It's Been a While.....

I am very sorry that it has taken so long to write again. Our computer lost its hard drive and we just got it back after all this time. We got a free, new hard drive - thank you extended warrantee - complete with an upgrade in memory, but now we have to put all of our programs on it again. Once I get pictures loaded again, I will bring a new post to you.

Sugar or Spice?

Today I went for my gestational diabetes clinic. I was nervous to go but once I got there, I found it to be a great resource and a huge encouragement to me.
When I found out that I had gestational diabetes and I would have to monitor by blood sugar levels, I borrowed my cousins' monitor that she got from the health clinic when she had gestational diabetes. I have been monitoring for 3 weeks now and have kind of figured things out - I think - and going to this appointment just reassured me that yes, I am doing things correctly. One thing that I have realized, though, is that having Caleb with such a strict diet has prepared me tremendously for this phase in my life. I understand carbohydrates and fibre and sugar and how they all work together to change how my body processes sugar. Now that I have more information for myself, I can also now use it for helping Caleb and finding more options for him. I am finding that having gestational diabetes has been a huge blessing in my life.
That is a sentence that I thought I would never be saying, but it is true!!

Baby Number 3

Check out the new info added to October's post "Baby Number Three."

Carving Pu'kins

This year the kids were very excited to carve pumpkins. The pumpkins happened to be ones that we grew in our garden so that was a special treat. For some reason, Caleb has had a fascination with Carathy's little toy gun for the last few weeks and that night was no exception. He didn't let it out of his sight the whole evening. I wanted to take pictures of the kids with the pumpkins that they carved so when they were finished I asked them to pose with them. Carathy posed very nicely with hers and was excited to show it off. Caleb, on the other hand, when asked to pose and say 'cheese,' stuck the gun in the pumpkins' eye and grinned! I think if he had his way, carving pumpkins would be a whole lot messier!!

Carathy's finished masterpiece

Farmers and fairy tales

Carathy and Caleb were playing dress up. Usually this means that I am constantly helping with princess costume changes and having to tell the kids that they look like beautiful princesses in their dresses. Caleb loves to wear Carathy's skirts and shirts and pretend he is a princess and I often wonder what will happen when he doesn't want to be a princess but something more manly. I found that out just the other day. I was working in the kitchen when the kids came around the corner wearing one of Grandpa Squeaks' auction hats and one of Grandpa Driediger's MAF hats. They had on 'farm clothes' and the hats and asked me what they looked like. I wasn't quite sure what they were supposed to be and my first reaction was to tease and say that they looked like beautiful princesses but I figured I would just ask them. It turns out they were playing 'cow sellers.' They were telling me that it smelled like cow poop and there were "lots of other noisy farmers buying all the cows." I guess Carathy remembers her trips to the auction with Grandpa because she was quite animated in her explanation of what was going on and what they had to do there if they wanted to be cow sellers. Caleb was just excited that he finally got to wear a farmer hat!

A small blessing

A couple of weeks ago I went into the kitchen to get a snack and realized that the ceiling above the sink looked wet. Not something that is exciting to discover but I called Steven and we checked it out and found that the ceiling wasn't wet then but it had been wet at some time. We looked around, found no other water damage and decided to just keep our eyes on it. A few days later, we saw that it was wet again so we checked some more and saw that the shower in our bathroom was leaking outside the shower and it was leaking through the floor onto the ceiling beneath it. We took all the old caulking off and reapplied new stuff, waited 24 hours for it to dry, and then tried again. No water on the floor or on the ceiling!!!! The problem was fixed..........until Saturday evening when we were eating supper before church and I heard a funny sound. I asked Steven what he thought it was and he said, "It sounds like water running." I looked up, and indeed there was water running - from one of the lights in our kitchen! Right away, he jumped up and checked it out. It looked like the water was leaking from the drain in our shower. He fixed the new problem and now we have let water run in the shower for a while to test it and so far so good. What is the blessing in all of this? The water found the weak spot in the ceiling to come through (the light) which was directly above our sink so the water ran right into the sink! No other water mess to clean up.... a small but exciting blessing in the midst of a mess.

Black or white?

The other evening, Carathy and I were watching "Deal or no deal" on tv and it was quite exciting. There was an African American contestant that had a very good chance of winning a million dollars and we were getting into the excitement of the game when all of a sudden she pipes up, "Mom, I am sure glad that God didn't make me Black." I was a bit stunned by her comment so I asked her why. She said "Well, I really don't like to have my skin painted." Through my laughter I explained to her that God didn't actually paint their skin, He made it black to start with. That seemed to comfort her because then she replied, "Oh, well that's ok, then. I could be Black. I think it would be fun because I LOVE their hair!" If only the rest of society had the innocence of a child.......

Playing musical chairs with pretend people

I was vacuuming yesterday and as I made my way into the dining room I saw Carathy and Caleb sitting on chairs they had moved to the kitchen. In the kitchen were three more chairs sitting empty. Carathy and Caleb were sitting silently on their chairs looking intently at the other three. Somewhat amused, I asked if they were plaing 'train.' Carathy explained, "No, we're watching pretend people playing musical chairs." Charming. A few minutes later Carathy continued her explanation: "Every time the music stops we take out a chair. Caleb and I are already out."
Not only were they playing musical chairs with pretend people; they had also managed to lose to them!

Baby Number Three

Things seem to be going well for this pregnancy. Considering I only have 10 weeks left, I feel pretty good. I am starting to feel like I have a lot to do before this baby comes but on the other hand, the baby will come whether I am ready or not. That, somehow, is a comfort to me because then I don't need to decide when everything is 'perfect' for the baby to arrive - it will just come.

