coston crew

christmas in pictures...

2011-01-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

home, lafayette IN, Hope MI and Concord Twp. OH. 4 great times of rejoicing with family...

christmas gift from a perfect stranger

2010-12-06T16:02:00.000-05:00

Today is Matt's birthday. I thought since his mom and girlfriend don't live near, I, as his older sister, would assume responsibility to try to make the day a little more special for him. I baked him a cake but needed icing to go on it, and knew he would love to add another Best Buy gift card to his DSLR camera fund. I decided to go to the Greenbrier area and kill 2 birds with one stone... grocery store and Best Buy right across the parking lot from each other. Here's the catch. Caleb was working at a job so that meant I was going to have to take all 3 kids with me to. Not a huge deal to some, but with Gioia in her current fit throwing stage it can get pretty ugly. Anyway, I put on my SuperMom cape (aka, my nursing cover) and set out expecting the worst. (Okay, thats a lie, I didnt actually put on my nursing cover, but I did expect the worst).
By God's grace, we made it through Harris Teeter without a fit and without the normal running away. Went to Best Buy, got the gift card and got back out to the car without much of a fight either. They really did great besides the normal kid stuff. You know what I mean... staring at the candy and picking up every single bag of candy thinking maybe I will say yes to the peanut M&M's even though I already said no to the plain ones (if they were really smart they would have picked up the peanut butter ones. Hard to say no to those!) :) Not a difficult trip but with 3 kids there is a lot of juggling that goes on.

Anyway, I was just got the last one strapped in and climbed into my seat when I heard "Excuse me?!" There was a nice older lady who had come up to my car door. She was tastefully decked out in holiday cheer and looked rather cold. I thought she was going to hand me something I dropped along the way or tell me to enjoy these days because they go quickly. Instead she said "I remember these days. I used to have 3 little ones of my own and I can remember how hard it can be. I want to give you a little something." She then handed me a $20 bill. I said "are you sure!!??" "Yes, I'm sure. Please take it. I want you to have it." "Really?!" "Yes" she said " please get yourself a little treat." By this time we were both teary. I managed to squeek out a "Thank you" and then she smiled and walked away.

Talk about an unexpected blessing. I don't know if she believes in Jesus but either way He used her to encourage my soul today. I can't wait to do this for someone else.

all mushed together

2010-12-03T18:06:00.001-05:00

That's kind of how I feel life has been these past few months. I don't remember the months changing to October let alone December. I mean, seriously, think about it... you cant tell what time of year it is if you go to Wal-mart, the Christmas trees have been up since before Halloween. You couldn't tell around here in VA because I saw green leaves still on trees on the way to church on Sunday. If it weren't for the fact that the camera keeps track of what day the pictures were taken, I would still be marking them all about September 27th. Then today I walked outside and got a nice brisk reminder that it is indeed December. So, since i haven't posted since august, let me sum up...

Cole:
He has been telling us lately that his legs hurt and has been seriously scarfing down any food put in front of him. That can only mean one thing... growth spurt. It is really becoming quite a little man... becoming more interested in helping Daddy fix things around the house, asking for big boy things for Christmas this year like a knife with a blade in it, and really developing in his thought processes. The most exciting thing is that the truths of Scripture really seem to be penetrating his heart. He seems to be very remorseful over his sin and also is seeing his need for Jesus. Nothing makes our hearts happier than to hear him talk about loving Jesus and telling Gioia about the Gospel. He believes Jesus died to pay for his sins that He is the only way to Heaven. He is beginning to realize that he cannot obey mommy and daddy and in turn please the Lord without Jesus. We pray this continues his entire life!!

My favorite prayer of Cole's: “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for a nice day. Thank you for creating the world. Thank you for all you’ve done for us. We know we sin all the time and we all have problems. Uncle Matt has problems, Rachael has problems, Uncle Matt has problems, Momm- uh- Mrs Incredible has problems, Mr. Incredible has problems, Uncle Matt has problems. Thank you for all you’ve done for us. Thank you for creating the world. Heavenly Father, In Your name, Amen.”

Gioia:
What a sweet spunky girl we have on our hands! Though she is a constant battle, she is also a constant joy! She is quite the little mother to both her pretend babies and her baby brother. She loves Cole very much, but also knows just what to do to make him upset. We are working every second of every day to be slow to anger. She is a fit thrower for sure, but is starting to understand she gets NOTHING she wants when she throws herself on the ground. You would think she would have learned her lesson when she dislocated her elbow throwing a fit a few months ago, but apparently, she did not. Thankfully, however, she doesnt hide anything from us. She is very upfront about how she feels about things, what she wants to do, where she wants to go and what she has done wrong. Its not uncommon for her to willingly come up to me and tell me she just disobeyed and hit _______. I would take that characteristic in a girl any day! Hopefully it continues into her teenage years!! She is all or nothing and I love that. When she is happy, she is really happy, when she is mad, she is REALLY mad when she is excited she is really excited. I cant wait to watch her Christmas morning!! The other day I took her shopping and she put her arm around me and said "Mama, you're my best friend." MELT MY HEART!!! My favorite prayer of Gioia's: “Jesus, thank you for happy. Mama’s happy, Daddy’s happy, Cole’s happy. Uncle Matt, thank you upside down. Amen.”

Judah:
He is SIX MONTHS OLD! Talk about days running together?!? Where has my little newborn gone?! Well, there seriously is no baby sweeter than my Judah. He has the best little temperament and always has a smile for mama. He can roll both ways, say da-da, giggle, play with things, almost sit up on his own and he sure can scoot around the floor. He's not close to crawling at all, but that's just fine with me. We don't need to throw that into the mix yet!! He also has his first bottom tooth and its little neighbor on the way in. Not super exciting for me since he wont take a bottle. :) He LOVES his brother and sister. He seriously sits and watches them ALL DAY! He has tried cereal which he hates, and sweet potatoes which he might like, but at least tolerates. I just love the way he lights up when I catch him staring at me... what a charmer.

So there's the CostonKid's fall in a nutshell. As for Caleb and I... we are still madly in love and extremely ready for seminary to be over! Caleb just registered for what should be his LAST semester in seminary! Come quickly, MAY!!!

July- part 1

2010-08-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

And what a great July its been! VERY busy but so great. It all started with our last minute trip up to Philly for the 4th. We literally said good bye to my parents on Saturday morning, said to each other "so what are we going to do this weekend?" and half an hour later we were packing to go see our good friends Danny and Becky Adams. We hadn't seen them for over a year and decided that was way WAY too long. We had a great time with them. With great friends like they are, we don't have to run all over town to have a good time. All we need is a place to sit and the laughs start flowing! Sunday morning we enjoyed worshiping at their church then afterward, got a picture of our growing famlies. Are we seriously old enough to have all these kids?! It was yesterday we were running around Northland!

On Sunday night, we decided to go downtown to see the fireworks. There were TONS of people there. The Roots and the Goo Goo Dolls were playing which brought quite a crowd. So we were sitting there waiting, and waiting and waiting. 9pm... no fireworks... 10 pm... no fireworks... 11pm... we decide to pack up our 5 kids and leave. well wouldn't you know... as soon as we start walking away, they started. I thought 'alright, being in the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed, these fireworks are going to be great!' Take my advice. NEVER go into downtown Philly for the 4th of July. Stinky fireworks and way too much traffic. If we go up next year, we will watch them on TV. :) But we were with our friends so the time was still really fun!

Then on Monday we crashed the Adam's family get together and Ian and Rachael's. We had a great time swimming, watching the kids play and fellowshiping.

Then about a week and a half later, Miriam, Caleb's sister, and her 4 kids came to visit for a few days. We went to the beach (of course!) where Marky and Maelyn looked like pros on the boogie boards. We went to the aquarium with Chick-fil-a afterward. We got to celebrate Cole's 4th birthday together with a morning spent crabbing, and a night of cake and ice cream. I think we started a new Coston birthday tradition. Each year, I think Caleb and I are going to make them a really fun, crazy, big deal kind of cake. This year, Cole's was hole 4 at the golf course, complete with a likeness of him, a golf cart, an alligator coming out of the lake and of course no golf hole would be complete without a sand rake for the bunkers. :) Not trying to toot my own horn, but it was awesome. :)

The day Miriam and kids left (Sunday) little did I know that night we were going to have more company stay with us for a few days...

so, who does he look like?

