Some pics from our day

This morning we went to visit JB's grandfather and grandmother in Miami. This is his Dad's parents. His father has been very ill, and we hadn't seen them in well over a year so it was important we got down there. There is now a full-time nurse at the house who was very quick to help with everything including Isaac when I changed his diaper and when he was burping up. "Is he choking?!"

Four generations of Kits

JB's Dad and Grama with Isaac

Later in the evening, a bunch of the Kits got together for dinner and to celebrate Matt's birthday. Here are some photos from the day.

Chillin' with his favorite Auntie Gabbi

Nate is obsessed with Isaac -- what a good big cousin

The entire gang for dinnner. From left: Matt and wife Danielle, Mom and Dad, Elizabeth, Gabbi, Ray, Nate, Grant (Liz's husband) and JB. Missing are Rob and Katie and husband Eddie. We miss you guys!

Isaac finally talks his Aunt Danielle (Matt's wife) into holding him. Danielle doesn't like to hold the wee-babies, but decided that Isaac is no longer fragile!

"Mommy who is this crazy Army guy?"

Finally getting to meet his Uncle Matt! Uncle Matt was deployed when Isaac was born.

We are having a great time visiting family. I am having some pretty intense upset stomach issues and hearburn that has put a damper on my evenings, but there are plenty of people here to help out with Isaac and Scrubs. My parents spent the entire day with Scrubs, and they agree that he is a much grown up dog! Good job Scrubby! What a relief to not have a dog that needs constant supervsion! Makes me feel a lot better about leaving him with my parents.

On the schedule for tomorrow: a cookout at my parents with the Kits! Pics will follow I'm sure.

Can you say surrounded?

I stole this picture from my friend Kendra's blog, indicating why things in this part of the country are currently a bit tense. I added the star to indicate where we live on Eglin AFB. The smiley face is where we are currently visiting our families. The Weather Channel is our favorite thing to watch right now to say the least. That's Gustav on the left of us and Hannah on the right.

Only in south Florida . . .

do you see someone at Publix in the suburbs wearing a bathing suit bottom, sheer sorong, and Ugg boots. I kid you not. I seriously started laughing to myself from inside my car. At this point you realize how different northern Florida is from South Florida!

Settling in

Well I don't want to leave anyone hanging, so even though this will be a short and fairly boring post, I'll post it anyway.

Today was a nice, low-key day in the southern part of the Sunshine State. Despite a new room and bed and a bit of his first head cold, Isaac slept through the night, which was a blessing. Mom and I decided to take Scrubs to the dog park first thing in the morning which left him thoroughly tired throughout the day. We have set up Scrubs' new kennel and have included his couch cushions from our house for a "bit of home". Scrubs has surprised us by choosing to go into his kennel throughout the day just to take naps, something he never does back at home. It's pretty cute. We also took both Scrubs and Isaac on a late afternoon walk since the rain here has cooled it off considerably.

This evening, we have hung out with the Kits. at their house. We ordered some Chinese and some pizza (no consensus agreement could be made so we decided to order both). Mom, Dad, Ray, Gabbi, and the kids are here with us. We'll see the rest of the family tomorrow when we get together for Matt's birthday.

We have also continued to watch both storms very closely. It looks like Gustav will swing way west of the base. Please be praying for the path of that storm. It is looking like it will be a 5 which could be quite devastating for wherever it hits. Hannah, on the other hand, is looking like it might head toward us here in south Florida, but it is still a tropical storm. We keep watching closely.

I'll try to take some photos to post tomorrow so my posts don't stay so boring. I won't make any promises, but I'll try!

We have arrived!

As of about 6:30pm EST, we are officially Ft. Lauderdale residents! The drive itself was fairly uneventful. Scrubs cried a lot and Isaac slept a lot and we made a lot of stops but still made very good time. Believe it or not, two of the stops including running into Philip and Joia heading to see there family down south! What are the chances on a busy road trip of running into great friends two different times?! Not sure, but we did it, and Joia took a picture as proof. We ended up driving with them behind us for two hours. It was nice to have some company.

We are settling into life at my parents' house. My Dad and Mom are so wonderful to let us just bring all our stuff for baby and dog in and make ourselves at home. My Mom had dinner ready, and while JB unpacked the van, my Mom and I took Scrubs to a dogpark a few miles from the house.

