Leg Hair

I noticed Charis has toe and leg hair. It is blonde and very little, but is that normal? I didn't think they get it until puberty or least until they were a little older. Is my daughter going to be a chia pet (like her father - don't tell him I said that!)?

I Almost Threw Up

So Charis and I were playing around before she went to bed last night. One of our favorite things to do is have me lay on the floor and have her sit on my neck (kind of like riding a horse for her). We have done it many times before and she loves it. She plays with my face and I blow on her belly when she leans forward. But she got a little excited last night.
In one of her attempts to lean forward she threw up on my face. And it wasn't spit up, or breast milk. It was barf. How do I know? Well, it smelled like adult barf and we had given her a little formula to supplement after her feeding. And I had it in my mouth, in my eyes, in my hair, in my ear and up my nose. I literally had to control my gag reflex. I thought her food was digested, but I guess it wasn't. She was totally fine and I am thinking twice about ever having her sit on my neck again.

Fever Update and Crawling

Her temperature is back to normal and the doctor's visit was pointless. He said it was just a cold that she would have to work through. Oh well. And I found out that she is still less than 16 pounds, with her clothes on! I must be starving her. I am going to increase what she eats or soon her weight will be off the charts! Oh, but the doctor did give me some good tips on getting her to crawl.
Speaking of, she hates being on her stomach and has practically forgotten how to roll over. I have been working with her since yesterday's visit and the rolling over is back. He said put objects just out of her reach, which I have done, but when she can't reach it she ignores it and plays with her toes. So this morning I used a sure-fire motivation - I let her "pursue" the TV remote. She was then rewarded with 30 secs of holding it (you should have seen how she looked at it, like she was holding this sacred treasure!); then I snatched it back before she got any funny ideas.
Our doctor also said have her crawl on pillows because they have more give then the floor. So she has been rolling and moving over those this morning. Not bad. And he said get her out of the exer-saucer. Her favorite - oh well.
Hopefully through all of this she will be more motivated to crawl. If you guys have any suggestions please send them my way.

103.0

Freak me out. My baby has had a high fever the past couple days. On Tuesday night I was holding her and happened to kiss her forehead. I thought it was really hot. So Josh and I tried to take her temperature. The first thermometer didn't work. (AHH! the waiting!) But the second one did. We took it rectally because that is supposed to be the most accurate. (She doesn't even notice it.) It said 103.0. I tried to remain calm. We took it under her armpit... 102.7. Then Josh took his temperature to see if it was just the thermometer. Nope. He was at his typical low 97.8 or something. I immediately called a nurse friend at the church who made it all sound like it isn't a big deal. She said be worried at 104 degrees. We gave her baby Tylenol, pushed liquids and let her sleep.
But it still freaked me out. This is the first time Charis has ever been sick in her eight months of life. She has had a runny nose once or twice, but that isn't anything. And why is it okay for little babies to have fevers that high, when if we adults had them we would be VERY ill?
I kept having flashes to the beginning of City of Angels where the little girl has a high fever. Her mom finds out and rushes her to the emergency room only to see her die. Why is it as parents so easy to worry and imagine the worst for your children? I never freak out this way about Josh. But I can easily lose it if I let my mind wander down those dark paths when it comes to Charis``. It makes me pray more. But I don't feel like I have really relied on the Lord through this trial. It has been much easier to let my mind dwell on my fears then to stay in His perfect peace. I wish I was better about that.
It is now Friday and her temperature is pretty much back to normal. We are going to the doctor though. She has a bit of a cough and is congested. I figure, why not? What would it hurt. I will keep you guys posted.

(BWT, for all you nurses out there - no, I don't believe she has an ear infection. And I also don't believe she is teething. )

Brookfield Zoo

We went to Brookfield Zoo on Saturday! It took us an hour and a half to get there, the last half hour was the final mile - totally frustrating. Who would have thought so many people wanted to go to the zoo? We went with the Szobodys. It was a blast! Charis didn't notice the animals at all though. I guess her love of cats and dogs doesn't transfer to lions, tigers and bears - oh my! I am figuring that she only notices animals that are nearby and are moving, which almost none of them were. But she did enjoy watching all the people and being outside. Amazingly she did not get any sun, unlike mommy and daddy. Josh and I had a great time though. We hadn't been to the zoo since we were kids, so it was really neat to see giraffes and elephants. I can't wait until Charis is a little older for her to enjoy it too.

I think we were watching the monkeys here, but I'm not sure

Do you see the big elephant Charis?

I guess the camera is more interesting than the giraffe

Cute baby

Look it's mommy's favorite - a HIPPO!

My Puzzle

So I have been on this puzzle kick. (Yes, I am a loser.) I typically do 500 or 750 piece puzzles, but Josh was a sweety and bought me an 1000 piece a couple weeks ago. It is a picture of Half Dome or something out west. I have been working on this thing for weeks. I think I started it before Grace and Eryka came for a visit, forever ago, and it has been pretty hard to get done. I don't know why, but I have spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. And as of yesterday I was about 3/4 of the way done...
It was close to 80 degrees yesterday so we opened the windows to cool down the house in the evening. And we had a storm, a big windy storm. When we got back from church this is what I was greeted with:

The lighting on the pics is bad, but you get the idea. And you know what, I don't care. It was a stupid puzzle and I was sick of it. And I am not going to cry about it ... at least not for a long time.

I miss my mommy

I miss my mommy. She is on a cruise in the caribbean with her girlfriends and I am sure she is having a fabulous time. And I am only slightly jealous. Right now she is probably soaking in the sun on the deck reading a 500 page book drinking a Chocolate Banana. Or maybe she is at St. Thomas shopping for some fun jewelry for me. That might be okay.
But I just miss her phone calls to see what I am up to today or whether I will be stopping by this week or whether Charis needs a really cute purple dress from Goodwill. And now on Friday, instead of doing something fun with her I have to clean the house. That is really, really, really sad. She comes home on Sunday and I can't wait.
Maybe next time I should just go with her. Eryka, you can come too because your mom is there too. Then we could drink the Chocolate Bananas. Yeah, that would be good.

Cute Kid

Meeting Granny (my dad's mom) for the first time

Bumming with mama
(Please ignore how scary mama looks)

Playing with the "Josh blanket" and eating cardboard

Daddy-daughter time

Check out that hair!

Dental Hygiene

Charis has been so intrigued by me brushing my teeth. She sits there memorized while I scrub my teeth. One day, to pacify her while I was doing my hair I gave her my toothbrush. She sat there sucking and chewing away. It was so adorable and disgusting at the same time. (My toothbrush was dripping with her drool when done). So I decided to get her her own toothbrush. Can you believe that they actually make toothbrushes for babies? She loves it. Hey, you can't start too young on teaching good dental hygiene.

Death and Ressurection

This past weekend we celebrated and mourned the death of someone. Most obviously, it was Christ, but it was also the mother of a friend at church. She was a little older than my parents and she has had cancer for the past couple years. The cancer was in remission for a while, but then it came back. It seemed to happen so suddenly. I hate cancer. It seems like it always wins. Even if someone is in remission, it will always come back and take your life.
I was kinda surprised at how it evoked so many emotions in me. I was not close to her or even that close to her son and his wife. But it reminded me of my grandfather, who has been close to my mind these past couple months. I miss him and holidays are not the same without him. I can't wait to see him again and have him meet my little girl. I am so sad that he missed that.
It also made me face losing my parents someday and losing Josh someday. I try to focus on the hope we have in Christ, that I will see them again. But I am selfish and want to be with them forever, with no breaks.
It was so fitting that all of this came out over Easter weekend. I am so thankful for Christ and His unbelievably gracious sacrifice for me and my loved ones. Because of His death I will be reunited with them again someday. So I do not have to mourn as one who has no hope. And not only that, I will be forever united with my Lord. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! Thank you Lord for loving me when I hated You and for giving me a full life overflowing with Your blessings.

