The Holidays 2010

Hi Everyone,

We had a very nice holiday - hope all of you did too!

We flew into Milwaukee on Christmas Day, and that afternoon we were whisked off to a fun get-together on the Schubert side of the family. The rest of the time in town
was a blur... trying to visit with all of the family in Wisconsin in 4 days was crazy! Unfortunately we didn't get to see everyone, as we would've liked. But hopefully we can make up some of the time with them next time we visit!

My brother Eric and his wife Melissa are the proud owners of a brand spankin' new house in Madison! Congrats to my little bro and wonderful sister-in-law! They closed on December 28th and moved in quickly afterwards. Very exciting! :) We were blessed to have the opportunity to get together with Oma Schubert a few times and then left for Illinois to see Noah's family on the 29th. We had a very nice time celebrating Christmas one more time, and got to spend some time with Noah's grandma too! On the 2nd we drove back up with Milwaukee to fly back to Maryland on the 3rd. Whew!!! I have to say, even though we enjoyed our quick visit with family, it's good to be back to a regular schedule again! We had a lot of late nights, and it's tough to keep up with a running, jumping, talking, giggly 18-month-old little boy when you're pooped out! haha

Speaking of Judah, here are some pictures from the holidays...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089277&id=1075628199&l=f136f91852..

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2086184&id=1075628199&l=eda0a9846e

We had Judah's 18-month appointment today, and the doc said he looks great, and is way ahead in his development! I had no idea, but I guess a 2-year-old's vocabulary should be around 40-50 words. But Judah says over 175! I thought I was crazy when I got curious and tried writing down all of the words he uses on a regular basis (without me saying them first), and the list just kept getting longer and longer! It makes me feel so blessed that I can be home with him and help him learn so much. We are working on learning numbers and the alphabet now to try to keep him challenged, and he knows all of his colors already. He is a little sponge!!!

We are also starting to potty train him... or rather, get him used to using the potty. I know he is only 18 months old, and that probably sounds nuts, but he has been telling us when he goes, and even tells us when he has to go sometimes. He is still in diapers, but we ask him periodically thoughout the day if he wants to use the potty, and he has been going on the potty at least once a day since we started about a week ago. He is doing great so far, and we are so proud of our little guy! He is just growing up too fast!!!

Other than Judah's explosion of developmental craziness (haha!), we are doing pretty well. We are starting to get to know more people here in Maryland, and have been going to a church out here. The people are very nice. I got together with another stay-at-home mom from church today and her little girl. It was great to get out of the house! I will probably be joining the church's stay-at-home mom group that meets on Thursdays... I'm pretty excited about that. It will be great for Judah (and me too).

Noah's job is going fine, although he isn't doing his real job yet. He is a Flight Test Engineer for the P-8 project at Boeing, and works at Pax River Naval Base here in Maryland. It's a very short drive to work for him, which is great - about 8 minutes from parking lot to parking lot. Noah recently passed his Flight Test Certification (yay!), which included jumping in a pool with full flight gear on, and passing various swimming and drown-proof tests. (When the plane he is working on begins flight tests in the next few months, he may get to ride along. The plane flies over the bay/ocean here, so it's required to be able to pass the test incase something happens and it needs to land in the water - not that that would ever happen.) So congrats to my hubby! Woohoo! He will also have to pass a high-altitude chamber test for his job. From what he understands, he will have to take a class, then be put into a chamber where they will reduce his oxygen percentage, and he will need to identify altitude sickness symptoms. He has been talking to some people who have gone through the test, and it sounds like sometimes people do some pretty silly things when their oxygen level goes down! :)

The area we live in is okay. It isn't bad, just very different than St. Louis, Missouri. Patuxent River, MD is built around the Naval Air Station (base). The population in the area is a majority of people who work or live on the base, and it has exploded within the past 10 years. With the population explosion, more stores and businesses have been built out here, but not nearly the number you would find in an established city. The housing and zoning around here is strange. There can be a business, then an old house that's been here for decades, then a brand spankin' new house, then a trailer or modular home... there aren't very many nice "neighborhoods" or subdivisions in the area. It has been a challenge to look for a house out here because of that. But that is ok. We are still unsure of how things will happen with Noah's job, and how long we will actually be here. Noah's first 6 months will be up in April, and we should know more as we get closer to that time. We will keep you updated.

Again, we hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are starting out the New Year! Blessings to all of you and your families! Please keep in touch. We miss all of our family and friends in the Midwest (and the south, and the Pacific! ;)

Love,
Noah, Krista & Judah