"Charis-moon" in Los Angeles

My sweet husband took us on a little "Charis-moon" family vacation to LA for the weekend, and it was a wonderful trip! On Friday, we met up with Caleb who gave us the local's tour of Beverly Hills and Hollywood, his tromping ground. It was really fun to see Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, and all the other star-studded areas of LA. Call me crazy, but I kept thinking, "What if Heidi Klum and Seal come strolling down the road? Just play it cool, Carrie. Just play it cool," as if that is an everyday occurrence. But alas, the only stars we saw were in front of the Kodak Theatre (on the sidewalk), and it was a blast of a day, nonetheless.

The BEST part of getting a tour from a friend who knows LA was that he was able to guide us to the most delicious Cuban restaurant for lunch. I'm still tasting the garlic from the chicken and I have never had plantain that good... really... ever!

On Saturday, Bryan had a meeting at the Reagan Ranch. So, Charis and I enjoyed time poolside at our hotel in the Malibu hills. Look at our sweet little strawberry lathered in sunscreen and ready for an afternoon with Momma...

Then, for dinner Bryan took his girls to Duke's in Malibu to watch the sunset and just enjoy a good ole'-fashioned date night. It was a precious evening by the water... Thank you, honey bunny!

Here's Charis seeing the Pacific for the first time. (She was so enamored that she fell asleep 15 minutes after taking these pictures, letting mommy and daddy have a nice evening. Good girl ;)

She loves her daddy -- the moon-hanger...

... and her bow -- made with love by mommy!

"These are a few of my favorite things"

While having a schedule of eat, waketime, then nap (every 3 hours) may seem like a pretty boring life, Charis has made the most of it and has discovered a few things that she absolutely loves...

#1 - The adorable girl in the mirror... ANY mirror. Charis hasn't figured out who she is yet, but Charis knows that she is smiley, cute, and has a pretty similar disposition.

#2 - Snuggling in the towels after bath time.

#3 - Running with Momma... what a doll to look at while I work out.

On another note, there are a few things that she absolutely DOES NOT like. (Sorry, I don't have the horrible documented as well with photos. I usually try to make it through those situations sane, and pictures are too much effort to be a priority in those times):

#1 - Luke warm baths (I do have this one documented with pictures. It was her first bath on her first day in the world. What were we thinking: "Oh... she's been nice and warm and snuggly in mommy for nine months. So, we should put her in some tepid water to liven her up a bit"?!?!? We did learn our lesson, though, and bath time is now one of her favorite things.

Here she is on November 2nd (the day after she was born) in a much hotter bath. As you can see, she was much more delightful in bath number two.

#2 - Every other shot. Some she doesn't flinch; others she freaks out. So, we never know what we're gonna get.

#3 - The taste of Target brand "Tylenol." I'm learning that her taste buds take approximately 3.5 seconds to react to anything. So, that is my window of opportunity to get it in and then get the binky in.

Introducing Baby Charis

We've given ourselves a little bit of a break and we hope you all will, too; but we are truly excited to be introducing our Bundle of Joy to the Blog World... albeit 10 weeks late!

Charis Elizabeth Henderson

November 1, 2009

7:05am

Charis weighed a whopping 6 pounds, 1 ounce; she was 19 1/2 inches long; and she was beautiful from the moment we laid eyes on her. We're not gonna lie, we were truly thrilled to have missed a Halloween birthday by even just 7 hours.

Fast forward 10 weeks, and Charis is now 11 pounds and she is 22 1/2 inches long... quite the chubby-cheeked cherub (see photo above).

The most exciting aspects of parenting to date have been:

- seeing the physical and sensory development of our sweet little girl (note: cross-eyedness in newborns is nothing to worry about),

- loving each other even more deeply than we ever thought possible,

- getting to run again (with a stroller, of course),

- changing a diaper only to give Charis a cleaner diaper to messy 2 seconds later,

- changing outfits like it's a photo shoot,

- changing sheets,

- learning to nurse (holy cow),

- learning to sleep less at the beginning

- learning not to worry all night that she's not making a peep because she is now sleeping through the night,

- buying bows... BIG ones,

- buying cardigans... little ones,

- folding onesies,

- and coining the term "Burbles" to euphemize spit up, of which there is a LOT.

Truly, we feel blessed to have embarked on this journey that is parenthood and we are continually trusting the Lord through it. Thank you for all of your prayers during pregnancy, through labor, and after the birth of our baby. As some of you already know, "Charis" is the greek word for "grace," which is entirely fitting since we have felt the grace of the Lord on sweet Charis's life already.

We'll try to keep you "posted" more frequently, but for now... I have burbles to clean up.