if it actually happened or not, because at this point I obviously don't trust anything that comes out of her mouth. Needless to say I can't wait to start my new position. It would not have been such a huge deal if she just wan't able to make the change happen, and just told me that... But she told me she never made that promise in the first place, like she had no intention of even trying! People can be so horrible some times!
Now on to happier things: AYLIN!
She is now 7 months old. She sits up beautifully on her own. She has 2 teeth! Both on the bottom, the first arrived Labor Day weekend, the second started about a week later. We think that she is starting to know that mama is me, and dada is Jeff. Alto she has multiple associations for mama and dada. She makes the most hilarious wounded dinosaur noises. She'll growl and gurgle really low sounds from the back of her throat really loud, but they are happy sounds! She CHEWS on EVERYTHING, she especially loves glasses (like the ones on daddy's face). She loves to be out and about, Walmart, the mall, the fair, anywhere there are new people she loves it. She's eating babyfoods with meats in them, but doesn't much care for the chicken and noodles kind. We got very mad over that one. She does like the sweet potatoes and turkey, and spagetti w. meat. She also LOVES her baby mum mum rice crackers and her veggie flavored corn puffs. She's also learning to use a sippy cup. She loves it, even tho she makes a mess and hasn't quite figured it out yet. We usually give her pedialyte in it and she'll kind of play with it. But she loves anything that she can do on her own (rice crackers and sippy cups especially). She is a very independant little booger. She's thinking about scooting a little. When on her belly she pivots to one side or the other. And occasionally sticks her bottom in the air, or raises up really high on her arms. But hasn't done both in combination yet. We tried real banana's once, but really didn't like those. She watched her first movie: Milo & Otis and loved it. It was a great distraction while we were teething w. tooth #2. Her hair is starting to get thicker and longer. But is still as wild as ever. It stands on end at all times. As soon as it's dry after a bath it poofs up again, no matter how much I brush it flat! But it's adorable so I'm not worried about it. Daddy calls her his little dandilion. She also (if you can imagine) has a temper like no other. When she gets mad or frustrated there is no turning back. Watch out world! These tempers are usually associated with trying to get our bib off She HATES to wear a bib now, and pulls and pulls until she gets it off. If she can't get it off then full blown tantrum ensues. She also managed to get her shirt off at daycare. Apparently once the bib was off, the shirt had to go too... not looking forward to the I-wanna-undress-myself phase... isn't this a little early for that? Pictures soon to follow!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
How now shall we live?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately. [I know, that’s kind of like me saying, “I’ve been breathing a lot lately." I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, which invariably leads to more thinking than usual.] Anyway, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, because I’m not working much. In fact, if something doesn’t change soon… well, something has to change soon. We’ll just leave it at that. Really, we’ve been struggling to get ahead for a few years. Some of that’s our fault; we made some short-sighted decisions with our money. Some of it, though, just falls into the “shit happens”* category. Life never works out the way you think it will, does it? I planned to start my own business, I just hadn't planned to do so in the midst of the worst economic crisis our country's seen since the Great Depression. Life changed my mind for me. We're dealing with it, and if we ruin our credit or lose our house or whatever, we'll deal with that. Because you know what? It's ours to deal with. We don't expect anyone to come bail us out. There are plenty of followers of Christ who're homeless, hungry, and alone right now. There but by His grace go I.
Anyway, all those thoughts rattling around in my head bounced off some other ideas that have been growing in there for a number of years, and some of them knocked loose, and they sprouted some new ideas, and then a conversation I had with a friend the other night provided the catalyst for the fusion reaction, the dubious benefits of which you're now reaping. It should already be obvious to you that this is a little different than what you're used to seeing in this blog, but its tone and content won't surprise those of you who've known me a long time. We never said this would be all about Aylin. ;)
Please understand, too: I'm not personally attacking anyone. I'm sure there are a few of you who'll think I am anyway. It's not about you. You just provided grist for the mill. I've moved past people to principles. If it hurts when I poke at it, though, maybe you ought to think about letting The Doctor look at it. Remember: I'm walking the same road each of you are.
"All right, get to the point already, Jeff. What are you rambling about now?" I'm talking about the apostle Paul. I'm talking about New Testament Christianity in our time. And I'm talking about how far away we are now as a Body of Christ from fulfilling our calling.
Paul
I see Paul as the seminal example of what a Christian missionary looks like. We're all called to be missionaries, so I see Paul's example as instructive to each of us. He was a preacher and missionary, but he also was a tent-maker. He understood that the churches to which he was preaching had limited financial means, and he underwrote his own expenses, so as not to be a burden to them. We don't know much about the economic climate of the various communities Paul ministered to, but it's safe to assume that early Christians struggled to get by, much like most folks these days do the same. Is that what Paul meant about not wanting to be a burden to them? Maybe. Paul's kind of hard to fathom sometimes. I'd say that was part of it, but I also tend to think that he was thinking about what else they could be putting their money toward. If they weren't paying the preacher, they could be helping that crazy lady that lives down the block buy groceries. Or maybe they could help that young family in the church whose home just burned down, if only they didn't have apportionments to meet. Or maybe… you get the idea. Less overhead means more operating capital, if you want to look at it that way. Or, from yet another perspective, why should the church have to support someone whom God has given the ability to be self-supporting? I think it's fair also to assume that Paul wasn't in "the mission field" full-time for his entire career. That doesn't seem to have detrimentally affected his impact on the world, does it? Why do we think we have to do things differently?
It's important for me to remind us here that we are all called to use our spiritual gifts in the church. We're all called to be in ministry, though I think that's supposed to look different than it now does. More on that in a minute. If we're all called to be in ministry, and if Paul's ministry is more or less universally instructive, then it follows that we should all support our own ministry efforts by our own labors. I realize there are arguments for the other side; I'm just unswayed by them.
The church
A lot of you know I quit going to church a long time ago. I haven't given up my faith in Christ, so don't waste your time praying for my soul. Me and Jesus are just fine, thanks for asking. Part of the reason I quit going to brick-and-mortar church buildings is because of what you just read: I believe Scripture calls us all to be self-supportive and in ministry.
Part of why I quit going, though, is because I firmly believe we've wrongly fallen back into the Old Testament temple model of worship. The best example we have of what the New Testament church looked like is in Acts 2. I believe that's what a post-resurrection church is supposed to look like. Those early churches looked a lot different, in form and in function, than what modern churches look like. They met exclusively, as far as we can tell, in someone's home, not in a specially-constructed building or a rented storefront; they ate together regularly; they pooled their resources to help those in need. In fact, the description sounds an awful lot like a 1960's hippie commune without all the "free love".
Why then are we diluting our tithes, paying salaries and light bills and mortgages? Why do we have a separate "in-ministry" class of people who depend entirely (or mostly) on others for their livelihood? Do we think the early New Testament churches only were the way they were because of the social stigma of being Christian? Think again, folks. The reasons Jesus railed against the Jewish temple are still in ample evidence today in our churches. It was for many of the same reasons Paul taught against Greek temples. No, our temples are no different than theirs. Constantine moved us into a pagan Roman temple and we've been there ever since. It's past time we grew up and embraced our calling. It's time our preachers went out and got jobs. It's time we closed the doors on our church buildings and moved the Body of Christ back into the home. It's time each of us took responsibility for our own livelihood and faith.
