Our 9 month update

Karis Joy- 8 1/2 months old. She loves those little giggling olives. They make her laugh!

I have done a terrible job keeping this blog updated! Life has been moving very quickly around here. Since my last post, I have started working, part time from home. I am very blessed to be working for Home School Legal Defense Association. I am one of their Special Needs Consultants. It has been a blessing to work from home, albeit a little crazy at times!! Picture me sitting on the edge of the bed, nursing Karis, talking to my co-worker on the phone with Gracie hanging on my back begging for a snack!!! One day a week, a dear friend who is home from doing mission work in China, watches the girls for me while I work downstairs. Gracie loves those days. She and Miss Rachel go on all sorts of adventures, all directed by Gracie Beth Winn.

Karis is doing very well. We don't have her 9 month appointment until later in March, but I can tell you this much...She weighs around 16 pounds. She's wearing 9 month clothes. Size 3 diapers. People comment on how petite she is.

She is our "Curious Karis". She is always staring and taking in everything her big sister is doing. She loves to be held, although she's not much of a cuddler. I think she just likes to have a bird's eye view. She's usually very happy, but when she's mad- She's Mad! With Gracie, you could console her with a song, a kiss, or a cuddle. Not so with Karis. If she wants to get out of the car seat, eat, or be held, she's not going to quit telling you about it until she gets what she wants! I am praying that God will use this determination and strength for His glory some day!!

She is quite the mover. She started army crawling back in December, and really began crawling on all fours in late January. Two weeks ago, she started pulling herself up to a standing position. She often sits up on her knees. You'll have to forgive me for being amazed at this, but Gracie didn't do any of those things until much later. Everybody is different!

Karis has this sweet wave that she does to say, "Hi" to everyone. She has started saying, "Uh, Eh" (Her version of "Uh- oh") when she drops things. She does something else, that I think is hilarious! When she wants out of her crib in the mornings, she doesn't just cry. She moves to the corner of the crib, closest to the door of her room and cries. It's like she has figured out that that is her best position to be heard. She does this in the play pen too. She moves to part that's closest to where we are, and cries out to us. I think she may be brilliant! :)

She has become mommy's girl during these past four months. Although, she absolutely lights up when her daddy comes home! She gives people the 'once over' when they visit, because she wants to make sure they're not here to babysit!

She isn't the best sleeper in the world. She typically sleeps for 5 hours max. Up until recently, she was staying up until 10:00 at night. That was about to wipe me out! However, we're starting to get into a much more reasonable groove. She's taking 2-2 1/2 hour naps mid-day, and going down around 8:30-9. Still too late, I think, but better. Two nights ago, she slept from 8:30- 5:30!!!! That was the first time in almost 9 months that I've gotten that much uninterupted sleep! Then, last night she was up at 1:30 and 4! I have no idea what made the difference! Last night was one of those nights where she didn't want to go back to sleep. I can always tell when that is going to happen because she starts hitting her head while she's nursing, as if to wake herself up!!!
I am tired, and I think it's starting to show. The other day, I was fixing my hair. Gracie looked at me and said, "Mommy, you look like an other mother." (In other words, she's not accustomed to seeing me with my hair fixed and with full make up applied.) Oh well!

I leave you with a few more pictures and the promise to update before Karis' first birthday!

