I’ve been ‘patiently’ waiting to hear from the Dr’s office if they knew where we would be going for our next Ultrasound (Vancouver or Kelowna). I gave them a week. Today I called, the receptionist said she would look into it and get back to me. By lunch I figured perhaps she knew the answer but hadn’t had a chance to call me. So I called her again. I found out some interesting information I hadn’t thought about… First we are going to go to Vancouver for the ultrasound. She knew that. I guess she called them, and they are usually quick at responding so I should know by the end of the day (thank goodness that’s 4pm!). However the things I learned ~ Apparently this is an ALL day affair! We also don’t get to pick which day it’ll be, Vancouver picks that. The appointment is usually from around 9am to 2pm. First we will meet with some Doctors, then have the detailed ultrasound (hope we get to watch, or at least see some), then we meet with the doctors again (with some counselors) and go over the results right then and there!! Which is nice because we’ll have answers quickly and not have to wait to come home and find out. She will call me sometime today and let me know what day it is that we will need to go. Also they will have a package of information for us to pick up at the office. Makes it sound scary, but I have faith in our God. Heck my little believer Joy prayed for baby to be okay, how can it not be? (I’ll blog about that next).

Here's our baby #3

However…. This means that we will have to leave our girls somewhere over night!! First time EVER! (Joy stayed at our house with my mom when Olivia was born but that’s the ONLY time). Sure we have family in Vancouver, that I’m sure I could ask to watch them for the day, however, Orlund’s Aunt has some beds for the girls that we need to bring home (and in order to fit them into the van we need all the seats out). Orlund had been planning a trip with his mom to go down and get the beds, however now since we will be going we can just pick them up. The receptionist told me that usually people go down the night before due to how early these appointments are (and you wouldn’t want to miss it!). So that is probably what we will be doing. I think this will be hard on me! Leaving my baby girls… I know they will be fine, it’s probably harder on me than anyone else. Guess we just wait for the phone call with the times and then see who is available for babysitting the cutest girls around

See ~ such cuties!

Yeah, I’m bad at not finishing my blogging about our trip. however something has come up, and while I’m not willing to share it on such a public place as Facebook I am willing to share it with my readers. Most of you, I believe are Christians and pray, please pray.
Friday we went in and had our 19week Ultrasound. Baby was dancing the entire 45minutes it took for the technician to get all the measurements she needed (both the girls did this as well). Afterwards baby had fallen asleep so we only got to view him/her for 8minutes as we saw all we were going to see. It was exciting and we video taped it as a nice keep sake.
This weekend was Thanksgiving ~ Happy Thanksgiving everyone~ Talk about heart burn! I’ve been ‘sleeping’ on the couch in agony for the past 3 nights.
Tuesday (today)~ I was exhausted and the kids decided to be feisty and Joy ended up with a swollen lip. Olivia doesn’t seem to be feeling well as she’s crying and throwing fits all morning. Olivia has also learned how to say “NO”. Yup she’s at that stage… fun.. Anyway, to the point of my blog. This morning I got a call from our Doctors office, they wanted to call and book an appointment with me to go over the Ultrasound. *gasp*. With both the girls we didn’t have to go over anything! So of course like any pregnant woman I broke down crying and sobbing (and of course praying) there must be something wrong. I got the idea to call the office again and ask if this was going to be an appointment that my husband would need to come to or not.. The receptionist had to ask the Doctor. She told me that they saw something on the Ultrasound that will require more tests to be done (or more lab work?). So this is an informative appointment (no hubby needed). We will be discussing what they saw (or thought they saw), what tests we will need to do etc etc. SO please PRAY for my baby, uterus, placenta all that baby stuff. That everything is normal and natural. I don’t mind doing more tests, and I’m praying and believing that those tests will prove my baby is completely healthy and another miracle of God.
Thank you for your prayers. I’ll keep you updated.

Our next stop was in Brandon.

On our 7hour trip there we stopped in Regina at a McDonald’s to let the girls play for around an hour. They loved it, and it was a nice break for us too.
In Brandon I have an Uncle Richard (whom we stayed with), Cousin Dan (wife Becky, and their two kids) and Orlund has his Baba, as well as an Uncle Nathaniel (wife Thaisa and cousin Danessa). So we had many family members to visit with. The day we arrived at Uncle Richard’s house we were introduced to his Girlfriend Nancy, she was very nice to meet. I haven’t seen my Uncle Richard since our last trip out that way (actually we haven’t seen anyone from Brandon since then) and it was nice to see him. He and my Dad were very close growing up and they look quite similar. We were off to bed at a ‘reasonable’ time that night.
The next day we spent the morning visiting with Richard (he was on holidays) and making plans with the rest of the families. Shortly after dinner we headed out to see Baba. She was over the moon with excitement in getting to meet our girls. They took to her as well. Lots of hugs and loves, and of course in tradition to her Ukrainian nationality she stuffed us with even more food! After our visit with her Joy had many heart felt (tired) tears and kept crying out for Baba. She fell asleep on our way to Orlund’s Aunt and Uncles house and continued with a little snooze while we were there. Olivia didn’t mind soaking up all the attention! It was a wonderful visit. Then after returning to Uncle Richards and getting the girls down we continued our tradition of staying up much to late. (of course really it may have been midnight there but that’s only 10pm our time! lol).
The second day there Orlund went to spend some time alone with his Baba while I stayed at Richards with the girls. Nancy and one of her daughter’s (Jenna) came for brunch. It was nice to visit with Nancy again and to meet her daughter. After brunch we just hung around (played in a playground) and then headed over to Orlund’s Aunt and Uncle’s house for visiting, dinner and well more visiting. We enjoyed a bit of a cooler day (finally) and in the evening even enjoyed a fire in their back yard (in a portable fire pit). It was wonderful and we didn’t want to head home but the girls needed to go to bed.

