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All posts for the month April, 2012

Chinese food and Sno Cones

Posted by elwebel on April 28, 2012

Posted in: America, Daily Life. 5 comments

Today we decided to go searching for a Chinese restaurant. We have been in America over 4 months (can’t believe it has been that long already!!), and while we have cooked some Chinese food at home, we haven’t eaten at a Chinese restaurant. Some friends of ours told us about a place that had more ‘real’ Chinese food. We set off and were hopeful that it would remind us of home a bit.

I didn’t take any pictures there, but let’s just say there were many moments that remind us of home!

The food was okay… they had good green beans… and one of the dishes we ordered was not what we were expecting, and that reminded us of China!

Our waitress stood by our table the entire evening talking to us. Yep. That’s just like China.

The other customers kept staring at us. Again, just like home.

The rice was free. That’s one of my kids favorite things about China, and now also this Chinese restaurant.

Overall it was a pretty good experience. The kids ate mostly rice. And Steve and I had some good laughs about the differences and similarities. The best difference was that I got water with ICE! :)

We decided on the way home to let the kids have a sno cone. Just because.

The girls had tried them not too long ago with a friend, but Nate hadn’t experienced it yet. I also don’t think I have had a sno cone since college, back when we used to walk miles for the sno cone, eat, and walk back to school just to feel like we were burning it off. When in fact it was just a time waster so we didn’t have to study.

Elizabeth had ordered a banana flavored sno cone on her first try, and was satisfied with that and would have just continued to eat banana flavored sno cones for the rest of her life. So I stepped in and encouraged her to try another flavor. She tried watermelon. And liked it.

Anna however, takes a different approach. She made Steve read the list of flavors over and over as she kept adding up the number of flavors she wanted in her treat. I think she ended up getting 4 different flavors and I think she even realized that she overdid it! (Of course, being our stubborn Anna, she ate it regardless of how she might have disliked it.)

Nate was adamant that his sno cone would come out blue, so he had a blue cherry flavor or something. It was quite entertaining listening to the kids discuss and decide what they would order. I got a Dr. Pepper flavored sno cone. Oh yum.

We took them back to our house and sat in the backyard with the perfect weather enjoying our treat.

DSC_5848, © Erica Webel

DSC_5843, © Erica Webel

DSC_5840, © Erica Webel

I am thankful that Hope seems to have gotten over her grass issues and can join the rest of us grass loving family members outside.

DSC_5857, © Erica Webel

I love this picture, even though the quality is horrible. Nate was walking really slowly so Hope could crawl along side him. He would pick her up and carry her all over if he was allowed, but since he can’t do that, he is content to go at her pace. That’s love.

Hope had enough exploring and is headed back to mom and dad.

Steve is eager to take the big kids camping. And we will start with a backyard camp out. He set the tent up so the kids could enjoy it, and they had so much fun playing in there over the last few days. Anna brought the checkers out and Nate brought a large number of matchbox cars to the tent. They had their chairs set up with some bottles of water and they played hard!

Steve made a sign for our fence. So appropriate.

The Webel Family Circus. Perhaps I should rename this blog.

We had a fun evening out and I am loving the memories! :)

Hope’s quilt

Posted by elwebel on April 25, 2012

Posted in: Grandparents, Hope. 2 comments

My mom is a quilter. When she first started quilting, she took some classes and made quite a few really nice quilts. But then of course life happened. She moved to Italy for 5.5 years and traveling around Europe didn’t allow as much time for quilting. Not to mention she was resposible for hosting large numbers of friends and family who wanted to go visit them. (WE do not have that problem in China. We can’t seem to get friends and family out to visit!! Who wants to go to China??) Anyway.

She has made a quilt for each of my kids. A special quilt that they will treasure for always. FOREVER.

Then came Hope. Hope arrived as my parents were packing up their lives in Italy and about to move back to Texas. So Hope’s quilt was put on hold. Then instead of my mom having a few quiet months after their return from Italy to work on Hope’s quilt, we messed up those plans and returned to Texas just 2 months after them, and it has been a whirlwind ever since. But finally with our lives setting into a routine, mom was able to grab time to work on Hope’s quilt.

She brought it over as soon as it was done for Hope to have.

She liked it!

And now my mom has started on Luke’s quilt, as well as the quilt for grandbaby #6… (Michael & Virginia’s wee one (due in October)… as I pass the torch from the grandbaby making days onto them. May they have tons and tons of kids really fast too.) ;)

Thanks for the really special quilt mom!!!

Swimming lessons

Posted by elwebel on April 25, 2012

Posted in: America, Anna, Elizabeth, Nate. 1 comment

Back when we thought we were going to be coming to the states in August, we had planned to get the kids signed up for swimming lessons as early as needed to ensure they were in lessons as much as possible.

When our plans changed, I did not forgot one of our major goals for our time in America. Get our kids some skills in the water!! They LOVE to swim (read: play), and be in and around water, but had no ability.

I called around to see who offered year round lessons, and found the local YMCA did! We signed the kids up for the first session. It started about 2 weeks after we got to America. Each session lasts for a month and they go twice a week. Tuesday/Thursday at 4. The kids were SO very excited and thankfully all through the first session the excitement ran high.

DSC_3720, © Erica Webel

DSC_3724, © Erica Webel

DSC_3727, © Erica Webel

DSC_3731, © Erica Webel

DSC_3744, © Erica Webel

DSC_3742, © Erica Webel

We signed them up for a second and third session. Each session has a different teacher and at times I like that, but other times when they have a really good teacher I wish they could keep that instructor.

