Oh Me. Oh My.

I have not blogged in ages. This seems to always be the start of blogs though. I can't catch you up so lets move forward and go see my sweet Emma. She's a keeper.

Winter is here. There was a week or two where it felt like the sun would never return! Thankfully it did this week. My spirit seems to be influenced by the weather.

I'm not in the typing mood so I'll end here, but wanted to share photos with you. I'll return soon. Surely we can have a conversation on here.

Monday-Saturday's I am up until midnight listening to IHOP . (International House of Prayer) IHOP is located in Kansas City. Right now revival is going on there. Healings that are pretty amazing. If you click on that link, click play in the large black square. I pray your heart is encouraged and challenged as mine has been. It's from 6 PM - 12 AM.

Blessings to you and yours.

Fotos.

I posted some pics of Anna on my photo blog. Go LOOK!

November 2nd?!?

Goodness gracious, where do the days go?! Where has the year gone? Pretty soon, if not already, we will be listening to the annoying Christmas songs over and over again in retail stores. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music - I am known for singing jingle bells year round amongst others - but come December I am sick of it all. Then I withdraw from singing for a month or so and pick up jingle bells again.

I wish I could tell you fascinating stories, but all I have is dirty diaper stories. Perhaps other things will come to mind.

Bananas change everything!!! Nathan is now 4 months and has started eating some solids. He wasn't having this whole rice cereal business, so one night for some excitement sake, we tested out bananas. The faces he made were pretty funny. It was like he was eating sour patch kids. So diapers. Since he's been eating bananas and sweet potatoes, I have been majorly pooped on and have had 3 other close calls!! Solids change everything; my clothes included.

Last week I took evening duty with both kiddos while Deb went to a work dinner. My predictions on how the night would go were completely altered as predicted. (ha) Anna did so well. She tried to test me on boundaries, but I was prepared and she was impressed. So while Nathan slept, we ate and then had a dance party. It's funny because when it's just me and Anna, I can totally get my groove on (jumping really), but if others are around, my legs go white. ha! Dance parties are pretty fun. I learn new dance moves from Anna and Deb all the time. The rest of the night went well with bath, books, rocking, praying and bed. Anna really is a joy to be around. Somewhere in between our routine Nathan demanded attention. Glad we all survived and everyone was fed, clean, clothed and sleeping when mommy got home.

This past weekend I got a little sick. No, it's not the pig, bird, donkey or whatever. I had been feeling yucky off and on later in the week, but a lot of it had to do with allergies. Saturday night though I had chills which equaled a fever of 100.5. Thankfully Sunday morning the fever was gone. I'm still snotty, but getting better.

I'm not sure how much the news has covered this story outside of Corpus Christi area, but last Wednesday 2 Lt. Navy Pilots went missing from my brother in laws squadron. These men were on a routine training flight not far from base when they lost communication. As of Friday, one body was found. Please pray for these 2 families. You can read some of the story here. Also, with this tragic news being close to home, it has heightened worries for our own family. Chris, my brother in law is a Lt. Navy Pilot like these men were. Chris and Shannon (my sister) just had their baby, Emma Grace, 2 weeks ago. Please pray for them as these last 2 weeks have been joy with Emma's arrival, but also tears from Chris' grandma passing away and loosing fellow pilots.

Wednesday I am taking Miss Anna out to do a photo shoot downtown. Should be loads of fun. I'm sure I will post pictures.

Well, looks like there was more to talk about than dirty diapers.
All is well. I am thankful for grace, patients, and communication.

Always growing.

All for now.

blessings.

PS: I'm watching a lady bug walk across my ceiling. I wonder where it's going. hmm ... You know there is a statistic that we eat a certain amount of bugs in our lifetime while sleeping. Hope I'm not eating lady bugs tonight.

PSS: Did you know that lady bugs smell when you kill them? It's not a lasting smell, but still a strange scent. Okay, sorry bug lovers, but I grossed myself out at the thought of eating a lady bug so I had to kill it. I'm sure something more dangerous will fly into my mouth now tonight.

Emma Grace.

Born October 16, 2009. 6 pounds. 19 inches.

I can't wait to hold her.

