Midland and the Mayflower

We spent Thanksgiving with my Dad and Robin (AKA Bear and Honey)in Midland. We had so much fun just relaxing and visiting. Their house is so peaceful. We shared in an excellent Thanksgiving meal (I brought home many recipes) and exchanged Christmas presents. Thanks to my Dad and Robin for being such gracious and wonderful hosts. As always we had a great time!

Spending some quiet reading time with Honey.

Here's Kate showing her new friend how to go night night.

Any kind of stuffed animal is alright in Kate's book.

It's too bad Carson didn't like this sock monkey my Dad and Robin gave him. Yes, it's just too bad.

Bear and Kate

Here's Kate "helping" Honey with dinner. Really she was just eating the mandarin oranges.

I had such a great time with my Dad. He always gives me such a confidence boost. He always tells me how great I am with the kids and Jared. That always means the world to me.

My Dad and Robin are friends with this wonderful lady that they invited to dinner. She is 96 still driving, still living on her own. Amazing lady!

Carson says, "Really guys don't fight over me there's enough of me to go around!"

Me and my girl.

Carson was enchanted with this dog statue. He also liked the 3 live dogs my Dad and Robin have. Kate loved to chase their daschund Lucy around although I'm not too sure that Lucy enjoyed it.

Me, Robin and my Dad

Miss Priss in her Thanksgiving dress. Of course she wouldn't look up. That's her new thing.

Daddy and Carson right before the meal


Our Kids traveled really well! It was a 5 hour car trip and depsite the fact that they have never been in their car seats for more than 2 hours at a time they did well.

Saturday

Saturday was a great day! I got to see my brother Brig his wife Kelly and my 2 nephews Caden and Tabor. It was a truly special day that was filled with lots of laughing and a really good feeling of contentment that comes from being with family I love. It was great to see my kids form relationships with their Uncle and Aunts. It seemed that a lot of times they were actually fighting over who would hold our kids next! Now that is a wonderful feeling. It was also great to see the special cousin relationships that are starting to form. Kate wanted to follow her 2 cousins around everywhere. She had fun playing and racing with them. At one point during the night she plopped herself right down in Caden's lap. He said, "I think she likes me!"
I also met my youngest brother's girlfriend Stacey for the first time. She is one of those people that when you meet her you feel like you have known her your whole life. I knew she was a good person when Kate reached her arms out to her when she first saw her. :)

Such a great day that I will never forget!


Me with my brother Brig. A truly great guy.

Me with my oldest nephew Caden. I can't believe he is 10!

Tabor was a natural! I love this picture of him with Carson

Caden was so great with Kate and Carson

There is something about this picture that just warms my heart

Kate and Auntie Kelly

Me and my good friend Stacey!

This is to me, an absolutely precious picture.


I LOVE this picture. Kate loved being with her Uncle Brig.


Stacey took this one of Carson. Why is it that other people can take better pictures of your kids than you can?


Here I am with my wondeful sister in law Kelly and my other sister in oops! I mean my new friend Stacey

Kate looked like this the whole day! She was so happy!