2010-07-12T16:47:00.000-04:00

Its the question everyone has an opinion about. Who a baby looks like... mom, dad, brother, sister? You be the judge...

Cole Michael

Gioia Claire

Judah Caleb

I think he looks like his brother, but is going to have blue eyes like his sister. Whatever your opinion, you have to agree that they are just cute as can be. :)

one year ago today...

2010-06-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

Its hard to believe that its been a year since I was standing at our church picnic wondering if my oldest son was going to live. Hard to believe its been a year since I was watching Caleb give him rescue breaths. A year since the worst day of my life.

We are so thankful our Cole Michael is alive. And not only alive, but living with no indications that he ever had a closed head injury. He is still smart as ever, and remembers more about as he calls it 'breaking my head' than I really wish he did! The only thing that was affected by the fall was his emotions. He has always been a quick crier, and we had been making great strides in that area, but after everything happened it was as if a year's time had been shaved off of his emotional development. Honestly, he was an emotional wreck and, as the doctors reassured me, it was to be expected. I mean the kid almost died, spent over 48 hours in the PICU and another 48 on the regular floor in the hospital. Thats pretty traumatic stuff. Sometimes he would get so upset for no reason and at the silliest things and he would sob and sob and yell and yell and all I could do in those moments was hold him close and cry with him. As time wore on he got better and better at controlling his anger/emotions and though he is not completely done with the outbursts, I do feel like we are at least back to where he was before the fall.

I didnt deal with anything that happened until about 3-4 months afterwards. Don't get me wrong, for a long long time I recounted the events of that day in my head every day. I just couldnt get it out of my mind. But one night, it was just overwhelming. We were lying in bed, almost asleep and I started bawling. I mean seriously crying and crying. I had to hold him. I spent a long time in Cole's bed that night, praying, crying, thanking Jesus for letting me continue to be Cole's mama.

Like every mom, there are times when I start to long for different days. Days when I can go to the bathroom alone, or sit at dinner and not say the words 'take a bite, please' 800 times. And it never fails... its the days when I long to be kid free that I look over at my sweet Cole Michael, he smiles, and the Lord reminds me how fortunate I am to be a mommy. He reminds me to enjoy these sweet gifts He has given to Caleb and me because in an instant they could be gone.

Oh how we love our sweet children. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure. He indeed is gracious in all things!

3 weeks in pictures

2010-06-24T23:56:00.000-04:00

Judah Caleb Coston

2010-06-24T23:48:00.000-04:00

I cant tell you how many times I have sat down to write this the last 3 weeks. So glad I finally got a chance to finish it!

For those of you who care about the gory details of the birth story, this post is for you! Here we go...
So even though this was my third go around having a baby, I felt very much like a rookie. I had gestational diabetes with my other 2 kids but was fortunate enough not to have it with Judah. Standard practice for a pregnancy with diabetes is usually to induce, so both times I went into the hospital without contractions and left the hospital with a sweet baby in my arms. Honestly, it freaked me out a little bit when I found out I didnt have GDM with Judah because I knew that meant I could possibly go into labor naturally... and thats just what happened.

I had an appointment the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and she told me I was at a 3 and if I wanted to make it through the weekend without going into labor, to let everyone else do everything for me. (yeah right, like that was going to happen) Anyway, after the appointment I started contracting more that before and that continued through the weekend. We finished Mattyard Hideaway (!) went to the beach, relaxed, decided on a name, and tried to get a few things done with our long weekend. Well, Monday night around 8pm the contractions changed from Braxton Hicks to the real deal. That night they got down to 6 minutes apart, but never reached the coveted 3-5 minutes apart needed to go into the hospital. I couldn't sleep past about 5:30 am so I got up and contemplated calling the Dr. but instead I just called my mom. :) She was coming to our house that day and I knew she would be up. Well, within the next half an hour, my contractions went to 10 minutes apart and stayed that way the rest of the day. Talk about annoying, disappointing, frustrating etc! By 2 pm, after contracting for 18 hours, I called the Dr. and they fit me in for an appointment. She told me I was at a 4 and that she thought I would go into labor tonight. She was right! By 7 pm I was crawling up the walls, but my contractions were still not at 3-5 minutes apart! I just couldn't take it anymore so I called the hospital and they gave me the green light to come in. We packed up the kids and mom drove me to the hospital. Caleb left work and met us there just as we were arriving. After a wonderful epidural, a few hours of rest, a popsicle, and 3 count them 3 pushes, Judah Caleb Coston was born into the world! He came out and the Dr. said "its a boy! wow, a big boy!" He didnt look that big to me, but apparently he was! 8lbs 1oz 19 3/4 inches long and as beautiful as they come. The kids love their little brother (sometimes a little too much) :) and seem to be welcoming him into our lives. The big battle is to get them to get along with each other! :)

Its hard to believe Judah is 3 weeks old. I just love this kid! I think he might be getting a little spoiled, but I have a hard time just letting him sit on the couch all by himself! He is sleeping well, and is falling into a nice little schedule. Im just praying my milk supply can keep up with his appetite.

I leave you with the first family of 5 picture... we are so blessed...

mattyard hideaway: phase 2

2010-05-14T17:22:00.000-04:00

Well, the boys have been working all non-Lifenet-working hours on Mattyard Hideaway. Here's the progress they have made this week.

I know what you're thinking... and yes it is small. However the angle of the pictures make it look a lot smaller than it really is. I think he will have a nice little set up when its all done! Today they got 3 sides sided and some other little things done. This weekend and coming week are the push for the end. Tomorrow's plan is as Caleb says "to get stuff done". I think this means running electrical, finishing the outside completely and getting the insulation up. Then the rest of the week will be drywall, mudding, and flooring.

The only delay we have run into so far has been the windows. On one of Uncle Matt's many trips to Home Depot, he accidentally got side sliders which was realized after they were all put in and wouldn't stay open. This morning they took them out and took them back to Home Depot, discovering that the replacement windows were actually 50% off today! They only had to spend half as much as they took back! Then when they came home and told me about the deal going on, it occurred to us that maybe we should get all the replacement windows for our house today. So we ran back out and thank the Lord they had every size we needed. It seriously saved us probably $700-$1000! So glad Matt got the wrong windows the first time around!

I know they are going to get tons done this weekend. Can't wait to post the pics next week of the completed Mattyard Hideaway!

mattyard hideaway: phase 1 complete.

2010-05-06T14:12:00.000-04:00

Last weekend and this week we have been working on round 1 of construction for Mattyard Hideaway. The goal was fence in, shed out before this weekend. So far, we are still on schedule.

Last Saturday the guys built this cedar fence in just one afternoon/evening! It helps they have built one or two before. :)

Through the week we were trying to get everything from this old shed to storage, tear it down and get it recycled. Success.

And this dirty faced little cutie was always right in the middle of things...with a popsicle in hand of course. :)

I kept out the baby necessities just in case I happen to have this baby earlier than expected. (one can dream, right?!) Now we just have to figure out what we are going to do with all the supplies and junk that the shed was hiding! :)

This weekend: Round 2: begin construction of shed. Caleb and Matt will be working from sunrise to sunset. I will be getting water, making lunch and then joining the ladies from our church for a Mothers Day tea at the Painted Lady during nap time. :)

April 23 2010, 11:59 pm

2010-04-22T17:25:00.000-04:00

I am counting down the minutes... the minutes to the end of the seminary semester deadline. No matter how diligent Caleb is during the semester, it always comes down to a nightmare week or two before the semester is over. He even took 3 days of precious vacation time to try to get all of it finished, which I have to admit, I was NOT happy about! As many of you current and former seminary wives can attest to, this means your seminarian is literally gone all waking hours of the day and honestly some of the sleeping hours too! Consequently, things at home suffer and let me tell you, suffer this week they have!! I have been trying really hard to stay on top of the housework for the last few months (which is difficult when literally the minute you put something away it intrigues your child and they want to play with it again). My grade this week is a big fat F-! But in a mere 30 hours or so, we will have Caleb all to ourselves... for a few weeks until summer class starts. :) Since Im pretty sure the only thing Caleb is going to want to do for at least a little while on Saturday is sit on the couch and play with the kids, I am hoping to get LOTS done. After all, I only have about 6 weeks till this baby rocks our world!! Ive got a ton to do!

