Kaitlyn Grace Stewart

Scott, Heather and Miss Kaitlyn

DSL here we come! :)

Well the time has come for us to leave the comfort of my parents house and move into the city. We have decided to get an apartment in the Bellevue area. This allows Matt to ride the bus to and frorm work and gets us closer so we can meet new people and find a church home. I am really excited. We got an awsome deal. It is a 3 bedroom, on the ground floor and we got some good Vandy discounts. It will be nice to have a place to call home for a little while. We hope it is only temporary but I plan to make it a home for the boys till we find a house. We should be moved in by next weekend....so we are open to guests! I will get pictures of the apartment posted after we get moved in along with the others that I can't get on here with Dads computer. We truly feel that this apartment find is a blessing from God after much prayer.

The new baby...

For those of you who know our reputation... this is not about us :) Matt and I are now the proud owners of a.... NEICE! Yes that is right- a neice. Scott and Heather had their beautiful baby girl this morning- Kaitlyn Grace Stewart weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Heather did good through the c-section and everything seems to be going smoothly. We have yet to see her but hope to make a trip up after they are home from the hospital and settled in. We have to let Kaitlyn get some resistance before we let the kids get their germs around her. Praise God that she was healthy and everything went smoothly.

Visiting

Well...we have visited Otter Creek Church the last two Sundays. Last week we visited only the worship service since the boys were in KY with their grandparents and we got a late start on the drive. This week we took the kids to see how they liked the classes. It was very nice and the kids had a blast. Once you drop your kids off in their prospective classes you don't have to pick them up till the end of worship. They have a childrens worship for ages 3 and up and the 2's and down have nursery. So for once Matt and I got to enjoy a sermon with out distractions. They started a series on what they believe and who they are, which is nice in helping us to decide if we would like to attend there. Today, they spoke on membership- what it means to be a member. One thing that he said that stuck out to me is that "God places you in a specific church to use your specific talents for a specific purpose. There is something odd about "church hopping"- to find the place that fits YOU the best rather than finding the church were GOD finds you fit best. God has led our family here and I know that he has a specific place for us to be. Rather than "hopping" around and finding a place that makes us happy and "feel good"- we will find a place that we know gives God joy.

We are also doing some apartment hunting. I have already located one that is a 3 bedroom, in our price range and will be available in mid August. But it is not in the "best neighborhood" so I am on the scour again to find a home till our place sells. Please pray that we will find a place in a decent neighborhood for a good price. We are looking foward to finding our own place again. Thanks to all of you who are praying for our family. We appreciate them more than you know. We miss all of you and pray for you daily- God Bless..

Houston- we have lift off!

Crawling...yes the big news is crawling. Riley has begun to move. And boy is she happy about it. Last night Matt and I were watching the Softball World Cup (in which the USA beat Japan 5 to 1 in case you were wondering- Cat pitched a great game and the defence was amazing with only one blunder) and Riley started moving. She had been doing a kind of bear shuffle before but has it all figured out now. She gets so excited that she tries to go to fast and promptly hits the carpet. But at least she can try to keep up with her brothers now. All 3 on the go.....hmmmmm! :)

Learning

Ever sense we have moved I have struggled with trying to find a time through out the day to get in some excercise and study time. While in AR I usually got up early and got excercise in before the kids woke up and my adopted kids got to the house. Then while they were all napping I cleaned and then had my Bible study time. Well now that we are living in limbo, Riley wakes up at 0 dark thirty and the boys are not far behind her. They also never nap at the same time if they choose to nap at all. Needless to say I have gotten slack about it all. I recently decided to start a study by Beth Moore entitled "The Patriarchs". I am so excited about it, but I have yet to find the time when I can do it. The lessons that you listen to are at least and hour long and then you have a ton of homework. Hopefully once we get moved I can get that started. Since I have not been able to start that, I have begun reading a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (author of "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets them Free") entitled "Holiness". Even though I only gets snipets in here and there it has changed the way that I percieve things and how I think about them. I can feel a change begining inward that I am excited about. I have always wanted to become Holy as we have been called to be. I just didn't take the time or I thought I was already on track in areas. I have really , truly begun to transform inside. Not only has it helped my spiritual walk but it also has helped with keeping my sanity in all things and I think has made me become a better wife (you'll have to ask Matt on that one!) and mother. I feel a closeness with God that I haven't felt before for such a long time. It makes me want to do more, learn more and study more. It also has made me sit down and make a plan for exercising and eating healthy. I can feel and see God in all the aspects of my life now and I know the ares of my temptations (some foods, certain shows on tv, ect) and am learning how to get rid of them. Please pray that I continue to grow and to hold tight to the path that God has placed me on. I know that through all the things going on now that he has a plan and is gently leading me in the direction he wants me to go.