They break the classes up first by age, then by skill level. The younger class is 3-5… which meant that Anna & Nate were in the same class, and Elizabeth was in the older class. Other than that, all 3 were in the very beginner level.

We were mostly happy with the way things went… with a small exception for Anna & Nate’s class. They had 2 girls in their class who required a lot of the teachers attention. And while they were waiting, and slightly bored… they pestered each other! haha

After 2 sessions of that, we decided to separate them! It is going much better!

The second session did not have any other kids for Elizabeth’s age/level, which meant that she got a teacher all to herself. Social Elizabeth was sad not to have others in her class, but she made some really great progress that session with a teacher who pushed her!

The third session brought the same thing for both Elizabeth and Anna. Their respective classes didn’t have any other students, so they are both in classes by themselves. Nate still has 4 other classmates.

After we finished the 3rd session the kids are still just as eager for swimming lessons as when we started back in January. I am SO thankful they are enjoying it so much, and even more thankful that they are doing well. Elizabeth can successfully swim the length of the pool on her own, and has learned several different strokes. Anna can get about a third of the way across… and Nate about the same. He is actually really good at swimming underwater.

We are now in the 4th session of swimming lessons, and Anna is in a class with 4 others, which means she is not getting as much practice time. Nate however is struggling this session. I mistakingly signed him up for the beginning class, when I should have put him in the next level up. He is therefore extremely bored. And his teacher is hesitant to challenge him. Not sure why. Thankfully it is only 2 more classes and then we will move him up and he will have a different teacher.

At this point, we are really happy with the kids progress. Elizabeth can swim the length of the pool using several different strokes. She still has a few things to work on to make her strokes stronger, and needs more work on her breathing when swimming the freestyle, but overall she is doing good. She will go into the highest level next session, and her teachers have talked to us about if she can join the YMCA’s swim team. We would LOVE for her to do that, but are not sure if our schedule will allow with everything else we have going on.

Anna can swim freestyle and backstroke a little, but still struggles a bit with the breathing and staying straight in the water. She will make a lot of progress with more pool time this summer.

Nate is doing really good, but still needs more work on his breathing. He can swim freestyle for as long as he can hold his breath for! We are hoping that next session will challenge him more and he can make more progress.

We had planned to take the month of May off while we travel to Florida, and resume lessons in June, but with my pregnancy complications, I am not allowed to travel. So we quickly got the kids signed up for May as well. We will get in as much extra pool time as we can this summer and hopefully they will get stronger and more competent in the pool!

We are also already signed up for June, but because of the kids different levels, we couldn’t get them all at the same time, so we opted for a Saturday morning class. I know that only going once a week will be different for them, but hopefully we will be getting lots of swimming time in during the rest of the week.

We are still talking about what to do with July/August, as the situation would be the same, just going to the Saturday morning class… but we will decide soon as those classes will be full soon!

We are REALLY thankful that all 3 kids are able to get in the pool without any extra flotation devices and are now not just confident in the water, but competent!

The teeth around here…

Posted by elwebel on April 25, 2012

Posted in: America, Anna, Elizabeth. 1 comment

I am way behind in updating about the teeth situation around here, and I know you all are eager to know about the Webel kids teeth.

I will start with Anna, as this is new territory for her, and she is still really proud of this step into big-girl-hood.

Anna:
Feb 25th, 2012- Feb 26th, 2012

Anna has now lost 2 teeth. She came to me one morning a while back and told me one of her bottom teeth was lose. I wanted to cry. For some reason it was okay for Elizabeth to lose teeth. She is my oldest afterall. But for Anna? It just made her seem WAY too grown up. She quickly realized her 2nd bottom tooth was also loose, and we also found that the permanent teeth were coming in.

On the night of the 25th, it was incredibly loose, so I asked Anna if I could have a try getting it out. I have learned when they are ready and I knew hers was. So a quick yank and it flew out of fingers and we were all instantly on the floor looking around for the precious first tooth out! (We found it)

She was really excited and we had to make a few phone calls and take pictures!

(In case you are wondering about her hair. It’s a sock. We roll her hair into a sock to get her some curls for the next day, and to keep knots out.)

DSC_5110, © Erica Webel

You can see the new tooth coming in where her tooth used to be.

The very next night, we had finished dinner, and were having some celery for dessert. (It was dessert because we had also put peanut butter and chocolate chips on top (aka, ants on a log)). Anna took a big bite of celery and the 2nd bottom tooth came out.
So we grabbed the camera again.

She just kept saying “TWO TEETH… I HAVE LOST TWO TEETH!!”

The celery. She finished that piece of celery after the excitement slowed down!

These days Anna’s holes are less evident as her big teeth are almost all the way in. But a few days ago I discovered her two top teeth are also loose. I made her promise she would wait until after her 6th birthday before she lost those too! :)

Elizabeth:

Feb 26th, 2012
On the same night Anna lost her 2nd tooth, Elizabeth lost her 5th tooth. I would have thought she just wanted it out because Anna lost one too, but Elizabeth is not one to bring on extra pain, so I am confident it was ready.

