He's Done!!

He finished, my husband, that is! He is now offically a member of the RCMP police force. We were in Regina over the weekend to see his graduation, which is quite a show, let me tell you. It made for a really busy weekend. They had a special multifaith church service, a info session for families about what to expect, graduation, drill show, passout, ceremony to recieve their badges and then a formal banquet in the evening. Needless to say by the time we arrived back on tuesday I was exhausted. Micah did not do very well and cried an awful lot and didn't sleep very much, another reason for my exhaustion by the end of it all. He seems to be happiest at home, well what he knows as home, my in-laws. When we got home, he went from crying and fussing to cooing and smiling.

So the next step is the big move..fun, fun... At least the RCMP pays for movers to come and pack and move our stuff. Now if we can only find a place to live:)

The end is near

One more week and Ken graduates from the RCMP training program. Six months without him. Boy, it's gone fast, yet slow. I can hardly believe that he is almost done. The next month is going to be pretty crazy though, since he got posted to the Island and he starts dec 17th. We have to find a place somehow, so we won't all be together for a bit yet. But hopefully soon this will be over.

I will say I have great sympathy for single mom's. I don't know how they keep going year after year. I have had many days where I have thought I just didn't know how I would keep on going, especially after Micah was born. So just want to say if any of you know any single moms find a way to give them a hand, b/c it's incredibly tough to go it on your own.

Help

Any help, ideas, advice on how to get a baby to go to sleep during the day, without spending hours with them in the room and without letting them cry it out. I've tried the baby whisperer stuff, but it doesn't seem to be working properly, so i'm probably doing something wrong. Anyway, if anyone could tell me what worked for them, i would really appreciate it.

And then there were two

I should be sleeping, not blogging, but i can't help myself right now:)

Let me just say that having two has become much harder than I anticipated. At the beginning I remember thinking this is pretty easy, but that of course was because Micah pretty much slept all the time. As week two drew to a close and week three began Micah decided he didn't really want to sleep so much anymore. Not only that but he started to cry after almost every feeding, and the spit up,wow, some days I think I changed his clothes a bazillon times. I felt guilty too, b/c I was spending so much time trying to get the Little one (although he's not so little) to sleep or bouncing or rocking him to help him calm down that I hardly had any time for Joshua. He was well occupied by his cousins and grandparents, but I was really missing having time with him. Anyway, I was at my wits end, exhausted mentally and emotionally and physically when I read through the baby whisperer book again and three days ago started trying it and it seems to be getting better. It's only taking 1/2 an hour now, although admittedly he isn't sleeping as long as he used to, but i'm just so estatic that i'm not having to spend so much time in the room getting him to sleep. So hopefully it will keep getting better. It has sure ramped up my prayer life.

To be honest it's probably all my fault that it got like this. I let him fall asleep on me to many times in the first few weeks. I find it so hard not to, as I just love holding him when he's all droopy and sleepy. it's funny b/c I was so determined not to let him fall asleep while eating, like I did with joshua, b/c i didn't want to create a bad habit, so instead i created a different bad habit. Well the pain of having to undo this hopefully will stay with me so I finally get it right with the third one.

Anyway, I have to say that I can't wait until he doesn't need to sleep so much, so I'm only having to put him down for naps a few times a day, as right now I dread naptime.

Here's to hoping and praying that sleeping gets easier for him and I eventually don't have to help him at all. And that having two gets easier and that I get more organized and on top of things.

Finally, the promised pictures

Wow, can't believe it's taken me this long to post pictures. Micah is now 5 weeks old, as of today and as of last week friday he weighed 12 pounds. Yep a big boy! Below is a picture of him now.



Micah at 4 weeks old

After his first bath. He actually didn't cry. Joshua hated his first bath.

Daddy and baby! He sure looks smaller to me in this pic! Can't believe how fast they grow.

Joshua and new baby brother. He has adjusted surprisingly well to the new addition.

Sleeping...ahhh... If only i could get as much sleep as he does :) sigh... At least Joshua is finally taking his naps again, so I have been able to get some much needed zzz's..yay!

