Miles Henry Bethell

This is the true story of Miles Henry Bethell. (And also a little bit of confession...)

In September (right after Cooper turned one), I was running with Sarita and I felt very winded.  I couldn't catch my breath, which does happen from time to time, but this was the third run in a row like this.  I was sweating buckets.  Discouragement was kicking in.  I remember sitting on the end of my driveway stretching after a run, reflecting on how much it hurt, and Sarita said, "Are you pregnant?"  "Oh, no way," I replied.  Sarita answered, "Well, I just remember you feeling like this when you were pregnant with Cooper." 

I couldn't shake our conversation, so I gave myself 4, yes FOUR pregancy tests that day.  They were all positive. Not believing it could possibly be true, I asked Nate to stop by the store and buy the more reliable test on his way home from work that day.  He bought a two pack.  The first was positive, so I did the second, too.  It was positive, too.  It would be an understatement to say I was in disbelief.

After that the crying began.  This was really not my plan.  I watched as several families around us had babies close together, and I thought that was not our style - I needed time to recover from the first.  Surely God didn't have this in mind for me - didn't He remember how hard being a new mom was for me?  Nate travels - remember God?  I think I cried for about 2 weeks straight.

Looking back, I am really embarrased about the way I handled this surprise gift the Lord gave our family.  I wish I would have been mature enough to laugh, to enjoy, to celebrate God's gift to me.  I remember telling a wise friend about another experience that I look back and regret, and his encouraging advice was something like this: Looking back with regret shows we have grown.  Oh, how I long to grow!!  My response to my pregnancy with Miles' really revealed more selfishness in me that the Lord continues to strip away, one piece at a time.  After I married Nate, I remember falling on my face, overwhelmed that I could be so selfish.  Then, after I had Cooper, more and more layers were stripped away.  This life isn't about me, and having a child made it very clear to me that my needs neet to be set aside.

Enough reflecting.  I am a sinful, selfish woman, saved by God's grace.  God has used my children to refine me, break me, and mold me.  He gave me Miles Henry Bethell. And I am thankful.

Just think, I would have missed all this:

Catching Up

Well, it's been a little while.  I thought the easiest way to play catch up would be through pictures...so here goes nothing:

In December, Nate took me for a surprise weekend in KC to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We attended the BEST Chiefs game of the season - against the undefeated Green Bay Packers.  And as you can see, the Chiefs defeated them!

In January I visited my very sweet friend Sarah in Phoenix, AZ.  The night before I left, Coop was up puking about every 20 minutes.  I went anyway, and left Nate with 3 sick boys, including himself.  Sarah and I visited Fashion Square in Scottsdale because the two of us are so...uh...fashionable.

In February, Nate picked up our new dog in Seattle and brought her home.  We only had her about a week before...

...our house nearly burned to the ground.  That might be a bit overdramatic, but it was pretty serious.  It took about 5+ weeks to recover from the smoke smell.  One of the firemen, our friend Jim, said if our cabinet or laundry room door had been open, our house probably would have been a complete loss.

So we moved in to Tom and Sarah Jones' flat for 4 weeks.  That's right - the four of us lived in one big room for a month and we didn't kill each other!!  So many of our friends blessed us in generous ways.  It was amazing to see the body of Christ at work!

We moved back in on March 15th, Nate's birthday.  Our carpet was not yet installed, but we decided to tough it out on the subflooring.  Here is our van with everything from the flat - all we really needed to live for a month could be reduced to this:

We even had cake to celebrate Nate's birthday.

Aunt Hanna, Claire and Katie came to visit while we were still sans carpet - we made the best of it!

The boys played soccer in March.  Cooper was pretty into this year, while Miles enjoyed hanging on the periphery.

March also included a trip to Kansas City to Dad and Beth's house to celebrate March birthdays, and the boys got in a little Jedi training while they were there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we couldn't (and can't) keep Fiona from digging holes for her friend Frank to come over and play.  She lived with Frank while our house was cleaned after the fire, and they are such good friends now! 

We celebrated Easter in Enid with the Bethells.

The boys caught several fish!  We had so much fun with cousins - flying kites, breaking open a pinata, and hunting eggs!

That gets us through April.  We are living in our (God-given) home, we have carpet, we are not puking - we are BLESSED.