Haddie, meet your brothers!

We've been asked a lot how the boys are doing with their sister. And the answer is, they adore her. They love to give her hugs and kisses. These pictures are when they came home on Monday night. Micah walked in and said excitedly, "hey...BABY"! Eli walked in and knelt by her swing. He whispered to me, "can I hold her"? 

At first I put Haddie in the boppy pillow around Eli and he said "I want to hold her with my hands".

The boys were very tired, but loved their sister at first sight.

Haddie Joy Wichert

I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

Psalm 139:14

Our sweet girl is here. Her name is Haddie Joy Wichert. Haddie is a name we have liked for quite awhile. In fact, if Micah had been a girl he would have been Haddie. Joy is a name she shares with her Aunt Estey and great grandma Willems. We hope that Haddie grows up to know the true JOY of the LORD and that He has made her both fearfully and wonderfully. 

Just a little thing- 5lb 11oz, 18in

When I was getting her dressed, she found her fingers. 

Her birth story: I was scheduled to have an induction on January 5th. But on January 2nd, right after lunch, I decided to lay down for a nap. I had a horrible cold that had kept me from sleeping well for several nights. As I laid on the couch, I looked at Brent and said "uh, Brent, I'm pretty sure that if I sit up my water just broke". Brent went into action, walking around the house without much of a plan. He started by calling the hospital and then his parents (to pick up the boys). This was at 1:45. At about 4, his parents picked up the boys and we headed to the hospital. Once we got checked in, they started me on pitocin. At this point, my contractions were every 20 minutes and I was dilated to a 3. As soon as they started the pitocin, they came every 5 and then shortly after every 3. My water was a green color, because little Miss Haddie had pooped, so that meant we needed a pediatrician to be at the birth to make sure she hadn't swallowed any of that yuck. I got my epidural which was slightly eventful. The doc couldn't quite find where to put it and at this point, my contractions were very strong and every 3 minutes. Little did I know, Brent was in the corner of the room feeling quite queasy. Not knowing this, I made him come over and hold my hand anyway. :) The doctor finally got the epidural in and upped my medicine. And then it was literally time to have a baby. The pediatrician walked in, I pushed through 2 contractions and Haddie was here. She was born at 7:28 pm. After that, they took her to a table to check her out, but only for a couple of minutes and then she was back with me and doing great! We thank God for the way he orchestrated this birth and know that Haddie is His. 

Heading home- 24 hours after we had Haddie 

Wichert Christmas Letter 2015

I won't be sending out a traditional Christmas letter in the mail this year, but I still wanted to document our year. So if you're interested, continue reading what 2015 has brought us and the changes that means for 2016. 

Brent: Brent continues to work with The Eye Doctors in Salina and Herington, but had a change to his work in September with the purchase of an optometry practice in Hutchinson. So in addition to working Tuesday-Saturday with the Eye Docs, Brent has been working in Hutch on Mondays. The goal is that this will become his full-time practice. Starting in January, he will add Fridays to his schedule in Hutch. As patient demand increases, he will hopefully add more days to his schedule. The office is called Wichert Optometry, LLC, so if you're in the area he'd love to see you! Brent also enjoys playing basketball with many of his high school buddies in McPherson, and heading up the Sunday afternoon ballers at our church. He continues to help with the youth group at our church on Wednesdays. All while being the best daddy to 2 little boys, he stays busy. 

Cindy: I have been staying busy with church activities. My favorite is being a part of the worship ministry in choir and on the worship team. This has kept me quite busy on Sundays, but it truly is a blessing to me. I also enjoy Tuesday morning Bible Study (Women of the Word). We just finished up Kay Arthur's study on Covenant and it was transforming for me. I also helped plan VBS this year. These activities along with keeping up with the boys and being very pregnant have kept me plenty busy. We like to go to high school activities (youth group kids and Wertenberger-coached activities) when we're able and I continue to enjoy working on projects around our house. 

Eli: Eli just turned 4 and is our steady one. He is predictable, particular, and calm most of the time. He likes to play dump trucks, tools, farming, crafts, is obsessed with counting things, and is starting to show some interest in reading. He is not reading, but he will see signs and want me to read them to him. He loves to be read to and will listen as long as time allows. He doesn't show much interest in writing, but has started coloring. He really is a sweet boy and often, out of the blue, will say "mom, I sure do love you". Melts my heart. We attempted swimming lessons this summer and they went terribly, but we may try them again this summer. This was our first attempt at anything "organized". He doesn't go to official preschool, but we've been doing some things at home and he seems to pick up skills quickly. So thankful for this boy and his personality.

Micah: Micah just turned 20 months and is our little entertainer. He has a mischievous look about him that even strangers will comment on. He LOVES to play with his brother and is very thoughtful of Eli. When Eli is upset, he will sometimes go get his George (Curious George monkey) and bring it to him. He loves to play rough, has little fear, and likes to play catch. His favorite game is when mom asks for kisses he shakes his head "no" and then I tickle him. We play it several times a day. He really is a sweet boy and we are so thankful for his role in our family. 

Our family took a trip this past winter to visit our friends in Colorado. There were 4 couples total. The men went skiing while the ladies manned the kids and home front. We had a great time in March in Hutchinson for state basketball as both Ben's and Josh's (Cindy's brothers) teams made it to the tournament. For my birthday Brent surprised me with a trip to Oklahoma City for a Thunder game. He arranged it so we met our friends from Bixby there. It was wonderful. The summer brought the McKim family reunion (Cindy's mom's side of the family) at Rock Springs 4H Ranch. September, when we purchased Wichert Optometry, I went to work with Brent for several weeks. He trained me as a pre-tester and although I enjoyed being with him, I was glad to be fired once he found a replacement. :) While we were at work, the boys spend some quality time with Brent's parents on the farm and with our friend Misty. They had such a great time and I don't know that they were as thankful when mom got fired. :) Any day now, we are expecting the arrival of our 3rd baby and first baby girl! We are so excited for "baby sister" to arrive and are praying for her delivery. 

We would be amiss if we didn't include our Savior in our letter. He is our Sustainer, Deliverer, and Comforter. We have witnessed several dear friends and family endure unthinkable tragedies this year and we know that He is still on his throne. We know that someday He will make all things right. And until that day comes (we hope it's soon) we will continue to trust in His plan and in His timing. We won't understand it all on this sin-filled earth, but we DO trust in the ONE that created it all. 

Merry Christmas to you all,

The Wicherts
Brent - Cindy - Eli - Micah - Baby Sister