A Proud Mom

Some updates of Eli...




Here's our Church Preschooler Production... To see a video go here




Kynan's School 'Snow Biz' Production...




Some Family Pictures...





Kynan Actually took this one of us... I think a making of a great photographer!

I really want to post some pictures of all the things we have been doing, but there is no time. So you all will have to settle for a list post.

-Christmas tree is up after going to Moose Jaw tree farm. No reindeer this year, but some super friendly 'horses ate our popcorn. And yummy Deja Vu for lunch.

-The tree is adorned with our traditional handmade Christmas decorations, dating all the way back to 1981.

-Kynan learned to snowbird, and so did Ava. In the new year we plan to take them to the mountain.

-Bundling three kids up to walk to school in minus 35 degree temperatures as me seriously contemplating homeschooling. NO joke.

-I handmade over 100 Christmas cards this year. Again, no joke. Laundry is piled up and house is a disaster, but the cards are done. Ya, my priorities are dead on.

-Surprise visit from Uncle Bob made our week. We love company!

-I can't wait to start all our other Christmas traditions: movies, cookies, dinner with friends, caroling, playing in the snow, making crafts. I love Christmas.

He Smiles!

Time seems to be flying so quickly. I can't believe my little monkey is already a month and two weeks old. And smiling! Soon he will be giggling, and drooling away as he crawls after the other two. I want to hold on to these precious moments when all he does is snuggle, nurse, gaze lovingly into my eyes, and sleep. He is my snuggle monkey and I want to keep him that way! Life with three is definitely an adjustment, more so I am finding then when baby number two was born. Basically, I am out numbered. And Ava is high energy, high need all the time. Elijah has been great as far as letting me tend to the others, as long as I hold him. LOL. He never wants to be out down. I am slowly trying to get him use to self soothing (that may scare some), but what I mean is that if he is really really really tired and he is changed and fed, but just won't close his eyes- I will lay him down and slowly walk out of the room. If he cried for longer than like 2 seconds, I go back in, rock him a bit, and try again. For the most part, he doesn't cry, he just closes his eyes and sleeps. It has been fabulous to know he can fall asleep on his own. And he even is starting to like his swing a little more. I still think we need to invest in a really good front pack of some sort, but that will have to wait a little longer. But getting back to the adjustment part of things. I usually love to be out and about. Am doing stuff all the time, like cleaning, baking, cooking, crafting, ect ect. I like to run errands and go about the town. But since having Elijah, I have turned into a hermit and only exit the house under extreme necessity and even then it is restricted to one or two children and no longer than two hours. Grocery shopping with three is impossible as I see it right now. And stopping at more than two stops in one outing is exhausting. So we stay home, Kynan plays outside, Ava and I do stuff inside. And basically hardly get dressed. It has been an adjustment, but one I am really enjoying. I actually think I have found the joy in mothering with baby number 3. Having Elijah has slowed me down, prioritize what is important and be more purposeful with my daily activities. I think more about how much attention the other two are getting, and so when we have time alone together we do more engaging activities. Because we don't have alot of time to do fun things or games, I turn those tedious chores into games and we end up getting nothing done! LOL. But still, the house seems to get cleaned, dishes get done, laundry gets put away, and life goes on. At my baby shower for Elijah a seasoned mom said to me: "Look at being a mom as your life ministry. What you are doing right now with your children is part of God's plan for you. This is His purpose for you right now. So, in the middle of the night when you are up for another feeding, or when you are folding the umpteenth billion piece of clothing remind yourself this is for His kingdom." I have to say, that it works and has put a whole different perspective on parenting for me. I have more patience, more energy, and more love for what I do. So no wonder we are all smiles.

Annoying

Things that are annoying me today...

1. A husband who didn't flush...ewww! (Self explanatory)
2. A VERY slow computer (means loading pics an eternity which I don't have)
3. A stack of laundry to be put away. (means more chores to do)
3. A stack of mail to be sent.(means I have to go out at some point today)

And for good balance...
Things I am thankful for...

1. A great visit with a friend. (means I got to talk about something other than transformers or pony's)
2. Ice Cream and Pie (for obvious reasons)
3. 2 sleeping babes and 1 at school (again, obvious)
4. Clean underwear

Visit With Grandpa & Baba

Moments Like These...

There have been so many sweet moments over the last three weeks, but I wanted to share just a few with you as it is 1:30am and my monkey man is finally sleeping.

