Elisa...

My little 5 year old....she lights up a room...and my life...


I love when she comes to say good morning to me and then kisses me and my belly before asking "can I watch my movie shows now?"
I love conversations with her...she knows so much being the youngest and learning from the older two. Usually when I am frustrated with Caleb and Bekah for not listening to what I have just read them she will chime in, "I know what a bayonet is mommy."

So, here are three awesome Elisa conversations that I had to blog about from the past week...I don't want to forget them...she is too precious...

I was fixing her hair one morning and she says, "Mommy, did you know that God knows how many hairs are on my head?" I said," yes" She said, "how many do you think a hundred million trillion? I bet if I am real quiet God will whisper it in my ear."
I said "God does talk to us....I don't know if we will know how many hairs are on our head or not, but He does talk to us in our hearts and through his word..."
She said, "I talk to him too. Like the time I got in trouble with you and had to go to my room. I set the timer to brush my teeth and then I didn't. I lied to you mommy, so I went to my room and talked to God and asked Him to forgive me."

The other day Caleb and Elisa were talking about clouds, Elisa said "Caleb told me clouds were made out of water droplets, is that true? Because I thought they were made out of fluff."

And last night:
I should preface this by saying she is pumped about the baby, and my ever growing belly....she loves to hug it, kiss it, and talk to the baby.
So, last night before se went to bed, she lifts up my shirt for her to do all of that and she giggled that my belly button is starting to be an "outsie" and she said, "wow Mommy, how big is he now? Have you been reading your books?" I said, "the books say he is about 15 inches." And showed her how big that was.
She said "wow, so he goes from the top to the bottom...oh, and all the way over here too." (and she pointed to my ever growing "love handles"
I said, "nope, that is just all the extra cushion he needs."

My friend Leigh recently told me her daughter Beccah wants to have a little girl like Elisa when she grows up...I think we all need a little Elisa in our lives...

The Snowball bush...

Last year when we moved in to our new house, my mom took me around the yard to tell me which plants were which, and which flowers were which...I am not good at that. There was one tree next to my deck that she couldn't figure out...neither could Sarah when I asked her. I was ready to cut it down because we want to expand our deck and, well this tree didn't look like it had a lot of life to it. But, both she and Sarah told me not do do anything until this spring when it would bloom

Yesterday I was out on the back deck and looked down and saw this flower coming off of the tree and sitting on the deck...I looked over and thought "this must be a snowball tree." We had one when I was growing up, and so did my grandma...I have always loved them. So I had to call my mom and tell her. She asked me if I remember the story of the snowball bush from when she was a baby...since I didn't, she told it to me again.

When my mom was born, my Grandpa Williams, Cleve was over in Germany fighting in WWII. He ended up being captured and was a prisoner of war. My Grandma was very optimistic he would return home and would say, "hopefully by the this holiday, or that special occasion, Cleve will be home." Her dad, my Grandpa Becker told her, "When the snowball bush is in bloom, Cleve will be home." My Grandpa ended up making friends with a German guard who helped him escape. And that year, just after my mom turned one (he had never seen her), and when the snowball bush was in bloom, my Grandpa made it home. And when he did, he wanted his picture for the newspaper taken in front of the snowball bush.

Here is a letter he wrote to my mom on her first birthday....

He died when I was not quite two years old. I don't remember him, but he will always be one of my biggest heroes....

Happy Easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

My three little people with our Easter lilies in memory of my Grandma, and our baby we lost last year, Gabriel

Cecelia Grace...

Today I became an Aunt for the 9th time...and my sister became a mommy for the 6th, giving birth to her second daughter, Cecelia Grace....

Happy Birthday, Caleb!!

9 years ago, Mike and I became parents to our Caleb boy...what a blessing he is in our lives!

Caleb also wanted his party at Tumblebears ,and got the added benefit of having his best buddy, Duncan spend the weekend with us since his parents were out of town celelbrating their 20th anniversary....little did I know, I would accumulate 2 more little boys who wanted to spend the night too!! It was a fun weekend...and the first time we have had a big sleepover...the boys were so awesome...

On the trampoline...this party was a bit more wild than Bekah's with all these boys..but we had a great time!

Caleb and Logan...best cousins and best friends...

Caleb and his newest stuffed animal...Jake the snake...

My crew for the night....6 kids...can't believe we did that...and that they were all so good!

Bekah's birthday weekend...

Happy 7th Birthday, Rebekah girl!!

We started celebrating Bekah on her birthday, and followed it with two more days of celebration with family who couldn't join us on Saturday...

Happy birthday, sweet girl...how time goes by...

Bekah had her party at Tumblebears with lots of friends...we are wrapping her up in the parachute to spin her around...

Some of her good friends, Anne and Emma

Jumping rope...

Daddy and Caleb getting in on the jump roping!

We celebrated at Aunt Beth's the next day since she couldn't be at her party...They hadn't celebrated Elisa's birthday either, so we had a party for all three kids....(since Caleb is coming up on a birthday)

And finally at Grandma and Papa's the next night...They were out of town on her birthday...Bekah made the cake and decorated it as part of her Baking badge for AHG

Grandma made new clothes for Bekah's doll..the nightgown matches the one Grandma made her hits winter....

It's a.....

What a blessing today has been for me. A year ago I was heartbroken, having lost a baby we named Gabriel the month before...I had wanted another boy so bad for our family...


This year when I found out that I was pregnant, I wasn't even concerned about the sex of this baby...girl or boy...didn't matter...I just wanted to get through each day and still be pregnant.

Then there is my son. When I was pregnant with Elisa and he was 3, he told me, "Mommy I prayed that God would give me a brother, but I know he is going to give me another sister." (we didn't find out the sex until she was born) And I think he has been praying for a brother since. Even when I didn't think I wanted anohter child, he would pray for a brother. So, my heart wanted so bad for him to get a brother and hear the words "It's a boy" today at my ultrasound.

What we heard was...."well, there are some boy parts right there!!!" Caleb was behind me in the room so I didn't get to see his face, but Mike did...he said he lit up...! And I, of course, cried! How blessed I am to have been given two boys and two girls...what I wanted even when I was a little girl...and the chance to be a new mommy again...And I thought how awesome God is that he heard the prayers of a precious little boy who has been praying for years for a brother...

So, here are my four!! children...though one is still in a picture...we will meet HIM!! in about 21 weeks!! God is good...and our baby boy is healthy!

(the girls really are excited...but look who has the biggest smile!)