Up and running

Monday was out first day with kids at work. So far it is going wonderful! It is a little strange to be left with babies you don't know, but it didn't take long before Amanda and I got a good routine going in the room. Here are a few pictures of our week. We did an "All about me" theme this week and let them paint with their hands and feet. Most of them loved it but you could tell the babys that had never gotten their hands in paint before.

This is lunch time. I think it is so cute they all have their little chairs.
Those are just a few of out adventures this week. We are able to have 8 babies in our room at one time but this week we have been having 5 or 6. I has been nice to have a smaller group to get used to things and starting next week we have a few more families starting.

A night of babysitting

Shannon and Josh got to go out on their first "date" since Joshua was born Saturday night! Since Joshua is now taking bottles it makes it much easier for Shannon to leave him. I got a few pictures for your enjoyment! :)



I had so much fun with both of them. Lydia and I played with all her Little People toys and when she went to bed, I got to enjoy some time with Joshua alone! It is so much fun to be an aunt!!

Pictures of the center

So here are all the pictures of the Ryan Jury Child Development Learning Center. There are alot of them, but I know some people really wanted to see everything.

This is a picture of Ryan Jury. He is the boy that the center is named after. He died when he was 2 at Sweds and his family has done alot for the health system.
The entrance to the building. There are 2 screens that parents can turn to their child's class to see what they are doing.
This is the infant playground. It is really cute! Small, but perfect for crawlers and walkers.

The preschool playground. They have this one and then a bike path to the left of this for all the cars and bikes.

My room! As you can see we did the "under the sea" theme.


Our huge kitchen! Our food coordinator came from Rockford Memorial with us and is so happy with her kitchen. It is about 3 times the size of her old one.

A toddler room. There are 2 rooms of every age group except infants where we have 3.
A two year old room.
One of the 3 year old rooms
One of our four year old rooms.
Our before and after school room that will be our kindergarten next year.

A picture that was taken of the staff this morning before open house. A 5 year old had my camera, so I think this picture turned out good! The man standing all the way to the right is Harvey. He is our director, Carol's (the one is the black), boss. I found out that he and his wife were our neighbors when my family lived in our house in Roscoe. What a small world!
Shannon Lydia and Joshua came to visit me and see the center. I think Lydia would come play every day if she could.
My co-teacher, Amanda talking to one of our moms.
This is just one of our new babies. Lydia loved handing him all the toys.
The open house went great! I got to see all but 2 of our families. I am so excited for Monday, even though it is going to be a crazy day!

apple orchard

This morning Shannon went to a big garage sale that takes place right down the street from me so she dropped Lydia and Joshua off to play with Shelley and I. I was making pancakes when she got here and Lydia loved those!!Joshua slept most of the time he was at my apartment, but Bella was very interested in him every time he started to make a sound. The weather was beautiful today so we decided to go to the apple orchard when Shannon got back. I love the first trip every year! Since Edwards got hit with a tornado last year there were still areas that were being redone. The big barn is even bigger now and feels alot more open inside. Of course the doughnuts hadn't changed! We all enjoyed those and fresh apple cider!

Joshua also enjoyed it...he slept the whole time!

All the animals weren't out yet since their area was still under construction, but the ponies were out and Lydia of course had to take a ride.
I think we all enjoyed getting out and getting some fresh air. I am ready for fall now!

chaos!

Here are a few pictures that I got of one of our trucks that came in this week. This is a small load, but you can get the idea of how we unload the boxes as they come off the truck and distribute them to the class rooms they belong in. In the first picture the 2 girls wearing pick are some of my fellow infant teachers from other rooms waiting to see what is in the boxes.

Thought I would share a little of the chaos that we are dealing with every day...but we make it as fun as we can! It has been a great way to get to know each other and have a few good laughs over things.