Obsessive Aunt?

I can't help it...he's just so stinkin' cute! (I can't imagine what I am going to be like when it's my kid.)

The Running Man

Chris had his marathon this past weekend in Tulsa. He's been training for it for the past three months and it was so cool to see him accomplish this goal. He finished in great time and, minus the sore legs and nasty blood blister, he's feeling really good. I am so proud of him!

A Name for Baby H

We've been debating names for Baby H for the past month and have gotten no closer to deciding. So, we thought we'd see what other people thought about the names we've narrowed it down to (it worked for the Davis'!). Here is what we have thus far:

Cade
Carson
Connor
Austin

We're drawn to the "C" names but not strictly limited to them...thoughts?!?

Week #24

This is where Baby H is this week. (we're slowly narrowing down names...)

- Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.
- His body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.
- Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his distaste.
- Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of his hands has improved as he sucks his thumb.
- Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.
- His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
- Baby weighs 1.3 pound and is 11.8 inches long.....almost the length of a ruler!

JT in his Bumbo Chair

I swear this little guy makes my heart melt. Of course this picture just made me laugh...all he needs is a beer in his hand and I know for sure that he's his dad's boy.

IT'S A BOY!

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and found out that my expanding belly is holding a baby boy. It was one of the coolest experiences to see the little guy squirming around in there. And it was such a relief hearing that everything looked normal. The whole ultrasound he was standing on his head and, surprisingly, was a little modest for the first few minutes. The technician couldn't get him to uncross his legs!!! Finally he did give us a good flash, and much to Chris' delight, he was most definitely a little boy. We're still working on a name for him...we may end up polling our blogging friends like the Davis' did and see what everyone thinks! We'll see...

Week #18

This where Baby H is this week...

Your baby's brain is growing rapidly. By this stage, all of the major areas have been differentiated. The cortical layers, which govern specific brain functions, are beginning to form. The fetus may exhibit signs of a primitive body language in utero, such as recoiling when the needle for the amniocentesis comes too close for comfort. Within the next few weeks, she'll be able to hear voices outside the womb and respond positively to music or loving words. It's time to fine-tune your singing and storytelling skills!

Busy last few weeks...

We have been all over, or at least it seems like it, the past few weeks. We were able attend my sweet cousin Kayla's wedding in Texas three weeks ago. Of course she looked beautiful and it was great to see that side of the family. Two weeks later we headed to New Mexico (again) for my cousin Mark's wedding. The whole even was wonderful and such a testament to their love throughout all they've been through this past year. Last weekend we headed to Oklahoma for Chris' 10 year reunion and for my annual reunion with "The 8". It was a total whirlwind but we managed to get it all in. I even got to see Chris' high school and the town he grew up in. It was a fabulous weekend. Now we're ready to be home for awhile...

Domesticated...kinda

I decided to attempt a recipe from this months Real Simple. With a name like that, they have to have simple recipes, right?! Well, this was one was pretty easy and it turned out amazingly well! I was so proud of that golden bird that I had to take a picture of it. It even tasted good. Of course my cooking high was quickly deflated as the cobbler I made tasted like foot. I guess you can't win them all....

Week #15

Man, I have really sucked when it comes to the whole blog posting thing. One major thing that has happened since the birth of adorable Jack Tyler is that we found out he'll be having a cousin come February 18th-ish! It's been really surreal but it's really starting to sink in...especially now that I have a little "pooch" that I can't suck in! This is where Baby Hoyle is this week:

Your Baby
The body is now growing faster than the head, balancing out that brain-heavy look and making the fetus appear more baby-like. The skin is covered with lanugo, an ultrafine hair that protects it until birth. There's also hair on the baby's head, and the beginnings of tiny eyebrows. Your little one is now about 4 inches long and weighs just under 2 ounces.

Jack Tyler

I got to meet my adorable nephew this weekend! Could he be any cuter???? I don't think so!!!

A Whirlwind

So, I guess it is time to start blogging again. After leaving my job at BSC, I suddenly didn't HAVE to be in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. So I didn't want to be at a computer at all! Email, blogging and the like all went on the back burner... But now it's time to get re-acquainted with cyberspace.

A lot has happened in the past two months. I've been to St Louis, Tulsa four times, Stillwater two times, Norman, Eureka Springs, Harrison three times, New Mexico, Denver, Ft Smith twice, and Mulberry. We've celebrated family birthdays, my cousin's wedding, my parent's 30th anniversary, our 2nd anniversary, AND the birth of my precious little nephew, Jack Tyler (pic attached)! We had a huge water leak in our upstairs bathroom that flooded our downstairs about four weeks ago that we just now got all fixed. Needless to say, it's been kind of crazy around our house!!!

I think I have finally gotten settled in to not going into an office everyday. As silly as it sounds, I really had a hard time with that for the first month or so! I didn't know what do with myself! But it's been a complete blessing to be able to work out the house. God is pretty cool!

