Happy 45th Birthday!

2006: John turns 30 (surprise party with medical classmates in Minnesota)

2007: John turns 31 (Minnesota)

2008: John turns 32 (Eglin AFB -- first birthday as a Daddy!)

2009: John turns 33 (Eglin AFB -- waiting for Sidge to be born)

2010: John turns 34 (Eglin AFB -- two little boys with us!)

2011: John turns 35 (Turkey -- in the hospital with his wife having an appendicitis)

2012: John turns 36 (Turkey)

2013: John turns 37 (Azores)

2014: John turns 38 (Azores)

2015: John turns 39 (Spring Hill, TN attending ballet with Abigail)

2016: John turns 40 (On the farm!)

2017: John turns 41 (First ballet birthday: Sleeping Beauty)

2018: John turns 42 (Second Ballet: 12 Dancing Princesses)

2019: John turns 43 (Third Ballet: Ruth & Boaz)

2020: John turns 44 (John and the hats he wears while in the middle of Pollyanna!)

2021: John turns 45!

For John's 45th birthday we were going to be SURPRISE doing ballet (This year it is: The Snow Queen!) So on Friday the 22nd, two days before his real birthday, Grama and the girls planned an Italian-themed dinner for his big day. We used a box we accidentally got delivered to us after failing a box that was for our cousin Bailee from RADISH KIDS and it was fantastic! We hd a BLAST! Here are some pictures and videos for you to enjoy John reading halfway through his 40's. I am still in aw that the boy I started dating when we were teenagers is now 45!

JB Birthday 1

JB Birthday 2

JB Birthday 3

Our Hannah turns FOUR!

We decided to have our little Hannah Joy Pomegranate Kitsteiner's fourth birthday party a few days ago -- before her twin cousins from South Carolina ended their visit to the farm. 

When I told Hannah we were going to have a party, she looked up at me and said. "A party just for me? With presents? And cake?" She isn't used to things being all about her. She was soooo excited!

We had her go in our bedroom (the only room we currently have) and decorated and brought her out for her birthday "surprise". She was actually feeling a little "shy" when she came out of the bedroom which never happens to Hannah. She told me later: "I sort of felt like happy crying."

And then it was onto the kitchen where Aunt Elizabeth (John's older sister) and his mom had decorated for a little party. 

I only managed to get one picture which included her cousins: Eli (next to Isaac) and Ethan (green shirt in the front)

Grama K. makes the BEST ice cream cake. Seriously. I bought one one time and it was a total letdown. We love ice cream cake here because it doesn't have egg!

Bowling out her candles:

Showing us how old she is (with her Grama K.):

Opening her presents. She got some really sweet things. Notice how excited Arabelle is about the party:

Here is a favorite recent video of Hannah that just makes me smile:

Tomorrow, September 4, is Hannah's actual birthday. Here are a few facts I want Hannah to remember about her life at 4. 

• We used to call you Hannah "Pomegranate" when you were in the womb. The nickname has stuck, and it is your official "unofficial" second middle name. If you ask you what your full name is, you always says: "Hannah Joy Pomegranate Kitsteiner." Daddy wanted to put it on your birth certificate, and I laughed at the idea. I kinda wish we would have. 
• Here's a favorite post I wrote with some of my favorite pictures of you. 
• Here are some looks back at your previous birthdays:
• Three and a half
• Three
• Two (Includes some of my favorite pictures)
• http://flakymn.blogspot.com/2014/09/hannah-joy-turns-one.html
• I also like to remember what your brothers and sister were doing at the same age:
• Isaac
• Elijah "Sidge"
• Abigail
• You are not shy at all and love Dad and Mom equally. 
• You are wearing a size 11/12 shoe, size 5T clothes. 
• You vocabulary is amazing. You will use words like "aroma" and "disgusting" and color everything with adjective like "terrible" and "fantastic." 
• You can count to 29, know all your colors, recognize all of your letters, and know a lot of letter sounds. 
• You sing the ABC's but often mess it up.
• You are incredibly observant. Today, as we left the grocery store you said, "Why did we leave our donuts on the counter?" Sure enough, we had forgotten a bag!
• You love to watch shows. Some of your favorites are: 
• Princess Sofia
• Daniel Tiger
• Tinkerbell
• Some of your favorite things are:
• Princesses
• Legos
• Magnatiles
• Watching shows (I usually have you do things to earn them as you could watch them all day long and do when I forget where you are and what yo are doing.)
• Color (a little)
• Put stuff in her mouth
• Play playdough 
• Going to Grampa and Grama's house (You walk there by yourself.) 
• Changing your clothes (constantly)
• Play with her brothers and sisters
• Imagine
• Have adventures
• Riding your bike
• Eating snacks
• Playing in your pool
• Taking a shower (you like to lay at the bottom of the tub and just let the water hit you.)
• You don't really understand time. You will often say: "Is it 10 o'clock yet?" because you know that is the time for snack every morning. However, you do seem to understand numbers pretty well. Some examples:
• I told you we had to do something twice and you said: "That's like two times."
• I told you that you could bring in one toy to church. You said: "What about two? Okay how about three? That's a good number."
• You ride a bike with training wheels. You have successfully ridden a two-wheeler but you fell so you don't want to do it again.
• You don't really sleep with any specific toys. You mostly like "Garbage Can" which is your huge tiger you use as your pillow.
• You don't use diapers or pull-ups at all. You wet the bed sometimes, but if we let you wear a pull-up to sleep, you pee in it on purpose. 
• You sleep a good twelve hours a night (7:30-7:30). But you really fight us getting to bed with constant needs to get up for something. 
• You are drawing people and are pretty good at. 
• You are a decent eater. Not our best (Abigail) or our pickiest (Isaac.) 
• You haven't napped in like ... forever!!!
• You love hugs and will get/give them to almost anyone. You have bonded with our intern, Jacob, and Tijmen is by far your favorite WWOOFer. Here's a video of you finding out he was coming back to our farm for a second visit. 

You are incredibly 

precocious, 

boisterous, 

glamorous, 

preposterous, 

wondrous, 

zealous, 

humorous, 

outrageous, 

adventurous, 

ridiculous, 

mischievous, 

fabulous and 

miraculous. 

WE LOVE YOU!

Sidge's Birthday

For Sidge's birthday, he wanted to go to the GRAY FOSSIL SITE AND MUSEUM in Gray, Tennessee. 

According to Wikipedia:

The Gray Site is a Miocene-epoch assemblage of fossils located near the unincorporated town of Gray, Tennessee in Washington County. The Gray Fossil Site was discovered by geologists in May 2000. They were investigating unusual clay deposits turned up during the course of a Tennessee Department of Transportation highway project to widen State Route 75 south of its intersection with Interstate 26.

State Route 75 was realigned to protect the find by order of Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist, and a museum and research center at the dig operated by East Tennessee State University opened in August 2007.

As soon as we walked in the building, Sidge spotted, and identified, this Short-Faced Bear fossil from across the room!

The museum itself is rather modest in size, but it is incredibly modern, clean, and really has a lot of hands-on things for the kids to do. At only $5 a person ($4 with a military discount), it is very appropriately priced for its size. 

A digging pit. The kids loved this!

There were quite a few interactive computer activities for kids to do. We also spent quite a bit of time watching employees working inside the building to put together fossils. I thought this was very neat! They made it all glass so you can see what goes into unearthing these fossils.

A picture of us outside in the cold wind. Once you finish inside the museum, you can walk out in the back to see where they are digging. The dig is closed for the winter so visiting in the summer when they are actually digging would be a very cool thing to do.

If you live anywhere close to this site, I suggest you make a day of this. It is incredibly educational and well-done and also, more importantly, well priced. 

P.S. I do want to make a small note: JB and I believe the Bible to be 100% accurate; however, we hold a different viewpoint of the length of the creation days then some Christians. (I have been asking JB to do a Blog post on this forever and am hoping he does so soon.) Therefore, we agree with the dates used at this fossil site. I know some Christians hold a more literal viewpoint of creation days and want to say you may take "issue" with some of the dates presented at the museum. I want to make sure that is given as notice on my Blog. I in no way want to upset people on either side of this debate. I believe that the Bible is in the infallible word of God without exception. Okay -- done with that discussion. :)

After we left the GRAY FOSSIL SITE AND MUSEUM  we went to Chik-fil-A for lunch. This is a special treat for us as we don't have one very close to us. 

We, as usual, traded in the kids meal toys for an ice cream. (If you didn't know about this, make sure you remember! We do it all the time!)

After lunch, we headed to our hotel for the evening which had the major item on our list: a pool! We swam and got thoroughly exhausted before heading out to dinner. 

JB and my FAVORITE restaurant around these parts is Sahib in Johnson City, Tennessee. We loved Indian food and try it nearly everywhere we go, and we both admit that this is probably the BEST Indian restaurant we have ever found. It is 45 minutes from our house, but he and I choose it on many date nights. This is the first time we tok the kids with, and all of them enjoyed it. The atmosphere is wonderful, and the owner is constantly around helping with your order and checking to see how you like the food. EVERYTHING we have had is absolutely delicious, and I always eat too much. 

