For Grandma

I am a big fan of...

...this guy! I can't help it. I even married him for lack of ability to control just how much I like him. Well, he has stepped it up yet another notch this month. He has added something new to his resume. His resume used to read: husband, father, friend, doggie dad, worship leader, youth pastor, computer whisperer, organizational genius, bargain shopper extraordinaire, and coca-cola connoisseur [please note there are many other items available for mentioning but the writer has kept the list concise, highlighting the main attractions, for your reading pleasure]. But Matt has stepped it up "another notch" this month. Add actor to the list. That is right, my man is going to be starring in our local community theater's production of Oklahoma this October. He has a few solo pieces and will have to do a few group dance numbers. What was something Matt has only dreamt about trying has now become a reality. Have no fear, Dear, I'll be there in the front row cheering you on. Watch out Hollywood...here we come!

Another Hollywood moment last year as Matt performed at the piano.

Calling all espresso lovers...

My coffee dreams came true yesterday! I feel I must share my good fortune. Apparently Starbucks is doing away with their Barista home espresso machines. I saw it a few days ago advertised for $199. Wow...that is $250 off the original retail price. I went back yesterday to purchase one (after much consideration on mine and Matt's part) only to discover they were reduced again to $99. Folks, I am not kidding. I got this $450 espresso machine for $69 (ok, I got extra money off because it was the demo machine for the store). I have wanted one of these machines for a long time but could never justify the cost. I have thanked Jesus a few times in the last 24 hours for his generosity and lavishness. He finally said yes. So I am telling you all this so you can rush out to your local Starbucks and ask them if their machines have been reduced and if they have any left (stores may vary by region). Good luck.

Oh, and let me know if any of you score one!

Camera Lust

I have got a serious case of camera lust. Off and on have I been afflicted with this illness. I'll see a friend's cool camera and amazing picture quality, but I usually come back to my decent quality camera and decide my camera does just fine. I forget the quality of the higher end cameras...until I once again meet someone else's
camera and the camera lust returns. Tonight I fell in love with my friend's Nikon D70. When I pulled up these pictures at home I realized how much of a difference there is between my camera (Fuji S5100) and the amazing D70 which shot these photos of Karis and me last night (thanks to my friend Wendy for snapping the shots!). I am smelling a new item on the Christmas wishlist (or should I say the "Keep Dreaming" wishlist). But a girl can dream, can't she? And how about this gorgeous California setting sun? I got a lot of feedback on the fourth picture in my last post, and I've got to hand it to none other than the beautiful sun in August around 7pm. Every picture I take during this harvest, dusky sunlight is magical. It never lets me down. In fact, it makes me feel as if I know what I am doing behind the camera lens. There, my secret is out. Thank you, August sunlight!
Tonight I attempted homemade pizza. I was inspired by the ever so sweet and delicious pineapple I got on sale at the market yesterday. Ham and pineapple pizza was in order, naturally. I also made a pizza with the leftover chicken breast from last night's dinner, adding some fresh vine-ripe tomatoes, kalamata olives, and red onions (pictured below). Having everything on hand except mozzarella, I opted to use cheddar cheese instead of braving a trip to the store with a cranky baby. The result was homemade deliciousness. You can't beat pizza made at home. You also can't beat 4 posts in one month...well, actually many of you can and do, every month! But here is to celebrating the most posts in one month for this California Momma! Happy Thursday, all!

Around the house

On the camera
I snapped these pictures last night with Karis. While she was not such a willing participant, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and these pictures turned out cute. I am entitling these pictures part of the "One-handed photo series." There are going to be a lot of pictures in this series over the next few years, as the mood often strikes to take pictures when it is just the two of us and my outstretched arm is the only available source for snapping a photo. These first two photos Karis and I are taking turns giving each other a kiss. Ok, so I was the only one interested...in the second shot she is actually trying to eat my face.

In the kitchen
I have really been enjoying the little bits of free time I get to cook dinner. Granted, lately they have been interrupted by Karis's perfectly timed request to be served her own dinner...and "right away," she screams! My time in the kitchen is one that allows me to relax and create. I get to create wonderful smells and tastes. It is truly a tactile experience: washing, chopping, sauteeing, stirring. I love it...all of it. What could be better than this artistic experience...you are rewarded at the end with something that pleases your [taste] palette (well, most of the time). The last two meals I have made (worth sharing) are a Vodka cream sauce with bow tie pasta taken from the Joy of cooking. Yum! I have never been a huge pasta fan until recently. I love the simple flavors that pasta dishes bring to the table. The second dish is a recipe I took from a cooking blog I like, www.jemangelaville.com. Check out her recipe called Waterzooi of Chicken from her August 8 post. So tasty. So French. So going to be cooked again!

