All A Girl Needs: Her Daddy and Her Tights

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words:

"Camp" Henderson

This morning, as my husband danced around singing a goofy song to our baby and I rapped a tune to the same beat, I was reminded how much we live our lives like we are constantly at camp.

First off, our days are pretty regimen. We get up at 7am when we wake and feed baby girl and then we read the Bible in bed while she sits facing us at the end of the bed. Then, Bryan has a full-out "goo-goo-ga-ga" babble session with Charis before getting dressed to some song we've chosen to sing/rap. (It's not always as sickeningly upbeat as I am making it sound. It is usually a made-up song that will keep Charis laughing so that dad can get the most giggles in before he leaves for the day; and mom is not always just popping out of bed.) Next, it's breakfast, packing lunch, and getting out the door.

While that seems pretty normal, I somehow can't get the idea out of my head that we are camp counselors indefinitely and that our "camper" is our child. Like when Charis was cracking up as I ran the Dish - a recreational route with large hills - because she thought that my leaning in, bouncing the stroller, and huffing was a game. And why shouldn't she think that when we do that sort of thing to her as a game ALL THE TIME!?! That's when I realized how much like camp our lives feel right now. It's tiring (just like camp), fun/funny (just like camp), regimen, goofy, and a time for pursuing Jesus (JUST LIKE CAMP). Charis and I are almost done with her baby book (i.e.-craft time) and our friend's dog "Hoover" is Charis's little buddy... like a little petting zoo, if you will.

At any rate, there IS a point to this observation about our lives:

I am convicted that since we act like it is camp, we should be relying on God like it is camp, too. That is, we should treat every morning like one more day to love on our "camper," each other, and our neighbor with the understanding that we need God to do it. I distinctly remember waking up every morning at KAA (Kids Across America) and Sky Ranch - two summer camps at which I worked - and thinking, "God, please help me get through the day with grace, love, and boldness as I love on these kids. Be my sustainer and teach me to follow you, share you, and love you more faithfully. Amen." I remember being exhausted and drained and not feeling like I had anything to offer and that God HAD to be the one to get me through the day because I wasn't able to do it on my own strength. Well, I want that to be my prayer every morning in "Camp Life," too. It may not be 110 degrees like it was at summer camp, I may not have 20 campers like at camp, and I may have an amazing co-counselor to lighten the load but I still need God to sustain me every day. As much as my sweet hubby and I want to think that we've got it all down, that is when we learn that we're still learning and very much so.

So... I praise the Lord for his giving me a partner so well-suited for me that I could rap a silly tune about burbles (see previous blogs) and not feel the least bit less-cool; and I pray that we would continue to love on this sweet little one, on others, and on each other as best we know how and with the strength of the Lord as our daily bread - which is better than any camp food I ever had :)

P.S. - Dad sent us these family pictures from when we were in Florida over Christmas break. Enjoy!

"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.

Burke/Henderson Reunion

On August 17th, Adam and Lisa celebrated their 7th Anniversary by flying to California for 10 days of fun. We were elated to host them for a couple of days and to give them a little taste of our life out here. From Muir Woods, San Francisco, and the Santa Cruz Wineries to Napa, Tahoe, and Reno, they got to see so much while they were here. The best part for us was sharing Christ-centered conversations while walking the Dish, sipping wine (or tea) at Savannah Chanelle Vineyards, and eating dinners with the Burkes and with friends every night.

We feel truly blessed to have such wonderful family and we enjoyed every minute of our time with Adam and Lisa.

Denton Baby Shower

The weekend before Bryan's last week of work at Weil, Mom and Lisa threw a shower for us at Lisa's house. It was ridiculously fun to share time with family friends that we haven't seen in a while and with bosom friends who made the trek from all over the state. Thank you all for coming and for showering us with so many little blessings.

Thank you, sister and mom, for throwing such a perfect shower. The quiche, the cake, and the chocolate-covered strawberries were delectable. We are constantly reminded of how it takes a village to raise a child, and we are truly grateful for all the sweet conversations that we had and for all the goodies that we were able to bring home. We praise the Lord for this event.

We also had a semi-formal for Bryan's work that weekend and had a BLAST at Casino Night!