Happy 396th Birthday King James Bible!

Today marks the 396th Birthday of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible. King James I had appointed a committee of 47 learned men to produce a new translation of the Bible in English. Fifteen general rules were set out in how to translate the Bible:

1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the Truth of the original will permit.
2. The names of the Prophets, and the Holy Writers, with the other Names of the Text, to be retained, as nigh as may be, accordingly as they were vulgarly used.
3. The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation &c.
4. When a Word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most of the Ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the Propriety of the Place, and the Analogy of the Faith.
5. The Division of the Chapters to be altered, either not at all, or as little as may be, if Necessity so require.
6. No Marginal Notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek Words, which cannot without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in the Text.
7. Such Quotations of Places to be marginally set down as shall serve for the fit Reference of one Scripture to another.
8. Every particular Man of each Company, to take the same Chapter or Chapters, and having translated or amended them severally by himself, where he thinketh good, all to meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for their Parts what shall stand.
9. As any one Company hath dispatched any one Book in this Manner they shall send it to the rest, to be considered of seriously and judiciously, for His Majesty is very careful in this Point.
10. If any Company, upon the Review of the Book so sent, doubt or differ upon any Place, to send them Word thereof; note the Place, and withal send the Reasons, to which if they consent not, the Difference to be compounded at the general Meeting, which is to be of the chief Persons of each Company, at the end of the Work.
11. When any Place of special Obscurity is doubted of, Letters to be directed by Authority, to send to any Learned Man in the Land, for his Judgement of such a Place.
12. Letters to be sent from every Bishop to the rest of his Clergy, admonishing them of this Translation in hand; and to move and charge as many skilful in the Tongues; and having taken pains in that kind, to send his particular Observations to the Company, either at Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford.
13. The Directors in each Company, to be the Deans of Westminster, and Chester for that Place; and the King's Professors in the Hebrew or Greek in either University.
14. These translations to be used when they agree better with the Text than the Bishops Bible: Tyndale's, Matthew's, Coverdale's, Whitchurch's, Geneva.
15. Besides the said Directors before mentioned, three or four of the most Ancient and Grave Divines, in either of the Universities, not employed in Translating, to be assigned by the vice-Chancellor, upon Conference with the rest of the Heads, to be Overseers of the Translations as well Hebrew as Greek, for the better observation of the 4th Rule above specified.

Apparently this was a pretty daunting task for those men. To learn more go to A Brief History of the King James Bible.

Happy 3rd Monthday!

Today is Charissa's 3rd Monthday! Can you believe that she is already three months old? It's hard to believe that 3 months ago she entered our lives ... I don't know what I would do without her! We have so much fun together! Charissa has recently discovered that playtime is WAY fun. She is all giggles and smiles. And today she is actually wearing a 3-6 month outfit. Of course it's big on her, but we wanted to celebrate trying on some new clothes. Her Daddy is taking us out to dinner tonight to celebrate this milestone, so she also had to get dressed up for that.

Happy 3rd Monthday Charissa!

A Very Exciting 24 Hours!

Charissa has had a most exciting last 24 hours! Yesterday afternoon she got her first pedicure. At first she wanted red nail polish, but we finally settled on a pinkish-red color. And after an hour of polishing, removing, and re-polishing she has 10 fancy little toes! She looks like a little lady! Then she got a Bumbo seat! She’s a little young for it, but it’ll be such a fun seat for her in another few weeks. AND THEN she got a jumper! Right now she’s just standing around in it, but we’re sure jumping is coming soon. And to top it all off, we finally got new batteries for her bouncy seat. In fact, after such an exciting 24 hours, she's taking a pretty serious nap in the bouncy seat right now after being gently vibrated to sleepyland.



I feel pretty!


I can sit upright! What a shock!


A little off balance, but very happy!


Charissa doesn't quite now what to do with herself.


She's getting the hang of it now!



PS - For those of you who knew about the Housework Ban I had going on this week, I have to tell you that I was real strong for four days, but today I couldn't take it anymore. Britt and I woke up this morning sneezing from the dust in our bedroom (both of us have pretty bad allergies) and our living room was so cluttered there was really only two places to sit. But four days of no housework is pretty amazing for me! It was a great week. And I had so much fun this week playing with Charissa.

