Some forgotten photos....

These are from the morning the Leboe family left to go home. Joel still talks about Joshy and Hannah all the time! He still thinks they are coming soon!

A few more....

I am down to 5 more days to my due date. Time has gone so quickly these past few weeks and all of a sudden the waiting is excruciating! I want to know what this baby is!! With Joel, I was certain we were having a boy. With this one, I give it 50/50. I have NO idea! Either way I'll be surprised. Joel and I are sticking pretty close to home these days. I'm pretty tired most of the time and am getting rather uncomfortable. The doctor says the baby has dropped so it really could be anytime. I'm hoping for Sunday when she is on call!!
Joel just turned 2 1/2 on the 26th. I can't believe he's going to be 3 on his next birthday. That sounds so old! At our doctor's visit the other day, the MOA weighed him and he weighs 36 lbs (although I am sure that scale weighs heavy) and we measured him and he's almost 38 inches tall!! I don't think he'll quite make it on the rides at Disneyworld unless we find some really awesome platform shoes for him. :)
My Joel, my little boy. He has really changed in the past few months. All he does is talk and repeat things and he just loves to sing and give hugs and kisses. He loves to "help" me in the kitchen, especially with washing the dishes (and then the floor with all the water he's spilled). He is such a sweet boy - most of the time. He can also scream and hit and yell "no" but what kid can't. We are working on potty training him. He's got number 2 figured out but he needs many reminders about going pee. He'll get it one day....
We don't really have many pictures from lately. The weather has just gone completely opposite what it was a couple weeks ago. It is wet and cold and does NOT feel like August anymore. I'm finding it kind of sad but hoping for a lovely September. I guess I always knew that the end of summer meant having a baby so now we just have to have the baby! Maybe I'll try to get a belly shot on here before it's too late.

Just a chat

Brad and I always seem to think that the other person has the camera, so when we go places together we rarely have it! This morning we took Joel to Maple Grove Pool. It was great, Joel loved it and I felt cool for the first time in days! Summer didn't bother me until the past few days when it's gotten up around 30 degrees and our place just heats up so much! The main floor gets to be about 28 and the upstairs where we sleep is even hotter. I'm not sure what got into me yesterday but I decided to make granola bars (thanks Frances! YUMMY!) and chocolate chip cookies. Who turns the oven on when it's that hot??? Anyway, we are doing well. Starting to really anticipate the arrival of this baby. I am 37 weeks and 3 days along so... we should be getting ready!!! I feel somewhat unprepared to do this all over again. Maybe it's because we don't have a room to get ready, we can't set up a crib, but I really should have a bag packed, for me, for Brad and for Joel!
This evening our townhouse block is having a BBQ party in the alley between us. We are celebrating the work being finished on the complex. We are all very happy to have the construction guys and their messes off the property after 2 years of having to clean up cigarette butts and nails - many of which have poked into my tires, Joel just spotted one yesterday.
Anyway, I guess I should go and get some things ready. I thought I'd try to get out of the kitchen and cool off in the den - it hasn't worked. I am still hot.

the Beach

What visit would be complete without a trip to the beach. We had a gorgeous day at Centennial Beach, only a slight breeze this time to keep us from getting too hot! The kids collected crabs and played in the sand and tide pools for hours. I believe it was one of Joel's happiest days ever. It was pretty much a perfect day.

Burns Bog

After a huge and super yummy dinner at the Olive Garden we decided to pick up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. In order to make room for desert, we thought maybe a walk was necessary so we headed to Burns Bog. Again, a lovely evening to be outside and Joel kept the mosquitoes from biting all of us - poor kid. He's been itchy for days!

Steveston

Tranquility - it was a lovely evening to be down at the docks for fish and chips.

The kids loved eating right on the water. They all ordered hot dogs though. They didn't know what they were missing.

Happy Joel.

Joel. Loves rocks. Loves to dig. What could be better?

The SkyTrain and Science World

On a rainy Friday with the Leboe's we rode the sky train down to Science World. I'm not sure what Joel enjoyed more - he loves the train! They did have a great time experimenting with everything and trying to figure things out. It was a pretty busy day there but we were happy not to have used up a sunny day for an indoor activity! We still had to hit the beach and park and do some outside site-seeing!

Harrison Hot Springs

A couple of weekends ago I actually had a full weekend off!! I know with my upcoming mat leave I will have many weekends off but we decided to take advantage of this lovely time in July and get away for a night, just the three of us before baby comes. We stayed at the Harrison Hot Springs resort where we enjoyed the pool and Joel got used to dunking his head under water. He's come a long way!! The part we stayed in was the old part - built in 1929. It had some old time flair but the uncomfortable bed and lack of A/C made for a long night! We enjoyed taking in the scenery and just being away from the city though. Joel had the greatest time throwing rocks into the lake and spent most of the afternoon doing just that. On the way home we stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner and enjoyed the A/C there along with some fantastic salad, breadsticks and pasta! It felt so good to get away and although it was only one night, we really felt good about coming home and that we had gotten away.

the Zoo!

