Our Little Ones

Other than adjusting to life with 3 kids and being on my own, my main goal for the week has been getting photos of baby Lauren and our family. With very short attention spans and no "assistant," this has proved to be very tricky. Not to mention that it's been a very dark week with lots of rain and not much natural light in our living room, boo. We have done a little bit each day for the past 3 days. The kids have "picture clothes" that they put on each morning and then change later in the day. Since I want the pics to be a set (for wall enlargements and our Christmas card), I was trying to keep them in a similar look throughout. Anyways, here are a couple shots from day 1.

First Snowfall

On the morning that Lauren was born we saw the first snowflakes of the season, actually kind of special.

The other evening it was snowing pretty good. As soon as Sarah saw the falling flakes she got her jacket on to go play outside. I explained to her that if the snow was still on the ground in the morning that she could go out and play in it. Thankfully my mom came to help out for the day on Friday so the kids got their snow time after all. They were so excited to build snowmen and play in the snow!

12 Years

Today David and I celebrated 12 years of marriage! Wow, how fast time goes. Since we have a newborn baby and two toddlers we weren't really able to do much to celebrate. My brother and sister in law were over for a visit and we got take out. Not that exciting. Oh well, this is the season of life that we're in. We're feeling so thankful and blessed with our little family. God is good.

Lauren Helena

On Wednesday, November 16th at 6:38am little Lauren Helena was born. We are so thrilled to welcome this precious little girl into our family. Such an amazing little miracle each new baby is! We are in love all over again.

Gone Home

My uncle Dave went home to be with Jesus on Wednesday, November 9th. His life on earth seemed too short. We grieve for him and those that he left behind, specifically my aunt Erika and my cousins. I am still in shock that he is gone, it was just all so fast. I am so glad that I was able to see him days before he passed. He is already missed.

The funeral will be this Monday, November 13th.

This Week, mixed feelings

It's been a tough few days. My uncle Dave was diagnosed with liver cancer this past Friday and is currently fighting for his life. He seemed totally fine until 2 weeks ago when they admitted him to the hospital because he was feeling sick and not making a lot of sense. It has all come as such a shock to everyone. I can't help but be reminded of how fragile life is. Sadly, my uncle's body is already so weak that he really doesn't have a lot to fight with. It was so good to see him on the weekend, but so heart breaking at the same time. My heart aches for him, my aunt and 4 cousins. The youngest is only in grade 8 and the oldest is due with their first child in January. Each day I pray for a miracle and God's love and peace for the family. The whole thing is just so surreal, I can hardly believe that this is happening. It makes me so sad, there are just no words.

Our due date is just over a week ago. With that comes feelings of excitement, nervousness and some anxiety. There's the labour experience (which I'm less than thrilled about), how life will change with three kids and just the general unknown. At this point I'm so uncomfortable and each day seems more difficult. I've been amazed how much harder I have found this point of pregnancy than the first two times around. Caring for two young toddlers while being pregnant and having little to no help has been very difficult. I'm tired of being climbed on, sat on, poked at, having my shirt lifted up to "see baby." I'm just tired in general. I'm excited to meet our new baby, is it a boy or a girl? What will it's personality be like? How will this little person fit into our family? I can hardly believe that the due date is just around the corner!

I'll be so happy when all the doctor's appointments are done. Going to Abbotsford and setting up childcare every week has not been easy. Everyone said how great it will be to have the baby here (in BC) with lots of support from family and friends. However, everyone works during the day, has their own kids to take care of or their own obligations. In a lot of ways it's been more frustrating to be near a "support network" yet not feel the support. It's no one's fault, I'm not blaming anyone, just frustrated that life has to be like this. I didn't expect to feel like this when we were planning on moving back to BC. A lot of the time I really do feel all alone. The fact that we're in a different city also makes a big difference, even though it's only 25 minutes away people seem to think that it's much farther. So I'm preparing myself for these feelings to continue and life to remain the same once baby is here. There's a good chance that David may get to take a week off of work once the baby arrives (depending on when), so that would be amazing! Especially since I've been preparing to be on my own with the kids once we get home from the hospital.

