The Big Reveal

It's a Boy!

Chugging Gatorade

Fun Night at the Whitecaps game

No one told Isaac to pose milking the cow, came up with that on his own

Had fun at the zoo with Grandma

The boys fed the giraffes this time

On the bluff overlooking S. Haven beach

Waiting for fireworks with Caedmon and Xavier

Ice cream at Captain Sundae's with the Slots

I had my ultrasound and we are having a boy!  We are happy and the boys were especially happy!  Julia said she wanted a girl, but she's not disappointed.  We took the kids to the ultrasound.  They were pretty bored, but enjoyed hearing the heartbeat and finding out the gender.  The baby looks healthy and is measuring big, go figure!  I made gender reveal cupcakes as a way to tell my family.  They were good sports and played along.  The kids couldn't believe they have to wait 20 weeks until the baby is born.  

Time to catch up!  At the end of June we went to an evening Whitecaps baseball game in Grand Rapids.  We got some free tickets from Bethany, score!  It was also 10 cent hotdog night, dinner anyone?  Caleb really enjoyed the game, the younger two weren't interested.  They kept asking for whatever the food vendors were selling around us.  We lasted until the top of the 7th and it was late by the time we got home.  I think Caleb is old enough to appreciate a major league game sometime. 

We also received free tickets to Binder Park Zoo from Bethany, so Mom and I took the kids.  It was hot and humid, but there is alot of shade at the zoo.  The monkeys were Caleb's favorite.  Ask him sometime the difference between apes and monkeys, he knows more than me!  After the zoo we went back to my parent's house and had supper with Cardale's family. 

For the 4th of July we went to the South Haven fireworks.  That was a first for us.  In the past the kids were too young or we were out of town.  We parked at our friend's house in town and walked to the bluff.  They had staked out a spot earlier in the day.  I have never seen so many people in South Haven.  The show started at 10:30 and lasted a long time.  Our kids all stayed awake.  Isaac fell asleep in the wagon on the walk back to the car.  It took forever to drive from our friend's house back home.  We got home at 12:15 am, traffic was awful.  Not something you expect in small town South Haven.  This was our first and last South Haven fireworks. 

We had our first dinner guests at our new house.  We haven't moved in yet, but the Slots wanted to see the house.  We had a picnic supper at the house and then walked to Captain Sundae's for dessert.  Kind of awesome we can walk to the ice cream store.  

Tomorrow I hope to blog about our trip to Wisconsin last week!

Mackinac and Racing

                                 So glad we have a camper for rainy days

                                          Mackinac Bridge in the background

                                                        Just a cute picture

 Nate helped the kids up on this tall rock, it made me nervous

                                                   Sitting pretty

                                 Ready to ride the ferry to Mackinac Island

                                          Getting blown away on the ferry ride

                                             Biking around Mackinac Island

                              17 weeks pregnant and looking good

                                                             

 The ferry we rode to Mackinac Island- the boys loved the rooster tail

                                          Superman ice cream face

                                       At Fort Michilimackinac (try saying that fast)

                                  The boys really liked seeing the muskets and cannon firing

 We climbed Castle Rock- 170 steps, it was really hard for me- I blame the pregnancy and heat

                                   The end of our camping trip- we're all tired!


