Yummy!

Christmas is all about... eating!

Bows are the best!





The new doll from Grandma and Grandpa is yummy too!


Wrapping paper is not a favorite.

And the best part...she started eating real food three days before Christmas! She is a good little eater and swallows and opens her mouth faster than I can get it on the spoon. :-)

Thief!

Thief! Yesterday Mark (who was/is super kind and patient), Caroline and I ventured to the mall. Caroline (who is also super kind and patient) and I had been out running errands earlier in the day but we had a few last minute things to get. As Mark is getting Caroline out of the car, I was getting the stroller out. GASP! Sitting inside the folded head cover (is that what it's called) of the stroller is a brand new shirt that I stole accidently left the store with earlier in the day. I was completely caught off guard and embarrassed. I did share with Mark what I had done - a $50 shirt stolen! Eeeks! Of course, I am going to rectify the situation today. I'm hoping my many blog readers will hold me accountable, even though I don't think that will be needed because my husband is even more honest than me which does not even seem possible and I'm sure he will remind me a trillion times to take it back. :-)

All of this to say, that as I was telling Mark how embarrassed I was I realized this wasn't the first time that had happened in my life the past week! The other day I was shopping at Babies R Us and had Caroline in the car seat inside the cart. I pulled everything out of the cart to check out and then as we were headed to the car I noticed a measly little pair of baby socks that were still in the cart and not in the bag. I was not quite as honest as I should have been that day. I left the socks in the cart outside in the parking lot for someone else to steal! At least I have a clear conscience! The day before that I was shopping at Target. Same scenario: Caroline in the car seat inside the cart. As I was unpacking all my bags into the car I realized there was an entire box of diapers on the underneath of the cart that I did not pay for. I was honest this time and took them back inside and paid for them before leaving. I am tempted to feel bad for my crazy brain not realizing I had done all these things and for stealing! However, I am then reminded that there is a common denominator is all these stories....Caroline!! She is going to be grounded for Christmas - no presents for her!

Oh really?

The strangest compliment that I have heard several times recently about Caroline..."She has the prettiest head." or "The shape of her head is just perfect. She should not worry about growing hair and just stay bald." Umm... I hope she doesn't stay bald but I'm glad she has a pretty head. I'm just not sure that I would have ever thought of such a compliment. :-)

The Grinch

I think I might be turning into the Grinch. I don't want to be the Grinch and I'm not sure that I have officially turned into him but I may be getting close. The whole present thing is just too much.

1) There is the whole money issue. I won't even go into all those details. I've been spending too much!

2) Then there is the present itself. I have ideas of what I want to get for certain people. When I go to the store and can't find what I want I get so frustrated. Time is ticking away and I'm determined to still find the exact things that I want.

3) On the other side, I have those people on my list that I have no idea what to get. Their name comes to mind and question marks appear ???

3) Time - I decided that I wanted to make lots of homemade presents this year. It all started out so lovely but the chances of it happening are looking pretty slim. Once again the clock is ticking...

4) Caroline adds another issue. She is just getting one present, a build a bear from us (don't tell her). We just have to make it to the store... However, she has all of these wonderful nursery workers and babysitters. I want to buy something small for them. But what? We've all talked to those teachers who receive candles and jewelry and other things that they will never use. What do you do?

I'm just worn out from all the shopping and buying. I've told my family several times that I wish we didn't have to do it all but they don't seem to care. They just don't seem as stressed about it all as me. Maybe next year I'll do better.

Me the guitarist

I am sitting in seat 7D on my way back to Atlanta via Charlotte. I am listing to a band called Rage Against The Machine (RATM) and more specifically to the lead guitar player named Tom Morello. Tom has a very interesting style. He makes the guitar "talk" and squeal. His sound is very unique and if you're familiar with Tom and with his sound, you can pick it out very easily.

What impresses me is that Tom is identified by what he does and how he does it rather than by his own name or position. You can appreciate Tom's work without knowing who Tom is or without knowing who RATM is.

I want to be like that. I want people to know me by seeing what I do. I want people to see things I do and to think that those are things I would do.

Consistent? Maybe. I want to be someone people know because of how I treat them rather than by the title on my business cards. It would be so wonderful if Caroline saw my fingerprints in what I did for her.

Along that same path, I want people to see Christ through what I do. To see my Father through the fingerprint He's left in my life, or the style of my guitar playing.
-Mark 12-11-09
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A new understanding

Caroline has been congested for weeks now but she has remained in good spirits. The stubborn cold will just not go away! The past few days a cough has been added to the mix. Fun times! I finally broke down and took her to the doctor. Of course, the doctor said there is really nothing we can do (which is why I never took her in the first place).

At the pediatrician's office there are two rooms. A "well" room and a "sick" room. In all of our previous visits we have been able to be in the well room. Today I was torn. I really didn't want to take my precious sweet baby into the sick room with all those sick kids. She doesn't belong with them. In fact she is better than them, even if she is sick. I even debated about taking her into the breastfeeding room and "feeding" her even though it wasn't time for her to eat. I eventually decided she must go to the sick room with the others. I was a little embarrassed for some reason and a little worried. In my previous visits there was a sense of pride or maybe just relief that I could take her into the well room.

As I was thinking about my silly feelings, I was reminded of the many accounts in Scripture of the "clean" and "unclean." I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be considered "unclean." The embarrassment and the lonliness. I just wanted to offer Caroline some grace by letting her be in the well room or at least the nursing room. :-) How wonderful it is to think of the grace that God offers us. Although we are all unclean, Jesus death on the cross allows us to be seen as clean before God! I'm thankful for God's grace and that I don't have be embarrassed before Him. I'm also thankful and surprised at my new understanding after a few minutes in the doctors office with Caroline.

Christmas Season

It's that time of year again....


This morning I did a little of this...


While Caroline did this...


and Mark helped with this...

Busy days but lots to be thankful for.

A+

Dr. Luk says that Caroline and her parents gets an A+. He is a funny little doctor and he always says that we get an A+. Caroline is a growing girl! She is 4.5 months old and weighs 16.5 lbs (90%) and is 26.75 in. long (97%). Her poor little head is lagging behind and only measures in the 75% tile. :-)

I'm not crazy about our pediatrician's office because the appointments take forever! However, I really like Dr. Luk. He is very straight forward about things and I like that. He told me that if Caroline wakes up in the middle of the night crying, check on her and see if she is ok and then go back to bed and let her fuss. It's nice to have a Dr to reassure me of such things! I have not really been uptight or stressed about anything in particular but he is very calm and lets me know there is nothing to worry about. I'm very thankful to have a happy, healthy little babe!