Sterner Family | Made of Sterner Stuff

December

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Robert

Baybrook Mall Santa for Bethany's first Christmas and Levi's 5th

At the League City Christmas Parade

We went with Debbie, Jennifer's mom, Matt, Jennifer, Mimi, Granddaddy, Wrigley and our family.

Ready for parading

Wrigley's a big guy, he's going to be tall.

Levi and his weird smile

Mimi, Granddaddy and the grand kids

Loving siblings

Pretty in Pink

Smiley girl

Forgot to take off the bib to show off her pretty outfit

Levi dressed up for church

Some of the grandparents there to see Levi sing on stage

Bethany looking Christmassy

My uncle Ken, aunt Linda and cousins Liz and Laura sent some cook gifts for Levi and Bethany

Opening some books

Bethany wasn't sure what was going on.

Levi knew what to do.

Still not so sure.

Got to love warm December day, so warm you don't even need pants.

Working on some Christmas presents for family

Custom crosses this year

Each one was unique

Drying before assembly

A dinosaur and a gingerbread man. Contrast in shirts.

She hasn't learned cheesy smiles yet.

That's kind of a smile

Definitely a smile for the three month picture.

Little cutie

Singing on stage at church

Levi didn't like someone in front of him.

Bethany was all wrapped up in the bye bye buggy at school.

Unwrapped and wiggley

Levi's class helped at chapel

Bethany doesn't like tummy time much. She ends up pushing with her chin half the time instead of her hands.

Kendra’s Paw Paw Jancha, who we had just seen in November passed away just before Christmas. It was very unexpected non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and he passed in only a few weeks from when they discovered it.

We went up to Austin for the funeral and also visited one of Kendra's college friend's, Jocelyn, who had a child around the same time as Bethany

Chilling together

The cutie doesn't look so sure here

Posted in parade Tagged with: Christmas, Kids

November

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Robert

She started out small, but she sure is chunking up

Dr. Witz was our fertility specialist when we were having trouble getting pregnant.

Nana and Paw Paw came over for a visit.

Nana played slap jack with Levi

Wrigley, Matt and Jennifer came to Levi's soccer game.

My mom grabbed a chance to hold a baby, even one not related to her.

Matt got some niece time too.

Granddaddy hanging out with Wrigley.

Aunt Jennifer with her little niece.

All the grandkids with Mimi and Jennifer.

Levi with grandma and grandpa

We had a great time at William Esbeck's birthday party.

Everyone played games and bowled at Main Event

The birthday boy

Dance Dance

They really liked this, though they weren't very good.

Levi holding Bethany.

Kendra's Paw Paw Jancha and his friend Alice came for a visit when they were in town.

We got several good pictures

We got a great picture of the kids with them after bath too

A shot with Kendra and Paw Paw Jancha

One more shot

Tyler decided to take a bath and left his tongue out.

I couldn't resist a shot of our neighbor Kostas on his kid's motorized scooter.

My beautiful little longhorn.

Reading with bethany

Levi helped with some holiday cooking

Batman in the Christmas tree.

Levi pointing out Batman

Having fun.

Accessorizing is important

We like this little outfit.

2 month pictures

They sure love each other.

She's gazing at him.

Dickinson Festival of Lights

Our traditional light tunnel picture

Another with different lighting

Levi decorating a cookie

Olivia doing the same.

William working on his

Walking through the lights

Bethany is a fan of shiny things.

Just like teenagers forced to take a picture.

The Esbecks.

Holding hands

Finishing up

Being silly in the parking lot. He didn't want to hug and pose.

Levi and his class I think at the school fall festival

Wade and another classmate

Berit and Julie

Levi and another Julie playing in the hay.

Josi and Levi get ready to play a game at the Geocaching Olympics, watched over by Joni.

More competitors

A future champion

Levi, Wrigley, Mimi and Granddaddy

Sideways Bethany

Mimi and Levi

The group for Thanksgiving.

Posted in Thanksgiving Tagged with: Thanksgiving

October Flying By

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Robert

Obviously we’ve been busy and haven’t managed to get much blog posting done. Here’s October

Levi enjoys being a big brother.

First bath time for Bethany. She still hadn't lost her cord, so it was a sponge bath.

Wash cloth for dignity

Levi's observation spot

She wasn't so sure about this

The bath

In the same towel her brother wore after his first bath.

Tyler the guard cat

Levi still did soccer this fall, it just took a little more coordination

He was a lot better this season and is really starting to pick it up.

My new little longhorn

Brooke and Ashley came over to see Bethany

They liked getting to hold her.

Olivia's family came over and had dinner with us one night. William held Bethany with some help from Ann. I'm pretty sure Olivia held her too, but I don't have a picture for some reason.

Tired little girl

Reagan came with Brooklyn and Jodi to met Bethany as well.

She wasn't so sure about the swing.

Her Halloween outfit was her first venture into frilly dresses.

Our neighbor Joni couldn't resist getting this cute Cinderella outfit for her. It was her Halloween costume.

We went to the nearby Methodist church fall festival with our neighbors. Josi, Gabe and Levi had a lot of fun bouncing.

Levi was Wolverine from the X-Men

He got a matching beard painted on to go with the costume.

Brock was a ninja. Gabe got tired of his costume and was out of it by this point. We also came with our neighbors from the other side, but I didn't end up with any pictures of their kids Angel and Gage all dressed up.

This year Levi and I were going to go to the Air Show together, but Levi ended up getting a fever that morning and not being up to a busy day.

Instead we ended up watching the air show from nearby, and only the Blue Angels part.

We went to the pumpkin patch as has been our tradition. Levi cried his first time, but Bethany just slept. Of course he was a lot older his first time.

Happy baby

Apparently the hay was comfy.

Our street had a block party for Halloween. We basically took up the end of the street.

Food and fun

All the kids on our street went trick or treating in the neighborhood together.

I think the mass of kids was a little imposing.

They were charging from house to house.

We had officer Gage to keep us safe.

Some other streets in the neighborhood did a block party too.

Trick or treating

The princess

Levi's soccer team

One of Bethany's cutest outfits.'

Another Longhorn outfit

Playing goalie

Not the normal way to ride a skateboard

Super Levi

And finally Lily inside a laundry basket with Tyler investigating.

Posted in Bethany, Halloween, Uncategorized Tagged with: Halloween, Kids

Enter the Princess

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Robert

Bethany Scarlett Sterner was induced on Tuesday September 25, 2012. She was faster than her brother, being born at 1:05 pm. She was 6 pounds, 1 ounce and 18 inches long.

Here is Kendra the night before.

24-Sep-2012 20:29, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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Ready to go.

25-Sep-2012 06:37, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250

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Her first not gooey photo,

25-Sep-2012 09:45, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 5.5mm, 0.077 sec, ISO 400

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25-Sep-2012 13:14, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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25-Sep-2012 13:31, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200

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Her footprints on top and his on the bottom.

25-Sep-2012 13:26, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 400

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Levi saw a picture of Bethany with some of the goo on her still and was a little weirded out by it all.

25-Sep-2012 13:40, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 400

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25-Sep-2012 14:15, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 7.6mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100

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The waiting room.

25-Sep-2012 14:27, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 800

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Accosted in the hallway on the way to the neo natal nursery to get all her check ups done.

25-Sep-2012 14:36, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 400

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Nana was the first grandparent to get to hold Bethany. She got there after work while everyone else had left for a break.

25-Sep-2012 17:17, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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Grandma and Grandpa came in not long after.

25-Sep-2012 17:55, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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Mimi came by with Levi later that night. He was staying with her that night so they stopped by before they headed home.

25-Sep-2012 19:15, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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25-Sep-2012 19:15, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400

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25-Sep-2012 20:01, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 5.5, 16.7mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 320

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Kendra’s friend Eva came by the next morning.

26-Sep-2012 10:08, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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We had her all setup in her pretty little outfit complete with accessorizing hat.

26-Sep-2012 10:48, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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Later Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit again.

26-Sep-2012 12:01, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 7.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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Her hearing test made it look like she was jamming to some music.

26-Sep-2012 12:08, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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Big brother was a little more interested in her the next day.

26-Sep-2012 15:31, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250

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26-Sep-2012 15:51, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 5.6mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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Kendra’s friend Elizabeth came by to see Bethany as well. Her son Erik is in Levi’s class.

26-Sep-2012 16:22, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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Paw Paw getting some time with her.

26-Sep-2012 16:48, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 7.2mm, 0.077 sec, ISO 800

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Our friend Brian Ulczynski came by and tag teamed with his wife to watch their daughters and meet Bethany.

26-Sep-2012 17:11, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.077 sec, ISO 400

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Brian’s wife Ann-Marie.

26-Sep-2012 17:29, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 2.8, 4.8mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 400

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Ann meeting the little girl. She’s Olivia’s mom, one of Levis favorite little girls.

26-Sep-2012 17:52, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 400

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Little sister.

26-Sep-2012 18:03, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200

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Flowers from Ann and some other friends.

26-Sep-2012 18:15, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320

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She has a cute little smirk that she does a lot. Here’s a shot of it.

27-Sep-2012 12:42, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 800

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Pretty little girl.

27-Sep-2012 13:34, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 500

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Ready to go home.

27-Sep-2012 15:01, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 4.5, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80

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Home!

27-Sep-2012 15:03, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 80

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Big brother has really warmed up to the idea. He’s always talking about loving her and wanting to talk to her.

27-Sep-2012 16:38, Panasonic DMC-FP3, 3.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 400

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29-Sep-2012 20:50, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 7.4mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100

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Levi has a similar picture to this one from when he was in the hospital. She’s 5 days old here.

30-Sep-2012 13:08, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, 3.0, 7.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100

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Kendra brought Bethany out for a little while one afternoon while the kids played. It was overcast and windy out, so we just kept the kids from getting too close and it worked out well.