What we've been up to...

Just another picture recap of what has been going on in our wild and crazy lives. We have enjoyed seeing everyone's updates and pictures on the family blog, and have been able to squeeze in a web-cam chat as well, so even though we are far away we feel close to you all! I'll try to keep our update short and sweet. For starters, we were finally able to get our mattress delivered, a week after it was supposed to be. Some good things, however, are worth waiting for. Here is Ryan, much relieved to be on a real bed! I took this picture of Ryan asleep to demonstrate how much he enjoyed the air mattress: not very.
It has become a little tradition to go to the Kaza's house for Notre Dame game day, where Ryan and I get to play with the kids and enjoy the endless supply of delicious food my sister provides. Here is a picture of my Notre Dame cupcakes...as well as one U of F one.. I wonder how that got there.

My family came down to VA for a week to see baby Simon, so I got to see both my parents, which was a real treat! Here I am with my Dad during the game:
Ryan enjoying his Heineken, a little too much.
On Friday night we managed to go out on date night, which consisted of dinner at a Mexican grill and watching the new episode of the Office in our apartment. Life doesn't get any better than that! Here we are in the restaurant:

This weekend the Kaza's invited us to go apple picking with them. It was a fun trip down memory lane for me; as a kid, apple-picking was what we did to celebrate the start of my favorite season, Autumn. Ryan was a rookie, but he manned the apple-picking tool thingy very deftly.
For some reason, we kept thinking we were in the garden of Eden. :)
This is Ryan during the Bucs and Packer's game, with the Bucs blanket I bought him. I got it thinking we could cuddle during the games, and relax together sweetly. Yeah, um, that would work out a lot better if Ryan could learn to stop jumping up and screaming and hitting stuff during the game. I have been launched across the room a couple of times now because of his craziness, and have resigned myself to the fact that Bucs games just won't be good cuddling times. Where could this behavior have come from??
Last night we entertained our first real guests at our apartment (my nieces and nephews don't count). Our good friends Pat and Emily were in town, and stopped by in the evening after dinner. Because we had a huge bushel of apples, and since it's Ryan's favorite dessert, I made apple pie. It was actually my very first apple pie, made all by myself, and I felt very triumphant when it turned out well. Ryan liked it, as you can see.
And here's an egotistical moment of me, showing off my work before Pat and Emily arrived.
All 4 of us managed to eat half of it last night, and now the rest is left for Ryan and I to finish. Wish us luck, and expect to see us looking a little bit more rolly and plump in our next picture update!! We love you and miss you guys! - Ryan and Mary :)

A Request

Ryan and Mary,

You both are holding captive one of the most prized works of all time: 302 - starring Floyd Schaeffer, John Wilde, and Tugus von Schmit. Thus, I am requesting that this be posted on this blog or I will go loco or sent to my email. "You are either for me or against me...You have no other choice."

With Love and Responsibility,

John Wilde

Vacation in Sanibel

Hey everyone! I finally made some time to post pictures from our vacation in Sanibel. We had such a great time - we missed you guys! It was so nice to do NOTHING! Jack spent a lot of time indoors and I spent a lot of time on the beach! Jack doesn't like to voluntarily sweat :). The weather was perfect! There were a couple stormy nights, but it never rained during the day.

One of our favorite things about Sanibel... its EMPTY!
There's nothing like having a beach to yourself :)

The birds were so pretty!

This is a horrible picture, but we just returned from riding the coolest bikes ever lol! It was such a pretty day; we really enjoyed bike riding on the trail.

It was so nice to have a grill. Jack became a grill expert!

And that's basically it. I didn't take many pictures, but these highlight our time in Sanibel. We hope everyone is doing well! We love and miss you all!

Jack & Christina

Politics?

So far on the Tompkins Family Blog we have not gotten into any political discussions. Ryan greatly enjoys discussing politics at work each day, and has been given many opportunities to refine and articulate his positions. We thought the whole family would benefit from this, so we took some pictures that we think speak louder than words:

Per Mary's request!

We celebrated Therese's birthday today and I got my hands (or feet) on a trampoline! I have to admit, I was a little nervous... it's been several years since I've done this. But I survived!

