My friend, Kayla, tagged me to answer a few random questions. I am always happy to respond to randomness, so here it goes.
1. What's your favorite holiday? Christmas, because I love picking out presents for all of my family members. Also, I love my kids' birthdays. Planning parties is so much fun!
2. When you were young, what did you
want to be when you grew up? A pianist. I practiced hours on end, but eventually decided the visual arts would be more lucrative (hahahahahahaha).
3. What hobby would you like to take up if
you had more money/time? Printmaking. I do a little lino-cutting at home, but I would live to have my own printing press so I could do dry points, etchings, and embossments.
4. What TV shows do you currently watch? At the moment, I am going through Everybody Loves Raymond on Netflix. As far as current show, though, my favorites are Psych, White Collar, and Parks and Recreation.
5. How
long do you spend getting ready on a typical morning? Mom of two. I don't get ready on a typical morning.
6. What does your
name mean?/Why did your parents choose your name? Kalyn doesn't really have a meaning. My parents picked it because it is pretty. I think that is a good reason to pick a name, and I'm quite happy with their choice.
7. What's the best
gift you've ever received? My dad built me a doll house when I was about 7. It rocked my world. I can't wait to re-gift it to Lydia in a few years.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The New Road Trip
Sorry for the delay. I was unable to get a blog post done before we left town to come down to Menard because I was trying to prepare four people for a week away from home. It was chaos. Then once I got to Menard, well, it's Menard. Internet-y things are sometimes hard to accomplish. But the important thing is that we are here and having a wonderful time. Shepherd and Lydia are basking in the attention of Mamm, Pap, Uncle Bro, and Aunt Stephanie.
BJ and I have always loved road trips. They've been part of our relationship from the very beginning. This November marks eight years since we started dating, and there have been many extended road trips in that time to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and many places throughout Texas. Basically, we have travelled all over seeing our friends and family. As a minister's family, these little outings are restorative and necessary perhaps because we are going to see people who haven't always known BJ as the preacher and me as the preacher's wife. We love our church family and our role within that family, but we sometimes need to take off those hats.
Of course, our road trips have made quite an evolution. Used to, they were filled with BJ and I listening to our favorite music, finding NPR on the radio every time we neared a college town, talking, talking, and more talking about theology, politics, the meaning of life, and much more, and often reading books aloud to one another. Our road trips are still all of these things, only now they are done against the background of our children screaming at us for restraining them in the evil car seats for hours on end and me occasionally popping to the backseat to try ineffectually to pacify their tortured cries.
I had one moment Monday afternoon that really highlighted for me how much times had changed. We had made a quick pit stop, not to get a drink or use the bathroom or get gas, but rather to change diapers, nurse Lydia, and let Shepherd run out some energy. BJ and I both immediately got out of the van, retrieved the child that was on our side from the back seat, put them on our seat, and started changing a diaper. When I looked up and saw this:
I knew our lives had really changed. And despite the fact that we were standing over dirty diapers and children who had been screaming at us for the past hour, I couldn't help but feel a little happy that this is mine and BJ's life now. And despite the craziness, I think I'm okay with the new road trip.
BJ and I have always loved road trips. They've been part of our relationship from the very beginning. This November marks eight years since we started dating, and there have been many extended road trips in that time to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and many places throughout Texas. Basically, we have travelled all over seeing our friends and family. As a minister's family, these little outings are restorative and necessary perhaps because we are going to see people who haven't always known BJ as the preacher and me as the preacher's wife. We love our church family and our role within that family, but we sometimes need to take off those hats.
Of course, our road trips have made quite an evolution. Used to, they were filled with BJ and I listening to our favorite music, finding NPR on the radio every time we neared a college town, talking, talking, and more talking about theology, politics, the meaning of life, and much more, and often reading books aloud to one another. Our road trips are still all of these things, only now they are done against the background of our children screaming at us for restraining them in the evil car seats for hours on end and me occasionally popping to the backseat to try ineffectually to pacify their tortured cries.
I had one moment Monday afternoon that really highlighted for me how much times had changed. We had made a quick pit stop, not to get a drink or use the bathroom or get gas, but rather to change diapers, nurse Lydia, and let Shepherd run out some energy. BJ and I both immediately got out of the van, retrieved the child that was on our side from the back seat, put them on our seat, and started changing a diaper. When I looked up and saw this:
I knew our lives had really changed. And despite the fact that we were standing over dirty diapers and children who had been screaming at us for the past hour, I couldn't help but feel a little happy that this is mine and BJ's life now. And despite the craziness, I think I'm okay with the new road trip.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
In Light of the Blog's New Title, a Moment in the Park
While taking the kids for a walk in Ardmore's beautiful Regional Park, two years of reading children's books caught up to us.
Me: We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared! Uh, Oh, a cemented path. I smooth, nice cemented path.
Me with BJ joining in: We can't go over it, we can't go under it. Oh no, we've got to go through it.
BJ: Steady Gait, Steady Gait, Steady Gait.
Shepherd: Steady Gait!
Me: We are such nerds.
Lydia: (snoring)
Me: We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared! Uh, Oh, a cemented path. I smooth, nice cemented path.
Me with BJ joining in: We can't go over it, we can't go under it. Oh no, we've got to go through it.
BJ: Steady Gait, Steady Gait, Steady Gait.
Shepherd: Steady Gait!
Me: We are such nerds.
