Thanksgiving

It's November! My favorite month! I love November because its fall, my birthday, and the beginning of the holiday season. I love all of the excitement and family time and food. I love the excuse to start thinking about those we love and what we would like to give them. I LOVE it! However, I can get so caught up in the activities and people that it is easy to overlook the reason for the holidays.

I will spend the month of November being thankful. Every day during this month I will post one thing I'm thankful for. It may be just one sentence or a whole story, or just a picture, but I want to make sure and align my heart to thankfulness. I usually don't do these kinds of things because they can be cheesy, but sometimes its really good to put aside your pride and just embrace it, so i will.

November 1--Grace

My day started with me receiving the news that a former acquaintance has been found in very serious, very hurtful sin, and I have spent the rest of the day thinking about it. Actually as I write this that person is on the news leaving the courthouse where they were for a hearing. Interestingly enough, my initial reaction wasn't outrage; it was more of a deep sadness. I hurt because he has been hiding this for a very long time. I'm thankful that it came out, because in the light, in the truth, comes healing. I pray that he has people around him that are walking through this with him; holding him accountable for his actions and calling him to repentance.

I spent some time this afternoon reading all of the articles on the internet about it--I know, bad habit, but I just can't help myself--and I can't get over all of the reactions. The reality of the situation is that not but for the grace of God any of us could be in a similar predicament. And really, really, there isn't a big difference between his sin and my own sin of discontentment or selfishness. All say that God is not enough. That is the root of all sin isn't it? Really not believing that God is where we will find true peace and contentment.

So today I have been reminded of the ugliness of my sin, and today, I am thankful for grace. That even though I am a mess, God sent his perfect Son so that I can have a relationship with Him. Grace...so hard to comprehend...so good!

Hair

I don't think it is any secret that I am a bit insecure about caring for baby girl's hair. I can't even fix my own hair well, and it is as straight as can be. Really, our hair couldn't be more opposite, so you can see how I might be unsure of my ability to keep her hair looking good.

So far I have just been trying to keep it moisturized. I will occasionally pick it out, but for the most part I just finger comb it, stick a bow in it, and I'm done.

I have been doing a lot of research on African American hair and natural hair care and styling. I read websites, watch you tube videos, and talk to anyone who is willing to give me advice. Let me tell you, there are multiple types of hair that require very different products and plans for care. In fact, it seems as if Karis has three different types of hair on different sections of her head. I don't know why I shared all of that.

Anyway, one thing that seems to be a consensus is that the hair will grow better and stay healthier if it is styled, and the only way to get your child to be okay with styling is to practice. So I decided to practice today.

I wanted to do something that didn't involve pulling or rubberbands. It also couldn't require long hair, so we tried coiling. Now, if you know a lot about this, you will not be able to tell what I was trying to do by the pictures, but I'm learning, so bear with me.

I sat her in her bumbo, turned on some Veggie Tales (don't judge, I needed her to be still for a while), and got to work.

Check out that bald spot! I'm ready for those little hairs to grow!

The first "row" done. She's still in good spirits...didn't last the whole time.

About 45 minutes later I was done. I think I learned a lot about her hair while I was doing it, and I kind of want to redo it because I got a lot better as it went on, but it would just be torture to make her sit still like that more than just every once in a while.

All finished. Her face tells how she felt about it.

There, the bow's better in the middle.

At the end of the day, after two naps. The curls got tighter. I was surprised. We'll see how it looks in the morning.

Saturday

We had big plans for a great fall fun filled day. We didn't end up doing all that we planned, but we had a great day anyway.

Karis got a new toy from her Nana Thompson. She loves it!

Daddy was supposed to be changing her clothes, but this is where I found them. Silly Daddy!!

Van loves putting things on her head and then taking pictures.

All dressed to go to zoo boo! We met the Thompson side of the family at there for the evening. Somehow I only got one picture there. That's what happens when Pop has his good camera. I don't end up taking pictures. Oh well.

It was a little cold, but she had fun hanging out with Kenzie!

