I found these pictures of us all and was amazed to see the similarities! When you look at the first picture of Ellie, it totally looks like me. Then you look at the second, and she looks like Noah. What do you think? BONUS: A cute picture from our trip to the zoo a few weeks ago. Can't beat weather in the 70s and 80s for the month of March! <1 month until her birthday. WOW! {Katie}
2 Comments
We were on Spring Break last week, so Noah spent the week traveling to visit current and future ministry partners and Ellie and I spent some time with family and friends.
All that to say, we missed our Friday update last week. I decided I would jump in and do a belated Friday update instead of Noah this week :) Here's an update on what God is doing in the freshmen women in our ministry! There is nothing like the transformation of freshmen women in our ministry. It is amazing to think back to August and picture them-- shy, somewhat insecure, and overwhelmed. Some are walking with the Lord and looking for fellowship, others are just around- because they were invited, or had nothing else to do. (I like to say that when I was a freshmen, you could've invited me to go pick up trash with you, and I would've come. I was that eager to meet people, and that desperate!) Now, these same women seem like totally new people. They have found their place at the U of I. They know how to get to class, they are committed to school, to their dorm friends, to their Bible Studies, etc. They are learning, growing and experiencing the work of God in their lives! Yesterday I met with two freshmen Bible study leaders, and asked them for an update on some of the freshmen women. They proceeded to tell me about one girl who is going on a trip to Turkey with her business honors class. They will be visiting Ephesus, and so she decided to invite her classmates to learn about Ephesus with her in preparation for the trip. Thinking no one would say yes, she was shocked when 8 people said YES! She is preparing to teach them both the historical and religious history of Ephesus. Another girl is preparing to lead an IBD (Investigative Bible Discussion) this summer with some friends from back home. Another is on the track team and placed 5th at the Big Tens meet- she is totally God-honoring in her sport, and connecting with her teammates with a team Bible Study. I could go on and on.... I sat there with my jaw dropped, thinking, WAIT, are these the same freshmen I met in August who were nervous to just walk in the room? YES they are!! God is doing a work in these freshmen, and it is amazing! It is especially incredible as two falls ago we had zero freshmen women involved. Last fall, we had 1! This fall- we had 15+ women join our ministry. God is moving!!! Praise the Lord! -Katie It's 75* today, and amazingly beautiful. A perfect spring day, no doubt! Of course Ellie is deciding to take REALLY long naps today. I'm not complaining, but I am eager to get back outside :) The changing season means new weather, new things to do (park, swing, walk) but it also means NEW CLOTHES! Oh Ellie, what a rough life:) Yeah, this was last week when it was colder (and windy!) HAHAHA!!! Our sweet craigslist find! YEAH for having a jogging stroller. Now we're ready for Spring Hill!! Happy St. Patrick's Day Week!!! Ellie says, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" Ellie didn't really want to smile this morning, but a new tennis dress, how adorable is that? I told my mom last week that I have been leaving the "First Spring" section in Ellie's baby book open. I'm not sure if last year was her first Spring (She was born at the end of April) or if this is her first Spring? I think I've decided I'll make it be this spring. We have lots more fun things going on than we did last spring!! :)
Happy Spring! {Katie} Who knew that the hardest phase of parenting {thus far} would be Ellie's 9th month? She started spitting up excessively about a month ago and became a bit of a different baby, often very fussy and hard to read. Was I feeding her to much? Was she teething? Was she developing an allergy? It was very stressful on me! Thankfully we saw our dr, was referred to a specialist and have (mostly) figured out her tummy issues. By 10 months old, we have our Ellie back :) Other than this, the biggest change of the month is her hair- she's got pigtails or a 'spout' pony tail most of the time :)
She's loving finger foods (kiwi, blueberry, cheese, ham, corn, black beans, etc). She has learned "so big", sign language for 'more' and 'all done' and how to wave at new and old friends. She warms up to people much more quickly and she always smiles when she sees our campus director-- Norm & Katie Hubbard. She's still happy on the floor. Mostly sitting, but sometimes, preferring to lay down :) She does reach for toys and roll, but we have yet to find her across the room. She refuses to be on her tummy, rolling onto her back before you've even let go of her. I've decided that some babies are "I can do it myself" babies while Ellie is a "you can do it for me" baby. :) Ellie did an amazing job spending the weekend with 55 students at the Spring Retreat. She sat in her high chair in the middle of the dining area, surrounded by all those students. It was great :) We must have worn her out as she took long naps while at the retreat and then she slept an almost 15 hour night once we got home! While she did awesome, I wasn't prepared for how exhausting it would be to be leading the retreat with Noah, sharing a room with Ellie, getting lots of time connecting with students, staying up late and getting up early, etc. It's Wednesday and I'm still recovering. :) {Katie} ps. It's not letting me add pictures right now, hopefully I'll get to do that soon :) This post is in honor of my sister Carla. She is from Venezuela and lived with us for a year a decade ago (that is impossible to believe, and making me realize how old I am!!) She became a true part of our family as she started walking with Christ while she was living with us! So while we may not be sisters by blood, she became a part of our literal and spiritual family 10 years ago!
