Happy Campers

Camping is always such a fun time and the kids have such great memories of our past camping trips.

So this year we decided to dust off the ol' camper, pack our bags and go a campin'!

We started out camping with a tent when we had four young children.

Even though that particular camping trip was very wet :) we still have fond memories of good times!

Then we took a few years break from camping and instead went on winter travels visiting family and friends. This was a fun time too and many memories were made. But it didn't take long for the camping bug to bite us again! 

For one year we camped in our van. That was a bit challenging! We took out the back seat and made a makeshift bed for Mark and I and the kids slept on the benches, the floor, or the front seats. I can't say that this was one of my most favourite camping times! Especially being a few months pregnant and having to crawl out the back doors in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom!!! 

Eventually we decided to invest in an hybrid camper (hard shell with flip out canvas ends). In my opinion, this was a very wise investment and again we have made great memories in this camper! A built in bathroom and air conditioner were welcome luxuries for this often pregnant mama!!   

When shopping for this camper, it was impossible to find something that would fit our whole family and still be light enough to pull with the van. So we never did have quite enough room to all fit into the camper. Some had to sleep in a tent or in the van.

We didn't camp at all last year and I think everyone missed it.

There is something warm and family like about it that you just don't get anywhere else.

Being squished in tight corners makes you have to spend time together!

But a few weeks ago when we went camping we camped in style when we pulled up to the campground with two campers! One was our trusty ol' hybrid and the other one we borrowed from Mark's parents. Finally we felt like we had some room!!! 

 We took our first camping trip with our church. A great time was had by all of us and we talked about it for days! We were excited to have Henry and Megan join us and keep control of the teen camper!!!!! Of course the huge water fight(s) were a definite highlight!!! It was a great time getting to know our brothers and sisters in Christ a little better....some a LOT better :)

So here is a glimpse of our first campout. Thanks to Megan for letting us borrow some pictures :)

Josiah being his cute, quiet self!

Nathan enjoying some yummy food! What is it about camping and eating...and eating...and EATING!!!

Jaden and his infamous scrunchy "cheese" picture taking face.

Oh, as a side note, the other day at the supper table Jaden wanted some cheese so I said he needed to say, "Cheese please". He said it...with his scrunchy "cheese" picture taking face!!!! You gotta wonder what goes through his little mind when we all say "cheese" at picture taking time!

Not sure what had Elijah so excited here!

Henry and Mark co-conspiring to build a water balloon shooter. 

In the end they had it perfected and shot those balloons amazingly far!

Filled water balloons, ready for ambush.

And no matter how many high tech devices you have, a water fight always ends up with buckets of water :)

Jesse and Elijah enjoying some brother to brother cuddle time.

Bubble blowing, always a fun time for the littles.

And of course what would a camping trip be without some swimming!

Here's Jaden in his beach attire.

Believe it or not, this little innocent looking guy was the instigator of a few water fights :)

I think he takes after his daddy!!!

The whole group of us decided to rent a paddle boat for the day so our family got it for a couple of hours. Here are Jen, Kerri, Jesse and Nathan taking it for a spin.

Brooke warming up in the sunshine.

Zach volunteered to be buried alive :)

Wonder how this little guy gets in so many pictures???

And when we got back to the camp that evening, whadayaknow...another water fight :)

And here come the bowls!!!

They had a really nice beach volleyball place there so we were able to get in a few games.

A sweet guy from church offered to feed everyone a pancake breakfast Sunday morning. It was yummy! Thanks Dave!!!

Church service outdoors

This little guy loves to sing! Probably what he was doing here.

And this concludes part 1 of camping with the Pauls'! 

Will get to see part 2??? Well that has yet to be seen :)

I will try though!!!!

What are some of your favourite camping memories?

This is My Desire

Yesterday in church our Pastor gave a real challenging message. It was about maintaining our desire for God. He shared how it can be so easy to let the "stuff" of this world take away from the time that we need to spend with God. We have so many "things" at our fingertips which aren't necessarily bad in themselves, but they can eat up the time and energy that we should be spending with our Heavenly Father.

 One thing that really got me thinking was when he asked what kind of a relationship we would have with our earthly father if we only spent a couple hours a week with him on Sunday morning. In order to develop a relationship with someone, we need to spend time with them, to get to know them. It is the same with God, to get to know Him we need to spend time communing with Him in prayer and reading His Word.