Winding Down

I am down to my last week here at Black Star Creative. It's been a whirlwind trying to get jobs wrapped up and making sure I am not going to leave the guys hanging. I am having a hard time even imagining what it's going to be like not coming here to work every day. I almost feel guilty thinking about not working 8-5!! I have worked with Larry and Greg for almost four years now...that is longer than any single dating relationship I've had, my marriage/relationship with Chris, and a lot of my friendships! But with all that I have been through with them I really don't feel regret or any sort of sadness when I think about leaving. I guess that's good. It's time this chapter of my life is closed. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Changes...

(No, we're not pregnant!!!!!)

As most of you know, I started a graphic design company about a year and a half ago with four other people. The business has done well, but as Chris and I have re-evaluated things and after much discussion and prayer, we have decided that now is a good time for me leave Black Star Creative and become a stay-at-home-mommy for our kitty, Marley. :)

I am going to be doing two businesses from home now - Arbonne International and freelance graphic design. Both of these businesses are not nearly as established as I had originally planned on them being when I thought I would be ready to leave Black Star, so this has really tested me to see if I do trust that the Lord will provide. I know he will...and I am excited to see how he does it!! So, if I could ask for your prayers as we take this next step, we'd really appreciate it. Also, if you have any need for graphic design, if you'd like to know more about a business with Arbonne International, OR if you'd like to order any Arbonne products, please don't hesitate to email or call.

Outside of that, everything else is pretty normal here in the Hoyle household. Well, Chris is starting a new job next week with a sales firm, so he's really excited to start something new (we like to make big changes together).

Isn't it ironic...

...that the last post I made talked about a tornado hitting our house and then the one previous is titled "There's no place like home"? If I had a dog named Toto or if my name were Dorthy it would be TOO fitting. Well, my parents live on Yellow Brick Road and my grandmother's name was Dorothy....I should take a nap.

What the hail?

We had a tornado in Bentonville last night. I had been told by several people that tornadoes don't hit NWA (something to do with hills), but apparently they didn't know what they were talking about. I guess we don't have them that often though b/c the whole timing of sirens going off in comparison to when the tornado actually hit was pretty off. (I think the sirens went off briefly 30 minutes before anything happened and then we didn't hear anything after that.) Thankfully, there was no damage to our house - other than one of our spot lights being shattered. Chris' poor car took a beating though. The softball-sized hail left nice pock marks on the roof and hood, and his windshield is cracked too. Compared to the damage other people suffered though, we were very fortunate.

There's no place like home...

We made it back from "the motherland" as Chris likes to call it. It was an amazing trip. The Lord really blessed us with easy travel and aside from the minor bump of the airlines misplacing our luggage (it was found and returned by the next day), things really couldn't have gone any smoother. We stayed with our friends Kevin and Alyson while we were in Moscow - they live there and work full-time with Campus Crusade. They were such good hosts (Alyson is a fabulous cook). We were able to hit all the major "hot spots" of Moscow while we were there, including the amazing Honey Festival (there were literally hundreds of booths of people selling honey for all ailments one could possibly have - I had no idea there were that many kinds of honey!!!).

We flew to Samara (where Chris lived for two years) on Tuesday. We met up with several students that Chris became friends as well as the CRU team. I was able to see where Chris lived for both years (they definitely have a different standard of living than here!!!), and I was also able to meet Chris language teacher that still loves him to death. We hung out with a Russian, Nick, that Chris knew his two years there and Nick's girlfriend (that spoke no English) on two different occassions. It was rather entertaining having every conversation translated at least once for her or for me!

After a marathon trip to Samara we came back to Moscow to spend our last two days. We bought lots of vodka and chocolate to bring home to friends, and I got myself an official Russian tea set. (I am having people over for tea in a few days to show Chris it really was a worthwhile purchase!)

There are so many other things that happened that I can't even begin to write about them all. It was a wonderful experience that I am so glad we had together. It is, however, SO nice to be back in a place where everyone speaks the same language I do.

We made it!

We made it to Russia in one piece! We arrived yesterday afternoon in Moscow with no complications. They lost our bags but ended up delivering them sometime early this morning. We were able to get a full nights rest, so the jet lag hasn't been too bad. Today we're going to a Russian church service and then to a honey festival (I am not really sure what that entails). The weather is beautiful here...lots of snow but sunny and in the 20s. I can definitely handle that! I will try to keep you all posted as I have internet connection...

Russia, here we come!

We're leaving tomorrow morning for Russia. Most people go to the beach or somewhere warm, but who wants to be "normal", right?! It's really snuck up on me b/c we've been so busy with work and life in general. I was able to get most of our packing done last night, so tonight we can focus on making sure we have everything. Luckily, the weather there has warmed (warm being relative, of course), so I won't have to pack TOO many sweaters. I have been told that January had record breaking cold weather. I am SO thankful that it's February!!!

