Four Months Old

Karis is 4 months old now! I can't believe it has been that long since her birth and how much she has changed since. We just had her 4 month well check and I just have to say how incredibly blessed I feel. After having a virtually perfect pregnancy and birth, Karis has now had 4 months of perfect health. The Dr was really happy with her health and how she is developing. I was worried about this appointment since it ended up being right in the middle of he nap time and a tired Karis is an uncontrollably fussy baby! She had been sleeping about 20 minutes when it was time to head to the appointment. I was hoping she would just sleep in the car on the way, but of course she woke right up. She managed ok in the waiting room and through the nurse taking her measurements. But then she got fussy. When the doc didn't come in for a bit I decided to nurse her and she fell asleep. Luckily (and this is the only time I will say this!) they were running behind and I sat in the exam room for 50 minutes!! Karis was able to get in a decent nap and was all smiles and talking up a storm for the doc :)

Her 4 month measurements:
Height- 26 inchs, 94 % (23.5 in, 82% at 2 months)
Weight- 15lb 7 oz, 79%( 12.5 lb,  82% at 2 months)
Head Circ- 16.5 inches, 70% (15.2 in, 41% at 2 months)

Overall she is staying pretty steady on the growth curve, so I guess mama's milk is still working wonders :) :) (not that I would think otherwise :) )
Some of the things she is doing now:
*Grasping toys really well. She likes to fling them around and put them in her mouth
*Her hands are always in her mouth!
*Playing with her feet, and putting them in her mouth (can you see a theme here?...lol)
 *Laughs! Her laughs are the best! She loves laughing at Samson and other dogs the most, but occasionally we can get her to laugh at us too :)
*She grabs her clothes a lot and just keeps her hands clenched on it
*Loves water, especially bath time! She kicks, splashes and smiles when she's in water.
*Knows and responds to her name and nickname (Kare Bear). She also seems to be able to relate the word "doggie" to Samson
*loves the ABCs song!
*Has rolled over from back to front and front to back, but only a few times each.
*Can prop herself up sitting for a (very) short period of time
*Loves standing

And now some (well, lots of) pictures and videos!

Karis and Nana

Slobber face

In her car (is it called an exersaucer?)

These lucky ducks get to sleep in

Discovering she can play with her feet

Learning to turn herself sideways under the gym

LOL

So happy :)

And now she sucks on her toes

Understanding God's Love

I don't really write deep, meaningful, spiritual posts so this may be really bad, but it is just something that I think about a lot lately.

I think as flawed and sinful humans we have a hard time truly understanding God's love. Love is such a  huge part of the Christian faith, but it seems near impossible to fully grasp the depth of that love and what He did for us. I think that is why it may be hard for some people to fully transform their life when they believe in Christ, or a reason us Christians so frequently lose the "fire" for God, or hit a low point in our desire and faith for God.

But since becoming a mother I feel a lot closer to understanding just how unconditionally God loves us.  Since we are all His children I feel like I can almost relate to Him more now that I have my own child (is it weird that I am saying I can relate to God? I mean we are created in His image so we are similar beings, right?). I love my child unconditionally, no matter what she does my heart will always be full of love for her. Don't get me wrong, I do love my husband, a lot! But it not as natural of a love as loving my own flesh and bones! Loving a spouse takes work at times and it's not as naturally unconditional(at least the way I experience it). Before I had Karis I don't think I really, truly understood the meaning of God's unconditional love for us. I feel like I do now(or am a whole lot closer to grasping it )!

Jesus loved us so much he gave His life for us. Before having a child, it was hard for me to grasp this also! To put it in my own perspective was hard as I would try to imagine myself in a situation where I would have to sacrifice my life for another. Would I be able to do it?  I don't know. Now I know without a doubt I would do anything for my child! I would take her pain from her, stand in front of a bullet, I would give my life if she needed it.

 Since becoming pregnant and then becoming a mother I have felt a lot more connected to God and our relationship has really deepened. To me this seems to have stemmed directly from me having a better understanding of how He feels about us. Like we have become better friends through the birth of my child  :)

I have been double blessed by becoming a mother...a deeper relationship with God and an absolutely wonderful baby girl who stole my heart. And I really do feel like I understand God's love now.

(I had a lot more on the mind related to this but I had a 3 day break from when I started and finished writing this so I don't remember now. Maybe one day I will edit it to add more. I should start writing down notes when I think of this stuff.lol)

So I don't have 2 posts in a row without any Karis pictures, here is one:

Cloth Diapers

Some people have asked us if we still like cloth diapers as much as we did before Karis was born, now that we have been using them for a few of months. The answer is an enthusiastic YES!! I love, love ,love the diapers and even Kevin hasn't had any complaints about them (he took a bit of convincing to agree to use them). We chose to use cloth for a few reasons...mainly for the health of our baby (I absolutely hate chemicals and disposables are full of them!I I couldn't imagine having them on her 24/7) and for financial reasons(cloth is a big initial investment but in the long run can save you thousands of dollars...per kid!). Of course they are also a ton better for the environment and are supposed to help lessen the occurrence of diaper rash....and look super cute on babies!

I know a lot of people hear the words "cloth diaper" and their minds immediately go to white cloth and safety pins, I know that's what I thought of at first! But CDs (cloth diapers) have come a long way since those days. There are many types of CDs that come in many different styles so you can choose a type that best fits your needs.  You may be thinking "But isn't it a lot of work?"...well yes and no. I do have to wash them every couple of days but it really isn't that hard or time consuming(and I HATE doing laundry!). They get run through a couple of different wash cycles then I hang them to dry out in the wonderful sunshine for some natural stink and stain remover. Air drying them also helps them last longer since the dryer can wear the elastic out!

 The diapers soaking up some sun in the backyard! They smell and look so fresh and clean afterward :)







The diapers we chose to go with are called pocket diapers and we are using BumGenius 4.0s. They have a pocket on the inside of the diaper that you stuff an insert into which is what absorbs the pee! The pocket s also great for nighttime use....I just stuff extra inserts in so the diaper is able to absorb more. This means I do not have to get up to change her at 3 AM and there are no leaks!  Here's what the inside looks like:

<---that little flap covers the pocket so the insert stays in

The insert easily goes in and out---->







We are using the one size diapers...so they adjust to last from newborn to toddlerhood, meaning we don't have to keep buying new ones each time she grows!

There are lots of snaps on there to help get the best fit possible!








I also use cloth wipes and those are awesome as well and save us even more money! They just get thrown in the laundry with the diapers! The diapers do have to get washed with laundry detergent that doesn't have any additives, perfumes, dyes, etc in order to keep them from developing a buildup that would hinder their absorbency and waterproof lining! We Use Charlie's Soap right now and it works great (I even started using it on all our clothes!) but I might try some other natural brand just so I can compare :)

The diapers get stored in her dresser, below her changing pad,  for an easy grab during diaper changes. I used to pre-stuff them after washing but lately have gotten lazy and just throw the inserts on one side and the diapers on the other and stuff as I need a diaper!