Swimming Pool to Emergency Room - our baby's first swimming experience

Charlotte & Daddy in the big pool

Charlotte has always been a very sweet, happy baby, but there aren't too many things that stick out to me as things that she loves. She's never gotten overly excited when we sing silly songs to her, or give her a bath, or when she plays with a specific toy.

So when we met up with some friends at a Madrid public pool last Saturday, we were so excited to see how much our Sweet Pea loved the water.

We had not been to a public pool in Madrid before, but friends had told us about their experiences. Some were good, some not so good...especially with babies. So, I was kind of prepared for us not to stay long but we quickly found that it was much like public pools that we'd experienced in the States....oh, except for the part where half the women had no swim tops on and children were running around naked! :)

Hortaleza Public Pool - Madrid

I thought it would be a good idea to try the "infantil" area first - aka. kiddie pool. This is where we saw all the naked kids and moms without tops. I guess they don't have to worry about tan lines. Charlotte had fun there; she crawled & splashed around and we were able to get some pictures...although pictures these days are getting rather difficult because she doesn't like to sit still long enough to smile for the camera...oh well, lots of candid shots!

We wear LOTS of sunscreen -
we're a really pale family!

After the kiddie area, we decided to see how Charlotte liked the big pool. This is when she really came alive! Pictures could not capture how much she loved splashing around in the water. She was all smiles! It was so fun to watch her enjoy something so much.

I really wish we had tried the pool earlier in the summer since we're leaving for Hong Kong today, but now that we know she likes the water so much we'll plan plenty of water-related outings in Hong Kong.

You may be wondering...where does the emergency room play into all this? Well, we have been so so so so blessed with how healthy Charlotte has been in her short life - especially since we've been living in Spain and our options for doctors are not the greatest. Please don't hate me when I tell you that she has yet to be sick - she's had some icky days adjusting to travel or teething, but she hasn't even had a cold yet.

So is it really any surprise that she picked up some kind of virus from the public pool? No, not really. I should have been expecting it, but I was totally caught off guard when I thought she was pretty hot on Sunday then checked her temperature to find out it was 103!! That scared me!

Thankfully she didn't really have any other symptoms of being sick, but she did continue running a fever the following day so we called the doctor (who said she spoke English but doesn't :)). She told Brendan she wanted us to take Charlotte to the emergency room, so we did...Charlotte's first ER experience.

I didn't take any pictures, but this was actually one of the best ER visits I've ever had in my life. You wouldn't think that would be the case since it was my own child I was taking and we are in a foreign country and can't communicate that great. But this pediatric emergency room was great! It was a short walk from our flat, so Brendan took a taxi home from work then we walked up there. It was also surprisingly efficient...most things in Spain are "manana". They take their sweet time, so we expected to be there a while. I'm pretty sure we were in and out in an hour! Have you ever experienced that in the U.S.?! I haven't.

I wish you could have heard how they pronounced Charlotte's name. It was so funny! We listened carefully for it and then went back to the room they called us to. The nurse or doctor or some medical person was already in there waiting for us. He checked Charlotte out and everything seemed to be fine besides her temperature, so they gave us some acetiminophen and sent us home. Brendan listened carefully and communicated pretty well with the guy (and we had our Spanish-English dictionary handy...thanks, Bradley!). Not bad for our first Kinne family emergency room experience...not bad at all.

I'm so thankful my daughter loves the pool, but I'm ever more thankful that God protected her little body and helped her fight off an infection without much issue.

AND we are off to Hong Kong this evening! I'm sure we'll have plenty of interesting stories to share with you over the next 6 weeks.

*Check out our Kinne Photos for more pictures of our swimming adventure!

Celebrations that honor the Lord

My Birthday Celebration with Brendan in 2007 -
isn't that an awesome cake he made for me?!

Charlotte was born right before "holiday season" in the U.S. [This isn't the direction this post will be taking, but I actually have no problem with saying "holiday season" because I think of the time from the end of October through the beginning of a new year in January as the holiday season (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's).]