So there's a lot of mixed emotions these days. A lot of sadness, fear, nervousness and excitement. I look toward the next couple of weeks with the same feelings and uncertainty, so I take each day at a time. I take comfort in God's love and faithfulness. I remember that He is good all the time.

Crush Time at the Winery

The end of September until mid November will always be a busy time for our family (as long as David is a winemaker). David works at Pacific Breeze Winery, which is an urban winery in New Westminster. Even though they don't have any of their own vineyards, there is just as much happening at the winery since all of the grapes are brought in to be sorted and crushed. Since this is David's first year as the actual winemaker, it's been a big learning curve with lots of responsibility. He's been loving the job and even comes home smiling at the end of a 15 hour day.

On Sunday morning I took the kids into the winery while David was working. I had to take some staff photos and since we didn't have any childcare, the kids came along.


Loving the fork lift as always.

Working with the grapes. The kids found this all very interesting; it was good for them to see what daddy's work is.

We're looking to the end of the 2011 harvest/ crush time at the winery. All of the grapes have arrived, been sorted and processed. Now it's just working with all the juice and getting it going. I must admit that I'm really looking forward to having David around more. Just over a week until our due date. And of course, as David's busy time at work comes to an end mine with Christmas cards is just starting up.

Trick of Treat

Happy Halloween! Last night David and I took the kids trick or treating. The kids were super excited and looked adorable in their costumes! Sarah the chicken and Calvin the monkey. Last year Sarah was too shy to say trick or treat but was all about holding out her bucket. This year she would yell out trick or treat before the door was even fully open. They were so sweet with their trick or treats and thank you's. I'm really feeling pregnant these days, so David and I took turns walking the kids up to the doors. I even had to ask to use the washroom at a house half way through, I just couldn't make it. It's hard to believe that we'll have three kids in about 2 weeks!

I had a good day with the kids yesterday. We went for a walk in the morning where we stopped at the post office and grocery store. There's a Starbucks in the same plaza, so I thought it was a good day for a treat for myself as well. Surprisingly, it was the first time I've stopped there while out on a walk with the kids. It was one of those days where I truly love being a mom, when all the routine and "not fun" parts of parenthood seem ok because of the good moments. The sweet things the kids say, their loving actions, the joy we experience and the fun we share together. It's all worth it in the end and I'm so thankful that I get to experience motherhood. I am truly blessed with a loving husband and wonderful children.

Is he not the cutest little monkey!?!

The kids loved looking at and eating their treats once we got home. Big smiles!

Carving Pumpkins

On Saturday David had to work all day again. By all day I mean 7am-11pm, yep very long days. I realized that if I was going to carve pumpkins with the kids it would have to be today, even with him at work. The kids were super excited and Sarah got right into it. We carved fun (not scary pumpkins) and then roasted the seeds. I couldn't believe how much the kids loved the roasted pumpkin seeds.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds: Toss clean and patted dry seeds with 1 tsp of melted butter, 1 tsp of sea/ kosher salt, 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 1 tsp Worcestershire sace. Bake at about 300 degrees for just over an hour or until seeds are lightly toasted and crunchy.

Celebrating Calvin's Second Birthday

On Sunday we had family and some friends over to celebrate Calvin's 2nd birthday. This was the first actual birthday party that we've hosted for our kids since we've been living in Ontario for the past 3 years away from family. Calvin had a great time and it was pretty thrilled with the attention, cake and gifts. As is often the case, Sarah being the sibling, was trying to understand the party and being ok with it being Calvin's special day, not hers.

Calvin was so eager to blow out the candles on his cake. What a cutie! I still can't belive that he's two years old already.

Gift opening time was especially exciting for Calvin. He got lots of cars and trucks types of toys, a car mat to play on, some toy animals, clothes, etc. We're so blessed with wonderful family and friends!

Our immediate families stayed for dinner and part of the evening. The cousins enjoyed some time together.

I love this pic of the four kids eating their rice krispie treats. Anything is better on a stick.