Merry Christmas 2009!

For unto you a child is born, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. ~Luke 2:11

I am so thankful for a Savior who loves me just as I am. Christmastime reminds me to look at all of the things I have been blessed with. Though the times we walk through on earth are often hard, we have so much to be thankful for. This year I thank my loving Heavenly Father for a husband who made it home safely after six long months on deployment, a healthy and precious baby girl, an energetic three year old who fully embraces the adventures of life, and a strong and motivated four year old who is always seeking new challenges. I could keep going with a long list of all the ways God has shown our family His love this year.
We are still enjoying life in sunny California. Though we tried hard to get orders back to the east coast, it looks like God has plans for us in Coronado. This has been a hard thing for us to wrap our arms around, but we know that God is in control and we have decided that we will be happy here. If we have to be far from home, this is the place to be!Andy and Zach are both strong and healthy. They are riding their bikes without training wheels and racing all over the island. Two days a week they attend the preschool at our church and have made some sweet friends. They really enjoy the freedom of being outside all the time!
Ellie Kate is growing fast! She has transitioned right into our crazy life. She is an easy baby and sleeps in the midst of all the noise around her. We are still working on her nap schedule, but that will take time. It's hard to be on a schedule when we are constantly on the go with the boys. She is such a blessing to us.
Matt arrived home in July and was thrown back into our busy life with kids! He deployed with his squadron on an aircraft carrier. He was able to continue flying and get some needed qualifications to advance in his career, he even had the opportunity to drive the ship! They spent their deployment in the Far East. Matt enjoyed getting to see a different part of the world than what he had experienced during deployments originating on the east coast. If everything goes as we have been told, he will report to HSM-77, a new MH-60R squadron, as a Department Head. He should be deploying again next fall. We are just thankful to have him home with us right now!
I haven't been doing much outside of taking care of my husband, kids, and home. The boys and I spent three months on the east coast while Matt was at sea. It was fun to have an opportunity to spend lots of time with our extended family. I really needed the help while being pregnant and trying to keep up with my energetic little guys! I am in a Bible Study with some of my best friends. It has been such a blessing to walk through motherhood with these sweet ladies. I am busy and constantly behind, but I am loving this stage of life. This is what I have dreamed of every since I was a little girl!
Thanks for taking time to check out our update. We try to add new pictures at least once a month. Our prayer is that your family will have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a BLESSED NEW YEAR!
With Love, The Loesch Family

TRUST... Life is good in Coronado!

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately. For those of you who don't know, we have been given spoken orders to stay in Coronado for another three years or so. If you are not familiar with Navy life, spoken orders mean that we will most likely be staying here, but it is not definite until we have written orders, and even then things could change. Sounds like a fun way to live doesn't it?

If you know me very well, you know that I am a planner and I have a hard time living with the lack of plans the Navy seems to offer. You also know that my heart is constantly yearning to be back on the east coast. I have loved our time in Coronado, but have felt a sense of sadness being so far from our families. We really thought that we would be moving back to Jacksonville this fall.

When Matt got the department head slate showing that we were slated for Coronado, our hearts dropped. Matt and I both went through days of questioning, feeling depressed, working with people to get it changed, and asking everyone for prayers that it would be changed, but God seems to have a different plan for us. That's where the TRUST comes in. This is where I am asked to fully rely on my Heavenly Father to supply all of my needs. This is where I am forced to TRUST that His ways are better than mine. This is where I am TRUSTING that God is keeping us in Coronado for a very special reason.

I thought I had found peace in all of this, but I am still struggling. I have had a pretty negative attitude about California and have really had to pray that God would change my heart. I started feeling very convicted about my attitude and was reminded that by complaining about life on the west coast, I was complaining about what God has chosen for me. I have been blessed far beyond anything I could have asked for or even imagined and I am complaining about having to live in "paradise"!

I can't really explain how I feel, but its something in my gut that tells me that this just doesn't feel right. I am praying that God will help me to get over this feeling and look at all of the reasons why I do absolutely love life in Coronado! We have a wonderful church family. I am part of a very special woman's Bible Study. These women are some of my very best friends. The boys are in a wonderful school. We have a fabulous beach lifestyle, not to mention the amazing weather. We have a cute little house in a wonderful location. I could go on and on, but I just miss my family!

As I said before, I know that God is keeping us here for a very special reason and something tells me it has to do with some relationships that God has given us with some friends. We are praying that he will use us to accomplish His will no matter what that looks like. Or, maybe He is just teaching me to TRUST that His ways are always better than mine! You would think that I would have learned that by now! I never would have chosen this crazy Navy life, but this is what God chose for me and it has been good. He continues to teach me so much and bless us more each day.

So, there you have it. I am growing and struggling and learning, but most importantly I am TRUSTING!!! Life truly is good in Coronado! If you don't believe me, come out for a visit!

Look Who Is Three Months Old Today!

Look at that big smile! Ellie Kate was in such a sweet little mood while I was taking pictures this morning.

She has just learned that she can grab her dress or doll or whatever is near and put it in her mouth. This makes it a little harder to keep her clothes dry and to try to take pictures!

We are having such a good time with this little girl. She is still sleeping well at night and her naps are starting to become more regular. She is cooing at us more and more, especially when we are reading books. She loves when anyone talks to her. She is already very social. Tummy time only lasts for a few minutes with her, because she pushes up on her arms and rolls over or lays her head down and sucks on her hand. Her favorite spot is in her Bubmbo chair, where she sits up and watches her brothers. She has been staying up for longer periods of time between naps, so we have all enjoyed having more time to play with her. Looking cozy after her bath. One of my friends made her this sweet hooded towel.

