Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Preps for Bethan
Have finally started to begin. I had my first (and only) shower Monday evening. The girls in my small group had a little diaper shower for me. We had lots of good dips and appetizers, and some yummy desserts. To make the night even more perfect for me, we had a beautiful thunderstorm come through right after it started. The lightning was beautiful. It made me feel like I was back home in Tampa. I really miss Florida summer storms. The power went out and stayed out for over an hour. We had a flashlight in the middle of us to give a little light. Perfect evening! I've been working on getting stains out of clothes for a while, and I'm almost done with those. But I finally bought Dreft and am washing all the rest of her clothes now. Then I've got to do all the blankets, bibs, burp cloths, etc. I've started making my list of what I need to buy. Which isn't much. And I've made my hospital list. I feel like I should have tons of other stuff to do right now, but there's really not. Since Benjamin is still in the crib, I can't really get that ready. I probably won't move him into Will's room until about a month after she's born. I DO have preps for the other kids. We've got to buy a twin mattress for Kirstine and figure out how we're going to fit her back into her old room. I also need to get new bedding for one of the boys. My long term plan is to give Will's train bedding to Benjamin, and get Will Gator bedding. But my ideal is an orange/blue plaid comforter from Pottery Barn with actual Gator sheets. But PBK refuses to make an orange and blue set. I've been waiting for almost 2 years now and still nothing. So since we don't have that yet, I guess we'll just have to get something cheap and temporary for one of the boys until we decided what we will do permanently. Am I boring you yet? I guess that's all for now. Oh, and I guess I should buy her a baby book at some point.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Will's best game EVER!
I am so crazy proud of Will today. He played so incredibly fabulous. Unfortunately, Scott had to work today and missed it :( You will notice him progressively hitting worse as the game goes on, but everyone did today. It's because they were so EXHAUSTED! We only had 7 players today (most teams play with 10). So not only did 3 people have to bat twice every inning (we play 10 batters per inning), but Will had to cover the ENTIRE outfield pretty much by himself. I say pretty much because there was one other kid out there. But in his mother's own words, he'd rather be dancing than playing baseball, so it was kind of as if he wasn't even there :) Needless to say Will ran around a LOT and was therefore pretty tired when it came time to bat. 2 memorable plays: He tagged someone out at 2nd base, and got the winning out at home plate. Good game, Will! And he also got the game ball. Oh yeah, did I mention that he got his first ever HOMERUN?!?!?!? 1st at bat: HOMERUN
2nd at bat: Double
3rd at bat: Out at home plate, but if he wasn't the last batter he would have stopped at 3rd base. (Last batter you just have to get the ball to home plate and anyone who gets there after you is out)
4th and 5th at bats... wimpy singles :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
My kids love each other so much
Will: Kirstine, Please, please, please come back outside and play with me!
Kirstine: I'm all done outside. I'm too cold.
Will: I've got my sweatshirt outside.
Kirstine: Can I wear your sweatshirt?
Will: Sure!
And off they go.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Benjamin's Voodoo Magic
Benjamin is a little obsessed with Chuggington these days (it's a better Disney version of Thomas the Train). After it was over today he continued to beg to watch it again. When I told him no, this is what he came up to the remote to do...
When I got the camera out to video tape it he immediately stopped, but I got him to do it again for a little bit. It totally looked like he was trying to make the remote control put Chuggington on all by itself.
When I got the camera out to video tape it he immediately stopped, but I got him to do it again for a little bit. It totally looked like he was trying to make the remote control put Chuggington on all by itself.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Bike Riding
So here it is. Will learning how to ride a bike. Scott's been teaching him a little bit in the driveway this week. But this is the first time he has gotten to ride more than 12 feet. p.s. he's getting a bigger bike for his birthday.
Kirstine got her first bike this week for her birthday. Notice the plastic Barbie sized bike attached to the handle with Barbie sitting on it. So cute.
And this is Benjamin's version of a bike.