Last week in iphone photos

They will be in opposite order of when they happened.

Karis was a cupcake for zoo boo with the Thompson/Jackson clan

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We went to Merry Marketplace with Katie on Friday. Karis looked cute.

She wore boots with her dress to Bible study on Thursday

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Kasey and Kenzie came to see us on Wednesday. Karis loves Kenz! How many K's can I put in one sentence?

We skyped with Ade on Wednesday.

She wore her Halloween shirt on Tuesday.

She and Simon shared her new car.

Monday I made her cupcake costume.

7 months

Karis celebrated turning 7 months old by getting her picture taken, well, and then she had a crazy allergy attack, but it seemed to only last for a few hours.

About our 7 month old.

She seems to be getting chunkier every day.

She still seems pretty far from crawling, but she might take us by surprise.

She will pull up to standing when sitting on me, but only then. I think it is because she wants to give me a hug.

She is quite opinionated and screams when she doesn't like something, like being alone.

She has started to become picky about who she goes to and has a definite preference for Mom. My once perfect in child care child had trouble at the nursery both on Thursday and Sunday. I don't know how I feel about that! This separation anxiety shows itself at night too and when she wakes up, she requires a visit from Mom or Dad in order to go back to sleep. We don't have to pick her up, we just go in and pat her and say something and she immediately calms down and goes back to sleep. Seems simple enough except that sometimes it happens 4-5 times a night. We are tired again.

She is becoming a more picky eater. I think it really has to do with her being so easily distracted. It is much more fun to try and get the dog's attention than to eat her oatmeal, or whatever it is. If I can get her focused, she'll eat whatever I give her.

She is an expert with the sippy cup and loves water, but doesn't have much of an interest in apple juice. I hope that continues!

We started trying puffs, but she still hasn't fully grasped getting it into her mouth. She is an expert at getting them into the dog's mouth though!

The constant spit-up is starting to subside. It hasn't gone away completely, but the volume has definitely decreased.

She has fallen into a very predictable sleep routine. She wakes up at 7, naps at 10:30-12:00, naps again from 2:30-4:00. This is different from a month or two ago. Then she took a 3 hour afternoon nap. I will say I miss my 3 hour block of time, but this seems to work better for her, so I guess I'll sacrifice.

The rest of the post will just be pictures from our photo shoot with Kelsey Cherry. Thanks Kelsey, we love them.

We were sitting in our front yard for this one. Van was so embarrassed.

Oh man, that face...I just love her so much!

Look at those chunky legs!

I love the way her legs are in this picture.

This is how she laughs, she sticks her fists out and screams with her whole body.

Could she be any more beautiful?

Last week in iphone photos

In the format of my favorite blog, here is last week in iphone pics. Next time I'll use instagram to add a little flavor.

Simon visits with us on Tuesdays. I was trying to get a picture of him crinkling his nose at Kare. He thought it was funny when she screamed. This was the best I got.

I got a preview of the pictures we had made on Saturday.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate the birthday of beautiful miss Naomi.

She tried puffs for the first time. The sippy cup is almost mastered, but the puffs don't make it to the mouth yet. Just a note, its not a good idea to let the water leak all over the tray and the puffs sit in it...you'll have a mess.

Finalization Day!

On September 26, 2011 we got the privilege of adopting our baby girl to be ours forever. (not that it wasn't already so in our hearts)

We met the lawyer at the county courthouse with our entourage at 9:00 am. We all filed into the judges chambers, and then Van and I pledged to love and support and care for Karis in life and in death. It was indescribable. I honestly think it would be great for all parents to have to do the same for all children. It was just so special to speak in front of our families and a judge our promise to be her mommy and daddy, similar to a wedding.

When we walked out of the courthouse it felt as though a giant weight had been lifted. No one can take her from us, we are free to love her and dream about the future without the fear of losing her. I knew that the day would be big, but I had no idea that it would be so freeing!

We all went back to our house to have some lunch and celebrate our little girl. It was a beautiful day that will always hold a special place in my heart.