We continue to watch both of the storms carefully -- both Gustav which is headed toward the Gulf Coast, and Hannah which is headed this way but still a few days out. We've discussed the possibility of JB returning to base if the storm looks like it may make a direct hit from where we live. We'll continue to see how things are going and of course keep you all posted.

Oh, and it is hot here -- MUCH hotter than life in northern Florida. Geeesh -- is the Polar North stuck in my blood?!

No, the girly background doesn't mean . . .

we are having a girl. To all of you commenters that guessed it meant girl, it could, but it also could not. We still don't have a clue what the sex is. We were hoping to go up to the hospital tonight to do an ultrasound but there was just too much to do. So it'll have to wait until my next appointment in mid-September or my formal ultrasound on September 30th.

Speaking of that, if you haven't made a guess on our game, you better hurry. Once we announce the sex, the game is closed! C'mon, give my sister-in-law AD a run for her money.

Oh well

Well today was a very hectic day. Between trying to get everything ready for our trip, preparing our stuff in case of a storm/s (yes there are now two of them out there -- Hannah is alive and kicking in the Atlantic), taking care of Isaac, Scrubs, and running some last minute errands, and of course doing my job for RLS, I have barely had a free minute.

Add to that the fact that we got some bad news from our attorney today. The judge didn't seem to care that we had planned all along to make a trip to Ft. Lauderdale in September. He didn't seem to care that things would have been on time had the last storm warning not cancelled court. He didn't seem to care that JB was in the military or that we had to drive ten hours for this hearing. He is setting the hearing for October. So, we'll have to make another trip to Ft. Lauderdale in October. Oh well. You can't try to change something that can't be changed. So we'll just make the best of things that we can. I'm sure our families will be happy to see us again, but figuring out the logistics of another trip will be quite an adventure.

We thought about cancelling this trip, but JB had already been given time off, and we wanted to get me down there for his two weeks of nights. So we'll continue as planned. Our plans include leaving as early as we can tomorrow morning and making the ten hour trip with dog and baby along for the ride. Should be a fun day -- made more fun when we actually arrive! I'll make sure to post a bunch while we are gone! See you when we get there!

Wifia Wednesday

I hosted the wifia lunch yesterday and finally took some pictures. I am getting really into this new camera of JB's which means I am not afraid to use it and am taking more photos. So, here they are:

Here is Isaac, resting up in preparation for the lunch. He actually slept, holding onto this toy, for nearly two hours!

Joia and Keenan, who returned later in the day for me to watch him while Mom went to exercise class.

Jonathon getting practice being a big brother. His little sister is due in December. This picture also shows off Isaac's ability to put his whole hand in his mouth. The kid gags himself on a regular basis. he just LOVES to suck on his hands.

Sarah and Della. Sarah is now practicing to teach a pre-natal yoga class and last night I got a free class and practiced being one of her students. It was great!

Andrea and Jonathon

Scrubs came out to play later but during the heat of the chaos, he stayed in the kitchen. Here he is trying to figure out what Jonathon wants him to smell.

Della -- not sure she wants to listen to Mommy about not touching the TV.

Scrubs came out of the kitchen after lunch and joined all the kids in the living room. He was doing a great job, despite the tons of toys all over that he could have eaten. A great job that is until he decided he wanted to run laps IN the house, dodging each of the kids. Jodi the great, had a better idea and took Scrubs and the kids out to play ball in the yard. Look at that arm!

Here's Della bringing Scrubs a stick.

And here is Scrubs, being very gentle in taking it from Della.

Count down to departure: 1 day

Well I am very busy getting ready to leave for Fort Lauderdale for three weeks -- even more busy because JB has a full day of clinic this week which will keep him gone for a very full day. We are leaving tomorrow morning bright and early and are excited to see all of our family.

While getting ready to leave, we are watching Gustav very closely. Right now they are saying it could hit anywhere from the panhandle of Florida (us) to Texas. The problem is that it will probably hit the gulf coast, somewhere, early next week, while we are in Fort Lauderdale. This has made preparing to leave for the trip a bit more complex. We won't have the opportunity, if evacuated, to pack up our car and head north. So we have to do a little preventative work before we live. We just want to put some pictures and other important documents in plastic. We plan to set them on our 450 pounds dining room table since goodness knows that isn't going to float anywhere! The houses on base are very solid so our chief concern is flooding as we live right by the bay. So we'll try to do a few extra things before we leave.

