Christmas.....

Other than me getting up at two am to take care of a sick, messy lil Wyatt (poor guy!) and a fussy Jacob, Christmas morning didn't dawn all that early. The kids slept in til 8:00 am, when Jesse came in to excitedly tell me Santa had come!! I’m a sucker for Christmas morning (in previous years I have actually woken kids up-LOL!), so I got up with him so he could show me. Then Wyatt got up, and I came to try and wake Leroy up by telling him “there’s two kids up now!!” He groaned and said “who? You and Jesse?” LOL!! Ok, well in that case, make it three!! By the time 9:00 rolled around, Tabitha, who likes her sleep like Daddy, finally got up. I let the kids open their stockings while they waited for Daddy. He still wasn’t getting up. Finally I let them open their presents from Grandma Julie, and went and pushed Leroy out of bed.

After gift opening and some time spent playing with some toys at our house, we went to visit Leroy’s parents and grandparents (who thoroughly spoiled them all!!), and then home so I could hurriedly finish rolling a roaster full of sour cabbage rolls, and then to the hall close to our house where my Mom’s side was having their Christmas get together (my Mom’s side gathers every 2nd year). Nearly everyone was there. It was so neat to see how much the younger people were growing and changing, and to catch up, here and there, on everyone's lives!

My Grandma said one of the neatest things to me-she said she enjoyed watching all the people there, knowing that she and Grandpa (who sadly passed away 10 days before Christmas 2 yrs ago) and their love for each other, started all of this (meaning the seven children they had and who now gathered with all their spouses, and children and grandchildren…). I just thought it was such a beautiful sentiment.

My sweet little 2 yr old cousin Callie was fascinated with Jacob in his little suit, declaring that "Santa shrunk!!

A wise lady (Stephanie! :) ) told me that after the fourth child, people begin to expect the next one, rather than asking when you’ll stop. LOL! There was evidence of this, when I admired my sister’s cute top and she said, just off the cuff, “yeah, I’ll have to give it to you when you have your next baby, for a maternity top” (it was kind of a flowy shirt). LOL! Then my brother in law, who had earlier teasingly threatened to start a rumour that we were expecting another already, inadvertently? did so! ACK!! So I had to explain to several aunties that no, not yet, and try and laugh it off-I was wearing fairly tight fitting clothes too..hmmm…

Poor Wyatt was soo sick, and his rashy tush was soo sore-he wasn’t himself, and just did lots of cuddling, and even slept at one point.
Santa even made a special trip to visit the Bailey Grandkids/Great Grandkids (and even an Auntie!!) When someone announced that Santa was coming Tabby told them "no he's not! He already came to my house last night!"
The food, of course, was terrific-all the Bailey women are awesome cooks (and they always cook for an army!!) also-my one cousin has married a Filipino man, and he brought his own version of potstickers, which were soo yummy!! Because everyone brought so much, there were tons of leftovers, even after everyone took some, so I was given the excess! I forsee no real cooking duties for me for the next few days! Bonus!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I spent the majority of the day wrapping gifts!! You see, while I had done good buying all the gifts before Dec 1, they somehow didn’t manage to wrap themselves, and with all the other stress and drama-it hadn’t happened. Then, in the midst of my mad wrapping spree (Leroy said I had too many gifts up there-but really when you think about it-4 kids +1 hubby X a few gifts each-it adds up!!) I realized that supper needed to be made, and that there were no cookies for Santa (very important in our house!)-another thing that I had wanted soo bad for this year was to spend the month of Dec baking and doing crafts with the kids-didn’t happen-too much stress and mess-and-the cabbage rolls weren’t done yet (I’d done up a bunch with Gramma Ulmer, so I'd be ready-but then used them in “emergencies” such as a church potluck, and a nite when I was too tired to cook much). So I got supper started, (minute steak parmesan and mashed potatoes) as well as the makings for the cabbage rolls (fried the bacon, cooked the rice and grated the potato into the rice while it was cooking) and got the kids set up to make the cookies (soo glad my patience in cooking with them is paying off-I measured the ingredients for whipped shortbread into a bowl, handed Jesse the mixer, and then cut up the cherries for the top, and did the oven thing-kids did all the rolling, and cherry adding!). The kids said the cookies looked like “red nosed reindeer!”

We also tracked Santa using the Norad Santa tracker site-the kids got quite a kick out of it!!

Then the old dog had a sequence of accidents on the carpets that I had *just* cleaned the day before and then Wyatt, who had had a sick tummy all week, added to the disaster by upchucking all over it (maraschino cherry juice colour, naturally!) so I spot cleaned all that, had supper, made sure everyone layed out their stockings before tucking the kids into bed, and heading out to do chores (I do like doing chores a bit later on Christmas eve-there's a tale that the animals can talk at midnight, and, while I haven't caught any gabby gatherings yet, it's a neat feeling watching them chew their feed peacefully, and thinking back to that first Christmas night). Now it's back into the house to finish wrapping presents and arrange them under the tree, feed Daddy the shortbread cookies the kids had laid out, and have him drink the big glass of egg nog they'd filled for him! (Good thing Daddy/Santa likes eggnog!)

Crazy day and crazy night! But it's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Baa baa black sheep....

