Dang It

It has happened again. We decided on Ella's name while in Brazil. We come home to find "Ella" being a very popular name. It even started popping up in Pottery Barn Kids. So, before naming Nathan, I check baby name websites and it was no where near the most popular. But, wouldn't you know I get my new PBK magazine this week and there it is, in bold letters...Nate! GEEZ! But, I am not too upset. We named Ella for a special reason as we did Nathan. So, it is fine. It was just funny to me. I guess Streed has nothing to worry about. Except the reality that he will have to repeat his name and explain that it is his mother's maiden name every time he introduces himself...for the rest of his life. And, it never fails, the response to his name is either 1. I like that OR 2. Interesting.

Ya know we're bad, we're bad

Don't they look fierce? They are quite a team. We came home from somewhere (taken a few weeks ago) and they were both in jerseys. This is a daily occurance for Streed but a first for Ella. My camera sits strategically on my kitchen counter so as to always have it easily in reach. Clara took some pictures for us.

Guess Who?

At first glance which baby is this?

Blast from the past

I was going through old picture cd's after Nate was born looking for newborn pics of Streed. (Our old computer crashed and I lost LOTS of pictures.) I found this picture while looking at the cd's. Thought it was cute. My face isn't quite so thin anymore. I do have a recent desire to start exercizing again so maybe there's hope.

Like I said

I saw this on a friends blog and it made me think about what I said about having little time to do certain things. I just wish I had that older girl helping me cook. :)

Yard Work

We (Chip) have been working hard on the outside of the house. While Chip's mom was here she uprooted all of our old shrubs. I don't have a before pic because they were up before I knew it. The front of the house used to be so ugly that I never took any pictures of it. Now, it is so pleasing to look at. The previous owners used part of the backyard for a garden so there were huge dirt mounds that you had to walk through to get to the grassy area. This was a messy situation with the kids. We didn't know what to do to remedy the dirt issue. Chip's dad suggested a deck. We had never thought of that. Chip bought an $8 "How to build a deck" book at Lowes and went to work. We are so pleased. He is really proud of himself and I am too. We have already used the backyard way more than before. We are not done with the landscaping. We still needs some grass. We went to get some sod and Lowes the other day and had an accident that resulted in both kids falling out of the buggy due to a hole in the floor of the garden center. No sod was purchased that day.

Spikey Nate

I need to go to bed but just have to post some pics of Nate's hair. It seems to be different from the other two. His is super fine, super soft and super spikey after a bath.

old pictures

These could have and should have been posted a while back. For some reason I am slacking. There are many areas of my life that are on the backburner at the moment...the blog, cleaning, showering, time in the word...to name a few. I have several posts to get done soon--landscaping/deck building, Nate's hair, our afternoon friends etc.


taken sometime the first week home. they still love him after a month.

looking in their easter basket. ella quickly grabbed the chocolate bunny.

sporting their new fake crocs from the easter bunny. ella still has the chocolate bunny gripped.


playing hide & seek. i don't know who taught them this game but they love it. they don't quite understand it but they love it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja "Turtle"

Some friends of ours cleaned out their kids old videos the other day. They passed the discarded ones onto us. We were really excited. One that Streed is especially excited about is the Turtles. He was already into action movies and fight scenes in particular since he loves "Narnie" aka The Chronicles of Narnia. But, after watching the Ninja Turtles he has taken it to another level. I am limiting his watching of it. This is a picture of the fierce Streed. Be afraid, be very afraid. In case you are wondering, or feeling sorry for him that a broom is his sword...he is not allowed to play with swords anymore. Chip's mom works for an oral surgeon. A little boy came in one day with a serious injury due to playing with a plastic sword. We were ordered to take them from him. Don't you love the backwards underwear. Also, I put "turtle" in parenthesis because that was Streed's nickname when he was a baby.

Funeral/Celebration Service

Chip and I attended a funeral today for a 3 week old baby girl. She was the first born of a couple here. Chip met the husband when he was a student at SLU and we just met his wife last summer. (Chip met Eddie in the dorms. He played on Chip's intramural softball team one year and went to one Christmas Conference. It was at this Christmas Conference that Eddie became a Christian one morning while he and Chip were talking about the Lord over breakfast.) We met Amy the week we both found out we were pregnant and we were both actually due on March 9. She ended up having a c-section on Feb 24th and me on the 28th. It was not until her baby was born that they discovered she had a chromosomal abnormality. They knew immediately that she most likely would not make it very long. I haven't heard all the details but I know she was loved hard those 3 weeks.

The couple was so strong today. They wanted it to be a celebration of her life and the time they had with her. The pastor said it was a celebration because she was created perfectly and was now in a perfected state with her creator. The pastor spoke, the daddy spoke, they showed a slide show which included pictures and tons of scripture and then they opened the floor for anyone to share about how they had been touched by Rebekah. Almost everyone spoke about how Amy & Eddie's faith and commitment to the Word is what impacted them the most. This encouraged me that years ago when Eddie became a believer and decided to follow the Lord, God knew what he would have to walk through. I am so thankful that Chip was a part of his life and his faith. I am well aware that God did the work in Eddie's life, he just used Chip (among others). What is neat is that after he became a believer, he and Chip actually lost touch. Chip bumped him a few years ago and asked him where he had been. He said after he became a Christian he had to get away. He got plugged into a local church and had been growing. It is very evident as we have spent time with him this past year. When you think about Baby Nate pray for the family of Amy & Eddie Koch (pronounced Koe) as he and Rebekah were almost the same age.