It's all fun and games until...

I've been having Charis help me with daily chores around the house. So this particular day she unloaded and sorted the silverware from the dishwasher and helped me mop the floor. She loved the soapy water and sponge. My little Cinderella, mopping happily. Then she decided to do a happy dance on the slippery floor. As you've seen from earlier posts, we are still working on using our hands to brace our falls, instead of our face. It wasn't pretty.

Memo to me---next time, grippy socks and a few ground rules. The first one being "Happy dances belong on carpeted floors."

Otto-tott-O

Atalie's first tastes of solid food went well. We started with avocado (or as Charis calls it, Otto-tott-o). Safe to say it was a success!

She's a bit worried she may not get any more avocado. She's very malnourished, as you can see.

Painting the sidewalk (They can't all be creative titles)

One thing I know for certain about Charis. Paint + mess + sun = fun. When I found a recipe for sidewalk paint, I knew we had to try it. So we chose our colors, mixed it up, and headed outside.

We painted a road for driving toy cars.

She's focused on her creation.

She painted almost the entire sidewalk.


We even left a message for Brian on the sidewalk, at her request.

Sidewalk painting was definitely a success. I got a few of the $1 brushes, a mini paint roller, and some foam brushes, as well as some cornstarch and food coloring. When we finished painting, we dumped the remaining paint on the sidewalk and splashed in it barefoot. The best part? Besides hearing gleeful shouts and giggling coming from my sweet little girl? It cleans up with water. Just water. Thank you, sidewalk paint recipe person, whoever you are.

Sidewalk paint: 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup of water, few drops of food coloring. Mix and paint!

Investing

It's a soft whisper. A slow swell, similar to the ocean waves rolling onto the beach. More personal with each passing moment. So honest and revealing that I often feel moved to tears. Deeply convicting, yet without condemnation.

That is often how I hear His voice. Well, when I give Him a moment to speak. When I put me, myself, and my circumstances away for a second.

Sometimes I can feel Him getting ready to speak. Getting my heart ready and preparing me. He's kind, you know. Gentle. Days before I can tell He's trying to get through to me. I suppose I need a little while to get ready. I get unusually quiet, involved in my thoughts, and sensitive. Sometimes the sensitivity overwhelms me a little...small things hurt my feelings, everything seems personal. But perhaps my "wall" has to be torn down a little in order for me to hear Him clearly. I'm still learning how to be sensitive to Him and Him alone when He starts speaking. Not everything from Him takes so much time or is as difficult to hear. Mostly when I need to turn the volume down on life and agendas for a while. And that takes me some time.

This particular lesson? Investing. Whatever I invest myself in (my time, my money, my heart, my prayers, myself) will become dear to my heart. So if I want change in an area, I need to invest in it. Too often I complain or vent to Him about a certain situation or person and expect Him to do all the work and me to watch Him. Sure, He does that sometimes. But He deeply wants to involve me in what He's doing. For me to meet Him where He is and join Him. I want change in a certain area. Am I there when they need me? Do I pray? Did I really devote it to prayer? Not just pray, devote...to attach myself, to consecrate and set apart, pour myself into. How much time did I invest? How much of me do I invest?



It is hard to care for something you are not investing in. (Kendrick, 14)


So easily I spout my complaints. But I learned something deep, ugly, and selfish about myself. I need to stop investing outwardly for the recognition it gets. I need to start investing inwardly, with more prayer and alone time with Him, for the change it brings to me, the things it endears to my heart, and the closeness I get from just spending more time in His presence. It's amazing how you start to care deeply about something you spend time really honestly praying about and putting time into.

It's time to start investing.

A week of Firsts

Atalie had her first experience this week in the exersaucer. Since she is a big fan of standing while you hold her fingers, I assumed she'd enjoy the exersaucer.

Flowers are so funny.

Trying to figure out what that crazy looking thing is.

I think it was a hit.

She has rug burn where?

It was picture day in the Disharoon household. I am now a huge fan of Picture Innovations, the studio we decided to make an appearance on this particular day. I was taking the girls to get photos done: Atalie's first professional pictures, and Charis's 2 year photos. The photos turned out great. We managed to sneak a few smiles out of Charis and keep her still for a millisecond so the photographer could catch those quick grins. Atalie, mellow as usual, smiled took it all in. Charis's friend Ava showed up and the girls played for a few minutes while we waited for our pictures.

After receiving our pictures, sighing in relief that the chaos was over, we got ready to say goodbye to friends and head out the door. Charis chose that particular moment to run after her friend, trip on her shoe, and go skidding on her face along the carpet. What did she use to catch herself, to brace for the fall? Her face. Where were her hands? By her side. Having hands did her no good at this particular moment. She gets her coordination from her mother.

And as a good mother would, I ran to her and scooped her up. Then I hear my mother say, "Oh poor baby!" That quickly turned into "Ooh. You should get a picture of that."

So I did.

At the time the people in the studio probably thought Can you believe that? Her child is bleeding and she's taking her picture! What can I say? The paparazzi in me took over. Now we have a memory of her first (and hopefully last) facial wound for the scrapbooks.

The nice people at the studio gave her some ice. But the ice never made it to her nose.

Ah, memories.

5 months!

Sweet little baby fingers...love 'em!

Time is just slipping by. Atalie is now 5 months old. Weighing in somewhere around 17.5-18 pounds and growing all the time. She loves to stand, enjoys being held, talks up a storm in the swing, and is generally just an easy-going baby. She even likes tummy time.

It also amazes me how fast and intense the bond between Charis and Atalie happened. It is not unusual for both of them to wake up at the same time, even though it is impossible for them to hear each other when they are in their rooms. When Charis cries, Atalie starts to cry. When Atalie cries, Charis gets worried and pats her leg, saying, "It's okay Attie-bean. Don't cry." Then she'll promptly run to her room, grab a stuffed animal and give it to Atalie. She's even shared her most prized possessions: the animals she sleeps with.

I love the look on Charis's face. She really delighted in sharing her friends with Atalie.

Charis shared and Atalie devoured. :) And she didn't even mind the drool.