In addition, we are waiting to hear from our lawyer this morning. He meets with the judge early this morning to ask him if he will let us have the hearing next week and not enforce the 30-day requirement. If you think of it, please pray for the judge to have a soft heart for us and allow the hearing to be held a bit earlier than normally done. If not, as I said, we'll return to Ft. Lauderdale in October. But we would love to save ourselves an extra trip.

Lastly, before I sign off, I have, after four years, changed the look of my blog. I hope you all like it. I said I would never do this, but I finally gave in to some polka dots!

Diary of waking up from a nap

1. Scrubs waits patiently next to Isaac's swing, waiting for the moment that his little pal decides he is ready to wake up. Scrubs is even more excited than normal as evidenced by the fact that he is biting his lip, chomping at the bit, for wake-up time.

2. Little pal shows first signs of waking up. Scrubs move in to make sure this wake-up is for real. Will little pal fall back to sleep? Will little pal stay awake to play? Only time will tell. C'mon little pal. It's time to get up and play! I've ben waiting all morning.

3. Little pal's eyes open and it becomes obvious that he in fact, is going to wake up. As soon as he opens his eyes, little pal spots his big buddy and is obviously excited to see him.

4. Big buddy is equally excited to see that his little pal is awake. Time to play! Worried that big buddy will get his little toy rocking horse, little pal decides to pull it off the table to protect it from his big pal's sneaky licks.

5. Big pal decides he doesn't care if the horse is standing upright or lying down. There is still tons to smell and lick, and hemoves in to play. Buddies forever!!

Bad idea

Sometime in the middle of the night, I got a good idea. I decided to flip around and put my head at the food of the bed. The reason is an increasingly sore back. I'm not complaining as I don't plan to complain during this incredibly miraculous pregnancy. At least not much. And at least not to anyone but JB. But the flip-around did help as I wasn't lying in a ravine anymore.

The bad idea came in the morning when I realized my pup now had full access to my face. I think Scrubs figured it out before JB, who was still trying to figure out why he was hugging my legs instead of my neck. I had to quickly turn back around before I got sniffed, wet-nosed, and licked to oblivion. Scrubs is unable to jump up on our tall bed but he definitely can put his paws up and reach anything around the three sides.

Note to self: make sure to swap back before the pup wakes up in the morning.

We're watching Gustav very closely

We have made plans to leave for Fort Lauderdale on Friday -- no matter what we find out about our hearing the final week. So needless to say we are watching this new Tropical Storm closely. JB has decided to just take a week vacation, either way. If we have to go back in October, much to the dissapointment of our family to have to see us (and more importantly, Isaac) again, we will. John will fly or drive back the following Saturday or Sunday, and I plan to stay for an additional two weeks while he does his night thingy. I'll keep you posted on this new storm. And of course, I'll stay posted through my sister-in-law Gabbi.

Miami Dolphins

Last night, I thought Isaac was finally big enough to fit into his Miami Dolphins PJ's. I can't remember if these are from Uncle Matt or Uncle Robbie, but needless to say, they thought it important that he knows where he comes from. Only thing is, the PJ's are probably already almost too small! The window for wearing is so stinkin' small.

Anyways, I asked JB to take a picture of Isaac in his Dolphin PJ's. Here's what JB took:

I cannot help but crack up every time I look at this picture. JB and I were laughing so hard last night looking at it. John thinks Isaac's little chair is hilarious because he looks so small in it. So he decided to emphasize how small Isaac is in his chair by taking a picture of the entire room with tiny Isaac in the background!

Here's the picture I intended him to take -- a close-up of the PJs -- spit up included.

"Bear" buns

Snuggles

Ponderances of trust

To trust or not to trust.

I suppose I should follow that by saying: "That is the question."

In fear of being incredibly cliche', I'll refrain.

But as I have moved throughout a rainy Saturday and into Sunday (which turned out not to be nearly as rainy as everyone predicted), and as I caught up at work and attempted to entertain a dog without a yard, Frisbee, or anything outside my living room, my thoughts were on trust. I had a lot of free time, as I often do, when JB is on call.

