the sum of it

To sum up the type of day I've been having I'll just say that I just got back from dropping supper off at Dixie's only to find out that I had locked my keys in the van. Luckily, the back door was open so I was able to remove a carseat and climb over the back seat enough to reach over and unlock the sliding door. After crawling back out I opened the sliding door and grabbed my keys and let myself back in.

I think a good drink is in order for tonite.

Vanderbaby

A huge congrats to Marc and Dixie on the birth of their baby girl Olivia Kate. She's a cutie! Well done you two!

those days

Today is one of those days where I feel like I could be The Hulk. I think Steve is in that zone too. It's probably just 'cos we're over tired. Hopefully.

I should probably go take a nap.

First health lesson

Yesterday Matthias called out from the bathroom "Girls don't have pee pees". To which I replied, "yes we do, they're just different." To which Callah hollered from the kitchen table "yes I do!" And then Matthias once again replied, "no you don't." To which Callah again hollered "yes I doooooooooo!!!!!" (the girl likes to argue VERY LOUDLY) I then decided to intervene and went in to tell Matthias that we do, they're just different. "Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina." I explained. He repeated the information I had just handed out.

A few minutes later we were sitting at the table eating lunch when Matthias once again said that girls don't have pee pees. I reminded him that we do. "Do you remember what Mom told you earlier? Remember? Boys have....?" He replied, "penis". "And girls have....?" I asked. Then Steve, in his infinite wisdom, says "I told him that girls have 2 bums."

I stopped. Laughed. And then asked him, "can you say vagina?" To which there was no reply.

Anyway, that was our first health lesson.

Today was our last Mom's meeting. I'm relieved in a way, simply because I don't have to get up anymore. There's still lots of planning to be done for the fall which means lots of work I should be doing. I'm also sad tho' to see Mom's done. I really do enjoy my Tuesday mornings. It gets me out and gives the kids a chance to hang out and play with different kids. This year I got to meet alot of new women who I really enjoy talking to and hanging out with. I hope if they have more babies, they'll once again grace our group with their presence. To those of you going back to work, take 'er easy and keep in touch. Those of you staying home, I really hope to see you again at Mom's in the fall. On May 8 we have our final wind-up out at the Little Red. Start praying for nice weather and we'll see you (hopefully) there!

Man I'm suddenly extremely tired. So I'll finish with this. We're having another Mom's Golf Nite. Last year we went to Silver Hills and had a total blast. This year we're going to Fairview and then heading out for snacks/supper afterward. It's Thursday May 24. Tee off time is 6:30 pm so we need you there by 6:15 at the latest. If you're interested let me know. Club rentals are $4 or if you know someone else going who has a set, I'm sure we can share (we're not that professional!). Like I said, last year was alot of fun and I'm sure this year will be also. Hope you can come!

Chow!

could this be it?

We're going on 3 nights now of 8 or more hours between nightly feedings!!

tease

Last night Keziah slept for 10 hours btween feedings. I know it's just a tease, but I'm still excited. Now if only the rest of the family had co-operated in her efforts (for my xtra sleep) it would have been sweet dreams for me. You see I thought it would be a treat to make some popcorn for the kids. We'd cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. Steve was out in the garage working on his baby (I'm going to go on a side-step here. Before we were married Steve had this Landcruiser. To be honest it was one of the things that attracted me to him and I love it as much as he does. This baby will never leave us - or rather, we will never leave this baby. It's great. The roof comes off and it's such a thrill to ride it. We should seriously charge $ for rides. It's just awesome.) with the baby monitor hooked up to the TV so he could hear our heroes play their game while he worked.

It was going great until Callah started playing with the stove controls. I didn't realize she had had them on that long until she started screaming bloody murder. To cut to the chase she was up till 10 pm crying with ice packs on her hand. This morning she has a nice coil imprint to show for it. (This morning her accident prone self continued and while jumping on the bed she fell and slammed her chin on the windowsill biting her lower lip.)

And actually that was it. Matthias stayed up till 9 pm to comfort Callah. Keziah, after being fussy all day, had finally fell asleep. The only other thing that kept me awake was the thought of looking for a babysitter for Saturday night.

Oh well.

*yawn*

Let's see what tonite brings.

A running thought

This just cracks me up. My Dad used to tell me stories of how him and his buddies used to fart in a can and then light it up. Crazy juveniles.