We have added a black sheep to our crew!! A friend called me up and asked if we had any sheep on our farm. I replied "nooo..." She then replied "Do ya want one?" Well-why not??!! LOL! Her mom had been feeding this lil guy, but they needed to find him a new home. She kindly sent him with a bottle and milk replacer too!! It was too cold outside for him to go out, so we are keeping him in the house. The kids are thrilled!! Sandy the old dog-well-not so much!! He thinks she is a playmate for him-and she disagrees!! He keeps chasing her around the house, trying to jump on her (Leroy says the lamb might need some therapy-either that or the dog.... :) ) They can't quite agree on a name for him so he is Bully (as in Wooly Bully)/Cardigan/whatever they decide to call him that day....

One of his favourite pastimes is butting the baby swing (empty, of course!). And this morning he decided to jump in the bathtub with me while I was washing my hair! Nothing like washing your hair, hearing a splash and thinking one of the kids has hopped in-to find a little black lamb instead!! He didn't seem to upset though!! He was probably coming to complain about the lateness of his breakfast.... Anyways, it's fun to have a lamb in the house (you should see the looks on people's faces when they bend down to pet the little black dog-and realize that it's a lamb!!!

Bully's favourite game!!

The Polka Dot....

Bum!!

Ok-I keep having the tune "The polka dot door" run through my head everytime I think about this...!

I walked into the living room to find Jesse closely examining one of the baby goat's bottoms...Concerned that the little baby was sick, or there was something wrong, I asked Jesse what he was doing! He said "this goat has polka dots on his bum!! Why does he have polka dots on his bum?"

And so he does!!

So we had a discussion about pigmentation, which led to a discussion about the colour of horses' hooves with Tabitha-and then we all went and washed our hands! :)

Gingerbread Girl!

Tabitha's dance class were gingerbread girls for their Christmas recital this year!! It was held at Horizon stage on Dec 13th (like-the coldest day of the year!!). They ended up having 3 shows, in order to try and accomodate all the people who wanted to come see!! On top of that, Tabitha also played Mary in their Sunday school's little skit that morning, and we ALSO had the annual Christmas party at the local community hall that evening!! I did A LOT of running around on that very very frigid day!! I'm so thankful my van didn't let me down, and that we were kept safe through all that driving!!

I and another mom who is very creative, talented and brave! did the costumes for the dance recital! I did the sewing, and the other mom added the decorations! We had a baker's dozen girls to outfit!!

I think all were pleased with the results!! :)

(No, I don't usually put so much makeup on my daughter! But it needs to be done so her little face doesn't wash out like a ghost's under the stage lighting!)

Out of the Mouths of Babes.....

We had waffles the other morning. Wyatt wanted some more for a snack, later on. He said "Mommy-more 'Awfuls' pease...."

Tabitha was chattering away to me in the van as we were driving, when, out of the blue, she said "Mommy-I want to ride a horse with a bare bum!" (I think she meant, she wanted to ride bareback, not do the Lady Godiva thing.....)

We were sitting at the bank, waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Ulmer to get done their banking, when a large group of people walked by. Jesse looked out the window and said "Holy Cow Mom!! Look at that herd of people!!"

Faith.....

Well, this post could be about a lot of things. It just so happens though, to be about a beautiful little pony we got for Tabitha not too long ago. You see, Miss Tab complained that ol' Two Bits was too slow (well, to be honest, he's not real motivated to move out!) and Tabitha and Jesse were always arguing over who got ol' Kye to ride. Well, I browsed kijiji constantly, looking for the perfect horse. Leroy didn't want me to pay too much money, so, even though horse prices are down, it was still a challenge. Then I saw an ad for an older 13 hh mare, rescue pony. There were already over 300 views, and I figured for the price they were asking, she'd already be sold. But I called and emailed anyways-turns out, I was the only one who had!!

Faith had gone through the auction mart and that is where the people who sold her to me had originally got her. She had had a foal on her, who was sold separate from her. She is an older mare (estimated age about 28 yrs), and had been putting her all into feeding that baby. She looked like a walking rack of bones!! Yet, she's very pretty (a pinto), and the people who bought her could see her potential, and that someone must have loved her very much at one time. They brought her home, and their daughter worked with her, and discovered that she was quite calm and even tempered, but could still move out at a trot nicely when asked.

We went to look at her, but I didn't get much chance to refuse her, as Jesse grabbed her leadrope the moment she was taken out of the pen and wanted to load her!! He wanted her for himself, but after riding out on her a few times, we've discovered she and Tabitha are a much better match. (Although Tabitha still likes to take ol' Kye out for the occasional gallop!!).

She has her own purple blanket and halter and leadrope, and we're feeding her Nutrena senior ration plus vegetable oil in hopes of fattening her up (actually-she's doing quite well-still bony, but not "fragile" feeling. Can't wait to see what she looks like in the spring, all shined up on pasture and sunshine! The kids are looking forward to lots of riding together too!!

Counting! (or-you can't fool Wyatt!)

Supper the other night, I made perogies (my kids LOVE perogies!). I had given everyone (except Daddy, who has a heaping plate full!) two perogies. Wyatt asked for "mo' " after gobbling up 2 platefuls, each with 2 perogies. Thinking he MUST be getting full by now, I only gave him one. He looked at his plate, and in a disappointed tone looked at me and said "want TWO 'ogies Mommy!!" Leroy was amazed that Wyatt is counting already!! But Wyatt's such a little mimick-he just picks up EVERYTHING the older two are doing! (Sometimes that's a good thing, other times-maybe not so much... :) )

Firsts!!

These firsts-will they ever get old? Jacob got his first tooth today! On my brother's birthday no less!! LOL!! I noticed it while sitting in the waiting room at the chiropractor's office-I'm sure the other people waiting thought I was a bit crazy exclaiming about his first tooth. Then again, they'd probably already prejudged, seeing as I was there with 4 small children.....
Anyways-it's on the bottom left. Out of all my kids, his first tooth took the longest to come in (Tabitha's at 2 mos, Jesse and Wyatt right around 3 mos!) Still-I'm sad. Just one more step away from being a baby-already!! Jacob's pretty excited about it, I think-he spent most of the rest of the day with his tongue stuck out, feeling it, and looking so silly and cute!!
He also rolled over for the very first time when we were at Grandma's last week, having a delicious fish fry to celebrate September birthdays!!
I'm glad to enjoying all these firsts again.

Wish Upon A Star...

This is a bittersweet tale of a little foal.....

He was born May 20th, 2009, just two days after our little Jacob arrived in this big ol' world. Shortly after Jacob was born, I had joked that we would come home from the hospital to find that our mare Neena had foaled, and that it would be a colt (boy). This is nearly exactly what happened, except the foal was born 2 days after!

Just born

Everything seemed to be going very smoothly, which was a relief, having just lost Neena's mother due to a foaling related problem two years earlier.

(Kicking up his heels, while Neena grazes watchfully) -this and remaing photos in this blog swiped from my Sisters facebook page-thanks Sis!

Then, the night before we were due to leave on holidays, I walked out to the pasture for evening chores. At first, it didn't kick in that something was wrong-I saw Wonder (the calf stealing mare, and also Neena's half sister, making her the new little fellow's Aunt) teaching him to drink out of the automatic waterer. I thought that was pretty sweet, and teased Wonder about being such a good Auntie. Then it clicked-Neena was no where in sight! She was a very protective Mommy, and not likely to be letting her baby go off with anyone, not even Daddy or Auntie at the tender age of 3 weeks! I walked out into the pasture-and found my beautiful Neena laying dead-just flat out dead in the pasture. No signs of struggle, or that anything was wrong-she'd been standing by the barn just that morning, standing over her baby just like mares are wont to do. I remember seeing her, and admiring it-it's just such a sweet, protective, motherly thing that mares do.

Neena was only 6 yrs old, and a very special mare-I was heartbroken. Not only that, but now we were left with a wee orphan, and we were planning to be gone for 10 days!! What to do?? It was looking like I was maybe not going on vacation after all! Fortunately, my sister heard that night, via an email from my Mom, of our predicament, and stepped in to help us out! (I'm so glad for the Mom and Sister I have! : ) ) So Sister came out the next day and took the (yet unnamed) foal to the stable where they ride and board their horses. It was a big undertaking for them, as a wee foal like that needed several feedings a day. But, many people pitched in, including their riding instructor, my neice, and even my brother in law spent a LOT of early mornings taking care of the baby, which we are extremely thankful for!

I told my sister and my neice that they could come up with a name for the foal, the only stipulation being that it had to begin with the letter W, as that is the designated letter for names this year. I think the name Jade came up with is a very fitting name for this wee one- Wish Upon a Star, Wish or Wishes for short.

He is now back here, and Jesse proudly helps me feed him. He's getting a combo of milk replacer and goats milk. Jesse even came up with the idea of mixing alfalfa leaves with the pellets and grain ration little stinker had previously refused-and it worked!! We will still be offering Wish up for sale, though I wish things could be different.....

Wishes' Daddy Nickels-our very own Black Beauty!

Brotherly Love

Wyatt is totally enamoured with his baby brother!! Of course, Jesse and Tabitha love him too, but Wyatt's reaction to the new addition has been so unexpected and intense that it is especially noteworthy!! In nearly every picture of someone else holding the baby, you will notice Wyatt hovering protectively. Anytime the baby cries, I have an extra little alarm system urgently pulling on my clothes saying "Baby cwying, Mom. Huwwy!! Baby cwying!!" He doesn't understand why he can't share his treats with the baby yet, but is eager to pull up his shirt to offer to nurse the baby when I explain to him that baby can only have nursies right now!! It will be fun to watch these two as they grow together!

Little Red Twist Maternity Dress

Ok, not all my knitting projects need their own blog post, I don't think. But this one is an exception! I fell in love with this pattern, by Helen Hamann, out of "Expectant Little Knits" long before I knew Jacob was on the way. I just had to have it, so I ordered the same wool the sample was knitted out of in the book, from http://www.elann.com/ , and thought about starting on it right away. But other projects got in the way. Anyways, then we found out we were expecting this new little one. I wanted to bump this project up to high priority, but I was a little nervous to do so, in case we lost the baby. So I didn't start on it til I was over 13 weeks along. It seemed like it would go fairly quick n easy anyways, and the sumptuous alpaca yarn and the many rows of relaxing, simple stockinette made it a very enjoyable knit, and so I had high hopes to have it done in time for Christmas wearing. I took it along on a quick, one day trip to Calgary, hoping to score lots of knitting time that way-only to run into a snag with the pattern about an hour into the trip (and of course I hadn't brought another project along either-phooey!). It wasn't so much that the pattern wasn't clear, as that I was constantly 2nd guessing it-my problem here was I wasn't sure if the designer really wanted me to work the stitches I'd put on waste yarn, in the short rows on the Right Front section. Even after consultation with a knowledgeable lady at my LYS, and with the editor of the book, who kindly wrote me back on Ravelry, I was still confused. I ended up actually getting to have a conversation with the pattern designer herself! Anyways, it turns out that, yup, I did need to work a few of the stitches that were in the waste yarn row. So, that hurdle jumped, I continued on. I didn't expect to have trouble working the short rows either, having done lots using the Sheepy pants pattern . However, the method for those didn't seem to work that well with this pattern, so I had to do a little internet searching- (BTW-the short row tutorial I found most helpful for this project was from Knitting Rose's blog ). The next place I ran into difficulty was picking up the stitches for the underarm. I ended up deciding to pick up half of the stitches one way, and half the other way, for that was the only sense I could make of the directions. Not sure if I'm right about that or not though....

I never was able to get 116 stitches that the pattern said I should have though-I only was able to get 106. Still, the sleeve length worked out alright, so I guess it wasn't as major as I worried about at the time. Then came working the cuff BO!! That was frustration embodied!! I didn't get the part where, on Row 1, the designer was insinuating I TURN THE WORK after performing the directions stated. After starting, trying, and frogging multiple times, I finally went searching for help! Luckily, some wonderful knitters on Ravelry were able to figure this out quite quickly, and once I followed their advice, I ended up with very nicely finished cuffs. I'm so grateful for all the smart knitters on Ravelry!! Now I know I could've been a rebel, and just BO the cuffs normally-but this designer is brilliant and I really wanted to see it turn out like she had designed. So I was thrilled with the help from fellow Ravelers!!

The skirt, while very easy and enjoyable to knit, took a LONG TIME to do-much longer than I thought it would!! Finally, the pleats that needed to be stitched in gave me fits-I couldn't find much about sewing pleats in knitting at all on the net. I finally just bit the bullet, did a back and forth kind of stitch on the pleats, and secured them. I'm still not completely happy with the job I did on one shoulder with the pleats (but I think that's balanced out by me being thrilled by the job I did on the other side-LOL!). I just quit overthinking the pattern and followed the directions the designer gave for doing the pleats-and they turned out all right. I wish she would have included pix of the pleating process, as it would have given me less stress-but really, her directions were fine if I could just bring myself to completely trust that she knew what she was doing (ya think?LOL!) and just do what the pattern said.

The easiest part (but the one that looked hardest to begin with!) was doing the "twist" that makes up the front of this dress. That was a really simple matter, made more clearer to me b/c of my practice sewing the Jalie Twist top patterns.

All these places where I had to stop and ponder what to do next cost me time on knitting this dress-I had to put it in "time out" several times, b/c I was getting too frustrated with it!!

All this to say-I have FINALLY finished the dress (but nope, it's not blocked!) and, thanks to baby being a bit late, I was even able to get a few shots of a baby bump in it!! I do really like the dress, and am glad I went through all the stress to get it done-but darn, I wish I had my whole pregnancy to enjoy it!! Especially as the Yarn Harlot's theory about how babies don't come til after a major project get's finished played out just like that in this case-I barely finished the dress, and had the baby in the wee hours of the folllowing morning!!!

Anyways, here's a couple pix of me in my Little Red Twist Top Maternity Dress:

(photos kindly taken by Leroy, who said I looked great in it-probably a wise move for a man living with a rather hormonal, emotional woman, who is pregnant with a baby who is not ready to arrive just yet, even though I was expecting him/her to do so a week earlier....)

Can't Post....

Sorry-Can't post.

Too busy soaking up newborn-ness.....

Little toes....

Baby yawns....

New big brother......

Be back soon!

Baby's (Finally!) Here!!!

Well, when this lil one decided to finally come into the world, they decided not to waste time doing it!! LOL!!!

I'm thrilled to annnounce that baby #4 is another sweet little boy, bringing our total to 3 lil boys and 1 (outnumbered, but not outdone!) lil girl!!!

He's Here!!!

Jacob Arthur Ulmer arrived in this world via a beautiful waterbirth at 3:39 am May 18th, 2009!! Weighing 6lbs, 13 oz, and measuring nearly 20" long.

He looks just like Jesse and Tabitha did at birth! A teeny, dark lil mouse!


He's nursing like a champ, and I'm just enjoying him soo much! The kids are all pretty thrilled too! Well-I think Jesse wanted to send him back at first-when I called Mom to tell her the news, she put Jesse on the phone, and I told him it was a boy. Jesse said "but I wanted a girl baby, Mom! How come its a boy?" Mom said it kind of sounded like Jesse wanted to send him back, LOL!!


Wyatt isn't jealous, (yet) like I thought he'd be-he just wants to spend all day "hoding" the baby, and doing everything Mommy is doing to the baby (like nursing and changing diapers!)


So-his (Fast!) birth story, for those that like them (like me! LOL!) is below! For anyone squeamish, maybe stop reading here. Or at least consider yourself warned!


