Way overdue!

Yay for all the blog activity! It has been a VERY long time for us! I must admit, creating this post is quite daunting, so here goes nothing. We have been very busy here in St. Pete. A lot of what is taking up our time is trying to get all of our estimates/numbers together so we can begin the process of fixing our home. Such an exhausting project, but we are so close! We are hoping for completion come July/August. The exciting part of it is we are looking to stay in a beach condo for the 4-6 weeks while the work is being done! We will keep you posted on the process and will post lots of before and after pictures!

Jack has been very busy at work... comes home and works... weekends, more work! It has been a stressful time, but he's working hard! He's working towards transitioning his focus on life insurance. Too much "work" in the past few sentences! Please keep him in your prayers as he moves to this "new" stage in his career. And of course, he's still an all-star hockey player on Tuesday nights :).

Isabella is continuing to grow and learn. We are still going to weekly speech therapy. We saw a plastic surgeon to discuss her situation with her palate. I'm not sure how much information I have given to each of you, but she has Velo-Pharyngeal Inadequacy. Too much air is escaping out her nose. She has a huge gap and her muscles are not closing when she tries to talk. The surgeon said her situation is very severe. We still have a few appointments, but she will most likely have surgery for a pharyngeal flap to help remove this obstacles. Essentially this surgery takes tissue and is placed to close this gap. There would be small airways on each side so she can still breath, but it is an obstruction. Some of the risks are sleep apnea. She will have to stay overnight in the hospital so they can monitor her breathing and drinking, etc. It is not uncommon for it to be a 4 night stay. Right now the surgery is 9/11. This date is very stressful because it is 3 weeks before my due date. However, I know I cannot do this after I have our baby. I'm trying to get in touch with the surgeon to see if we can be put on a cancellation list for July (he's booked out 6 months and he's gone the entire month of August!). Needless to say, it is a very tough time right now and there is a lot of stress in our household. Isabella is so strong and patient through it all. Definitely a saint in the making. We love our silly, affectionate and thoughtful little girl. Thank you for your prayers!

Veronica is changing so much! She is repeating everything we say. Including... my name. Every once in a while, I will hear from a distance "Nina?! Nina?! Nina?!" and she walks up to me, looks up and says "Nina?!". My response is always, no Veronica, I'm Mommy. But I can't help but smile or laugh. She knows she's a troublemaker. Other big news is she's going pee-pee on the potty! After about a week she went poo-poo! We just need to make it consistent. Close to fully potty trained :). If Isabella walks in while she's on the toilet she yells "Noo! Go potty!!!" and when she's done she says "Mommy I coming!" which I guess is her way of telling me to come there! She brings us so much joy and laughter!

And without giving the internet some key words, you know that thing we've been going through for the past several years?! Yes, well it's still going on and seems we've hit a nerve, so please continue to pray! Especially for an end SOONER rather than later.

Mommy and baby #3 are doing well. I will be 13 weeks pregnant on Friday, due October 4th. I still have some pretty bad days, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Our baby's heart beat is nice and strong! I will try to get a pregnant lady picture soon! Maybe on Easter Sunday?! Here are pictures from the past 4 months!

November & December

January & February

A Very Full Tompkins Weekend

Hi everyone!
Before I begin this picture collage which covers the events of this past weekend, I (Angela) wanted to thank you for all your support, encouragement, love, and prayers! As you know, I completed in the American Dance Competition last week and left yesterday feeling very satisfied:) ADC consisted of two rounds: In Round I, I danced for about 6 hours doing various classes which were observed by the main judges and teachers from various companies. This primary round heavily weighed on my final score. The high pressure and scrutiny was definitely stressful at times especially considering that my category ranged from  14-22 year olds and that there were many older dancers from Japan, Cuba, Panama, and Brazil. Nevertheless, I had fun and tried to learn from the 65 ballerinas. But i will admit, I left disappointed and grumbling about the way i danced and felt that overall, i could have shown them better. A couple days later, Round II, being Performance, took place  and I received ADC Medallion on both of my variations!!! This  was such an exciting announcement for me, my family, teachers, and friends.  (o and pretty much  ADC Medallion is the highest score an individual can be awarded (94 or higher) & is the accumulation of round 1 and 2's scores). As the night went on though Medallions  were given out generously as the girls in the division were older and more advanced.

