I’ve been itching to do a blog post, one on each of my children actually. However it is something I want to put some thought into…. I don’t have that time! Here is a quick update on our lives ~ all typed one handed as I have a sleeping baby on me (don’t dare and try to put him down).

Jacob~ He’s my little chunker. He was supposed to have his 8week check up last week but the Dr. cancelled so we go in on Tuesday. He’s a gassy baby. He only poops once every 4ish days, and generally is fussier after. I’ve got him on some probiotics to help, will see. When he is not screaming in pain from gas he’s full of smiles and very content. This morning he laid in the crib cooing at the mobile for a good half hour! He’s also a very warm baby, spends his day in nothing more than a short sleeved onsie ~ if that.

Olivia ~ she’s decided she’s going to be sassy like her sister… fun… Actually she does everything her sister does, she’s like a mirror. Even if she sees Joy do something that gets her disciplined she does it right after. Her 3 favorite  things are bugging/mirroring Joy, ‘snuggling’ Jacob, and pretending she’s a puppy dog!

Joy turns 4 in just 9 sleeps! We are having her party the Saturday before, I decided to make some tutu pom wands… silly me. It’ll be a fun princess theme. Where did the time go? I just had her! She’s grown up so much. We also have her in speech therapy, what a smartie! Every new sound we learn she figures out how to say in the first 2 minutes of class then does it perfectly for the rest of the hour! I catch her at home forgetting to say them properly but she’s doing great! Next class is also our last and she’ll be learning SH, which is the hardest for her.

Some fun things Joys said recently ~ “Daddy, fome time I need you to leave me alone” (that was before she learned the s sound), Orlund asked her where his baby went and she replied “I ran away”, And on Sunday Grandma said she couldn’t keep up because she’s old and Joy said “Poppa’s old too”.

Orlund and I are doing good, trying to get stuff done around the house. Life is just so busy. I’m also trying to work out every week day, doing pretty good. I’m also watching what I eat. Week 1 was good, dropped 3lbs and 1″ off my waist. Week 2 not so good, ate out 2 days and missed 2 days working out. I didn’t lose anything. I’m not really to concerned about my weight, I can lose that later. I want to ensure I can still Breast feed Jacob for as long as he needs. That being said I find I have more energy if I work out and therefore get way more done

I keep counting the sleeps that are left until Grams (my mom) comes home on my fingers with Joy. She has fun as she’s learning to count and loves my mom.
Sunday morning during Breakfast Joy started counting down on her fingers (random numbers as she can’t count down yet), then she got to 1 and held up her one finger and said “One sleep and Grams home. Yup”. Orlund and I had a good little giggle over her seriousness. I told her she was right we were getting closer, and that NEXT Sunday was when Grams would be home. Orlund’s eyes went as big as an owls and said “REALLY? already?”. I asked him about it to find out that my mom coming makes it so much more real that baby is coming soon too. That’s right, baby is coming.
I’ve noticed that my body is getting ready for baby’s arrival with the ‘increase’ in aches and pains that are only experienced at the end of a pregnancy. Fun. but exciting all the same.

I decided that I needed more room in the baby’s room so sorted through all the girls outgrown boxes and was able to get rid of just over half of the amount of boxes. Yes there are still many boxes but a whole lot less than there was. I also started to sort through all the stuff that has just been shoved into his room to be organized. It looked like an explosion had gone off. When Orlund first saw in the room he said “I sure hope the girls didn’t do that”. Nope, just me. After he found out that baby is indeed coming soon he asked me to hurry and get the room set up. I told him it would take me 30minutes to do. Today I put myself to the test and sorted through the remainder of stuff, set up the change table and just finished the room off. It took me 30minutes + a quick vacuum. I think that’s pretty impressive. so now all I need to do is fold some receiving blankets that I just finished washing and put them away (spot all ready), and change the bedding on the crib, I didn’t change it as the girls were playing in the crib and I figured might as well leave it so it’ll stay fresh.

