She's Here!

Karis Elizabeth

Karis is one week old today! Our sweet baby girl arrived as scheduled at 8:13 a.m. on July 20th. She weighed in at 8 pounds flat and 20.5 inches long. To our delight Karis earned the reputation of being a very mellow baby in the nursery. YES! On the day we left the hospital a nurse even welled up as she said goodbye to her. Of course, I welled up too, as in, I really have to leave this little haven??

How has this week turned into a beautiful memory already?! Leaving behind the thoughts of a sore body and weepy eyes, I'll (hopefully) only remember lots of snuggling and visiting with loved ones in the days to come! I'll think of funny instances too like when Caroline repeated verbatim the lactation consultant's instructions for encouraging "let down" and when Karis tinkled on my sister's hand as she was ooing and ahhing over her teeny bottom. Of course, my heart is busting with moments like watching Caro's and Jacks' enamored faces, Donald whispering in my ear upon delivery "You got your Karis," breathing in her baby breath nose to nose as if we're in our own little peaceful bubble, and those first sleepy grins with the miniature quivery lips. I could go on and on. Ahh, sweetness.

Naturally, her name has sparked some interest, so here's the inside scoop. Karis is pronounced like "Paris" and is my best second grade phonetic spelling. Charis is a Greek word which is translated grace. Basically, when you read the word grace in the New Testament it was penned charis. I suppose in my heart there is something about the thought of Paul, for example, saying and writing that word 2,000 years ago under the direct inspiration of Karis' creator Himself that thrills me.

If you're still curious, grace is interpreted to mean a free, undeserved gift, most specifically Jesus' sacrifice of Himself for us, and the empowerment of God given to every believer in Jesus as their savior. On a less inspiring note, Elizabeth is my middle name and means "an oath of God; a worshipper of God". Wow. Now that I have thought that through her name could seem very religious. Eww, Lord, let it not be!! Our precious gift of grace is named out of my sheer love and delight for Jesus. That and I could not think of another middle name in all those 9 months!

June

Despite my holey swiss cheese moment and Caroline's 24 hour bug, June was a fun month!

Caro and I had a fun girls night out to celebrate the end of a very accomplished kindergarten year. She dressed in her favorite new dress, fanciest pearls, and Cinderella slippers. Her momma was lucky to slap on some mascara and find her flip flops, but the owner of the ice cream shop was so taken with Caroline's beauty that he gave us a free sundae! Love my girl so much!

Making a Father's Day frame -- It was "fun" keeping them painting on their designated sides of the frame.

We made a chain to help us countdown "Sandwich's" arrival on July 20th!

The kids drying off at home after playing in the sprinkler at Reese's 2nd birthday party. Notice the big boy underwear? Yes, the seemingly impossible has happened! Jackson is officially potty trained. Yes, yes, and YES!!

We had a lot of fun at our church's Vacation Bible School. Here Jackson is receiving his 1st certificate! Next to the reward of seeing my kids celebrate and grow in God, I had the joy of being the snack lady, so I was in charge of organizing stations of M&M's, mini marshmallows, and chips to name just a few goodies for theme related snacks. Tough job, but someone had to do it.

Aimee and I picking out potential boy middle names. You can tell by the way I'm holding my book that we got far.

Amy gave Tracy and I a joint shower from our church. These ladies are so precious to me. From my point of view they are the real gifts. They are generous with their love and encouragement!

Here's the belly at 8 months pregnant. Looks like it's made out of Silly Putty. My sister exercising her Bionic Woman hearing.

The kids are over the top with excitement!

The Millers had a BBQ to celebrate Brent's 30th birthday. Watching Donald coach our little man was a highlight. Seeing Jackson throw a football was a first for me. Of course, Donald is holding strongly to the hope that Jacks will be 6'4, weigh a ton, and play for the 'Skins, right D?

These kids have spent HOURS together through the years, from the church nursery to get togethers. They are like cousins. Only wish the rest of the crew could have been there.

Regardless of Caroline's sinister look, it's this doggone Easy Bake Oven that is evil. Caroline was so eager to make her daddy a "cookie" in it for Father's Day. Between you and me, I am so eager to help this lovely gadget find it's way to the trashcan a little prematurely.

D's Father's Day was a little defunct. He wanted to nap and watch the College World Series but then I was able to do the same, which made a quick trip to Lazy Land. We made up for it the following evening by making him a surprise dinner. Just want his quote to be recorded for all time, "This is the best meatloaf you've ever made!" Whoo-hoo, way to score with a loaf of meat!

