Learn to Tie Shoes: CHECK!

And so the time has come that I am once again reminded that my baby is no longer a baby. :(. We have spent a lot of time at the hospital this week with papa and Bayleigh has done a very good job at being good and entertaining herself. I know it has to be hard on her to sit up there for hours at a time, so I am proud of her for doing so well. While we have been up there Larry's dad and my mom have done so awesome at helping us keep her entertained and they go take a break to cool off in the waiting room around the corner--it is hot in papa's room--and Bayleigh wanted to learn to tie her shoes. Tony, God love him, did just that. I knew she had done it a couple of times, but was so caught up in the papa stuff that I, regretfully, didn't pay the attention the way a mommy should have. The next morning, (9.16.09), Bayleigh got up for school and said she wanted to tie her own shoes. I said ok, go for it. Within a minute or so she was SO proudly showing off the first shoe. I was BLOWN AWAY. I was SOOOO PROUD of her too. She did such a great job I had to think back to see if I had even untied it. So, I hand her the second shoe--the I KNEW I had just untied--and watched. She messed up the first time, but nailed it the second time! I mean, PERFECTLY tied both shoes--no slack in the bows what so ever. So, THANK YOU SO MUCH papa Tony for teaching her this and for being such a wonderful Grandpa!
Below is a picture of the first shoe tyings for school. I did put the knots in them so they wouldn't come undone at recess, but I think she did wonderful. Way to go baby girl. I love you!

Bikes and School PIctures

We sort of have been having a bit of a milestone moment around the Rutherford house. Bayleigh has decided that she wants her training wheels off her bike to ride like a big girl. So, Larry finally took them off on August 30th, 2009 and the ride began. I must say that she did a great job. She forgets to keep her feet on the pedals and then she goes one way or the other, but she did excellent as far as getting right back on. I have to give Larry props on that one though because he was right there and snatched, (that's a funny word), her up before she hit the ground. Well, minus one time when she was barely going anyways. No harm, no foul. :) She isn't quite there yet. By the time she was really getting good she was exhausted and it was starting to get dark--not to mention the fact that Larry was BEYOND EXHAUSTED! She did ride with Larry letting go too. Soooo, I am sure within the next couple weeks, depending on how much time we have to go out, she will be a Big Girl Bike Rider!!! Go Girl.
Yesterday, 9.9.09, was school picture day. I must say that Bayleigh was cute as EVER! I have included pictures I took from the morning before she left. It looks like she has makeup on, but she does not. She makes being beautiful look so easy. ;)
Not too much else has been going on. Macy has left the daycare, which made for a sad week so far. I do have her spot refilled already though and I am very excited to get to know Maddie and for us to become a part of each others lives. She is a beautiful little girl and seemed VERY happy. I am sure she will fit in well and things will be fine. I was soooo nervous for the interview with her mom. I don't know why I get that way. I am good at what I do, and we all know I am great at talking--non-stop, but I just get all anxious and nervous. I am sure it will be that way with every interview. I am just the type of person that would rather you just come and see me do my job and then go from there. :) I know, it doesn't work that way.
I'm going to cut this short so you can move onto the picture part of my blog. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for reading, Jenn
See?! Doesn't it look like she has makeup on???

Larry needs to move the Dodge. :)

The full effect. Sportin her Camp Rock shoes from Aunt Rachel. Thanks Rach!

And so it begins!!

She's so proud!

Oops! Where was you on that one dad?! No tears and got right back on!!

Papa Tony, (Larry's dad), lending a helping hand--or two!

This was THE pep talk and her response was, "well, if you let go of the back of that seat then I am going to fall off". Yip, she's right!

I just loved her face here. She had, at this point, done it by herself a few times adn was super excited!

Notice dads not touching her!!! Way to go Bay!!

Life is (you fill in the blank)....

My old boss used to say, Jenn-life is difficult. When something would come up and we would get frustrated that was our little thing. I'd look at him or he would look at me and we'd just simply say, Life is difficult. Rick was kind of the father figure in my life that wasn't there for the brief period I worked for him. I respected his opinion. He would tend to make sure that he tried to influence me down the right paths in life. I respected him. No, I respect him--present tense. I was 18-20 years old when I worked for Rick. Him and I still talk about once a year just to say hello and see how things are going, but this week I have been thinking a lot about him. Not so much him, but our little quirky phrase: Life is difficult. As I am getting older and as I am growing up I am realizing what he was talking about. I just wish the phrase could have been, Jenn-life is more difficult at times than you'd ever think it to be. That would have probably prepared me better for this world.

