More pics from our visit...

Here is the link to my friend Susan's blog, with more great pictures from their trip to visit us:) http://maconjennings.blogspot.com/2010/07/ohio.html

Fun with friends

We had the best visit with our best friends from GA. Susan, Henry, Oliver, Holly, Athena and Elijah arrived Saturday evening and the kids' reunion was oh so cute:) They were just so happy and excited to see each other and play together again. It was a short two-day visit, but really the perfect amount of time to have a LOT of fun. On Sunday we took our friends to Lake Erie to the Fairport Harbor beach. The kids had an awesome time swimming and playing in the sand. Sunday afternoon we hit the splash pad--and boy was it HOT out! Monday rained, so we headed to the mall to let the kids play in the soft-play area and then hit up the Disney Store. Monday afternoon the rain cleared up and we let the kids burn off their energy at a nearby playground.

The slideshow is all the pics from the visit, and then the rest of the pictures are misc. from the weekend and today. I took the kids to Paine Falls to check out the beautiful waterfall, and then to Indian Point park to splash and explore in the river. Aiden is really a boy's boy--he could have stayed and explored and hiked the river all day long.

Thank you so much to Susan and Holly for making the looong trip to visit us! We had so much fun--it really made our summer. We've missed you guys so much!

The Art of Reverse Psychology

Thought I would share this funny anecdote from this evening. I was making dinner in the kitchen and because our front hallway is open to the upstairs, I can hear the kids in the playroom (sometimes good, sometimes loud, lol). This is what I hear:

Aiden: Ava, come with me. Ava. Ava! Ok Ava, I'm leaving now, bye....see you later....bye Ava...
Ava: Bye Aiden, see you later!
Aiden: No, Ava! You're supposed to come with me! That's supposed to make you want to come with me!
Ava: Oh...ok, I come with you! Let's go!

I was laughing so hard. Aiden has the art of reverse psychology down to a science...almost;)

Pieces of Me

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

I can't count how many times before Aiden was born that I thought to myself, "I won't let having a baby change me. I'll still be me." But the truth is, that's just not possible. Having a child means that your life is never the same again. Having a child means that YOU are never the same you.

I feel like these last almost-thirty-years make up one giant puzzle, all of the pieces of me. There are so many different me's. Shy and quiet Barbara from grade school, just one wrong look could send me to tears. Smart and friendly Barbara from middle school, with my first boyfriend and my first kiss. Summer camp Barbara, full of energy and songs and life and happiness. Show choir Barbara, loving high school and boyfriends, road trips and prom and parties. In college I became Bea, someone totally new, with jobs and papers to write and deadlines to meet and bills to pay. I smoked clove cigarettes and lived with my boyfriend and couldn't pick a major to save my life. Next came working Barbara, at Reader's Digest and then Progressive, where I fumbled and failed and thrived and succeeded. And one man came along and I fell in love and all of a sudden, I was about to become Mommy.

Now I am someone totally new. And yet some days I can't even remember who I used to be. I search for her, in the quiet moments of the afternoon when the house is still with sleeping babes, I look around and wonder where I went. It's like working Barbara went to the store and forgot to come back, and sent Mommy back in her place. I make meals and I clean messes and I wipe bottoms and I read stories and I play pretend. I push swings and I teach the alphabet and I sing songs and I give timeouts. And every once in a while, in the middle of the day, I take 10 minutes to myself in a locked bathroom, and I cry, because that's what you do when you miss someone. I miss me.

I'm trying to remember that this is one big journey, and we are all constantly changing into someone new. I'm trying to find the things that make me happy, find hobbies I enjoy and can actually find time to do, make friends with people whose company makes me feel like myself. But once you have children, being their mother ALWAYS comes first. Their needs and their wants--I am their everything. Some days it's a little hard to reconcile with that, because just 5 years ago I was only MY everything. Being someone's everything, two people's everything, it's a privilege and an honor, but it's equally terrifying and exhausting. It's the best and the hardest job I've ever had, and I don't get a grade or a progress report or a performance evaluation or a raise. I do get lots of love and hugs and kisses, and thankfully, it's enough:)

I know some people will read this and judge me, but I hope that the mothers reading this will nod in agreement, sigh a little sigh, and start assembling your own puzzles. With all of the pieces of you...

