Double Congrats!

My friend, Alisha (one of the grad girls) had her twins on Friday! They are gorgeous and so cute! Their names were kept secret from us, and I love the ones they chose: Jonah Matthew and Avah Marie.  Avah was 6 pounds 4 ounces, and Jonah was 5 pounds 10 ounces. 

First family photo!

Avah Marie

Jonah Matthew

Cuddling together

Alisha and the babies! All three are so pretty!

Sweet, sweet babies!

Congratulations to the Hanshaw family of FOUR!  Love you all!

B is for Beckett...and Blessing

Sarah and I left Friday morning to visit the Gramkow Family: Mandy, Ben, Ellie and Beckett.  It was wonderful to be able to help out however we could.  I left feeling renewed after seeing their faith throughout their day-to-day interactions with Beckett.

Sarah and I on our way to Fort Worth

Mr. Beckett himself - he's up to three pounds!

Sarah and Ellie playing in the waiting room at Harris Methodist

Sweet baby Beckett

Prayer Warriors, part 2

For those of you interested in keeping in touch with Beckett's progress, Mandy and Ben do a wonderful job of keeping everyone up to date on their blog:

Team Gramkow

Look how far you've come, baby!

 To give little Beckett some inspiration, I pulled out some photos of his big sister Ellie.  Ellie was 28 weeks gestation and weighed 2 pounds 7.6 ounces. 

Ellie, born September 3, 2008

Cowgirl Ellie - in the cute outfit Kevin and I got her!

Ellie's first birthday

Ellie now - so much fun!

See, Beckett, hang in there!  You are so loved, and we can't wait to see you grow!

Beckett Thomas Gramkow

Beckett Thomas Gramkow was born at 4:43 this morning to Ben and Mandy Gramkow. He has an older sister, Ellie. He weighed in at 2 pounds, 2.26 ounces and was 14 inches long.  He was born at 25 weeks gestation. 

Please continue to pray for Beckett and his family. God will continue to give Mandy and Ben strength.

Alisha's Babies Shower

My graduate school friend Alisha had a babies shower (she is having twins - a boy and a girl!) this weekend in Kearney, NE on Saturday morning.  The grad girls were all about making this awesome for her!  Mandy and I decided to totally surprise her by making the trip (Mandy is from Fort Worth, and I of course live in Wichita).  I took Friday off from work, and my parents went with me to help with the driving. We stayed overnight in a hotel on Friday night to make sure I got there on time on Saturday.  Mandy came via Minnesota (her sister just had a baby, too!) and surprised Alisha Friday night, and I came over for the babies shower Saturday morning!  She was so shocked!  All the grad girls went together to get Alisha a gift, and I brought it with me.

Benton saying goodbye

Mom and I at the hotel

Plenty of presents for twins!

Alisha received a great amount of diapers and wipes!

Gifts for Baby Boy Hanshaw

Gifts for Baby Girl Hanshaw

Me reading to Ellie, Mandy's daughter

The grad girl present!

A pack-and-play!

Alisha's niece

Ellie being super cute!

Mandy, Alisha, and Me

Love the grad girls!

There are five people in this photo!!!  Mandy Gramkow, Baby Gramkow, Alisha Hanshaw, Baby Boy Hanshaw, and Baby Girl Hanshaw!

I had lunch with Mandy and Alisha, which was great to have more time to catch up!  My parents (who went to Cabelas and sightseeing during the shower and lunch) and I left for Kansas shortly after lunch.  It was great to see Kevin when I got back to Wichita!

Congratulations Alisha and Mandy!