Back to the Nine-to-Five

Well, folks, it was nice being home with my girls for a month, but last week I headed back to work and this week got some regular 9-5 days. My first week with Clearwire has been a blaze of information, computers, internet, contacts, organizing, following-up, malls, new people, driving, and, strangely enough, boredom.

You see, suburban malls in the middle of the day aren't the busiest places on earth. Rather, they're more like the place that people go to stop thinking about how bored they are. So if you're bored in the Raleigh area and want to do some walking and talking and shopping, get in touch with me and we'll hang out in your local suburban mall.

But seriously, I've enjoyed meeting the employees and patrons of our local malls, I have my first appointment with a potential customer next week, and my girls come visit me all the time. And if you know anyone who would like inexpensive, simple, portable internet service in our area, let me know.

Big B

Doing, doing, doing ... but what am I getting done?

Confession: I love to make lists. I make lists of what I need to get done for the week, what I need to get done for the day, the grocery list, meal ideas for the week, plans for people's special days, when we go on vacation I list out everything we need to take, ... basically, if there are multiple things, I can list them. And then I love to organize my lists by priority or when I am going to get them done. It's ridiculous. And yet I love it. Every morning I sit down with my list and compile what I am going to get done that day. And throughout the day I get little thrills of joy when I can take my red pen and slash through them. I could go on about the complete insanity of things I do with lists, but I think I'll stop here.

But lately I've been thinking, "Am I really getting done what I want to get done?" I've begun to realize that the mundane day-to-day activities seem to be weighing me down so that I can't do the spontaneous things that come up, or even the fun things on my list because the way I order my priorities make it so that the things I know I'll enjoy doing I do after the things I don't want to do (so I won't spend all day scrapbooking and the kitchen is buckling beneath the weight of the dirty dishes). Not to say that the household tasks aren't important or that they don't need to be done, but when do you say, "Hey - I need to take a break and do something else?"

There have been things on my list for 3 weeks that I haven't gotten to because I've been so busy with what "has to be done." And that's just no fun. I don't want my life to be so consumed by the day-to-day that I miss the fun of the day, the joy of the week, and the excitement God has already put in my life. Basically, I don't want to put off enjoying things because I haven't done enough of the boring!

All of this has reminded me of the account of Martha and Mary in Luke 10. Martha was so busy with the preparations of the meal for Jesus that she missed sitting at His feet and learning from Him. How sad is that? I think this is a HUGE temptation for women. That we get so busy in what we are doing that we miss God, and we miss what He is doing in our lives. I don't want to do that.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm declaring next week "No Boring Needless Housework Week!" YAY!! Because let's be honest - if we don't clean the bathrooms one week out of 52, we're probably going to live through it. And not only are we going to live through it, but I bet no one will even notice. So all who are willing - join me on my vacation from housework.

I think this could be really fun. :)

Family Outing to the Arboretum

Last night we decided to to take a family walk down to the Arboretum and see all the beautiful plants and flowers. It was such a fun way to introduce Charissa to all the wonderful things God created to show off His glory. Here are a few pictures of our adventures:


Britt Getting Eaten By a Plant



I'm Trying a New Hairstyle



Charissa Enjoying the Great Outdoors

She's Playing Peek-a-Boo Around the Tree

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

In the last two weeks I have been really thinking about God's faithfulness to His children. More specifically - God's faithfulness to Britt, Charissa, and I. As some of you may know, Britt lost his job two weeks ago. In a one income family, it's a big loss when that one income is removed. And what a temptation it is to worry! And for all worldly reasons - we should! We have no income at the moment and a two month old baby. But thankfully God is working wonders in my heart by allowing me to rest in His sovereignty. God knew the number of days that Britt would hold that last job and He knows the next job He has in store for us. God has never abandoned us, and I don't think He'll start now. And it's been amazing how God has provided for us lately. Through friends and family we've been well cared for. Britt has been hard at work looking for a new job. He's had an offer from a company and could start next week. So please pray for that to come through. It's a pretty good job, so we're quite pleased that something has happened so quickly.

We've all been attempting to make do until Britt's working again. We're trying to live on less and cut what we can. And we're all keeping our eyes out for jobs and something we can do to earn some extra money. Even Charissa is trying to help her Daddy.


Please keep us in your prayers!

A Bit of Fun For You ...

I've recently found some videos that I think are quite funny. I hope you enjoy them as well!!