On her feet
These shoes can be spotted on Karis's feet these days. From her aunt Kelly, we love the cuteness that they are. When else in your life can you wear bear/dog slippers and look so completely adorable?

Made me laugh

I have a love hate relationship with parenting advice. I realize I am new to all of this and so I know that there is a lot of helpful advice out there...but my rule of thumb with advice is: Consider the source. This came in handy last week when I walked into Michaels craft store last week. I certainly was not prepared for the tidbit of advice I was about to receive. I went with Karis to pick out some craft supplies and when I got to the cashier (who was a young guy no older than 16), he looks at me and asks, "Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" Before I could answer he goes ahead and asks, "How long was your labor?" Ummm. Awkward. Inappropriate. None of your business. These would have all been appropriate responses in my mind. But I kept it casual and brief, "Oh, it was pretty typical." He goes on to tell me about his sister's labor. If she only knew! I smiled and nodded. Then as we were leaving, he advised me, "Enjoy her now. This is the most innocent she'll ever be." Uhh. Again, awkward and weird. I wanted to ask, "Do you even have your driver's license yet?" Instead, I smiled, said thank you and walked out, all the while thinking of a new slogan for the store..."Michaels: Your #1 source for craft supplies and parenting advice from high school boys."

Karis the great philosopher
I love this photo of Karis. She looks like she is pondering the great mysteries of life [To poop or not to poop...]. A nice, fat stogy in her mouth would really complete the picture!

A baptism and a farewell

Life has been getting more normal around here lately. A new normal, that is! We had to say good bye to Mama K last week. With tears and hugs she said goodbye to Karis knowing it might be 6 months before they meet again. While she was here we had Karis baptized. We figured it would be a great time to do it while we had at least one family member in town. It was a beautiful occasion. Vows were made by us and the church and now our wee little one is a baptized child of the covenant!

It is hard to believe I will be heading back to work in a matter of weeks. I am only planning on working 10-15 hours a week, but I know that it will bring with it some definite challenges and sorrow as I leave Karis for a few days a week. But I don't know that I would give up my job even if I didn't have to keep it for financial reasons. I enjoy being able to work on something outside of the home. It is a confidence booster and it gives me some time to pursue the career that I worked so hard to achieve in school. Hopefully balancing it all won't prove to be too difficult.

I am tired and therefore a woman of few words tonight, so I will sign off here before I doze off and my head hits the keyboard. Enjoy the pictures below taken over the last couple of weeks.

Fruit salad and friends

With the chaos of parenting comes the loss of something precious and yet so overlooked until one enters parent land. I am not talking about the obvious jewels of life... sleep or free time. Rather I am referring to a lesser known fact of parenting: the loss of both free hands. I have been surprised by how little can be done with just one free hand. So when two extra hands arrived from Florida via Delta airlines, we rejoiced in the house. Matt's mom (Mama K) has come bringing with her some extra sleep, free time, and extra hands for Matt and I. We have been so blessed by the grandparents' journeys out west to help out despite the sacrifice of money, time, and long travel involved! Yesterday while Mama K was watching Karis, I took advantage of some free time and hands to relax and enjoy a favorite activity....cooking. I prepared this seven fruit salad. While pregnant, one of my food obsessions was fresh fruit. Living on the west coast has many perks and one of them is limitless amounts of tasty, fresh, and affordable fruit. Yesterday I began to realize I had quite the collection of fruit in my home and could make a decent fruit salad {cantaloupe, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, oranges, strawberries}. Not too bad and when I actually counted how many fruit were in the home I had 9! Wow, that is excessive and I didn't even use all of them (the bananas and pears I deemed a little boring for this festive salad!) After preparing the fruit salad for Mama K and myself I snapped these shots of the dish. This is one thing I love about cooking and preparing food...it is such a sensory experience. Wonderful smells, tastes, textures, and as evidenced here, incredible bursts of color. I think Mama K probably thought it was strange that after laboring over this salad I opted to pull out the camera and snap these shots of it as opposed to devouring it right away!

