Eagerly Awaiting....

We are eagerly awaiting an incredibly important day, an incredibly important celebration. I love this picture of my three as it reminds me of that babe, that precious little one so many years ago. I love the expression on Zech and Gigi's face as it reminds me of the anticipation, the joy, that they have for their little brother and that we have in celebrating Jesus' birthday. I love that innocent yawn from Jude as it reminds of us how God chose to be present in this world. Imagine our Creator, the Creator of this world, this earth, descending down on earth in the most pure, innocent, and simple way possible. As a baby, born in a manger. Incredible, isn't!?

We have been playing Mary and Joseph at home. One day Genesis was Mary, Zech was Joseph and I was Grandma (so not ready for that title to be bestowed on me). Mary (ahem Gigi) kept having babies and the stroller was her donkey. She would have a baby and suddenly be ready to have another one. We eventually ran out of babies, so teddy bears worked well too. Of course there was only one special baby that was given the name Jesus. It is so incredibly awesome to see my kids imaginations at work and to see what is really important to them at this present time.

Shopping has been an adventure. We are having a birthday party alright. "Mom, can we buy this for Jesus' birthday, oh how about this, now this is what Jesus would really like!" Innocent enough, but loud enough so most people turn and look, some glare and some smile and some smirk. This is the true reason for the season. This is the real meaning of Christmas and it saddens me to think that it is so forgotten, so looked over. It humbles me that my 5 and 2 year old seem to get it, and are so extremely excited about celebrating His birthday! Now I need to prepare my heart and remind myself that it is all about celebrating HIM!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Jude at 3 months...

- weighs 14 lbs. 14 oz.
- is approx. 26 inches long
- wears size 2 diapers
- wears 3 to 6 month clothing and some 6 month clothing.
- He is still an eating machine, and I will even give him a bottle a day too, just to give me a break!
- He has been to three doctors (including the Childrens' hospital) and nobody seems to know why he has the horrible eczema and the diarrhea. We are taking him to a Natural Path soon, as we are so tired of them prescribing 'cortizone' cream to a 3 month old and not getting to the root of the problem.
- He is teething. Drooling like crazy, not sleeping, not feeding properly and his brother and sister both teethed early (3 and 4 months), so why shouldn't he.
- Is a horrible sleeper and we are still not on a schedule. He still cat naps all the time and I want him on a schedule!
- Went and talked with Santa and had his picture taken with him too.
- Smiles, smiles and smiles. Jude is such a smiley baby! Even though he has all sorts of stuff going on with his little body, he has a really great nature about him.
- Loves to talk and talk and talk and has now started blowing raspberries.
- Went to Edmonton and got to see his cousins and Grandma and Mr. Bill.
- Still loves to be on his play mat and hang with his monkey.
- Wants to be where he can see all of the action. He will cry for no reason other than to be picked up and held so that he can see everything.
- Loves when his brother and sister play with him.
- Likes to go for car rides and sleep.
- Goes to Mom and Tots and hangs out with all sorts of babies and kids.

Early Christmas present

I just had to share this awesome early Christmas present. A favourite digital designer is retiring and she is offering a 'Shopping Spree' for only $25. That's right you can buy her shop for $25. Check out Biograffiti here.

I have been wanting to get her Baby's First Album templates for a while now. I have been trying to figure out the best way to get all of my kids albums completed and thought digital would be the way to go. I have traditional pages for Zech, nothing but digital pages for Genesis and now absolutely nothing for Jude. So digital is what I am going to do and then whenever I can I will catch up on some of my traditional albums for the kids.

Want to see what all of my goodies would have cost me if I didn't have this $25 shopping spree....

SUBTOTAL:

$773.38 Discount coupon :

$773.38

DISCOUNTED SUBTOTAL:

$0.00

That's right I just got almost $800 worth of digital scrap goodies for $25. Merry Christmas!

Simply Us right now

A little glimpse of us right now. This blog is seriously neglected lately. I really use it as more of a journal, a record of our life. There are so many moments, conversations that I have wanted to blog but just haven't had the time and they are already forgotten.

For now, this is us, right now, right here and as tired as I am, I wouldn't change a thing. I love my three beautiful gifts from God, they are so precious to me.

Zech loves Kindergarten and today I asked him what his favourite thing about school is. His response was that his teacher Mrs. Hiebert knows Jesus. So indicative of his heart these days. He is on a mission to tell everyone about Jesus. I love how bold he is and I have learned so much from him these past two and a half months. It is amazing how God uses these little angels to teach us!


She is constantly needing 'stuff' on her 'wips'. She snuck into mommy;s purse and got a hold of my lip gloss. I finally bought her some of her own lip gloss and now I have it everywhere. In one day she went through a half a bottle of her lip gloss.

