Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving found the Baileys at Grandma Lucy's house in Perryton, Tx. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, shopped a lot and Joseph rabbit hunted A LOT.

We love it at Grandma Lucy's. She is the hostest with the mostest, and a lot of fun to boot. She lives on a bunch of land outside a neat little town and visits are always relaxing and enjoyable.

One of the many funny things that happened was towards the end of our trip. Luke kept playing in the ice chest with sodas in it, so his grandma (my mother) decided to make it a productive thing. She had him take sodas to everyone that wanted one. He obliged and did a great job at remembering names. Finally my mom said "take a coke to Aunt Peggy." This is what he did:

I love that kid.

What is This?

I peeled an onion today to prepare to chop it and this is what I found:

There were 2 separate onions housed in the same skin. They are not connected at all at that line. What is it? Maybe....twin onions?

Now that's just funny.

I agree with the comments on the last post. I think God is telling me He is mindful of us. Of this I am SOOOOOOOOOO grateful. He takes the time to show us He cares for us. Oh how He loves us!!

I also think He has a sense of humor.

Cute, God. Cute.

My Life in a Mixing Bowl?

So I was baking last Tuesday. I was making brownies for our dear friends the Moores who just had their sweet baby Niah.

The recipe called for 2 eggs. I cracked the first egg in the bowl. Then the second. But this one was different. It was a twin egg! A perfectly separated nucleus. Staring into that mixing bowl, I laughed to myself and said "Well there's my life in a mixing bowl!" Referring, of course, to having a singleton (Luke) first and then surprise twins next.

I thought it was cute so I took a picture.




Well then Wednesday I was baking again. Banana bread this time. Luke's favorite! The recipe called for one egg. I cracked it open and this is what I found:

Another perfectly split twin egg!!



And then I fainted.

Well, not physically, but, holy cow! Have you ever seen a twin egg? Not me! What are the odds of seeing two in a row? Perhaps the odds of having sets of twins two in a row?

Is this my life in a mixing bowl? It should be fun to ride this one out.

I've quit using eggs for the time being.

Surprise!

Confession: I can never remember how to spell "surprise".

But that's not the point of this blog entry. This is:

YES! It's TWINS! They are due April 24, 2009. My doctor doesn't expect them to make it much passed 37 or 38 weeks though, so we are looking at early to mid-April to welcome these babies!

I think the great philosopher, Popeye captured my thoughts best when he said "Well blow me down!".

So here is the story.

Monday, September 8, Joseph and I went for the routine 8-week ultrasound. Glancing at the screen, I saw the blinking light of the baby's heart beat! So exciting! Then the wand moved a little and I saw an identical blinking light just to the left of the first one.
I asked "What is that? Is that my artery or something?" I knew perfectly well what it was, but I was unable to imagine it was true. The technician kept her poker face and invited an additional person in to get a second opinion. The second technician confirmed what we thought but could not believe. We are having twins!

Tears in my eyes, joyful of course, I turned to look at Joseph. His mouth was wide open, his head shaking slowly from side to side. We were in SHOCK!
The next several days were a haze of calling and rejoicing with friends and family. My dad, who is an identical twin, was giddy! He had called it! My mom had also been pulling for twins so, of course, she was thrilled.
I think we are still walking around shaking our heads, unable to fathom what we are in for, but what a blessing!

WOW.

Well then, of course, an ugly little bug called Fear immediately tried to sneak in, as it does often in attempt to spoil wonderful things. My thoughts flitted between a friend who had miscarried a twin, to the story of a twin mom who was on bed rest for weeks, to my own father who was born 6 weeks early and faced medical issues as a baby. Thankfully, my doctor gave me great advice in the midst of this. He said "Let's not borrow from tomorrow. I'll worry about the 'what-ifs' and in the moments like this one where everything looks great, you rejoice!"
I thank God everyday for doctors who love Him!

In a quieter moment, my thoughts also brought me back to April, 2008. We had a conference at church that taught about how God uses words of encouragement given to his saints to lift up the Body of Christ. The "freaky-Jesus" term is prophecy. Well, at this conference we learned that anyone can be used to encourage the Body, so we were instructed to "pair off" with someone we didn't know at all and pray that God would reveal some sort of specific encouragement for that person.

The lady who was my partner got a "word" almost immediately. She told me "I see a full womb! A womb that is irrevocably full". I was not pregnant at the time, but knew that we wanted to expand our family soon, so I thanked her for sharing and just "stuck it in my pocket" as the saying goes.

