"One is none, but two is a ton"

"One is none, but two is a ton." Twice, someone shared that with me while we were expecting Will. One child seems like nothing once you have two. Wow, is that ever true! I'm currently wondering how parents manage more than two! (And really admire my mother-in-law who had 6 kids!)

Will turned 2 months old last week, and I am slowly but surely figuring out how to manage two kids at home everyday plus other household/life duties that need to be done (ie. take a shower). Actually, I take a shower at night once Brendan is home...that works for me. I also have to laugh at some of the things I thought were difficult when I was first home with Charlotte. Of course, those things really seemed difficult then - I was newly transitioning into being a full-time mommy - but now they kinda seem like a joke!

Obviously, with two children I can't devote all my time and attention to just one of them as I used to. So now I often find myself facing these sort of dilemmas:

• Continue nursing the infant OR change the toddler's dirty diaper?
• Console the crying infant OR stop to discipline the toddler?
• Nurse the infant OR kiss the toddler's boo-boo?

AND that's not even counting taking care of myself...like eating and such!

As I mentioned though, I am slowly getting the hang of taking care of two little ones, and I know they will not be this little and needy for long. My days are full and I truly enjoy it that way.

Will has started to smile and "coo" at us, which we love! Charlotte has already gotten down "Don't kick/hit me!", which normally happens when she invades his baby space (ie. play mat or bouncy chair) and Will touches her with his uncoordinated baby movements. :) Ah, I can only imagine what will happen when he really DOES know how to bother her! Charlotte is actually a wonderful big sister. She enjoys "helping" me change his diaper, burp him, and often runs to get her baby dolls to feed and put down for a nap whenever I'm feeding Will.

So, two is a ton, but totally worth it!

eat. sleep. play.

We're back after quite a long absence from this blog of ours. In our time away we managed to add another Kinne to our family - William Jack joined us on January 27th! (Pregnancy is my excuse for lack of writing.)

There has been subtle and not-so-subtle pressure applied to me (Anne) to post more frequently as a way to keep family and friends involved in our lives (especially since we live so far away from everyone). So, the other day, I looked at my two kids and said, "Wow, y'all have a great life! All you do is eat, sleep, and play." Then I thought, we'll rename our blog that - eat. sleep. play. - because that really is what our life is all about these days. Of course Brendan and I also have some adult responsibilities thrown in there, sometimes.

We hope you'll check back often to find out what the Hong Kong Kinnes are up to!

March {Month in Review}

Basketball

March in the Kinne household always means BASKETBALL!

From the time I was young, I can remember watching the NCAA college basketball tournament every March. I have wonderful family memories of those 3 special weekends, and am so glad that God provided me with a husband who shares in that excitement like I do!

Even though we have been away from the U.S. for March Madness last year and this year, we still find ways in stay in the action. I must confess that I almost didn't fill out my bracket this year (gasp!) but my husband gently guilted guided me into it. Oh yes, he's wonderful like that!

The great thing about our move to Hong Kong is that it actually offers us a much better time zone difference to communicate with family and friends in the U.S. - and to watch the NCAA tournament. So for the past 3 weekends, you could find us each morning eating breakfast while watching basketball games on our laptop. Charlotte really enjoys the commerials - especially the one with the baby driving his walker all over the country (I think it's a printer commercial) - she yells her favorite word, "Baby!"

And our brackets - well, those were busted pretty early on, even Brendan had no hope after the 2nd weekend of games. We really love watching good games and seeing underdogs be victorious, so it has been an awesome tournament to watch!

Charlotte & Brendan watching a game

Other Adventures

On the weekends, we started exploring some of the islands that surround Hong Kong. We only made it to one island - Lamma Island - but have many more on our list.