She could not be happier with her babies, her Jude and her Bible! Poor Jude....

My mister smiley! Even when he has been sick, he is still so smiley and cuddly. He is such a little monkey and totally melts all of our hearts.

Jude at 1 month and Jude at 2 months.....

I am behind, go figure! Oh well better late than never. I changed my mind on how I want to do his monthly photos, so hence the reason for two different photos. I originally wanted to get some felt or magnetic letters to put over top of his head each month, but didn't have any and in the end the old saying KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) kept popping in my head, so I am settling for the pic. of him and the teddy bear which his brother and sister picked out.

Jude at 1 month:

- weighs 11 lbs. 13 oz.
- is approx. 23.5 inches long (it is hard to measure him--I may be way off)
- wears size 1 diapers
- wears o to 3 month clothing, but it is getting tight.
- He is an eating machine! We can not believe how much this child eats!
- loves being in his car seat and going for car rides.
- loves his soother--yay!
- got his first cold.
- had a lot of first visitors to hold and cuddle him.
- is smothered in hugs and kisses from his brother and sister.
- has been a pretty content baby until he got his cold. We sometimes forgot he was here as he just slept through all of the madness!
- loves taking baths.
- has been on a few outings (the park, church, the mall, etc.)
- likes the baby bjorn for the most part.
- is so completely loved by his family! We are beyond blessed.



Jude at 2 months:

- weighs 13 lbs. 6 oz. (a week after this weight we had a check up and he was 13 lbs. 10 oz.)
- is approx. 25 inches long (according to the nurses measurements)
- wears size 2 diapers
- wears 3 to 6 month clothing, but it is getting tight.
- He is still an eating machine, I feel like I should just attach him to me!
- He has been our sick, fussy baby. After his cold he got the stomach flu from me.
- Had a visit to the hospital in Banff where we found out he has Scarlet Fever.
- Has had to take his first bout of antibiotics.
- Is such a gassy baby! Cat nip and Fennel are a true blessing (I know it sounds weird, but it totally calms 'colicky' babies--and he loves it).
- Slept through his brothers birthday and all of the birthday excitement.
- Got to see his cousins again.
- Loves the outdoors and rides in my 'new' to me Chariot.
- First family vacation to Banff.
- Is an extremely hot baby. It is hard to know how to dress him.
- Smiles, smiles and smiles. Jude is a really smiley baby!
- Loves to talk and talk and talk. Daddy and him have had some really long, exciting conversations. Mommy says he has to talk as he needs to be able to keep up with his brother and sister. How did I get such chatty kids?
- Loves his playtime mat--especially the monkey.
- Not on a schedule yet and I am praying that soon you will be. It has been a real rough month.
- Is still completely loved by his brother and sister. They love when he smiles at them now.
- Of course his Mommy and Daddy love him dearly and feel so blessed.

His poor skin looks so rough from his rash that he has. The sand paper like rash is one of the symptoms of Scarlet fever and it could last up to three weeks.

Still alive

I am so behind on blogging. There are a few sitting in the 'draft' box, waiting to be published and posted. To be honest, I haven't seemed to have much time to post and get some pictures up. This past month and a half has been a blur. Not to mention my computer has had some issues and I am a little panicked as I haven't backed up all of my photos yet (just since Jude was born--very important) and John usually takes his with him (not tonight though). So once I get my computer issues rectified and most importantly my pictures completely backed up, I will be back.

We had Zech's birthday, the stomach flu hit John, Jude and myself and it was ravenous! Zech and Gigi seemed to get the cold. Jude has been beyond fussy and we are now just starting to see our happy, content Jude again. He is such a hungry, gassy baby. We are finally figuring things out.

I just want to get a schedule down, but I realize he is only 7 weeks. Hopefully soon things will start to settle down and become routine. Praying so much for that lately. Genesis stopped napping (great timing) and the terrible two's are upon us. None the less she is such a character lately, it totally cracks me up. Just wait until I share some pictures of her lattest dress-up outfits (picture princess Darth Vader and Princess batman). Oh and yes, she went out in public like this and I was just happy to get her out of the door (picked my battles) to pick Zechariah up.

Zech is loving school and we feel so incredibly blessed that he has such an amazing teacher at a great school. She is terrific and really focuses on the children's hearts---yay! It is fun to hear the stories and see his work and excitement over playtime, an event, a field trip or even a story he picked out in the library.

John is beyond busy and sometimes I feel like I never see him. He is learning so much and it is really incredible to see how God is working!

Moi, well I am past my 6 weeks, so I have started working out again. I feel like the prison sentence has been lifted. I even took all 3 kids to the mall and survived--by myself! I am feeling stronger mentally, and emotionally. The baby blues hit me a little harder this time than expected. I started doing Jillian Michaels videos again as it is such an incredible workout in only 20 min. I am so weak though and I am really hurting. Genesis was quite concerned and wanted me to stop at one point. She is funny! I am still trying to figure out the best time to do it. I am such a morning work out person. I love running, working out in the mornings best, so hopefully I can squeeze it in before i have to pick Zech up from school.