Evolution of Dance

Pachelbel Rant

I am Man! (Burger King Commercial)

Fatherhood in the Lord

The past two days, I (Britt) had the honor and the privilege of attending the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches' Fatherhood Conference. I was blown away by the sheer weight and force of the Scriptures on this important subject. The speakers were excellent, the other fathers were friendly, God was (and always is) at work in hearts, and I was moved and convicted. I will be posting my notes over at my site, britttreece.blogspot.com .

What a joy it is to be a husband and a father by God's hand!

Small & Cute

Here are the latest pictures of Charissa and all she's been up to ...

She got to dress up like a bunny ...

Her Nana taught her to eat chips ...

She learned to eat from a bottle ...

She's perfecting the art of pouting ...

She learned fashion from her Daddy ...

She decided to start smiling for the camera!!

Isn't she precious?!?! And so happy!

She also likes her bunny slippers ...
By the way - she finally grew into 0-3 month clothing! YAY!
A whole new wardrobe opened up to her.

It's pretty fun being the Mama to such a happy, beautiful baby!

It's Apparent I'm A Parent

Do you remember when the Family Circus cartoonist would do "It's Apparent You're a Parent"? Well, now that's me. I've come to realize in the last few days that not only am I a parent, but it's pretty obvious that I am. Here's a few reasons why:

• Every surface in my living room is covered in baby supplies. And I mean every surface.
  
• There is no day when Charissa doesn't have the most adorable clothing on, and she looks especially good when we go out. Me ... well I seem to be living in a rotating supply of t-shirts, stretchy pants, and my hair thrown up in a knot.
• When we go anywhere it looks like we're going on a week long vacation with all the gear I'm hauling. It's all for her, and we hardly use any of it while we're out. But - we've got it!
• I no longer count time in hours but in feedings.
• Half of the laundry I do is pink. And I don't wear pink.
  
• I've made up songs about eating, sleeping, pooping, bathing, changing clothes, and crying. None are really award winning, but Charissa seems to like them.
• I'm very excited to tell anyone who asks how much my daughter weighs.
  
• Being spit on is a daily occurrence.
• I don't know what movies are out, who popular singers are, or how any team is playing in any sport, but I do know the physical, social, and developmental milestones for the first 12 months.
• I've tried to give a pacifier to a friend. She refused my offer.

My life is fun. :)

I Have the BEST Husband in the World!!

Now, before I inadvertently start a who's-husband-is-better-than-who's competition, let me clarify by saying that my husband is the best husband for me. Your husband is the best husband for you. No competition - just thankfulness.

Why is my husband the best? I'll give you the latest reason. Last night Britt let me take the night off and get away by myself. I haven't had much time to myself lately and so he was gracious enough to watch the baby while I had a "date" with myself. But he planned it for me. And it was a scavenger hunt! When I left the house he handed me 5 letters and told me to have fun and call if I got lost. So I get in my car and open the first one which was an introduction. It basically told me how thankful he was for me and that God had blessed him richly with me. He also told me that he was praying that my night would be refreshing and relaxing. Now for the destinations!

Destination One: Britt wrote a poem about how I wanted to learn and wanted to travel. And where did I go? To my college! He told me to walk around and remember life on campus - where I lived, ate, and went to class. So I walked around for over an hour just remembering all sorts of things from the four years that I was there. I walked around the two buildings that I had the majority of my classes in, the library, my dorm, and just around the campus. And things have changed! Especially the library! It has a wii now for students to play with. Isn't that ridiculous? What happened to good ol' fashion learning and studying in the library? Oh well.

Destination Two: The next letter was a poem about how so many people have loved me and encouraged me from our church. So my task was to go to our pastors' houses and tell them and their wives how much they have blessed me and encouraged me. Well, I took so long at Destination One that I thought it was a bit late to knock on their doors unexpectedly (of course I know that all of them would have welcomed me in and wouldn't have had a problem with it). So I drove over to their houses and sat outside and wrote them letters of how they have encouraged me. After I wrote the letters I crept around and put them in the mailboxes and took pictures of the houses so Britt would know I went there. All went well, except I got caught by one of the wives! She just laughed at me though. I love my church! :)

Destination Three: I got back in my car and read the third letter in which Britt told me that God had provided us with so many spiritual blessings, but God also provides us with many physical blessings. He had enclosed some money and told me to go shopping for some new clothes. How sweet! Only problem was that I had taken so long with Destination One and Two that it was 940. Too late for a shopping trip. So I'll just have to save it for another time. And it's nice to know that I have a shopping trip stored up for the next time I can get away and go out.

