Madeline Gayle

We have had a wonderful yet rather challenging first week and a bit with our new addition. Madeline Gayle was borning on Monday morning, Dec 20 at 8:21 a.m. She cause much frustration in the days leading up to this. Much false labour, which lead Drew and I frantically packing kids up on a Saturday at midnight and dropping them off. Found us walking the halls and the doctors scratching their heads, not sure if it was real or not. But, on Monday morning Drew and I headed to the hosptial for our scheduled c-section. A bit of a nervous wreck I was and disappointed that this was the end. But I realize that some things are out of our hands and at the end of it we were snuggling a healthy, screaming little girl. A BIG healthy little girl who weighed in at 8lbs 13 oz. Just over a pound bigger than the other two. My first thought on seeing her was a amazement at the rolls she had on her! Chubby little legs and a round belly.


So proud of her little sister! Kaylin did fantastic being shipped out and has been such a help already.

Its been a rather busy time, a week of little time to do anything else but nurse, deal with temper tantrums from Jacob. He did not do so well with being shipped out and Drew ended up needing to have him at home at night so he could sleep. This little boy has been a bit lost these days. Then the flu hit us. The kids were the sickest they have ever been. High fevers that led us setting the alarm in between night feedings to check on them. Wiping heads with damp clothes to try to cool their skin. Drew and I came down with it. Thankfully not as serious as the kids and so far Maddie seems fine. We've been keeping her high up and away from the kids and I've been pretty much the only one handling her until this passes. We pray it passes soon! On the positive side, once this is over I believe I'll find dealing with cranky but healthy kids a breeze.

He wasn't to sure of this new little one.


Until he discovered something....


She comes with a nose! and eyes....and ears. He's doing well with her, a bit mad at Mommy these days but good with Maddie. I'm thankful his moods are directed at us and not her.




And its hard to believe that we are now a family of 5. What a wonderful blessing to celebrate this Christmas! Even in sickness :)

Hormones and Randoms

Having false labour is hard on the body and dampens your spirits. After a day of thinking "for sure", I realized it wasn't. While sobbing on the couch, Drew put his arms around me and said "Its okay, you can cry all you want. How about I go get you some chocolate". LOVE.


Dollar store stickers and dollar store crowns promise time for me to finish an entire cup of coffee without being interrupted.

Kaylin this morning was telling me this poem...very proud of her reading skills...
"Little McMuppet she said on her puppet eating her curds and whed. Along came big spider who sat down ontop her and made McMuppet run away."



Jacob has learned to jump with both feet off the floor. He's been trying for awhile. One thing we've learned....2 year old boys learning to jump off the ground means hazard for all loose decorations on Christmas trees.

He's also learned to say "no need any more". And has discovered that running away from Mommy when she is breathing between contractions is hilarious. And that trying this on Daddy is not such a smart idea. But hilarious for Mommy.

Have a good weekend!

On Christmas Decor and the truth of Motherhood

Dates. A due date, a date for if the baby doesn't come we're doing a c-section date. Christmas dates. Our calendar feels like it is looming before us and yet all we can do is wait and shrug our shoulders. Waiting for a baby is a test of patience, waiting for a baby in hopes of not having a c-section is a test of.....well..even more patience. Every day brings us a step closer to having surgery. Its frustrating. Poor Drew, he's worried. He tells me I've never been this anxious before, I haven't. We had a bit of a rough weekend, a Friday night confident that we would be going to the hosptial. The only thing holding me back was the late hour and wanting the kids to sleep, and thinking one more hour, hold out for one more hour, which turned into 6 hours and then a sudden stop.



I don't do well with no sleep and no sleep on Friday meant I was rather weepy on Sat and Sun. WAITING, is such a hard lesson. One I struggle to teach the children while knowing how awful I am at it. We try to teach the kids lessons in trust, to place our worries before the LORD. All our worries. I like to have plans for everything, but in Matthew we read "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself". Drew asked me last night if I prayed about this. I stared at him. In all my worrying and fretting I hadn't. I've been so focused on making sure this baby comes before we need a c-section I have completely neglected to place it before the LORD. So I'm going to try. Funny how easily we think our worries aren't important to HIM. Thankfully I have a husband to remind me. A husband who isn't afraid to tell me when I'm trying to be in control. And who leads me in every way. And who lets me watch Road to Avonlea on a Sunday night.



And on Saturday, in the midst of a horrible Jonah-type weekend we built memories. I'm pretty sure I heard Drew muttering under his breath while fighing with the tree and getting the lights up "memories....we're building memories". Which I laughed at and handing him a cup of tea. I think he was hoping for something stronger:) The kids had a ton of fun. Most of the decorations ended up on the bottom. The breakable ones on top. The sign of little hands helping.



Jacob took his job oh so serious. Cleaning up. Once it was done he nodded at us and ran to the kitchen to put the towel away. Love. And I am so thankful that we put the effort in. I may have shed a few joys of tear watching Drew and the kids.

Christmas Traditions

There were four girls, who started to hang out in grade 12. What started out as highschool friendships have lasted through the test of the last 7 years. The test of relationships and marriages, of buying our first houses, of becoming apart of our church communities. They have stood the test of pregnancy and childbirth. We have annoyed eachother at times, built eachother up at other times. We have studied the Bible and remind eachother of what IS important. We're at a point of holding eachother accountable for our actions. Of reminding eachtother that marriage is first, we have learned from eachtother and we continue to grow.

Every Christmas we get together for a Christmas dinner. These little ones filling up the couch love each other. They celebrate each other's birthdays, they hug and they bite each other. They fight and they play. Every year we take a picture of the kids on the couch and every year the couch gets a bit more crowded. Next year one more will be added, possibly more as a lot can happen in 12 months:) Our get togethers are crazy as the kids have far outnumbered the adults, the best part is that we have learned to talk over and around them, the craziness no longer gets in the way as we are all in this together. To have friends you can lean on is a great blessing. We've gotten good at taking care of each other. We're comfortable at eachothers homes, we all have different strengths and different weaknesses and we know this about each other. There is a lot to be thankful for and I was reminded of this on Sunday!

Almost There!

Soon we'll be doing our victory dance, or at least Drew will be, we'll see how long it takes me to actually dance. I've realized that there are a few indications your ready to have a baby. A - your husbands workshirts are getting to small and B - your wearing your husbands workshirts, there's more, but this is our sign.



We have managed to get through Jacob's birthday, we're setting up the Christmas tree this weekend and then....we wait. Somewhere in that waiting we still hope to paint the baby room. We ended up laying aside that goal and opted to use our (Drew's) time to take out the wall between the kitchen and dinning room. Perhaps today we'll venture out to good old Home Depot for paint....and tonight we have a Christmas Party. Last night in my dream my water broke somewhere between getting the punch and eating cheese. We'll see! Happy Friday to you all!