This summer we have enjoyed hanging out with our small group in less structured activities. Our town hosts bands every Friday night at the downtown park. It has been very relaxing and enjoyable for us to gather down at the park, sit under the canopy of trees, lounge in our camping chairs, and share a meal while listening to great music. This is definitely the way to spend a summer evening! This picture of Karis being held by Matt was taken at the local farmer's market down in San Luis Obispo on Thursday night. I think Karis looks like she is trying to avoid being photographed by the paparazzi (her mama!). Oh well, she better get used to it!

P.S. Special thanks to Abi for the adorable hand-knitted hat and thanks to Tia Alina for the red outfit! We love them both!

Mom finally speaks

Hello, all. A lot has changed since I last posted here. As you all know I am now part of the club, the "I can't believe I am responsible for another human being...can I please get some sleep already" club. It has been a thrilling and difficult ride ushering Karis into the world. For a whole week prior to her delivery I was in early labor which means I was having contractions that grew stronger every day and inhibited me from sleeping or relaxing but were never regular enough to send me into the hospital to deliver. It was an extremely exhausting way to go into the hospital for delivery, already worn out and beyond ready with anticipation to meet the baby. Once I finally had enough of the early labor (2 weeks overdue!), I woke Matt up on Friday night and told him, "Even though my contractions aren't regular, we are going to the hospital, and we aren't leaving until I have Karis." Fortunately my water broke naturally just a few short hours later. We were on our way to begin the last leg of the pregnancy endurance race! In an effort to spare you the details I will sum up the delivery by saying it was rough...very painful. No epidural and not by choice. I WILL have an epidural next time, no questions asked! Once Karis arrived I felt a mixture of joy, completion of a race, and survivor of a war. And I knew I would rather never do this again! I am sure some of you can relate to these sentiments. The day after I delivered we had a friend visit, and she has six children. She kept asking me, "Isn't it wonderful to give birth? Can't you just wait to do it again?!" I was confused by her enthusiasm and I assured her that was not the case for me. Many parents have said that delivery is the most horrible pain in the world that is the most quickly forgotten. And you know what, I sat here checking blogs tonight and saw a picture of a newborn baby, and I actually thought, " I can't wait to have another"! Wow, as the rewards of being a mom become more abundant day by day, I am beginning to forget. The pain is giving way to sheer delight every time I look at Karis. Seriously, Matt and I have both fallen completely in love with her and we cannot wait to see more of her personality emerge.

My life lately has been filled with adjustments. There are many things I have said goodbye to and many new things that have entered our world. Sleep...where can you be found? When Karis was in the womb I told Matt that I knew she would be a night owl and sleep through the day. Much to my sleep deprivation, my prediction was right. She is on a reversed sleeping schedule. She keeps me up until about 4 am. I end up sleeping in until 11 or noon every day to make up for lost sleep. It is amazing how the body does adjust to these challenges.

I wanted to thank all of you for the kind comments, packages, phone messages and emails! Although I haven't gotten around to replying to all of them, please know we have treasured all of the thoughts and love you guys have sent our way! Thank you! Enjoy the few pictures we have taken in the last few days. The picture at the top of the post is one of me taking a picture of myself holding Karis in her sling. It didn't turn out great but I had be creative in taking the shot because Matt wasn't home to take it.

I couldn't resist taking this shot of Karis today. I was carrying her around in the sling and I opened it up to find this precious face peacefully asleep. Too cute for words.

Here Karis is sleeping in her usual pose. She loves to rest her head upon her hands.

Another father-daughter moment! (I promise Matt does more than sit on the couch and hold her...although holding her is his FAVORITE thing to do these days.)

Our little strawberry girl!

As promised, here are some photos of me with my precious baby girl.




Three generations of women.




Pretty much we know Karis is going to be a Daddy's little girl.

A whole new world!

I think this picture just about sums up the last week in our house. We have been in love with our new daughter, exhausted, sleepless, uncertain about all the newness of a baby and parenting, and sure that although this is hard, we wouldn't have it any other way. I would say parenting 101 has hit us hard and we are in survival mode at this point. But as we figure out all the newness and uncertainty, we find ourselves loving each other and our daughter more and more as each day passes while also feeling (really FEELING) our need for Jesus in such a tangible way.

My parents arrived at our house on Thursday and we could not be more relieved to have the help and support. They have helped support these two ragged people through making meals, cleaning a dirty house, and loving a neglected dog. We are so glad to have them here and they of course are loving meeting their newest granddaughter.