Last week we went to Mackinac for the first time.  It almost looked like we wouldn't be able to go because of the plant shutting down.  But, Nate wasn't put on the schedule so we headed out of town!  We camped at Mill Creek campground.  It has a heated pool, although my definition of heated is something a little warmer.  The kids thought the pool was great.  The campground was fairly quiet.  We had rain Monday, but it let up in the afternoon so we checked out the McGulpin Lighthouse.  It wasn't very impressive, but we enjoyed the hike down to the beach and climbing on the rocks.  On Tuesday we took our bikes on the ferry to Mackinac Island.  Seems a little crazy to me that is cost us $80 for the privilege of biking around the island.  We explored main street which didn't take too long, browsing thru stores isn't very interesting for the kids.  We tried a fudge sample and both Isaac and Caleb turned up their noses.  We ducked into a pizza restaurant at lunch time and waited out a storm that blew in.  That was a tense lunch as we didn't know how long it would storm and we didn't know what we would do with the kids if it rained all afternoon.  Thankfully the rain stopped!  We hopped on our bikes to do the 8 mile perimeter ride.  It's not a hard ride, maybe took us 1 1/2 hours?  Caleb loved it, he rode ahead of us the whole time.  Nate was super Dad.  He had Julia on the back of his bike and Isaac rode in the burley.  Nate says it was good strength training for his upcoming triathalon.  I was carting baby DeMaster, that's my reason for not pulling one of the other kids behind me, ha!  I think the horses and the horse poop all over will probably be the kids main memory of Mackinac Island.  On Wednesday we went to Fort Michilimackinac.  It was quite hot that day so we darted in and out of the shade.  The boys were slightly interested in learning about life in the fort back in the 1770's.  They really liked watching the cannon being fired and the "soldiers" firing muskets.  Grandpa DeMaster worked at the fort one summer when he was younger so we're looking forward to talking with him more about who he dressed up as.  After the fort we drove across the Mackinac Bridge.  In case you are interested it is 4 miles long.  I can now say I have been to the Upper Peninsula.  We drove thru St. Ignace and then stopped at Castle Rock.  You hike up 170 steps to the top of this rock overlook.  It is an impressive view.  However, seeing the condition of the structure supporting this overlooks makes you question your safety.  We headed back home on Thursday all very tired, but glad we explored a new part of Michigan. 

                                    Finishing up the swim portion- 500 meters

                                      Getting ready to ride 12 miles

                                                   Finishing the 5k run strong

 First triathalon and he finished in 88 minutes- so proud of him!

                                                  Getting ready to ride in a Lotus

                                                              Big grin

Nate had his triathalon this weekend.  He was very nervous, but he did great!  The swim was definitely the hardest part.  Cold Lake Michigan water with lots of other people swimming around you?  Does not sound easy to me!  His goal was to finish the race in 90 minutes and he made it in 88 minutes.  It was a beautiful morning so the kids and I had fun playing at the beach and cheering him on.  Watching all of the athletes made me think, I could do that!  But, then I thought, no I really can't.  I hate swimming, might be an issue. :)  I'm so proud of Nate and I'm sure this won't be his last race... 
Caleb went to a birthday party this weekend that was held at a local racetrack.  The kids were taken around and went about 40-50 mph.  Isaac wasn't old enough to ride in the car, but he was ok with that.  Julia wanted to go like the big kids.  Caleb wasn't nervous at all and had a great time.  Definitely a unique experience! 

School's Out

                                       Receiving the highest academic achievement award for 1st grade

                                                                      Two years in a row!

                                                       Trying to organize a class photo- classic

                                         Last day at Grace and last time carpooling with Chloe

                                        Water table fun at the St. Joseph Discovery Center

                                                                Let's wash our hands

                                                              What a funny kid

                                                                  Climbing the lighthouse

                                                             Practicing her dance moves

                                                                         Catching some air

                                           Uncle Tim will have to teach them how to snowboard

                                                                      Riding the carousel

                                                                            Fun family day


Summer has started!  Caleb's school had their awards night.  The school just tells you that your child will be receiving an award so we don't know what to expect.  Caleb received the highest academic achievement award for 1st grade, basically he had the highest grades.  We are very proud of him!  The school also has a moving up ceremony for the elementary.  The teacher gives each child a character award.  Caleb's teacher picked "concerned" for Caleb in that he shows concern for other people.  Caleb has been expressing his sadness over leaving Grace.  When we got home from the last day of school I started doing a happy song/dance about never driving 30 minutes to school again, he said "boo!"  On the last day of school his teacher asked the class to write a couple sentences about what second grade will be like.  He commented a couple times that he didn't even know his second grade teacher's name.  The other day we had to do a quick clean-up of the house for a showing (which didn't happen.)  Caleb was very helpful, but also upset saying, "It's Mom and Dad's fault for sending me to Grace and now they took me away from Grace."  He will still ask us to repeat our reasons for moving to Holland.  I know it's natural for him to grieve this transition, but I feel for him.  As the parent it is hard to not brush off his feelings because I know in the long run he will be just fine.  But he doesn't know that and he needs time to process everything. 

On our first day of summer vacation we took a family outing.  We had free passes for the kids to the St. Joseph Children's Museum.  We had a fun time and enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking Lake Michigan when we were done. 

I am 15 weeks had another check-up today.  I am measuring on target and I've gained 3 pounds.  They recommend 4-6 lbs gained by 20 weeks so I'm doing well.  I heard the heartbeat again, it was 153.  I love hearing that sound.  I know how tenuous pregnancies can be so I am always relieved when I hear the heartbeat.  I will have an ultrasound on July 3 and hopefully we'll find out the gender!  The kids will come with for the ultrasound.  I hope the baby cooperates because we'll all be disappointed if we can't find out!  The kids are coming up with names for the baby, mostly boy names.  Caleb suggested 'Cole.' I thought it was a good choice, but we also talked about whether he might feel left out if he didn't have a Bible name like the rest of the boys in our family.

In a couple weeks we are camping by Mackinac.  We've never been up there so we're looking forward to exploring the area.  This will be a fun summer and I think it will fly by!

Big News!

 We have a baby on the way!  I am 13 weeks pregnant and due December 2!  The first trimester was a little rough, but I am feeling better now.  We told the kids last week.  Caleb said, "What another one? It better be a boy."  Isaac agreed that it needed to be a boy.  Julia had lots of questions.  "Will I have a baby in my tummy?  Where is the baby?  Is it under your shirt?"  Isaac has had more in-depth questions this week.  "How does the baby get out of Mom's tummy? (Thankfully Nate had to handle this one!) Is God making the baby?  Is God in your tummy?"  All very cute.  We will find out the gender of the baby so that will be exciting.

                                                     Mother's Day 2012- what a crew

 They have watched me do a pregnancy workout video.  They are doing "child's pose."

 Nate and Julia went to Binder Park Zoo with Caleb's class today.  Lots of fun.

 Caleb hates keeping his shoes on.  Don't know how he lasts all day at school.

                                Celeste, Isaac and Jocelyn- these girls loved playing with Isaac

                                                         Isaac's afternoon preschool class

                                                                   The proud graduate

Isaac graduated from preschool tonight.  They sang some songs and were just cute in general.  Isaac has grown alot this year!  Physically, I think he just hit a growth spurt.  He is eating more at meals than he used to.  His teacher said Isaac got along with all the kids and everyone liked to play with him.  He also began to open up more during school.  He barely spoke in class at the beginning, but at the end the teacher was joking she had to tell him to stop talking.  He learned the alphabet in sign language and writes his name well.  This is unrelated to preschool, but I am impressed with his math skills.  He was adding up the number of kids in his class.  He was at 7 and named two more kids and said, "now that's nine."  At the end he held up 10 fingers and said, "10 plus 3 is 13."  I just find that impressive because math was always a struggle for me.  Maybe he got his Dad's genes!  We are planning on having Isaac do Young 5's next year.  But, we are going to have him do the Gesell developmental test just to see how he compares to other kids his age.  Caleb really benefited from Young 5's and then kindergarten, I'm sure Isaac will benefit too.  Caleb finishes school on June 6, summer here we come!

Summit

 Rick and Kay Warren being interviewed by Jedd Medefind, President of Christian Alliance for Orphans

 Steven Curtis Chapman singing a song with Geoff Moore

 Chatting with Mary Beth Chapman

 Group picture with Steven Curtis Chapman

 The morning after Summit we went to Laguna Beach

My Summit roomies, Jodi, Robin and Lori

Last week I attended Summit VIII at Saddleback Church in California.  Summit is a conference put on by the Christian Alliance for Orphans and it covers adoption, foster care and global orphan care.  This is the 3rd Summit I have attended.  This year I mostly attended break-out sessions for adoptive parents.  I also attended a session about orphans in the world who will never be adopted and what can be done to help them.  For example, some countries are war-torn and don't have working governments to make adoptions happen.  It was a sobering session, but necessary to learn about.  I was excited to catch up with the His Little Feet choir that stayed with us in December.  Unfortunately, Yabsira and Jesus weren't at Summit, it would have been fun to see them again.  Steven Curtis Chapman performed at Summit and we had the opportunity to meet him and his wife, Mary Beth.  I didn't really talk to them, but it was fun to get a picture.  On Saturday morning my roomies and I went to Laguna Beach.  We had fun watching the surfers and soaking up the sunshine.  We had a rental car that was upgraded to a convertible, nice!  Summit is always challenging, inspiring and encouraging.  Next year Summit is in Nashville, TN- who wants to join me?!