(im)patiently waiting.....

So baby #4's due date is very quickly approaching (next Wed, to be exact!), and I'm getting rather impatient. This past Sunday I had false labour (contrax 5 mins apart for a few hours steady), but they went away. Since then baby has dropped even lower, and last night was my worst night of sleep so far. Normally baby is a great sleeper at night, and I can be fairly comfortable, but last night he decided to move around the whole night, and I had steady contractions. But, they never went into my back or got really painful, so yet another night has passed and my belly still looks like I swallowed a watermelon *sigh*. I think God is teaching me a lesson, and that everything happens in His timing and according to His plan. The kids are getting really excited about their new little brother's arrival, everyday asking "is today the day the baby is going to come out, Mom?". Pretty soon, my loves, pretty soon!

So while we are waiting for baby to arrive, we have been pretty busy around here: cooking, baking (homemade strawberry white chocolate chip muffins and brownies), cleaning, doing laundry.. oh, and we made homemade berry jam from berries picked on our property, and today is our first time being able to swim in the pool again, after we had some issues of it turning green while we were away on holidays a few weeks ago. As soon as L wakes up from his nap, our swimsuits will be on, and we will go swimming! :)

July is a very busy month for our family... on the 2nd my husband and I celebrated 8 years of marriage, the 7th was O's 6th birthday, and the 9th was my Nathan's 31st birthday. Throw in the birth of a baby sometime within the next week, the closing of our lot for our new house on the 24th, and there you have July! Craziness. But these special days in July show God's goodness in our lives, and we have so many things to be thankful for... August is another busy month, with a newborn, my parents 40th wedding anniversary vow renewal, and a cousins wedding.... and then September we are back into the groove of school, where N will be starting JK, and O is going into Grade 1. Time sure flies! And, Lord Willing, we will hopefully have the permits and will start digging and building our next home! 

Well, hopefully my next post will be to announce the arrival of our precious baby... currently he has the hiccups and is sticking his bum up in the air... seems pretty cozy in there... blessed beyond measure, that's for sure :)

Have a wonderful weekend....

Life lately....

Oops, seems like I haven't blogged in a while... that must mean that life has gotten busy, and I don't have much spare time- which is totally true!

We are into June now, which means the countdown to baby #4's arrival is one! T-1 month to go! Eeeek! I have started getting things organized for baby's arrival... places for the kids to go when I have the baby (Thank you to my Mom for planning to take L for a few days, and Nate's Mom for planning to take the older two). One thing down. Oh, and I have set up the play pen where babe will sleep his first few months, washed all the baby clothes and blankets, and stocked up on diapers. Feels like I'm forgetting something, but thankfully my next midwife appt. we will go over things that I need to pack for the hospital, etc. You'd think since this is my fourth I would know what to pack, but I really have no clue! LOL.

And since we're all about excitement inour house, why not throw in 2 family camping trips before babe arrives? Yup. We are going camping for 4 days soon, and then 5 days later on. Thankfully this year we have upgraded to an (older) motorhome, so we aren't tenting anymore, but it seems like its just as much work for me for packing everything up and planning menus, etc. The kids helped packed their clothes yesterday and organized their outfits, that was quite the adventure. I think L was unpacking his clothes as quickly as I could pack them *sigh*. He's quite the busy little guy these days! But, we are looking forward to some family time before we become a family of 6 and have the business of having a newborn in the house. Oh, and throw in designing and building our next house, and there you have it. Yup, recently we purchased an empty lot to build our next house on! Very exciting. The past few houses we have had, we have gone through a builder, so this is our first time designing and building our own house. Hubby drew up some plans, but then wasn't set on them, so he's got some new ideas in his head. I completely trust him, as he builds houses for a living, and know that his design will be great- I just had to throw some things in there that I requested: 4 bedrooms, upstairs laundry, play room in the basement.. dishwasher.. you know, things that will make my life as a stay-at-home Mom more practical. 

