Scottish Games

Sunday afternoon we spent a few hours in Woodland, at the annual Scottish Games. We hung out with my dad and watched as burly men in kilts threw a 50 lb weight 15 feet in the air and others compete in a log throwing contest (don't know the official names). Interesting to say the least. There were lots of booths with many Scottish trinkits and foods, and even a dog show. What was the most special though, was being there to honor a friend of my parents who passed away in December. He was very active in the games, and even holds the world record for the stone toss. He was such a nice man, with a great passion for the Lord, (I didn't even know him that well) and for the three days that the Games went on, everyday they closed with a ceremony honoring Bill. All of the athletes and friends and family wore t-shirts with his picture, and they presented his wife Judy with an award that from now on bears her husbands name. (The Bill Butler award, given to outstanding athletes.) It was moving watching his fellow athletes standing to honor him, these big men, some crying. After the award was given, bagpipers and a band marched out and played Amazing Grace. They played a few more songs, and it was cute cause Kaylin (who loves music and dances to almost any beat) was bopping and clapping to the music. I thought it was going to scare her, but she really enjoyed it! A fun weekend, and once again, Kaylin fell asleep in the car on the way home--we wore her out!


A Scottish figure of Kaylin!

Cuddling with mommy

Farmer's Market

Saturday morning we ventured downtown where Davis has its Farmer's Market. It was such a beautiful day, and we thought it'd be nice to get outside and have a picnic. We strolled through the pavilion with Kaylin, looking at all the fresh produce and little booths of desserts, artwork, jewelry, and clothing. We decided to choose the food from one of the vendors, called Bolini, an Afghani food, plus a hotdog, to eat for lunch. We got our food, found a nice, shady spot on the grass in the park right across from the Farmer's Market, and had lunch. Kaylin loved watching the dogs (or "dah" as Kaylin calls them) running around on the grass, as well as all the little kids playing in the fountain. She's still afraid of grass, however, so she watched all the excitment from our blanket. She would start to crawl off, then feel the prickly grass, and would quickly get back on the blanket. I wonder when she's not going to be afraid of it anymore? But regardless of her fear of the grass, she was having a lot of fun and I realized I should take her out to the park more often. She kept squealing and screaming and throwing herself down on the blanket to hide her face and kick her legs. It was really cute! (She usually doesn't make that much noise!) It was pretty warm out though, so after eating lunch, playing on the blanket a bit longer, and walking through all the vendor's booths one more time (and after I had a gourmet, strawberry coconut popscicle that melted all over the place), we headed home. After all that fun, Kaylin fell right to sleep. I think we'll have to make many more trips to Davis's Farmer's Market!

Schedules

I've been struggling a bit lately with how to structure my day with Kaylin. She doesn't have much of a schedule (especially with breastfeeding and naps), although her wake up and bedtimes are pretty consistent. She's getting close to changing to only one nap per day, so that makes the naptimes a bit inconsistent. (And that makes it hard to go anywhere during the day.) We do a lot of the same things everyday, not much getting out of the house because we don't know too many people here. We run errands once in awhile and go on walks sometimes when the weather is nice. I absolutely love being with my daughter, and playing and exploring with her, but sometimes I find myself a little bored. Does anyone else struggle with this too? (Probably not those of you with multiple kids.) I think it's partly because we'll play for a few hours, and I feel guilty if she's playing by herself, so I'm down on the floor with her most of the time. Needless to say, I don't get a lot done around the house, and then I get a bit burned out. Maybe I need to be more balanced (and have more variety) because Kaylin needs a rested mother. So I was wondering what all you stay-at-home parents do everyday with your little ones? What are your schedules like? And do you have any ideas of fun things you'd like to share?

Busy weekend

One of the many faces of Kaylin!

I was on a little hiatus this week and neglected to post much. So now I can catch up. The weekend was busy, but fun. On Saturday, Tim and I decided to leave Kaylin at Grandma Brown's and go see a movie with Tim's sister and boyfriend. We haven't gotten out in awhile without Kaylin, and while we missed her, we had a fun time just being together. And Kaylin had fun at Grandma's. (We are lucky that both sets of grandparents live close by and are more than willing to watch Kaylin.)

Getting into some trouble with the recycling!

