Answered Prayer!

We are so thankful for the start of a new year. We had many things to be thankful for in 2009, but are looking forward to what God has in store for us this year. God first blessed Matt with a new job. He is now with a different engineering firm and seems to be very happy! While we (especially the kids) were blessed to have him at home, it was time for him to return to what he enjoys doing during the day (even though we know he loves the kids endlessly). Now we can look back and see God's protection over us and we can't be more thankful for that! God is Good - All the Time!

Happy New Year!

Well, one of my goals for 2010 is to journal more. I decided that one way for me to do that is to keep our blog updated! So, here we go!

I'm going to start off with a brief overview of 2009:

• January - We watched the finalizing touches of our new house! The excitement was noticeable all around and the packing was well underway! There were many "organized" boxes, suitcases and piles all around waiting for the house to be completed.
  
• February - We closed on our house and finally moved in! We had SO much space to organize and so many belongings to find again (we lived with Matt's parents for 6 months)! The kids were excited to see many toys that were packed away. It was like a second Christmas for all!
  
• March - We spent a lot of time at Lowe's! We started making the house look like ours! There were many trips made to find things to personalize our new home. Our weekends were quickly consumed!
• April - Aly turned 4 and had a My Little Pony Party. It was a fun time to celebrate her birth and to have people over for the first time. I thought we'd have everything pretty much done by the party, but boy was it HARD work trying to get it presentable! :) Thanks to Matt's cousin, we acquired our first pet - "Lola" the fish! (She was given to Aly for her birthday.)
  
• May - We spent this month doing a lot of our favorite May events! Aly ran in the Indianapolis 500 "Rookie Run", Mommy ran in the "5K" and Daddy ran the "Mini Marathon". We also watched the 500 parade which is always a favorite event for the kids!
• June - We spent lots of time outside! We got to know some new neighbors and continued to watch houses go up throughout the neighborhood. We also added two members to the household! Matt's parents sold their place before they could decide where they were going. So, they ended up moving in with us! It was our turn to return the favor!
  
• July - We were blessed with guests for a week at the beginning of July. Matt's sister Jenny, husband Darrell and daughter Samantha came and visited over the 4th of July. It was nice to have family time and do some fun things together (although the Indians game got rained out!). We concluded the month with an annual trip to MI for a McCalla family vacation to the lake. We had a great time enjoying the fellowship and fun activities.
• August - Aly started her first outdoor "team" soccer league. She's done indoor classes that revolved more around skill building, but this was her first "team" experience. It started out rocky but got better as the weeks went on. She had a great time and learned a lot! We also spent time at the fairs (county and state) as that is always a family favorite. The kids like the animals, Daddy likes the woodworking and Mommy likes the misc. creations and cakes!
• September - The biggest adjustment of the year, was that I made a job change. Matt's work had been slow (due to development being minimal because of the economy) and so I needed to return to full time work that could offer our family more stability and benefits (should I need to provide them). It was a rough change at first, but was a good change for the family.
• October - Of course many weekends were spent tailgating at Purdue games throughout the fall, but we won't talk much more about that.... :( The kids had a great time dressing up for Halloween and going door to door with some neighbor friends. Aly dressed up as Barbie Mariposa for the "first round" and Kai-Lan for the "second round" in the neighborhood, while Braden was always a firefighter!
• November - Of course we spent this month celebrating Braden's 2nd birthday (his 1st real party) with a Mickey Mouse party. On his actual birthday, we went to a new jump place in the area with family. It was a great time for the siblings/cousins!
• December - We spent the month doing a lot of family traditions. Picking out a tree, decorating, going to the parade to see Mr. & Mrs. Clause arrive, visiting with Santa and his reindeer, decorating a gingerbread house, buying and wrapping presents, making Jesus' birthday cake and spending a lot of time remembering the true reasons for our celebrations.

We were truly blessed with a healthy and happy year. We are so thankful for all the wonderful times we had as a family, as well as the precious time spent with others. We look forward to having many more fond experiences in 2010!

Moved In!

Yes, we have officially moved into our new house! Once we get everything a little more presentable, I'll post pictures and tell you more about the big move.

(Hopefully in the next few days! I need to get busy!)

House Update

Five more weeks! Hoping they fly by!

(I don't have an updated outside picture, but the uncovered door and the poured driveway are all you are really missing.)

My new kitchen w/ an island. Aly is super excited about getting stools.

She loves to sit on Grammy's!

Part of our 2-story great room.

Master bath - my favorite part - of course!

Aly's room, she wanted to include it!

We are all really excited and can't wait to have a house again.

All of the plumbing and electrical is now done (except fixtures), the cabinets and floors are all in (except the carpet), trim is up, the first few coats of paint are done throughout and the outside is complete (except the landscaping, which will obviously have to wait until spring).