On Tuesday, one of my best friends gave birth to her son. Benjamin Charles. He has had a very rough few days and I have taken this opportunity to realize exactly how fast life can change--by fast, I mean in the blink of an eye. It's no secret that I pray every night. It's also no secret that those prayers are done silently in my head. My prayers are more like conversations with God. Of course he doesn't talk back with words, but he is listening and he, as silently as I say my prayers, is silently taking care of the things we need him to do. I am thankful for that. I am not going to go into details about Benjamin. I am going to keep that private because I know Jennifer and David don't want all the details on this Internet for the world to read, but I will just say that I will continue to pray for Benjamin, Jennifer, and David and I ask that those that are reading add them to your prayers also.

I am not going to let the FACT that life is difficult out weigh the FACTS that life is also amazing, beautiful, stressful, confusing, wonderful, blessed, and what we make of it. I have a BEAUTIFUL, LOVING, CARING, WONDERFUL family. My friends are just as equally important to me as my family too and my list of friends just continues to grow as I meet new and wonderful people. For that I am thankful. I have many, many, many things to be thankful for. I know that my life is truly a blessed life and I can't ask for anymore than that.

The picture for the post is one I took this week of Bayleigh is where she wanted a popsicle, before dinner, and her daddy told her no. Which was a rule that we came up with together, but he had to enforce it. So with that being said, I am also thankful that Bayleigh's biggest bummer of the day: was simply not getting a popsicle before dinner. I have learned that it could have been so much worse than that. I wish for her that this could be the biggest bummer she will have ever. Hey, I said wish. :)

Thanks for reading! Jenn

And She's Off....

As I mentioned before, today is Bayleigh's 1st day of pre-K. She woke up ready to go. I woke her up at 6:45 to come down for breakfast and to get dressed. Almost immediately she put her bookbag on and didn't want to take it off. My good friend Melanie drives her to school for me and she waited and waited until she pulled up and was out the door before I could get off the couch. LOL!
We went over the basic rules last night about what is expected of her while she is at school. You know, be kind to everybody, don't tattle on people--Mrs. Hardwick has eyes and ears too, make lots of friends, do as your told, pay attention...you get the idea. I must admit that I did cry. She said, "mom, stop crying. I am just going to be acrosss the street." Ok, for the record, for those of you that don't know, our house is not across the street from the school. Ok, Ok, Ok, so it is close, but still. That brought a smile across my face. I was good this morning though--no tears! Yes, I was a little anxious, but that's just me. I am happy for her and I am glad that she enjoys school so much. I hope to raise a very successful woman! I know she will be.
Below are a couple of pictures from this morning. I hope you enjoy!
*On a bit of a different note: I would like to say Welcome home to our great friend David. He just flew in bright and early this morning from over seas. Well, there is nothing bright about his arrival according to the hour his plane landed. :) 1:05 am. I am thankful to his service to our country and I am so happy he made it home safe and sound. We love you David!!!
Now, we have a cousin Dane over there and we ask for many prayers for his safe return also. Conditions over there, as you know, are not great at all. Heck, they really are not even good. Those men are all decked out in there military gear and it is 120 degrees. Please keep all our troops in your hearts and minds. Thanks Dane to you also for your service to our country. We love you!
Bayleigh's ready to go.
Such a poser!

Yes, I know her outfit would have been WAAAAAY better with flippie floppies, but they have to wear tennis shoes, soooo, it looks like she has on high waters. :)

Bye Momma!!!

Bayleigh in the car with Colin! On their way!

WES Open House 8.10.09

Well, it's that time of year again. School is starting. Well, it actually started today. Bayleigh is beginning her 2nd of 2 years of Pre-K at Waldron Elementary. Last night was the open house and meet the teacher. By going last night I learned that pre-K's first day is actually tomorrow. Wed. Aug. 12. We could have went today and gotten to know the students in her class, but it was just a day where parents stay and then we all leave together. I was told by Mrs. Hardwick that it is ok if we didn't come. When I take a day or even an hour off of work I put so many people out so that is why we didn't go.

