Cass Alta

The middle names we choose are always family names. Alta is after Joel’s grandmother, Joel’s mom’s mom. She lives in Ephrata, PA and she has to be one of the coolest 70 or 80-something year olds I know. I seriously could hang out at their house all the time. She comes from a Mennonite background, although they got kicked out of the Mennonite church whenever they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She speaks Pennsylvania Dutch which I always thought was just a dialect or something, but no...it's an actual totally different language that I can't understand. She is super duper Godly (as is her husband) and we love to just sit in their living room and glean the wisdom that oozes out of their pores. She raised 8 children...4 girls and 4 boys. And we just love her, bottom line.

Now Grandpa has had many children named after him (including Joel Stanley). But, this is a first for Grandma and it is high time. :) Alta means “high, tall.”

Now, for Cass. There are several reasons we picked Cass. I’ll just list them here for you.
1. Joel has always loved the name Cassandra. I like it, but it was just too common for my liking (as in, I know someone named that...that’s the definition of common for me)...plus the fact that Joel already has 2 first cousins with this name.
2. I’ve always liked the name Cassidy or Cassie, but again...just too common (if you have that name, please don’t be offended...I’m a little extreme...remember, my definition of common – if I know someone with that name, it’s common).
3. We even toyed with the name Kassia...it was actually on our name list from the very beginning of having children. Joel went to college with a girl named Kassia (I knew her too...great gal). But, it just didn’t seem right and that is a pretty common name here in Brasil (yes, again...I don’t like common...old news).
4. In college I had a nursing instructor who was just so super cool. She had been an air force nurse and married a man (a brain surgeon actually) who already had a son. She would tell us stories about this son all the time (I’m pretty sure he lived with them full-time) and I’m not sure what his actual name was, but they called him Cass (his initials were CAS). I just liked the sound of it.
5. And, for some reason I remember hearing about Mama Cass from the 70's music group, The Mamas and The Papas...even when I first heard about her (when I was little), I liked the sound of that name.

So, I guess we both have a history with that name or forms of that name. We were discussing it in the kitchen a few months ago and Joel once again said that he liked Cassandra. I said that I had always liked Cassidy and Cassie. Then I told him about my nursing instructor’s son and Mama Cass and so there it was...just Cass. Forms of the names we both liked, simple, and not common.

I looked it up in my name books...I have 2. One book has a boy and girl section and one book is just one big book with no distinctions between boy and girl names. The book with no distinctions has Cass listed as a form of the name Cassidy, which is Irish and means “clever, wise.”

In the other book that distinguishes between boy and girl names, in the girl section, the name Cass is listed as a form of Cassandra, which is Greek and means “helper of men.”

In the boy section of that same book, it is listed as a form of Cassidy also...Irish, meaning “clever; curly-haired.” I thought the curly-haired part was esp. interesting given the trend of hair in our family. :)

So, therefore all the different meanings for Cass Alta can add up to a clever, wise, curly-haired, helper of men, high (and lifted up...that’s what I always think of) tall girl. :) We’re still praying over what exactly this means in our little Cass’s (or is it Cass’) life...we have had very distinct 2-word meanings that came forth from prayer for our other 3 and I’m sure that will be the case for this little special one too. Just wanted to give you the lowdown on the name and why we chose it though. We absolutely love it.

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Just a reminder of the other kids’ names and meanings (some of you have asked recently):
Grady Lester – Noble Knight
Hadley Cloteal – Sweet Joy
Eissa Rose – Peaceful Healer

These pictures are from this morning when the kids came in and really saw Cass and spent time with her for the first time. We woke them up last night after she was born. The plan had been for them to come in when I was pushing and be able to actually see her be born, but it all happened pretty quickly (more on that later), so they just came in afterwards. Even though they were beside themselves with excitement before going to bed, they had been asleep for a couple of hours and honestly just weren’t into it...wanted to go back to bed and didn’t understand why they had been woken up. :) So, this morning was really the first time they really saw her.

So cute too...a little fun fact as far as her name: Hadley keeps calling her “castle.” :) Love that. So funny.

Will post about the birth tomorrow.





This picture cracks me up...I really don't know what we were laughing about.




Grady was watching this show...

Always the comic relief.




Loving on her new baby. This was impromptu...we didn't lead her to do this. She seems completely fine with the new addition.

Me and my 3!! daughters.

Another Sweet Little Girl!

Cass Alta Ebersole
March 25, 2008
9:50 PM
7 lbs. 1 oz.
18.9 in. long
Born in a wonderful Brazilian homebirth after only 3 hours and 20 minutes of labor.

More about the birth, the name, and of course more pictures to come.

First bath already. Look at those dimples.