I had talked to Mom earlier in the day, around supper time, and she had volunteered to take the kids on Monday so we could go visit Grandma Ulmer in the hospital. I told her, so long as we didn't have the baby that nite, that that sounded good. She said "oh-are you having pains?" I replied "well, a few" but by that time, I'd dealt with so many braxton hicks, I wasn't going to read anything into it. Leroy and I went out at about 9:30 to deal with the aforementioned goat and her newborn kids, and then came in the house, watched the end of Desperate Housewives, and then Leroy went to sleep. I'd been having more contractions, but still determined not to read anything into it, I tried to sleep, then tried a warm bath. The bath seemed to slow them, so I went to lay down again. I was just relaxing, when, simultaneously, I had another ouchie contraction, and Wyatt started fussing some more (he'd been sleeping rather restlessly, which is totally out of character for him). I loudly asked Leroy to take care of Wyatt, that I was having a contraction-but not even a motion or sigh from Leroy's direction. So I finished dealing with the contraction, picked up Wyatt, and cuddled him for a bit, told him he might have a baby brother or sister born that night, and then layed him back down. He went back to sleep softly muttering "bwother, bwother". I can't help but wonder if he knew!!



I thought about waking Leroy up, but thought if it was true labour, he was going to have a long enough night, so chose not to.


I kept going back and forth on whether this was true labour or not-I thought if I could just get a chance to rest a little, maybe the contractions would change and I could tell. But then the thought occurred to me that it might really be labour, and that maybe I should (gulp!) finish packing my hospital bag! (LOL-ya think?!) So I did that, while also timing contractions using an internet stopwatch I found (couldn't find another one in the house!). After a monster contraction, I decided to phone my sister and talk it over with her at least. I was a little reluctant-I didn't want to wake everyone up and find out it wasn't the real deal! But I did, and I'm so lucky to have a sister like her! She eagerly said she would get ready and come! I then realized I should call the hospital, and felt a little dumb for not doing that before waking up Sister!! But they told me to come on in, they'd get a room ready for me. My estimate of the contractions at that time (about 1:00 in the am) was that they were about 8-10 min apart, lasting around a minute in length. I then called my Mom, and was shocked to have her answer the phone on the 2nd ring, sounding quite alert! She said I hadn't woken her up, she was already awake!!! I wonder if she had a feeling? Anyways, she came right over to watch the kids, and we left the van keys so she could take the kids later if she wanted. In the meantime, I woke Leroy up (with great difficulty!!) and went on a hunt for the pants I wanted to wear! LOL! After another hard contraction, I told Leroy we'd better hurry a little faster (Mom was there by that point). We left, though not before Leroy tried to (purposely, I'm convinced, LOL!) forget the bucket for the placenta! He did also go back for the video camera though, which I was very glad for! By this time, the contractions were monster ones, interspersed by shorter, lighter ones. We got to the hospital, and got their last room! (YIKES!!) Sister said "wouldn't you have been mad if they were all full?" Oh yeah!! LOL! Sister arrived just shortly after we got there-perfect timing! The nurse ran a strip, the midwife in training checked me-and there was a bulging bag of waters she said-then she got the midwife on duty to confirm what she suspected-I was already at 10 cm and ready to go!! I got into the tub, where Leroy sat at the front, and I held (crushed) his hand, and Sister kindly splashed water on me, rubbed all the right places on my back (I don't know how she knows, but it was awesome!) and chatted in between contractions. I was so glad for their support-it may not seem like much, but it just put me soo much more at ease, and freed me to focus on the birth-it was awesome!!



We discussed names a little bit-I had thought we'd have more time in labour to discuss that-Leroy and I still hadn't agreed on a boy's name.



I fretted a little, b/c the water took the edge off my contractions so much, I was worried it would slow everything down. Everyone was so great, reassuring me that it was fine, baby could come at any time. The sweet nurse we had attending sweetly asked if I would please tell them before I started pushing? I guess I was being so quiet, they didn't know what was happening! I was just focusing on talking to body and baby "open up, open up, baby come down, baby come down". I assured her I would! Shortly after that, I felt my water breaking. It wasn't like with Wyatt, where I felt the bag of waters travel, and emerge with a POP! They broke higher up, and it felt like I was uncontrollably wetting myself. I kept waiting for the "throw up" urge of pushing to come-but it really didn't. Instead, I just gradually pushed baby, til I felt him crowning. He felt different coming out, but I didn't know why. Turns out he had a hand up, coming out alongside his head!! He also had a loop of cord around his neck!



The midwife kept saying "him" and I said " is it a him?" She replied "They're all "hims" til I find out differently!" Well, I reached around just then and felt, and, sure enough, he was a "him" this time! I was pretty shocked-I'd been so sure it was a girl I was carrying!! Then we were moving him (and me!) around, so I could hold him-there was some concern at first, as he was quite grey and limp. Instead of panicking and cutting the cord though, the midwife rubbed him briskly, and got the blood from the placenta pumping back into him. He revived quickly, with a lovely cry! Sister got to cut the cord-Leroy didn't want to. Funny guy! Shortly after we got out of the tub, and I got to nurse my sweet new little guy skin to skin. There was NO tearing for me, not even "road rash" as the midwives call it-LOL! It was just such a beautiful, non stressful birth-just soo wonderful!! I think it's so terrific, for both mothers and babies, for births to go this way!!!


We all marveled at how much like Jesse (and therefore Tabitha, them having been so alike at birth!!) that the baby looked. Wyatt had looked so different!! We guessed at weights-I guessed his weight exactly!!!