Also, since we were at my parents house, I'm posting pictures of the updated kitchen and living room. Looks like a new home! The kitchen is twice as big! Notice the flat stove on the island and the double oven; perfect for a family this size! Where the double oven and cabinets are used to be the hallway leading to the living room.

Sometime this week I'll post another blog with a few pictures from our vacation. Also congratulations Marisa and David! So many wonderful blessings! We love and miss you all!
~ Jack and Christina ~

Answers to Prayers

Thank you all for your prayers this week! God certainly heard them, as we had a blessed week!

First of all, David did a fantastic job on his presentation! He received wonderful feedback from professor, and an A! He is very happy, and thankful for all of your prayers!

Second of all, I got the job at ND!! I am so excited! I will be working as a Staff Assistant at the Debartolo Performing Arts Center. I will only be working 30 hours a week but getting paid better than I am now! It is a such a blessing! David and I will only have a one stop each day, and we will be able to go to Mass together during the week! Thank you for your prayers!

Third, Baby Lantigua is doing well. Growing very fast, as he/she is 10,000 bigger now than at conception! And with baby's growth, my belly keeps growing too. I will post new pictures soon. I am two months now! Time goes by so fast. Thank you for the prayers, especially for the morning sickness...I had a better week this week. :)

That is all for now. David and I are in the middle of packing for our move next weekend. Pray everything goes smoothly.

We love you all so much! And we miss you terribly! Can't wait to see you soon!

Our crazy moving weekend!

Today I have a very long (that is, longer than usual) post to document our wild and crazy weekend. It all began with moving to our new apartment; a very long and difficult process, since our apartment is on the third floor, and there is no elevator. Ryan and a couple of neighborhood boys (friends of the Kazas) did the majority of the heavy lifting and maneuvering of the furniture up the flights of stairs. I offered moral support. Somehow, it all got done in time for us to watch the ND game, which David and his dad attended. It was a great time, not only because of the game, but because my brother Luke came over to visit. I included a picture I took of him with our nephew Peter. But first, here is Ryan with the girls, yet again: Isn't it pretty wild to see Luke as a seminarian?!
Saturday night, our first night in the apartment, did not go as perfectly as we had planned it; Macy's decided to deliver our mattress at a different time then they told us they would. So, since we weren't at the apartment when they randomly showed up, they took the mattress back to the warehouse-- in Maryland! Ryan and I were without our new mattress and we were dead tired...not a recipe for success. Here is a picture of Ryan after our trip to Walmart to buy and air matress (by this time the fireballs had stopped shooting out of his eyes and he stopped cursing the name of Macy's): Here is our lovely air mattress (complete with an IKEA quilt cover):The rest of the pictures are from Sunday; leaving for Mass we took a picture in front of our door, #301. I'm pointing to where it says "Tompkins" on it :)
My sister Tabitha took a picture of us when we stopped by her house to get the girls:
We had Mary and Teresa (the oldest 2 of my sister's kids) for the rest of the day, to hang out before we all went to a Switchfoot concert at night. As we were leaving, Tabitha pulled me aside to tell me she might be going into labor that day. A seasoned veteran, she was noticing little hints that the baby would be coming soon. It was a good thing she gave me the heads up, as you will see... :) At our apartment, we had Teresa take a picture of us in our itty-bitty kitchen:
Here's our bathroom:

Here we are; we are very happy with our new place!
Ryan treated us girls out to Coldstone...spoiled brats, I know.

Ryan with Mary and Teresa as we were waiting to get into the Nissan Pavilion.
Here's a picture of the group of us during the Switchfoot concert. While we were getting towards the end of the show, I got a call from Tabitha who told me she would be having the baby soon.. I told the girls and we left as soon as we packed up our blankets and snacks!
Sure enough, at 11:45 at night, right after I had tucked Ryan in bed (thank goodness), Tabitha had her baby. She had the baby at home, and let's just say she was very uninhibited during labor because of it. It was an amazing experience for me; I was with Tabitha right up until the pushing part of the labor, then left so she and Babu could have some privacy. I waited in the hallway praying the rosary, and a few minutes (and a lot of screams) later, I heard the baby's first cry. His name is Simon Paul Kaza, and he is gorgeous and healthy. What was most amazing to me was that after that first cry, Simon didn't cry at all. He was just very happy and content, because he got to stay with Mommy the whole time, recieving a lot of loving care. So now I have a little newborn to squeeze, and after work I have been going to the Kaza's to clean, do laundry, and cook dinner for the kids so Tabitha and the baby can rest. Because of this, the apartment has remained an unorganized mess, and I'm too emberassed to take pictures just yet. They will come soon though!