We had a great time at the zoo! We saw lots of animals and the kids really loved the train ride. It was our last day with friends here and we were sad to say bye to them but are very thankful for the time we were able to spend together. Thanks for driving all that way and back!! They are brave people to drive 14 hours with 2 little kids!!

Joel's prayer

God is great, God is good, God is great, God is good, food. Amen!

YUMMY!!

KrispyKreme doughnuts for all! Joel exclaimed, "Nummy Mummy!" while biting into his. These kids know what's good - even if it's not good for us! We did get to enjoy our share too but I was expecting Miranda and Travis to take the box with them when they left!!!

Busy week so far!

It has been another busy week with our friends, Miranda, Travis, Isabelle and Zoe visiting. We have spent a morning at the water park, a day at the beach (Joel is obsessed with blue ice cream - thanks Nikki!) and a day at the aquarium where we got to see the 29 day old baby beluga. I hope I just got the song in everyone's head..... As you can see from the look on Cooper's face, he is somewhat less than impressed with all the visitors we have had and is just looking for some space to chill out, away from kids! We are loving it though and will be sad to see them go. The house will be too quiet.... at least for a couple weeks!

Celebrating Canada's and Nikki's Birthday!!

We spent Canada Day at Centennial Beach. It was a lovely sunny day BUT the wind was so cold!! So sad for July.... We had a great week with Nikki here. We celebrated her birthday with a super yummy ice cream cake from the Marble Slab and we were sad to see her go home last Friday. Joel says "Miss you, Nikki". See you soon, we hope!

Sun and Sand

Here is our sad little version of a sand-box. That's what living in a townhouse is all about.

All that stress....

for nothing! I have been misinformed. There is no such stipulation in the HSA contract. I am annoyed that I have been led to believe it for over a week now. Hopefully I can relax a bit. I still have to decide my last day of work.

Maplewood Farm

Recently I had a Saturday off so the 3 of us actually got to get out and do something fun as a family. We headed to North Van to spend the morning at Maplewood Farm, a functioning farm open to people coming for a visit! As you can see Joel really enjoyed the goats again but they have every other farm animal imaginable, including peacocks, bunnies, donkeys and even a beautiful macaw that said "hello" to us. What seems to have had the biggest impact on Joel though, unfortunately, was the mommy angora goat pooping in front of him. He tells us and many other people all about it, often. That's what we get during potty training time - poop is a big deal! Sorry for having to talk about that..... We had a nice time and are really looking forward to August when we will have a full 52 weekends together!! I can't wait to have more time as a family - it's so easily taken for granted.

Back on track

I had an appointment with my doctor today and am 29 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I kind of lost track there for awhile and when people would ask me, I didn't know! So anyway, there you go. Now you and I both know!
Right now I am struggling with some decisions about my mat leave. There is a stipulation that in order to receive certain benefits from my workplace I have to go back to work for 6 months after my leave. I have no idea where we will be in a year and a half. I've always hoped we wouldn't be "here" anymore and I really don't think I can commute any further to UBC than I already do. I feel rather stressed out about these decisions seeing as I have only speculation to base them on. Please pray for clarity and peace of mind for me. I know we need to do the right thing but I haven't really been able to figure out what that is yet.
I have a headache, I have heartburn and I am no longer sleeping well at night. For some reason I like to wake up at 4:30 and not fall back asleep until 6ish. The same thing happened with Joel but at least I didn't have a 2 year old waking me up shortly after I fall asleep again! Anyway, enough complaining. I need something positive to focus on.
Baby is moving a lot. It seems like we may have another little soccer fan on the way - a soccer fan can be a girl or a boy by the way!!! He/she sure likes to remind me that they're there, all day long.... He/she has grown quite a bit in the last few weeks and I can almost always find a little knee, foot or bum to push back on! Joel got to hear the heartbeat today and he talked about it for the next hour. He is talking like crazy now! He makes up sentences and lets us know exactly what he wants - usually gum or yogurt, except we don't give him gum so he doesn't even know what it is. He mentions often about how he misses Schatzi and Papa and he talks about things and people being pretty (out of the blue yesterday he said "Hannah, pretty"). He still calls dandylions, daddy-roars, which I find quite funny. He's cute, he cracks me up and brightens most of our unsunny days with something he says. We are still waiting for sun and warmth here. Summer is welcome anytime.