Birth Story

Well, I finally have a few minutes to spare as both kids are in bed and i'm actually not feeling to tired at the moment.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, Micah decided to enter this world with a bang. I had been having contractions and cramping on and off for the past three weeks or so and had had a false alarm two days before, so when I woke up at 4:30 Friday morning and started to feel some contractions again, I brushed it off as no big deal, figuring they would stop soon. Well, they didn't and at around 5ish they started to get more painful, so I tentatively began to hope that this was the real thing. However, I didn't want to call my mom to come get me until I was sure this was it. Well, by 5:30 ish I all of a sudden started to feel nauseous and that's when I knew this baby was coming and I'd better call my mom, because I always get nauseous during transition. My Dad came and got me, apparently my mom got out of bed too fast when the phone rang and was dizzy. Picked my mom up. Got to the Hospital at 6:15. Went up to Maternity. They put me in Triage. Checked the heart rate etc. I think I was there for all of 5 minutes. Then I had to push and of course I wasn't far enough along so I was told not to, which is extremely hard to do. They promptly brought me to the delivery room where I was finally allowed to push. and 20 minutes later voila out comes baby boy. Wow! I could not believe how fast it went. Micah was born at 6:55, only 40 minutes after getting to the hospital.

pictures to come....

He's Here

Just a quick note to let those of you who still read this know that Micah Andrew Ravensbergen was born Friday morning at 6:55. He was 9 pounds, 9 ounces and really long, can't remember the actual measurment of the top of my head. Once things start to settle down and I actually have some free time, I'll post a more detailed account.

Still Waiting

This child does not want to come. I have to say that I am quite surprised that I have gone this far past my due date. Last time I was 2 days early, so I really didn't expect to still be waiting for this child to come. Yesterday, I thought that it was on the way, but turned out I was wrong.

Ken is coming out this weekend, so I'm praying that the baby will come while he is out here, otherwise he won't see the baby until it's almost a month old.

So here I am still waiting and hoping that this baby will come soon!

Waiting

It seems like all I'm doing right now is waiting. Waiting for Ken to finish school--boy does it seem to be taking forever--and waiting for this baby to come. I will say I'm getting a little impatient. I wish this baby would hurry up and come. My due date is next monday, the 24th, but i am so done with being pregnant. I wish the days would go a little faster,not only b/c I can't wait to meet this baby, but also because I can't wait for Ken to be done and to be back home with us. I never thought that it would be so hard having Ken away. I don't know how army wives do it.

So here I sit waiting....

The last four weeks

So, it's been a crazy, busy, hectic month to say the least, what with packing and moving and trying to fit in some family vacations before Ken's departure.
Here is our last month, in pictures. Not in the right order though, thanks to Blogger.





Ken and I went away, by ourselves, to Harrison Hot Springs for a couple of days. It was wonderful. This is the view from the balcony. We also had a nice view of the gardens from the window. We got a complimentary upgrade, which was wonderful, b/c their older rooms aren't all that nice. I have to say, I love it here. It's just lovely and relaxing. The only downfall is that there aren't any really cheap places to eat. Although, the buffet breakfast was included in our package, so that helped and it was really good too.

Camping! Here's Joshua pumping up the air mattress, which sometime between then and bedtime developed a tear, so deflated and we ended up sleeping on the rocks. Oh the joy. Thankfully one of the other couples we went with, who was only staying one night, left theirs with us, so the second night was a lot better.

Victoria, in front of the parliment buildings. We had a lovely weekend, staying with friends of Ken's who moved out there a while ago.

Joshua and friend playing in the sand. As you can tell from the clothes they are wearing, it wasn't really a beach day. But we all had a lot of fun anyway. It was a really neat beach. We found some sea enemies (sp?) and they kept Joshua fascinated for a good 1/2 hour.

On the ferry to Victoria. Always fun. Joshua was excited to go on the "big boat."

So, here are our new digs. I couldn't believe all the stuff we had to bring along. But we managed to fit everything into our room. Things have been going really well so far at the in-laws. Joshua loves seeing his cousins all the time. It's funny how they get so excited to see each other and then 10 minutes later they are fighting like cats and dogs over some toy. But he does miss his Daddy, as do I, and keeps asking when he's coming back on the big plane.

