The Howell Family

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-14T13:52:00.003-06:00

Rogers looks like he is about to be sick, but I thought Santa was very nice. At least we didn't have a screamer on our hands!! Side note, those socks are just killin me, thanks Scott for those!! Memories were made that is all that matters, right??

Merry Christmas

We have some news...

2011-12-13T14:44:00.004-06:00

Rogers is going to be a big brother!! We are so excited about our new baby sister or baby brother that will be making an appearance July 25th!!

As you know from our story, we are a fertility family. We did IVF to have Rogers and when we were ready to have a second baby we made our way back to ART to go for it. We had four frozen embryos waiting for us. So we did a transfer of two on them back in June, I was so confident that this was going to work, but right before we did the transfer we learned that with a frozen embryo there is a 30% chance that it will take, compared to a fresh embryo which has a 60% chance at taking. I did everything I was suppose to, laying on my back for a week and then taking it easy the next week, which is quite difficult with a one year old by the way. My mom came in town and helped take care of Rogers which was such a blessing. We learned nine days later that neither of the embryos took. So we made arrangements for the next month to use our last two embryos. We went through the process again and the awnser was a no again.

I just want to stop here and tell you what amazing friends we have. After the second month of this journey and hearing a no for the second month in a row, our friends rallied around us. We went to the lake with some of our best friends and the weekend became a time of loving on us and morning with us. I could not have asked for anything more, and I am so grateful for their love and friendship!

We went back to ART to regroup and figure out what to do next. I really struggled with the second no, because I just could not understand why God would have given us these 4 healthy embryos and have none of them work. As we moved forward we decided to do 3 IUIs, if none of them worked then we knew that we would take a year off and try IVF next August. About this time I started a bible study up at our church, that was called To Walk and Not Grow Weary. Was that for me or what??!! I had no clue what I was walking into, but the first week we studied about Sarah and her infertility and I about lost it. I just felt like God was reminding me that he had not forgotten me, and it was not by chance that I had shown up in this bible study with a leader who had struggled with infertility for 11 years. My leader reminded me that regardless of how many shots I take or how many IUIs we do, the Lord decides if it will be a yes or a no.

Well, we did 2 IUIs and both did not produce a pregnancy. I had gone to bible study and we were studying Rebekah and how she had to wait on the Lord before having her son. I left bible study and the Lord spoke so clearly to me, saying, Katie, it is time to wait on me and stop all of the treatments. I had a choice, either I would trust the Lord or I would continue to try things my way. Everything that was in me wanted to go back to ART to do the last IUI. But instead I called Scott in tears and told him that it was time to stop everything and that we needed to wait on the Lord.

The next month I was feeling funny and took a pregnancy test on a Monday or course it said not pregnant which is every pregnancy test I had ever taken. The following Friday I was still feeling interesting so I took one more, and it said pregnant. I almost died!! My hands were shaking and I called Scott at work at 7 in the morning. I said I know normal people wait until their husbands come home to tell them this, but I am looking at a positive pregnancy test. He said he didn't know what to do, but that I needed to go buy more tests and take them! Off to the store we went and after taking 2 more tests, all of them said the same thing, pregnant!!!

We did not obey the Lord because we thought He would give us a baby, but what an amazing gift that He has blessed us with. We are thrilled!!

We Have Got an Indian on Our Hands!!

2011-11-18T13:23:00.004-06:00

This is what I saw when I was going to pick up Rogers from school yesterday on the bulletin board outside his room. Happy almost Thanksgiving!!!

A good post to come...

Our Recent Adventures..

2011-09-26T17:43:00.003-05:00

We have been having some fun in the Howell household lately. Enjoying the Fall weather and watching Rogers grow up before our eyes!! This is his Halloween costume, a little early yes, but he LOVES it. He wants to put it on at minimum once a day. At least we are getting our moneys worth, right? Monkeys are his favorite right now.. can you tell?

Rogers started mother's day out at the beginning of September and he is let's say "adjusting." We are working on not crying through out the whole day, what can I say he just loves his Momma. This was the first day of school, he sure loves his froggy back pack!!

The buddy and I made a trip to my Uncle Phil's lake house in Kentucky and got to see a bunch of my family. We had a great time, Big and Rogers had some fun on the four wheeler.

The most exciting news recently is that we have a new cousin, this is George Elliott Cochran. We are so excited that he is here!!! He is just perfect and his parents are not to bad themselves! We love you Aunt Ju Ju and Uncle Clay and are so excited for ya'll. Your going to be the best parents ever!!

Rogers meeting his cousin for the first time.. he loves his Saty, we were a little nervous on how he would do with Saty holding her new grand baby, instead of Rogers getting her FULL attention, he did great thank goodness!!

Our house keeps getting a much needed face lift, we just got a new front yard. Now we have a place to go out and play which is wonderful. Rogers FAVORITE thing to do now is pick up sticks in our front yard, which helps Scott out, who knew entertainment was so easy!!

We had to water the lawn so we played in the sprinklers a bit.

Until next time.. God Bless and Wareagle!

Our House Adventure

2011-08-02T13:26:00.006-05:00

As promised here our pictures of the first stage of our house renovation. The house was built in the 1950s and it needed some major tender love and care. We have four stages of reno in the works over quite a few years. I don't have a picture of the outside, that will have to be for another day.

Here goes:

The Kitchen:

This is before:

This is the view from the carport door, the old kitchen is to your right. We covered the brick wall and took out the laundry room and moved it to the basement. Then we made this area into a functional L-shaped kitchen.

What you see below was the previous owners WHOLE kitchen. A very small galley way, to small for my liking, so with the help of Eddleman Properties we turned a small kitchen in to a kitchen that Scott and I just love!! This area was turned into a butler's pantry. Get excited..

Our dining room which we are going to eat in every night and the very big living room.

Sorry Mom, this is not the best picture of you, but it shows where our new working kitchen is going and how it opens into the den.

Now on to the new...

Here is the new kitchen, we took everything out to the bones of the room, and then went to town. This used to be a brick wall and now it's our kitchen!! You are looking at the carport door. I am obsessed with the chandelier, among other things..

The farm sink is so functional and so pretty..

We love how our den opens into the kitchen, it is so functional and spacious!

This was the old kitchen, and we turned it into a butler's pantry, adding an ice maker which is Scott's favorite and a wine cooler with an extra sink. Love it!!

Our new dining room and living room. It needs some furniture to go with the pretty floors!

Above is our new master bedroom, the windows are so fun.. Decorating to come, I promise!

I think he likes it!! Did we mention we have a walking baby?

SMILE!!

2011-07-06T10:17:00.002-05:00

I hope this picture of Rogers makes you as happy as it does me!! More pictures to come soon!

Craziness!!!

2011-06-26T15:51:00.003-05:00

It has been a solid three months since I have come back to our blog, and to say we have been busy would be an understatement!!!

