After those first few nights of endless trips up and down the stairs I’m happy to say the girls have started sleeping through the night! Which isn’t just a first for their new room, it’s a first EVER! For both of them on the same night anyway.. Olivia has woken up a couple times for another bottle around 11pm, which is normal for her and we are usually just settling in for the night anyway.

I love waking up to hearing the girls greeting one another “Good morning baby-eyah” Joy shouts “Hi” Olivia answers. With that their door creaks open and they make their way upstairs, I’m usually still in bed and pretend to be asleep. Soon I feel a cold little hand touch my arm, I open my eyes to see Olivia with her crazy morning hair smiling at me “Hi” she whispers “Good morning Love, did you have a good sleep?” I ask “yup….. poop” she responds pointing to her bum (which doesn’t necessarily mean she’s pooped, just that her diaper is full). Joy waits by the door, “Good morning Joy” I say glancing over at her “Good morning Mommy!” she excitedly answers then starts rambling on and on about whatever. It truly is a great way to wake up

I’m finally getting the itch to get all the baby stuff together and organized. Actually it’s past my bedtime at the moment however I need to wait until the dryer is done before going to bed. I like to sleep with the dishwasher going (soothing) but not the dryer. Once the buzzer goes I will have washed/dried 2 loads of new born baby clothing. Actually it’s all the newborn, 0-3month and 3 month clothing we have. I’ve been very blessed in receiving many items of clothing for a boy (mostly in those 3 sizes). I’m part of a mom group (privately) on facebook with mom’s that are all due in March (or like me and just before March). There have been 5 babies born already! (2 sets of twins). Makes me realize I really don’t have much time left to get organized!! I’m considered ‘full term’ on Tuesday! But this baby has to hold on until mom comes home, she arrives home on Feb 19th (pm)…. that’s just 15sleeps away

Well I think that’s it for this post…. Have a wonderful night!

If you hadn’t guessed it, or read my facebook status. Little Charlotte has gone to be with Jesus.
Her mom updated their blog to fill us in on her passing ~
www.robandallisonamsing.blogspot.com
It’s beautifully written and hard to read with dry eyes.

Last night as I lay in bed thinking about Charlotte I realized she was Olivia’s age when first Diagnosed with Cancer (21months approx). then I realized it was on Olivia’s birthday that Charlotte had her first brain surgery. translation, she was 21months when she started this fight, and she fought hard and tough for 21months before going to Heaven skipping and jumping.

Today I felt unmotivated, perhaps because we found out no one from my family (Orlund, myself, My mom, dad or brother) are going to be able to attend the funeral (it’s cheaper to fly to Thailand and back then to Cranbrook), And I also received a new book I’d ordered in the mail. Heaven is for Real. Have you read it? I suggest you do. It’s the true story of a little boy (Charlotte’s age) who went to Heaven and came back. One particular part struck me hard and I had to stop to take a break ~ There was an elderly man (a believer)about to depart to heaven, the little boy and his dad (a pastor) went to visit and pray for him. After the father had prayed the little boy went back to the man and said “It’s going to be okay. The first person you’re going to see is Jesus.”.

Hug your kids tight. Thank God for your life and your loved ones.

It’s not my post to post, so I will wait until it becomes common knowledge. However I will give you a teary eyed hint, I gave my girls an extra squeeze tonight and thanked God for them. I think everyone should do the same. I’ll post more regarding this soon.

Last night (while I forced Orlund to stay in the living room) I baked his Birthday cake… Yeah, didn’t get a chance during the day so I did it once the kids were in bed. For someone like me, it was a complicated process. I got the idea off another blog, kinda wish I’d looked at their pictures better as it would have helped me not make such a mess… But I got it done, put in the oven. Cooked. Cooled and now it’s sitting hidden in our fridge. I took pictures along the way..I can’t post them yet as Orlund’s birthday isn’t until Saturday.

