The Nordine Family Blog

Saturday, July 10, 2010

June Happenings

I can't believe it's JULY!!! Where is this summer going? Andrew and I didnt have too much time to recover after our trip to Africa and Italy! We had a friend's wedding the weekend we returned. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride was gorgeous! The next weekend, we made a super quick trip down to Memphis to see my family. We had a great time playing with my niece and nephews and telling my family about our trip. I had another appointment with the doctor and June 15 and got to hear that wonderful heartbeat again! I just love it. Here are some pictures from this past month's events!

Tricia & Lee's Wedding June 6. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding
and everything was wonderful!

Me holding Andy & Caitlin's baby Emerson. She's a doll!

Me and my nephew on our trip to Memphis. I just can't get enough of his cheeks! He's too cute!

I LOVE these kiddos!!

Andrew and Kale

Nothing better than having a baby fall asleep on you!

Andrew and I at our church's annual 4th of July party!

Andrew starting to put a crib together! Yes, I know it's a little early,
but once Andrew starts school in August, he has no time!

Here's a belly shot at about 18 weeks pregnant! It just keeps growing.
We have an appointment on July 20 and we get to find out what we're having (hopefully).

Friday, June 25, 2010

Adventures in Africa and Rome!

Andrew and I had the opportunity to travel to North Africa and Rome a few weeks ago. While we were in Africa, it was awesome to see how the Lord is at work there. I often find myself putting God in a box, and it's always amazing when he reveals to me that he's so much bigger than I can even imagine. It's hard to even put into words some of the things we experienced. On our way back from Africa, we stopped in Rome for about a day and half. Even though we just had a short time in Rome, we were able to see lots of sites! We visited the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel along with St. Peter's Basilica. We were able to visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, St. Pauls Basilica, the Spanish Steps (in the pouring rain), Trevi Fountain and some others. Here are tons of pictures from our adventure! I have tons more but tried to narrow it down. :)

Andrew and our friend Kamal.

Andrew and I at Sidi Bou Said..a beautiful area on the Mediterranean. Everything was painted blue and white in the whole area. I loved these blue doors!

In the mountains on our way to a village.

Kamal's mom making us yummy bread.

In front of a castle on the Mediterranean.

Great rock formations.

A city we stopped at. I had to go to the bathroom..oh the joys of being pregnant..haha. :)

Some chicken, french fries and not too sure about the other stuff.

Cow head anyone?? Yummy!

He's just missing his camel!

A roadside bbq place we ate at!

Here are pics from Rome. This is inside the Vatican.

Andrew and some Roman heads.

Me with the silly-looking guards.

Behind us is St. Peter's Basilica.

Our favorite little gelato place. We ate there both nights!

The Colosseum

This is Paul's tomb. Constantine supposedly had his body moved from a swampy area to this place where they built a church on top of his tomb.

Andrew pretending to race his chariot at the Circus Maximus.

Trevi Fountain

Dinner our last night there.

The belly is growing! Of course the Italian gelato

and food might have contributed to that as well. :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

We are DUE for an update!

Well, like I've said before, I haven't been the best at keeping up with this blog. I always think I'll have more interesting things to say once we have kids. And it looks like it won't be that much longer. Andrew and I are going to have a BABY!!!!!!! We are due December 9. Wow, it's so weird to even type that. I'm soooo excited but it's still sooo surreal. I cannot wait to meet our little guy or gal!!

