Hope

Hope’s 1st hair cut

Posted by elwebel on January 21, 2013
Posted in: Hope. 1 comment

I knew this was coming.  It seems my girls all grow hair the same way.  Short on top, and quick to grow in the back.  Resulting in a tail-like-look.  With Elizabeth I was just so thankful that she finally had some hair, I just let it grow.  I was blinded to the fact that by 18 months it looked like this:


PICT2174, © Erica Webel

And thankfully a friend of mine helped me to see that it was not a becoming look and that if I trimmed it up a bit, as hard as it was, it would grow in much better, and she was right. I was still a bit slow with Anna, but her’s grew in better than Elizabeth’s. Continue Reading

Hope at 16 months

Posted by elwebel on December 7, 2012
Posted in: Hope. 1 comment

We tend to break the kids into 1 of 2 categories.  The big kids, which includes Elizabeth, Anna & Nate… and then the babies, Hope and Luke.

Hope however, does not see it that way.  She truly considers herself to be one of the big kids.  And she can be convincing at times!

She will try to help the big kids clean up, she runs to Luke’s side if he is fussing and tries to give him his pacifier.  She follows commands very well and does what she can to obey and be helpful.

Hope is on a good schedule and I think it is one that won’t change for awhile.  At least once jet lag is over again.

She wakes between 8-8:30 in the morning, sometime talking before then, but rarely gets up before then.  She then has breakfast… she likes oatmeal, but wants nothing to do with eggs.  We will have to work on that one.  Eggs are cheap protein where I come from! :)

She then plays hard all morning long, only getting fussy when she is hungry and in need of a snack.  She drinks water all throughout the day and Steve teases her that she drinks like her mom.  Gulp, gulp, gulp.

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Baby Dedication

Posted by elwebel on October 15, 2012
Posted in: Hope, Luke. Leave a Comment

Today we had a baby dedication at church.  I was thankful that we were able to be at our home church for this special time.  Both Hope and Luke were dedicated this morning.

The idea of dedicating a baby is not to ‘save’ them, but to make a public commitment that we, as parents are choosing to raise and train our children in a way that honors the Lord.

DSC_9122, © Erica Webel

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Hope at 53 weeks

Posted by elwebel on August 14, 2012
Posted in: America, Hope. 1 comment

Hope had a full week after her birthday… she has been trying new 1-year old foods… like a little cows milk mixed in her bottle (to adjust to the change in taste slowly), and oranges.  She loves it all.  But pizza and spaghetti are still her favorites… oh and macaroni and cheese.

She just looks older to me… and I have noticed that her legs have less chub than before as she continues to book more miles on the treadmill.  She has gotten up to the speed of 1.8 miles/hr.  She climbs on the treadmill and tries to make it start moving.  She really enjoys that.  Is that strange?

She took a fall in our bedroom and hit her head on the corner of bed.  And got a nasty goose egg.  Oh we all felt so bad for her.  Elizabeth was in tears, she was just so heartbroken to see Hope hurting.  I love her compassion. Continue Reading

Hope’s 1 year old pictures

Posted by elwebel on August 7, 2012
Posted in: Birthdays, Hope. 3 comments

A few days ago, Steve and I hurried out of the house before it was too crazy (his mom is here helping us right now), and between Luke’s feedings, and got some pictures of Hope.  It was a fun time to go to the park down the road with our littlest girl!  It hadn’t gotten too hot yet, only upper 90s, and we had a lot of fun just watching Hope run around on the wide open grass.  No big kids in her way, no toys to slow her down… just Hope with space to run!  She had a great time and so did I!

Here’s her birthday pictures!!
_DSC4134, © Erica Webel

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Hope at 1

Posted by elwebel on August 7, 2012
Posted in: Birthdays, Hope. Leave a Comment

Our Hope is now a 1 year old!  The first year went so unbelievably fast.  Partly because our year has had so much going on, but also because Hope seems to be in a hurry to catch up to her big brother and sisters.

Hope’s arrival one year ago was a little stressful.  I wasn’t due until August 25th… and I had been going progressively longer each pregnancy, so I assumed she wouldn’t arrive until well into September!  But around 32 weeks I started having some concerns, and after going to Hong Kong to have it checked out, we found she would be coming much earlier than we anticipated.  I was just 37 weeks when we went into try inducing, but couldn’t, and quickly moved into an emergency C-Section.  It was such a different experience welcoming a baby without going through labor.

Hope spent her first 6 weeks trying to gain weight.  She was a tiny, rather scrawny thing.  After struggling in womb and out of the womb to grow, we had a lot of people praying that she would put on some weight.  Little did we know that the Lord would answer that prayer in a big way!