The kids have been loving playing outside lately with the warmer weather.. except this week it hasn't been as great with rain, but they just put on their rain boots and out they go! The pool is filled up, but has a leak in it, so we have lost a lot of water, and with the colder weather, they've only been swimming once so far :( But they have their bikes and wagon and two little kittens to play with, so they stay occupied! :)

These pics are actually from May.. I keep forgetting to take pics with the actual camera, I'm always snapping pics on my iPhone... but you get the idea of how much they are growing. O is turning 6 next month, and is very excited.. N turned 4 in April, and L will be 2 in Nov. For the most part, they are really happy kids and love playing together, which is nice :) They are beyond excited for camping, and have been counting down the sleeps...

The older two have this thing lately where they wear their next days clothes under their pj's, so this way when they wake up they are already dressed :)

Watching a train go by on the way to church the other week. 

Anyways, better get going and get a few more things done before L wakes up from his nap- then its off to get Big Sister from school, and pick up two of their cousins who are coming over for supper tonight :) 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Whoot whoot! Third trimester!

Praise the Lord!  I have made it to the third trimester of my pregnancy! (wow, that went fast!) 12 wks to go, give or take (usually take, as I have never made it to my due dates yet). Baby is growing well, and makes his presence known on a daily basis, by kicking my sides, hiccupping, and making my belly move around, which the kids think is hilarious :)
I thought I'd celebrate a bit, so yesterday the kids and I made some cookies from a recipe I found on Pinterest. Reese's Pieces PB Chocolate chip cookies. So delicious. Would you believe I've only eaten TWO cookies so far since baking them yesterday? True fact.
Anyways, these are the delicious cookies we made yesterday:

Reese's Pieces PB Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 box of instant vanilla pudding

3/4 c. softened butter

1/ 2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. honey

1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. Reese's Pieces
1 c. peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, peanut butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3mins. 
Add eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add vanilla and honey and beat until combined.
Reduce speed until low, and add flour mixture, beat to combine.
Add choc. chips, Reese's pieces and pb chips and mix until incorporated. I just used a wooden spoon for this part.
Roll a tablespoon or so of dough into a 1-inch ball and then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing balls about 2-inches apart.
Using your palm, gently flatten the dough balls until they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake for 10 mins. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes, and ENJOY!

Today I am making Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli over Rice for supper. My kids devour this recipe (and its quite comical to watch L eat rice, too!) .On a side note, here is a 3D pic of our beautiful baby boy that is growing:

Isn't he just adorable?!! This is the first pregnancy I have gotten to see baby in 3D (thanks to my amazing tech at Cambridge Memorial Hospital- Melissa you rock!), and I am in absolute awe every time I get to see baby on the screen (I think I'm at 4 u/s's for this pregnancy already). God truly has created another miracle, and what a blessing each and every baby is! :)

Anyways, until next time....

Julie

What we've been up to lately!

I just realized its been a few weeks since I've posted on our blog- it seems life has been somewhat busy! Just an update on my u/s for the baby's heart- it came back as something like a heart murmur, nothing serious, thankfully! 
The kids have been busy playing and creating things, colouring, building, as well as doing some baking with Mom lately... Baby L is officially walking everywhere now, and has been for a few weeks, so that's been keeping me on my toes- he is such a busy body, here, there, and everywhere! His latest thing is that he's figured out he can go outside and walk around and explore, so every morning he goes over to the coat rack and points to his jacket, and brings me his shoes. Yesterday it was absolutely freezing outside, and he went outside with just his clothes on, no jacket! We chased after him, put a hat, mitts and jacket and he played outside for 30 minutes, just trotting around everywhere.. he just adores the cats, too! This is L at his Great Grandma's 80th birthday party the other weekend. He had so much fun!