The big news of the week is that Uncle Matt's back at the Costons! He got a job at LifeNet Health, where Caleb works (and many of our friends too for that matter) here in Virginia Beach. So he is here indefinitely! The next few weeks before summer school will be filled with building him what we affectionately call "Matt-yard Hideaway". (its funny if you know that the name of our fence/deck business is called Backyard Hideaway) :) We live in a little 2 bedroom so there is literally no room for poor old Uncle Matt. So, we are building him a glorified shed in the back yard. :) Some people we tell feel bad for him, but not us. By the time they are done with that thing, he might have it better than we do! :) I might actually escape to Matt-yard Hideaway with a glass of lemonade myself. :) Goal for this weekend... take the contents of the shed to storage, tear it down and take it to the recycling place and if we get ambitious, clean up the garage. Lofty, but possible. Progress pics to follow...

for real this time...

2010-04-16T17:16:00.003-04:00

Surprise, surprise... it's been forever since I blogged. Honestly I decided to not blog for a while to really decide why I was blogging and why I was saying what I was saying. Was I saying truthful things? Was I being completely real and transparent as not to give the impression that I am better at something than I really am? Where I found danger was this daily/weekly/monthly journal could easily be turned into a "brag" instead of a blog. I didn't want this or facebook statuses, or what takes up my conversations to be how my kids are the smartest, funniest, best behaved, worst behaved, or cutest... or how my life was the busiest, hardest or easiest... or to even give impressions that I have it all together spiritually, mentally, physically, parentally, motherly, wifely, homemakerly etc. Im super competitive and found myself trying to compete with others blogs or craftily word my facebook status to say that I was somehow "more ______" than the next person, and quite truthfully, pride myself in that fact. (Disclaimer: I don't have anyone in mind as I write this!)

However, there have been so many things that have happened in the last year that I wish I had recorded my thoughts on. Not to long ago, I read my facebook note about Cole's fall, and also read through some of these old blog posts. So many things I had forgotten about! I cringe when I think about my kids graduation and weddings when they will be looking through old pics for their slide shows and will find that I was just too LAZY to record their lives! Kids change so fast and I am constantly being reminded by others of things like Cole's first sentence "Jesus, thank you for jets." Thought I could remember all this stuff. Its just happening.

Also, as stated in a post about a year ago, I need to remember the works the Lord has done in our lives. Of course the big ones from the year stand out, such as the Lord allowing us to keep raising Cole, burdening a brother and sister in Christ to give us a car and allowing us to get pregnant again, but what about the day to day? For example today when allowed us to spot one of our neighbors who recycles trash and had a nice little bike on his trailer for our boy who is outgrowing his tricycle and been asking for a new bike? How many things like this have I forgotten about? tons, Im sure.

So, here's to staring anew. Maybe I should change the name of my blog to "costons, unplugged" or "costons keepin it real". Thats the mission: to consistently record our lives in a Christ-exalting, truthful, unprideful way. Im steppin up to the plate, hoping I don't strike out. :)

off to Lyla-land!

2009-05-29T16:16:00.003-04:00

We took our 5th big trip of the year to Woodlands Camp in Cleveland GA to meet our first Hornbeck niece, Lyla Patricia. What a fun place to visit! There was so much to do even though it rained most of the time we were there. Cole's favorite was the air hockey. My favorite was the ping pong and I did get to try my hand at the climbing wall but didnt do so hot. Cole loved his little cousin and was very sweet with her. I am thankful because he is not so sweet with his sister anymore. Something about Gioia being able to take his toys now doesn't sit well with him. I know this is going to be quite a shocker but we didn't get too many pictures, but we did get a few.

I wish we had more, but it gets tricky with 2 kids and only 2 hands! Doesn't leave a hand for the camera too often. Hopefully we will be able to visit again when the sun decides to shine so we can take advantage of all the fun outside things there is to do. We enjoyed meeting our little niece and seeing where Eric and Katy serve the Lord. Please pray with me that the Woodlands Camp Staff and campers will have a great summer and that the Lord would do many great and lasting things in their lives.

failure already...

2009-05-17T22:16:00.002-04:00

So after my mid years resolution, I have already failed miserably! It has been since April 22 since I updated my blog. So much for blogging every week! It has been very hectic these last few weeks so I have lots to report! But of course, I have ZERO pictures to show for it! They are all on everyone else's cameras! I really need to get on the ball with the pics.
Anyway, for the update...

The weekend after we went to Micah's recital, my parents came for a visit. It is always great to see them, and let them love on the grandbabies for a while. The highlights (at least in Cole's mind) were the Tides game where he actually got to run the bases after the game, and the new tricycle Luma and Papa bought for him! He has gotten quite good at riding the trike, and thinks he is pretty cool when he goes cruising down the street. How can I not be getting pictures of this?!?!

The next weekend our sweet niece Lyla Patricia Hornbeck made a grand entrance into the world! We are so excited to go meet her and see Uncle Eric and Aunt Katy this coming weekend for Memorial Day. Sometimes I think we are absolutely crazy for taking another trip, but we just HAVE to, ya know??!! So Woodlands Camp, ready or not here we come!

The next week was Seminary Graduation. This is theoretically the year Caleb could have graduated. Needless to say, He did not graduate yet! We still have quite a while to go. Many of his friends did graduate though and it was great to see them accomplish their goals. A few of them are off to ministries God has called them too. Caleb has been friends with these people for almost 8 years! Even though we didn't see some of them all that much while they were here, its hard to believe they will be so far away now. But, it is such an exciting time to see how God is directing and providing for them.

Also that weekend was the Crisis Pregnancy Center's Walk for Life. It is always so great to be around many other believers coming together to stand up for those who have no voice. There was a record number of walkers this year. I pray the Lord will continue to use the CPC in Hampton Roads to help women choose life for their sweet unborn babies.

The next weekend Caleb and I had the privilege of being involved in our friends Greg and Michelle's wedding. It was beautiful time focused on the grace God has given to all of us and the special grace he has given to Greggers and Michelle for them to be united in marriage. It was a wonderful time of worship as well as a great celebration of love, both human and divine. I have to admit, I had a hard time holding back the tears because Caleb was in plain view while the ceremony was going on. I knew if I looked at him I would cry and I was right, but I just had to look! :) And a little bonus was I got to walk with him for the processional. That is the second time we got to be in a wedding together since we were married. I LOVE that.

This weekend was packed too! Yesterday we had 3, count them 3 parties to go to. Thankfully they were all out by the beach so we didnt have to run all over town. It was a great, but tiring day. We actually slept so long this afternoon we missed church tonight. oops! :) Good thing salvation is by grace alone! :)

AAAAAAAND, somewhere mingled in all of that Gioia learned to crawl! My life is officially over! She is everywhere, and it is adorable. Adorable though it may be, it has totally changed the way I do things- you cant take your eyes off that girl, she eats everything she sees!

Well, we are looking forward to another full week. Caleb has a lot of homework to do so the kids and I are going to be up in Philly for a few days and on Friday we go to Georgia. After this trip we are going to be HOME for a couple of weeks before heading to Indy for my cousin Kelly's wedding.

I PROMISE to have some pictures for my next post about our sweet Lyla.

another weekend, another trip.

2009-04-22T15:15:00.002-04:00

Since the beginning of the year we have driven to the Florida Keys and back, Hope, Michigan and back twice and our latest adventure, Greenville SC and back. This last weekend was Caleb's brother Micah's graduate recital at Bob Jones University. He earned his Performance Arts Masters (I dont know the offical name) by completing an hour long solo performance. Many people perform a compilation of poetry or something similar, but sometimes people write their own. Micah chose to write his own. Here is a symopsis of what we saw in Micah's words...

"During the week of May 19-24, 2008 I took a trip with no preconceived destination. Only the departure and return were premeditated. The decisions of destination were made by others. There is no plot, but this is what happened. This is a compilation of what and who I found along the way. I recreate the experience now, through a collage-compiled script. There is a unifying motif of “found” items textually, visually, and aurally. I designed the set with the rusted metals, the free piano, and the paper to echo the “found” materials concept. The text and music also dance a “borrowed” step. I composed the live music you will hear solely from numbers observed on the journey. All media is authentic including the photos, videos, and the audio cues. The train sound you hear is what I heard. The singing you hear is what I heard. The sights you see are what I saw. All people are authentic, and they speak their own words as they spoke them to me. Even my clothing is what I wore on the first day of my trip."

It was awesome.

The bonus to going was Caleb's mom, dad, sisters and one brother in law were there. We all stayed at Micah's house, which actually went better than I thought it would. We also got to spend some time with Caleb's cousins Cory and Sara and their kids Wil, John and 3 week old Emma. Also I got to see my college friend Bonnie Blakeney who I havent gotten to see in at least a year. It was a nice surprise to meet in Greenville since neither she nor I live there!

And to top it all off, I didnt take a single picture. Awesome.

We had a great time and thank everyone who sacrificed so much to make the weekend great. Especially you, Sara!

he is not old enough to know how to do that

2009-04-15T15:57:00.004-04:00

Cole has loved the computer since before Gioia was born. Being 9 months pregnant, I was desperate for some quiet time so I showed him sesamestreet.com. (can i get an amen from all you pregnant ladies out there?) There are several games, videos, etc. for kids to do. While I dont agree with everything Sesame Street wants to teach my kid, I do have to hand it to them... they really know what kids like! For a long time, I have had to navigate around for him and it got pretty annoying having to change the game every 5 minutes. Well, recently Cole has discovered how to use the mouse on the laptop. Thats right... he moves the mouse wherever he wants and gives a little click to play any game he wants! It is so nice! It truly is quite time for everyone now! The downside is that he can find everything else too. Like photo booth. I found several pictures on my computer that I did not take. Little smarty pants.

We had a great Resurrection Sunday. I was in the nursery, but heard the service was great! All the children sang a song for the service and the ladies in the nursery were nice enough to go watch Cole's debut! It was AWESOME!!! Everything you would want to see while children are singing and more! Then we spent the rest of the day with some of our great church family. We love our church.

kids looked great thanks to Luma!

mid- year resolution

2009-04-09T16:25:00.003-04:00

Since I am doing horribly at my New Years Resolutions, I thought I would throw one more on the pile of things I would like to fail at in 2009...BLOGGING! I would like to blog at least once a week, if for no one else, for myself. I mentioned at our final Financial Peace University class this last Sunday about not forgetting the works the Lord has done in our lives. Its easy to remember the big ones... a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful, healthy kids, a warm (or cool) home, a great church, and of course a home in Heaven. But when I really stopped to think about it, I could only remember a few things the Lord has done for us these last 5 years even though there have been soooo many provisions and answeres to prayer. So... blogging is my answer. I don't want to forget. So as long as blogger doesnt go belly up, I will write to remember and in turn write to praise my Redeemer.

Since November was the last time I actually sat down to blog I will give a quick update...

Cole is going to be 3 this summer, which is super hard to believe. He loves playing outside and told me the other day he cant wait to go to the beach. Mama cant either, cole-man. His newest discovery is the gas can in the garage. Caleb caught him trying to fill up his power wheels 4 wheeler yesterday. Not only did he fill up his 4 wheeler, but also his boots and jeans. Awesome.

He still loves to sing, watch movies, play baseball, and play with his cars, but his favorite thing to do is body slam, I mean love on, his sister. Thankfully, she is pretty tough.

Gioia is our little sweetheart. She is almost 8 months old and is still stationary but is up on all 4s. It wont be long before she is all over the place, giving Cole a run for his money! She is a very happy baby most of the time, full of smiles. She also says mama, and not dada much to Caleb's chagrin. She gets more and more fun with each new day! Did I mention she is the most beautiful baby in the world??!! Here are some pics from our trip to the Keys with the Dillabaughs to prove it! :)

for dad

2008-11-13T16:04:00.004-05:00

here you go dad...

for everyone else, this is our little pumpkin singing God Bless America. Our little man loves to sing. His favorite songs to sing are of course not ones about Jesus, but ones he hears at the baseball games. He has been saying lately, "Hey mom, go to Tides game, see elmo (the mascot who is actually named RipTide and is blue not red) sing God Bless America and the Flag Song (the national anthem) and Take Me Out to the Ball Game... that be fun, mom? so exciting, mom?" Needless to say, he doesn't understand it is not baseball season anymore. Poor guy is going to be waiting for a long time to see America's pastime again.

We love our little Patriot Lately, though, he has been singing songs about Jesus, including "Jesus, Thank you", "Jesus loves me", and my personal favorite "Amazing Grace". This morning we heard Chris Tomlin's version of Amazing Grace on the radio. Cole was so excited he couldn't even sing, just smile. When it was over he said "Mom, that's Amazing Grace! we show Dad, Mom?"

Our little bundle of Gioia is growing and growing. She is such a pretty baby. I think she is going to end up with Caleb's eyes, lucky girl. She is smiling and "talking" like crazy now. She is just over 10 lbs. and is in the 90th percentile for her height. OUR KID is in the 90th percentile for height! Who would have guessed that?! I told her to enjoy it while it lasts.

here are a few pics, they are about a month old, but still so cute.

I cant believe...

2008-09-24T14:11:00.004-04:00

1. ...fall is here, I just can't believe it. I keep hearing everyone singing the praises of Autumn, but I have to admit, I am sad! I like the hot weather, and the beach, and the popsicles, and the shorts, and being warm all the time and the sun, and no seminary classes, I could go on and on. I have been cold non-stop since Friday. Hurry, May, hurry!

2. ... its been 5 weeks since our little bundle of Gioia was born. I am adjusting pretty well to having 2 kids. Not being a rookie parent, I find it a lot easier to take care of Gioia. I hated the first month when Cole was born, but with Gioia it has been mostly good! I am still getting to know her little personality, but I know enough to know she is going to be nothing like her brother. She is already pretty spunky. I knew it was going to be this way before she even came into the world! When Cole would climb on me and push on my stomach and in turn push on her, she would kick back. We knew we were in for it, and we were right! :)

3. ... we are starting our 4th year of seminary. It seems like we have been here forever, but also like we just got here. I laugh at the fact that this theoretically should be Caleb's last year. Uh, yeah right. He is over half way done, and is thankfully taking his last Greek class this semester, but I can't really even see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think 4 years might just be impossible for those with kids. Props to those who have done it, if you exist.

4. ... my son won't shut up! I love how much Cole is talking now. He can tell me exactly what he wants, exactly what hurts, exactly what he thinks, and I love it most of the time. The only time it really bugs me is in the car when he literally does not stop making noise. He also loves to sing. His favorites lately are God Bless America and Take Me Out to the Ball Game (the seventh inning stretch songs for those who arent baseball fans). He can also kind of sing Jesus Loves Me (which comes out Jesus, thank you me), the alphabet, the wheels on the bus, and Elmo's World (which sometimes is Erin's world) We can tell what he is singing, but those who don't know him might not be able to name that tune.

5. ... I had to pay $10 for losing my parking ticket at the mall today. It is supposed to be $1 for 3 hours, but nooooooooooo... I had to go and lose my ticket. Ridiculous.

6. ... I don't have any pictures to post. There are a lot of pictures of my kids, but they are one everyone else's cameras. yeesh. Sorry. Hopefully I will be able to get my act together soon and take some of my own so next time we will have some to post.

is it wednesday yet?

2008-08-18T15:08:00.003-04:00

Thats right folks, the day is set when I will deliver our little girl into the world! Wednesday, August 20th I will be on my way to the hospital to be induced. I am still praying that I will not have to actually have the pitocin, since my experience with it last time was not all that favorable. However, with the diabetes, its better for her to be out than in at this point in her little life.

