another first... but for Dad this time

There are many Mommy varieties of these...

I have seen so many of the Mommy varieties with my own eyes...

In fact, I had seen only Mommy varieties...

I had seen so many of the Mommy ones that I didn't think the Daddy version even existed...

And now that I've seen one of them...

I wouldn't sell it on eBay even if it was the only one in existence.

New baby accessory for Daddy's motorcycle

Karis new vehicle seat from LenaDerek on Vimeo.

this is how she rolls

karis really doesn't like to be in the car.  this is a typical snapshot of what she looks like when the car seat is put in the base:

and by the time I get to the driver's seat, this is what she looks like:

and she doesn't stop until she's taken out.  

A couple more Karis' firsts...

Karis smiles quite often. But Saturday night with some friends for a BBQ, Karis actually laughed out loud. It was past her bedtime, Lena was putting her in the car seat, and Karis was starting to cry. Lena picked up the car seat and tried to entertain Karis by shaking the car seat. Check out Karis finding it funny below.


First Giggles - 3.21.09 from LenaDerek on Vimeo.

Also, she held her own bottle for me for the first time today.

What a proud papa I am!

We Dedicated Her to the Lord

On February 15, 2009 we stood before our church, friends and family and declared the following:

• We will treasure our child as a gift from God on loan to us.
  
• We will teach our child of God's love and of His gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus.
  
• We will give grace to our child, as grace has been given to us.
  
• We will forgive our hcild, as we have been forgiven.
  
• We will accept responsibility for helping our child discover her God given purpose in life.
  

Today I Am 3 Months Old

Morning Story Time

Some mornings are pretty rough for me. Karis has been sleeping for an extended amount of time at night. However, after her first feeding in the middle of the night, she wakes up every two hours. I think she's trying to catch up on the feedings she skipped. When she does, that leaves me taking a few one hour "naps." It's brutal, especially in the early morning when my body just wants to be in a deep slumber.

Nights when Karis doesn't wake up at regular intervals can also leave me hurting in the morning.  I'm not sure which of the two it was this one day, but Derek had some time in the morning before heading to the office.  He gladly took Karis from me so that I could try and get a little more sleep.  I couldn't fall back to sleep so I came out of the room to see what they were up to...it was awfully quiet. To my pleasant surprise, Derek was reading Karis a Bible story on our bed (and she was loving it!).  It was very sweet!

Babysitters

Derek and I have been keeping a list of potential babysitters for Karis. If you've ever said to one of us in passing, "I'll watch Karis for you," you're on our list and we will be calling you in the near future. =)

Not surprisingly, our list is comprised of mainly females, with one or two couples. After Derek's friend visited us on Friday, that list will be changing.

Chad is Derek's childhood friend from Illinois. He has been in LA for several years and we try to catch up with him when we can. He was in our area today so he came over to hang out. When Derek first presented Karis to him, he was hesitant to hold Karis.  After I fed Karis, I just plopped her in his lap.  She took a quick liking to him. She happily sat in his lap and flashed him many flirtatious smiles. It looked to me as if she has already taken a liking to good looking guys. If she's happy hanging out with him, I'm okay leaving her with him. Derek would feel safe leaving her with him because he's a fire fighter. So we now have our first solo male on our babysitter list.  Thanks Chad!  =)

Our Small Group

Derek and I are in a great small group. This group has evolved over the last couple years. The group started when we lived in Costa Mesa. It was us and the Baylors meeting every other Saturday morning. We loved starting the weekend with breakfast and good friends. While in this group, I joined a women’s group on the church campus. I met the Maruskas who recently got married and were looking for a group. They joined our group and our group moved to Irvine since the Baylors were still in Costa Mesa and we had moved to RSM. We started to meet weekly. The Galarzas were then looking for a group, so they joined us and the group then moved to our place in RSM.

The group was great when it was just two couples, but I love where it is now. I’ve been enjoying getting to know everyone on a deeper level as we share our lives, laughs and food. Not only are all of us “newlyweds,” but three out of the four couples will have their first newborn by the end of this month.

Here are a couple photos taken two weeks ago on a small group night.  We ate dinner and hung out.  We were supposed to have a group bonding time with games, but the Nintendo system was brought and we lost the guys... 

Right now we’re studying Sacred Marriage. It comes at a great time for me as things have changed since we had Karis. The study is helping me to put more focus on our marriage in the midst of the craziness. For me, I learned that it takes 7-10 years for a couple to really become and feel like one unit (that long?!).  In my mind, I thought the newlywed stage was supposed to be the best time in a marriage.  As we enter into our third year of marriage, with a child, things definitely aren't the way they were when we were newlyweds.  Instead of fretting over it and wishing things were the way they were, I now know that this different season, and the new challenges that we face, will deepen our relationship.  We've had a great first 2+ years of marriage with few trials, friction or stress.  But as the years go by and we experience a whole lot more together, we will definitely be stronger as a couple.  I am looking forward to it!

I also learned that studies show that during the child rearing stage, the majority of married couples say their levels of satisfaction with their marriage decline.  That's not to say I'm going to go with the status quo, but it does help me to set realistic expectations.  I can't expect things to be the same nor can I expect to experience wedding bliss at every turn.  Things are definitely different with Karis, so we're adjusting to one another and learning to extend more grace.  We are enjoying our new roles as parents.  I pray that we'll continue to focus on our marriage when it's so easy to just focus on Karis.  I'm thankful that our small group will help us along the way!

Let's Do Lunch

My mornings typically get off to a slow start. I try to get Karis to sleep in with me as close to 10 am as possible -- with some success, but not always. We'll then make our way to the couch to eat and watch some TV. The things I want to get done that day doesn't usually happen until early afternoon (especially if it's a day after I've been in the office).

On Tuesday, I was planted on the couch watching the season finale of The Bachelor from the night before. Derek called and told me that the Kerrs and Galarzas were meeting at SuperMex for lunch and wanted to know if I could go. My first thoughts were, "I'm not done watching the show," "Karis needs a bath," "I'm not dressed," and "I only have about an hour to get ready." But what came out was, "Sure! I'll be there."

My great skill of multi-tasking went into full gear and I got Karis fed, one of us bathed, both of us dressed and out the door -- all while fast forwarding through The Bachelor (I knew there would be discussions of the finale at the table). How could I pass up an opportunity to get the whole gang together? Here's what it looked like:

Karis and her posse hanging out outside SuperMex.