I wouldn't want to be married to me...

Lent, the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, is a time of preparation and remembrance.  Many people deny themselves something or spend focused time in prayer in order to prepare their hearts and minds for celebrating the sacrifice and love of Christ in His death and resurrection.  Jed and I decided to give up caffeine this Lent, which has been much more of a sacrifice for Jed than it has been for me, as I haven't had hardly any caffeine since getting pregnant with Hosea.  I have drank decaffeinated sodas and coffees, however, so I decided to give those up.  Someone asked us why we decided to give up caffeine and Jed explained that for him, it was about not relying on anything (person, substance, etc.), except for Christ, for his strength (and alertness - all the things caffeine promises).  For me, it is about supporting Jed.  For both of us, it is about more opportunities to reflect on Christ and His sacrifice for us. 

Jed and I love the morning ritual of sharing a cup of coffee (I take a few sips of his caffeinated coffee).  We love walking to our local Starbucks with the boys and ordering a coffee - Clover, to be more specific.  I love a caffeine-free Diet Coke in a glass of ice at about 3 o'clock, each afternoon.  One aspect of Lent can be "giving up something good to receive something greater."  Each time we deny ourselves something provides an opportunity to pray and ask the Lord to be our strength, reflect on Christ's sufferings for us, and celebrate His victory over death and the new life we have in Him because of His death and resurrection.  I have also been trying to use those times to ask the Lord to reveal the things in my heart that distance me from Him...my sin.  He has gently been revealing these things, mainly through my interactions with Jed.  The other night, I had a bit of a breakdown after Jed and I had some miscommunication.  I told Jed, "If I were you, I wouldn't want to be married to me."  He asked me why I would say something like that.  I reminded Jed that I am controlling, negative, and pessimistic...that I am the queen of putting unspoken expectations on people, particularly him.  I get frustrated when my expectations aren't met.  I am impatient.  I am not very gracious.  Jed just held me and let me cry.  He told me how much he loved me.  I think the Lord was bringing me face to face with my sin, the very things He died for on the cross.  This point of conviction and repentance did not feel very pleasant.  But then, I felt Jed's arms around me and his steadfastness, loving me through it all.  As I sat with Jed, I sensed the Lord's forgiveness, just as much as I sensed my husband's.  Christ's resurrection paid the price for all my sin...all the unkind words, impatience, and negativity. 

I continue to invite the Lord to reveal who I am...the deepest, darkest places of my heart...during this season of Lent.  This revelation of my sin casts even greater light on my utter need for God's grace and for His gift of salvation.  This Easter, I choose to celebrate the extravagant love and sacrifice of Christ, for me.  I choose to be thankful for the One who STILL desires a relationship with me, after all I've done. 

Our silly little boy

Hosea has been trying lots of new foods, mostly pureed ones, as he has a strong gag reflex and prefers breastfeeding to solid foods.  We are slowly introducing him to more tastes and textures.  He has tried apples, pears, plums, mangoes, carrots, peas, pumpkin, banana, watermelon, avocadoes, mashed potatoes, and honeydew.  He has also had some rice cereal and oatmeal cereal mixed into his purees, but he's not a huge fan of them.  It's hard to tell which foods Hosea likes until he is a few bites in, because he makes the face below to the first few bites of EVERY new food we give him.  He is so funny!  His favorite food is pumpkin puree (good thing Jed and I cooked, pureed, and froze our 20 lb pumpkin from the fall) and his least favorite is peas.  He gagged terribly and spit them out.  I hope he'll come around because I love peas.  :)

I posted an earlier blog entitled, "When I grow up...," featuring a video of the funny faces Hosea makes, where he looks like a silent movie actor or a fish.  Well, he's still doing this signature face, so I just had to post another video...we took it on St. Patrick's Day.  I mean, honestly, he is hilarious! 

Hosea has also been crawling a lot.  Soon, I will post a video of his crawling method of choice = "the worm."  I haven't been able to capture it.  He always crawls the best when I don't have our camera nearby.  I wanted to post this video, however, which shows how he likes to move backwards and takes breaks during crawling to dance.  This baby NEVER stops moving. 



Time flies

I was telling someone about our blog the other day and he asked how often we post.  It was at that moment that I realized it had been a really long time since we'd posted...three weeks...and so much has happened in that time.  Ideally, I would like to post 1-2 times per week, but lately, our schedule has been so busy hosting visitors and traveling/visiting people ourselves, that we haven't had time to post.  This will be a condensed version of the last three weeks in the von Steinbergs' household.  We have had some sweet times together and been able to share life with many close to us. 

February 25-March 2 - Whitney Thomas visits us from Seattle
Our dear friend, Whitney, took time out of her busy life in Seattle to fly to Virginia to visit us, as well as her longtime friend, Jeremy Gray, and his fiance, Laura Schaffner.  Whitney was one of Jed's first friends at Union Church in Seattle and she quickly became a friend of Bethany's after Jed introduced the two of them.  Hosea was actually born in Whitney's house - in her bathtub!  If you don't know that story, you'll have to ask us to share it with you.  It was pretty amazing! Whitney is such a genuine, loyal friend and is so easy to be around.  We appreciate her encouragement, generosity, and vulnerability.  We miss living in the same area, but we are so thankful she came to visit us.

