A Reward

My mom has spent the last three weeks studying hours and hours for an exam to get her insurance license.  Today, she passed!  So as a reward, here, Mom, are some cute pictures of your grandbabies!  I know that is what she wants more than anything. Love you!

Eleven O'Clock

Eleven o'clock in the morning is Shepherd's art time and Lydia's lunch time.  Here are some pictures that demonstrates why I shouldn't let them participate in these activities too close together.

When I got back from switching a load of laundry, Lydia was painted black, her cheese was painted blue, and Shepherd was sharing her green beans and quite possibly helping her put them in her hair.  For the record, he didn't get any new pieces on the art wall with these techniques.

Weekend Conversations with Shepherd

While sitting on the couch...
Me (pretending to sniff his feet):  Whoa! Those are some stinky feet.
Shepherd: They are not stinky.  They are just tasty.  They are tasty and good.

While cuddling in his bed...
Me: Shepherd I just love your nose.
Shepherd: I love your nose, too.  It has boogers in it.  Why don't you get them out.

While using a public potty...
Shepherd: Why are you holding my hands, Mama?
Me: So that you don't fall in.
(After he finishes)
Me: Now I have to peepee in the potty.
Shepherd: Okay, Mama.  I'll hold your hands so you don't fall in.

UPDATE

No accidents today.  Shepherd did all of his business in the potty, and I didn't even have to ask or remind.  He just went into the bathroom when he needed to and took care of everything on his own.

BJ and I have won this war.  *insert maniacal laugh here*

The Nightmare Before Underwear

We are trying (I mean really, really trying) to potty train our stubborn (I mean really, really stubborn) son.  It's not working.

The original plan was for BJ to tackle the whole potty training bit while Lydia and I were gone last weekend for a baby shower in Abilene.  By noon of the first day, Shepherd was sobbing on the potty chair that "my legs hurt me!" (he doesn't like the feel of the potty seat on his legs.)  By five minutes past noon the first day, BJ gave up.

When I got home, I firmly said that we were done with diapers as of Monday.  Since Monday, he has only worn underwear during the day.  Unfortunately, he still hasn't actually used the potty in this time.  During these incredibly frustrating three days, I've heard my son wail, "I must poopoo laying down," "No, Mommy, I will not use the potty. Time out," and "Go away, Mommy. I'm pooping" (while squatting behind our couch.)

My sanity in standing on very shaky ground right now. I actually caught myself saying, "BJ, I've got to go poopoo in the potty." What 28-year-old says that?!?!

Unfortunately for Shepherd, his stubborn streak came straight from BJ and I, and we are on a mission.  So potty training in the Gensic house has officially turned into an epic battle of wills.  May the more headstrong win.  And with mine and BJ combined stubbornness that has been honed over decades, that little squirt doesn't stand a chance. 

(P.S. BJ would like everyone to know that he thought of the title for this blog post.  He is very proud.)

Happy Birthday, Shepherd!

I am very tiredly sitting down at the computer after a full day of preparing for and executing Shepherd's 3rd birthday party.  After all the hubbub of the day, I want to take a moment to reflect on 10 awesome things about my son.

1. Shepherd is constantly picking up new skills as he grows.  However, recently he developed a particularly valuable skill: that of cleaning up dead bugs.  In our neighborhood, the fight against roaches is never won.  We have roach bait everywhere, but we still have roaches.  I don't mind stepping on them and killing them, but I HATE disposing of them.  Now, all I have to do is give Shepherd a bit of tissue paper, and he happily picks them up and flushes them down the toilet for me.  If the natural instincts of motherhood hadn't already made me love him, this skill alone would have merited my adoration.

2.  Shepherd is a performer.  Tonight at his birthday party in the midst of about a dozen guest, Shepherd sang "Jesus Loves Me" multiple times to much applause.

3.  Shepherd has big brown eyes.  Yes, they are the same big brown eyes I've been talking about for three years, but seriously, they are something to talk about.

4. Every time I dress Shepherd up, he proudly proclaims, "I look like BJ!"

5. He's creative.  During his "nap time," I had accidentally left markers in his room, so he drew spider webs all over his body so that he could be Spiderman.  This will be immortalized in his birthday pictures from today.

6. He loves Lydia (who he still calls simply "the baby"). When people started leaving the party tonight, several picked up Lydia to tell her goodbye. Every time this would happen, Shepherd would worry that they were taking the baby.  He would get a terribly concerned look on his face and say, "No, give the baby back to Mommy!"

7. He loves to read!  During outdoor time on his schedule every morning and afternoon, he makes me take out a blanket and books and we read.  I don't know that it is exactly in the spirit of outdoor time, but it is his favorite thing to do.  He has several of his books memorized, so I hardly have to read those!

8.  He gives me a sloppy kiss every night before bed.

9. After he gets a time out, he says, "I'm sorry, Mommy.  Hug me."

10. He's been excited about the candles on his birthday cake all week.  When we sat it in front of him, he couldn't possible wait until the end of the song to blow them out.