Sunday we went to church and left Kaylin in the nursery for the first time. (I kept watching to see if our number was going to pop up telling us to come get her.) She actually did really well, didn't cry, and Tim and I were able to pay attention to the sermon.















Dinner at Grandma's and Grandpa's

Fast asleep!

And also today, Tim took over watching Kaylin, allowing me to get together with just my mom--it was nice to spend some time with her and catch up. Later, Tim brought Kaylin to my parents and we had dinner and hung out. Again, we're so blessed to be so close to both our families. Kaylin's going to grow up with her grandparents' spoiling her. :) We left my parents with Kaylin fast asleep in her carseat, worn out from her busy day!

I also wanted to share a verse that our pastor ended with at church yesterday; it brought to mind some of the post topics latley, dealing with discontent and sadness in this fallen world, and I hope that it might help put things in perspective: "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5: 12-21

Moms

Today I want to mention how thankful I am for other mothers, women who are in a similar stage of life, who can come alongside you with support and understanding, or a word of advice. Because, honestly, it's hard sometimes to be a mother, and no one knows that better than another mother. The reason I wanted to post this is because Tuesday (today) is my Parent's Together class, where moms (and sometimes dads) come together for an hour and a half and share issues and concerns with one another, and give advice when we can. The little ones play and interact, with toys and each other (sometimes), and then we end with songs. It's a fun time to get out of the house and relate to other moms and babies. Having this group has been good since I still don't know too many people in the community, especially moms of young babies.

And it's also been nice having this blog so I can read and share with friends about their lives and parenting and also get and give advice in the process. (Thanks Lara!).

First Birthdays!

So we're starting to think about plans for Kaylin's first birthday party (already, I can't believe it!). I've been gathering ideas for decorations, themes, etc. and was thinking that I would love to hear stories from all of you about your own child(ren)'s first birthdays, what you did, how it went, etc. So feel free to leave me some comments! (And I know this picture has nothing to do with the post, but I hadn't put up any pictures of Kaylin yet, so I wanted to put up something.) :)

Big Falls

I feel like a bad mother. Very early this morning Kaylin fell off the bed! And it's not even the first time--she fell off the bed about two months ago. She's fine (thankfully) but it sure gave Tim and me a scare! She's usually in our bed now, brought on by her second cold; she started waking up in the middle of the night, so I would bring her into bed to feed her, she would fall asleep, and usually she would stay there until the morning. If we tried to return her to her crib, she would wake up later and cry, so now she's usually in the bed after her first waking. It's not an arrangement that I totally like (I'm a light sleeper and she's always trying to breastfeed), but it allows the most sleep. We want to change it, especially after two falls now. So anybody else with similar experiences?

"Little Beauties"

So I was watching a show tonight that was called "Little Beauties," about child beauty pagents. I thought it was going to be about how they are bad for children, and all of that, but it wasn't. It was hosted by one of the pagent "emcee's," so he was obviously excited about it. I must admit, I got sucked in. It made me sad and honestly, a little sick, watching these six-year-olds (they looked much older) strutting (and they were) with their huge hair, thick makeup, fake tans and teeth. How sad it was watching their mothers putting makeup on their young daughters, telling them that their hair wasn't pretty enough (one mom was upset because her daughter's hair had been trimmed and she didn't like it), and keeping them up late so they could practice their walk and how they look in their swimsuits. I mean, are these moms for real? What a sad start for these young girls. It's an easy deception to think that beauty is external with all of society saying it is. I hope that I can teach my daughter differently, show her that beauty comes from within, from a kind heart, a selfless spirit; that God's love makes her good enough. And I should remind myself of that too.

Computers are not my friends!

I am not computer literate. I spent most of the day trying to set up this page and the computer does most of the work for you! The reason I wanted to create a blog was to allow friends and family to stay connected to the goings on of my and my family's life. I enjoy reading about others, so I thought this would be fun to set up for people to read. I am not usually good at staying up-to-date with things, so we'll see how things go. It will be like a digital journal (hmm, last time I wrote in a journal I was about 16). And since I spend most of the day at home with my 10 month-old, wishing I had someone to talk to, this "blogspot," and those of you who read it, will serve as a listening ear. Plus, I get to share pictures of Kaylin, which I love to do. So, I look forward to "talking" with all of you.