Ok, back on track...during the bleary, exhausted months of having a newborn we also got to celebrate many of her "first" holidays. We didn't do a whole lot of thinking about how we were going to celebrate; really, I just wanted to try to start sleeping again and could have cared less what food we were having for Thanksgiving or starting any new family traditions for Christmas. Charlotte actually did give us something to be HUGELY thankful for by sleeping through the night a few days before Thanksgiving...that will always be a special Thanksgiving memory for me. :)

Kinne Family - Halloween 2009
Can't you tell we weren't getting much sleep?

Now that those crazy, sleep-deprived days are past, and we've gone through our own sort of "spring holiday season" - celebrating Easter, Mother's Day, Brendan's birthday, Father's Day, and our anniversary - we've really started doing some thinking about how we celebrate. Especially since we are parents. We've begun talking about Charlotte's 1st birthday and this coming Christmas (since she'll be a more active participant this year). We've been talking about traditions, gift giving, and spending.

Then, I read this passage in Acts 7:

"That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made." (the italics are mine)

Stephen is speaking here of the Israelites after Moses leads them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea.

It really got me to thinking. How often do our celebrations honor us - our plans, our stuff, our culture, our accomplishments - rather than the One who made us, who gave us life? Do we celebrate in a way that honors God?

Now as Brendan and I discuss how we are going to celebrate Charlotte's first birthday - and her future birthdays - we're planning with this question in mind "Does this celebration honor God?". Or is it about us? About stuff? About what our culture tells us we "need" to do to celebrate our child's birthday?

See, we really don't think our daughter needs to receive a crazy amount of gifts to celebrate that God gave her life. And we don't think we need to break the bank spending money on a party. I personally know that I struggle with making lots of plans and comparing my plans to others to see if I'm good enough. That doesn't honor God, so I'm seeking His counsel and wisdom as I plan Charlotte's first birthday in order to plan in a way that does honor him.

Charlotte's First Christmas
getting some snuggle time with her Papa & PoPo

Above all else, we really want God to be glorified in the celebrations we have - whether those are Christian or secular celebrations. And we want how we celebrate to always point back to Jesus. I know this won't always be easy...did I mention I have an issue with planning a little too much?! :) But I look forward to these times of celebration as ways to share God's love with the people we love (and maybe people we don't even know :)).

Thankful for joy

Last month I was really struggling with homesickness and it seemed like a plethera of other things. I knew God wanted me to fully rely on Him during that low time, and I knew that eventually I would have rest from those struggles.

Can I tell you that I am FULL of JOY?! Life is really no different today than it was last month, but God has given me rest from my homesickness and peace about my current life stage. I really have been enjoying my normal, everyday life the past few weeks...my cleaning routine...our lunchtime walks to the park...daily load of laundry...getting Charlotte ready for bed...watching Gilmore Girls with Brendan when he gets home from work (don't tell him I told you that!).

I'm so grateful that I could ask my parents and my husband to pray for me, and they did. And I'm full of joy...

368. smell of bacon cooking
369. a cooler forecast for the days ahead
370. the quickest and cheapest haircut I've ever gotten
371. a cute tutu ordered for Charlotte's birthday
372. not being held by worldly plans for my baby's life
373. blogging - having fun and learning while working on our family blog
374. seeing the same people in the park day after day
375. not wearing makeup
376. so much joy in Charlotte's face as she experienced the big pool for the first time
377. hanging out at the pool with friends, Brendan, and our baby girl
378. it's not culturally "normal" for me or my baby to swim topless :)
379. bedtime routine with Charlotte - even when she fusses
380. having a cup of tea in the morning because the weather is cooler
381. Friday night Mexican food and leftovers on Saturday!
382. cleaning routine
383. I don't hate and avoid cleaning anymore!
384. enjoying weekdays as much as the weekend
385. the reflection of our little family in the Metro train window
386. conquering Super Mario Bros. with Brendan!

Friends, I hope you find joy in all you do this week! Next Monday's posting comes to you from Hong Kong!

Wanna see what Charlotte's been up to these days?

Oh, our little girl just keeps amazing us with how fast she's growing! Here's a little sample of her movement these days...

Where did 4 years go?