Gone too long

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  BJ has been sick with a viral infection, and I've been a wee bit overwhelmed.  I'm hoping to catch up my blog this week.  Until then, here are some pictures of the kids from yesterday.  It was the first day that actually felt like fall.  I giggled every time I looked at Lydia in these tights.  Baby girls in tights are as much a joy of fall as candy corn, s'mores, and pumpkin desserts.

My Mom Wants Pictures

I have recently decided to do away with my smart phone in an attempt to simplify life, get a little distance from the internet, and be more present in my interactions with people to whom I am speaking.  It has been wonderful.  I can't own a smart phone with out constantly playing with it, but I don't miss playing with it at all now that I have a $15 phone from Walmart. 

The draw back to no smart phone is that I am sending a lot less impromptu photos to family.  My mom has noticed.  After harassing me for several days to send more pictures, I am finally remembering tonight.  I just uploaded photos from the past two weeks of my kids playing.  They chronicle a lot of playing in the mud, Lydia's new-found skill of walking, and plain old hang-out time.  So, here you go, Mom.

 (they really like playing behind our living room curtains together)

My Mom Knows Me So Well

I just received in the mail a package of five vintage tops from the 1940s from my mother.  Apparently, an antique shop was going out of business, and she got a steal on the pieces.  I'm so excited!  Now, to figure out how to build outfits around these!Here are a few pictures from the fashion show BJ was forced to endure.

This Weekend's Project

It took me a while, but I finally got to one of the items on my to-do list for Lydia's room: redoing on old bookshelf.  We had an old, ugly, cheap, worn-out bookshelf from BJ's undergrad days that was simply an eye sore.  However, I felt like with a fresh coat of paint and a few embellishment it would make a functional storage and organization unit for a kid's room (personally, I find it silly to put nice, expensive furniture in a kid's room because kids live in kid's rooms.)  So my dad applied some peach paint I had sitting in the garage from a previous renovation and added a clothing rod for hanging Lydia's dresses, and I painted some old picture frames and the rod with paint I had from when I painted Lydia's name for her room.  I then added some ribbon to the edges of the shelf, painted labeling words inside the frames, added ribbon for hanging bows, and, ta-da, we have what amounts to a really cute closet.  I love what it has added to the room, and since I already had most of the supplies on hand, it ended up costing less than ten dollars.  Here are a few shots.

(On this last picture, BJ added hook underneath the "Coats" frame right after I snapped the picture.  We now have two spots to hang her jackets this winter.)

An Afternoon in the Back Yard

This week hasn't been in the 100s (only the 90s), which is what we Okies like to refer to as a cool front.  As a result, the kids, Gus, and I spent this afternoon in the back yard.  Here are some pictures I got of the festivities.

Shepherd started out by simply playing in the mud.

He then progressed to spreading it thickly onto his face.

After finding this uncomfortable, he washed it off by spraying a hose directly into his face.  I question the wisdom of this method.

Lydia spent the afternoon teething on our lawn furniture,...

practicing her newest acquired skill of walking (always tight-rope style with the arms out),...

and strategically placing herself in an air current for that high-fashion-magazine look.

Gus just set around displaying his dorky new haircut.

Apparently, the groomer had never done an Old English Sheepdog, but she did have experience with poodles, hence the poofy head,...

and the puff ball at the end of his tail.

Eventually, Shepherd realized that Lydia wasn't simply a fussy, toy-stealing little baby sister.  She is also another body on which to spread mud.

So they played harmoniously together in the mud.

Lydia sampled a little taste to see what exactly it is her brother is always gorging on.

 And eventually, I managed to get the rarest of gems: A picture of Shepherd looking in my general direction smiling.  Mud just makes him that happy.

BJ's Four Letter Word

The kids and I are currently spending a wonderful week in Menard with my parents.  BJ joined us late Wednesday night.  When the kids woke up Thursday morning, they were pretty excited to find Daddy here.

BJ is not the sort of guy that says "cute" very often.  In fact, before we had children, I had never heard him use the word.  Even after kids, he only says it about once every 3 to 4 months or so.  Thursday morning was one of those times.  Lydia's hair has recently grown just long enough to put in little pigtails. When BJ came down stairs to find his little girl in pigtails, he had to admit, "That is pretty cute."  Yes, it is pretty cute.

She also pulls off a pony tail pretty well.

And more from Shepherd's imagination...

Today, Shepherd informed me of the roles he, Lydia, and I were playing in our morning pretend games:

"Mommy, I'm a momma, you're a Shep-ud, and the baby is a book."

Poor Lydia is an inanimate object.  Priceless.

Definitely a Preacher's Kid

If you know BJ and I, you know that we spend a lot of time discussing church and the Bible and our faith.  Since it is BJ's job, our entire life revolves around those things.  If you know Shepherd, you know he has a pretty active imagination.  With that being said, here is a story told by Shepherd while playing with his big toes:

"This is the mommy (touching one big toe) and this is the daddy (touching the other big toe).  They are talking about Jesus."