When Elizabeth first lost her first tooth, back in 2010, Steve and I had not yet discussed what we were going to do about the tooth fairy and payment for the teeth. So we just didn’t. We just ignored the whole ritual. But then Elizabeth heard that some kids get a tooth fairy, and told us that even though she knew it wasn’t a real thing (and truthfully she was grateful that it wasn’t real, as she wouldn’t really like a fairy coming into her room at night…), she wanted us to pretend. And we had NO problems with that. So on her 5th tooth, we put it under her pillow, and after she crashed, we exchanged the tooth for a dollar. (We decided we would do a dollar bill in America, and when we return to China, we will give them a kuai (.16¢) and since they will lose the majority of their teeth in China, we will still come out fine. ;)

But Elizabeth started thinking about it. She had lost 4 teeth in China, and didn’t get anything for it. Anna was now looking to get her 2nd dollar bill, and Elizabeth did the math. The tooth fairy owed her some money. So she wrote a note and asked the tooth fairy to please make it right.

And the the tooth fairy, being a kind soul, did not have any problems making restitution.

Since then, Elizabeth has gone on to lose 3 more teeth. Bringing her total to 8! Her two front teeth and two bottom teeth have been replaced by permanent teeth. So her holes are all on the right side of her mouth, as the teeth on the left are also coming in.

It has become such a simple thing around here for Elizabeth to loose teeth. She wiggles it, then pulls it out, and brings it to us to see. And then adds a dollar on to her total net worth.

Nate:

Has, thankfully kept all his precious baby teeth.

Hope:

Despite all the teeth happening around here, at 8.5 months she has not yet managed to get a tooth. And that’s fine. The big kids are curious how much a baby tooth can really hurt if she was to bite them, so for now, they are not sticking their fingers in her mouth.

Elizabeth and Anna were 11.5 and 11 months when they first got a tooth, so we are guessing Hope will take after her big sisters.

When Anna lost her 2 teeth, and Elizabeth also had hers coming out, my mom had a little party for the girls… complete with chocolate cake.

It has been fun around here! Hopefully it will be awhile before we have any more teeth happenings.

Elizabeth’s 7 year old pictures

Posted by elwebel on April 24, 2012

Posted in: Birthdays, Elizabeth. 4 comments

Steve took Elizabeth to take her 7 year old pictures. I can hardly believe how big she has gotten!

Elizabeth Joy

Bikes and scooters

Posted by elwebel on April 21, 2012

Posted in: America, Anna, Elizabeth, Hope, Nate. 1 comment

Rarely does a day go by, that the kids are not getting their bikes and scooters out and riding around on our driveway. They got the scooters for their birthdays and the bikes are on loan from a friend. They did not start off wearing the knee/elbow pads, but after a good fall each, we grabbed the pads and they wore them willingly. A few scrapes on each knee was enough to convince them to keep the pads on.

Nana needed a turn too. Nate taught her how to ride.

Hope goes out in her walker to join in the fun. We do have a small problem with the walker though. She does NOT like it. The first time we put her in it, the siblings took turns pushing her at high speeds up and down the hallway. She loved it. So now she is convinced that that is all the walker is good for. She refuses to do it herself.

And when the pushing stops… she will be happy for a moment…

And then she will wail loudly to inform them she wants the ride to go on.

The other big activity is the kids learning to ride without training wheels. We have known for some time that Elizabeth could do it, but because it was often Steve outside in our apartment complex with the 3 big kids, it would have been challenging for him to work with Elizabeth while watching the other two. So we waited.
But today Elizabeth had her first and only lesson needed. She grasped it easily and really enjoys it. She also seems to ride even faster without the training wheels.

Anna also had her first lesson and was doing really good, but tended to lean a bit much. A few more practices and she will have it down.

Nate will also need a few more lessons before he is able to go without an adult nearby!

I am proud of my 3 big kids and their riding ability!! :)

We also have a nice open backyard at our house here… but it has really bad drainage, so after a rain it takes awhile for the mud to dry up a bit. The kids enjoy the grass! And Hope is learning to appreciate it more!

DSC_5633, © Erica Webel

DSC_5625, © Erica Webel

Hope did discover that grass is edible.

But big sister Elizabeth did not feel that was a good idea, and proceeded to remove the grass from her mouth!

We have already enjoyed being outside in our home here so much, and there is more summer fun to come!!!

Notice anything different??

Posted by elwebel on April 17, 2012

Posted in: update. 16 comments

For many years I was using Apple’s blog, iWeb for our family blog… but over the years other, better options have become available. I knew I needed to change, but I was relectunt to move away from the familiar. But finally… I am moving. Our website is still found at webelfamily.com… so make sure your RSS readers are all up to date!

Thanks for making the move with us!

Let me hear from you so I know everyone (all 7 readers) are here!! :)

ALSO – I am still trying to catch up with posts and activities I am WAY behind in reporting, so be sure and scroll down to make sure you have seen it all!

Erica

Elizabeth and Anna’s together party 2012

Posted by elwebel on April 14, 2012

Posted in: Anna, Birthdays, Elizabeth. 1 comment

Once again we planned to do a together party for the girls. This was our second year celebrating this way. And I am hoping that the girls will allow it to continue for years to come. Being only 13 months apart, they spend their time together, playing with the same friends. Their likes are somewhat similar and we haven’t had any problems thus far in agreeing on a theme.

I had big visions of how I wanted their party to go, and had been thinking up ideas for months. But life got in the way. I got a few things ready, but for the most part it was just a simple backyard get together.

I usually spend too many hours the night before their party working on the cake… but with my back out, that was not going to happen. I cheated and ordered a plain white cake from Kroger. I was trying to accept my limitations, but it did make me feel bad not doing it all myself. The bakery thought it was strange that I wanted my cake with only white icing, but that way I could do some simple decorating and I would still feel I was contributing to the girls cake.

