December Activities

We've been busy, so in one blog post, here is what's up.

Violet playing with packaging...

Lydia's first haircut...

Shepherd's preschool Christmas party...

Violet's first food (unimpressed!)...

Christmas grocery shopping, Violet style...

Shepherd and Lydia staying in from the cold...

Church-ing (this is the best we could do. Seriously.)...

Decorating gingerbread houses!!!...

Hope everyone is having a merry Christmas season!

We're ready for Christmas Sunday!

Gensic Babies Doing Tummy Time!

I love comparing my kids' features at similar ages so here I go again!

Shepherd Joseph

Lydia Carol

Violet Beverly

Look at these!

Remember back when your feet were the coolest thing you had ever seen? That was awesome.

Catch Up

So, if there is one thing I've learned this year, it is this: Blogging consistently is much harder with three children.  I know, excuses, excuses!  But seriously, its hard.

So to make up for a month of silence, here are the ten most important points from the past month.

1.  Lydia has a problem. It's an addiction. An addiction to chocolate. And the Christmas advent calendar is just too much temptation. On December 1st, she snuck an extra 3 candies.  On the evening of December 2nd, I found six candy wrappers tucked behind the couch. On December 3rd, I hung it higher. On December 4th, she put Violet's Bumbo under the calendar, stood on it, and got an extra 2 pieces. The month has continued in a similar pattern. I do not anticipate having any candy left by the 15th.

2. Shepherd has a new post-bath chant. It goes like this: "Running with my private parts, I'm running with my private parts >repeat<." Appropriate. I know.

3. On the top ten list of reasons why I've fallen behind on my blog is Violets stocking. After 5 nights of staying up until midnight, I have Violet prepared for Christmas. She is soooo relieved.

4. So, I am still trying to lose my baby weight. Dieting sucks. But I've discovered the cure. It's called BLACK-HICUT-SKINNY-JEANS. Why have these things not always been in style. I am done with dieting. Last-5-pounds, welcome to my permanent repertoire.

5. Also on the afore-mentioned top ten list (see 3.), I have discovered that preschool homework is the most fun thing ever. Why do adults have to do adult things? Why can't we just cut, color, and paste. In November, we were asked to disguise a turkey so that it wouldn't be caught for Thanksgiving dinner. Here is a picture of mine and Shepherd's turkey in an Easter bunny disguise.

6. Also keeping BJ and I busy is what I like to call musical bedrooms. Basically, it is our constant rearranging of beds and rooms to figure out how to fit five people with different bed times and nap schedules into a 1000 sq. ft. home. Pictures coming soon of our progress on that point.

7. Now seems like a great time to record for posterity's sake a conversation I had with Shepherd while nursing Violet.
               Shep: One day, I'm going to have huge be-be's that have milk.
               Me: No Shepherd. You are a boy, so you will have flat be-be's like your daddy.
               (conversation goes around in similar circles for 5 minutes)
               Shep (in conclusion): So when I grow up, I'm going to have flat be-be's, but I'll really love big be-be's.
              Me: Yeah, Shep. Let's leave it there.

8. Violet spent the entire week of Thanksgiving like this:

Guess how that's going for me since our return.

9. I've been thinking a lot about last December. About how I noticed a baby bump, peed on a stick, and realized that we'd made a big-fat oops. I'm really glad that happened.

10. The number 1 reason on the top ten list of why I've fallen behind blogging is Violet. She isn't overly fussy or hyper, but she does demand conversation ALL DAY LONG. Literally, she wants someone to sit next to her and chat anytime she is awake. Since I know a day is coming when she won't want to talk to me all day, I oblige.

Fall Fun

The night before Halloween, we did the big Halloween carnival at our church. Here are the kiddos as Scooby, a Jack-o-lantern, and Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar.

 

 

For the actual Halloween night, BJ and I were too exhausted to even contemplate dressing up our children again, so instead, we built a fire and made s'mores in the back yard. I was the best Halloween ever, and BJ and I have decided to make this a permanent family tradition. Here are Shepherd and Lydia having their first s'mores ever.

 Violet was a little young to participate, but she stayed pretty content hanging out in Shepherd's old snow suit from Kentucky.

And here are me and BJ congratulating ourselves on avoiding further Halloween festivities while keeping our children happy.

Lastly, just because, this is what happy looks like on this fine November day.

She's Like a Girl Shepherd

We are always amazed at how much Violet looks like Shepherd and Lydia at her age, but especially Shepherd. She doesn't just look like Shepherd; she sucks her thumb like Shepherd, she loves bath time the way Shepherd did at her age, and she always wants someone talking to her like Shepherd. Since we are crazy about our son, we find it pretty cute how much our youngest reminds us of our oldest. So in homage of that, here is a picture illustration of just how much they are alike.