It's rare that I post in honor of someone else, but I couldn't resist today, as Carla is celebrating her 7th (or 28th!) birthday! Happy Birthday Carla! There is much I could say about Carla, but I'm just going to share a few extra special (and funny!) memories... - After living in WI for 2 weeks, one of her first reactions to the new culture was, "so much pizza!" (it's true!) -She wore high heels to her first walk in the woods... she obviously grew up in the city :) She had the best fashion, but we did like to tease her about that ;) -Carla was/is SUCH a good student! In fact, she had the best grade in one of her classes, which is amazing for a foreign exchange student, but the funniest part was-this was an American History class... Kind of embarrassing for all of us Americans!! -Carla taught me how to eat 'properly' with a fork and knife. A habit that has still stuck with me! -Carla was always patient, always thoughtful, always looking out for others. She taught us crazy Rogers a lot! You never know when God will bring someone into your life who will then go out and live for Him. She's married to Zabdiel and serving the Lord in Curacao (off the Venezuelan coast). How amazing is that? Other than not liking chocolate, I'd say Carla is about the perfect addition to our family ;) I love you Carla! I hope you enjoy your birthday!!!! {Katie } It has come to my attention recently that February has kind of a bad rap. This was shocking to me, as with a February birthday, it has clearly been my favorite month. Not to mention, we do live in the state of Illinois, and this is Lincoln's month too, right? No matter how you feel about February, the Illini Navs are making February a month worth celebrating! We have two major events coming up on back-to-back weekends! At Nav Night we've been announcing these events using a series of old school Reeses commercials and adding our own tagline two events that go great together! 1) An Evening with the Illini Navigators is coming up on Saturday, February 18th. It is a benefit program featuring author and teacher Jerry Bridges followed by a dessert reception. Students will be hosting, serving, leading worship, watching children and sharing about the impact the Illini Navs ministry has made on their lives! 2) Lord? Lord! our second annual Illini Navs retreat about Lordship takes place the following weekend (Feb 24-26). Noah and I are working with a retreat team of 10 students to plan, organize, and execute this retreat! Last year the retreat was an amazing weekend and we look forward to seeing what God has in store this year! So far February has been a great month, but of course I'm biased! It might help that Noah spoiled me for many days for my birthday. I kept telling him, "Well, it's my birthday week" to which my dad responded, "Noah, be glad February is a short month!" haha We took Ellie out to dinner with us to celebrate and then spent the weekend with my family (except my brother :() in WI! Here's to a great month! :) Enjoy the pictures below :) Someday I hope Ellie (and any other future children we are blessed with) are able to look back on their life as a "Nav Kid" and be grateful for the way that so many awesome college students have invested in them!
Let me give you a small taste of "Life as a Nav Kid" :) Ellie is one of the only 6 months I know who "hangs out" on campus :) :) She has already been to campus a LOT of times.. whether for prayer walks, volleyball games, visiting students in the dorms, Quad Day, other events, or in the case of the last two days- to tag along with me as I meet with students. Both yesterday and today it just worked out that Ellie would just come with me to campus... I was a little nervous, but she did awesome!! She sat on my lap for part of the time, and then sat in her carseat playing with toys. I think she is so enthralled by all of the commotion, that she is pretty content. I know these days won't last forever... I'm enjoying them while I can :) Life as a Nav Kid (so far) has involved lots of travel, many evenings at home without daddy or mommy or both, conferences, students in and out of our home, and a whole lot of LOVE from many, many college students. I think Ellie would say, "So far, so good" At least I hope so :) It's been a very crazy month for us.... We started off October by flying to MN for my cousin's wedding. We then took a last minute road trip to Platteville to be with my dear friend Lindsey whose husband (of a few months, he is also a childhood friend) was severely wounded in Afghanistan. We then packed up and headed over to Indiana for Fall Conference. Then my parents came down for a few days and then Noah's parents came down for a few days (they overlapped for 24 hours). Now this week we head to Kentucky for a Navs National Staff Conference. WHEW! Ellie got used to having someone new here every time she woke up from a nap :) I think I'm more tired than she is! We also had a very fun month of milestones (sitting up, rolling over, eating baby food, first Halloween, multiple trips to the pumpkin patch, etc. etc.) Here's a few pictures :) Such a big girl! This book was purchased at the Champaign Library in the honor of her birth (Her name is inside the cover!) Talk about learning to sit in a chair ;) Our sweet pea! Happy Halloween Ellie! (Hard to see but the smile says Ellie) Have I mentioned that this girl loves her thumb? And her blanket? And her crib? :) I just finished a very long detailed update about Ellie. And it just got deleted.
BOO! I'll make this quick. Ellie is doing great, very healthy, happy and sweet as can be! She loves her sleep, she loves her thumb, she loves to giggle for daddy when he throws her around, and she is adorable when Mama tickles her face with her hair. Precious!! She is now 18lbs 5 oz and 27 inches long! She has grown 2.5 lbs and 2 inches in the last 2 months! She continues to be in the 90th percentile all around :) {I had a feeling she had thinned out a bit in the last bit... getting longer and gaining weight less rapidly than before} She doesn't seem too motivated to roll over- when she gets tired of tummy time she just puts her head down and sucks her thumb. That is very fitting with her very calm nature :) We love her so, so much!! I knew this was going to happen... I've given my mom a hard time my whole life for naming me Katie. I've always been surrounded by tons of Katies! (5 in my kindergarten class of 20 kids). Not to mention all the Katy/Caitlyn/Katherine/Katelyns etc all around me. I was never just Katie, I always needed my last name :)
I wanted to give my daughter a more unique name... but apparently the rest of the world thought that cute little e names for girls were unique too. Ella, Ellie, Elise, Elliana, Evelyn, you name it- they're totally the rage. Here's to a life full of needing your last name Ellie! But that's okay, my mom is right in saying that she thinks I have liked being surrounded by Katies. I think she is right. Fits with my life motto- the more the merrier :) |
Follow UsStay updated with ministry and family life through our blog. Categories
All
Archives
December 2016
|