Destination Four: My fifth poem! My husband is really good at rhyming words! This one told me go somewhere I could sit and reflect and enjoy a little dessert. Since I had done this when I was on campus, I decided that what I really wanted to do was to get dessert and head back home to my husband where I could share it with him.

Isn't that fun date? And he wasn't even physically with me! It was such a fun night and allowed me to relax and get a break from the demands of Charissa for just a few hours. Which is exactly what I needed because when I came home I wanted to be home and I didn't care that Charissa just wanted to cry (which I think was because she missed me so much while I was gone - at least that's what I hope). I'm so blessed by a husband who understands my needs and provides for them.

I love him. :)

Counting My Blessings

Recently I have found myself really falling in love with my church on a whole new level. I'm not sure what's caused the change, but the more I see the more I want to see. Let me tell you why I love my church. (And when I use the word "they" I am not just talking about the pastors or a few people - I mean the church as a whole.)

• They teach the Bible.
• Sermons come from the Bible and use appropriate texts kept in context for the message.
• They feed the poor and hungry every Sunday with physical food and spiritual food.
• People share what is really going on in their lives and want to know what is really going on in my life.
  
• They are real people. (i.e. they have faults that they can talk about, they don't have a perfectly clean house all the time, they have real emotions, and they even wear sweatpants and t-shirts!)
• They can be silly.
• They want to hang out and invest in each other's lives.
• They remember to pray for one another.
• At churchwide fellowships you can find groups of adults playing basketball, skipping jumprope, doing the electric slide, playing games, singing loudly, laughing like children, and talking theology all at the same time.
• They aren't afraid to admit that they watch American Idol and they like it.
• They invite us into their homes. (Note: this is the first church I've ever been involved with where I've been in a pastor's home. And actually I've been in ALL the pastor's home numerous times.)
• Letters of encouragement are a regular occurrence.
  
• After you have a baby they will bring you dinners for 5 weeks (and really good food too!).
• They are always looking for a reason to have a party.
• It's easy to get involved and plugged in.
  
• We have two gathering times a week to meet and discuss the Word.
• They are inviting to newcomers.
• They are fun.
• They want to know Jesus more deeply today than they did yesterday.

I am completely in love with my church. If you live in the area, you should at least visit. And if you don't have a church, you should definitely come and check it out.

The Great Debate

My mother sent me a few pictures today of me from when I was a baby. She is claiming that Charissa and I look alike - she said especially in the picture when Charissa is playing in her overhead gym.

Here are the two pictures - what do you think?

"It's Not Even Fair ..."

Recently Britt and I were looking at a picture of Charissa and he said, "It's not even fair she's so cute!" And I have to agree. She is just too precious for her own good. Instead of being able to live in peace she is constantly being fawned over by the adoring masses (namely her parents and grandparents). It's very hard for her.

Here's a glimpse of the cuteness and what she's been up to lately.



She endures when her parents put stuff on her head ...


She's a gangsta ...


She gets unhappy ...


She helps Mama do laundry ...


She stares at the camera ...


She's too cool for herself ...


She gets worried ...


She's a drama queen ...


Charissa is a pretty fun kid. We enjoy all the funny things that she does on pretty much an hourly basis.

My Daughter's First Love

Charissa will be one month old tomorrow and she has grown and changed so much. It's fascinating to watch her see things for the first time and her reactions to them. We've discovered that she hates wind and tries to hit it away from her. She only wants to be on her tummy when she has the boppy pillow and if she's flat she'll scream her little head off.

But one thing that I never expected was my daughter to fall in love already. I think she developed a crush when she was about 6 days old and by the time she was two weeks old it was a serious love affair. She'll spend hours and hours just staring at him. It's hilarious to watch her when she's fussy and then she catches a glimpse of him she goes silent and her eyes get really big. I've tried to figure out what she finds so attracting in him, but I think he just quite literally lights up her world.

Here's Charissa staring at her love:


And here is her love:


That's right. Our daughter is in love with the lamp. It fascinates her. She just stares at it for hours, which works well for me because it allows me to read and talk to Britt with her being quiet and completely entertained.

Oh I love my baby! She is so entertaining and fun! And I bet she'll only get funnier as she learns to move and talk.