Pictures and more posts soon....I promise. I even took a video of Jude talking and smiling away. He has been so happy and animated lately. It is so stinkin cute!

Three weeks...

Wow, our little Jude dude is already three weeks old. It certainly feels a lot longer, perhaps because it has been a rather long three weeks of trying to adjust, new routines, sickness, pain, frustration, tears, sleepless nights, amazement in how incredible God's handy work is, feelings of being completely and utterly overwhelmed, wrestling with God's voice versus the Devil. I think that about sums things up.

I hate having c-sections. This time around I spent almost the first two weeks sleeping on the couch in a weird upright position as I couldn't get comfortable in our bed. It was horrible.

I wish I was Supermom(is there such an super heroine--there should be and she would certainly be my favourite). You can't lift for 6 weeks, drive for 4 weeks and you are supposed to rest and take it easy. That may work for your first child, but not so much for number 3.

Why doesn't our medical system provide new moms with nurses like they do in Holland (the nurses come to your home for like a week and help out with anything and everything), or in Korea all new mothers who had to have c-sections get a special hospital room where they have to stay for 2 weeks. Their families (spouses) can stay with them, and basically take care of them for 2 weeks while they are forced to rest and do nothing but take care of themselves and their new little one(s)?

I wish I had a maid right now! It drives me nuts that I have to 'let' things go a bit.

I am having one of those days, for no particular reason. I seem to have them a bit lately. The biggest thing is feeling so completely and utterly overwhelmed and like the worst mother in the whole entire world. Thankfully John has the month off and has been amazing, as usual. He has a lot of his plate though too. It seems everything is falling into place for him at lightning speed and I know he is feeling a bit overwhelmed. I like to let him sleep at night because he has to get up and take Zech to school, but he is up every time with me, changing diapers, getting bottles, you name it. I do have an amazing husband and have no idea how on earth I would do this without him!!

Jude is a pretty content baby. We are slowly getting his days and nights turned around. He sleeps a lot during the day and sleeps a lot period. I don't think I have ever had an infant sleep like he does--I just wish it were more during the night. He eats like you would not believe and after 11 days was up to 9 lbs. 5 oz. Pretty darn good!

Zech started school and has to be up by 6:30 am every morning. Right now he gets up with daddy and thinks that is the best thing. He asks every morning if daddy is going to wake him up. He is transitioning, but not to say it has been smooth, as we have had our issues.

Genesis has been sick and up every single night three, to four times a night. Before she was really sick, she would get up every time she heard Jude get up and come into our room. She would want to help feed him or just lie beside me as I fed him. We finally had to put a gate up on her door as we never knew when she would come in, but now we have to get up and go to her as she screams out. Erghh! I know that she is dealing with the new transition too. We are struggling with her naps, and did I mention she uses her cough when she wants attention as well. Not only that, she has become a hypochondriac. We have noticed that she has all sorts of owies every time she feels like she isn't getting the attention she wants. She is a great help though and truly is like a little mother. I know it will take time.

So this is our life in a nut shell right now. I am super exhausted, overwhelmed, dealing with the hormones and the constant tears that seem to come upon me at ridiculous times (especially since I am not a public crier). None the less I am blessed beyond as I get to be the Mom of these three incredible kids. I take this job seriously, humbly and graciously! God is good and I have such an amazing family.

(such a horrible family picture that we had to take for some family members surprise anniversary book---yes my eyes are puffy and I converted it to black and white so you couldn't see how blotchy my face looks (it was one of those days), but it is imperfect us)

Love this picture of my three angels!

Welcome sweet baby Jude!

I have been trying to get a blog posted about the newest, sweetest addition to our family. It seems time is a thing that I really don't have much of these days.

Our little boy arrived September 2nd (as scheduled) at 10:26 am. Not much of a 'birth story' here as it was a scheduled c-section. However, he is here and we are absolutely ecstatic.

Name: Jude Daniel Gooch
Weight: 8 lbs. 13 oz.
Length: 20.5 inches long

The kids absolutely adore him and smother him in hugs and kisses. We are adjusting and getting used to being a family of five, not to say that we haven't had our challenges.

Not Sure how old, the box spring had mold and I lost in a fight with a dog.

I am entering to win a new mattress from this awesome blog I love. I really don't know how old this mattress is. My hubby got it before we were even married. We had a King size mattress handed down, but kept this one just in case. Good thing as the King size got mold, along with the box spring that was supposed to be with this one.