Today once Olivia goes for her nap I’m going to tackle Orlund and my room. I figure it should only take me 30minutes as well to get all my piles off the floor (laundry and some stuff to run downstairs, as well as clearing off my dresser/vanity and night stand). Once that is done I will either take a little nap too or finish packing my hospital bag (baby stuff is in there, just nothing for me).

For those of you without Facebook I am doing a ‘poll’ to guess when baby arrives. He is due Feb 28/29, he’s already head down but not ‘engaged’. Joy was born 10days late at 8lbs 6oz and Olivia was born 7days late at 8lbs. If you’d like a chance to win a little gift give a guess at his birth date and birth weight (actually I’ll allow you to make 2 guesses).  You can make your guesses up until my due date or I go into labour.

Another ‘thing’. My Daycare boy’s dad asked me when dropping him off last time if Sol hits a lot while here. I said no. he went on to tell me about a trip the family had just taken. I guess whenever Sol was with other kids he was hitting them and hitting his parents/brother. They had to get a room in the back corner of the hotel because he was so noisy, and they even had people complain because of his noise. I guess he was also jumping off the beds, getting into everything (coffee etc) and unrolling all the toilet paper. And both the boys wake up so early (5am) that their mom took them and drove around trying to find somewhere to buy a cup of coffee. That’s just crazy to me. His dad said he wished he could see what he’s like when he’s here.  Got me to thinking. They must not have strict rules at home, or at least don’t enforce them. I have set rules, they don’t change. No jumping on/off furniture. It’s our rule at home, at friends and pretty much anywhere. I know the boys are allowed to do that at home, so why wouldn’t they when out? makes me realize just how important having the same rules when at home and when out are to have. Our kids always know what’s expected of them, it never changes (of course it adapts to different situations). They try to stretch the limits, test us and are just kids, but they know when not to push and when to stop it. When we go to a hotel, go out of town, we want to relax. I can’t imagine that Sol’s dad or mom got much relaxing in (especially not together).  Sol knows my rules and honestly behaves just like one of my kids would. Sure sometimes he doesn’t like the rule so will ask for his mom/dad or to go home, but all daycare kids do that once in a while. He plays with them without hitting or hurting the girls (of course the occasional scrap arises but that’s to be expected). I honestly think his dad would be beyond shocked to see how calm, rule abiding he is when he’s here. And honestly it’s not like I did anything special, I was just always consistent. If I told him/reminded him of the rules and he chose to break them again (within a reasonable time frame) I’d put him in time out or if he hurt someone I might give his hand a smack. But really it was usually just a matter of reminding him of the rules and making sure I stuck to the same ones I always have. And the rules are the same for all the kids.

Well that’s my update for now. Oh and also Orlund told me to stop making/freezing meals because we don’t have enough room in the freezer anymore Never thought that day would come. LOL. Well I’d better get Livi down for her nap.

Olivia calls her blanket “Ning Ning”. Just a few minutes ago she came up to me and said “Ning Ning”
“you want your blanket, where is it?”
“I dunno”
“It’s downstairs in your bed, you want to go get it?”
“uh huh”
“okay well the gate is open, go down and get it”
“No, Daddy”
“Daddy’s at work”
“Oh, Doy”
“Joy do you want to get Olivia’s blanket for her?”
“no”
“Olivia, Joy doesn’t want to go get it”
“Mommy”
“No, you go get it”
“Okay”…….
A few minutes later Olivia came back upstairs with her blanket, we clapped and cheered that she went and got it. She then told me “Ning Ning Happy”
“Your blanket is happy? Because you went and got it?”
“uh huh”.

Olivia with her "Ning Ning"

Okay it’s official my kids melt my heart. And light up my life.
I think God gives us children to teach us. Teach us of His love He has for us (His Children), Teach us about true Faith and purity. Teach us to pray with all our hearts for another. And to teach us that we really do need to rely on Him.