For our trip to Lamma, we packed up Charlotte's jogging stroller with snacks, drinks and layers of clothing and headed to Central Pier. Although the weather was overcast, it wasn't threatening rain and the temperature was great - a great chance to get outside in Hong Kong! On our way to the pier I remembered that there is a Subway there, so that was our lunch stop - exciting for us, maybe not so much for you who see Subway everyday. :)

Brendan on the beach in Lamma

The island itself is so different from Hong Kong...laid back, no skyscrapers, no cars! There are two small villages that begin and end an easy hiking trail, and a beach is located halfway through the trail. It was a really great day! We plan to spend much more time there while we are in Hong Kong - such a nice, quick escape from the crazy city.

During the week, Charlotte and I have been making friends at our new church, Island ECC, and with other moms and toddlers in our area of Hong Kong. I'm sure Charlotte doesn't appreciate these friendships nearly as much as I do, but over the next few months it will be great for her to have little friends as well.

Me & Charlotte at the playground with our local playgroup

Reading

In January, I posted my reading list for the year. It has helped me a lot to have a list to refer to when I finish one book and want to pick up another one. I didn't actually finish any reading in March. I continued - and am almost finished with - Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. This book is so full of weighty spiritual stuff, I just haven't wanted to race through it. I feel I've really needed to let certain chapters really soak in. (I've read from many others who have felt the same way.) I've just got one more chapter to go, so I should be wrapping it up in April.

Another book I started reading in March is The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. I really wish I would have known about this book and taken the time to read it last year when I first became a mother. God used other things last year to help me begin to form a biblical understanding of motherhood, and now this book is really helping me build on that. It is encouraging and challenging and also full of stuff that I don't want to read too quickly through. I'm hoping to finish it this month.

I hit a point in the middle of March when I really wanted to read some fiction. My mind just needed a break from all the challenging, weighty stuff! :) I didn't have anything around, but have since started re-reading Pride & Prejudice because it was a free download on my Nook app for iPad. Oh, how I have enjoyed reading this again! I'm now on a Jane Austen (and similar genre) reading kick. Up next, I think, is Mansfield Park.

Gratitude

I'll wrap up this review of March by sharing some of my gratitude journal with you...enjoy!

646. morning trips to the playground
647. surprise! running into new friends at the playground
649. daughter helping me unload groceries
656. taped-up board books are like brand-new books to little one
658. neon cross out our kitchen window
659. nursery rhymes
660. little daugher learning to feed herself oatmeal
661. Big Mama learning to let go as oatmeal only sometimes makes it to little one's mouth
663. figuring out what "o-mang-o-mang" means after months of Charlotte saying it ("no more monkeys"...jumping on the bed!)
667. long, strong hug from my husband
671. pictures - reminders - of a short-lived home in a foreign land
672. British voice telling us to "mind the gap" on the MTR (subway)
683. sweet emails from friends
694. talking to my grandparents on Skype
695. good news that Daddy Jack is feeling stronger
697. "Uh-Ba" = Uncle Boo
700. husband offering to do the dishes so he can listen to his 28 minutes of Bible reading (You've Got the Time)
703. watching a ship come into the harbour on a clear morning
705. relaxing bus ride with Charlotte in my lap
709. calm, peaceful mornings together as a family since Brendan doesn't need to leave early for work
711. Brendan working so diligently, using his gifts for God's glory
715. view of the island mountain out our kitchen window

Mommy Makes Toys {Dyed Pasta}

Things have been a little quiet around the blog this month. Sorry about that. I've had blog post ideas bouncing around in my head, but since I haven't organized the Blog Plans section of my Home Planning binder it's hard for me to be purposeful about getting those posts written. My desire is to have this little planning section in my binder so that I will be more consistent in my blog posting; however, we don't have a printer at home or a local FedEx Kinko's so I've got to send Brendan the files to print off at his office...and I'm just lazy and haven't gotten around to doing that.

Anyways...this post is not about my desire to plan blog posts better, but about a fun little activity Charlotte and I did together recently.