Who we are as People of Christ
It's too hard to tell us apart from the rest of the world in the right ways. Oh, we Christians stand out all right: We're the rude people in the restaurant on Sunday who leave crappy tips, or none at all. We're the people screaming, "You lie!" at our God-given authorities. We're killing abortion doctors. We're blindly ignoring science on every front, not using the minds the Good Lord gave us. Gray frightens us; we prefer black or white because those colors lend themselves easily to judgment. We're afraid to feel the pain of others, or to let them feel our own with us. We don't want to know or be known.
We stand out. But in the wrong ways. When it comes to the social behaviors that demonstrate Christ has made a difference in our lives, we look painfully like the rest of the world. We are conspicuous consumers of wealth. We are unfaithful to our spouses. We are hateful to fellow human beings, just because they disagree with us. We stigmatize those who are different by labeling them "gay" or "lost" or "un-believing". We separate ourselves from our own families when they make choices we can't condone. We grow our families as if Jesus' only concern is having more followers than Mohammed when the rapture comes, rather than demonstrating how the love of Christ should operate in a home.
The Christian community in America has, by and large, built a wall around itself. We've built a wall made of fear and ignorance, and it's separated us from our Maker and our fellow man. We have no credibility anymore, when we "go out" to "make disciples", because those potential disciples have already seen through the ruse. We think we're better than them, and they know it. Our church leaders have spent decades, if not centuries, developing an intricate theology that allows them to continue an Old Testament tradition of living richly off the fruits of another man's labors. We've allowed ourselves to believe the lie that some gifts are more worthy than others, and that those who are so gifted, who feel the "call" to "ministry", should get advanced degrees at seminaries, because we need those people to help us approach the Throne of Grace. And we really don't want to get to know someone, because we're far too busy as it is. "I can work you in next week" just doesn't cut it when someone's hurting.
So people who don't yet follow Christ see our advances merely as membership drives or fundraising campaigns. If we do get them to the church building, they'll barely have their seat warm before they'll hear talk of raising money for a new building, or of a missionary family in Fiji who needs more money to stay on the beach and minister to those poor, lost Fijians. They wonder how many homeless in our own community could be fed, clothed, and sheltered with the $4 million the church is planning to spend on that worship center. They wonder how many hungry could be fed with the pastor's salary, or with the money that Fijian missionary family spends to fly their 15 kids back and forth twice a year for support-raising activities. Worse yet, they'll likely leave the church building without a single person taking the time to connect with them on a truly personal level.
We've lost our way, people of God. We've lost our way. We all know it, if we'll look deeply enough within. But we're afraid. The unknown is a scary place, and being real with the man next to you is risky. If we tear down the wall of fear and ignorance we've built around our little community, we might find we have more in common with "those people" than we thought. And that might make us feel a little less superior. And that's hard to deal with; trust me.
The money shot*, or How now shall we live?
But that place, little lambs, is where grace meets us. It's not in a fancy church building or rented store front with a state-of-the-art sound system and song lyrics displayed on the big screen behind the stage. It's in the street and on the job site and in the board room and in the bar. It's in a warm and inviting home, when there are a dozen people sitting in the living room, and they're following the Holy Spirit's movements in their lives, or when they're connecting with each other over a meal. It's in a truly open relationship with someone who's not like us. It's in having a faith that's strong enough to venture onto the gray paths down which real life leads us. That's where grace meets us. We've forgotten that, if our actions are any indication. It's time we quit trying so hard to be perfected and started being ourselves and letting Jesus make us whole. It's only from that place of brokenness we can be healed.
*If you're still focused on the fact that I've said "shit" and "money shot", you've missed the point. Go back and read it again. Peace.
Anyway, all those thoughts rattling around in my head bounced off some other ideas that have been growing in there for a number of years, and some of them knocked loose, and they sprouted some new ideas, and then a conversation I had with a friend the other night provided the catalyst for the fusion reaction, the dubious benefits of which you're now reaping. It should already be obvious to you that this is a little different than what you're used to seeing in this blog, but its tone and content won't surprise those of you who've known me a long time. We never said this would be all about Aylin. ;)
Please understand, too: I'm not personally attacking anyone. I'm sure there are a few of you who'll think I am anyway. It's not about you. You just provided grist for the mill. I've moved past people to principles. If it hurts when I poke at it, though, maybe you ought to think about letting The Doctor look at it. Remember: I'm walking the same road each of you are.
"All right, get to the point already, Jeff. What are you rambling about now?" I'm talking about the apostle Paul. I'm talking about New Testament Christianity in our time. And I'm talking about how far away we are now as a Body of Christ from fulfilling our calling.
Paul
I see Paul as the seminal example of what a Christian missionary looks like. We're all called to be missionaries, so I see Paul's example as instructive to each of us. He was a preacher and missionary, but he also was a tent-maker. He understood that the churches to which he was preaching had limited financial means, and he underwrote his own expenses, so as not to be a burden to them. We don't know much about the economic climate of the various communities Paul ministered to, but it's safe to assume that early Christians struggled to get by, much like most folks these days do the same. Is that what Paul meant about not wanting to be a burden to them? Maybe. Paul's kind of hard to fathom sometimes. I'd say that was part of it, but I also tend to think that he was thinking about what else they could be putting their money toward. If they weren't paying the preacher, they could be helping that crazy lady that lives down the block buy groceries. Or maybe they could help that young family in the church whose home just burned down, if only they didn't have apportionments to meet. Or maybe… you get the idea. Less overhead means more operating capital, if you want to look at it that way. Or, from yet another perspective, why should the church have to support someone whom God has given the ability to be self-supporting? I think it's fair also to assume that Paul wasn't in "the mission field" full-time for his entire career. That doesn't seem to have detrimentally affected his impact on the world, does it? Why do we think we have to do things differently?
It's important for me to remind us here that we are all called to use our spiritual gifts in the church. We're all called to be in ministry, though I think that's supposed to look different than it now does. More on that in a minute. If we're all called to be in ministry, and if Paul's ministry is more or less universally instructive, then it follows that we should all support our own ministry efforts by our own labors. I realize there are arguments for the other side; I'm just unswayed by them.
The church
A lot of you know I quit going to church a long time ago. I haven't given up my faith in Christ, so don't waste your time praying for my soul. Me and Jesus are just fine, thanks for asking. Part of the reason I quit going to brick-and-mortar church buildings is because of what you just read: I believe Scripture calls us all to be self-supportive and in ministry.
Part of why I quit going, though, is because I firmly believe we've wrongly fallen back into the Old Testament temple model of worship. The best example we have of what the New Testament church looked like is in Acts 2. I believe that's what a post-resurrection church is supposed to look like. Those early churches looked a lot different, in form and in function, than what modern churches look like. They met exclusively, as far as we can tell, in someone's home, not in a specially-constructed building or a rented storefront; they ate together regularly; they pooled their resources to help those in need. In fact, the description sounds an awful lot like a 1960's hippie commune without all the "free love".
