Progress

Here's a picture of Erik's job site that he took yesterday. I haven't been up there for a couple of weeks and it's come a long way! He's still really enjoying the work, even though this project is taking longer than they had hoped. And now that fall is in the air, it will mean working through the rain most days - a fact of life here in BC! Erik bought some really warm (and expensive) gear this year and he said he stayed toasty warm and dry yesterday - so it was probably a wise investment!

Speaking of warm clothes, I had to add these pictures of the winter jacket I won on ebay for Micah. The toque came with it and there are matching mittens as well - so cute!!

37 Week Appointment

Saw the doctor today and all seems to be well. He wasn't too concerned about all the contracting I've been having but said it's getting my body ready for delivery - so that's a good thing! He said he was actually delivering another baby on Sunday morning when Erik called into Labour & Delivery so he kind of wondered if I was going to show up all of a sudden. I will see him again next Tuesday and the Tuesday after that which is Nov 7. That could very well be the day that he does the membrane stripping which means I could be having a baby TWO weeks from now! Crazy.

I had to include these pictures of Micah from the weekend. Erik's mom found an old pair of Doug's glasses from when he was little and Micah was having fun trying them on. What a nerdy little kid!

False Alarm

Well, no baby yet, but yesterday morning I was wondering if he or she was on the way. I woke up at about 3 am again with an unsettled stomach, cramping and back pain. I was getting frequent braxton hicks contractions and after throwing up a couple of times, they got even worse. Erik was awake by then and we weren't sure what to think - was this the beginning of labour?? At 4 am we were tidying up the house and I was getting my hospital bag together just in case. Finally Erik called the hospital and talked to a nurse in labour and delivery. She said she thought it was probably the flu and that I should stay home unless my contractions became consistent and painful - they were very consistent, coming every 3 minutes or so, but not really painful like the early labour contractions I remember. She did say that often vomiting and diarrhea from the flu can induce labour since the uterus becomes inflamed (hence all the braxton hicks I was getting) and she also warned us to watch for signs of dehydration.
There was some initial disappointment that this wasn't really "it", but then Erik started feeling a little funny too and an hour later we both felt so awful that we were praying that I wouldn't go into labour. I can't imagine feeling the way I did yesterday and labouring on top of that! My belly was SO sore from all the throwing up and all the contractions in between. So, Erik and I spent the whole day crashed on the couches and taking turns in the bathroom. Thankfully Micah was well-occupied by his Grandparents and Aunts & Uncles upstairs. This morning Erik and I both said we didn't know how we could've handled a day like that without family to help out!
We're still not feeling quite up to par this morning, but it's a vast improvement from yesterday. My belly still is quite sore this morning but the contractions seem to be finally slowing down. The baby doesn't seem to have suffered too much from my illness as I'm feeling lots of kicks and wiggles this morning. Today marks 37 weeks so I am officially full-term! Tomorrow is my next doctor's appointment so we'll see what he has to say about everything...

Saturday

This weekend has been quite eventful so far. Early yesterday morning (Friday) I woke up to the sound of Micah throwing up in his room... yuck! I felt so awful for him but really struggled to clean up the mess thanks to the lingering bit of morning sickness I still feel once in awhile. He was sick and miserable most of the day and I was exhausted by the time Erik came home from work. Thankfully he seems to be back to himself today.
Then at around 2 am I woke up feeling miserable myself. I wondered if I had caught something from Micah first of all, but the cramping and belly tightening and aching back seemed more pregnancy-related than anything else! I tossed and turned for more than an hour - my mind starting to race with thoughts of waking Erik up to go to the hospital, but the feeling subsided eventually and I fell asleep. Today I haven't felt quite like myself though. My belly actually feels sore from all the tightening and I don't have much of an appetite. We went to Costco this morning and I ended up having to find a place to sit down because I was starting to feel nauseated and light-headed. I hope this is not just the flu or something!

Thankfully I felt well enough this afternoon to get to my pregnancy massage appointment at the Wild Orange Spa! A girl could really get used to that kind of pampering! There were so many pillows to hold and hug that the belly didn't get in the way of a great massage. The hour went by far too fast! Thanks, Erik, for an AMAZING birthday present!

When I came home I found my little construction-worker in the making. Erik started these nails in a piece of wood and Micah was having fun trying to hammer them in. Whenever I ask Micah where Erik is during the week, his answer is always the same "Work, Todd, Hammer". (Erik works with Todd in case you've forgotten). Erik's hoping to be able to employ Micah for cheap labour in a year or two!

Anyway, that's all for today. I'll keep you all updated if something more starts happening with this baby. I'm too afraid to get my hopes up about how I've been feeling because I could really eat my words if I'm still pregnant 3 weeks from now!