At London Gatwick Airport on our way to
our honeymoon in Turkey - July 2006

I'm determined to blog more. So I've decided that every Friday I'm going to post a little story about something - exciting or boring - that has happened in the Kinne family in the past week (or if our week has been REALLY boring then I'll stretch to the past month :)). My mother-in-law, Karen, or Momma K, has been encouraging me to write more...she's thinking more along the lines of publishing books, etc...I'm thinking let's just keep the blog alive!

*Warning - there are NO pictures of Charlotte in this blog post. If that really upsets you, just check out our Flickr photos...her life in pictures is well-documented there.

Where did 4 years go?

It seems like just yesterday that Brendan and I were getting married in Evergreen, Colorado, but so much has changed in our lives in 4 years! There are the obvious things like now having a baby and living in a foreign country, but there are some not-so-obvious things as well. While we were watching our wedding video the other night, we couldn't help but laugh at ourselves...not the wedding itself or the vows we made...but we laughed at what we thought love was then.

Last summer shortly after our anniversary, I wrote this blog post which pretty much sums up how our idea of love has changed over the past few years. Every year I think I will be more amazed at how God is changing us.

For the first time since moving to Spain, Brendan and I went out on a real date - just the two of us! A friend from our church in Madrid came over on Sunday night while Charlotte was asleep - she goes to bed early, ya'll, and Spaniards eat dinner late so that works out well for babysitters! As I often do, I gave Brendan the dubious responsibility of finding a restaurant. He came up with a bunch of ideas, but he kept running them past me so I shared my honest option. Something like, "Hmmm, looks good...I mean I don't know what any of the food is, but I'm sure it will be great, sweetie!"

So, we finally decided on simplicity - a restaurant that offers very few items, all of which are edible, and we had heard it praised by numerous people. Not a fancy date restaurant but a new place to try and we were sure we'd leave full. This place...

Casa Mingo

Pollo asado was the main dish - a wonderful roasted chicken. Our tortilla espanola and cider were also very good, but the shrink-wrapped salad was a little puzzling. :)

The real fun began after dinner when Brendan took me on an uphill climb to get to a park that had nice views of Madrid. Umm, yeah, it was hot and my feet weren't happy since I had decided to wear "date" shoes not "hiking" shoes. But Brendan really did redeem himself by spotting a heladeria, an ice cream shop, and we got some really great ice cream!

We hope to have a date night every month since we now know people we trust to leave with Charlotte. It was really nice to get out of the house alone with my husband. I did feel "naked" without a stroller - I don't even have a purse here, and I'm not going to carry her diaper bag when she's not with us! Going out also reminded me how fast she has grown. When she was first born, I thought I'd never get out of the house again much less go on a date with Brendan! Ok, I knew those things would happen eventually but it seemed like it would be forever....I kinda miss that tiny little baby who would let me hold her in my arms. :) I guess that could be a whole different blog post - Where did 9 months go?

Happy Anniversary to my incredible husband, Brendan!

Thankful for a change of scenery

Yes, I'm a day late. But I don't want to fall behind in posting my thanks...what wonderful big and small things God continues to do in my life.

I also wanted to update ya'll (I know we have plenty of loyal readers out there :)) on some changes our little family will be experiencing in the coming months. Many of you know that Brendan works for an international company that does consulting on immigration (AKA, a cover for his real job with the CIA). In Raleigh, our friends used to jokingly call him "Jason Bourne" from the Bourne movie series. Thankfully our life isn't as exciting as those movies, but we do have some big travel plans at the beginning of August.

Brendan's company has an office in Hong Kong, and they have asked him to help out managing that office for 6 weeks while they get a new manager on board and trained. So, we'll be leaving the end of July for 6 weeks in Hong Kong!! Yeah, Charlotte's passport is going to have more stamps than most adults! And definitely more than mine did at her age....oh wait, I didn't get a passport until I was in my 20's!

I would definitely appreciate your prayers as we travel over there. We feel pretty confident traveling with an infant, but she's a crawler/stander/trying-to-be-walker right now and that is going to be a whole different ballgame. We also have a 12 hour flight from London to Hong Kong. :( Hoping she sleeps for most of it. I'm also hoping she adjusts well to our new surroundings...she's bound to be a flexible kid with all the changes she's experienced in her short life.