::EDIT::
Tonight when we were at our Community Group Charissa found out that our friends Brian and Julie also have a lamp that is oh-so-nice to look at. I watched her fall for that lamp as well. So apparently her relationship with our lamp at home isn't exclusive!

Conversations With Charissa

One of the things I read in a lot of baby books was that I need to be talking to Charissa on a regular basis. And not just rambling on and on, but having "conversations" with her so that she knows that when people talk there is a pattern of exchanges (i.e. one person talks and another responds). Surprisingly, this is something that is very difficult for me to do and I have to constantly remind myself to talk to her. It doesn't help that she is also extremely quiet unless she's crying so she's not exactly lending herself to conversation. The other thing that makes this difficult is that I don't know what to talk to her about. Someone told me to just dialogue what I'm doing with her, but that's hard too because I don't normally talk about getting dressed. I'm not really inspired to say, "Here comes the onesie! And now we're putting on the dress ... and now the first sock ... and the second sock ..." I do it sometimes - but it's just not my nature to be "cutsie" like that. Don't get me wrong - I love babies and I'm extremely fond of my own, but I've never been that person that gets in a silly voice and talks about their toes. I'm more of the person who says, "Wow ... that was a lot of spit-up! Do you like to spit-up? Is that your favorite hobby?" and other random comments. (I realize that as my daughter grows to be able to understand what I'm saying I'm going to have to SERIOUSLY reign in the sarcasm.)

So what do I talk to Charissa about? Let me give you a few sample conversations we've had this week.

C: WHAAAAA!!!
B: Are you so so hungry?
C: WHAAAA!!! WHAA WHAA WHAA!!
B: You want chocolate milk? I'm sorry but it doesn't come in chocolate.
C: WHAAAAAAAA!!!
B: A pina-colada? No you cannot have a pina-colada either! It'll be a long, long time before you have a pina-colada.
C: WHAAA!!
B: Well I'm sorry that you're upset, but you're just going to have to be ok with regular milk for now.


B: Whatcha thinking about?
C:
B: I have also often wondered why your clothing comes with pockets.
C:
B: I know, I know. What do you put in them?
C:
B: You're right, your pacie is probably the only thing you would be able to fit in there.
C:
B: Hmm ... doesn't fit. So it seems that pocket is pretty much useless.
C:
B: Well thank you! It's so nice that you appreciate me carting all your stuff around for you.
C:


Yes, I do enjoy my little chats with Charissa. For the most part she's a great listener and only occasionally falls asleep when I'm talking to her.

Stay tuned for more totally ridiculous conversations!!

I Need Your Help!

Recently Britt and I have been amazed with the number of babies that are being born at our church. When I got pregnant I was the first of my friends outside of church to be pregnant, and there was only one other woman pregnant that I was close to. Because I didn't know much about pregnancy or how to be a parent and especially not how to afford a child, I read a TON of books. I discovered that about 90% of them are the same and about 50% of what they say is somewhat useless. At least it was for me because I don't have an unlimited nursery budget and I'm living in the real world.

So this got me thinking about how I could help these other young mothers prepare for the arrival of their child. I started assembling the notes I had taken from the books I read into a short packet of information, and then started compiling ways that I had saved money on clothes, diapers, all the big stuff, etc. But then I thought, "I'm only one person that has had one baby (and really recently). I'm sure other people have more experience or different ideas about how to prepare for a baby."

And that's where YOU come in! I would love to hear from as many people as possible about how you saved money preparing for the arrival of your child, what things where really important for you to know, the most helpful advice you heard, what you've learned, what was a good product to have and what wasn't, etc., etc., etc..

I'm really looking forward to compiling this information and giving it to these ladies because I think it would be a huge blessing to them. But it will be much more helpful with your input, so please let me know everything you know about babies!

House Arrest!

The first time that Charissa and I went to her pediatrician they told us that we need to stay away from "crowds" for two months. Their definition of "crowds" includes the mall, the grocery store, church, restaurants, etc. They told us that two months was decided on because that's when Charissa will get her first set of immunizations. That first round of immunizations includes polio, hepatitis, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. All are common illnesses that I fear my child will get at the local grocery store. But as my mom said, "All it takes is one person to lean over Charissa and say, 'What a cute baby!' to infect her with something that could put her in the hospital." So we're being good. We're staying at home away from all the germs. But fortunately for us our church is small enough that we can get away with going. YAY!!