February 26-27 - Przemek Lesniewicz visits us from the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base
I (Bethany) have known Przemek for nearly half of my life.  My mom met Przemek on a mission trip to Poland in the mid-90's and they became very close.  When Przemek came to the States a few years later, my family "adopted" him.  He has become like a brother to BJ and I.  He is currently serving in the U.S. Navy and is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, just a few hours from where we live.  After many years of living in different places and not seeing one another, it is a treat to once again be living so close to my dear brother.  Przemek had yet to meet Jed (so crazy, since Jed and I met in June of 2005) and Hosea.  It was really important to me that Jed know Przemek, since he has been such a key person in my story.  Przemek's visit overlapped Whitney's.  It was also great to introduce the two of them to one another. 

On a walk with Przemek & Whitney



We love Whitney!!!



Group shot



We met Whit's friends, Jeremy & Laura, for lunch and a walk around Georgetown



Hosea LOVES Whitney!  She is amazing with kids.

Thanks for visiting us, Whit!  We had so much fun with you!

March 4 - Trip to the National Zoo Deb & Cam
Virginia has been having some beautiful spring weather!  We took advantage of one of the gorgeous days by visiting the National Zoo with Deb and Cam.  We had a fun afternoon looking at the animals.  Some of our favorites were the sloth bear, the cheetahs, and the lions...with their 7 new cubs!  The National Zoo is a really great place!  Cameron is walking really well, so he loved exploring the zoo on foot, as well as in his stroller.  When Hosea wasn't napping in the carrier, he also enjoyed observing the animals. 

Gorgeous day at the zoo

Cam is ready to see the animals

Family photo...looking at some zebras...well, Hosea wasn't but we were

Visiting the "Small Mammal House" was definitely an act of love on my part, as I despise all rodents.  I did learn some fun facts - this one a nursing mother can appreciate.  Treeshrews got it easy...my son nurses every 2 hours!

The National Zoo has seven new lion cubs and they sure are cute!  We stood watching them for the longest time.

March 4-7 - Grandma and Gramps Holty visit us from Wisconsin & Przemek visits us again
Shortly after arriving home from the zoo, Grandma and Gramps arrived.  We were excited to see them.  They hadn't seen Hosea since Christmas and were delighted to see all the new things he was doing, like crawling and standing holding onto things.  While they were here, we visited Eastern Market (east of the Capitol in DC).  Unfortunately, I got very sick while we were there and spent the next 24 hours in bed.  Grandma and Gramps lovingly cared for Hosea and served us while they were here.  Not much of a vacation for them, but we were so grateful for their help.  They were also very glad to get to see Przemek and spend quality time with Jed and Hosea.

Gramps dancing with Hosea at Eastern Market - so sweet!

Grandma feeding Hosea some plum apple sauce and water

Grandma & Gramps had to see how much fun Hosea is in the bathtub

Lunch with Grandma & Gramps before they returned home - I was feeling much better by then.

 March 9-15 - Bethany & Hosea visit Auntie Linda in Minnesota
 My dear sister, Linda Schubring, is battling breast cancer.  She had a bilateral mastectomy on January 26th and began chemotherapy on February 26th.  Ever since I learned of Linda's cancer, in late December, my heart has been longing to be with her.  I told her to name a time and I would be there.  Linda's husband, Brian, had to go to Madrid for a week for work and Linda asked me if I would come stay with her.  It seemed like the perfect time.  And it was!  You can read more about our time together on Linda and Brian's blog.  Linda and I had such sweet times of conversation, laughter, and tears.  Hosea LOVED spending time with his Auntie Linda and also with Brian and Linda's daughter, Camila.  I am so thankful for the friendship Linda and I share.  It is one of the greatest gifts God has given me.
I wish Jed could have joined me in Minnesota, but he lovingly stayed back in Virginia to watch Cameron.  Jed is such a great godfather to Cam.  They spent lots of time together in the yard while I was away.  Being apart from Jed for a week was hard, but I was reminded once again of how blessed I am to have him as my partner.  Single parenting is hard work!  Jed is the most amazing husband, father, and friend.  I wouldn't want to journey through life with anyone else! 

Hosea, happy to see his Auntie Linda.

Uncle BJ and (future) Aunt Sarah stopped by to enjoy dinner with Linda, Camila, Hosea, and I

Hosea became very confident in his standing ability while at Linda's house.


A friend lent us a walker on wheels for our time at Linda's - Hosea became quite a speedy walker.  It was so cute watching him!

We had dinner with Linda's parents, Don & Marlene, in North Branch, MN

Hosea & Camila doing push-ups

Hosea's Nana and Auntie Lisl babysat so Linda and I could enjoy dinner in Wayzata

Nana, Auntie Lisl, and cousin Daria loved caring for Hosea

Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful, strong women in my life (Linda, Hosea, and I with Mary & Michele).

Hosea couldn't wait to be back and see his daddy!

March 18-20 - Trip to NYC
We are so thankful to be living in the same city as one of Jed's best friends from growing up, Matt Aldag.  Matt had been planning to run the NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, April 20th.  One of Jed and Matt's other best friends, Ben Stacke (along with his wife, Joanna, and daughter, Sophia Grace), lives in NYC.  The marathon weekend provided an opportunity for old friends to spend time together and enjoy the Big Apple.  Matt, Jed, Hosea, our two dogs, and myself, loaded up in our Ford Taurus and made our way to NYC.  A big thank you to the Stacke family for hosting us and making our weekend so memorable. 

Let the road trip begin!

Gorgeous view of Manhattan from Ben & Joanna's apartment complex

An EPIC car trip to Brooklyn in the Stacke's car...Hosea's 1st time falling asleep in his car seat without screaming (he has only fallen asleep one other time in his car seat and that was from exhaustion after 20+ minutes of screaming).

Walking around Prospect Park in Brooklyn with the Stacke family

Lunch at Katz's Deli in Manhattan

NYC by night

Jed and Ben supporting Matt at the NYC Half-Marathon

Lunch and more walking around the city after the race - also pictured is Dan, who ran the race with Matt

Road Trip to Vermont

Over President's Day weekend (February 17-22), we drove to Woodstock, Vermont (9 1/2 hours without stops) to visit our good friends, the Beckwith's.  They relocated from Seattle to Vermont the same time we relocated to Virginia.  Jed met Dave & Jen Beckwith, back in 2002, when he Dave hired Jed as a ski instructor in Lake Tahoe.  They became great friends and offered Jed a job at The Summit, just east of Seattle, when they relocated there from Tahoe the next year.  The Beckwith's have two adorable girls, Mary Lila and Lucia, and two dogs, Bodhi & Sinjin.  We got in a short afternoon of skiing at Killington, where Dave works, but the rest of our time was hanging out and relaxing with Dave, Jen, the girls, and the dogs.  It was definitely a crazy time, since we had our little guy along and our two dogs, but we had a lot of laughs and enjoyed catching up on life since our big moves cross-country.  We're thankful for the friendships we have, like the one we have with the Beckwith family.  We are able to encourage one another and walk through the craziness, messiness, and joys of life together. 
Woodstock, Vermont is a beautiful place.  We kept singing, "Snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOW!..." from White Christmas.  Woodstock was covered in snow, full of quaint shops, and adorned with white lights. 
Below you'll find some pictures from our time with the Beckwith's. 

About to load up in the car...we're ready for the long drive...not sure Hosea is.

Is it possible?  Could Hosea be ENJOYING his car seat?!  We relocated his car seat to the window and started hanging toys from the coat hook near the window (friend's recommendation).  Let's put it this way...he doesn't love the car seat, but now he is tolerating it for like 15-20 minutes max.  This could also be a result of Hosea getting older, liking his toys more, and his ability to entertain himself.  Still, the car is a bit stressful.

Left to right: Sinjin, Caesar, and Bodhi (Caesar just celebrated his 13th birthday!!!  That's 91 in human years!)

Lila did such a good job playing with Hosea...such a great big sister!

Look at these cuties!

Hosea got to snuggle with Uncle Dave when he arrived home from work, reminiscing on Hosea's first few days of life, where Dave held him in the NICU 

Leaving the Beckwith's house, on a walk to town for some greasy-spoon breakfast

Covered bridge in Woodstock, VT...love it!

Group shot

Sweet Lucia is all smiles

Hosea is developing so fast and why shouldn't he with help from big "sisters" like Lila & Lucia, and a big "brother" like Cameron at home?

Yes, our son is in the early stages of crawling!  This is one of his favorite positions - push-up with butt in the air

Hosea loves his Auntie Jen

Fun memories!

While we were visiting Woodstock, Lila had her first ice skating lesson...so, Hosea got to go ice skating for the first time.

Family photo on the ice - shout out to our MN roots.  Hosea LOVED ice skating!

A COLD evening walk together into town to grab some dinner

This is what parents of small children do for fun - when they actually have time to hang out!  (Dave is sleeping, yet still somehow in the conversation)

Pit stop on the way home from VT - Hosea thinks he's a bigger kid than he is

Thinks he's ready to drive..."Caesar, you can ride shot-gun when I drive."

Hey!

Wait a second...

AGH!!!!

Ummm...

Ok - play on!

We made a pit stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way home - 8 pm - dark outside.  Jed was excited about his old-fashioned cake donut.  He set it down in the dark, in Hosea's car seat, while getting situated to get back on the road - you never have enough hands, as a parent, for what you are doing.  Before we got moving, and before buckling in Hosea, Jed thought it would be a good idea to let Hosea stand in his car seat and get out some ya-yas.  He remembered the donut after several seconds of jumping ya-yas.  Jed was disappointed enough that he ate all he could find with his fingers in the dark.