Here and Gone

Well Christmas 2006 is officially behind us and I must admit, it came and went more quickly than it ever has before. It feels like yesterday that we were trimming the tree, wrapping the first purchased gifts, and dancing around the house as we played the first christmas music of the season... and already I am contemplating if today will be the day that we take down the tree and put away the decorations for yet another 11 months. We did have fun, however. I will give you a quick recap of how our family spent the holidays.

This year, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Adam's parents. Adam's sister and her husband couldn't make the trip as they were at home in Columbus, OH awaiting the arrival of a couple "bundles of joy." Because of that, the family celebration was missing a few "key" people. We managed to enjoy ourselves, however. We all went to a 4 pm church service which was designed to be "family and kid friendly." Christmas Eve church is a special part of both of our christmas traditions and while the timing of the 4 pm service fit in ideally with Avery's schedule, Adam and I both longed for the candlelight service we have attended in years past. I suppose it was just one of many things this season that reminded Adam and I that Avery's arrival into our family has certainly set our feet on a new path. After church we headed back to Adam's parents for dinner and some early gift opening. Adam's mom and I are cut from a similiar mold in that we both get so excited about giving gifts that we have a hard time waiting until Christmas morning...so we had to open a couple on Christmas Eve.

Avery, of course, seemed much more interested in the wrapping paper and ribbons than in any of the fun toys and gifts she had received. And while we had expected that, it still made us giggle as we ended up spending much more time with her new toys than she did.


She did seem to become more interested in the opening of the gifts on Christmas morning.

As always, we had a lovely time at Adam's parents and even seemed to impress Santa enough not to get a hunk of coal in our stockings. Adam's favorite gift, a new sweatshirt from our alma mater. My favorite gift, probably that sweatshirt as well since now he can officially retire the red Miami sweatshirt he wears as if it were his uniform.
On Christmas afternoon, we headed over to my family's house. My mom, as usual, was hosting a big crowd and so we quickly had to exchange presents between one another before the rest of the family arrived. I received one of my favorite gifts in a long time from my sister... a greeting card box filled with greeting cards all of which had been personally made. My sister is insanely creative and talented and this gift was no exception. I don't think I want to even send these cards out they are so cool.

Other favorite gifts: a new hat for Avery that she looks so stinkin cute in and her first soccer ball. Her dad knew that the earlier she got her hands on a ball, the quicker she'd learn that she needs to use her feet. Unfortunately for me, I thought she might have learned that lesson in utero, but no dice...


All in all, we had a beautiful and happy Christmas holiday. Our biggest gift, however... the reminder that the birth of Jesus was our gift of grace from our Creator and his reminder to us that we are dearly loved.

Hoping your Christmas was merry,
Katie

An Apple A Day

I have to admit.... I broke one of the bigger parenting rules.... don't use food or other objects to bribe your child to do what you want them to do. I know, I know, I am a horrible mother. But I had no choice :). I got an important phone call this morning from an old colleague of mine that I use to work with. Avery had been fussy all morning and I needed to do something to ensure her happiness while I was on the phone...for my benefit and for the woman on the other end of the phone. So I searched around for something within reaching distance and grabbed the first thing I could.... a big apple ornament on our tree that Adam had received from Santa in 1986. I only know that because I remember seeing his name and date on it before passing it off into Avery's expectant hands. I finished up my phone call and made one more quick call back, all while Avery played silently in her seat. I had been standing behind her helping her hold the ornament in her mouth while talking. Much to my surprise, I found this when I turned to face her.



We have been trying to get the dye off her lips all morning.......

Katie

Holiday Fun

Wow. What another fun weekend we had with friends and family!!! All this cheer has sure put me in the Christmas spirit and made me especially grateful for all that God has blessed us with.

