The girls moved downstairs on Friday night. I have since gotten more exercise (in the 4 nights) than I have my entire pregnancy. Stairs are not fun in the middle of the night. Last night was the worst. Orlund and I have gotten into the habit of reading in bed before going to sleep, it’s nice snuggled up reading in bed together. Last night we watched TV a bit later so therefore reading took us to a short time after 11pm. I don’t know exactly when the girls started getting up, but I believe they (one or the other) woke up around midnight, and just a few times until around 3am. 3am it got worse, much worse. Joy had to go potty, she was having nightmares. Olivia was I dunno whating.. Orlund did most the trips up and down the stairs, however I was still unable to sleep, even once he returned to bed (just to jump up again 5-10minutes later) I couldn’t sleep. 6am was when I did my last trip to their room. I gave Olivia her bottle and said go to sleep. Orlund left for work around 8am. The girls got me up around 8:19am.
Okay… I can do this… I have Solomon here today, but I can do this. I’ll just nap when the kids nap, no biggie. I even had a little umph and got a tiny bit of organizing done in the office. (I mean TINY bit). Nap time rolled around ~ Yipee! 4 phone calls, 3 interruptions from Joy (more snack, potty etc etc), and a baby in my belly who had major hiccups = NO SLEEP. I got up and did some book keeping and other mindless tasks. It’s now 5pm, I’m starting to cook dinner. I can’t keep my eyes open… literally. I’m exhausted. (I might also add that yesterday I cleaned the entire upstairs of our house ~ it’s spotless. That also wears me out).

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.

With all this business with our baby boy I haven’t really blogged much about the girls, so today is about our girls

Joy is “Mommy’s helper”. when I’m having a rougher day, or I just need a break she seems to be able to pick up on that and helps me out without hesitation. The other day I asked her if she could grab a diaper from their bedroom for Olivia’s diaper change, she said “Okay” and went and got one. As soon as I sat on the floor to change Olivia she took off running down the hall, I turned to Joy and asked if she would mind bringing Olivia to me. Sure enough Joy gently guided Olivia down the hallway and within arms reach (Olivia likes to do as her sister wants). Joy is having a bit harder of a time now that Olivia can reach on top of the fish tank and the counter tops (Joy’s hiding spot for toys), and often she gets frustrated with having to share. Olivia follows Joy around because she’d hate to miss out on anything, and I think Joy sometimes misses her private, alone play time. Joy is completely potty trained (although she sleeps in a diaper she rarely uses it). Joy still loves to sing and dance, and spin Olivia too fast so they fall down. She’s really gotten into praying and loves to talk about Jesus (I’ll blog later about that). All in all she’s just growing up too fast!

Olivia has spunk! She is going through what many refer too as the ”terrible two’s”. she’s 18months old but she’s always been a bit strong willed. Now she knows how to talk so she tells us what she thinks. When I say she talks it’s not full sentences but she sure can repeat words and her favorite is “NO”. If she doesn’t want to do what you ask, she’ll reply firmly “No” then the bottom lip extends and her chin tucks in turning into two. It’s really cute, but sassy. She also likes to ‘help’ me however it usually ends up being more work for me. She likes to stand her ground and not give Joy that toy she’s playing with, however if Joy breaks down into tears, Olivia is quick to hand over whatever will make her happy again. Olivia loves to please people. She still loves to snuggle. We are trying to get her off of drinking her bottle at night. We would brush her teeth then give her her bottle (felt like a waste) so we now try to get her to drink her bottle before we brush, and during the night when she wakes we try to get her back to sleep without drinking anything (usually she would just suckle anyway). She is wearing size 2 clothing, which means some of the clothes Joy still remembers wearing as she was just wearing them this past year. It takes a bit of explaining to Joy that she’s to big for the clothes, and after a few tears, she understands.

