Welcome Nadia Lynn!! - November 12th

Here is a small composite of the pictures that were taken while I was in labor with Nadia, and after she was born. It was difficult to decide which ones would be appropriate and which would not be. I had Will help me with that and I hope that there is nothing following that would offend anyone - tehe. To us, it was a wonderful day in which we really felt the LORD's care and love.

This first picture shows the intense labor (no break between contractions) and because Nadia was posterior for most of my labor it also shows my gimped leg as she was sitting on my sciatic nerve. It's hard being in labor and not being able to walk or stand - very doable though :).


This shows me in the shower - I am on my knees hanging over the yoga ball and I'm so glad that Nicole (our doula) had me do this because this is where Nadia changed positions from posterior to anterior (I'm pretty sure anyway). Will went right in there with me and had the hot water on my back. It wasn't long after feeling some relief in the shower (half an hour) that I felt like pushing. Because I had not even been dilated 2 hours earlier - everyone was pretty sure I was not in transition. I knew that I was!! Nicole suggested that I sit on the toilet and that's when everyone knew the baby was coming fast. I was not too keen on getting off the toilet - I figured I would just have the baby there but Nicole took control and told me to get to the bed. Michelle told me later that I gave Nicole a real dirty look over the brim of my glasses - sorry Nicole!!!

In the end I am so glad that I moved because it is definately better for Mom and baby to have the doctor directing the whole process from a bed than from the bathroom floor. Especially considering Nadia had the cord around her neck once and meconium in the amniotic fluid.

After getting to the bed, I thought I would have to push forever because at that point I'm thinking that she is still posterior. Well, I was certainly pleasantly surprised when she came after only two pushes. Praise the LORD - what a little miracle!! After checking her airways and stomach for meconium, the doctors stimulated her and she made her first cry. Here she is meeting her father for the first time. He really loves you Nadia.

Still getting checked out.

Now it's my turn to see her. I did get to see her briefly right after she was born but it was so fast that it was really a blur. This time I really got a good look. Precious!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

I love this picture because although it's subtle you can just see the grin on Will's face.

Still looking alittle blue from birth but very alert.

Nicole (our doula) and my sister Michelle (doula in training :)) were awesome.
Will and I were so glad that they were there to help us.
Here they are admiring Nadia with me. Awwwww.

I love this part...bonding skin to skin.

The nice thing about not laboring through the night is that this is my first post partum baby picture where I still have my make-up on (what little of it is left)!!! I'm so vain.

Our first PM baby.

Thanks for your guidance and assistance Nicole!!

Thanks for your strong presence and loving support Will!!
Isn't she the sweetest (I just have to say it!!).

Will making our customary announcement phone calls.

What a team!!

Thanks for all your encouraging words Michelle!! (the picture of just me and you was not publishable).

The kids were just tickled pink when they came to visit us. All smiles.

Isn't she pretty? She's so small! Can I touch her?

Do you think Aleana was excited about having a sister?
She didn't believe Will on the phone that she was a girl. She had to see for herself.

Grandma and Nadia.

Thanks for taking all the kids Grandma!!

Big sister = Pure love.

It's my turn to hold her now...Mom!! She's held her long enough - tell her it's my turn!!
The fighting begins...

Big Brother.

I know how to hold her really good - see, she's happy when I hold her. Yup - I'm really good at holding her.

Middle brother.

Do you see these tears Mom? Sniff sniff. I'm not crying cause I'm sad - I'm crying (gulp gulp) because I'm so happy.

Littlest brother.

I love the baby Mom - I love Nadia.

"Finally!!! I get to hold her too!! Little girls are so precious...never thought I would be so excited over a little girl!"

This child has been my joy during my days of sorrow.

Thanks be to God, who directed all things and made them well.

Praise Him for giving us a Christian doctor who prayed twice with us - once to ask for His protection over the birth and the second time to pray that Nadia would find her place in our family and bring "hope" of new life to the funeral for Opa.

Nadia means "hope".

We Love You Opa!!!

This morning in the early hours our dear Opa went to be with his LORD and Saviour.

We are thankful for all the times we had together and we are also thankful that yesterday Will and I were able to be with him and the family at the hospital. He died peacefully and surrounded by those that love him.

I found these pictures from last year Nov. 11 when we went to visit him. We have made it a tradition in our family to visit Opa on that day to thank him for his contribution to WWII.

He was always a fighter, even at the end.

We are just so thankful that he doesn't have to fight anymore but can live in heavenly peace.

Matthew drew a series of pictures representing a fight at a castle where Hitler lost.

All of our children loved Opa and it is still shock to them that he is gone.
Matthew cried this morning when we told him and said "But who will be my Opa now?"
I told him that Opa will always be Opa no matter where he is.

Here you can see that Opa is singing with the kids. Opa loved singing and I'm so glad we did that for him last night at the hospital.

Now they are laughing.

The last picture I could find of just me and Opa.

When I moved to BC 15 years ago - Opa and Aunt Sylvia took me in. I have lots of good memories of our times together.

