White Wonderful Winter

Hopefully that won't be it for the winter!! We had a great time with the snow last week! The boys got outside (something we just don't do in this pouring rain we've had since) and we build a great snowman - Brad did the bottom, I did the middle and Joel did the head. Nate just licked it. I don't know why. The neighbours came home while we were having a snowball fight and they joined us in what became an epic front yard battle! I haven't been in a snowball fight like that since elementary school!
Frosty, or Mr.Carrot, didn't last long however. By morning he succumbed to the warming temperature and the rain. All that remains of him is a small mound of snow and a very wilted carrot. It sure was fun while it lasted and we sure are thankful to have a yard now so we can actually build a snowman!

Party!

Hey! I'm having a Norwex party at my house on November 30 at 7pm. If you'd like to come, let me know or respond on Facebook. Please note the change of date as we ended up having a birthday party conflict with Brad's family - gotta be at Grandma's party!!
You can also e-mail me if you'd just like to place an order - you don't actually have to come to the party if you know what you want!!
Hope to see you soon!

Visitors!

We had a great visit from Frances and Hannah this week. I really enjoyed the extra girls around this house!! We took it pretty easy and just did a little shopping! We played Alhambra one night and all of us adults got our butts kicked by rookie Hannah! The boys absolutely loved having Hannah here to play with - Joel has mentioned SO many times already about how much he misses her! Thanks for the visit guys! It was great having you here!

Braids

Yesterday, Frances and I made our first attempt at baking Zopf! I'd say it turned out pretty well - we did enjoy a loaf for breakfast today!!

Playing dress-up with some Jack-O's

Alice, a caterpillar, a dino and a pea pod - that's what we had this Halloween! Rachel joined us since her brothers got to be in DisneyWorld.
We had fun carving pumpkins on Saturday - well, I had "fun" since I got stuck carving 3 out of 4!! Can you guess which one is named Brad?? Click on the collage to enlarge! Nate's is the super cute one and Joel's is the scary one. Hope you all had a good night!

my little pumpkin

A month flies by...

Micah is already over a month old!! We can hardly believe it, although Brad says he can believe it because he feels the month of lack of sleep.... What a month it has been! It seems we are busy all the time!! Joel has preschool twice a week, swimming twice a week and we all head out to Moms&Tots on Wednesday mornings still - a week goes by so fast! When did I ever have time to work?
We are really enjoying our newest little member of the family. Joel and Nathan just love him and want to hug and kiss him, hold him and "rock" him every chance they get! Nathan maybe doesn't quite understand that the swing doesn't need pushing, the bouncy seat doesn't need bouncing and the car seat doesn't need rocking but Micah doesn't seem any worse for it!
Micah has started smiling at us and just loves staring at each of us with his big eyes, taking in the world around him. He is a joy - so long as I keep him fed - and I can't wait to bring him "home" to meet all the rest of his aunties and uncles! See you all soon!!!!

The Pumpkin Patch Kids

We had a wonderful time at the pumpkin patch with Joel's preschool class! It turned out to be a lovely day. We were able to enjoy the singing, the hayride to the fields, picking out 4 pumpkins and finding our way through the corn maze. It was great to get to enjoy the morning with our friends!

My apple!

Nathan didn't say no to his free apple.

Still munching away.... with our friend Camryn : )

All done!!
This was when we finally got home from the pumpkin patch, only about an hour after he first started eating it!! They were great apples though! Fresh and crunchy! There wasn't much left of Nate's - I think he even ate half the core!

Three weeks + a day

We've been a family of 5 now for 3 weeks! The time has gone so fast and yet it feels like Micah has been here all along! We had a tiring, trying but wonderful 3 weeks. HUGE thanks must go out to my parents. I'm not sure how we would have survived without them here - I'm actually a little nervous about tomorrow!! My parents work - they cook, they clean, they build, they nurture, they care. Thanks so much for all you have done. We'll miss you but we know that life goes on and things have to get to "normal" eventually! May God bless you Mom and Dad for the care you have shown us. We love you.

Retreat

We spent the past weekend up in Whistler for our church's annual retreat. What a glorious weekend! The time there went quickly but we had a great time catching up with Jen and Aaron who made their way there all the way from Alberta and we were able to spend some time with Daniel and Andrea, Hong and Joanne and Shawna and Connor. The preaching this year was fantastic - I can't wait to get the CD to listen to it all again and fill in the spots I missed having to take care of Micah.
Thanks to Mom and Dad for watching Joel and Nathan while we were gone. We really appreciate being able to get away!!

Joel's prayer

Thank you for this food God.
Thank you for the whole world you made.
Please don't let me be sick anymore.
Please don't let me be bad to Nathan.
Please don't let me get any more time outs.
Amen.

