4 Little Nespers

Family Day

2011-10-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

with the start of school for both ely and josiah, i have been feeling the need to turn inward and keep some sacred family time. i think the kids need to have some uninterrupted time with mommy and daddy. a few weekends ago we went to the park and spent the majority of the day just playing and getting dirty. i noticed a sharp decline in the amount of arguing and fighting between ely and josiah. just another reminder to continue to invest in my kids to help them grow into confident and secure big people.

callan and surrey

they are proving to be fearless like another red headed dare devil we know!

i couldn't get a picture with her beautiful face because she was swinging so high!

callan

surrey

callan

Watermelon

2011-10-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

callan
surrey
josiah

ely

so i was looking at the pictures and realized that i posted two pictures of surrey and thought one of them was callan! WOW! so here's a picture of the real callan!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-10-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

i think that ely is more ready for kinder than i am! she was excited all morning. preston wisely took the morning off to go with us. ely has an amazing teacher and i think it will be a great year.

her desk

getting her name tag

row of criers

tearful goodbye
she was full of nervous smiles and giggles until it was time for us to leave. she was very weepy but i held strong (and cried when we left!). i was a little worried throughout the day. when i picked her up said "mom, i LOVE kindergarten!!" i think she will do just fine!

First Day of Preschool

2011-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

he doesn't seem old enough to be in preschool! my sweet, attached at the hip boy is off to preschool! i did such a good job! i didn't cry or blubber at all! i was a rock! oh..josiah did a good job too!

hanging his "packpack" and lunch

Kansas

2011-10-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

2011-10-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

what were we thinking? oh yea! who cares! it was kinda cold, kinda late and lots of fun. we couldn't keep the kids out of the fountain. they were freezing afterwards, but had a blast!

Swim Days

2011-10-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

good friends of ours have a pool and are so kind to let us come swim whenever we want. thanks fieldhouse family!

Ely's Ear Pierce Adventure

2011-10-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

ely has a friend who is younger than her and has her ears pierced! this was an outrage! (truth: hazel is about 1 month younger than ely, but still an outrage!) hazel was nice enough to come with ely to provide moral support.

picking out her earrings

a little nervous...

a little more nervous...

sharing a strawberry lemonade afterward!

Hume Lake, 2011

2011-10-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

every two years the nesper clan packs up and heads out to hume lake in the sierra nevada mountains. 12 people: 6 adults and 6 kids. it's an overwhelming, busy and amazing trip. we fish, hike, swim and relax in the beauty of god's creation.
****WARNING**** my kids are REALLY REALLY dirty in almost all these pictures!

The 4th

2011-07-05T08:21:00.001-07:00

it's always nice to have a day off to celebrate with family. this was probably one of the most relaxing 4th of july celebrations we've ever had. preston's parents and grandma and my mom came over for dinner and hten some friends came over for smores and fireworks. we had watermelon, corn on the cob, smores and fireworks! all the ingredients for a happy 4th!

Smores and more smores

2011-06-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Fres-Yes

2011-05-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

this weekend we went to fresno to visit preston's grandparents and other relatives. his brother met us there, so we had a FULL house! there were about 12 adults and 10 kids around all the time! it was loud, crazy, overwhelming and fun. we don't really accomplish anything except sitting around and talking, but that's what family is!

great grandpa loving on surrey

claire
callan
uncle zac taught her how to pitch a softball. she was pretty good, just don't stand behind her! sometimes the ball was a little unpredictable!

i'm having trouble uploading more, so i'll try again later!

New Sandbox!

2011-05-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have been wanted a sandbox for a long time. the kids are digging in the grass dirt and it's just a mess! they come in with dirty fingernails, feet and mouths. the babies like to the eat the dirt. i haven't gotten a picture of it yet becuase i panic and wash out their mouth. preston has not wanted to get a sand box. he doesn't want the mess. i'm willing to put up with a cleaner dirty rather than the messy dirty dirt. i won the argument when i found a FREE sand box! someone was giving away the one thing i was looking for! once preston sees how much the kids love it, he will agree that it was a great find. maybe? :)

Callan didn't want anything to do with the sand! she cried every time i put her anywhere near it!

Surrey just wanted to eat the sand, of course.

Dinner at the Nesper House

2011-05-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

we had ribs the other night. that's it.

Super Heros

2011-05-16T23:24:00.001-07:00

i asked them to give me their best superhero pose...here's what i got

Surrey and Callan

2011-05-16T23:16:00.001-07:00

callan Surrey

Sleepover

2011-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

ely and josiah got a tent from one of our neighbors and wanted to have a camp out with their friends in it. so we made invites and asked the boys across the street if they wanted to have a sleepover. we watched a movie, ate popcorn and played the xbox kinnect. then we all went to sleep, some of us later than others! :)

ely was the only one that ended up in the tent! they had fun!

Playing in the Flowers

2011-05-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

where else would you keep your bat?

ely found a caterpillar. i think it's really an inch worm though. youcan see it going from the flower to the leaf. she named him rainbow.

surrey picking flowers for mama

callan exploring the grass

So... I Got a New Camera!

2011-05-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

i have been saving for about 5 months for a new camera. i wanted to be able to take pictures of my kids while they were still little. this last year has gone by so fast and i don't feel like i have the pictures to prove that we were there! i have alot to learn, but am looking forward to experimenting taking pictures of my kids! here are a few i took this morning! ely was a school and surrey and callan were sleeping so that explains why it's a little josiah heavy!

Bear with Me...