The Story of Hudson John

Almost 2 years ago I was coming home from Kate's baby shower when I got a call my sister in law Carolyn. She wanted to know what gifts I received and what the shower was like. We chatted about all things baby. Carolyn and I are close like sisters and we talk on the phone ALOT and this was no exception. At the end of the conversation I could tell she had something to tell me. She was pregnant again! It was perfect. Just as we would be welcoming Kate into the world new life would be starting in her family. We made jokes about how fertile she is and how close Piersen and the new baby would be. I was so happy for her. Then five days after Kate was born I was nursing her in bed when Jared brought me the cell phone. It was Care telling me they had lost the baby. I was in shock. This doesn't happen to Care. She had had 3 successful, healthy, uneventful pregnancies. But she had all faith in God that He knew the plan. Four months later I was overjoyed at the news that we were pregnant with Carson. On our way home from our first sonogram with Carson I called Care to tell her that all was well and she told me that she had something to tell me. She was pregnant again. Her due date was just a week or so after Carson's. Oh what joy filled my heart! To be pregnant together and for our babies to be nearly the same age. It was all too perfect! Then on a warm July day I was sitting in my office talking to a co worker and saw an email from Care. They had already seen a sonogram of the baby's heart beat and were going back for another look. I opened up the email full of anticipation. I froze. The email said that they could not find a heart beat. They had lost the baby. Within 6 months, 2 losses. I called Care on the way home and just cried. When I got home I went to our room and just cried out to God. Why?? It didn't make sense! When Carson was born I had mixed emotions of happiness and sadness knowing that Benjy and Care's sweet little girl was supposed to arrive at the same time. It was truly bittersweet.
Fast forward to March of this year. God started prompting me to pray for Carolyn specifically. He told me to pray about a baby. In all of my years of being a Christ follower this has never happened to me. I told the Lord, " You must be mistaken. They are not sure Lord. I am pretty sure there is no baby." But He told me to pray about a baby so I did. I mentioned to Care in an email that I had been prompted to pray for her. I left out the part about a baby because I didn't want to upset her. She emailed back cryptically, "Keep praying for me." I was on my lunch break at my new job sitting in the warm sunshine when she told me. Yes she was pregnant again BUT they had gone in for a sonogram and could not find a heartbeat. The Dr said to come back in a week to confirm. Maybe it was too early. Maybe it was another miscarriage. The Dr. couldn't be sure until she was in her 6th week. I told her I was hopeful. I told her I would pray. That night I scoured the internet. What week was it possible to see a heart beat? I sent her story after story of how 5 weeks is too early. 6 weeks is the earliest. It was hope! I knew she was searching the internet to. We hoped for the best and waited until the next appointment. I remember the day of her appointment. I didn't hear anything all day. It could be good news or it could mean bad news. I was just about to go to bed when I got the call. It was Care. I'll never forget those words. "Bets, we have a heartbeat!" I was so thankful and so in awe of God and how He provided this one miracle that we all needed. Well........
Yesterday, November 16th this little miracle entered the world. Hudson John Brednich was born at 9:05 PM. He is surrounded by 3 big brothers and the most loving parents. I will never forget the call I got last night from Care around 10:00. "Bets? He's here!" It has been my priviledge to walk just a small part of this journey with Benjy and Care. Hudson is living proof that God is so faithful!

My Girl, My Heart

Every morning when nap time comes we start up the stairs. I am carrying Carson and Kate makes her way up by herself. I lay Carson in bed and cover him up and Kate and I tell him that we love him then we close the door. And sometimes I take Kate's hand but usually she has gone ahead of me and climbed into our bed. This has become our little daily ritual before she naps. She loves to sink down into the big comforter on our bed and stick her thumb in her mouth and just be content. I lay right next to her and stroke her soft hair. We sing, and I tell her how much I love her and how thankful I am to be her Mommy. I just drink it in and sometimes like this morning, I cry happy tears because I am so thankful that I can have moments like this with my little girl. I prayed a prayer of Thanksgiving to God this morning with my little girl laying her head on my shoulder and snuggled as close to me as she can get.

Night and Day

So anyone who has been reading my comments on facebook or reads this blog knows that my wonderful little boy does not like to sleep. To be more accurate he does not like to STAY asleep. I know that in the grand scheme of non sleeping babies he is not the worst. He is probably on the minimum side of non sleepers. He likes to wake up once a night. Sometimes it is at 4:45, sometimes 5:00, or sometimes like last night he likes to shake things up and wake up at 1:53 am. Sorry for the specifics but as anyone who gets up with a baby knows, you know the specific time. When I first hear his cry I try to decipher, can I just cover him up, put the paci back in and maybe he'll go back down? Or is this the more desperate cry saying, "I need to eat! I am a big boy going through a huge growth spurt that has spanned 4 months!!!" It is at this time when I wish that I had the baby whisperer. It is at this time that I wish we had a baby translator. You know, the kind that they have for foreign languages. Wouldn't it be great if I could have Carson cry into the translator and it would read back to me, "he is cold, cover him up." Or "Bad baby dream. Pick him up and put him right back down." or "red alert! this kid is hungry!" But alas, there is no such thing so I will have to continue to use my Mom sense which by the way is seriously diminished with sleep. My exhaustion level is high and sometimes my frustration level follows. I pray for patience and perspective and then I go make a bottle. I put him back down after the bottle and sometimes he goes to sleep and sometimes he cries himself to sleep. I usually then stumble back to bed and mutter to Jared something about how tired I am or how this is never going to end or how baffled I am that he can't sleep through the night. That is the night.