I think these thoughts stemmed from a conversation I had held the evening prior with a friend. And then it stretched back into a discussion JB and I had just a few days prior to that. A discussion on what it means to trust the Lord and how easy it is to say, "Trust Him," when your own lack of trust finally paid off.

I spent five years arguing with God and refusing to trust Him, because, well, He was not doing what He was supposed to do! I'd sit in front of the Bible I was unable to read each morning and tell Him everything. I'd tell Him that I thought He was unfair. I'd tell Him that I thought He forgot about me. I'd tell Him that I could not possibly take one more shot, one more appointment, one more unanswered prayer. "How many people need to pray?" I asked Him all too many times. I'd sob. I'd beg. I'd yell. I'd give up.

I wouldn't call anything I did during those days, trust.

In fact, I can honestly say that my trust for the Lord didn't enter into the picture until months after we moved to Florida. It was after our fourth failed IVF, when JB was working horrid hours at the hospital, and I was attempting to train our fifteen pounds of spotted fur not to pee in the kitchen or chew the baseboards, that I began to finally give up. I think giving up is a key ingredient in trust. It wasn't until I finally threw my hands up in despair and said I could no longer do it or seek it or try it, that I began to trust God. In a way what I did was give up on the idea of being a mom. In another way what I did was decide to let God decide what was best for my life. I didn't know if I would like the decision He made. But I was done trying to make my own.

I would not call that trust perfect. There were days that I still broke down. There were days that I still questioned His decisions. There were days that I still felt sorry for myself and had a good cry. I still could not attend first birthday parties or baby showers. I still had trouble with pregnancy announcements and bulging bellies. We kept finding other fun things to do on Mother's Day instead of going to church. In fact, it was one month after Isaac was born, when I was in fact, unknowingly pregnant, that I had yet another good cry, lying in the bed next to JB one night. It had been a long time since I had cried so hard that I had trouble lying down and had to sit up to make sure the tears didn't choke me. I think it took JB by surprise a little bit to see me back in that place. We were so happy with Isaac. We truly felt our lives were complete. And yet there was a part of me that still felt sad that we were infertile (even though we actually no longer were). And another part of me that was still very afraid of having to do IVF again someday. It was a lot easier to trust when I wasn't doing a treatment cycle. How could I trust when constantly reminded -- a necessary part of infertility treatments?

Our church has begun a series on parenting. Had it come just one year ago, I know I'd be taking a short siesta from services. The guest speaker, on the first day of the series, encouraged us not to stop coming if we weren't currently parents -- telling us that we could still get something out of the sermon. I looked at JB, and we shared a knowing glance. How many times had we been told that before? How many times had I attended an event structured for mothers when I wasn't one? On the drive over I'd try to convince myself with the thought that I should be healthy enough to gleam something from the speaker's words despite my own pain. Then I'd have a good cry in the bathroom during a break, put on a happy face, and try all over again.

In the midst of our infertility journey, I finally gave up on doing that. It wasn't that I couldn't take something from the words. It was that the words were too painful to hear. Parents sat around nodding their heads or emitting a knowing chuckle. I just sat there wishing that I had a nod to give. The emotions would come running back. The feelings would come swarming over me, even if I had thought they were far away. I suppose they were never very far at all.

Don't get me wrong. I think a series on parenting is a great idea. I think I'll learn a lot from it, especially considering I've avoided these sermons for so long. But on the way home that morning I told JB that my heart hurt for the people who hurt during that discussion. As always, I thought of people who weren't holding an Isaac during the sermon. And especially those people who weren't sitting next to a John. Not seeing your dreams come true is a painful reality, and my heart hurt because now my dreams were coming true while others still waited.

I find it important, when sharing the story of our China daughter, Isaac, and now our belly baby, to make sure that I don't tell people that if they trust God, everything will work out okay. For some people this may be true in a matter of days or weeks or months. For me, it was a matter of years. For Abraham and Sarah in then New Testament, it was a matter of decades. And for others, there dream may never come true on this Earth.

Instead I tell people that trust is hard. It is painful. And it can take a very long time to learn. In my case, I don't think I ever achieved full trust prior to Isaac's arrival. I like to believe I gained better trust. I like to believe I was getting there. But I hadn't arrived. I am not sure you ever actually do. All you can do is to try each day to remember that He does have a plan. It may make no sense. It may make sense in the future as I believe our struggles now do. But it many not make sense until we stand before our Heavenly Father someday. We may not ever see his plan with our earthly eyes.

