little Keith

Ah, the days seem to just fly by right now. It will be soon that Jett leaves again...I know, only for 4 weeks, but I'm not quite ready to give him up, mind you I did just have a baby which has a lot to do with it. Not only though, is he taking a wedding all being well, he is supposed to do a paper for the Australia/New Zealand Youth Conference, and there is the Auckland communion which I'm glad he will be back for that. I guess I'm just going to miss him. :)

Anyways, today my dear sister who did everything for the past 5 days had to leave tonight, but we are sooo happy she was able to be with us for that long! I feel so much better, today being one of the best. Now, to make sure I do not overdo it! Tomorrow more help comes, I should be so thankful. And I have to say thank you (not just on this blog) to so many people from the congregation here who brought baked goods, and cooked meals for us.

Speaking of cooked meals. My dear Oma who is 90 years old, made a pot of her delicious homemade soup for us. She also climbed the stairs (which is difficult to do for her, and for me!) to see me and the baby. It was a very sweet moment for me.

My dear husband and I with our lovely little Keith.

I'd just like to note that the labour went very well and was one of the easiest labours I've had - it was hard for me to realize we should be calling the midwife. Many know how short my last one was (Owen) and how difficult it was. Unfortunately everything went well until after he was born when I suffered a postpartum hemorrhage. We nearly had to transfer. Anyways, I'm doing fine my hemoglobin levels were shockingly high in the end of my pregnancy and still even more shocking that they were high after losing a litre of blood! The Lord was merciful to us in this.

Keith is very cute, and so far is a contented baby. :)

more pics of our cute baby!

We got the birth tub the night before and figured we should blow it up since we knew labour would start any day now...the kids thought it was great!My two youngest boys! And a smile that looks very fake...as if I was trying to say it all went just fine (most of it did...until we nearly had to transfer...not allowed another homebirth which makes me sad.)

Amelia was so hesitant at first but now just loves her baby brother, oh and so does Aaron.

He really is a sweet baby thus far.

And too beautiful!!

He is here!!! :)

Announcing the birth of our 3rd son!

Keith Hugh Cartwright Smith

Born at home this morning Dec 21,2011 at 8:27am

7lbs 6 oz.

Homecoming & Due!

Has it really been a week already since Jett came back? How did the time go so fast? Here I am sitting at 40 wks pregnant (due in other words) and nothing...not a niggle...not a twinge. But, since the last two were exactly 8 days after my due date, maybe I shouldn't be expecting anything till the 22nd? Silly due dates are usually wrong anyway. And we are full of the cold, so maybe it is better for next week. BUT, I hope it will be next week and not later! I'm kind of worried about Jett leaving and me still massively pregnant...but I doubt that will happen, they usually induce if your after 42wks, and in Owensound it is usually earlier. :( Lets hope that this baby comes soon!! The last thing I want to do is have an induction and end up with a c-section (however I have mentioned that maybe it would be easier to just "have it over" but according to people that have had sections...they are not nice, enough said.)

Anyways, I wasn't going to post *all* about me and baby here!

Jett came back last week wednesday and it was sooo nice! I mean 12 weeks without a husband home is far too long, certainly not the normal way of things! So the whole morning I was anxious, nervous....feeling like we were "dating" or courting again. And then the truck pulled up. I couldn't contain my excitement and ran out the door (keeping in mind that if I fell whilst pregnant that would not be good, so I did take some care going down the stairs). Lets just say if anyone was watching they would be wondering what happened! Anyways, so inside he came, and got to see his kiddos, who were well...Amelia was excited but was so busily drawing a picture for Daddy that it was hard to put that down, Aaron had the attitude of "no big deal" but Owen. You should have seen his face. It was so cute. His grin at his Daddy and his look was so sweet! He did not forget. And soon enough he was giving his daddy hugs and kisses...aww. Amelia became herself again and started talking up a storm (I think Daddy is her favourite too lol) and later on Aaron remembered "Lets get on Daddies back!!" Poor Jett...after two nights on a plane, (major jet lag!!) and a cold coming on he really wasn't in the best form for play time, but he managed somehow. :)

Happy happy times.

My favourite quote from Jett was when he saw me running out of the house to greet him that the "12 wk separation was *almost* worth it". :) I love my man! And the kids love their Daddy! :) Now for this little one to come! :)

And now for a few photos...here is me today, 40wks pregnant! :)

The third day after Daddy got home, we got some snow.

Owen likes the snow. :D

Aaron thinks it cold.