N is his usual, normal, crazy self, as always. I honestly don't know where he gets all of his energy from. He has been giving me a run for my money lately, deciding that whenever his Dad isn't home from work in time for supper that he doesn't want to eat his dinner. He just loves playing with his cars, and building things, and playing outside, collecting sticks, playing with the cats, or riding his trike, which he found the other day, and yesterday was riding around outside in the snow. What a kid :) We are working on teaching him his alphabet and how to spell and write his name. Boys I am finding are incredibly different school wise! O was so eager to learn how to read and write, but this boy would rather play or just colour. Oh well! Clearly he thinks that he needs to wear sunglasses while eating pizza :)

O is absolutely loving school these days, and for the most part looks forward to going to school (except yesterday, that was a totally awful morning- refusing to get dressed, not wearing what I asked her to, stalling for breakfast, etc- she ended up going to school w/out breakfast and had her hair in a braid, but it was not brushed- yikes!). She  knows her whole alphabet, can count almost to 100, and is reading at Level B now. It amazes me how far she has come even just since January. She loves playing with My Little Ponies, and colours on anything she can get her hands on :) She is a huge help with her little brother L, getting diapers for him, removing him from the bathroom before he gets into the toilet, etc, and loves playing with her cousins.

This pic is from last week @ school, where her class did an Easter bonnet parade. Olivia and her friend got their picture taken and are supposed to be in the newspaper this week sometime :)

Nate is doing well, steady with framing houses, which is a blessing. He recently got a new truck for work finally (he has been hunting one for over a year now), so he's been enjoying having heat in his truck and a more reliable vehicle. He got a Toyota Tundra (yes, we are a Toyota family now!!). His Chrons Disease seems to be in remission now, Praise the Lord! He is still going for his Remicade therapy every 6 wks, and that has seemed to control the flare ups. He did have something called Trigeminal Neuraliga the other week, and was in tremendous amount of pain, but that seems to have subsided for now. It was very odd. 

Right now we are in the midst of planning some family holidays for the summer, working around when the baby is due, of course :) We are excited to be doing 4 days of camping in the motorhome with some friends in June, and 5 days with family a few weeks before the baby is due. July we are sticking by locally and not doing much, and perhaps in August we will do some more camping, depends on how things are going with 4 kids :)

This past Sunday while having lunch @ my parents house for Easter, as I was putting Logan in the high chair for lunch, I either pinched a nerve or pulled some muscles, and for almost 3 days was basically flat on my back either in bed or on the couch. Today is the first day I have been able to walk around and do things around the house. I think I take my body for granted, always busy and not lifting or bending properly, as the pain was so intense, even heat or tylenol didn't do much! It definitely was an eye opener for me, being almost 6 months pregnant and not able to do anything, if I did, the pain would go shooting down my tailbone into my legs. Ugh, not fun! I think God was telling me I need to slow down a bit. Taking care of three small children, pregnant, taking care of a household (cooking, cleaning, laundry, playing), getting firewood from the piles every day, and stoking the fire, running around here and there doing errands, organizing things... plus chasing after a little toddler who just learned how to walk and yet still needs to be carried at times (being 25lbs too!) is busy! Thankfully today I am feeling much better, and have been able to vacuum and do some laundry, and will do dishes in a little bit. Its amazing how useless one can feel even just for a few days! I'm pretty sure my hubby appreciates what I do around the house more now ;)

Oh, I cannot forget that I have been doing new recipes from Pinterest too! Baking lots of treats, to give to people, or to have in the freezer for when friends drop in for coffee... the kids always like seeing what new things we are going to create in the kitchen.

Anyways, time for a nice cup of coffee and to relax for a bit before L gets up from his nap.

Thanks for reading, have a blessed week :)

When your Monday doesn't go as planned....

