Zane is one month old today.
The Holy Family
Kilikina posted about a great Christmas craft. This is our version of the finished product. (Dylan is giving baby Jesus some tender loves.)
My Cousin
Please pray for my cousin, Pamela. She was in a serious accident last night. She has lost part of her left leg, broken her left femur and has some damage to her face near her eye. She is 17 years old. I am broken-hearted today for her and her parents. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers...especially over Christmas.
Please also think of her friend - who was driving.
Adjusting to the New Family Dynamics
We have been busy adjusting to our new family and recovering from the whole birth experience. Mom has been coming to our house bright-and-early every weekday morning and not leaving until supper is on the table. She has been so wonderful! I am so thankful that she took the time off to help us - I really don't know what I would have done! This is her last week with us and I get a little panicky thinking about doing it on my own before I'm completely recovered...this whole blood-loss thing has got me just plain exhausted. I will definitely have to lower our housekeeping standards for a while:-)
Last weekend, we did some Christmas caroling with friends. We were pulled on a horse-drawn sleigh around town. It was great fun! Here are some pictures - you'll have to excuse the attire - it was freakin' cold! And I had to wear Dwayne's snowmobile jacket, as it was the only one I could fit Zane under.
Zane Braden is Here!
Our 3rd little boy has arrived. Zane was born last Friday, the 23rd of November. He weighed 6lbs 6oz and was a whopping 21 1/2" long. We had him by c-section (which I don't recommend). He was in the neonatal intensive care unit at first, as he had a partially collapsed lung and some fluid on his lungs. That has cleared up and he is very healthy and gaining weight really well. Thanks to God!
For those of you who don't remember, I had placenta previa, which can cause some complications. When they cut for the c-section, they cut the placenta. It caused alot of bleeding. They considered a blood transfusion, even the next day, because I had lost so much blood but decided against it. I was happy with that but am not looking forward to the long recovery that blood loss requires. I really want to thank everyone for their prayers - things went as well as they could have, given the circumstances.
Here are some pictures for everyone to enjoy...
This was the last day I was pregnant.
It was a little scary seeing Zane hooked up to all the monitors!
So happy to have you here...happy & healthy!
Snuggling with mama.
First bath...not too happy about it!
Proud Daddy!
Proud big brother, Dylan!
Mama is t-i-r-e-d! But happy to see her other boys!
Granny and her grandbabies!
My dear friend, Renee, drove 4 hours to come see us. She showed up at my hospital room door with a mischievious grin, a bouquet of flowers and a large gift-bag full of baby clothes. What a treat!
Proud big brother, Kobe!
My 3 boys.
My 4 boys.
Still pretty tired-looking, but oh so glad to be home!
Baby Day
Today we travel to the 'city'. We spend the night so we can be at the hospital at 6am to get ready for my c-section. My surgery is scheduled for 8am. Can't wait to meet our new little boy! See you all when I get back.
House Tour
For those of you who have been emailing me for pictures of the house, here they are. We are moving in tomorrow. We are mostly done, with a few minor things that will continue to be worked on after we get in: trim on the main floor, jaccuzzi tub trim & faucets, mirrors in the bathroom, etc.
Now for the tour...
This is from the foyer looking into the living room.
If you look up while in the foyer, you will see the upstairs.
Look to your left from the foyer and you will see the homeschool room. There will be french doors here, but they aren't installed yet.
Look to your right from the foyer and you will see the playroom. There will also be french doors here which aren't installed yet.
Looking back at the foyer.
Go straight from the foyer and you go past the main-floor bathroom.
Keep going and you are in the living room.
Turn around to see the kitchen. The dining room is on the right, but I realized I have no picture of it. The living room, kitchen and dining room are all open to each other. Laundry is off the kitchen.
Then you head upstairs.
I chose baby blue and chocolate brown for each of the childrens' bedrooms. On one brown wall in each of their rooms, I am putting baby blue wall quotes with the scripture verse that goes...
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.Numbers 6:24-26.
This is where you look down to the foyer below.
This is the main upstairs bathroom.
Our master bedroom. This is where the jaccuzzi tub is, but it is not quite finished yet. I am having a c-section in a week so I will not be able to use it for a little bit anyways. It will be done by the time I'm ready to hop in!
