The saga continues. . .

Yesterday at naptime Hayley mastered the art of climbing out of her crib. She did it over and over and over. It is actually very impressive---she can get out of it in a matter of seconds! So as of naptime yesterday she is officially in her big girl bed! Once she went to sleep last night she stayed in bed until 6:30am! I know it will just get easier and easier as the days go by. Hard to believe I have such a big girl already!! I'm so proud of her, but not nearly as proud of her as she is of herself! : )

EAT MORE PIE DAY!

From Judy (my mom):
I have officially declared November 7 "Peggy Baldwin Eat-More-Pie Day". Mom would have been 82 tomorrow--what better way to celebrate than to give ourselves permission to eat a big old piece of pie and make a toast (with a cup of coffee, of course) to her on her day!

Anyone who has been craving a bite of something sweet, here is your chance to indulge with no guilt! My mom sent this email out yesterday. We will be having my grandma's infamous Chocolate Merangue Pie over here this evening. She is dearly loved and missed terribly, but oh what a time she is having right now with our Jesus and the other saints who have gone ahead of us. I don't know if we will celebrate our earthly birthdays in heaven anymore, but it is a sweet thought that this is her first b-day with her mom in a really long time. So join us in having a little pie today in memory of my sweet grandma!

One step forward, two steps back. . .

At 3:00am last night I put Hayley's crib back together. Let's just say thunderstorms and a yucky cough do not mix with transitioning to a big girl bed. And sleep deprived mamas are just no fun. We're all looking forward to a good night of sleep this evening. Stay tuned for round 3---whenever we get gutsy enough to give it another try. : ) I'm open for any suggestions from other moms out there who have had smooth transitions, or rough ones that ended up working out eventually with no one harmed in the process. : )

My Little Tigers!

I have a very hard time getting into Halloween. Part of it is that I was raised with a mother who talked every year about how SHE hated it. I didn't understand what the big deal was as a young child, but now I totally appreciate her perspective on the "holiday." I really don't want my kids participating in a holiday that promotes evil. I have some friends who don't participate in any way during this holiday---no parties, no Fall Festival, nothing. Tra's family didn't trick or treat when they were little. We did, but we never wore scary costumes. I'm glad the churches in the area do Fall Festivals so that there is a safe place to go where Christian music is playing and there are not SUPPOSED to be scary costumes. ( I saw one this year and wanted to ask the guy to remove the mask.) It is fun to see the little kids in cute little costumes. This is one of the first years that I not only understood completely why those who choose not to participate don't participate, but I have great respect for that decision. I guess the bottom line is that you have do do what you feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to do with your own family. And to my friends who do not do Halloween---you know who you are---I am very proud of you for sticking with your convictions and graciously declining all parties, festivals, etc. The Lord has enabled you to do that without anyone else feeling judged in any way--at least from my perspective.

Anyway--on to another subject. HAYLEY!! We have had a huge weekend over here. We removed the front rail from Hayley's crib and tried the big girl bed again! This time, IT WORKED! She kind of has a hard time getting comfortable with going to sleep, but once she's out, she's out for good! The first time we tried this she was up ALL NIGHT, literally. It was awful. This time, she has slept w/o tears until 7am for 2 nights in a row!! We are so proud of her and are excited about this new transition and how smothly it is going.

One more funny Hayley story---one of her new favorite words is Hallelujah! We were watching "God Made Christmas" (DVD) the other day and one of the songs on it is Handel's Messiah and I, of course, sing along with it. So later that day we were strolling through Target (getting a new blanket to put on her big girl bed) and she was singing, "Halle-loo-uh! Halle-loo-uh!. . . " over and over and over. It was so precious! Christmas is going to be extra fun this year! I can't wait!