I think of the significance of it now. A FULL womb. Whew, she wasn't kidding! And "irrevocably full" nonetheless. I have no choice in that "word" but to dismiss the fear the Enemy tries to insert! My God encouraged me 4 months before I knew I was pregnant for a time that he knew full well about. Oh how He loves us!

And one more thing. The encouraging word was given to me in April the very same month the babies are due. What a promise! I am claiming it in the Name of the LORD!

So, surprise! Here's to the next 18 years. I think I need a nap!

New Parking Spot

I have a new parking spot at the Grovcery Store:


That's right! A new Bailey Baby coming your way April 2009!

Ok, Let me see if I can see through these blurry tears to imbed this video I just watched.



I've seen this story several times, about a father who trained for triathlons all because his disabled son had a dream to complete them. But I'm not sure if I've ever seen it as a parent.

Lord, when all is said and done, let it be said of me that I loved my family this selflessly. I'm an imperfect parent without your Grace. Love them through me!

Camp Bonita- June 15th-20th

For the 3rd year in a row all the Baileys (Joseph, Crista, and Luke) Joined the ranks of volunteers for Kids Camp at Camp Bonita north of Ruidoso, NM. This was Joseph’s 4th year actually. He’s the one that got the Baileys on the Kids camp train.

Camp Bonita is a week in the mountains, praising the Lord and loving on kids. It is always TONS of work, but oh so worth it. I love it! I’m already doing the math so I can time it just right to have a baby around the camp schedule. Maybe I’m kidding, if only a little.

Even though Luke is 1 ½, this is how he counts for 3 years:
Year 1 2006: Luke in utero (I was 4 months prego), Year 2- 2007” Luke 7 months, Year 3-2008 Luke 19 months.

You may feel that the prego year didn’t count for Luke attendance. On the contrary! Hiking up mountains, carrying all the camp nurse supplies and wearing myself out taking care of 300 kids--it counts. I was very aware that Luke was there with me.

But, I digress.

This year was especially fun for all of us because Luke really got into playing with the other kids and was very aware of all of the fun. He was a champ! He missed a lot of sleep, but was a real trooper!

He went to Band practice while Mom and Dad rehearsed:


Ate Plenty of dessert:


And rekindled old friendships with Carol who works in the cafeteria. Sweet Carol. She remembered us!
2007- 7 months old (Luke, not Carol)
2008: Luke is 19 months

God did some amazing things in the lives of the kids and counselors.
For instance, in my previous camp nurse experience, there was a slew of illness and injury, to the point where I was overwhelmed and a few ER visits transpired. This year, as all of the onslaught started on the first night, Pastor Randy prayed for healing and wellness over the entire camp. And, would you know it, medically speaking I was pretty bored (compared to previous years)! PRAISE THE LORD! That’s how we nurses like it!

Also, Ruidoso is in the middle of a pretty bad drought. The kids had compassion on Ruidoso and even though it would affect camp activities, they prayed for rain to come. The weather report showed 0% chance of Rain and God was merciful and it rained that day!!


Testify!

That’s my new "Jesus form" of “Holla!” Think it will catch on?

Me neither.

No Longer Scared of the "Big Boy Tub"

May

So, hey, Crista. How's that "documenting your family" going?

Fine, thank you. I've written several blogs in my head. You haven't read them?

Oh. Ok here's the Cliffs Notes.

May 7th: The Baileys packed up and headed to Burleson for my mom's retirement reception. Mom is an elementary school teacher in the public school system. She's served 24+ years to molding young minds and she is fabulous at it! The time has come to leave the public school system behind to embrace the private school sector. We're so proud of you Mom!

On a funny note, the reception honored several teachers that were retiring and the emcee asked for each retiree to introduce their family who had come to celebrate with them. It was really great for my mom to be able to introduce all of us as we were all able to make it, even my dad who had to work extra hard to fly in from Chicago. Well, it came around to one precious lady who stood and said "No one is here with me today, I'm alone." Quickly the emcee repiled "you're not alone, we are your family!" This was met by the crowd responding with affectionate versions of "yeah! yeah, we're your family!" The room soon quieted and from my arms I heard Luke's sweet little voice respond "Yeah!"

May 10th: My Sweet friend Jennifer threw a Mother's Day brunch for her friends. Very sweet!

May 12th. (Deep breath. *gulp*) I turned 30.

There it is. I said it. That's taken a lot of positive self talk to admit openly! Really it didn't hurt that bad. It does sting a little each time I answer the "how old are you?" question or when I check the age 30-39 demographic on questionnaires. I'm sure this pain will dull with time.