Good Times with my Girls

VESTIBULE

I had a great and silly time with Grace and Eryka ( and Abi and Mandy) this weekend. We enjoyed some delicious Thai food on Saturday. And Eryka didn't eat the leftovers, so I hope they are still good for me. Then on Monday we stuffed ourselves on Bennigans yumminess and galavanted at Target. Eryka and I also found out that Josh and I have "... imagination". She got this awesome stack of cards from her dad that help you evaluate a person's handwriting to discover things about them. We had fun evaluating eachother and determining that Josh is blunt (like we needed a card for that!). It was so good to hang out with them after being apart for so long. Things are really different from how they were in high school (that is probably a good thing), but I am glad that we are still friends.

Talitha also came home this past weekend for Easter. Man, I miss that girl when she is gone. We went shopping with mom on Friday for Easter dresses and found some really cute ones at JC Penny. Plus she introduced me to this new store called Steve and Barry's. It is a huge department store full of Old Navy type clothes for half the price of Old Navy. I was in heaven. I plan on taking Josh back there this weekend. She also had some fun updates for me about "Jill". Because this is public, all I can say is yea! and continue to put your .... on the line! Love you girl.

I love my girls and I am so glad I got to have fun with them this weekend. Come visit me again soon!

Puffs

Charis has recently started eating "Puffs." (I tried Cherrios, but they are a little too firm for her - she would gag - but Puffs "melt in your baby's mouth.") They come in different flavors like Corn, Sweet Potato and Cherry. Below are some pictures of when she tried Corn. They are pretty hilarious.
She likes to attack her puffs when she sees them. She will be sitting up and then she will fling herself forward to grab as many puffs are her little hand can hold. Sometimes she would get three of them in her hand, which would freak me out. But her hand and mouth haven't quite figured out how to put all of them in at once, so I don't have anything to worry about yet. Most of the time the result of that attack is pictured above. Pretty funny and pretty cute. I love this kid.

While it may look like she is trying to pick it up with her fingers she isn't that advanced yet. This will frustrate her in a matter of seconds, so she will then suffocate the puff with her chubby hand and ....

... shove the puff and as much of her hand into her mouth as possible and then...

... gag at the taste of a corn puff - oh well!

"Give me some of that drink to get that nasty taste out of my mouth ....
... oh yeah, can I have some more corn puffs?"

Passover

As most of you know Josh's family is Jewish (ancestry, not faith). To remember that we often celebrate Hanukkah and Passover. This past Saturday the Huff's had us and some other couples over for the Seder ceremony and a scrumptious feast. Josh's mom always makes delicious Jewish dishes like matzoh ball soup, kugel and latkes. But my favorite part is the Seder ceremony.
His dad has an adapted version of Seder that points out the relevance of Christ and it always amazes me that the Jewish people don't see Christ throughout the entire ceremony. Some background before I continue...
Passover was first instituted in Exodus in correlation to the ten plagues, specifically the slaying of the firstborn. Most of the ceremony points back to the Exodus and the miracles God performed in freeing the Jews from Egypt. Jews have been commemorating this event for thousand of years and it is remarkable how symbols of Jesus are throughout the ceremony.
For example, during part of the ceremony three pieces of matzoh (bread without leaven) are placed in a basket in remembrance of how the Jews left Egypt in haste so there was not any time for bread to rise. The middle piece of matzoh is broken, one part is eaten and the other part hidden until later when it is found by the youngest child (Yeah, Charis found it). Check out the symbolism - three pieces of matzoh (Trinity), middle piece broken (Christ on the cross), part hidden (His burial), and then found again (His resurrection). Also leaven had always been equated with sin in the Bible and the matzoh (Trinity) is without sin. And matzoh has always been striped and pierced, just as Christ was. To bring everything home, Christ celebrated Passover before He went the Garden of Gethsemane and then to the cross. That is where He first instituted communion by taking that middle broken piece of matzoh and said, "This is my body, broken for you."
Isn't all of that incredible! It amazes me to see how completely Christ fulfills scripture. He is the perfect Passover Lamb. I only wish that more Jews could see how Jesus is the Messiah they have been waiting for.
I hope you all enjoy this week leading up to Easter. And I also hope that this has helped you remember what we are celebrating this time of year. Much love!

(Forgive me for any spelling errors and inaccuracies, but I tried my best!)