June trip to California

This was a very exciting trip out! Jason had a retreat in San Clemente with the Creative Staff at our church. Since they were all driving out to a place that was 25 minutes from my parents I decided to tag along. Jason dropped me off at my parents and I spent the week visiting friends and family. It was great to catch up with everyone!

Friday was Jason's birthday, his retreat was over so he was back at my parents house. At 4 am on Friday morning I woke up having to pee (TMI). I knew that I should use morning pee to take a pregnancy test. I was pretty darn sure it would be negative so I thought, heck I will just take it right now so that way I can know I am not pregnant and go right back to bed. Well, as soon as I took it the test showed a BIG "+" sign.  I was shocked! I couldn't believe it! I went back to bed and tried to fall asleep but how could I after finding out the news. So I laid in bed, looking over at Jason for any movement that would indicate that he was waking up so I could tell him. So from 4am-6:15am I wrote a short poem to give to Jason on his birthday to tell him I was pregnant. At 6:30 I couldn't stand it any more so I woke him up. He was surprised to see me all bright eyed at such an early hour, especially since I am not a morning person.

I gave him his present. After he was done opening it I gave him his card with the poem in it. I was shaking with excitement as I handed it to him. He opened it and read the poem. Here's the poem:

The greatest gift of all

Is not something big, but something very small

Where once was one, now is two

Will it be pink or will it be blue?

He looked at me and said "That's very nice, thanks for the gift." I couldn't believe it! He didn't get it! i looked at him and said "Jason..... I'm pregnant!" He was shocked.... He said "Oh that's what you meant by the poem, I thought you were just talking about the future."

We then told my parents, who FLIPPED! They were so excited!

I went out to tell as many people in person as I could. I showed up on my friend Beth's doorstep with Karli in a "Big sister" t-shirt to tell her the news. I was so happy to be able to tell her in person!

Later that night we had a little get together for Jason's birthday. I put Karli in her t-shirt to announce the news to the friends that came! I was so thankful that I was able to be in California when I found out. It would have been really hard to be away from family and friends when I shared the news. Here are a couple pictures from the shindig.

Kaitlyn holding Karli

The soon to be married couple + Jason

Me with some of my wonderful friend and two adorable babies. I'm holding my new nephew Liam. Oh how I love that litte boy!

Arizona days

We have been so blessed to make friends so quickly out here. We have met such quality people. We feel like God has been affirming that this is where he has us. 

Karli has been such a love bug in the last couple months. She just loves to cuddle with us. I always try to remember to take the time and snuggle with her. It is SO sweet.

We have loved spending time with new friends at the park! Karli thrives off spending time with other kids.

The heat here is starting to rise. So are the bug counts. We check the house for scorpions every night. I must say, I have loved almost everything about Arizona, but the scorpion thing creeps me out SO much! We are excited to move more towards the middle of the city so there won't be very many scorpions. Luckily we haven't found one in our house yet. Praise the Lord!

We are gearing up to buy a house. I hope everything works out. I can't wait to decorate a house exactly how I would like it for our family.

California

Since moving out to Arizona we have gone back to California an avg. of once a month. In May we came out to see my adorable new nephew Liam. We were able to spend some great time with some friends.

We spent a day at the beach club. Karli loved seeing Lexi!

It was wonderful to see Karli and Hannah together again! They played together so well and talked gibberish to each other, somehow know what each other was saying.

This picture makes me want to cry. It is a picture of God's faithfulness to me and my friends. We were all pregnant together and now all our babies are over a year. There are a couple of kids who couldn't hang out that day, so in reality there are even more kids who should be in the picture.

It was also Mother's day while we were there. I was hoping that when we were there I would find out I was pregnant so I could tell my family on Mother's day. Unfortunately I wasn't pregnant. 

Missouri

Jason and I were really looking forward to going to Missouri. We were so excited for Karli to see Alana, her cousin, and to see all the family out there. Bummer was, the trip did not go as planned. We left on a SUPER chaotic day. Karli had a fever and it turned out she had an ear infection. Her pediatrician almost didn't let her go. Thankfully he gave her some ear drops for the flight which made it bearable. I was so stressed out getting on the flight from a day of running all over the place getting prescriptions going to a couple different doctors and packing all while having a very fussy child. We were excited that Karli was probably going to sleep most of the plane ride, uhhh not so much. She was up 90% of the ride wanting to run. When we got there we were so excited to see my mother in law and Joya, my sister inlaw. That made the car ride nice because we were to happy to see them. We had a 2 hour car ride from St. Louis to Columbia. The next day was great spending time with the family, however Karli was not herself. Thursday Jason got a fever and a really bad cold. He had to miss the bachelor party. He was SO bummed! Friday we drove to Kansas City, 2 1/2 hour drive. That day I got sick. Karli would not stop crying that day. I broke out in tears. I felt awful, she felt awful. We were so bummed because it is so rare when we get to go to Missouri we want to make the most of the trip and we were sick :(
Heres some pictures from the wedding in Kansas city.