Currently both the girls (and myself) are fighting off colds, which means our gentle princess Joy becomes more violent. She’ll smack Olivia if she gets in her way, it’s weird to see her hitting like that (she spanked Olivia the other day for climbing onto her chair!). Olivia becomes more whinny, which is really not like her either. She usually will tell you what she thinks then run away shouting “No” (then circles back for a snuggle) but now she just tosses herself onto the floor crying (very dramatic). I find we let Olivia get away with a lot more ‘drama’ then we ever let Joy get away with, but I hear each child gets away with more and more. We are trying to deal with the screaming run Olivia does but that all takes time (and age understanding). Joy went through this phase as well, however she was never as strong willed as Olivia.

Well that’s the just of it

Sept 3rd we finally set off on our family trip. I’d been planning for most of the summer. I’d packed a week early and was happy to leave my house in good standing (clean!), and feel that we had everything we’d need. We sure did! Brought back at least 1/2 of the snacks we’d taken! lol.
It was nice to have all the room in the van. I was able to keep a large bag between Orlund and I which contained our directions, my camera, snacks, drinks, my neck pillow and a blanket for myself. Then just behind the bag was a bin containing the girls toys, a bag next to that contained their DVD player and movies. On the other side of the toy bin was Orlund’s camera. Everything nice and handy!
Just before we headed out on the highway we stopped to gas up. While Orlund ran inside to buy breakfast and coffee (A&W) a truck pulling a horse trailer pulled up. Joy pointed the horses out to me. The trailer pulled out before we did, and for the remainder of our trip, every 20minutes or so, Joy would ask “Daddy where horses? More horses?”. It was cute, and since they can see out the van windows we were able to point out the horses, cows and trains.
The girls did AMAZING traveling. Olivia slept on an off (more off than on), and whenever I could I’d take a nap as well. Whenever I’d finally get into a comfortable position (weird complaint but too much room in the van for easy napping), Joy would ask “mommy nap? Why mommy nap?”. lol. We stopped in Jasper for a quick lunch and stretch of the legs. The girls napped for the rest of Jasper and so did I. Well it’s a 10hour trip to Wetaskiwin, and the girls were getting tired! So we put a movie on for them, they watched it, however once it was over there was many fits had because they wanted to watch another! This was the only movie then ended up watching in the van the entire rest of the trip!

We arrived safe and sound and had a wonderful visit with Auntie Darla and Grandma Norstrom. Their house was as comforting and familiar as it was the last time, this time however with a pretty new floor We settled in quickly and got to visiting. One thing about Orlund’s Grandma that you’d realize after a short 15minute talk with her is she has a memory like I wish I had! She remembers everyone’s name, their spouse’s name, their kids names etc etc. I wish I could remember names like that!! We love listening to her tell us stories of her life, growing up, meeting/dating Grandpa (whom I never got the pleasure of meeting) and all the wonderful things she experienced. It was beautiful weather and we took advantage of it, playing outside in their gorgeous backyard, and going to the park by the lake. Auntie Darla helped show us around and was a great hostess. She also makes the most beautiful bead jewelry! She showed me some of the bare foot sandals she made and some anklets. She even let me choose an anklet to keep! I wore it every single day for our entire trip, and would still be wearing it unfortunately it broke the day we got home. (I told Orlund I guess I’ll have to get into beading now . lol). I have all the beads so it wont be too difficult to fix (I hope, or else Auntie Darla will be getting a special package in the mail…). The day we went to the park dusk set in and so did the mosquito’s. Olivia received about 3 bites on her face, they swelled a little but nothing major. Joy got a bite on her right eyebrow, the next morning it was swollen. We didn’t let her sore eye slow us as we went to the Reynold’s museum (old cars/airplanes). That evening Orlund’s Uncle Dallas and Auntie Fay came for dinner. Joy’s eye didn’t seem to be getting better and she was rubbing it (were giving her Benadryl). So Darla, myself and Joy loaded up to head to the hospital. We waiting 2 hours, Joy is such a good girl!! The doctor finally called our name and rushed us through a bunch of hallways, stopping at the end of one (it had a corner cubby with stock). “Sorry, but this is our privacy” he said as he picked Joy up and put her on a metal tray with wheels. He examined her eye told me to put eye drops in and keep giving the Benadryl, and sent us home.
After such a wonderful visit, and learning that our girls aren’t shy and like meeting new family members, it was time to go. Sept 6th time to head to Saskatoon! Joy’s eye was now swollen completely shut (poor girl). Thank you Auntie Darla and Grandma Norstrom for  your hospitality, and wonderful stories. God Bless you both! Hope we can come see you again sometime soon.