Why then are we diluting our tithes, paying salaries and light bills and mortgages? Why do we have a separate "in-ministry" class of people who depend entirely (or mostly) on others for their livelihood? Do we think the early New Testament churches only were the way they were because of the social stigma of being Christian? Think again, folks. The reasons Jesus railed against the Jewish temple are still in ample evidence today in our churches. It was for many of the same reasons Paul taught against Greek temples. No, our temples are no different than theirs. Constantine moved us into a pagan Roman temple and we've been there ever since. It's past time we grew up and embraced our calling. It's time our preachers went out and got jobs. It's time we closed the doors on our church buildings and moved the Body of Christ back into the home. It's time each of us took responsibility for our own livelihood and faith.
Who we are as People of Christ
It's too hard to tell us apart from the rest of the world in the right ways. Oh, we Christians stand out all right: We're the rude people in the restaurant on Sunday who leave crappy tips, or none at all. We're the people screaming, "You lie!" at our God-given authorities. We're killing abortion doctors. We're blindly ignoring science on every front, not using the minds the Good Lord gave us. Gray frightens us; we prefer black or white because those colors lend themselves easily to judgment. We're afraid to feel the pain of others, or to let them feel our own with us. We don't want to know or be known.
We stand out. But in the wrong ways. When it comes to the social behaviors that demonstrate Christ has made a difference in our lives, we look painfully like the rest of the world. We are conspicuous consumers of wealth. We are unfaithful to our spouses. We are hateful to fellow human beings, just because they disagree with us. We stigmatize those who are different by labeling them "gay" or "lost" or "un-believing". We separate ourselves from our own families when they make choices we can't condone. We grow our families as if Jesus' only concern is having more followers than Mohammed when the rapture comes, rather than demonstrating how the love of Christ should operate in a home.
The Christian community in America has, by and large, built a wall around itself. We've built a wall made of fear and ignorance, and it's separated us from our Maker and our fellow man. We have no credibility anymore, when we "go out" to "make disciples", because those potential disciples have already seen through the ruse. We think we're better than them, and they know it. Our church leaders have spent decades, if not centuries, developing an intricate theology that allows them to continue an Old Testament tradition of living richly off the fruits of another man's labors. We've allowed ourselves to believe the lie that some gifts are more worthy than others, and that those who are so gifted, who feel the "call" to "ministry", should get advanced degrees at seminaries, because we need those people to help us approach the Throne of Grace. And we really don't want to get to know someone, because we're far too busy as it is. "I can work you in next week" just doesn't cut it when someone's hurting.
So people who don't yet follow Christ see our advances merely as membership drives or fundraising campaigns. If we do get them to the church building, they'll barely have their seat warm before they'll hear talk of raising money for a new building, or of a missionary family in Fiji who needs more money to stay on the beach and minister to those poor, lost Fijians. They wonder how many homeless in our own community could be fed, clothed, and sheltered with the $4 million the church is planning to spend on that worship center. They wonder how many hungry could be fed with the pastor's salary, or with the money that Fijian missionary family spends to fly their 15 kids back and forth twice a year for support-raising activities. Worse yet, they'll likely leave the church building without a single person taking the time to connect with them on a truly personal level.
We've lost our way, people of God. We've lost our way. We all know it, if we'll look deeply enough within. But we're afraid. The unknown is a scary place, and being real with the man next to you is risky. If we tear down the wall of fear and ignorance we've built around our little community, we might find we have more in common with "those people" than we thought. And that might make us feel a little less superior. And that's hard to deal with; trust me.
The money shot*, or How now shall we live?
But that place, little lambs, is where grace meets us. It's not in a fancy church building or rented store front with a state-of-the-art sound system and song lyrics displayed on the big screen behind the stage. It's in the street and on the job site and in the board room and in the bar. It's in a warm and inviting home, when there are a dozen people sitting in the living room, and they're following the Holy Spirit's movements in their lives, or when they're connecting with each other over a meal. It's in a truly open relationship with someone who's not like us. It's in having a faith that's strong enough to venture onto the gray paths down which real life leads us. That's where grace meets us. We've forgotten that, if our actions are any indication. It's time we quit trying so hard to be perfected and started being ourselves and letting Jesus make us whole. It's only from that place of brokenness we can be healed.
*If you're still focused on the fact that I've said "shit" and "money shot", you've missed the point. Go back and read it again. Peace.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Amazon.com WIsh List for Aylin
Someone recommended recently that I should keep an on-going Amazon.com Wish List for things for Aylin that the grand parent's can use. So! Here we are: http://tinyurl.com/myohzp
These are just idea's, feel free to be creative.
These are just idea's, feel free to be creative.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Aylin Marie - 6 Months
So our precious little Aylin turned 6 months old this past Wednesday (8/19/2009) and to celebrate: she got 4 shots. She did extraordinarily well. Much better than either her dad or I expected. Cried only for a minute or two, and then let mommy and daddy snuggle and settle her down. She weighed in at 14 lbs, 7oz, 25 (and almost a 1/2!) inches long, and a 17 inch head. She's pretty well established herself in the 25th percentile. She was 25th for weight and length, and between 25 - 50 for head. So far we do not have any teeth... yet (Thank Goodness, says her momma!).
She has such an amazing personality. She is almost always happy, and loves learning and figuring things out. You can see all the activity going on in her little head while she's sitting there contemplating. She loves her jumparoo that her Grandma Jeanne got her. She'll play for hours in that thing and not get bored. She's rolling over front to back, and back to front... But only to her right. She'll roll all the way across the living room floor, we'll turn her around and she'll roll back. She also loves to play in her highchair with toys on the tray. Especially her keys which she can BANG BANG BANG! on the tray. So exciting! She enjoys being active, doesn't really like to sit and snuggle unless she's actually sleepy or not feeling quite right. We are certain as soon as she figures her legs out she's going to go straight to running and we'll have a little red-headed Tasmanian devil swirling through our home!
She loves her solid foods. Some we eat excitedly, others we just put up with. We have now tried: Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Sweat Pea's, Green Beans, Apples, Banana's, Peaches, Pears, Sweet Potatoes & Corn, Apples/Bananas/Strawberries (mixed), in addition to our rice cereal. The green veggies are what she tolerates, but doesn't get excited about, and anything with apples in it and peaches we wink our eye and make a face because it's tart! But I think our favorites are the Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes & Corn, we also love Pears and Bananas. Starting on the solid foods has been quite an adventure.
She's jabbering lots these days, and has figured out sounds like: dadada, mmmmmba, aaaahhhh, aaallla, nienienie! (when we're mad). We haven't quite figured out mama yet, but she did make a combination of noises this morning and in there I heard a "mommy"! She laughs a lot, and we can't help but to laugh back.
We've managed to fall into a pretty regular schedule these days, and we sleep pretty good. She still wakes up around 2 a.m. and needs a passy re-inserted, and sometimes it takes more than once before she's back down. So good long stretches of sleep for mommy is still elusive. But I think it won't be long before we are able to sleep all night long. It's also pretty fun for mom and dad to wake up to a happy sweet, chattering little girl through the monitor on the weekends.
She has what we call her "happy legs". When she's excited, her legs get to kicking! More often than not, they are going. Can't keep socks on the kid to save her life! But there are worse things I am sure.
We have also (we think) outgrown our reflux. We haven't had the clear spitting problem since shortly after we started on solid foods (which is normal). So after this last doctor's visit he recommended that we try taking her off of the reflux meds for at least a week (to be sure they are out of her system) and see how she does. If she's spitting, but not seeming unhappy or uncomfortable about it then we stay off. But if she's unhappy and uncomfortable then we'll go back on the meds until she's 12 months. So here's to hoping she doesn't need the meds any more! We should know by next Friday if we'll need to keep her on the meds until 12 months.