Two of the Best Movies Ever

Since hopefully in the next few days I will be talking baby stuff again, I thought I'd give it a break. :) So, here is a completely non-baby, non-birthing post. :)

Because I know you are so curious, 2 of my favorite movies of all time are:

1. Hoosiers – I used to watch this at least once a day when I was in high school...esp. during basketball season. It totally and completely captures the feel of small-town basketball. I can watch it now and be completely taken back to the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of being in high school and playing basketball. You have to understand that basketball was HUGE (is huge) in Saline, LA. My 8th grade year us girls went to state and got 2nd. My 9th-12th grade years us girls did fine, but didn’t make it back to state. But, our boys one state all 4 of those years. The boys also went back 3 years after that (after I graduated) and got 2nd each of those years. Even when not having winning seasons, basketball is still huge there. LOVE it. So, of course, that contributes to why this movie is such a great one to me. Even if you’re not into basketball or small-town sports, it’s a winner. You should check it out. Oh, and it’s also based on a real-life story. Great actors in this movie: Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, and Barbara Hershey.

2. Empire of the Sun – These movies are basically night and day to each other. I saw this movie probably about the same time...when I was in Jr. high or so. It tells the story of a boy accidentally lost and left behind, seperated from his family at the start of World War II after the Japanese Army invades British controlled areas of China. It is a great story about resourcefulness and a resilient spirit. It’s a beautiful movie too. Great actors as well: a very young Christian Bale and John Malkovich.

So, go to your local video store and check these out. Since they are so old, they should be pretty cheap to rent too. :)

A Pot of Water

That's what I am. You know, the kind you watch and wait and watch some more and it just NEVER STARTS TO BOIL. :) The good thing is that truthfully, it does start to boil. It's good to know that there are things that you can definitely count on. A pot of water on heat will eventually boil...it's just a fact. A pregnant girl...she will eventually deliver that baby. ;)

Five years ago on Easter we found out we were pregnant with Grady. We called my family who was all at the lake at Aunt Cheryl's house for their annual Easter festivities. I thought it would be so neat to call yesterday to tell them that there was a new baby. But alas (don't you just love that word?)...no call was made. I tried to tell God what a good plan that was...how neatly that just tied everything together. Ha ha ha. Hmmm, apparently His ways are higher or something. :)

This weekend was really great. It was very relaxing as I have said. Yesterday after lunch, Eissa napped, I read, and Joel and the kids went to visit our neighbors. Joel came back after a while and the kids had stayed with the little 2 yr. old girl there to watch a movie, eat "popcorns" (as they call it), and drink goiaba juice. They were in heaven...friends, movie, popcorns, juice...how can you beat that?

Around the same time, our doctor from Goiania came. He's been planning to come just for a visit...mainly to make sure he knew how to get here when the time comes. So, he and his wife and 2 daughters came by. It was a great visit.

After they left, we all went for a walk. Then we played at the park for a long time, until it started really getting dark. A couple of other faculty members were there with their kiddos...it was fun.

We came home, took showers, had supper, and then had our own little church service here at our house. Joel happened to teach us about 1 John 4:7-8. Nice...Mama knows a song for that Bible lesson (thanks, Psalty!). Then we prayed, specifically for the baby. Then we just talked...more about baby. It's weird...I've NEVER even wanted the kids at the birth. I always thought it would just be too distracting. But, it just might happen this time. So, we just talked about it. They have been super inquisitive anyway (and I never back down from a good question), so it's fun. We'll see what actually happens when the time comes.

It's now 5:30am here and I can't sleep. I woke up about 3:30. I usually sleep really well, but not tonight. Bummer too because Joel has to leave for Asas again in about 2 hours after this glorious long weekend. Eeesh, handling the household all by myself at this point in my pregnancy after having such great help for 3 whole days...not looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll manage. Maybe I can even grab a few more Zzz's before then.

Here are some pictures we took Friday and Saturday.

Friday morning Joel took the kids to the park. Then some of their friends came back with them to play until lunchtime. They had lots of fun. Here they were playing with an inchworm.
Of course they got some chores in. I love how Eissa seems to be totally delegating and running the show here. Funny.


More playing. The kids got some GREAT playtime in with Daddy. It was so fun...Joel's so great with that. They were driving in their cars all over the place and doing all sorts of things in their imaginations.


The kids bring me flowers constantly. There is almost always play-doh on the table too. So, this was our make-shift vase the other day.

Happy Easter!!

Not much to share since yesterday. Not much going on. :) We are just hanging out here at the house. I've been checking out a GREAT website online that I LOVE. If you are interested in anything to do with babies and birthing, check out this site. TONS of great information and encouragement for a girl about to deliver, that's for sure.

For those of you who are not at all interested in "placentas and crap" (as my friend Brock worded it a while back...ha ha ha), I am happy to inform you that Joel has once again taken up blogging. You will be able to see a glimpse into his world here, so check out his JungleJoel site.