So what do you do when you're under house arrest? Well, let me show you what Charissa has been up to ...


Charissa sucks on Mom's nose ...



She snuggles with her daddy ...


She *sometimes* enjoys tummy time ...


Frequently stares at large white objects (i.e. the walls, ceiling, refrigerator) ...


And mostly she just sleeps ...


On April 1 (exactly two months after birth) we're going to celebrate rejoining the rest of society. But until then we're going to enjoy bonding and getting to know each other. Of course we'd love visitors!! As long as you're not sick or carrying polio, pertussis, or tetanus!

Life is SOOOO Different Now

Baby Charissa is 11 days old today, and my life has never been changed so quickly. Even getting married didn't turn my world upside down the same way having a baby has. But I have enjoyed it immensely! I've learned so much in the last 11 days, experienced new things, and been completely overwhelmed with love. Let me share with you the highlights from my brief parenting life.

1. Love isn't based on what you do - it's who you belong to. I loved my daughter before she was born, and now that I've seen her I love her even more. And nothing she does makes me love her. I love her because she's my daughter. Just like how God loves me because I am His child, despite the fact that I can't do anything to make Him love me. But this is reassuring because both Charissa and I cannot do anything to change the way we are loved.
   
2. Singing hymns can calm the wild beast. When all else fails, Charissa loves to hear her parents sing hymns and praise songs. I am reminded of Saul and how he had David play the harp for him when his spirit was in unrest. I am hoping the similarities end there because I'd rather Charissa not throw a spear at me one day.
3. Squeaks can be the sweetest sound. Since she's too young for talking, or even cooing, Charissa communicates her happiness in little squeaks. I've found that the tiniest little squeak can make my heart melt.
   
4. A feeling of helplessness overwhelms you. Last night Charissa was crying her little heart out and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She had been fed, she was dry, she wasn't sick, she was in comfortable clothing and yet she still wailed. After about 45 minutes of her screaming I began to cry. There was nothing I could do for her, and yet I would have done anything for her to make her happy. She's so small and fragile and I just long to protect her, but I know I can't do that forever. I've been praying that I entrust my daughter to God because He is infinitely wiser and more capable of caring for her than I.
   
5. Baby kisses make me smile. Now I know that an 11 day old baby cannot really kiss, but sometimes when I have her up by my face she puts her mouth on my cheek and it makes me laugh. She loves her mommy and she's trying to show it!
   
6. Phantom crying will haunt you. There are moments when Charissa is sleeping soundly but I hear crying in my head and I turn to go check on her, only to realize that I'm just imagining it. Sometimes I think that she's crying softly, but still just in my head. Whenever she is crying it's always quite robust so I don't know why I ever think the tiny cries I hear in my head are actually her.
7. A distinct baby smell will permeate everything. Now I'm not saying that everything will smell like poop, but there is a distinct baby smell that will get on your clothes, your hands, your furniture, the air ... and you'll learn to love it.
   
8. Forget the schedule. Everyone says to get the baby on a schedule as soon as possible, and I completely agree. But when your schedule requires a 4:00 feeding and your baby is still asleep and you try to wake her up for an hour, what are you supposed to do? It's nearly impossible to wake a sleeping infant, so you just have to flow with it. As long as she is happy and eats farther apart that every 2.5 hours, I'm ok with it (although Charissa usually waits about 3.5 hours between meals in the day and 4-5 hours at night). I'm sure when she's a little older we'll get on a regular schedule, but for now we're not going to try to add the pressure of a schedule to learning how to be a family.
   
9. Small bodies require large equipment. It's amazing how a 7.5 pound baby necessitates so much stuff. The crib, the changing table, the diaper champ, the rocker, the swing, the bouncy seat, the high chair, the bathing tub, the toys ... and then there's all the clothes, towels, blankets, hats, burp clothes, and pillows! Our once very neat and organized house has been consumed with little pink things.
   
10. All the stories you've heard about explosive poop are true. The first day Charissa was at home her Nana was changing her diaper when Charissa decided she wasn't quite done. Let's just say that there was a load of laundry done immediately. And that the walls had to be cleaned.
    

Oh the joys of parenting! And we've just begun! I'm so excited to see how Charissa grows up and changes our lives even further.

Baby Pictures !!!

Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl: