10 Day Forecast

I love 10 Day Forecasts. I don't really use them to see what the weather will be like around here in 10 days, but what it will be like elsewhere in 10 days. Like Panama City Beach in Florida for example. In 10 days it is expected to be in the upper 60's and low 70's, which is much better than the "heat wave" of 35 degrees around here.
see you can check for monthly averages elsewhere, but as soon as you graduate to the 10 day forecast you have reached a whole new weather forcasting level. You just wake up that morning thinking it is like any other day and click over to weather.com only to see that in 10 days I will not be experiencing the blustery cold Chicagoland weather but the breezy warm weather of elsewhere.
So all this to say that in less than 10 days I will be elsewhere and I can't wait!

Our God is Awesome!

We serve such an amazing God! He has proved Himself to us over and over again and we have no need to doubt. As you may remember we have all sorts of things that need to be fixed before we close on our house nextmonth. The total bill was a couple thousand dollars. Frankly, Josh and I had absolutely no idea where the money was going to come from. I have been working some side jobs to help get more income, but it isn't exactly going to pay for everything. On Thursday night we sat down to do our tax return. We needed to know if we were going to get any help from our return or if we were going to have to shell out more money, like last year. When we got to the end we saw that we were getting back enough money to cover ALL the things we need to get done, plus $11 (here we come Chipotle!). Isn't that amazing? Not "I-can't-believe-it" amazing, but "isn't-our-God-awesome" amazing.
I hope that this post gives glory to our amazing and awesome God who always takes care of our family.

On a side note: Just when one test of our faith was completed we were handed another. I am not sure how long my job with the Tomakas is going to last. They need someone full time and they are strugling finding someone to cover the days I am not there, so they may have to hire someone to replace me. Again, I know our God can do anything and I can't wait to see how He takes care of this. Please keep us in your prayers, and let me know if you hear anything. Thanks!

Filling Her Diaper

It has been a long time since our last poopy diaper story, so depending on your taste - enjoy or beware!
Charis has been taking to solids really well this past week. And with that, we have experienced some of her first solid poops. (There will be a picture below - so be warned!) Nothing too significant to write about (they are more green now - I can't wait until she has bright orange carrots!). However, since they have been more solid they have been more ... difficult ... for her to pass them. Yesterday Josh was spending some time with her right before bed when her bowels began to empty themselves. It was so hilarious! No more poop explosions, just the strained faces, little grunts and labored breathing of an innocent and unabashed six month old. I mean we all do those same things from time to time, but it is in the privacy of our own bathrooms. She just did it for all the world to see, and Josh and I couldn't contain our laughter.
What made it even more hilarious was Josh's reaction to it. He can't handle poopy diapers anyway, but to be holding his precious little girl as she scrunched up her red face and made rude noises and very smelly poop was a little much for him. To make sure that he didn't hand her over to me I grabbed the camera and got some pics and video of this funny experience, and then I made him change her diaper! Score one for the momma!
Laugh away!

I'm pooping!

Thanks daddy!

I told you to beware.

She's Getting Her Chompers!

I forgot to tell you all that Charis cut her first tooth last week. It doesn't seem to have disrupted anything - no fevers, extra crankiness or lack of sleep. And no biting yet - thankfully. I wanted to get a picture up for you all, but it is hard to keep her mouth open for so long without her stuffing something in it to block the picture. Oh well!

Real Food!

So the munchkin has started on solids! She has been getting easily distracted while breastfeeding, so more nutrition was needed. Don't worry Grace, I still plan on breast feeding for a while.
She took the food very eagerly. She doesn't quite understand the spoon yet and is still trying to suck it the way she would normally feed. This just makes it splatter everywhere. Oh well, she will get the hang of it soon. Doesn't she look all grown up in her highchair?

Hey! I can eat and look at the camera at the same time!

Daddy is not as good as mommy at this, but I still like him.

Blogger's Comments

So I love comments. I love reading the comments you write for us. I love writing comments on your blogs. However, I do not like leaving comments.
To begin with, I stink at Word Verification. I don't know if I am dyslexic or if I just can't tell the difference between an 'r' and an 'n'. Every time I leave a comment I know that it will take me two or three times to get the word verifcation right.
The other thing that annoys me is when I click on the comments link it always throws me down to the bottom of the page. Yes, I probably will comment sometime, but I want to read the other comments first. Gosh.
And finally, who was the stupid web developer that did not do the tabs correctly? Once I enter in my username I would like to tab to enter my password, not be chucked to the top of the page.
All of these are just my little pointless pet peeves about Blogger's comments. I am sure you feel it too. Now here is the irony - you are going to go endure all that I just mentioned to write me a comment. And I am going to endure it all to read your comments. Oh well.

Night Away Reflections

I never told you guys how my night away went...

