Pages From the Pursuit: Lydia

Showing posts with label Lydia. Show all posts

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

Photo: Lydia on 14MAR14

Today Lydia was the Door Holder at school.
She loves being a helper.
I love her for that and so much more.

Lydia Sings "It's Good to Give Thanks"

Lydia sang this song with her pre-school classmates to start Zion Lutheran's Saturday evening service tonight. Five years ago at basically the same time Lisa and I were eating mostaccioli at Sarah and Matt's house, watched Iron Man and drove the whole way home talking about how the baby inside was going crazy and flipping all around. We thought we might be headed to the hospital that night. Lisa had contractions basically all night and the next day we finally made our way to the hospital (via a trip to Sam's and then the doctor's office).

It is good to give thanks.
I am thankful to God for this wonderful little girl who is growing up so quickly...

Three Disciples and a Stooge

A couple of nights ago, according to our nightly bedtime routine for the girls, we were reading the story of when Jesus called the first disciples in Luke 5. You'll recall that Jesus climbs into Peter's boat and tells the men to catch some fish by casting in a certain area. Peter explains the fruitless time they had already spent that morning not catching any fish and yet declares "at your word I will let down the nets." After doing so, they catch so many fish that they need help to haul it in. This event leads to Peter, James and John leaving their boats and becoming the first disciples of Jesus Christ.

At the end of the story, we reviewed it by asking the girls a couple of questions.
One of the questions was "Who decided to stop fishing and follow Jesus?"
Lydia responded "Peter... John... and... Curly!"

I could immediately hear Curly Howard responding to Jesus request to lower the nets: "Soitenly!"

Photo: Lydia on 04FEB13

They grow up so quickly...

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.

O'Fallon Missouri Celebration of Lights - Road

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.

The Fall and God's Love

Lydia's preschool teacher has a blog that she updates every day with lots of photos and updates on what they are learning and doing. This was how today's blog began:

Proud.
Humbled.
Blessed beyond measure.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

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..."

Bathroom Conversation

This happened this morning in our main bathroom. [ Lydia seated on the toilet] Me: "Lydia, you are such a big girl. You have done a great job going bathroom on the potty. And you are doing a good job taking care of Bell. And you are a good friend to Lainey." [Lydia looks at me and pauses a couple of moments.] Lydia: "And I am a good girl for Jesus." Me: "Yes you are." And I walked away from that bathroom with a huge smile and a full heart. I pray that God captures her heart early.

Blessings at Bedtime

Yesterday, Lydia took a nap that extended well past the 3 hour mark. When we finally awakened her, she wasn't really that hungry for dinner. By the time she finished dinner and played in the living room for 20 minutes or so, Lainey was getting tired. Lisa told Lydia that Lainey was tired and was going to go to bed and just casually asked Lydia if she was ready to go to bed. We were both shocked when Lydia grabbed her blanket and said "Yes". Lydia went down very easily and was very quiet in her room for quite some time. Then, we began to periodically hear her talking. She stayed in her bed, in her room in the dark until after 9:15, when Lisa was getting ready to go to bed.

I went in to Lydia's room and asked her if she wanted to fall in sleep in bed with mommy. (We have never let her do this, except for one time when she was quite ill.) She quickly agreed and made her way into our bed. Lydia lay on my side of the bed, snuggled up under the blankets, while Lisa cozied up next to her. I kissed them both goodnight and shut the door behind me as I left.

As I walked through our kitchen, God firmly impressed it upon me exactly how blessed I am. I have a house over my head, food in my belly, a beautiful bride and 2 wonderful children.

I'd like to say that I will never forget how I felt the first time I got to carry my eldest daughter from our bed to her bed for the first time, but I know that I just might forget that moment. So this is for me: In that moment, I felt like God must feel every time he makes the sun rise: His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). I got to help my daughter fall asleep in one place and awake in another. She was happy. My wife was happy. I was happy. And in the morning, we were all ready to live another day.

I hope to carry her many more times under the same circumstances.

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

When Your Mouth Betrays You

The other night, Lisa and I were talking about Lydia and how quickly she is learning new things. It's hard to know how intelligent your child is at this stage of development, but Lydia seems to be grasping certain things quicker than what other kids her age normally do. Here's how I added value to the conversation:

"Lydia seems to be really smart. She's practically learned the alphabet and how to count to ten already.We really need to make sure we keep her mentally challenged."

[facepalm]

Let's hope Lydia learns how to express her thoughts in a way that is consistent with what she means to convey.
Unlike her father...

One Giant Leap

Last night I was sitting in the white chair in our living room and Lydia crawled over to me and pulled herself up to a standing position, hanging on to the seat with one hand. She cruised to the end of the chair and then paused, with one hand barely touching the arm of the chair. At the time, Lisa was sitting at the end of the couch playing around on the laptop, unaware of what was going on. I said Lisa's name to get her attention and Lydia looked back at me over her shoulder.

I was afraid that my attempts to get Lisa's attention might have distracted Lydia from her previous thought. However, in a few short moments, Lydia let go of the arm of the chair and proceeded to walk, unassisted and unencouraged, from my chair to the edge of the couch, a distance of about 3 feet. She arrived at her destination safely and without incident and we all celebrated with clapping and cheering.

This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time that Lydia has walked from one place to another with someone encouraging her to do so. Look out world, here she comes!

Lydia Leigh's First Year

I put the following video together to celebrate Lydia's first birthday.
I am very happy with how it turned out.

Lydia Leigh's First Year from Jeremy Walker on Vimeo.

Molars Mean Misery

The past few night have been a bit restless, as Lydia has been waking up numerous times in the night crying and sitting up in bed. Usually, she will lay back down and fall back asleep fairly quickly, but that has not been the case these past few evenings. While I haven't had to stay up for more than 10 or 15 minutes with her at a time, it is still disrupting my sleep and making me a bit more tired than usual during the day.

Based on her restless nights, constant drooling and her overall melancholy mood, it appears that Lydia is working on getting her first molar.

While she was a bit fussy and drooled everywhere during the rest of her teething adventures, she was never as clingy or so often upset as she has been these past few days. I suppose it makes sense that the molars coming in would bother her more, due to their size and basically flat-topped shape. I'm sure the sharp, smaller edges of the previous teeth made the process quicker and less painful for her.

So we have an absolutely adorable 11 month old at home who is happy one minute and incredibly sad the next.

Aside from giving her ice cubes, cold water, teething rings, Tylenol and Baby Orajel, does anyone have any ideas on what we might be able to do to help this teething process be less painful for her?

Blessed by Family

I am blessed.
I come from a large family of 9 children and have two parents who have remained committed to one another for over 30 years.

I am blessed.
I married a wonderful woman who has one sibling and two parents who have remained committed to one another for over 30 years.

I am blessed.
My wife and I now have a beautiful daughter and pray that God allows us over 30 years to remain committed to each other.

I am blessed.
I enjoy time spent with all of Lisa's large extended family and she enjoys being with my large extended family.

I am blessed.
God has called me into His family and I am destined to spend eternity with Him.

I am blessed.
God has given me a local church body to serve in and has allowed me to do so for over 8 years in various capacities.

I am blessed.
God has placed a large group of Christians in my life to challenge me and encourage me.

I am blessed.
God has blessed me with a family of my own, two families through marriage, a relationship with Him, a local church family and a Christian peer family.

I am blessed.

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