Not to be vain, but my parents say she looks just like me when I was her age

Susanna's school picture. Isn't she beautiful?

Our little girl is growing up so fast! Here's a pic taken about six weeks ago. I have plenty more, but need to download/post them. Susanna has lost her love for the camera and tends to look away instead of look at the camera. It's made getting ultra-cute pics much harder.

Miscellaneous

OK, so posting every six weeks isn't that bad, right? Right???

Allow me to provide a few updates:

• Christmas was fun, and I think that Susanna really enjoyed it. She's really not into the gift thing (yet), which took the pressure off of us. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and James' mom came down on Christmas Day. Our gifts to each other were exceptionally domestic; I got a laundry sorter and crock pot, and James got a quesadilla maker and cookware.
• With great fear and trembling, I am putting myself up for an appointment this year. I've been working on some of my own issues that contributed to the SJ debacle and also much better informed on how to handle a "problem church." I think that the local church and I deserve to give each other another chance. I'm just terrified, which may be a good thing. At least I won't be cocky.
• I am LOVING my residency. I love my fellow residents, my supervisor, and the rest of the Pastoral Care staff. I also like Riverside. I hate the commute (40 miles each way) but at least I get to listen to lots of books on CD...the residency ends on August 31.
• Susanna is still not walking. She is standing fairly well with support and is developing more muscle tone, which is key. She's still working with the PT, and will do so until she reaches our goal (able to walk/run easily) or her third birthday, whichever comes first. Apparently I didn't walk until I was about 22 months, so this may be a genetic thing.
• Outside the walking issue, she is still clearly the most adorable, intelligent, and personable child alive. James and I are absolutely enthralled by her, and she charms everyone she meets. She's been sick more this year, with two ear infections and a recent bout of bronchiolitis (thankfully, no ER trip this time!), but her daycare is larger and she's not getting "mommy's milk" anymore. However, she's still pretty healthy, which is a relief. Last time we checked, she was about 31" long and weighed about 23 lbs. She has a smattering of words and lots of unrecognizable sounds. She likes bananas, quesadillas, green beans, and chocolate chip cookies.
• Simon is enjoying his life as a suburban dog and likes barking at the other dogs in the neighborhood. His closest "friend" is Charlie, whose parents are Joel and Melissa (good friends of ours who live in Hampton). He is incredibly gentle with Susanna, who calls him "Dog dog" and likes to pet/hit him. We have yet to see him snap or growl at her. He just gets up and moves when he's had enough. Simon is still extremely cuddly and likes sleeping in bed with us.
• James is doing very, very well at work. He's already gotten a big, fat raise and a performance award. He likes what he's doing, which is a nice change from those last few months at NCCU. Job Satisfaction + Job Success = Happy Husband.

And...I think that's about it. I'll try and post some pictures soon, so you can see how absolutely cute our daughter is.

Our Little Giant

Susanna had her nine-month checkup today. Yes, I know it's six weeks late. However, that's what happens when you move and have to find a new pediatrician. When I called the last week of May, July 16 was their first available "well child" appointment.

Anywho, I love her new doctor. She took time to listen and answer all my questions in a very thorough way. Susanna of course got weighed and measured. She is 29.5 inches tall (which puts her in the 90th percentile) and weighs 20 lbs, 13 oz (which puts her in the 75th percentile). And those percentiles are for a 10 month old, not a 9 month old baby.

We have a large child, folks. I think she'll surpass me in height before she enters middle school. Sigh.

Look How She's Grown!

Our little girl...


...isn't so little anymore. At 10 months, she is beginning to look less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl. We're almost positive that her eyes will permanently be blue, since they haven't changed yet. Her hair is getting longer and kind of curly. It seems like every day she's developing some sort of new skill. It's wonderful and exciting, but kind of sad, too.

Susanna and Simon are becoming good friends, as you can see in this picture. She pets him and tries to grab his collar. He puts up with it, and licks her lovingly. It's very cute.

Fourth of July Fun!

Last night, we went out on my parents' boat to celebrate the 4th of July. We cruised around the Chesapeake Bay for a few hours and saw most of the city's fireworks displays. It was great; no crowds, no mosquitoes, and at times we could see four or five different fireworks shows at once. Here are a few pictures of Susanna and James. She's wearing a life vest, per USCG rules. She really didn't like it very much, as you can tell from the picture. We think her expression says, "Oh my gosh, these people are unreal. Look what I have to put up with." She didn't have to wear the life vest in the cabin, so she spent a lot of time in there.

Annual Conference 2008

Susanna and I went to Annual Conference last week. We left on Sunday afternoon and returned Wednesday evening. It was in Roanoke this year (they alternate between Roanoke, Norfolk, and Hampton) so we got to stay with James' mom. We had a lot of fun, although it was pretty busy and tiring.

