4 years ago....

Matt Oshel asked me to marry him. We just happened to be in one of the most romantic places in the world-Italy! Here is the post where we announced our engagement to the blog community. In fact, we started this blog right after we got engaged.
You might enjoy reading Matt's story of our engagement or my story.
I can say without a doubt that I love Matt more today than I ever knew I could when I said "yes" four years ago.

Video from Matt

Video from Matt
I was incredibly challenged this morning as I watched this video from a pastor who is in the midst of incredible health challenges in his life. You know, the month of November brought along several challenging things in our family, but God is always enough. He will always provide.

Four Months

Although I have been silent on the blog, much has been going on in the last month! Eli turns four months old tomorrow. We went yesterday for his check up and shots. Here's how he measured up:
Weight: 13 pounds 1 ounce (25th percentile)
Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)
He is a healthy, growing, happy little boy. He can now roll over both from back to front and front to back. He can grab hold of little toys (and hair and jewelry) and keep quite a grip. The doctor gave us the go ahead to start rice cereal, so we'll work on that! I have noticed Eli really watching us eat for the past couple of weeks, so I think he'll be interested.
Eli actually said "daddy" last night as plain as could be. He "talks" all the time, but that's the first time he's said a real word. We're not sure if he really knew what he was saying, but he's obviously heard that word TONS. It may be months before we hear another word, but we were VERY excited!
We have had a very exciting last month as Matt's sister, Alison, got engaged over Thanksgiving! We are very excited about their Spring wedding! Congratulations Alison and Jason!
Matt, Eli, and I went down to Mississippi for Thanksgiving and had a great time visiting family. Eli enjoyed getting to meet lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles.
This week, Eli will be playing baby Jesus in the church Christmas Extravaganza. We'll be sure to get some photos.
Of course, we are busy getting everything ready for Christmas. Eli absolutely loves Christmas lights and can stare at them forever. I love to think about what must be going on in his little head with all of the hustle and bustle of this season. We are trying, even as he is just a babe, to point him and our whole family to Christ even amidst all of the activity.

3 Month Old Eli

Is our little baby boy really three months old already??!! It's a little scary how fast time is going! I remember being in third grade thinking I would never make it to fourth grade because every day felt like it lasted forever....boy how things change as you get older!
Eli is doing great! He smiles and coos all the times. As of late, he strings lots of sounds together almost like he's speaking in sentences! He's very verbal and loves it when you talk/sing to him. He is not nearly as fussy anymore about spending time on his tummy, especially when we prop him on his Boppy. He is getting very strong and is able to hold his head up on his own for quite a while. He still loves sucking on his hands. About the only time he will take a pacifier is in the middle of the night when he wakes up. He sleeps about 8, sometimes 9, hours at night. I usually have to give him his pacy a few times, but I don't typically have to feed him till morning. We graduated from the little "Sleep Sheep" to a sound machine that sits beside his crib. The "Sleep Sheep"would turn off after 45 minutes, and about 2am Eli would wake up and want it to be on again. Now, we have a machine that plugs in and goes all night! It's fabulous- well worth the money! Every few days, Eli will turn over from his tummy to his back....there's no predicting when it will happen, though. He still loves to be swaddled at nap time and bed time because he accidentally wakes himself up with his hands when he's not. Eli's 0-3 month clothes still fit through the body, but most of them have gotten too short now. We have pulled out the 3-6 months clothes in the last few days.
We are treasuring every second with our Eli! He is truly an amazing gift from God! Three of our friends in the area have had babies in the last month, so Eli is very excited about having some play dates in the near future.

Time

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how I spend my time. I was reminded yesterday at church that, just like our money, God has made us stewards of time. All of our time is really His, so we have been entrusted with it to "manage" for His glory. Since God has allowed me the blessing to stay home with our baby, most of my time during this season of my life is spent caring for our little one, doing laundry, cleaning, preparing meals, and other things around the house. I find,however, that it is very easy to flip on the tv or start facebooking when I have a spare moment.....God has shown me that even in the little "spare" moments, it is much better to spend time in the Word, listen to a sermon, send an encouraging note, or spend time praying for others. My desire is to honor God with my time, and I am committing afresh to do just that. What about you? How are you spending your "spare moments"?

Happy Fall!

This was a Sunday afternoon adventure at Cave-in-Rock, IL. It was a gorgeous afternoon spent with Nan, Grandad, Aunt Ali, and Jason.

When I try to sit Eli up in the Boppy, this is what he's started doing this week. He propels himself over the top with his legs.

Eli dressed up like a pumpkin for Halloween...definitely the cutest pumpkin we'd ever seen!

As you can see below, the trees around our house are really beautiful this time of year. We are hoping that our yard will get planted this week...we'll see if the weather cooperates!

We have been thoroughly enjoying the beautiful Fall weather around S. Ill! Eli LOVES going for walks outside. He has been busy growing, growing, growing!! He weighs over 12 pounds now, and he smiles and coos all the time. He's quite a charmer. He still hates tummy time, but we are giving him as much as possible because it looks like the back of his head is a little bit flat...we're trying to reverse that!

Congratulations....

to Matt! He was sworn in to the practice of law one year ago today! I'm so proud of you, honey.

When Swine Flu Attacks.....

10/15- Matt wakes up with a big cough and nearly hits the ground. He coughs a few more times with just as much pain, and I send him straight to the doctor. While waiting, he develops aches, headache, and chills. The doctor diagnoses him with swine flu, and he starts Tamiflu. He moves to his parents to keep from giving it to our two month old baby.
10/16-Eli gets his 2 month vaccinations and I get my flu vaccine. Grandma Didi and Poppa come to stay with us for the weekend to help out.
10/18-Matt is allowed to come back to our house because he's been fever free for 24 hours. Grandma Didi and Poppa go back home.
10/20-Bethany wakes up with an achey feeling and a bit of a cough. Throughout the morning, it gets worse and a fever starts. Nan is called in to pack us up to move to her house (now known as "Nan's Hospital"). I go to the doctor and am diagnosed with swine flu. Tamiflu is prescribed. (A test for the flu was administered but came back negative. We learned that only 60% of the tests are accurate. The CDC is encouraging doctors to diagnose primarily based on symptoms....I had them all!)
10/21- Eli begins running a fever in the afternoon. Within an hour, the doctor starts him on Tamiflu as well.
10/22- Both Eli and I wake up with normal temps, and we hope and pray everyone is on the mend.
10/23-Finally, we all move back to our own house (out of "Nan's Hospital").

It has most certainly been a wild week...one we won't soon forget. We are so grateful for family and friends who have prayed for us. I had prayed for weeks that God would protect us from H1N1, but He knew that He would be most glorified in delivering us through it. (I certainly wouldn't have chosen that route myself.) We are so thankful for His healing. We are all exhausted and in need of lots of rest, but we're doing SO much better.
We are thinking we all should have bought stock in hand sanitizer and Tamiflu back before all of this started...