He was a father figure for me then and continued to be so after Will and I married and had our family. He counselled Will and I on numerous topics and we always appreciated his good advice.

I will miss him alot because I loved him alot.

Opa was instrumental in helping Ethan get over some bumps.

I think Ethan will always remember that.

When we left that day - Oma gave Peter some parsley from the garden and this is how he fell asleep with it in the van.

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This morning Peter said "Opa is with your Mom now and with all our babies!!".

Out of the mouth of babes.

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Thank you Lord for the gift of good Opas and that he is now with you and praising you perfectly forever. Opa, we will always love you.

Baby Quilt and A Recipe

Ta da!! It's totally finished now. Does this mean the baby will come out now?

Without looking at the bad pic of me on top - this picture is meant to show how big the quilt really is. 8 x 10 - 6 inch squares.

I was really unsure whether to use this rainbow binding I had left over from another baby quilt but in the end I decided to use it. I'm so glad I did. As usual, the binding just brings everything together and looks so different once it's all stitched in. I especially like the blue and yellow corners - more leftovers from another quilt.

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I really want to share an awesome slowcooker recipe I tried out this week. I have been looking for a economically priced HUGE slow cooker for quite some time and the opportunity came!!

Can. Tire had a sale on a simple but HUGE (8 quart) crockpot for 60% off. It went from $75 to $25 and THEN I had a scatch and save and recieved the $80 item for just over $20 with taxes. Yippee!! You may see some more great recipes to try out here as I enjoy it.

Tex Mex Chicken

1.5 lb of chicken pieces - whatever you prefer

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp taco seasoning

2 peppers (can add other veggies too) - cut into strips

1 cup of corn

1.5 cups of salsa

1 cup of cheese

Mix the flour and taco seasoning together and roll chicken pieces in mixture. Place on bottom of cooker. Place pepper strips on top. Add corn and salsa. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Add cheese for last half an hour or until melted.

Serve with rice or on tortillas.

Notes: I added kidney beans for extra volume and I did increase some of the increments to feed our whole family. Next time I will double the recipe - that way you have two meals in one. One night - rice and chicken, fajitas the next!! Enjoy!!

Birthday Bashes

Finally, I remembered the camara and took a nice shot of our new nephew - Jaxon Nash.

I haven't seen him much with his eyes opened but regardless - He is so cute!!

This is in the bowling alley where we like to hang out, I figure if I bowl often enough (couple of times a day) surely the baby will want to come out and see all the fun.

We went bowling with my sister's family and Dad and Hilda to celebrate the three fall birthdays.
Joel, Tyler and Ethan. Next year we can add another family member to the list - DV.

Isn't this most hilarious!! The music was loud Dylan I do agree.

We went to McD's afterwards and had supper, opened gifts, and ate delicious cupcakes (Michelle sure knows how to make yummy cupcakes - I had a small bite I will admit :) - being wheat intolerant can be crummy sometime, but ice cream makes up for it!

Here is the birthday boy - 10 years old now.

I can not believe that it has been 10 years since he was born!!

For his birthday - he had one friend over and they went swimming.

We had to keep it low key because planning anything would be

depending on the baby. Ethan didn't mind and he was really hoping I would have the baby on his birthday. He said "That would be the best birthday present, Mom!" I'm glad he is so willing to share :). Alas, his birthday (Nov. 2) has come and gone - but that's okay we have lots of other birthdays to hit from family and friends so we'll see what happens.

What a great gift!!

Here is the cake maker bringing in the cake.

Some parts did not work out to her satisfaction but I thought it looked great (according to everyone else, it tasted great too!).

In case it's too hard to tell - it's a pirate.

How many girlfriends will I have?

The next day we had Grandma and Grandpa F. come over. There is a funny story here.
Ethan unwrapped his gift to find a waffle box - full of newspaper and a card.

Here he is opening up the card, looking a tad bit dejected.

After letting him suffer alittle, Grandma told him to check out the bottom of the box which had his gift attached to it. He said he knew it all along, but we didn't believe him :).

Poor Ethan - getting played like that.

Then...on his actually birthday we gave him our gifts after his supper of choice - French Toast.

The inside of card said that most of all he was very huggable.

That's what I remember of him as a baby - always one to snuggle and cuddle and be close.
So nice!!!

Here, Peter is giving Ethan his present (without any prompting from me).

He made him a nice card with lots of stickers and then he wrapped up a toy.

This is what Ethan said "Oh Peter, so nice of you to give me a toy that I already have!!"

Peter just beamed. Regifting is great!!

Then it was Matthew's turn (after dinner because he had to do his finishing touches) to give Ethan his presents (all drawings he had made). It was so sweet to see the little boys appreciate their older brother so much. Ethan was very good about looking at the drawings.

Moments like these make up for all the fighting that goes on every day.

You don't see many pictures of that now do you?

"Only sweetness and light!" as my friend's mother always used to say.

Thank you Lord for Ethan and all he is to us. May he grow to glorify you and be a soldier for Christ.

We love you Ethan!!