However, in my effort to make ‘shortcuts’, I had an unexpected challenge. I grabbed those cans of icing that were already made, and I have never in my life had such a challenge with icing writing. Those things are near impossible to use. I was just seconds away from squeezing that pre-made stuff into a bag so I could pipe the words on myself. But by that point, I had been standing too long and my back was aching and I just wanted the cake finished. I also didn’t do a good job with spacing, and had to put their candles next to each other, making it look like my girls were turning 76 years old. Oh well. I will remember that cake, with non-fond memories!

The party was from 2-4 (short and sweet). And my mom was kind enough to allow us to have it at her house. We headed over in the morning, as I wanted to have time to decorate the cake, and let everyone help with the decorations.

The kids were SO excited, and I was just praying that everyone would show up… as we didn’t invite that many people.

But thankfully right at 2, kids started coming and the party began. By the time the party started my back was starting to hurt, so things like grabbing my camera to capture the small details that were important to me, didn’t happen. (Steve had his camera out and does a fantastic job… but there are just things that only I would think to capture…)

I did not get any games planned… this is not my strong suite to start with, and I didn’t have much to give at that point anyway. But I am SO thankful that it turned out fine. From the second the doorbell rang, the kids were in the backyard playing hard. They organized their own games. Made their own fun! Love that kids can do that so easily.

We had an ‘ice cream’ themed party and set out goodies for the kids to chose their toppings for the ice cream. We had chocolate and vanilla ice cream. And thanks to an idea I had seen on pinterest, we decided to pre-scoop the ice cream, and keep it in the freezer in nice cute scoops. It worked. The day of the party, we put the scoops in a big bowl and we quickly handed each child the scoop of their choice. It went fast.
Thankful we didn’t have a pinterest fail on the party day!

We had 3 different flavors of syrup, and chopped nuts, sprinkles, mini-chocolate chips, and cherries, to go on top. Not included was the redi-whip that stayed in my mom’s fridge. I hope she will enjoy it! :)

The party girls, and Nate.

He kind of did his own thing, until other boys arrived!

Hope was desperate to grab the cake…

So she had to be relocated.

There were storms headed our way the day of the party, but thankfully they held off until that evening. The weather outside was beautiful! I love being outside in America!!

Oh, and a big shout out to Aunt Ginia, who drove from Waco that morning just so she could be at the girls party. Then she came and worked! Thanks for all your help and taking video for us! :)

The girls were opening a few presents (I told guests to keep it simple)…

Then the kids all played a bit more, and it was time to go! We are thankful that everyone had such a good time… especially the girls!

As we were saying goodbyes, I could feel my back going out, and I made it to the couch, got some ice and rested for awhile. I am so thankful my mom and sister-in-law were there to help with clean up and putting the house back together! Whew!

Later that evening, we let the girls open the rest of their presents from family. The girls got baby alive dolls from Nana & Grandaddy, and some ballet gear from Aunt Ginia and Uncle Mike and Grannie (my mom’s mom). And Steve and I got scooters for the kids. As well as one for Nate. Can’t leave the boy out on something like that!

He was so sweet watching the girls open their presents, getting excited for them.

It was such a fun day!

Hope at 8 months

Posted by elwebel on April 13, 2012

Posted in: Hope. 3 comments

I really am amazed at how quickly the months are flying by with our sweet Hope. She is such a constant delight to us all.

Her facial expressions are priceless and her already present dry sense of humor keep us laughing. She loves to get a reaction out of us all. And even at 8 months old, knows just how to do it with each person in the family.

She has had a very eventful last 2 weeks. And almost all of her accomplishments center around her mobility.

Hope has perfected going from a sit to a crawl, has perfected her crawl and now has picked up some speed and keeps us chasing after her. And can now go back from a crawl to sitting. (She worked hard on that one).

She has now learned to pull herself up to standing, and has gotten several bonks in her attempts and falls. So hard to protect them from the dangers of growing! She can cruise along the couch, slowly but surely.

She truly believes that she can walk, and will let go of whatever she is holding onto to ‘walk’ to her next destination. Which means she falls immediately.

Hope has discovered the stairs in our house, making the need for a safety gate most essential.

Her other development is that she has decided that eating solids is okay. And in fact, she rather likes it. We started at 6 months, and after weeks and weeks of forcing her to open her mouth, we just decided to take a break. We took about a month off, and now at 8 months she is ready. I am truly thankful for my peditrician in Hong Kong who taught me that babies don’t TRULY need the solids and not to stress about getting them to eat. It has helped me to relax a lot.

During the eating solids break, we did introduce her to the gerber fruit puffs. Or ‘stars’ as the big kids call them. She did a great job picking them up and eating them. The problem is that the big kids still remember these from their toddler days and will often sneak a few of Hopes!

And Hope is not by any means starving. Our sweet baby girl who was down to 5lbs her first few weeks of life, is now a whopping 21lbs. At 8 months she has far surpassed her siblings at this age. She has a nice amount of padding all over, but much of her weight comes from her length. She is also my tallest baby at this age. Truly we rejoice and thank God for her growth and how healthy she is. We are confident that it is because of HIM.

She still has a bit of reflux issues… evidence by the complete shower of spit-up she shared with me this very morning. But it is much improved and I am thankful!

The main area we are needing to continue to work on is her sleeping. She has still not gotten back to her fabulous schedule she was at 4 months ago. She will have 4 good nights of sleep, then a series of not so great nights (just meaning that she wakes up).