Lydia: (snoring)
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Sibling Bonding
Watching a sibling relationship develop is a fascinating experience. I love seeing Lydia and Shepherd's interest in each other grow with each passing day. So far, here is what the relationship between a two-year-old brother and three-month-old sister looks like:
-Shepherd regularly yells, "Tickoos," (toddler for tickles) and pokes, prods, and harasses Lydia. While it looks unpleasant to me, she thinks this is great and rewards hims with big, open-mouthed smiles.
-Shepherd is always running around being noisy. Lydia quietly sits on my lap or lays on the floor following him with intense interest. I suppose she is learning a lot while watching. I also suppose that should worry me. One day soon, I'm going to have two toddlers running around being noisy.
-Shepherd is really into coloring right now. When he is inside, he colors with crayons, and outside he colors with sidewalk chalk. While I try to keep his coloring to coloring books and sidewalks, Lydia is often times his canvas. Many of her clothes now have miniature artworks on them.
-Shepherd loves to identify all of Lydia's features (eyes, nose, ears, etc.). His favorite is her mouth. When he says, "Mouth," he immediately sticks his finger in her mouth. This makes Lydia smile until he sticks it too far in, and then it makes her gag.
I could list several other things, but suffice it to say, their little sibling relationship is truly budding. As someone who has always been close to my own brother, I love watching it. Siblings our such a blessing. There is know one else who witnesses one's life quite like a sibling. Siblings are there from the beginning (or almost the beginning), and they are typically with you through all of life's ups and downs. I am glad to see that even in the earliest moments, Shepherd and Lydia are building a foundation to what I pray will be a blessed, life-long relationship.
-Shepherd regularly yells, "Tickoos," (toddler for tickles) and pokes, prods, and harasses Lydia. While it looks unpleasant to me, she thinks this is great and rewards hims with big, open-mouthed smiles.
-Shepherd is always running around being noisy. Lydia quietly sits on my lap or lays on the floor following him with intense interest. I suppose she is learning a lot while watching. I also suppose that should worry me. One day soon, I'm going to have two toddlers running around being noisy.
-Shepherd is really into coloring right now. When he is inside, he colors with crayons, and outside he colors with sidewalk chalk. While I try to keep his coloring to coloring books and sidewalks, Lydia is often times his canvas. Many of her clothes now have miniature artworks on them.
-Shepherd loves to identify all of Lydia's features (eyes, nose, ears, etc.). His favorite is her mouth. When he says, "Mouth," he immediately sticks his finger in her mouth. This makes Lydia smile until he sticks it too far in, and then it makes her gag.
I could list several other things, but suffice it to say, their little sibling relationship is truly budding. As someone who has always been close to my own brother, I love watching it. Siblings our such a blessing. There is know one else who witnesses one's life quite like a sibling. Siblings are there from the beginning (or almost the beginning), and they are typically with you through all of life's ups and downs. I am glad to see that even in the earliest moments, Shepherd and Lydia are building a foundation to what I pray will be a blessed, life-long relationship.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
A few things
-As we have been experiencing fall weather off and on for the past month, I've come to a pretty major epiphany. It seems that my entire life has been leading to the moment when I would have a little girl and the weather would be cool enough to put her in tights and leg warmers. This is what it is all about, people.
-I have finally found a way to exercise that I love: spinning. Spinning meets my three criteria for a good work out:
-Yesterday was Halloween! Shepherd and Lydia wore costumes made by their Nana. Aren't my little dragon and sweet pea adorable?!
-BJ came home from work yesterday declaring that he is tired of Shepherd's current toddler phase that consists of not wanting to eat half of the time and playing with his food. Apparently, BJ returned to work after lunch to find rice in his hair.
-I recently purchased a pair of colored pants. They are a nice peachy-pink. I think they are adorable. BJ hates them. Any thoughts on the recent trend of colored pants?
-A cousin of mine pointed out this week the pressure people feel to give an outside appearance of perfection. So in the interest of candidness and for all the mothers out there who constantly beat themselves up because their house isn't as clean as it was before you had two kids sucking all of your time/energy/resources, here is a pictures of my living room right now. (FYI, for all the people who don't have kids yet but still fall behind, my house used to occasionally get this messy even before kids.)
-I have finally found a way to exercise that I love: spinning. Spinning meets my three criteria for a good work out:
- It requires no flexibility. (A 2 by 4 plank is more flexible than I am.)
- It does not require any learning of choreography. (I am as coordinated as Popeye's Olive Oyl.)
- And, finally, it isn't jogging.
-Yesterday was Halloween! Shepherd and Lydia wore costumes made by their Nana. Aren't my little dragon and sweet pea adorable?!
-BJ came home from work yesterday declaring that he is tired of Shepherd's current toddler phase that consists of not wanting to eat half of the time and playing with his food. Apparently, BJ returned to work after lunch to find rice in his hair.
-I recently purchased a pair of colored pants. They are a nice peachy-pink. I think they are adorable. BJ hates them. Any thoughts on the recent trend of colored pants?
-A cousin of mine pointed out this week the pressure people feel to give an outside appearance of perfection. So in the interest of candidness and for all the mothers out there who constantly beat themselves up because their house isn't as clean as it was before you had two kids sucking all of your time/energy/resources, here is a pictures of my living room right now. (FYI, for all the people who don't have kids yet but still fall behind, my house used to occasionally get this messy even before kids.)
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