To sum it up, Josh and I had a simply wonderful time! I only got a little misty when we were loading Charis up in the car to drop her off at the Huffs. I told Josh in the strongest, most in control voice I could muster, "Distract me." And he did.
Droping her off was fine and I started to get really excited for my night alone with Josh. We had dinner at Tuscana, our favorite place, and besides for the freezing cold that seemed to chase me inside it was very yummy! After dinner we drove the 2 blocks to Graham's Chocolate for my fudge. This is a tradition we started a couple years ago; whenever we have a special night away we always get some fudge to enjoy during the evening.
We wanted to go out somewhere, but didn't really have any good ideas. So we went somewhere we haven't been to in many years - Mill Race Inn. For those of you who don't know, Josh worked there while we were dating. It was great to see some people who knew us forever ago. They were surprised at how fast time had flown - that we have been married for almost three years and that we have a daughter. One of the ladies even got a little choked up. Going there was like a stoll down memory lane. It helped remind me of what life was like when it was just the two of us.
After that we went to our hotel and enjoyed the pool and hot tub. Our room was great too. We took a dip in our whirlpool while we enjoyed some wine, good cheese and our fudge. A little while later : ) we watched Stranger Than Fiction. It was really interesting. Not a typical Will Ferrell movie, but good. We got to sleep in late, do a little shopping in the morning and eat brunch at Bennigans before we picked up Charis.
The night was wonderful and much needed. It reminded me of who Josh and I are as a couple, without the munchkin. We had a great time being alone together and promised that we would make time to have a special night just the two of us once a month.
So I endured and flourished during my night away from Charis and look forward to many more!

Rolling Over Fun

So Charis has learned to roll over. I am very glad frankly because I thought she was a little behind in that area. But now that she knows how to roll over she pretty much refuses to stay on her stomach. As soon as I lay her down she immediately rolls over. Kinda funny and by no means can we put her up on anything anymore. So how is she ever going to learn to crawl?

I hate being on my stomach!

Don't make me do it again!

Swimsuit fashion show for our trip to Florida in March

I like them both, but the hat is a must!

Playing with my feet

Cutie with her pink butterfly

Brrrr... It's cold INSIDE!

As many of you know, it has been very cold recently. In Chicago wind chills have reached 3o degrees below zero. I hate winter - snow, cold, etc. I have no problem with driving to church, which door to door can't be longer than a football field - purely for Charis right? At least I know I can hibernate indoors to escape it all. But this year winter has come back with a vengence. It is now coming INSIDE!
Now, I love my house. I am amazed that I live in the "apartment" which has 3 bedrooms, large rooms, hard wood floor and is fully furnished. But I should have been a little more suspicious when I found outlet covers everywhere in the house, but I merely thought that they had already baby-proofed it for me. As the months began to grow cloder I found freezing air bursting through these little holes in the wall. And the windows too. So I simply covered every window in the place with window saran wrap stuff. Meanwhile I was attributing it to the fact that the house is basically in the middle of a field with nothing to block the wind.
But today things just went a little too far. I currently have my house between 72 -74 degrees, which is very high for our typical 68 degrees. Monday's are my cleaning days and while cleaning I found how winter had invaded my snug little house. See for yourself...

The is the thermometer on the elliptical. It is currently kept in the guestroom with the door closed. So I would understand that the room would be colder, but 20 degrees colder? I mean the vents are open in there!

And this is the door to our walk-in fridge - literally - we keep our soda in there and it is almost frozen. Josh was brilliant enough to put a blanket under the door to keep the cold air out. We don't think that there is any insulation through those walls.


And finally, FROST HAS COME THROUGH MY WALLS! At first I thought it was paint that I had never noticed, but as I reached out to touch it I saw it was frost.

Simply remarkable. Even in my own home I am not safe from the dreaded cold of winter!

A Night Away

So tonight is the first night that Josh and I will be leaving Charis in another's care. I did not realize how difficult it is going to be. The past few days I almost wanted to throw in the towel and say, "Nevermind, we will take her with us!" It is not that I don't trust the Huff's with her - not at all! I am just with her all the time. The longest I ever leave her is during a church service or a choir practice. Mr. Huff challenged me to make sure I wasn't being a child-centered parent (which is thinking I am the only one who can comfort my child and take good care of her, among other things). After our parenting class and seeing where that leads, that is the last thing I want to do. It is just really hard...
Some people don't really undestand this and it is hard to explain. They think the root of it is other things or that I should just stop walking down this path. There is truth to all of that, but again it is hard. But I need to do it.
If this were only about leaving Charis over night I would be making a big deal about nothing, but there is obviously something bigger behind it. I am not sure what it fully is, but I know I need to face it. And I know I must do it soon, or it will only be harder in the future. Man, I feel like I am going into battle.

On a lighter note, today I am getting more excited about my time alone with Josh. We are going to our favorite restaurant and staying in a King Spa room with a whirlpool. We have picked up a really good cheese and some fudge to enjoy nibbling on also. It is good for me to get away. It will be good for my relationship with Josh and it will be good for Charis to be watched by someone else. I just might need to call a couple times to hear her coo at me through the phone line.