2011-05-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

i've been a little lame with the posts again. there's so much to catch up on that i'm not even going to try. i'm just going to post some pictures. :) one of these days i'll have time to blog again! surrey and grandma maida
sleeping with his light saver

being silly at disneyland

the carousel

being silly again

on dumbo

ely at bounce u ( a big bouncy house play area)

surrey eating spaghetti. classic.

callan eating spaghetti. classic times 2.

surrey at thr pirate park

special mommy day. we got pedicures!

duplo tower

ely's easter dress

surrey

easter outfits courtesy of grandma maida

callan

surrey giving kisses to daddy

ely and her teacher, mrs. terri, at the christmas performance

Josiah's First Dentist Visit

2011-05-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

we had our first dentist appointment for josiah yesterday. he did great!! i was a little nervous about it, but we did alot of practicing before and he got to see ely go first. he was a little nervous, but after i reminded him he got to pick a treasure out of the treasure chest he let her into his mouth. i guess you just have to find the right motivation!

the pictures looks worse than it really was!
the light was too bright in his eyes, so...
the solution!

he dressed himself. can you tell? the staff was so enamoured with both ely and josiah. they got a kick out of him wearing different shoes. :)

Preston's Halloween

2010-10-29T15:28:00.003-07:00

every year the enterprise offices dress up for halloween. usually they try to stick with a theme. this year the theme was cartoon characters.

we have clark kent, fred flinstone, homer simpson and cleavland.
happy halloween!

just because...

2010-09-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

New Family Pics

2010-09-12T12:57:00.001-07:00

i have a talented friend. her name is mariah. she was gracious enough to come and take pictures of our family. besides having amazing talent, she really enjoys taking and editing pictures. we invited her and her hubby to stay for lunch after the pictures, and i don't think she ate much because she was so busy taking pictures!

thanks mariah for your talent and sharing it with us!!

(i'll just link to her page)
http://makeitintosomethingbeautiful.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/the-nespers/

Callan Sleeping

2010-08-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

home church wears callan out!

she fell asleep flat on her face!

playing together!

Fresno

2010-08-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

we went to fresno a couple of weeks ago to see preston's family. it was so wonderful to see everyone. tyler and sam even drove down to surprise everyone which made the weekend even better. i don't have any pictures because our camera is on the fritz from preston washing it in the washing machine. :/ tyler sent us a camera so we back on track! thanks tyler!

Josiah Sleeping...

2010-08-11T14:21:00.001-07:00

we have found josiah in some interesting sleeping positions lately. we took him our of his pack n play and put a twin mattress under ely's bed and slide it out at night. some mornings i wish he was more contained, but what do you do?:) i don't know if he even realizes that he's not in his bed becuase he doesn't really wake up.

this was in the hotel in fresno. they shared a big queen bed, but somehow managed to take up a very small part of it!

this one needs some explanation. one of preston's roommates from when he was in england was staying with us for a few days. he got to see what life is like with 4 kids. probably a little shocking for a single guy! one of the nights josiah was having some trouble staying in his bed. he got up about 5 or 6 times. after picking him up and putting him back and him getting up and putting him back, he finally stopped making noise and we didn't see his little red head sneak around the corner. we thought "finally!!! he's asleep!!" and continued to hang out. about an hour later, while getting ready for bed preston walks down the hall to see this:

the little bugger snuck out of his room and went to sleep on the floor in the hall!!! maybe he's more comfortable on the floor! so much personality for such a little guy!

Children's Museum

2010-08-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

this weekend was a free museum day at the la habra children's museum, so we loaded up the fam and met some friends there. it was a full day with lots of exploring, running and mayhem.

there was a live exotic aniaml show, or as ely said "the exhausted animal show". there were lots of reptiles and serpents.

touching some big lizard of some kind

ely got picked to hold a huge constrictor. she loved it although you can't tell here!

dress up room

of course she was a star!

spaceman josiah and spaceman abe

josiah and nehemiah

taking turns steering

josiah's turn

moose attack!

I'm Up, Why Not Blog?

2010-08-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

i should not be up!! i was responsible and tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but was thwarted by a 6 month old! callan was the culprit tonight! so i figured why not post a few pictures while i'm up anyway?

this last week ely went to vbs at the church down the street. i was once again reminded of how independent and confident she is. she never even looked back at me the first day. the theme this year was superheros. the stories were focused on the people that we don't know but we know their stories. it was a wonderful reminder of that god knows our story, our life. one of the characters of the week was water girl and ely came home the first day and dressed up like water girl and was pretty much obsessed with her. on friday there was big celebration where parents could come and see what their child had been learning that week. the kids had a chance to go up front and sing and of course ely jumped at the chance to be in front!

she had a great time and is already talking about going back next year!

Stats

2010-07-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

i took the girls in for a long overdue well baby check. they haven't been in 3 months and were way behind on shots. we're doing a delayed shot schedule, so they were even more behind than normal. so both girls got 3 shots each. it was hard to have to do it twice. it's bad enough just once! when we got home callan cried for hours. i couldn't move her legs without her screaming. it was tough, but she's feeling better today. here are the stats of my LITTLE girls.

surrey
height 25.5 (55th percentile)
weight 14lbs 7oz (45th percentile)

callan
height 25 in (50th percentile)
weight 12lbs 15 oz (10th percentile)!!!

i don't usually care about percentiles, but i was interested to see how they measure up to the "norm" seeing that they're twins and are smaller in general. i have to admit that seeing that callan is in the 19th percentile for weight is a little shocking for me! she's just so little!

they are both healthy, happy babies! i thank god that they are growing so well.

2010-06-29T08:25:00.001-07:00

ok, so today has not been such a great day. people always ask me how i do it with 4 kids 4 and under. my answer is usually "some days are harder and some days are easier. with twins the bad times are really hard and the good times are really fun." well, today was a really hard day and it's only 3 o'clock! i think i am starting a transition in my life. it's hard to examine yourself and admit to your failings as a mother, friend and child of god. i have had ALOT of opportunities to see my failings recently. days like to today show me how far i still have to go. with god's help my kids will have the mother that they deserve and the mother god wants me to be. today will be better and tomorrow will be even better. thank you god for second chances.