Simon is a really special baby; he was born "in the caul"-- in an intact amniotic sac-- and the midwife told me this is very rare and is considered a sign of a "blessed baby." He was born on the feast of the Triumphant Cross (how cool is that?) and in addition to all that, guess who Tabitha and Babu asked to be his Godfather? That's right, Ryan! Here is Ryan with his new Godson:So that about sums up our whirlwind weekend. Yesterday my mom and dad arrived with the 3 youngest, so my mom can take care of Tabitha full time for about a week or so. We will be having another ND game bash at the Kaza home on Saturday, which is when we should be getting our mattress finally as well. So, it promises to be a good time. Marisa and David, you have a lot to look forward to!! So many times when Ryan and I have held Simon, we have thought out loud; Marisa and David are so lucky, they must be so excited! We can't wait until it's our turn as well :) Of course, we will be sure to let you all know as soon as the news breaks (God willing). In the meantime, we send our love and can't wait to see you all soon! Love, Mary and Ryan

7 Weeks and Counting...

As I promised, here are the pregnant lady pictures!


This is from our date night celebrating our pregnancy.


I am four weeks pregnant!


See my belly!


This is from my first trip to the maternity store in the mall. All I bought was those Bella Bands which I recommend for all the women in our family when they are pregnant. They allow you to wear your regular pants longer. Very cool. Anything to save me time from wearing maternity pants. :P


I parked in the "Expectant Mothers" parking spot at Babies R'Us. :) I look alot bigger in this picture than I am because the wind was blowing and picked up my shirt.

Those are all the pregnancy pictures I have taken so far. I will take more in the next coming weeks as I feel like the baby and I have already grown so much since those Four Weeks pictures. As the post title says, I am currently seven weeks. According to my nurse that I met with on Wednesday, every Thursday is a new week for me. And I am due May 1st! We still have not heard the baby's heartbeat because for some reason the doctors at my office wait until you are between 10-12 weeks. We have that appointment scheduled for October 8th. Until then, you meet with the nurse between 6-8 weeks, when they ask all sorts of questions about family history, how you have been feeling; and make you fill out paperwork and give blood for different tests. We did that this past Wednesday, and it was very exciting. It made everything seem so much more real.

Although I must admit, the nausea I have been experiencing since 6 weeks are a constant reminder that this is real. The first couple of weeks I was pregnant I thought, "Wow this is going to be a breeze!" Besides feeling bloated, tired, and hungry all the time, I didn't really feel bad. And then 6 weeks hit! Food...gross! Make me gag. The nausea has taken over my world. It is mostly bad in the mornings and evenings. I do not want to eat anything....everything looks and sounds disgusting. Yet because I know I am feeding someone other than myself, no matter how little the baby is, I need to keep eating. Thus I eat out of necessity.

Amongst the physical changes I have been experiencing which have made me a couch potato, David has been wonderful. He is so sweet and thoughtful...making dinner most nights and doing most of the cleaning. He is also so aware of our baby. He kisses the baby goodnight every night and during the day comes up to me and rubs my belly saying either comical or sweet things to our baby. These are a few of my favorite things. :)

With the baby coming in May, David and I have decided to move at the end of this month...in two weeks, to a cheaper yet bigger apartment than our own. We originally were going to move to Notre Dame's off campus housing for married couples with children which was a lot smaller than our apartment. But through friends and God's providence, we found an apartment complex that has bigger units than our apartment while still being cheaper and closer to Notre Dame. There will not be as many luxuries in the new apartment as we enjoy now, such as a dishwasher, fireplace, and washing machine and dryer, but we will have the luxury of our good friends as neighbors and the ability to save alot more money each month! Speaking of moving, Ryan and Mary, I hope your move was successful this weekend! We look forward to seeing pictures soon!