I awoke to the smell of Bacon. Awesome, right? JB had gotten up early to make very yummy breakfast burritos and took me and Luke on a breakfast picnic. It was so fun and thoughtful! We fed ducks, played on the playground. Good times.

That night, the same sweet Jennifer as above helped JB throw a birthday party for me. It was a good night of friends, Sam's pizza and cake. Does it get better? I submit that it does not!

May 16th: Joseph's sister Keri and her husband Chad gave us an overnight date! It was complete with childcare, Outback gift card and a local hotel room. It was fun to go to a movie and a late dinner and linger over coffee and have adult conversation. This was a present for both of our 30th birthdays and we are so grateful. Such generosity!

The rest of the month was a fun mix of dinner with friends, baby birthday parties and a few photo shoots with JB.

And who could forget Memorial Day slip-n-slides with the Hoes family?


It was a good May.

There are the Cliff's Notes. Pop Quiz on Monday.

Luke Tells a Joke

Mas Queso?

My New Favorite Picture

My Boys


And the talent behind the view finder? That's right. Yours truly. Ok, ok, JB set up the lighting, the timing, the background and even edited it, but the glory always goes to the one who pushed the button.

This is my moment. *bask*

An Answer

You are lying in bed. It's dark, the house is quiet. If only you could sleep, but your mind keeps racing around one question. Does it have an answer? Could anyone even know the depths of it?

The Question that won't let you rest:

"What would Delta Airlines' response be should I ever (minimally) be of assistance in helping save someone's life in-flight?"

You can rest now. I have the answer and it came via USPS.



It's not round-trip first class airfare to Hawaii, but it was thoughtful. I seriously wasn't expecting anything other than legal hassle when they asked for my address.

Sleep tight.

Happy Birthday Joseph!

This past weekend we celebrated Joseph's birthday. But not just any birthday. The big 3-0.
How do you create a special day for someone who can read you with just a glance? How do you surprise someone who is always on the lookout?

Well, I think I did it!

I was going for memorable. Thus, the Joseph Bailey T-shirt was created. With the help of a t-shirt genius, Scott, we had shirts made of Joseph. It features a picture of Joseph with a handlebar mustache (which he shaved down from a beard just to gross me out) and the slogan "Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving."

I cooked a huge breakfast and invited friends from our life group. Said friends were gracious enough to get in on the t-shirt gag and purchased their own and wore them to the breakfast as a surprise to JB. It was priceless!

The day of the party, I asked Joseph if he could help me by getting Luke dressed in what I set out for him while I finished up cooking. (Luke had a shirt with just JB's face as it was too small for the text) While I am in the kitchen laughing hysterically, Joseph comes in and says "Crista, who's on his shirt?" Amidst my laughing he exclaims "Is that me?!?!?!?"

I give him a shirt to wear and he appreciates the gag and congratulates me on catching him off guard.

Slowly the rest of the plot becomes obvious to him. First with: "do you have a shirt too?", then: (in embarrassed shock) "who else has one of these shirts?" Finally as people started arriving wearing the aforementioned shirt, he just shook his head in disbelief and said "Holy cow, Crista, you got me."

Insert victory dance here.

Here's some pics so you can enjoy the magic too.

Here's the birthday boy:
Those in attendance at breakfast:
Everyone making the face JB is making in the photo on the shirt
Luke in the Shirt. He kept pointing to the artwork and saying "da da!"

To add to the fun, people were wearing the shirts at worship band practice the next morning and some even wore them to first service at church. Kudos to Todd who wore it the entire morning on stage for 3 services while playing the drums.


This kind of gag really never goes away. For years to come we will be reminded of Joseph in all his handlebar stache glory.

Love you JB!!

It's Me Again

So here’s a u-turn. I’ve been on a 2 year hiatus from blogging because I feel I have run out of fodder as it pertains to my subject matter.

A brief reference:

Previous blog: outrageous/bizarre stories related to my career as a nurse, car owner, telemarketing victim.

New Blog: Document my family. I know I’ll wish I did if I don’t!

I dread knowing that my blog will now be a tad boring and full of stuff you may care nothing about, but to me it will be priceless. I bet your heart does not twitter when my son learns a new word or tells his first joke, but boy mine does! So here, I will document what happens in the Bailey Palace, what the Lord whispers deep in my heart, and a little bit of ridiculousness. You can read along if you’d like, or just visit when you feel the urge to refresh yourself about the adventures of Ms. Miller or Ms. Jones. Those ladies are always a good read.

So buckle up, we’re making a u-turn. And I’m baaaaa-aaack!

P.S. The picture was a little present from Joseph.