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He loves me!

On Saturday morning Chris came home with a card, two roses, and a DISHWASHER! What a sweetheart. The delivery man brought it an hour ago, and I can't wait to get it up and running. Trying to get the three big kids to bed at a decent time, do the dishes, clean up everything else, and then get Piper down every night seems to take hours (it does take hours), so this can at least cut down on the work that keeps me from the kids. I'm pumped.

I kind of forgot that this was here! My sister just commented on it, so I thought I would do a bit of an update on our lives over the last four months.

Piper has adjusted SO well to our family, and my knocking on wood helped. ;) She is still a very placid baby, and such a joy to have in our home. She adores all of the siblings, and especially her dad. It's interesting for me to not be the apple of my baby's eye, but I absolutely love watching the two of them together. If she can see him, she immediately lights up, and starts worming her way to get to him.

Jason is still doing really well in school. Chris still drives him to karate every week. There are a couple of distracting boys in his class, which make it hard for him not to fool around, as well. We've finally convinced him to stand next to the girls, and that their cooties won't reach him. :) Last week Chris said he was a lot more focused, and did better.

Mary still enjoys ballet, but I can't say that it's a passion for her. She was terrified at the mini-recital at Christmas, when they had to perform in front of the parents. And she hates that all they do is "skip" every week. I think she thought that she'd be Genevieve from the 12 Dancing Princesses movie after a few weeks. We'll see if I can convince her to go back next year, but it looks like it will have been a one-year try-out.

Jonah is still such a cutie. He's learning his colours, and learning how to count, and say his abc's. It's all adorable. His favourite colour is "ojur" (orange), and loves pointing out orange things all the time. One day before Christmas he was looking at a book, and I asked him what colour one of the pictures was in the book, he exclaimed "Apple!" Apparently, to him all colours should be named after the fruit, for which they are best known!

It's been a bit of a struggle for me since Christmas. Everyone has been sick since then, and we've all been tired and cranky. I'm hoping with the sunshine, and everyone healthy that we'll all be on the up swing now.

It's a Girl!!

Piper Rose Carnell was born at 10:54pm on Saturday, October 13. She weighed in at 9 Ib 2 oz, and 20.5 inches long. (Almost exactly the same size as Jason, 10 oz smaller than Jonah, and 2 Ib heavier than Mary). Everything is going well, and I look for a gigantic peice of wood to knock every time I comment on her placid nature. I'm sure fate will hear me, and remember that Carnell babies are anything but placid. LOL

The kids adore her. Jason sits and holds her for hours, just gazing at her. He told me yesterday that he loves her more than anything: more than his toys, and even more than his TMNT video game. THAT is a lot of love. Mary hated her name at first, and was a little obnoxious about it, but her behaviour is settling down, and she's completely enamoured with her baby sister. Jonah didn't notice her existence for the first two days, but held her for the first time yesterday. Now he's a bit possesive, which makes breastfeeding difficult, when you have a two-year-old constantly trying to pull her off your lap!!

Chris is completely smitten with our new "Princess Squeak" as she's been nicknamed. It's fun to watch daddies with their baby girls.

That's all here folks!

A quiet Thanksgiving.

My family went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving this year, so we were on our own at home. It has been really quiet, and restful. Although the baby didn't come this weekend, I wouldn't have been able to make the trip to Quill Lake very succesfully. Even driving to Climax for mass yesterday had my back in spasms.

I was going to do a "chicken dinner" yesterday, but Chris wanted to go to Shaunavon for brunch, so we did that, and had leftovers for supper. Kind of unconventional, but I DID make pumpkin pie for dessert. I think Jason was disappointed that we didn't have turkey and trimmings, as they've been learning about Thanksgiving at school, and I was told that Thanksgiving ranks right up there with Christmas and his birthday, as far as favourite holidays go. Next year, I guess. :)

I'm 38 weeks tomorrow, and it's within the vicinity of 38 weeks that both Jason and Jonah came. Mary made it almost to 40, so we'll see what happens in the next little while.

Back by demand :)

I've had a request to update my blog, so here you go!

The kids are back in school full swing, and loving it. I think they are really enjoying being in the same classroom. I think they enjoy being together, while still having other friends to interact with, etc. (It's also nice to hear another version of the stories that come home from school, as the communication coming from a four-year-old and six-year-old isn't always fully formed.)

Mary started ballet two weeks ago, and seems to really enjoy it. The studio isn't large enough for parents to stay and watch, so I have no cute stories to share. It will be exciting to see the recital in the spring though.

Jason started karate on Thursday night. He really enjoys the kicks and punches, but Chris said he wouldn't do the blocks. The only information I got out of him is that sensai's head is so shiny the light bounces off it. :)

Jonah is still crazy Jonah, but SO MUCH FUN. I don't ever remember enjoying a two-year-old quite like we enjoy him. Having older siblings really helps his vocabulary, and so he comes out with sentences and comments that are quite entertaining. He's a pretty pro-active personality, as well, which is really funny to watch. He's enjoying the quiet days at home when the kids are at school, and I think especially enjoys choosing toys and shows to watch with no fights. Sleep seems to elude him though, which is VERY frustrating for tired mom. The kid seems to be fueled by pure adrenaline.

I am now almost 37 weeks pregnant, so three weeks to go! We've been waiting for labour to begin for just under two weeks now though, so we'll see if any of these stop and start fits turn real before 40 weeks. I spent a night on the antenatal ward at RUH in Saskatoon last Sunday night, as I started having major contractions just as we were heading out of the city, after a marriage conference we had attended. But everything stopped on Monday morning, and the only thing that's happened since is major back pain!

Chris is still busy with work, but is home more than he was in the spring, so that's nice. He keeps his evenings busy with various video games, and other online entertainment (that sounds much worse than it actually is, LOL).

We will be sure to keep everyone updated if anything happens though.

Summer Recap

What a summer. Weddings, summer camp, birthday parties, my highschool reunion, an ordination, camping, heat waves, swimming pool, no air conditioning, VBS.

Now Jason and Mary BOTH start school next Thursday.

Jonah and I will be at home alone every other day until the baby is born, which is kind of crazy for me to wrap my mind around. I was kind of panicked at the idea for awhile, but he seems to have calmed down a lot, and is now content to watch Elmo, drive trucks, or sit in the sandbox.

Jason and Mary will be sharing a teacher/classroom/classmates this year, as they are in a split Kindergarten/Grade 1 class. I think they'll be just fine together, though. One of the little girls in Mary's class has been known for calling names, and specifically calling Jason "diaper" when he walks by her house. They were at the playground with Chris the other night, and this other little girl was there. Apparently, Mary walked up to her, and said "Hey! Why do you call my brother diaper!?" So, it looks like Jason might have a protector in his little sister. ;)