Today I’m icing the cake. I was going to make the icing this morning as my girlfriend Leah coming to help me later and I wanted the icing ready to go ~ oops left the butter in the fridge so it’s now out ‘softening’. My plans on just exactly what I’m going to do keep changing. I’m hoping Leah has some ideas. My experiences with Icing cakes is not good. I’m not all that talented at it, but I’m going to give it a try again. I pray I can make the icing thin enough to do a ‘crumb’ layer (where you ice a thin layer on to keep the cake from crumbing into your decorating), I just heard about this crumb layer for the first time today… wish me luck. I usually give up on decorating when my cake starts crumbing, and Orlund finishes it off… NOT today. Today I’m going to do it..

Wish me luck! I’ll be sure to take pictures of it at all steps along the way and post, probably, on Sunday..

This past week has been….an interesting one…
Saturday night Olivia was up all night with a fever. Actually she was up then down then up, just all over. We spent most the night snuggling her and worried about another seizure.
Sunday morning she woke with a horrible cough and a lot of flem in her chest. But she seemed to do better through the day.
Monday Solomon got dropped off, he had the exact same cough as Olivia, he also napped almost the entire day. Olivia was more snuggly than usual and we went through a lot of Kleenex between the two of them. Monday night, I didn’t feel so great.
Tuesday Solomon got dropped off again. I also now had the same cough as the two little ones. Not fun, whenever you cough the pain spreads throughout your chest and back and, well, it’s painful! Tuesday night Olivia was doing a bit better, I was a bit sicker, and Orlund spent over an hour in the washroom.
Wednesday morning Orlund had another bout in the washroom just as we were getting up (he’d figured he’d stay home to recover as he wasn’t feeling well). This time however there was a lot of blood. So I got the girls dressed and we took him to emergency. After we dropped him off we went grocery shopping and then went to take him a few things before coming home. After 4hours of not hearing from him I was worried and tried to call him numerous times (he’d turned his phone off). Finally I couldn’t take it and wanted to know what was going on so called Leah over to watch the girls so I could zip over and find out for myself what was up (Thanks Leah!). I talked to a volunteer to see if I could get in to see him and she found out he was on his way down. Okay I’ll wait. Turns out his mom was with him all day (Thanks Hazel), although apparently because she was with him he just forgot to call and update me? dunno. Not important. So we came home to some girls that were happy Daddy was home. (he had to have a CT scan and they have more tests to run as they don’t know what it could be). Joy also seems to have picked up Olivia and my wonderful cough.
Thursday (Dec 1st), Today. Orlund stayed home as he’s still not well. He slept the entire morning. I of course had taken the other days as not cleaning days… well there is only so long you can go before you need to do some cleaning. So I picked my worn out, painful, exhausted self up and got a little cleaning done. *yeah me!*. Both the girls are exhausted and….well….sick. I took a nap when Olivia did, I don’t know if it helped or not. I feel even more ready for bed. Oh well, no rest for a mommy! Our little bean I’m cooking seems to be just fine, he’s rather set in his waking/sleeping routine and doesn’t much move off of it (unless I wake him with my excessive, painful coughing).

But you know what? we’ll make it through. I might have even more grey hair after, but we’ll make it! Well I’d better go get dinner cooking. Hope you and yours are feeling better than we are! God bless!

I’ve mentioned that I would be posting about Joy’s faith…Here it finally is~

Many of us (I hope) have heard the story ~ Matthew 19:13-14. Some children came to Jesus but the disciples told them to go as He needed to rest, but Jesus said “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

I always figured I knew just what that means. I’ve had my eyes opened.
We always wonder if we are teaching the girls enough about Jesus and God. They will eventually need to make their own decision on following God or not. However while they are still under our covering we will teach them all we can and pray it touches their hearts. There is no way to really tell if they understand anything we are teaching them or not. Until Joy showed us her unshakable faith. Whenever the girls get hurt we always give them a kiss and say a prayer for no pain. The first time Joy showed me her faith was when I was in the hospital with Olivia in February(her UTI). Joy had joined in saying Amen after anyone prayed for Olivia, however one day I started to have a Migraine due to the dry conditions of the hospital and not drinking enough water. When I came out of the bathroom Joy asked me what was wrong, then she grabbed my hand and prayed for no more head hurt. Melted my heart.

