A Name for the Baby

Steven and I always have trouble deciding on a name for our babies. We named Kyra a week before she was born, and we still don't have a name for this new baby. However, we have always had nicknames for them while in-utero. Kyra was Peanut, due to her shape in our first ultrasound at 7 weeks, and this current baby is Little Bruce Deuce. People ask Kyra fairly often what the baby's name is and she used to say Little Bruce Deuce, but this week, she has started calling the baby something else. The other day, someone asked her that question and she said the baby's name was Georgie. Georgie??? Where on earth did that come from? And since then, she's repeated this to multiple people, including Steven's mom and my parents on the web chat this evening. My parents even asked her, Isn't that a boy's name? And she adamantly declared that no, the baby was a girl and her name is Georgie. So I guess Georgie it is, at least for Kyra. =) Hopefully once this little one finally gets an official name, she'll make the switch, or else her little sister will always have a rather strange nickname....

Nice abs

Kyra has a Halloween pez dispenser with a pumpkin on the top that she was wrapping up in fuzzy ponytail holders this morning. At first, she said they were the pumpkin's fuzzy pajamas. Then after a while of playing with it, she declared that it was the "Abdominal Snowman" like on Rudolph. I guess that means it has a killer 6-pack. =)

Kyra's Pet Rock

Tonight in bible class, Kyra made a pet rock. I'm not exactly sure what the lesson was, but the pet rock was the craft project she came home with. In the car on the way home, she asked if she could hold her pet rock. I told her she could have it once we got in the house as the glue was still wet and we didn't want his eyes to fall off. She asked what he would say if his eyes fell off. I responded, well, he would probably say, Hey, I can't see anything! To this, she replied, um, actually, I didn't give him a mouth. Details, details. =)

Something Loud....

My husband is obsessed with sound. It may be music, surround sound for the tv/movies, or just sound equipment in general, but he loves it all. We moved into our new home in Amarillo this past Friday, and on Tuesday, the Star Wars Episode III DVD came out in stores. Never mind that we still have boxes of stuff lining the walls in each room, we went to the store and bought the DVD, then went home so he could meticulously set up a makeshift entertainment center complete with surround sound speakers set up on boxes in particular locations around the room so we could watch the new movie that very night. That amuses me. But what was even funnier, we put Kyra to bed, and after Steven had white noise tested each speaker and configured the system for the distance each speaker was from his ears, we started the movie. About 1/3 of the way into the movie, I hear a loud "MOMMMMYYYYY" from down the hall. It was persistent enough that I had Steven pause the show and went to Kyra's room to check on her. We have been leaving her door open since we're all still adjusting to the new house, so I went in and asked her what the matter was. She replied, "There's something loud in here...and it's Dad's movie." I busted out laughing and told her I would ask him to turn it down a little and I would shut her door a bit so it would be quieter and she could sleep. Then I kissed her, still chuckling, and went back to report to Daddy that he would have to lower the intensity on the surround sound this time.

What's the Baby Saying?

Kyra's latest obsession is to incessantly ask what the baby is saying, which is rather difficult to say, seeing as she's not even born yet. Kyra will say something into my belly, then look up excitedly and ask what the baby said when she did that. This is not a one time occurrence....it consumes a large part of our day. It amuses me and makes me happy that she is so anxious to interact with her little sister, but it becomes increasingly difficult to be creative in my answers. Today, we had a mini-concert for the baby. Kyra has a kid's songbook with about 15 songs in it. She went page by page, singing each song to the baby, then putting her hand on my tummy and saying "What did the baby say about that song?" It was very sweet, and I just kept telling her the baby loved her song and was so happy that Kyra was singing to her. I think she's going to be a very sweet big sister..... =)