This whole past year and a few months has been a difficult time. We really were desiring to start a family and as soon as we wanted to start "trying," my body just stopped doing the normal functions it needs to do in order to get pregnant. I'll try to not to go into too many details. Month after month, I started to get frustrated. As people all around me were getting pregnant, I kept wondering why we couldnt and what was wrong with me. Why was I not "normal"? During these months and months, the Lord was really teaching me that it was Him who was in control....not me. I always just assumed that I would get pregnant right away because I thought it was completely up to us. Again the Lord showed me how I was wrong in this area. We just kept praying and praying and I know that so many faithful others were praying for us as well. I had picked up a prescription for a fertility drug and was waiting for my next cycle to begin so I could start this medicine. When my cycle didn't start, I really didnt think too much of it because that was pretty common for me. I had taken so many pregnancy tests the past year and they all had come back negative. But I figured I would take one any way just to make sure. So on April 1 (Fools Day...haha), I took a test and it came back positive. I must have stared at it for about 20 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. The Lord had answered our prayers!!!! I went up to the seminary and met Andrew for lunch so I could tell him the news. I just couldnt hold it in. He had the same reaction as me and just couldnt believe it. He said he couldnt focus at all during his next class.

The hard part over the next few weeks was keeping it quiet. We had so many people praying for us and they would occasionally ask how we were doing. My parents were coming in town the weekend of the 25th and I really wanted to wait to tell them in person. When we told my parents, they were sooo excited. My mom and I both cried. We told Andrew's family and then slowly began spreading the word. We had our first appointment on the 26th and got to see the baby on the ultrasound. We could see the little heart just beating away! That was amazing to see that. It was also very comforting for me since I had not felt very pregnant up until that point. We went again on May 18 and got to hear the heartbeat. Such a miraculous thing!!

Thank you to everyone who had been praying for us. We know that this pregnancy is truly a gift from the Lord. Here are the first pictures of Baby Nordine:

Thursday, January 7, 2010

October-December (A Really Long Post)

Well I guess I should actually update our blog. It's been a few months!! Where do I begin?? We've done lots of traveling, and Andrew somehow found time to study amidst all the football watching. We took a crazy road trip to Florida in late September to watch our first game at the Swamp. We went with our friends, the Tillmans, and their two kiddos. It was a whirlwind trip but lots of fun! The next weekend we drove to Lexington to watch the Gators defeat KY. Andrew has really turned me into quite the football fan. I love watching the games with him!

I made a trip to Oklahoma in early October for a cousin's wedding. It was a great time with family. I treasure the sweet times with my grandparents and cousins! We celebrated lots of friends' birthdays throughout the month. My parents made a trip to Louisville the end of October. I was able to take my mom to an event at the school where I teach, and we made my parents watch a Gators game with us and the Tillmans.

I went on a women's retreat with our church the first weekend in November. We stayed at a wonderful cabin in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. It was a fun get-away with lots of great spiritual conversations.

For Thanksgiving, it was back down to Florida. We spent Thanksgiving with Andrew's family in Orlando. It had been a couple years since we were down there. Great food and great times! I was able to catch up with my dear friend Jensey and her husband Nate while we were down there. And we just couldn't go to Florida without going to a football game. :) Andrew and I were able to go to the Florida/Florida State game for Tim Tebow's last game at the Swamp. It was so much fun!

Then December came and things didn't slow down a bit. Our small group enjoyed Christmas dinner on December 3. We had wonderful food and fellowship. Our church Christmas party was the following week. My school wrapped up with a Christmas party on the 17. Then Andrew and I headed to Memphis to see my family. The highlight of the trip was meeting my new little nephew who was born Dec. 11. He is PRECIOUS! I got to spend hours holding him and loving on him. I also enjoyed seeing my other nephew Wilson. He's at such a fun age and was really into everything. My niece Emmye is growing up too fast!

On Christmas Eve, we drove to Atlanta to spend time with Andrew's family. We had a nice, relaxing time there. We enjoyed Christmas Eve service at their church. On Christmas day, we had the opportunity to serve dinner at a homeless shelter. Then it was back to Louisville.

Andrew and I celebrated three years of marriage on Dec. 30! Man, time flies. We went to an '80's themed New Year's Eve party at a friend's house. It was rad! We watched Florida win the Sugar Bowl. I started school up again on January 5. We just had our first big snow of the season. The ground is covered. It's so pretty to look at, but I really don't enjoy driving in it. Well I think that about covers it. There's lots of pictures below.