Crafty me

I'm not really a super crafty person, but some things I like to do - like knitting, crocheting and simple sewing. I haven't knit or crocheted in a long time, but I just found a really cute pattern for a brim cap that I'm going to try crocheting for myself and my girls. I'll post pictures when they're done.

In the past I've crocheted a couple of afghans, and I knit a couple sweaters, which turned out ok, but were just not stylish enough to wear. I even came up with my own pattern for a knit sweater (using a book that had instructions on how to do this), but I ended up abandoning that project. I've also crocheted placemats and dishcloths.

Recently though, I've been sewing. Nothing fancy yet, though I'd love to take a sewing class or something sometime to improve my skillz. So far I've been sticking to very simple, but adorable, baby blankets. I've sewed one for each of my precious nieces and nephews and for my own kids too of course! Basically just flannelette on one side, cute baby type material on the other, with some sort of quilt batting in the middle - sew wrong sides together, turn right-side out, sew around the edges, and "quilt" an x across to keep the batting from twisting up and voila!

Here are two blankets I made this summer for my cousin's twins - she obviously had a boy and a girl. ;)

Obviously, I didn't make the baby in this picture ;) But I did make this blanket for my newest and very beautiful niece, Sawyer.

Until that Glorious Day

Last week I attended the burial service of an elderly friend of my mom's.

The burial service happened to take place in the same cemetary as the one my first dad was buried in on October 7th, exactly 30 years ago. For the full story see my previous post about my confusing family tree here.

I had never been to see where he was buried and so my mom took me to find his grave site.

It was rather strange. Due to my Christian faith and personal relationship with Jesus, and my knowledge of my dad's same faith - I know that he is in heaven with Jesus right now. I know that he is a grandfather to our two babies that I lost early on in pregnancy. I know that they, and many other family and friends, are waiting for the return of Christ to earth, and that all of our bodies are like a veiled image of what our glorious resurrected bodies will be. And yet, our earthly bodies - flawed as they are/will be until that day - are still such a personal and important part of who we are. It's how we relate to each other, how we interact with each other, how we know each other, how we show love to each other.
And this is the place where his earthly body was laid to rest, the place where the memory of his earthly life is etched in stone. And so, it is special. Important, yet eternally insignificant at the same time. For there will come a day when we will meet face to face in our glorious resurrection bodies. Our bodies will be unmarred by sickness, death or pain, the lack of any memories on my part will be irrelevant, and our reunion will be joyful and complete. Perhaps he will even get to introduce me to my children. Who knows? The details we may not know. But this we do know - it will be glorious indeed!

What a Day That Will Be - words and music by Jim Hill

There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

Chorus
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

Chorus
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day, glorious day that will be!

And until that day comes, I will rejoice in my many blessings. Including the blessing of having two earthly fathers to love me, invest in me and teach me to love my heavenly Father.

Until Then
But until then my heart will go on singing,
Until then with joy I'll carry on,
Until the day my eyes behold the city,
Until the day God calls me home.

Friday Faves - TV Shows

I'm participating in Friday Faves over at It's Almost Naptime again today and the topic is favourite TV shows.

You better pour yourself a coffee cause this could get long!

Yep, I admit it - I like TV. Actually, I probably love TV. It's true. TV/computer time - one of my vices. I think it's my only vice, but maybe there's another one I'm just in denial about, who knows?!

And I let my kids watch TV too. Though admittedly I was able to crack down on the time allowed to watch tv over the summer, and so far have been doing great at keeping that up with our school-age children. But with Olivia? I admit to letting her watch tv during the day - trust me, I need my sanity.

So, my favourite shows...

Reality TV
We LOVE reality TV in this house. Here's the ones we watch regularly...

Amazing Race - probably my all time favourite reality show. I'd LOVE to be ON this show - might have to wait awhile though, pretty sure nobody's taking my 4 kids for 6 weeks so I can travel the world. But I digress...

Survivor - faithful followers since mid-way through season one, we're still going strong. I could NOT be on this show, if only because of the gross eating challenges.

Apprentice - I think I actually like the Celebrity Apprentice version better than the regular one - there's a whole lot of fireworks because all of these people are so full of themselves.could never be on this show - mainly because I can't stand Donald Trump. Working for him would likely top my list of things I'd like to do least, and I doubt I'd be able to keep my opinion of his hair to myself, and I would likely vomit after witnessing all the brown-nosing in person.