 This made me think of our own children and what happens every busy season on the farm. When we are in seeding or harvest mode, Mark is in the field from early morning to late night. If the kids see him during the day it is only for a few brief moments. There are some of our children who will go with Mark in the field because they like to be in the tractor. But for the ones who would rather be at home, it doesn't take too many days of Mark being gone all day before they want to spend time with him in the tractor. This isn't because they like to be in the field, it's because they miss their Daddy. And it has happened time and time again that as the busy seasons goes on and they don't see their Daddy but for a few minutes a day, that their desires to be with their Daddy becomes stronger than all the things they like to do when they are at home. They will choose to spend hours and hours in the tractor just to be with their Daddy. We always chuckle because by the end of the season Mark's cab is so full of kids it's comical!

 I compared this with my desire for God. Is my desire for Him so deep that when I haven't spent time with Him I just long to be with Him? So much that I will put aside all the things I love to do just to spend time talking to Him and getting to know Him more. I want to have a relationship like that with my Heavenly Father.

 Where is your desire today? Is it for God? Have you been spending time with the One Who wants a relationship with you? Do you desire Him so much that you can hardly wait until the next time you can commune with Him?

 Here is one of my favorite songs which tells of a deep longing and desire to spend time with the One Who loves me most.

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

As I was washing out a bottle this morning I felt little eyes on me. I looked up to see Brooke staring intently at me. I wasn't doing anything exciting or out of the norm, just everyday life, but she was watching.

Watch...that's what children do. They watch and they learn. I like having my kids hang around me as they watch and learn. Many times, if I am not too much in a hurry, I will include them in my task or explain why I am doing what I am doing and the way that I am doing it.

But not only do they watch the tasks that I perform throughout the day, they also watch my attitude and my actions and reactions. This is what makes me really think. What do they see in me day in and day out. What are their little minds and hearts taking in? Pretty much every word I say and every action I make. I know it because I see and hear it in their words and actions. Both the good and the ugly. It's a wake up call when you see your child display and action that's less than lovely and you know that it is something that you have modeled to them.

I have a LOT of little eyes (and big ones too :) watching me day in and day out. From the moment I wake up till the moment I go to bed....I am being watched. And this morning as Brooke watched me with those childish, innocent little eyes I wondered if what she sees in me is something that I would want her to model. I know there I many times I fail throughout the day when I allow actions and words to come from me that are less than lovely. And that makes me sad....it really does. And that's why I continue to purpose to become a mom that I would be proud of my children modeling. Not pride in a sort of sinful way, but pride in knowing that I did the best that I could do, that I was the best that I could be.

Who's watching you today?

(and this is where I would ask Megan to take a cute little picture for me and insert it here :) I guess I am really going to have to get into taking pictures again!!!

New Toy

Wow, it's been awhile again! Life is just flying by here as busy season is upon us. We had a very early spring so we were done seeing in record time! We were so thankful for a dryer spring than last year. It was a bit of a strange spring, starting very early and melting all the snow. We didn't have much snow to begin with this winter so it melted fast. We had unusually warm temperatures in the middle of March and thought that summer had begun. But we all knew that it was too early. We were glad when things cooled off a bit because it was so dry that we were thinking we would have to seed very early, making for some hard farming decisions. But thankfully God saw fit to give us some more cooler weather to slow things down. We had a bit of a scare on Sunday night when the weather forecast said that the temps were going to go well below freezing. We have crops that are growing nicely and a frost could really damage them. We were so thankful to God when we woke up Monday morning to find the temperatures had been far from freezing!

 We were able to get the garden planted last week. Kerri took over the planning and had all the kiddos out there helping her plant. I enjoyed watching her as she was so patient with them and took time to let even the younger ones help. I could learn a lot from her. I am more of a "get it done quick" type person and I tend to be too much in a rush to involve those who may slow me down. I have slowed down a lot over the years, but still have much to learn! Today we worked on getting the bedding plants and flowers in. We have a few more to do, but we are seeing the end. We look forward to being able to enjoy the fruits of our labor in a few weeks. We also transplanted many, many strawberry plants and are hoping they do well enough so that we won't have to buy strawberries anymore. We like to make jam and put some in the freezer to have on our waffles, but it can get very expensive to put up enough for our family. Of course we won't get any strawberries this year as the plants need to establish themselves, but we look forward to some strawberry yumminess next year!

