coming along!

My days at work are seeming to fly right by. I have been working with all my new coworkers to get the center ready as soon as possible! We have an open house coming up in a few weeks and right now it looks like we are not going to be anywhere near ready. My room is coming along just fine, but all the other rooms were full of boxes from all different companies with toys, furniture, bikes, blankets and everything else that we have to unpack and distribute to the classrooms. Here are a few pictures of my room.

It may look like it is ready to us as an infant room, but looks are deceiving! :) We still have to get alot more toys to pass DCFS and state regulations and then there is all the stocking of baby food, bottle, cup and so one. Plus get our bulletin board sets up on the wall. I was going to take some pictures of the rest of the center, but it is all still under construction. If I were to take pictures of it now, you wouldn't see anything but cardboard, tools and ladders. I show you the rest later. All in all I am really enjoying getting everything all set up. I am exhausted after the day but still look forward to tomorrow!

BBQ and S'mores

Tonight I went to drop off Bella to Grandma so she could have her for a few days. It is nice for her to have her as company and for me not to have to worry about her while I am at work. We started talking about what we wanted to do for dinner and how nice it was outside and grandma said how nice it would be to get a little BBQ for her out on her back deck. We decided to go to Walmart and get one and BBQ some chicken and corn. It was so good!

Than I had the great idea to make S'mores. Those were even better!!!

Shelley enjoyed making her own inventions and making a mess! :)

It was nice to be out enjoying the beautiful evening. I would say that I can't wait for the fall weather, but I know what happens after that...cold and snow!

Michael W. Smith

Last night I got to go to the Michael W. Smith concert at Summerwood theater at First Free! It was so much fun! I started by helping out with parking by waving one of those big orange flags around telling people were to go. Since it was my first time they put me over in the handicap parking so I would be safe. :) Then the Yost's from church saved me a seat since I didn't get in there until right before the concert started. I love his concerts (this is my 6th one). He just seems to be a "normal guy" doing what he loves...he isn't in it for the fame at all!

Today was my first day in the center at Sweds. I was fun to get in there and get a feel for the building. We spent all morning unpacking boxes of toys, blocks and games. Then after lunch we all went outside to put together all the Little Tike's cars, trucks and bikes. It was so much fun to see all the toys that we were getting! Right before we left my co-teacher, Amanda, and I decided to set up the furniture in our room the way we think we want it. I didn't have my camera to get pictures today but I will try to get some on Wednesday when we are back in there. Tomorrow we all have CPR and first aid training. It has been really nice to be doing things in a big group so we can all get to know each other.

First Day

Today was my first day of orientation at Swedish American and it was so much fun! The orientation was amazing...it was like going and watching and interactive show with singing, dancing, comedy and skits all mixed up together but at the same time learning about the health system. Then after we were done at the hospital we all got to go see the new Ryan Jury Child Development Center! It was beautiful!!! I didn't really feel right about pulling out my camera during the tour with the whole group, but got a chance to take a few pictures of my room. The center is still under construction since it really doesn't open until mid September but the classrooms are done and ready for us to get in and set up.
As you can see, there is little to no furniture in the room and what is there still has plastic over it. It is going to be so much fun to get the room ready!
I know it is a funny thing to get excited about, but our changing stations are so cool!! They have steps that come out for bigger children (mainly 2 year olds...not so much the infants) to climb up instead of lifting them. Then if you pull out the steps, behind it is the diaper pail. It is a big space saver!
As you can see, I am really excited about everything right now! Tomorrow is another day of orientation. Although I am told it is not as fun as today because it is all computer and paper work. Then for the next few weeks I will be setting up the room with my co-teacher and getting to know the staff.