Anyway, today Keziah is 5 weeks old. Lately I keep referring to things in weeks. She's 5 weeks old. Last week was Easter break. This week is the Covenant Annual Convention at our church (which just means that it's going to be busy chaotic). Next week we have our first parent meeting at St. Anne school for Matthias and I start a learn to run class. It's also the last week of April. Then it's May. Mom's Morning Out is finished. Keziah will be almost 2 months old, which means she's halfway to 4 months and that excites me b'cos I usually start Pablum and formula when they hit the 4 months stage. And at times it seems like each day is taking forever, but when I look back I'm like "gee...she's 5 weeks already!" And of course, you want them to remain small forever b'cos that's when they cuddle and appreciate you.

Anyway back to my running thought...so May. May will fly by 'cos Steve is leading a youth event in Strathmore, my parents bought a cabin so I may actually get to be in a cabin for a May long weekend for the first time ever. Party!! (yeah rite, c'mon here. I'm under 30 with 3 kids!!) Then before ya know it it'll be June and June always holds the promise and preparation for summer camps. July will soon follow and if it's anything like last year we had a camp every week followed by 2 weeks of summer "vacation" and this year we have a "family" (I say " " because it's on a side of the family that really has no relation to us) reunion in Weyburn (of all places) in August. And then it's September.

Sigh.

The next few months are just going to fly.

One day at a time Lisa, one day at a time.

Outta my mind

I'm kinda actually bored altho' I know there's no way that's humanly possible as Matthias and Callah are doing laps behind me in the basement shrieking bloody murder over who hit who and I think I hear Keziah waking from her nap in the distance. I feel like my eyelids could be held open with toothpicks and I'm starting to count down the minutes to my afternoon nap (approx 96.5).

Steve is going to S'toon for a day and a half and for some reason the thought of being home alone, for the first time since baby came, makes me feel kinda scared and depressed. For the first time in a long time, I'm making a mental note to do nothing but rest in the hope of keeping everyone's sanity while he's gone.

And so knowing there's tonnes of stuff that I should be doing, but I'm mentally telling myself to forget (altho' it's kinda hard to forget about feeding screaming kids) I'll leave you with this picture of what I want to look like in the future. The guy in front, that's Steve. Ooooh yeah...that'll be so sweet (only I'll have a whip!).

New Addition

Bonnie had this 'Motivation for Moms' on her blog and I know more often than not, it's little stuff like that that can make or break a day, so I thought I'd add it to this blog. Hope you enjoy the little motivations as much as I do.

Thanks Bonnie.

"she's so good!"

Lesson learned : never talk about how well your baby is sleeping. She'll do the exact opposite for the next few nights.

emotional

The other night Steve and I watched Blood Diamond. It was a good show, but not in the "that was so cool, I want to watch it again" kind of good. It was more of an eye opening kind of good. The kind that make you think kind of good. Know what I mean? DiCaprio's accent drove me crazy (do Africans really talk like that? Saying "yuh" after every sentence??) but otherwise the acting was good. Djimon Hounsou was awesome as usual (I have yet to see a movie that he hasn't been great in). If you want to watch it skip to the next paragraph, if you have no intention keep reading. One of the things that hit me was the story line following the son. The rebels (and I could totally be wrong on who's who) kidnap his son and make him join their force, meaning make him kill his own people. I'm just amazed and shocked at how they can do this. How they can make children, no more than 10, fire machine guns and kill women, children their own age and babies? At one point in the movie they have these kids saying their new "names" to the general (or whoever) and one of the boys says "I am baby killer". I know it's only a movie, but I know that this stuff has really happened and is still happening in parts of the world. How can we be so messed up? What is wrong with humans? It reminded me of Hotel Rwanda. Another one of those good, makes you think kind of movies.

Anyway, I recommend it. Then while blog surfing I came across this on Peggy's blog. You'll need a kleenex (seriously) if you want to check it out. I've been getting a few of these in my e-mail and pictures of troops and stuff. This war is so beyond stupid. Again, what is wrong with humans?

In baby news, last night we had our first really rough night and I know I should be napping right now, but there's just so little time in the day to do stuff that I enjoy (one being catching up on the blogging world) and so here I am, sitting at the computer, half baked.

And finally, I know I haven't written about Mom's lately, but tomorrow is our final Marriage Talk. Wendy Demers will be speaking and she's been married for 25 years. These talks have been awesome so far and I'm sure this one will be no different. It's been good to hear how we all have our troubles and really, are no different than anyone else. Kinda comforting.