The reason for our trip

What a gorgeous bride!!! The reason we were in Victoria was to attend the wedding of Tammy and Tadd. Tammy was my BEST friend when we were kids. We did everything together until her family moved to Victoria. Over the years we still tried to keep in touch but the years go by fast and before we knew it, we were grown-ups that hardly know each other yet still hold on to the friendship that was so dear. Tammy will always have a special place in my life. I think about her more often than she knows.
Congratulations Tammy and Tadd! Wishing you happiness always. Thank you for sharing your day with us.

Victoria

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in Victoria. We were lucky to get some sun while we were there! On the ferry ride to the island we were fortunate to see a porpoise swim past us. We spent Sunday down in the harbour and took a harbour ferry for a ride on some choppy water. Joel loved being on the boat! We stopped at Fisherman's Wharf to see some seals and eat some fish 'n' chips for lunch and then headed back to the kid's farm at Beacon Hill Park. There we got to see a 4 day old miniature donkey and a bunch of new baby goats. Again, Joel loved petting the goats! He had a pretty good day!

I'm a model, you know what I mean....

This is likely one those pictures that Joel might want to kill me for one day. You can bet it'll likely show up in his wedding powerpoint thing! I don't really know what to say about this picture except that he brought those shoes up from downstairs and walked around in them for awhile.

Road trip

Here's Joel lounging and still happy after 10 hours on the road. Don't you love how he makes himself so comfortable in his seat!!

One Big Happy Family....

Always changing, our family has grown and continues to expand. We can't fit the pets in the picture anymore.

Prego's

Monica and me. She is about 6 or 7 weeks ahead of me with her baby due towards the end of July and mine at the beginning of September. I love that my kids will have so many cousins!!

The Kids

The sandbox - although a different one from that which we played in as kids, many of the toys are the same and the enjoyment is definitely the same!

Papa's new "bed" as Joel calls his new hammock. Dad took it down for overnight and the next morning Joel went outside, looked for it, came back in and asked, "Bed go??".

Sweet little Noah. Soon you will be corrupted by the older ones too!

All 6 kids watching Josh open his birthday presents. We had a great time out in the backyard, cooking dinner over the firepit. I love summer.

Papa Broom-broom

Every time Joel sees anything even resembling a big truck he shouts out, "Papa broom-broom!". This kid loves trucks! And he loves his Papa! For the long weekend we headed up to PG to celebrate my dad's retirement from Peterbilt. Fortunately for Joel, Papa has worked there long enough that they still trust him with the keys to a truck to take for a spin! We had a great, hot weekend there and we miss you all very much!

Weekend with Auntie

A couple of weekends ago was the Vancouver Marathon. Frances and Kara came down for the weekend to run the half so early on Sunday morning we went downtown to cheer them and Andrea and Jen on. It turned out to be a lovely morning and a great afternoon for a nap! Joel really loved riding the skytrain. Now he asks to go on the "choo-choo" all the time! He also had lots of fun running around with Katie and Isabella and enjoyed the time he had to play with Auntie Frances.

Not much

I am sitting here at work, bored on a Saturday, wishing I could be home with my family. This working every weekend is starting to take its toll. I do appreciate the fact that we don't have to find daycare for Joel on Saturdays and Sundays but as with all things there is a sacrifice somewhere else. I miss my family. I am still trying to figure out when my last day of work will be. Part of me wants to take off early so I can enjoy some of the summer with Brad and Joel and yet I want to maximize my time with the new addition as well. That is assuming I go back to work when I'm supposed to....
I've been thinking a lot lately about life and how I was hoping to make some changes in myself this year - kind of a turning 30 resolution. I don't really know if I've succeeded so far. I just finished reading a book by Philip Yancey called Reaching for the Invisible God. Good read. Very insightful to the way we are to view our relationship with God. I find it so humbling that He would want me. Who am I that He should be mindful of me?? I am, we all are, His creation, chosen by Him, saved through His Son. I love the new Mercy Me CD. They have a song that says, "We've been told that the heart is just too far gone to save, but grace tells us another story." Don't we all feel that way sometimes? Thank God for His grace. Where would we be without Jesus?

So much cheese...

I forgot to take a picture but I had to talk about it anyway. We figured since winter has decided to last so long we had to kick it out with one last true winter meal. So, last night we had some friends over for a Raclette. We had a great evening of stuffing ourselves with potatoes, cheese, zucchini, asparagus, prawns, steak, bacon, and a bunch of other things to grill and cook - I need a picture to do it justice. We need a bigger table to fit it all on. Anyway, we had lots of fun and look forward to it again sometime in the not so near future. Right now I am really looking forward to summer.