 Jennifer has been very busy the last couple of days getting all the summer clothes switched over. This spring has been a time of divide and conquer and I am so thankful that she took this over. It's a HUGE job and she did great!

All the kiddos are so happy to have new (to them) clothes on their shelves again. We are hatching a couple batches of eggs right now. One incubator has laying hens and the other has meat birds. I hope to hatch another 2-3 batches of meat birds to keep us supplied for the year. I like to have 50-75 chickens in the freezer for sure. The rest is bonus :)Tomorrow the first batch is due to hatch so this will be an excited household. Watching baby chicks hatch never seems to grow old!

 We have had some nasty viruses the past couple of months with the worst being the last 2 weeks. Brooke started things off with a mouth sore virus. It got so bad that she couldn't eat anything but yogurt, ice cream and fluids for a few days. She slept and slept and slept. And then just as she started to feel better Mikaya got it even worse. Today is the first day since she contacted this thing last week that she is finally starting to feel better. I am just praying this is it and no one else gets it!

 Elijah is getting so big and I can hardly believe that he will be 11 weeks on Thursday! He is smiling lots now and loves to "talk" to anyone who will stop by and listen! He is a big boy and likes to eat often. I am not nursing him anymore. I have always had problems nursing our babies and usually I will supplement and nurse as well. But once Elijah found out that the bottle was much easier and faster he said that was enough drinking from Mama. This is always a real hard transition for me but I know for reasons that I don't need to understand, this is the way God has designed me. Many times, baby after after baby I bought into the misconception that anyone can nurse if they just try hard enough and stick to it. It took many babies lose weight week after week for me to finally accept this as the way it is. Yet every baby I will still try to nurse, the difference is now I am quicker to see when it isn't going to work. It's never easy to start that first bottle, but once I see our baby gain weight and become more content it makes for a happy baby and mama! I am just so thankful that there is such aas pumps so that I am still able to give our babies my milk, it's just in a round about way!

 Many of you have asked how Megan is doing. Well she is madly in love with her husband and extremely happy! It is such a joy to see our children marry and become a family. As much as we miss Megan here at home we are excited to get to know them as a couple. Thankfully we still get to see them at least once a week. She has been able to continue her photography and busies herself with other projects in and around the house. Henry is a great guy and we are proud to call him our son-in-law. It is such a blessing to watch a godly man lead his family in a way that glorifies God.

 On that note it's been awhile since I have talked about our grandchildren! The novelty of being a grandparent has not worn off. It's as fun today as the day it all began. Andrew is getting to be such a big boy and is starting to communicate. He loves to be outside and often wanders over to say hi and play with the kids. I love to watch him and Jaden interact. It's almost like have twins! Makayla is growing so fast and is such a sweet little girl. It's fun to have a little girl in the family after a few years of boys! She is full of smiles and fun. It's so nice to have their family live so close. I love having Becca and the kids pop over often throughout the week.

 And as for the title of this post, my new toy is my mothers day gift. Our children all got together and pooled their money (some all of of their money) and gave it to me for Mothers day. They had a camera in mind but I asked if they would mind me getting an IPad. Of course they said it was my money to do with what I wished so this is what I chose. So far I am really liking it. It is more compact than a computer, yet has a lot of the conveniences of one. One of the main reasons I got it though was for school. I had a few apps on my phone that the kids used for school but it is pretty small and impractical. So I am looking forward to finding new apps and using them as in addition to our book work. So if you have an iPad and have any suggestions of apps that you enjoy (not just limited to educational ones), I would love to hear from you.

 I have many, many blog posts in my head, I just need to find the time to write them down, so until then, toodle do :)

How Many Times

It was over 22 yrs. ago that I first acquired the title MOM.
I never imagined then that 22 yrs. later I would have earned the title 14 more times (including the ones that married into our family).
I never imagined then what a wonderful journey I was in for.

I remember my first Mother's Day as a MOM going to a restaurant and receiving a rose....for me...just for being a MOM!!! I remember how honoured I felt. But I never imagined how many more times I would feel honoured to be in this posistion called MOM!

What a journey these last 22 yrs. have been. What a blessing!!!