This has not been the easiest pregnancy to say the least, but it definitely could have been a ton worse. Hats off to all of you moms who love being pregnant, but I am not a part of your clan. I like being skinny, I like eating and drinking whatever I want, I like not being able to feel every move my baby makes, especially when it is against my ribs! However, as all mommies would say, it is worth every pain, every discomfort, every inconvenience, every puke, every leg cramp, every annoying little finger prick to check sugar levels, every time you say no to dessert, etc., just to be a mom... totally worth it.

Though not being pregnant anymore will be quite a treat, what I am really looking forward to that first look. You know which one I mean. The look where your eyes finally meet and you and your little baby stare at each other for a while. Where she looks at you and you look at her and you are both thinking the same thing-- "so that's what you look like." Its those moments I remember forever. The moments where you realize you are the most blessed person in the world.

So, as Cole would say, "Come out soon, Gioia!"

almost there

2008-07-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

Today is a big day for us! Cole is 2 years old today! He is such a big man. My last post was written June 6th and just not published until today... needless to say, Cole has changed so much even since then. He has started making "sentences" and is able to explain himself much better these days. If I cannot understand the word he is saying he will use other words to help me understand... its pretty cute. On Sunday he said his first unprompted sentence. We were passing the Oceana Navy Air Base and he said "Jesus, thank you for jets". Caleb and I laughed the rest of the way to church. Cole (and Caleb and I) is enjoying my brother Matthew being around for the summer. He loves to say "Uncle Maaaaaaaaaaat" and annoy his beloved uncle matt to no end. I never stop him, Matthew deserves it, its payback.
Today we went to Chuck E Cheese's for Cole's birthday. He loves it there. We went with his best buddy Shiloh and not to mention Izaak Anneke and Eli. I think everyone had a good time, I know I did. I'm addicted to skeeball.

Baby Gioia is getting ready to make her appearance! I am 36 wks. today, but out dr. said she didnt think I was going to make it to 40 wks. THANK YOU JESUS!!! I hope she is right!

Here are some pictures of our big man and his big day...

summertime

2008-06-04T16:33:00.001-04:00

I just love summertime. I love everything about it, and I am so glad it is here. This spring we had visits from both sets of our parents and are looking forward to their visit at the end of August for Gioia's arrival.

Cole is changing so much everyday. You can tell he is almost 2 in all sorts of different ways. I feel like every time he says "MOMMY!" to get my attention something new is going to come out of his mouth. The most recent words are helicopter, microphone, and actually saying Kristen instead of Ti-Ti. He is putting lots of words together that make complete sentences, but usually aren't in the right order. He is getting very clever lately, but mostly in how to disobey better and sneaker than before. Needless to say, we are working through a lot of different things!

Caleb is working very hard for our family. Thankfully, business has picked up for our company but that means he is gone more. It really is bittersweet, but we are very thankful for the work. We know it is only from the Lord.

I am getting big with our little girl. Everything is right on track with her due dates, and she already weighs 2 lbs. I was hoping for another small baby, but maybe that is not what God has for this one! YIKES!!! There is a problem with her kidneys that may resolve itself before birth, but as of now we just know there is something that is not normal. The doctors are monitoring them and we will have a better understanding of what the problem might be the closer we get to delivery. God has given us much grace to not worry about it, but to pray for her. We know God is forming her and trust him for the outcome. Please pray for her if you think about it.

Well, I tried to post some pics but I cant figure out what my computer is doing, so maybe I will be able to post some later! Sorry, they really are cute!

our God is sovereign. peroid.

2008-04-10T15:31:00.000-04:00

This is what I have had to tell myself the last few weeks. We had an ultrasound about a month ago and it was confirmed yesterday ("without a dobt" were the exact words from the tech) that we are having a little girl at the end of August. HOLY COW! I was convinced I was having a boy. First of all, because the Lord is infinitely wise and so I thought he wouldn't possibly give me a girl to raise, and secondly, because my pregnancy was just about the same as with our Cole-man. Well, God is still infinitely wise, of course, and has chosen this for our family, so I have had a lot of mindset "tweaking" to do.

We are excited about what God has for us with the new addition of a little girl to the family. Caleb is going to be such a great dad to a little girl. He will show her how a woman should be treated, and what a Man of God truly looks like. Even though Cole has no idea what is coming his way, he is going to be a great big brother. We found that out in the keys when he fell in love with Abby Adams! I told him yesterday on our way to the ultrasound that we were going to see the baby, and he looked at me with his huge brown eyes and said "ABBYYYYYYY!" Poor thing was pretty disappointed.

We are pretty sure we are going to name her Gioia which is pronounced "joy-ya". We are still undecided on a middle name, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to let us know!!! Also if you have any good suggestions about how to have a newborn and a toddler in a 2 bedroom house, let me know that too. Our house is getting really small really fast!

We are eagerly anticipating summer. Time at the beach and the zoo thanks to Luma and Papa! We wont be going to many places so we hope you all can come see us!

For those of you who are not on facebook, here is a video of our little guitar hero. He is so fun.

the keys

2008-03-13T22:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks again to the Dillabaughs, we were able to enjoy some time in the Florida Keys again this year. Although Caleb only got to stay for a few days because of his new found employment, we had a great time together and with our dear friends. The first day we arrived it was only about 65 degrees which is very cold for key west. However, I personally think it was the perfect temperature to walk around all the shops and sights on the key. But the next day perfect bathing suit/pool weather was there to stay for the rest of the trip. So we frequented Sunshine Key's pool and had the best time letting Cole play in the water. Just like his dad, he is a little fish. He would stand up on the side of the pool or on the stairs and say "two, two, two, two!" then jump in to one of us, not caring at all if he went under water completely. Actually by the end of the week, I think he preferred to go under!

It was great to be able to spend some time with our good friends Danny and Becky Adams. We miss them greatly since their move to Philly last summer, but are excited about what God is doing through them there in the city. We actually got to go on a date with them and no kids! It was quite a treat for us! Thanks Mama D! :)We went to a nice but not snooty restaurant in Marathon called The Key Colony Inn. It was in a very nice part of town, and they had great food, but the fellowship was really what we went for.

It is different going on vacation with a toddler. Only half of your body gets tan because all day is spend in the pool instead of on a lounge chair. More time is spent at the campsite instead of the pool during the hottest part of the day because you would rather have a happy child than a great tan. And I think half the time there is spent putting sun screen on every exposed area of skin on your child. Its different- but great at the same time. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am always overwhelmed at the generosity of the Dillabaughs. They are always so giving of all things- money, time, advice, ideas, fellowship, wisdom, love, food, sunscreen, blankets, tents, rides and gas back and forth to the airport, I could go on and on. It is always such a blessing to see the grace of God work through them and teach us how to be so very benevolent. It is true Christlikeness. Thank you so much Mama and Papa D. We had the best time.

where do i begin...

2008-02-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

It seems like I start out each blog entry with the same thing... "I know it has been a month, but..." or something to the effect. In this case, however, I have neglected blogging for about 3 months. Oops... my bad.

The last few months have been full of all different kinds of life situations and one very faithful God who has lavished his grace on us. Though we have been put through fiery trials, our fire has not been that hot. We are thankful for the things God has taught us, but are also thankful that these kinds of things are our biggest "problems" in life.

Like any other seminary family we are financially poor. No big deal, we expected it when we came here. We are a not looking forward to ever being financially wealthy but are trusting in the promises of God to take care of His children. Those of us who went to Northland saw it happen all the time. Out of the blue, from the most unlikely source, God would provide. When I was there, I would feel bad that I never had to worry about where my next payment was coming from. Well, my time was coming.

Caleb's business is great in the summer. He loves it, he is good at it, and it brings in the money. The problem is the winter. We knew this year we could not make it through another winter like last winter. We were drowning. We decided that Caleb was going to try to get a job. In August he put in his application at a couple different places. One fell through immediately and the second didn't contact us despite calls and questioning from the people we know who work there. It was November and looking bleak. We were in the winter. We knew we couldn't make it. Up until this point, I tried and succeeded in trusting God was in control and would provide.