Leroy and I discussed names again, now that we knew it was a boy. He (jokingly, I hope!) suggested George, and I completely nixed it! (although May 18th is George Strait's birthday!!) I suggested Jacob, and he liked it. I like biblical names, and Sister said she liked the "J" names. Anyways, it just seemed right. Later in the morning we added Leroy's grandfather's middle name, Arthur. And that, as they say, was that.


Sister got to go home shortly after, and even get some sleep!! I was so glad she was able (and wanted!) to be there for his birth, just as the others!! Then we got to snuggle the baby as a new family unit, and take a nap.



Daddy and Jacob catch some z's and get in some snuggling time too!!



We left the hospital around 10 that morning, although baby gave us quite a scare first! He just started turning red and choking-turns out he was born so quick, he still had a lot of mucous left in him, and that was what he was choking on. There was luckily a nurse in the hallway right then, and she helped get the mucous out and explained to us what happened-I'd never experienced it before, and it was pretty scary!





When we came home, we were in for a surprise! Mom had cleaned our entire house!! It was just such a refreshing feeling to come into a tidy, orderly place!! She stayed up ALL NIGHT doing this!! Then watched the kids throughout the day for us too!! I'm thinking she had to be even more tired than me at the end of it!! It was just such an awesome surprise and gift though, and I'm really enjoying it alot!! Then she also brought over a yummy chicken dinner for supper that night!! Thanks Mom!


Tabitha got to meet her little brother, then went to sleep over at her cousins for the night, to give Mommy a bit of a break. It was pretty crazy, with all the kids clamouring to hold their new baby brother! They all seem pretty enthused about him!




Jesse loves his new baby brother-pics of the other sibs loving on baby to come!!


Anyways, I'm sad the pregnancy is over, though glad at the same time, b/c I was feeling so tired, and heavy and cranky-but I'll still miss the feelings of baby kicking and wiggling-just the wonderment of it all!! But I'm enjoying this teeny, sweet lil bit of life snuggled in my arms right now-so much! I love the new baby smell, and the feel of him, and his soft, dark head of hair! I wish there was a way to store these first few days up in my memory forever and ever!!

Twins!!

Nope, not human babies! LOL!! Even though s/he moves enough for two, I'm pretty certain there's just one in my tummy! Nope, this double play is brought to you courtesy of my new goat, Star, who was due on the same day I was! Two good sized boer looking boys. She had them with no trouble, and they were already clean by the time I discovered them! Now we're just waiting on a couple equine babies, a few bovine babies, and one stubborn lil human baby!! Maybe this changing weather will be just what we need.........

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day!!

Ok-so this post is a week late. So, ironically, is our baby (almost!!) Mother's Day was terrific this year! Not only 'cause of the new baby on it's way, any day now, or b/c of the cool gift I got (see previous Minivan post!) but also just 'cause the weather was wonderful, and I spent it with family. We spent the day at my Mom's, and ate "Monsters" as Jesse calls them (lobsters).





Halfway thru the day, Leroy phoned to tell me that "one of (my) cows in the field had calved. He wasn't sure which one. Either that, or one of the Canadian mares had had a calf this year, as the calf was trying to nurse off the mare!" I came home quick to help him sort it out. Turns out that my Brown Swiss milk cow "Gabi"'s daughter "Taffy" had calved-a sweet little red heifer. But Wonder, our super quirky Canadian mare, had, once again, decided that the calf should be hers, and was chasing Taffy away from her own baby!! Even when Leroy grabbed the baby to bring it to the barn, Wonder went after him in an attempt to "protect" it! LOL! Anyways, we got the calf in the barn, and reunited it with her mother, who seemed relieved to be rid of the annoying, crazy mare, and I went back to Mom's.

Taffy's lil girl




Grandma Bailey baked homemade bread in Don's woodstove in the summer house, just like in olden days! LOL! It was so much fun, and so yummy!!

(photo of Wyatt and "monster" courtesy of my sister! Thanks Sis!)

Wyatt really enjoyed playing with the lobsters, but wasn't so sure when he saw his cousin eating them-he gave him a shocked look like "you meanie!!" However, it didn't take him long to discover how good lobster tastes! : )

Anyways, it was a super enjoyable day! I hope everyone else had as nice a Mother's Day!

Minivan Mom

Pictured Above: Myself and my Mother's Day gift this year.....

My first Minivan!!

I've always been more of a pickup truck kinda girl, but as our family keeps growing, and growing, and growing! We found we were needing more room. I'd long since switched to driving a car, but my wonderful Chrysler Dynasty, a gift from my Grandparents, though it was still darn reliable, and can fit 6 people, and (that even with 3 carseats in the back!) was getting a lil squishy! So last Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, Leroy and I went van shopping-and came home with this 1999 Ford Windstar (yes, my husband is a Ford man! LOL!) But actually, other than the Chevy Venture that I fell in love with (because it could seat 8 rather than the 7 that the Windstar seats) I'm finding I'm pretty impressed with the Windstar myself! It's got LOTS of room in the back (this was a must-I'm prone to bringing home things like goats and I needed enough cargo space that the kids didn't have to hold them on their laps). The kids are begging to go for van rides-even when we don't have places to go-LOL!! (Ok, maybe we need lives...). But really, I think they are truly enjoying the extra room-and I'm loving not hearing "he/she's (insert annoying gesture here) me" from the backseat constantly!

