Make your guesses!

We had a really busy week around here. There was something up for us every single evening from Sunday on except for last night, so it felt good to just put on sweat pants and relax! We did make it to the mall last night for about an hour where we got a treat and did some window shopping. I was shocked to catch my reflection in the mall mirrors a couple of times - I'm HUGE!! I said this to Erik and he didn't argue with me, so I know it's not just me that thinks I look like a whale already. How can I possibly grow for 6 more weeks yet??

As the due date draws nearer I'm finding myself constantly thinking about whether this baby will be a boy or a girl and when he or she will decide to make an appearance. Several of you posted your gender predictions a few months ago, but let's make it official - just for fun please post your guess for baby's gender, birthdate and weight. (FYI: Micah was 3 days overdue and weighed in at 7 lbs, 15 oz). As a reminder, my due date is November 13. Check out this ultrasound picture of baby's profile at 18 weeks in case it helps :)

Big Shoes to Fill

Micah likes wearing Mommy & Daddy's shoes around the house...

These will be the last of the current pictures for awhile. We had to take the ol' Pentax Optio back into the shop for more repairs. The camera was still functioning, so I was personally procrastinating taking it in, but Erik wanted to take advantage of the warranty that we paid so much money for - and he's right. Besides, apparently if you have to take it in 3 times they'll give you a brand new camera. So, hopefully something else goes wrong before our warranty is up :)

We had a good - but busy - week. Erik LOVES his job and even though he's exhausted at the end of the day, he comes home extremely excited (What? Erik? Excited??). It's refreshing to see him doing something that he takes so much pride in. It's taking a little getting used to to have a husband who's actually gone 40+ hours in the week, but it feels good to know that he's working for himself and loving every minute of it. Amazingly, his Crohn's hasn't been an issue once for him this week - so thank the Lord for that! But, his knees were acting up on him so we're praying that his body would be able to withstand the hard work.

Today marks 33 weeks of pregnancy - only about 7 weeks to go! Half of me would love for this baby to come early but the other half is hoping for some time to get things done around here - one of those being the swimming lessons that I finally signed Micah up for. I've been meaning to do this for awhile and this is my last chance before the baby comes. The only thing is that the last couple of lessons fall on the week of my due date. I'm not sure yet how this is all going to pan out, but maybe someone will be able to fill in for me if need be. I just knew I needed to do it now because once baby comes it will be nearly impossible for me to get away with Micah for a half hour swim class.
I also have some big plans to finish my Christmas shopping (I already started at IKEA on the weekend!) as well as get some things in order around the house. I pulled out the infant car seat the other day and I've been washing and organizing all the newborn clothes. I'm even starting to think about packing my hospital bag!

There's not much else to report - Micah is getting over a cold and has been extraordinarily cranky and hardly eats anything. He's been sleeping a bit better despite the cold, though. However, sometimes he tries to crawl into our bed in the middle of the night - I think he wakes up and assumes it's morning time!

A Miracle Birthday

Some of you have read about Micah's little cousin Noah who was not expected to survive his birth a year ago. Today he has made it to his first birthday! It has not been an easy road by any means and he is still the size of a newborn at 12 months, but we celebrate his life today and the joy he has given to our family. Here are a couple of pictures of Noah in July when my sister's family was visiting from Manitoba...

We love you Noah & Happy Birthday!!
To read about Noah's journey, click here.

First Day

Here is Erik leaving this morning on his first day of a new job. As I mentioned about a week or so ago, his original building plans fell through and we were kind of stuck wondering what was next for him - meanwhile he wasn't working a whole lot and the bills were piling up! But the waiting and praying paid off when Erik landed his first framing contract with a Residential Contractor he met at church. Him and our friend Todd will be framing a house for the next 6-8 weeks and we expect this one job will open up more opportunities for the same. Framers are really backed up around here so there's lots of work to be had. It's just a matter of Erik and Todd getting their names out there and getting some more experience. They have both done a ton of framing but this time they are the guys in charge, so it's a pretty big deal. I know they're going to do well, though. Erik was understandably excited and nervous this morning as he left. He's been feeling more stressed lately than he has in awhile which can activate his Crohn's disease. He's been feeling SO good for the last 6 months or so, so please pray with us that his body would be able to withstand the stress.

Yesterday afternoon we took a drive up to the Highlands to take a look at the lot he'll be working on. It's way up on the mountain on rocky soil. The ground is so hard that they don't even have to dig a hole to start the foundation. A little different from the prairies, I guess...

Micah was happy to find an endless supply of rocks on site.

This weekend Erik was pretty busy gearing up for his first week on the new job and also doing worship at church (x 3 services!) and even some extra drum recording for our worship pastor, but Micah and I had a pretty relaxing weekend. On Friday night Doug & Elissa drove us to the big annual MCC Sale at the Tradex. For those of you who haven't experienced this, it is like mecca for Mennonites! The place is packed out with people and you can eat your choice of Mennonite delicacies from farmer sausage and perogies to roll kuchen and watermelon. And you literally can't walk five steps without running into somebody you know. It's pretty crazy. I didn't have my camera, but you can check out Kirsten's blog for a picture of us enjoying some pie and ice cream.

Saturday was a pretty quiet day, then Sunday was church and our regular family time in the evening. We were pretty excited to watch the Canadian Idol finale followed by the season premiere of Amazing Race! We were pleased that Eva Avila won (still not Greg Neufeld, but what can you do...)

And here's me - 32 weeks and counting...

Blogger Beta - Get it NOW!

OK, so I've followed the lead of Kelly, E. E. and Kirsten and updated my blog to the new beta version. I'm under the impression it will not allow me to accept or leave comments on blogs that are not updated to beta, so make sure you join the club!! It's very easy - just look on the righthand side of your blogger home page and click on the link.

Monkeying Around

One of Micah's latest discoveries - his ability to hang from the kitchen table:

Today is the 13th of the month which means it marks Micah's 21-month birthday and my 7 months of pregnancy!!! I had my doctor's appt. this morning and all is well. Baby's head is down and heart is beating at 144 bpm. Weight gain is... Well, we won't talk about that - I'll let you be the judge (but please ignore the double-chin!) My doctor just encouraged me today by reminding me that I lost all of it after the last pregnancy :)


The other bit of news is that we seem to be revisiting some sleep issues with Micah. He was doing so well for a while and now he seems to be waking up a lot at night again. He never has a problem going to bed - in fact, "sleep" is one of the words we have to spell around here because as soon as he hears it he runs to his bed and cries for his soother. The problem is waking up at night. Whether he's lost his "nukie" or he's fallen off his mattress or he just decides it's time to wake up for the day (i.e. this morning at 5:30 am)... I thought we were beyond all this! We're going to have to get this straightened out because I can't imagine waking up for two babies once November comes!

Bath Time Giggles

Since the little video I posted of Micah the other day was such a big hit, I thought I'd share another clip of him last night in the bath tub. He was sliding around on his bum and thought it was pretty funny stuff...


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Friends

We've been blessed to have lots of different visitors this summer. It's true that we live very far away from a lot of family and friends, but the good part is that most people love making trips to BC! It seems there are always people coming and going around here. Last night we got to have Chad & Rachel from Winnipeg over for supper. We had a blast hanging out with them. Funny how time can pass but it still feels so natural with some people - I think it's the Bethany connection ;)

It was great to see you guys and I am always encouraged by our talks. I hope we can see you guys again soon!!

Oh Boy!

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Good-bye Uncle Chris... for the second time!

Erik's cousin Chris was here in Abbotsford again for a short week between his stint to Cyprus and his next assignment in Nairobi, Kenya.

Here are Chris and Micah saying good-bye this morning just before Chris headed off to Saskatoon (he'll spend some time there before heading off to Africa). Micah finally learned how to say Chris' name - except it sounds more like "peas" than Chris. At least it's something!

I snapped this picture the other day of Erik & Micah - my buzz-cutted boys - watching TV and eating chips and chili together.

Unfortunately Erik's been home more than we would both like. His plans for house-building this fall have halted and now we're looking at other options for him. There are some good possible opportunities coming up, but nothing immediate. So for now we wait and pray for some clear direction in terms of his career.

In other news, I have reached the 30-week mark of my pregnancy. Only about 10 more weeks to go - but Erik and I both agree we'd love it if the baby decided to come early! I'm not going to count on it though. Micah came a few days late.
I'm feeling pretty good other than just BIG! The baby seems to be running out of "womb" as well - as I feel elbows and feet poking and pushing from all sides. I forgot how uncomfortable these last couple of months can be and as much as I enjoy being pregnant, I'm also anxious to have my body back to normal again!

Micah is talking like crazy now - his favourite new phrase from the weekend is "Oh Boy!" and he says it for everything! So cute - we'll definitely have to capture it on film. He also seems to be relaxing a little bit in the large group settings and not being quite as clingy - which was good since there were a lot of people coming and going this weekend. We even looked after his little friend, the J-man, this week. I think it was good practice for Micah to have another kid around who was getting Mommy's attention.

Micah was discovering some goodies in my bathroom drawer this morning...
The funny part is he really wanted to put this "diaper" on his baby :)