Caleb got an interview before Thanksgiving ending with the phrase "we will call you in 1-2 weeks" so we wait more. NOTHING. I was no longer succeeding in my trusting. I was questioning, BIG TIME. God knows we cant make it, when is He going to do something about it???!!!

December 17th- thats when. Caleb got the call one month after the interview- he got the job. Now I could say with all those who have seen it, Jehovah Jireh. We also found out that same day that we are going to have Coston #2. Then the next day, we woke up to a little Christmas tree on our front pourch with a lot of money in gift cards hanging off of it. In one day God had not only kept His promises to us, but also gave us the desires of our heart.

How could I be so foolish? How could I not trust the One who did not spare His own Son for me? I trust Him for my eternal home, but not for the things that pass away? How ridiculous, how hypocritical am I?

Even though we are not out of the water yet, I pray that I will not forget the works of the Lord in our family's life. I know that if the Lord had not given Caleb this job, and we lost our house or had to move, God would still be providing. He fulfilled us our deepest need at the Cross, what more could I possibly need?

no trick and no treat

2007-11-05T21:52:00.000-05:00

I am always love when we get the opportunity to spend the day together as a family. It just so happened that day was Halloween! Caleb didn't have to work so we decided to take advantage of it. We slept in a little bit, had a lazy morning while Cole was playing, and decided to go get a pumpkin to carve before Cole's nap and my practice. We took Mo set out on our journey. We had a great time picking out a pumpkin and taking pics of our little pumpkin.

We came home after pumpkin hunting and a nice lunch from the dollar menu at McDonalds only to find our house filled with smoke. We couldn't find what was burning, so we started searching the house. Then I turned to find a laundry basket on top of our in floor heating unit. It had melted the bottom off of the basket onto the unit itself. So our only source of heat was ruined. Thankfully, we called our insurance and they took care of us! We decided not to put another floor unit in, but to put in a whole new heating/ac system. The floor unit is obviously not safe, and isnt all that efficient, either. My wonderful, fully capable of fixing everything husband is doing all the work and is doing a great job. I have to admit though, I hope it gets done soon, its getting cold around here!

We were debating on whether we should replace this before we sell our house- I guess we know now! I was thankful that we didn't loose everything and didnt have to go through the stress of remembering everything in our house. But it did make me think about how aweful it would be if Mo had been trapped. I now want to take him with us every where we go. We love our puppy!

After that whole ordeal and my volleyball practice, we went trick or treating with our good friends the Dribbles and most of the Toliver fam. It was a nice way to forget about the fact that we may be very cold in a few short hours. Needless to say the gator and chicken duo were the talk of the neighborhood. See for yourself...

Yes, the day could have been better, but it definitely could have been much worse.

oh, the trauma

2007-10-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

Some may think walking is a blessing, but for Cole Michael Coston, that was not the case last Thursday. Thats right folks. We have officially been christened into the reality of parenthood with our first trip to the ER for stitches. Yep- 5 to be exact right on Cole's bottom lip. He was reaching for something Caleb was giving him and managed to get it, but got off balance and- KABOOYA- lip to kitchen chair splitting it right open. I didn't see it happen, I just stood up and looked in time to see the blood start flowing from my 14 month old's face. So, I did what every good mom would do and I flipped out. Caleb, Mr. cool calm and collected, took action and got the bleeding stopped really quickly so we could assess the damage. It was obvious to both of us that it needed sowed up. It was about 3/8" long and 1/4" wide. Thankfully, we have a great kids hospital around here, Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters- needless to say they were so awesome with Cole. They got us all registered and called back into the room. Now come the stitches.

Cole had been so great up to this point, he hadn't cried since the bleeding stopped, but that was about to change. They shot him with novicane, then proceeded to wrap him up in a sheet, put a washcloth under his neck and hold him still. Of course, he was crying, a lot. I on the other hand, was doing surprising well considering what was happening to my baby. Then it happened. He started crying "Mama, mama!" between sobbs. That was it. The tears just started streaming down my face. I got so he could see me and he looked up at me with his big, brown, tear-filled eyes and just kept saying "mama, mama!" I got myself under control right in time for it to be all over, unwraped my little man and gave him a big hug. He clung to me and kept saying "mama, mama!" and the tears came back, with a vengeance. I just held him and cried, not hearing a word the doctor was telling me. Cole calmed down and had a nice, refreshing glass of apple juice and I thanked the Lord that we were in the ER for only 5 little stitches. Some parents in that hospital were not so fortunate. So the first ER level injury (of many I'm sure) is under our belt. Both of the men in my life were very brave. Hopefully, I will be a little more brave next time.

Here are some pics a few days later. It is healing nicely, and Cole hasn't missed a beat, as you can tell by the blurry pictures.

i know, i know

2007-09-16T21:20:00.000-04:00

Its been a while, I know. The summer was too short to waste on the computer! Today was the first day in a long time I have needed to wear jeans and I have to say I'm a little sad. We had such a great summer seeing both of our families, enjoying life at the beach, going camping in the outer banks, missions trip etc. that I don't want it to end. But today was a sad reminder that the winter is indeed coming.

Well... August for me means only one thing... volleyball. We hit the ground running August 1 and haven't looked back. Right now we are 5-2, I think. I have 2 experienced players with very young teammates. They are all athletic and all have good attitudes so they could accomplish more that people think...

Caleb is of course busy with work and school. He is only taking 6 credits this semester, but man are those credits time consuming! Then again, thats what they say about Greek and Hebrew!

Cole Michael is doing so great. He has been walking for a while now and loves chasing our dog Mo around, much to Mo's chagrin. He is learning so fast these days but my favorite trick by far is that he can tell you how old he is. He learned how to do it the day before he turned one and boy is he proud of himself still! :) He really works the room with that trick.

We recently had a visit from my parents that just happened to be the same weekend as the air show. We got the hook up from our friend Dean. My dad has loved the Blue Angels for as long as I can remember. Well, Dean got them tickets for the Blue Angels VIP seating for the air show- I mean right on the runway! And if that weren't enough, they got to get their picture taken with all the Blues! But of course, I had volleyball that day and couldn't be there. So we have a really nice picture of my mom and dad, and my son and husband with the blue angels. Its a little depressing.

Well, thats it for now. I will post a slide show of summer pics soon.

kentucky

2007-07-12T10:50:00.000-04:00

We recently got back from a missions trip to Lexington, KY. Paul Valentine and Chad Mondragon, and of course their famlies, planted a church there about a year ago. A group of teens from Colombus met us there as well as Trevor and Delsey Groetken who moved from our church last year. My main job was helping Melody get things ready at the house, but everyone elses main jobs were to canvas and getting ready for the Family Fun Nights carnivals we had Friday and Saturday nights. It was a great idea to have these and the Lord blessed our efforts. Paul and Chad were able to meet a lot of famlies from the community. Although there were no visitors from the carnivals at church on Sunday, we still had a great time of worship with their regular attenders. It was great to put faces with the people we have been praying for! We also went to a Lexington Legends game and had a lot of great meals. Here are some pics from the trip.

Cole still rooting for the Tigers

Cole and Dad

little man

paul, mike and stephen

Kevin, Beth and Silas

Chad, Mel (and baby) and Cole

i heart summer

2007-06-03T23:09:00.000-04:00

ready, set, go. Summer is here and we have hit the ground running. First we went to Jon Hamilton's wedding in PA. It was very nice and we were glad to see our friend Jon marry such a nice girl. How can she not be great- she is a volleyball player?! Soon we will be off to Cleveland to see my parents, then to Michigan to see Caleb's family and then school will start all over again. Its a little depressing to think about how soon school will be here, but I try not to think about it for now.

lots has happened since my last post. We went to another tides game and actually won an iPod which was super funny, Cole started crawling and is now into EVERYTHING, we are working on our kitchen and it is almost done, Caleb's truck broke down so he got another one that is the color of a smurf, my brother Matthew is here to live with us for the summer and work for Caleb, I planted a garden and I am almost ready to pick my first fruits, volleyball open gym started and Danny and Becky Adams are going to have a future wife for Cole and are moving away from us in just a couple of weeks. That sounds like most of what is going on in our lives right now.