The next day we headed to Winnipeg. (but don’t worry Brandon isn’t done yet…we come back .)

(sorry I haven’t been blogging!) Back to our trip~

We drove to Saskatoon and the girls did fabulous again! This was only a 7hour trip and that seemed like just long/short enough that we didn’t kill one another Funny enough but I wrote out all the directions off Google. Orlund never looked at the map. To be completely honest the only time I felt stress on this wonderful trip was giving him the directions. If he sees a map at least once, he’s okay to boss around….if he doesn’t see that map, lets just say it makes it interesting. We arrived at my Auntie Pat and Uncle Rob’s house in time to enjoy a wonderful dinner, my cousin Stacey was there and cousin Chris, wife Ivy and baby girl Summer (11months) came over for a wonderful visit. It was my first time meeting both Ivy and Summer. Love them both. Auntie Pat is my mom’s little sister. Pat is very similar to both my mom and myself. I found myself watching her, enjoying her company and making me realize just how much she is like my mom. Made me miss mom even more, but at the same time made me feel like she was there with us too.
The next day we mostly hung around at the house, thought we’d go to the zoo. Unfortunately by the time we got there it would close in 2hours. We figured we would go in anyway as our Zoo passes should get us in there too. They said it didn’t. So instead we took the girls to a pet store (they had to see some animals). Did a little shopping and had ice cream. Headed back to the house to enjoy all the family for dinner again. Every night we stayed up much to late visiting with Pat and Rob. We get a long fabulously with them, and the girls went to bed easily.
The following day we decided to go to the zoo earlier in the day. First however we went out for lunch with Chris on his break. It was nice to get to visit with him (we had been close when he and I lived in Thailand). Then we headed over to the zoo. Again they said we had to pay, so we did. It was super hot, but a nice zoo none the less. We had a wonderful time, unfortunately the train wasn’t working (luckily it’s out of sight so Joy didn’t notice! phew!). After that we headed back to the house where I took a nap with Olivia. I had forgotten to take my night diclectin the night before so was feeling a bit queezy.  Again the whole family was there for another delicious dinner. We all just hung around visiting after and enjoyed watching the kids play. And of course once everyone had gone home and the girls were in bed we stayed up past all reasonable bedtimes visiting.
The next morning we loaded up and headed to Brandon.
Thank you Auntie Pat and Uncle Rob for letting us stay with you, we had a fabulous time

ps~ Joy’s eye slowly returned to normal during our Saskatoon visit.
pss~ Once we returned home I sent an email to our Zoo informing them that we were unable to get into the Saskatoon zoo. turns out we should have been able to and our Zoo is willing to reimburse us of the admission! And they are informing their staff at the Saskatoon Zoo to be better aware.

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.

871 Km to Wetaskiwin, 498 Km to Saskatoon, 626 Km to Brandon, 212 Km to Winnipeg, 212 Km back to Brandon, 1740 Km home, 16 days, 27 family members visited, 1 wonderful driver, 1 hormonal pregnant woman (me), 1 yr old going through a growth spurt (“I hungry”), 1 teething toddler, 7year anniversary (uncelebrated),  loads and loads of fun!! I’ll blog more on it later. I still haven’t finished unpacking ~ of course we did just get home today!

I’m so excited to sleep in my own bed again, I just hope the girls do good tonight!

(Oh and funny enough we missed 3 weeks of Church and people started to think we no longer attended our church! lol. guess we didn’t tell so many people we were going away!)

Well it’s 10:32pm… I usually feel so sick at 10:30pm that I crawl gagging into bed and lay there feeling ill until I finally drift into a deep sleep. But I just ate a big bowl of itchy ban noodles so I’m feeling okay (for the moment). The rest of today was wonderful. After I finished blogging Orlund and I visited while the girls played about. Then we went for a walk over to Mac Park to the BG Urban Grill to try their smoothies ~ got a 2 for 1 coupon in the newspaper. YUMMY! And I checked out the rest of the menu as well, very reasonable prices.
After our smoothies and walk we had a quick lunch and then it was nap time. After naps we jumped in the car and headed to the fabric store. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let me return some things I’d purchased, however I got the threads I needed. Olivia stayed with me. Joy went with her Daddy to Princess Auto. Orlund was shocked when Olivia and I came to find him, he thought we’d be in the fabric store all day… nope I just put my head down, ignored the adorable materials screaming my name, and got just what I needed. *Yay Me*. We then decided since we were already in that part of town to go check out the Dodge Grand Caravan’s again. We had gone once before, but the sales guy seemed a bit ‘slimy’. I know, I know, a lot of them are, but this guy we didn’t care for. Luckily when we pulled up another guy came out. We liked him. He gave us some more options and pricing, the other guy we saw as we entered the new guys office. Gave a little smile and pretended we didn’t recognize him. We know who we will be dealing with now at least….now just to meet with our financial adviser. Then we will start the actual wheeling and dealing.. LOL.
Well Orlund is shutting down and it’s now 10:41pm, I’d better hit the sack before I hit the ill…..
Good night all

Oh and I also learned today (the hard way) that just because your first child never took their diaper off during nap time, doesn’t mean your second child wont….yuck!

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!!!