So happy for Chris and Shannon. And so thankful for skype. : )

great outdoors.

i went out on a hike this weekend. i'm hardcore; i hiked with toms shoes. my poor feet.

it was good alone time with my canon 40d and ipod. equally needed in my life.

i don't do this often, but here's a photo i will let you steal. it's full pixels. perhaps your fall background? enjoy.

In other news, my niece, Emma Grace, will grace us with her presence this Friday! So looking forward to meeting her and watching her grow.

Fall back because ...

I finally posted some photos of Nathan on my foto blog. Have a look!! He's a handsome boy.

Today I am wearing a fleece and scarf. I am pretty much set for winter except I really need to find a pair of shoes. I'm not excited about this, but my toes have convinced me it is time to search for the perfect pair and start wearing socks. Those who know me well, know that I don't mix well with socks. I am all about TOMS shoes, chacos, and keens. All a girl needs really .... But (sigh) I will protect my toes as I did living in New York. (wow a whole paragraph about my toes).
I am OH SO EXCITED about this coming weekend. Ask me why, ask me why!!!! Okay ... I'm going to assume you asked. I am OH SO EXCITED about this weekend because my friend KELLI PAIGE ROARK is coming to see ME. Yup, VISIT ME!!!!!!!!!!! And I have her AAALLLLL to MYSELF!! Friends, this means some of my favorite things will happen this weekend!! Here are a few of my favorite things .....

1) HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kelli knows that if at any point I open my arms, this means come to me!! And I get a HUG!!!!!!!!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE HUGS!!!!! And they're not the awkward side hugs like from Ashley. (hahaha, just wanted to mention you friend). Ah, I could stop right there. But no no ... there's more!!!

2) FRITO PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When we lived in Belton, Kelli was my frito pie buddy. She moved away before I did to live in Scotland for a season. I promised I would not eat frito pie until we could again. Though I have seen her since she's returned, frito pie was never an option for our quick visits soooooooooooooo it's been a little over a YEAR!!!!!!!!!!! Oh the excitement!!Wait! There's more!!!

3) GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love love love listening to Kelli sing and play guitar! We play together as well, but usually I stop during the song just to enjoy her. This reminds me, I need new strings!

Besides those 3 things, I am just so looking forward to being with someone who knows my messy heart and loves me still. I have a feeling this weekend will be full of joy. This weekend would be even MORE perfect if my other half, Jess, could be here. (sigh) We will track you down Jess!!! Maybe we can transport you over here! ;)

roooooooad trip!

i've been going back and forth with this blog thinking ... "oooh i should talk about this." "no, no, i should talk about this." "hmmmm, what do i talk about?"
we could go serious or fun here ... i think i vote for fun today.

this past weekend we ventured out to chattanooga with a 2 year old and a 3 month old. oh the planning!!! you wouldn't guess we would only be around for the weekend with our luggage. we were prepared for anything and everything. :)

the trip went really well. anna loved hiking and well nathan is cool with anything. we visited ruby falls, rock city, and the aquarium. all very close to our hotel. i also hung out at a blue grass/folk festival going on one night a block from our hotel. fun atmosphere. i was so amazed by all the views. i hadn't seen mountains in so long. it's a little different trying to enjoy the view with kids, but my eyes soaked in as much as it could! and really anna and nathan did very well. i could go on and on about the trip but the most notable part is probably what happened on our rock city hike.

we had a couple behind us for most of the way. sometimes they were ahead, but usually we caught up because of picture taking. we switched off a lot taking each others pics which was helpful. we got to one part and i figured they probably wanted a photo because i know i did with the background view! any who ... i walked towards them and the guy handed me his camera. didn't really think much of course. it's just a picture. i can handle the camera. ha!

welllllll, here's the kicker .... they're smiling at me, i'm waiting for the delay flash (very annoying), and with her still looking at me - HE GETS ON HIS KNEE!!!!! i could feel my face turning bright red!!! she was so shocked. I WAS SO SHOCKED!!!! i couldn't stop thinking "oh my gosh kristine! get a good photo!!!!!" (ha) so yeah ... he proposed. and she said YES! :) wild huh? i wish i would have taken a picture with my camera. oh well ... crazy to be a part of that.

here are a couple of photos.

in ruby falls cave. 27 stories down.

nathan finally escaped the ergo.

me and nathan on suspended bridge. it's safe, right?

anna bored with me. =(