Kirstine got her first bike this week for her birthday. Notice the plastic Barbie sized bike attached to the handle with Barbie sitting on it. So cute.
And this is Benjamin's version of a bike.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Pictures of Bethan and Her Family
Well here they are! This first picture is of Bethan having fun with her stickers.
Jo and I playing Monopoly
Bethan, me, and Jo on our last day together
Me, Jo, Rachel, and Bethan at the train station
And here are 2 other pictures from that trip:
Climbing on top of some castle wall
This is Caerphilly Castle. I don't remember the story of how this crack happened, but isn't it cool? If you look real closely, you can see me standing inside the crack.
Bethan - Pronunciation and Origin
Since so many people have asked, here goes!
First of all, how do we pronounce Bethan? Simple! Just like Bethany, but without the "ee" sound at the end. It is NOT Beth Anne.
Where did we get this name from? Longer answer. To do it justice I'll start at the begninning and tell the entire story...
It's March 2001, almost 10 years ago. I am going on a mission trip to Wales with a group of other college-aged students from my church in Gainesville, FL. It is my second trip there. The year before this trip my singing ensemble at the church also went, so we got to stay together. Typically there are about 4-5 students per group spread over the northern part of Wales. My ensemble got to stay together. We did a lot of concerts and school assemblies and that sort of thing.
Second trip was different. I was assigned to be with 2 guys. One was a few years older than me, the other was the chaperone for the group. We spent months preparing skits and puppets and crafts and all sorts of things like that. We were going to be sleeping in the attic of a church, camping up there. We knew it was going to be freezing up there so we were prepared!
We are flying out of Tampa, so I went back home a few days early. The night before we were to leave I got a call. There has been an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease all over Wales and we're not sure if we get to go into the country. All we know is that we have plane tickets into Manchester, England, so we're at least getting that far. Plans get made overnight, and when we get to the airport we hear the new plan. The capital city of Wales (Cardiff) has not been affected, and we can get a train directly into the city without being exposed.
Day 1: We spend the night at the house of some IMB missionaries. The next morning we go to Rhiwbina Baptist Church. They announce our presence while we are there, and ask church members to host us for the week. They'll tell us who we're staying with that night after the evening service.
All I know is I start freaking out. I was pretty shy back then. I was honestly terrified about staying in the home of strangers for an entire week. Everyone kept reassuring me that it would be fine, and that they would most likely put me and Amy (the only other girl on the trip) in a house together. So I started calming down.
In the meantime, when the morning service was over everyone went to the fellowship hall for tea. If you've never been to the UK, this is very common. Tea everywhere. There were days where we would have 5 tea "parties" in one day, just because we had to stop what we were doing and have tea everytime we went somewhere.
So we're standing around, drinking tea, and socializing (me just with the people I already knew). And then I spot her. This 4-year-old little girl. Blonde hair. Wearing this cute little yellow dress. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. But a spitfire! The best word I can use to describe her is stolen from her mother at one point later: cheeky. She had a doll that she was dragging around behind her the whole time. And she was tormenting all the little boys. She was the funniest thing ever. As we were leaving and walking to our van I was telling everyone about her. She walked past us and I got to show everyone who I was talking about.
Fast forward to evening service. Right before the service begins we get our assignments. I am alone. I start bawling. Maybe having an anxiety attack? I finally calm down. I am staying with a couple named Richard and Rachel. We attend the service and afterwards our families come and find us. Richard is there with his 8-9 year old daughter, Jo. They were very nice.
When we get home they show me to my room, I meet his wife, Rachel, and then he tells me he wants to show me one other person. We walk into his other daughter's room (at this point I didn't know he had another daughter) and she was fast asleep in her bed. I look at her, and ask him, "Did she have a yellow dress on this morning?" The answer was, of course, yes. She was the same little girl from that morning. I really couldn't believe it.
This all may seem silly to you. But to me it was just a very small sign. God really does care about all those little things in our lives that sometimes we feel he doesn't. He really cared about my insecurities about spending a week in a stranger's home. He placed me in the one home with the only person I had any connection to at all in that city. I knew I was going to be okay. In case you hadn't guessed yet, her name was Bethan.