We sold our house with only having it on the market for six weeks, which was such a blessing! The new owners wanted to be in the house in a month, so that meant that we were going to be moving out VERY quickly! Scott did not want to make an offer on a house until after the inspection on our house. So to say that I was extremely nervous about finding the house we are going to spend the next thirty years in just two weeks was an understatement. Our plan was to move into a rental house if we did not find something we loved. I had found the area of Vestavia that I really wanted to be in, and our realtor showed me everything there. We found a ranch with a full basement that needed a lot of tender love and care. I loved that we could make the house our own. So while we were in Boston, which was amazing, with some of our great friends Brown and Katherine, we ended up buying it and then started the renovations!! Pictures will be coming, I feel like I need to re-post this post with pictures later, but we don't have alot of things at the new house right now.. a kitchen, den, cable, or Internet.

Anyways, we decided to use Eddleman Properties for our renovation and I have loved working with them!! We have four or five phases of renovations to make this house our perfect home. But first phase, which is going on right now is new hardwood floors, painting EVERYTHING, new light fixtures, new laundry room in the basement, new doors (inside and out), a new AWESOME kitchen and den, new AC unit and a breaker box to take the place of the fuse box.

Now when you do finally see pictures of our house, yes you will say, does the Brady Bunch live here?? I promise that when we are done with everything, that will not be what comes to your mind!

And yes, we are living around the chaos.. Saty and Pop were so sweet to let us stay with them through the renovation of our bedrooms, and when the rooms were finished we moved into our construction zone of a house. So now we sleep at our new house and then Rogers and I move to the Howell's house during the day. It is going to be amazing to stay in our house and not move around, but we are so blessed to have somewhere to go during the day!

On to other news... Rogers turned one on May 27th, yes we now have a 13 month old, that is so darn cute and also likes to throw really loud temper tantrums. Sorry friends that we went to pizza with last Friday, they got quite an earful!! The whole restaurant was staring at us because of my screaming, very loudly, I may add child. Perfect...I always thought I would never be that girl with the obnoxious kid , well I was completely that girl, and that was why I quickly left before the pizza even came to the table. Liz, thanks for bringing me pizza later! You are the best!!

I will leave you with this bit of new, I went to Italy at the end of May with Saty and my cousin Robin. It was incredible to say the least... I promise to put pictures up when I get my computer back!! If you ever have the chance to go to Florence, Tuscany, and Rome, just say yes, you won't be sorry!!

Well, that is enough for now. I promise to be back sooner that three months..

10 Months and Counting

2011-03-24T16:07:00.003-05:00

I have been thinking lately about the last ten months of our lives. How different they have been in every way possible. We have this little blessing that keeps growing and growing and turning into a little boy with a personality and a lot of spunk!! While we were at the beach last week, can you tell we love the beach, but who doesn't, right?! Side note, thank you Ty Howell for a wonderful trip to Seaside!! Julie, my sister in law, and I were walking around and I was talking about the difficulty of worshipping the Lord during this time in our lives. Another side note, we are so excited that Aunt Ju Ju and Uncle Clay are going to be adding to the Howell clan with a new baby on the way in September. Back to where I was headed, it makes me feel a little better when I read from many mom's thoughts that spending significant time with the Lord really does have to come in different forms rather than how it did before the little bundle of joy arrived. I am still figuring this out 10 months down the road, and I know that this will be a constant journey for the rest of my life. It is just so easy to go to church and stand before the Lord and whole-heartedly commit myself once again to daily devotion and quit times and the next Sunday I am in the same place I was the week before. I think constant prayer and diligence just need to be a bigger part of my life. Any ideas to help??

I wasn't sure if I would be the type of mom that needed to have something to do all the time. I mean we get out of the house EVERY day, and if we didn't, I think I would go insane, but even for a few days during the week if it is just the two of us, I am completely content. Don't get me wrong after a few days of a constant one on one date, I am in need of hanging with some friends. But it is amazing to me, that I am not counting down the seconds until Scott gets home, usually.. =) Another thing that the Lord laid before me when Rogers was quite young, was the opportunity to work from home. When I worked at Canterbury before he came, and a little after Rogers arrival, I was in charge of the finances for their Mother's Day Out and Day Care. Literally the day I left for good, which was very bittersweet, I was told about this job, being the financial secretary for Red Mountain Church. I ended up getting the job which was wonderful and quite overwhelming. After many tears and much anxiety things have calmed down and I am so grateful to have this job that I can do from home. What a blessing, while Rogers is snoozing I SHOULD be doing my job. Sometimes the Bachelor from the night before that is on dvr, or my favorite show Parenthood is calling me to watch, and I do say yes to the tv calling a lot of the time. But I do try to leave the right amount of time for the higher priorities...most of the time.. until that little buddy boy decides to wake up one hour into his nap. Now that is another story..

And now we are on to the next chapter of the Scott, Katie and Rogers journey, looking for our "grown up" house as I like to call it and thinking about the future of our family. Who knows where God will put us and what next little blessing he will bring into our lives. But one thing is for sure, when I look back at the last ten months of my life, I know that the Lord is present, guiding us, directing us, and forming us into who He desires us to be.

I thought a little wrap up was needed, it has been quite a while of fun pictures, but a little depth is good too, right?!

House For Sale House For Sale

2011-03-24T15:48:00.005-05:00

The Howells are on the move because we are in need of some more space. Our house has been a wonderful first home for us but it is time to move on. So if you know of anyone in need of an ADORABLE three bedroom and two bathroom house in Vestavia please send them our way!

Here is the mls number to our humble abode: 492864

And some pictures, please take a little tour..

We Are All Smiles

2011-02-03T15:57:00.003-06:00

We are all smiles in the Howell household these days. Life is good and we are enjoying watching this little guy grow up. I am ready to move on from these cold winter days and move into days at the park and the pool!

Even though we did not make the trip to Glendale for the big game, we had our own party at home. With Scott and I jumping up and down and high fiving like our lives depended on it. Rogers was fast alseep, but you can see that he is very proud of his Auburn Tigers!

I need to get professional pictures taken of the little guy, since he is already eight months old. I tried to take a few on my own, and after Scott kept whining about Rogers being in this adorable outfit, I think Rogers started to agree. This face tells it all!!

Food is our friend. Scott has gotten in the habit of being incharge of Rogers's dinner and it cracks me up!! Each night he tells Rogers that he is going to get some puffs for dessert. Little does Scottie know, Rogers gets puffs ANY time we are out to eat to calm this squirmy baby!!

One thing I have been so thankful for are these girls. Both of them are such an encouragement to me in so many ways. They're rock solid faith in the Lord, how they deal with the ups and downs of daily life, all of their mama advice, and they're amazing friendship. What a blessing that each week when Rogers and I could just be hanging out together all alone, we can pick up and go visit these sweet friends. And Rogers has some cute little girls to play with as well!! Thank ya'll for your amazing friendship!! I love you both!

The Worst Blogger Ever!!

