Good News & Bad News

The good news is Erik and I got our camera back yesterday! What a pleasant surprise. I think it was only in the shop for 2 weeks. The problem was fixed plus they did some extra tuning-up - all for free thanks to the expensive warranty we bought 2 years ago with the camera! Thankfully I didn't suffer too much with my camera being gone - thanks to the pictures from other peoples' cameras. Ironically I still don't have any of my own pictures to post right now since Erik took the camera for the afternoon. We're getting our car re-painted and he wanted some good "before and after" shots. So, here is another pic from Chris' camera.

The bad news is our beloved Greg was cut from Canadian Idol last night :( We were shocked and heart-broken by the news! Even the judges told him after the show that they were shocked. They had pegged him to be in the top 3 so it's sad to see he didn't get enough votes to even make it to top 10! It's frustrating to see other competitors who are much less talented still sticking around just because they had someone who voted 100 more times than we did or something silly like that.
It confirms that Canadian Idol (or any of these shows) aren't really much about talent at all. If some kid from Nova Scotia has the whole province voting for him as opposed to Greg having the city of Abbotsford voting - who's going to win?
Sigh - I guess we'll just have to let this one go and hope for the best for Greg. Canadian Idol will not be the end of him!

Canada Day Weekend - Sunday Night & Erik's Birthday!!

On Sunday, July 2, Erik celebrated his 26th birthday!

We spent Sunday evening with the Toews family. After a yummy BBQ, the boys went across the street to play some ball (as per usual) while us girls stayed back and chatted.

Erik posing with my masterpiece :) - fruit pizza specially requested by him.

Canada Day Weekend - Saturday Night

Saturday night we left Micah at home with his Grandma while we ventured down to Rotary Stadium to watch the fireworks. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed a McDonald's drive-thru treat after the festivities. Erik and I both agreed that it felt like we weren't parents for an evening. Here are some random pictures that were taken during the pre-fireworks show.

Canada Day Weekend - Friday Night

We had another fun-filled weekend. Friday night we hung out at Mill Lake with Erik's cousin, Chris and our friend, Lori (we all went to Bethany together back in the day). Chris went nuts taking pictures and I had a tough time choosing which ones I would blog...

Going for a stroll to see all the geese down at the water. There were tons of them!

The baby belly is definitely getting more prominent these days...

Daddy time.

Micah's adventures at the park.

Happy Birthday Uncle Nathan!

Thursday night we celebrated Nathan's 23rd birthday. And thanks to Rosanna, I have pictures to share! The Toews family and Rosanna's family got together for dessert and baseball at Mill Lake. Here's Nathan with his brand new birthday gift.


Some of the boys. From L-R: Rosanna's brother Dan, Uncle Doug, Erik & Micah and Cousin-Uncle Chris from Africa who's living in the house here for the summer.


Mommy sharing chocolate trifle with Micah.


Cutie.


Hard to believe Micah will be as tall as his Daddy someday!


Hanging out - That's me, Rosanna & Nate sitting together and Rosanna's dad, sister-in-law Lynn, & Micah in the background.

Getting There...

We bought Micah his very own potty a few weeks ago. He was starting to show interest in the activity so we thought we'd at least let him get used to the idea of having a potty around. He likes it and enjoys sitting on it on occasion (fully clothed) but we have yet to have success with any real action actually taking place.
The other night I was on the computer when I heard him fumbling around with the toilet in the bathroom - usually that's a big "no no" with all the yucky germs, etc. So, I ran in to stop him and I found him trying to put his potty on the toilet (we have one that fits right on top of the seat) and making his "pooping" sound (a series of grunts). Sometimes he says "poop" (which sounds more like "pope") and other times he just grunts. Anyway, I was excited that he might be telling me something so I quickly took off his diaper to find that he had already gone! But, at least he seemed to understand that the action of pooping and the potty seat were somehow connected. So, we'll keep trying and get there eventually. I'm not pushing anything yet at 18.5 months, but it sure would be nice if he could be trained before baby #2 comes in November... Am I being completely unrealistic?

In other news, Micah saw the Dr. again on Monday and we got a stronger prescription for his eczema. It did the trick right away and it's so amazing to have a baby with baby-soft skin again! But, he also caught some sort of virus this week and was spiking fevers on and off from Tuesday night until yesterday. Last night was his first fever-free night, so we think it's probably over but it's always a little scary when you don't know what's wrong.

This weekend will be full again, likely. White Rock tonight with some friends, Canada Day tomorrow and Erik's 26th birthday on Sunday!

Vote for Greg

I've always been somewhat of an American/Canadian Idol fan, but this year I'm really committed. That's because someone we know has made it into the top 22!
This is Greg Neufeld from Abbotsford. He goes to our church (South Abbotsford) and Erik's brother Nathan played in his band last year - they were really good! We knew when he auditioned that he would do well, and we were right. It's not just exciting that he's someone we know, but he's genuinely GOOD at singing, too!
So, us Toews siblings have committed to watching him perform every week and voting for him. I've never voted for anyone on these shows before, but last night we had 4 phones and we made over 600 votes! So, You all need to tune in next week (I think Monday night again) to watch Greg - and get your dialing finger ready to vote!

Half-Baked

Today is the official 20-week mark of my pregnancy. That means the bun is half baked! So far the pregnancy has been going fairly well. I think I’m FINALLY getting past the early morning nausea. It has been tapering off for several weeks, but it doesn’t seem to want to disappear entirely. At least I’m no longer dreading going to bed (because the yucky morning would inevitably come), so that’s a good sign.

Since we don’t have our camera right now (sigh) I couldn’t post a new picture of my belly, but I dug up this picture from 2 years ago when I was about 20 weeks preggo with Micah. When I look at this picture my first thought is, wow, I was still so tiny! I feel like I’ve definitely “blossomed” earlier this time around. I sure hope the growth doesn’t continue at this rate! I feel like I’m at the perfect size right now – big enough to be noticeably pregnant and wear the cute maternity clothes, yet not too uncomfortable or “dinosaur-ish” yet. (Yes Doug, that last bit was for you – no more dinosaur comments in the 9th month this time around…)

Speaking of being “baked”, it seems the hot weather has finally found us out here in BC. We just had a scorching weekend and it looks like this coming week will be offering us little relief. Funny how we wait for this weather all year long and then when it comes, it feels a little unbearable. I definitely love the “summer” feeling – especially the warm evenings – but it’s hard keeping Micah cool. He has been dealing with a bad case of eczema for about a month and a half now and the heat from the last couple of days is making it much worse. We’re frustrated with waiting for doctor’s appointments and trying creams that don’t seem to be helping, but we’re praying something will do the trick soon!

Yesterday we took advantage of the weather and spent a few hours at Harrison Lake. What a perfect day for the beach! Micah loved the water - especially floating with me on the tube. He also enjoyed digging in the sand and helping Daddy and Auntie Rosanna bury Uncle Nathan in it :)
(Once again, wishing I had some pictures...)

Withdrawal

This week was a sad week. We had to send our digital camera in for repairs. The guy at Future Shop said it could take 3-6 weeks!! That's 3-6 weeks of ZERO new pictures to blog. I just can't stop thinking about all the fun events that I could be taking pictures of (and ultimately blogging about) over the next 3-6 weeks... :(
I guess I'll just have to get a little bit more creative.

Check it out!

My problem is solved! Thanks Janelle - you're a blog genius!

A little help?

I'm wondering if any of you expert bloggers can help me! I created this very cool photo loop yesterday, but I'm wondering how I can have it permanently on my blog in the heading at the top or the profile section on the side. I know it must be possible to add it in somehow, since I've seen blogs with lots of fun extras! Right now my description area (heading) won't let me add anything more since I already have the tickers, and my profile on the side won't recognize the photo loop code that I pasted in. I wonder if I can put it directly into my template without messing anything else up...
Any advice from those who are more blog-savvy than I?

My Little Chef

Here's Micah watching Grandma make dessert on Sunday evening. Right now Micah's quite a "Mama's boy" but Grandma definitely plays a close second. When she's around, he's always content!

And here he is "helping" me make cookies the other day...

Psalm 36:5

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies."

Big Boy

Here are some pictures of Micah demonstrating his independance...

He's starting to enjoy drinking his juice directly out of a cup. But, he definitely has not mastered this skill yet - hence the reason for this activity taking place outside :)

(Rosanna, I know you'll like these ones!) Micah likes to climb up on our kitchen chairs now and eat his snack at the table like a big kid. Here he is hanging out and doing some math equations on Daddy's calculator.

Oops

By the way, I realized after I wrote my last post that I'm actually only 4 months pregnant - not 5 as I had written (and have since corrected). I did say this pregnancy was going by fast, but I think that was just a little bit of wishful thinking ;)

18 Weeks & 18 Months

This week I have reached 18 weeks of pregnancy (4 months) and Micah has reached 18 months of life! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by and also how fast Micah is growing up. This morning I once again realized that Micah is no longer a baby but definitely becoming more and more of a "big boy".


Here I am yesterday before I left for my 18-week ultrasound. It went really well and it was so amazing to see the baby (yes, there's just one!) When we saw Micah on the ultrasound, he was in a weird position and it was hard to see everything, but this baby turned into a perfect position and we saw a cute little profile! We were hoping that the ultrasound tech could see the gender. We wouldn't have been able to find out yesterday anyway (here in the lower mainland they wait until you're 20 weeks to release any gender info) but the tech told us that the baby had its legs crossed the whole time and she couldn't get a good view, so I guess this one will be another surprise. I will post the ultrasound pics as soon as we get them. They were having some computer problems yesterday and couldn't print them off, but hopefully we'll get them soon!

Hicks Lake

Over the weekend, the Toews family took a camping trip to Hicks Lake (in Sasquatch Provincial Park near Harrison Hot Springs). It's beautiful up there and the lake water is a lot warmer than most mountain lakes. It still wasn't a hot weekend though. We had a bit of rain mixed in with some sun, but we were all warm and dry under our tarps. Elissa, Rosanna, Micah & I went up early on Friday morning to ensure that we got a spot. It was a good thing we did, too, since there wasn't much left. We were pretty proud of ourselves for setting up all the tents and having a blazing fire going when the boys arrived after work.


Here's Micah eating his beans. The best things I could've brought on the camping trip were this little highchair to contain Micah while he ate and his rubber boots - I discovered that my little boy LOVES mud puddles!

Daddy came up with a great invention for Micah's soother using a piece of string. I realized this weekend how dependent he is on his "nukie". So, as of today we are officially starting to wean him off of it. I'm trying to explain that soothers are only for sleeping. He doesn't seem to like the idea, so any suggestions re: soother-weaning would be appreciated!


On Saturday we spent some time down by the lake. Micah enjoyed throwing handfuls of sand into the water and attracted this whole family of geese who thought he was throwing food. I'm surprised how close they came!

Micah was venturing closer and closer into the water and so we ended up taking off his pants and boots. He didn't seem to mind the cold water at all.

Playing with his new shovel.

This was Sunday afternoon just before we headed home. Another cool day, but Micah loved the beach nonetheless. I can't wait to take him again when we've got some really hot weather.

Summer's Almost Here!

It seems like I've been blogging a lot lately, but there's just so much going on! With summer on the way, there are lots of fun activities to document. This weekend we're going camping with the Toews family so I'm sure I'll have quite a few more pictures to post for next week!


Yesterday we had a really fun afternoon. It was a beautiful day, so after Micah's nap, we went with Auntie Elissa & Auntie Rosanna to Mill Lake for a picnic.


Well, this isn't the greatest picture of me, but doesn't Micah look cute? :) By the way, for those of you who have requested, I promise there will be some belly pictures on the way soon...


I think Micah's Aunties had more fun at the park than he did!



By the time Micah and I got home we were both really hot, so Micah took his first dip in his new pool. He loved it and I'm sure he will spend quite a bit more time in there in the weeks to come.

Micah's New Baby

I'm so excited for Micah to be a big brother! In preparation for the new baby that will be joining our family in about 5 and a half months, I bought Micah his very own dolly. Erik thinks she's freaky-looking, but I think she's cute. I think she's a cabbage patch, but I'm not sure. She was a Value Village special.

Anyway, Micah has actually been quite interested in her, and surprisingly gentle considering he's big on toy-throwing! I've taught him how to hold the baby and burp the baby and put the baby to bed, and he's even willing to share his soother with her on occasion.

The other morning I was in the bathroom when I heard Micah saying "Ock-a, Ock-a". This is usually the sound he makes when he rocks in his own toddler-size rocking chair at Grandma's house, but when I found him in the living room he was holding his baby and gently rocking her back and forth. So cute!!

Saturday

A tasty treat...

Hard at work.

Daddy & Micah in their matching outfits. A little cheesy - I know! Erik bought his camouflage shorts a few weeks ago and the other day I was in Target down in Bellingham and found the toddler equivalent. I couldn't resist! I love Target!!

Signs & Sounds

Micah has really been starting to communicate more and more with us in the past couple of months. He's saying quite a few words now and making lots of animal sounds (which apparently count for words, too, I heard). Some of his favourite words right now are "hot", "hockey", "baby", and "appy" (for apple or applesauce). And he loves making the sounds for lion and elephant.
Before he turned 1 we started introducing a bit of sign language. I didn't know how interested he would be, but now at almost 18 months, Micah's learned about 25 different signs - some of them are actual American Sign Language, while a lot of them are just made up hand gestures that seem to get the point across.


This is the sign for "more". It was the first sign Micah learned at about 11 months.


"Sorry" - We just learned this one last week. We seem to need it a lot lately - especially when the boys that I babysit come over. Toddlers sure don't like sharing.


"Cold" - Micah made this one up himself. It started with Grandma putting his hand up against the cold window in the winter and touching it to his face. He's also added the effect of intensely shaking his head while he does the sign :)