And me...I'm thankful for a change of scenery. It's hot here in Madrid with no A/C. There aren't too many people around that we know...and we had just started meeting people anyways. So getting to spend a few weeks away will be nice...a diversion...and I'm sure I'll be happy to return to our "home" in Madrid by the middle of September. Brendan's sister, Erin, is also going to visit us while we're in Hong Kong! Yeah, so glad to get to see her and introduce her to her niece!

348. my husband always surprising me with how well he can communicate in Spanish
349. the incredible health of our daughter, especially during a time of not-so-ideal doctor situation
350. hearing Charlotte "plop" on her heiny after standing...it's actually quite graceful :)
351. being okay with little handprints showing up all around the apartment
352. a shaded park bench
353. another year of marriage
354. excitement of another year (of marriage) ahead
355. reading books to Charlotte that my mom read to me
356. my husband taking the trash downstairs
357. an unexpected call from my grandmother
358. unexpected scrambled eggs for breakfast on our anniversary
359. amazement at Charlotte standing on her own
360. our shaded walk to the mercado
361. a 50 cent coin in my wallet to get a grocery cart
362. our wedding video
363. oh my! the things we said/wrote when we were young and "in love"...laughing about that now!
364. the time and opportunity to be an ear and encouragement
365. kind people working in the salon who helped with Charlotte while she was crying & were so understanding
366. rebajas!!
367. a date with my husband

Adventures in Making Baby Food

Before Charlotte was born I had thought I would try my hand at making baby food for her when the time came. My reasoning was not that Brendan and I are health food nuts or food purists...I simply did not want to spend the money it would cost to buy jarred baby food. Then we found out we were moving to Spain, and I was even more on-board with the idea. Thankfully we moved here before Charlotte needed baby food, so I had time to scope things out and prepare myself for the endeavor.

Actually before we even left the U.S., I picked up this baby food cookbook, Cooking for Baby, at Williams-Sonoma. I also looked into specialty cookware, ie. Beaba Babycook, because I thought that might make the process easier. The price tag is pretty high on those convenient machines ($150) and we didn't want to buy electronics before moving overseas, so we held off on purchasing one. Once we got to Spain, we saw that they were also pricey here, and I just wasn't sold on it being that much more convenient. I decided to go the basic way of cooking the food then blending/mashing/etc.

Being a first time mom and not really all that familiar with babies anyway, I really knew nothing about starting a baby on solids....so I read a lot! I also scouted out my options for baby food from the time we moved to Spain in February until our trip back to the U.S. at the end of March. I knew what I had seen in passing at the grocery store in the U.S., so I checked out what was offered in Spanish mercados (grocery stores) just so I knew what commercial baby food was offered.

Here is a sampling of what you will find for babies in Spain:

{Starter cereal is Cereal without gluten}

{Cereal with honey - note that it's for babies 6 months+}

{Ham & Veggies}

So I found out that in Spain they just jump right in with like 4 meals a day and all types of foods. I might not know much about introducing solids, but I knew enough from my [American] books that that wasn't the way we were going to go with Charlotte. So, that "solid"-ified my decision to make food for her rather than buying jarred food. :)

I've now been making fruit, veggie, and meat purees for her for about 3 months now. It's taken some work but really hasn't been that time consuming. She has been so kind as to eat just about everything we've given her - the exception is avocados, but we also don't do a very good job of picking ripe ones. One of her favorite foods has been butternut squash...I'm just sad that I can't find it anymore here; I'm hoping to find it again in the fall and do some more creative things with it.

I really can't imagine how much it would cost us to buy jarred baby food, but just looking at the prices, I think we're saving a ton! And it is nice to know that Charlotte is eating wholesome food with no preservatives...I know exactly what goes into her food.

Some things I will do differently next time around:

• Plan more - it is just in my natural to plan. (I'm about to start putting together a homekeeping organizer :)) But with Charlotte, I would get in a frenzy making a lot of purees, then get in a slump (often caused by her disinterest in eating). With our next baby, I'll be more consistent with making food on some sort of schedule so that I don't look in the freezer and think, "Whoa! I need to make some food for this kid!"
• Start saving larger glass containers sooner - so far I have just been freezing Charlotte's purees in ice cube trays which has worked out great for us. But I've just recently started holding onto and cleaning small-size glass food containers to use to freeze foods as her portion sizes increase. I wish I had more of these.