2010-12-15T15:23:00.008-06:00

I have deemed myself the worst blogger ever!! So I am going to give you a little picture summery of what we have been up to the last few months. Here goes..

Back in October, we went to Highlands, NC with some great friends. It was wonderful and everywhere you turned there were babies and more babies..

Rogers started eating and has not stopped!! He is a whooping 19 pounds these days!!!

He is also full of smiles. The way he laughs, just makes my heart melt. Can you tell how much we love this kid..

Rogers was a duck for Halloween, Scott and I were proud parents of this little duckling..

He loves his bath, splashing and kicking everywhere..

Then we were off to Seaside with all of the Howells. We had a great trip and even had our bathing suits on in the middle of Fall!!
Rogers got to go to Auburn for the first time, Wareagle!! I had a Chi O reunion, it was so fun to see my pledge sisters including my best friend Cassie and her kiddos..

Rogers favorite place to be is the Jumperoo, this is one of the best investments we have made in the baby department. He jumps until his heart is content. He is such a proud Auburn fan!!And then Thanksgiving came, we had much to be thankful for!! We headed up to Louisville, KY to visit with all of my family. Rogers got to play with his cousin Maggie and my Mimi. He is very sad that Mimi is an Alabama fan, can you tell, but the Auburn victory made it all better..

And then Christmas arrived..

Rogers loves touching the Christmas tree, and to think last year at this time we did not even know if he was going to be a little boy or a little girl!

He loved Santa, especially his beard..

picking out his first Christmas tree..

and then helping Saty pick her's out too..

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Merry Christmas and hopefully we will be back soon.

Rogers's Big Day

2010-09-20T13:59:00.006-05:00

Can you tell that they're cousins?? Here is Maggie giving her cousin a big kiss. I don't think they could be any cuter!!
We have had such a fun last few weeks. Rogers was dedicated to the Lord and we had many visitors come to our house. Big Daddy, Jo Jo, Aunt Sallie, and Maggie. We were so glad that they could make the trip!! And Rogers loved getting some love from Maggie!!

We started off the day at the church, standing before all our friends, family, and church congregation dedicating our little boy to the Lord, promising to raise him up in a Christ centered home, what a huge responsibility.

Scott and I chose a verse that will be Rogers's verse that we want him to cling to as he grows up.

Psalm 73:26 - My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

It was such a wonderful day. We have waited for this little boy for such a long time, and to have a day to rejoice with family and friends in what the Lord is preparing for Rogers's life and for us as his parents. Here are a few more pictures of the day.

Here we are with Saty and Pop at the church before the dedication.

Saty, put together a wonderful spread at her house after the dedication, how cute is that center piece!!! Thank you so much for everything!!!

Look at all those cute Howells, the day would not have been the same without all of our sweet family there!!
And Sallie, I could not believe that you were able to make it for the weekend. What a wonderful time to get to spend with you and Maggs. We love you so much!!!!

It's Official

2010-09-08T14:35:00.005-05:00

It is official, this is my first week as a full stay at home mom. I think that is worth it to get to be with this cute kid all day long!

I huge thanks to Ty/Saty for helping us out one day a week, while I was trying out the whole working thing! Rogers loved it, and I know that there will be tons of Saty and Rogers time to come!! Hopefully still one day a week if we are lucky, right?? =)

It has been so nice to not have to get up at six each morning, knowing that after a night with not as much sleep as I would have liked, that we can both take a good nap!! But I am already missing everyone at Canterbury, what a blessing they all are!! We are coming to visit soon!

And lastly, here is Rogers watching his first Auburn game!! His parents are so proud, can you tell??

And We Are Getting Bigger and Bigger

2010-08-24T16:02:00.006-05:00

I feel like my average post time is once a month, but it has been longer than that this time. Rogers will be 13 weeks on Thursday. People keep asking me how has it been and my normal answer is it has been an adventure!! He is so wonderful, and we keep learning so many new things about this little guy. In the past two weeks he has started to smile all the time, talk to us, play with toys, roll over, and sleeping 7 hours a night, thank goodness!!!

Here we are at our great friend Brent's wedding this past weekend.

He has started loving the exersaucer! What a big boy!! While I have been away from the blog world, we had our annual Howell/Cordell beach trip! It was great except we missed Aunt Ju Ju and Uncle Clay!! Rogers and I stayed all week, how fun!!

And last but not least, today is Scottie's 29th birthday! Look at that sweet guy with his little boy. Scott, we love you so much!! Happy Birthday, could you ask for a better gift than this little guy!!??

Seven Weeks Today

2010-07-15T12:27:00.008-05:00

Rogers has had a very eventful first seven weeks of life. He has gotten to meet so many fun family and friends already. We made a trip when he was four weeks old up to Franklin so that he could meet a lot of my extended family and he got to meet his sweet cousin Maggie for the first time. Maggie and Rogers are a month a part and it was so fun to see them together. My sister and brother in law were troupers and drive the whole way from Dallas, Texas to see everyone!!

Last weekend Scott had a bachelor party for our great friend Brent, and so Rogers and I went to Franklin to see my parents and then headed to my Uncle Phil and Aunt Christy's lake house for the day. We had a special treat when my grandmother, Mimi and Grandsam decided to come meet us there. Here is my dad (Big Daddy and Mimi with the little guy).

Rogers LOVES the sling, thanks Liz for getting me on board with that purchase, whenever we are having a fussy time, the sling comes out, even at the lake !!

This week we headed to Auburn for the day to see my best friend Cassie, with her little ones Taylor and Grey. Here is Taylor holding Rogers, isn't she so good at that!!! I told her that I have a picture holding her just like that when she was born! Oh, how times have changed!! =)

I promise that I will try to get better at this. Just so much to do and so little time to do it. It is crazy how quickly the days go by!! I will leave you with a cute one of Rogers and his Daddy. I wonder who he looks like...

He's Here He's Here!!

2010-06-01T17:11:00.004-05:00

William Rogers Howell came into the world on May 27, 2010 @ 7:07 am

Here are some pictures of Rogers in his first week of being with us. Pictures of the proud grandmothers and grandpapas. We have had such a laid back baby so far which had made the transition much easier. We can not wait to see what the coming weeks will bring.

Rogers's birthday was a very eventful day that I will have to fill you in on later.

More to come, but for now, I just wanted to show him off!!!

How blessed we are to have such a miracle given to us that can only come from a loving and gracious God.

Our Nursery!!

2010-05-07T16:02:00.006-05:00

I wanted to post some pictures of Rogers's nursery. I have had so much fun putting it together with the help of some sweet friends! And Scott had to put his two cents in as well, of course. Now all we need is for little Rogers to make his big appearance. I am in at week 36, measuring at week 40, so who knows when he will get here!!

Baby Shower Fun!!