Aside from -- and in spite of -- our major mishap at daycare last week; we are still a sweet, happy, healthy, growing baby girl who loves life.
A 6 months photo shoot will follow later today! (-=
She has such an amazing personality. She is almost always happy, and loves learning and figuring things out. You can see all the activity going on in her little head while she's sitting there contemplating. She loves her jumparoo that her Grandma Jeanne got her. She'll play for hours in that thing and not get bored. She's rolling over front to back, and back to front... But only to her right. She'll roll all the way across the living room floor, we'll turn her around and she'll roll back. She also loves to play in her highchair with toys on the tray. Especially her keys which she can BANG BANG BANG! on the tray. So exciting! She enjoys being active, doesn't really like to sit and snuggle unless she's actually sleepy or not feeling quite right. We are certain as soon as she figures her legs out she's going to go straight to running and we'll have a little red-headed Tasmanian devil swirling through our home!
She loves her solid foods. Some we eat excitedly, others we just put up with. We have now tried: Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Sweat Pea's, Green Beans, Apples, Banana's, Peaches, Pears, Sweet Potatoes & Corn, Apples/Bananas/Strawberries (mixed), in addition to our rice cereal. The green veggies are what she tolerates, but doesn't get excited about, and anything with apples in it and peaches we wink our eye and make a face because it's tart! But I think our favorites are the Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes & Corn, we also love Pears and Bananas. Starting on the solid foods has been quite an adventure.
She's jabbering lots these days, and has figured out sounds like: dadada, mmmmmba, aaaahhhh, aaallla, nienienie! (when we're mad). We haven't quite figured out mama yet, but she did make a combination of noises this morning and in there I heard a "mommy"! She laughs a lot, and we can't help but to laugh back.
We've managed to fall into a pretty regular schedule these days, and we sleep pretty good. She still wakes up around 2 a.m. and needs a passy re-inserted, and sometimes it takes more than once before she's back down. So good long stretches of sleep for mommy is still elusive. But I think it won't be long before we are able to sleep all night long. It's also pretty fun for mom and dad to wake up to a happy sweet, chattering little girl through the monitor on the weekends.
She has what we call her "happy legs". When she's excited, her legs get to kicking! More often than not, they are going. Can't keep socks on the kid to save her life! But there are worse things I am sure.
We have also (we think) outgrown our reflux. We haven't had the clear spitting problem since shortly after we started on solid foods (which is normal). So after this last doctor's visit he recommended that we try taking her off of the reflux meds for at least a week (to be sure they are out of her system) and see how she does. If she's spitting, but not seeming unhappy or uncomfortable about it then we stay off. But if she's unhappy and uncomfortable then we'll go back on the meds until she's 12 months. So here's to hoping she doesn't need the meds any more! We should know by next Friday if we'll need to keep her on the meds until 12 months.
Aside from -- and in spite of -- our major mishap at daycare last week; we are still a sweet, happy, healthy, growing baby girl who loves life.
A 6 months photo shoot will follow later today! (-=
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thank you.
I would guess that most of you have been following along on Facebook or Twitter as we've vented about our misadventures with Aylin's daycare this week, but in case you haven't, a quick recap is in order (if you know the whole story, you can skip past the break):
____________
On Wednesday, a new staffer in Aylin's room at ABC Happy Kids daycare in Bentonville fed her breastmilk from another mother. Many of you know that there is some risk that infections like HIV or hepatitis can be transmitted through breastmilk. The "ew" factor aside, the incident put my daughter's health at risk. It was a stupid mistake, for which they'll never have an excuse that will satisfy me. It was a mistake that left another little girl short on milk, which is how we ultimately found out. The other mother -- a friend and co-worker to Kristina -- called us Wednesday night to tell us what happened. As it turns out, one of the nursery workers tried to tell the director she thought she'd screwed up. After talking about it, though, the director helped her decide she hadn't screwed up, so they didn't mention it to us that night.
At any rate, both sets of parents knew by Thursday morning what had actually happened. The primary staff member in the nursery told Kristina, when she found out, "I think I'm going to be sick...". The daycare immediately put in place some new controls to make sure it didn't happen again. The director agreed to meet with us that afternoon at 4:45, to go over the incident and, she said, sign an incident report. She didn't show until we were leaving, because we'd waited 25 minutes, and that was 10 minutes longer than I usually give anybody but my sister. We had to take Aylin home.
I emailed the President and CEO of ABC Happy Kids, Dr. Nguyen, M.D., early this morning, but have gotten no response. I spoke to a woman from the Arkansas Division of Child Care and Early Development late this afternoon, who assured me that they were "taking this very seriously", and would be conducting an investigation next week, including visiting the daycare and talking to personnel there. Kristina spoke to the other mother, who offered to provide the results of her most recent blood work, showing her to be negative for HIV and hepatitis. She confirmed with nurses from our pediatrician's office and from her OB/GYN's office that those results would be recent enough for our purposes. The nurses also told her that, though the risk of infection was extremely low, we were absolutely doing the right thing by making sure Aylin hadn't been exposed.
We met the daycare director this afternoon when we picked up Aylin. Her attitude was professional, cordial, but cold. She took the dressing down I gave her with silent attention. But, neither Kristina nor I left the meeting feeling as if she was actually sorry for how they'd endangered my daughter's health. She said the right words, but it felt like her only remorse was for having been caught. When we asked her about signing an incident report, she acted like she didn't know what we were talking about. We told her that, while we didn't want to put Aylin through the hardship of transitioning to a different facility, they had a long way to go to regain our trust, and we came home.
Time will tell...
____________
I was thinking about these last 48 hours on my way home this afternoon, beginning to frame this blog post in my mind. The support we've gotten from so many of our friends has been of great encouragement to us. The silence from some quarters, a very small group, but one much closer to home, has been telling. The contrast between the two groups, disquieting.
Those of you who know me well have often heard me refer to the distinction the Spanish language makes between cognitive knowing (saber) and the deeper, soul-level, experiential knowing (conocer). It's a failing of the English language that continues to fascinate me, and is instructional here again. Before this week, I knew in my mind (saber) how fragile the life of a child can be, but I'd never come to know (conocer) that in such personal terms. Over the course of an hour or so Wednesday night, my cognition crystallized into experience; I knew that my daughter's health had been endangered, and that both frightened and enraged me.
As so often happens to parents, I caught a glimpse of the Father's love for each of His children. I understood a little better the lengths to which He was willing to go to protect them.
I'm sure there are a few who feel like we're over-reacting. Aylin wasn't harmed in the end. We still have the same happy little redhead we brought home from the hospital. In those terms, we certainly haven't experienced frailty like so many other parents do. There but by the grace of God go we. But I'll let that take nothing away from the new reality in which I find myself operating, or the greater ownership I've taken of my role as father and protector.
Kristina and I cannot express enough gratitude to those of you who've prayed for us, who've expressed your shock and dismay with us, who've offered advice and who've offered to kick somebody's butt for us. Maybe it was just a close call; maybe we'll forget about it in a few years. But we look at things through new eyes tonight, and many of you are shining brightly in that view. Thank you. Grace and peace to you all.