Adam and I were able to get out of the house, without the little one, for a few hours on Friday night to spend the evening with some dear friends of ours, Jeremy and his wife, Rochelle. They were gracious hosts and prepared one heck of a meal for us. On the menu..... salmon, asparagus, garlic mashed pototos and the most delicious salad topped with dried cherries, brie cheese and apple slices. It was to die for. I, of course, ate up every last bit. And yes, Katie M, I did stop to converse throughout dinner; as opposed to my usual silence when eating a GREAT meal (brought on by my intense need to focus on just eating)! We had a great time catching up, sharing Christmas traditions and laughing at (I mean with) one another. The highlight of the evening.... when Adam and Jeremy were able to dig through some of Rochelle's childhood memories in the basement and came up a box of old NKOTB paraphernalia. For those of you that don't remember...NKOTB stands for New Kids On The Block, the boy band that swept the country back in, ohhhh, middle school I would say. It was a hoot to see how much Rochelle had saved and brought me back to those awkward middle school days.

On Saturday, we headed up to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see Adam's Uncle Ted and Aunt Vicki. They were hosting their annual cookie decorating party and we hadn't attended in years past so we packed up the car and headed up. In addition, they had not yet met Avery so it served as a sweet gathering for many reasons. Ted and Vicki live on a wonderful piece of land on the outskirts of town. A real paradise for any kid. They have dogs, horses, a barn, and lots of room to move around. Within a few minutes of being there, we took a walk out to the barn to feed a few apples to the horses and introduce Avery to yet another four legged friend. I have always had this deep seeded desire to own and/or take riding lessons so I was also eager to introduce myself to Latte and Kari too. They were pretty horses and Avery was quite intrigued with them. After the trip out to the barn, we came inside to yet another delicious meal. After dinner, we all sat around and chatted and decorated Christmas cookies. Adam accused me of being a bit too anal when it came to the decorating. He was probably right, although I tried to remain true to my mantra in life "simple is better." I even gave Adam's dad a few tips on how he probably shouldn't mix too many colors of icing or sprinkles. He probably also agreed with Adam!! The night ended with some Christmas music on the piano. Avery and her Grandpa had fun playing and they made great music together.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too. Looking forward to reuniting with some of you in the next couple of weeks.

Katie

Congratulations....

We received an exciting call late last night... our wonderful friend, Ben, popped the question to his girlfriend at the end of what sounded like a magical and well thought-out evening. Ben and Michele, we couldn't be more happy for you and we're thrilled at hearing the news. Marriage is a beautiful and precious gift from God. May He bless you today and every day forward as He begins to prepare your hearts for this next chapter. We will be walking excitedly along with you. We love you.

Clothes Envy

I have had yet another day of clothes envy. No, I haven't been watching Oprah or even flipping through the pages of US Weekly... I just simply dressed Avery again today. I mean, it isn't fair. Her khakis don't pull in the butt or even feel a little tight in the thighs and they are of course the right length. She didn't have to try on a million things today to find something that fit "right" or that looked good on her. The first one was a charm. She's trendy, comfortable and oh sooo cute. Those were the days, weren't they girls? I just hope she has a few more decades of this ahead of her before she begins to stew about what to wear each morning before leaving the house.

Katie

To buy...or not to buy

Ok, so my head is pounding as a result of an internal debate that has been playing out in my head all day. And although I wish that it would go away, I also think that it has caused me to do some real thinking... and I suppose a fair amount of stressing as well.

Like many people do around this time of year, our bible study group decided to "adopt a family" for the holiday season to purchase gifts for etc. We went through a local non-profit here in town and they linked us up with a single mom and her 3 sons. Someone in our group called the mother about two weeks ago to see what was on the family's "lists" and then created a sign-up sheet, of sorts, so that we, collectively, could purchase some, if not all, of the items. So, here is where my internal drama began... I reviewed the wish lists this morning hoping to select a few items on the list to purchase while out and about today. And I did find some things that I thought I could "take care of." But after reviewing the list, I remembered a conversation that a couple of people in our group had had the Wednesday before about the eldest son, a 12 year old I believe, asking for a pair of new sneakers. And not any pair of sneakers... the mother informed us that he was "very picky" about his shoes and really wanted a pair of the throwback Air Jordans.