This morning at 9am, the phone rang, and it was my midwife, Diana, calling. She just received my 20wk ultrasound results, and wanted to go over them with me. I had my ultrasound 10 days ago, and was pleased to see that everything seemed to be going well with this pregnancy. Until Diana called I didn't think that anything was wrong. Then she told me that they had found a bright spot on the baby's heart, and they needed to do a follow up ultrasound specifically on the heart. At this point my heart is pounding, so many things are running through my head. There are potentially two causes of this bright spot: one is that there is a soft spot on the baby's heart, which could be a sign of Downs Sydrome. I remembered my pregnancy with Logan, and I was referred to McMaster, as they at first said I had low amniotic fluid, but then after the u/s there, they referred me to genetic counselling, where they told me he had a soft marker on the back of his neck, which also was a sign of Downs. Whoa. After waiting 2 hours for the OB on-call to look over my u/s results, he asked them to do another u/s, and 10 mins later they told me my baby was completely healthy, and to go home. So this scared me a bit. Another reason it could be is just a hole in the heart, or just the way the machine showed the heart. So my midwife suggested I get a follow up u/s within this week, and to call the hospital this morning to book it. So I called them at 9:10am, and when I told them what the u/s was for, they asked me to come in at 10:45. Umm.. who wants to watch my 3 kids??? So I called a dear friend of mine, and she said "Sure, drop them off" (thank you, Sarah!!), and off I went to the hospital at 10:15am. I got there shortly after 10:30 (with a full bladder, too), and at that time they hadn't received my requisition, so I had to wait until they did so they could register me. Finally at 11:30'ish, they said they were having an overload of faxes trying to come in, but that they'd register me and get me in anyways since I was there already. Across the hall I went, and noticed my u/s tech from last week was there, so I requested her to do my u/s again. She is absolutely awesome, and we really hit it off last time, so it was nice going in to a friendly face in a time of uncertainty. 35 minutes later, after checking the heart, she said that it looked good, and she thinks it might have been brighter because it was such a new machine, and maybe because of the position baby was in. Praise God!! I am still awaiting the results, as the radiologist has to look over the u/s, and then send the results to my midwife, but for the most part, things looked okay. During my ultrasound, our sweet little boy (yes, we are having another BOY!!!), must have been hungry, because he was stuffing his fist into his mouth, and he stuck out his tongue, too. I am completely in awe at the beautiful creation that is growing inside of me. My tech was lovely enough to give me a quick view of our little man in 3D (last time, and another quick peek today!), and even though he only weighs around .5lb right now, he is just absolutely gorgeous. Psalm 139:14 says, "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well". Amen to that!! I am so very thankful to have a God that is in control, and that He is with me, every step of the way! 
So, now I just wait for my official ultrasound results, and in the mean time, start the laundry that I had planned to do this morning, and get onto making the spaghetti for my hubby for dinner tonight that he requested. He is currently having his Remicade infusion at the clinic, so he will actually be home early! 
Oh, and here is a little 3D peek at our little man:

Have a blessed week, everyone :)

Our Thursday morning excursion (including some amazing deals!)

Usually on Thursday mornings after we drop my daughter off at school, my 3yr old (N) requests a trip to Value Village.. he loves seeing all of the toys and checking if they have any new CARS diecast cars to add to his collection (we have accumulated quite a few these past few months from there, and such a good price, too!). Today since I just had some laundry to do at home later, I said "sure". The baby (L) likes going too, I think he knows by now he gets arrowroot cookies in the cart.. ;)
Today I totally hit the jackpot with my purchases. I wasn't really looking for anything, but had a few things in the back of my head that I hoped to find (Robert Munsch books for the kids, a nice punch bowl with those cute little cups, stuff for the motorhome for camping, etc). 

We have a system when we enter the store, N usually just wants to run to the toy section, but that's his reward for good behaviour :) First, we go to the book section to look for Robert Munsch books. These are the kids favourite books, and I can get them for 0.99 there which is a steal! We have quite the collection but are still missing lots of them.  We found 3 today- one is in almost brand new condition-score! Then we wander through the house section, checking to see if there are any matching plates/bowls to our kitchenware (I have broken a few of them since getting them, and have heard they get them in there sometimes), but today I didn't find any. But, I did find a darling punch bowl set, with the bowl, serving spoon, 8 little cups, and the little hooks to hang them on the edge of the bowl. I had a major craving for punch last week, and made some for company, but felt silly serving the punch in plastic cups, so this was exciting for me to find! Then while walking past the linens Logan spotted a stuffed bear blanket thing, and seemed to really like it, so we grabbed that. And even better was that there were two matching ones, so in case he becomes really attached to it, we have two! Sweet. Then we peruse through the back of the store where the furniture section is (I am looking for a book shelf for all of the kids books- right now they are stacked on white milk crates lol)... nothing there, but, in the electronics section, I happened to spot a Leap Frog Leapster, so I tried turning it on, and it worked! And came with a game- which is awesome.

