Wyatt Nathaniel

Wyatt (means "little fighter") Nathaniel (means "gift of God") was born early (35 weeks) on November 28th. He is in the NICU right now, although I was discharged today. I will be going back and forth to the hospital throughout the day for several days to come. We don't know how long he will be in the NICU - it's a day to day process as his little body works to catch up on the work it has to do in order for him to breathe and eat on his own. I will try to post something here each day, but things will be just a little hectic and I may not always have time.

All things considered, Wyatt is doing well and proving himself to be a little fighter. He has a reputation for being cranky and trying to pull his CPAP (oxygen tubes) out. He also has an antibiotic IV right now as a precaution. His blood cultures will be back today and then we'll see if the antibiotics continue or not. They ended up giving him a sedative yesterday because he was fighting so much to get the machine off of his nose, and today he was doing very well, his breathing was not nearly as laboured, his respirations were falling down within a more normal range, and he was resting quietly (for a change!). I was finally allowed to hold him (I had held him only briefly for a few seconds after he was born), and he is tiny, but strong.

The First Snow Fall of 2008

The first snow fall of the year is always so exciting...for the children, at least! Actually, today was much better and safer for me than yesterday's ice. We ended up taking the van back and forth to school because it was so slippery. This morning, we walked to school.And this fall has been full of sickness. Joshua is now done his antibiotics for a chest infection, Caleb just started antibiotics for some infection - the Dr. doesn't quite know what it is; Andrew's on his 3rd or 4th cold since the start of September, and Natalee has also been sick with a cold and last night was also sick with a stomach bug. Hopefully, we'll get it all over and done with before December!

Halloween

Carving pumpkins. Andrew really enjoyed getting the "guts" out of the pumpkin.

Caleb and Joshua hard at work...for the moment. Joshua did his own. Caleb gave up.

All ready to go out trick-or-treating. Caleb dressed up as a skateboarder, so it didn't really look like he had a costume on. Joshua was a pirate, and Andrew, the Mickey Mouse firefighter...again. I found a puppy costume for Natalee - the hood was a little big and kept covering up her eyes, so we left it down.

Here are our pumpkins. Andrew's is the top left (I carved it for him). The small one in the middle on the left is the pumpkin Caleb carved at school. Joshua's is the big one in the middle on the right. And I did the bottom one too.

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Yesterday afternoon, Andrew watched excitedly as I made over 100 cookies. In the evening, Caleb, Joshua, and Andrew helped me decorate them. I'm glad I'm not doing that again today! Here is some of our art work:
There are 2 of Andrew's cookies on the picture above - the ones with all the licorice candies packed onto them! I was happy with his attempts - I was expecting him to decorate them and eat it right away, but he didn't!

Andrew's Blanket

A big "Thank You" to my Aunt Irene who made Andrew a quilt cover! It is so perfect for him - covered in loaders, or as Andrew insists on calling them, "Low-lows". He is really looking forward to sleeping tonight! Yes, seriously! He's actually quite disappointed that he can't drag it all over the house right now, but my floors are surprisingly not THAT clean. :)

First Day of School 2008

We were happy that after days of rain, we woke up to clear, sunny skies for the first day back to school. Caleb is in grade 2 and Joshua is in grade 1. Caleb came home to say that Grade 2 is way better than grade 1, and Joshua was excited to get a new "science book" (day planner).
Andrew thought he needed to be in the picture too, and was probably quite disappointed that he couldn't go to school too.
Yay! Joshua learned to tie his shoes about a week ago...after much "teaching" and frustration on Mom's part.
And they're off! Joshua is way out in front, then Andrew, and Caleb conserving his energy at the back.
Natalee had her 18 month picture taken yesterday. Here she is pre-pictures. The real thing turned out great! I moved the vacuum cleaner away from the stairs, and now she's suddenly going up and down all by herself!

Summer 08 Recap

So I've been MIA. Wonder why? This is just a peek at our summer 2008. The boys are NOT looking forward to going back to school on Wednesday - guess we DID have fun! (Is that why I'm so tired????)

Got our first glimpse of Baby #5. Little legs curled up on the right hand side.

One of the few wading pools in the city that has waterslides. Here's Caleb!
And Andrew...
And Joshua!
Travelled out to Selkirk (twice) to the Marine Museum. The first time our trip was cut short by a sick kid. The second time it rained, but we managed to get through all the boats, more or less.