Violet

Shepherd

Why I Love Fall: A Confusing Love Story

I love fall for a lot of reasons: cooler temperatures, Starbucks's Salted Caramel Mocha Latte, beautiful colored leaves, and the anticipation of the holiday season. But mostly, I love fall because it is the season that I fell in love.

Ten years ago this November, I headed over to my new friend's apartment to cook dinner on a cool Tuesday night. He was a shaggy, poor graduate student named BJ who I thought was cute in a stray-dog kind of way. If you know me, you know that all of these descriptors add up to my kind of guy.

We cooked skillet lasagna out of his red-and-white-checkered Betty Crocker cookbook. It made such a huge batch that we divided the leftovers into Ziploc bags and froze them. I later learned that it took BJ a very, very long time to eat it all.

After dishes were done, we sat down on his roommate, Josh's, futon, a Native-American motifed number that could only be seen in the apartments of bachelors. While chatting, I casually dropped that my hands were cold. BJ chivalrously offered to hold them in an attempt to warm them up.

While sitting holding hands, BJ said he had something to tell me: "Kalyn, I like you a lot. I mean I really like you." I said, "I like you a lot, too. Like I really, really like you."

We were really, really articulate.

Being only a few months shy of twenty and having never had a boyfriend, I was eager to put the appropriate labels on the situation to avoid confusion, so I asked if holding hands and saying we liked each other meant we were dating. My shaggy, commitment-phobe crush said he wasn't prepared to call it dating yet. Instead, we were "seeing each other." I was officially confused.

For the next few days, I found myself fielding several questions from friends and family about my relationship status (this was long ago before one could just put "It's complicated" on Facebook.) Being inexperienced in the romance department, I did my best to clarify that we were only seeing each other. I was pretty sure we were dating, but I figured it was best to be prudent and wait for BJ to figure it out at his own pace.

Five days later while making out, BJ admitted that, yes, we probably were dating.

And ten years, an engagement, a wedding, multiple cross-country moves, and three children later, I'm really happy I went over to BJ's apartment to make heaps of skillet lasagna.

The Incredible Shep

Two days ago, we celebrated Shepherd's forth birthday. Since then, I've been thinking a lot about what an amazing, gently, funny, and affectionate boy he is. Here are the top ten things I love the most about Shepherd.


1. His songs. Right now, life is a musical for Shepherd. He often narrates his day with songs made up as he goes along.


2. His eyes. They are the huge brown eyes that I fell in love with ten years ago when I met BJ.


3. His out-going personality. When he is playing at the playground in our neighborhood park, he walks up to the other children, introduces himself, and then asks, "Do you want to play with me?" Whether they want it or not, they get a new friend.


4. His carefulness. He thinks about consequences before he attempts anything. I mainly love this because I see bits of the overly-cautious Pierces in this trait.


5. His stories. He is constantly making up stories with his toys. I love sitting quietly in a corner listening to what he comes up with.


6. His contemplative moments. Shepherd will spend hours every week pacing around our yard thinking. He even hold his chin in the most classic contemplative pose.


7. His lovingness. He LOVES his family and friends, and he holds a special place for Nana, Papa, Mamm, Pap, Uncle Bro, Aunt Stephanie, and Auntie Al. While reading books with Auntie Al tonight, he asked her if she'd be her tomorrow. When she said she would, he said, "Good. I missed you when you were gone."


8. His old soul. He eats donuts on Sunday morning at the table in the Parlor where the old gentlemen sit. They have wonderful conversations.


9. His brothering. He adores his sisters. He plays and laughs and schemes and explores with Lydia, and he showers Violet with love and affection and hugs and kisses.


10. His hugs. When he wraps his arms around me, he whispers, "Everything is going to be okay, Mom."

About that last post...

While staring at the picture I just posted earlier, I kept thinking that Violet looked like some other baby I'd seen. Then I realized that I was thinking about a baby picture of my dad that hangs in my parent's house. I called Mom and asked her to send me a picture. So, what do you think? Any resemblance?

Those Lips

Ignore the mismatched sheets and unmade bed, and just focus on those adorable little lips. Sweet Violet.

Violet: The Spit-Up Machine

BJ just informed me that I have spit up at the middle of my back on my shirt. Well played, Violet. Well played.

Womanhood as seen through the eyes of my 2 year-old

Grown women always have a purse on one arm.

They wear really cool hats.

They drink copious amounts of coffee.

They are ALWAYS holding a baby (wonder where she got that notion?).

Apparently, they sometimes feed the aforementioned baby their coffee.

And they are always on the go.

I wish I looked half as cool being a grown woman as Lydia does pretending to be one.

'Nuff Said

The onesie and the smile say it all.