Dancing with the Stars - this one we don't watch religiously, but if we happen to catch it, we like it. I obviously couldn't be in this one - since I'm not a professional dancer (trust me, not sure you want to witness that) and I'm obviously not a celebrity - not even a B Z list celebrity.

Battle of the Blades - this is a brand new one that has ex-professional hockey players teaming up with professional figure skaters and competing against each other as teams - Dancing with the Stars on ice basically. This looks like it'll be really good.

Non-Reality Shows
The Office - LOVE it! Think it's hilarious - don't miss an episode!!

Criminal Minds - this one probably tops my list of favourite shows in any category. We only started watching it sometime during last season, but we've been doing some major catchup with all the reruns they've been showing on A&E (sometimes 8 episodes per weekend!). We're into 2007 now so we're almost caught up - which will be a little disappointing actually, we've been enjoying watching an episode almost every evening before bed (perhaps not the best time of day to watch some of those episodes!) After being very frustrated trying to figure out who Hotch was, I was relieved when my friend Pam told me that he was Greg in Dharma & Greg.

Law & Order - the original only. We used to watch SVU, but it was getting too political and we needed to cut some shows off of our list!

The Unusuals - we only caught a few episodes last year, and I think they may have pulled the plug on this one - which is too bad as it was very entertaining as well as unusual!

And then of course, there's sports. I like watching hockey and CFL football. I will watch NFL football if it's an important game. That's about it. I may be Canadian but I just can't get into watching curling on TV (or in person for that matter). And, of course, with the Olympics coming up soon that'll up our TV watching quota significantly!!

So there ya have it. Now you know how we waste spend our time once the kiddos are in bed. (though we do admit to letting the kids watch Amazing Race - they love it :)

Can I just say - we heart our PVR!!

Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot one of our all time favourite shows - SEINFELD!! We love watching the reruns, over and over again. And I bet not a week goes by that something doesn't remind me of a Seinfeld episode - just shows that it definitely was a show about "nothing" and everything at the same time.

Blog Hop - 3 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Wow - it feels pretty neat to have my idea used on one of the first blog hops!

These will likely only be new to you if you're new to my blog, but here goes....

1) I went on a Teen Missions trip when I was 17, for 2 months. It was one of the hardest and best summers of my life!
2) I am very thankful that so far we've been an accident-and-sick-free family! None of us have allergies, none of us have ever broken a bone, I have been stung by a bee only once. In the past 8 years I have had to buy antibiotics for our 4 kids only 6 times in total! (1 for some kind of cold infection, 2 for thrush, 2 for one bad case of UTI, and only 1 for ear infection)
3) Nathan and I LOVE cruising. We've been to Mexico twice and we've been on two cruises - and though we thoroughly enjoyed all our trips, we prefer cruising hands down and can't wait to go again!!

Click on the links above for the full stories.

Check out some new blogs below!

I feel good - da na na na na na na!

Having recently felt convicted about doing a better job keeping my house in order consistently, I have to say that I had a very productive day today! Even though I slept in and only got up just before 9 o'clock!! Ahhh, summer holidays! I love me my beauty sleep.

So, what did I all accomplish today?

I obviously fed (and cleaned up after) all my MSC - Many Small Children (awesome acronym stolen from MckMama)

I exercised - as in dripping-with-sweat exercised.

I baked about 7 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (see recipe below) - 5 dozen of which are for this week's day camp at our church. I even let my kids help!

I got at least 1 and a 1/2 hrs of bookwork done while my MSC played outside or napped (Jacob).

I read my Bible reading plan for today (and only had to read today's as I was all caught up!)

I read devotions with the girls on the deck in the afternoon (more details on this to come next week!)

I played with the girls outside. Even though she finally learned how to pump, Olivia could still be pushed on the swing all day long I think.

I set up the sprinkler under the trampoline AND the slip n' slide for my MSC and their friends to play in.

I had 3 of my MSC's friends over for lunch - at the last minute!

I went for a walk with all my MSC, meeting my MIL to bring Nathan and his dad some cold drinks on this fairly hot day.

Made a delicious supper - bbq'd chicken breasts, whole wheat rice, potatoes (for Nathan and Emma - I do NOT eat potatoes), corn and garlic bread.