2010-04-06T17:10:00.005-05:00

So the Howells have been very busy the last few months and it is time to update the blog. We have been getting ready to meet Rogers and I got to celebrate his coming with some wonderful friends and family. It was so humbling to have all my sweet friends put on a baby shower in my honor and lets just say that Rogers is going to be the cutest dressed little boy you have ever met!! My gradnmother was able to fly down from Louisville, Ky and my parents made the trip from Franklin as well. The only missing piece was my sister Sallie, who is about to have a little Maggie coming her way! Sal, please know that you were missed!! It was wonderful to celebrate our new family that is on the way.

Thank you so much for making me feel so special and for celebrating our little boy!! Only a few more weeks and will be able to meet Rogers! I can't wait to put all our showering to good use! Ya'll are the best!!

Some Big News

2010-01-06T12:37:00.003-06:00

I know that I keep taking long breaks from the blogging world, but the news we received this past Monday had to be shared!!! We found out we are having a little boy!!! William Rogers Howell will be his name and we are going to call him Rogers!! William is my dad's first name and Rogers is Scott's great grandfather's name.

Now I know to some this does not seem like a huge surprise, of course the little baby will either be a boy or a girl right?! But with the type of invitro we had to go through, there was a 68% chance that we were going to have a little girl. And if you asked Scott what he thought this little one was he was 100% sure it was a girl. I really did not have a feeling one way or the other, but I would tell people that I thought it was a boy, just because Scott was so sure it was a girl. =)

When we were sitting outside the ultra sound room waiting to go in, I was getting a little restless. I was just ready to hear that everything was healthy and then of course what the baby was. I asked Scott what he would do if it was boy, because he was SOOO sure that it was a girl. Here is his anwser: "Kate, you know when you are little, and it was Christmas morning and the only thing that you want for Christmas was a pony. Well, as the morning goes on you get all of these amazing toys and it has been a great, and then after all the presents are opened, your mom turns to you and tells you to go out back because there is one more present for you to see, and it is the pony." He said that is what a little boy would be for him, his pony. Well... Scott got his pony, that is for sure!!!

I will be 19 weeks tomorow, so almost half was there.

And I don't think I have mentioned this on the blog, but my sister is having a little girl 5 weeks before us!! Little Maggie and little Rogers are going to have so much fun together!!!

Glee!!!

2009-11-05T12:12:00.003-06:00

I think that the whole world should know about both mine and Scott's new love!!! Glee!!! The show is wonderful, and the music that you get to hear each week is incredible. The show is about a high school glee club and all of their high school drama. They sing all of these new and old songs and change them up a little bit so that their choir can sing them. The songs range from Golddigger, to Heart, to oldies. If you have not watched this show or listened to the soundtrack you are missing out. It comes on FOX on Wednesdays at 8 central time.

The volume one soundtrack came out this week on itunes, and now all I want to do is drive around listening to it. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Below is the cast, can you tell we are obsessed!!

The Long Journey

2009-10-12T12:25:00.004-05:00

My blogging has been at a stand still for quite a while, but I do think that the reason makes it quite alright.

I have really struggled about when I was ready to share our journey with everyone, but I guess that now is just as great as any. In the real world, we have been quite open about the past 10 months, but for some reason, I just needed more time to be ready to bring this to the blogging world.

So, if any of you know me, I have wanted to be a mom, since, well, before I can even remember. When I finally got the go head from Scott that we could start the trying process last January, let's just say I was ecstatic!! We began the process and since I was so ready for this and I had other friends who had started earlier than us, I had already started taking my temperature to make sure that we did not miss a month of the possibility of having our own precious baby! As the months continued on, and my body started doing some crazy things, I knew that it was time to go see my doctor. She put me on clomid for three months, it worked great the first month and I thought we were in the clear, and the next two months were unsuccessful. Now, I have always has the mindset, that if there was a problem, instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, (which I have done a few times in this process, don't you worry) I wanted to move forward to find the solution to our problem. So after three months of intense hot flashes and no baby, we moved on to the ART fertility program at Brookwood hospital. Most people would be crushed that they had to take this step, and before going for our first visit, I was quite nervous, the idea of being called a fertility patient really freaked me out and still does to a degree. But when Scott and I walked into that office and saw that the entire waiting room was filled with people that were going through the exact same thing as us, it truly put my mind at ease.

After some painful tests, we learned that I have an anovulation problem, endometriosis and my cervix is basically shut. Now, all of those things really don't encourage a baby, now do they??! After talking with our wonderful doctor, he told us that our best choice to have a child would be to do invitro. Now, before Scott and I walked into ART we had agreed that we would take a step back from this process when we got to the invitro stage, and low in behold it was the first step that we needed to take. After many long conversations between the two of us, soul searching on if this was the right direction for us and seeking the Lord first and foremost. We both came to the decision together that we were ready to move forward with invitro.

The month before the actual procedure is like a well oiled machine at ART. We received a calender of what to do each day, I had shots to take and pills to pop. I have to say a HUGE thank you to all my amazing friends that have had to give me shots during this process. From in a movie theatre bathroom (Katherine), to many night at your apartment while I moved in for week (Hewitt), or at bible study (Jordan). We would not be where we are today without all of you!!!

So we kept going in for check ups day after day, until they told us that we were ready for the main event. The egg retrieval turned out to be very successful. Those little babies grew and grew during the next five days until they put the blast cysts back in. We received daily updates about our little babies during those crucial days and we ended up putting two babies back in my "feather bed" of a uterus as the sweet nurse had put it. We have four other blast cysts that we have frozen to use for our next babies. Do we sound like the Jetson's or what??!!

The hardest part of the whole process was waiting the nine days from when they implant those two babies to going to take the pregnancy test. We did pretty well until the day of the test. I was a complete basket case. I had done everything the doctor has told me to do, I stayed home from work for four days laid around and relaxed, it was pretty nice, I might add. But knowing that besides relaxing nothing I did would help those little babies to make a home in my "feather bed" of a uterus, unless it was what the Lord willed, helped me deal with my control issues pretty quickly. The day of the test, I had had some pregnancy symptoms, and our doctor had also told us that he would be very surprised if I was not pregnant. These were both very good signs but in my heart of hearts, I just could not believe anything until we heard a yes from the nurse.

Scott and I had decided that we wanted our nurse to leave the results on our patient message system. Since the office would usually just call me in the middle of the day with results and this result was a little to important to listen to by myself. We wanted to listen to it when we were at home together so that we could hear either great news or the opposite with just the two of us. So the wait until four o'clock began. Since they would have given us the results in the middle of the day, this was quite a long wait, knowing that the answer was on the voicemail the whole time.

Well, 2:30 hit and I started to feel sick from nerves, how was I going to make it to four, I really wasn't sure. But we made it and called the number together on speaker phone, it was just crazy, that this message was going to either tell us yes, we are having a baby, or no not this time. So definite, so concrete. So much time and effort and prayer had been put into this entire process, and this woman on the other end of the message was going to give us some of the most important news we had ever received.

