go irish!

what are saturdays for...

watching football and daddy donut dates

tradition are fun to start as a family

we've been blessed to be able to do this with ellington and now beckett.

just because...

little {boys} are so sweet

little {toes} are precious

little {hands} are messy

little {artists} are adorable

just because...

fridays are meant to be lazy days

community

our community group

schoonvelds

thomas

drakes

johnsons

kalins

vrablics

&

us

we are so thankful for the love, support and memories we've shared over the last few years. thank you for living life together with us. we look forward to seeing how our group continues to grow and change. you have truly been a blessing to us.

someone new to...

we have someone new to...

{LOVE}

beckett warren white

10.14.10

7:58am

8 lbs. 1.5 oz. 20 in.

welcoming our new little man to the family

big sister ellington loves her little brother

{baby} according to her

dear beckett,

we are so thankful for you. we prayed for your safe delivery and that you would be a healthy little newborn. you have already won the heart of your little sister (at least for now). she loves to check on you and give you kisses. she has such a sweet demeanor around you. daddy and i are more than in love with you and love that you like to snuggle so much. we're still learning what you want when you want it, but for the most part you are a peaceful newborn...eating and sleeping like clockwork!

it is our hope and prayer that you will continue to grow and develop. we look forward to loving you and teaching you about your new world. we won't do it right (even most of the time) but know that our desire is for you to become the godly boy and man God has planned you to be. we love you and we are so glad you are finally here.

love,

mommy & daddy

thank you to our amazing parents who were there just in time!

grams and gramp were with ellington over night while we were at the hospital and both sets of grandparents made it to the hospital just after beckett was born. it was so fun to see them embrace yet, another grandchild.

whites- 2

vogels -9

this time around we had the joy of having a midwife deliver beckett

she was AWESOME and we have already told her wherever we are for the next babe, we'll find her

so yes that answers the question, will there be more...yep! (but not for a while)

thank you leslie!!

our many visitors...

finally a {boy} cousin

coming home...

the end of an era

after 6+ years of teaching

friday was my last day in the classroom...at least for now

i can't believe it's already here and the day was bittersweet

it was hard to say "goodbye" to my colleagues and all my current and former students

martha made a surprise visit to the class with all the kids

ellington loved seeing the kids and enjoyed all the attention they gave her.

she brought me a rose and special gift for my last day

{thank you martha...you are an amazing friend}

later in the day my class of 27 surprised me with a special baby shower and going away party

they are the sweetest group of kids and didn't spoil the surprise at all even though they knew about it for a WEEK. for 9 year olds that is a true accomplishment!!

i've been with this class for only 5 weeks but have become attached to them and wish them the best year ever. it's hard to let go but i'm truly looking forward to just being a mom.

the class put together a book of advice according to a kid

the notes were hilarious and so true

it is a gift i will treasure forever and will enjoy sharing it

with ellington and ??? when they are old enough to understand.

so here is to 6+ years of teaching

and to many more years of teaching my own little ones at home

lazy saturday

tick tock...

10 moredays

2 anxious parents

1 unaware big sister

1 "very" unaware doggy

4 excited grandparents

what does that equal...

a family waiting for

{ our little man}

thanks to martha for documenting some recent photos of ellington & lil bro

we can't believe in just a few shorts he'll be here

we've had fun getting things around for the little guy

and have been spoiled by great friends and co-workers

my school gave a little "spray" last week

as they anticipated i'd be long gone before now...

nope, still there!

while we were getting the nursery around we realized that we'd like to touch up numerous chips in the wall. so the search begin in our house for the "right" brown. we didn't realize how many shades of brown we've used in the house and did it ever occur to us to label the cans when done...NOPE! so after 3 attempts and finding it, even going as far as chipping of more of the paint and having it matched at lowes, we still couldn't find the right match. so with one weekend free we decided we'd have to "repaint" yep, that's right...repaint the nursery. perfect timing. so josh and his upbeat attitude got up early saturday to get the paint and have it done before game time in the afternoon. i came home from grocery shopping to find that he had "found" yet another brown paint in the garage hiding the whole time. and YES it was a match. so we have plenty of brown paint if this every happens again!

none the less the nursery is put back together and

everything is pretty much ready for the little guy

a teacher friend gave us the idea of having a gift for ellington from brother and for brother from ellington. so we ventured out today spite both elle and i being sick for the last few days to find a gift for brother. she most likely doesn't get it but thought it would be fun for her to come to the hospital with a gift for him. and in return we secretly snuck a gift for her while shopping that she'll from him. she's been talking more about the baby, mostly when she's in the car and points to his car seat. we'll see how she does when he's with us 24/7. she loves little babies but they never come home with us!

the gifts are wrapped and the bags are packed

elle's gift to brother

elle's gift from brother

elle picking out some chocolate downtown and of course found the doggy

just a little too big for baby brother

of course her first thought when she saw it "tackle?"

dear little man,

we're all waiting to meet you and can't wait to have you join in our fun family weekends. you already have so many nicknames it's hard to keep them straight. everyone has their idea of what your name will be. here's the list so far...and NO no one has guessed it.

wally

woody

cooper

hostetter

jett

but our favorite... well, that would be your name!

you will have a crazy house to get use to but you've probably already realized that as you've heard your big sis talking up a storm and your doggy who has decided to "bark" now more than ever. you have 8 cousins who can't wait to meet you and i'm pretty sure you'll be adored by garrett and ryan as they've only had each other with 6 little girls. you'll be here in time for halloween and we can't wait to show you off to the fam during the holidays. you are already loved so much and will bring our family so much joy. we look forward to our saturday morning snuggle time and occasional doughnut/coffee dates with dad. dad's especially excited to share with you his LOVE for football. you'll be the perfect date to the games since you won't ask a bunch of questions like me and you'll most likely just snuggle up with him on the couch. tackle will love the fact that you can't crawl or climb on him, yet. and yes he'll shower you with kisses so be ready.

we love you little guy and know God is going to bless your life more than we can imagine.

love,

mom and dad