I have often wondered what the numbers would be at if I had counted.....
How many times I have changed a diaper.
How many times I have been on the receiving end of a hug.
How many times I have wiped a snotty nose.
How many times I've smiled.
How many times I have had a sleepless night.
How many times I've heard."I love You".
How many times I have given a glass of water.
How many times I have kissed an "owie".
How many times I have said, "Be kind, Be gentle, Be loving".
How many times I have said, "Good job!"
How many clothes I have washed.
How many times I have listened to a child's exciting account.
How many times I have cried over a disobedient child.
How many times I have rejoiced over a child's spiritual growth.
How many pieces of artwork I have received.
How many times I have prayed for wisdom concerning a child.
How many times I have given a bath.
How many times I have disciplined.
How many times I have had a contraction.
How many times I have kissed sweet baby cheeks.
How many times I have made a bottle.
How many times I've soothed a distraught child.
How many times I've played peek-a-boo or pat-a-cake.
How many instructions I have given.
How many times I've cleaned up after a sick child.
How many times I have read a story to a child.
How many times I have taught school.
How many times I have said "Don't walk in the house with your shoes, Put a coat on, shut the door, clean your room, chew with your mouth closed, don't talk with your mouth full, say 'Yes Ma'am', say please, say thank-you......"
How many times I have cleaned up a spill.
How many times I have been given a dandelion by a sweet child.
How many timesI have tied a shoe...........
Wow...the list could go on and on!!!!

As many times as I have done all these things I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade them for anything, Anything, ANYTHING in the world!!!!! They have made me into the person I am today.

Is being a MOM hard work? You bet it is!!!! But is it worth it? You bet it is!!!!!

And the greatest thing is that I will always be a MOM!!! It's a title I have been entrusted  and I will wear it proudly! I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be a MOM to every one of our children!!!! What a blessing they are :)

Happy Mother's Day to all you MOMs out there. May your day be special and may you reflect on the goodness of the Lord.

Tables Turned

Everyday it seems like I am constantly challenging and encouraging our children in their faith. So many lessons to be taught.

But today the tables were turned. Today our son taught me a life lesson and challenged me in my faith.

He was generous to a neighbor when I would have held back. He told me that God blesses us when we give. On the outside I smiled, for I didn't want to discourage his sweet faith. But on the inside I knew the facts, plain and simple. So and so many chickens which laid so and so many eggs a day....times the people that needed eggs by the weekend.....equaled not enough!!! Plain and simple.

But I was about to be put to shame...for I had just limited God. A God Who wanted to show himself real to His child...a God Who cared about the little things in this young man's life.

What happened? More eggs than we have ever gotten in a single day...almost too many eggs for what seems possible.

And what did my son say to me...in a matter of fact way??? See Mom... I told you.....God blesses us when we are generous and give.

And I smiled again. But this time it was a different smile....a smile for a son who believed and was shown in a tangible way that God cares about the little things...a smile for a Mama who was reminded that God cared enough about her to teach her something through the faith of a child.

I will probably never look at an egg again without being reminded of our lesson in generosity today....the day the tables were turned!

Easter Memories

Easter was always a big deal in my family while growing up. Sadly though, because my parents were not believers, it was all about bunnies and easter eggs in those early years.

But one of my most vivid memories of Easter was the one when I was around 10 yrs. old. It is a day I  will never forget.

First a little history of my family. I am the 2nd oldest in a family of 5 children. But because my older sister was born mentally handicapped and was sent to live in a home when she was 1,  I was the oldest living at home, and for 8 years I felt like an only child. My brother was born 8 years after me, my sister 12 years, and my brother 16 years, So with the exception of my older sister and I, we were very spread out.

I never really knew my oldest sister. She had left our home before I was born and because of distance, we rarrly went to visit her. And when we did go visit her our conversations were very one sided as she couldn't walk, talk or eat. About all she could do was make grunting and moaning noises...but still I hoped she recognized me and tried to talk with her.

Because it was 8 years before I had a sibling at home, I often felt very lonely as a child. My mom did a great job at spending time with me and including me in her daily activities, but still there was that void of not having a sibling. And what made this void even worse in my heart was knowing that I had a sister that was just 19 months older than me and yet we couldn't be together. I spent many hours dreaming of what life would be like if she were around....oh the fun we would have together! How I longed for this.