Cleaning: a whole day affair, who would've thought. That's what happens when you are a bit too obsessive about having every inch sparkling clean. Good heavens, if I ever have to move out of a house, it might take a week to clean it:)

All our furniture when into storage. We decided to go with containers, which was great, because they delievered them right to our door. We packed it up. They took them away. No back and forth with a van or truck. And then when we know where we are going to be in six months, we just call them up and they deliver it right to our front door to unload. Let me tell you it was worth the money.

Boxes, boxes everywhere!!

I never realized how much stuff we had collected over the past four years until we had to pack it all up. I even got rid of a lot, but we still seemed to have masses of stuff.

So that's the last month, crazy, yet loads of fun. And now that Ken is gone, reality has started to set in. We miss him a lot, but it helps to be surrounded by family. Although six months kind of feels like 10 years to me right now. But hopefully, we can fly out to see him in a couple of weeks, before I get too pregnant:)

Value Village

I actually had the car today, which is a very rare event. So, I thought hmmm maybe I should go check out some second hand stores, since i'm looking for a sit and stand stroller. There's a really cute little second hand store that I discovered a while back, but when I arrived it hadn't opened yet, so to kill time we went to check out Value Village, since it was close. And let me tell you Value Village is not a good deal for second hand clothes. I was looking at some of the infant girl stuff, because my niece just turned one and I thought maybe I could find something cute there. And it was not what I would consider cheap. I think the outfits ranged from 5$ to 8$ or so. So you might be thinking well it's a lot cheaper than buying it new, although I have bought new kids clothes on sale for around that price. But consider this when I went back to the first place, now open, and looked there I found beautiful outfits for 2$. How can you beat that. And since I love girls clothes, I couldn't resist buying a whole wack of outfits for my niece. My sister-in-law will probably be estactic. It's great that she doesn't care if something is new or not, b/c you sure can get a whole lot more with those kind of prices. Oh, and I also found some cute maternity pants for around 8$. which was great because within a matter of weeks the two pairs of pants I can still wear sprouted holes in the knee. But no stroller :(

So the moral of the story. if you are looking for a deal, don't shop at Value Village.

So Cute..

Okay, so mother's day...i know, i know, a little late on the post with this one-- we were at Ken's parents' place. Ken had given his mom a nail set; it makes your nails look all nice and shiny. So, he showed his mom how it worked (the lady selling it in the mall had given him directions). All the while Joshua is watching so intently, just fasinated with the process. Ken finishes showing his mom and Joshua decides to take over for him. It was priceless, and of course we forgot to grab the camera. He was concentrating so hard on following all the steps. First buffer (not sure what it's called:) ). The rough side then the smooth side. Then a drop of oil, rubbing it in just so. Then he got out the file, which he tried to first use on his grandma's finger, ouch! I just couldn't get over how focused he was on his task. Maybe a future manacurist:)!!! Hey, boys can do it too can't they?

change

I have a bit of a hate/love affair with change. I love the idea of it, until it actually happens and then I hate it. I remember when I was 11 and my parents told us we would be moving to Canada for a couple of years, which obviously turned out to be more than a couple of years. At first I was so excited, envisioning all the wonderful new things in store for me in Canada. Then the day approached and excitment turned to tears at the thought of having to leave what I knew and loved behind.

Well, once again I am being faced with change. We just found out that Ken got accepted into the RCMP training program. This means that in about six weeks he will be gone for six months to Regina, Saskatchewan. This also means that I will be moving in with my in-laws for that six months, as although they do give him some money while he's there, it's not enough to cover all our expenses. It also means that he may miss the birth of our second child, although I'm going to be praying really hard that I go into labour on a weekend he is out visiting. I have also realized how much I'm going to miss the rhythmn of my life out here. Even though for the first couple of years, I did not want to be here, I have become completly contented with my life here. I'm am also a little unsure as to what it will be like living with my in-laws (my parents, unfortunately, don't have enough room for us all)! I will very much miss having my own place. But am very grateful for my in-laws generous offer. So, now that the reality of change has come, I am no longer so excited about it and yes a little sad to leave everything I have come to know behind. Yet, I'm sure once I get more used to the idea, I will get excited once again for what God will do with our little family this year.