____________
On Wednesday, a new staffer in Aylin's room at ABC Happy Kids daycare in Bentonville fed her breastmilk from another mother. Many of you know that there is some risk that infections like HIV or hepatitis can be transmitted through breastmilk. The "ew" factor aside, the incident put my daughter's health at risk. It was a stupid mistake, for which they'll never have an excuse that will satisfy me. It was a mistake that left another little girl short on milk, which is how we ultimately found out. The other mother -- a friend and co-worker to Kristina -- called us Wednesday night to tell us what happened. As it turns out, one of the nursery workers tried to tell the director she thought she'd screwed up. After talking about it, though, the director helped her decide she hadn't screwed up, so they didn't mention it to us that night.
At any rate, both sets of parents knew by Thursday morning what had actually happened. The primary staff member in the nursery told Kristina, when she found out, "I think I'm going to be sick...". The daycare immediately put in place some new controls to make sure it didn't happen again. The director agreed to meet with us that afternoon at 4:45, to go over the incident and, she said, sign an incident report. She didn't show until we were leaving, because we'd waited 25 minutes, and that was 10 minutes longer than I usually give anybody but my sister. We had to take Aylin home.
I emailed the President and CEO of ABC Happy Kids, Dr. Nguyen, M.D., early this morning, but have gotten no response. I spoke to a woman from the Arkansas Division of Child Care and Early Development late this afternoon, who assured me that they were "taking this very seriously", and would be conducting an investigation next week, including visiting the daycare and talking to personnel there. Kristina spoke to the other mother, who offered to provide the results of her most recent blood work, showing her to be negative for HIV and hepatitis. She confirmed with nurses from our pediatrician's office and from her OB/GYN's office that those results would be recent enough for our purposes. The nurses also told her that, though the risk of infection was extremely low, we were absolutely doing the right thing by making sure Aylin hadn't been exposed.
We met the daycare director this afternoon when we picked up Aylin. Her attitude was professional, cordial, but cold. She took the dressing down I gave her with silent attention. But, neither Kristina nor I left the meeting feeling as if she was actually sorry for how they'd endangered my daughter's health. She said the right words, but it felt like her only remorse was for having been caught. When we asked her about signing an incident report, she acted like she didn't know what we were talking about. We told her that, while we didn't want to put Aylin through the hardship of transitioning to a different facility, they had a long way to go to regain our trust, and we came home.
Time will tell...
____________
I was thinking about these last 48 hours on my way home this afternoon, beginning to frame this blog post in my mind. The support we've gotten from so many of our friends has been of great encouragement to us. The silence from some quarters, a very small group, but one much closer to home, has been telling. The contrast between the two groups, disquieting.
Those of you who know me well have often heard me refer to the distinction the Spanish language makes between cognitive knowing (saber) and the deeper, soul-level, experiential knowing (conocer). It's a failing of the English language that continues to fascinate me, and is instructional here again. Before this week, I knew in my mind (saber) how fragile the life of a child can be, but I'd never come to know (conocer) that in such personal terms. Over the course of an hour or so Wednesday night, my cognition crystallized into experience; I knew that my daughter's health had been endangered, and that both frightened and enraged me.
As so often happens to parents, I caught a glimpse of the Father's love for each of His children. I understood a little better the lengths to which He was willing to go to protect them.
I'm sure there are a few who feel like we're over-reacting. Aylin wasn't harmed in the end. We still have the same happy little redhead we brought home from the hospital. In those terms, we certainly haven't experienced frailty like so many other parents do. There but by the grace of God go we. But I'll let that take nothing away from the new reality in which I find myself operating, or the greater ownership I've taken of my role as father and protector.
Kristina and I cannot express enough gratitude to those of you who've prayed for us, who've expressed your shock and dismay with us, who've offered advice and who've offered to kick somebody's butt for us. Maybe it was just a close call; maybe we'll forget about it in a few years. But we look at things through new eyes tonight, and many of you are shining brightly in that view. Thank you. Grace and peace to you all.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Aylin and Bebo
It's been a while since we posted anything, and I have some new tools at my disposal, so I thought I'd play a bit with some video editing... Let us know how it works!
It's not a recent video, obviously. Just the first one I stumbled onto.
jeff
It's not a recent video, obviously. Just the first one I stumbled onto.
jeff
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Aylin 4 Months
Wow, so it's been a really long time since we've posted an actual blog... Oops!
So it's hard to believe that Aylin is now 4 months old! It doesn't seem like that much time has passed. She is getting so big so fast! We have her check up and shots this coming Thursday. So we'll know exactly how much she's gained. I can't wait for that part... the shots I could do without. (-=
The transition back to work went relatively well. The first week was obviously the hardest. But got progressively better (except for her catching all the bugs going around). She is now on a pretty good schedule for a daytime routine. The ladies at the daycare just love her to pieces (Who can blame 'em!). She's the good kid in class! The first day of dropping her off was the hardest day of my life! Leaving my sweet little baby was the worst thing for me at that time. I cried all day. But I got through it. It was good to find out that she did so well, and that she was one of the good babies that didn't cry all day. Since then she has just charmed their socks off. It's hard for me to believe though that she has now been in day care for as long as she was home with me. )-= But again she does really well and that eases my mind. I also go to see her every day on my lunch break and I nurse her. It's nice to get away from the office and the craziness and see my baby girl every day. I am very thankful that we found such a great facility that is so close to where I work. It only takes me about 7 minutes to get there when traffic is good.
She's holding her head up and enjoys sitting up (although not on her own yet). She likes to sit in her highchair in the living room next to daddy's recliner and chat with us. She's constantly jabbering. I just love listening to her. On the morning when she's awake during the car ride to school and she decides to talk to momma I always turn the stereo off and chat with my baby girl. She absolutely LOVES her bath time, she just about soaked momma the other night with all of her splashing. She had all 4 limbs going like crazy and was squealing. It was great. We are still doing the BumGenius cloth diapers. Those are going great. Daycare uses them with no problems. I bring in enough every day for the day, and leave a wet bag for them to put them in and then I bring them home every night. We have enough to get us through about 2 days at a time, so I'm usually washing diapers every other night. But it's not difficult I just have to start them as soon as I get home so we can get through the 2 wash cycles and the dryer before it's time for bed. She has recently started cuddling things. She's not picky, It can be a blanket, her pooh blankie Uncle Bradley got her, her bib or a burp cloth. lol just as long as she's got something to snuggle with. They told me that during the day at daycare sometimes she'll pull her bib over her face when she's sleepy and if they flip it down, she'll pull it back up again. (-= She's started laughing too, and loves it when daddy holds her above his head. She especially loves it when she's up high and she gets to drool on daddy's face! She is also on the verge of rolling over. Just can’t quite figure out how to move her shoulder. But gets her legs and hips all the way over. She hates being on her belly though, so I’m not sure how well the rolling over will work out once she does figure it out!
The last few months have been so amazing watching her budding personality take form. This kid stuff is pretty amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING.