It was around the time my brother was born that my mom became a believer. This changed a lot if things in our home. Mom did a lot of talking about God and praying to Him. There were many times I remember coming in the house and hearing her crying out to God for things....especially the salvation of my dad (which was answered a few years later!). One thing I learned from my mom during this time was that God was real and He cared about our everyday lives. Her faith and trust in God definitely rubbed off on me and I grew in my love and devotion to Him as well.

Even though I was absolutely thrilled that I had a baby brother, my heart still longed for my older sister. It just didn't seem fair to me that we couldn't be together sharing our everyday lives.

And this brings me to my most memorable Easter. I am not sure when it all started or even how I got to this point, but it was a very real experience in my life. Like I said before, my mom's zeal for the things of God was affecting me in the same way. I remember spending hours and hours in my little "prayer closet" praying and many hours reading my picture Bible. I was hungry for God and it seemed like I could never get enough. One of the things I prayed regularly for in my prayer times was healing for my big sister. Because I read the Bible  and I knew that God was the same today as He was back then, I knew that He could still heal. In fact my mom and I saw many prayers being answered and so in my heart I had the faith of a spiritual giant. I knew that there was NOTHING that my God could not do. So I would pray day after day, time and time again for the healing of my sister.

And when this particular  Easter was approaching, I just knew that the time was soon coming that my sister would be healed and whole. I shared this with my mom and I told her that I believed that her healing would come on Easter day, which was just a few weeks away. I don't really remember how I got to this point, why I thought she would be healed on Easter, but I do remember that my mom never doubted or discouraged me from believing this. She prayed right along with me. A few days later on one of our shopping trips I asked my mom if she could buy my sister and I matching dresses so that when she was healed on Easter, we would be matching. I can very clearly remember exactly what those dresses looked like. Mine was blue and white  and hers was burgundy and white. I was so excited and so full of faith just knowing that on Easter day my sister and I would be reunited and together like we always should have been.

Easter morning came. I put on my dress with a smile on my face....I was so excited!!! We went to church and then to my Uncle and Aunt's place for a family gathering. I had a really hard time concentrating on anything that day besides waiting for the phone to ring. You see I had made sure my mom had called the home where my sister lived and had given them the phone number where we would be for the day. That way when my sister was healed, they would know how to get hold of us and we could go pick her up. The day turned into evening and still no phone call. Still I did not loose hope. I was so sure that today would be the day!!! Eventually it was time to go home and in my little heart I started to wonder if I had heard God wrong. Was it just my wishful thinking that got me to this point? Then there was the embarrassment of being wrong. How could I have been so silly. I don't remember much more of that evening. My mom was very good about it all. I remember apologizing for making her get another dress because I knew that we didn't have extra money for such things. She didn't make me feel silly....she just loved me. I know she would have been disappointed too.

I don't remember ever questioning God....probably more myself for not hearing right. I was sad....my hopes had been raised too high. I was sure that I would be playing with my sister after that day.

My sister did end up being healed a few years later.....in heaven. When she was 14 years old she went home to be with the Lord. It was a time of rejoicing for us knowing that she was finally whole. Those last couple of years of her life were so sad. She just lay there and she was so brittle that even moving her would break her bones.  I could just imagine her now running around in heaven picking and smelling the flowers (that's what I had planned we would do together). Who could be sad about that? The day after the funeral I returned to school and one of my non-Christian friends said to me, "How can you come back to school the day after your sisters funeral...aren't you sad?" I then explained to her that my sister was in a much better place and was healed and whole. How could I be sad about that?

I think of this time in my life a lot. When I hear people talk about healing and the belief out there that some people don't get healed because they dodn't have enough faith...... this makes my upset. Because I know that I know that I know that as a child that Easter Sunday I had the faith that my sister was going to be healed. I was so, so, so sure and there was not a doubt in my mind....not one.  This proves to me that it is not always a matter of lack of faith. It's a matter of a God Who is in control and Who knows what is best for all mankind.

Do I believe that God heals today? I sure do. I have been blessed to witness a few physical healings in me and my family. But I also believe that God does not always answer our prayers that way that we think He should. I thought my sister should be healed and we should be together...obviously God had other plans. I don't know why.....but I don't need to. I just need to trust in His perfect will and plan. I will not always understand why He chooses what He does....but I don't need to...I just need to trust. As a young girl that Easter Sunday I didn't understand why God choose not to heal my sister....but that didn't stop me from praying to Him and trusting in Him. I knew in my heart that He loved me and knew what was best for me. I still spent hours in my prayer closet and reading my Bible. I never once even thought of being mad at God....it wasn't an option in my mind....I loved Him and I trusted Him.

