Sept. 2009

Labor day weekend all of the Halbgewachs and Beebes got together at Aunt Myrna's to celebrate Mamo and Papo's 70th wedding anniversary. All of the siblings were there as well as a lot of their children. I met several of David's cousins for the first time. It was a very special weekend and one worth celebrating. I mean 70 years spent with the same person. That is real commitment and a great example to us. Thank you Mamo and Papo! We Love you!

The pregnancy is going good. I can't believe I only have one month left! But there is a lot to do before then. Every one keeps asking me if I am having twins, I mean just random people at the grocery store on the street. It is starting to get embarrassing! I don't think I look that big!

I had a Fall Party last year and I enjoyed it so much I decided to make it a tradition. Since Oct. is going to be a busy month for us:) I decided to have it in Sept this year and it really worked out better. The weather was beautiful and it didn't get dark so quickly. The only problem was the Mosquitoes! We passed around the Off and everyone could tolerate it. So we all smelled GREAT! At least we all smelled the same. We had around 30 people there. We roasted hot dogs and had somores. We played volleyball (yes I played a game, don't tell Mom!), corn hole and horseshoes. I really enjoyed it. We had to clean up everything that night because we were leaving for AR the next morning early. Bethany and Cody were getting married the next week. They got engaged the last of Aug. and decided to get married 3 weeks later! They decided to have the wedding outside at Mom and Dad's house. So David and I decided we would go now instead of at Thanksgiving and help get ready for the wedding. It was a good thing we did. We worked the whole time we were there. It took twice as long to get things done because it kept raining the whole week. But God blessed and we had great weather the day if the wedding. Katherine and Devon were flower girl and ring bearer. They did a great job. Devon pulled Raley up the isle in a wagon, but the yard was so rutted he kept getting stuck. About halfway down he got fed up with it and threw the handle down and started to cry. It was pretty cute. Katherine did a great job and stood during the whole ceremony. She kept whispering to me "Are Bebe and Cody really getting married now?"

The next weekend was Hay Days celebration. Katherine rode in the Garden club float. She was a little shy until she saw us and then she was waving at everyone. Her and Devon really enjoyed the rides this year. It was fun to watch them. Their favorite is still the Merry-Go-Round.

Sis. Elaine hosted a baby shower for William. She had several games for us to play. One was see how many cloths pins you can take off of a line, hold in one hand and not drop any. I held the record with 17. The next was cut the string to the length you thought it would take to go around my belly. Then Sis. Elaine brought out blind folds and asked for a volunteer. My friend Lyndi, who had had a c-section just four weeks before, volunteered. Then Sis. Elaine brought out panty hose! You can imagine a 8 month pregnant woman and a post c-section woman trying to put panty hose over their pants! It was comical to say the least. And to make matters worse they videoed it! No! I am NOT posting it thank you very much! It was a great night, we had a lot of fun. Thank you Sis. Elaine for doing that for me. Love you bunches!

Aug 2009

August was a pretty slow month so this will not be one of my mammoth posts like last month's. A lot happened in July OK! Anyway, about August.
David has been getting tonsillitis quite often for several years now. So finally he said enough, and scheduled to have a tonsillectomy. He was pretty nervous about the whole thing and it didn't help when he got on the Internet and started reading about all the horror stories. The surgery went well, but the trouble started when he began to wake up from anesthesia. He was having his surgery at a small hospital in Gothenburg, the surgery staff knew I worked in surgery so they let me come to the recovery room before David was awake. David had what they call Emergence Delirium. He woke up from anesthesia fighting and convulsing almost like a seizure. They ended up putting him back under and bringing him out very slowly. It was quite and experience seeing your husband react like that. The one who is always the strong one and the one who has it all together needing you to be the support. Thank God that was the only thing that was out of the ordinary. He spent one night in the hospital and the rest of the recovery was pretty normal. I am sure if you asked David he would give you a different story. He lived on Popsicles and Jello for three days and he lost 15 pounds in a week. He says it was worth it though, Thank goodness!

