Twenty-One

21 months is how old my sister was when i was born. i can't really imagine having a new born right now. maybe i could if all this other "stuff" wasn't going on. this little lady is keeping me on my toes. she is a buh-last! i wish i could record her but the moment we grab a camera she stops what she's doing and gets all in the camera. and she's hard to trick. that's cause she is smart. i am so incredibly thankful for her. after my doctor's appointment yesterday i was thinking about how this recurrence may forever change our lives. i may not be able to have more children. which got me thinking about this little one of ours. she is truly a gift. she came as a complete surprise and we had no idea what life would look like after her arrival. at some point we figured we'd actually have to talk about "family planning." that's out the window now. yesterday as i drove home from my appointment thinking about the past 2 1/2 years i realized God's hand in all of it. i am beyond thankful for this little life He's entrusted us with. He has created our sweet Charis ON purpose and FOR a purpose. and part of that has been to shed lots of joy in the midst of some real sorrow. she's just getting to the age where she notices things. after i had my port put in there was a dressing. i told her it was my "boo boo" and now she wants to see my "boo boo" all the time. the dressing is off but now there is a scar. i think when i lose my hair she'll be more aware of it, but thankfully still won't get the gravity of it all.

- she is a talking machine. my favorite is when she is on a toy phone just jabbering away. i think she gets this from her daddy b/c he's pretty good at it too. she tries out new words a lot and is beginning to put words together. "down mommy" as she pats the couch next to her. "water please" or "i want water" when she wants water. "rain outside" when she hears thunder or the obvious, rain. other words she's saying: "help", "pizza", "up", "down", "baby", "buckle", "night night", "flower", "door", "airplane", "spoon", "bug" (which sounds like bugga), recently she said "i got it."

- nonni came and stayed with charis for a long weekend so we could get away. she got to visit her cousins in columbia, sc too. she was perfect for her nonni. (of course)

nonnie, charis and me

- we took our first trip to Monkey Joes with my sweet friend, Mary Katherine and her kiddos. they had a couple little kid jumpyards. she took some time getting used to everything. the place was crazy b/c everyone was trying to escape the heat. she eventually tried out one of the slides and figured out how to climb up herself. it was torture pulling her away when it was time to go. for $3.99 we'll be back monkey joe!

getting ready to slide w/ eliza grace!

- she helped us celebrate our 5 year anniversary. we went to the park we got married at and took family pictures with our wedding photographer who drove into town just to take our pictures. what a sweet man. i can't wait to get our pictures in a few weeks and share them with you all.

- we visited the 24 hours of booty!! charis loves bikes and she got to see her share of them during this bike "race."

hanging out at the coffee shop

- after taking only a 45 minute nap the other day i had to figure out something to do. my friend, courtney, is always doing fun things with her 3 kids, so inspired by her i took charis to the Nature Museum. and it was so fun. charis loved the baby chicks, butterflies, birds, furry animals and the fun "playroom" they had.


eating tomato w/ basil pesto..YUM

- she is still a great eater. i think her favorite food right now is pizza. no lie, but the other day when she was waking up i heard her saying, "pizza" from her crib. a girl after my own heart...waking up with food on her mind. she also likes tomatoes with basil pesto, hummus wraps, yogurt, waffles, and cereal (which she calls crackers). she's also getting good at using utensils too. she likes to do it all by herself.


- we've got a hitter. she hits when she is playful and frustrated. it's so hard. do we do the whole hit her hand and tell her not to hit? what can she understand at this point? oh, discipline is so hard for both of us. mostly cause she is so stinking cute. but i know looks can only take you so far, so i'm trying not to let her get away with hitting. i know she is able to obey and follow directions because she does at times. but there is clearly a defiant part of her too. really, all of us.

- she loves playing in the mirror. she will squat down then jump up and say "hi-ya!" it's so cute.


we were just talking about how crazy life is and what a gift Charis is to both of us. she's the gift we didn't realize we wanted or needed. but God knew. He will get us through the big and little stuff...the disciplining and correcting, the job stuff, the cancer. He is in all of it. and i'm just so thankful for this little family that i get to be a part of.