1. Last night Kynan was not wanting to go to bed when he was told, so he was sitting up with us. He asked to hold Elijah. Dana and I were looking at with such adoration, as he tenderly rocked his baby brother. Dana caressed Kynan's head and said, "One day you are going to make a great dad." Kynan replied with, "I know. Just like you, dad." No joke! Dana and I instantly teared up and started to spout full on waterworks. Dana looked at me and said, "He can stay up as late as he wants."

2. Ava, my darling princess, was needing some mommy time at 2am one morning this week. So I, exhausted, fell into her bed and almost cried, "Pleeeeease go to sleep, baby girl." To which she replied as she cupped my cheek, "Ok mommy. I just wanted to say I love you."

3. Elijah has been a little cranky this week with a runny nose. We were up for one of his feedings and he decided it was day time and it was time to talk. His wide eyes would not fade, until I started humming and then gently singing to him. He slowly was lulled to sleep by the sound of my voice. None of my other kids enjoyed being sung too, but Elijah LOVES it. And I adore that he does.

4. Tonight, I had alot of computer work to do. So I nursed Elijah and handed him to his capable father. Immediately Elijah starts to cry. Dana hands him back and I nurse again. Dana takes him. Elijah cries. I take him and rock him. He falls asleep. I know Dana is hurt at this point, asking me what he is doing wrong, but I secretly love that Elijah snuggles me. LOVE IT!

5. This is not really a 'moment' more than an epiphany really. Having three lovely children for three blissful (and sleepless) weeks has taught me a few things:
-there will always be laundry so don't sweat if your not 'caught up'. That term does not exist anymore.
-you can operate on 2 hours sleep, but your child may go out without matching socks or shoes for that matter.
-you may show up at church with your shirt inside out and most definitely your hair will not be washed for at least 3 days.
-tv is your friend (no matter how much you try not to use it)
-sleep when the baby sleeps is a fantasy
-you have no brain after kids. Seriously.
-you may find yourself calling your mom umpteen billion times in the course of an hour asking how to do simple mundane tasks because you simply cannot remember... again note the no brain comment.
-you are extremely talented and gifted if you can get dressed before 10am
-the love you have for your husband has never grown so fast and furiously over three weeks. I seriously look at this man, and think to myself, how did I ever get so lucky.
-That being said, there will be moments that you think to yourself, 'Do I have three children, or 4?' Especially when you find a pile of dirty diapers on the dresser, an empty toilet paper roll, him using liquid soap in the dishwasher and wondering why it's not working, ect....
-And then finally, you learn to laugh and relax because there really is nothing more you can do. Chores will be left undone, the laundry will always be a load (or two or three) behind, and the baby (or other children) will have to cry at some point. And that's okay. You can handle it because you are a mom.

It's moments like these that make me thankful to be a mom. Thankful to be a wife. Thankful to have a mom. Thankful to be a daughter.

Happy Harvest Time!

Okay... so this is going backwards. But on Halloween, we went out twice. Once to the mall with some MOPS pals. And then again out around our neighborhood. Below is the kids basking in the glory of their loot! Thank goodness they have an insane father who will push the limits when it comes to trick or treating. Two hours in minus 12 temperatures with two toddlers....brave man.



Elijah's 'Boo' bum. Thanks Margaret and Shane... he wore your sleepers every day this week.


Ava dethawing in the sink after trick or treating. I literally had to run the warm water over her hands and feet to get her back to regular human temperatures. Again, thanks Dad! LOL!


Ava went in the evening as a lioness. She had the roar down pat. Here she is in all her bundled beauty.


Kynan decided he wanted to be a Monster Truck, so Dana made this awesome Monster Truck costume. Complete with working headlights. He even had these awesome trucker sunglasses at the mall, but it was too dark at night to wear them.


My friend, Marcella, made us a fabulous Halloween costume for Elijah. I love it. A lobster. He looked to delicious, I could have just ate him up. LOL.


So when deciding what to where to the mall, Ava vigurously went through our tickle trunk for a costume. I thought maybe a princess, or a singer... maybe even a dragon. This is what she pulled out asking for 'blood paint'. Only my daughter. What can I say, but she marches to her own drum. But she sure did make a scary vampire



On Friday, we had a fabulous fun family day and took the kids to the Hay Maze and then to lunch. It was so much fun. We had lunch at Applebees and then came home to carve pumpkins. In all years past, Kynan has loved carving but this year he didn't want to get his hands 'wet'. Ava on the other hand, was right in there and loved the slimy guts of the pumpkin. She degutted 3 pumpkins and laughed the whole time.