Devon got to see his first theater movie "UP" this month. It is so fun to be able to take the kids to a movie. Katherine just sits there and laughs at anything where someone gets hurt or trips or burps. I don' t know exactly what that means, but I don't think it is good:) Devon loved the theater, he was constantly making noises in reaction to what was happening on the screen. He was so cute, he was really into it. Of course, both kids agree, the best part of the movies...Popcorn and Coke of course!

July 2009

David and I started out July on the road. The plan was for us to meet Mom and get the kids in Kansas City, MO, then drive back to Lincoln, NE and meet Davids family for a camping trip. It ended up Mom got sick and couldn't make the trip, so David and I decided to make a FAST trip to AR, pick the kids up and make it back to Lincoln, NE the next day. We made this decision at 3:00 in the afternoon which meant we would be in AR sometime around 2:00 am! That was the plan until the wonderful GPS got us completely lost in Kansas City. We finally found a gas station open and bought an old fashioned atlas. So that tacked on an extra hour to our trip. We finally made it to Mom and Dad's around 4:00 am. I don't ever want to do that again if at all possible. We visited until noon and then headed out for Kansas City. We decided to stay the night with Ben and Julie Anderson. They are such a wonderful couple I really wish we lived closer. They have two girls just Katherine and Devon's age. They get along great. The kids got to swim in their pool, which of course was the highlight. The next morning we left and headed for Lincoln. David's family had rented campers and were going to be staying at the church camp Dennis works for. The weekend was in celebration of Howard and Cynthia's 20th anniversary. We all had a blast. Dennis took everyone on the rope course they have at the camp, took us canoeing and we also went to a waterpark in the state park just down the road. On the last night we were there all the siblings got together and sang the song from Howard and Cynthia's wedding, Household of Faith. Then Mom and Dad told us their story and a little of what it was like to blend two families. The struggles and the triumph of seeing their kids grow so close. It was a blessed night. David got a stomach flu the last two days we were there. I felt so sorry for him. He had to get the camper loaded up and ready to go and then drive 3 hours home while fighting throwing up. But all in all we all agreed we had a great time and wanted to do it again.

Devon turned 2 this month. We really didn't do anything real special for his this year. Granny and Grandad were out of town. So it was just us. I was planning to make him a cake, but I got called into work that morning and was not able to make one. So he had a piece of leftover apple pie with a candle in it. :( I felt kind of bad not to have a real party, but he is only two, he won't remember right?

While the kids were in AR I got William's nursery "corner" fixed up. He is going to be in Katherine's room for the first few months and then I will move him downstairs to Devon's room. We moved the crib into Katherine's room while she was gone. She got back and I don't think she liked the idea of sharing her room. She has adjusted to it now and is actually excited to have the new baby in her room.

Luke, Morgan, Raley, Bethany and her boyfriend Cody came up to visit us at the end of July. It was the first time I had seen Luke since he got back from Iraq and it was the first time he and Morgan had seen our house. I was so glad Cody got to come and we got to meet him. It sounds like he and Bethany are getting pretty serious! We all had a great visit. We played volleyball at the park in Cozad and then went to the new old fashioned soda shop. Sun. night we took everyone out to the lake and had a picnic and David took everyone skiing. It was a short visit, but I was so glad they all got to come. Family is such a wonderful blessing. I hope not to take it for granted.

June 2009

I am so behind on posting (as always) I am going to skip a few months. June was a busy month. I started out the month with spring cleaning. Yuck! It took me forever to get everything done, over a whole week! I was shocked how dirty some of the areas in our house were. The bath tub and the coils under the fridge were two of the worst areas. The tub took me 2 1/2 hours to clean. Turns out the tub is more of an off white than tan. :)

All the spring cleaning was in preparation for our June Meeting the second weekend. We were blessed to have George and Liz York stay with us. My kids were so thrilled with baby Charlotte. It gave me a glimpse into what they will be like with our new baby. It was so sweet, they were so good with her. We also got to have Ben and Julie Anderson stay with us along with their two girls, Hannah and Abby. The girls got along pretty good. I think they are at the stage were the drama is so high it doesn't take much to set them off. I have Discovered that Devon doesn't do well with other kids at this point. He is so physical. He would rather wrestle or hit or push them down than play. We are working on that. Anyway the meeting was very good. I would say I felt the Lord's presence in a more real way than at any of our past meetings. Praise be to God!!!