The Official Vehicle of Texas

Well, I guess we are now officially Texans...we bought a truck. =) We decided to leave our beloved "Pimpster" in Indianapolis rather than attempt to drive it 1000 miles across the country. The Pimpster is a 1989 Buick Park Avenue that has seen better days, but was still running well enough to make us sad to leave it behind when we moved. So once we decided on a house to buy down here, we moved on to the next big purchase we had to make...a "new" car. We decided to buy something used for Steven to drive back and forth to work so as to avoid having a car payment. I will keep "The Nugget," our gold Impala, for a family car for the foreseeable future. So we started looking on the internet and drove around every car lot in town trying our best to avoid the "vultures" who swarm around the car before you even stop. We finally narrowed it down to 2: an older Infiniti J30 or a late 90's Chevy 1500. We finally decided that, being in Texas, the resale on the truck would far surpass the resale on the Infiniti, especially since the dealer selling it didn't even know that Infiniti was a Nissan product..... So we got our money together and took more cash than we've ever had in our hands in our life and plunked it down on the desk of the dealer, then drove away with a semi-shiny, slightly scratched, but very clean black pickup. Steven is enjoying having a truck again and we are still pondering a name for our new vehicle....I'll be sure to post when it's christened. We are contemplating going out and buying a gun rack just to fit in. I think it would be funny to get a gun rack and store one of Steven's guitars on it, but he thinks we might actually get shot at for the mockery....

The Cadillac Ranch

I was bored out of my mind today (Steven had a meeting all afternoon), so I took a little drive to go see the infamous Cadillac Ranch. Boy was that a disappointment. It was totally lame and I actually drove right past it at first. I drove 1/2 hour out of the city expecting to see some sign or something pointing to it. Finally I turned around and saw it by accident on the way back. Of course, it was about 2 minutes outside of Amarillo and there was no sign and no fanfare, and just 10 cars parked standing up in the dirt. Holy cow, that's dumb. =) I'd heard so much hoopla about the stinkin things that I thought for sure it would at least have a sign pointing it out... Not so much. So whatever, I had nothing to do this afternoon anyway and I just confirmed that there's absolutely nothing on either side of Amarillo. So I'll never leave the city again. haha

Just Like Mommy

Yesterday as Kyra was lying in her bed and starting on her naptime, she looks up at me and randomly says, "i'm just thinking about what I want to be when I grow up." Rather surprised at this declaration from a barely 3 year old, I say, "You were? What do you think you want to be?" Kyra responds, "I don't know. Probably just like you." Wow. That's a lot to live up to...for me not her!

Kyra Quote of the Day

Mommy: Kyra, can I get some clothes on you?

Kyra: No thanks. I'm good.

Kyra's Musings on Amarillo

Kyra, upon arriving in Amarillo, Texas after 3 long days of driving:

"They don't have trees here...."

That about sums it up. =)

Change of Scenery

Well, we've finally decided, after much anxiety and tears, to take a leap of faith and move our family to Amarillo, Texas, which at this point seems to us like the middle of nowhere, but will soon be home. We are excited and anxious, yet sad and homesick already. We have met some wonderful people that we can already tell will become close, if not lifelong friends, so we are looking forward to those relationships, although we will greatly miss the close bonds we've formed with people here over the last 7 years. We are interested to see where God takes us on this journey...if this is just a temporary stop on our timeline or if this will become home for years to come. We plan to pack up "the wagons" and head out on September 19th, stretching the long trip over several days. Our first official Sunday will be September 25th. I'm sure much awaits us to learn and experience in this new adventure.

Have a Heart!

Apparently the reality line between cartoons and real life has not been realized just yet for my sweet little girl.... I was giving her a big hug and kiss this evening and afterwards, she looked around and commented, "No hearts came out!" She was looking for the hearts that always surround people that love each other in cartoons. I told her that the hearts were definitely there, but we just couldn't see them. =)

Shout out the window and you will receive

Kyra has recently discovered the amazing feat of yelling out the window of a car at a plastic box, and then getting all kinds of yummy things to eat. The other day, we pulled up to the Arby's drive-thru to grab some lunch. Steven rolled down the window and began to order, when all of a sudden from the back seat, a small, but very loud voice begins to shout, "Um, I would wike a kid's fwosting please!" We had to stop ordering for a minute because we were laughing so hard. Then as we got our food and drove away, we tried to explain to her that only Wendy's had Frosties and that we had gone to Arby's instead that day. I'm not sure she got it, as now, every time we pull up to any drive thru, she tries again to order a "Kid's Fwosting."