New Bed TIme Routine

2010-06-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

josiah has been wanting to sleep in "ely bed" the last couple of weeks. it's been a struggle for me to decide whether to let him or not. ely's not that excited to have her little wiggly brother in her bed, but he goes to sleep so much easier when he's there and they look so darn cute together!!! one problem is that he's not stuck in a cage waiting for me to come get him in the morning and i now have an early morning visitor.

Sunbathing

2010-06-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

some good friends of ours just redid their pool and we have been invited to swim whenever we want. if we walk by or drive by the house, see the fieldhouses or talk about them josiah says "go pool" and cries when i tell him that we're not swimming right now. there will be many fun filled days at the fieldhouse pool.

trying to warm up

ely is getting braver with each swim. here, sibling pressure helped get her off the diving board. josiah jumped off the board, so she wanted to do after whining about not wanting to all day. sometimes josiah's reckless nature pays off!

Kansas Gang

2010-06-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

last week we were lucky enough to have some of my family from kansas visit. my grandparents are upper 80's and are not up to alot of travelling, but they sucked it up and came out with the help of my aunt and uncle. there was always someone to hold a baby, clean up spit up (which happens alot!) or to go outside to play ball. having visitors in your house can be stressful, but the fun times and visiting are all worth it. the week was filled with talking, laughing, cooking, baking, loving on kids and of course pictures! here is a glimpse into our week.

kansas hoodlum

baking with aunt judy. we made sugar cookies and chocolate pies, yum!

aunt judy teaching ely how to use a bowling pin

josiah doing it his way

making cinnamon rolls

trying to serve the chocolate pie. i don't know if she'll follow in her parents footsteps!
enjoying homemade chocolate pie, not from the floor!

unca dun's (uncle don) shoes

playing piggies

baby belle cheese noses

he squished an ant and is so proud!

opening father's day present

mommy and boy

test shots. this is ely's signature pose. this is josiah's signature as well!

great grandparents and great grand kids

andrea and pauly-wog

he's showing us his goods!

my mom with all her grand kids

the whole fam
getting ready to jump...almost ready...

finally!!!!
callan
surrey

no fear!

watermelon dirt, yum!

Playing Catch Up

2010-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

we finally have internet again (no email still)!!!! so i'm playing catch up. i'm hoping to post actual pictures of the house soon, so stayed tuned! there are about 5 new posts so read, look and enjoy!

Christening

2010-05-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

ely and josiah christened the new house just days after moving in. i knew i was in trouble when i heard hysterical laughter coming from their bed room. i walk in and find them on her bed with a 1000 piece puzzle box throwing the pieces across the room and laughing at each other. don't get me wrong, i love to see my kids playing together and having fun, but this was over the edge for me! i actually looked at the mess, cried and walked out. i think i was a little overwhelmed that day! :)

when i told her to pick it up, she said she was too tired from throwing it around. you got to give her credit!

Aquarium

2010-05-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

the weekend that we moved was a crazy weekend! the kids had alot of change the last couple of weeks. their house has been packed in boxes and then they are hanging out with friends so we can move and then actually moving. they were a little wild. no, make that alot wild! preston took the monday off after the move to help unpack, but i thought the time would be better spent spending some family time together so we went to the aquarium.

josiah kept running from one tank to the next yelling "more ish"

the sea lion kept coming back to us and opening his mouth. i think he liked us!

waiting for them to feed the sea lions

preston is so proud of this picture. josiah was jumping (of course!) off two concrete steps and loving it. preston had to try 4 or 5 times to get this picture. this picture just about sums my son up! :)

he stuck the landing!
he didn't fall once while doing this trick. i think i'm proud!

ely actually got to touch a shark! her arms have always been too little to reach them.

after all the craziness of the move, it was so nice to spend some time together just hanging out. the kids definitely enjoyed themselves. and, we got passes so i can take them whenever i need to wear them out! win win!

Improptu Photo Shoot at the Beach

2010-05-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

a few weeks back, preston's cousin's sister was taking some pictures for a photography class and asked us to sit in. while she was taking pictures, we snapped a few of our own.

holding hands
almost family picture

this is how the twins spent the evening at the beach

One of My Favorite Ely Momements

2010-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Silly Nespers

2010-05-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

here are a few catch up pictures from the last few months. enjoy!

looking for easter eggs

ely's welcome sign to our new house. she wrote it all by herself!

i let ely pick out her own clothes. i love her outfit choices. she's confident and proud, that's more important to me than her ability to match.

my birthday dinner. that's what i got when i said to smile.

more ely choices

surrey
callan

dress up

my kids are just being creative and having fun! josiah will be a secure, sensitive man! i think he will make an amazing husband with all the girls in his family. he will either really understand them or stay clear of them because they're crazy!

Fighter Planes

2010-05-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

the sounds of my past came back to me a few weeks ago. our friends (and new neighbors!) go to the long beach airport to watch the airplanes take off and land and happen to be there when 4 fighter planes landed! they heard that they were going to be taking off again that sunday and invited us to tag along and watch. it didn't take much convincing. come on people! how often do you get to see F-16 taking off right in front of you?! i grew up on a naval base and heard fighter planes flying over my house all the time. when the first pair took off i got teary eyed because it brought back so many memories. thanks verwys boys for inviting us and letting us be a part of it!

this was not zoomed in! the pilots actually waved at us as they taxied out to take off!

on top of the verwys van watching the planes taxi out

they were so loud!! He also got sunscreen in his eyes and a runny nose so he's pretty red in the face!

ely and malachi watching the planes

just because he's cute (ignore the snot!) :)

ill try to post josiah and ely imitating the planes. preston taught them how to make airplane sounds!

How Sweet Are My Kids?!!

2010-05-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

just sitting around this morning and ely and josiah started cuddling. they were there for about 3 or 4 minutes before i started taping. she has such a sweet heart and is an amazing big sister.