Karli and the groom Zach. Not quite sure what to say about this picture

Karli and Patrick. She loved him!

The day after the wedding we headed back to Columbia to spend more time with the family. Karli really enjoyed her time with Grandpa. They colored and played piano.

Karli and "nana" (as Karli says)

We got Alana an ironing board for her birthday. Joya taught her how to iron

Alana has the cutest personality! She loved wearing this scarf/shirt thing

Karli and Alana reading

 The next day we headed back to St. louis to see Gigi and Joya and Alana. Gigi gave her some adorable gifts. Including this doll that she now calls her baby. She LOVES that baby.

Joya made us a YUMMY lunch!

Me and my two favorite little girls

Karli wth Gigi :)

All in all we were happy to see everyone. Wish we could have been well so we could have fully enjoyed every moment. But anytime Karli gets to spend with her family is much needed!

Amy's baby shower

The Smart family took a short trip to California. We were going to celebrate one of my favorite people, Amy Rupple, my wonderful sister in law. I loved seeing her with her beautiful belly. Looking at her just brings me so much joy because I see God's faithfulness to her. Justin and Amy lost their first baby a day before Karli was born. I remember calling Justin to tell him how sorry I was and to let him know I would not be offended in the least if they didn't show up to the hospital to see Karli. I knew the wounds were so fresh for them, and to be in a delivery room rejoicing with a birth is probably the last thing they wanted to do. But I remember Amy telling me that she wouldn't have missed Karlis birth for the world. She walked into the delivery room, gave me a great big hug and beamed from ear to ear rejoicing in the birth of her niece. I knew my sister-in-law was an amazing person but that day I just realized how incredible she really was. 

Her baby shower was beautiful! Rachel, Stephanie, Jenna, and everyone else who worked on it did an incredible job! Amy looked radiant!

Amy with her adorable dessert table

The shower, I love Vanessas expression, she really was happy to be there :)

Grandma and Amy

Me and the Amsters

Amy and my beautiful cousin Rebeca

The day was beautiful! Now we wait in anticipation for the baby to be born so we can know if it is a girl or boy. It kills me to think that I will be in Arizona when the baby is born and the first time I see the baby will be on facebook. Being away from family and friends is one of the hardest things about living in Arizona. Gratefully I have been making some great friendship out here or else I would be going crazy. Thankful to God for that!

whats new

Gosh when we moved here I thought I woud be twiddling my thumbs, home with Karli all day. Between being sick twice, having visitors 3 times, going to California and Missouri, being a Jr. High Leader, and possibly getting a part time job I have found myself quite busy. I must say sometimes it is kind of nice.

These past weeks I have seen the huge transformation in Karli from baby to toddler. Walking was a huge milestone. Seeing her toddle around the house is one of the cutest things. Whenever she leaves a room she says bye to everyone in it. "Bye mommy, bye boon (balloon), bye gabba (yo gabba gabba), bye daddy." She sings along to Twinkle Twinkle little star and gets a lot of the song right. I was counting with her the other day and to my amazement she counted some with me. She got 1,2, 3, 7,8,10 right. I was AMAZED! "Your baby can read" has been paying off too. She reads about 20 words.
One of her favorite things to do is sit down and read a book out loud to herself. Although she is just babbling it is the CUTEST because she reads it with the proper cadence and she will point to the words as she thinks she is reading them. Often times you can find her walking laps around the house singing and dancing.

As for me, the most exciting news is that I am trying to grow my hair out. lol. I am pretty boring. I am currently reading through the devotional "Jesus Calling" that my mom gave me. It is really good. I am always trying to meet new people. Jason and I feel like we are making some solid friendships out here which we are really thankful for. I am so grateful for facebook because I am able to stay a part of the day to day lives of my wonderful friends back home. I am SO thankful for that. Without it I would be having a MUCH harder time.

As for Jason, He has been super busy. The cool thing about his job is that he gets to show off his work to thousands of people each Sunday and from that he has been getting freelance jobs. We are soooo thankful for that! It is much needed.

Recently Jason and I have really been thinking about the future. Will we buy a house? And if so, how?When will we start trying to have another baby? All have yet to be answered but I know no matter what it all rests in God's hands and I am so thankful for that. I am just so grateful to God for guiding us and providing for our needs. My challenge to myself is to never forget that because you are forced to depend on him when you are in times of need but in times of prosperity it is easier to forget your utter dependency on him.

Mason comes to visit!

Uncle Nathan, Aunt Danielle and Cousin Mason came to visit because Nathan had some work out here. We were able to spend some time with them at the beautiful hotel they were staying at. It was so adorable to see them together and spend time with my brother and sister in law! Karli and Mason love each other so much.

LOVE these kids!

They look so big!

Mason showing Karli "nigh night"

Karli going "nigh night"