The Beeston Family

I guess it's time to make it blog official. It's been Facebook official and Instgram official for a few weeks now. Baby #4 is due August 3rd, 2016! So that explains all the throwing up before, during, and after Christmas break. I found out a couple of days after our visit to Maryland for Thanksgiving. William announced the news to his family over Christmas. I told Fred and Marie right around the same time, and I waited to tell my parents until they were here, over the New Year. They probably would have guessed it anyway, when I couldn't keep anything down for 2 days straight. I was probably the sickest during their stay, which was kind of a blessing in disguise, because they took care of the kids. I was sick basically weeks 7 through 15, like hungry but nauseous. And I took naps almost every day during that time. I was so glad the kids could pretty much take care of themselves because I could not have taken care of a toddler feeling as sick as I was. Well, I guess I could have if I had to. But I was glad I didn't have to.

Anyway, over Spring break, we found out baby #4 is... a girl! Honestly, I wouldn't have put money on the baby being a boy, but then again, I've been wrong every time, so... This is great, though, 2 boys and 2 girls. And the kids are excited, especially Kendall. She's basically the reason we're even having this baby. She's been praying for a baby for a while now. She's going to be such a great sister and helper. She loves her baby sister so much already. She rubs my belly and talks to the baby daily. She also makes sure I take my prenatal vitamins every day. 

Before we found out the baby was going to be a girl, Kendall said she wanted a sister. She prayed for the baby to be a girl every single night. She said she would help feed and change the baby, but if it was going to be a boy, she would not help at all. Taylor said the opposite. And Logan said he would help whether the baby was a boy or a girl. At nighttime, sometimes he prayed for a boy and sometimes for a girl, although he admitted that it would be more fair that it'd be a girl, because then our family would have 3 boys and 3 girls.

LeiLani watched the kids so that William and I could go to the gender ultrasound. When we came back to pick them up, I told them I had a bag for each one of them, and that the bag contained something that was either blue or pink, blue for a boy and pink for a girl. Well, 2 out of the 3 kids were excited. Taylor was just happy to get a giant sucker. He has warmed up to the idea of having a sister now. He knows he can't change her, so he'd better get used to it.

We're excited for her to join our family this summer. It's going to be weird, though, having 3 older kids and a baby. I feel like I haven't taken care of a newborn in so long. We thought we were done when nothing happened for a year. We even sold all of our baby things before we moved to Arizona. I guess Heavenly Father had a different plan for us. But we're excited. It took me a while to get there, because I'm a planner, and I wasn't planning on this, not at this time. A year ago, yes, but now, no. In a way, I still can't really imagine another child in my life. But I know that once I hold her in my arms, I won't be able to picture my life without her in it. I'm excited now. I can't wait to meet her in August. 

It's been a while since our last official vacation. I guess we could have counted a few things, like our camping trip last summer in Utah, or our weekend stay in Las Vegas. But that was last year. And this year, we have a lot going on, with the moving into our new home and everything. So we decided to take a last minute trip. We considered Las Vegas, which we are becoming very familiar with, and San Diego, which we know nothing about. But we settled on staying close to home, in Scottsdale. After all, people from all over the country travel to Scottsdale for their vacation, and we are lucky enough to be 20 minutes away from all the nice hotels and resorts. 

Our room had a beautiful view of the cactus garden and the mountains. It might not sound very cool, but it actually was, and the pictures don't give it justice. We played in the swimming pool most of the day, but the resort also had fun Easter activities, which the kids were thrilled about. They had an Easter egg hunt and workshops, like candy bracelets, balloons, face painting, and caricatures. We stayed in line for nearly 2 hours for the caricature, but I love how it turned out, and I love that it was free (these things can be really expensive). That night, we had a nice dinner with a beautiful view of the resort, and watched a movie from the comfort of the swimming pool lounge chairs. We also walked around the resort and admired the nature, including the beautiful waterfall. 

I am so glad we went on this staycation. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. 

I like to do two Easter celebrations; the first one being about the baskets, eggs, and the Easter bunny, and the second one being about Christ and his atonement and resurrection. 

For the first celebration, I changed two things. First, I made the kids find their Easter baskets by doing a scavenger hunt. Each kid had different clues, which led them to their brand-new bikes. I don't usually like to get the kids something big for Easter. In the past, I've given them candy, new socks, and new underwear. But the kids have outgrown their bikes, like REALLY outgrown. Kendall probably could have waited until her birthday, but the boys couldn't. There was no way I was going to start teaching the boys how to ride a bike without training wheels in the middle of the summer. That's how you get a heat stroke. And that doesn't sound like any fun to me. So this year, I made an exception to my rule and got them all bikes. Next year, I hope they won't expect something big, because they'll be disappointed with new socks and underwear :-)

We also dyed eggs and made rice krispy treats with Peeps.

And finally, we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, and that's where I made the other change. So second, I did have some treats in the eggs, but I also had coupons in there. For example, one said that they could skip the chores for the day and still get paid (their whole 25 cents). Another one said they could stay up 30 minutes later than the kids. I liked that idea, and I will be repeating that each year. Taylor has already used 2 out of his 5 coupons. Logan and Kendall have only used 1.

On Easter day, Sunday, we read stories about Christ's atonement and resurrection, and what it means for us. We also watched some LDS YouTube videos about it. It was a good Easter, and I do enjoy having kids that are old enough now to understand the meaning of such a "holiday". Easter is not about the Easter bunny and candy. It's about Christ. It's about how his resurrection makes it possible for us to repent and return to live with Him someday. I am so grateful for the gospel and what it teaches me. I am grateful for Christ's atonement for my sins and his suffering everything that I will ever experience in this life. I understand it must have been hard for Him, and yet He did it for me, for all of us. He is the perfect example of selflessness and courage. He is my hero.

The kids had a sponsored Fun run at school, which I was able to volunteer for. Each grade ran at different times of the day, so I brought Kendall to school with me when the time came for the Kindergartners to run. It's hard to tell from the small pictures, but Logan was wearing the neon green shirt, and Taylor was wearing the neon yellow shirt. They did amazing, both of them, and ran the whole time. When the time came for the Preschoolers to run, Kendall showed them all what she was made of and kicked everyone's butt! She really did.

That night, they had a fun night at school, with snowcones, face painting, and balloons. Zoey was there, which made everyone's night that much better (they LOVE her). It was a good day, and I was happy that William could make it to the fun night, because people might have started to wonder if my husband was real or made up.