Update on our lives~
~ I’m still pregnant. Yup. Imagine that… 4ish more weeks to go, I like the sound of baby arriving Feb 20th
~ Had our furnace checked out today. We will probably be getting a new one in the next month or so, depending on the quote they give us.
~ I discovered how messy our house is. I’ve been doing lots of cleaning, so it’s mainly just toys and stuff we are still moving around. I probably wouldn’t have noticed except I needed to ‘clear a path’ for the furnace guy before he got here and realized just how much work there is left to get done.
~ My best friend’s mom lent me a book. It’s a cookbook. “The big cook”. I’m in LOVE. The recipes are made for you to get together with some girlfriends and make lots, you cut up the meat, make the sauce put it all into a ziplock bag and freeze it. So no cooking involved for now. The book also gives suggestions for side dishes (I always need help with those). You pull the food out to thaw overnight then cook it up the next day for dinner ~ many of the recipes are cookable in the oven, slow cooker or BBQ. I have made 8 meals so far, we ate one so I have 7 frozen meals. I also have all the ingredients and most of them prepared (cut up etc) for another 2 meals, however I miscalculated how much meat I’d need so need to buy a bit more. Darn Kg to Lbs! I know the math but apparently can’t do it!
~ Orlund and I have both been making many different meals from various cookbooks we’ve bought or were given. We are finding out what’s yummy and easy. I’ve got to start making a list of the recipes so we can remember later! LOL
~ We are FINALLY going to move the girls downstairs TONIGHT! *gasp* got lots still to do, but I’m going to work on it today after Olivia is down for her nap (well I have stuff to take out of their room first..). I’m excited it’s finally happening because that means I can start getting ready for our new addition.
~ Joy went to Sunday school last Sunday! This was a big step, she didn’t like to go as the kids were too loud and all over the place. however on Saturday we went to a birthday party with some of these kids and she decided since they were nice there she’d go to Sunday school with them again. She loved it! (now the rowdy kids I noticed weren’t there, and the new teacher is more strict ~ which is good for some kids like Joy, but not all kids). She say’s she’s going to go again this Sunday. Poor Olivia, she really wants to go! 1 more year
~ Olivia is completely a Daddy’s girl. If I discipline her she runs to daddy for hugs. If Orlund disciplines her she runs a full circle, towards me then back to him for hugs. During the day if she gets really frustrated and I don’t know why, she points out the front window and cry’s “Daaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyy”. I remind her Daddy is at work, but she just cry’s and cry’s for him. The only other thing that will sooth her is her Blankie.
~ Both the girls are so smart it blows us away sometimes the things they come up with! They sure are listening.
~ Joy loves to say something to you (not understandable) and then when you ask her what it is she said she replies “oh, never mind” while waving her hand. She is also using the word “pardon” now instead of always saying “what”. It makes her seem so much more grown up.
~ Joy is excited at the thought of having a baby brother to play with… I’m worried she’ll be upset when she realizes he wont be much of a ‘play’ buddy for a while. At least all the baby toys will keep them busy
~ Orlund is LOVING his new job. Much less stress and it’s doing stuff that he loves.
~ I accidentally killed Nemo (our Gold fish). Yup somehow the temperature in our fish tank got so high he died and our other ‘fish’ (more like a snake/eel) was jumping out of the water because it was too hot! We cleaned the tank and cooled it off for them (slowly as to not shock them). Joy and Daddy went on a special trip to buy more fish, they bought 2 Pleco’s (the fish that clean the algae) and 4 little neon tetra’s. We are hoping to get on track with cleaning on a regular basis (it doesn’t take long, but remembering is the issue), then we would like to get guppies again. I love guppies. Just before we’d moved into this house I’d gotten into the routine of cleaning the tank, and our guppies were having babies. Unfortunately guppies are very sensitive fish and didn’t survive the move.
~ My pregnancy is going good. I have very low blood pressure still, the Dr suggested I use pressure stockings to help, I just gotta go buy them! My back has been killing me the last few days, but I think I know why. I dusted all our ceilings and walls on Monday (or was it Tuesday? lol), I think I just over did it and must have strained something.
~ well it’s time to get lunch going and some stuff cleared out the girls current room before Olivia goes down..

Hope all is well with your family. God bless you.

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.

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.

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