We are leaving tomorrow morning and should arrive in Moscow 17 hours and 1,264 miles later. Our friends will be picking us up at the airport and we'll be staying with them for three days or so. (I have been told that you never really plan anything there...you just go with the flow) We'll then fly to Samara, where Chris lived for his two years there. I am excited to meet the students he worked with as well as see where he lived. We'll be there for a couple of days and then begin our trip back home.

V-Day

Our community group had the chance to serve dinner at a women's shelter for Valentines Day. It was such a blessing for me to be able to love on some women that hadn't really seen a lot of love in their lives. Not only were we able to love on them, but we were also able to hang out with everyone in our community group. What a fun bunch of people...

Early Valentines Celebration

My favorite husband surprised me with an early Valetines surprise this past weekend. He and Caleb planned a day-long scavenger hunt for Amanda and me. Our day started with notes explaining that our day would begin by getting a massage and that we'd have further instructions after that. After Amanda was dropped off at my house, we went to a salon nearby and received an hour long massage. (they can't seem to not get your hair all greasy - hence the picture)

After the massage, and all the women in the salon ooh-ing and aahh-ing about what sweet husbands we had, we were told to go to Kennedy Coffee. There we had to tell the employee behind the counter that we needed an envelope pertaining to "Operation Sweet Husband". (yes, rather corny) There was money for coffee and instructions to go to Fayetteville. After a few more stops, lunch at a Greek restaurant, and a little bit of shopping, we ended up back at my house to watch "Cinderella Man". (I guess it's a good movie about supporting your husband?) After the movie we met our men for dinner. They were waiting in front of the restaurant with flowers. Yep, I think I will keep him.

20/20

So, with two weeks of 20/20 vision, I feel like I can write and say that Lasik surgery is the most amazing thing ever. I had a check up with the doctor last week and he said that I had perfect vision. I have never heard those words before in my life. I have to laugh at myself though - I still reach up to take my glasses off when I go to bed. I also forget that taking the contacts out is no longer part of my nightly routine. I am sure that I will get used to it one of these days!

Tomorrow is the Big Day...

...I am getting Lasik eye surgery!!! For the first time in I don't know how long, I am going to be able to see when I open my eyes in the morning... I won't have to wear glasses. I just can't even fathom....

An Arkansas Kinda Date

We were finally able to double date with the Gabrieles this past weekend. We had plans for a high-fa-looten evening of dinner and movie, but somehow it took a weird turn....

We all met for dinner at Chilis and planned to go back to our house for a movie or something. Somehow, though, we all decided that if we were close to Lowes, we should really stop in. After we all looked at washers and dryers, picked out our light bulbs and dishwasher plugs, we were happily on our way to continue the date. Once we got back to our house though, Caleb, being the servant that he is, offered to help put in our range hood (we got new appliances for our kitchen). Of course the guys got on a roll and the next thing we knew they had saws, drills, and a big stick sort-of-thing out to help wedge out the dishwasher. Unfortunately, nothing went as planned. At one point water was leaking from underneath our sink - luckily we had a plumber friend to call. Then we realized that we had the wrong plug-in AND that we needed a different hose. Amanda and I took a trip to WalMart and spent about 20 minutes in the hardware section - of course WalMart had nothing that we were looking for. So, finally by 11, we all gave up. The great thing is, though, that we had a blast with them. We wanted to do something out of the ordinary for a date...we just hadn't planned on home improvement!

That was four days ago and we're still not able to use our dishwasher...yet. I guess we'll need to have another date with them so we can get it all done!

It's been awhile...

Things have been insane the past several weeks. We went to Mulberry/Alma, AR for Christmas to celebrate with Chris' side of the family. It was my first Christmas not to spend with my family. While it was a little odd and had its sad moments, it wasn't as traumatic as I thought it was going to be. It was fun hanging out with the Hoyle family and watching them all interact with each other.

The week after Christmas I didn't have to work and it was absolutely heavenly. I hadn't realized how much my job was affecting my attitude until Chris mentioned how pleasant I was to be around! It struck me as funny that you can be so wrapped up in something that you can't even see the change in yourself. It was really hard coming back to work... I could almost see myself wanting to be a stay at home mom very soon. Without the mom part, of course! ;)

For New Years we celebrated Christmas with my family. We pretended that New Year's Eve was Christmas day and we did the whole shabang with stocking stuffers, a HUGE breakfast, finding the pickle on the tree, reading the Christmas story, and hugs after opening each and every gift. It's fun to have the tried and true holiday traditions.

During our New Years Eve/Christmas Day celebration we rented the first season of "24". Man, I knew that if I started watching that show that I would get addicted. Yep, I am addicted. We're over half way through the first season and are in the process of tracking down season two. I can see why my brother always asks the question, "What would Jack Bower do?" Yes, it's a sickness....