Meeting the puppies!

I didn't get a chance to post pictures of Kate meeting Precious and Max yesterday, which really should be the other way around since she didn't seem too impressed with them, but the dogs sure noticed her. The dogs have been very good even though they have been kicked out of their usual sleeping place which is our bedroom.














Does Precious look confused or what?

Kate's Homecoming!

We brought Kate home yesterday-finally! Although Maria has a lot of healing left to do, she was very ready to come home. It gave her a lot more energy to be in her own house. Kate loved her nursery and adjusted pretty well. Precious and Max also met the new addition-they are still a little confused and very concerned any time she cries. Thankfully both grandmothers, granddaddy, great grandmother Mary, and even Aunt Heather were around to help.

Introducing Katherine Grace Costa

Kate Costa finally made her appearance into the world on February 7th, 2007 at 11:23 am! She weighed a whopping 6 pounds and is 19 and 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful and we are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with this miracle. As I'm writing this, she is cuddled up with her Dad, both of whom are asleep. She came via c-section, so we are still in the hospital, we'll be released on Saturday, but Jeff brought our laptop to the hospital so we could update the blog. Enjoy the pictures!

Baby Update-Week 40

We have a date set to induce, if needed. We will be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday evening-Feb. 6th-and hopefully baby Costa will be born sometime on Wednesday. We are hopeful that she will arrive sooner than that, maybe this snowy weather will help encourage her. If not, we will see if she makes it in time to see her first UNC vs. Duke basketball game-a heated time in our home! We are hopeful that the next post will include a picture of a new and healthy baby! Thanks for everyone's encouragement and prayers!

Baby Update-Week 39

We're still waiting...If Baby Costa doesn't come by Wednesday, then we will probably be induced sometime the next week. As my doctor put it, 95% of mothers who are still pregnant at 39 weeks go into labor this week, but if we are in the 5%-then this little girl might have to be evicted. Either way, Jeff and I can't wait to see our daughter and although I have loved being pregnant, I am ready to meet her face to face! My last day of work was this past Tuesday, so I have enjoyed being home to accomplish some things I usually don't have time to do. However, I'm pretty sure I will be ready to have someone to take care of after a few more days of this not working thing. The final touches on the crib have been added and Jeff and I have had fun taking a few last weeks of pregnancy pictures.



We also celebrated Jennifer's birthday on Saturday in Greenville. Dan gave her a lovely party and we were able to see the new house they are in the process of building. It is going to be beautiful and ready just in time for their new arrival. IT'S A GIRL! Jennifer and I are sure our daughters are going to have fun growing up together. Jennifer is doing great, she looks great, is handling the stress of building a new house very well, and is working out several times a week.

Baby Update-Week 38

Nothing new to report from the doctor's visit yesterday. Her heartbeat was racing along at 145 beats per minute, but no signs of the approaching day. Maybe she'll be like both her parents and arrive fashionably late, but she still has a couple of weeks to go. I feel so huge! We had a snow day today, but they didn't close school until Jeff and I were almost to school. So we spent over an hour in the car driving to and from school at a very slow pace in snow and ice-thanks Wake County! For the most part we have been total bums today. Students are in the middle of semester exams, so everything has been pushed back a day-this just means that my last day of work will now be Tuesday instead of Monday. The snow lasted about half the day and has all but vanished.

Baby Update-Week 37

We are still waiting on Baby Costa's arrival. Her mama can tell she is definitely getting bigger and stronger. I'm a little behind this week, on Wednesday it will actually be 38 weeks-I'll update after that doctor's visit. All her clothes, sheets, blankets, etc. have been washed and folded, diapers have been bought and the nursery is finished. Now we just have to figure out what to pack for the hospital. I have one more week of work left-exam week. Hopefully she will wait until I have all my students' grades submitted before she makes her appearance. That way all the loose ends at work will be done. I said goodbye to my IB (International baccalaureate) students-they took their exams early since they are on a different schedule than the rest of the school. I taught most of them when they were freshmen and had the joy of teaching them again as juniors. They are a great group and I'm going to miss them next semester-they'll have a new teacher to get used to (it is a year long course). Hopefully, they will make me proud. Here are a few nursery pictures for your viewing pleasure!

The dust ruffle and bumper pads haven't been put on the crib yet-hopefully this week!



The pack and play is in our bedroom right now. We are actually going to use a cradle that my sisters and I used when we were born. Dad (Grandpa) has re-painted it and it will soon be put in our house.

