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!