Christmas

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas experience. We had a great weekend together. We enjoyed two Christmas services, ate well, kissed our girls bunches, and reflected on our many blessings. As I've looked through the pictures we took over the past few days and see myself with two little ones, it almost doesn't seem like it is me in the picture. We have waited such a loooonnnng time for our children, I can't help but marvel at the wonder of it all. I never want to take parenthood for granted. We are a miracle family. That's for sure!
I had another "God Moment" this Christmas. I just have to share it with you. A few weeks ago, our church made several hundred dollars available to the congregation, on the condition that we'd take a portion and give it away. Immediately, I knew who I wanted to give money to. I thought of a little boy that was in my Morning Kindergarten Class this year. I thought that I still had his address, and if not, I was sure that I could get it from my former teaching assistant. Well, true to form, I procrastinated! Early on the 23rd, I got myself in gear and began locating this family's address. I didn't have it, and school was already dismissed for Christmas Break. So, I loaded up the girls and headed to the low-income housing apartments. I drove around, hoping to see someone I recognized; it didn't happen. I stopped at the office, and asked the manager to assist me. She spent 10 minutes looking through files, but came up with nothing. I made some phone calls, but got voice mail instead of someone who might be able to help me locate this family. Nothing. So, I prayed. I said, "Lord, I really thought you wanted me to give this money to this family, but I've messed up. Please help me find out where they live or show me someone else to give the money to." I went on with other errands. My last stop was going to be Wal Mart, but as I looked toward the area of town with said store, I just couldn't go there. The traffic was horrible, and I knew sticking with that plan was going to be painfully long. I decided to go the grocery store, even though I'd have to pay a little more for what I needed. A few minutes later, I was at our destination. I was just pulling into my parking space, and.......there was the mom of the little boy I had been looking for all morning!!!!! She was just leaving the store. Our eyes caught! I gasped, put the car into park, jumped out, tears streaming down my face, and ran to give this woman the card I'd prepared earlier that day. It was so amazing!!! Talk about a divine appointment, perfect timing. Our God is incredible!!! It makes me cry, as I recall the story to you. She was getting ready to load her car and leave. If I had been 5 minutes later, I would not have seen her. The love of God. How rich! How Kind! Wow! This experience, coupled with the day before, has built my faith. I hope it encourages you too!
I really need to go to bed, but I will leave you with few more pictures. One is Gracie at her Christmas program. She was so funny there. She just stood there most of the time, doing nothing. Then she spent the whole rest of the day singing the songs from the performance! I've been telling people that she has her own take on Christmas festivities. We got out the stockings...she put them on her feet! We took her to see the Christmas Light Show at one of our parks...she wanted to go down to the lake and look for turtles. We made a gingerbread house...she begged me to let her eat it. I finally gave in after a few days. We gave her Christmas presents...she spent all day opening them, not because she had so many, but because she was busy playing with the ones she had already opened! She is a funny girl who fills our lives with a lot of joy!

Ok- one more thing, then I've really got to go to bed, while the "getting's good". Karis is army crawling! Actually, today, she started moving one of her legs as she crawled too. I can't get over it, because Gracie was 9 months old before she started moving like that! I've always said that Karis is a mover and a shaker! She's sitting up for a few moments at a time, and babbles quite a bit! And, after studying her big sister, quite intently, she has begun to drink from a sippy cup....just a few sips at a time of course! She is almost 27 inches long, and weighs 15 pounds and some change...I can't remember what the nurse told me! She does have an eye that likes to cross, so I'm waiting to get referral to a specialist on that, but otherwise, she is thriving.

Good night all! Happy New Year!!! 2011 is year I'll not soon forget, but I'm ready for what 2012 has in store.

Merry Miracle Day

Christmas is the biggest miracle of all! Christ came to earth and began the work of redeeming us! Hallelujah!! I hope all of you have the best Christmas ever this year!

I had one of those moments today when God let me know that He knows everything about me. HE KNOWS everything I need. It took my breath away to realize how much He cares. You see, last night I was wrapping presents for Gracie. As I was wrapping, I thought, "Gee, I wish I had some paper that wasn't so grown up, and old looking." Earlier, I had found 3 rolls of wrapping paper, and with money being tight right now, I couldn't justify going out and buying new, happier prints. I also resisted the urge to buy tags for presents. It probably wouldn't have been much, but I figured it was a couple of dollars that I didn't need to spend. I finished wrapping what I could for the evening and went to bed. This morning, our door bell rang. Gracie, Karis and I were still in our jammies....ok, that really doesn't mean much, it was 10:00. Anyway, it was our neighbor. His wife had sent him over with a gift for us. It was a huge gift bag stuffed with smaller gift bags, tissue paper, gifts for the girls, tags, and two rolls of perky wrapping paper. Even now, tears are beginning to flow. I didn't verbalize my desire for paper. It wasn't even a need. It was a want, and not a very important one at that. But, my God spoke volumes to me in providing that little thing for me. He said, "I am all knowing. I am sovereign. I am faithful. I care about you. I am in the details, so I can handle the big stuff. You can trust me." Yes, Lord. Yes Lord.