And it's passed the goat test already-I just brought home a large, nubian doe, who is due to kid anytime now-and she fit perfectly in the cargo space (which Jesse thinks makes a nice place for naptime!).

It's fun to drive, although I'm a little nervous to find out how it does on fuel yet, not having used it quite enough to go through a tank!

All in all-it was a terrific Mother's Day gift!! (Hubby's happy-he got it covered good this year! :) )

And I am now officially a Minivan driving, soccer Mom!

Who woulda thunk?

Toothless grin....

Nope-not baby grins yet!!

My firstborn lost his first tooth today-sob!! These kids sure know how to get you when you're already emotional! I can remember when he was getting that tiny sliver of pearl in his little gums, and now there's a big gaping hole in his grin!

He has insisted for about a week now that he had a loose tooth, but I really couldn't tell, and, as one of his soccer teammates just lost a tooth, I just thought he was wishing out loud.

We were visiting his Great Grandma Ulmer today (otherwise known to my children as Grandma and Grandpa of no hills, to differentiate from Grandma and Grandpa Ulmer ON the hill!!) and Jesse was playing with his tooth. I was occupied with Wyatt. Suddenly, Grandma said "that sure surprised you, didn't it?" I looked up, puzzled. Jesse exclaimed "I lost my tooth!" Sure enough, he was holding a sliver of a tooth out to me (they look soo teeny and innocuous when out, don't they?) Grandma said it was sooo funny-he was standing in front of her, messing with his mouth, and suddenly, he had the biggest look of shock on his face ever!! Wish I hadn't missed that expression!!

She put his tooth in an envelope so I wouldn't lose it, and made sure to give me two loonies for the toothfairy to leave for him!

Pretty exciting, though it's making me feel all teary and weepy at the same time!!!

Not Yet.....

Me at 37 weeks, 5 days. I sewed this top from Jalie's Twist Top pattern, after being inspired by Emilie's posts of her pregnancy and the tops she sewed-I LOVE Jalie's patterns-SOOO easy and quick and fun-their pattern support is top notch too, AND they're Canadian!

I keep meaning to post, but time is flying by so fast, and there's so much to do-always. Yeah, yeah, I know not much of an excuse, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by-things have been really uneventful with the pregnancy, which is very good-now if only life would quit smackin' me upside the head, I'd be happy! So many stressful things keep happening, and I'm having a really hard time dealing with them right now-I just really, really want the whole world to get lost and just let me take care of, and enjoy, my family and this new little one on the way. I really, really do. If anyone knows of a huge, virtual "DO NOT DISTURB" sign I can hang on my forehead, and my life in general, please point me in it's direction. While you're at it, if you know of a cleaning fairy, send her my way too-my house is a complete disaster zone, and you may have to dig me out of an avalanche of baby clothes....I'm so not good at decluttering those, though when I was going thru them this weekend, I was sorely tempted to toss everything and start over! LOL!

Don't even get me started on needing to pack my hospital bag!! Not even close!! And I still need to get some depends underwear, so we're not grabbing them on the way to the hospital, like with Tabitha (and I'm sorry dear readers if that is TMI for some of you-but they really are awesome for right after baby's arrival-one of the neatest tips I've ever learned from the wonderful, caring and clever midwives I get to see!)

I'm so not ready to have this baby-usually by this stage of pregnancy I'm impatient and can't wait-but I'm so not ready. I just want to sit and feel this lil one squirm and kick and figure out how to remember these days forever-everything about it-like sweet little Wyatt kissing my tummy (and baby kicking back!) and Jesse asking when exactly baby is going to arrive, and Tabitha rubbing my tummy and saying "baby really likes that!" (esp when baby responds with a foot showing kind of kick!)-who knows if I'll have any more, and I so don't want to miss a second of pregnancy-it's like a really cool opportunity to help God with a miracle and it's so special. Don't get me wrong, I'm really starting to ponder what this new lil one will look like, who s/he will be (and I'm truly excited to find out if it's a girl or boy!!) If anyone cares to post a guess in the comments, on gender and date of arrival, that would be fun!

I promised in my last post some pix of sewing, so here's a couple:

(Coming home outfits for baby-I thought they were pretty gender neutral. Gotta love those lil giraffes! : ) )
Me at 37 weeks 3 days. Tummy measures 39" around! This is the Criss Cross top, also from Jalie. It doubles as a nursing top!! Soo clever!!

(a bare belly tummy shot!)

I've sewn much more actually-some newborn diapers, and an Easter dress for Tabitha that turned out pretty cool (I LOVE my serger, sooo much!!) Also some Stellar Transitions training pants for Wyatt, and a couple more Jalie-maternity but not really maternity tops too. Some wipes, and mama pads as well. Wish I could've sewn more though, actually.

Adding to the list of things I have actually accomplished, I have put about a good month and a half's worth of meals in the freezer, using Fix, Freeze, Feast-a really neato cookbook I borrowed from the library.

I also need to post about Jesse's soccer, and his 6th birthday party, but I think I'll save that for another day-YAY for retro blogging! LOL!

At least now I've posted, everyone knows a) I didn't fall off the face of the Earth (just wish I had!) and b) nope, no baby yet. Will try and post shortly after s/he arrives!

Still here....