This weekend Mom and Dad Lantigua came to visit us. Dad Lantigua and David were fortunate enough to get tickets for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game..one of the biggest games of the season. They had a great time! Here are some pictures from before they left and the scoreboard as proof of Notre Dame's victory.

Dad Lantigua was super excited! He has waited his whole life for this!


David, so excited...Me, not feeling so good.


Look at our empty apartment!


Notre Dame won!

Well I think that is it for this week's update. Oh, we do have some prayer requests. David has a big presentation this week..Wednesday, I believe. Also, I should find out this week if I will be getting a new job at Notre Dame's performing arts center. And of course, please pray for your little niece/nephew, or grandchild, Baby Lantigua. We love you and miss you all very much. God bless and you are all always in our prayers!

David, Marisa, and Baby

Pregnant Lady Pictures....Coming Soon!

LOL...Sorry if I got some of you excited over that title.

I wanted to let you guys know that I have finally figured out how to work with my broken camera and I am hoping to post pictures this weekend! Don't worry, although my camera mulfunctions when it comes to downloading, it is still capable of taking pictures, so I have been snapping pictures of all the highlights of pregnancy thus far....well except for the not so nice ones. Who wants to take a picture then? Plus, I will always remember them. :)

David and I are doing well though....definitely still adjusting to the numerous changes that occur in pregnancy. I am hoping to fill you all in with my post this weekend! Look for it!

We love you all!
Marisa and Baby (due 5-1-09), and David

Mary and Ryan's latest :)

I'm sure our constant updates have started to make you all nauseous at this point, but hey, why not one more? :p

To begin with, Ryan and I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS again to Marisa and David! We are incredibly excited about the news, and are so happy for you guys. We have a feeling that God has some special plans in mind for this baby of yours, and we can't wait to meet him/her! :) Marisa, I think we need to see the profile-view "pregnant lady picture" soon. :)

As for our most recent events, I'll just do a little picture recap. Here is a picture of Ryan with our very first car, the 2001 Elantra. We affectionately named it "Rusty," in hopes that talking nicely to it will make it last a looooong time for us. Ryan and I were able to go out to dinner over Labor Day weekend, and here are a couple of pictures from our date :)

We had strategically saved some key purchases for our new apartment for the Labor Day weekend sales. It was really exciting to shop for the final items needed in our new place, and we can't wait to move in this coming Friday! While at Macy's, Ryan and I were struck by the displays for the latest Dolce and Gabanna cologne. We were drawn to the intense yet sensitive look on Matthew McConaughey's face, and Ryan just had to get a picture of his impersonation of it:
Our best buy was our mattress from Macy's, we got a great deal on it! And you all know how much Ryan and I like a good deal. So much so that I made Ryan take yet another picture to remember the moment.
This past weekend my brother Christian and his wife Michelle came to visit. They had a wedding to go in DC, and asked Ryan and I to babysit little Natalie during the wedding and reception. It was the same day as the first Notre Dame game, which is a big deal in the Kaza house. I only have a few pictures of the big bash that took place that day, which included bratwursts, beer, and lots of kids running around in mini Notre Dame cheerleader outfits.

And that's all I've got, folks. This weekend is the big move to our new apartment, which will be another post in itself. My job at Renaissance Montessori School has been going very well, and I really enjoy the small class I have of kids ages 3-6. The kids are adorable and very well behaved, and I love being called "Mrs. Tompkins" by them! I've already gotten a marriage proposal from one little boy, and have been offered scrambled eggs another little boy was keeping in his pants' pockets for an afternoon snack. So, there is never a dull moment and I am enjoying it so far! Ryan and I are getting into a pretty good groove with our new routine, and we are very happy with our life here in Manassas :) And finally, we are going to be coming down to Tampa on Columbus Day weekend, on October 11-13. We have bought plane tickets and rented a truck to come visit as well as retrieve our things. We wanted to throw that out there for those of you who didn't know, because we are hoping to see you all while we are in town! We are looking forward to it, and just wish that we could make the visit longer. We miss you all very much, and we love you!