Rome got to meet his baby brother for the first time yesterday afternoon and he seems very excited to be a big brother. Today I was taking him to the the hospital again and made a stop at MacHeadQuarters to get my laptop looked at. Well, they have a neat aquarium at the store with a “Nemo” fish and Rome loves watching all the fish swim around. We were going to wait around for my laptop to get done, but Rome said “lets go see Mommy and Baby Jack!” So, the point of this story is that Rome was more excited to see his baby brother rather than look at the Nemo fish so that’s pretty good.
In all my haste to get updates & photos up yesterday, I never really gave an account of Jack’s arrival into the world…
Jack Henry Troester! He arrived today (March 18th) at 12:17pm, weighing in at 7lbs, 3oz and measuring 20 1/4″ long. He’s actually a lot cuter than he looks in this picture! Mom & baby are both doing well. I’m staying at home with Big Brother Rome who is quite excited about his new role in the family. We went into the hospital last night at 7pm and 17 hours later he was here. We didn’t get much sleep last night so needless to say, we’re all pretty tired and though this hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but we’re giving thanks to God that he brought us safely to this point and we look forward to the day (April 19th, as of now) when Jack will be brought into the family of God through the waters of Holy Baptism. I hope to have more photos posted soon…if I don’t pass out from exhaustion first (like I can talk – Kris is the one who did all the hard work!). Oh, and a huge thank you to everyone for all your emails, thoughts, and prayers. We’re truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!
UPDATE: New photos posted on the photos page. More to come soon! (Would have been sooner had I not left the camera with Kris at the hospital)
Well, the winter quarter is finally over (well, for all intents and purposes, anyway – I still have one paper to revise and hand in), and we’re looking forward to some time off. As you can see, Kris is showing more and more as Jack continues to grow. She’s officially done doing day care now which is good because her back’s been bothering her more lately and she’ll need the extra rest before Jack officially arrives in early April. Rome’s vocabulary continues to increase and we recently transitioned him away from using pacifiers. Over the break we’ll be putting him into a “big boy” bed so he’s pretty excited. As for me, I’ll feel better when I finally hand in this paper, but it’s nice to have only one quarter left. I had my Certification Interview (a.k.a. Theological Interview) this past Wednesday and it was really great. I met with a couple of my professors and we talked over various topics of theology and church practice and it was a good conversation. The end result is that they will recommend me for certification to become a pastor…I’m now one step closer! The next big thing is Call Day on April, 22. This is where I’ll receive my first call (assignment) to serve as a pastor. It could be anywhere in the US and I could end up as a sole pastor or associate. I’ve had 4 interviews for associate pastor “positions”, one of which I know I will not be going to because they have already told me so. Of the three remaining…well, I haven’t heard anything back yet from any of them so I guess we’ll just have to wait until April! In the mean time, I’ll be spending time with family, taking in some of the sights in St. Louis, and I hope to get some good bike rides in (assuming the temp goes up a little). I’m also planning to do a few races this spring too. I’m officially listed as a member of the Concordia Seminary Bike Club and I now have an official license to race through USA Cycling…how exciting! In addition, our Nintendo Wii has been feeling seriously neglected, so we’ll have to get in some quality time together. I think that about covers it for now. I haven’t uploaded any new photos yet but hope to do so over the next couple of weeks.
UPDATE: I’m in the process of uploading a bunch of new photos so be sure to check out the photos page for more updates.
As the NFL playoffs get underway, we found out that apparently Rome is bigger fan of football than we realized. I’m not sure what prompted him to do this as I rarely (if ever) talk about football let alone watch any games. Perhaps it’s a recessive athletic gene from somewhere in our ancestry. It’s certainly not from me.