This is the desk set the kids made for Donald. The picture was taken on Father's Day, so it made the frame. It rather cracks me up. I'm as proud as a peacock!

Father's Day Kiss

I found an afghan my family used as a kid. Guess where? Yep, in a box in the basement! My grandma made this. To accessorize Caroline or the couch?

While digging through the basement I found a ton of teaching material! We had fun with a M&M Counting Book. A good reinforcement for shapes, colors, pattern, counting for Jackson, and adding, subtracting, multiplying for Caroline. Notice the monster trucks made a visit.

Here they are on a bit of a high afterward!! I hope the math skills sunk in as much as the sugar.

I don't make homemade treats very often so these were a big deal. My momma would be proud... Blueberry lemonade popsicles.

We had a power outage for about 12 hours after a big thunderstorm. I jokingly told my friends it was like I had post traumatic stress disorder when the lights first went out. My memories of 3 days without power this past winter rose like the mercury in our thermometer. I must have fired up every candle we owned. I’m sure our house would have been 5 degrees cooler if I had just gathered a flashlight or two. The next day Caro and Jacks kept us entertained with Caroline's dancing to Jackson's piano accompaniment.
Shocker of the month: My friend Melissa sent me flowers out of the blue for ZERO reason other than to love on me! When the delivery man came to the door before I even said hello I asked if he was sure he had the right address. Then I went on and on to Caroline about how sweet her daddy is! Even today it makes my heart smile. (Donald still counts as sweet too. He says he's taking notes from Melissa.)

The basement family room is under way! Sheetrock was completed today!

The last days of June were gogeous -- low hunmidity, tempts. in the 70s!! I savor having my quiet time in the morning on my deck before the kiddos get up. So thankful for this gorgeous weather!

Swiss Cheese Soul

It's 2:30 in the morning and I haven't slept a wink. I believe I am suffering from a Swiss Cheese Soul at the moment. You must know what I mean. When you're soul has taken a lot of hits during the day, and you're the one who has poked out most of the holes. Allow me to illustrate -

Hole #1:

I wrote my "To-Do-Before-Baby-Arrives" list and am totally overwhelmed with how I am supposed to redecorate, contact every long lost friend, and dust my basement in the next 21 days. And yes, I am partially serious. The dry wall men came today and did a fine job of hanging the walls downstairs. However, they did not hang plastic to protect the rest of the area. In the process we developed a lovely coat of fine white powder on everything from laundry room to wreaths, not to mention however much will move in upstairs with us.

But wait! That's not a very good example. Let me try again to explain SCS...

Hole #2:

I emotionally barfed over friends today while revealing a tad bit too much of how I was feeling at the moment about one or twenty or so situations.

Hole #3:

Ah yes, here's a big one -- I spontaneously handed over my quasi loved-hated position of leading my Sunday School class in the heat of a discussion. This ultimately should be a relief, but I am feeling more like I gave my puppy away. Will it miss me? Will I ever see it again? Pathetic!!

Holes #4, 5, 6 & 7:

My belly is so big it almost hurts to turn over in bed, my feet feel dry and no amount of lotion is helping, everyone in the WORLD is sleeping but me, and we have no more ice cream!!!!!!!!

Guess who is the center of her universe at moment and apparently has her fingers in a few holes?

Lord, please shine Your light through these goofy holes and fix what I have poked out. Better to be a window with your character shining through than just a blob of stink'n smelly cheese.

Dad's Stuff and the Dreaded Basement

I can count on one hand the number of friends who have actually been in our basement. It's usually under tight security and off limits for fear someone may suggest us to that TV show about hoarders. With our baby making the big debut in mere weeks, my husband and I have grown a few wild hairs! The craziness has driven me to finally clear out stuff, and the few hairs you might find on him have caused a giddy momentum which will end in the form of a playroom. (Are those angels I hear singing?!)

I remember thinking I was the bomb riding behind my dad on this.

Just picture little Kristin with knee socks & a long pony tail flying in the wind!

You are going to think I am nuts, but my dad's 1977 Yamaha motorcycle has been sitting in our unfinished basement for nearly 12 years. I know it's rather pathetic, but I couldn't junk the thing and I actually thought my sister and I might make a few tens if we sold it. As an executor of Dad's estate or even more likely, the proud owner of a once empty basement, I took in this childhood memento and "project" of my dad's thinking it would find a new home soon. I never dreamed I would get so used to it that it would not even register on my radar when I scanned the basement. Makes me wonder what else I intentionally overlook in my life?? Hmm... Another topic for another day. All this to say our friend David has HAPPILY adopted my daddy's motorcycle! Yay!! No tens in hand, but Dad would be happy and I can now rest in peace. (I know my highly organized friends are rolling in their graves!) Haha -- OK, I'll stop.