After that she started praying more and more. She loves to say grace before our meals and loves to pray for us when we are hurting. I don’t know if you believe in the Healing power of the Lord, however WE do. Often I’ll pray for my own healing if I’m getting sick, sore etc, however as an adult I find I often question my own prayers. Joy doesn’t do that. If she prays for you, then you are healed! End of story. To her Jesus can do anything. Which He can. We often feel silly praying over little things, but really if we need help why wouldn’t He help us?

One day while leaving Walmart (recently) I was feeling weak (low BP) so had purchased a bottle of water… Well for the life of me I couldn’t get the silly lid off! I got a bit flustered and put the bottle in the cup holder. Joy asked from the back seat “Mommy, what wrong?” I told her I couldn’t open the lid, without hesitation she prayed “Jesus help mommy lid no open. Amen”. I figured I might as well give the lid another shot. It opened without any effort.

Olivia needed to get her 18month shots last month so we parked and went to pay, at the pay station was a mom with her child. She was explaining to her son that the machine was broken and wasn’t taking her money. Joy asked me what was wrong, I explained we would have to use a different machine since this one was broken. “Oh” she said “Jesus no work, help please. Amen” “Oh, it’s working now!” the other mom said to her son. The machine worked just fine for us as well. The other mom hadn’t heard Joy pray but I sure did.

She prayed for our baby before our second ultrasound, and everything is fine. I wish I could just put out the thoughts that make me doubt. Joy doesn’t question, she just believes, trusts and has Faith. Such a pure belief in Jesus. That’s what Jesus was saying, undoubting Faith.

I did a couple of these when pregnant with Olivia, although apparently my blog has deleted them But here is one for this pregnancy!

How far along? 26 weeks Tomorrow
Total weight gain/loss: Up 5lbs
Maternity clothes? Oh yeah! Have been since around 7weeks!
Stretch marks? No new ones that I know of.
Sleep What’s that? Joking. I actually sleep okay besides the Pelvis pain and the girls waking.
Best moment this week We (think) we’ve finally decided on a name (no we aren’t sharing it)
Movement He’s already trying to dig his little feet between my ribs and skin (oh the joys)
Food cravings Eggnog and Grapes (not together).
Gender Boy
Labor Signs None
Belly Button in or out? Flat. (well still a bit in, but mostly flat)
What I miss Having no pelvis pain, eating sushi and being able to easily lift Joy. (and I’m sure Olivia misses me not dropping her into her crib because I can’t bend that far).
What I am looking forward to My mom coming to my next Dr’s apt and getting to hear our little guys heartbeat.
Milestones I realized just how big I am, can’t see my feet, can’t paint my toe nails, and just feel BIG.

If you don’t know Charlotte, or her story, or even just want to have an update on this precious little girl please read her parent’s blog ~ www.robandallisonamsing.blogspot.com

Please pray with me~

Lord we lift Charlotte up to you. You are our healer and deliverer. We pray for complete healing and restoration in Charlotte’s body, from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. Your healing to heal all parts in between extending to every limb. We pray that any tumors/cancer to be demolished and everything be restored as You originally designed it to be. You designed us in Your image before we were conceived and there is no room for any sickness or disease. Any toll the disease, medications have taken on her little body we pray to be restored to Your Glory. Praise you Jesus and Thank You for the healing only You can provide. We praise you and believe un-doubting in Your healing and strength. Amen

We drove to Vancouver and spent the night at a friends house.  Once arriving Orlund was upset he hadn’t thought about taking half of Wednesday off so we could spend some actual time visiting! Oh well. We had a wonderful visit and a good sleep. The girls stayed here at the house with Orlund’s mom watching them ~ she unfortunately didn’t get a good sleep! (teething Olivia). I guess right after we pulled out of view, while I was tearing up, Joy turned to Grandma and said “everybody happy! Joy happy, Grandma happy..” she then stretched Olivia’s face into a ‘smile’ “Baby Olivia happy too”. lol.

Thursday morning Orlund and I headed in for our appointment. We stopped for a breakfast at White spot. Yummy. Weird without kids, quiet. Then jumped into the van and headed to the hospital. We arrived an hour early! Yup. Gotta beat that Vancouver traffic! (better early than late, and since we are used to traveling with kids~ if they had of been with us we would have JUST made it.lol). We looked through their gift shop after checking in, there was a REALLY cute baby blanket, unfortunately the price wasn’t so cute. No purchase from us.