I have never had a baby past 4 months of age still waking to eat, so this is new territory for us! And with Luke arriving in possibly just 10 more weeks, we are praying hard that Hope begins sleeping soon so we aren’t getting up with 2 kids at night. Pray with me PLEASE! :)

Hope is a very social little girl. If there is any activity going on around her, eating becomes non-priority. And in our house, there is ALWAYS activity! She has started to become more leary of new people, and prefers to be around family. But will quickly warm up to someone new if given time.

She has grown bored with all her toys. It is the craziest thing. She will mostly just ignore any of her toys that are placed in front of her, and instead seeks to find the big kids toys. She finds them much more interesting and even tastier.

Hope completely refused a pacifier as a baby. She would gag and look at me like I was trying to hurt her. We tried about 8 different brands, but each brought the same reaction. She also seemed to be enjoying her hands a lot, but never settled on a particular finger(s). And now, does not suck on her hands at all.

She loves to be on the floor. She enjoys her swing, and really loves her jumping thing, but after a bit, just wants to get down to explore on her own.

She would put herself into the funniest positions and stay like that. It is her version of baby yoga.

These were from her days of learning to roll both directions. She felt empowered.

These were from her scooting/crawling backwards days. Even then the chasing was starting.

DSC_5088, © Erica Webel

DSC_5090, © Erica Webel

When she was learning to crawl, she would get such a serious look on her face. It took concentration!

The airplane.

She thinks she can fly! :)

She practiced all day every day!

And then… she finally got it!

And also learned a few other tricks too.

So proud of herself

Easter 2012

Posted by elwebel on April 8, 2012

Posted in: America, Easter, Family. Leave a Comment

Our Easter Sunday was such a fun special day. To start with it was to be my first time to leave the house (other than one doctor appointment) in 8 days and I was thankful to get out. We got everyone ready and we headed to church. Hope and I headed home with my parents (they attend the first service at church) while Steve and the big kids went to church. I was able to manage for the car ride, but was not sure how my back would do going to church. It was really hard to miss, but I had to be realistic with what I could handle at that time!

My mom was sweet to do the Easter basket thing for me…

There was even a basket for Luke (with a small blue onesie), and a basket for my coming nephew/niece… with a cute little teddy bear!

Uncle Mike had fun with Nate’s new lego set! This is all Nate has and for right now that’s enough. It is hard for him to keep them picked up and out of Hope’s way. When she gets older we will try the tiny lego thing again.

My brother and sister-in-law were able to come from Waco to celebrate with us (THANKS GUYS), as well as my Grandmother and Uncle and Cousin. It was fun to have so many family there!

The guys went out and hid some eggs for the kids to have a 2nd hunt later in the day, and we were able to get some family pictures before lunch. The kids did a great job sitting and smiling while various family members jumped in behind them. They must know they are popular! :)

Oh, and Uncle Mike was so eager to see Hope’s newest trick – crawling… that he was willing to hold her dress to make it easier on her

We had a nice lunch together and I was so thankful to be celebrating Resurrection Day with my family!! But I also found myself missing my China family… amazing how much your heart can be pulled!

After lunch the kids changed into some play clothes and got busy decorating some eggs. This is something we usually do in large amounts with friends in China, but this year it was put off, as I was not up to it.

Thankfully Nana, Aunt Ginia, and Megan (my cousin) were ready to help!!

Uncle Mike also did his part in entertaining Hope!

While all this excitement was going on, it started raining. On all the eggs that were hidden in the backyard. We waited and waited for it to blow over, but that was not happening. We finally decided to put Nana’s Easter present to use.

The kids put on their new swimsuits and headed out in the rain to hunt some eggs. It was REALLY fun!!

Hope was sad she couldn’t go out with the big kids… and instead watched from the window, with her face pressed up against it. She does not tolerate missing anything the big kids are up to. (Oh, and yes, she got a bit of sunburn the day before. My first time to have a kid get sunburn, and I don’t want to talk about it.)

It was such a fun special day with family, and I was really thankful that I was able to be ‘with it’ enough to celebrate with everyone.

Happy Resurrection Day!!!! He is RISEN INDEED!

Egg hunting 2012

Posted by elwebel on April 7, 2012

Posted in: America, Easter, Family, Grandparents. 3 comments

It seems recently that our holidays are ‘interrupted’ by life. I will have great goals and plans of how I want the holiday to be celebrated – started beforehand with teaching the kids the truth behind the holiday. I know that this is always a necessary heart prep time in my own life! I appreciate taking some time to ponder, reflect on what the holiday is truly about.

At Christmas our family was in a HUGE transition time… leaving our home unexpectedly and after Hope and I had been away from home for 2.5 weeks, we finally all boarded the plane to America for a very stressful plane ride. Christmas Day fell while the kids were still in the middle of jet lag, and Steve and I were at an all time high (to date) with our stress levels waiting for some very difficult doctor appointments ahead.

So needless to say, there was not time for preparing our hearts and getting ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

This Easter I had been thinking through some things and ways I really wanted to help the kids focus on Jesus.

I also had some ideas for fun things to do – letting the kids decorate eggs with my parents and some other fun activities.

Then I hurt my back. A week before Easter. I was not thinking about much of anything, other than walking to the bathroom and back to a chair and getting fresh ice for my back!

There was no prep time, or conversations with the kids about the hugeness of Easter. And many of my ‘plans’ were pushed aside.