For the next week I spent every free moment I had hanging out with Bethan and Jo. Whenever our tasks were done for the day, and the rest of my group was getting together to hang out, I always decked out early so I could get home to Bethan. I loved that little girl. I bawled my eyes out the day I had to leave her. But really not just her - I loved that entire family. I had an wonderful time getting to know them that week, and really felt that they became a second family to me.
I never got a chance to get their contact information. For some reason we just totally forgot until the last minute. They had my address, though. I don't remember if I had a chance to give it to them, or if they had it from the church. I didn't hear from them again until Christmas. I got a christmas card with a long letter in it. The problem was the return address was incomplete so I couldn't write them back. And that was the end. Back then the internet wasn't so friendly, and I really didn't know how to find them. But it's 10 years later, and I may be on to something. I googled the church, and immediately found a picture of the father, Richard, on their website as an elder. I have contacted the church and hopefully I will be able to get in touch with them! I want them to know that I have my own little Bethan on the way! And she will arrive 10 years and 2 months after I met their Bethan.
Was that long enough? I promise I'll find a picture of her and post it soon as well.
First of all, how do we pronounce Bethan? Simple! Just like Bethany, but without the "ee" sound at the end. It is NOT Beth Anne.
Where did we get this name from? Longer answer. To do it justice I'll start at the begninning and tell the entire story...
It's March 2001, almost 10 years ago. I am going on a mission trip to Wales with a group of other college-aged students from my church in Gainesville, FL. It is my second trip there. The year before this trip my singing ensemble at the church also went, so we got to stay together. Typically there are about 4-5 students per group spread over the northern part of Wales. My ensemble got to stay together. We did a lot of concerts and school assemblies and that sort of thing.
Second trip was different. I was assigned to be with 2 guys. One was a few years older than me, the other was the chaperone for the group. We spent months preparing skits and puppets and crafts and all sorts of things like that. We were going to be sleeping in the attic of a church, camping up there. We knew it was going to be freezing up there so we were prepared!
We are flying out of Tampa, so I went back home a few days early. The night before we were to leave I got a call. There has been an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease all over Wales and we're not sure if we get to go into the country. All we know is that we have plane tickets into Manchester, England, so we're at least getting that far. Plans get made overnight, and when we get to the airport we hear the new plan. The capital city of Wales (Cardiff) has not been affected, and we can get a train directly into the city without being exposed.
Day 1: We spend the night at the house of some IMB missionaries. The next morning we go to Rhiwbina Baptist Church. They announce our presence while we are there, and ask church members to host us for the week. They'll tell us who we're staying with that night after the evening service.
All I know is I start freaking out. I was pretty shy back then. I was honestly terrified about staying in the home of strangers for an entire week. Everyone kept reassuring me that it would be fine, and that they would most likely put me and Amy (the only other girl on the trip) in a house together. So I started calming down.
In the meantime, when the morning service was over everyone went to the fellowship hall for tea. If you've never been to the UK, this is very common. Tea everywhere. There were days where we would have 5 tea "parties" in one day, just because we had to stop what we were doing and have tea everytime we went somewhere.
So we're standing around, drinking tea, and socializing (me just with the people I already knew). And then I spot her. This 4-year-old little girl. Blonde hair. Wearing this cute little yellow dress. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. But a spitfire! The best word I can use to describe her is stolen from her mother at one point later: cheeky. She had a doll that she was dragging around behind her the whole time. And she was tormenting all the little boys. She was the funniest thing ever. As we were leaving and walking to our van I was telling everyone about her. She walked past us and I got to show everyone who I was talking about.
Fast forward to evening service. Right before the service begins we get our assignments. I am alone. I start bawling. Maybe having an anxiety attack? I finally calm down. I am staying with a couple named Richard and Rachel. We attend the service and afterwards our families come and find us. Richard is there with his 8-9 year old daughter, Jo. They were very nice.