I have been (just slightly) stressing over our upcoming holiday. Trying to figure out what to pack, and trying to make it as light of a load as possible! I thought I would wait until Thursday to pack, however strongly feel I need to pack NOW. Don’t know if it’s the pregnancy, or God whispering, but I’m going to listen either way! So tomorrow, I’m going to pack most my clothes that I plan to take (other than the clothes I still need for this week), along with kids toys, movies and some of their clothes. I may have the boys for a few extra hours, or an entire extra day this week that is completely unexpected so perhaps I do need to pack now and stay on top of this just in case!
My belly is growing at a very quick rate! I can’t believe it!! Orlund took some pictures of me standing (ones that were later deleted, so I didn’t stand pretty) and WOW talk about looking pregnant already! I’m hoping Wednesday at my Doctors apt I’ll get to hear the little heart beat! (14weeks!).Well, during all this stressing, We did take some time out to have some fun! Check out Orlund’s latest blog entry for one picture. And here is another (not the best quality, but still fun to take!).

Hovering over Mommy! OH What fun!!

Good morning all you beautiful people! This morning has been a beautiful morning for me. First I got to sleep in until 8:30am, and awoke to coffee brewing (Thanks Honey). Then Orlund took Joy out for a father-daughter breakfast, so Olivia and I had a special one here too. Chocolate milk makes the 1year old happy After I was done eating, waiting for Olivia to finish I looked over my to-do list. I’ve been doing good this week and getting a bunch accomplished, however I have fallen behind some. So Olivia and I headed downstairs (she loves to play down there) I dusted the ceilings and walls while she explored the toys. After that I decided we should come back upstairs so I can get some other cleaning done. She found the swiffer to be great fun! I emptied the dishwasher and re-loaded it with our breakfast dishes. Then just as I was about to leave the kitchen a giant white casserole dish caught my eye. It was on the very top of the ‘drying’ dishes (they dried overnight). So I decided to empty the sink as well. Looks nice when all the dishes are away!

Well Orlund and Joy just returned from breakfast, time to get the rest of this day on track
(Just a side note. Orlund just told me that while he and Joy were standing in line to order Joy looked up at him and said “Daddy I happy” ~ awwww!)

Just a random shot of my messy girl

Today I was continuing on with my ‘fall’ cleaning when Joy called me into her room. I went in to see her sitting reading her storybook bible (has about 5 OT stories). She flipped through it quickly and said “Mommy,  No Jesus. Where Jesus?” “Oh, Jesus isn’t in there?” “No mommy. No Jesus, why Jesus not in Bible? No whale too”. “oh, No Jesus and No whale?” “Yeah, no Jesus or whale”………I tried explaining that they were just a few Old Testament stories but that’s hard to explain to a 3 year old. I told her that Jesus was in her other Bibles and this one just has a few stories, but not about Jesus or the whale (Jonah). She sure melted my heart though. At 3 asking why Jesus wasn’t in this Bible. SO CUTE!!!