Here's Tuesday's schedule, to give you an idea:

7:30 a.m. We wake up, eat breakfast, and get dressed.
9:45 a.m. Arrive at the Civic Center (about 15 minutes from Nina's apartment)
9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. I listen to the various presentations and participate in worship while Susanna looked around, napped, and played on the floor with Chloe, Anna, and Carson.
12:00 p.m. We eat lunch with Dave, a former pastor and family friend.
1:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Susanna and I stroll around the exhibit area and the Expo
5:00 p.m. Young Clergy dinner at a local restaurant
7:30 p.m. Back to the Civic Center for a worship service, "Celebrating the Ministry of Young People"
9:30 p.m. Back to Nina's apartment.

Can I just say how amazing Susanna is? She was SO GOOD all week. Sometime she got a little bored and then got fussy, but for the most part she was happy to be strolled around, play with her toys, play with other kids, and take in everything that was going on around her.

This year, the Annual Conference's focus was on Young People. It was pretty neat. Most of the music was contemporary (including at the ordination service, which apparently ticked some people off), the lyrics and liturgy were projected onto screens (although also in the worship book), and all day Tuesday there was an Expo with tons of exhibits to give churches ideas about how to better reach young people.

It was great to see my fellow clergy friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in a year. It was also great to see some friends from Charles Wesley, the church I grew up in. I love Annual Conference, because it's a big reunion and also a great time for refreshment, new ideas, and getting reconnected.

I've posted some pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first one is of Susanna and some friends (a.ka. "the childrens' delegation") playing on the floor during a session. The second is of Susanna holding the Book of Reports, our agenda and guide for all of the sessions/presentations.

What a messy eater!

This morning, James decided to let Susanna feed herself breakfast. She took that to mean "grab spoon with one hand, put other hand in jar and go to town." The end result was slightly messy. However, she did have a blast doing it.

Needless to say, she received a very thorough bath after breakfast.

Been to the Emergency Room

I don't think you've fully experienced parenthood until you've made a middle-of-the-night visit to the ER with your child.

Less than four hours after I wrote Thursday's post, I woke up to hear Susanna sounding like Darth Vader over the baby monitor. When I went to check on her, I could hear her wheezing from the doorway of her room. The on-call nurse had told me if her wheezing got that loud that I needed to take her to the ER. So...in the next thirty minutes I did everything possible to avoid doing just that. I fed her some Pedialyte, ran the shower for 20 minutes, and kept her upright to help her breathe easier.

Why did I want to avoid the ER? No, it wasn't for financial reasons. Nor was it laziness. It's because the ER at Danville Regional Medical Center is legendary for being S L O W. I've heard of people waiting FIVE HOURS in the WAITING ROOM, giving up, and heading to another ER (there are about three others within an hour's drive). I didn't want to take her there unless it was absolutely necessary.

Alas, none of my measures worked, so I got dressed, bundled her up and off we went. Please note that I had the presence of mind to write down her Social Security # before we left. We arrived at 1:50 a.m. Thankfully, we were taken back to a room within 45 minutes, saw a doctor almost immediately, and within 30 minutes Susanna was receiving a breathing treatment. She was still wheezing a bunch after her first breathing treatment, so they gave her a second one. Thankfully, the second one did the trick...mostly. She wasn't breathing normally, but was showing enough improvement that the doctor said she didn't need to be hospitalized. He wrote a few prescriptions and told me to take her to the pediatrician that day (Friday). The diagnosis he gave us was: bronchiolitis (click on the link if you want more info).

Thankfully, she's doing much, much better. She's sleeping through the night again, is wheezing very rarely, is coughing less, and has regained her appetite. I'm keeping her home with me for the next few days until she's fully recovered. In the meantime, several times a day we "drug her up" with Amoxocillin (for the ear infection), Albuterol (for the wheezing), and a cough syrup.

I'm hoping and praying that she stays healthy for the next two months. I can't handle too many more weeks like this past week. Of course, I'll deal with it if it happens again. But I'm hoping that it doesn't.

Mama's Girl All the Way!

I am so freaking tired, yet I can't go to sleep. Don't you hate that? I haven't gotten a full night's sleep all week. Susanna is sick. She developed a cough over the weekend. Monday night, we woke up about three times because she kept coughing. Tuesday, I kept her home from daycare "just in case." On Wednesday, a church member had surgery in Winston-Salem, so I took her to daycare, so I could go down there. She seemed to be a little better. When I got back on Wednesday night, she was much worse. She hadn't eaten much at all, she was extremely clingy, and her cough seemed worse. So, I took her to the urgent care clinic. Turns out that in addition to her cold (or whatever it is), she has an EAR INFECTION.