First visit to the Dentist

So Joshua had his first visit to the Dentist and it went really well. I, unfortunatly, missed the event b/c I had to look after my daycare kid, so Ken took him.

I guess all the prep work paid off b/c he wasn't scared and did everything they asked him to do. Ken said he kept his mouth w i d e open the whole time. I laughed when he told me that. Joshua was very proud of his new toothbrush too. Now he has three, believe it or not. My dentist gave him one too, when he came to watch me get my teeth done, which was no fun by the way. I think the Hygenist I had came from the more pain is good school of thought. I don't think I've ever had such a painful cleaning before. Anyway back to Joshua, what's really cute now is that when he prays at meal times he says, "thank you for the Dentist and the dentist hygenist." Funny kid.

Here are some pictures from his visit. don't you love the cool sunglasses:)

I'm turning into a whale!

I'm feeling huge now a days. I swear that I'm growing larger so much faster this time. A little scary, as I don't want to get too big---my skin doesn't like stretching so much:( And why am I so hungry all the time?? I was never hungry with Joshua. I ate the same as when I wasn't pregnant. But this time, it's like i'm never satsified and it's hard constantly having to fight against these cravings for basically junk food, that I never had before. I gave in the other night and went to safeway and bought some jelly bellies and ate the whole bag in one sitting! I don't think I touched candy much when pregnant with Joshua, as i was worried it might affect him somehow. If I keep going at this rate, I think i'm going to be a blimp by the time nine months rolls around.

This little one sure moves a lot. It's wonderful and at the same time a little disconcerting to feel these kicks and rolls. I wish I could have my own ultrasound machine to see exactly what my little one is doing in there. I wonder if they ever get bored!! hmmmm

Excited

Yay! I had my first, and only, ultrasound this morning. I'm always a little nervous before Ultrasounds, as my mind busily conocts all the things that could be wrong with the baby. Then I watch the technichan for any signs that something is wrong--b/c they never tell you, you always have to wait and find out from your doctor, which I hate. And it's not till I get to see the baby myself that I can finally relax.

Aren't ultrasounds just the most amazing things? To think that you actually get the opportunity to see your baby way before it's even born. It's nice to be able to see that all the parts are there, although for awhile today I thought the baby was missing one arm. The technican reassured me that both arms were in fact there. And the baby seems to be fine. Phew! The baby(which secretly I refer to as she, but I probably shouldn't do that, just in case it's a he, but i can't seem to help myself) was sucking his/her thumb and stretching and swallowing. All such normal actions, but I was totally in awe and in love already. And to think people abort their babies even at this stage---i just shudder at the thought.

Joshua got to come in and see the pictures of the baby too, but he didn't really seem to care all that much. I dug out his ultrasound picture when we got home to show him and b/c i wanted to compare the pictures. This one does look different. The head is smaller, hmmm so maybe that means a girl??????

Anyway, just had to share this, as am thrilled to have sort of met my new baby and can't wait to meet him or her in person.

Oh and I decided to drink a little less water this time and am i glad i did. It was so much less painful and uncomfortable than the other times i've had it done.

What a week

So, Ken and I were supposed to go away this week to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary (can't believe it's been 4 years already), but as you can probably guess by the way I started this sentence, it didn't happen. Joshua got sick on Monday with a fever that just would not go away. And it lasted all week, finally breaking yesterday. It was a little scary for me, because I had never seen a fever stay for so long and it was so high too, anywhere from 102-104. We had two trips to the doctor. First time they figured it was viral, so couldn't do anything. Second time, we were given antibiotics b/c the doctor was concerned about how high his temperature was. So he is now on antibiotics and seems to slowly be doing better. he finally napped for longer than an hour today (actually he's still sleeping now:) )! And, i can't wait till he's fully better and i don't have to give him those nasty antibiotics. not a fan of them, but it's amazing what you will do when you are worried about your child. I'm giving him probiotics too, so hopefully the antibiotics won't mess up his digestive system too badly.

