Easter 2013

I hope everyone had a happy Easter.  Ours was really wonderful.  BJ and Greg (our worship minister) constructed a truly inspired service that made for a beautiful celebration.  BJ still manages to blow me away with his sermons every once in a while, and today was certainly one of those days.

Of course, in the background of the religious holiday was the fun of dressing up my kids and doing an Easter egg hunt.  Here are two pictures of Shepherd in the vest and tie Aunt Marcy sent.  I really need to start dressing this kid up more often because he did not know what to do with himself this morning.  He kept yanking at the vest and tie while moaning, "I stuck, I stuck."  And not surprisingly, he bolted out of the church once, got his hands muddy, and immediately rubbed them all over his pale yellow vest.  That's my boy.

Overall, Lydia was pretty impressed with her get-up this morning.  She looked so adorable I giggled for about the first two hours of the day.  Unfortunately, the awesome dress didn't make her any nicer.  While she did smile at me, BJ, Shepherd, and occasionally Mamm and Pap, everyone else got the icy cold glares to which they've all become accustomed.

Lydia isn't much for bows, so the only way we kept it on for half of the morning was by giving her plenty of entertainment.  Her she is with an absolutely fascinating plastic spoon and two Easter eggs.

BJ is significantly harder to entertain.

And last but not least, here are some pictures of little man's Easter egg hunt.  I had ten eggs (2 year olds don't have the longest attention spans), and each egg had 4 m&m's in them.  Each time he would find an egg he would open it up, say "mmm, more m-m's," and eat each m&m slowly while telling us what color they were. It took a really, really long time.

Like I said, it was a fantastic holiday.  I wish I had more good pictures, but my camera batteries died (boo).  Anyways, thanks to Mamm and Pap for making it so special by spending it all with us.

Favorite Moment from the Past Week in Mommy Land

Yesterday, my two-year-old gave my 8-month-old a time-out.  When Lydia is really happy, she screams so loud you can't hear anything else and you can hardly think.  Yesterday afternoon, she got really happy.  Apparently, Shepherd had enough of the screeching, so he went over to her, pointed his little finger right at her, and said, "No, no, no! Time-out!"  She didn't take him too seriously.  In fact, she found it entertaining enough to scream about for several more minutes.  You've got to give Shep kudos for trying, though.  

What Me, Shep, and Lydi Do When BJ is at Board Meetings

 When I was Shepherd's age, Randy Travis recorded "Forever and Ever, Amen." It was my very, very, very most favoritest song of all time ever.  Tonight, while having a youtube dance party with my children, I stumbled across a video of my favorite band, the Avett Brothers, doing a cover of my favorite song from my toddler years.  Of course, I immediately played it for Shepherd, and turns out, the kid inherited his taste in music from me, so we listened to it about five more times.  Here is the video for anyone who has ever really loved a song or a band or a toddler.  Enjoy.

The One Glaring at You

Anybody who has ever known me at all knows that I am no social butterfly.  I'm shy upon meeting people, and I keep a fairly small circle of very close friends.  Basically, I am a dictionary definition for introvert.  Lydia apparently got this particular gene of mine, and seeing a baby introvert is both fascinating and hilarious.

Lydia's introversion primarily makes itself noticable at Walmart and on Sunday mornings at church.  In fact, for the past few Sundays at church, Lydia has managed to go the entire 2 to 3 hours we're there without smiling at a single person.  What is sad is that people are trying to get smiles out of her.  That are trying hard, but this kid doesn't know the meaning of a cheap laugh.  I don't know how many times at Walmart or church or the Y or the library someone has come up doing baby talk and a little tickle only to get a cold, assessing stare out of my daughter.  Of course, as soon as we enter our house and it is just Mom, Dad, and Shep, she is all smiles and giggles.    For a visual, here is a picture of Lydia in her Sunday best giving her now famous Sunday look.

I know a lot of people worry if they see that their kid is going to be an introvert, but I'm completely okay with it.  I figure that introversion has served me pretty well in life, and I'm sure Lydia will navigate it's waters just fine.  And in ode to the adorable little personality I see developing in my petite munchkin, here are a few of the things I imagine Lydia is thinking while she is making so many baby lovers feel an inch tall after there failed attempts at getting a smile or a giggle:


-Who exactly are you?

-I'm not ticklish there.

-This is probably wasting both of our time.

-My brother can make that sound, also, and he's two.

-That wasn't bad, but I've seen funnier.

-I've had gas bubbles that made me laugh more.

-Personal space, people.

-Technically, yes, you could hold me, but with mom and dad here to hold me, I can hardly see the point.

-I'm sorry, was that meant to impress.

Learning Niceties

I've never thought much about how I acquired manners.  I am a reasonably nice person. I say "please" and "thank you," "excuse me" and "yes/no, sir/ma'am." But I never really considered the process that educated me into civilized society.

Watching Shepherd be shaped from a little caveman into a somewhat mannered little boy is a fascinating process.  Suffice it to say, manners don't come naturally to him, but he is making a concerted effort.  Here is an exchange we had yesterday afternoon after he picked up Lydia's blankets for me:

Me: Thank you, Shepherd.
Shep: Your welcome. (thinks for a moment and then comes over and shakes me hand) Nice to meetchya.

I guess he figure that while we were exchanging niceties, he'd better cover all of his bases.  I honestly don't know where he picked up "nice to meetchya," but I'm assuming he's been paying attention to social graces at church.

Right now Shepherd and our neighbor's little boy are playing outside.  They aren't being well mannered at all.  In fact, they are behaving more like their dogs with whom they are also playing than like anyone or thing you are ever likely to encounter at a tea party.  But that is okay.  He is two years old, so being civilized is a perfectly acceptable part-time gig.  As Shepherd so elegantly put it when I was wrestling him onto his changing table the other morning to get him dressed for the day, "I can't coperate right now."