Credit Where Credit is Due...

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the fact that I didn't give credit where credit was due the other day. I guess it's the teacher in me, but in case you were wondering or you'd like to make your own, here are the blogs where I found the instructions for the crib skirt and laundry bag.

http://dkhibler.blogspot.com/2009/06/crib-skirt-tutorial.html

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/05/sewing-101-how-to-make-a-hamper-liner.html

To bring you up to date, today was our first day at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). It's a place to share ideas and get help and spiritual and mental support from other moms who've been there. Jonathan stayed with the Moppets for two and a half hours and although he cried a bit at the beginning, the ladies said he did great and played with everyone. I think I'm going to really enjoy this! There are some first-rate ladies in the group. The plan of salvation was offered early in the meeting and we prayed at least three times.

Once a month the ladies get together for scrapbooking. I'm not a scrapbooker, but was told that lots of ladies bring their bills, Christmas cards, knitting, etc... and work on that while visiting with new and old friends. Child care isn't free, but it's cheap and you're right there in case your little one needs you. Sounds like a deal to me! Jonathan REALLY needs to play with other kiddos and that would give me the opportunity to work on some projects that have been waiting on my attention.

There's also the option to join a play group once a month. Wow! Again, I like the idea that I'd be right there with him, but also gleaning some wisdom from and getting to know other moms. Tomorrow night there's a social at Starbuck's for ladies who are new to MOPS. If I go, I'll be late. We're not far enough into this new sleep routine for me to skip out on it now and right now, Jonathan goes down easier for me than for anyone else. That's my fault of course, but as soon as we get really confident with it all, we'll be trying daddy out with the routine. Right now he's giving the bath and I'm doing the rest (Thank you Daddy!). Jonathan is really making some headway. Praise God - we're all getting some serious sleep these days!

I was thinking today how much I'm indebted to the ladies at Salem for getting tough with me and kicking me out of the nursery when Jonathan was young and giving me suggestions and pointers while we were there. This whole process would be much more difficult and we probably wouldn't already be involved in a church. Actually, I'd probably be a hermit... scared to death to take Jonathan anywhere.

Tomorrow is my first day in Bible Studay... on John. It won't be Jonathan's first day in Bible Land at Oak Hills, so I'm much less nervous about tomorrow than I was about today. I think we've found our church! We were regular attenders at Oak Hills when we lived here before, but we really wanted something smaller. Actually, as much as Jason traveled, I was a regular attender and Jason came with me when he was in town. However, we just can't get over the fact that Oak Hills really seems to be the best place for us. Pastor Randy and Pastor Max are phenomenal and worship is literally out of this world. So Jonathan will at least be in a familiar environment tomorrow. Wednesday is our 15 month check up and shots. That's the day I'm really dreading. I keep telling myself that by Friday it'll be a distant memory.

I stayed up a bit too late reading last night. I received my Baby Wise books last week and started on Toddler Wise. It's fantastic. I had a great deal of difficulty putting it down last night. There's a great template for a daily routine/ schedule. The idea is that children thrive on order and routine and that a predictable routine aids in their exploration and learning because it's much easier to build on what they know when they feel safe and when they can predict what will happen next. Of course, we can't always stick to a predictable routine, but I've seen proof that this philosophy works first hand. Jonathan does have a strong dinner time/ bedtime routine, but not a nap routine. He goes down beautifully now for bedtime, but not for a nap. Here's a link if you're interested. http://www.parentwisesolutions.com/toddlerwise/

I'm anxious to get a strong schedule together and implement it. It will probably help me learn to be a bit more disciplined with my time as well.

It's been a busy week, but we're making it so far. We hope to receive our grain mill tomorrow, so I'll be trying my hand at bread-baking by the end of the week (I hope). Still no word on Nora. She's still content with Mamma for now, but Brayden is here and safe! Eight pounds, six ounces and 21 inches long. The Williams family should be returning to their Elizabeth City home today! Yeeeee Haw!