Blessed

A week ago today our 3rd son was born into our family. Micah Aaron Breedveld was born on September 27, 2010 at 7:04 pm. He weighed a whopping 9lbs, 150z (4525 g) and was 21.5 inches (almost 54cm) long. He's a big strong boy! We had a fairly, well, traumatic day the day he was born. We went to the hospital around 12:00, I didn't feel that bad but after Nathan's delivery we didn't want to take any chances. We arrived and soon enough I was taken into the labour room where we spent the next many hours trying to have a baby! Unfortunately Micah was somewhat happy to stay where he was - sunny side up and all - and we needed a little assistance to get him out. That spinal freezing I got was one of the best things that ever happened to me!! Shortly after that though, another best thing happened and our sweet boy finally entered our world. We had a few scary minutes of watching him be taken away, a tube put down his throat and his breathing helped with the ambubag - that first cry was the best sound I have ever heard. Micah is growing already. He pulls his head up to look around, he smiles at me when I laugh at his funny expressions, he melts my heart every time I look at him.
I am the mother of 3 boys. I am blessed beyond my own comprehension. Thank you God for the lives you have entrusted us with. May they bring glory to Your name.
Micah is one week old. We love him so much and though I want him to stay little, we look forward to seeing the person he will become.
Micah: Who is like God? Gift from God.

Hair!

Nathan was not overly impressed today when we took him for his first haircut and chopped off all his little ringlets! I'm thinking maybe people will stop mistaking him for a girl now! Hopefully!

And just look at how cute he is! Joel set up "picture day" in our living room when we got home. Unfortunately, Mike's Samson prediction for Nate's hair did not come true - maybe we just didn't cut enough off!!

The belly!

There it is - at 39 weeks and 1 day! Yup, feeling big, pretty well ready to get this little man out of me!! So, what do you think?? 8lbs, 10lbs?? Take a guess!!

Progress!!

Brad's been making huge progress in our backyard, getting rid of one retaining wall and filling in the centre with free fill from some guy - I don't know how many pickup truck loads he got from him AND just moved 10 yards of topsoil from the driveway to the back! He's had a pretty steady relationship with the wheelbarrow lately! Today, inbetween rain showers, he put down grass seed so now we just get to watch it grow!! I am looking forward to more grass next summer and a much cleaner back yard!! Thanks Brad!! You've worked so hard!! He probably deserves a Shepherd's Pie, eh?

39 weeks

Already we're at the 39 week mark - how much longer is this going to go?? A day, a week, 2 weeks?? Part of me can't believe that it's already the end of September. Fall is here officially and sometimes I still think I'm waiting for summer to begin! Where did it go in such a hurry? Soon we are going to be a family of 5. Three little boys will be demanding my all and I pray for the strength, for the energy to take care of them. Over the past week my headache has been back - right now it feels the worst it has in months. My feet and ankles are swollen and aching and I am tired. In one way I can't wait to have this baby out and yet the next few weeks are just going to be even more exhausting! I'm anxious. I don't feel ready for any of what's to come. My head really hurts. Right now I can hardly even see straight. This baby hardly stops moving. Hopefully tomorrow will feel better.

Moments

Every now and then we get a few moments like this. Quietly sitting, reading a book, not fighting.... Love this.

Back to school.

Joel had his first day back to preschool last week. He is in a new classroom with new teachers this year but many of his classmates are the same from last year. He's excited to be back and really enjoys his time there! It's hard to believe that at this time next year we'll be sending him off to real school with a lunch!! Stay little, just a bit longer....

Look who's 2!

On September 10 we celebrated Nathan's 2nd birthday! We had a party in the morning with some of his little friends - the house was full of pregnant bellies, babies, toddlers and preschoolers!! It's amazing to see how our families have grown in the past couple of years! We had a fun time celebrating our little Nate. He is a crazy little boy who loves to sing, dance and make people laugh. He is our free-spirit with a bit of a temper but he is so much fun, so cute and we love him so much!! Happy 2nd birthday Nate!

Thankfully, it was dead already.

However, I did not realize that until after I screamed and stood paralyzed in the doorway - Brad came and stomped it a few more times, just to make sure. I think this is number 5 or 6 that we've found. Fall brings so many special treats into the house : /

Preparations...

Joel's room went from this:

















To this:











All to prepare for the upcoming addition to our family. Joel and Nathan are now sharing a room and while it's taking Nate a bit to get used to the whole idea, he has been doing okay. I would have liked to keep him in the crib a bit longer but the time has come! My little boys aren't so little anymore. Good thing I'm getting another one!!

More Summer!!

We had a great time with the Costley's visiting here a few weeks ago. The weather was mostly great and we enjoyed many delicious meals with them!! They taught us how to make Dynamite rolls and now I'm craving them all the time!! Joel and Nathan just loved having their cousins here and we miss them lots! Thanks for the visit guys! It was great having you here : )

PG Summer

We spent an interesting 2 weeks up in PG this summer. We celebrated Mitchell's 2nd birthday, took the kids to West Lake, went to Fort George Park, spent a weekend at 10 Mile Lake celebrating the 1st of August (Swiss national holiday), spent a day at Berman Lake, the railway museum and just spent lots of time relaxing in the back yard. In all that busyness Brad suffered with a tooth infection, 12 out of 20 of us had a nasty stomach bug and Joel ended up with croup. Despite all the bad it was great to be "home" and off work for a few weeks. Thanks all! We had a mostly great time!