Here are a few recent pics of our sweetheart: Aylin
So it's hard to believe that Aylin is now 4 months old! It doesn't seem like that much time has passed. She is getting so big so fast! We have her check up and shots this coming Thursday. So we'll know exactly how much she's gained. I can't wait for that part... the shots I could do without. (-=
The transition back to work went relatively well. The first week was obviously the hardest. But got progressively better (except for her catching all the bugs going around). She is now on a pretty good schedule for a daytime routine. The ladies at the daycare just love her to pieces (Who can blame 'em!). She's the good kid in class! The first day of dropping her off was the hardest day of my life! Leaving my sweet little baby was the worst thing for me at that time. I cried all day. But I got through it. It was good to find out that she did so well, and that she was one of the good babies that didn't cry all day. Since then she has just charmed their socks off. It's hard for me to believe though that she has now been in day care for as long as she was home with me. )-= But again she does really well and that eases my mind. I also go to see her every day on my lunch break and I nurse her. It's nice to get away from the office and the craziness and see my baby girl every day. I am very thankful that we found such a great facility that is so close to where I work. It only takes me about 7 minutes to get there when traffic is good.
She's holding her head up and enjoys sitting up (although not on her own yet). She likes to sit in her highchair in the living room next to daddy's recliner and chat with us. She's constantly jabbering. I just love listening to her. On the morning when she's awake during the car ride to school and she decides to talk to momma I always turn the stereo off and chat with my baby girl. She absolutely LOVES her bath time, she just about soaked momma the other night with all of her splashing. She had all 4 limbs going like crazy and was squealing. It was great. We are still doing the BumGenius cloth diapers. Those are going great. Daycare uses them with no problems. I bring in enough every day for the day, and leave a wet bag for them to put them in and then I bring them home every night. We have enough to get us through about 2 days at a time, so I'm usually washing diapers every other night. But it's not difficult I just have to start them as soon as I get home so we can get through the 2 wash cycles and the dryer before it's time for bed. She has recently started cuddling things. She's not picky, It can be a blanket, her pooh blankie Uncle Bradley got her, her bib or a burp cloth. lol just as long as she's got something to snuggle with. They told me that during the day at daycare sometimes she'll pull her bib over her face when she's sleepy and if they flip it down, she'll pull it back up again. (-= She's started laughing too, and loves it when daddy holds her above his head. She especially loves it when she's up high and she gets to drool on daddy's face! She is also on the verge of rolling over. Just can’t quite figure out how to move her shoulder. But gets her legs and hips all the way over. She hates being on her belly though, so I’m not sure how well the rolling over will work out once she does figure it out!
The last few months have been so amazing watching her budding personality take form. This kid stuff is pretty amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING.
Here are a few recent pics of our sweetheart: Aylin
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
A couple of cute videos...
These are both from today. Teena shot the first one of Aylin right after she woke up from her nap this afternoon. I shot the other one this evening.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
6 Weeks and counting
So sweet little Aylin is now 6 going on 7 weeks old. On Monday we made a trip to the pediatrician's office because of her upset tummy. She was diagnosed with mild to moderate GER or acid reflux. The dr. put her on infant zantac and told us to try it for a week to 10 days to see if it helps. If not, then I am to go on a no dairy diet for 2 weeks. We've had good and bad days since she's been on the zantac. But mostly good. We're going to see it through the weekend, and see where we are at on Monday. But I really hope to have this all worked out before I go back to work...
... Speaking of, that clock is quickly ticking away. And I find myself frustrated with the small amount of time I have left to spend at home with my sweet girl. Especially when a lot of those days here lately have been spent with an upset baby because of her acid reflux. I know that going back to work is going to absolutely kill me. How can I leave my sweet little girl with people that don't even know her or us for the majority of the day! Then I start thinking about all of the wonderful things I am going to miss while I am at work, and it makes me so SO sad! I took Aylin up to the office on Thursday. I had my 6 week check up (everything is great, and relatively back to "normal"), so I figured we'd drop in and see everyone. But that just left me feeling overwhelmed about what I am going to be walking back in to. And on top of that what I will be missing while I am being miserable at work. I guess I'm letting it swarm on me a bit, and I need to step back and take a breath. But that's just really hard for me to do right now. I just hope that the zantac does the trick and that I can have more sweet days then frustrating ones before I go back to work.
Back to happy things! Miss Aylin has been smiling at us for a few weeks now. She's been thinking about giving us a little laugh now and again. But not quite yet. Just a little caugh excited type noise mostly. It was pretty special the other evening: Jeff had come home from work and she was asleep in the swing. His recliner is directly across the living room from her swing. She started to wake up and he said "well hello little one" and suddenly her eyes were wide and she gave him the biggest smile I'd seen yet! It was awesome to see her recognize him like that and be so happy that daddy was home.
... Speaking of, that clock is quickly ticking away. And I find myself frustrated with the small amount of time I have left to spend at home with my sweet girl. Especially when a lot of those days here lately have been spent with an upset baby because of her acid reflux. I know that going back to work is going to absolutely kill me. How can I leave my sweet little girl with people that don't even know her or us for the majority of the day! Then I start thinking about all of the wonderful things I am going to miss while I am at work, and it makes me so SO sad! I took Aylin up to the office on Thursday. I had my 6 week check up (everything is great, and relatively back to "normal"), so I figured we'd drop in and see everyone. But that just left me feeling overwhelmed about what I am going to be walking back in to. And on top of that what I will be missing while I am being miserable at work. I guess I'm letting it swarm on me a bit, and I need to step back and take a breath. But that's just really hard for me to do right now. I just hope that the zantac does the trick and that I can have more sweet days then frustrating ones before I go back to work.
Back to happy things! Miss Aylin has been smiling at us for a few weeks now. She's been thinking about giving us a little laugh now and again. But not quite yet. Just a little caugh excited type noise mostly. It was pretty special the other evening: Jeff had come home from work and she was asleep in the swing. His recliner is directly across the living room from her swing. She started to wake up and he said "well hello little one" and suddenly her eyes were wide and she gave him the biggest smile I'd seen yet! It was awesome to see her recognize him like that and be so happy that daddy was home.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Has it really been a whole month?
Yes it has... a sweet, wonderful, happy, tearful, sleepless month with sweet little Aylin.
Grandma Jeanne came to help take care of the two redheads of the house for 2 weeks (for which we are immensely grateful) for Aylin's 2nd and 3rd weeks home. We found that Aylin loves baths, and before she was allowed a full bath we would wrap her in a towel and wash her hair. LOVED this! She also loves to sleep "frog style" on daddy's chest. She loves her swing and the neat lights and water sounds. She smiles, and coos and makes all kinds of fun happy sounds, and just melts mommy and daddy's hearts.
She has made the past week or so difficult by changing up her eating habits. Thanks to Grandma Jeanne we gave her a bottle of formula the last 2 nights in an effort to gain a little more sleep for everyone. This seems to have helped a lot. In addition I started pumping to try to build up my supply so we can be sure she's getting enough to eat. She has however taken to "topping off" every hour and throwing a screaming, inconsolable fit every hour to eat. Then when fed only eats about an ounce. So at the moment we are going through a very tearful day while we try to hold her off to at least 2 hours between feedings. Which is hard on everyone.
Below are some pictures from over the past month that you should enjoy. (-=
Grandma Jeanne came to help take care of the two redheads of the house for 2 weeks (for which we are immensely grateful) for Aylin's 2nd and 3rd weeks home. We found that Aylin loves baths, and before she was allowed a full bath we would wrap her in a towel and wash her hair. LOVED this! She also loves to sleep "frog style" on daddy's chest. She loves her swing and the neat lights and water sounds. She smiles, and coos and makes all kinds of fun happy sounds, and just melts mommy and daddy's hearts.