I found out a couple weeks ago that I have gestational diabetes. At first it was some hard news to take. I was borderline with Caleb and I thought that because I was healthier this time I would be out of the woods, but God had other plans for me. Finding out that I need to monitor my blood sugar and prick my finger many times a day made me feel like a failure at first: a failure that I could not be pregnant without complications and that I don't have a body that can do 'being pregnant' right. I had been trying so hard to be 'good' with my eating habits and exercising and resting enough but even that didn't help. Once I started monitoring my blood and watching what I ate, I realized it wasn't so bad and I actually enjoyed knowing for sure what my glucose level was. I didn't have to guess anymore. I have actually lost a bit of weight because I have been counting my carbs - all while the baby is growing and maintaining a healthy weight. When Caleb was born, he had some problems at first because he was overproducing insulin to compensate for my high blood sugar levels. His blood-glucose level was VERY low and he needed intervention from the nurses to bring it up so he could survive his first few minutes. Knowing that, I have been inspired to maintain healthy levels for this baby so it has a better chance in its first few minutes of life.

So, with only 10 weeks to go, let the countdown begin.

30 Weeks

My Pregnancy

This new baby was a little surprise for us. We were still trying to decide if and when we were going to have a third and then all of a sudden I found out that it would be sooner than we thought. So far this pregnancy, I have felt the best that I have during any of them so far and that has been a real blessing. We are looking forward to the arrival of this new little one.

24 weeks

Caleb's First Haircut

Before

This was Caleb's first haircut. Our regular hairdresser is not cutting hair because she is on maternity leave so she couldn't cut it. He was in desperate need of a cut so I was brave and pulled out my scissors and did it myself. He was scared to have it done because he thought it would hurt but once Carathy reassured him that it wasn't 'owie' then he was okay with it. I don't have a cape to use for cutting hair so I used a garbage bag. I didn't have a garbage bag large enough to fit his whole body so I used two little ones. He wasn't too thrilled about that and I can't say I blamed him but he didn't get any hair on him!

Carathy's First Day Of Kindergarten

This was a day that I was looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. Having Carathy in Kindergarten every day meant that weekends and holidays would mean something different to us and it would signal the beginning of having to make lunches and snacks five days a week. It also meant that she was growing up. She would have so many new friends and experiences that I would not be able to control. But having her in Kindergarten also meant that she was becoming more independant and 'grown-up'. In just one month of school, she has grown into a confident 4 (almost 5) year old and it has become clear that she is going to thrive in a learning environment. She can hardly wait to learn how to read better and is disappointed when the weekend comes because then she has to wait three whole sleeps until she can go again.

The scariest change for her was to start riding on the bus. The first morning that she rode on the bus, she was shaking so much that she could barely eat breakfast. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that she was nervous about riding on the bus. Hearing that made me nervous that she would not actually get on the bus! It worked out well that her cousins got on the bus with her that morning so she had someone to show her how things worked and when I asked her how it went, she replied, "Good. It wasn't scary at all!" It was exactly what I wanted to hear. Since that first day, she hasn't looked back. She is thrilled with the new friends that she made on the bus and is excited that she can do it all by herself. I guess you could say this is just the beginning of the rest of her life........

Sleepy Caleb

For Caleb and Carathy's birthdays this year, their Grandpa Squeaks made them a huge swing set. They have spent many hours on it swinging away. One evening as we were working outside we realized that Caleb hadn't asked for a push in a little bit and when we looked over, he was fast asleep. He loves the swing and now, he especially loves the " 'wing Papa made."

Our Trip To Gem

These are some pictures that we took on our trip to Gem in August.

Caleb and Waldo in the wagon

Carathy trying to pull Caleb in the wagon

Debbie and her boyfriend, Dylan

Carathy

Caleb and his cousin Katelyn

Carathy, her cousin Katelyn, and Aunt Kelly after bathtime

Caleb trying to be brave with the calf.......

...and not really succeeding.

Caleb mowing lawn with Grandma Squeaks

AT THE FOOTBALL GAME

We had the opportunity to go to a football game while we were there. The Calgary Stampeders were playing the BC Lions. I am a Stamps fan and Steven is a Lions fan. It makes for some interesting games! We are both trying to get our children to cheer for the 'right' team and for this game, I think that he was outnumbered seeing as the game was in Calgary!

Carathy and her Aunt Kim

Carathy and her Aunt Debbie

Mom and Dad looking....well, not quite so enthusiastic about something.

Caleb started getting sleepy by the end of the game. It was over quite late because it went into double overtime! Too late for a little boy.

Steven and Caleb

Caleb looking quite happy to be there.

Carathy with the flag that Grandpa and Grandma bought her.

The players.

IN THE POOL

Carathy in the swimming pool.

Caleb being brave. This was the first time that he didn't need anyone to hold him in the water. I was excited to see that he could do it himself.

Aunt Kim and Carathy.

Caleb looking suspicious.

Carathy's Preschool Grad

This post is for those of you who were not able to make it to Carathy's graduation from preschool. These pictures are just a few taken that day.

Carathy and Grandpa Squeaks

Carathy and her teacher Ms. Rast

Carathy in her graduation hat

My first attempt....

Well, I am going to try to keep up with this blog. It is my attempt at keeping up with photos and what is happening in our lives for all of our relatives that live so far away (which is most of you!). Hopefully you will be able to see glimpses of our lives in these pages and be able to enjoy watching our family change.