One Thousand Gifts - Post #14

Maybe my post today should be titled "Un Mil Regalos" since we are celebrating Spain's victory in the World Cup. It is such an exciting time to be living in Madrid. I really am grateful for the opportunity God gave us to live here for a time. As I've mentioned numerous times, this season of my life - new mommy, staying at home, living in a foreign country - is stretching my faith. And along the way I'm getting to experience some truly amazing things about this world God has created...about different people and cultures...God-created beauty and beauty created by God's creation, man...my prayer is that these experiences give me a better appreciation for my own culture and life in the United States. And I hope I never take Tex-Mex food and air conditioning for granted again!!

Continuación gracias....

327. Brendan's wonderful assistant at work who helped us get a dr's appointment for Charlotte
328. a dr for Charlotte who speaks English AND takes our insurance
329. finding more honeydew/cantalope at LIDL (local grocery store)
330. air conditioning in LIDL
331. crawling around the apartment with Charlotte
332. finding a pizza crust that isn't paper thin
333. cooling off & relaxing while Charlotte splashed around in her "pool"
334. Brendan picking up ice cream on his way home from work
335. Charlotte's blind finally going down right before bed time
336. a morning out "running" errands
337. reading and discussing parenting with Brendan
338. the humm of a fan
339. Charlotte finally sleeping - rather than crying - in her stroller so I could get items at Carrefour
340. telling friends I'll pray for them and being able to follow through!
341. Spain winning the World Cup
342. fireworks, car horns, and chants of "Ole!" after the victory
343. Brendan getting Charlotte ready for bed and staying home with her so I could go to an Oasis Gathering
344. Donut-flavored helado (ice cream)
345. finding out that there is sour cream in Spain
346. sweet comments on my gratitude posts from friends I do not know :)
347. two friends having beautiful baby girls on the same day...congrats, Nikki & Kristen!!

If you would like to read about thanking God for One Thousand Gifts and The Gratitude Community, click here. How would your faith change if you started intentionally thanking God for all the blessings he pours on your life?

Sweet Tea & Watermelon

This post actually has nothing to do with sweet tea or watermelons, although Charlotte is looking quite cute in the watermelon dress she received from her great-grandmother, Mommie Mop! But sweet tea and watermelon have been keeping me cool - and sane - while we endure the hot Madrid summer with no A/C.

I actually haven't written on the blog in a while and just wanted to do a little catching up. I mentioned in my Monday gratitude post that I've been in a sort of "funk". I've just felt down about a lot of things and really felt like if it wasn't one thing that was weighing on my mind then it was something else. I've talked to Brendan about it and mentioned that it was also frustrating because I also feel like I'm closer to the Lord than I ever have been, so shouldn't I be able to shake out of these down times?! He reminded me that spiritual warfare is going to be stronger when I'm closer to the Lord and a greater threat to Satan....huh, thanks sweetie, for that reminder! That definitely helped me put things in perspective and, as the Lord always does, He is bringing peace, contentment, and joy to this time that we are in Spain. I still miss my family and friends and American culture, but I know our time here will not last forever and I don't want to miss out on what the Lord can use me to do while we're here.

On that note, Brendan and I are really excited to be leading/hosting a community group at our church, Oasis Madrid, starting in the fall. God used community groups in a big way in Raleigh to shape and grow our faith, and we love being able to serve others by opening our home and feeding and caring for people. A friend from our previous community group in Madrid who just moved back to the U.S. recently reminded me how awesome and special it is for us to open our home to others; to make it a place of sanctuary and rest for those who enter it - whether that is my family, friends, or strangers. That really started getting me excited about leading and hosting a community group again!