Pictures of the kitchen are coming soon! Until then here are some fun pictures of our trip to the zoo and fun in daddy's new truck

nothing says spring like easter & baseball

2007-04-19T16:05:00.000-04:00

Easter is always great at our church. We had some great discussion of the importance of the resurrection in our small group and a great time of worship on Easter Sunday. It was a big day for Cole. Not only was it his first Easter, but he also decided he was going to start scooting around and that he wanted to start saying mama. So, needless to say he is well on his way to crawling around the house and getting into whatever he finds. The grossest part is that he likes Mo's toys the best. There is no way those taste good, but he just keeps going back to them.

Here are some Easter pics. Caleb let me get a new dress for easter. He didnt like it at first, but I think he liked it after a while. At least I hope he did. What do you think, Mom?

Last weekend we went to the Tides game with our small group plus a few people from another small group. The Tides are a minor league baseball team here in Norfolk. They are always fun games to go to even though the baseball is not the greatest, the baseball feel is still in the air. And in our case, it was very cold air as you can tell by the pictures. The babies had it best of all- the rest of us were freezing.

Now all we need for spring is some nice weather! I think it will be coming this weekend- hopefully!

hello again

2007-04-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

Well, after a little while, and Erin letting me know it had been a while, we are back in the blogging world. To be completely honest, not too much has happened since we went to the keys. That is, until this week. Eric, Katy and Matt came over on Wednesday night just in time for small group. It was nice having them there, especially since they doubled our small group that night! A lot of people were out, but the visitors made up for it. Thursday we spent too much time in Dick's sporting goods and then went to the beach for lunch and a walk. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! It was a little cold that day, so our walk was short. We came home and watched a movie- I think that part is a tradition. Friday we hung around the house for most of the day. Caleb took them to get Tropical Smoothie- my favorite- while I stayed home while Cole got a little much needed shut-eye. Friday night our friends Michael and Nina won a fondue party at a local chocolate shop for 15 of their friends. So we all went and had a great time with everyone. Thanks for inviting us Michael and Nina! No pictures of it because guess what, I forgot my camera again. We left the fondue party just in time to pick up my parents from the airport. It was great to have the whole family together! Saturday the girls went to a tea room here in Norfolk called The Painted Lady. It is super girly, but the food and tea are really good. We were seated in the wine cellar. It was big enough for our table only! It was really great. We ordered everything we wanted- thanks mom- and were stuffed by the end of it. Here are the pics Katy sent.

This is the outside. It is basically 2 old victorian homes made into a tea room.

This is me pretending I know how to drink tea.

Me and my new sista

Mom and the girls.

The boys went to a little hot dog shop called Pops. They got some good pictures there.

Then we went to the Fort Story lighthouse. The ones in the outerbanks are much better looking, and better kept, but it was still cool. But personally I think I would rather have the people that are in charge of the base it is on to be busy taking care of protecting our country, not painting a lighthouse.

We went to Applebee's for dinner where Grandpa really enjoyed giving Cole lemons. Cole has had them before but seemed to have buds of steel. Not anymore apparently. The lemons were really getting to him but he would just go back for more.

We got home and watched a movie. Everyone was pretty tired, but we had a great time anyway. All in all it was a great weekend. We don't know when everyone will be together again so we enjoyed it while it lasted.

Monday Caleb's parents came over. We did not do to much with them except hang out, but we still had a great time with them. Grandpa tried and tried to get Cole to say grandpa, but he just wouldn't do it. He loved when grandma would rock him to sleep, and he loved all the toys she brought for him! Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa Coston!

Cole has been growing and growing since my last post. His tricks are giving high-fives, waving and he is pretty close to clapping. Even though he has a lot of tricks, he still can't crawl. He gets closer and closer everyday, but still no movement. He did find his shadow during our Saturday morning family time.

We are excited for another summer here at the beach! If anyone else wants to come visit feel free! We would love to have you!

first part of the keys

2007-03-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

We left about 11pm and arrived at Danny's grandma and grandpa's house just in time for lunch. Becky had a nice time talking to Danny's grandma, while the rest of us fell asleep. We didnt really mean to- it just happened. Then we went to Orlando to visit Caleb's aunts Ardieth and Dolores. They are such sweet christian ladies- and the best hostesses anyone could ever ask for. They sure enjoyed seeing us again, but enjoyed meeting Cole even more.

Cole and Aunt Dolores

Cole and Aunt Ardieth

We loved being there so much we could have gone home happy after that visit but we still had more to go! We left early Monday morning to meet the Dillabaughs, Leanne, Ryan and Owen, Jimmy and Jhan in the keys. Monday we got there and set up our site. It was unseasonably cold for the keys- like 60- so we ate and hung out. Since each day was supposed to get hotter and hotter, we decided that Tuesday would be the best day for Key West. It was a little cold in the morning, but turned out to be so very nice.

We had lunch at a place that I never actually caught the name of.

Then we went shopping on Duval St. which is always fun. Duval dead ends into the Gulf- here's the view.

Then we went to an old fort that was used during the days when they used to use canons. It was pretty cool, but the best part was the view of course. We watched the sunset from a nearby beach on the fort. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we let everyone else take the pictures of it. Sorry. But here are a few good shots of Cole and Owen we got at the fort, on the grass.

That was the beginning half of the trip. The rest is coming soon!

the living room

2007-02-26T22:02:00.000-05:00

here is our mostly finished living room. we are going to do some decorating soon and install lights and a ceiling fan. it is like a whole new house here now. Caleb did a great job fixing everything, just like he always does. it sure has opened up our living space. We debated whether or not we should carpet some of it, or redo the wood floor and get an area rug. I know it is super nice to have wood floors, but I love carpet. Not a big fan of the wood floors in my living room. So we carpeted the living area and left the wood floor in the eating area. I think it was a good compromise. Let me know what you think or if you have any good decorating tips for me!

It used to be two seperate rooms and now...

just one big one!

Cole enjoying our new room.

We actually just got back from a trip to the Florida Keys. Thanks to the Dillabaughs, we were able to go down and camp with Danny, Becky and her family for the last 10 days. It was so great- the post is coming soon!

its a tooth!

2007-02-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

That's right folks, Cole officialy has his first tooth. You can't see it yet, but you sure can feel it. The bottom left front tooth- I'm sure it is going to be really cute once you can see it. Here are a few pics of our cute man even though you cant see the tooth. The outfit is compliments of Eric and Katy- thanks guys!

We are mostly done with out living room project. The pictures are coming soon- I cant seem to get it to stay clean enough to let everyone see it yet! It looks so fab though- worth all the work!

a month in review

2007-01-18T13:22:00.000-05:00

Alot has happened this month! I will spare you the details and just sum up.

Christmas was great! Seeing all the family and friends that we have not seen in a long time was very exciting for us. More so this year because they got to meet Cole. It was fun to have a baby at my family gatherings in Indiana. He got passed around alot and seemed to enjoy everyone, but I don't think it was quite as much as everyone was enjoying him. He was definitely the entertainment. He got all kinds of great things from his aunts and uncles. I will post pictures as he plays with/wears them. Here's one to get you started. Thanks Micah and Katie!

From Indiana to Michigan we got to see some snow. Nothing stuck, but we did get to see it. We were welcomed at Caleb's in Hope, MI with many arms awaiting hugs! When it was all said and done there were 17 of us staying at the farm, 7 of them children. It was a great time- never a dull moment. We did just about everything there was to do- talk, laugh, bowl, and eat!

It snowed just a little bit while we were there. Caleb got one of the snow mobiles out but there wasn't really enough snow for it to be tons of fun. So we got out the 4wheeler which turned out to be a ton of fun. Cole got his second ATV ride out to the "big tree" in the woods. Cole fell asleep until we got there, we took some great pictures, and he got another little nap on the way back in. Guess he is not afraid of the 4wheeler.

We really enjoyed our time there are are looking forward to going back in July.