My sister also spent Saturday afternoon with me pouring through boxes marked with our names or "Dad". We purposefully avoided this job due to the tremendous amount of papers to go through -- boxes and boxes. It's been easier to avoid than tackle. However, enough time has passed that finding my dad's infamous "to-do" lists in his handwriting, calendars, awards, certificates, information on our childhood homes, etc. was actually fun! We even found dozens of our homemade cards we had created for him. To top off the treasure hunt, glazed ceramic bowls carefully engraved with our elementary school pencils surfaced after years of being shrouded in newspaper. My dad was so sweet to keep those on his dresser all the time they were in his possession! We sorted through boxes of books, found my sister's childhood diaries (talk about a HOOT!!), but the most tender part was finding Dad's pipes. Amazing how a smell can open the flood gates. The aroma of Captain Black's pipe tobacco brought back a ton of memories from camping trips to sitting on the front porch with him.

The hours spent sorting and pitching, sighing and laughing were a good thing for Aimee and I to do together, especially during Father's Day weekend. It even made all the storing worth the procrastination!

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Happy Father's Day!

Mommy, Caroline Grace, Jackson, and "Sandwich" love you so much, Daddy!

We are thankful for you!


"Sandwich" was nicknamed by the kids about 4 months ago when the baby was the size of a sandwich!
We don't know if it's a PB&J or turkey & cheese just yet.
We'll find out in 30 days -- July 20th!

Here is one of my favorite love letters: http://www.fathersloveletter.com/video.html

My Life and My Men

I had two dates today! Nope. It's not my birthday or even my anniversary, and they did not include my mom, thank you very much.

Date #1:
After my youngest boyfriend and I hit the specialty stores in the metropolis of Fork Union, he suggested we have tacos for lunch. Voila! There we were moments later looking at one another eyeball to eyeball in our cowboy themed booth just the two of us. I taught him how to handle his taco and eat over his plate, and he taught me that he can count to 5 in Spanish! Who knew?! Mucho gracias, Dora! My little Jackaroo and I need to get out more often.

Date #2:
You know you are (a) in a rural area, (b) desperate to get out, and (c) a parent in need of romance when you and your sweetie eagerly head to the Ruritan Lodge to hear a dentist speak, and you call it a date night. Picture the scene -- little concrete building, old fan from the '40s whirring in the background, ancient newspaper articles framed along the wall... The secret life of a lodge! Donald and I had the best time laughing at ourselves! The dentist is actually a dear friend and a significant number of beloveds from church are members of this Lodge, thus the invitation. Our friend Jay did a beautiful job presenting his practice and I'm really inspired by all the Ruritans do for our community. It was wonderful and thankfully, we didn't have to wear moose horns to get in. Donald and I nudged knees under the table, I had the company of the county's most handsome elderly men, all with a free ham dinner ta-boot! Always fun to feel like you've stepped into a novel of some kind.

SURPRISE! I've had over a year's hiatus and I have to admit I have not missed blogging. What I have missed is looking back on the past year and remembering all those precious details and highlights that fade all too quickly to the back of my mind. I can see where keeping a blog is a personal gift to moi, so I am trying desperately to get back into the groove of digital memory keeping.

It's funny how heart felt conversations can turn resistance around pretty quickly. I was sharing some serious convictions with good friends about how blogging can portray the facade of a perfect life. I am certainly guilty of putting my best out there and leaving the junk behind. I suppose that would be the point! If I kept an old fashioned album my sticky pages would not be holding the photo ops from my worst days. So that gave me some freedom to start up again. But, then I realized I only became a touch sensitive or maybe even competitive, thus my "convictions", when I spent too much time reading complete strangers' blogs and measuring myself to them. Oh Nelly!! I was allowing this trap to rob me from a personal joy. What a sucker! I do confess to enjoying my friends' blogs when I take a moment to indulge, but that's because I enjoy my friends and know their hearts. Anyhow, I am getting sidetracked...

So I have given myself some reasonable goals for diving in once again, mainly to stay on top of archiving our memories and capture this very important upcoming season in our lives. I also knew I was ready to write again when I couldn't sleep due to all the lists and comments and stories I wanted to record just from that week.

Ready, set... I'm jumping in!