My prayer today is that I am able to remember, someday in the future when I am faced with obstacles that impact my trust again, this period of my life. I hope you are able to do the same. I hope you are able to look at our story and see that God is present. In our case we can all see it now. That may not be the case for future events in my life or in your's. But He is there. And He does care.

I pray that if you are someone today who is hurting, you'll come to find just a bit more trust today. Don't try to get to 100%. Just try to get 1% better than you were yesterday. Just try to remember a little bit more that He does love you. He is hurting with you. And He does have your best interest in mind.

If this isn't you who are hurting, think of someone else who is. Make it a point to think of them during a painful sermon. Just having people telling me that my grief was legitimate helped me so much. People don't think I am stupid! It's okay that I am sad. They don't understand but they empathize. This made me feel so much better. Think of someone who is alone or grieving a loss the next time you are nodding in agreement with the pastor in church or celebrating an event with your family. A hug. An email. An invitation to dinner. We need each other in this world. I don't know what I would have done without my faithful friends during my darkest hours -- friends that trusted for me when I had no more trust to give.

God loves you. He remembers you. He has a plan.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Isaac's Journal entry: Man I am growing fast

My "Aunt" Joia babysat for me on Monday. You can read all about our time together by visiting her blog here. However, I especially wanted to show you two pictures she has taken of me. Look how much I have grown up in just over three months! Am I amazing or what?!




I am excited about growing up. In fact, I hope to one day be as big and cool as my buddy Keenan. Here he is hanging out with me at his house.

In other news, Mommy mentioned that I had a rough few days. That's true. Wednesday night at Bible Study I decided that I had had enough! I was sick of not being at my own house and decided to tell everyone about it. So I screamed for quite some time. This surprised my Daddy and Mommy since I never really scream. Most of the time I just sit and laugh and smile. However, as soon as they put me in the car I was happy and started talking and laughing -- all I wanted was to be back at my own house. Is that so much to ask?

Thursday I cried more than usual again. Daddy thought maybe I had a tummy ache, but I think this was just because I missed my Daddy. He came home and surprised us for lunch, and I decided to fall asleep in his arms to show him how much I missed him. Mommy went to Sarah's house for a party last night, and it was just me, Daddy, and Scrubs hanging out. I didn't cry even one single time. Why would I? I had Daddy all to myself. We hung out in the living room, I got a bath, and he gave me dinner.

Anyways, I'm finally back in my groove! Vacations screw you up a bit, but I'm still the same old Isaac -- with just a few more rolls to add to my belly! :)

P.S. I also wanted to wish a happy birthday to my Grama Medema and my Uncle Eddie!

Adoption update (again) and odds and ends

Thanks for the encouragement and prayers yesterday for our adoption finalization. Some of you have asked me why we need to go to Fort Lauderdale. Basically, after you are given "legal guardianship" of a child, the "powers that be" do not immediately send you on your way. We have had to have visits with a social worker and do some other paperwork to clearly indicate that we are indeed fit parents. Our lawyer has done the majority of this work.

The "final hearing" around three months of age is sort of a big deal. The judge encourages family to come. Everyone gets dressed up and lots of pictures are taken. It is at this hearing that Isaac "officially" becomes a Kit. forever. We are really excited about this day. In talking to Joan, Bri's final hearing 18 years ago was equally as exciting. I know Joan captured all the events of that day and still has the dress Bri wore to the hearing.

Part of the work includes a visit our lawyer was supposed to have earlier this week with the judge. It was the second-to-last-step, and it was cancelled because of the storm. So now the second-to-last-step will occur next Thursday meaning the judge could delay the final step. We have temporarily made the choice to take the trip to Fort Lauderdale either way. John will at least have through Monday off which would give us four days in Fort Lauderdale. If our court hearing does not take place during the following week, John can either stay and take vacation or head back to base. He's going to have to talk to the "powers that be" in his department to determine what needs to be done. I, however, will stay for another few weeks. JB starts nights when he gets back and I have planned to spend that time with my family since neither of us enjoy this rotation.