And I will leave you with my darling pumpkin, who has been such a cuddle monkey and I have loved every minute of it.

One Week of Sleepless Bliss

Exactly one week ago, I was laying in bed, crying, complaining to Dana that I didn't want to be pregnant any more. Little did I know that I would wake up an hour later with startings of labor. Now, I look back on my week and am amazed with the family we have. A 4 year old boy who acts more like a little daddy than the preschooler he is. A 2 year old girl who keeps me on my toes and laughing all the time. And now a precious baby boy who snuggles me any time I want and nestles right into my neck to make me melt. Did I mention that I am married to the sexiest most amazing man to ever walk the earth? Bliss. Blessed. Beautiful. I am lucky.

Burrito Baby and Other Miracles...

These are really a smattering of pictures taken over the last few days, but to start off with I want to draw your attention to the green sweet pea burrito baby above. For the last 4 days I think we have put Elijah down (not holding him) for a total of like 20 minutes... I love him so much, but this is not why. He does not like to be put down. He can be completely asleep to the point of 'konked out' (as I like to put it). I will creep him into his room, place him in his warm comfortable crib, slowly back out, and as soon as I may head hits my pillow- I hear him. I have been so tired, averaging about 3 hours a sleep a night, I really have been at my wits end. A friend reminded about the miracle workers that perform little acts of miracles for a small fee. We use to live closer to our very own miracle, who performed Kynan and Ava's very first miracles, but he is not accessible this week. So we called the chiropractor and loaded the van up for a family of 5 session with Dr. Ruben. A few other friends suggested that maybe he likes to be bundled and so we tried that too. Last night was the test run and Elijah..... passed with flying colours. He slept a whole hour in his own bed yesterday after his adjustment. And then, we started going to bed around 1am (sounds late, but this is actually early compared to previous nights). I nursed him, bundled him really tight, and tucked him in. From then on, he woke every two hours for a feeding and then went back to sleep in his own bed!!! Which meant, I got about 6 hours of sleep in total last night, which also means I am one happy mama of 3! Here is how we did it:

1. Adjustment from miracle worker (chiropractor) whom now I love and will be dropping off cookies for very soon.

2. Swaddle in receiving blanket.

3. Swaddle in knitted blanket.

4. Wrap in knitted cocoon.

5. Place hat on head.

7. Roll flannel blankets on either side of sleeping area.

8. Place hot water bottle in sleeping area while nursing burrito baby.

9. Place baby in sleeping area (CAUTION: remove hot water bottle first).

10. One final flannel blanket wrapped around whole set up for final cozy effect.

RESULT: Sleeping baby without being held... yay!

Some would think that either our burrito baby is sweltering away under all that, or that our house is an ice box but neither are true. In fact, Dana and I are sweating at night under our one blanket AND Elijah is perfectly warm with no sweat in sight. Go figure. Needless to say, I am super happy now that I am some what functional again (I am not a happy girl with no sleep).

The rest of the pictures are just a smattering of what has been going on here...

Ava news:
She is officially potty trained. We have very little accidents. She goes in the toliet! Only wearing pull-ups at night and on long trips. She got a baby stroller and diaper bag as a reward for her success and she loves it... as you can see her sitting in it above.

Kynan news:
Loves Elijah... he often wants to hold him, sing to him, comfort him. And is very demanding that I nurse as soon as he starts to cry. He has a real 'daddy's heart'.

Dana news:
The only thing I can say about this man is that I am so in love with him and so thankful for him everyday. He has been so helpful this week, not complaining for the lack of sleep he is getting too. He feeds me, makes sure I am hydrated, tries to give me 'cat naps' for as long as possible, and is being the best dad to our older two playing all day with them and never stopping with the pouring out of love. He amazes me and this week reminded me with every moment why I am so blessed to be married to him. I love you Dana-bear!!!

His Story...

We would like to welcome our newest addition, our son, Elijah John McCallum. He was born at 9:16am Oct 13th at Regina General Hospital. He is beautiful, unique and absolutely precious. This is his story.