After dinner, we headed to Sweet Frogs for dessert. Yes that is ice cream twice in one day. Here are some pictures from our ice cream outing:

And here is a video of our fun times having ice cream:

We headed back to the hotel. We had a free hotel night voucher that we used. It was just for a room with two queen beds, and somehow we talked three kids to mats on the floor so JB got his own bed, and I shared with Abigail. (None of us are good bed sharers, and JB and I definitely cannot sleep in anything less than king together.)

Tomorrow I will share part II of our birthday adventures. Stay tuned!

Wee-wind Wednesday

Brant was born on this day in 1982. I was five years old. He passed away in November of 1989. Born with significant disabilities, he was seven years old when he went to spend eternity with Jesus. Six months after Brant passed away, Roy and Joan adopted Brianna. The same Brianna that in 2008 would give birth to our son Isaac. 

April 16 always sticks in my mind. Not only do I know a lot of people celebrating birthdays today:

• My goddaughter Grace
• My cousins (and brothers) Jason and Justin
• Brandi (from Eglin AFB)
• Mark (husband of my friend Tina in Incirlik)

But today will always be Brant's birthday. And that is something I will never forget.

Here is a post I wrote on July 2, 2007. Brianna had come to visit us at Eglin AFB for a week. This was just a few months before we would get the phone call that would change our life. A phone call asking us if we would consider adopting Isaac. 

Happy Birthday Daddy

This birthday video complete with pouting, fighting, tattling, wrestling, and passing gas, probably summarizes my life on a daily basis the most accurately as anything I've recently recorded.

Yesterday, we went up to Daddy's office and decorated the door with balloons and signs and left a cake on his desk. This Mommy has done a good job for her hubby's 38th birthday!

April 16th

April 16th has always been a date that sticks in my mind due to the large number of people I know celebrating a birthday on this day.

My cousins, Jason and Justin (brothers) share today as a birthday. In addition, Brant VanWyck (Brianna's older brother and Roy and Joan's son) who passed away when he was seven years old was born on this day in 1982. It is my goddaughter Grace's birthday today. She is now 19! In addition my childhood friend Susie celebrates her birthday today as does my friend from Eglin AFB, Brandi, and Mark, my friend Tina's husband here on Incirlik.

Happy birthday all!

Happy Anniversary & Birthday

A tad late but hey, I've got a bit going on. While here, my parents celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary (July 18). And then today, my Mom celebrated her 36th birthday as well. (Okay, that part isnt' completely accurate.) Happy anniversary and birthday Dad and Mom. So glad we can spend it together in Germany.

Happy 79th Birthday Grampa!

Happy Birthday Aunt AD!

In celebration of your birthday AD, here's a video of Elijah: Me Like Quesawiya!

And here's another entitled: One Mickey Mouse!

Happy Birthday Josh

Happy Birthday to my cousin Josh! I actually have fifteen cousins, but Josh will always be one of my favorites. We lived across the street from Josh and his wife Sarah for two years, pre-children, in Kentucky. Those two years were some of the funnest I've ever had, and as a result, Josh holds a special place in my life. Happy Birthday Josh (pictured above with his second son, Jordan.)

Happy Birthday to...

... my niece Charleigh who turned two yesterday.

And also to my cousin Kathleen who turned twenty-two (or right around there!)

What I would tell Infertile Me

I got an email from a friend dealing with infertility today. She asked me a question.

"If you could go back in time and tell infertile Wendi one thing, what would it be?"

It's funny she asked that. It's a question I've thought about many times. And I've formulated many different answers.

But here's the one that resonates most within me.

I would tell myself to try my hardest to enjoy my life. To try to embrace where I am at currently instead of wishing the months and years to speed ahead until our next treatment or the next holiday that maybe I would be a mom. I would tell myself to sleep in as often as I could. I would tell myself to take more naps. Lie in bed and watch movies and don't get up just for the sheer relaxation of lying around Wendi! I would tell myself to go on as many dates with my husband as I could. Go for runs whenever you want Wendi. Take long walks in the park for no reason at all. Travel. Travel. Travel some more. Volunteer. Embrace your hobbies. Sit on the kitchen counter and drink a coke and stay up way too late talking with a girlfriend. Don't worry so much about becoming a mom. Try to remember that God doesn't promise us tomorrow. Children won't solve your fears of being alone Wendi. And then travel some more gosh darn it!

There's more. But you get the general idea.

What I find interesting is that this is the first place I have lived where people did not know me "before" kids. I had someone mention to me that they have trouble picturing me as anything but a "mom." Yikes! Really? This is so foreign to me since I spent from ages 21-31 as a married wife with no children at all.