Oh and one more thing - I think I realized the problem I've been having with commenting on other blogs. For the last week, I haven't been able to comment on anyone's blogs who have not yet switched to Beta... So, there's one more reason for you to make the switch!!

Family Reunion

Tonight we welcomed home Erik's sister Kristi who has been away in Australia since January. It was great to have the whole family together again. Micah even went with Grandpa & Grandma to meet her at the airport in Vancouver. Auntie Kristi gave him the cutest little "Joey" kangaroo backpack which he loves but didn't want to wear of course!












Rosanna also provided us with some great after-dinner entertainment by giving us some word problems to solve. She picked them up from her PDP classes and we were definitely challenged. Here is Nathan successfully solving the puzzle of cutting one small piece of paper in such a way that he could fit his whole body through it:


















Micah had to get in on the action, too.


















Micah and I started swimming lessons this week and he LOVES it. He is the oldest in the class and definitely not afraid of the water. He was happy to participate in all of the activites and only protested when we would have to leave one thing to go onto another. His favourite was the little kiddie slide and he quickly became the "slide hog" of the group. We still have to work on sharing and taking turns.

His sleeping is a little bit better these days, but he's developed an odd new habit of sleeping right beside his door. It doesn't matter how many times we move him to his bed, he will go straight back to his door once we leave his room. It started with him sitting there and and crying himself to sleep, but now he doesn't even cry - a few minutes after I shut the door I can hear him walk over and curl up quietly. I don't really mind as long as he's sleeping. I even put a couple of blankets there for him. I wonder how long this phase will last.

I'm starting to "nest" I think - I feel inspired to tie up all my loose ends and get the house in order. I've been going through all the bedrooms and organizing and throwing out stuff. Erik LOVES when I get in these moods - I think he is OBSESSED with sending things to MCC :) I'm not sure if this is my "spurt of energy" or just the pressure I'm feeling to have things in order. I know my life is going to be busy soon and I want to be ready! I've been feeling mostly good - but just more uncomfortable. Getting up from a sitting position, rolling over in bed and picking up toys are all small tasks I would just as soon not have to do. I could barely even cut my toenails this morning... I just can't believe I'm really in my 9th month! When I look at my pregnancy ticker on the top of this page I'm shocked to see that the countdown is in the 20's already! Our lives are about to change again very, very soon...

I'd like to add a prayer request to finish off. Micah's little cousin, Noah, is in the hospital again and the doctors seem to be running out of ideas to keep him healthy and help him start gaining weight. The hardest part is that my sister stays in the hospital with him while her husband is at home with their two other kids. At this point I don't think they know how long Noah will be hospitalized - but it could be for a long time. Pray for them for strength and wisdom to know how to be a family in this situation.

That's all for tonight... I'm off to bed!

Our week with Granny & Grandpa

We had a great week with my parents who were visiting all the way from Manitoba. They came just in time to celebrate my birthday with me. We spent the afternoon at Stanley Park in Vancouver - playing with Micah at the park and taking a bit of a walk around the Sea Wall:

That evening we were joined by Erik's family for cake and ice cream. Micah had a lot of fun blowing out all of Mommy's candles for her:

Micah had not seen his Granny since February and his Grandpa for almost a year! I prepped him with lots of pictures and he definitely knew they were coming. Still, it took a bit of coaxing for them to win him over. Grandpa had success using Smarties... Micah quickly learned where he could go to get a treat!

Granny spent lots of time playing with Micah and on Friday they had a fun afternoon at the park together while I went for a haircut.

Thanks for coming Mom & Dad and we'll see you again at Christmas!

End of the Week

This morning we waved farewell to my parents as they headed back to Manitoba. We had a great week together starting with celebrating my birthday last Saturday. I still have to get the pictures off of my camera, so I will try to post them tomorrow...

I think Micah was just warming up to his Granny & Grandpa when they had to leave! He had a rough week though, starting with diarrhea and fevers - 2nd year molars perhaps?? He also decided that he no longer enjoys going to sleep. He used to go down super-easy and now we've had to let him cry almost every bedtime & nap this week. I'm not sure if the disruption of having visitors here was the culprit. The other night he woke up at 3:30 am and screamed for nearly 2 hours before finally passing out with exhaustion beside his door! He cried so long that I didn't think he was even capable of tiring! I was in tears myself from the whole ordeal, but even I had to crack a smile when his cries of "Mommy!" & "Daddy!" suddenly turned to "Jamie, Jamie!" - thanks to Erik teaching him Mommy's name this week :) But, yes, this has been a frustrating turn of events and I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that Micah's sleep issues may not get resolved before the baby comes...

Speaking of the baby, today is the 13th which means I'm only ONE MONTH away from meeting him or her! Hard to believe! I got a lot of responses regarding my last post - I'm glad to hear that the "membrane stripping" worked for some (and may not be as painful as I've heard). As for the castor oil, I've heard it can be a little too intense, so I don't think I'll go that route :) All suggestions are welcome though!

My new friend Anj, took some pregnancy pictures of me a week and a half ago and dropped them off for me yesterday. They look amazing! There are SO many good ones to choose from, but I only scanned a few so I could share them with you:

It was so much fun having the pictures taken and I'm hoping to get Anj to come again after the baby's born for some more fun shots!

35 Week Update

Just wanted to leave a quick post about my pre-natal check-up today. First of all the doctor told me that he will be away in mid-November and is leaving on my due date! He really wants to be able to deliver me so he plans to strip my membranes a few days early if nothing else is happening. So, for those of you who guessed that baby will come early, your chances just got a little bit better! I don't look forward to having this procedure done as I've heard it can be quite uncomfortable. (I was supposed to have it done with Micah and then ended up going into labour the day before my appointment.)
The doctor also checked my cervix today and said it was quite soft and the baby's head was down pretty low already (YAY!) but I was only dilated a fingertip.
I'm hoping now more than ever that this baby will decide to come a little bit early as I really want to have my regular doctor doing the delivery. In a few weeks I'll have to start all the labour-inducing tricks: long walks, raspberry leaf tea, etc...

27th Birthday

Today I am celebrating my 27th birthday! I thought it might be fun to share some pictures of myself from my early childhood. I can definitely see the resemblance between Micah and myself - what do you think?

Me as a newborn - 27 years ago to the day!
A little over a year old - with our dog Charlie.
Potty training at 18 months - did I really have success Mom?
2 years and a bit - after a nasty run-in with the rocking chair...
My Sunday School mug shot - I'm probably about 3 years old here.
















Micah gave me a birthday gift of sleeping in until 8:30 this morning (this was after waking up a few times from 4:30 am on and ending up in our bed!). When I came out this morning I found "Happy Birthday Jamie" written on the table in ju-jubes and mini chocolate bars (Erik knows what I like!). He also plans on giving me a gift certificate for a pregnancy massage at the Wild Orange Spa - an idea I got from Andrea & Kelly (who also celebrated birthdays this week!) .

I'm also excited to have my parents visiting from Manitoba - they arrived here safely yesterday. The day's plans include heading to Stanley Park for a picnic lunch and a relaxing afternoon and heading to gastown for supper - maybe the Old Spaghetti Factory again, YUM!

Sleepy Monday

We didn't get a very good sleep around here last night - both of my babies kept me up during the night. For some reason, Micah decided to wake up and come into our room over and over again. We've learned that having him sleep in our bed makes for a bad sleep for everyone, so Erik and I were both getting up repeatedly to put him back in his own bed. The funny part is that he wasn't crying or upset, he would just quietly come up to our bed and stand there until we would carry him back. He'd happily curl up on his own bed only to crawl out again a little while later. I wondered if he was even fully awake. This went on for a couple of hours, to the point where I was lying wide awake jumping at every little sound, thinking it was Micah again - I have to admit, it was a little scary waiting in the dark for a little person to walk silently in the room and suddenly be right beside my head!

When it finally seemed as though he settled down and fell asleep for good, I still couldn't sleep. The baby wasn't moving all that much, but it's just SO hard to find a comfortable sleeping position these days. Especially with my awful heartburn! I had heartburn with Micah, but this time it's been stepped up a few notches - to the point where Tums aren't doing the trick anymore. I may need to find another solution if I want to get any sleep...
Anyway, so Erik slept through his alarm this morning and got to work late. Thankfully Micah and I slept until about 7:45, and we both got a long afternoon nap! Micah also seems to have a case of diarrhea (along with every other kid at church, apparently) so this may be contributing to his strange sleeping habits...

Our weekend was a good one - Erik's Grandpa & Grandma T were visiting from Saskatoon and Micah learned to call them "Oma & Opa" :) We even enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast a week early with the whole family! This coming weekend we're looking forward to my parents visiting from Manitoba for a week. They'll get here just in time for my birthday so that will be fun!

Thanks to all who have posted their guesses for baby's gender, weight and birthdate! So far the tally is 12 girl votes and 9 boy votes with the weight averaging around 7 or 8 lbs. Many of you thought baby would come a day or more early and nobody guessed the baby to come any later than the 16th (THANK YOU!!). Some of you asked if there is a prize - I will have to do some thinking about that. Perhaps if one of you is uncannily right with all three parts of the guess... ;)
If you haven't voted yet, make sure you do - just scroll down the page to my last post.

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 :)