The other night while I sat at the table waiting for Joy and Olivia to finish dinner this conversation took place~

Joy had said something that hurt my feelings. So I pretended to be sad and sat there pouting (like she does) and mentioned to her that she hurt my feelings. “Mommy no happy? Mommy be happy”
“But you hurt my feelings”
“Mommy say sorry to Joy”
“I’m not going to say sorry, your hurt MY feelings, you should say sorry to me”
“Mommy say sorry.. Say sorry to Joy or big owies on bum. Say Sorry” She pats her bum making sure I understand
“Oh really? no Joy you say sorry”
“No, Mommy say sorry or big owie on bum! I 3 and them big owies” she holds up 3 fingers. Folds them down then one at a time raises them “One, two three” she counts as fast as she can, Climbs off her chair comes over to me and gives me a smack on the bum. Then climbs back into her chair and continues eating….
Well I couldn’t contain it. Here I should have been explaining to her why she can’t do that, and all the other things that needed to be explained, but I just burst out laughing! What a goof ball!! Can’t tell what I do with her! Orlund then asked about the 1,2,3 thing as we had agreed long ago not to count, but that she should do it when we first ask her too. I use the counting only when it’s not to harsh of an issue and I know she needs time to process the information.
So yes, that was my enjoyment the other evening! I couldn’t get over how well she mimicked me from the words I use to the body language~ they sure do watch everything we do!!!

I really should post more pictures… unfortunately I can’t find my camera…I should get on that eh?
Today was a good day. I started off not feeling the brightest, but it turned around quickly with a nice walk. The boys arrived at 8:20am, while I was still wishing my AMAZING mom a happy Birthday on Skype. After we signed off and the girls and I ate breakfast I loaded up the strollers… That’s right strollers. I had promised the kids once summer hit we would take a walk to the local 711 for slurpees. So I got the double stroller (picked it instead of the bike trailer as it has cup holders), then strapped an umbrella stroller to the side of it. So I only had to push 1 stroller but I could have 3 kids riding. Joy doesn’t like to walk when it’s really hot out. Strapped the 3 littles in, made sure Gabe held on and we were off. It is a short walk, about 15/20minutes. I then learned a VALUABLE lesson…. little itty bitty slurpee’s cost only about 10cents less than a gigantic huge slurpee. I paid $10 for 4mini slurpee’s, 1 large slurpee and 1 pack of candies. Next time (if there will be a next time) I will bring our own cups, buy 1 huge slurpee pour the slurpee into our cups for the kids and I’ll drink what’s left over. That will cost around $2. I might grab extra straws from 711 but otherwise it’s to expensive for them each to have their own! I told Gabe my plan, and as I started to explain I said that each of the kids would have their own sippy cup (straw kind) and he blurted in “NOT ME”… Yes you too! I told him to listen until I’m done talking, once he finished listening he thought it was a smart idea.
Well I am happy that summer has finally hit. And although it took it’s time getting here, it seems to have hit over night.
Olivia loves pushing limits and is constantly testing me right now. Joy loves talking back…… sigh… Good thing they are so cute eh?

Olivia just wandered over to me showing me her soil covered fingers. The look on her face said it all “please mom, clean this off I don’t like it”. The soil around her mouth told me she didn’t like the taste. Told her to stay out of my plants. Perhaps now that she’s tasted it she might listen. Joy was a child who wouldn’t push the limits, at least not often. Olivia is a child who lives to push the limits. We have fun.

I have a list, rather simple list, but none the less a list. The list is of everything I need to do this week. With the exception of keeping on top of the chores once done ~ example; I have Clean kitchen on list, well I will have to do this about 3/4 times a day, but it’s just written on the list once. I could get the entire list done today. TODAY. Will I? Probably not. My mind is ready to do the list, my body is not. I’m going to have to push through and get at least some  more of the list done. It’s nap time. Nap time slows me down. If I could put the girls down and come out to work on things it would be fine. But I lay on the floor, getting Joy to lay still enough to fall asleep. I usually fall asleep. I wake when she’s asleep, but then I usually have a hard time getting motivated again.

Hard day's work.

Well it’s time to get Joy on the potty and Olivia drinking her bottle. Just felt like sharing my day today. I have the boys every day this week (other than today) from 8-4. Please pray for my sanity….. On a more serious note, but about praying ~ Please pray for Charlotte. She’s going back up to Calgary Children’s for some scheduled tests, but she’s been having a rough few days, please pray it passes quickly and she’s healed!