Thankfully, the kids had some good talks with Steve, and our church had a church wide easter egg hunt/picnic that Steve and my parents were able to attend with them. I was sad to miss it, but thankful for the stories and pictures which were all shared with me!

The picnic was at lunch time, so Steve packed sandwiches for himself and the kids.

They headed to the school and found Nana and Grandaddy who had everything ready for them to sit and eat.

(Anna INSISTED on wearing the newly given to her boots… despite the warm temperatures the day promised. My girl has her own style and I love that about her!!)

After lunch, the kids got all geared up for the hunt. Elizabeth did correct me when they got home, that it was NOT an egg hunt, but rather an egg pick up, as they had no need to literally hunt for the eggs, they were all just laying on the grass.

They organized it by age, and Nate being in the 3-5 year olds, had an advantage and scored big time on the plastic eggs.

Then it was time for the kindergarten through 6th grade. Elizabeth and Anna had a good time, but didn’t get nearly as many eggs as Nate. They were okay with that, as they were confident they could talk him into sharing his stash with them.
_DSC0835, © Erica Webel

Then came time for some other games… like the potato sack race. This was my favorite story of the day.

Nate was eager to participate in the race… and had gotten some instruction in how to jump in the sack, and practiced and warmed up before the race began. He was ready.

He made okay time getting out to the cone, but then there was a bit of a mis communication. He thought the instructions were to go to the cone, and bring the cone back. Not to just go around the cone. Well, a lot of the kids got close to the cones, but never even went around it, and were quickly on their ways back. Nate however, wanting to win, went all the way to the end, picked up the cone, and started on his way back. It was a challenge for him to hold the sack, jump, and hold the cone all at the same time… and he was very much the last one left out there. But that didn’t stop him. He kept going. One of the guys who was organizing had everyone cheering for him and he finally finished the long sack race.

My concern was that he would have felt awful for being last… but that was not the case. He truly believed that he was the ONLY one who won. He was the only one who successfully got the cone and made it back to the finish line.

And Nana and Elizabeth were there to congratulate him on his win and he was SO proud of himself!

Love this sweet boy!

Hope also enjoyed the egg hunt and thought the plastic eggs were delicious!

The rest of the picnic was spent playing on the playground and with other fun things that were provided. Elizabeth has truly mastered the hula hoop.

Hope skipped her nap so she could continue to watch all the activity!

After the hunt, the kids were eager to look at all the goodies, but as usual, after a few samples, they had to dump all the candy into a shared bag that was placed high in the cabinet to be distributed one piece at a time over a long long period.

Then I decided I would attempt one of the Easter crafts with the kids… as it seemed to be a fast and I had all the supplies ready. It took us about 10 minutes and that was my limit for standing up… but we had a good time working on it!

It was a fun day and I was glad the kids had a good time at the picnic and were back home with me!!!

The back and the baby

Posted by elwebel on April 5, 2012

Posted in: Erica, Luke. 1 comment

It seems that while I have a lot of similarities to each pregnancy, there is always something that is more challenging with each one, and something that makes each pregnancy distinctly different.

For this pregnancy it has been my back. I have never in my life had back problems. But starting around 8 weeks my back started hurting. It went from an ache to where when I stood up I had to wait for it to start working before I could take a step. I finally consented that it was an offical problem and went to a chiropractor who specializes in working with pregnant ladies. I was impressed with her and how much better I felt. She explained to me that because I had waited so long it would take some time for it to really start feeling better… and she was right. It took about 3 weeks and 4 visits before I felt all better. I was pain free for about 8 weeks. It was nice. I could stand up and just walk right away and I could bend over to my hearts delight. And yes, I did take delight in those simple tasks after it bothering me for so long!!

Then after we moved to our new house 2.5 weeks ago I noticed it was hurting again. It wasn’t too bad so I decided I could just tough it out. But by Wednesday of last week it was bad enough that I was taking Tylenol as much as I felt I could. I had a hard time getting comfortable in any position and could barely walk. I decided enough was enough and called my chiropractor who saw me the next morning. Seeing her brought relief for a few hours, but she had told me that my back was a mangled mess and it would take multiple visits before I was feeling better again. Friday was even worse and I could just make it from my room back to the couch and was shuffling along. I had another appointment the next morning and it took all I had to get into the car and make it there. I was in tears by the time I got into her office and the ladies there were so sweet to give me hugs and sympathize with my pain! She did some adjustments and iced me for awhile. I made it back out to my car and just as I sat down I heart a pop and felt excruciating pain. I kept honking my horn to get some help and finally made it back inside the office with tears streaming down my face. They got me back onto the table to ice it some more, and then just said I had to go home and keep icing it and stay laying down. The ladies from the office carried my back and some ice for me to use in the car, and about halfway there it went again. All I could do was grab onto the lady walking with me to keep from falling down on the sidewalk. They grabbed their wheeled office chair and pulled it outside so I could sit, as I couldn’t walk. They told me I couldn’t drive and had to call someone to come help me get to Care Now. I remember getting my phone out and calling Steve, but at some point I started to lose consciousness from the pain. All I knew was they had an umbrella over me and were trying to get me to stay with it.

I have a high pain tolerance. I delivered 3 babies without any drugs, and this pain was even more extreme than that. It was awful. I feel myself going into a cold sweat just thinking about it.

My mom had been planning on coming to my house that afternoon, and instead went up to the office I was at. Then we realized it would take her awhile to get there, so my chiropractor decided she would drive me to Care Now and my mom could meet us there. I could barely get into the car… I rode backwards in the front seat hugging the seat and staring into the backseat, just taking deep breaths and praying I would survive until I got some pain medicine in me.