This has therefore been a week of little sleep and much prayer. I really realized how little control i have over events in my life. I feel drained emtionally and physically from all that happened and yet I realize that in comparision to what other people go through ,are going through, this is nothing. I don't know how people do it: stay strong, especially those whose kids have cancer. How devestating to watch your child suffer and feel so powerless to do anything about it.

Bits and Bobs

well, I finally decided it was time to get of my lazy butt and write another entry. So what's new in my world..lets see..

1. I've been sick twice in the past two months, which is a record for me as i rarely ever get sick. First with the Flu, which i don't think i've actually ever had before, maybe when i was a kid, but not in the past 15 years anyway. Then I got the 24 hour stomach, everything leave your body flu, and Joshua, of course, got it too. Thankfully it happened at night and I didn't have to deal with his puke and mine all at the same time and my wonderful husband changed Joshua's sheets at least 3 times....we had trouble getting to his bed with the bucket in time, he's in our room, so it shouldn't have been a problem, but just missed it everytime, except once, i think.

2. Ken and Joshua and I went with some friends and their son to Harrision Hot Springs Hotel for one night and it was heavenly. Oh...and having a tall husband apparently comes in handy sometimes, as they took one look at Ken, said "Oh, you're tall," and upgraded us to this really nice room overlooking the lake, while our friends got stuck in a musty little room in the old part of the Hotel! I would love to go there sometime just with Ken. They had this roaring fire in the upper lobby with nice soft couches and I could just picture sitting there reading a book and sipping a latte...ahhhh

3. What else....well after a miscommunication at the doctor's office where the receptionist thought the doctor had made a mistake booking my appointment, she thought he wasn't in that morning, and told me to go home, I finally got in a couple of weeks ago and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat...very exciting. Sure made it more real and it was nice reasurrance for me since the nausea had disappeared by then, very glad i can enjoy food once again. Although, i'm hungry all the time now, which maybe why i gained 5 pounds in two weeks after gaining nothing for 3 months. I didn't have that with Joshua. I ate no different than I normally would, but this time, I'm hungry all the time.

I go for my Ultrasound on the 30th, so really looking forward to that. I'm hoping they will let Joshua come in and see the baby too. We probably aren't going to find out the sex of the baby. I kind of have this gut feeling the baby is a girl, but guess i'll find out for sure in 5 months.

4. So it appears there might be a lot of changes on the horizon. Ken applied for the RCMP ages ago and is now in the end stages--they are doing the background check on him and he's going for all these doctor/ dentist checks and a psychological assessment ( i wonder if they do inkblots:) )! So if everything looks okay he could be heading off for depot (training) sometime in the next couple of months. It's a little daunting for me. I'm trying to decide whether to stay here or go out to depot with him, well not technically with him as he has to live on campus and I would have to find a place to rent. Being pregnant obviously complicates things as I'm not sure I want to deal with birth and a new baby virtually on my own..here i would have family. But again, nothing is absoultely for sure, anything could still happen maybe he won't get in. it sure makes it hard to plan things though.


Well, i better stop writing now...I got a little long winded this time:)

Joshua

So here are some more recent pictures of Joshua. He has changed so much in the last few months, something about turning 2, i guess. He talks up a storm now and I'm often amazed at the words that come out of his mouth. like the other morning when upon waking, he stood up in his crib and said, "wake up mommy"! So funny! Well, to me it was anyway.
One of my favourite pictures. Joshua with his big cousin on Christmas Eve.


This is Joshua "swimming" in the snow!! His next favourite thing to do: throw snowballs or shovelfuls of snow at people, or have someone else throw them at him.

Joshua loves to climb! The higher the better in his opinion!

Biking in the snow! He is very proud of his blue bike that he got for his second birthday. Unfortunaetly, because of the weather he hasn't gotten much use out of it yet.

The naughty corner:) We were at my in-laws and Ken decided to stick him in a chair facing the wall for his time out. It sure made for a cute picture.

For some reason Joshua likes sticking these things on his nose, so i took a picture of it. Funny child!