She has made the past week or so difficult by changing up her eating habits. Thanks to Grandma Jeanne we gave her a bottle of formula the last 2 nights in an effort to gain a little more sleep for everyone. This seems to have helped a lot. In addition I started pumping to try to build up my supply so we can be sure she's getting enough to eat. She has however taken to "topping off" every hour and throwing a screaming, inconsolable fit every hour to eat. Then when fed only eats about an ounce. So at the moment we are going through a very tearful day while we try to hold her off to at least 2 hours between feedings. Which is hard on everyone.
Below are some pictures from over the past month that you should enjoy. (-=
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Aylin's Arrival
Aylin Marie Melton; born to Jeffrey & Kristina Melton at 11:12pm on Thursday February 19, 2009 at Northwest Medical Center, Bentonville Arkansas. Attending physician Amy Sarver M.D.
On Wednesday 2/18/09 we had our fun little episode where I had started labor, but because I had not yet dilated the hospital sent us home. Thursday however was a whole other story. After coming home Wednesday afternoon my contractions never completely stopped. They continued to stay on a 8 - 15 minute schedule. And only let up for about 3 hours from 9pm to Midnight and allowed me to sleep for that short period of time. I continued to have contractions all day Thursday varying between 4 minutes and 15 minutes. Jeff took me to my doctor's appointment at 3pm, and I had managed to dilate to a 3. With that the doctor decided she was sending us to the hospital and was going to have them start me on a pitocin drip to get my contractions more regular and progress the labor. We were hoping this would be the case, so we had packed the car with our hospital bags in hopes that we would end up at the hospital.
On to the hospital; we checked in at 3:50pm. We were settled in a room and I had an IV, put in immediately. Since I had already been having contractions for over 36 hours I decided that an epidural didn't sound so bad after all. I was already exhausted from being in labor so long that it wasn't worth it to try to tough it out. So in went the epidural. Not a terribly fun process, felt like little electric shocks in my back. It's very hard to hold still and curve your back out towards the strange sensations when all that is going on. But I managed OK, and in the end it was the best thing I could have done. Once the epidural was working they put a catheter in, and started the pitocin drip. The pitocin started working immediately. They got my contractions between 2-3 minutes apart and they stayed that way. However when they tried to move me to lay on my left side little Aylin decided she didn't like that so much. Her heart rate started to slow down. So we tried my right side instead... she didn't like that either. So on my back it was. The more the labor progressed, the harder her little feets started pushing on my ribs. Making it harder and harder for me to breathe. I got to where I had to constantly push back with my left hand, else the discomfort become overwhelming.
After 3 hours on the pitocin drip however, my dilation was not progressing past a 5, and Aylin still had not dropped down into the birth canal. Apparenly my pelvis was not only too small, but was more of a football shape rather than round, so Aylin's head wasn't getting through. So the nurse came to inform me that if in the next 30 minutes no progess was made, the doctor was going to do a c-section instead. Rather than risk the health of our little girl and continue to stress her out. 30 minutes came and no progress was made. The c-section was imminent. I was freaked out. I had never considered that a c-section would be necessary. So the thought of one at that point with no time to really think about it, really freaked me out. I started to get naucious. They brought in 3 different kinds of acid reflux medication (1 thru the IV, 1 in pill form, 1 in liquid form) so that while on the operating table laying flat on my back I wouldn't have any problems with being ill... Well my nerves caused me to throw up the liquid. But the other 2 seemed to do OK. As I was wheeled from the nice calm semi-dark labor and delivery room to the super bright operating room the panic started to set in. I didn't have Jeff, I was still having to push on Aylin's feet in order to breathe, and I was completely numb from my ribs down. It was scary for me when they transported me from the bed to the operating table because I was so numb, and they were rolling me from one side to another, and I could do nothing for myself. Once flat on my back in the room the lights were so bright it made it hard for me to keep my eyes open. Then my arms were brought away from my body and put on boards so that they were straight out from my shoulders. This caused huge discomfort because Aylin was still pushing on my ribs. Then Jeff was there. I was still scared to death, but at least I had my hubby to talk to me and try to calm me down. In all of this probably less than 5 minutes had passed since I had been wheeled into the surgery room. And it was only a few more before they were holding sweet little Aylin up over the screen for us to see.
At that moment, there was nothing else in the world for me. Our sweet little daughter had arrived, and I could breathe again! For more reasons than just because her feet were no longer on my ribs! The moment they held her up over the screen I started bawling, and ooooh-ing and aaawwwee-ing. She was just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It didn't take them long to have her wraped up and brought over to Jeff to hold. He held her close to my face so I could kiss her, and say sweet things to her. Then they were both off to the nursery. They continued to work on me a bit longer, cleaning things up and stitching. Then I was wheeled down to recovery for about an hour while they watched me and waited for the epidural to start showing signs of wearing off. Immediately after surgery, probably because of all my nerves and adrenaline, I started to shiver tremendously. Down in recovery they put 3 warmed blankets on my body, and one around my head to keep my shaking to a minimum. Somewhere around 1pm I was brought back up to the maternity ward and settled in to a recovery room, and shortly there after my hubby and daughter joined.
I was exhausted, and over joyed. Even though things hadn't gone as I had expected them to, the end result was still amazing. I wouldn't change the events for anything. We stayed in the hospital all day Friday, and were released shortly after noon on Saturday. Both Aylin and mommy had recovered sufficiently for release, and mommy for one was ready to be home where I could rest easier.
Jeff has been an amazing support for me, and continues to encourage me every step of the way. He is such a wonderful husband, and takes such sweet wonderful care of me. God has truly blessed me with such a great little family.
Since arriving home, Aylin has been breast feeding like a dream. It was a bit of a rough start, but things have settled down into a rhythm, and she eats and sleeps well. With Jeff's help I have been getting lots of rest and time to recover. Aylin had her first check up at the pediatrician's office Monday, and she is looking wonderful. She had only lost 9oz. She has continued to eat very well, and constantly amazes her daddy and I. Our hearts are over flowing with love for this little one.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
What now?
Kristina started having some mild, regular contractions at about 1:30 this morning. By 3:30 AM, the contractions were increasing in strength and frequency, down to about every 10 or 12 minutes. We rolled out of bed, showered, had some breakfast, and started gathering up our bags. All the while, contractions were getting closer together, something like 7 minutes apart.
We trekked in to Bentonville's Northwest Medical Center and checked in. They put her on a monitor for 30 or 40 minutes, and talked to her obstetrician, checked to see if/how much she was dilated (finger-tip, the nurse said). Then they came in and told us to go home. The nurse gave Kristina a Vicodin and an Ambien -- on an empty stomach, which would prove significant later -- to "help her rest". Her contractions were still occurring at about 5 minute intervals.
Kristina's friend April offered to let us hang out at her house for the day, so we could be closer to the hospital in case something else developed. Kristina remembers little of the drive from the hospital, and when we got to April's house, she started vomiting. She threw up what little was in her stomach (a bit of a Sonic Sunshine Smoothie), and kept dry-heaving off and on for another hour or two.