And I still do today. There are still times when I pray for something and I have complete and total faith that it will come to pass....but it turns out differently than what I prayed for. But that doesn't stop me from praying. It makes me realize that I see such a little picture of my life and the life of others but God sees the BIG picture. He knew what my sister's life would have been like if she was healed....and obviously He thought it was best not to heal her. And I love Him for that....I love that He does what is best for me and others rather than what I think is best.

So this Easter season, as that Easter season so long ago I choose to trust. To trust in a God who sent His only Son to be crucified and to bear the sin of the world. So much of the Easter story doesn't make sense to the natural mind....but to God it made perfect sense. It was His plan all along that His Son would rise again! His plan was perfect then and it still is today. He knows what's best for me....He knows that plans that He has for me....and they are for my good!!!

Elijah's Birth Story

It's hard to believe that Elijah was 3 weeks old yesterday! And that it's taken me 3 weeks to write his birth story!!!


If you're not into birth stories....you will want to skip this post :)


As most of you know our daughter and son-in-law got married on Mar. 3rd. I know a lot of people were praying that baby would hold off being born until after the wedding. I have never, ever been early (without being induced) and so we weren't too concerned when we set the wedding date 2 full weeks before the baby's due date. But as we went to app't after app't and my measurements were consistently 2-4 weeks ahead of time....we started to wonder how this was all going to work out! I have always been very close in my measurements on other pregnancies....so this was something we weren't sure how to take! But we knew that God's timing was perfect and began to go through the "what ifs". Really there was not a thing we could do but wait and see how it all worked out.


The morning of the wedding came and I was relieved to know that I was not in labor and I would indeed be able to see my daughter married off! My labors are quite long so I knew that I had at least 24 hours.....plenty of time to enjoy the wonderful day!


And enjoy the wedding I did! It was a really great day and.....they got married (the goal of the day:) By the end of the day I was feeling very exhausted....we were all exhausted!!!! But still no labor.


Sunday, Monday and Tuesday came and went. These days were spent cleaning up the wedding stuff, getting the house back in order and getting ready for baby to arrive. I hadn't done a single thing to get ready for the baby before the wedding because I felt all my energy and concentration needed to be for wedding plans! After all, how long does it take to wash a few clothes and buy diapers?


Usually by this time in other pregnancies I was driving my family crazy in my "nesting" stage! But not this time....I was enjoying getting back to normal....our "new" normal.


Tuesday was a great day. We had our whole family together for supper and we had a nice time visiting. I felt pretty tired...and pregnant...but happy :) and not even thinking that I was only a couple of days away from meeting this little bundle!


At 1:30 Wednesday morning I woke up and realized that my water had broke. It took me awhile to wrap my brain around this because in every other pregnancy I have been in very active labor before my water breaks so I really didn't know what to expect. I was up and down all night knowing I should try to get some sleep yet anxious about how this labor was going to progress. If I would have known the lack of sleep we would have had over the next couple of days I might have tried harder to sleep :)


I waited until morning to tell Mark that my water had broke (no use both of us being tired!). I still was having no contractions to speak of so I dug out the baby clothes and car seat cover and started washing  them. In between washing I crocheted a couple of hats....a boy one and a girl one. By lunch time there was still no progression so I called my midwife and gave her a heads up as to what was going on. We asked her a few questions about what happens when water breaks before actual labor and how much time we had to get into active labor and if a water birth would still be possible. Then we told her we would keep her updated.


After lunch I busied myself folding clothes and packing my bags (yup, hadn't done that either :). Around 2:00 we decided to head to our midwife so she could listen to the baby and make sure things were OK. After that we then headed to the place where we planned to have the baby and played the waiting game. Oh yeah, and I bought diapers :) and a few other things we needed.