I've been tagged

Alright here it is the fifth picture in the fifth folder....

Oh, looks like it's a self-portrait of Ken. Not sure why he took a picture of himself. Anyway, there you have it, not a very exciting picture to be sure.

I'll be posting some more pictures of Joshua soon.. right now i'm going to have a nap!! Ah how i love naps:)

Food

Do you find that when you are pregnant you constantly think about food? I know I do. If it's not because I have cravings for certain foods, it's because i'm counting how many servings of veggies and fruits I had today and did I eat enough protein etc...etc... I love food, always have, but I think I'm starting to get a little tired of having to think about it all the time.

Oh and yes, I'm sure if you have a toddler you think about food a lot too. Every day, almost, I'm contemplating how can i get some vegetables into him. Joshua will eat fruit and lots of it and bread of course, but vegetables..no way. I'm lucky if I get a serving of veggies into him in one day. What is it with kids and healthy food. If he gets to eat something not particularly healthy (chips, chocolate, fries etc) he will chow down like he's been starved and hasn't eaten in a week, but put some broccoli or carrots in front of him and it's like pulling teeth to get him to touch it (sigh)!

Yes, it's true

I'm expecting #2! In case you're wanting some of the details. I think i'm almost nine weeks. I know, pretty early still, so i have a long way to go. The baby should come the end of August, August 23rd to be exact. Oh here's a funny concidence. Ken's supervisor at work has a son who is one week older than Joshua and they too are expecting their second and she is due at the beginning of August. Funny hey, both their kids will be the same age as ours.

The first trimester is never a lot of fun for me. I don't get as nauseous as my sister-in-law, who has to go on medication, but typically I feel nauseous all day. I have even woken up at night and still felt nauseous. Not a lot of fun. But, I'm also glad for it b/c it tells me everything is going okay with the baby. When I was pregnant the first time the nausea only lasted a couple a weeks and I remember thinking this is great. I didn't even feel like I was pregnant. When I was almost 12 weeks, via ultrasound, we found out that the baby had died and that's why the nausea disappeared, so i'm always a bit anxious if I don't feel nauseous.

Oh and boy do I crave salty food all the time. I want burgers and fries and nachos and macaroni and cheese, pretty much anything that's not really healthy, so i have to try very hard not to give into my cravings. I don't always succeed though. Today I caved and had a bacon and cheese burger---oh was it good:)!!! And when I went grocery shopping anything packaged i wanted to buy--kraft macaroni and cheese, canned spaghetti (of all things)-- i didn't buy it though--yay for me:)!!!!

Hey, i'd love to hear what kinds of cravings you had when you were pregnant. what parts of pregnancy did you like and what did you dislike?

About Time

I just looked at the date of my last post and realized it's been almost two months since i last posted. What can I say. I've been lazy. I haven't felt like typing and trying to make sentences with my adled brain plus i've been really tired and nauseous lately---hmmm see if you can guess why!!!!!

Anyway, enough with the excuses. The real truth is probably more that my life is pretty boring and not much happens that is really writable. Although some people seem to have a gift of making the mudane interesting and even funny, that's not me at all. I've always tended to lean more towards the serious, deep side of things. Although, I often wish i could be funny and i love reading funny blogs, but alas i don't have much of a funny bone myself.

I was just thinking about the title of my blog and realized i don't feel so much of a rookie mom anymore. It's nice to have some confidence now. Confidence i was sorely lacking when i first began the journey as a mom, when i honestly knew absolutely nothing except how to change a diaper and that the kid needed to be feed every two hours or so. So obviously i made many, many mistakes. I never thought about taking a course or reading a book about parenting babies. I thought they cried, slept, and ate. I didn't know they wouldn't just sleep through the night on their own eventually and it might take a whole year ( at least it did for me). In fact i remember seeing some books on sleep in the library and thinking why would you need to read a book about sleep? Ah the naivitee(sp?)! Ah well it's all good now. So my little baby is now two and he constantly astounds and amazes me. He is the joy in my life---well most of the time anyway:) And when i think about that i remember the night i found out my first baby had died in the womb and the verse that came to me out of the blue was "weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (ps 30:5)