I'm still here. Just haven't felt like blogging much. Nothing like a toothache while pregnant, then (barely) surviving a horrible flu bug to do that to you. The broken tooth/toothache two weeks ago required a partial root canal (pulpectomy-they couldn't do a proper root canal, b/c I did NOT want xrays while pregnant-so that means they need to redo it after babe is here. Fun and games!). I think the bill was even more painful-insurance companies are so horrible-sure we have "100%" coverage-of what the insurance companies *think* they should pay. Based on prices over a decade ago. And they think we should "shop around" to find a dentist that works around that-so patients have to choose-go to the dentist who is an absolute gem to deal with, and expects to get paid fairly for the work he does-or go find someone who works within the insurance's "books"-if you can find one-and hope you can get along with them. I ended up paying close to HALF of what my dental cost. OUCH. WHY do we bother with the insurance? My rant for the day.
Then-I don't remember when I've been as sick as I was last week. Dying sounded like a nice option, thank you very much. And I'm truly not just whining-I just don't get sick-especially not that bad! Thankfully, even though the babies got ill, they weren't as bad as mama, and, with some help from Grandmas, I was able to get some rest and am on the mend. Not without an exciting trip to the ER, for stitches for Miss Tabitha's finger, right after a snowstorm (nothing like being stuck in a snowdrift in one's own yard, with a bleeding child). Not to mention the over 4 hour long wait in the ER with 3 young energetic children, while sick, pregnant Mommy can barely move, dealing with the kids' fascination with the water fountains! although I was blessed with some absolute angels, also stuck waiting in the ER, who asked if they could get the kids some treats and drinks from the vending machines (did I mention I hadn't brought snacks or money with me? Not smart! Next time, no matter how many bandaids the child is soaking through, I'm bringing crackers and water bottles-or something!!) I wish I would've been smart enough to get their names-how can you thank someone like that enough? I had to turn away for a moment, I was nearly crying-Tabitha asked me why that made me sad. Their timing was perfect too-I'd nearly reached breaking point!
Then (thankfully!) Grandma Julie saved the day again, by bringing McDonalds to the hospital for supper. Her timing was impeccable also, as it was right as Tabitha was called in for stitches, so I was able to just concentrate on Tabitha, while Grandma and the boys went and started on their supper. The Dr. remarked on what a brave child Tabitha was, and how he hadn't had one like that in over a year! She didn't move a muscle, not for the freezing, or the stitching-really was pretty matter of fact about it! And thrilled to have her McDonalds after!
So those were my latest adventures.
At the moment, I think maybe I should quit using blogging to procrastinate, and go busy myself with digging my way out of the disaster zone my house exploded into during my illness-oh goodie!
If I don't get lost in the mess, maybe I'll be able to find time to post pictures of other things I've been up to in my absence from the blogosphere, plus, of course, more belly shots-while I still have a belly to take shots of! : )

Overheard......

Conversation between my 5 yr old and his Dad....

"Dad-are we gonna chase cows today?"

"Yep, son"

"Just the cows, Dad, not the bulls?"

"That's right, just the cows"

"I know how to tell if they're girls, Dad"

"How?"

"They're the ones with the long eyelashes and boobs!"

Was my face red........

Children sure know how to keep us humble!



Imagine, you are shopping in Walmart. Say you happen to be about 5 mos pregnant (already!) and in desperate need of antacids, b/c the heartburn is killing you. Your shopping cart contains one adorable, mischievious lil 22 month old boy, plus a sweet lil 4 yr old girl riding on the back of the cart, with your big strong responsible 5 (almost 6!) yr old boy helping you push the load. You browse the antacid aisle, select the flavour you want (WOW! There are a lot to choose from!), drop it in your cart, leave the aisle and continue on shopping. You notice that people seem to be awful cheerful and friendly, smiling and staring-but you're used to that. Hey, you're out shopping with 3 small children, and it's rather obvious you are expecting a fourth!


When-suddenly-you realize to your horror that your adorable 22 month old is chewing on something, that seems to be catching everyone's attention....And it's NOT the container of antacid you just popped in there either!







NOPE! It's a BRIGHTLY COLOURED box of some sort of kinky c*nd*ms!! Now who thought to put the contraceptive aisle on the opposite side of the antacids??!




LOL! Yes, I know one should make note of what these lil monkeys can reach, and I am truly glad it wasn't a mouthful of aspirin or something. What a good reminder for me, for sure!!


In any case, it sure sped up our shopping trip!!

100 days!

Well, according to my "blog ticker" that is! I still say baby will be a few days late.
Anyways, here's a belly shot at 25 weeks. (Another charming mirror photo : ) ).

I don't think there looks to be much change, though people who see me in person on a semi regular basis seem to think so. I'm noticing that breathing and sleeping are getting a little difficult-baby is carrying quite high. I need a new body pillow, the old one having pretty much disintegrated after serving me well thru 3 other full term gestations.

I want to slow time down!! And just enjoy this new little one kicking and squirming on the inside! I never seem to sit down enough, and baby spends most of his/her time lulled by my movements, so I only get to feel those wiggles when I rest for a moment, here and there!

Anyways, I never really did keep track of sequential tummy photos with my other lil ones, and I wish I had, so I'm having fun with this one (even though I shoulda started earlier, and my mirror technique needs, umm, some polishing! : ) )