Our midwife had told us that if i wasn't in active labor by 1:30 am Thursday that she was required to consult a Dr. because apparently the risk of infection increased the longer my water was broke. So we followed her suggestions trying to get things moving but.....to no avail! We went out for supper and still nothing. Our midwife checked me a couple more times in between but by the time 11:30 rolled around there was still no labor to speak of. So she consulted a Dr. and came to tell us what he said. Because of previous c-section and this being #13, he basically didn't want to deal with me at the local hospital and said I needed to go into Winnipeg. It was then that my heart dropped.....this was so not the way I wanted this labor and delivery to go. If I had to be in the hospital, I sure didn't want to be in a city one. But my wonderful hubby calmed me down and assured me that all would be fine, and after a quick nap we packed up our things and followed our midwife to Winnipeg.


On the way I thought of the email I had written my dear friend Laura in the morning letting her know my water had broke. In it I said, "I feel at peace knowing God is in control and not focusing on my "perfect" idea of a birth! I pray God will be glorified in this birth." And so this is what I focused on.....letting go of my perfect ideas and instead focusing on glorifying God in whatever lay ahead." 


We got to Winnipeg around 3:00 and then got checked in and hooked up to a monitor. There were ladies in labor everywhere...it was crazy!!!! And of course because I wasn't in labor I wasn't top priority so there we sat. Eventually I got escorted out of my temporary bed into the waiting room and it was there we spent the remainder of the night. My wonderful midwife sacrificed a good nights sleep and sat with us in the waiting room. We drifted off every now and then only to be awakened by the constant trickle of ladies in labor. Every once in awhile we would just look at each other in disbelief and we just had to laugh cause we knew crying wasn't going to do us any good :) The thing that really got us was the fact that we had to come right away into the hospital because of risk of infection after 24 hrs.....yet there I sat and no one attended to me!!!! Finally, finally, finally at around 9:00 am Thursday morning I got a room...we were making progress!!!


Around 10:30 they finally started the meds for induction. They started things off very slowly and so it took awhile for things to progress. In the meantime the sweet nurse felt sorry for me and got me some toast for breakfast. Because of my c-section with Josiah they are pretty picky about me eating when I am in labor. Thank the Lord for nurses who have some sense :) I think it's just cruel to let a lady labor on a liquid only diet. That was the best piece of toast I have eaten in a long time!!!! 


The rest of the afternoon is a bit of a blur. I do remember lots of laughs with our midwife as we visited and waited for things to pick up. I tried to get a nap in but it seemed every time I would drift off someone would be there to wake me up and ask me questions (nurses, doctors....), and it was always the same questions! I wonder why they can't get one person to ask the questions and then relay it to the rest of them????? So needless to say, rest eluded me! 


Finally around mid afternoon things started to really pick up and we were no longer able to visit ....it was time to get down to some serious business!!!! When things started to get really tough I asked for an epidural. I think it took about an hour for the anesthesiologist to show up and by the time he did I was in real serious labor!!! I have only ever had an epidural once before....that was with our last one, Jaden, and I remember the pure relief that came when it kicked in. So I was looking forward to the same experience this time.....but it was not to be so. For after the epidural was in and I waited for the relief to come, things just got more painful. We really are still not sure why or what happened, but I just know that it didn't take the pain away!!!!! The jury is still out on whether it helped at all.....


But it was all good because by 5:55 we said hello to our precious little boy.....Elijah Hudson. 


And so once again, a very different birth than what I had hoped for....this seems to be the theme for us lately. The last 3 births were very different and not at all what we had planned. But this is the way it happened and so instead of choosing to grumble and complain...we choose to enjoy the little blessings that we got from it all!!!!! 


God's ways are not our ways......and when we choose to rest in Him and in His plan, things will be alright! I refuse to let my mind dwell on the negative of this birth....yes, I will tell the story...the whole story.....but as I look at this precious little bundle in my arms I will just be thankful! How could I not be?

What Spring Humidity Brings....

Curly Jaden

2 WEEKS

Elijah is 2 weeks old! In a way I can't beieve how fast those two weeks have flown by, but on the other hand it seems like he's been part of our family forever :) And now I can't imagine our life without him! 

Here he is for the first time in "big boy" clothes!

The Siblings

I almost did it!!!! I got a picture of "almost" all the siblings with Elijah! Even without our photographer :)
I just need to get Joshua (oldest brother) and Henry (son-in-law).....so guys, you are on my hit list :)

Rebecca (sister-in-law)

 Jennifer (20)

Megan (18)

Kerri (17)

 Caleb (13)

 Zachary (11)

Jesse (9)

Nathan (almost 8)

 Brooke (6 1/2)

 

Mikaya (almost 5)

Josiah (3)

Jaden (1)

 And nephew, Andy (2)

My parents

Brian & Geraldine

Elijah is a very loved and well cuddled little boy! 