Mom and Dad Poe called and asked if we would let them take the kids for a weekend a half. I was unsure at first. Did they really remember what it was like to have two toddlers in the house? But my great excitement to have 10 days without kids overcame that thought in my mind. "Sure take them as long as you want to!" My mind tried to remember what life was like with out kids. Date nights with no babysitters. Sleeping in as long as "I" wanted to, being able to get ready and leave the house in a matter of seconds instead of 10 min. Yeah, I was really going to enjoy this! Mom and Dad, Stephen, Jared and Jonathan came up on the 17th and stayed with us Thur. and then left on Fri. David's Birthday was on Fri. So we had a cook out and invited his mom and dad and Glade and Bethel over on Thur. We had a great evening. Stephen had brought his Banjo and Jared had brought his Mandolin. So David joined them on his banjo and we had quite the jam session.

David and I really enjoyed our days alone. David commented often about how quiet to was in the house and how nice and picked up everything stayed. We got to go on several dates and "on the whim" outings, things we did often before kids entered the picture. The kids did very well with my parents. Katherine was the one who got home sick the most, she called us the second night she was in AR. She was crying and wanting to come home. It broke my heart to hear her sobs over the phone and not be able to give her a hug. That was the only episode like that though. They left for Camp Moriah the next day so I think she was too busy to miss us much. Both the kids had a blast. I am going to have to start taking them on a regular basis now that they are old enough to enjoy it. I want them to have friends in the primitive baptist and they will not have the opportunity in NE I am afraid.

Well that was at the end of June and the rest of the story occurred in July so it will continue on July's post. See you then!

March 2009

The most exciting news for March is ... I am expecting again! We have been waiting to hear the heartbeat before we made the official announcement. I got to hear the heartbeat my last Dr. appt. Oh, it sounded so wonderful! Katherine had already let the cat out of the bag with all the folks around here. I had to take her and Devon to my appt. She was so concerned about me. She kept asking "Mommy are you sick?" Finally I told her Mommy wasn't sick, Mommy was going to have a baby. Well, the first thing she said to Granny the next time she saw her was "Granny guess what, My Mommy is going to have a baby!" Of course then all eyes turn to me for conformation. What was I suppose to say? Anyway, I am due Oct 21. We are all looking forward to welcoming this new bundle into our lives.

Katherine was asked to be a flower girl in Jesse and Lyndsey's wedding the first of this month. The wedding was in Kansas City. We were able to stay with George and Liz York. We weren't able to spend much time catching up with them. We were busy with rehearsal and pictures ect. The highlight of the whole trip for the kids (and David) was getting to swim in the pool at the hotel where the rest of the Halbgewachs clan was staying. The kids swam for 3 hours at least. This was Devon's first time swimming and he LOVED it. He is not afraid of the water at all, which really scared me, especially when he walked right into the hot tub and sank to the bottom. Thank God I saw him right away and was able to get him out before he sucked in much water. But that didn't deter him from swimming. He went right into the big pool and was jumping off the side to Granny in no time. Katherine did such a good job being a flower girl I was so proud of her. She was one of three flower girls. Hannah Anderson and Carley Halbgewachs were the other two. They all did a great job.

We have meet a newly wed couple who live just two miles from us. Their names are Miller and Bethel Smith. She is a transplant from Kentucky. So we have a lot in common. We have only meet once, but we just really connected. Their wedding reception was the third weekend of March. We also got to meet several of their friends at a game night the next weekend. We had a blast. It was so nice to get together with people of our own age. I didn't realize how much I missed it. The best part is David and Miller get along great. David has even initiated get togthers with them, which is very uncommon for him to do. I just praise God for bringing this couple into our lives.