12 m college, © Erica Webel

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Hope’s Birthday Day

Posted by elwebel on August 7, 2012
Posted in: Birthdays, Hope. Leave a Comment

Today is Hope’s first birthday!  We had her party two days early, and that’s what the big kids were all excited about.  So today without a party to plan for, I found myself getting weepy at the thought of my Hope turning 1.  How did it go so fast!  How has it only been a year when it feels like just a few weeks ago!

Just one year ago, I went in to Matalida Hospital in Hong Kong.  High up on the peak.  I was rejoicing that I was going in to deliver, and I could still feel her kicking and wiggling around.  That itself was a huge answer to prayer.  They started with an ultrasound to confirm that she was still breech, and began trying to slowly turn her so I could be induced.  And quickly her heart rate dropped and within minutes I was prepped and ready for surgery.  It was not a surprise to me, and I was met with the unmistakable peace that only God can give.  A few short minutes later, we heard her precious cry.  A cry that was strong enough that I knew her lungs were good!

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Before she turned 1

Posted by elwebel on August 6, 2012
Posted in: Birthdays, Hope. 1 comment

The day before her 1st birthday, Hope hit an all time high in her activity level.  She has always been a busy baby… rarely holding still and always watching, learning, exploring.  She also manages to do all that while keeping us laughing.  There is nothing dull about her!

She loves to find things to carry around… like an empty box, Grandma’s purse, water bottles. Anything she can pick up!

DSC_6884, © Erica Webel
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Hope’s 1st birthday party

Posted by elwebel on August 5, 2012
Posted in: America, Birthdays, Family, Hope. Leave a Comment

Hope’s 1st birthday was a big deal to the family, and they all wanted to be there, so we chose to have her party 2 days early, on Sunday afternoon.  That way my brother and sister-in-law could be there, as well as my grandma and cousin.

Of course Hope had no idea, but the big kids more than made up for that.  They were so unbelievably excited.

_DSC4338, © Erica Webel

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Hope’s swimming

Posted by elwebel on August 3, 2012
Posted in: America, Hope. 1 comment

We love our little blow up pool in the backyard.  That is the kind of thing we do not take for granted!!  It is the kind of thing that even I dream about some really hot days in China.  But this little pool is too big for Hope, and seeing as how she insists on doing everything the big kids do, we decided to get her her own pool.  One that is more Hope sized.  And she loves it.

And I love the pictures of her loving it!

DSC_6916, © Erica Webel
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Siblings…

Posted by elwebel on July 19, 2012
Posted in: America, Anna, Elizabeth, Hope, Luke, Nate. 2 comments

When Hope was born, I had some cute sibling shirts made for the 3 big kids.

They wore them up to the hospital after she was born, and we took some precious-to-me pictures.

So this time around, I ordered some shirts once again for the big kids and Hope to wear. The kids were sad they couldn’t wear them to the hospital and get pictures with Luke right away, but as soon as we could, we got pictures of them all together!!

Elizabeth’s shirt says ‘Biggest Sis’, Anna’s shirt says “Bigger Sis”, Nate’s says “Big Bro”, and of course Luke has “Little Bro”.  Hope’s proved more of a challenge.  She is still our baby, so her shirt says “Little Big Sis”.  :)

The kids loved their shirts and wore them proudly.

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Hope’s walking

Posted by elwebel on July 19, 2012
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Around the time Hope turned 11 months she was starting to take a few steps on her own.  She would do 2-3 steps between pieces of furniture, and just seemed so relaxed about it.  Of course between parents, 3 older siblings, and grandparents, she had a cheering section every time she did take a step.

Then around July 9th, she started taking a few more steps.  The kids were faithful to watch her closely and count each and every step, and she would do like 5-6 steps.

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What we do

Posted by elwebel on June 18, 2012
Posted in: America, Anna, Daily Life, Elizabeth, Erica, Hope, Luke, Nate. 1 comment

So I have gotten a lot of questions about how things are going… especially in regards to the kids.  So this will be about them.  Well, mostly about them.!  (They are more interesting anyway).

The kids are really doing good.  I have been so proud of how well they are processing and accepting everything.  That’s not to say we haven’t had tough moments… but that’s to be expected honestly.

It has been 19 days since I got here.  All the kids know is that I am here to rest and let Luke grow stronger and get bigger.  Elizabeth has asked some questions and we have done our best to answer without making it a scary thing, or without confusing her.  And for now, she is satisfied. Continue Reading

Hope at 10 months

Posted by elwebel on June 11, 2012
Posted in: Hope. 1 comment

As much as I wish I could slow down time, in regards to Hope growing up… her older sisters are extremely excited for her to arrive at her 1st birthday.  And they frequently remind me that it is now only 2 months away.

Hope continues to grow like crazy and amaze us all.

Here are a few highlights…

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