The speaker phone was on, and I had dialed the number, completely scared out of my mind, as was Scott, and the only thing we both heard was congratulations!!!! I just burst into tears, tears that had been waiting to escape for sometime. The emotion that we both had been caring around, trying to be strong for each other, trying to be prepared for a no, was all out on the table. Scott, finally had to look at me and say, "Kate, this is a good thing." And it was, it was the best news that we had gotten all year. After hearing so many nos, I just couldn't believe that it was a yes!!!

So as of last Thursday I am six weeks along, we are due June 3rd. Quite early, yes I know, but if you are reading this please lift up a prayer for us as we continue down this amazing road. We got to see that incredible little heart beat last Thursday, and we will continue to go to ART every week as they monitor our progress until they release me to go back to my regular ob. It is still very surreal to me that we are in this place, that it is not the sweet girl next to me having a baby, but after all this time, that it is me. All you girls who are where I was, just wait for the feeling when it is actually you, it is more than you could imagine, I promise.

I think that as we have moved from one stage of this process to another, I just don't want to ever forget the path that the Lord has taken us through. Scott and I have grown so much in our relationships with the Lord, waiting for His time and His answers. We have grown in our relationship with each other, learning how to hold each other up, how to support each other and how to love each other well. I would not have asked for this journey at all, but the blessings that continue to spill out from it have been more than I could have imagined.

If you are going through this hardship, I would love to talk to you. I just don't think that the Lord would put me through this long process without opening a path to help others who are in this place right now.

Updates to come on our new baby Howell!!!

Katie

Happy Birthday Scottie!!

2009-08-24T20:53:00.004-05:00

So yesterday was Scott's 28th birthday. That is his favorite pecan pie from Hoover Country Club that he had for his "birthday cake." I think that I get more excited about his birthday than he does, but as you can tell he humored me none the less. Before the pie, I told him that we could go where ever he wanted to for dinner, being that he was the birthday boy and all. And for those of you that know Scott Howell, this will not come as a surprise, but the only place he wanted to go was CiCi's pizza buffet, he was gitty from excitement about his place of choice. Let's just say is was a stretch for me to keep a smile on my face for that one. After Scott put down 12 slices of pizza and I was surviving on dessert, we were out of there and on to find his birthday present from his mom and dad. He was pretty excited, because a Big Green Egg was in his future....

Very proud, isn't he?? Here is Scott already putting it together, but he needs his Big Green Egg partner in crime Brown (hint hint) to come help him put the rest of it together, so that he can get grilling on this monster!

My present for Scott was a long time coming, and I was pretty proud of it as well. There was a watch that had been passed down from Scott's grandfather to his dad and then his dad wanted to pass it down to him. So, I got it all spiffed up and gave it to him for the big day. (As some of you know there is another long story behind that, which can be saved for another day.) I was just so glad that he loved the watch and put it right on after opening it up! He loved that his dad wanted to give it to him, how sweet!

All in all for someone who really doesn't care about his birthday, he had a great day! Now the only thing left to say, is how do I top this one for next year!!! Love you Scottie!!

The Howells Head To Jackson Hole

2009-07-20T15:29:00.017-05:00

So we have been traveling up a storm this summer. From wedding to wedding, and most recently to Jackson Hole, WY. We had the first ever Howell Family vacation and it was AMAZING. I got to expereince many things that were quite new to me and I had Scott right beside me to partake in them all, which was so much fun. We got to learn new and hilarious things about all members of the Howell clan, and let me just say that MANY memories were made!!!

Here are some pictures to document our incredible trip.

We started out with white water rafting and Erin got to be our "hood ornament" on the front of the raft, since she did not want to paddle. The FREEZING cold Snake River water was drenching her the entire time. I was laughing so hard I could barley paddle, not very helpful to the rest of the raft I am sure.

We were picked up on the fourth of July and taken into the Gros Ventre Mountain Range, this is where we camped out in really nice tents and we had Brian and Molly to guide and feed us on our hiking safari. We ate a lot and we hiked ALOT!! This was more hiking than I had ever done in my entire life. We were going straight up mountains and then the next hour stomping through snow. This was a great family bonding expereince. As we kept on going it made me excited to make it to Flat Creek Ranch and get to experience a vacation instead fo a hik-cation!

After two nights in our tents on the third day we made the final decent into Flat Creek Ranch, and the real vacation began. What an amazing place!! Every time I would take a picture I knew that the picture could never do justice to the actaul place. I really think that this is one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. The mountains, the lake, the cabins, the food and the people were all more that I could have even dreamt up.

While at the ranch we horseback rode, which was not my favorite, but it took Scott back to his days at camp, I could tell that he was in his element with all of the horses. Those saddles and the bopping up and down was a little to uncomfortable for my taste though. We also went to a fly fishing clinic which I really enjoyed, since I had no clue where to even begin learning to fly fish on my own. I can get bored pretty quickly, but with fly fishing, you can keep casting and casting which makes it interesting and it is so beautiful to watch. I learned a lot by watching Scott and my brother-in-law Clay. They both were pros in comparison to me, that is for sure. I had a little incident the first day with a strong current and a lot of stubborness. Because of this equation I walked into the midddle of the creek and the current took me under, I was up to my neck in the COLD water that was going down my waiters (not very pleasant), but besides that I really enjoyed it. I wish that I had gotten the fishing license for one more day, but on the other hand, I would not have had an excuse to relax and read my book on our back porch overlooking the amazing stream.

All in all the trip was wonderful and I think about Flat Creek Ranch on a regular basis. I think everyone should get to experience such a beautiful place way up in the Wyoming mountains!

Thank you John and Ty Howell, you opened my eyes to so many new things in eight days! What an incredible time was had by all!