I made Sophia and Olivia banana splits (but did NOT have any myself - woohoo!) while Jacob was shopping with my wonderful husband, and Emma was at her first pyjama party(not sleepover!) with her friend. OK, I do admit to having at least 3 strawberries (we used strawberries instead of cherries) dipped in whipping cream. OK, ok, I also ate 3 (yes three!) of those delicious cookies fresh out of the oven - well, 2 right away, and then one later warmed up in the microwave. Just keeping it real. Cause I'm all about honesty. Even it when it works against me and my image. :)

I read Sophia & Olivia a Bible story and prayed with them before bedtime (while the other 2 were still gone - it's not like they were being grounded from Bible storytime or anything!).

And I blogged....twice today!

And then there was obviously the just normal, everyday stuff like changing diapers, sweeping floors (after every meal - due to our lovely dark hardwood floors - ok, our MSC have something to do with this as well), swiping bathrooms, washing feet, settling arguments - well, you know!

So - mission accomplished for today. And I feel grrrrrreat!

OK - here's the recipe as promised. This is the fake Neiman Marcus oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe. Neiman Marcus actually developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe in response to this hoax - but I'm actually using the hoax recipe itself cause it's really good!

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups blended oatmeal (yup, put 5 cups of oatmeal in a blender and blend away!)
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
24oz chocolate chips
3 cups chopped nuts (optional)

The recipe also calls for 8oz Hershey bar grated - but I don't usually do this, normally because I don't stock that in my pantry! I have sometimes added some chocolate chips to the oatmeal while blending, but I didn't today. I needed to save some to make Mocha Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins (maybe tomorrow's project?) - I've got ripening bananas going on in a big way right now.

Beat together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add oatmeal, flour, bp, bs, salt and mix. Add chocolate chips and nuts (we don't do nuts). Love me my KitchenAid mixer!!

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen cookies using my medium Pampered Chef scoop.

Crazy Eights Hoopla

Well, my cousin Tammi high fived me for the Crazy Eights hoopla. And since she called me by our extended family's nickname for me, little Tammy, I guess I'll do it :)

Eight things I'm looking forward to:
1) warmer weather!
2) going out on a dinner & a movie date with Nathan again sometime soon
3) our 13th anniversary coming up in July
4) going on a girl's night out with my best friend Candace
5) taking the kids to the City 3hrs south in mid-summer
6) taking our older 2 girls out separately for back to school shopping and lunch, just the 2 of us
7) going to Disney World again next April
8) watching my kids grow up (how long term was this allowed to be?:)

Eight things I did yesterday:
1) 30 Day Shred of course!
2) laundry
3) tidied the house a bit
4) went to Candace's for lunch to celebrate Olivia's birthday with her friend Amber
5) phoned Candace after I got back so we could actually get some visiting down after putting Jacob down for a nap :)
6) went to Subway for supper
7) took Emma & Sophia to watch a hockey final game live
8) watched PVR'd version of the Stanley Cup Final after we got back - 1st time in a long time that the team we were cheering for actually won!

Eight things I wish I could do:
1) play the violin
2) have more patience, especially with my children
3) be more consistent, proactive and intentional in my parenting
4) own a grand piano
5) visit our sponsored children
6) be more consistent with keeping my house tidy
7) sew really well
8) practice what I preach - ie doing what I have to do before doing what I want to do, especially when it comes to doing chores

Eight shows I watch:
1) Criminal Minds - favourite show!
2) The Unusuals - cause it's a cop show, but more unusual :)
3) The Office - cause it's hilarious
4) Seinfeld - hilarious classic
5) Amazing Race - I'd LOVE to be on this show (except for the leaving your kids behind part)
6) Survivor - could never be on this show!
7) Apprentice
8) Law & Order - the original

Eight people hi-fived:
1) Sarah - because she's supposed to be posting every day now and might need some ideas
2) Sandy - same as #1 :)
3) Nicole - cause she's from Australia
4) Jessica - because she won my first ever blog giveaway
5) Jobina - because she's one of my newest IRL friends
6) Pam - because now that she's finally graduated she has tons of free time :)
7) Andrea - because my sister Andrea was already hi-fived by Tammi, and I need another Andrea :)
8) anyone else reading this that would like to do it - you've just officially been hi-fived!

When Nathan Met Tammy

A new friend of mine asked me how Nathan and I met and I thought it would be a good idea for a post ...

