Looking Forward to Spring

We are looking forward to warmer weather for some much needed outside projects. We plan to do some painting and landscaping once the weather is warmer. In the meantime we have been hard at work inside the house. We have painted almost every room since we moved in and have installed some new lighting (with the help of Karla's dad).

Right now we are planning a summer vacation, most likely to Myrtle Beach. Trips to Columbus and possibly Asheville, NC are in the works for courses towards a manual therapy certification I am working on. Otherwise, many trips to the park are in our future as Adie loves to swing and play on the playsets.

Adie continues to grow up on us. She has lots of words and funny phrases she uses such as "oh no". She also has learned some Spanish words such as "si", "mas", "uno" and "seis". She seems to absorb everything we teach her and everything she hears.

Olivia is changing as well. She is beginning to lengthen out and put on weight. She is so cute. She smiles a lot. She definitely looks like her mommy right now.

Updates

Reflections: Above picture is Karla pregnant with Adie in April 2007 (at Topsail Island, NC) and the picture below is us on New Year's 2006 (Raleigh, NC)! Much has changed!

Well, I guess it is "welcome to parenthood". We all have colds and no one slept well last night. I'm getting a breather right now as "all the girls" are down for naps.

Nothing big is going on for the most part right now. We are trying to set a summer vacation which will probably be in Myrtle Beach. We are also planning a small trip to Columbus at the end of the month for a Maitland Manual Therapy course I am taking towards certification.

Olivia continues to change every day and look more and more like her mommy. Adie looks and acts more and more like me everyday. Parenthood is tiring, but rewarding!! Well, time to go get a breather, maybe paint the living room a little while I have the chance.

Wintertime Fun

Today we had a huge snowstorm. Making it into work was a task. It took me 45 minutes to get to work when it usually takes 20-25 minutes. Even crazier, it took me over an hour to get home because I had to re-route due to a wreck. If it wasn't for 4-wheel drive, I would have been in trouble.

Adie got to experience snow for the first time today. She kept saying "snow, snow". The look on her face was priceless. We took her out for a little bit and ran her down our street in a sleigh. She had a great time (especially considering she cried when we took her inside).

Christmas and New Year's

Happy New Year's 2009 everyone. This holiday season has been extremely busy. Though, not in the sense of traveling as it used to be. We have had our hands full with our little walker and explorer, Adie and our little sweet, but at times very cranky newborn, Olivia.

Christmas was very fun for Adie. Although she is not yet old enough to understand the meaning of Christmas or why she got all of those wonderful gifts all of the sudden, she certainly enjoyed herself. Her big gift from mommy and daddy was a rose petal cottage. She has certainly enjoyed her own personal home. She invites us to tea in her little house and also invites us to come play with her.

Olivia is obviously too young to play with toys or know what Christmas is. However, the past week has been exciting for her. She had her first ever bath (which she did not enjoy). She has, however, become very close to her mommy (whom she looks alot like). She gives many big smiles.

For New Year's Day, Adie and I went to "Pump Up the Fun" for our neighbor's, Naudia Cremeans, birthday party. Pump Up the Fun was a blast. Adie especially enjoyed the slide!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. It is off to work Friday and then my sister's wedding on Saturday where Adie will be a flower girl!

Christmas 2008- Part 1

Christmas with our two beautiful daughters has been wonderful!!

Welcome to our blog!

I have seen several people create blogs and I figured it would be a great idea for our family as well. It is neat to be able to follow friends and their happenings, especially those whom live far away and we don't get to see as often as we would like. I will start with an update of our lives.

Karla, Adie and I moved to Barboursville, WV in December of last year. I had just graduated from physical therapy school and accepted a job at St. Mary's Medical Center. The move was pretty tough and a lot was happening in that month, especially with the holidays. I also had to study for the board exam so that I could convert from a 3 month temporary license to a permanent one. That was a very stressful time, because all those years of schooling came down to one exam. Obviously, my job was riding on it as well. By the grace of God I passed with flying colors and it is long since in the past.

We have spent a big part of the year getting acclimated to our new place and re-acclimated to the area. Fortunately, we reconnected with some former friends and began attending our old church. We have also been very fortunate to have bought a house on a street with great neighbors. There are 5 little ones on our street and their parents are about our age.

My job has gone great and I could not ask for a better group of co-workers. I really enjoy what I do and have met many nice people.

Karla has adjusted to motherhood very well. She has been especially resilent considering we just had our second daughter, Olivia Grace on 12/7! Our girls are only 15 months apart. That makes for challenging times right now, but I think they will be very close to each other. Karla has been able to connect with a nice group of girls at a bible study in church and a mommy's group. She also has two nice mommy friends on our street as well.

It has been nice being close to family again. We certainly miss North Carolina- all the great friends and wonderful weather and things to do. At this point in our lives, though, we wanted our children to be able to spend time with their families, just as we did. So far it is working out well.

I hope everyone enjoys our blog! Welcome!