too long ago

These were the first pictures I took with my new camera! I was very excited to get it and am still learning how to use it.




In this picture I was 25 weeks.


I am sorry that it has been a long time since I have put anything on here. It seems that everyday I want to, but just don't sit down and do it. The new year is in full swing now and it is hard to believe we are 2010. We are eager to see what God has in store for us this year. After 4 moves in the last three years and one more possibly to come this summer we are ready to settle some roots again.
Since I did not get out a Christmas card this year (I am waiting until baby #2 comes along and send an update then). I was inspired by my friend, Natalie, to put an update on each family member and then what some of our hopes are for the year.
Here it goes:

Matt:
He has only 5 1/2 months left of sports medicine fellowship. He is loving the program and learning a lot. He just finished writing a journal article on hockey injuries that will be published in a sports medicine journal. He is very excited that it is done and that it will get published. I am very proud of him!
He(we) went on two interviews before Christmas in South Carolina for a "real" job. We were not as excited about one of the towns even though the people were great..it just was not the right fit for us. The second town we went to was Florence and we really enjoyed ourselves there. It would be an amazing job for Matt and he is very excited about this option. We are now waiting to hear from them if we got the job or not....I will keep you posted.

Katie:
I am doing well. I am 28 weeks and feeling good. I can't believe we are going to have another person around here soon. I am anxious about how Isabella will adjust, but I am sure she will be fine once she gets used to not being the only child. I am also about to begin the potty training....again. I tried 2 weeks ago and was not mentally prepared for the task. I am really enjoying St.Louis and what the city has to offer. I am loving my MOPS group and am excited that our Bible study will be starting back up in a few weeks. It has been really cold here and I am learned that after three years in TX I am no longer interested in living in the north. .I am eager to find out if we got this job in Florence or not. It would just be nice to know soon so that we can start to make other plans if Florence does not work out

Isabella:
She is so much fun and we are enjoying her everyday! She loves people and playing with other children. I am hoping to get her into a Mother's day out program next month so that she can have more interaction with other kids. She is talking so much now and saying so many new words everyday. It is so fun watching her grow and learn. She is a very active little girl who loves to run circles around our house. She also got to experience her first snow earlier this month (pictures to follow). She had a great time and enjoying throwing the snow.

A few of our 2010 hopes:

~We are praying to have a job in place before Matt is done with fellowship at the end of June.
~For the safe delivery of our son in April.
~For a easy move experience and possible adjustment to a new home.
~Most of all that we are able to raise our children to have a person relationship with him.

21 weeks!

We are halfway there now to having our son home with us. It still seem forever away and I am sure it will feel that way until I only have one or two months to go. I am finally starting to really show (I am sorry I can not post any pictures yet b/c I have not found my camera battery...hopefully soon). We are starting to sort through some names and it seem yet again that Matt is very picky. With Isabella it seemed like I was pulling teeth for him to agree on a name. I think I was hoping since this time it is a boy it would be a little easier..that does not seem to be the case. We did decide however to keep the name a secret until he is born...there has to be some sort of surprise. I am feeling pretty good and hope that continues until the end.

A "little" Frustrated

Well, we are doing pretty well. I seem to be getting frustrated lately. One reason is because I can not find my camera battery charger with extra battery...so, I can not take pictures. Maybe this is an excuse that I can get my Christmas present early. I have been saving for a Digital SLR for months now and hopefully will get the last remaining dollars needed for my Christmas presents. But since I currently have no other way of getting pictures then maybe I should just get it a little before Christmas. I don't think Matt will go for that reasoning.

The other reasons for my frustration has mainly come from our little bundle of joy..which she is, but as of late she has become quite difficult. She is still on a food strike..this has been going on for about 8 months now. Then there is the bedtime issue; she is not going to sleep well. Last night for instance she did not fall asleep until almost 10pm!!

This parenting thing can be difficult and draining. I have a feeling we are going to have a couple of very hard weeks ahead with trying to stick to our guns and discipline. If anyone has any advice for us it would be welcome at this point. We really want to do this is a Godly way and try to figure out what is going on behind the behavior, but that seams difficult with a two year old.

Lord, give me grace and strength for what is to come.

Flight Show (from a while ago)

The pic above is just of Izzy playing outside...she loves being outside.

I think I mentioned a while back that we were able to go to a flight show at the Air Force base here in September. It was a lot of fun for all of us. The planes were very loud and Izzy didn't seem to like that as much...she would not keep her earplugs in her ears. Matt and I really enjoyed seeing all of the planes on the ground and then in the air. They are pretty amazing!!

It was neat to imagine my friend, Ian, flying one of them and what he could do. I still can't really imagine what it feels like to be up there going at the speed that they are. Here are some pics that I got with my 35 mm SLR...I just got the pics today.

Family Separated

Well, we are a separated family this weekend. I left with Isabella on Thursday for a six hour car ride to Tulsa, OK to visit our dear friends, the Lees. Matt left to go back to Harlingen for a mans weekend with the husband of the friend I am with this weekend and three other men from our old church. They are all having a great time together on the beach and enjoying talking and relaxing. Us girls are having a great time with the kids. It is just so nice for me to be with someone that I feel comfortable with. Sarah (my friend) is someone I can bring anything up with and it is just refreshing since I have not had that kind of relationship with any of the woman in St. Louis. It is difficult only being in a place for a year because it takes time to get to know people.

We have been talking a lot about community lately and what that means. It is very hard to define in a few words. But if you are not purposeful about it... it is not going to happen. I am kind of rambling. I guess I am saying all of this because we have had some great community in our years of marriage together--in Philadelphia (we had an incredible community there) and it was wonderful in Harlingen. We are finding great community in St. Louis too, but it is just different because I don't think people are wanting to put time into forming relationships with us when we are leaving in 7 months. This is hard for us because we thrive on community with other believers.

All of this to say.. I am really enjoying my time here in Tulsa and am finding myself not wanting to leave. Izzy and I will be driving back on Monday and I will post some pics when we return.

Fall fun!

We had forgotten for a little while what fall was really like. We loved the leaves changing on the trees around us, but we forgot that those leaves most come down. Our backyard is FULL of leaves! Matt started yesterday to get them up and Isabella seemed to enjoy "helping" him.









She was pretty tired because she didnt' take a nap that day. She knew she
was looking pretty cute.

Happy Halloween!

This was from Sat. night..Isabella's first trick-or-treating experience. She really loved going up to all of the houses and saying those three magic words. Her little bird friend is Caleb who is her new best friend. They had a fun night together. Sorry in warning these pictures are a bit out of order.
This was my favorite picture of the evening! She was so excited!




This picture was taken on Sunday morning.. she wanted to put her
pumpkin back on.

This picture was from a couple of weekends ago when Matt's uncle turned 60. It had been over 6 years (our wedding day) since we had seen a lot of the family that was here. Isabella had a great time playing with the girls and all of the different toys they had--she did not stop for 4 1/2 hours!

This was the start of the evening when we were starting to hand out candy. She kept on asking if she could have some...she already has a sweet tooth--it is in her blood though so I can't hold it against her.