We were actually set up by a mutual friend. A guy I went to church with (Mario) and Nathan played on the same hockey team. Mario brought Nathan to church one Sunday to check me out :). Then Mario invited me to come watch one of their hockey games. I went and was introduced to his friend Nathan. I didn't really think anything of it at the time because I was enjoying having recently become single. It took a couple of months for Nathan to get the nerve up to call me and ask me out for coffee. And it was very unlike me to say yes to a guy I barely remembered!

But I did say yes and we went to Manhattan's restaurant for our first date. I actually remember hoping that I wouldn't have a good time because I was enjoying being single. But, obviously I enjoyed myself a lot! We absolutely hit it off right from the start. I was 17 (fairly close to 18) and he was almost 19 when we started dating in January of 1995. We knew very quickly that we would get married. When I re-read the Valentine's card I gave him merely weeks later, I can't believe what I all wrote in there!

We were engaged in November when he proposed to me at Manhattan's, and were married the following July - 12 wonderful years ago!

I love him more all the time - I am blessed to be his wife. I am a stronger and better person because of his love and encouragement.

These are the lyrics to the songs sung at our wedding.....

Years From Here (4PM)
Standing here face to face, I feel my heart overflowing with love and emotion
The moment you took my hand, there was no doubt in my mind about our future
I don't need a crystal ball, through your eyes I see it all

Years from here, we'll look back and treasure
this moment forever inside our hearts
And from here to there, we'll make a million memories
that we can share years from here

I can promise you this with every breath I take, I'll live to love you
I'll go above and beyond to give you everything that one man can give you
I know we've just begun and the best is still yet to come

Years from here, we'll look back and treasure
This moment forever inside our hearts
And from here to there, we'll make a million memories
That we can share years from here.


The Smile on Your Face (Alison Krauss)
It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll [always love] me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me where ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking aloud
But when you hold me near you drown out the crowd
Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's been said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll [always love] me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll [always love] me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all


[ ] lyrics changed by me
I know I also changed the lyrics to that crystal ball line but I can't remember it exactly right now!

My beautiful children

Well, I'm on a roll, so I may as well keep going.

I've been wanting to take pictures of all 4 kids for awhile now. The last picture we have of all the kids together is when Olivia was 1. So, yeah, time for an update.

Plus I needed to take the older girls school pictures. Since I'm too much of a cheapskate to order the real school ones, and since Walmart keeps downsizing their package, I've been forced to resort to taking my own. They did, however, turn out very well I must admit.

I also took Jacob's 8 month picture a little while ago and ordered those. So, poor Olivia is the only one without a new picture. (She had her 3yr picture taken in June - so it's not like I don't do them!)

Here's our big boy!

Here is the picture that was hardest to get - all 4 kids! Have you tried to get 4 kids ages 7, 5, 3 and 9 months old to all look at the camera at the same time, nevermind smile for it? And no fake smiles either?! Impossible I tell you! And despite complaints of knees being scraped raw by the rocks, this one turned out pretty good. :)

I cannot believe how grown up my firstborn looks already....

Come now, is this not the best grin ever?!

The new me

The Various Hairstyles of Me

Over the years I have changed my hairstyle a lot. And that's probably an understatement. Thankfully Nathan's aunt is a hairdresser!

For the most part I've had short hair - after Olivia was born is the first time I've grown it out since graduating high school.

I've gone red, blonde, dark brown and everything in between!

I'm thinking of cutting and colouring it again, so if you have any favorites, feel free to comment.

Here's a few pictures of the various hairstyles of me....

Five Hoopla

OK, I know it's been a super long time since I posted, and I'll try to post again sometime soon to update you on our crazy busy life, but for now, this'll be a short port doing a Hoopla that my sister Andrea high-fived me to do.....

What I was doing 10 years ago - 1998
We built our very first house and moved out of our apartment in The City and to The Town that we still live in today - though we're on our 5th house by now! We had been married for 2 yrs then and we were 21 and 22 yrs old.