The Shopper

2009-05-13T13:45:00.003-05:00

So I was just reminded of what one of my friends told me a few months ago... "Katie, you should start a blog and put all of your great deals on it." What kind of deals you may ask?? I love the chase of quality things at WAY discounted prices. I love stores like TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning, Southeastern Salvage. Any place where I can go in and scavenge for the "find". I like to think of this as a "gift", but Scott likes to think of it more as a curse. He says that the best sale is the one that you don't buy. But when I tell all my friends about the last best buy I made, they get just as excited as I do, so I am going to go with it is a gift!!!
So I have decided to let you in on a few of my favorite spots! I am sure that you have heard of some of them, but for the others who have not here you go...
1. The TJ Maxx in Hoover on Highway 31: Ok, this place is one of my FAVORITES!!! There is a Homegoods right next store which makes it even better. I remember my mom bringing my sister and I into TJ when we were younger and I hated it. But my feelings have changed and it really is the motherload!!! I have been into many a TJ and this one is the best I have ever been in, (next to the one in Chicago, thanks Wellon). They have started carrying a Runway section that has top designers at FABULOUS prices. They have jeans too, Sevens, Hudsons, Paper Denim, and many more right now at great prices way below any boutique or department store. But the best part is that they have a few clearance racks of the Runway collection, my latest purchases have been a Bagley Mischa dress for $34.00 and a Vera Wang Lavender Label cardigan for $29.99. CRAZY DEALS!!! Also, besides the Runway section, they usually always have a great dress, for some reason they price Laundry dresses at $29.99. But I don't mind one bit!!
2. Tuesday Morning: Ok, this is one that is VERY hit or miss. But there has been a few times that I have walked in and taken a look and thought that I had found some pretty great treasures. They have WAY discounted cooking items. From Kitchen Aid to Le Creuset they have it all, at prices that would make you jump out of your seat. Their sheets are wonderful, and they have a great variety of colors and sizes (but wait til later for my sheet find)! My best purchase from Tuesday Morning has been my lamp that is in our den. I had been looking at it for quite a while, and after Christmas with a little extra cash. I got it, it was a $500.00 lamp that I got for $99.99. I walked out of their that day a happy lady with a great lamp!!
3. Southeastern Salvage: This is one of my newest finds in Birmingham. I went here because someone at work told me that they had a great deal on sheets. I got there and found way more than sheets (even though I got either 800 or 900 count Queens size sheets for $29.99). While walking around I realized that they have beautiful high quality and unique tables, mirrors, lamps, light fixtures, doors, home decor and much, much more. We needed a new mirror for our bathroom and I found one that I really loved for $59.99. What a steal!
3. GardenRidge: While you are in the neighborhood of Southeastern Salvage in Irondale drive next door to Gardenridge. This has been a recent addition to my list as well. This place is HUGE!!! They have everything from umbrellas, to picture frames, inexpensive purses and wallets, to yard furniture, on to pillows, and a huge variety of pictures and picture frames for the walls and tons more that goes on and on... This place takes a lot of time because there is so much to look at. You can for sure get lost in this joint. But worth the drive and I am sure that everyone can come out with an inexpensive treasure.
4. The Warehouse: Quite sketchy I know, I am not to sure about the real name of this place. I found out about this place from one of the mom's at Canterbury and it is a great one. There is a clothing company that is based out of Birmingham, called Lush. It is sold in boutiques across the country and I have seen it in many stores in Birmingham. Well, the owners put all of their old merchandise out ONLY on Tuesdays from 8 until 5, for customers to come and shop. And the prices are between $10.00 and $30.00. Most of their stuff is jersey dresses and tops. You have to try things on in the bathroom, but don't worry they have a mirrior,I promise this place is so worth it! They are located on 2nd Ave. North right before Niki's West. It is a warehouse building on the left. If you need any more information about this one let me know.
5. Kid's Consignment Sales: I am sure that most of you moms out there know all about this one. But since some of my friends are newer moms, this is something that I have just come across. I feel like it really is an underground world. Whenever I have gone to one of these sales for my friends, it seems like every mom in Birmingham knows that it is going on. But the prices really are unbelievable for all age children. When my "mom time" comes, I will be one of the undergrounders as well!

So I hope that this has been as fun for you as it has been for me!! If you have any great deals, please pass them on and share. As you can tell, I get pretty excited about a new find. Let's just not tell Scott!! =)

Busy Busy Busy

2009-04-13T12:08:00.003-05:00

So in case you were wondering, the month of April for the Howells is being spent in the car. We are doing all of our driving for a good cause though, my sister's wedding showers and Easter this past weekend. But none the less Scott and I have had quite a few hours of QT together on Interstate 65. If anyone has any suggestions for fun car games, please let me know, because I get car sick from reading, watching movies, basically doing anything while in motion. And this is not good for Scott, because that means lots of time with me asking how much longer like I am five years old. Good luck with that Scott!!

One of the highlights of Louisville this past weekend for Easter was when all of my cousins (I have quite a few) ,with much coaxing from my mother, decided to have a Peep eating contest. It was hilarious! I will try to find a picture to capture it, but my cousin Nelson, won with an impressive 13 Peeps in his mouth at one time!! Let's just say memories were made, Christ has risen and Nelson is the Peep champion!!!

What has been going on with us the last month you may ask, as my blogging has been nothing but sporadic. We have been busy going to the lake, flying to Dallas, TX for a shower for Sallie the sister, heading to Seaside with all the wonderful Howell girls, sneaking a Dave Barnes concert in with Scott, going to a bull riding contest (that was Scott I am sure you could guess, he has a shirt he bought there that he is very proud of), fixing up the house a bit, and joining a Tuesday night tennis league. When I look back at the list it does seem a little overwhelming. But when someone is asking me what is going on in our lives, I always say not much. Sometimes I think that our life as a two and a half year married couple seems quite mundane, but after looking at that list I think we are pretty busy people.

Our excitement continues as we are heading to see Wicked this Thursday. This is my FAVORITE play and Scott will be seeing it for the first time. Can't wait!

Let It Snow!!

2009-03-01T20:49:00.006-06:00

I woke up this morning to excited to even try to go back to sleep on a Sunday, with the snow falling outside our window!!! Here are some pictures of our house covered in snow, which is a pretty big deal since we live in Alabama!!! I am sure that next week we will be back in short sleeved shirts and sunglasses, but for the day we loved all the white. I love living in the south!! If only we could have gotten a snow day out of it!

My Sister

2009-02-17T12:28:00.003-06:00

Every once in a while I get these urges to write about one special person in my little life. And since this is the first post that I have actually started writing instead of thinking about. I thought that keeping it in the family was a good idea. So Sal Pal, this one is for you.

I have a sister who is four years younger than me, her exact birth date is October 28th. We really don't even look like sisters, except for the texture of our hair and that we used to have the same last name. She is 5'9 and I am a solid 5'4 1/2, I have red hair, she has brown, she is a tooth pick and let's just say I would not call myself a tooth pick, she LOVES to exercise and I am good for a walk everyday, she has always known that she wanted to be a nurse and help sick children and I ended up working with kids when I took over the finances for a children's ministry, I guess that is closer to something in common.. right?! Let's just say that Sallie is one of a kind, I seriously have never met anyone like her. She is one of the most caring, thoughtful, and entertaining (to say the least) people that I have ever met.

Random facts about Sal Pal: she grew up being a soccer goalie because she liked standing in the goal instead of running on the field, when she was little the ONLY person that she would let come within 10 feet of her was my mom, she has cowlicks all over her head, she loves ministering to high school aged girls, she is a cheese ball, she loves dumb humor, she is about to graduate from Belmont University with a degree in Nursing, she will be an incredible nurse, she loves the Lord, she was named after her god parents, my Aunt Sallie and Uncle Baker, whaaa la her full name is Sallie Baker Heard, she loves a good laugh, she can ramble with the best of them, she has only dated and kissed one boy in her life, Tyler Cole, and they are getting married this June, growing up the only thing we ever fought about was clothes because she would constantly steal mine (one day I chased her to the bus stop to get one of my shirts back), she has an amazing voice (our Mimi would always tell me that Sallie should go sing and that I should go act, this did not really help my confidence very much), she has one the loudest laughs that I have ever heard and she likes to use it a lot, she has driven the SAME Toyota Corolla since she turned 16 (what a trooper) and I am not sure why it has not broken down yet??, she is my dad in a girl's body (weird but true), she loves animals (any kind), she can burp very loud and she is proud of it, after she marries Tyler they are moving to Dallas, Texas and they just bought their first house today!