My mom and dad made it to the Care Now and then my dad went back with my chiropractor to pick up our van that had been left there. I was seen by the doctor who said that he really would have liked to have taken an x-ray had I not been pregnant. He gave me a muscle relaxer and some pain medication. I knew I was really desperate for relief, as I am not the kind to take ANYTHING minus a tylenol during pregnancy. He assured me these medicines were safe and I realized that the stress from the pain was probably more serious for Luke than the medicine. My right leg looks about 2 inches shorter than my left when I am standing because the muscles in my hip are trying to help with the weakness in my back and are all knotted up.

My chiropractor explained to me that during pregnancy everything gets loose. I have always known that to be true, but she also said the same holds true for my back. Then you combine that with the fact that Luke is very low, it is even more pressure on my back. She said that a disc is so inflamed it can’t stay in place until it settles back down. She wasn’t sure how long that would take.

I made it from the Care Now wheelchair into mom’s car and we headed straight for a pharmacy to get my prescription filled. I was so eager for some relief. When we got the prescription and made it back home, I was in so much pain! I started to pass out again and just remember feeling cold and sweaty and the kids were all around me very worried.

I got to bed and finally my medicine kicked in and I slept. It continued on that way for the next two days. I couldn’t get out of bed. Even crawling made me want to pass out.

Finally by day 3 I was able to make it on my own two legs to the bathroom. It was such freedom! But even a bathroom trip made me so sore. I spent 99% of my time on the bed trying to move as much as I could, and with ice on my back.

My OBGYN was eager for me to get to his office for an ultrasound… because of all my complications he wanted to make sure there wasn’t a direct relationship between Luke and my back pain. He concluded it was just general pregnancy related.

I was glad to see that Luke was looking good. We didn’t spend to much time looking at him, just got a quick look to see him yawn and watch him put his legs up by his head.

The main thing the doctor needed to look at was any change between the placenta and the bladder. That’s the main area they are watching now. It was established multiple visits ago that I have placenta acreta. The next level, placenta increta is also confirmed. The main thing we are watching now is that my placenta doesn’t start growing into my bladder, something called placenta percreta. The doctor feels it will. But is optomistic that perhaps it will just stop growing, as it is common for the placenta to slow down its crazy growth around 24 weeks, and I am 22.

He once again explained to me that if they even in the slightest bit, feel that my bladder is involved, we will do the C-Section at a different hospital. The best hospital in North Texas for my situation. It is the hospital that has the most skilled urologists, (for bladder repair), and radiologists who can perform a cathader procedure during surgery which would slow the blood loss. This hospital will also have the biggest reserve of blood for a larger transfusion. Basically a normal C-Section women lose about 2 units of blood. Not enough that they would need a transfusion. People with placenta percreta typically lose about 20-30 units of blood.

He is still talking about delivering Luke at 34 wks, but I am still praying for more like 36.

So we now just continue to wait and pray. We are waiting to see what the placenta does and how Luke responds to it all. I will continued to be monitored every 2 weeks, but some appointments with different doctors come more frequently than that.

We are THANKFUL for the fact that God led us to just the right doctors who have a plan of action for my situation. We are thankful they are taking every precaution with the lives of Luke and me! We are very thankful that Luke was not affected by the back issues, and I am thankful for the rest I have gotten the last week (the pain medicine really knocks me out).

And I am SO thankful for my family! My amazing husband who has waited on me hand and foot. Making sure I always have fresh ice for my back and cold water to drink! My really wonderful momma who has taken Hope the last few days as I can’t pick her up and it would be a lot for Steve to care for me, the big kids and baby Hope! And thankful that my mom brings her over every day so I can love on my girl as much as I can. I am thankful for my sweet mother-in-law who is ready to jump on a plane in minutes if needed! I am thankful that God has given me peace even in moments of worry. He has truly sustained me. Oh, and yea, I am thankful for the pain medicine. ;)

So that’s all I know and I will update more as I find out! Thanks for your prayers!

Elizabeth’s 7th Birthday

Posted by elwebel on April 4, 2012

Posted in: Birthdays, Elizabeth. 1 comment

Elizabeth had been making lists and plans for her 7th birthday for a long time. Months before, she could have told you what she wanted and what food she wanted to eat, and what she wanted her cake to be like. I love how she plans ahead.

The plan was to have everyone come over to our house so I could get her birthday meal and cake ready here. We are over at my parents houes a lot, so I was thankful to have a turn to host the family.

But of course, my back kind of messed everything up. My mom was here to save the day. She came over early, and got to work with Elizabeth getting the meal together.

But first the day started with doughnuts… store bought doughnuts. From Krispy Kreme no less. And while I was in bed and missed out on it, minus the pictures, do you know what my girl told me? She likes my doughnuts better. That’s right. I beat Krispy Kreme.
But they still ate up. And the siblings were very glad that Elizabeth had a birthday!! :)

Anna’s gift to Elizabeth. She used her blanket as ‘borrowed wrapping paper’, and gave her her strawberry shortcake doll for a little while. Not sure how long a little while is…

They made spaghetti and the cake of Elizabeth’s choice. (Red Velvet cake with pink vanilla icing).

And Steve got some decorations up!

Uncle Drew and Grandaddy came over to the house after they got off work, and we had a nice dinner together. I was thankful that I could make it to the table to join the family for the meal.