Then from Midland to Cleveland where my parents now live. They said the apartment they are living in temporarily was small and they werent kidding. It was fine with us there but could have been a nightmare if anyone else would have been staying there too. We had a good time seeing people we havent seen in a long time. With some people it feels like you have to start the relationship over, but with others, you just pick up where you left off. Everyone has changed since I have lived there, me probably most of all, but there are a few that have changed in exactally the same ways, which is why I think we can just go on like we have seen each other often in the last 8 years instead of barely at all.
One of the most fun things we did in Cleveland was we went to the West Side Market and got a gyro. It is a really cool open air/inside market that sells fresh meat and produce. It was built in 1912 so everything is really old, but kept up well. I can remember dreading going there as a child, but his time it was really fun.

Since we have been home we have started remodeling our living/dining room. It has been quite a process, one that is not quite finished yet and probably wont be for some time, but it is looking better and better every day. Here are some pictures of our progress so far.

First, Caleb had to tear down the hugest fireplace known to man.

Then we tore out the wall the fireplace was on and tore down the ceiling. Our friends Danny, Becky, Erin, and Wes came to help.

From where I am standing, before the demolition you never would have been able to see Erin or the bookcases. Two little rooms are now one big one!

Thanks for all your help guys! Couldn't have done it without you!

Right now Caleb is finishing the drywall on the ceiling. The next step is painting- the fun part! More pics to come.

All in all, a very exciting month here at the Costons. Hopefully, the next update wont be another month away!

its begining to look a lot like spring

2006-12-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

Spending last pre-Christmas season with morning sickness, I don't quite remember, but I don't think the weather was this nice into December. I understand that we now live in the south (which I would like to clear up for those of you who took it differently in Caleb's post, that we do love the southern, small 's', area in which we live but there are things about the 'South' that we could live without) but this is crazy. I never thought we could have ever gone to the beach in December to get our Christmas picture taken, but this year we could because it was near 65 degrees the day we went. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is so warm, but to be completely honest, I love it. Maybe its too many winters at Northland, but I would take a tropical Christmas any day. Put on your board shorts, Santa, and come our way! I know the cold days are around the corner, so I am enjoying our mild start to winter.

We are excited for the Midwest Tour we are about to embark on this holiday season. First, we are going to Lafayette, IN to visit most of my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, and grandpas. We always look forward to this visit since we only get to see them once a year. After a few days there, we will be going to Caleb's parents house in Midland, MI. They got a new-to-them snowmobile so hopefully there is a lot of snow to play in. Then we will be going to my parents one bedroom apartment in Cleveland, OH. They recently moved from Detroit and decided to build a house. Thankfully, Eric and Katy, and Matt and Carla will not be there when we are there. That's a lot of people to be in a one bedroom apartment!

While I enjoy every Sunday, this is one of my favorite times of year to worship the Lord and meditate on the birth of our Savior. Every year I am struck with the words from Philippians 2:5-8 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." My prayer is that one day I might consistently have this mind of Christ. Oh how thankful I am for the grace seen in the manger, the grace seen on the cross, and the grace to one day see Christ in all His glory.

Merry Christmas.

is that solid food?!

2006-12-03T22:13:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah baby- its cereal time. Cole had his 4 month appointment this last week and he is doing great! 12 whole pounds and 24" of pure boy and the go ahead from our wonderful pediatrician for solid foods. Not really expecting to get the green light, I was a little unprepared. That is the same spoon Caleb and I use, but he seems to like it. Now he thinks everything that is silver is going to give him something to eat, including D-Trains pocket knife. So all in all, cereal has been a fun addition to our lives here on Grandy Ave. Except the solid food diapers- not my favorite.

Here it comes!!!

I don't know about this!

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! That's not milk.

He didn't quite know about the first bite, but got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Caleb is anxious to be done with this semester of seminary. This semester has been pretty challenging for him, but he has done a great job. There have been a lot of adjustments to our lives, but he always handles everything so well. I appreciate all the sacrifices he makes for our family. He is a great husband and dad.

happy thanksgiving, back

2006-11-28T09:38:00.000-05:00

Cole's first thanksgiving was a great one. We truly have so many things to be thankful for. The Lord is always good, but we have seen His grace abound more and more toward us this year.
Even though we could not go home for this holiday, we were still able to have a great celebration of God's grace with Stephen, Sarah and Nathan Branine. Stephen made the turkey, Sarah made most everything else, Caleb and I made the pies and Nathan brought the entertainment. We of course watched the Lions game, which is just part of Thanksgiving. Then we had the pleasure of watching Nacho Liebre. If you haven't seen it yet,"You crasy!", come with a Napoleon Dynamite mentality and you will love it.
Branine's dog Calistoga was the entertainment for Cole. He laughed at her for about ten minutes. Apparently our dog Mo just isn't as cool as Cali. Sorry, Mo, Cole might not think you are the coolest, I still think you're the best. We got it all on video, but I don't know how or if we could get it on here. If anyone knows how or if- let me know.

And of course Friday was shopping day. Although somewhat depressing because we can't afford what we would like to buy for our families (but then again, who can?), the day turned out to be very successful. I want to say we got up bright and early, but it definitely wasn't bright here at 4am! We got to Kohls around 4:45 and we were out by 5:45 with most of our gifts. Not too shabby! Family- if you are reading- I think you will like what we got for you! Especially you Eric- yours is by far the best.

So- all in all- a great holiday weekend. Looking forward to the next one!

can a truck make you prejudice? caleb's post

2006-11-18T16:34:00.000-05:00

I sneaked on the blog to put a picture of my new work truck. The only problem with this truck is that I am immediately judged. All the rednecks think that I love the south- which I don't love, and that I don't like african americans, which I do like. The other day a gritty white construction worker saluted me like I was general lee in the flesh. I was coming home through the neighborhood and some guy said, "hey, brother," as if I was on his team now. To top it all off, I was driving to work and I saw this little 'want to be' truck with around a hundred confederate bumber stickers on it. I knew that I was going to get some sort of rebel accolade by this piece of work. Sure enough, he proudly rolled down his window just to show me the peace sign as I drove on by. I am thinking of painting "big yank" on the back. maybe loosing the cammo would be the first thing necessary to stop this chicanery.

Locks of Love

2006-11-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

After seeing how long my hair could get while I was pregnant, I decided to get it hacked off today. I had a good ten to eleven inches I was going to get cut off, so I decided to donate it to locks of love. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the process, they put your hair in a pony tail and cut it off in one big snip. This left me with a very large chunk of hair that has to be mailed. We got it home and we couldn't resist. Here is a little forshadowing of what Cole might have to look forward to and maybe what our future daughter might look like.

so, you'll never have a blog, hugh?

2006-11-13T14:02:00.000-05:00

I have learned the last few years not to make "I will never..." statements. It seems that all the "I will never" are the ones that always actually do happen. For instance, I said in high school "I will never be a pastor's wife!" and where do I find myself, but in lovely Virginia Beach with my husband Caleb who is in seminary. Another one is "I will never wear pink!" I now own and wear a very pink shirt. BUT I would like to add that I did not buy it. And that brings us to the "never"statement that we find coming true today- "I will never have a blog!"

So what has made this a reality? Why blog? Some blog for therapy, some just for fun, others to stay in touch but my answer is simple. I became a mother to Cole Michael Coston, the most adorable baby boy on the planet. With family and friends far away, this seemed to be the best option to keep them up to date on how our little Cole is doing.

Here's this weeks update: Now 3 1/2 months old, Cole is doing great. He finally met Uncle Eric and Aunt Katy at their wedding the first weekend in November. It was nice for everyone. Maybe a little weird for the bride and groom because they didn't even see me really pregnant. They saw us last Christmas, when I was looking pretty much normal, and the next time they saw us, we had a three month old. Hopefully, we will get to see them more often this coming year.

Cole's milestone this week is that he let out a big old belly laugh. I thought I was going to cry. Okay, not really, but it was one of the cutest things I have ever heard. Uncle Danny and Aunt Becky Adams got to hear it too. I cant seem to get him to do it again, but that has not stopped me from trying and probably looking like a total idiot. You who have had kids understand, I'm sure.

Closing with some great shots of our little man.

Normally, Caleb doesn't like Cole to wear anything with ears,

but he makes an exception for the robe.

the blog rookie

2006-10-08T22:46:00.000-04:00

i swore i would never blog- and here i am.