When we get home they show me to my room, I meet his wife, Rachel, and then he tells me he wants to show me one other person. We walk into his other daughter's room (at this point I didn't know he had another daughter) and she was fast asleep in her bed. I look at her, and ask him, "Did she have a yellow dress on this morning?" The answer was, of course, yes. She was the same little girl from that morning. I really couldn't believe it.
This all may seem silly to you. But to me it was just a very small sign. God really does care about all those little things in our lives that sometimes we feel he doesn't. He really cared about my insecurities about spending a week in a stranger's home. He placed me in the one home with the only person I had any connection to at all in that city. I knew I was going to be okay. In case you hadn't guessed yet, her name was Bethan.
For the next week I spent every free moment I had hanging out with Bethan and Jo. Whenever our tasks were done for the day, and the rest of my group was getting together to hang out, I always decked out early so I could get home to Bethan. I loved that little girl. I bawled my eyes out the day I had to leave her. But really not just her - I loved that entire family. I had an wonderful time getting to know them that week, and really felt that they became a second family to me.
I never got a chance to get their contact information. For some reason we just totally forgot until the last minute. They had my address, though. I don't remember if I had a chance to give it to them, or if they had it from the church. I didn't hear from them again until Christmas. I got a christmas card with a long letter in it. The problem was the return address was incomplete so I couldn't write them back. And that was the end. Back then the internet wasn't so friendly, and I really didn't know how to find them. But it's 10 years later, and I may be on to something. I googled the church, and immediately found a picture of the father, Richard, on their website as an elder. I have contacted the church and hopefully I will be able to get in touch with them! I want them to know that I have my own little Bethan on the way! And she will arrive 10 years and 2 months after I met their Bethan.
Was that long enough? I promise I'll find a picture of her and post it soon as well.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Kirstine's Prayer
Kirstine's prayer last night started out so sweet. It began with her asking God to take care of all the people that don't have food to eat, and for him to give them all food. Then she asked God to take care of Bethan (I once again reminded her, "Kirstine, it might be a boy!"), Isaac, Benjamin, Will, Dad, Mom, Gran, Papa, Toby, Kaden, Blue, Abigail, and Jonathan.
Then she asked God to take care of Benjamin, and to take away his voice, because he's a really really loud baby.
Then she asked God to take care of Benjamin, and to take away his voice, because he's a really really loud baby.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
kids and pregnancy
Will was wonderful with my 2nd pregnancy. he loved the baby, loved kissing my belly ALL THE TIME, and was so excited when Kirstine got here.
He was the same with the 3rd pregnancy, but knew more what was going on. he was more compassionate with my sickness. but most of all, it affected kirstine A LOT. she would lay outside the bathroom in a fetal position bawling her eyes out everytime i threw up. it was so stinking cute.
Not so much this time. They barely notice. The funniest moment? Last week in Tampa I was in Gran's bathroom throwing up. Brad came over while I was back there. Will looked at him and said, "She's pregnant. It happens."
He was the same with the 3rd pregnancy, but knew more what was going on. he was more compassionate with my sickness. but most of all, it affected kirstine A LOT. she would lay outside the bathroom in a fetal position bawling her eyes out everytime i threw up. it was so stinking cute.
Not so much this time. They barely notice. The funniest moment? Last week in Tampa I was in Gran's bathroom throwing up. Brad came over while I was back there. Will looked at him and said, "She's pregnant. It happens."
Friday, November 5, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Day 6 – Chinatown
Chinatown. Nothing too impressive here. In my opinion, anyway. There is supposedly an amazing authentic Chinese garden, but it cost too much to go in. So we opted out and went to the unauthentic Chinese park connected to it. It was free. But still very pretty.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Day 5 – Olympic Torch
They lit the Olympic torches the night before, and they would only be lit for 24 hours, so I really wanted to see it. I think it was in memory of someone dying, but I’m not really sure. It was raining and very cold, but it was sooooo warm under the torch!
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