Speaking of dog, I must say that Keller has taken quite well to the newest member of the family. She is very gentle around her and remains curious about who she is and all of her smells. We are thankful that this transition has gone well for her and for us. In all the loss of sleep I have found myself losing some of my sanity. Last night Matt and I were talking in bed and he asked me how I was doing. I said I was tired and then just two seconds later I said out loud, "German haired-pointer" (which is the breed of our dog). Matt looked at me weird and then I realized I had just said it out loud and I laughed. Apparently I was so tired that I slipped off to sleep and into a dream in about 2 seconds flat after having a coherent conversation with Matt. We both laughed and reminded ourselves that this too shall pass and we must enjoy it while it is here, no matter how hard it feels. I promise I will try to get some pictures of Karis and me...I tend to be the one with the camera. Hope you guys have a great weekend!

More photos of Karis!

Introducing...

Karis Alina

born 7/7/07 at 12:07pm
7 lbs. 12 oz.

Still waiting...

So, yeah. We are still waiting. I am officially 1 week overdue today. Yesterday we went into the hospital but they sent me home saying I was in early labor and not ready to be admitted. So here we are, just waiting. Hopefully it will be sometime tonight or tomorrow....an independence day baby wouldn't be so bad, would it? (...firecrackers always going off on her birthday!) I am having contractions but they are coming and going. Matt and I are off to go on a long walk hoping that will disturb Karis's peace and relaxation. Say a prayer for us...I'm kind of getting nervous about the pain and I am super tired of waiting.

Waiting

Two big weeks have gone by since the baby shower. I thought these weeks without work or any real schedule in my day would drag by. But surprisingly I have found things to do around the home to fill my time. I have organized drawers, cleaned rooms (over and over), made art for the baby room, and cooked some fun meals. I think that my nervous energy has caused me to kick the activity level into high gear. Many moms would tell me to conserve what precious energy I still have "pre-baby" life, but I honestly feel like I have had a good, solid five and a half years of conserving energy without children in our lives. I am ready for action! The oddest result of my nervous energy activity has been the taking up of scrapbooking. Yikes...I never saw that one coming! I don't tend to be someone who likes to sit down alone and work on things in solitary confinement, and although I consider myself creative in some ways, I do not consider myself crafty. I enjoy activities around and with people. Well, much to my and Matt's surprise, I have enjoyed working on a scrapbook for Karis. I figure, the chances that I will work on it much after she is born are so slim, I might as well get a head start on it now so that I might be encouraged to continue when she is born. The other night I attended a scrapbook night at my church. I walked in and realized just how out of my league I was. The ladies had their mounds of supplies piled around them. A few of them had what I call the cadillac of scrapbooking supplies (a massive suitcase filled with supplies from top to bottom). They had many different kinds of markers, papers, stickers, and cutting devices to cut through virtually any material and create so many patterns. I couldn't help but introduce myself, "Hi, My name is Alina, and I am not a scrapbooker." If you could have seen me....my lone scrapbook, a few scrap pages I bought at the dollar tree that day, my tape dispenser that I grabbed off my desk before dashing out the door, and my scissors. I sat there very carefully cutting a "straight" line in my photo with my old scissors when my generous friend next to me with her "cadillac" of supplies, bashfully (and with I'm sure a ton of sympathy as her motivation) offers for me to use her handy-dandy photo cutting machine. Then she offered to give me one of her extra edge cutters. I gladly accepted. (Those things are cool!) Turns out scrapbookers are very generous! ....I wracked up that edge cutter, some stickers, and a few other items. So there it is...I have found relaxation and a sense of accomplishment in my recent scrapbooking. Check out some of the work...and hold the applause...this is amateur work, folks!

I thought I would also share a picture of the art project I worked on for Karis' room. It was fun using items all within the house to get creative and decorate her room. I found these old glass frames in a drawer and then I put the left over scraps from her quilt to good use. What do you think? I was pretty happy with how they turned out!

Matt and I have been enjoying our forced time together the last few weeks. Surprisingly, we haven't gotten too sick of each other. Because he works from home, I do have to be mindful of his need for quiet and no distractions. Sometimes that is hard to do....I mean, how long can you ignore a human being in the room next door to you? I can't go very long, much to his frustration at times. But then again, I more than make up for it by fulfilling his many requests for coffee and water refills throughout the day! Every day now we just look at each other multiple times and say, "Is today the day?" We are crazy with excitement. This coming Tuesday I will be 39 weeks, so within the next 2.5 weeks Karis will definitely enter the world. I don't know if I will post again before the big arrival so I'll say farewell to you all (for the last time as a woman with no children). We'll try to update you guys as soon as she arrives... so stay tuned.