Now I don't know alot about shoes or Air Jordan's for that matter, but I am almost certain that these are not "cheap" by any stretch of the imagination. Now don't get me wrong, I am not someone who believes wholeheartedly in the popular phrase "beggers can't be choosers." I was young once. I remember vividly how important I thought it was to have the "right" kind of clothes on at school. So when I say "cheap" I am not implying that this kiddo only deserves the cheapest tennis shoes someone can find at Walmart or Target. But spending $150 or even $100 on a pair of tennis shoes for this boy sounds absolutely ridiculous. Earlier today, and even now these questions are still going through my mind:

Why did the mom allow her kid to ask for a $150 pair of sneakers from complete strangers?
Does this boy think that he is entitled to these shoes? What will his response be if we do buy them for him? What will his response be if we don't?
What should our group do? Buy him the shoes on the list or more moderately priced ones and use the additional money on other family necessities?

If anything, today has made me rethink how much I really undestand about what Christ calls us to in terms of giving... especially in this culture. Is it my heart that needs changing? Am I holding on too tightly to the money that God has only entrusted me with to borrow? Or could we be fueling yet another person's desire to chase after the things of this world which only provide temporary comfort and peace.

I am not sure.......

Blessings,

Katie

Inspector Gadget

It was, well, a funny day to say the least. I had the pleasure of watching a friend of mine's five month old, named Kane, along with Avery today. I must admit, I awoke early this morning with this terrible feeling that I had committed to too much. Two babies, all day long... I wasn't sure I could handle it. I know this must sound absurd to those of you with multiple kids or even those of you that did a lot of babysitting when you were in high school. I, however, have experience with neither and so you can understand my anxiety. With all that said, the day turned out to be quite a delight and much more humorous than scary. It was an absolute blast watching Kane and Avery play with one another although Avery was a bit of a princess and wasn't all that interested in playing with Kane unless it was on her timetable.... every 30 minutes for about 2 minutes at a time. After the 2 minutes were up, she was annoyed and started fussing and whinning. Luckily, Kane was a trooper and rolled over most of the time... probably to get away from the drama!!!! Near the end of the afternoon Avery started getting comfortable with Kane... too comfortable some might say. She's her daddy's girl ( who was known for play doctor ALOT as a little one), as you can see from the picture above, she loves playing doctor. And Kane seemed like a willing participant. Any good mom would have broken up the scandelous behavior, but not me.... I ran up to get my camera to capture the moment forever on fim. Ahhhhh, kids. What a treat today was. And it wasn't all x-rated, April. Here is another picture to put your mind at rest.... Kane and Avery had a ball together. Thanks for a great day.

Friends, Family & the Smell of Movie Theater Popcorn

Well, after 6 long weeks of being apart off and on, I am finally back home with my family. For good. And I couldn't be more excited about it. Besides escaping that pesky warm breeze of Scottsdale, Arizona, it's just nice to be home. As many of you know, Katie and I have contemplated many times moving somewhere more "fun" or exotic... Orlando, Denver, etc. And while I mostly learned about slinging drugs, I think my training weeks away taught me a critical life lesson - home is where your family and friends are. It sounds unforgivingly cliche, but it is a profoundly true statement, and one that God so evidently reminded me of upon my return.

What a perfect weekend to come home to. In addition to being greeted by my groggy but beautiful wife and sleeping baby, we had a surprise guest on Friday night - Uncle Benny Helmers had a sleepover with us, as his flight home to Chicago was cancelled. We had a great time catching up... not that we really needed it, considering I talked to him as much as I talked to Katie while I was away. Another huge blessing was that our main man Andrew Smith was in town for Brad Moore's wedding, so we got to visit with him and his family on Saturday. It was so great to spend time with him and see how much he just loves Avery. We included a picture of the two of them. If you look closely, you can tell Avery is just about to say, "Uncle Smithers."

Having people like Tom and Beth as well, who served as my "second parents" for most of my childhood, seeing me as a parent is pretty stinkin cool. For so long, Katie and I thought it might be tough to live so close to our hometown, but we have just been reminded time and time again what a blessing it is. Those people are wonderful and we are lucky to have them around. I know there is a small piece of envy in me when I talk to several of our friends who are scattered in great cities across the country, and I think the same is probably true for Kate, but I think deep down we are truly grateful that God has us right here in Indy!