Finally we got to go in and have the ultrasound. Orlund got to come in right away, and we got to watch the entire ultrasound on a big screen TV. The technician pointed out what all it was we were looking at (I pretty much new). Got to see the two parts of the brain and all the fun little parts you don’t notice on a regular ultrasound. Then came the question “do you know what you are having?” “Nope”"Do you want to know??”…lets just say there was a lot of discussion going on. We found out!! We are having a………………….lol. yes I’m going to make you wait a bit longer! I’ll post a pic later revealing the gender. After she was done getting all the measurements etc she had to go clear it all with a Doctor and make sure she had gotten all the shots she needed. After a wait that seemed to take forever (5minutes) she returned and said we were done. “Baby does have a 2 vessel umbilical cord, but otherwise is completely healthy”. “What about the cyst on the Placenta?” I asked, I hadn’t even seen her look at the placenta. “the placenta? let me see” she looks back through our paper work. Apparently my Dr misinformed me, Baby had some cysts on the spongy thing in the brain (it’s between the two halves and makes spinal/brain fluid). However the cysts were GONE

Then we had an hour and half wait until our ‘Genetic counseling’. We went to the cafeteria and paid way to much for some, not overly exciting food. But it filled us up. It was close to the time we were to head upstairs (figured we’d just go early). Upstairs we went. Apparently they make you wait an hour so that they have time to get the results. So we figured we would be waiting about 1/2 hour. Well that time came and went. Orlund and I read all the information they had on the walls (about genetics etc). Interesting, but not that interesting. I finally decided I was to tired to just sit there, so I took a snooze. I had just gotten into a good deep sleep when the counselors came in. She asked me if I was okay… lol.. what else is a pregnant woman who for once doesn’t have kids with her supposed to do while waiting an hour and a half? NAP.

We went into the room with the two counselors (one was in training). Boy do they ever beat around the bush! Sure if there was a major complication it would have been perfect. However as we found out, Baby is good. First we talked about the umbilical cord (as the two things are NOT related at all). Orlund asked the question on both our minds “so what could happen to our baby? what does it mean?” Apparently the only thing that could happen is we could have a small baby….although by the measurements on the ultrasound we have a big baby ~ so they aren’t worried.

Then we came to the cysts. Apparently these cysts are common (same as the cord), and it is common for them to come and go, so we will get another ultrasound around 32weeks to see if they are back. The only reason they are even looking at them again (or looked at them again) is because there were two ‘markers’ even if unrelated. We asked the same question about what the cysts could mean. Apparently they can be an indication of a very serious genetic disease. One that they didn’t tell us exactly what it is. However usually if a baby has this disease then they will have other issues, ie~ missing limbs, brain issues, heart issues etc. And our baby only has the cysts. They also said that we could have an Amnio (forget how to spell the full name) if we wished to know 100%, and we could have it performed RIGHT THEN! I luckily know a bit about Amnio’s. There is a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage, and we would need to spend another night in Vancouver. I said no. I have Faith that God has taken care of this and so there is nothing to worry about. Orlund wanted me to make the decision as he was worried I’d worry and wonder about it the rest of our pregnancy ~ I wont. I said NO, so he told the ladies “we wouldn’t do anything about it anyway, so unless there is a VERY good reason, such as the doctors need to know for delivery or shortly after, then there is no point putting our baby at risk”. The Lady that was training the other said that was a good way to put it, if you wouldn’t do anything anyway why bother.

So with that we were done. On our way out of town we swung by Ikea and hit up the kids section to see if we could find a ‘treat’ for the girls. Unfortunately that stop brought us right into rush hour traffic. THAT is the reason I wouldn’t want to live in Vancouver! It took us well over an hour to go a very short distance! We stopped by Orlund’s Aunt’s house to pick up two bed frames for the girls. THANK YOU! And then headed home with a very full van.

We arrived late at night, Thanked Orlund’s mom and dad and headed to bed.
So glad to be home, but even more so THANKFUL to Jesus for our healthy baby #3.

Thank you for your prayers and I’ll be sure to upload that picture soon