Oh yeah, in case you care, our house is a COMPLETE mess. That's what happens when your basement is leaking in opposite sides of the house and you decide to repaint a bedroom and install laminate in 2 bedrooms and the living room. All in one week!! Yeah!!

Nursing baby

Yesterday when I was nursing Keziah, Matthias came and sat beside me on the couch. He had brought one of their baby dolls. He lifted his shirt and brought the doll's head to his breast.

"I'm feeding baby too Mom!"

I was too busy laughing to correct him. I'll have to remember this story for when he grows up and gets married!

I knew it

I knew it was going to come. It's been coming every March for as long as I've lived here (true it's only been 6 years, but that's a long time...). It was only a matter of time.

Snow.

And alot of it.

For as long as I've lived here, there's been a major snowfall in March. I remember this b'cos every March there's a youth retreat in Strathmore that we drive to (more often than not during or right after the big March snowfall). This year we (Steve and I) didn't drive so I suppose it's only fitting that the snow waited till after the retreat (altho' seeing pictures looks like they had to drive thru some whiteout conditions anyway) to come. And boy did it come!

Sigh...

I was so looking forward to spring and the smell of summer coming.

Oh and Steve sent me this personality test thing. I thought it was pretty cool and seemed to describe me head on. Check it out. I hope the link works.

2 weeks

It's been almost 2 weeks now since we've had Keziah and there are a few things that I've noticed since we brought her home.

I hate waking up at 3 am.

I hate waking up at 7 am.

Having a baby is harder than I remember, yet at the same time, I find myself thinking about the possibility already of a #4.

Memories of "periods" are too hard to ignore (one of the reasons I like being pregnant is that I don't have periods for 9 months!).

I hate breastfeeding. To me breastfeeding is more of a nuisance than bottle feeding. One of the reasons I breastfeed is because I feel like I will be publicly "marked" if I don't. I love how nurses and other people get this tone in their voice when you talk about formula feeding. This one nurse in the hospital even said, "you do know the consequences...". Uh yeah, my baby will be fed instead of shrieking for milk that (at the time) was not coming in. Anyway...

I'm ALWAYS tired. I thought the lack of sleep in the 9th month was supposed to prep you for the lack of sleep you'd get after baby arrived. No deal in my case.

The kindness of other people is mind blowing.

Keziah looks like a snapping turtle.

And I realized how much I love my family. How helpful and supportive Steve is. The joy Matthias and Callah bring me and the love I feel already for Keziah as I rock her to sleep. I feel so completely blessed!

It's a girl!!

Yeah for us!! Keziah Ruth arrived quickly (once we were "accepted" at the hospital) Monday early evening (5:03 pm to be exact) with only a few minor complications. We're all super excited to have her with us and now that we're home, are glad to start making her a part of this family! She was 6 lbs-3 oz and 20" long. Blue/grey eyes, dark brown hair. A picture of beauty!!

* A HUGE thanks to Dixie for bringing her camera (taking the pics) and the yummy drink!! Thanks!!

Just call me wimpy

The contractions started this morning around 6 am. I thought nothing of them 'cos I've been having them off and on for awhile now. Usually I just get up out of bed and they stop. A little more intense than usual 30 mins. later I got up out of bed and stood around waiting to see if they'd keep coming. Sure enough. They came. 30 minutes later still, they were coming every 2 minutes. And finally another 30 minutes later I woke Steve up.

We got the kids away to the families and were on our way to the hospital before 8. I should've known it was too early when everyone kept asking me if I was in labour. Oh yeah, and the fact that I was laughing between contractions. That definately should've given it away!

The head has come down more (altho' not all the way) and I'm definately having pains. In comparison, with Matthias from start to finish it was close to 27 hours. Callah on the other hand, from the time I first felt any sort of contraction to the end, it was only 4 hours. So that's what I'm basing things on. Good grief, if this were Callah, she'd be out by now. The rate I'm going this time, looks like it's going to be very long, very uncomfortable, back pain filled day. I felt like such a wimp when they were examining me and I was barely even dilated. And of course, once again the nurse there said I should be back within' 24 hours. Right, I'm not holding my breathe. I asked her, if my contractions are like 2 minutes apart and I'm barely dilated, then when should I come back to the hospital. She said, normally they look for contractions to be 3 minutes or so apart (okay??), my water actually breaks (none of this slow leak stuff) or the contractions get unbearable.