Katherine and Devon have really begun to play together a lot better. There favorite game is Bear Hug. They grab each other in a great big hug and try to wrestle each other to the ground. They fall to the ground and just laugh and laugh. It is so fun to see them interacting with each other in a real way. Of course with the greater time playing with one another, there has been a lot more fighting. Devon is the irritater and Katherine is the tattler. It starts already. :( They have also been able to play outside a lot more and they have been spending more time outside since we got our new puppy Emily. Katherine named her, she named her "Koola" at first, but neither David or I could remember it so we asked her to name her again and Emily is what she came up with. Emily is a golden/white lab. She is full blood so we are hoping she will be a little smarter than our other two dogs were.

The Newspaper in our area sponsored the Air Force Band to come to Cozad and offered Free tickets for anyone who wanted to go. Our whole church went. It was a great performance. Devon was enthralled during the first half, but we completely lost his attention in the second half. Katherine was not interested in any of it. I loved it. It brought back memories of college and going to the free concerts the college offered.

I had a nursing CE class in Kearney, so David and I decided to take the kids to the Holiday Inn and stay the night so we could take the kids to the water slides and great kiddie pool they have there. The kids had a blast. They swam for about 6 hours with a small break for supper. They slept hard that night. I will definitely have to take them to the pool this summer.

And the final thing was a great surprise. We got a piano from David's supervisor. I was so excited to get one. It had been on my mind lately, but I knew we would never buy one. The kids have fun pounding away at it (when Daddy isn't home). Now we have something for the kids to practice on when they get old enough for piano lessons.

Well, I guess that is all. Whew! I am tired just writing about it!

February 2009

February, we have had a few days that have felt like spring and it has definitely given me the "BUG". I took down the last of our winter decorations and put out my spring stuff in hopes it would bring "Green" sooner. It hasn't worked. I have been working at the hospital an average of 2 days a week for 4 hours or so. It has worked really good. Katherine and Devon love being able to go to Granny's and Grandad's more often. I have finally bit the bullet and made a schedule for our day. It's not that we have that many things going, but I wasn't getting anything done. At the end of the day I would look back and ask myself what I had accomplished and I couldn't think of anything. It has really helped me out and kept me on track. We will see how long it lasts!

David and I decided we wanted to invest in a few guns with the new administration we have now and the possibility of getting guns in the future being very difficult. We went all out. We splurged on 3 firearms. A Remington 700 bolt action rifle, a Remington 870 pump action shotgun, and a Smith and Western M&P 40 hand gun. Of the three, the handgun is my favorite and the one I can shoot with the most accuracy. David has to get a scope for the rifle, so we haven't even shot that one yet. We are going to take an concealed weapons class here before too long. It should be a lot of fun. It makes me feel better to have a gun in the house. I have thought before if a wild animal or snake came into the yard what I would do, now I don't have to worry!

This is the first year that Katherine has understood what Valentine's day is about. She watched a Charlie Brown show about Valentine's Day and she just really latched on to the idea. So this year we made Valentine's for all her friends. She really had fun making them. She is getting so big it is a little sad, but I am loving this stage. I bought her a few workbooks at Target ABC's, 123's, shapes and mazes. She loves to work on them. She hasn't grasped the concept of the alphabet yet, but she is doing good on counting. She can count to 10 on her own now and she is able to tell me how many objects there are in a picture. She has also found the love of puzzles, just like me!. She needs some help but she will do them over and over again.

Devon is so full of energy these days. He is definitely all boy. It has been fun to see the way he and Katherine are different. They will go outside to play and Katherine will come in with some mud on her shoes, but Devon looks like he took a nose dive into a pig pen! :) He loves tractors. The farmers have been doing some work around our house. He will stand at the window and watch them for a long time. Devon has been working on getting his molars in on the bottom for a good month now. They finally popped through, Thank goodness. He really wasn't horrible, but I can tell he feels better.

I hope all my "readers" are doing good. Love to all.