Five things on my to-do list today
1) Laundry, laundry and more laundry (6 loads!)
2) Nap!
3) Exercise
4) Tidy up
5) Enjoy my kids

Snacks I enjoy
1) Chips and salsa (sometimes heated up with cheese whiz mixed in)
2) Graham wafer squares
3) any chips!
4) Cadbury Cream eggs
5) Popcorn

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1) Build everyone in our families their dream homes
2) College funds for our families kids
3) Donate hugely to Compassion Canada, Gospel for Asia, Samaritan's Purse and others!
4) Go visit our sponsored child
5) Buy a grand piano

Five of my bad habits
1) Staying up too late
2) Being on the computer too long
3) Sometimes waiting till I've lost my patience instead of disciplining immediately
4) Eating too much of the above mentioned snacks!
5) Being late!!!! (Don't even get Nathan started on that one:)

Five places i have lived
1) Town in Western MB
2) Calgary
3) The City
4) The Town south of The City
5) The Town southeast of the City

Five jobs I've had
1) piano teacher
2) hostess, bus-girl and server at a really nice restaurant in The City
3) receptionist
4) administrative assistant to Corporate Sales Manager - fancy title eh?
5) SAHM - my favorite!!!

Sorry, I'm not high-fiving anyone - but hope y'all had fun reading!

I'll try to post more soon...... (don't hold your breath anyone) LOL

Birth Story - Short Version

OK - this is the less detailed version for those who just want the basics.

My water broke just before 4:30 am Wednesday morning. We went into the hospital an hour later. As no contractions were happening (my usual MO), they induced me with cervadil gel at 10am. Contractions started and got somewhat closer together, but they wanted things to keep moving along, so they induced me with pitocin at 6pm.

I was ready to push at about 10:40. There was a scary moment when the head was delivered but the shoulders were stuck. Thankfully, the first maneuver they used to remedy the situation worked and our precious boy was born!

Jacob Nathaniel Glenn was born on January 23rd at 11:06pm. He was 10lbs 8oz, 22 3/4" long and had a 37cm head.

I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Birth Story - Long Version

**Disclaimer - this is the long version. If anyone gets uncomfortable and/or squeamish reading about birthing details, read the short version here.

I woke up shortly after 4am on Wednesday to make another routine run to the bathroom. A few minutes after getting back in bed, my water broke with a big gush! We left for the hospital at 5:30. As usual for me - no contractions, well, nothing more than the braxton hicks type contractions I've been having for months.

After walking around trying to get contractions going, my dr came in at 8:30 to check me. I was already 3 cm - which is a lot more than I've ever been at the beginning before, so I was happy about that, hoping I would go into labour on my own for the first time.

Unfortunately, due to being at a small town hospital with minimal extra staff on hand, there was no one available to help with a pitocin induction if it became necessary, until 6pm. If nothing happened, 6pm would be too long to wait due to my water breaking and the risk of infection.

So, after talking to another ob, she decided it would be ok to induce with cervadil first (not usually done if you're already "ready" and dilated to 3cm) as long as it was put in front of the cervix. (If it goes into the cervix it can cause a contraction that won't let go, which is obviously not a good thing.)

The cervadil worked to some degree. Contractions came regularly but only 10 mins apart at first. They gradually started to get closer together - by 6pm they were about 4 -5 mins apart and my dr came to check things out again and I was 5cm. So, the nurse was now available to come in and monitor the pitocin induction, so they started that right away, and contractions immediately became more intense and closer together. Being a small town hospital, an epidural was not an option (my last 2 didn't work anyway). They could've done a spinal, but I opted for the laughing gas instead. It helps enough to get me through it.

By 9 o'clock I had progressed to 8cm and was starting to feel a bit pushy so the nurse called my dr in, knowing that things can move quickly at the end, especially when it's not your first. By the time the dr came I was pretty much fully dilated, but there was a lip along the top and right of the cervix that wouldn't dilate - it was stuck. And whenever my body involuntarily pushed it would thicken everything else too. So, I had to flip to hand/knees to keep the weight of the baby off the cervix to get rid of the lip. It worked until I turned back around and then the lip came back.

So, I had to start pushing - only involuntarily (which is incredibly difficult!) - on hands/knees to get the baby past the lip. This type of pushing was so much harder than any I had ever experienced before. My last two were so easy by the time pushing came, I just assumed that this would be the same. I had to push slow, stop pushing, push hard, push slow - everything! I thought it would never end. Finally the head was out - but then there was another problem - the baby's shoulders were stuck (shoulder dystocia) which can be very dangerous. They have about 7 mins to deliver the baby before things are really serious. They immediately called in more help in case extra measures were necessary for delivery. The words, "we need more help in here" are not ones a mother wants to hear. Meanwhile the nurse and Nathan forcibly pushed back my knees as far as they could physically go, and the dr inserted her hand and manually twisted the baby's shoulders to get them out. Yes, this hurt. And yes, that's an understatement. Thankfully, this maneuver worked and our precious boy was finally delivered at 11:06pm! I could not believe it was finally over. For me anyway. As he was already turning blue they worked on him immediately (instead of giving him to me like they were going to originally). But everything was finally ok and they could finally let me hold him.