Also before we were even married, this mattress also got into a fight with a dog and lost as you see in the picture (the nice hole circled in green). We are using plywood for the box spring now and we are hoping that it will hold up for a bit yet so we can save for or win a new one.

I would love to win the Tempur-pedic mattress right now as it would be heavenly after having another c-section in a couple days!

Here's hoping, you can vote for ours on the blog! :o)

One Thousand Gifts

It has been a while since I posted one of these. I am still counting and have so much to be grateful for! I am also counting down the days until our newest little 'Gooch' arrives! Only 5 more days and we will meet this little miracle.

We have been busy this past month. The move went so extremely well, we were both amazed at how 'good' God truly is. He was always one step ahead of us every inch of the way. It was truly incredible. We still have had little glitches here and there, but that is to be expected. We still have a lot to get organized as well, but I am learning to let go and just focus on what we have accomplished and what really is important (hard for me as I have this 'nesting' thing going on full bore!).

So over the past few weeks, we have had so much to count:

81. Safe travels and perfect weather for our move.



82. Affordable hotel rooms, when we needed it most.

83. A nice, new place to call home for the year. It is quaint, but nice and affordable for us. Not to mention the neighbourhood is really nice and quiet.

84. Finding a doctor, in the most bizarre, God orchestrated way.

85. Family outings and the love these two have for the outdoors, the beaches, the mountains, and just exploring!



86. A husband who keeps me sane or my sanity in check!



87. Amazing sermons.

88. Reconnecting with friends!

89. Meeting new additions to the family and seeing family we haven't seen in a while.

90. Baby bellies! :o)



91. Seeing my nephews and of course my dear sister again!

92. Knowing that I have a year off with these three. I love being at home with my sweet hearts!



93. Hanging with our friends from Regina in Canmore! We are beyond blessed to have the Paille's in our lives. So many fun times with this family and we are so grateful for the ways they helped us out!

94. A backyard (even if it's small) and the trampoline! They love it and could spend hours on it!

C is for Cookie - long overdue post

I have had this sitting in the 'draft' for a while now and just needed to format and post some pictures. So here it is, our little Princesses birthday!

The theme for Gigi's birthday was Cookie Monster. One of her favourite songs is "C is for Cookie" and she belts it out. It is so cute! She also loves the Cookie Monster Alphabet DVD that we bought and will sing the Alphabet along with Cookie.

I thought I would share a few things that we did for her party, and there were definitely a few things that I would have done differently. Oh well, live and learn.

I made two different types of Cookie Monster cupcakes due to allergies. Genesis is allergic to eggs and I thought it would be challenging to come up with a cake that had no eggs. I almost went out and bought an ice-cream cake. However my friend found this chocolate cake recipe that did not have eggs. I was a little nervous, as most chocolate cakes I have made by scratch are dry, but these turned out amazing! I will share the recipe.

I made 12 eggless chocolate cupcakes and used Oreo's (they don't have eggs in them either) and then I made 12 white cupcakes and used Chips Ahoy cookies. I used buttercream icing and blue gel to make it blue. I also bought the bulk, long unsweetened coconut and used the food gel on it as well to dye it blue. The coconut with the buttercream was really nice! For the eyes I bought white chocolate 'circles' and black icing for the pupils. I had to experiment with the cupcakes to find the best technique. I actually cut a slit in the cupcakes for the cookie, stuck the cookie in and then iced around it. It seemed to work the best.

For the gift bags I found the brown paper gift bags at the dollar store. I made labels that read:

Genesis's birthday is brought to you by the letter G and the number 2. Thanks for celebrating with us (found this on a website).

I also bought bubbles for the gift bags and put new labels on them that read "B is for Bubbles". I re-did all of the water bottle labels as well. They read, "W is for Water, as refreshing as can be."

I made cookies and had the kids decorate cookies when they arrived. I also gave Cookie cutters in their goodie bags and I wanted to do 'cookies in a jar' for each guest, but I ran out of time and ended up loading them up with pre-packaged cookies and candy (something I would have changed).

We found a Cookie Monster pull-string pinata at Bulk Barn on sale. I also filled a jar of cookies and had all of the adults and older kids make their guess. At the end the closest guess took home the jar of cookies.

We ended up having the party inside, rather than outside at the park. It was a little cramped, but we survived. It would have been much easier outside! I know that Genesis had a great time and was so excited for her Cookie Monster birthday and that made everything so worth while. I will admit that I had fun doing the different things and making the cupcakes as well, even though it was pretty time consuming. I am on the look-out for ideas for Zech's birthday now! :o)

Here are a few photos:



Recipe:

Chocolate Snacking Cake

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup warm water

· In mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients; mix thoroughly.

· Add liquid ingredients

· Stir with whisk until blended

· Pour into lightly greased 8 inch square cake pan

· Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean