King Family Update~ Bethany

Bethany is just two months away from turning five.  She is still our bright bubbly and hilarious little girl with a strong emotional side.  You will usually find her laughing out loud at her sisters, her aunts or uncles or herself.  She makes friends everywhere we go and loves to meet new people.

Bethany is very good at figuring things out and loves to learn how things work.  She also taught herself to read this last Spring and reads almost anything now.  Her mind is a mystery to me.  She is so much like her daddy that I often just sit back and marvel.

Bethany adds great spice to the middle of our family. When asked what her favorite things are she said, "Zebras, princesses and candy.". 

We are so thankful for our precious Bethany and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for this amazing girl!

Birthday Party Fun!!!

Yesterday was our birthday party for Bethany with my side of the family. She had quite the crowd turn up which delighted her. On top of Great-Grandma, Great-Boppa, Grandma, Boppa and the aunties, some other special guests including Nana ( other great-grandma), Great Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Peter ( Mary's fiance) and "Uncle" Thomas ( best friend, adopted uncle) were able to make it.
We went for ice cream sundaes this year and with Bethany picking out the toppings, we had quite the selection!

(Bethany with Great-Boppa)

We are amazingly blessed to live so close to much of our extended family. Not only do my parents live just down the road, but my grandparents have an adjoining apartment to them. It blesses my heart to see my children get to spend such quality time with such precious people!

Thank you Lord for my precious little Bethany and for all that you have in store for her life!

It's Bethany's Birthday! ( Finally!)

Well, it's birthday time again for our sweet Bethany. In this case I have to say, finally! With her two sister having birthdays within two weeks of each other in the spring, it is a long wait for a November birthday. But here we finally are and once again I am amazed and overwhelmed at how fast time is flying, and how gracious God is.

Bethany is as unique as they come. I am constantly amazed at how I can have three little girls so close together, and yet as different from each other as they can be. I always struggle to accurately describe Bethany. She is completely hilarious, and yet not in a comedian like way. The way she talks has always been very articulate which makes just about everything that comes out of her mouth sound so funny. Bethany makes friends everywhere she goes. Not little people generally, but adults. Bethany will carry on a conversation with anyone who cares to pass the time of day with her. She loves her sisters deeply and while she may be very keen on going on a date with Mommy or Daddy, she misses them terribly the whole time. She lately has been choosing to be very self-sacrificing and unselfish, especially towards her sisters. She is either gloomy as a rain cloud or happy as a lark. Thankfully there are many more happy times then gloomy ones.

Just thinking of my dear girl brings a smile to my face. From day one she has been different than I ever would have guessed.I'm so thankful for how masterfully she has been created and for the many plan that are yet to be carried out in her life.

These are just a few random pictures from the last year.

Last year I wrote out a bit of her birth story and posted some baby pictures. You can see them here, http://graceisblessedbygod.blogspot.com/2008/11/happy-birthday-bethany.html .

More birthday pictures to come. For now I'm just going to go smooch on my girl!

King Family Update~ Part 3

Bethany is also rapidly growing up. Because both of her sisters have spring birthdays, she feels like she has been waiting forever for her birthday to come! It's still a little ways away ( November), but I know that her third birthday will be here before we know it! She is our little bundle of energy and has a personality that is absolutely irresistible.


She has really started to be a great little helper, whether it's folding and putting away laundry, putting dishes away or setting the table. She loves keeping up with her older sister and also pretending to be "Mommy" to Havilah.
Bethany desperately wants to do school along with Lydia, but thus far can still not identify an "I" or tell you what it says, even though we've spent two weeks on it! We are having fun though, patiently trying to work with her and find activities that she can participate in.

Bethany is my one partner is guessing that this baby is a girl. At least I'll have someone to celebrate the victory of being right with! She is such a precious and fun girl. I'm so thankful for her!

1....2....3....

I've been very conscious the last few days of how short my temper has been, how easily little things become huge things instantly and how my patience level has seemed to drop into the red zone, especially pertaining to the small inhabitants of my home. This evening I was feeling quite proud of myself. I found it quite doable (with prayer) to breathe deeply and pause before reacting and choosing to make better responses.

As a result of my new found forbearance I decided to try putting my younger two to bed at their usual time and let Lydia stay up a little longer for some special time with Mommy. (Daddy had a softball game tonight and we stayed home for fear of rain showers!). I was amazed how easily Bethany and Havilah went down, with very little protest about Lydia staying up. Lydia and Bethany share a twin bed and this is the only night I can remember where they have not gone down at the same time.

Lydia had a nice evening together. We washed her hair and put it up in socks to make it curly. Finally it was time for her to go to bed as well. As we entered the room I smelled something funny. I just couldn't quite place it. I was also very surprised to find Bethany wide awake. And I mean WIDE awake! We had entered the room in the dark (trying not to wake up Havi) and I was a little confused at what Bethany was saying.

In a very excited and somewhat nervous sounding voice, she kept saying " I drawed those pictures for you Lydia! I drawed those pictures for you.". I didn't pay too much attention at first until I started to make out some vague shadows on the wall. I turned on the light to find this...

Yes, that is permanent marker (hence the smell). Yes, she has learned that she will never do that again. And yes, I really did stay quite calm through it all! Thankfully we have not done one thing to that room since we've moved there and a can of paint should remedy much of the fiasco. I'm amazed as well at how much I am thankful for the sanity of a four year old! Not much mischief happens under Lydia's watchful eye! I guess we've still got a ways to go with the two year old!

The "Twos", whatever they are!

Bethany turned two overnight! This sounds like an obvious statement to make, but it has blown me away all the changes that have taken place in her! Our culture knows this time as the "Terrible Twos". Even the sixth grader I was talking to a few weeks ago was lamenting the "terrible twos" and how they are as unavoidable as a child turning two years of age. I laugh at that sort of talk and give my little spiel about how this is an amazing time of children growing up, testing, discovering and finding their boundaries. And I really do believe that! Bethany has been giving me ample opportunity though to practice my theory and see if I really do think these "twos" are as terrific as I say they are!

Two days after she turned this infamous number she started saying things that she never had, ( and I might add, never will if she's smart, which she is!) said before. Things like, "Leave my hat alone!" to her mother and " You're not the boss!" to her father. These are the testing times, not for her so much, but for me. Will I be consistent enough to train my daughters to be obedient and respectful to their parents and those around them? I fail so often! But God is so gracious!!

I have also in the last few days been overwhelmed at how faithful God is! When we are obedient in training our children how He wills, His blessing are amazing! Lydia and Bethany have become as close as twins seemingly over night! They have always loved each other, but their relationship has been full of squabbles and selfishness. Lately though, they are inseparable, even walking up the stairs holding hands! Hugging, kissing and playing all the day long! I am so blessed to see God working them together. She also has completely abandoned the thought of trying to rule over her parents, although I'm sure the temptation will present itself again!

I really love "the twos" and I don't think they're terrible! It is so amazing to see this person emerge out of this little baby that I used to have, and it is such an awesome privilege and responsibility to be the one that is to train her! I am growing slightly weary of the "whys" though!

Birthday Party Fun!

Last saturday we had our birthday party with my side of the family. We are so blessed at this time to have all of the great-grandparents still alive. It is so wonderful to have them share in the celebrations! Bethany was of course showered with presents!

Saying 'Thank you"

Havilah shares in the fun!

Nothing better than "Dirt Cake" for a two year old. Especially this one!

"More please?"

Happy Birthday Bethany!

Today is Bethany's second birthday! For weeks now she has been telling everyone that her birthday was coming and that she would be two. We had a special day today with just our family. Tomorow will be the party with my side of the family. I'm not looking forward to having to explain to her that her birthday is actually over!

As I write this now I'm thinking back to two years ago. Right at this time ( 7:50 p.m.) I was very discouraged! I had labored for 13+ hours, labor was very hard and after a forty-nine hour labor with Lydia I was ready for a VERY long night! Very soon though I would be checked and told that I was at 9 1/2 cm. and could push whenever I wanted! She was born at 8:30 p.m., 8lbs 2oz, 20 in. long, very blue and VERY bald! But she was so beautiful! I thought it was a miracle! From the very begininng she was so different from Lydia and it is a joy every day of her life to watch her grow and develop her unique personality into exactly who God created her to be! I was reminded last night as I watched "How Great is Our God" by Louie Giglio ( Must see!) that at the moment of conception her 3,000,000,000 character DNA code was written out, telling exactly who she would be! It was just a reminder to me of the amazing plans and purposes God has for my children's lives.

First of all, yes, she did have big eyes when she was a baby! And yes, her hair is finally starting to grow!!!

How will Bethany look with hair?

Just another mothering experience!

Bethany discovered a creative new way to tie-dye your body. It's very simple. All you have to do is take the lids off of your sisters markers, drop them down your footie pajamas, then be good as gold so Mommy doesn't figure it out for some time!