We are sure on our way! It should be done in 3 weeks, then we have our walk through and then we will close in 5 weeks! YEAH!

December Update

Well, the month began with holiday traditions.

Baking cookies and making a gingerbread house (eating the gumdrops is still a favorite). We also made ornaments and a foam gingerbread train, but I guess I didn't get pictures.

Aly's preschool class had a program to share the Christmas story.

(We had camera issues, so I don't really have any good pics of the program.)

Aly's class also spent a day on each part of the Christmas story. I showed up early to get pics each day. The first two are of course "Shepard" pictures. The first was on her walk to Bethlehem and the second was after they found baby Jesus. She was telling the good news with a friend. Aly was SO EXPRESSIVE! It was too much! I got it all on tape! She was even showing everyone with her hands how big he was! Too cute! The last is a picture of her giving her gift to Jesus as a "Wisemen". She apparently made Him something. Some kids in her class said that they would give Him their special blankets, their Cars, etc. Aly loves to draw and write, so it was interesting that she choose to give him some of her "pieces" (not sure if that's as hard to give up though?)

Although was spend most of our focus on the true meaning of Christmas, we spend a little on the fun, childhood memory making times. Aly saw Santa twice, yet Braden slept through both visits... so I'm a little bummed about that - no pic :( I guess his first will be next year...not screaming pic this year!

Braden looked so cute on Christmas Eve! (Thanks to a cousin hand-me-down!)

We went to the late evening service and then celebrated with Jesus' birthday cake!

...And the opening of the jammers!

Don't they look so cute?! Lastly, Aly set out the cookies and milk for Santa.

This year she was insistent on leaving him three! (Maybe because we give her treats in 3's because she's 3 years old? Guess I should've asked...)

Christmas morning was a little different this year. We had our "family" Christmas in the basement before heading "upstairs" for the rest of the extended family Christmas. It ended up working out pretty well. I made an awesome Sausage Bread for the family (thanks Mandy!) and we enjoyed the day together. It was nice to have Matt's sister, Jenny home from Texas with her family. It was nice to have everyone together! Here are pics of the kids favorites...

Aly - My Little Pony - Ponyville collection, Barbie guitar & puppet theater

Braden - airport & cars, Cars chair, police motorcycle/rocker & trike

We are so blessed to have more than what we need.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Oh, and we did get a little snow... so, Aly insisted on going out to play in it for a few days.

Aly wanted to make snowangels (which she did laying on top of Daddy, because she didn't want to get wet) and a snowman (of which was about 8 inches tall). Maybe we'll get more snow so that we can conquer her snow fears!

Braden - 1 year old

Well, it's sad but true that our little man is 1 year old! This last year had flown by! It seemed to go fast with Aly, but I have to say Braden grew up a lot faster! He weighed in at 20 1/2 lbs. and was 29 inches long (20-25% percentile for those that care). His latest adventures are: climbing up the stairs as fast as he can, learning to go down slowly on his tummy, getting into all of Aly's things, making car (varroom) and duck (quack) sounds, running all over the house chasing Aly and his cousins, eating some table food but is starting to revert back to wanting baby food and is still waking up A TON through the night (still teething horribly).

That's all for this update, you can thank my cousin Kelli for demanding this post. I need to get some sleep now!

House

Here is the latest photo.......

Happy 1st Birthday Braden!

Yummy! This Elmo cake was the best thing ever!

I'm DONE!

Halloween

Milestone!!!

(crawling - climbing stairs - walking)

Yes, I can't forget to announce the news - Braden is officially walking!

Loving Fall!

Well, with a few weekends of away football games (yeah, I know - not having a good year) we have finally had some time to relax and have fun. This weekend was packed with some fun for all. Friday evening we spent at our school Fall Festival. It was a great time! However, I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures to share :( Aly really enjoyed seeing the animals, playing in the "corn box" (like a sandbox, but corn in a haybox), going through the long/challenging corn maze (which had Mom and Dad worried for a little bit (should've taken a potty break first), eating and playing with her friends. It was a cool and beautiful fall evening!

Then, Saturday we spent some time playing outside.

Matt and the kids played an "organized" ball game together.

Braden had such a good time being included!

Then, Aly played in grass piles with Papo. The racked the grass into piles and when diving though it. I was honestly surprised that Aly actually did it! (It probably helped that she had a coat, hat and gloves on....so, she was virtually covered from head to toe!)

Well, we hope that you are enjoying the wonderful fall weather. Now that we are "up and running" again, stay tuned for more frequent updates!

Take care!

P.S. I also got to spend some much needed "me" time. I have just about finished Braden's scrapbook (baby book - hard to believe he's almost 1 year!) and have put Aly's 2-3 year book together (However, I do still need to journal and add some enhancements). It feels so great! Now I can't wait to move into our new house and have room to work on it weekly! (Atleast that's my goal!)