More Nespers in the World

2010-02-13T11:29:00.001-08:00

not alot of time, i'm sure you understand, but here are some pictures of our life with 4 children 4 years old and under!

ely and surrey

mommy and surrey

surrey and callan

callan and surrey

callan and surrey

josiah...i don't know!

boys will be boys! i don't think they ever grow out of this!

surrey reading

josiah being josiah

she's such a great big sister! she loves them so much!

Introducing...

2010-01-24T12:19:00.000-08:00

Surrey Anne and Callan Richelle Nesper!!

their labor and birth were bathed in prayer. we saw god's protection and grace throughout. thank you to everyone who held our hands and prayed for us and with us. god is good!

Now That I'm 4...

2009-12-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

ely has really caught the birthday train! she's taking after me, and will soon have a birthday month! all day yesterday, if she wanted to do something, she said "well, i'm the birthday girl so i get to do it!" and now that it's not her birthday, she gets to do whatever she wants because she's 4. here's what i've heard just in the last 24 hours:

"now that i'm 4 i can...

jump higher (who knew?)
run faster
walk by myself (no, you can't!)
get stuff all by myself if i want it
swim pretty well without asking
do whatever i want. i really can because i'm four. (i think we'll need to have a little one on one talk about this one!)

i guess 4 is a great age!

4 Years

2009-12-13T15:54:00.001-08:00

preston and i have been so blessed the last 4 years to have ely as our daughter. she has blessed us so many ways. she's smart, funny, sweet, compassionate, difficult and one of the best things in our lives. it's hard to believe that you could love someone as much as we love this little girl. i can't wait to see the godly woman she will grow into.

He's Driving Me CRAZY!!!!!

2009-11-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

here is how i find josiah when i turn my back for a few seconds:

and then i find them like this and it just warm my heart! i almost, ALMOST, forget how crazy they drive me!

Halloween, 2009

2009-11-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

this year for halloween, the kids were sick. both of them! it was a tough week. by saturday night they were on the mend, but not quite up to par. ely got sick first and then josiah caught it. they are both still coughing, but no longer sick.

we had big plans to go to the pumpkin patch and look at all the pumpkins and gets some pictures, but ely said she just wanted to stay home. i did get a pumpkin from the grocery store so she could carve one if she decided. they only had 3 pumpkins left and the smallest one i could get was 20lbs! we brought it home and carved in on halloween.

ely carving her pumpkin. it's serious business!

josiah slept through the carving so he got to paint his pumpkin later. he wasn't so sure about the paint, but he got into it after awhile!

josiah's first trick or treat house. he held the candy for the rest of the night.

all the trick or treaters

abe (spiderman), malachi (superman), ely (dorothy), tessa (green m&m), josiah (candy corn)

we went to the harvest fair at the church down the street. there were games and more candy of course.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

2009-11-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

every saturday morning, at 6:30am, local churches and volunteers meet at a a church to provide showers and breakfast for the homeless living in bellflower and neighboring cities. as a church, our home group decided to sign up for one saturday a month. preston and i have felt convicted lately that we have not been serving god's people. we do a good job i think of helping out our friends when there's a need, but we haven't been stepping out of our comfort zone to meet people where they are. we also want ely and josiah to see and experience service to others. two weekends ago, we began this process and it was a success! ely was a huge help. she helped us crack and beat the 90 eggs, cook the bacon and fill juice cups.

it didn't end so well though. as we all know, service means sacrifice...and if you know us nespers, we are not morning people. we all got up early and were a little cranky by the end of the meal. ely also sacrificed her finger. she was helping daddy with the bacon and burned her finger. i know it hurt, but she cried for and hour and a half! i thought maybe we should get it checked out until i saw her playing basketball! she was fine, just a little hurt and mostly tired. i asked her to tell me about her morning and everything was fine until she remembered what happened and then the water and drama started all over again!

chrissy cooking the tortillas because she's mexican

(her joke, not mine! :))

shaun cooking the eggs

allison and josiah

cracking the eggs. she actually didn't get too many shells in the mix!

filling the juice cups

before the bacon incident...

i don't have any pictures from after because there was alot of crying going on to distract me. it was a great experience and we're looking forward to doing it again next month.

Rainy Day

2009-11-03T13:21:00.001-08:00

it's the beginning of november and it's 80 degrees! where is fall? i am really looking forward to some cold and rain! well, at least california's version of cold and rain! ely is too. whenever it's overcast she's hoping for rain so she can go out and splash in the puddles. when we got one day of rain, we went out to experience the wetness. josiah was ready for a nap, so he didn't enjoy it quite as much.

i asked if josiah if i could take his picture. this is him in the various stages of shaking his head no. he was not happy wiht me!

LA County Fair

2009-11-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

we had planned on going to the la county fair the day that we got our ultrasound, but that day ended being a little too overwhelming for us! so we rescheduled and went the last weekend of the fair.

WELCOME TO THE FAIR!

ely petting a goat

there was a pretend grocery store set up. ely filled her basket 5 times! she loved doing the grocery shopping! i think i need to tap into this new found enjoyment!

ely got to ride one ride. of course she loved it!

josiah and gramma kathy cuddling

there was a princess tent set up that the other one of ely's favorite! i'm not sure how i feel about all the cooking and cleaning toys they had set up for the princesses...ely had fun though. :)

I Love You As Much As....

2009-10-15T16:25:00.001-07:00

this morning ely and i were telling secrets to each other. her secrets are along the lines of " josiah is a silly boy" and "i love eggs."

ely: (whispering) josiah is a silly boy.
me: (whispering)i think that's because he has a silly sister!
ely: (out loud) that 's not a secret!
me: ok, here's secret: i love you as much as an elephant! no, i love you as much as a t-rex!
ely: wow! that's big.... i love you as much as a butterfly.

i try not to be offended by what comes out of the mouths of 3 year olds, but sometimes it's kinda tough! :0)

here's ely's song she didn't learn but didn't make up either. to the tune of brother john

i am strong! i am strong!

where did you get your strength from?

because i am so strong, that's why i'm strong.

and that's why god loves me so much so strong.

How Many Are in There?

2009-09-25T08:05:00.001-07:00

twins don't run in my family so this was not just a shock it was earth shattering. we're getting used to the idea still. hopefully in the next couple of days will be able to start the preparing for two more blessings in our family to join us in february!

My Mommy and Me!

2009-09-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

ely and i had a mommy ely date last weekend. preston kept josiah and let us hang out alone for a couple of hours. we went to lunch and then to paint and glaze. ely was so excited about painting a bowl, but i had to stop myself (my perfectionist self) and let her paint the way a three year old paints. it didn't come out too bad either and she's so proud!

outside her favorite place, taco bell!

waiting for our food and pretending to eat a bean burrito.

painting her her bowl.

A Baby,Really? Boy or Girl?

2009-09-12T16:20:00.001-07:00

here are to of the converstaions i had with ely today:

Ely: mommy! why is your tummy so full?

Me: because there's a baby in there!

Ely: (thought for a second) right now there is?

Me: Yup!

Ely: (another second of thought) you mean you're pregnant?!

we've talked to her about the new baby, but apparently it was all hypothetical until now. after her nap today i asked her about the baby again.

Me: what do you want the baby to be?

Ely: a girl.

me: but what if it's a boy?

Ely: that's ok. i will still love him.

my sweet girl!

Learning to Spell...

2009-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

can you read it?

My Sweet Josiah

2009-09-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

i know that i missed his birthday, but i wanted to share some memories of the sweetest little redhead. he has been such a great and energetic addition to our family. preston and i remember back to his birth and first couple of months and are amazed at the transforamtion he's gone through. i thought that we were in trouble! he came out screaming and finicky! his first two months were spent by us praying that god would calm this baby down! it was a tough adjustment because we had it pretty easy with ely htat we weren't prepared for anything else. it took him a couple of months to realize that life outside the womb wasn't too bad and now he is a happy, curious , vocal little mover. if you've spent much time with him you can just hear the screaming (usually ahppy screaming, but screaming none the less:)). we are so blessed to have him in our lives. he's a great little brother to a wonderful big sister and a great joy to his mom and dad. here's to josiah!

happy 365 days son!

Our Trip-Now Complete

2009-08-04T15:27:00.001-07:00

i decided to just post pictures of our trip and explain as i go! there are alot of pictures, so make sure you have the time to look! you're a hard core nesper fan if you can get through them all! enjoy!

Kansas

spinning and...

falling and crying at LAX

our second flight was a rinky dink little plane that bumped and rocked the whole time! cool part was that we unloaded right on the tarmac. we were the last flight to land at the tulsa airport that night. the airport was actually closing!

stopping for lunch and play on the drive to belleville

ely's first tractor!

ely and kansas grandpa. he looks a little gruff, but he's big old farming teddy bear!

josiah and kansas grandpa

my aunt barb made birthday blankets for all her nieces and nephews. it has their name, weight, birth day and time they were born. i still have mine! i'm so happy that my kids will be able to have theirs and cherish them as well. aunt barb is pretty handy on the sewing machine!

kansas grandma and ely making noodles. we ate well while we were there! lots of good old country food!
rolling the noodles

her favorite part! kansas grandma let her use a knife. i guess that's what grandma's are for, letting you do what you know your parents would never let you do!

my great uncle lives in an old farm house
way outside of town and we went visiting. this is ely in front of his weather vain.
sitting on his tractor. it hasn't been used in a long time!

josiah and unlce red (allen). kindred spirits! the only red heads in the family!

blowing bubbles with kansas grandma

grandma has a beautiful garden filled with lilies (?). she and ely picked some to bring back to aunt judy's house.

one of the coolest things ely got to do was ride a real horse! unlce red works on the family farm and has a friend that owns a horse. he was willing the let a 3 year old city girl ride it! here ely is being introduced to roan.
unlce red just led the horse in a small circle, but ely thought she was a real cowgirl. i said cowboy and she was sure to correct me, "mommy, i not a cowboy, i a cowgirl!"

josiah waiting for his turn.

mommy and josiah riding roan

to top it off, red took ely out into the cow pasture to see a cows and a bull up close.

this is the sign that welcomes to you to belleville. i have always loved kansas and have such wonderful memories of it. now i love making new memories with my kids and hubby!

IOWA

ely and annika playing before the wedding
aren't they beautiful?!

they are too! i don't have many pictures of the ceremony or reception because josiah got sick that day of all days!
dancing at the reception. ely was a dancing machine! i couldn't get her off the dance floor.
a park in orange city. it was a very dutch community! :)

it was the week after the tulip festival. the tulips were beautiful!

we actually met another red headed josiah!

at the best ice cream shop ever! the sundaes were so big! ely and preston were so happy! we stopped here on our way to chicago.

Chicago

out first day, we took a bus ride through the city. it rained on us and the wind just about killed me! i was not prepared for how cold it was!

he was supposed to be sleeping but he wasn't really cooperating!

ely actually took this picture outside the art museum. pretty good!

dot dot seurat

the coffee bean magma ball totally reminded me of fight of the navigator!

ely thought this was pretty cool. she asked for her picture to be taken with mickey and the police man.

these were crazy spitting foutains! it was freezing but we couldn't keep ely from running through the water! there were two faces on each stone wall making silly faces and every 15 minutes they would spit water out! we had to buy ely new pants becuase it was so cold and she was shivering after her romp.

josiah at the hershey store

ely at the hereshy store. she's holding a 5 pound chocolate bar! preston wouldn't let me buy it.:(

the field museum

ely running up the steps of the feild museum

they had a kid's section athe feild museum. ely learned al about corn and it's role in ancient civilizations. she could pick it, grind it and cook it at this exihbit.

ely and sue

we spluged and let ely ride one ride. there were some older ladies behind us that couldn't believe that the parents of that little girl would let her ride all by herself. ely looked really upset! i knew she would love it!

navy peir

the children's museum at navy peir

the lincoln park zoo

looking at the gorrillas.

wrigley feild for a cubbies game. one of the highlights of our trip.

josiah was cheering...i think

almost 1900 miles with two kids in two weeks! both kids did great!

overall, it was an amazing trip! not very relaxing, but great! we have to start taking real vacations. where can you go with kids that's a vaction though? there's always a tushie to wipe, a mouth to feed or a cheek to kiss. i wouldn't have it any other way!

Paint, Hair and New Do

2009-08-04T15:08:00.001-07:00

this weekend preston helped some good friends, jeff and amanda, lift a 300 pound beam onto their patio for a new cover. ely went with him and helped paint the beams. she definitely takes after her mom and got paint all over herself! they gave her an old t-shirt (that is now covered in paint), yet she still managed to get paint on her shoes, feet, arms and most distressing her hair. she painted one beam with her paint brush and her ponytail brushed the paint on the other one. we tried peanut butter, olive oil and plain old soap but nothing worked. she spent a few days like this and the paint clot turned into a dredlock! it was so matted and ratty! i finally decided that it was a lost cause and took her to get it cut out today. i thought her hair would be up to her ears, but thanks to the wonderful people at cool cuts for kids, she has a new refreshed, paint free look!

this was after she had worked on it for about 10 minutes. the hair on the comb was already cut and combed out of her head!

this place was awesome! they set her up in the princess booth and let her look at princess toys. they had her pegged!

watching her movie, barbie of course!

posing for mommy!

the finished product, complete with a goofy face!

ely's signature pose!

Anyone Want to Buy a Car

2009-07-16T09:55:00.001-07:00

these are mostly for preston, but if you or anyone you know is in the market for a new car...

He's So Big!!

2009-06-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

It's Official!

2009-06-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

i pretty much let ely dress herself. i love to see what kind of combinations she comes up with. often times i have to veto the rain boots when it's 80 degrees outside, but for the most part she does a pretty good job. at least people know who picked out her clothes! the other day she wanted to choose her after nap clothes and here's her choice:

Button Jar

2009-05-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

in an effort to encourage positive behavior from ely, we started a button jar. i did this in my classroom and it works great. whenever ely does something positive, like following directions or being kind to her brother (which is the real reason for the jar!) she gets to put some buttons into her jar. when the jar is filled, she gets to choose a special treat. the first time she filled the jar up, she wanted to spend the at daddy's work. how cute?! we couldn't spend the day at daddy's work, so we decided to have a special lunch with him.

this time when she filled up her jar, i picked her treat...i took her to build-a-bear. i knew that she would love it and she did! she can wrestle and get dirty with all the boys, but she is definitely a girly girl! she loved trying dresses on her dog and looking at all the accessories. boy, there are ALOT of things to waste your money in at that store! we were trying to keep costs down, so she got to pick a less expensive animal and one dress. because we went on a weekday, there was no one else there, so the staff spent alot of time with her making the trip worth while. so here we are with ely's new dog kelly...

filling kelly up

each animal gets a heart inside the fluff. the lady had ely touch different parts of her body to help bring kelly to "life." here she's kissing the heart so kelly knows she loves her. ely loved this!

you have to give your dog a bath!

brushing kelly

dressing kelly

Walking...Well, Almost Still

2009-05-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Almost Walking...

2009-05-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

i've been asked a couple of times to post josiah walking. this was taken about three weeks ago. he's not walking yet, he still has to use the walker but he's much faster now. he pulls himself up on everything and i can see the idea stating to dawn on him that he could use his little feet to get to the next place. hopefully not until after our midwest whirlwind trip!

i'll try to take more video and post that tomorrow! enjoy!

Meet Our New Neighbors!

2009-05-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

a bird family has moved in right outside our bathroom window. last week, we started to hear little peeps outside the window and could see little beaks popping out. if we watch for awhile the mama bird comes and feeds the babies. ely has named them (of course): towel, showel, tbowel and monkey. i don't know which one is which. :)

they're little, but they're loud!

this is when i thought one of the babies was going to fall out!

the mama bird feeding one

Her First Novel...Well, She's on Her Way at Least!

2009-04-29T21:18:00.001-07:00

being a teacher, i'm always on the lookout teachable moments. the other day ely asked how pasta is made so we went to the computer and watched a youtube video about it. we both actually learned alot! (i still can't get her to eat any other shaped pasta! only macaroni. "it just tastes different, mom!") we've looked up horseshoes, chameleons and islands lately. ely has a thirst for knowledge! she loves to learn. when we read a book, it takes us twice as long because i have to stop and explain what "slathered" or "stray" mean. i don't mind; i love that she's so eager to learn. we've started teaching her the sounds of the alphabet lately. she knows all the letters and now knows half of the sounds. i thought it was time to start learning how to write. i turned our hot water closet door into a chalkboard (to my husband's dismay) and that's where we practice. here's what we've been working on:

can you tell what it is? it's her name! the y still needs some work, but i'm pretty proud!

and here's her self portrait. actually i think it's a clown. that's his hat on top! there's nothing she can't do.

A Preview of Preston's Play

2009-04-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

if any of you wanted to see a preview of preston's play, here it is! ely is actually studying to be preston's understudy. :)

i've been running lines with preston the last few weeks and apparently he's not the only one who's memorized them! just another reminder that little ears hear everything!

Festival of Books

2009-04-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to go to the festival of books at ucla for years and i finally got the chance this year. we joined the verwys family for a day of books and entertainment. this year's theme was the very hungry caterpillar, one of ely's favs! eric carle (the author) was there doing a book signing and reading, unfortunately we didn't get to do either one! the line for the signing was so long and the reading was too late, but we still enjoyed the festival.

there were alot of booths with some wonderful kids books. i wasn't allowed to buy any. apparently i have too many books, which i disagree with. you can never have too many books! there was a also a kid's stage with different kinds of entertainment.

one of our favorite books is how i became a pirate. it's a wonderful book that we read at least once every week. the illustrator is david shannon and he was at the festival. he read another book that he illustrated and then he and the audience "created" a toy. he took suggestions from the kids in the audience and made an...interesting picture. i couldn't get a good picture of it though.

preston, ely and malachi watching david shannon

david shannon

there was a huge wall that housed where eric carle was signing with the question "what book are you reading?" people wrote in marker what book they are currently reading. ely signed her name and then what book she is reading.

signing her name to the book wall

writing what book she's reading. she chose the bible

"bible" can you see it?

Cuddling and Dancing

2009-04-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

my kids love each other! with the exception for the occasional hit, pinch or bite, ely really does love her little brother. and we all know that josiah loves his big sister. now that he's crawling, he follows her around everywhere! ely takes "josiah breaks" when she needs a break. i wish it were that easy for me!

this is ely trying to dance with josiah. he's not cooperating, so she just decides to dance on her own!

cuddly time

Never Again!

2009-04-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

ely's hair was getting a little scraggly at the ends. when i can't run a brush through it without hearing her scream and cry "owie! owie!"it's time for a trim! well, i had the genius idea of doing it myself....NEVER AGAIN! it didn't turn out that bad, but just not what i had envisioned. ely, always easy to please, loved the end result. to tell you the truth, she just loved getting the process! here are some pictures of her beautiful curls being cut off! the good news is that hair always grows back!

getting ready for the cut

before

after

look at her beautiful curls!

ely's signature pose

maybe i'm a little too hard on myself, but from now i'm leaving this to the professionals

easter (better late than never!)

2009-04-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

this easter saw another first- the nespers went to a sunrise service! ok, in all honestly, we were a little late but for those of you who know us, you know that that is an impressive feat! i don't have any pictures because i was tapped with getting there that early!

after the service we headed to the beach with the verwys and copeland families. it was a beautiful day, perfect for the beach. i love southern california! where else can you go to the beach in april? the kids had a great time! ely, as usual ended up in her underwear for the day.

just hanging out

malachi digging

paul digging a hole...

teamwork

josiah's first time at the beach. i was a little worried about him eating the sand, but martha helped to me to relax and let him learn for himself. he did put the sand in his mouth, but didn't like it and didn't do it after that! he's a quick study!

gavin and paul loving on josiah. gavin was so good with josaih. he has such a sweet spirit and loved making josiah laugh!

ely and hazel

trying to make a pool of ocean

success!!!

she fell in the water and wore her underwear all day. i have to start bringing an extra set of clothes for her.

after the beach, home and naps we headed over to gmama's house for another egg hunt and dinner.

can you see the egg? it took her forever to find it!

finally!

counting the eggs

mama maida made her an easter basket

bless bellflower

2009-04-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

this year easter offered us an opportunity to serve our community. our home church along with other churches in bellflower participated in a city wide egg hunt. due to budget cuts, the city had to cancel the egg hunt that had been done in previous years. we were blessed to have the chance to serve members of our community and share the good news at the same time. preston took control of the kids while i served at one of the craft booths. ely and some of her friends enjoyed the egg hunt and the playground afterward.

paul, hazel and ely waiting for the egg hunt to start. it was torture for them to wait! the eggs were just laying on the ground so they had to stand there and stare at the eggs for 10 minutes before the mad dash!

rob restraining malachi. it was really hard for him to understand why he couldn't go. :)

the mad dash

shaun, rob and i at the flower booth

abe enjoying a cupcake after the egg hunt

of course she's on the swings!

ely's other treat- there was a boy at the park with a corn snake and ely wanted to hold it. preston thought this was a great idea! she was a little nervous, but she did a really good job! the boy said that the vet took out the poisonous fangs so it was safe to hold. when preston told me this, i wasn't very reassured!

Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-04-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

friday nights preston has rehearsal for a play he's going to be in and the kids and i have to find some way to pass the time. i'm looking for a bit of relief after having the kids all day (and the whole week before). my mom has been wonderful and spent the fridays that she has off with us. so far we've gone to the mall for dinner and playing, had a pizza and movie night and last week we had an egg coloring night. ely, josiah, mama madia and i colored eggs all night! ely had alot of messy fun!

ely's creation. there's a rainbow one, a star one and flower one in there somewhere.

our egg family

from left to right: aunt bapa, ely, preston, angie, josiah, mama maida.

thanks mom for giving us something fun and different to do!

Ely's New Bike

2009-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

for christmas ely got a scooter from grama kathy and papa w. it was really cute and in her favorite colors: pink and purple. preston and i decided, however, that we would like something a little more gender neutral so that josiah can use it as well. i couldn't find a scooter that i was happy with and then i saw the bikes! it's still hard to find a gender neutral bike, but i did my best. ely loves it! it took her awhile to get going forward. she's used to her trike that doesn't have brakes.

talking about the best way to put it together. why read the directions?

helping daddy put the bike together

she's so proud!

the box is always more fun

we then headed over to gmama's house to test the bike outdoors. grama kathy and pap w were there to cheer her on! we couldn't get her off the bike!

you have to wear a helmet!
ready to ride!

her first time on a big girl bike!

He's Hooked on the Soaps

2009-03-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

well, seeing that that's all i do it sit around and watch soap operas (doesn't that sound like me? now if it was america's next top model, that would be a different story), i'm not surprised that he loves the daytime dramas! i went to start ely's bath yesterday and left josiah in the living room for a minute. when i came out this is what i found:

somehow, he found the remote, turned on the tv and started watching "days of our lives."