Sal Pal this blog is for you!! I love you and am so blessed to have you as my sister! I am so excited for all the BIG changes that are coming into your life at a VERY fast pace. I can't wait to be there for all of them. Thanks for letting me be your matron of honor, but I guess that race was pretty slim seeing how I am the only sister you have got!! I love you and am so blessed to call you sister.

Love you Sister!!

Kate

Ode To Brown and Katherine Johnson

2009-01-17T11:32:00.003-06:00

Brown gets the picture, sorry Katherine because the two of us couldn't be in an action shot since we were hanging out with Jack and Kate instead!

This is a week late, but I need to publicly put a very large THANK YOU out to Brown and Katherine for helping a poor sad wife who just wanted her two new light fixtures put up in her house. Scott went out of town last weekend and so I asked Katherine if Brown could help me put them up in our house. Just like any loving wife she volunteered him for the job. And they were at my house for WAY longer than they had anticipated last Saturday, but the end result was great. Brown's arm was getting sore from the many hours of devotion to my house, while Katherine and I sat comfortably on the couch watching the DVD of the last episode of Lost. And on that note, they also get many many points for being my inspiration for starting the Lost obsession and finishing all four seasons in the months of December and the beginning on January. So... Brown and Katherine, this blog is for you!! Thank you sooo much for all your help

Quite Some Time...

2009-01-06T12:22:00.012-06:00

So it has been quite a while since I have updated this little blog, and we have had a crazy past month. So here is a little catching up, pictures to follow! December was the month of the Christmas party for us, every weekend was packed with at least one party to go to. We had a blast, with tons of dirty Santa, great food, fabulous parties, (even a cookie and cocoa party), and of course are friends. It is always so fun to have big events to look forward to with your favorite people. We started the month off with Brent's famous Tackey Christmas party. Scott and I went with a theme as we usually do, but this year's theme was lets just say interesting. Our theme was "iron on", High School Musical. We had the whole HSM gang on our Walmart sweatsuit sets. Of course, me with a red sweat shirt and green pants , and Scott with the opposite. It was classic!!

Then onto Christmas Party at the Cochran's, with Santa Wes leading the way. It was so fun and the entertainment was priceless (thanks for that Elliott and Wes)!!! Next on our list was the Christmas Feast, and it was exactly as it sounds. Liz and Grant went our of their way to impress a pretty large group of hungry friends. We had a wonderful time at their house, and it was decorated perfectly, props to Liz!!!

The week before Christmas was great with an Amy Grant and Vince Gill Christmas concert in Atlanta with a bunch of fun girls, Bradley and Sarah's Christmas Cookie and Cocoa which was adorable, and of course the Cordell Christmas party which has been a yearly event since Scot was born. Let's just say that we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to love us so much! What a blessing.

Christmas was perfect, we went up to Franklin to spend some time with my family and then back to Birmingham for Christmas with the Howells. We had wonderful time with family and Scott and I even won the Howell family quiz, very impressive, yes I know!!

The week after Christmas on Wednesday I met up with 5 of our favorite couples and made the trip down to Fort Walton Beach, FL. We were down there until Sunday, so we had a long break which was wonderful. Scott came down on Friday to make it even better. We had such a great time getting to spend a bunch of quality time with so many of the people that we love. Let's just say that by the time Scott and I made it home, we were exhausted and all we wanted to do, was sit on the couch and watch Lost, (which is my new obsessions, and Lost is so great that it will get it's own post for sure!)

The moral of this very long story is that Scott and I are so blessed with all of our wonderful friends and family, thank you so much for who you are in our lives!!!

2009 will be amazing if it has all of you in it! We love you!!

Quick Twilight Thought

2008-12-10T14:59:00.003-06:00

So it has been a while since I have been a part of the blog world, but I promised a Twilight wrap up, so here it is. I am sure that more of you know about the movie by now. The first time I saw it, I was quite a freak. But the great thing was that I was surrounded by Twilight freaks for the sneak peek, except for Scott, of course. So through out the whole movie I got to have a conversation with the girl sitting next to me, that I did not even know before the movie began, but we became great Twilight friends, discussing the movie as it went, how were they going to put important scenes from the book in the movie, why did they chose the characters that they did, and why was the camera so close to their faces in the beginning of the movie. I thought my first viewing went pretty well, Scott was pacing outside of the movie theatre before we got in the theatre while we were waiting for a VERY long time to get in , and I got to sit on the floor with high school Twilight obsessed kids and talk Twilight with them. Let's just say it was hilarious and I was in heaven!! But the movie, was pretty good, I enjoyed it even thought there was a lot of cheesy moments with Bella and Edward. It is very hard to show the deep relationship that they had in a two hour movie, but I think all in all it was done well. Scott enjoyed it way more than he thought, and he was actually asking me questions about the next book when we left. All in all a Twilight success!
My second showing was even better than the first because I was not on the edge of my seat waiting for how they were going to handle things. The second time around was not as exciting as the first, but I got to watch the movie for what it was and let's just say that I can't wait until it comes on video.