After cake we had present time. We had decided that because the girls were having another ‘together party’… and they often get similar presents, we would give Elizabeth some of her presents on her birthday, but presents that both girls were receiving, they would get on the day of their big party.

Elizabeth was completely thrilled with everything she got… some new necklaces and bracelets (as all her favorite jewelry was left in China). She also got a tea set and some money. She has been saving up her money for something special, and tonight received her first ever $5 bill. Oh she was thrilled. It was such a fun moment!

Elizabeth is completely thrilled about being 7!

Happy 7th Birthday Elizabeth Joy

Posted by elwebel on April 4, 2012

Posted in: Birthdays, Elizabeth. 1 comment

Today is Elizabeth’s 7th birthday. I can hardly believe how big she is getting and how fast time is passing. I just keep thinking how fast 10 will be here and that makes me kind of sad.

But I am so beyond thankful for the 7 years we have had with Elizabeth. She is such a joy to our family and we are SO blessed by her.

Elizabeth has such a servants heart and loves to help. And I can’t tell you how much we appreciate that about her!! She is my go to girl when I need help and she will typically respond with a cheerful and willing attitude. (But don’t we all miss the mark on that sometimes!).

She is quick to show compassion for others and quick to pray when a need arises. I am thankful for how she challenges me to remember to pray always.

I can always count on her to help watch and play with Hope, as she is a wonderful big sister. I still haven’t convinced her to actually change a diaper, but that’s okay! Most everything else she is willing to help with!

Since getting to America, Elizabeth has learned how to do laundry (with my help) and to unload the dishwasher. She is aware that cleaning toilets is next on mom’s list of chores and she is hoping I will forget to teach her how. Not likely.

We do have plenty of struggles when it comes to her relationship with Anna & Nate. Being 13 months and 2.5 years apart in age from them, makes them eager to play together and quick to have a disagreement. Elizabeth is a peace maker, but gets tired of ‘following’ Anna just for the sake of keeping the peace. She is quick to retaliate to Anna’s challenges and the two of them are quick to run out of patience with each other. But then, they will have moments of playing together really well and it gives Steve and I great confidence that this will continue to improve. Elizabeth doesn’t play with Nate as much as Anna, but they occasionally will have some time together. Typically, Elizabeth will be found hanging with me, or reading a book, or creating, while Anna & Nate play together.

Speaking of creating. I have never seen anything like it. Elizabeth considers herself an inventor, and I agree. She will see something, or just get an idea in her head, and set about to create it. Sometimes it is just a detailed sketch of some invention she would like to make, and other times she uses random house hold items to make it happen. She will come up with a product, and an instruction manual to go with it. There is ALWAYS a project either in motion or in her head that she is eager to have time and resources to produce. She also does not need me to provide her with crafts or other activities. I am just the resource provider. She will take what I gave her, listen to my idea, and then find a way to ‘make it better’. I don’t mind. At the age of 7, her artistic abilities far exceed mine.

This is a picture of Cinderella that she drew freehand.

Elizabeth loves to learn and is quick to pick up anything new that we introduce her to. She still loves to read and learn about space, and has enjoyed conversations with her grandaddy about planets. She will tell you that her least favorite subject is math, but she is really good at it. So I don’t believe her! She does really enjoy grammar.

Elizabeth is the early bird of the family. Often waking before anyone else. She has learned how to be quiet in the mornings and will go and sit with a book while she waits for the rest of the house to get up. She requires less sleep than her siblings and we have no idea how she can run at the speed she does everything! She is boundless energy.

A few months ago Elizabeth started swimming lessons and quickly grasped the concepts and has moved much faster than we anticipate through the levels. We are now considering the swim team for her when other areas of our lives slow down. She loves swimming and we are thankful that she has gotten so confident in the water. Not to mention some ability!

Elizabeth remains my pickiest eater. And Steve fears it is getting worse. Unfortuntely we do not give in to our kids ‘disklike’ of certain foods, so she tries and retries things over and over. I once explained to the kids that your likes and dislikes change as you get older. So the kids are willing to try things they didn’t like previously as they know that their ‘taste bugs’ might have changed. (I keep correcting the taste bugs to buds, but it doesn’t seem to stick). Elizabeth doesn’t really like strawberries, or oranges, and will tolerate green grapes, but purple grapes are a no go. She doesn’t not like pickles or tomatoes. Thankfully for anything else, she is a fast eater and usually done long before the other 2 big kids. She has a sweet tooth, but also has good restraint when it comes to eating. She also really doesn’t like any beverage other than water, (and the occasional cup of chocolate milk). She drinks her water all day long.

Elizabeth is still very oral and struggles with putting her hands in her mouth. This was something we believed we had beat… then started the tooth wiggling, and the habit returned. She truly does try to work on it, but it is hard.
And speaking of teeth. Elizabeth has now lost a total of 8 teeth. The top 4 and top bottom. All but 2 of her permanent teeth are on their way in. She looks so much older with her big teeth!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Elizabeth! We are so very proud of you and love you so much!!

We are the Webels

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Archives

All posts for the month April, 2012

Chinese food and Sno Cones

Hope’s quilt

Swimming lessons

The teeth around here…

Elizabeth’s 7 year old pictures

Bikes and scooters

Notice anything different??

Elizabeth and Anna’s together party 2012

Hope at 8 months

Easter 2012

Egg hunting 2012

The back and the baby

Elizabeth’s 7th Birthday

Happy 7th Birthday Elizabeth Joy

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