Transference

We recently sold our house that had been on the market for about a year and half. During the transition time, we accepted an offer from some friends to stay with them for a month or so while we found a new place to call home. We didn't know how Kyra would handle the transition from our house to a temporary residence, but so far, she's handled it great. The other day, she surprised Steven and I by referring to our old house as "Robert's." Robert is the name of the man who bought our house. We found it amazing that a 3-year-old would grasp the concept of someone else buying our house and the house then becoming theirs, much less refer to it as "Robert's" instead of something like "Our old house."

The New Trinity?

Lately, Kyra has been making a strange connection with things that she learns at church. Each time we ask her what she learned about in class, she says, "God and Jesus...and Santa Claus." Seeing as it's the middle of summer, that seems a bit unlikely....

Breakfast in the Closet

As we're packing up our belongings all around the house and getting ready to move, Kyra has been quite curious as to what some items are that she doesn't recognize. Today, we were packing the coat closet by the front door. Steven was pulling out all the scarves, gloves, and hats, as well as a pair of old earmuffs that I haven't worn in years, but for some reason still have. Kyra grabbed them out of the box, turned them over several times, and said "Mommy, what are these things?" I answered that they are earmuffs. She said oh and continued to pick through the items that Steven was putting into the box. She came back to the earmuffs after a minute and announced, I'm going to wear the "Ear Muffins." Well, that's something I never hope to find in the breakfast aisle.

God and the balloon

We went to Applebee’s to eat with my parents last night and as we were leaving, Kyra was given a pretty pink balloon. We tied it around her wrist and went out towards the parking lot. As we were chatting with my parents and getting ready to say good-bye, Kyra began dancing along the sidewalk, jumping up and down, and consequently the balloon untied itself. Before we could react, it was floating high above our heads. Kyra handled it well, but kept asking for her balloon back. Someone ended up telling her that the balloon went up to God. She later asked me in the car, “Mommy where did my balloon go?” I somewhat mindlessly repeated that it went high up in the sky and went to God. She replied, “No Mommy, it can’t go to God in the sky!” That got my attention and I asked her why. She then informed me, “Because God is in our hearts.” So of course, I felt like a moron and told her how right she was. =)

Commercialization

Kyra and I were walking through Wal-Mart the other day, and we went down the dishwashing aisle to pick up some dishwasher detergent. As we went back down the aisle to return to the grocery section, all of a sudden Kyra yells, "Wait Mommy! We need some Palmolive Oxy Plus!" I have never bought that particular product before, so I stopped, backed up the cart to the dishwashing liquid section and clarified. I asked her "What is it we need to buy?" She then pointed right to the bottle of Palmolive Oxy Plus and repeated herself. After I realized they show that commercial fairly regularly in between Dora and Blues Clues, I died laughing and told her we don't need to buy everything we see commercials for on TV. A little scary, but amusing nonetheless.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls!

Steven and I just found out on Monday that we're going to be the proud parents of another beautiful baby GIRL! We're very excited that Kyra is going to be a big sister soon. She is already very sweet with the baby and regularly lifts my shirt up so she can kiss my tummy. The other day she said that she can't wait until the baby comes out so they can read books together. I told her that was a great idea and the baby would love it if Kyra would read books to her. The beginning of a beautiful friendship....

Performance Arts

Each day, both when she's waking up and settling down for a nap or bedtime, Kyra practices her art of conversation and singing. She sings everything from Dora the Explorer and Blues Clues songs to worship songs from church or our CDs. She also has long extended conversations with whoever it is that she talks to when no one is around. The other day, she had gone down for her nap with a certain stuffed animal friend who, at the end of naptime, was nowhere to be found. I asked where her little friend had gone and she informed me that she threw him under the stage. The stage? I inquired as to what she meant by under the stage, and she indicated that she had thrown the poor little guy under the bed, which at naptime and bedtime, apparently becomes her stage.