One evening we went up to "Garbage Hill" for a picnic/snack and I successfully managed to capture a half-decent group shot.
Strawberry picking. The berries were huge & yummy! Plus we got a hayride! Andrew still asks to go strawberry picking.
Andrew mowing the neighbour's lawn. We did lots of playing at home in the afternoons while Natalee slept. Fortunately, the weather wasn't too hot this year to enjoy being outside (that, and the air conditioner was a welcome relief whenever I needed a break!)
Travelled out to my good friend Shelley's farm. She was kind enough to let the boys each have a ride on her mini. Caleb seemed to have the most natural horsemanship of the boys. Maybe because he's actually ridden a horse before!
Andrew was more into the John Deere tractor at the farm. Andrew also learned how to ride the trike this summer. Joshua conquered the monkey bars - no broken arm was going to slow HIM down! And Caleb is a pretty good skateboarder now. He's also big into Donald Duck too. Natalee...well, she's been busy working on walking all summer. It's not so easy outside, but inside, it's pretty much a full-time thing. Yay!

Minneapolis/Fargo 2008

I'll try to catch up some on my long-neglected blog. Here are some pictures of our recent trip down south. We had a good time. Caleb and Joshua enjoyed the waterslide at the hotel in Fargo best of all, and of course, I forgot to get a picture, even though they went swimming six times in the three days we were there.

Travelling south.
We stopped for a picnic lunch in Grand Forks. It was hot, humid and smelled of cows.
Pit stop. Someone does NOT look impressed!
It wasn't THAT bad. Look at these faces!

Our first stop in Minneapolis - Fuddrucker's.
All ready for swimming.
Caleb and Joshua in a tub ride at Valleyfair.Joshua & Natalee.

Andrew & Caleb.

Daddy & the boys taking a ride in the "fancy car".
Andrew and "Mater".
The sign says it all.
Hangin' out in "Radiator Springs". You gotta watch the movie Cars to get that.
Natalee got new shoes. She's a shoe girl, through and through. At least there's only one in the family!

Bring on the Heat!

Today, I'm as giddy as Scrooge at the end of "A Christmas Carol". Finally, central air!! Bring on the heat, we can handle it!

It's definitely summer!

Finally broke out the sprinklers! Not that it hasn't been warm enough before now, although today has been our hottest day yet (31 degrees C), but because Joshua finally has his cast off!!!! He's still in his sling until Thursday, and suddenly life seems like it's on hold until then (it's been a looooong time since he last rode his bike! I don't quite know why it's suddenly so important now).
Andrew had a fun afternoon with both of his brother's home all day! He was laughing a lot today at Joshua, despite the start of a cold making him feel kinda yucky.
Boys being boys. Noodle war. Yup, someone got hurt. But it was fun while it lasted!
Andrew driving his trike. Ignore the blood on his arm - he just scratched a scab off of a mosquito bite and spread around the mosquito sauce.

Sunday Trip

On Sunday, I was brave (crazy???) and decided to pack the four kids and my growing self into our van and head out to my old stomping grounds...way, way back when I probably wasn't even really stomping yet. My Dad's side of the family was holding a gathering of sorts, and I decided that even with Mike working, I wanted to be a part of it. We made it for lunch (after a 3 hour, 45 minute or there-about drive) and afterwards, took a school bus on a bit of a tour to where I remember my Grandpa & Grandma living before they retired into town. It was Andrew's first bus ride - and Natalee's too! - and he loved it! Above you might be able to see Joshua and Andrew on the bus.
And Andrew and Natalee on the bus, enjoying their freedom from car seats!
It was a quite a warm day, perfect for swimming, and a bunch of my cousins took their kids to the outdoor pool where I spent time learning to swim as a child. My cousin Jill was kind enough to take the older two boys into the big pool, while Andrew was forced to enjoy the wading pool, for a good half hour. They had a blast!
This is the "homestead" that was the destination of our bus trip. Unfortunately, the buildings were pushed down shortly before we got there - apparently they had been standing just a couple of months prior. One of my Uncle's even found a coffee cup that had been used by the family! These are some of my Dad's brothers and sisters standing in front of what used to be the old house.