But seriously. I was that woman. I was the woman that people would have bet money on would not have biological children. Ever. When we got pregnant with Elijah my doctor said to me that if I would have asked her if I thought I would ever bear a child she would have had to be honest with me. It just was not going to happen. Not ever. Three clomid cycles, five failed IUI's, and four failed IVF's didn't leave a hope left floating around.

It only left God.

I think we have this idea that if we "just get married" or if we "just have kids" or if we "just get this job" or if we "could just pay off this debt" or ... well, the list could go on and on, that then things will be perfect.

But they won't. We will never arrive. There will always be something we are seeking. There will always be sadness and disappointments. Only a relationship with our Heavenly Father can bring us the complete peace we think a certain thing will.

When we pulled away from the hospital with little two-day-old Isaac strapped into his car seat on May 9, 2008 ... with the lawyer and nurse waving at us and feeling like we had no idea what we were doing ... I realized that I was now, nearly officially, a mom. (His five month court hearing would solidify it.) But I didn't really feel different. Something could happen to Isaac the next day. Something could happen to all of us on the way home. Isaac was the child we always hoped to have. But he was not the answer to the hole in our life we often try to fill with things other than Christ.

I pray for those of you today praying for answer to your prayers. For many of you it is a child. For others of you it is something else. A spouse. A job. Reconciliation.

Whatever it is, I hope I can encourage you with three main tidbits of hope:

1. Embrace, as best you can, where you are today.
2. Believe that miracles are possible.
3. Remember that only Christ will bring you the peace you seek.

I always seem to have a group of about 5-10 women in my life that are in my "infertility group" of the moment. Women that I am watching walk the walk I walked just a few years ago. Please know that you are at the forefront of my mind all the time. Really. I am thinking of you by name while I write this. When I see you. When I email you. When I talk to you. I am thinking of you. I am wanting to fix it. And I am praying for the answer to your prayer.

P.S. Happy birthday to my "unofficial" goddaughter Raylee and my cousin Sarah.

Happy Birthday Tara and Becky!

I'm a half-day late but I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my friend Tara. She went to medical school with JB in Minnesota and is now engaged and living in California.

And also a Happy Birthday to Becky. We met at Eglin, and she is now living in DC and awaiting the arrival of her son thru the miracle of adoption.

Love you both!

Aunt Karen turns ...

My Grama Medema's sister is celebrating a birthday today. Aunt Karen is one cool chick. She is quite a few years younger than my Grama which made her and my Mom more like cousins growing up instead of aunt and niece. I know she follows my blog quite a bit and prays and thinks of us a lot. I have fantastic memories of spending time on their small farm in Illinois when I was growing up. Her daughter, Amy and I, were pen-pals and quite good buds for many years. Happy Birthday Auntie Karen! Thanks for being such a cool chick.

Happy Birthday Grama

My Grama Gert would have been 87 today. I miss her. When you don't live by someone, it is easy to forget that they are no longer there. Sometimes I forget. Then I find something from my Grama. Yesterday I picked up a little trinket that sits on my bookshelf and found that she had put a sticker with a Bible verse on the bottom of it. That is just like Grama. She was an incredible woman of the Lord. You could not talk to her without talking about Jesus. That's all she really wanted to talk about.

Happy birthday Grama!

Happy Birthday ...

... one day late to one of our dearest friends in the whole world. Ron Ray! You stalked us from Kentucky to Minnesota. We've been friends since before we were married (and that's a long time!) We love you Ron!

Birthdays all around

Joy -- my friend from church when we were at Eglin. She is my age but has six children. Egads! She is one of those women who just exudes the love of the Lord and the grace that Christ extends to all of us. You always feel that Joy is being real with you and that you are "okay" in her book.

My neice Grace who has been as precocious as they come since birth. She is seriously, like twenty-one years old inside that pint size little body. Grace loves people and wouldn't hurt anyone for the world. She has a tender heart and a great personality.

My goddaughter Logan! What a cutie she is. Logan is such a beautiful little girl both inside and out. She is one of those kids that just exudes peace and kindness. Happy Birthday Logan!

Tyler

My cousin Josh's son Tyler is celebrating a birthday today. I am pretty sure he is seven. Is that right Sarah? Seven. That makes Josh and Sarah pretty stinkin' old. Here is Tyler (right) with Jordan and MaryBeth.

Josh and Sarah lived across the street from us in Kentucky from 2000-2003. Was it really that long ago guys? Man. Anyways, we will always have a special bond from those days of hanging out at each other's homes.

Love you guys!

September 6

Happy Birthday Roy! (Joni's husband and my Mom's boss).

And happy birthday to my best buddy Kristi. Love you girl!

Happy Birthday Uncle Matt

Happy 26th Birthday Uncle Matt! We are growing up and so are you!