One of my goals for this year is to plan more purposeful learning activities for Charlotte since she is now at an age (currently 17 months) where she is much more engaged with the world around her. One blog I follow [Totally Tots] recently posted instructions for making dyed pasta. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would work great for us. I could easily find the needed supplies, and I knew Charlotte would enjoy playing with the little pasta shapes.

Dying the pasta was super easy! I was also pleasantly surprised with how quick the pasta dried even in our crazy humid climate. The finished pasta...




There are really LOTS of different things we could do with the pasta, which I'm really excited about. The first thing we did was to keep the different colors separated in small plastic containers. Then, I just set Charlotte up at the table and let her do whatever she wanted to do. :) Well of course the first thing she wanted to do was eat the pasta (I even did this right after a large snack to avoid that)! So, we established that this pasta was not to be eaten, and then she just had fun playing with it.







Charlotte played with the pasta for 30 minutes and would have kept playing longer if I hadn't decided to move on to something else. This really gave me a great confidence boost as I look to plan more activities for Charlotte in the future. Dyed pasta = Success!

[If you're at all interested in the instructions for dying pasta, here's the website.]

February {Month in Review}

I cannot believe that February is coming to a close, and yet, with it's 28 days, February always does seem to be a month that flies by.

As I've been making little (and big) changes to our blog recently, I've also been thinking about changes in what and how often I post. Since this blog is purely a personal blog about what God is doing in our little family, I know there will be dry times when I am not motivated to post or time is better spent on other things. Thankfully, there are also times when the opposite is true! I thought that a good way to balance that would be to do a {month in review} post just to highlight what has happened in the past month.

I've also decided not to post my gratitude journal weekly, but I wanted to find a way to include part of my gratitude list into my blog posts. So as I review a month in the life of our family, I think that's also the perfect time to share with you how God has been blessing me during that month.

So, February for the Kinne's looked something like this...

We experienced our first Chinese New Year. The "Year of the Rabbit" began at the beginning of February, and Brendan had a few days off work so we enjoyed some nice time together as a family. As the month progressed, we realized that Chinese New Year is actually celebrated for about 2 weeks. The decorations around Hong Kong were amazing. I was a little sad to see them taken down but it freed up LOTS of space...I couldn't believe the transformation in our local grocery store - I actually didn't feel claustrophobic while shopping in there!




During Chinese New Year, Charlotte received some lai see. These are red envelopes which are given to children, unmarried juniors, service people, and employees. We thought it was quite sweet when a lady on a bus gave a 'red packet' to Charlotte because Charlotte had been friendly to her. We equated the red packet tradition as similar to giving a generous tip at Christmas to your postman, newspaper carrier, hair stylist, etc.




During Chinese New Year the weather was great, but then we hit a spell of cold, wet weekends that didn't offer us much in the way of exploring Hong Kong. But last Saturday that changed and the weather was clear and warmer. We found ourselves hiking up the Peak with some friends. Yep, Brendan pushed Charlotte up the paved trail in her stroller! Too bad we weren't prepared with her jogging stroller. Instead she was in her lightweight umbrella stroller and it wasn't intended for use on a rugged, although paved, trail. Oh well! We were excited to get outside and see some new areas of Hong Kong, and now we're really motivated to set out exploring more outdoor areas around Hong Kong - hopefully we'll have that to share with you next month!

And what about our little family? How are we all growing together?

Charlotte is now 16 months old which means she is constantly testing us to see if we really are in charge or if we'll finally give in and let her run the house! :) As trying as this is, we know that if we stay the course of disciplining our child it will reap rewards for her and us later in life. Her language has finally taken off a little bit in the past week or so. So while "bow", "ball", "bowl", "box", and many other "B" words sound like the same word out of Charlotte's mouth, she is intentional about giving them a name rather than pointing and grunting (which was driving me crazy!). She also demands Brendan and I to sing nursery rhymes to her and her absolute favorite books right now are Mother Goose by Gyo Fujikawa (this book has the BEST illustrations!) and Dr. Suess' ABC's (which Charlotte will bring to us and say "A, B, D!").

