Lessons From Pre-School Photos

The following photos of Lainey at pre-school today reminded me of things that make life great:

A fun, comfy spot to rest

A good book to read

A friend to sit next to and read with

A friend to learn with and play with

Friends to sing and dance with

Don't be fooled.
These are very important for all of us to remember, especially for myself.

My #IceBucketChallenge

My nephew Brody challenge me to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Lydia and Lainey wanted to do it too.   :)


Jeremy and The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge



Lydia and The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge


Lainey and The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Lainey's First Day of Pre-School

Lainey is attending the same preschool that Lydia attended, which is next door to the PDO she has been attending. It would appear the familiarity of already knowing a lot about the school and her teacher (which was Lydia's for 2 years) made the transition virtually painless for Lainey.

Time flies...

Celebration of Lights 2012

On Tuesday evening, Lisa and girls met me for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. After dinner we drove out to O'Fallon for the Celebration of Lights. We had never gone to this event, but had heard that the light displays are quite amazing, once you get through the long line of cars waiting to enter the park. Well, on this night it was for pedestrians only, with no vehicles allowed in the park. We waited in a line of vehicles waiting to enter a parking lot, where we finally parked at one of the churches that was running shuttles to the entrance.

As we approached the line for the buses I was certain it would take us an hour to even get on a bus. Lisa and the girls wandered over to a tent and grabbed some free hot chocolate as I held our place in line. There were three lines waiting for the buses and each bus that pulled up went to a different line to pick up passengers. The first two buses pulled up to the other groups and as we awaited the next bus for our group I heard that they were only filling the buses halfway, as the bus would then drive down the road to another church to pick up more people. I started counting people in line ahead of us and figured we were about 30th in line. I guessed that each bus could hold 60 people, so I was worried we would not be able to get on the next bus and that we would have to wait for 4 more buses.

The next bus arrived and as we walked up towards the door, the volunteer was obviously counting people. She was moving to stop me in my place when she realized that the 4 of us were together and let us pass before stopping the next person. We climbed on the bus and moved towards the back, with Lydia sitting with me and Lainey with Lisa. The girls had never been on a big bus before, so it was all very exciting to them. Our bus made its way down the street in the line of cars and then proceeded to pass the entrance of the event to get to the next location. We pulled into the other church parking lot and picked up 4 people. I admit to being a little but frustrated at this point.There's no real reason why they shouldn't have filled the bus at our pickup point, but we were on the bus so it didn't really matter.

We finally arrived at the entrance and made our way through the line to pay our entrance fee. As we walked along the road, the number of lights strung from the trees on both sides was incredible. The entire roadside was lined with trees over 20 feet tall that were all colored in lights. Periodically, there were little scenes erected by various volunteer groups. The girls particularly enjoyed the scenes with characters they recognized (Sesame Street, Angry Birds, Toy Story). About halfway through our walk the fireworks display starting. This frightened Lainey, but Lydia was absolutely mesmerized at the beginning. A few minutes into the display, there were numerous successive loud explosions which pushed Lainey over the edge and dimmed Lydia's excitement. Thankfully, the fireworks did not continue for too long and we were able to continue on.

At the point where Lydia was really getting ready to want to leave we came upon a volunteer who was handing out lollipops. Some of you may know that our girls love lollipops and get them every week as we leave church. This perfectly timed event propelled us through the rest of the walk. At this point it was past the girls normal bedtime and we knew we were pushing into dangerous meltdown territory. Near the end we came upon a line of people waiting to enter a tent to see Santa Claus. I grabbed Lydia, walked around the line, picked her up and leaned into the tent door so she could catch a glimpse of Kris Kringle. She was pretty excited about that. I didn't even bother trying to do so with Lainey because she seemed content in her stroller at that point and she is terrified of the big elf.

After that brief excursion, we ran into our friends the Lortons, who were hustling their way to the finish as well. The girls were happy to see Owen and Jackson (baby Harrison was all covered up), but it is safe to say that all the kids were beyond tired at this point. We made our way out of the entrance and opted to walk the 1/3 of a mile back to the church, instead of waiting in the long line for the bus. This proved to be a smart decision. Upon arriving back at the church, we took a restroom break before loading back into the car. This was also a wise decision.

I dropped Lisa off with the other car at BWWs and on the way home I talked to the girls about their day and the lights we had seen. We all said "Hello" to the Mid Rivers Cow and Lydia said "That cow is always dressing up different." I had the girls Christmas music playing and I was singing along with it. Shortly thereafter Lainey was quiet. I figured she might have fallen asleep. A few minutes later I realized I hadn't heard Lydia singing in a while. I peeked back to find her all slouched over across the middle of the back sleep, sound asleep. When we arrived home I carried Lydia to bed and Lisa grabbed Lainey. Lydia awoke briefly as I took her coat off, but she was exhausted. Lisa came into the room and Lydia mumbled "Night night".

Lisa and I both agree that it was a fun night, but that we had walked along the edge of meltdown several times. If either of the girls had started crying I am doubtful that our memory of the experience would be so positive, but as it turned out, we all had a wonderful time. I am not sure that we will do it again anytime soon - we might attempt to view the lights through the car next time. All in all, it was a great evening out with the family.

Cold and Sweet

Last week, Lisa and I took the girls to Doozles, a local frozen yogurt joint. Lydia quickly understood what we were waiting for after we placed our order and paid for it. Lainey, on the other hand, didn't understand what we were waiting around for.

Within moments of receiving our order, Lydia was shoveling the m&m covered soft serve into her mouth. Lainey wandered over to Lisa and Lisa asked her if she wanted some ice cream. As Lainey was licking the spoon, Lisa told her, "It's cold and sweet." Lainey walked around the table to where I was sitting, looked me in the eye and declared "Cold and sweet!". As I was getting a spoonful for her, she grew impatient and worried and began to almost cry out "cold and sweet!" It was very cute and very sad at the same time.

