Violet's Face: Awesomeness Unleashed

Violet took a late afternoon nap, so she got to stay up 30 minutes after Shepherd and Lydia went to bed. She never gets free reign of the house without her older siblings constantly reeking havoc all around her, so she relished the time to crawl around and get 100% of Mom and Dad's attention. BJ and I might have also relished having a little one-on-two time with Violet, just don't tell Shepherd and Lydia. So here are some pictures of Violet's beautiful face being happy and joyful and all Violet-y.
 

 

Palm Sunday

When I first told my mother the story I'm about to record here, I said, "I'm going to tell you what happened this morning and then I don't ever want it mentioned again!" Of course, we talk about it all the time. So I might as well do a blog post on it.

It was Palm Sunday, and if you go to a more liturgical church, you know that Palm Sunday is kind of a big deal. So I get the kids all snazzy for this big walk down the aisle carrying palm fronds to commemorate Jesus's entry into Jerusalem the week prior to his death. Early in the service when it is time for the kids to carry down there palms, Shepherd refuses to because (said with a pout and arms crossed over chest) "I don't want the people to see me. I want to see the people." And Lydia just got mad at all the other kids for walking down the aisle because she thought they were walking to BJ. So she ran down the center aisle sans-palm-fronds yelling, "No, that's my daddy!"

Fast forward 20 minutes.

I was already feeling like this Sunday was a pretty big fail. Little did I know how much worse things could get. I had been in the nursery with all my kids, and Shepherd was in a foul mood. In an attempt to salvage the morning, I asked Shepherd if he wanted to go sit in the back of the church for the last couple of songs and then go home with Dad for lunch. He thought this was a great idea, so Shepherd, Lydia, Violet, and I headed over to the sanctuary.

While crossing the walkway between the fellowship building and church, Shepherd and Lydia raced to the door while I strolled far behind with Violet on my hip. I was only about halfway across when I realized that Shepherd was already opening the door for Lydia. I peered into the windows, and to my great horror, realized that the service was not as far progressed as I had calculated. It wasn't the final two songs. It was the middle of the sermon.

While I'm putting these pieces together in my mind, I hear Lydia yell "Daddy!" while bolting to the center aisle. I immediately start racing to the door, but before I can even get there, Shepherd says both the sweetest and worst possible thing he could've come up with: "Don't worry, Mom! I'll get her for you!" And off he goes toward the center aisle.

By the time I reached the double doors for our center aisle, both Shepherd and Lydia were at the end with BJ, who had descended from his grand pulpit to try and rein in the chaos our children where so effectively stirring up. While I'm walking down the aisle repeatedly saying to no one in particular, "I am so sorry," BJ is telling Shepherd and Lydia to go with Mom until church is over. At this point, the kid who doesn't want the people to see him decided to demonstrate Biblical wailing and gnashing of teeth: "But I'm so hungry! I need lunch!" At which point, one of our members bellowed, "I'm hungry, too!" And everyone burst out laughing. That is, everyone but me, who at this point had decided Violet was the only child I still loved.

After dragging my weeping children from the front of the church to a side exit, I took them to the playground where I hid behind a slide until about 80 percent of the people had left. I then skulked back to the sanctuary to get BJ. As soon as I walked in, my dear, sweet, wonderful friend Megan started laughing at me. Not with me. At me. And for the first time, I saw that there might be some humor in this situation after all.

I have heard A LOT of moms say that they don't go to church because their kids don't behave well enough, and I so get that. If I weren't a preacher's wife, I would probably be hiding under my bed on Sunday mornings. But now that I've experienced what must be a humiliation of historic proportion, I have a few words of wisdom from the other side. First off, if your children embarrass you to the point you want to live in a hidey hole for the next 6 months, you'll survive. My kids behaved abominably, but I'm okay. It wasn't the apocalyptic catastrophe I was certain it was going to be when I first saw Lydia head down that aisle. Secondly, chances are good that everyone else at church will be okay, too. No one at church was angry. From what I've heard, it was simply a memorable-in-a-good-way moment for everyone there. If you're at a church where people get mad about kids being kids, you should probably find another church anyways. And finally, your kids need you to be willing to be totally humiliated. The benefit my children receive from the rich relationships they have with our church members and the love with which they are showered by everyone at the First Christian Church of Ardmore is worth so much more than the cost of any humiliation I've had to endure over the years because they were somehow less than perfect. Children need to be loved at church more than we parents need our pride (this coming from the schmuck who hid behind a slide for 15 minutes.) 