"Not Getting What I Want" Face

God has also opened up a new level of communication between Brendan and I that has been very exciting for me! We often find ourselves discussing something we've been reading or listening to (Brendan has an hour or so everyday to listen to podcasts while he commutes to work) which in turn leads to us figuring out that it applies to our life today too. I have been reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and sharing with Brendan some of what sticks out to me. He was excited one day when one of the podcasts he listens to was interviewing the author of this biography about the book! Brendan is not a big reader, but to listen to some of what the book was about was a great way for him to then be able to discuss it with me.

The other book I have been reading this month is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Finding her blog a year ago is what lead me to begin my gratitude journal. I am only five chapters into the book but it is definitely helping me better understand my need for expressing gratitude to God and the role my gratitude journal plays in that. I highly recommend you pick this book up!

I hope you can rejoice in some of my gratitude over the past month:

624. an afternoon with new friends getting a foot massage
625. long holiday due to Chinese New Year
629. Pizza Express on the promenade at Stanley - yum!
630. blond-haired, blue-eyed girl in her red Chinese outfit
633. American friends coming over for lunch and games
634. online grocery shopping and delivery
635. routines developing
637. homemade cookies from friends - when you don't have an oven to make your own
642. making Valentine's Day cards with Charlotte
643. the Spirit giving me insight into my husband's heart/emotions/response

Blessings!

Christmastime in Hong Kong

At the beginning of December, our little family "enjoyed" a 15-hour plane ride from New York to Hong Kong as we made our official move here. When our belongings were packed up in Spain, we expected to have them shortly after we arrived here...however, instead of an air shipment, our belongings are on a "slow boat to China". Quite literally. :)

So we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our "stuff" (including a bag of Christmas decor which will not make it here before Christmas) and enjoying Christmastime in Hong Kong.

Before we left the States, I think numerous people asked us how Christmas would be celebrated in Hong Kong. We - naively - answered that we didn't expect there to be much Christmas celebration at all. Instead we were greeted by Christmas music and decorations at the airport and amazing Christmas lights on skyscrapers around the harbor.


Lights along Victoria Harbor

Hong Kong is really like one big shopping mall, and every shopping center here has their own Christmas display.

We hear Christmas music in EVERY building we are in. The songs are often more religious than we'd likely hear in the U.S., maybe because they don't understand the words? :)

There are even REAL American Christmas trees for sell at IKEA!! We decided we didn't need one this year, especially since Charlotte would probably destroy it, but next year we are SO getting one!


Outwardly, Christmas in Hong Kong is much like it is in the U.S...or any other "Christian" country. We think much of this tradition is a holdover from the days of British rule. Hong Kong does have a very unique mixed culture of British and Chinese influences.

And maybe inwardly it is also the same as the way many people in the U.S. celebrate Christmas...shallow, commercial, consumer-minded, and not really about celebrating Jesus' birth at all.

For many reasons, this Christmas will be a very memorable one for us...maybe even moreso because that bag of decorations is stuck on a boat somewhere. :) Christmas really is all in the heart and all about Emmanuel, God with us!

Merry Christmas from Hong Kong!

Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree

Just the way it should be

Our Thanksgiving celebration was just the way it should be...Brendan prepping the turkey for roasting, me up early (for me!) helping my mom with the meal preparations, Charlotte running around the house playing with cousins for the first time, a house filled with family, lots of love and thanks!

My grandparents - Mommie Mop & Daddy Jack

I've mentioned multiple times in recent posts that I LOVE Thanksgiving and this is why. We were just one big family cooking and eating a big meal together. Watching and playing football together. Taking naps and watching my cousins chase my daughter around the house. It was perfect!

Cousins playing together

Charlotte & her cousin, Noah - aren't they adorable?!

