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.

1st Visit to the Arch

We had a beautiful day here yesterday and we were out all day..it was great being outside and enjoying St. Louis. We went to Grant's Farm again...it is a great place to go for no money. We have learned that you can park off site and walk about 5 minutes to get in for free! We love that even more.
We then went to the famous Soulard Farmers Market. There is a lot of food there! Then we decided to head downtown and walk around. We decided to go to the Arch and got a metered spot that had 50 minutes left!! This was turning into a very cheap day out in St. Louis. Here are some pics from the Arch:


Isabella was not wanting to sit and take a picture with me.
But it had the potential to be a very cute picture.
She thought she could climb the tree like Winnie the Pooh.. it was pretty funny.
I was feeling artistic.. I don't know if it is or not, but I think it looks pretty with the color of the leaves.
The Arch is really pretty and huge. I like these pictures because the sky is so blue.