On a lighter (and much smellier) note, our house was filled with the aroma of movie theater popcorn on Sunday afternoon. Not because we cozied up to a big bag while watching the Colts game, but because Avery decided to have a huge blow out in her pants and it smelled like, well.... movie theater popcorn. (My intent here is not to ruin that snack for those of you who enjoy it, but really to give you a full-fledged, real-life glimpse into our life.... with as many senses as possible!) It seems kinda gross, but we just had to show the picture as well. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Unfortunately Avery was wearing her lucky Colts turtle neck when the blowout occurred, so she had to change out of it before the end of the game. Lucky for Rob Bironas and the Tennessee Titans she did - the Colts suffered their second loss of the season so far. And believe it or not, Avery wasn't the only one to blame. NO ONE in the family was wearing their lucky gear (not even Bella!) during the game. So although the media is pointing to the run defense, we know the real reason the Colts lost. We should've listened to Grandpa W and worn our blue! (Here you can see a picture earlier in the season on a WINNING Sunday!)


So... I'm back. Home. Where I belong.

I'm a lucky guy,
Adam

New Beginnings

We are closing in on the last few days of more than a month of travel for Adam and I couldn't be more thrilled. It isn't that I can't handle things around here without him, it's just that I simply don't want to. Broadway Street is just a better, more happy place when he's around. I have been keeping myself very busy, however. About a month ago, I decided to try my luck at some part-time contract grantwriting for a local non-profit here in town. I thought it would be a way to exercise my brain and keep my writing skills fresh for that time in my life when I decide to head back to work. And while grantwriting was never something that caused me any great pains when I was working full time, it isn't something that particularly makes my heart race either. Nevertheless, I just completed my first project for the organization and it took me much longer than I had anticipated. It appears that even a few short months away from regular work has already reeked havoc on my writing abilities and the speed at which it takes to complete even the simplest assignment. But, one down and we'll see how many more to go.

In addition, I have decided it is high time I get my butt back into shape. After almost a full year of sitting on my tail, I am going to reenter the world of working out. For my emotional well-being as much as my physical well-being. So, to really jump start things, I decided I would sign up for a mini-marathon here in Indy in May. I have done it once before, about 2 years ago, and it wasn't horrible. My plan; to hit the road and the gym come January. I thought it appropriate to give myself one more month to loaf and enjoy the holidays without guilt.

So with those two major life changes in full swing, life just keeps keepin on- even if it has taken on yet another new direction. Still playing peek-a-boo with Avery during the day, hanging out with Adam at night, and enjoying every minute of 2006. The latest joy, Avery has begun eating some solid food. Her current favorite: prunes. A strange choice in fruits, I know. I still giggle at the way she watches the spoon, with a heaping pile of pureed prunes on it, get nearer and nearer to her mouth. It is as if she thinks that the extent to which she concentrates on those delectable things has a direct correlation to them entering her mouth. I included one such photo of this phenomenon below. Just picture a spoonful of prunes hiding just out of the camera's view. It is precious!!!

Blessings,
Katie

O Christmas Tree

While the weather outside was not "frightful" this weekend, we still thought it appropriate to buy and trim the family tree. After leaving church on Sunday, I proclaimed to Adam that it was the perfect day for the great tree hunt of 2007. He agreed and after Avery's morning nap, we loaded up the car prepared to stop at every Christmas tree farm in town to find the perfect tree for our home. We decided to make a quick stop by Johnny's Market, which is literally just a stones throw away from our home, to scope out prices and have some mental images for comparison. We hadn't been there but 2 minutes when I found the "one." It was perfect- not too tall, not too skinny, not too round. I told Adam we had found it. He smiled and concurred, as any good husband would. The great tree hunt had ended before it had even begun. I think we were home with tree within 30 minutes. We spent the afternoon listening to Christmas music, trimming the tree, and sipping on chai tea. It was a perfect end to the weekend and a great beginning to the holiday season.