We have a great view of the mountains from one of the tub windows and a view of the garage roof from the other...whoops! At least it will give us light in there!
Our ensuite & walk-in closet.
I don't have any pictures of the basement. There is nothing exciting down there. We are leaving it unfinished - with 3 boys there needs to be a rough-and-tumble place to play when the weather stinks! Floor hockey and such will be lots of fun down there for them!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour! I have to get to bed now, as it will be a long day tomorrow. By the way...Joanne, it looks like you owe me lunch after all!
I Won!
I won the 'baby bump' contest that I posted about below! Too exciting! I think I won some sort of Hanes deluxe gift set. It's nice to post about something that is a little more positive and not scary!
The Countdown Is On!
Well...there are only 6 days left until our house is done and we move in. I am so not ready - packed or anything - as I am on semi-bedrest. I really hate having to rely on other people so much. In 12 days, we will have our brand-new baby boy! Wow, it's all finally happening.
In a couple of days I will post some house-update pictures.
My Belly Bump
I am entering into Happy Panda's Cyber Baby Shower. For contest #2, they want to see a picture of my 'baby bump'. Here are a couple:
Sure hope I win something!
I have posted both of these pictures before. Sorry to those who have already had to endure them!
Halloween
We went out trick or treating this year. Dylan was a giraffe, Kobe was a bumblebee and our nephew, Riley, was a frog. Kobe & Riley had no idea what was going on but loved the candy!
I'm Home!
Yesterday morning started normally and I was preparing for a busy day. I put chili in the slow-cooker for us and for a family that just had a baby and went to have a shower. After my shower, I felt really nauseous. A few minutes later, it hit me like a brick wall - puking, cramping & the whole bit. My neighbor - a dear friend - took the children while I spent the rest of the day trying to keep water down. Dwayne came home for supper and was only home for a few minutes when I started to bleed. (Dylan heard me tell Dwayne that I was bleeding and ran for the bandaids!) I phoned the hospital and they said to come in right away because of my placenta previa. My doctor came running in - literally - and got prepared to ambulance me to a larger hospital. The bleeding stopped but they kept me in the hospital overnight. A little scary...and now I'm on semi-bedrest. Walking is fine, but not much else. It sure is nice to be home, though.
Baby Update
I had another obstetrician appointment today. Everything looks good and he is sending me for a final ultrasound on November 15. He also scheduled my c-section today. Unless something changes, the baby will be born on November 23. Kinda funny...I know the sex, I know the name and now I know the day. Good thing I'm not crazy about surprises!
Self-Discipline
I am having some issues with self-discipline. I have realized that if I am to accomplish all that I want to in a day, I need to use those small moments - those little chunks of time that are easy to waste away, but add up. I'm talking about while the children are finishing up lunch or switching the children from one task to the next. I am also talking about that 10 minutes before you leave for an appointment. If I use these moments, I will be adding time to my day that I didn't even know I had.
I also need to be careful with interruptions: answering the phone in the middle of something and talking for 15 minutes, checking my email, searching for things that are not in their place. My life is going to get busier when the baby comes and I need to get some of these self-discipline issues worked out now.
Any other suggestions? How do you use up those small moments?
Operation Christmas Child
This year our family is participating in Operation Christmas Child. You pack a shoe box full of toys, school supplies, hygiene items, and other goodies. Then you drop it off at a participating location. The boxes are distributed to children in need ~ many of them who have never received any gifts before. This is a Canadian venture, but there is another worthy cause that helps needy children and can be sponsored by Canadian & Americans...
I encourage you to find a great place to send your money today. What causes do you currently sponsor?
Getting Ready for Christmas Card Time
Bloggy Giveaways is featuring Colour-Me-Family Labels. Visit their site for a chance to win your Christmas card address labels.
Dylan's New Passion
Dylan has found a new passion...flags of the world. He has discovered that each country has a flag and has been busy making flags. He has completed Canada, France, China, Japan, Australia, USA & Mexico. He is so excited about them and works on them whenever he gets a chance. We discuss different facts about each country as he's working on each one. When we move & get his world map up in his room, we will hang the flags on the wall with a string leading from each one to its country. I may as well ride with this one, as it's a great opportunity for him to learn.