As I'm also now a stay-at-home mommy and homemaker, God has been teaching me a lot about what those roles mean for me. I always dreamed about this time of my life - kind of romantically, not thinking about the hard parts - and then when I found myself here I really didn't know what to do! I found this great blog post recently on Passionate Homemaking that has helped me begin to think through what the purpose of my home is. It's entitled, What is the purpose of the home?, and I would highly recommend reading it. The blog's author, Lindsay, sought scripture to define what God intends our homes to be. I intend to spend time meditating and praying on these purposes in the coming months and use this time in my life to create a vision for my role as a mother and caretaker of my home.

And I know you would all be disappointed if I did not include an update on Charlotte...or as Brendan and I like to call her,

"Little Explorer"

"Pebbles"

and "Sweet Pea"

"Little Explorer" best captures her current stage! She is into everything! Actually, not quite everything, and for that I'm thankful. :) She really just likes to explore "off-limits" areas of our apartment, which are of course interesting because we don't encourage her to play there. She's also pushing the limits of her physical abilities...you know, seeing if she can fly off the bed! Daddy grabs her ankle though, so she doesn't get far. She really has always been a child who likes to see what new thing her body can do...she quickly jumps from one development to another because she just NEVER settles for what she can currently do. I think there were only about 2 weeks between her sitting up completely on her own to then crawling...the girl just doesn't like to sit still!

So she is now pulling herself up to standing in all sorts of places...her crib, on Mommy or Daddy if we are on the floor with her, and objects that move and can't support her attempts to pull up on them! :0 She has thankfully avoided any big tumbles in the past few weeks. Her two bottom front teeth finally popped in a couple weeks ago, so she's not actually putting everything in her mouth like she used to.

Brendan and I are really just amazed at how fast she's grown, and continues to grow. We've been watching the World Cup this summer, which has been fun since we live in a European city and especially since Spain is in the Final! The World Cup is played every four years so the last one we (mainly Brendan) watched was right before our wedding in 2006. I commented to Brendan the other day that the next time we watch the World Cup we'll have a 4 year-old! Crazy!

Vamos Espana!!

One Thousand Gifts - Post #13

Oh my, I have not posted my thanks on Mondays for a couple of weeks now! I am going to simply say that I've been in a "funk" of sorts...not feeling like communicating and connecting with friends far away BUT craving and needing those relationships more than ever. I'll try to write more about that later this week because I think it will be good for me. So, today is just my list of thanks....

291. Charlotte laughing when I laugh
292. a thunderstorm
293. loud claps of thunder
294. dark storm clouds
295. memories of watching storms from my parent's front porch
296. having to remind myself that it is June because the weather is so cool!
297. watching my daughter crawl around the living room exploring the most unusual objects
298. watching Spain in a World Cup soccer match with people at Brendan's office
299. the opportunity to make a meal for friends
300. watching Charlotte fall asleep on Brendan's shoulder on our bus ride to El Escorial
301. laughing when we discovered that El Escorial was not open the day we visited
302. my husband hunting down my prescription
303. BBQ chicken pizza
304. parents who will pray for me
305. the shuffle-shuffle sound of Charlotte crawling around our apartment
306. Texas country music
307. so much wisdom & new perspective gained while living abroad
308. Charlotte exploring the simplest of items - shoes, washing machine, towels
309. finding a spot for Charlotte and I on a crowded bus
310. hearing a nation - a city - celebrate a soccer victory
311. the growth & strengthening of our marriage over the last 4 years
312. the growth of my faith through the months of grieving after my mom died
313. for healing my heart from the loss of my mommy
314. showing me your grace in new and deeper ways in the past 5 years
315. time healing wounds - deep ones like loss & shallower ones too
316. your Word always being true & being louder than Satan's lies!
317. an opportunity to experience yet another new culture this year :)
318. giving me peace that Charlotte's first year is going to be a little crazy & absolutely nothing like I had planned
319. celebrating July 4th with other Americans (and others) at Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid
320. Brendan staying home with Charlotte so that I could go out to dinner
321. a morning thunderstorm
322. helping me "get over" my lack of thankfulness in recent weeks
323. moments when you work in my husband's heart to understand me - and vice versa :)
324. my mother-in-law being safely back from Afghanistan
325. getting to talk to Momma K on Skype - yeah, again, for Skype keeping us connected!
326. time to spend in "quiet" with you - even if it was not the time I had planned