Errors

Please excuse the spelling mistakes in the previous post. There is a pop-up blocker on the computer and I cannot get it to let me allow them. So when Matt gets home he can figure out the program and then I will fix them. My brain thinks faster than my fingers can type!

???

Well we had an open house on our house in AR this past Sunday. It was a terenchal downpour so only 2 couples showed up. It has been a very discouraging process and yet I have felt peaceful about it all. These last few weeks have been a range of emotions that are sometimes in-describeable. It has been a strong period of growth for me and for Matt as we have moved, begun a new job, driven everywhere, and visited a new church. I know that God has a plan and if we are patient, and yet productive, that he will bring it before us.

We have several options that we are considering for the house. We are not sure if we will stay with our agent or if we will try to do by owner. We might also try to rent it out for a while till the market is better. But then that brings a whole slew of other issues. We are just in prayerful contemplation on what we need to do. We have decided that we are going to move into the city, though. I want to get the kids plugged into a church and get them around more kids their age. That way we can begin to make friends and feel more comfortable. I am currently looking at houses and apartments for rent in the surrounding areas. It is a fun and tiring experience. Especially when you don't know the areas too well. But the kids have had fun with me.

It has also been a growing time with my parents. Although ithas been difficult at times to live with them, the kids have gotten to know them better and I believe now have a relationship with them. There is a completely different experience when you move in with them. We have all grown and come to a higher level of understanding with each other.

On news with the kids:

Riely has been on her knees for a little while now. She has figured that she can go from the keeling position to the sitting position. I know crawling is around the corner. I am excited and yet a little sad. Knowing that this is the last time I will truly experience this. But God has truly blessed us beyond measure with our baby girl and I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise her in ther love of her heavenly father. She has a new carseat that I am going to install today. She kept wanting to sit up and look around. The infant carrier was jus tnot working. I will post a picture of her in it later.

Caleb is as crazy as ever. He has had the hardest time transitioning. He misses playing with kids his age and looks for them anywhere he is. We were in Wendys eating lunch yesterday and he was talking to a kid a little older than him. He was enjoying himself so much that when the kids had to leave Caleb almost started crying. It was in that moment that I decided we were moving into town to help him find friends at a church. He has had so much fun here though. He loves playing baseball, football or basketball with us in the evenings. He likes to walk down by the woods and listen for animals. He is getting a little more head strong but other than that he is doing well.

Ian has been growing so much. He is talking real good now and as always does what ever Caleb does. He has enjoyed plaing outside in the woods. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with him working on letters and numbers. We still choose to say every color is green but everynow and then will decide to name them correctly. If he gets in trouble then he gives you this grin that squishes his eyes and cheeks together to try and get out of it. Luckily for us it never does. But it does make you laugh when you eave the room.

I have started having "School" everyday. We do a lesson and devotional in the morning. Then we do a craft activity. They seem to like it and show off their work when Daddy and Papa get home. In the evening we have a reading marathon and the kids love that. We see how many books we can read in the half hour before bed time.

Well That is all for now. I will do better at updating and such. Look for pictures in the naxt day or 2...they will be there. ;)

Up and Comming Pictures

Ok....for those of you who are going crazy for pictures (ahem...MARTI) they will be here by tomorrow evening. I have to transfer them from our computer to dads and then upload them on dial-up. There will only be a few but I hope to get more up later. Sorry for the long delay!