B-I-N-G-O
A while ago, I bought a bingo game for Dylan. It has words instead of numbers to help reinforce reading everyday words. We took the game over to our friends' house to play with their children. As they were playing, my friend (the mom) said how much she loved to play bingo when she was in school. They have a local bingo night here and I suggested that we go. We made a date of it. We didn't expect to win anything - just hand over our money in exchange for a fun, entertaining evening. When we got there, we asked the ladies running it to 'set us up', as we had no idea what we were doing. They sold us the amount of cards they thought we could handle & sent us over to sit with a couple of ladies that were very pleased to help us. It was a fun night...and we each won something! She won $25 and I won a whopping $220. I treated her to poutine fries later - such a great way to wrap up a girls' night out. Here is a picture of the winning ticket that won me $210 of the $220.
Ultrasound
I had my ultrasound appointment today. The placenta has not moved. I asked the lady what the chances were of it moving enough at this point and she said she'd be 'astonished' if they even scheduled another ultrasound. So it looks like I'll be getting a c-section. All this is 'unofficial', of course, as the doctor has to let me know what the results are. My doctor had told me before that if the placenta had not moved, he would be scheduling me to see the ob/gyn and the ob/gyn would decide how early they would take the baby. Because we live where we do, he thought it would be a bit earlier as it would be quite dangerous for me to go into labour here. We'll see what they have to say. I'm tuckered out from all of this & going to bed.
When I Look Back
When I look back to 10 years ago, I am amazed at how I have been changed. I have always been goal-oriented and have had clear ideas from very young of exactly how my life was going to be. I was in love and about to marry my highschool sweetheart. I was going to university to get my accountng designation (so I could be somebody important). I was going to have a challenging and very lucrative career (and was well on my way already). I was going to have 2 children because having children was what grownups did but they were going to go to daycare at a very young age so I could chase my career.
Since this idealistic and control-freek vision of my life, I have been changed. I say 'been changed' because it was something that was done to me, not something I did. God found me and has turned me around 180 degrees. I am still married to my highschool sweetheart and when I see him somewhere when I wasn't expecting to, my heart still skips a beat (that hasn't changed)! But, I have gladly given up my accounting career to be a stay-at-home mom of 2 children, 1 on the way and hopefully more to come! I do not plan on going back to work anytime soon as I am homeschooling the children. I used to think that 'submission' to your husband was a four-letter word - what about women's lib??? - and now I find myself welcoming it. I always wanted girls for children so they'd be like me - yikes - but now I long for 4 boys. I used to chase after material things...trips, clothes, jewellery, toys, vehicles, etc. Now I long for a more simple life with my family. I still want to be somebody important, but to very different people than I wanted to be important to before.
How is it that someone can feel so, so differently in such a short period of time? I am thankful for the life I have, the husband that makes me so happy and the children that are helping me change my view of the world. I pray everyday that I will be the wife, mom & friend that He intends for me to be.
I will leave you with a poem that I hope my boys will understand & feel someday...
When You Thought I Wasn't Looking
When you thought I wasn't looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt --
But that it's alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You smiled
And it made me want to look that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking --
I looked ...
And wanted to say thanks
For all those things you did
When you thought I wasn't looking.
Author Unknown
House Update
This one is especially for you, Mortgage Burner. You have been asking for a house update, but we're at the stage where the work that is being done is not cosmetic and harder to see the progress. The upstairs now has gyproc and the drywaller started on Tuesday. The main floor is insulated and some of the gyproc is up. We have chosen the wood flooring and the ceramic tile. I am having a more difficult time choosing paint colours, though. I took a little longer than I should have deciding exactly how I wanted my cabinets, and they may hold us up alittle. There is a wait-time on the order. Also, we brought our jaccuzzi tub for our bedroom home and it had a large crack in it. They have ordered a new one (on rush), but the first one was 5-6 weeks to get in. I get an update on my placenta previa issue on Tuesday, but if nothing has changed they will be taking the baby a bit early. That means we will be cutting it really close to get into the house before baby comes.
Pictures of Home
In response to a request, here are some random photos of where we live. Such a beautiful landscape - we can thank God for it every day. These photos are all within about 3 miles from our house. Enjoy!
Tobagganing
Oops...Got Distracted by my Hot Hubby
Up On One of the Mountains
The Backyard at our Last House
The Road by our House
Golf or Snowmobile on the Same Day
At the River in Springtime
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