I know it’s not even officially the start of Advent yet so we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here, but I just wanted to share an experience I had today. Kris had gone to the grocery store and Rome and I were at home listening and dancing to some Mannheim Steamroller. I think my dad owns every one of their Christmas albums so listening to it now brings back a lot of memories. And I must say, it’s quite possibly some of the best Christmas music ever. I’m now carrying on the tradition with my son. But I digress. So, on comes “Silent Night” and Rome brings me the book listed above, Oh Holy Night, and asks me to read it. Naturally I oblige and for the first time in a long time it really hit me just how awesome Christmas is. That our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be born as one of us so that He could live, suffer, and die in our place on the cross to forgive our sins and that on Easter he rose again to secure for us eternal life. It’s not that I never knew this before but today, through the reading of a children’s book, I was reminded again how simple and wonderful the truth of Christmas is.
Now that Fall Quarter is over and I have some time on my hands, I’ve finally uploaded some new photos. Actually, I’ve uploaded a LOT of photos and they aren’t technically “new” – but they’re finally on the internet. Click here or on the “Photos” tab above to view them. Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite baby name over on the right.
We just had our ultrasound today and found out we’ll be having another boy! Everything is looking pretty good but they’re doing another ultrasound next month because he wasn’t swallowing enough fluid so they couldn’t get a great look at his stomach. They’re not concerned but just want to be on the safe side. As a side note, we thought we were settled on a name but now it’s a bit more up in the air. You’ll see a poll on the right where you can vote on which name you like the best. Just for some history, the name John was selected as it is Kris’ late father’s name and Will was his middle name. The other names are Biblical in nature and just plain cool. Let us know what you think!
UPDATE: We’ve added another name. If you’d like to change your vote, leave a comment and I’ll make it happen.
It’s hard to believe that the fall quarter here at the Seminary is almost over! With a little under three weeks left, this time is going by very fast. Just by way of some updates, here’s what’s going on in our lives:
Rome: He turned two back in September and his vocabulary is constantly growing. He is a great source of joy in our lives and also provides comic relief many times. His newest phrase is “Need to watch something” which he says immediately after waking up in the morning. His favorites are Higglytown Heros, Sesame Street, and Tigger & Pooh. Don’t worry…we don’t let him watch ALL those shows at once. All in moderation
Kris: She’s been doing very well with her home day care job and the kids all seem to like her very much. She’s also in her 2nd trimester now and the pregnancy is going very well. She’s already had an unofficial ultrasound and she’s also been able to hear the baby’s heartbeat. And (as you’ll see from pictures when I get them posted) she’s actually starting to show a little now! Kris continues to be a great mom & wife in taking care of both her boys.
Russ: As you can see from the picture above, I’m still goin’ strong with my cycling. This past Saturday (October 20) I completed my first century ride (100 miles). I was really surprised with how well I did and I must give some serious thanks to some guys here at the Sem who have done much by way of support, encouragement, tips, and the like. Especially I’d like to thank Dr. Jeff Kloha, Ryan Alvey, Marc Engelhardt, Eric Estes, Mark Goucher, and Eric Edwards. These guys have been my training partners and taught me a lot about cycling. As for other areas of life, with the quarter soon drawing to a close I’m just working on finishing up papers, studying for tests and trying not to let my head explode. It’s been quite the readjustment coming back to school after a year of vicarage and while it’s not exactly fun, I think I’m getting back into the swing of things.
I think that about covers it for now. I hope to post some new photos soon because I know that’s what most people really care about. I’m actually surprised I’ve written this much because I know I’d never read a post this long myself.
Today I took part in my first road race, the Le Tour de Sainte Genevieve. It’s was a 35 mile race on the roads outside Ste. Genevieve, MO. As a rookie in the world of road racing, I was with the Cat. (Category) 5 group along with about 30 other guys. I came in 7th place and I was pretty happy with that considering it was my first race. Not to mention the fact that I didn’t wreck nor did I cause anyone else to wreck so that was a victory in itself. I had a lot of fun, even in spite of some monster hills. Too bad it was the last race of the season. I plan to do some more racing next spring. Until then, I’ll have to settle for our Concordia Century ride on October 20.