That's where the "Mama's Girl" comes in...I had tons of ear infections when I was little. My very first one ocurred when I was about Susanna's age. Amazingly enough, Amoxocillin hasn't changed in 20+ years...I recognized the smell as soon as I opened the bottle of oral suspension liquid. They also gave her another cough syrup, and I'm running the vaporizer whenever she's in her room. She was sounding sort of wheezy/raspy tonight, but she's asleep now. I'll probably call the doctor in the morning if she's not better.

It's very difficult to get work done while taking care of a sick child. Thankfully, she slept more than usual today, so I was able to get some things accomplished. I'll probably keep her home with me tomorrow, because I don't want her spreading anything to the other kids (or getting another bug). Hopefully she'll be right as rain by Monday!

Time Flies

Wow, here we are at the end of March and it's been over a month since I posted a blog entry with any real content. Lots has been going on. As you can see by the picture, Susanna is growing by leaps and bounds. She now has two bottom teeth and she likes biting anything (and anyone) she can. At her six-month checkup she was 26" long and weighed 17 lbs, 4 oz. We've moved her out of her infant seat (which will soon be going to her still-in-utero cousin, Jacob) and into a "big girl" car seat. It's a Britax Boulevard, which tends to be pretty pricey. However, we got a great deal on it (30% off or something like that) during their annual sale. Yay for Baby Bargains and their cool blog. Besides, she'll be in it for another 3 1/2 years (according to VA law), so it's a worthy investment. Susanna also started on solid foods about a month ago. I'm adding a new food every 4-5 days, to check for allergies. Her repertoire currently consists of: rice cereal, baby oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, bananas, peas, and applesauce. She loves solid food and can't wait until she can eat some of Daddy's pancakes.

Speaking of Daddy (a.k.a James), he's doing very well himself. He loves his new job...did I mention that James has a new job? Silly me! Let me back up about six months...Last summer and fall, James began to get very fed up with NCCU. They were making incredible demands on his time (teach 3 classes a semester, work with 3 or 4 graduate students, maintain the computer server, AND publish one paper a year). It got so that he was working 50 hours down in Durham, driving 75 miles home, and then working for another hour or two. He'd even have to work (at home) for 5 or so hours on the weekends. He was utterly miserable and exhausted. Of course, things got even worse when Susanna arrived. We were at each other's throats a lot. Finally, we realized that things needed to change. James began looking for an industry job in either Tidewater or Northern Virginia. We were hoping that he'd find something by the spring, so he could begin in May or June. Then this job at Booz Allen Hamilton (an international firm that does a bunch of government contracts) literally fell into his lap. He applied, he interviewed, and they wanted him to start ASAP...which meant right before Thanksgiving. We decided that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so he took the job. He LOVES it. The only hitch...the job is in Norfolk, which is four hours away from Danville. So, he stays in an apartment in Chesapeake during the week and comes home on the weekends.

Of course, that means that since November, I've been a single mother during the week. Thankfully, Susanna is a very easygoing and healthy baby, so I've been doing just fine for the most part. There have been a few difficult weeks, such as last week, when Susanna had diarrhea, I wasn't feeling too hot myself, and it was Holy Week. There was also the week that I had an upper respiratory virus (complete with fever). I hate having to cart her to every evening meeting at church, but thankfully there aren't too many of those. I also worry about what would happen if someone from church had an emergency in the middle of the night. I would most likely bring her with me to the hospital, and hope that her presence might diffuse some tension. Hopefully that won't happen, though. Generally, it's been very manageable, and at least I know that a) James is only four hours away if something MAJOR happened, b) James will be home on Friday night, and c) this is only for a limited amount of time.

You may have figured this out already, but in case you haven't...I'm leaving St. John's in June and will hopefully receive an appointment in the Tidewater area. Obviously, our family needs to be together again and resume/establish some semblance of normal life. However, I probably would have been moving this year even if James hadn't gotten the new job. Without going into details (you can e-mail me if you want those), the church and I have mutually agreed that I'm not the best pastor for them. I have loved my time here, and have learned a great deal about ministry and about myself. St. John's is full of wonderful servants of God and I will always hold them dear in my heart. It's time to move on, though, and I hope that their next pastor is able to stay for more than two years. I think that they need and deserve someone who can stay a while and really help them grow in ministry.

This post has turned into a novella. The princess (as I call Susanna) will be up between 6:30 and 7:00, so I'd better turn in so I can get enough beauty sleep. Toodles.

Susanna at two months old

Here's a quick picture of Susanna, who is growing so fast it's hard to believe!! She turned two months old last Monday, and has her two-month checkup (complete with shots) on Friday. Today was her first full day in day care (sniff, sniff). I miss her like crazy, but I am getting SO much more work done. Susanna is being baptized this Sunday. Our friend and former pastor, Dave, is doing the baptism. Therefore, I feel the need to really have a kick-butt sermon this week. Not that I don't try to have a great sermon every week, but it's not every week that your former pastor is in the congregation. :) Off I go to exegete and apply...