If we don't hold our final hearing that week, it will instead be sometime in October. This means another trip to Fort Lauderdale. We aren't sure how we will manage this right now -- both financially and with JB's schedule and with time (we are taking a trip west during this month) but we are sure it will all work out.

I really am not stressed about the adoption "issues." I know eventually it will all work out. It would just be great to get it done sooner rather than later. Your continued prayers on our behalf would be much appreciated.

In other ends, last night, the wifia pulled off a surprise 30th birthday party for Jodi. What a fantastic evening. Sarah converted her back porch to a beautiful outdoor paradise, and Jodi, thinking she was babysitting Kucher, who is Sarah's next door neighbor Jamie's dog, came in unsuspecting. We had a great time. What's even more amazing is that all the wifia members had husbands who were able to stay home and babysit so we were all kidless for the evening. Joia made a great dessert which you can read about on her blog and also took tons of pictures which you can also view on her blog.

If there is one member of our group who deserved this party, it's Jodi. Jodi is everyone's "girlfriend." She is the type of friend who is game for anything -- bathing suit shopping, a day at the beach, dog or baby sitting, a night out at the last minute -- whatever. I am so glad Sarah thought of this and went to the trouble of making it a surprise. It was fantastic!

More pics from Chicago

We are now (sort of) back in the swing of things here on Eglin AFB. Isaac definitely has taken a little time to get back into his groove since returning home. JB thinks he has a little belly ache of some sort as he has not been his usual content-self. Either way, we are glad to be home.

Here are some photos from my day with my Tante Jan, Oom Ed, and their daughter Cara and her daughters. Enjoy!

Adoption frustration

We are a little frustrated by the finailzation of Isaac's adoption. If you get a chance and could pray for the proceedings, we would greatly appreciate it. We thought we had everything set to go to court on September 3rd or 4th. JB requested leave and everything was in place. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, the hurricane that was coming through South Florida screwed everything up. Our lawyer's meeting with the judge was cancelled and rescheduled for next Thursday, the day before we are supposed to leave for Fort Lauderdale. This means that there is a chance we now will not be able to hold the final hearing in September and it will be pushed back to October. Since I was planning on spending time after the hearing in Fort Lauderdale while JB did nights, everything is now up in the air. I'll keep you posted but your prayers would be appreciated. We would really like to be able to go in September and are praying that everything works out so we can.

Birthdays & Babies

Lee and Kristi with baby Ryan

In other news, I need to give a birthday wish to my friend Jodi (who joins me in the third-decade club) as well as my sister-in-law Danielle. Happy birthday newest sister-in-law.

Looks like we are going to get some rain!

Home again

Isaac and I are back on good ol' Eglin AFB!

Yesterday, after a stop at Babies-R-Us and McDonalds, my cousin Kathleen took Isaac and I to South Holland where we caught up with my Tante Jan. She was visiting at her mother-in-laws so it was a good half-way place for us to connect. I just have to thank Jason and Kathleen for taking such good care of Isaac and me on our trip. We had a wonderful time hanging out with them in Indiana.

After switching over to my Tante Jan's car, we headed to see my cousin Cara in Wheaton. Cara is Janet's oldest daughter. She now has two daughters of her own who are just precious. I'll go more into this visit later as I hope to get some pictures from Janet and/or Cara soon (hint-hint).

We then headed back to Ed & Janet's new house. What a great place. Ed cooked some hamburgers on the grill, and the four of us hung out for the evening. Isaac kept up his perfect vacation behavior by one again sleeping through the night. You go little guy! I have to say that he was a trooper on the trip. He just went with the flow and kept up his great disposition and go-with-the-flow attitude. It was great to spend some time with Ed & Jan, if only for a few hours! I'm so glad everyone got to meet Isaac.

Ed took me to O'Hare this morning. It was great traffic, and we made it in record time. It was another wonderful travel day for Isaac and me -- well, as wonderful as travelling can be. Our plane actually only had about a dozen people on board so I was able to get a bulk head seat and an extra seat for Isaac. I fed Isaac right before we boarded and within about three seconds of getting on the plane, the little guy fell asleep and slept until Jodi dropped us off at our house around 2pm.

Scrubs was very excited to see me, and I have to admit I missed him too. Thank you to Bobbie and her kids for keeping an eye on him while we were gone.

