A Little Over A Week

In a little over a week, we'll be off to PEI. It's gonna be an interesting road trip. We're taking just under a week to go from here to Ontario. Coming this way took 4.5 days of driving, but now we'll be having to stop every 3 hours at least to feed Chancery.

Then, we're taking just under a week to go from Ontario to PEI. I don't think that will be too difficult since that part of the trip is shorter. I'm excited to do the ON to PEI jaunt b/c I've never been through those provinces. I'm also pretty excited about seeing everyone in Ontario again one last time on our way through.

Mostly I think I'm excited to get into our new house. I know it won't be easy to get everything all sorted & put away w/ 2 kids underfoot, but Chad's parents will be there too, so we'll have some help & I'm really glad for that b/c I think that otherwise it could be months before we would feel settled.

So, I'm wandering around the house looking for things of ours that have been unpacked & left lying around to make sure we don't forget anything. Oh, I'll be glad to be in our own house! Less than a month until we move in!

FlySwatter

Today we went to visit the church in Burdett where Chad did his internship 3 summers ago. We really enjoyed getting to see everyone again, as we had only seen 3 couples in the time b/w when we were there & now. One of the families invited us over for lunch & we had an enjoyable afternoon catching up w/ them.

One of the activities that Asher really enjoyed today was being given full reign of the flyswatter. We don't have too many flies at home, so we usually just get them ourselves when he spots one, but today he was given his very own to use as he pleased. I'm not too sure how many he actually killed, there were many that were lying pretty still before he got them, but since he didn't seem to know the difference, we though it better to not spoil his fun.

After lunch he took the flyswatter into the living room w/ him & then we spotted a fly near the table, so we asked him to bring the flyswatter back to us. Seems the boy has no clue what a flyswatter is..... He looked around & around for it when it was sitting in the middle of the floor right in front of him. I gave him clear directions until he was basically standing on topp of it, then told him to pick it up off the floor in front of him. He took a step back, hunched down & started closely inspecting the carpet. I think he must have been looking for a FLY at that point, b/c he was clearly looking for something quite small.

Asher then went back to the window & picked up a fly to bring to us. We said, "Not a FLY, the flySWATTER." To which he replied, "This looks like an airplane." He then held it aloft & demonstrated how an airplane would fly whilst making "vrooming" sounds. He did eventually bring us the flyswatter, still not too sure he knows what one is though.....

Sleep & Soreness

Last night was a GREAT night. Chancery went to sleep at 10:30 & didn't wake up until 4am! This morning we had to wake her up at 7:30 b/c we were going to a pancake breakfast b/c it's Whoop-Up days in Lethbridge, so there's a pancake breakfast every morning. Sure, I was a bit sore b/c I'm making a bit more milk than she was using last night, but I'll trade that for getting a good sleep any day!

So this morning we went to the pancake breakfast, which was ok. The food wasn't hot, but it's not like we went for great food. We go for the fun & adventure of it all & Asher got his face painted! He only got a small bumble bee, but he did pretty well sitting still for the lady.

We came back home for awhile & then went out to see the parade. This was the 3rd parade we have seen this summer, so Asher knew what to expect. We told him we were going to a parade & he said, "They throw candy!" Yes, they usually do, but this was definitely the MOST BORING PARADE EVER! Most the entries were just cars, maybe decorated w/ pom-poms. There was not really any interaction b/w the people in the parade & the people watching, & we got 2 lollipops. Now, I understand if there's a rule saying they can't THROW candy, but that doesn't mean they can't walk along the crowd & hand it out! We sat for 2 hours & mocked the parade in order to keep our sanity. We probably would have left, but we would have had to cut across the parade to get to our vehicle. Chancery had the right idea, she slept through the whole thing & Asher almost succumbed as well.

Check It Out!

I might still look slightly pregnant, but I'm NOT! Less than 24 hours after my Dr told me I'd be pregnant for the duration of FOREVER, my water broke! (And I managed to keep the sheets clean).


At 2am my water broke & off we went to the hospital. I was put into a triage room where they evaluate to see if you'll be staying or going home. The person in the next bed kept me entertained b/c apparently she was not enjoying her pregnancy. She was about 28 weeks & had come in b/c she was having some contractions. The nurses verified they were braxton-hicks, but the woman was determined. She asked what her chances were of having the baby that day & was told "not likely." She then asked if they could call the doctor b/c she wanted to have the baby out (though I could relate, I wasn't that eager at 28 weeks yet). The nurses assured her that if she were to go into labour, the Drs would do all they could to STOP it & that no Dr would induce labour at 28 weeks. The lady also mentioned at one point that she wanted to take the baby home & not keep it in the hospital for any length of time...... I was entertained!

So, they decided to keep me around & moved me into a birthing room, where I read my book, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, & slept until around 9 when they gave me some oxytocin to get some action started. At 10:30 I decided I knew enough about pain & got some morphine. And at 11:07 our daughter Chancery Lane was born!

Chad, in all his kindness, said I make a good cow..... I have easy labours. I was just glad that my child was a bit smaller than a bovine. And she was on the small end, at 6lbs 4oz & 20.5 inches. Welcome to the world, baby girl!

The Cruelest Words

I had another DR appointment today. I was eager to find out if this baby is any closer to coming out. Not b/c I really want to meet it, not b/c I'm uncomfortable, but b/c we have a moving deadline & the older the baby is, the easier the trip will be.

So, off I went. I saw the Dr. I haven't grown at all in the last week. He listened to the heartbeat, measured the tummy & checked that the head is still down. Then he said..... "ok, see you next week!"

How cruel! I got home & Chad asked, "Well, what's the news?" ..... I don't think this baby wants to be born in Alberta. I think it wants to be born on our road trip. He simply said see you next week. Chad asked if he checked to see how far I'm dilated. No, he did not. "Well, you need to tell him to check that!" But I don't want to be one of "those" patients who thinks they know more than the Dr. He's the one who's gone to school for it & delivered countless babies. I suppose when "Baby X" is good & ready it'll come out & until then I just have to find a way to try to hurry it along a little!

An Ill Wind Was Blowing......

Today was one of those weird days. Asher was in a bad mood all day. Well, I suppose that isn't ENTIRELY true. He was ok until lunchtime & then things started getting hairy. After he barely ate any lunch, he was super grumpy. We attributed it to being tired since he went to bed about 2 hours later than normal last night due to church (followed by Dairy Queen). So Chad went to put him down for a nap amongst much protestation.

He didn't wake up in any better of a mood. I heard "No Thank You, NO THANK YOU!" As he first woke up. I went in & asked if he wanted to get up or to keep sleeping since sometimes he is still tired & will sleep longer. He said he wanted to sleep some more, so I covered him w/ the blanket & left, but that apparently was NOT what he wanted. He started yunking so I told him he could get up if he wanted to, so he got up & started whinging that he wanted to see Daddy & Grandma, so we went to find them.


The afternoon was a mixture of him going outside, coming to the door & crying that he wanted to come back in, but slamming it back closed everytime I opened it for him b/c he wanted "Daddy to do it!" Ah, the fun we had for that 1/2 an hour! I think it will be a bit difficult, but a good thing, to get back into a normal routine once we make it to PEI. Sometimes I think that by having so many adults around he's beginning to think he calls the shots. But it's difficult to keep him entertained all the time b/c we're in a new place & I don't really know where to take him or what to do w/ him either.


Oh, his world will be rocked whenever this baby decides to come out!

Big Boy Bed

Asher has made the transition to the big boy bed. It was quite easy, which we were quite suprised about, but it may have been b/c he has been sleeping in a pac n play for the last month & I don't think they can be very comfortable. He's only gotten out of bed a few times that we've had to give him a time out for. But the other night we had a bigger problem.....

I put him to bed & then Chad stayed outside the door afterwards to make sure he was staying in bed & going to sleep. All went well & we went downstairs for awhile. When Chad went to check that he had covers on just before we went to bed, he was suprised to find himself looking at Asher's bare bottom. Apparently Asher had decided to remove his PJ bottoms & diaper. Chad thought he could just sneak it back on while Asher slept, but then discovered he was too late..... The bed was soaked!

We had to move Asher back into the pac n play for awhile (which he was none too pleased about) & take all the bedding off & try to clean it up as best we could. We have no idea what possessed him to take his diaper off, we haven't had any issues w/ him trying to do that. Maybe we'll have to duct tape his daiper on at night from now on!

Hot Tubbin'

The other night Chad was getting Asher ready to go into the hot tub. I don't participate in these activities due to my pregnant state, & also the fact that I am usually too hot anyways & don't really want to get all hot & bothered just before I go to bed.

Anyways, I went upstairs to see if I could help get Asher ready so Chad could get his own swimsuit on. I walked into Asher's room to find him in a state of undress which we like to refer to as "Johnny No-Pants". I started saying that Asher was Johnny No-Pants, to which he replied, "Johnny No-Pants go in the hot tub!"

We got a kick out of the statement, but told him that Grandma & Grandpa would probably not appreciate him skinny dipping in their hot tub seeing as he's not potty trained yet.

The Last Few Days

Over the last week there have been many exciting developments. I was asked at the grocery store if I was pregnant, which Chad & I found quite humorous, since I have only 3 weeks to go. But many people have said I am not very big. From the back you can't really tell that I am pregnant at all, so I suppose I don't look as far along as I am, but "Are you pregnant?" I'd have to have something incredibly wrong w/ me to look like this & not be pregnant!

I didn't have to worry about them stopping me from flying b/c I don't really look like I'm in my 9th month. On one of the flights we were seated in the emergency exit row & the stewardess asked if we felt comfortable to perform the duties of the row & we said yes. Then she came back a few minutes later & asked, "wait, are you pregnant?" "Yes," I replied & she said she'd have to re-seat us b/c she hadn't realised that at first & apparently pregnant people aren't allowed to sit in the exit rows.

We did end up buying the house we had looked at. The offer was accepted Saturday night, we set up the mortgage, insurance, got a lawyer & did all the little things we had to do before we left PEI, so we feel good about getting all that done. We didn't have much of a holiday, but it feels really good to not have to worry about any of that. We'll close on Sept 22, so we can move in then.

I saw the Doctor today & he said he's going w/ a due date of Aug 26. Can we just say THIS BABY IS NEVER COMING OUT!!!!" Normally I wouldn't mind. Asher was overdue by a few days, but it was ok b/c I figure the more days he was inside, the more nights I got to sleep through the night before he came out. But this time we have a bit of a deadline. We have to get to PEI by the 19th of Sept, & we want to be in Ontario for the 14th of Sept, meaning we have to leave here by the 8th of Sept. Having Baptism on the 7th, but I'm not especially looking forward to travelling w/ such a small baby. I was hoping for a month to get everything figured out before we had to go.

They've already moved the due date from Aug 10 to the 21st & now to the 26th. Pretty soon I won't have a baby, but a giraffe! (I believe giraffes gestate for about 26 months).

Oh well, I suppose there's nothing I can do about it by worrying or ranting, so we'll just wait until the little one is ready to make it's appearance. I suppose it might be a good time to pack my bag for the hospital & get the baby clothes out as well.

I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

After 2 days of looking at houses (the first day not so good, day 2, much better) I think we MAY have found a house! We have 2 more to look at, but yesterday was not a good day. We looked at about 7 houses & none of them would work for us. There was one that we figured we could live w/ if we had to, but when you are planning on staying in a place for at least 5 years, do you really want to buy a house that you could possibly live in if you HAD to? Doesn't sound great does it?

So, after a morning of bad houses, an afternoon of driving all around & looking for realtor signs & looking up listings online, we found an espresso shop! I was so excited! They even use Torani Syrups (which in my opinion are the best kind). They didn't kick us out even though we stayed 1/2 an hour after they closed, & they were very pleasant.

At dinnertime we crossed the street to check out a Fish & Chips place b/c Chad was interested. I'm not a huge fan of fish, so I wasn't super excited about it, but the owner/chef is a couple from the UK, so we stayed & had some of the best Fish & Chips (Chad) & Chicken & Chips (me) we've had this side of the pond. For dessert I had a hard time choosing b/w the deep fried Mars Bar or the deep fried Jam Sandwich. I finally decided to try the sandwich & it was pretty good. A little odd b/c they use the same batter as the fish & chips, so it was a bit fishy, but overall a good way of finishing off a delicious dinner.

After our meal we headed out w/ the list of houses we had found online & drove around to check out each one since we had discovered that sometimes they look MUCH better online than from the curb. We took our list of 15 houses down to 5.

This morning the realtor took us to 3 more houses he had found (one was on our short list) & we may have found a house we really like, but there are still 2 from our list we want to see first. We're supposed to see 1 tonight & probably the other one tomorrow. We were pretty frustrated after yesterday, so we're really happy that today has gone alot better. I just hope that we make the right decision & get a house that will really work for us for the next 5 or more years!

Either way though, at least we found a great coffee shop & Chippy!

Escape Artist

Tonight Chad was preaching at a church that doesn't have nursery in the evenings, so I stayed home w/ Asher. I put him to bed & went downstairs to see what was on TV. I was listening in on the monitor b/c it's always interesting to hear him talking befre he goes to sleep.

He started by saying "Take the bottom one out & put it on top." over & over (the hand game). Then he was rustling around a bit & I heard him say, "ow." He quite often will say this, but not actually be hurt, so I didn't really think anything of it. Ten I heard a strange thumping sound, but it didn't really come through on the monitor.

Seconds later all was revealed. Asher was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding Big Dog & looking at me like he was sure he was in trouble (which he was). Apparently Pac & Plays are no longer any match for my 2 year old.

I put him back in bed, told him he wasn't allowed to come out until morning, & went back to the living room. About 5 minutes later I heard some strange noises again, so I went to investigate. I met Asher at the top of the stairs, & man, did he high-tail it when he saw me!

I think (hope) the problem was that the chair was just too close to the P&P so he could reach it to climb out on, but Chad & I are going to be gone to PEI for the next week, so I guess Grandma & Grandpa wil have to keep a close eye on Asher at bedtime! Perhaps it's time we work on getting him into a real bed after all.

NINE Years!

It's hard to believe, but Chad & I have been married nine years today. Neither one of us would have been able to predict what has happened in the last nine years. Chad was going to be a farmer, & I his farmin' wife. He had 3 years of University to finish when we got married, we actually moved out onto the farm after a year of living in town, & life was good. We thought we'd wait until he was finished school before we started having kids b/c it was easier that way & I wasn't allowed to work for the first year & 1/2 b/c of immigration laws.

After he finished his Bachelor's degree, we felt that God was calling us to something different for awhile, but figured we'd still eventually come back to the farm. Chad's interests were in Economics & Philosophy, so we kind of put God to the test & applied to the only 2 schools in the world that had combined Master degree programs, figuring Chad wouldn't make it into them..... He got into both. One at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, & the other at the London School of Economics in London, England. After much deliberation, we decided to go to London & spent the next 14 months in England.

Without having many connections over there, we quickly learned to rely on God. We had no place to live after the first 6 weeks, housing was expensive, & I was only able to get a part-time job b/c of the working culture over there. One night after a church service, Chad happened to speak to a visitor from just outside of the city, who was enamoured w/ Canada & they got to chatting about out housing situation. Without even checking w/ his wife, he invited us to come & live w/ them!

We took them up on the offer b/c we didn't really have any other viable options at that time & we quickly became part of their family. They made us feel very welcomed & really showed us God's love during the next year.

At the end of Chad's Master's program we had two options for our future:
1. Chad was offered a PhD position in Logic at King's University College, London, which would basically take 2-3 years & lead to him becoming a professor.
2. We could go back to the farm in Alberta as we had planned.

Neither option really seemed to be what we were supposed to do, so one night, Chad asked God to tell him where we were supposed to go & God laid it on his heart to go into the ministry. Not exactly what we had in mind, but God had really been working in our lives through the family we were living with & made it possible for us to see it as a possibility (but it was still totally out of the blue). At this point we had been married 4 years & Chad had changed his major at least 4 times, so I don't think I really thought he'd end up as a minister. I still figured it would lead to something else, since that seemed to be the pattern.

Now, here we are, married 9 years, expecting our 2nd child next month & Chad's taking his first call as a minister! We figured we'd have 3-4 kids by now, live at the farm/feedlot, & we'd be established in life, but instead we are just starting out! Ten years after Chad's highschool graduation, he's taking his first job w/ benefits!

It has really taught us that you can't foresee the future, only God knows where He's going to take you & you have to trust Him at every turn. That year we spent in England was one of the best we've had b/c it taught us to depend on eachother & rely on God. For the first 6 weeks we were there I earned £198/week, & our rent was £200/week. We were using money we had saved from home in Canada for our food, but the exchange rate was C$2.50 = £1.00, so to conserve our resources we were sharing a can of frank&beans for dinner, or Spaghetti-Os, or a package of Raman Noodles.... Times were lean, but we had the best time walking around together exploring the big city in our cowboy boots & God brought us to a great place b/c we trusted Him.

Online House Shopping

In September we will be moving out to Prince Edward Island. After much deliberation & prayer we accepted the call to go out there. So after the baby is born at the end of August we'll be making preparations to make a very loooong road trip from Alberta to PEI. We must have a masochistic side.

So, in the mean time Chad & I are planning on flying out to PEI next week for a week to go house hunting. We've been in contact w/ a realtor out there who has sent us property info for over 25 homes & we've been trying to narrow that down to about 10 to start looking at when we get there next week. It's quite a difficult proposition. Some of the hosues really sound great & then you start to look through the pictures only to discover that the house was decorated in the 70's complete w/ green, brown, & copper carpeting. The walls were papered w/ rust & brown striped wallpaper w/ floral bouquets. The cupboards are an appealing stained plywood......

Other houses are really hard to figure out b/c you have no layout of the house you are left to a few pictures & your imagination to try to figure out if the kitchen is near the living room or not. Some houses only have a few pictures of the outside & a picture of the kitchen. None of the bedrooms or the rest of the house.

I think we've got our short list now, I hope we find something we really will like while we are there next week. Of course, my main concern is that "Baby X" will wait at leat until August to make it's appearance b/c anything earlier than that & we may have a PEI baby instead of an Albertan! Yikes!

An Explanation & An Apology

I really enjoy reading people's blogs. One thing that makes it more enjoyable is regular posts so I remember who the person is & keep up w/ their lives. On that note, I want to apologize to you, dear reader, for my recent lack of posts. Here comes the explanation.....

We recently moved in w/ my in-laws. This in itself, is not a reason to stop blogging.

We have internet (obviously), so I should be able to keep up to date a bit, but the problem is that I am now sharing a computer w/ Chad. This also should not be an issue.

We brought our desk-top computer along as well, but it seems a bit silly to pull all the pieces out of the box to set it up for just a few months, so here I am, trying to vie for a little computer time here & there.

I am no longer blogging during Asher's nap b/c I am tired. Don't get me wrong, I don't really have much to do here, it's like a vacation! I have no cooking to do, I realyly only have to keep our bedroom & washroom tidy, & do our laundry every now & then, but trying to keep a 2 year old entertained in a none kid-proofed, new environment, can be tricky & tiring. Not to mention that I have about 6 weeks left until "Baby X" makes it's appearance into the world & I get NO chance to sleep for the next year (does that sound a bit pessimistic?).

So, hopefully I will be able to keep up w/ blogging, even if it's not everyday anymore. It's not that I don't have anything to blog about. We still have a funny kid, we're going to new & exciting places, I just haven't found the time to get it from my head to the computer.

So, there's my explanation, here's the apology.....

I'm really, really sorry if I'm not writing as regularly as you'd like, I'll try to be better, please, PLEASE don't give up on me!

Splash Park Saturday

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast at Denny's w/ Grandma & Grandpa. Asher gets so excited about Saturday mornings. We tell him it's Saturday & he proclaims "Eat Pancakes!" After that we went to the Farmer's Market w/ Grandma to look at the veggies & get some new potatoes (yum). We met a couple from Burdett where Chad had done his internship 3 years ago & talked to them awhile, then went to the Show & Shine since it was Street Wheeler's weekend. Most the cars were not out b/c they also had 100 ft races going on at the same time, but we didn't want to go see the races, so we just went home shortly thereafter.

After lunch & naptime we decided since it was a nice warm day, to take Asher to the splash park. They have one that is downtown that is basically a fountain that you can run through & it randomly shoots water from all the different holes. Chad decided on the way there that he'd rather go to the one by the pool on the West side, so that's where we went.

It was pretty cold water. Asher & Chad went in & I made sure no one took our stuff. It's a tough job, but someone has to be on towel-watch! The splash park on the West side is a bit for the older kids though, so I think next time we'll probably take Asher to the downtown one instead. There are all kinds of buttons you have to push in order to make the water go on & you get pretty wet in most of the areas. It is pretty nice though to have an option for cooling off in the heat that is free. Sure it might be more fun to swim in the pool, but it's also more expensive!