Baby Update-Week 36

We received great news at this week's doctor's visit-she has turned to the right position! The ultrasound was really neat-she looks so big. You could see her profile very clearly-little nose,lips, etc. The computer estimated that she weighs 5 pounds 7 ounces. I can definitely tell that she is getting stronger-she is working on those soccer kicks!

Baby Update-Week 35

We hope everyone had a great time celebrating the birth of Christ. We had a great time with both sides of the family, as you will see in the pictures below. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Buies Creek with the Matthews bunch and then spent the afternoon and evening at our house in Raleigh with Jeff's mom and brother and, of course, Precious and Max.
Baby Costa is now entering her ninth month! She is being a little stubborn in that the doctors don't think she has turned to a head down position. We have an ultrasound scheduled for next week to be check her position, so we'll see if she's made the move by then. Most first time babies have turned by now. We'll keep you updated on our little southern belle. Great progress has been made on the nursery. Some of the bedding has not come in yet, it should get here this week-pictures to come soon!

The Matthews Bunch wishing you Happy Holidays

The cousins' first Christmas together!

Don't let Precious fool you-she had plenty of dog treats under the tree. She had just finished her huge rawhide Santa brought her.

No, these are not dangerous weapons, they are poles used for soccer training.


A fun time was had by all!

Happy Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Christmas from the Costa Family

We went to church and had Christmas Eve brunch with Jeff's mom and brother this morning and now we head down to Buies Creek for the evening. We hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating Jesus' birthday with your families!

Cookie Baking

Every year, the Matthews Family holds a Christmas cookie baking contest. I'm not sure how or when this tradition was started, but it has become a tradition to find new, unique recipes that have not been tried before and create the most tasty, decorative cookies possible. It has evolved into a tough competition with a unique set of rules-they seem to get stricter every year. This year a new twist was added-an actual trophy for the winner, which will be rotated every year. So the winning family gets to hold the honor for one year and then pass it on to the next winner. Jeff was unable to make this year's competition, so I teamed up with my sister Heather and we brought home the win!!!



The trophy is now proudly displayed on top of our refrigerator in our kitchen. We'll see if we can repeat next year!

Christmas is Coming!

WE'RE ALMOST READY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

We are looking forward to the Christmas Holiday, although school break doesn't start until Friday. We had fun decorating the house a few weeks ago and have finally finished our shopping.








This is our newest ornament. We like to collect ornaments that reflect fun places we've been or important moments in our lives. Obviously, this one represents the wonder of expecting our first child. As we are joyfully expecting our baby, it is interesting to reflect on the birth of Christ and the anticipation all of Heaven must have had surrounding this event, as well as to think about how Mary and Joseph must have felt and the reality of that journey to Bethlehem. We are so grateful for the miracle of this life that God has given us and even more thankful for the gift of Christ to the world!

National Boards!

Congratulations!
You are a National Board Certified Teacher!
Your performance met the standard for National Board Certification set by the board of directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards® (NBPTS).
The NBPTS Board of Directors and staff extend its best wishes for your continued success.

Jeff received some great news today-he is a National Board Certified Teacher! Teachers with more than three years of experience can become a candidate for national board certification and go through a portfolio/video/testing process. After turning in the portfolio in March, he finally received the scores today. Only about 40% of those who apply succeed in gaining certification, so it is a great professional accomplishment and in North Carolina it also means a pay raise! This is such a blessing, especially since I will be taking a leave of absence from work next semester. We are so thankful and I am very proud of Jeff for taking on the challenge. We went out to eat to celebrate, he may not look like it in the picture, but he really is happy. Great job sweetheart!

Thanksgiving and Baby Showers

I'm sorry we haven't updated in a long while! Its been a busy time of travel, baby showers, getting ready for the holidays and good old family time. We headed to the mountains with Jeff's family for Thanksgiving. We stayed in a charming log cabin overlooking Lake Lure. The weather was perfect and the food was even better-with Jeff's Aunt Gina doing all the fabulous cooking. Jeff's brother, David, came in from Indianapolis and it was great to visit with him too. Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving adventure-baby Costa enjoyed all the food and walking too! Here we are on a walk.
A heated game of scrable!



The last couple of weekends have also been filled with baby showers. One given to us by the ladies at Grace Community Church and another by my mom and sisters. We received lots of great stuff, now it just needs to be organized!

Mom picked out an awesome cake!







Lots of generous and fun gifts!



The Hurtarte/Matthews ladies-notice what is on the TV in the background.

Our friend, Amanda, brought her son Tanner over to my mom's house, he's just so darn cute I had to put his picture on our blog. He will be almost exactly a year older than baby Costa when she is born, so he is the same age that baby Costa will be next time this year-its hard to believe she'll be that big!