Sick Days

Now that it is a little cooler around here and everyone is in school, we have started getting sick again! It always seems to start with Zach's allergies and then turns into a cough. Zach missed school all last week. We stayed home from Bible Study on Friday, due to lingering coughs and runny noses. So, the boys decided to have "pajama day" and stay in their PJs all day. We pulled out their little tents and tunnel. They had a great time playing together. They even let Ellie Kate join them for a little while!

Andy pulled out just about every puzzle he could find.Zach was acting silly after being stuck at home for so many days... he decided to try out the Bumbo chair!Ellie Kate enjoyed all of the excitement in the house. Her brothers were quite energetic and entertaining to watch! We stayed at home this weekend. The boys seem to be doing a lot better. They don't look too sick to me!

Finally Up-to-Date!

I spent the free moments of my day catching up on this blog. Unfortunately I have sick kids, but thankfully they all took really good naps today! I think there are eight or nine new posts... just keep scrolling down. This is my first set of updates since Ellie Kate was born! I am going to try to stay current...Ha! Just like my scrapbooks! Life is busy with three kids! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

We had a really fun Halloween. Since it was Saturday, we started the day with a little College Game Day and ate some Monkey Bread. I love this picture. It looks like Ellie Kate is terrified that we are letting Zach hold her!

Then we headed out to the front yard to carve our pumpkins.

Here I am sketching out the designs for my pumpkin carving - perfectionist husband.

Here are the completed designs. You will see that each pumpkin coordinates with each child's costume. Andy came up with the idea of putting a bow on Ellie Kate's pumpkin, which led to the bow on her costume.

This little pumpkin fell asleep before we even got her outside!

Dash Incredible and Spiderman AKA Andy and Zach. They begged to have costumes with masks and then they didn't even want to wear the masks... of course! See the coordinating pumpkins!

Our friends came over to take pictures before our big night of trick-or-treating.

We met up with some other friends to trick-or-treat at the shops downtown.

Then we made our way over to our church for the Fall Festival.

We finally got a few pictures of Ellie Kate awake.

Our three kids at the end of the night.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Today we went up to Valley Center to Bates Nut Farm. It was a warm fall day and the sun was bright. We did our traditional family picture and the kids each got to pick out some pumpkins. I even got to pick out some other fall vegetables to decorate the house.

My three little pumpkins.

Andy was the first one to decide on a pumpkin.

Look how strong Zach is getting!

Here is our little princess in a pile of "Cinderella Pumpkins".

Daddy and Andy with our wheelbarrow full of vegetables.

The boys had a great time getting their cards stamped in the straw maze.

Proud to have completed the maze!

Grilled corn on the cobb... yummy!!!I needed some new ways to keep Ellie Kate entertained, so she had Christmas a little early this year. She got a new pink Bumbo chair....

... and a new tea party exersaucer. She is loving both of them! Now I sit her in the Bumbo on the kitchen counter while I am cooking dinner and she sits in it on the table during meals. I love all of the fun things they have for babies (and their mommies)!

Ellie Kate is Two Months Old Today!

The months are passing so quickly! Ellie Kate is up to 13lbs. and is 24 inches long. She slept all the way through the night last night! 12 hours total! She is able to hold on to her rattles and coos and tries to "talk" to us. She is full of smiles and such a sweet little baby. Her neck is getting stronger and she is holding her head up to try to see all that is going on around her. The boys cover her in kisses and keep her entertained. I wish I could make time stand still so I could just sit back and enjoy this stage! I am so thankful for this precious little baby girl!

September in Review

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!
We celebrated Daddy's birthday on September 6th. The Kirby's came down to visit and we went to the concert in the park. Daddy, we are so thankful that God gave us the gift of you! And we are so thankful that you are home so we can celebrate with you! You are loved more than you will ever know!

This month Zach learned to ride his bike without training wheels! We are so proud of that little three year old! He seems to learn things early, because he is trying to keep up with his big brother.

Now he needs to learn to keep his tongue in his mouth while he is riding!

Daddy says this is the typical Ellie Kate face. She intently watches all that is going on around her. Maybe she has a healthy fear of those big noisy brothers that are always around!

Cousin Joe just returned from Iraq and came to stay with us for a weekend, before heading back to the east coast. It was so much fun to get to visit with him and hopefully he was able to relax a little. We took him out for some yummy Mexican food and then watched the sunset at the beach. The boys loved having him here!

Little Miss Ellie Kate is growing and growing. I love her little smile in this picture. That's Grammy's favorite purple purse dress!

Our three precious little ones.
See how Ellie Kate keeps an eye on Zach at all times!

I finally captured that big smile! I love her dimples!

My sweet baby girl.

This is one of my favorite pictures, but it keeps flipping every time I add it to the blog.

The boys got new haircuts. We are trying to lose the bowl cuts and move on to the shaggy look. I hope the hair over their ears doesn't drive me crazy! Now they look so much older.

On our way to church with our friends. Look at all those crocs!

The boys surrounded by some of their sweet friends at the last concert in the park.It has become a tradition in our house to read "The Kissing Hand" on the first day of preschool. After reading the story we all get hearts on our hands to remember the kisses and love that we carry with us.Our family picture in front of the helo (that landed in front of our house) at the annual Fire Station Open House.

This is Zach with the tennis ball he flushed down the toilet on our way out the door to school! Please notice the missing toilet that Daddy had to remove to retrieve the ball! That little guy keeps us on our toes!

These sweet little guys keep me smiling even when life is crazy!