Dana and I headed to bed after watching some TV and relaxing. We talked for a bit. Mostly I cried, saying that I am so 'done' being pregnant and Dana consoled me trying to offer any words of encouragement to keep me going. We kissed and then went to sleep. Not long after I woke up (around 12:30am) with the starting of contractions. Thinking it was false labour, as the contractions were not very strong and about 15 minutes apart, I went back to sleep. I floated in and out of sleep for the next couple hours, until it was too uncomfortable. I started timing the contractions again and they were down to about 5 minutes apart, the same intensity as before though. I went and had a shower thinking maybe that would relax me and stop these 'false' labour pains, woke Dana up to message my back, and at about 4am Dana and I went for a walk. At this point, the contractions were still only 4 minutes apart, but much more intense. I was having to breathe through them. The fresh air felt so good on my face, and walking seemed to help. We came back inside, and put on a movie. What better movie to labour to then, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants... LOL. It didn't take long before it was too uncomfortable lying on the couch so I went back up to the bathroom, only for a warm bath this time. Dana started noticing that the contractions were getting a little closer together, but much more intense. That's when we decided, maybe we should go accessed at the hospital. I was still convinced that I was false labour. It was about 6:30am when we left the kids with mom, texted my friend and doula- Jen, and headed out. The labour and delivery ward was buzzing with other women labouring. Apparently, we picked one of the busiest weekends to have a baby. The put me in an assessment room and checked me all out... only 4 cm dialated. All night of labouring, that is not what I wanted to hear. BUT the nurse did say my membranes had ruptured and they would be admitting me, so I was happy to know that my baby was on the way. After the assessment the contraction got much more intense and frequent. We got into the delivery room and I was able to try different positions... I rocked on the ball, went in the tub and eventually squated on the bed to deliver. With only two pushes he was out.... it was fast once I got to the hospital. And he only took two pushes to come out. Basically, it went like this:

Susie; "I need to push!!"
Nurse; "No, no. You are only 7 cm. Let's breathe through this one."
Susie thinks... I hate you.
Next contraction...
Susie; "Okay, I really need to push... I'm sorry... I can't stop..."
Nurse; "No, no, you are not ready. Don't push... oh! There's the head! Okay, the heads out. Let's wait for the next contrac... oh, there's the shoudlers... okay, here's the rest.... It's a boy!"

I always find it utterly amazing that your body just knows what to do. We can say we know, but ultimately our bodies were designed to know better. And thus was Elijah. Perfect in every way. He looks so uniquely different with his round head and fuzzy black hair, but also familar- sharing many characteristics with Kynan.

We only stayed at the hospital for a total of 9 hours and then were allowed to go home. So I was able to have all the comforts of a hospital birth and still sleep in my own bed. It was great. Lunch and dinner provided, and then on my way to the comforts of home. I feel really good, so happy to have Elijah in my arms and not in my belly. This morning I enjoyed a nice nap on my belly for the first time in 9 months... yes, it was heaven. I have had 3 hours of sleep in 36 hours so I am exhausted, but utterly delighted. I have so much more to share, but right now Kynan is yelling at me: "Go get him! He's crying! You are too slow... go now." Elijah started crying 30 seconds ago. LOL.... bliss.

MIA... and Still Waiting

Well, I have to apologize to my readers because I have been MIA for a few weeks. Hopefully you will forgive me, as I have been preparing to birth my third bambino and finishing up some renovations. Pictures all soon to come, as my little girl broke our card reader and we still have not got a new one. And I am not patient enough to figure out the camera cords.

So the basement is finally finished (minus the bathroom). It looks fantastic. The kids love it. And Kynan especially loves that he knows where all his toys are. Everything has a place and everything in it's place. I know I am geeky, but have been extremely anal retentive lately and even find myself day dreaming about labelers AND labour.....

Which brings me to the 'still waiting' part of my title. Yes, I have officially gone overdue for the third time in my life waiting for a bambino to enter the world. I know that baby's come when they are ready, everything in good time, a watched pot doesn't boil..... but cut a girl some slack already. Can't I just once be one of those lucky pregnant ladies who go into labour early or even 'on time'??? No such luck; however, I just finished the most relaxing message given by my husband. And am ready to settle in for the night. No real contractions, but here is to hoping that baby decides to come soon. Just thought you would all like an update, but I am going to run now and kiss my baby girl good night.

Snip Bits of our Life Recently...