Last year, Bayleigh only went on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When we applied this year she got accepted into Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but Mrs. Hardwick wanted her to go all five days because she did so well last year. How pre-K works at WES is, they have students that are special needs. That could range from speech problems to whatever. Then they accept 5-6 peer models to be in the class to help those student. You must apply in January just to get in for August and then it is on a first come first serve/qualification basis. We are lucky to have gotten in both years. Bayleigh loves it and I think it has been wonderful for her to get out of the house for a couple hours and improve the skills she already has.

Below are a couple of pictures from the open house night. The handsome boy in the bottom one is her "boyfriend" Colin Crouch. They tell the world, they are getting married some day. :) I will post pictures of tomorrow soon.

Have a super day and thanks for reading.

Camping 08/2009

This past weekend, August 7-9, 2009 we met with Larry's side of the family and went on our annual camping trip to Mississinewa Lake up by Peru, IN. It was a blast!
I was so nervous for the trip. I have this anxiety thing going on and just the thought of the long drive and possibility of seeing snakes scared me to death. LOL! I made up my mind once we arrived that I was just going to let it all go. I prayed for God to keep any snakes away from me. I didn't want to see them, hear of them, nothing--I wanted nothing to do with them. I also thanked God for getting us up there safely and prayed for a great, safe trip and a safe ride home. He, once again, came thru for us. :) I particuarly like this trip the best of all our traditional trips, well, it's a close tie with our cabin trip in December, because we are all able to get together and just hang out. Part of us are from here in central IN, part are from Northern IN, and some from Muncie. The kids always have a great time and us adults can just be...together. That is what I like, the together.
Not much else is going on in the Rutherford home. Bayleigh does start her second of two years of preschool tomorrow. She is looking forward to that. I am sure I will blog her first day soon too. I am currently considering a second job. Just something to help us not struggle, anticipating the winter gas bill and holidays. I have applied to a couple places online, but with the economy being where it is, I can just hope for the best. If I get something fine, and if I don't...well, my faith is with God. We will be fine. Below, out of order, are pictures from our trip. Thanks for checking in with us and have a great week.

Bayleigh transporting the water for the ditch. Elijah working hard.
Bayleigh pouring the water into the ditch with Elijah and Josh supervising.

Bayleigh packing the sand for her castle, that never came about.

Elijah showing Larry how to use the rip stick.

Kaleb doing the same.

Bayleigh, crammed into her 24 month swimsuit. I didn't want to ruin her new one at the lake.

Kim and Theresa carrying Joseph to the campfire so he wasn't sleeping on the ground away from us.

Bayleigh playing her Leapster. She was just being good and quiet as it got late.

The group loaded up and ready for the beach on Saturday. Josh, Kaleb, Whitney, Elijah, Tony, Kaitlynn, Bayleigh, Theresa, Cody (Josh's friend), and Larry. Oh and Maddie the dog.

Us girls. Me, Bayleigh, Kaitlynn, Kim, Theresa, and Whitney on the bottom.

Larry and Bay as we stopped for gas on the way home. I love these two people more than life itself.

Uncle Danny, Theresa, Larry, and Kim.

The whole gang. Bay cracks me up in this picture. Bayleigh, Joseph, Whitney, Kaitlynn, Elijah, Maddie: the dog, Kaleb, Cody, Larry, Me. Tony, Uncle Danny, Larry, Theresa, Kim, Josh, and Donnie.

The guys. Larry, Tony, Uncle Danny, and Larry.

Bayleigh, just hanging in the lake.

Photography, prices are flexible. :)

I really think this photography thing is the road I am daring to go down. It is exciting and fun and I just really, really, really enjoy it. I know the prices may seem steep, but I am willing to come down on them and just because you pay for a session does not mean you must buy a disc. I know that when I have professional pictures taken I preferr the disc because it is a great back up in case of a disaster AND I have the rights to the photos to order what I want. :). Let me know if I can be of service to you or anyone else that may need pictures. Here are just a couple of my FAV. pics! Later!