Unfortunately, with the "trauma" of the delivery, it took me awhile to grasp the fact that we actually had a boy! The laughing gas, combined with the intense pain of this delivery, along with the panickyness I could sense in the room was hard for my mind to take in, and I didn't fully understand what was going on at the time. Perhaps this was a good thing.

It took awhile to deliver the placenta, probably because it was so big. In fact, it was so big, it came out folded in half! Miraculously I only needed 3 stitches - which my doctor credited to my controlled pushing. I told her I had never felt to out of control in my life! But I guess I managed to obey pushing orders successfully, so that's good. I asked my dr how long I pushed for and was shocked when she told me only 26 minutes. It felt way longer than that that's for sure.

Jacob Nathaniel Glenn was born on Wednesday, January 23rd at 11:06pm. The doctor immediately said he was over 10 lbs and she was right - 10 lbs 8 oz to be exact, and 22 3/4" long.

Thankfully he wasn't shorter or he would've been even chubbier! And thankfully I didn't go any more overdue than I did - that could have turned pretty serious. His head was 37cm (average is 35cm - 2cm makes a big difference!), but obviously it was the size of his shoulders that was the problem, not the head. Amazingly, he didn't have a cone head after all that either!

So, that's the long version of our birth story. The ending has cemented what was already finalized - this is definitely our last baby. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Announcing the birth of our new baby........ BOY!

Jacob Nathaniel Glenn arrived on January 23rd at 11:06pm. He weighed in at a whopping 10lbs 8oz (I know, I originally told people 10lbs 5 oz, but that was a miscalculation - when they converted from grams to lbs they said 10.5lbs, which is 10 lbs 8oz not 5oz). He was 22 3/4" long.

He is adorable!!

And Andrea is now allowed to post pictures on her blog, so check out her blog for those. I'll try to post more as I can, including the birth story.

Praising God for the safe delivery of our first (and last!) son!

Pregnancy Photos

I've been thinking about getting pregnancy pictures taken for quite awhile now, and figured, if it was ever gonna happen, it better happen soon! So, this past weekend Nathan's cousin Carla came over and took some pictures. She sent me a preview of a couple shots today and I love them and I just have to post it on here already! I'll probably post a few more when I get the rest, but here's two for now.

My new nephew!

I tell ya, Maxen is a cutie that's for sure. Here's some pictures .....

7 Months and counting

Here's my latest belly picture. I'm finished my 7th month here. I've got less than 2 months to go - hopefully. :)

Our new house

Here are a few pictures of our new house.

I don't have a picture of our master bedroom yet, because there's one wall I need to do a paint technique to yet - hopefully I'll get that done before the baby comes! Same thing with the baby room.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our main living area....




Here is a picture of Olivia's bedroom...

Here are pictures of Emma & Sophia's room downstairs....

And this is their bathroom - it's a Jack & Jill style bathroom (or rather, in our case, a Jill & Jill!) - the other bedroom is currently being used as a playroom.

Probably my favorite room in the house - our 1/2 bath downstairs (since guests can't use the Jill/Jill one). I've always wanted a pedastal sink, but that's not overly practical in girl bathrooms - way too much stuff you need storage for, not to mention counterspace. So, here was my chance to put one in! I love it.

And this is our master ensuite - the shower and toilet room/watercloset are to the right.

Belly Pictures!

4 months pregnant



5 months pregnant



6 months pregnant





Here I am with my cousin Julie (left) and sister Michelle (middle).
Julie is due beginning of November.
Michelle is due end of November.
I am due end of January.
I think I'm the biggest!!! Ack!

L - missed one!

L is for Les
Can't believe I missed Les! That's the problem with naming family members during this A-Z thing. I didn't start off doing that - so my sister Andrea got missed in the A's. And now I forgot Les! Ack! Can I blame pregnancy brain for that too? OK, Les is my BIL and I do remember him occasionally. :) He's so easy going and generally just so easy to get along with. He seems to always be in a good mood, even though he has to put up with my sister 24/7. Hee hee. Yup, he's a great guy - sorry I forgot you Les!