~ Coming Home ~

For anyone that doesn't already know, my brother has been serving a six-month tour in Afghanistan since February......I spoke with my mom yesterday who talked to him and we got the great news that he will be coming home soon!
I would ask for continued prayers for his safety and the safety of all the soldiers serving overseas and thanks to all of you who covered my brother, his fiancee and my family in prayer over the last 6 months.

:: If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them ::

Denay Update

So today Denay had her final visit with the midwives........here are her vitals. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces at birth at now at six and a half weeks she is 9 pounds 9 ounces. She was 18 inches long with a head circumference of 33 inches and now she's 22 inches long and has a head circumference of 37 inches. So our little girl has definitely grown! As for me, curiosity was eating at me so I weighed myself while we were there, and I am at the same weight that I was when I first weighed in when I was four months along. So all in all it was a great visit.....I am sure going to miss those ladies. I feel like I walked away with some pretty special friends!

:: Happy Sweet 29th Mom & Dad ::

:: Today my Mom and Dad celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary! ::Best wishes and love on your anniversary mom and dad. There is no way to thank you adequately for all you've done and all you've been to me. I love you both so very much........here's to 29 more years!

~ My Name Is Denay, And I Am Six Weeks Old ~

Last night, Trev and I took Denay down to Nanaimo for a baby photoshoot with Gloria Bell......who seems to quickly becoming our own personal photographer! This is the proof she sent us - just a little teaser. :: I borrowed this collage off my MIL blog........pictures she took while visiting us on Quadra ::
So Cute!

:: Curious ::

I've tried and tried to upload a ticker to my blog to track visits but to no avail! So, because I have nothing better to do (and the curiousity is killing me), I would love to hear from those of you that visit my blog that don't comment or that I don't know.........humor me. Let me know where you visit from........Look forward to hearing from you!

Camping + Family = Summer

To say the least, it has been WAY too long since I've been camping. Most of my best memories growing up were spent in a trailer or on a boat, so it was such a treat to be able to do both for the first time with my husband and baby. My parents have been going to Quadra for four years now and it was great to be able to camp their fourth year with them.

:: Our campsite and my parents trailer ::

:: Trev and I lounging in the Zero-Gravity chairs ::
:: Looking for oysters ::

:: Me and my Baby Girl ::

:: The marina where the boat was moored ::

:: Gorgeous sunset over Drew Harbour ::

:: Trevor and I ::

:: Walking Rebecca Spit with Trev, my parents, and the two babies ::

:: Pulling up the prawn traps - I could only do about 50 feet and then I got tired ::

:: Charmaine having some fun in Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island ::

:: The narrow channel leaving Gorge Harbour ::

:: Mum and I on the boat touring around the islands ::

:: Our biggest prawn pull. I think there were 70 or so ::

:: My mom, having FINALLY got Denay to sleep decided to multi-task rather than put her down ::

:: No idea where this is but it was sure pretty! ::

:: Denay sound asleep in the cuddy of the boat ::

:: One of Trev's catches ::

I didn't want to picture overload so I tried to chose the best ones! Hope you're having an awesome summer...........

:: The Many Faces Of Denay ::

Just thought it was time for an update on our quickly growing baby girl. Most of these were taken while camping up on Quadra with my parents.........enjoy!:: I LOVE this one ::

:: This is what our lovely girl looks like when she wakes up ::

:: She is our Sunshine ::

:: HOME ::

Well.......we're back. Just arrived before noon today and to say the least we had an awesome time. It was so very relaxing and enjoyable. Denay did so well and we had quite a few nights where she slept 6-7 hours. Sigh. That girl is well travelled I tell ya! We are busy unpacking and doing a tonne of laundry so stay tuned for pictures. Hope ya'lls summer is kickin'!

Off To Quadra......

Not four days after unpacking, we are stuffing it all back in and heading north tonight to go camping with my parents and family friends on Quadra Island. Hope you all have a great long weekend! God Bless........

Ontario 2008

Last week, thanks to the early arrival of Denay, we were able to fly back east with my whole family (sans Nathan of course) to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. So say the least I was very nervous about taking Denay on such a grand trip at such a young age but she was a true angel, for the most part :) She flew extremely well and the passengers around us had no idea we were travelling with a young baby.
:: Oma with Denay on the plane ::

It was a super long day of travel but we made it all in one piece.

:: Trevor climbing the silo on the old farm ::
:: Dad and Trev looking over the wheat fields ::
:: Ryan playing a form of shuffleboard that we've loved since we were kids ::

:: Grandma holding her great grand daughter ::

:: Denay and Auntie Brice having some cuddle time ::

:: Trev keeping us all laughing.......trying on grandpa's glasses ::

:: Aunt Chris and my cousins Brittany and Cassie ::

:: Just before the big dinner we presented our gift of a large photo of the family ::

:: Almost all of us ::

:: Dad, Mom, Kevin and Ryan at the head table ::

:: A little family shot ::

:: Little Miss Muffett in her party dress ::

:: The couple of honor ::

:: Another almost complete family photo ::

:: Trevor was playing around in the fields with the camera while I napped :::: An infamous Ontario thunderstorm rolling in ::

:: A four generation shot. Grandma kept telling me that she thought Denay wanted to stay with her ::

:: And she clearly would be in good hands ::

Though very tired, we had a great time and again are so grateful that we got chance to go. What an example we have of a what a marriage truly based and centered on the Lord can become and how long it can last. Congratulations Grandpa and Grandma, and we wish you more to come!

:: Me Too, Mommy ::

Here is Denay's "Spice It Up" picture, drool and all.........I took some earlier but when loading them realized she was flipping the bird :) That's my girl!

