Ian & Helena

Well, for those of you who haven’t heard the news through the grapevine yet, we are expecting another baby, this time with the traditional 9 months of waiting!  I am feeling great, with no morning sickness or other sypmtoms to speak of, which is handy while running after 4 other little munchkins.  We are due around Feb 1.  The kids seem to have some concept of the baby… Rory asked me how the baby is going to come out today…interesting conversation with a 3 yr old!  They are all doing really well, despite a very short flu that everyone is taking turns getting.  We spent the last week visiting mom and dad out at the cabin and we all had a great time.  Rory loved the sandbox Pake built for him, and riding his bike around the one cement pad under the deck.  Stevie and Breanna were much busier socializing, boating, and trying out all the activities.  Mara enjoyed being held by many hands and sticking her toes in the water, even though it was pretty cold yet.  I (as usual) forgot to take any pictures, so another day…

Hello all,

No major news, just wanted to share an update on what we’re all doing and post a few pics!  We spent a great May long weekend doing some fishing, picnicing, and working around the house (Ian built a raised garden bed, which I now get to plant soon)! 

Rory enjoyed fishing (he went with Ian again this morning) and loves playing outdoors.  He and I are going to a preschool open house to check it out tomorrow (at the Christian school).  We haven’t decided if we want to send him to preschool or not, but I’m hoping our tour will help us make the decision.  It’s on the same days that I teach at the gym, where he would normally sit and watch a movie for most of the hour, so doing something more productive would definitely be a benefit.

Stevie is our little fish.  We just finished swimming lessons, and she is more than ready for the next level but can’t be enrolled until she turns 3 (Oct).  We’re in no rush, but we’re really looking forward to seeing some of her bravery at mom and dad’s cabin this summer!  Stevie has also been learning her alphabet and their sounds - she seems to have a real knack for picking them up quickly during our home preschool time.  She had a deep sliver in her hand tonight, which was terrible to take out (we had to hold her hand down), but on the plus side we got a lot of snuggles afterward.

Breanna has just learned how to ride a tricycle this week!  We received some hand me down bikes from an older set of twin (boys), and she just hoped on and rode off down the sidewalk.  Rory has picked it up this week as well, so soon they’ll be off on their own little adventures to the neighbours house sooner than I’d like, I’m sure.   

 That’s about all for now!  We’ll keep you updated.

Stevie’s french braids

  May long weekend

   Misc. spring fun!

Hello all,

For those of you whose email addresses I don’t have, we wanted to make sure you knew about our latest arrival!  Mara, 2 1/2 months old, joined our family yesterday very unexpectedly (1 day’s notice), under a foster-to-adopt arrangment.  This means that there is legal risk involved with her stay (it is currently a foster care placement), but we are grateful for the opportunity to parent such a young babe and to have her be a part of our family, and the rest we will take as it comes. 

The kids are a little confused about her arrival.  They keep asking where her mom (the social worker) went to.  They are also thrilled right now to dote on her, bringing toys, stroking her, or whatever they can do to help or ‘help’!  It’s very cute.  Stevie probably gives her the most attention, but it’s hilarious…she doesn’t get her name straight.  She either calls her Hailey (our friend’s baby), Moses (yes, baby Moses from the Bible story we read a few days ago), Mary (origin unknown), and occasionally Mara.  If Rory’s nearby, he’s eager to correct her (gotta keep up that big brother role now that there’s three little sisters)!

She has been quite easygoing so far…she’s smiling in response to little games, and she seems quite healthy despite a rough start to life.  I only had to get up once last night, and I even got a load of laundry done today (thank goodness Ian’s home).  I’m sure it will be quite an adjustment over the next couple months, but we are looking forward to the joys she is already bringing as well.

 A few pictures:

Breanna

Stevie

Rory reading a postcard from Pake and Beppe

I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures of our wonderful visit with my mom and dad.  We had a great time visiting with them, and the kids just loved spending time with them.  My dad brought tools and other supplies from home and got our downstairs bathroom and laundry room into shape, as well as making some great shelving for the laundry room.  We still can’t believe how much space we have in there now!  No pictures of that yet though; his work has motivated us to add a few other finishing touches to make the rooms look better (Ian’s working on that right now, as a matter of fact!)

My mom helped out a lot with cleaning and the kids, reading endless books, taking them for walks, and babysitting while I did my regular activities and went on a date with Ian.  We also went out and watched one of Ian’s volleyball games for an evening (a couple pictures have our babysitter in it).  Then we went to Edmonton for mom’s birthday to celebrate with all the sibs…we split up and the girls went clothes shopping while the boys went and looked at tools!  Overall it was a great visit, and our house looked a lot better by the end too!

This weekend we went out and got a Christmas tree and decorated it.  The kids were really excited; Rory could barely contain himself, jumping around as we hung ornaments and lights.  His ‘job’ these days is plugging and unplugging our Christmas lights…he takes it quite seriously!

     (Stevie’s in the orange)

Rory and Breanna’s monkey faces:

Well, we’ve been having a busy couple of month with lots of visitors, birthdays, and activities.  Ian’s sisters Pam and Renee came to visit, Ian’s parents, Ian’s brother Jay, Theresa, and then Ian’s sister Renee came again with a friend.  Mom and dad will be coming this coming week as well.  The girls and I all had our birthdays.  The girls are now 2, so we have three 2 yr olds for a bit!  Their birthday was a lot of fun, since they really started to get the idea of what a birthday is.  Rory has been planning his birthday party every since. 

We’ve also had lots of fun doing our swimming lessons, playing in the snow, and trick or treating for the first time!

  (Stevie in the pink touque)

And this past weekend, Ian and I had the special treat of Karen and Brent coming over to our house to babysit the kids while we took a little honeymoon weekend to Jasper.  It was the kids’ first night away from both of us, and they did great, especially with the loving care of their aunt & uncle!  We had a great time as well, sleeping in, hiking, and some uninterrupted shopping!  It was cool, but we had a chance to enjoy the sunshine while on our hike:

But within 20 minutes it looked more like this:

It was pretty crazy, and we were soaked & cold by the time we got back to the car, but it was a pretty fun adventure none-the-less.

Well, that’s what we’ve been up to!  My mom’s mom is doing much better & is out of the hospital.  She stayed at my aunt Sophia’s place for a couple of weeks and will be returning to her own place any day now.  It will take a while to regain all of her strength, but we are happy that she has improved so much and feels better again.  We are looking forward to our upcoming visit with mom and dad now!

Just wanted to let you all know how Rory’s doing.  He had his catheter out on Tuesday, and is back to using the toilet.  Peeing appears to be fairly painful for him yet, but the surgeon said he is healing well.  He is back to his normal self in all other areas, playing and running as before, so we are glad for those signs that he is doing well.

The kids and I are going to visit some friends tomorrow - Sat while Ian has a chance to hunt for a bit. 

We’ve heard from mom and dad in Texas recently, and they seem to be doing well, alhtough they’re cooking hot!  Their work projects are household repairs, mainly, and mom and dad are on separate teams.  Mom and dad are on the younger end of volunteers, so despite the heat and humidity that they’re not used to, they can keep up easily enough.  It sounds like they’re having a great time, and have a great group to work with - lots of teasing and laughter!

My mom’s mom is in the hospital, currently, and is not doing very well.  They are doing a number of tests to find out what is wrong, but they know she is having some major problems with her kidneys, including some masses on them that require further testing.  She is also having difficulties understanding what is going on, and is not fully lucid.  They are exploring this more as well.  That makes being away very difficult for my mom especially, as she feels torn about continuing their work project and coming home to support her mom and sister Sophia, who is Beppe’s main support right now.

That’s all for now - I just wanted to put up a quick post so anyone keeping up has an idea what’s going on for us out in Western Canada!

Hope you are all well!

Helena

 A few pics (okay, so this isn’t such a quick post):

Stevie’s new hat

Stevie and Rory on the swings.  There were a lot of pictures where they’re happier, honestly, I just thought these ones were so cute!  Kinda fun…kinda scary!

Fall walk in the woods

Ian a.k.a. Robin Hood’s proud moment in archery practice.

Family picture

Well, the surgery is over and done with, and Rory’s doing quite well.  It was quite a different experience for us, and we realized just how much we had to trust that the doctor’s know what they’re doing when they sent us out of the OR to sit and wait!  Not that we would be of any help if we were there!  Anyway, our poor little guy was in quite a bit of pain the second and third day afterward, but has definitely taken a turn for the better today.  He is up and playing again and not complaining of pain as often.  We are grateful the worst is over and looking forward to getting the catheter out next week.  Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes!

Well, we had a wonderful summer, and got a bit behind on sharing pictures, etc.  I’ll post just a few of my favourites (see Summertime page).  We did quite a bit of camping in July, and then I spent most of August at mom and dad’s cabin, and Ian came back and forth a bit.  The kids just loved it all, and really got to know Pake and Beppe a lot better.  And now it’s back to the regular schedule.  I taught my first class (my own class) this morning at 6am - it went quite well.  Six people were no shows for the first class already - I hope I don’t loose too many more people to the claws of the snooze button!  The kids are signed up for swimming lessons as well this fall, which I am really looking forward (a lady from our church has volunteered to come with us as the kids are all in the same class and there’s no way I could handle all three slippery little monkeys on my own)! 

The kids are all learning in leaps and bounds.  The girls are talking like crazy and they’re almost 2 already!  Rory is just car crazy.  We took him to the demolition derby and he just loved it!  Stevie’s mostly potty trained and Breanna seems ready, but I’ve got to set aside some time to work with her now. 

Two of Ian’s sisters are coming up here this weekend, and we are really looking forward to seeing them, and for the kids to get to know them a bit too.

Rory has a minor surgery next week, which I am somewhat nervous about, just because he has to go under, and it’s new ground for us.  He will have to wear a catheder for a week afterwards as well, which I don’t imagine will be too comfortable for him.  But Theresa is taking the day off to babysit the girls (what a wonderful sister) so we can both be with Rory, so hopefully things will go alright!

Well, we finally received our documents that the adoption has been finalized and the courts & everything legal now recognizes our kids as part of our family!  We were pretty excited, because although we have been growing together as a family for a year (next Saturday), that last bit of security that says no one can change it feels good!  Just thought I’d share our news with you all!

I’m a little slow on getting these up there, but my mom made the kids these cute blankets! 

Stevie wanted to give them kisses while I was laying them out, incase you are wondering what she’s doing!

The pig

The dog

The bear

The kids just love them!  Thanks again, mom!