Amelia is getting cheeky.

This is the day he arrived...Owen is already warming up.

"I'm reading Mommy..."

"John chapter 3."

During the communion season...

...we had 10 people living in the manse, one was out and working quite a bit unfortunately, 7 of them were 13 to 2 yrs of age, one was(rather is!) massively pregnant, and the other lady well, she seemed to have everything organized! Although you might think it was chaos, it was actually very nice to have a houseful of people and little ones! Amelia took to Abby, Owen had a lot of people to hold him, and Aaron well, he still remained mostly to himself. The communion went well, although by the end of it we were all quite tired, and poor Mrs. Smith (um, the Wisconsin one I mean) had to drive 12hrs back to her home...hopefully she hasn't caught a bug or something along the way.

So, I tried to be a good girl and get a few pictures to remember this special time. Here is Josiah and Owen.Mrs. Smith's children and one of Mrs. Smith's children (lol)

More Smiths.

Amelia and Abby! :) (Julia might like this picture!)

Owen and Abby (she is such a loving, little mother!)

And Dena has a good picture of Mrs. Smith and herself, and also another of me and Dena, but I'll have to get that from her later. :)

My silly children :)

Like my little boys mustache? I think it enhances his smile. :D

:)

A little excited are we?

Amelia is demonstrating a female elk or deer...see, they don't have antlers so she has to improvise with little stumps or something...looks more like a moose but nevermind. :)

The clown of the family...

We will be busy for the rest of this week - communion season here in Chesley. We hope to have 6 extra people here, so yes I doubt I'll be around in the world wide web that is. Have a lovely week :)

we woke up to...

this.And then it was impossible to get Aaron to eat his breakfast, snow was much more interesting.

Owen was making faces at me...the little mouse (I want to say rat but that sounds too mean). He woke up at 5:30...and I thought he stayed in his room but I guess I was so sleepy I never heard him go downstairs, get into the fridge and help himself to a square...and then he popped back into his room and thats when I thought he just go out of bed...bad little boy. I found a couple of squares on the floor this morning, plus he was in the office...thankfully the computer was in my room...or else well, I don't want to think of what he might have done. How do you keep this child from going downstairs?!?! He is climbing out of his playpen/cot, and then even out of the stairgate I put in the boys doorway...*sigh* it is a lost cause to be sure.

Amelia gave a sweet smile this morning, she too was extremely excited that it was snowing, and kept telling me that it was now winter. :)

What did the forecaster say? oh about 2 cms of snow? Does this look like 2 cm?

Owen had too long of a nap yesterday on the couch...do you think he will cry when he tries to get out?

my sister

Is wonderful.

A wonderwoman or superwoman...poor thing she is probably exhausted by being at my place. But we sooo enjoyed her visit here! Oh, I'm tired too, visiting takes a lot out of a person, but it is a good tired, and we get an extra hour tonight...well, not that it means much with little kids, because inevitably it throws them off schedule.

So, why is my sister so wonderful you might ask? I mean, she is of course wonderful because she is my sister, that makes her special enough! But, on this occasion she knocked my socks off, so to speak! Ok, she brought lets think, one main meal, two lunches, breakfast fixings, and loads of snacks. She also brought a lot of things for the kids to do (crafts, books etc etc!). She also took all 5 KIDS (her two, and my three) to the park and to the library while I went to go get groceries. AND she brought me these....


Tompoezen!!!
What a neat word too eh? There is always something wonderful having a sister who lives near a Dutch bakery... :D

But, my dear sister bought me these as well...

Aren't they pretty? They are so lovely, but not as lovely as the one who gave them!
So, Jackie, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!

Now...how can I repay at least in some measure her kindness? Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. :)

fall pictures

Mom came up for a night/day and we went outside for a bit...Aaron here did not want to look at the camera, nor smile (he wasn't being the best of boys today)

We tried getting one with all three kids (complete failure) so we tried with two and that er, nearly worked.

My favourite leaf comes from my favourite tree, the Maple tree (of course!)

At least one child knows how to smile nicely in the picture...aw, she looks cute.

Even Owen didn't do as badly as Aaron. This is my mom (oh, excuse me Amelia just corrected me, it's Oma not mom.)

Playing in the yard with a ball.

the pussycat and other things

Haha, no not a real kitty. But this reminded me of one! :)

:)

Must be somewhat comfortable!

Oh yes, we are always this happy when we do school! I wish! :)

"What? I was supposed to smile?" Haha!

Delicious Chicken Soup!

I have to tell you about a method of making chicken soup...a lot of you probably already know about this (especially those Nourishing Tradition peoples), but I'm so silly not to try it out...and now I see the difference! Let me tell you that to make wonderful chicken broth you can't just boil the bones...I mean yes you'll get good broth but I wanted flavourful broth that I only need to add SALT (or salt, pepper, onion powder) to instead of adding a chicken bullion cube which has MSG in it. Ok, so I make a chicken in the crock pot for a dinner meal. After you take off the chicken meat for your dinner pop the bones, skin and leftover bits into the crock again and fill with water...then add chopped onion, and chopped carrots, and chopped garlic...and yes I thought it would be a waste to throw it away but not if it means I don't have to add MSG products to it later on!! You'll need at least 3-4 cloves of garlic btw the more the better (well don't overdo it). So you cook that on high over night in the crock. Strain and there you have the beginnings of chicken soup! Add your usual ingredients, mine are: chopped/diced Carrot, onion, celery, dried parsley and the leftover chicken...and salt. I can't believe I only used salt! And did it pass the test? Aaron likes it, and started talking about Oma (my mom) lol...that must mean it passed with high marks. I don't think I'll ever make broth without cooking it with the other veggies...amazing what a difference. :) If you haven't tried it, you need to! :)

soo tired,

I'm very tired. I'm waking up too much in the early hours of the day and having great difficulty going back to sleep if I do at all. I'm tired of seeing 6am...but nevermind, some people get up much earlier, but maybe they are able to cope, because I can't...well, not without coffee. Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into again? I thought I was off of it, and then you go to Oma's (my mom) house and well she makes coffee 4 times a day!!! Typical Dutch. So, inevitably I end up with one or two in a day, highly unusual, and not very good for me.

So I get back from Oma's/my mom's and two days later we have Mark and Mercy over...and of course I didn't even take one picture....not one! I'm pregnant...yes, it is an excuse, and a good one too, and yes, I use it all the time, because unfortunately it is quite true! We enjoyed having company over, and getting to know the little Olivia and Charlotte. Amelia was being taught how to play with a baby doll - which she needed a bit of teaching I think. :) Another good thing was that my evenings were full and usually late (ahem...) while we chattered. I also have the babies car seat (because they are so much cheaper in the states!) so we are happy to get two big items off of the list...now maybe we can focus eventually on babies bed and clothes, which a good friend of mine has offered these particular things. :) Yes, we are being provided for. Much to be thankful for.

Scroll down to see big pregnant bump...and still uhm 8-9weeks left, slowly getting there.

Yogurt, again.

Pilgrim's Bonnet.

Cheesy smile.

Oh. Its me, without my hair done (not uncommon) and one big er little baby. Taken today, 32 weeks. I know, I look very thrilled...if Jett was behind the camera the smile would be sweeter. :)

smallish update

Amelia is getting tired here...but she ate quite a bit.
To prove my kids can eat... here is Aaron's plate after a second helping of a very bland meal. Yes he eats peas and rice (he really likes rice for some reason!)

We have made it to 31wks now and still counting. I feel like a duck and an elephant. I waddle, and I'm slow. The heavier baby gets the harder it gets for me. This is one of the harder times in pregnancy but I still don't think it compares to being sick for 20wks (which it was with Amelia). But we are slowly getting there, week by week. It is now quite the chore to sweep and mop a floor. Instead of running after kids, I'm waddling as fast as I can. Sleeping is a big issue, because I am limited to my left side...and very rarely will my right side do. My body must think that I need to wake up at 2:00am in preparation for feeding the baby...but couldn't it wait for 9 more weeks?? And why does Owen have to go from sleeping through the night at Oma's to waking with me? Must be the creaky bed...will have to move the little man into Aaron's room, maybe that will help.

But, we are doing fine. I have quite a number of people that I can call if I need them, so I shouldn't complain.

We are missing Jett, and I didn't realize Owen knew what the program Skype looked like and what it meant...he was very upset when I closed it down one day without seeing Daddy...so I had to show him pictures of Daddy for awhile to appease him. He was quite happy seeing the photos, thankfully!

And I just got back from my mom's yesterday after a good week and few days. It was nice visiting her, although I think we were a bit too much for her! We did a lot of shopping...with a lot of nice finds. :) On Sat we went to my sister's for thanksgiving dinner (yes we have it earlier than the USA) which was nice.

And now I need to wake up sleeping handsome(?) or else he won't sleep tonight for me!!