March Happenings...

Is it really already nearing the end of March? It seems like just a few short weeks ago we were heading home from MI after meeting Abby. Time goes at warp speed these days I think! The "Daily Bailey" has turned into something more resembling the "Quarterly Bailey" but I'm happy to update when I can.

As for the Bailey family and how the new year has been treating us, life is good! Chuck's new job as a supervisor in pricing is keeping him busy. He just hired a new person to take over Illinois, and I know he is excited about that. He has a sinus infection at the moment and got some antibiotics today, so hopefully that goes away soon :-( After another round of cortisone shots to his heels for his plantar fascitiis, his feet are feeling a bit better (though not 100%).

My new job at the library is going really well! I made it through my first 8 week session of story times unscathed:-) I have a lot of fun at work and it really is the perfect job for me. I get to see so many of the people I know from school, preschool and the Y, so it is a fairly social job (which fits my personality) and I also have a lot of independence at work to plan my story times the way I like and do my own crafts, felt boards, etc. It's been a bit hectic lately because our head librarian is out on sick leave, but we are managing and the extra pay for the extra hours has been nice!

Aiden had his 7th birthday party last weekend! He invited 6 friends from school and had a Pokemon themed party. They had a Skylanders tournament, played "pin the pokeball", had cake, ice cream and snacks, and just hung out. It was a nice party and I think he really enjoyed it. I am proud of him for wanting a party and glad that everyone he invited was able to attend, it really made him happy! His actual birthday is this Saturday (the 23rd) but I am working all day, so we had the party a week early. Aiden is doing really well in school, reading at a 3rd grade level and also excelling in math. He's gotten 100% on every spelling test so far this year and graduated to the "advanced" spelling lists of 12 words instead of 7. It's been a challenge finding reading material that is age-appropriate since his skill level is so high, but luckily his mom is a librarian and has pretty unlimited resources, so we're managing, lol. I think he's looking forward to Spring Break in a few weeks just to have a bit of a break from school. We're not going anywhere on vacation because I'm not able to take any time off until August (I know...crazy), but I am definitely planning on taking the kids to the Science Center and maybe the Zoo if it is nice out. We should have a few fun days in there despite me working, and Chuck is taking a few days off to help out also.

I don't have too much to report on Ava. She is her same sassy self, lol. She's learning to read now and doing very well--she has 50 sight words memorized now out of the Dolch 300, which is a great start! It's seeming to come very naturally for her, which is wonderful. I know how frustrating it can be for some beginner readers, but she's picking up on it very easily and she is eager to learn, so that is a great combination. She is very good at doing puzzles and loves to color, draw and write. She's ready for Kindergarten and when we registered her a few weeks ago for next year, she was extremely disappointed to learn that it didn't start immediately, lol. As for myself, I am very ready to have both of my kids going to the same school! And be done paying for preschool also, an added bonus!

That sums it all up for now. I'm hoping for some warmer temps and for spring to actually get here soon, it is FREEZING today! Looks like the Groundhog missed the mark this year!

New Year, New Direction

2013 is actually off to a pretty exciting start for our family. Chuck and I both started new jobs! I am really proud of Chuck for getting a promotion in the pricing department. He is now supervising the pricers for Louisiana, Minnesota, Arkansas and Illinois, and he is doing a great job! It was a pretty significant move for him, and though it means no more working from home (and I miss him!), I am really proud of him.

After working at the Y for a little over a year, I was at Morley library in December and saw a posting for an assistant librarian in Children's Services. I knew immediately that I wanted the job, and it was just a matter of going for it and giving it my all. I interviewed shortly after New Year's and started on January 11th. It is going so well! I work some pretty strange hours, which has meant finding childcare for 2 days a week, but I'm lucky to have great friends who help me out and latchkey for Aiden on Friday afternoons. I am working Monday 5-9, Tuesday 5:30-9, Wednesday 9-1, Friday 1-6, every other Saturday 9-5 and one Sunday a month 1-5. Not ideal hours, but the job fits me perfectly. I get to do 3 of the Young Family Story times a week and Tuesday evenings I run Stories Plus for kids ages 6-10. I absolutely love it. The head librarian is just an amazing person who I get along with so well. I feel so lucky to have found a job I love that still gives me a lot of time home with my kids during the day several days a week.

Yes, 2013 is really starting off right for us! We even bought new furniture for the living room: a couch, loveseat and recliner. We love it! 

Ava's 5th Birthday

I'm catching up on my blogging on the ride home from Michigan! We had such a wonderful visit meeting Abby, I just love her so much!

I'm so glad my sister told me about the Blogger app, because it makes posting blogs so much simpler! And since most of my pictures are on my phone anyway, it is a cinch now!

Here are some of the pics from my baby girl's party. She had a Hello Kitty theme and had 9 of her friends come over for Hello Kitty mini pizzas, cake and ice cream, and some games. They had so much fun! She is really a lucky girl to have so many great friends!

Meeting My New Niece

This weekend we made a quick trip to MI to meet my twin sister and her husband's new baby girl! Abigail Elizabeth Main was born on January 20th, 2013, and weighed 6lbs 13oz. We made the drive to meet Abby and she is such an amazing sweetheart. A really calm baby who hardly ever cries, which is such a change from how Aiden was when he was a baby! My sister Liz is doing such a great job as a new mother, I am so proud of her!

More to come later, I'm testing the Blogger app and posting from my phone for the first time. We will see how this turns out!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the Bailey family! It's been a while since I blogged, and life is chugging along. Aiden is getting over a case of strep throat from last week, poor guy. Everyone else is well, for now :-) I'm finishing up all of my Christmas shopping and am really excited for Christmas this year. We've been really lucky (not to mention that Chuck is great with our finances) and the kids are going to be having the best Christmas they've ever had. I fully expect them to freak out on Christmas morning, lol.

  December is always a busy month for us with Chuck's birthday, Christmas, and then Ava's birthday. I can't believe my little girl is really going to be FIVE. How is that possible? It seems like yesterday that she was born, and now here she is, learning to read (she's doing it all on her own, it's amazing me!), helping me with EVERYTHING around the house, and being her general sassy self:-) Aiden is doing great in school academically--he's reading 60 page chapter books for homework and likes doing linear math equations at the breakfast table for fun (I wish I was joking, I regular am entertained by his morning chatter of, "Mom, 5 + X = 16, solve X. He's 6 years old!!). He is still having some anxiety issues with the social aspects of school, but we're working on it. Hopefully someday soon this trouble will be a distant memory.

 I'm excited for this month, not just for Christmas, but because we are also surprising the kids with the trip to Great Wolf Lodge on the first day of Christmas Break, and then heading to Lansing for an early Christmas with my family. The kids have no idea and they are going to be soooo happy! It will be the last time I see my sister before her baby girl is born too, so I am really excited for that as well! Have a wonderful holiday season, enjoy it all. I hope we get some snow soon, my monkeys are dying to go sledding, we only got to go once last year and they talk about it all the time! We're looking forward to some nice winter adventures, especially now that they are really old enough to stay out in the cold for a while and have fun!