Joel and the girls are at the store as I type this. Me and Grady are hanging out here having some Mama/Grady time. We just finished eating our baked oatmeal that Joel made us for breakfast. We'll be having a hamburger lunch...yummy. Then we'll take naps and go to church. Ahh...another very relaxing day.

Easter is a big deal here, but no bunny or baskets or Easter egg hunts or anything. Some of you had asked, so just thought I'd let you know.

And, just a few pictures we took the other day of the kids with my belly. I'm posting the whole shoot actually. Enjoy the kids and their different poses.





















And then one more thing. I saw this on that site I was telling you about and thought it was just so sweet. Cute to look at it from baby's perspective:

My First Home created by three sisters, the Glasner girls. The college age daughter, Jessica, painted the pictures and came up with the story, the high school aged daughter, Emily, composed the music and the 5th grade daughter, Madeline, is the narrator.

THIS IS IT!!

The due date, that is. Yep, 40 weeks today. Feeling good here. I'm still holding at a 34-35 lb. weight gain (so weird; by the way, in the picture, looks like my belly has actually shrunk to me...it must just the black though). Nothing new though.

Thankfully I still haven't felt impatient or anxious. Others feel that way. :) Kind of like in college when I had a 30-page paper due and the day before I started working on it. Everyone in my class was SO freaking out...except me. I knew it would get done. :) Ahh, memories.

Anyway, for me it was going to be a great surprise if it happened before my due date, but it would've really and truly been a surprise. So, here we are at the point where it will no longer be a surprise.

Even though you can say "any day now" at the 37 week point, realistically, 40 weeks is when you can say that for me. And, since it's something like only 10% of babies that are born on their actual due dates, let's go ahead and count today out. :) So, we're looking at anytime this week I guess, starting tomorrow. :) If I get around to next Saturday and still no baby...then I might be getting a little impatient. :)

So, we are just enjoying ourselves around here. Since we are thinking we might have a break after this little one also, who knows when I will feel a baby kicking around inside of me again? So, I'm just soaking that up too...relaxing and getting ready for the birth. It's been really good to have this down time.

Joel was off yesterday of course...very relaxing day. Today will probably be the same...just relaxing at home. Hope you enjoy your Easter weekend too. (P.S. The kids decided they needed to have some balloon bellies and take some pictures with me. Eissa was napping, otherwise I'm sure she would've participated too.)

Easter Program

Still no nene (nay-nay...means baby). In fact, nothing going on with my body anymore...no progression that I can tell. We are having a great Good Friday, just hanging out with the kids and relaxing. We'll keep you posted as usual.

So, the kids had a great little Easter program at their school on Wednesday. It was so fun. We got some video of their song. Unfortunately, Joel was doing the video part and didn't even realize that Hadley was in the same group as Grady doing the same song, so we don't have any close-ups of Hadley. So sad too...not only do we not have close-ups, but Joel of course didn't even SEE her do her singing. I felt so bad for him. Anyway...it was all really cute and Hadley was sitting close to Grady so we did get her in the video a couple of brief times on accident. :) Maybe we can post some video at some point. We haven't really figured out a good quick and easy way to post videos. When something like that isn't quick and easy around here, lots of times it doesn't get done. So, maybe soon. But, in the meantime, here are some pictures of that day.

Just some fun pictures of the kids before their Easter program. They had to wear white for the program.
Again, my new favorite picture of the kids. We had told the older 2 to get together. Eissa saw pictures being taken and thought sure she was supposed to be in there too. She was sneaking in, cheesing bigtime. Love the whole thing...Grady the big, protective, responsible brother. Hadley looking up to her big brother. And Eissa just being goofy.



We sat up in the balcony. They had lots of little acts...some skits, lots of dances by different groups. The dance teacher there is a cross between Tara and Tandra Anderud (just a fun little fact for you Longview people)...she's gorgeous and graceful and the kids really like their dance class that they have once a week. Fun stuff.

She's got such a model stare and pout going on here...cute...and funny.
Joel said they were telling the gospel left and right during the whole thing...really cool. They even had a crucifixion scene. They were bringing up things like "nobody has marked time like Jesus...not Buddha, not anyone else." It was very well put together.
Grady had told me the day before that they had church at class. I said, "Oh, did you practice for your Easter program and sing songs?" He said, "No, we had church." :) No wonder he was so adamant. Really funny.

Grady and Hadley have the circles around them...you can hopefully spot them in the next few pictures too as they sing their song and do the hand motions. You might have to click on the picture to enlarge these though.




After the program they had some refreshments. It was kind of like a "communion" actually...bread/sandwiches and grape juice.
They were all given this as a little present from their teachers/the school. Really cute. They are still walking around the house with these treasures...love them.