January 2009

The New Year for me was welcomed in on the road. Katherine, Devon and I were heading to GA to see Luke, home on leave and to meet his new son Raley. We followed Chris and Melissa to St. Louis. It took a lot to get David to agree to let me go on my own. It was quite a trip, but I really appreciate him agreeing to let me go. It was a great memory. I got to Memphis around noon on the 1st, picked up Bethany and Jonathan who were waiting there for me and headed right to Mississippi to Uncle Kevin's. We were having a family reunion. Katherine had a blast riding the horses. She stayed on them all afternoon. She wore Papaw and Aunt Bebe out by asking for ride after ride. Papaw took her for a canoe ride too. She loved that as well.

The next day we went to the Memphis New Years meeting. It has been at least 5 years since I was able to go. It was great to see everyone and get caught up. I spent the afternoon at Meredith Guess's house. The only drawback of the trip to Memphis is I missed seeing Joanna. It was very disappointing.

The next day, Saturday, we headed to GA. Dad drove one car, Thomas another and me the third. Three vehicles are hard to keep together going through Atlanta when only the lead car has any idea of where you are. We made it to the Thompson's around 6 o'clock. Sis. Laurie had a great dinner ready for us. Of course we all headed to see Raley first. As soon as I saw him and was able to hold him I said "David you better watch out!" It is amazing the maternal instincts you feel just holding a small bundle of joy. You forget all the sleepless nights and struggles and remember all the joys of motherhood.

The next few days were filled with waiting on Luke to call and tell us he was on his way home. We still had no definite arrival date. I took Katherine and Devon to Aunt Stephy's shop to have their hair cut for the first time by a professional. They did much better than I expected, of course it could have been the suckers Stephanie gave them. So smart. Stephanie was so busy with family getting hair cuts, I think we over whelmed her. She gave 10 haircuts/ highlights in one day! Makes me tired just thinking about it. We also made candy one day, or I should say Dad and Mom made candy. Katherine got to help. She loved it. This was the first trip to see my family that Katherine really took to Papaw. I think he was eating it up. It only took 3 years! It sure helped his cause when he took Katherine and Devon to the zoo. It truly was the highlight of the trip for my kids. Katherine and Devon were so fun to take. It is a true blessing to see the amazement on their faces as they see real animals that they have only seen in books. Katherine is still talking about it a month and a half later. Thank you Dad, you made a wonderful memory with your grand kids. That is so important when you live so far from them.

The "PLAN" didn't work out as any of us planned. The night before Luke was suppose to get home. Raley got sick and had to be admitted into the children's hospital. Luke was on communication blackout so there was no way to get hold of him. So Morgan met him at the airport and they went straight to the hospital where they stayed for the next 10 days. Raley had RSV, a kidney infection and a blood infection. I felt so bad for all of them, I know that is not where they had planned on spending their time together. So the last part of our visit was spent driving back and forth from the hospital, an hour away. We exchanged gifts in one of the conference rooms at the hospital. The nursing staff was really great and accommodating. It was such a blessing. It was wonderful to see Luke, you really take people for granted until they aren't around. I am so thankful the Lord has protected him thus far. Luke also told us he was going to be able to come home earlier than expected, he is coming home the middle part of May, Lord willing. He has promised to come see us this summer, so he better keep that promise, I am counting on it! :)

One of the afternoon's we all went bowling. It was the first time Katherine or Devon had been. They ate it up. Writing this I have realized how many "FIRSTS" the kids had on this trip. It is sad David wasn't there to witness them. Sorry Honey! :( The kids got a better score than I did! It was a little embarrassing.

So after 2 weeks we headed home. We stopped in AR for a day to break up the trip. Katherine and Aaron got to spend the day together. Aaron brought his Thomas the tank engine trains and was kind enough to share them with Katherine. Although he kept a pretty close watch on them. :) The trip home the next day was uneventful. The kids did a great job traveling, thank God for DVD players! It was a wonderful trip, but I was so ready to see my sweetheart again. David said we should plan to be apart more often it just makes the reunion the sweeter. I have to agree, but I hope it isn't any time soon!

So long!