Anyways to sum it up, (which i have such a difficult time doing especially considering i'm a female;)), I was awarded last night into the Top 15 which was such an honor! I feel that i barely "made it in"  because as more and more men and women were awarded, I realized that there were really only 1 or two others girls around my age who qualified. fewf. Most of the others were those crazy ones i mentioned above......;) I also received a scholarships to the Carreno Summer Intensive in Sarasota and the Ajkun Ballet intensive in NY.

My main desire and prayer during this competition was to dance for the Glory of God, transform into the character of my variation, dance my best, and have f.u.n. All these prayers I feel were more than answered and it was such a joy spending time with family, doing a ballet class with Mom on a staircase before I performed,  &jumping up and down with my teacher and friends backstage. hehehe again, I know none of this would have been possible without all of you, my wonderful siblings, and I am so grateful I have your support. there truly is nothing better than family--my family:)

I love you all IMMENSELY!!! I hope we see each other all soon!
and um sorry if this was boring and just a bit too detailed--especially for you men out there;p
muuuuuaaaahhh!!! xoxoxoxoxo


round I:

round II:

 After performing both variations:
yes..i'm very happy...and ik ik... i look like like a bunny in all these pictures. but im happy! hehe;)

Lounging at the hotel with Tees later that night:

visiting Daytona Beach before Awards Ceremony: 

LOVE YOU ALL!

Naples Tompkins Update

Hello Family! First, some updates on Genevieve and then a bit of what's going on down here in sunny Naples:

For her 9 month birthday, Genevieve finally got her first tooth! Her second followed days later and now she has two adorable bottom teeth. Hopefully they can be seen in some of the photos. Genevieve perfected her crawling in late January and soon began pulling up on the furniture. She likes to stand and then turn so her back is against the furniture. Then, with a big grin at Mommy, she'll take a step out into the open! This month, Genevieve started to eat bits of solid foods like avocado and baby rice crackers. She also understands the word "no" and protests vehemently when it is used. Looks like we have a very stubborn little girl on our hands. But Genevieve is also very sweet and will shriek with delight when Daddy comes home. She also gives big open-mouth kissies and enthusiastically squeals each time she gets NAKEY!



Here's Genevieve dancing around with Daddy, learning to splash in the bathtub, and her reaction to Daddy's "secrets".
 


On her 10 month birthday, Genevieve learned how to sign the word "milk" AND how to clap her hands! She enjoys getting into everything from the kitchen pantry to the bathroom cabinets. One of Genevieve's favorite activities is "helping" with the laundry by pulling each piece of clothing out of the laundry basket. Genevieve has learned how to close doors and to climb on top of things to get what she wants. She has started to love "real" food so much that she refuses to eat baby food by covering her mouth! Genevieve also likes to rip up paper or napkins and then attempts to eat the little pieces. She is such a Daddy's girl and loves to spin around with him. Genevieve has her own way of saying "no" that cracks us up: when it's time for bed and Mommy opens her arms to take her from Daddy, Genevieve sternly grunts "noidee-noidee-noidee" and quickly turns into her Daddy's arms. :)




Genevieve tries a lemon when Uncles Chris & Mike were visiting, a sample of Genevieve's fake cry, her "yololo" babble, crawling, then Genevieve attacking the camera, and then seeing her learn to close a door.

Here's Genevieve clapping, walking from one piece of furniture to another while babbling, and then "helping" with the laundry.

Daddy and Genevieve having fun with his hat. I thought this was a good example of her "talking" and moving around like a big girl. It's also funny how she denies giving a kiss to Daddy! ;)

Joe has been working on his 40 page Law Review Note for months and finally submitted the final version recently. He has high hopes that it will be published and is grateful for everyone's prayers. Joe was also recently elected to serve as the Business Manager on the Law Review Editorial Board next year. This position is an honor and recognizes all the hard work Joe has put in this past year. It is supposed to be family friendly and will look great on his resume when he graduates. The most exciting news to date is that we will be spending the summer in Chicago as Joe has been hired at the Thomas More Society! This is Joe's dream job and an answer to our prayers. Our friends Ryan and Tara Reeves have generously opened up their home to us and we are looking forward to a fun summer with them. We went from not knowing what we will be doing this summer to finding a job AND a place to live in one weekend. God is so good! The weather has been beautiful in Naples and  we have had a fruitful Lent thus far. We're looking forward to the Easter season and seeing our family then! We love you all and we miss you!

Papa Francisco! Why he chose this name