Little Miss Fru Fru

Hi Everyone~
If you read my last post, you are aware that I am now a stay at home mommy. Hooray! I love being home with my girls, but I still need to supplement my income. One of the things I'm doing is working with my mom and a friend of mine to jumpstart a business that mom and I started a few years ago. We call it, '~Little Miss Fru Fru~'. We sell accessories for girls of all ages. My mom is working her little fingers to the bone, as they say, adding embellishments to flowers, bows, leggings, tutus, etc. Lisa and I are doing our best to get our products into small retail outlets, craft fairs, preschools, and of course on FB. I haven't mentioned it to you all because I've been waiting for our website to be up and running. It is, but it still needs a lot of work! Nevertheless, I'm putting it out there for you to check out!

The address is http://www.littlemissfrufru.com/.

If you need anything 'FRU', please let me know!!!!

Here's a sampling of some of our favorites...Of course, I'm just a little more partial to the models than to anything on their heads!

Bloomers with lace- $10
Mary Jane Leggings with bows- $8
Headband with Burgundy Flower and Rhinestones - $8

Crocheted hat with Ostrich Feathers and Zebra Flower-$15
Hand-made Christmas Bow with Headband- $8 Purple bloomers and hat- $25

Random Things....

It snowed 3 or 4 inches at our house this weekend!! This is very, very unusual for us. I loved it! There's something so peaceful about snow falling from the sky. Gracie had a blast playing in it yesterday. I gave her a plastic spoon and a sand bucket, and she was set. The home page on my cell phone is Gracie throwing a snow ball at the kitchen door. :)

I get very happy when I walk upstairs and see that the living room has been dusted and vacuumed. Ahhhhh.....the room is no longer mocking me!

God always provides! When I removed Gracie's summer clothes from her closet a few weeks ago, she had about four outfits left hanging. Then, my dear friend told me to come over because she had some clothes for Gracie. Boy! did she ever. The back end of my car was loaded with beautiful outfits from Gymboree and Children's Place. It took a few hours to get everything on hangers, and moved into their new home. Once the job was complete, there was barely room for another stitch of clothing. Thank you Lord, for taking care of my girl! Thank you Kim for your kindness and generosity!!! Here's a picture of Gracie sporting one of her new outfits...I know it looks like she's posing. Actually, I snapped the picture just before she ran off. She really wanted to watch Little Bear and not get her picture taken!

Karis has been eating solid food for a little over a week. Her first attempt was carrots, and she really liked the experience. She cried when I stopped feeding her! Her daddy had fun with big sister by saying, "Carrots ate Karis." Gracie would correct him, and say, "No, Daddy. Karis ate carrots!" That went on for quite a while...
I don't care for potty training. It's so frustrating. I know she(Gracie, not Karis) can do it. She just doesn't want to do it! I'm too tired to add much more to this subject right now. Maybe I'll devote a post to what's going on in that department, I don't know. For now, I'm praying that things will click for her very soon!!!!!!

Lastly, because I know my mother in law checks this blog often in search of new pictures, I'm going to post some pics that I took this afternoon. Enjoy, Shur Shur!
I love my girls!

The Four Month Visit

I took Karis for her 4 month well-baby visit a week and a half ago. (We're a few weeks behind schedule.) Everything went very well. She weighs 13 pounds, 4 ounces and is 25 inches long. That's the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length. She is growing beautifully! Hooray!! She has the sweetest smile, too. I know, because her pediatrician said so! ;)

Much has happened since I posted 8 weeks ago. Back then, I was preparing to return to the workforce. I appreciate and needed those prayers! Two days before returning to work, my childcare plan for the school year fell apart. I was so distraught! I finally had to call my parents, who live 8 hours from here, and ask them to come watch the girls until we could come up with a new plan. They dropped everything and came to our rescue! I am so thankful for them! Well, I was able to line up a new sitter and transportation to and from preschool for Gracie. We started the day after Labor Day. Everything was going well, but I just did not feel at peace. I wasn't crying everyday or anything like that, but I just didn't feel comfortable. I described myself as being on "high alert". I don't know any other way to explain it.

I also was going through some major emotional battles. Again, not because I was working, but I just absolutely felt like I was drowning. When I was at work, I wanted to be home. When I was home, I wanted to be somewhere else. Everything was becoming mountainous in my mind...the laundry, lesson plans, potty training, meal preparation, bills...everything. The second Monday in September was the peak. I was a wet noodle in everyway. That night, my dear friends at Bible Study prayed over me. I sobbed and sobbed. I think I may have scared some of them, because I really let me guard down during prayer. My mom said that that's called soaking prayer. I don't know about that, but I do know that God ministered to me. I felt better afterward. Later that week, I was at a worship conference. One of the songs we sang had a line in it about feeling like you're drowning, but how God moves those mountainous situations in our lives. There's nothing more powerful than when God moves on complete strangers to present a song or a word that is exactly from Him to you!!! More crying, more healing.

