Up, up, and away...

Twenty minutes flat.

That's how long it took tonight for Little Miss K to figure out how to climb stairs. Thank goodness I had an extra baby gate stashed away for just this special occasion. We'll work on practicing climbing the first couple of stairs together, when I can watch her--since going up is so much easier than coming down--and the rest of the time the baby gate will be set up at the very bottom of the staircase. I'm glad our staircase is carpeted, but so not glad that most of the staircase is "open", with a big ol' vertical gap between each step. Hopefully that punkin head can't fit through the gap. We'll soon find out, I guess.

The crazy thing is, she's only been crawling for the past three weeks or so. Yes, she's nearly fourteen months old. Before, she had no use for crawling since she scooted everywhere on her butt...so much more efficient when you can scoot carrying a toy in each hand. And I'll tell you, that girl scooted fast. Especially on linoleum. SO much fun to watch! I'm glad I took some video of it while I could. Now she crawls--fast--everywhere. Her pediatrician wasn't concerned as long as she was "moving with purpose", and boy, was she. I was so relieved once she started crawling because I really just wanted to see her crawl! I was so sure she was just going to skip that step and go right to walking. As it is, she loves to walk around holding onto the handle of her push toy, and she really moves! She cruises like crazy and has started standing for a few seconds here and there without holding on. But so far, as far as I know, she hasn't taken those first unassisted steps. It won't be long now, I'm sure. Maybe just a matter of taking a "leap" of faith, a matter of confidence. I'll be so excited to witness that! I'm sure it's just around the corner...

But first, the scooting:

Yikes.

Splintered.

My family has splintered.

That's the phrase that keeps running through my head. For the past almost-thirteen years, my extended family and I have worshipped at the same church: my aunt, my uncle, my grandmother, and me (and now little K too). K was baptized there last April third, the night before Easter, so yesterday was her baptismal birthday, so to speak. And my aunt and uncle are her godparents. Over the past year or so, there has been a lot of strife in our congregation because so many people, my uncle included, aren't happy with the way the pastor has (well, hasn't) been doing his job. A few weeks ago my uncle decided not to attend our church anymore, and has instead been investigating other churches to find a new church "home". I know full well it isn't about me whatsoever, but neither he nor my aunt bothered to let me know, and instead I found out from my grandmother that most likely I won't ever see him at our church again. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My aunt chose to stay...she is the church council president, a lot of people are depending on her, she has lots of good friends at the church, and she really cares about the well-being of the church and its congregation. A lot of the time, though, she's so busy doing church council things, singing in the choir, and deaconing, that she doesn't even sit with us during the services anymore. My grandmother's advancing age prevents her from attending every Sunday, though she goes whenever she feels up to it. So whereas before we used to all sit together and I could pretty much count on seeing everyone there every Sunday, now we're missing one family member for sure, and often we don't get to see the others, either.

It makes me incredibly sad. Sad, and angry/hurt that neither my aunt nor my uncle seem to care enough about K or me to even fill us in, as though my uncle doesn't think that his absence even makes an impact on us. Almost thirteen years, and now everything's changed. Not to mention that my aunt and uncle are K's godparents...I don't even know what to make of that. Hopefully time will help to ease how sad I feel about all this.

Thank you, I needed that!

Huge thanks to LoveYouAlready for turning me onto Kelle Hampton's amazing blog, Enjoying the Small Things. I truly feel like someone just opened a window and let in a fresh spring breeze, which I totally needed. Kelle is an incredible writer and an even more amazing photographer, and I'm finding that I totally lose myself in her words and pictures. Even just thinking about her blog makes me a bit emotional, because hers is a truly incredible story. If you haven't been over there to "meet" Kelle, Lainey, and Brett (as well as Austyn and Brandyn, her stepsons) and read Nella's birth story, run, don't walk, as soon as you can. You won't regret it, and her blog may just change your complete outlook, which it seems to have done for mine.

At this very moment, though, it's her music that's lifted my spirits. I was so in need of getting to know some new artists and songs, and I need to credit Kelle for my new-and-improved music player. The best part? I frequently pull up my blog at work just to listen to the music, and now I can bring Kelle's music to work with me, too! That completely makes me smile. (Because I so don't enjoy my job right now. But that's another post altogether.)

Her latest post, Over Easy, makes me absolutely want to run out and buy a brand-new 96-color box of Crayolas and a few coloring books. I might just do that. Right after I listen to a few more new songs, and smile.

Glasses!

These three pics, plus my header, are my favorites so far. They were all taken on her thirteen-month birthday on April 2nd. What a character!