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. We have another big celebration today - Charlotte's 1st Birthday party! Can't wait to celebrate our big girl!

Here she is just being a turkey! :)

Celebration of God's Grace

Happy Thanksgiving to you! We hope you have an amazing time this Thanksgiving with family and friends, and we also hope you take a break from the eating, football watching, eating, and more eating to thank God for what He has done in your life this past year...because the food and football are great but gratitude is really what Thanksgiving is all about.

Here on our blog this Thanksgiving we're having a Celebration of God's Grace!

We invite you to read through our family's blessings from the past year, and then add a comment sharing how God has blessed your family. We can't think of a better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than by rejoicing over God's everyday grace in our lives!

Kinne Family Blessings 2010

• First and foremost, we are thankful that we have a relationship with the God of the universe! We have seen the Lord working in new places and new ways this year. What a mighty God we serve!
• Good health for all of us, but we are especially thankful for incredibly good health for Charlotte while living in Spain without much knowledge of medical terms in the Spanish language.
• We always have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs - our needs are always met!
• Safety and adaptability while flying overseas multiple times with an infant.
• Provision of Christian community, especially in a foreign country where few people profess Christ.
• Safety for our family in the military who have served in the Middle East this past year AND extreme gratitude for their sacrifice to serve our country.
• Learning how to do without many of our comforts and conveniences in the United States.
• Friends in many countries who have helped us in our strange transient life this year - living in and taking care of our U.S. home, helping us with language and cultural barriers associated with finding housing, and many other small ways people have blessed us as we've been foreigners far away from home.
• We aren't who we were a year ago - our faith in God has grown through many changes in our life (moving overseas, having a new baby at home, Anne becoming a stay-at-home mom, and Brendan no longer working from home).
• God has given us a unique opportunity to see and learn more about the world He created.
• Charlotte Grace - our beautiful, sweet, happy 1 year-old daughter!
• Each other - our marriage is not perfect - far from it - but because of our relationship with Jesus, we turn to Him to lead us through the tough days (and weeks and months!)
• Each of you - we're grateful for the love each of you give us; you encourage and push us in our faith; our lives would not be same without you!
• Time to spend with our family, especially in the midst of a busy year. {Below are some pictures taken earlier this week with Anne's family in Texas.}

We would love to hear how God has been blessing you this year! At the bottom of this post you can leave a comment, or, if you like, you can leave the link to your own Thanksgiving celebration blog post. We hope you'll also read through comments left by others and rejoice together over what God is doing in our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kinne's!

*Family photos by Sinklier Studios in Abernathy, Texas.

Cupcake Demolition

Since I've been MIA from the blog while staying in Texas, I haven't posted much about goings-on here. :) I was filtering through the pictures my mom has been taking - of Charlotte - while we've been here and thought of something REALLY cute to share with you.

Enjoy Charlotte's step-by-step cupcake demolition from her 1st birthday.....


Step 1:  Check out the goodies

 

Step 2:  Wait to see if you hear "No, No"

Step 3:  Stick one finger on the cupcake

Step 4:  Stick multiple fingers on the cupcake
and begin taste-testing

Step 5:  Pick up the cupcake with both hands
and begin smearing the icing over your high chair

Step 6:  Get a big chunk of cupcake to put in your mouth

Step 7:  Remember to give BIG smiles to all your family

Step 8:  Add some icing to your face and hair

Step 9:  Eat the cupcake!!

Step 10: Cupcake Demolition Complete

Madrid to Hong Kong...via Texas

I know...it's been TOO long since I've posted here. And so much has been happening in our lives!

Our biggest news...we're moving AGAIN! :) (That's actually a forced smiley face for me)

Our short, 6 week assignment in Hong Kong has turned into a one to two year assignment there for Brendan. We are excited about the possibilies for us. While we were there earlier this year, we had a chance to connect to a church - Island ECC - and are really excited about making it our church home while we live in Hong Kong!