Daytime is a different story. No matter what, my boy wakes up at around 8. He is usually sitting up and talking and bouncing. And when I open the door and he sees me he breaks into the best little baby grin ever and reaches both arms up for me to hold him. It is at that exact moment when I forget all about the night. I pick up that big cuddly boy and just snuggle with him. He buries his head into my shoulder, and wraps his chubby little arm around my neck and all is forgotten. All of the frustration, all of the exhaustion, all of the questions, and all of the worries from the night before just go away. It is at those times when I feel like a Mommy the most. My heart just overflows with unconditional love for this little boy and I know that even if I have to wake up with him every night of his life :) it's ok because my love for him goes beyond exhaustion and frustration. It reaches down into my soul to a place that I didn't even know existed before being a Mom. It is then that I get to experience just a very small glimpse of the love that my heavenly Father has for me. What an unexpected miraculous gift.

Photo Oppurtunities

Last Saturday Jared surprised with my Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary gift (for the next 10 years!) A camera! A wonderful fancy schmancy camera. In the first 2 days alone we took 600 pictures. The thing that separates this camera from my other one is that it has continuous shot so that I can shoot multiple frames in a short amount of time. Perfect for kids who don't see the true beauty of posing for a shot. If you keep clicking you are bound to get a decent shot. So it's official, you may never see my face again with out a camera covering it up. What an amazing gift. Here are just a "few" pictures. I love it because you can edit the photo right on the camera before you up load.

Our Family Verse

Jared and I decided a long time ago that our family verse is Hebrews 13:5. This verse is close to our hearts because it shows the constant unchanging nature of our God. For everything our family has been through God has always provided for us and always been a constant presence. He has never left us and we know with confidence that He never will. A few weeks ago we had this plaque made to hang over our fireplace to constantly remind us of God's unchanging, unfailing love.

Randomosity

This is a game Kate and Carson play at the table. Carson will peek around the centerpiece at Kate and that will make her laugh so hard. It is hilarious to watch. Carson is her little clown.:)


Kate is fascinated with her reflection and shadow. When she sees her reflection she says, "HellWO!!!!" This also gives a good look at her winter hat. I know it won't really match her red coat but somehow I think the cuteness will beat out the clashness (not a word).

Believe it or not it was below the 70s in the last few weeks (or month?) Little Red Riding Hood decided to take her new coat out for a spin in the yard...
Kate can ALMOST turn the knob on our doors. She has also been working on the lock. She hasn't put together the actual function of the lock but when she does I am really going to have to watch her! This is also an good example of our weather. Kate probably wore this dress in the same week she wore the coat!!


Kate loves to "walk in our shoes" so to speak. She loves to put on any shoes we have laying around. It is especially cute and funny when she puts on Jared's sneakers. :) She will just walk around in them like they fit her feet exactly!

Delish Dish

For the past 2 weeks I have been in a cooking slump. I knew it was bad when Jared and I had the following conversation:
Me: Hey Babe I am sorry I didn't cook anything tonight.

Jared: That's ok I wasn't really that hungry anyway. (He says this as he is eating a refrigerated hot dog). Yuck AND ouch!

So I was back in the swing of things last night and made a good dish. I loved it because I cooked and baked it in the skillet. One dish! So Delish. You can get the recipe HERE!

Ancient Chinese Secret

Instead of finding the elusive missing sock look who came out in the wash instead!

Our Boy of Joy

Carson is 9 months old!! He is 21 lbs! He is stocky. He is calm, laid back, and happy most of the time. :) He can't be perfect all of the time!! He is pulling up to his knees and bouncing around. He's got two new teeth up top for a total of 4. When I am holding him I have to be careful because he loves to nip at my shoulder! When Jared gets home he stares a hole right through him until he is picked up for his Daddy time. He is still Kate's biggest fan and loves to watch evey moves she makes. He takes just one morning nap. AND.......he has slept through the night for the last TWO nights!!! What a big boy!!He is exploring new foods. He loved the shredded cheese I gave him from my salad the other night and he ate some of Kate's grilled cheese yesterday. He goes to town on his sippy cup and will also drink from Kate's sippy cup when she leaves it lying around. He is crawling EVERYWHERE!!! He is "walking" a little bit when we hold his hands. Bath time is probably his most favorite times of the day. He's gets to be in close proximity of Kate and he gets to bounce around in the water and SPLASH!!! From the minute we set him down to the minute we take him out he is splashing! He loves cars and blocks. He is the most cuddly little boy and my heart just melts when he lays his head down on my shoulder even when he's not tired. And I LOVE his little grin.

Whether the Weather

While the weather decides if it wants to be spring, summer, or fall we have been enjoying its indecisiveness that veers towards spring. We lay out our old comforter in the backyard and the kids just play. As Jared said the other day, "You have to admit this weather makes you glad to live in Texas." I must admit he's right.