Greta- 10 months

10 months, where have you gone? Greta is closing in on the year 1 and it's just wild how quickly it has gone. As you can see by her pictures, Greta's hair has gotten more wild but her personality remains sweet as can be. 

Greta has her first Christmas and we all enjoyed it with her. She is still scooting around on her belly. The other day I was noticing she alternates which arm she uses to push off from. She's gotten quite fast. 

Her top teeth finally popped through a week or so ago. She is sleeping very well and has taken to food- even of the pureed variety! We've introduced some cow's milk and so far that is going well. She nurses 4 times a day. 

Oh Greta Jo, we love you so! 

 

Eli is 11

What a fun time we've had this last year with our oldest. He really is such a fun, funny, and kind person. It is weird having a kid grow and change and become part-adult in little bits and spurts. But it also is so much fun to have a front-row seat, most of the time. 

Eli continues to love to be competitive and play just about any sport that can have a score and winner. :) As I'm writing this, Dad and Eli and Micah are playing on the Xbox. Everyday we get an update of recess touchdown stats and scores and the level of fair/unfair teams, etc. He's an avid Dallas Cowboys fan. He is currently in basketball season and told me the other day he thinks its the sport he has the best chance of being good at. I love that he thinks through things that way. It's clearly how God made him. 

He also has a soft heart and we've noticed his compassion and empathy grow as he himself grows. Again, another thing God wove into his being. He doesn't always notice everything around him, but when he does he is good at showing he cares. His siblings probably get to be the recipients of this the most. He isn't a jerk to them. I love that about him. 

Probably the biggest addition/change to Eli from last year is his love of trading cards. It is insane how he has taken to this hobby and knows years of cards by looking at their design or knowing what year was a particular athletes rookie year. He sometimes quizzes Micah on these facts as they're going to sleep. It's a hobby I don't really understand, but I do love that they can do it together and really get a lot of joy out of it. AND it doesn't involve a screen so, win-win. 

He is still an avid reader. I'm currently working through The Wingfeather series. Brent and he read them first and I started reading after they suggested it. Well, he just lapped me making his way past book 2 for the second time. In his class, there are other students that make book suggestions to him and he for them and it's one of my favorite things from the classroom. Speaking of classroom, he'll be in middle school next year! What? Oh and he dressed up like his dad for his 5th grade school picture. 

Eli is also one of our most consistent prayers. He reminds us of people we need to pray for by praying for them every night. He is also fascinated by the missionaries that come through our church and often chooses to sit and listen to their stories instead of running around or going to his own class. And running around the church is literally one of his favorite things. :) 

We just continue to find it a real privilege and blessing to be Eli's parents and pray we are raising him to know who he is in Jesus. 

Christmas Letter 2022

Wichert Family

Christmas 2022

2022 has had its shares of joys and sorrows. At the end of March Brent’s Dad died suddenly of a heart attack. We are still mourning his loss and always will. There’s hope with Jesus and knowing Grandpa is there, in the presence of his Savior and yet we feel the loss of him not being here with us. Knox has started saying “Grandpa Wichert with Jesus” and it’s sweet and true and heart breaking. We’re learning to sit in the complexity of all those emotions without having to fix any of them- because well, they can’t be fixed. 

At the beginning of February Brent took the big boys to Colorado skiing. They had a blast and enjoyed their first plane ride there and back. On February 28th Greta Jo joined our family, but you probably already knew that. :) In June we took a short trip out to western Kansas to see Little Jerusalem and Monument Rock. Brent’s mom and sister came too. Our family stayed in a converted grain bin Airbnb and made memories of no sleep and singing until everyone was quiet. And at the beginning of August we added Luna (a border collie/lab mix puppy) to our family. She’s been a learning experience, but really is the perfect dog for us. Also this summer we hosted the college kids in our home and one week two brothers brought our two big brothers a big bin of baseball, basketball, and football cards. This gift led Eli and Micah into their new most avid hobby of collecting, pricing, and wishing for more cards. 

Eli is in 5th grade and continues to be an avid reader, competitor, and jokester. We all think he’s pretty funny, but maybe not quite as funny as he thinks he is. He played basketball last winter, did quite a bit of pitching for his baseball team, wrapped up soccer season recently and has begun basketball . It’s hard to believe he’ll be in middle school next year, but we are really enjoying this season with him.

Micah is in 3rd grade and is becoming quite the little reader himself. About two months ago he would have told you he didn’t like reading, but he’s recently been caught reading when he’s supposed to be sleeping so I think he’s come around. His 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Adkins tends to have that effect on Wichert kids. Basketball, baseball, and soccer have all been in Micah’s schedule too. He preferred 1st base and really likes playing defense but his soccer team was quite good so the defensive side was pretty boring. He’s a really good friend and has a variety of friends to prove it. 

Haddie is in 1st grade. She played t-ball this summer with Lana and now they are both in ballet. She is really starting to notice words that she knows and is trying to teach Greta her digraph rules for phonics. She’s such a little mama. She is a great helper at school and home and recently got the character trait award for Trust at school.

Lana is in her last year at home with mom- next stop is Kindergarten and she is so ready to be with the big kids. Her worst days are when the kids have school. She loves when everyone is home and loves most when someone will play Legos, Barbies, or art with her. When we told her she was going to do ballet she said “all my dreams are coming true”. 

Knox is 2.5 and whew, what a kid! He goes hard and fast and loud. He likes a snack and helps himself whenever he pleases. If no one notices, even better! He easily makes us all laugh at least once a day. He likes the Chiefs when he’s on the girls' good side and Cowboys when he’s on the boys. He loves sucking his thumb, his foxie, Paw Patrol, and grandma’s house. 

Greta is the best baby (shhhh, don’t tell the others). She is just the chillest sweetest little girl. She also is a thumb sucker and likes her little bunny she sleeps with. She is scooting around and seems like she’ll be “proper” crawling soon. 

And Brent and I are just getting older. Ha! We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this summer and love and really like each other. We are still active at church and with our kids and frankly, that’s about all we have time for. We’ve also thrown in a little farming into the mix, which has been a fun-frustrating-exciting-time-consuming learning experience. Navigating the loss of Brent’s Dad has reinforced how blessed we are to have each other. God is good. He’s still on His throne. He delights in our worship and in us. That’s enough to mull over for 2023. We love you all. 

Brent & Cindy Wichert

Eli, Micah, Haddie, Lana, Knox & Greta