Then we walk through the purse section, kids shoes, and then to his delight we made it to the toys... oh wait, we also quickly checked the maternity clothes section, but I didn't find anything.. so he plays with the toys, I check to see if they have any CARS (none today), and then I take a quick peek through the kids clothes. 3yr old went through a growth spurt a few weeks ago (finally!), and needed some new pj's, I scored a 1pc. Old Navy fleece pair (N said he wanted to match his little brothers LOL), and a 2pc. pair for him... then while peeking through 18 month clothes, I came across some Gymboree clothes, and let me tell you, I just LOVE Gymboree clothes. But, I have never paid full price EVER for anything in that store. I buy when on sale, and use my Gymbucks, and I have gotten some AMAZING deals, let me tell you! I love the quality, they wash amazing, and wear well too. And they are cute! So, I picked up L a firetruck 1pc. outfit, a long sleeve shirt (almost brand new condition), and a sweater. And then I got him a pair of MEXX jeans. 

By this time, I realized we should get going, as we had to get a few groceries and things at Wal Mart, and I like to keep L on a schedule for his naps (he has been BRUTAL these past few weeks for napping. Just sleeping in general has been awful. Napping only 1hr during the day, crying during the night, and then up for the day at 6am. Not cool, kid). So, we head to the front check out to pay for our stuff. The nice cashier told me that if I have the super savers club card (haha of course I do!), and if I spend over $25 I get 25% off my purchases. Awesome! So we start going through my pile of stuff, and here is what we got (price includes my 25% discount)

3 Robert Munsch books- 0.75 each = $2.23
Leap Frog Leapster w/ Dinosaur game- $4.00
2 Little bear blankies- $1.49/ea = $2.98
Punch Bowl set (bowl, spoon, 8 cups & clips) = $5.25

Old Navy pj's- $1.50
2pc. pj's- $3.00

Gymboree onesie- $1.50
Gymboree outfit- $3.00
Gymboree sweatshirt- $3.00
Mexx jeans- $3.00

Subtotal- $29.46
Total out of pocket w/ tax- $33.28

 I always do love a good deal!! The clothes (and bears) are about to go in the wash (I always do the hot cycle on my VV purchases), the Leapster has been sanitized and Noah is already loving it, and I am going to wash up my punch bowl, and figure out when I can use it (who wants to come over for a party sometime soon?).
Anyways, I'd say that was a very productive trip, and right now I have some delicious chili simmering in my crock pot for supper, the fireplace is going, Logan is napping, and I'm going to go switch over the laundry and perhaps have a cup of coffee.
Happy Thursday, everyone!!
Julie

Meatball Soup...

Who doesn't love a warm bowl of soup on a cold winters day- we all know I do! I am so thankful to finally be over the terrible nausea I have had for the past 16wks, and my appetite is coming back, too! Hurray! Yesterday I made a pot of Meatball Soup, and I decided to take step-by-step pics and upload them, so if anyone wants to make their own, they can! It is so easy :)

Ingredients needed: 

1 carton of Beef Broth

1 can of Tomato juice

10 Soda crackers (salt, pepper, garlic seasoning- I used salt because I didn't have any powder)

1/2 c. milk

Ground beef (I used 2lbs, as I was making a large pot, but you can use 1lb, too)

1 pkg. Tomato Soup mix

Spaghetti

First, soak about 10-12 soda crackers (broken up) in about 1/2 c. milk. Let them soak for about 10 minutes, until they are nice and soggy.

Then, bring your beef broth and tomato juice to a boil in a large pot.

(sorry for the sideways pic- still learning my laptop lol)

Now, add your ground beef to the soda crackers, and then mix in salt & pepper and garlic salt (or powder) to taste. But, don't taste it. Not a good idea! (it looks totally disgusting)

Now, roll into small meatballs like so:

Stir in your soup mix (I use the Dutch Tomato Soup mix- California Brand, but really you can use any tomato soup mix) and then add your meatballs in carefully, so they don't fall apart. Stir gently.

Simmer for about 30 minutes, and then add broken up spaghetti noodles, and simmer until noodles are cooked.

We had this soup last night with a garden salad (with Balsamic dressing), and it was delicious!

Happy Cooking :)