My Obsession

2008-11-18T15:13:00.002-06:00

Today is a very big day for me! And my wonderful husband made it happen! Let's just say it started way back in the summer with a little book called Twilight. My cousin Robin Clark asked me if I had read this book, and I asked her what it was about and she told me vampires, so of course I told her that I would never read a book about such a thing. And her response was, just give it a shot. So while I was at the beach and I had already finished my first beach book, I opened up Twilight around two in the afternoon, and I finished it the next day. I could not put it down. I HAD to know what was on the next page. I love to read when there is time, but I have never experienced the desire to read forever. I would think about the characters when I was at work, when I was driving places, I was thinking about the characters like they were real people, and THEY ARE VAMPIRES. If I had this same kind of passion for my bible, let's just say I would would be a bible scholar. But sad to say, the obsession has just been with Twilight. So I finished the next book on a Sunday and the entire work day that followed on Monday, all I could think about was getting the second book. So right after work I rushed to the book store to get the second installment, New Moon. And this process continued until I had read all four books, Eclipse, and then Breaking Dawn. Let's just say that I was out of society for a good week and a half, because I all I wanted to do was read. I would go to work and then read, eat dinner and read, go to sleep and you guessed it read. The only word for it was an obsession. When I finally got to the end of the fourth book, I didn't want it to stop. I wanted to learn more about the characters, what was going to happen next, but sad to say that Stephanie Meyers, the author was had a different idea, the end, so I had to say good bye to Edward and Bella. Bummer! The good part of my obsession, was that I started reading the books right when the last one, Breaking Dawn was released, so there was no lapse in my reading from one book to the next.
I have already read the first two books again, to make sure that I caught all the details. I know scary, uh?!
Well, now it comes to my husband is a hero part of the story. After I started reading I could not keep it to myself, (as most of you know, I am not very good at keeping my opinions and emotions to myself) I told everyone at work about the books, and many of the girls started reading them. One of the girls had brought in an article say thing that if you email this magazine the four names of the books that you could get in the running to win two tickets to an early screening of Twilight the movie, which comes out this Friday. So of course I freak out and email the magazine, and I call Scott to beg him to email also. I mean two chances are better than one right?! Well, last Wednesday comes and no email, and so I call the company and ask when they will be emailing us one if got the tickets or not and they said in a few days. Friday comes and I am at home, (since I don't work on Fridays which is glorious by the way) and Scott calls me and we are having a normal conversation and then he tells me that he won the tickets and that we could see Twilight this coming Tuesday November 18th, at 7:30. Let's just say that I was jumping up and down pumping my fists in the air shouting VICTORY in our kitchen! (If any of you watch Entourage, which a terribly scandalous show, but you just keep watching because it is so good, he called me Johnny Drama). next, I wen tot my email to see if I had won the tickets to, you know, spread the wealth, and I had a sad email sayign that I had not won. So my dreambwould have been shattered if it had not been for the one and probably only boy that will be in the theatre come tonight at 7:30!
So, tonight is the night, for me to continue the Twilight love and see the movie three days before it comes out. Scott's love and loyalty to me keeps coming out, as we will go to dinner at five in the afternoon so that we can get in line at 6:00 to make sure we get our tickets. They overbooked the theatre to make sure that it is full, so we have to get there early.
I promise that I will post my thoughts on the film, but I am expecting nothing but perfection. High expectations, yes, but have you read the books?? Unless that is a yes, you better get reading, you will love it. And if not, at least go see the movie, so we can talk about the obsession.
So in conclusion, thank you Scott for going with me, as you can tell I will be bouncing off the walls the second we get to the theatre, while Scott will be standing beside me in line for more than an hour, probably shaking his head at all of the girls waiting in line for the big event. (Just like Disney World as part of our honeymoon) But as most know, Jordan this is for you, "No movie is too girlie for Scott Howell." Right? I guess we will see!
Happy Reading!!!

More Halloween Fun

2008-11-12T14:06:00.007-06:00

Andy and JD are Michael Phelps for life!!!
Jordan showing off her Bling (Stephen is so jealous!)

The Vestavia Boys

Key and Pete look perfect as Sarah Palin and Maverick!!!

Pierce has David Beckham in the bag!!

So I have been thinking

2008-11-12T13:21:00.005-06:00

Here we are at the 2nd Annual Christine Grayson Halloween Party. I was the Karate Kid and Scott was suppose to be Mr. Miage.

So, I keep thinking lately about the future. What is coming our way in the next few years. Scott and I have had quite a history in the past six years that we have spent together and to think about what is to come is so exciting. When we get to add little ones to our little family, continuing to had new brother-in-laws to the mix ( my sister is getting married this coming June) and new friends that continue to enter our path.

The Lord continues to teach me new things through each of these experiences, but yet I still feel so anxious about what is to come. The timing of events, how things will happen, what should I be prepared for in the future. and the truth is that I have no clue! With all of these questions that continue to keep my attention. It is so hard to believe that I already have the answer to all of them. I completely believe in my heart that the Lord has complete control of everything in my life, it is just that mind part that continues to spiral out of control. I know that all of my worry and wondering truly is a waste of time, so why does it continue to consume me. I guess the real mystery is why I continue down the road that I already have the true answer to?

My Lord is in complete control and I know that without Him I would be wondering through this life without purpose, without true comfort and with true question to what the future holds. So I guess what I am trying to say is that each day when I am wondering about so many details about our life: what we will be going through one year from today, how the stock market will be holding up, where will my cousin Harrison who is being shipped out to Afghanistan be, will we be adding any additions to our family. I know the only thing that that I can take hold of and claim is that the Lord is in control and He knows the desires of my heart. Clinging to Him and desiring what He wants for my life is the only stable and true way to live. So when those thoughts of tomorrow come flying into my mind, I just need to continue to remember that all I need is my Lord.

Supper Club

2008-10-28T13:45:00.006-05:00

There are so many things that the Lord has blessed us with and one of the largest things are an amazing group of friends. Scott has lived in Birmingham his whole life, with the exception of living in Auburn. But me, I wanted to move to Birmingham after college because of all the wonderful relationships that I had made at Auburn, so many of them moved back home to Birmingham. It is truly amazing because a large majority of our best friends live within a fifteen minute drive. And because of this, we have started a Supper Club (aka First Friday Friends and Fellowship). We get together the First Friday of every month and have dinner at one of the couples houses. This past month we made the trip to Tuscaloosa to go to Wellon and Stephen's house. With everyone's busy schedules, it is so great to come together and have time to catch up and laugh a lot! Here are some pictures of the fun!

I don't think I tell my sweet Birmingham friends how much they mean to me the way I should. But knowing that they are there whenever I need them, that our kids will grow up together, and that they except me just the way I am (craziness and all) truly is such an amazing blessing. Having a group of people that hold the same values as we do and love to have a fabulous time is hard to come by. I love knowing that we will be spending many many years to come together. Supper Club forever!!

So Here We Go..

2008-10-14T12:19:00.003-05:00

So I have learned about myself that I am a blog stalker (even though I try to not admit it). I love to read other people's blogs to find out what is going on in there lives, to look at pictures and to hear advice. And I am sure that just like me, at the beginning of their blogging journey they had the same thought as I have had for many months now. What can I possibly write about that anyone would want to read? But after asking myself that question I continue to read and love to look at others lives and what they have to say.
So here I am starting the first ever Howell Family blog. I hope that this can be a place where our friends and family can come to check in with us, and can see the "not so normal" happenings of Scott and I. If you know us, you know that there is always a funny story on the horizon, or at least a funny story to tell about Scott!
Here is a little about us: Scott and I met at Auburn University and started dating our senior year of college. We were married on September 30, 2006, and we live in Vestavia Hills, AL. My family is from Franklin, TN (right outside of Nashville) and I have one sister named Sallie who is four years younger than I am. Scott was born and raised with his two sisters Julie and Erin in Vestavia. So we have one set of parents right around the corner, which makes things quite fun.
We both have great jobs, me incharge of the the finances and playing with kids in the Weekday Children's Ministry at Canterbury United Methdost Church and Scott works as a financial planner at Wachovia Securities with his dad.
We have wonderful friends that we are so thankful for that I am sure that you will learn much more about.
I guess that somewhat sums up our little life.
Hope you enjoy!