I've now completed about two hours of work and am not-so-patiently waiting for JB to get home from work. I'll post some more pictures from our visit with Ed & Jan when I get them.

Also I need to take a moment to tell Lee, Kristi, and their daughters Logan & Raylee congratulations on the arrival of their new brother: Ryan Hartley Hunt, named after her late-brother. We can't wait to meet the new little addition in October!

Florida

If you think of it, please keep Florida in your prayers as Tropical Storm Fay heads for land. In addition, please pray that I am able to fly out on Tuesday afternoon. I just woke up and checked weatherchannel.com and it looks like it should be heading farther east than us Eglin AFB and arriving later than Tuesday if it did head our way. There is, however, still a chance that it will go over our family in south Florida as well. I really would like to be with John if we are evacuated from base so just pray everything works out.

Also, my great bud Kristi is scheduled to deliver her third baby tomorrow. Not sure if it is a boy or a girl! Please keep her and her family in your prayers as this new addition plans to make its arrival.

I am off to my Aunt Janet's today. Okay, gotta go, Isaac is making his morning debut.

Pics galore!!!

What a great time we are having with our fam in Illinois! For those of you who don't know, both my parents were raised here so all my extended family lives in the Illinois/Indiana area. My Dad's younger brother Bob and his wife Mary have three boys: Jason, Josh, and Justin. I am very close with these three guys, mainly because Josh and his wife Sarah lived across the street from us in Kentucky for two years. Jason is married to Kathleen and they have two kids: Cullen and Emmie. Josh is married to Sarah and they have two boys: Tyler and Jordan. Josh and Sarah live in the Tennessee area now but made the trip up here for my shower! How awesome is that?

I am staying with Jason and Kathleen's until Monday night, when I will spend some time with my Uncle Ed and Aunt Janet.

Here's some pics to share:

Sign waiting for us at Jason & Kathleen's

Isaac hanging with his big 2nd cousin Cullen

Saturday afternoon was the shower at my Aunt Linda's. Here's my Dad's brother, Bob with his grandson Jordan

Four generations :) My Grama (with a picture of my Dad!)

A spider that was identified by a quick phone call to JB: garden orb!

My Mom's Aunt Karen napping with Isaac

Cullen & Tyler

A bunch of Isaac's 2nd cousins on the swing set in my Uncle Bob & Aunt Linda's backyard. What a gorgeous home they have and how wonderful of them to open it up to us for my shower.

The "other" Uncle Bob (Linda's husband) with a napping Isaac

Two of my very dearest friends (and family) are Kathleen (left) and Sarah (right). These girls are awesome and along with Linda, threw the shower for me.

This is my Aunt Mary (left) with a niece from her side of the family, Janet. Janet I have become good friends after getting to know each other better at Jason & Kathleen's wedding. And, through the wonders of technology, have stayed in touch! She is such a sweet lady! I also got to meet her husband John at the shower.

Here I am with Sarah again. The lady on the right is Ronda. She is married to the eldest of the 16 Huisman grandchildren: Matt. They have three kids.

Josh and Jason with Janet's husband John (that's a lot of J's!)

Here I am with my other Grama who made the trip in from Michigan to celebrate with us. Isaac loved here and just laid here talking before falling sleep. This Grama is my mom's mom.

Jordan -- what a cutie!!

Isaac and I at my favorite place: the dessert table

The dessert table up close.

Out of 16 grandchildren that my Grama Gert (and late Grampa Mike) have, only 3 are girls. Me, Madeline, and Katie, pictured here. I have another picture to post later of Madeline, Katie and me. But I want to wait until I get home so I can put it up with a picture of Madeline and Katie from my wedding. Man they have grown up. What great girls they are.

Some of the shower ladies. From left: Grama, Aunt Dorothy (married to Dad's brother John), Aunt Sue (married to Dad's brother Jeff), Mary (married to Dad's brother Bob), Ronda, Jackie (married to my cousin Jeremy), and Katie.

After church on Sunday, it was time for Tyler's 5th birthday party. Yikes! Five years old. I still remember when Josh & Sarah told us they were pregnant back when we all lived across the street from each other in Kentucky. Here he is with his cousin Cullen.

It was an Indiana Jones party!

Emmie! What a doll!!

Emmie with her Daddy, Jason

Jordan trying to get a nap