A few weeks later, my world got rocked a bit. The person who transported Gracie from preschool to the sitter said that she couldn't continue doing that for me anymore. An hour later, my baby sitter asked me if we could pay her more money. After I cried, I opened my bible and read about God's grace and mercy. I felt peace and knew what needed to be done. The next day, I talked to my principal about taking a leave of absence from my job.

I can't explain how huge this is for us. It's what I've wanted to do for three years, but we just didn't see how we could swing it financially. I'm still not exactly sure how all the finances are going to work out, but I know that we both have peace about the decision we've made. I've had the sensation of stepping off the rooftop of a tall building, but instead of falling, these invisible steps are there just when I need them.

Sooooo....I have officially been a stay at home mommy for 1 week and 2 days. I feel such freedom and excitement about what the future holds. I am relishing the moments I'm having with my girls, too. Yesterday, I was nursing Karis with Gracie snuggled up next to me. It was 3 oclock in the afternoon. The house was quiet. The only sound we heard was the rain falling outside and some distant thunder. It was so precious!! Of course, a few minutes later, Gracie started kicking her legs wildly, practically socking me in the stomach, but for a sliver of time, we were having a "moment".

All is well

I took both of our girls to the dr. yesterday for their "Well Baby" visits. Gracie is doing great. She's 40 inches tall and just under 36 pounds. I got some helpful tips on finishing the potty training race. (My idea is to have nap time or nite-nite time continuously for the next few days. Everytime she hits the bed, she declares a need to "Go potty." And, she actually does!) Any other time of day, she's too busy playing to be bothered with anything as trivial as using the bathroom!

I'm thrilled to report that Karis Joy is growing beautifully. She's now moved into the 75th percentile for height and weight. 23 1/4 inches long, 11 pounds 3 ounces. I knew she was growing, but it did this nursing mother's heart good to see such healthy growth.

I would truly appreciate your prayers over the next several days. I am returning to work on Monday, August 15th. I'm not sure if I can describe how I feel about that. I'm sad, scared, numb, but also hopeful that God will strengthen and help me to be a working mommy. When I went back to work with Gracie, I was a basket case, and in total denial! I didn't even begin looking for a sitter until a week or so before going back. My mother in law stayed with Gracie for those first few weeks, which made the transition much easier, but it still broke my heart to leave her. I'll never forget my third day of work. I was attending convocation, which is a gathering of all the professional staff in our school division. Our superintendent was giving opening remarks and then an inspirational video was being shown. During those first few moments, I just cried my eyes out. I had arrived "just on time", and was too late to sit with my coworkers. No one was on either side of me, so I just bawled uncontrollably. A woman seated a few seats down reached for my hand and asked, "Are you alright?" To which I replied, " Sniff...I just...sniff, sniff... left my baby... sniff ,sniff...at home...sniff, sniff...." She patted my hand, the lights came back up, and I tried to regain my composure~although, I really didn't want to! During the break, this same lady (Who, btw, is a principal. One of my good friends works at her school. Whenever my friend mentions my name, the principal asks, "Is that the girl who cried?") gave me hug and asked about my little one. She said she had just had a baby too. As we compared notes, I discovered that she hadn't just had a baby...she had a baby on the same day and in the same hospital as me! In fact, because labor and delivery was so busy that day, I had to wait to be prepped for surgery in the family waiting room. I was there when her sister came in with pictures of this woman's baby.
It was incredible. Here I was, surrounded by over a thousand people. Out of all the places that I could have been seated, God orchestrated my path, so that I would sit next to someone who was in the same situation as me. This experience taught me once again that God in heaven is mindful of me... here on this earth. It was as if He was saying, "Krisa, I know what you are going through right now. I have not forgotten you. I will be there to support you through this journey. I know it's not the path you wanted to take, but it is a path that I will walk with you." It makes me cry, just thinking of how very often God poured out His grace into my life that first year. That very present grace gave me courage to work the second year, the third, and now the fourth. I am still praying that God will open a door so that I can stay home with my girls, but until then, I will endeavor to keep my heart fixed on trusting Him.