His New Diet and His Strong Will

2009-03-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

today marks the first time josiah has had something other breast milk. he's been showing some signs of interest in eating so i decided to let him explore with some apple and banana. we bought one of those mesh feeders that you can put solid food in and the baby can chew and suck without the fear of choking. i wasn't sure how he was going to respond. i figured that he would play with it at the very least. well, he caught one VERY quickly! he took it and put it is his mouth, and after the initial shock of something in his mouth, he sat on the tile for 10 minutes sucking and chewing. i took it away to put another little piece in and he had a meltdown. within seconds of giving it back to him he stopped crying and started munching again. i think we may have another strong willed child on our hands! welcome josiah to the wonderful world of food!

this was when i took it away from him and...

when i gave it back!

Great Grandma's House

2009-03-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

this was one of our weekly trip to gmama's house. we have enjoyed seeing her on a weekly basis and allowing the kids to get to know their great grandma. she loves them as much as they love her.

she's filthy, but what else is new?

this is uncle tyler's dog, cassie. she is the sweetest dog (even though it looks like she is attacking josiah). she is one of the best dogs i've ever seen.

happy birth-weekend to me!

2009-03-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

this weekend marked another birthday for me. i think that birthdays have become more about a time to hang out as a family and do something ely would like than it is about me. i would rather it be that way. with that said, ely had a great weekend!

i have the best husband ever! we planned on going to the san diego wild animal park on saturday and then to have a relaxing actual birthday day on sunday, but preston had other plans. he told me we had to get up early (well, early for me: 9AM!!) and surprised me with a trip to one of my favorite places ever: disneyland!

******WARNING*******

there are ALOT of pictures! i wanted to put even more, but i thought it might have been too much!

enjoy our day with us!

we went all the way to the san diego wild animal park to play on the slide!

She needed a snack very badly! that explains the sour face!

ely specically asked for a picture with the okapi

i taught her how to drive!

just beacuse he's so cute!

we're going through a tunnel and she's holding her breath (?)

she almost knocked pooh over when she ran to give him a hug! she has gotten over her fear of the big cartoon characters!

the tea cups of course!

waiting in line for the roller coaster

passing the time by posing for the camera

the roller coaster, her favorite (despite the 30 minute wait for a 30 second ride)

showing off her new minnie mouse hat

this is how we all felt at the end of the night

back down main street

Fun with Aunt Bapa's Computer

2009-03-11T16:26:00.001-07:00

aunt bapa (andrea), ely and i had some fun with andrea's computer. ely was laughing so hard at the pictures that her stomach was hurting. here's a sample of our art!

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!

2009-03-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

so josiah's got teeth popping through! he's had big white bulges on the top for about 2 months now, but nothing has happened since. it's about time!

i just had to put in a picture of the little man! this is how he wakes up: swaddled and smiling!

Lessons From the Little Ones

2009-03-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

we have been blessed to become a part of our community, our home church. we have made real friends that i know i can call for anything. we've made freindships encurage and uplift us. we have been on a mission to find a family verse tath our family can strive to become and we have finally found one.
thessalionians 5:16-18
rejoice always, pray continuously, give htanks in all cicumstances; for this is god's will for you in Christ Jesus.

ely has been able to be a part of a sunday school as well. mrs. claudia comes every week, faithfully, and teaches ely and malachi. this week ely learned her first memory verse and she has put us to shame applying it to her life. preston and ely were driving after church and ely saw a car with 2 lakers flags. here's the conversation:
ely: what is that on the car?
daddy: they're lakers flags.
ely: do we like the lakers?
daddy: well, uncle zac likes the celtics and not the lakers, but daddy doesn't really like anyone.
ely: you should.
daddy: should what?
ely: like everyone. the bible says you should "love one another."

preston and i are so proud of the loving and considerate little girl she is and the amazing caring person she is becoming.

Exploring

2009-02-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

i have been so unmotivated lately. we get up and i don't want to do anything! sleeping or sitting around the house would be my preferred activities lately. i think it's because i'm reading the harry potter books (again) and i'm staying up way too late. yesterday was one of my less motivated days so i went to my mom's house. we went into the backyard to explore. we've been in there many times, but under the gimmick of exploring there was alot more to do!

my sister's mural outside her window

i asked her to pose and this is what i got

flowers

finding a spider web

playing kick with mama madia

watching the kick game>

Not Too Long Now...

2009-02-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

josiah has been sitting up a little over a month and is now moving to the next step. he's been getting up on his knees and rocking like he's going to take off at any minute! i watched him yesterday get onto his knees and reach out for a toy and almost took a real crawling step. i love seeing my little boy grow up and am trying to soak up every minute of him being this small.

i was experimenting with no flash and he decided to fall over backward!

i couldn't resist taking this picture! josiah gets himself into some interesting positions now that he is scooting all over the floor. i was fixing ely's lunch and heard him cry. this is what i saw when i came into the living room. i don't know how it happened but instead of getting him out, i took his picture. does that make me a terrible mom? :)

This Never Gets Old...

2009-02-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

i still can't get him to laugh like this, but i enjoy watching ely get the laughs. (for those of you with weak stomachs, beware of the spit up at then end of the video)

Big Bubble Bath

2009-02-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

ely took a bubble bath today for the first time! well, she took one when she was about a year and a half, but she was afraid of the bubbles. weird, the girl who will climb anything, jump off anything or ride anything was afraid of bubbles! she loved the bubbles! i stepped back and watched her laugh, blow bubbles all over the tub and make a bubble beard. it's the little things that make her so happy: reading a book with her, drawing on her back with my finger and bubble baths. i hope that i can encourage her wonder and enjoyment of the small things this world has to offer.

josiah also had a bath milestone. he took his first big boy bath yesterday! he had more fun splashing in the water and didn't even pay attention to the toys ely was trying to give him. he has gotten so much more alert and interactive this last month.

Ely and Abe

2009-02-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

ely made a new friend at the park.