From that moment on, Lainey was determined to get as much "cold and sweet" as possible. Swinging between the cry for more and the joy of the taste, Lainey utilized the same words repeatedly, with different intonations and very different meanings.

A few evenings later, we each had a little bowl of ice cream at home. Lainey recognized what it was and instantly exclaimed "Cold and sweet!". She continued this cute little mantra with each bite.

The next morning, I was following Lainey down the hall and she entered the kitchen and said "cold and sweet". I stopped by our fridge and asked her what she meant. She turned around, walked past the fridge, past me and walked straight to the kitchen trash can. She pointed at the top of the contents and proclaimed "cold and sweet!". Sure enough, right at the top of the trash pile was an empty ice cream container.

It's mind-boggling to see how she is beginning to connect words with items, and is able to remember those words when the item is presented to her differently.

It's good to know that we are teaching her how to identify the important things in life.
"Cold and sweet!"

Release the Beast

Over a month ago, Lisa started talking to Lydia about Halloween.
When asked what she wanted to dress up as, Lydia responded with "Belle" (Beauty and the Beast)
Then she followed that up quickly with "And daddy's going to be the Beast!"

And that is how we ended up being the Disney themed family this Halloween. Lisa reused a Snow White outfit she made and wore in high school and Lainey was dressed as a dwarf (wearing a gnome outfit that we purchased on clearance last year).

After walking the 2 nearest blocks, we headed back to our neighbors house where we sat around their fire-pit, handed out candy and talked. We all had a great time and Lydia made a candy killing.

"Tale as old as time..."

Midnight Medical Madness

I've heard many stories from many parents about some serious moments they have experienced with their children. Last week, Lisa and I had our first such experience. We had arrived at my Aunt's house in Indiana around 3pm on Thursday and had enjoyed the evening catching up with my family. I put Lainey to bed in the pack-n-play without any real issue and headed upstairs after I knew she was settled in.

About a half hour later, I checked back on her to find her screaming. It's hard to know if she had been crying for a long time or for only a minute, but I am guessing she had been crying for a few minutes, as she had tears streaming down her face and was sobbing pretty hard. I picked her up, gave her the paci and rocked her and sang to her. She settled down after a couple of minutes and eventually fell asleep. As I was leaving I noticed that she sounded a little raspy in her breathing, but I chalked that up to her screaming episode.

A Brief Recap of the Past 3 Months

It's been a while, but I won't apologize for two reasons.
1 - I've been busy with work, a certification and life
2 - It's my blog and hardly anyone reads it anyways :)

Here's a quick recap of the past several months -
I obtained my Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification in June, which is a pretty big deal in this career path I am currently on. I studied as much as I could stand in the weeks leading up to it and am thrilled to have passed the exam. So now, it has been proven that I am certifiable. :)

My job had been crazy busy. When you go from a huge company with all sorts of corporate support and outsources services to a small site responsible for all of its own business, it means there is a ton of work to be done. I worked really hard at getting our new payroll/HRIS system implemented and launched with only a few minor mishaps along the way. The benefits side of things took forever and has proven to be quite the nightmare. It has been a time of transition, with me reporting to a new boss. She's been really great and has expressed total confidence in my ability to perform the tasks that are now required of me. Overall, I feel really good about what I have accomplished in helping start this new company. It's been a stressful couple of months, but the experience I have gained, and will continue to gain, is invaluable.

Family life is awesome.
Lisa continues to work for St. John's in labor and delivery. It's amazing what modern medicine allows doctors to do during a pregnancy and it is amazing how many babies are saved these days that just a few years ago would have never had a prayer. Lisa has expressed interest in going back to school in the future, so we are going to have to start looking at that in some more detail very soon.

Lydia is completely in love with "Beauty and the Beast" and will watch or listen to the music as often as we will let her. She will also spontaneously break out into one of the songs at any moment. (I'm not sure where she gets her flair for the dramatic.) Her vocabulary is exploding and she loves playing outside in the backyard when the temperatures are not hovering in the 90s.

Adelaine continues to grow up too quickly. She is pulling up to a standing position and cruises anywhere she wants to go. She has taken a step on her own several time in the past few days and we expect her to start walking at any time. She babbles often and smiles almost constantly. She has also discovered that she enjoys 'real people food' and now has two teeth to help her in that pursuit.

I could write more, but I don't have the time right now.
I'll post some thoughts on several things in the next few days or so.
(Unless, of course, something better consumes my time.)

Two Growth Milestones in a Single Day

In the course of one single day this week, some big things happened in our family. On Monday, our eldest daughter, Lydia, decided on her own that she was going to start going to the bathroom on the toilet. With just a couple of minor mishaps since then, and a couple of nap-time/night-time diaper events, she has successfully made it to the toilet every time she has needed to go. Not to be outdone by her big sister, Lainey decided to show off her talents by rolling over for the first time on the same day. She repeated the event shortly thereafter, but has yet to repeat it that I am aware of.

Within a handful of hours, we went from having two girls totally utilizing diapers, to having one baby in diapers and a toddler who wears them for sleep times. In that same time frame, we went from having one very mobile toddler and one stationary infant, to having one toddler running around and an infant beginning to move across the floor.

These are definitely exciting times in the Walker house.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." - Psalm 127:3

The Introduction - Baby #2

Adelaine Ruth Walker
Our second daughter was born on Monday, October 4, 2010 @ 2:18PM.
She weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21.5in long.
She has quite a bit of hair and is absolutely perfect.
Mother and daughter are doing great!

Click here for some photos of Adelaine, or watch this slideshow: