Weeks 40 & 41- Holidays, Getaways and Good Times

These past couple weeks have been filled to the brim with lots of fun activities in the Ginn household. We attended a wedding, celebrated Easter and even got away for a mini-cation to Indianapolis! All the while Karis continues to grow, change and learn. We just can't hold her down!

Week 40

Wedding Weekend

Greg was honored to be a groomsman at a friend and co-worker's wedding and Karis and I were able to attend the beautiful and God glorifying ceremony of Ryan Bell and Jennifer Thompson. We enjoyed a fun evening that included yummy food, friends, Star Wars cuff links and giant cupcakes made by yours truly. What a privilege to be part of their special day!!

He is Risen!!

       

I always have the best intentions about making something big of Easter (don't get me on my soapbox about how sad it is that Christmas and even Halloween are so huge and Easter is the neglected holiday...), but again I wasn't able to pull it all together amidst the wedding events and trips to Cali to really go all out this year. However, there was a feeble attempt to do lenten lights (similar to advent candles), egg dying (just for fun), and resurrection eggs.

I also tried to start the tradition of getting Karis an Easter book each year (The First Easter was the book this year) and Grammie also contributed to the stash with Benjamin's Box and a Tale of Three Trees.

Nonetheless, despite the patchy preparation, we were still able to enjoy a wonderful day celebrating the Lord's resurrection and victory over Satan, sin and death by worshiping with our church body and then having some good friends over for a potluck dinner.

Karis and baby Kaylee

Praise the Lord that we can celebrate Jesus' life, death and resurrection each and every day and don't have to wait for holidays and special events (or lack thereof) to rejoice in a risen savior.

Park Playdate
Some ladies from church were meeting at the park for a playdate and with the weather getting warmer I decided to join the fun. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and it turns out Karis loves the swings (just like her momma)! She would do her happy wiggle with excitement. So fun!

Training Time

With a baby on the move we have now really had to be proactive in our training. I was very reluctant to start setting limits and boundaries because I know once I start it will take that much more energy to be consistent and follow through and I was loving the little lull between sleep training and behavior training (i.e. ability to be lazy). However, in an attempt to be faithful and loving parents we have started training in earnest with Karis. Some of the first few areas of training have been in terms of touching things. Right now, off limits are the book shelves (she has a shelf of books that she can pull from), whatever is on the coffee table, cupboards, trashcans, dishwasher and oven. Karis has had a number of reactions.

Sometimes, she just kind of looks at me and goes for it again, other times she jumps in surprise, once she started crying when I firmly told her "no", often she will kind of grunt in reply (which means I know she knows what I said) and on a couple of occasions she will smile and wave which I find hilarious. Already trying to butter us up with her sweetness!

I am thankful that it hasn't been a 24/7 kind of training (yet!) and she seems to understand limits fairly quickly, but I know I need to be clear and consistent which is a daunting task. I am constantly seeking God's grace and wisdom to be able to determine whether something was done accidentally or purposefully and we are more and more seeing Karis' willfulness. Our constant prayer is that this training will lead to gospel opportunities to discuss sin and grace with our dear one.

Karis-isms

Thrill Seeker- Karis has always been a thrill seeker, loving to fly and swing and be tossed. Her newest daredevil move is rolling intentionally off the bean bag and into my arms. She will look at me, position herself and deliberately roll into my arms laughing. Hopefully she doesn't try this without me!
Crib Standing- On Easter we attempted to put Karis down for her nap like usual. However, being stimulated by all the people and not wanting to miss the fun she ended up wailing in her crib. When we checked out the monitor she was standing in her crib looking like she was in a prison cell! I think it was a combination of her wanting out and also not knowing how to sit back down. We rescued her with resolve to teach her how to sit back down from standing. Thankfully, there was just this one incident and it hasn't disrupted her sleep thus far.

High-five!- Along with waving Karis likes to do high-five. She'll hold her hand out and up and I'll slowly say "high-five" and then "bam!" as I clap my hand into hers. She thinks it is hilarious!
Shoozies!- Remember these shoes from our announcement?

Well, now here they are!

41 Weeks

Indy Getaway!

With a busy first part of the year amid travelling and such, Greg was wise and gracious and planned a one night getaway for our little family to Indianapolis to just spend time together and get away. It was a wonderful trip and Karis did great in the hotel (just one night waking) and pretty well in the car (thankfully it is less than 2 hours away). We enjoyed exploring the city, visiting the Indianapolis Museum of Art, eating lots of good food and just spending time with one another!

Spring has Sprung

After what seemed like a very long winter spring has finally hit Louisville. Coming back from our trip the trees were abloom with flowers, the sun was shining and...the grass was growing. We enjoyed the weather with the first BBQ of the year and of course some lawn mowing. Karis was highly entertained just window watching Greg mowing the lawn and waving to her as he passed by.

Unfortunately, spring allergies hit us all, including baby girl and we have been battling some nose drainage ever since. One of the joys of being a KY resident!

Karis-isms
Straw Sucking- Greg is always really creative with Karis and introduced her to drinking from a straw. To my surprise she took to it well and is very excited to drink from the straw whenever we let her!

Open Wide- Along with giving us toys, Karis has also started feeding us. She will sometimes offer her food to us which we politely take. Sometimes she will offer inedible objects such as some toilet paper which we are forced to sweetly decline.
Stand to Sit- After a week of practice Karis has finally learned to sit from a standing position. It still takes a slow and concerted effort and involves some spills, but it is getting there. Thankfully her cloth diaper offers ample padding for her less than graceful sits.
Snack'ems- Also, in preparation for our trip to Indy I decided to try out some baby snacks for while we were in the car and out and about. She really likes them (of course!) but some of them are incredibly messy!

Until next time!