First Baptist Church of Monroe

I've been praying alot lately for God to guide me to the right church. Today I felt that he led me to the First Baptist Church of Monroe.

I arrived about five minutes before the service started, sat about midway down in the pews. No one spoke to me, one person smiled. This was not a very big church and I felt like it was clear I was a visitor. The praise and worship band started singing and we all stood up and joined in. I enjoyed this part; I always enjoy a good praise song. The pastor stood up and asked the congregation to look around and greet new faces and speak to one another. I stood up, and being the odd (wo)man out, I was excited to meet some of the church members. Well, I waited and looked around, and no one spoke to me or made eye contact. Around me, everyone was hugging and laughing and talking and I stood there alone, quiet and shocked. I could feel the tears come to my eyes. Right as the band began to sing a man came up to me and shook my hand and told me his name.

After the song, a woman came to the podiem and ironically talked about the word "connection" for a few moments. She said how as christains it is so important to connect with new faces and really be a connecting factor in someones life. This is of course ironic because no one connected with me.

We sand a song or two, the offering was given and the sermon began. The sermon was by the associate pastor today, as their senior pastor was at a conference. He spoke of the Lord's Supper. The sermon was informative. I was hoping for something a little more. We sang another song and everyone began to collect their things and head out.

A couple was standing at the end of my pew, waiting, and I smiled and thought they were going to speak to me! I was wrong. I stood there and they just looked at me blankly and then they finally said, "Um, can we get by you?" Again, I could feel the tears coming. It was everything I could do to get to the car before I started crying.

Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed. Here I am coming to the house of God, looking to find a christian home and no one welcomed me. When I got home I realized it was just God's way of saying this is not the right home for you. When you are looking to find a home, you don't just take the first one you find. You do your research, you go and visit, it's trial and error. And then, you are successful, you find your new home and it is a perfect fit.

I can't wait to find my new home.

Children's Museum of Atlanta

Last week Polly and I took Lily Kate and Nolan to Atlanta for a visit to the children's museum. The kids had such a great time!!

Nolan immediately ran to the oversize lego's and building blocks. This is where his perma-grin began. The child did not stop smiling. He next payed a shot trip to the sand "bar." BUT his favorite thing by far was the real John Deere tractor! Nolan did not want to leave it, other children were trying to play on it as well and I had to drag Nolan away from the thing. I finally got him to check out the "rainforest" area where he could do some magnetic fishing in his raincoat.

We will go back for sure. It was such a great place and it's free while the children are under two!

Rich's 35th Birthday

We spent Rich's 35th Birthday in the NC mountains! Our family along with Rich's parents, his sister, her fiance and my mom were all there. It was so great to spend time with family. Rich got a Kelty backpack that holds Nolan. He was eager to try it out so we took a hike on the Boone Fork Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway. After we had hiked a mile or so we walked down the creek and let Nolan play! Aaron and Rich skipped stones while Nolan threw rocks and played in the water.

Saturday morning Dick and I went on a bike ride along the New River on Railroad Grade Road. I wish I had pictures! It is one of my favorite rides and one of the prettiest I have been on.

For dinner we had delicious steak kabobs, roasted potatoes and corn right out of my parents neighbor's garden. Everything was delicious. Our friend John joined us for dinner, it was great to see him. We ended the night by playing Apples to Apples--it is a hilarious game that I suggest trying with your friends!

All in all it was a great weekend with family. I hope we can do it again this fall or sometime next year.

Venture into Sewing

Ever since Sewing 101 in high school I've always wanted to do more with it. My grandmother gave me an old Singer for Christmas a few years ago. I never took the time to learn to use it. I can't even remember how to thread the bobbin (I think that's what it's called!)

Rich has been encouraging me to look for sewing classes and tonight is the first time I've actually done it! I found one that meets once a week for a month, 2 1/2 hour long meetings. It's called The Sewing Institue and it's one Lady who hosts classes at the Hobby Lobby in Conyers. I'm not exactly sure how far that is from here, but I don't think it's more than hour. The classes are reasonably priced, so I've decided to take the classes in August or September. I'm so excited!!

I want to be able to make accessories as well as clothing. I'm hoping that eventually I will be able to sell things on www.etsy.com . Anyway, I'm super excited about it!

Oak Island 2009

Trip to Oak Island, NC was a real blast! It was great to see family from St. Louis as well as spend time with Rich, Nolan, my Sister, her Boyfriend, Mom and my Grandmother. There is nothing like relaxing and catching up with family.

Nolan was unsure of the beach when we first arrived. The ocean is such a scary thing for a little boy. It's like staring into infinity. Nolan didn't like the texture of the sand either! Once we gave him his beach wagon with toys he became brave and took off running on the beach front. The first time Rich and Nolan waded slowly into the ocean a wave surprised them both and took Nolan under!!! Luckily, Rich was holding onto Nolan hands and all was fine. Surprisingly, Nolan still ventured back into the ocean with Dad.

The pool was a different story, Nolan was quick to play. He had a bright yellow float for the deep water and loved playing in the wading pool. I also preferred the pool to the beach!

We enjoyed homemade ice cream one day and loved visiting South Port, a quaint town on the Cape Fear River. We had dinner at Fishy Fish, a restaurant on the water front.

Sis, Bradley, Rich and I enjoyed a few nights out at this tiny bar, the Pirates Deck! We became friends with the bartender and even made it onto her picture "Wall of Fame." I had my frist Shock Top and LOVED IT. But I always enjoy a belgian white.

Basically, I can't wait to do it all again next year!!!

Baptism

On Sunday, March 15th Nolan was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC. It went really well! Nolan went to the pastor (Scott) with no trouble. When Scott started sprinkling water on his head Nolan acted like everything was cool. I figure he associated it with bath time. We got a baptism certificate and a baptism candle; we're supposed to light the candle every year on March 15th and have a commemorative dinner and recognize the special day.

After the church service my mother-in-law, Toni, had a special luncheon for Nolan. It was so fun. The adults enjoyed conversing and eating while Nolan and his cousins were running in and out of everyone's legs. We had mini-sandwich's, strawberries, pineapple and veggies marinated in italian dressing--delicious! For desert, my mom made an amazing chocolate cake topped with almonds and chocolate icing. I love having my family and Rich's family together. We're so lucky everyone gets along so well!

There are so many amazing pictures from the luncheon, but I'll only post a few. The pictures are as follows: our family; Nolan with his godparents; Nolan with Rich and Uncle Mike. Thank you to everyone who made Nolan's day so speical.

Walker and a Talker

Yes, Nolan is walking! He started walking last Wednesday! It was so exciting. He took 18 steps, and my Mother-in-Law one was like "That's walking Kathryn!". Now, he is all over the place! He can walk the whole length of our house, at the grocery store, mall and outside. It's so neat. Every time he takes a step I am still amazed.

No, Nolan is NOT talking. But he babbles all the time. "Bwah Bwah Bwah" is his favorite staying. He gets a lot of "MaMa's" and "DaDa's" in there too. He is learning that objects have names. He knows fan, book, ball, cat, cow (in a book), eebee (a book character), pass pass. He is pointing at things he wants, like his sippy cup.

We spent the afternoon outside. Enjoy the photos!