How blessed he is to have so many family members to love on him!

Our Little Man

Just a quick update on our lives here. Having a wedding and a baby within 5 days of each other made our already eventful life even more eventful!!!! It's hard to believe all that has happened in the last couple of weeks! How truly blessed we are :)

I am so thankful that God gave us a few days to regroup after the wedding before we met our little bundle! I had a couple great nights sleep with just enough time to get ready for Elijah! I had not even started getting baby stuff ready, not one thing, until Monday...but once we got started it didn't take long to get everything together! We moved Jaden into the girls room downstairs on Monday, so the baby room wasn't empty very long! And we pretty quickly went from 10 children at home back to 11!!!

So far Elijah has been a very content little guy. He likes to eat and has been very alert since day 1. He has decided that between 2-6 am is a good cuddle time for him and mama!!! Knowing that this season of our life will not last forever makes me treasure these one on one moments with him even more! Of course I can easily say all this knowing that my amazing daughters will send me for a nice long nap during the day to make up for it...that makes it more bearable too :)

The rest of the kids love him. They can't get enough of him. I think Josiah (3 yrs.) got the concept that the baby he was kissing in my tummy was no longer there and he could kiss him in real life! Fun to watch these little guys process everything! The younger ones are trying to master his name. Jaden (the name master in our home) almost has it! What a blessing to watch as they joyfully welcome this new sibling into our family!

Yesterday I started to feel somewhat normal again. I tell ya, this isn't as easy as it used to be! My body doesn't rebound quite as quick as before, and it lets me know of muscles I didn't know I had before too :) But because I have been able to get lots of rest, I feel I will be back to normal (whatever that is!) pretty soon.

On our way home from the hospital we stopped in at our daughter Megan's place and she did a quick photo shoot with him. She just posted them on her blog. Seriously, how could we not love this little bundle :)

Thanks again for all your congrats and prayers. They mean a lot to us! I hope to post Elijah's birth story soon.

~Elijah Hudson~

Just on Time!

5 days after big sister's wedding and 9 days before due date, on March 8th at 5:52 pm our sweet baby boy arrived!

He's 8lbs 14 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

We still haven't decided on his name yet but will let you know when we do!

Thanks for all your prayers!

Sorry the picture is so dark, I took it with my phone.

They Are Married!!!!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Megan Froese!

Pictures courtesy of the photographer, Dave Guenther. Thanks Dave for giving everyone a sneak peak :)

Things are Coming Together!!!

The bride's and bridesmaid's dresses are fitted, the families clothing is altered and ironed, the menu is planned and the food is bought, the decorations are made, the flowers are ordered, the rentals are rented, the house renovations are completed, the hair trials are almost done, the baby is staying inside mama :), and the "to do" list is getting shorter and shorter....YEAH!!!!

And today begins our week of "lasts" with Megan living here at home. So again it is with bittersweet emotions that we look forward to this week and the final preparations that need to be made for Mar.3/12, the day Henry and Megan will become husband and wife!!! We will enjoy every moment with Megan  here and with joy we will help her prepare for the "big day"!

So if you think of us this week please pray for us for:

~Strength for everyone, but especially that this pregnant mama will be able to keep up with the pace. So far I have been feeling really, really well and know that it is only by God's strength that I am able to be this busy and not be totally exhausted!

~For Henry and Megan as they prepare their hearts for their wedding day.

~For our family as we adjust to a new normal. When you have a large family, things have to be designated and scheduled to prevent chaos!  Megan will leave some big shoes that need to be filled and we are going to have some re-organizing to do...especially with a new baby on the way VERY SOON!!!

~That the new baby will stay in it's cozy home until after the wedding :)

~That I will not bawl like a baby through the whole wedding!!!!! Being pregnant and very emotional, this is going to be a hard one for me :)

~For good health. Jaden woke up from his sleep last night with the stomach flue. Today he seems fine but please pray that this will not spread and that everyone will feel well this week....especially on the day of the wedding.

~For God's hand to be on this special new couple. We love them so much and are so happy for them!

Thank you so much to all of our faithful friends. I know we have not been doing much updating as there has been NO TIME!!! But we feel your prayers and support. Thank you!