Cedar Point & Soak City

Yesterday, we took the kids to Cedar Point and Soak City. It was all of our first time at Soak City, and the kids first time at Cedar Point, and man did we have a blast! The kids had the BEST time and did so great on most of the rides. If only Ava would have been just an inch taller, she could have gone on a lot more stuff, but she took it pretty well and had so much fun riding the kiddie rides. She was NOT a fan of the Tilt-a-Whirl, she said it made her too dizzy!

Aiden had so much fun. He really wanted to ride almost everything that he could go on, except the two small kiddie roller coasters--he was too timid for those. He did do the big viking ship with Chuck though, and he loved it!

We spent almost 4 hours at Soak City and it was the perfect day for it because it was HOT! Soak City is Cedar Point's water park and it has 3 separate areas for kids (in addition to tons of water slides for adults). There is also a pool that the kids had to wear life jackets to swim in. It was both of their first times wearing life jackets and they did great. Aiden made me laugh so hard though. When he first got in he was starting to freak out a bit and I said, "It's ok buddy, you're fine, don't panic. Don't panic." And he yelled, "I'm panicking! I'm panicking!" He was fine, of course, but it was funny.

My favorite moment of the day was riding the bumper boats with Ava (Chuck and I had to ride a lot of the rides with the kids and ended up splitting up into girls and boys for most of them). She looked over at me, patted me on the knee and said, "You such a nice Mommy. I love you." It melted my heart:)

Here is a slideshow of pics. Cedar Point definitely has two new superfans. They already can't wait for next summer:)

Swim time

What a fun couple of weeks we've been having! Aiden is getting to do all sorts of fun activities this summer, and he's loving it! Last week he did a Day Camp (9:30am-12:40pm every day) through the Mentor Parks Department. He really loved it--every day they did crafts, sang songs, played games, went on nature hikes, played on the playground, and then even swam in the Garfield pool for 30 minutes. On the last day of camp he even got to go on the big waterslide and he loved it!

This past week he had swim lessons every morning at the Outdoor Family Center in Perry. Man, oh man, this place is AMAZING!! The lesson is only 30 minutes, but that's the perfect amount of time for a 4 year old. His class was six 4 yr old boys, and it was taught by 4 YMCA lifeguards who were AMAZING with the kids. Aiden was definitely the most tentative in the class--probably because we're not members of the Y and he isn't as comfortable being in the water as the other boys. But he did great! He really loved his lessons and we have him signed up for next week as well, so I think he will make some progress.

The BEST part about the lessons are that once they are over, they call free swim so everyone just stays and swims, even though the pool doesn't open to the "public" until 1pm. So every morning this week (except Friday, it rained right after the lesson finished!) we stayed and swam for hours. The pool has an AWESOME kids area, and Aiden and Ava love it so much. Ava woke up every morning begging to go to the pool. And it was pure coincidence and luck that we got to go to the pool every morning on the hottest week of the year!

Here are a few pictures. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are:)

Thankful:)

So, let me start off by saying WOW. I am absolutely floored at how many people e-mailed me with words of encouragement to keep writing my blog, and to ask for the password. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you. It's almost a little intimidating to have an idea of how many people actually read my humble little creation. It means so much to me:)

Many of you mentioned that you didn't think I should make my blog private just because a few people are offended by what I have to say. And I thought about it long and hard and decided that you are right. I shouldn't have to censor myself, and I've certainly NEVER said anything remotely offensive about any members of my family, it's just people being overly sensitive, and to that I can certainly relate. So my final decision is to leave my blog as is, and hopefully this is the end of the drama. You won't need any password to read The Daily Bailey.

A note to any persons who have previously been offended by my blog: PLEASE remove it from your favorites and discontinue reading it. Thank you.

As for the rest of you...a million thanks wouldn't be enough. You lifted me up this week and made me look past the silly drama and count my blessings, for they are many. Your support and encouragement means more to me than I could ever express, so thank you.

Now for some pictures, enjoy:) They are from the past few weeks. The one of Chuck and I is from Cedar Point and I love how this odd old man managed to take center stage in the photo, lol. (I took another one and he was also in it!). We're having an absolutely amazing summer, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)