Right. Thanks for the help.

I hate waiting...

..especially when every 2-5 minutes I have to remind myself to breathe!

uhhhh....

yeah.....

...no baby.

I'm at the point where I'm sitting in front of the TV with a slurpee and a bag of chips.

Ohhh....baby.

And we're off!

I woke up yesterday to a gooey gush in my pants.

I know...nice.

It continued for awhile and I started to freak out. Luckily I had an appointment with my doctor at 10. I left early for the appointment hoping he'd be able to see me early. It was a good thing I went early as he was heading out to deliver another baby, so he quickly saw me and put me on a day of rest. It turns out that I was leaking amniotic fluid and he said it should heal within 24 hours. If not then I would have to be induced or if the leaking got worse, then again, I would have to be induced. So I spent the day pretending to be a vegetable, which drove me nuts!! Only to wake up again this morning to a gooey gush in the pants. Granted it was a smaller gush, more like a gob, but gooey all the same. So off we went to the hospital.

Once there I got hooked up to the monitor where we listened as the babies heartbeat kept a nice steady pace (except for one really low dip that caused some concern, but after waiting another 30 minutes, we were given the "ok") and saw the little "tightenings" which led the nurse to "swear on supper" that I was going to have this baby in the next 24 hours. Hey, as long as the babies head drops I don't care when it arrives. The doctor was just doing rounds when we showed up and it was kinda unnerving how he had no idea who we were, even tho' I had just seen him yesterday. And again unnerving when he said the exact same thing that he had said yesterday. "If it's still leaking in 24 hours you should be induced." Sure he's busy, but c'mon.

Anyway, so now we just wait. I'm suppossed to do this little "funky chicken dance" every time I feel a "tightening" to help drop that head. It's my Grandma's 89th b-day party this afternoon, so the family will all be up for it. I hope the baby doesn't come till after, I really don't want to take away from her big day. When you get that old, you don't have many special days and I know she's REALLY looking forward to it all.

So if you're the praying type, please pray that we wait till after the festivities and that the head drops. It would be greatly appreciated from all of us here.

Until next time...
...we'll keep you posted.

conflict

Do you think conflict in a relationship is a good thing? Or should one just keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves?

backtalking and babies

The other night Steve and I went to a movie. Steve is very determined to sit in the middle of the theatre and I like sitting more in the back, so that's where we sat. Unfortunately it was right infront of 3 teenage boys (I'd say around 17). As soon as we sat down I felt the urge to move. It wasn't really that they were talking loudly, the movie hadn't started yet, but more so what they were talking about. They were talking about "hot" girls and their sisters and who they wanted to hook up with. It made me think of property or a possesion. It didn't make me feel right. And then they mentioned the name of one of our youth girls and they phoned her and told her to get her "pretty little ...." down to the theatre. I totally wanted to turn around and tell them to grow up and treat girls better. Then I thought of telling this youth how these guys were talking about her and I thought, but wait, what would she think? Would she be glad that they were even talking about her or would she feel offended like I felt?

I've been talking this bible study called "Fight Like A Girl" by Lisa Bevere for a few months now and the whole idea behind it is how women have been losing sight of their true selves. That (in some cases) we've been ashamed of our femininity and the actual power that comes with it, of course now she's challenging women to discover their beauty, strength and wisdom and celebrate it instead of hiding it. I've felt kinda ho-hum about the whole study, but I do agree with how she thinks that society has been giving women a bum wrap for awhile now. That God did not intend us to be seen as how society has placed us as we are right now. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the more I try to be thoughtful and "deep" the sillier I sound. All I know is that the way these young guys were talking felt really wrong. And it's up to us, as parents, friends, etc to teach the next generation how to properly respect the opposite sex and treat them with as much.

As a side note and back to baby I've been thinking lately about the whole labour/delivery thing. With roughly a week and half to go, it would be silly to say I'm eagerly awaiting it. True I want this baby out, but then I think about the hospital room, the screaming, the pain, the pushing and all the other wonderful joys of childbirth. There's no real easy way out is there? You're in pain and uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy, then you want the pain to get worse so you can go into labour, and then you finish with a different kind of pain as the uterus shrinks down to it's original size and you recover with a screaming infant. Someone remind me why we do this again?

*as a side note, I'm trying hard to sound intelligent in this post. Seriously. So if I said something completely absurd, please keep it to yourself and e-mail me later about it. Thanks!