So in closing, thank you to everyone at church who laughed and who loved. Your grace made it easier for me to come out of hiding. What a reflection of God's love you are.

No Time for Diaper Changes

Violet is the easiest baby I've ever had in every way but one: she is the absolute worst baby on which to change a diaper. So to illustrate that point, here is what she did during her last diaper change all of five minutes ago.

While I was snapping on the new insert to her clothe diaper, she decided to get a closer look at the art over the changing table. I have to pen her down with my left arm while doing all of the work with my right hand. BJ takes a different approach; he repeatedly yells at her to lay down. I'll let you guess which technique is more effective.

Oh, and here is a picture of her precious face just for fun.

No boundaries to her girliness...

While running around the house cleaning the other day, my sweet daughter approached me literally shaking with excitement. She was holding up her little hands and she proudly told me that she had painted her fingernails. What she had actually done was color the entire tips of all ten fingers with a maker. And, of course, it was a pink marker. I couldn't get mad at her because I was so impressed with her ability to color her right hand with her left. I'm pretty sure that level of ambidexterity is indicative of an exceptionally genius person. Obviously. Says her mother.

Here is a picture of Lydia showing off her beautiful manicure.

Oh blog, how I've missed you...

As many of you know, BJ and I moved to a new home a month ago. Since then, we've been settling and having friends over because we are so excited to have space for entertaining! But in the midst of all the excitement, I've really missed blogging. So over the next week I'll try to get caught up.

For starters, I have to say that today was an awesome day! We had our first parent-teacher conference for Shepherd. Turns out, the little boy who is mischievous and wacky at home is perfectly well-behaved, creative, and brilliant at school. I knew he is wildly creative and intelligent, but well-behaved?!?  I shouldn't brag, but I am over-the-top with pride right now. I'll shut up now before I get too irritating.

But before I do, one last thing: my 4 year old has learned to write his name! I keep it on my fridge and force unsuspecting house guest to admire it. Yes, I'm that mom.

This is totally normal...for us.

I have grown so accustomed to my son being in costume that I didn't even realize I was sitting across from someone wearing an eye patch until several minutes into my lunch.

In between bites, he growled, "Aaargh!"

And fittingly enough, we were having fish sticks.

Where I've Been

So, obviously, it's been a while since I posted. The explanation for the silence is pretty simple: I spent over half of the month of February with absolutely NO internet or computer. As many of you know, BJ did his final residency for his doctorate this month, so I spent a couple of weeks in Menard. Unfortunately, my parent's computer has died on them, and Menard is completely bereft of any WIFI anywhere, so my tablet was useless.

I will have to admit it was weird going so long without any connection to the internet. It felt like stepping back into the mid-90s for me. What surprised me was that I absolutely LOVED it. If I wasn't married to a gaming, technology-loving geek, I'd happily have a computer-less home.

But I am married to a geek, and the computer is as permanent a fixture in our home as our stove and fridge, so I might as well blog.   So with that in mind, here are a few of my favorite pictures of Violet doing her new favorite past time, eating.

And last but not least, those eyes!

This is soooo Lydia...

Dressed like a "pen-cess" and playing with pirates. That's our girl!

Due to technical difficulties, I haven't posted in ages! This is coming from my tablet until my blog starts working on our computer again. I plan on posting weekly come February. But just as a quick post, I was able to capture this morning Violet's newest trick: sticking her tongue. Babies have the cutest little tongues!

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.