* The Challenge *

My SIL Shawna put out a challenge on her blog to post a picture of you right now. So here I am after finally getting Denay down to sleep and getting to eat breakfast.........at 11:00.

But, must run now.......someone is squirming herself awake on the couch :)

{ Bye Bye Uncle Kevin }

Last night my brother Kevin came over to say goodbye as he is leaving on Monday to start a new job in Fort McMurray, Alberta, working at a bus company as a mechanic. :: Uncle Kevin with Denay ::

It's so cute seeing my tough, redneck brother get all squishy over Denay! We love you so very muchly Kevin and look forward to your first visit home and wish you the best of luck in your new job!

:: MyStory, HerStory ::

Well, three whole weeks of tears, diapers, sleepless nights and joy have passed already so I thought it was maybe time to share the wonderful story of Bambino Denay's grand entrance into the world!
I had my regular scheduled midwife appointment on the 9th of July where Kate measured me to find out I had lost a centimeter since the week before. Crap. I also shared with her I had been noticing less movement over the past 6 days. So just to be safe, she sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test (which was perfectly normal), some bloodwork (that was mostly normal) and an ultrasound (that again, was great). So after three and a half hours I was sent home feeling pretty good and reassured.
The next morning, I got up as usual with Trevor at 8:00 and used the washroom so find some, um, not normal stuff on the paper. I came downstairs and felt like I needed to use the washroom again to find the same thing. So I called my mom and she confirmed what I thought, that I probably just passed my plug. I wanted to be excited but my midwife had assured me that it doesn't mean labour is imminent. So I kissed my hubby off to work and just as he was walking out of the carport I felt like I may have lost a little bladder control.....eww, yuck. I used the washroom again and put on a pad thinking it was my plug. Then as the morning went on I was noticing more and more liquid and was changing the pad every half hour. So I called my mom again and she suggested I call the midwife because it sounded like I was having a high leak water membrane rupture. So I did that and she wanted to phone me in a couple hours after getting some sleep (she had just come home from a birth at 9:30 in the morning). So I doddled around the house, called Trev and before I knew it Selena was on the phone. I had still been "leaking" and she agreed it sounded like my water. So we made arrangements to meet at the hospital to get my first round of antibiotics (as I tested positive for group B strep) and to have a chat about our plan. As soon and Trev and my mom were here we made our way to the hospital and was hooked up to the monitor to check the baby. She looked just awesome.......then I had some decisions to make. To stick to our home birth plan or not, to be induced or not, and to start the antibiotics right away or not. Needless to say I had a breakdown and confessed how scared I was and wished someone else would decide for me. In the end we chose to have the first round of antibiotics, and then head home and see how things go. We left the hospital around 2:30 and I was 2 centimetres dilated. We ran to Subway for lunch then met my mom back at our place when labour soon started to become more intense. By around 4:15 or so the contractions started to become regular at about every 4-5 minutes lasting around 45 seconds. By just before 6:00, when I was supposed to head back to the hospital for the second round of antibiotics the contractions were every three minutes lasting about one minute. So Selena came to the house with the medication knowing that she wasn't going to be leaving again. From there we moved from downstairs on the ball, to upstairs standing up and resting my arms on the bed to the tub then back to the bed. At just after 6:00 Selena checked me and I was 6 centimetres.....I remember everyone else being excited, I just wanted the contractions to stop! Things continued to get more and more intense and I had times that I honestly thought I couldn't go on. At just before 9:00 Selena checked me again and I was 9 centimetres. So through three very awful contractions, she "helped" me dilate fully to 10 centimetres. Once I was told I could really push (I had been sort of pushing for about 15-20 minutes) Denay came fast. With every push she came lower and lower and Selena was worried the second attending midwife wouldn't make it in time. By the time Kate got there she had just enough time to put on her gloves and ready the oxytocin shot before the head was out. I remember very distinctly the look on Trevor's face when he told me he could see the head........I remember being asked if I wanted to see the suddenly feeling desperately scared that this was actually happening. I remember hearing Kate beside me, with tears in her eyes, say "It's so beautiful".........I remember Selena asking Trevor if he wanted to catch the baby and him pulling her out and up onto my chest. And I remember his face when he looked at her for the first time, then at me. She was very quiet when she came out.......only crying a little while after. I remember hearing my mom scream with Trevor's mom right outside the door when she told her we'd had a girl. Then I remember realizing I'd never even asked what it was..........the rest was a blur of friends and family in and out and crying and laughing and hugging and pictures. I would have gotten away tear free had Denay not brought her arm across her face just as she came out but just a few stitches on the inside. I didn't sleep much that night........or any night in the last three weeks for that matter.
I feel so grateful for the people that were around me and for the wonderful experience bringing our daughter into the world was. I feel so blessed that my labour went well enough for me to have Denay at home like I truly wanted.......I still have a hard time believing she is ours sometimes. She is such a beautiful treasure and was well worth the pain labour.
Hope I did induce any nightmares with my story......and hope you enjoyed. XOXO

Praise the LORD

I am so excited to report that we had the best night since Denay was born (three weeks ago already) last night. She woke up at 6:00pm and was awake until 9:30pm..........yeesh! Fed and stuffed, with a clean bum she was just fussy. So I fed her just after 9:00pm and she still fussed and cried. I laid her on her belly on my chest (her favourite spot) and gently got her to take her soother and within minutes the poor tired dear gave up. We put her in her crib and had lights out just before 10:00pm. And praise God, hallelujah she didn't wake up until 3:00am! Then I fed her in bed and put her in her little sleeper bed on the floor and we didn't hear from her again until 7:00am. Needless to say I feel like a million bucks! Sigh.