She's been sleeping in between contractions ever since. We took a short walk a little while ago; she's crashed out again now. We're not really sure what to do now. She's supposed to have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, but if contractions don't let up... Who knows? The contractions don't really fit what I know of the profile of "false labor" or Braxton-Hicks contractions, but I'm not a medical professional. We're talking about heading back home this afternoon, but... ?
We trekked in to Bentonville's Northwest Medical Center and checked in. They put her on a monitor for 30 or 40 minutes, and talked to her obstetrician, checked to see if/how much she was dilated (finger-tip, the nurse said). Then they came in and told us to go home. The nurse gave Kristina a Vicodin and an Ambien -- on an empty stomach, which would prove significant later -- to "help her rest". Her contractions were still occurring at about 5 minute intervals.
Kristina's friend April offered to let us hang out at her house for the day, so we could be closer to the hospital in case something else developed. Kristina remembers little of the drive from the hospital, and when we got to April's house, she started vomiting. She threw up what little was in her stomach (a bit of a Sonic Sunshine Smoothie), and kept dry-heaving off and on for another hour or two.
She's been sleeping in between contractions ever since. We took a short walk a little while ago; she's crashed out again now. We're not really sure what to do now. She's supposed to have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, but if contractions don't let up... Who knows? The contractions don't really fit what I know of the profile of "false labor" or Braxton-Hicks contractions, but I'm not a medical professional. We're talking about heading back home this afternoon, but... ?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
A Finally Finished Nursery!
The nursery is finally complete! Whew! It's been mostly complete for some time now, just missing a few decorative touches. However now that the showers are done, and everything has been washed/folded/put away/assembled the nursery can now be declared FINISHED! And probably for the only time ever little miss Aylins entire wardrobe including bed clothes are clean and folded and in their proper place. (-=
Friday, January 30, 2009
Pre-registering @ The Hospital and Tours
This evening Jeff and I decided to pre-register at the hospital that we will be delivering Aylin at. This way when show up at the hospital all we have to do is check in at the front desk and they already have all of our information. Saves a little time on the front end when you've got a frazzled mommy & daddy to be shooting through the front doors of the hospital! :)
As well while we were there we toured the Maternity and Nursery area. I was very impressed with the facilities. Very nice large relaxed labor and delivery rooms. They showed us the monitors that they would use on my tummy to monitor contractions and Aylin's heartbeat. She also showed us how the bed worked and "comes apart" so that you have a mostly normal bed until it comes time for pushing, at which time the bottom portion comes away and underneith there are stirrups. Also a very nice bathroom and shower in the room. There is also a TV and DVD player in the room (although the nurse said don't count on the DVD player to work...)
The recovery room is a bit smaller and not quite as homey, but still very nice. The nurse said that the bed is a much more comfortable bed. There is a larger TV in the recovery room, and also a bathroom and shower in the room.
Then for the Nursery. The nurse explained to us how there would be a warmer unit in the delivery room and showed us how it works, and what all they do with the baby in the room. Then once the baby is moved to the nursery she remains in the same warmer unit and she explained what procedures they follow with the baby there. While we were touring there was a precious little baby boy in the nursery. Seeing the little guy in there just kind of brought everything into focus for me.
I feel a lot better now knowing what we're going into as far as the hospital goes. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I like to have a plan or at least know what I am going into. I feel that at least for now I know as much as I can and am as prepared as I can be for the BIG DAY! I'm sure that there are plenty of things that I haven't thought about, or things that I have NO idea how they will effect me. But I'll save those worries for another day. For now, I am feeling very at ease with the situation, and what we are walking into. We are both very excited, and I for one am anxious to meet our little baby girl.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Aylin's Arrival: Labor/Delivery/Hospital/Home
A quick update on what our plans are for labor/delivery/hospital/home once Aylin decides it’s time to make her grand entrance!
We have made plans for labor and delivery, however all family & friends are welcome at the hospital after delivery and after I’ve had a little recuperation time for myself. Then, after we get home from the hospital, we really feel like it's best if we have help (getting groceries, cleaning house, playing with the dogs, etc.) for just a couple of hours a day that first week. We don’t plan to have guests overnight.
Call ahead before you come so we can try to keep traffic to a minimum. That way if someone is already here, or on their way we can plan on another day. We’d like to have “visiting hours” done by dinner time. That way we can have time to settle the house down, and try as much as possible to get Aylin on a regular schedule. This will make the transition once I have to go back to work, *Hopefully*, a little easier if we’ve got her on a good schedule.
We’re very excited, and looking forward to her arrival! We’re sure you all are too!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Quick Update
So I am down to weekly doctor appointments these days as the arrival of Aylin nears. And I ask my doctor "At what point over the next month or so will I be far enough along that if I were to naturally go in to labor, would the hospital let me proceed without trying to stop my labor and send me home"? My doctor's response... "Yesterday"! I was a little shocked there. But due to the fact that I am in my 9th month, and based off of our ultrasound almost 3 weeks ago now they are confident that all would be well if I were to go in to labor. So here's to hoping that she decides to come early and not late. I know, I know... I've been told a hundred times that usually one's first child never comes on time let alone early... But a girl can hope right?
She is definitely growing. She's been exceptionally active today, and has nested mostly on my left side. Probably because I've taken the opportunity for a few cat naps today and usually lay on my left side. In either case, she's found that while balled up on my left side she can squirm and kick the backs on my ribs and other internal mommy parts and make mommy squirm. But she usually does well with a firm hand to the side of my belly re-directing her more towards the center of mommy's tummy.
At this point I'm at the most fun stage of pregnancy of all... I cry at the drop of a hat... happy, sad, mad, or even just mentioning crying gets me misty eyed! I've got a great case of cankles, sore - aching - and sometimes down right unbarably painful hips, and last but not least the ever fun acid reflux. But it's all worth it to see this little girl from the outside just squirming around in my belly, and knowing one day soon we will get to meet her. God has truly blessed us, and I cannot wait to meet this precious baby girl of ours.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Welcome to the Melton Family Blog
Jeff and I decided that since we have a large number of friends and family that we would like to keep updated on the developments in our new little family, that the best way would be with a blog. So with that in mind: Welcome! Our intent is to keep everyone updated with the goings on as we prepare for the arrival of Aylin Marie (Yes! We finally decided on a name!)
With every passing day we get closer and closer to finishing the nursery. We have all of our main furniture (Crib, Dresser/Changing table, Rocking Chair, etc). Now the difficult part is how to fit it all in the nursery and somehow not make ourselves crazy in the process! We've now got a plan in mind that *should* work well. We just have to find the energy and motivation to carry out that plan, which at present will be another day's work. Because as much as the nesting mother (-= would like to get it all done... I know there's only so much time and energy in a day that can be spent on such things. However we do still have plenty of time... or so we think!
Below are the latest ultrasound pictures, as well as some pictures of the crib and dresser. Once we get closer to completing the nursery I will post more. Also I have included the latest shot of me and my 34 weeks pregnant belly. Enjoy!
Above & Below: Aylins face
Above: Side view of her face, with her arm up to her face.Below: Right arm, and left hand in front of her face.
Above: Right arm and left hand in front of her face.
Above: Right arm and left hand in front of her face.Below: Foot
Dresser/Changing table.
Crib
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