There are many things we will miss about Spain...but of course there are things that we are happy to leave behind. :) What I'm most excited about in our move to Hong Kong - that will be different from Madrid - is the much larger English-speaking, expat community there. While the Asian culture isn't as interesting to me as European culture is, I'm really excited about forming relationships. Brendan and I both know that it will still take much intentionality on our part to surround ourselves with Christian community...but having so many more people that speak the same language we do will help! :)

Almost two weeks ago, Charlotte and I left Madrid and spent 2 days (and 4 flights) traveling to Texas to spend time with family. Brendan has to be in Hong Kong right now but still needs to travel back to Spain in November to close out our personal stuff there, then he'll join us here in Texas for Thanksgiving. We didn't want to subject Charlotte to all that back and forth flying so we just headed straight to the U.S! And we've been enjoying our time with my parents.

Charlotte & I on our flight from Madrid to New York
(notice the empty seat next to us...AWESOME!)

Brendan is definitely missing his baby girl...and probably me too. :) We talk to him on Skype as often as we can. Charlotte really recognizes his voice and face when he gets on the computer. It's too cute! She's even attempted blowing him kisses a few times. And, of course, her favorite thing is to wave "Hello" and "Good-bye".

Charlotte "drinking" a coke



Playing with potatoes

 Charlotte spent the first few days here running to me for everything. It took her a little time to warm up to her family who she hadn't seen in a while. In a way it was sweet that she would want her mommy, but I'm glad she's grown close to her Papa, Popo, Uncle Boo, Mommie Mop, & Daddy Jack.

Me & Charlotte and Maranda & Grant

Charlotte and I got to have a fun playdate with my friend, Maranda, and her son, Grant, who is about 3 weeks older than Charlotte. Maranda and I grew up together and our moms were close friends so it was fun to catch up with her and let our two little ones play "together".

I'm missing Brendan a lot, but am grateful that I am getting to spend time with my family before we move overseas - again. :)

Happy First Father's Day, Brendan!

{Brendan with Charlotte soon after she was born}

Eight months ago my incredible husband, Brendan, became a daddy when our daughter, Charlotte Grace, was born. In typical Brendan fashion, he was not a bit worried about becoming a parent whereas I was full of questions and "what ifs". During my pregnancy his calm kept me stable. I was reminded then that God provided me with a wonderful complement to myself.

 

In the first days after Charlotte was born when I felt like I was grasping at straws to remain sane amidst the exhaustion and uncertainity of caring for my first child, Brendan jumped in to do new father things like he had been created for it his whole like - and I absolutely believe that he was! In those days, I saw that God had given Brendan natural instinct and ability to be a father.

My unselfish husband changed diapers (even those first poopy ones!), brought Charlotte to me to nurse (I had a C-section and it was a hard recovery), prayed and encouraged me while I learned how to nurse Charlotte and figure out her new little cries, posted wonderful accounts on our blog about Charlotte's first days, and just showed me how much his heart belonged to the Lord.

I don't think that I could thank God enough for grabbing ahold of my husband's heart and changing his life. Brendan's desire to be a godly father and husband is evident in everything he does. He provides love for us through the time we spend together as a family. He joyfully goes about the work God has given him to provide financially for our family - to put a roof over our heads, food on the table, and far, far more. He challenges me to not let our faith in Christ stay within the walls of our home but to extend to others.

Oh, and how I look forward to the adorable, can't-say-no father he is going to be to our little girl! How I look forward to seeing him develop love and discipline and so many other new attributes as our girl (and family) grows!

Wouldn't you do anything for a girl who falls asleep in your arms like this?!

I'm so excited to be sharing this life with him, sharing in the joys and struggles of raising our daughter, each having our own relationship with Jesus but also having one relationship together as husband and wife. God has richly blessed me and Charlotte!

Happy First Father's Day, Brendan!!

We love you!