My Latest Project(s)

I've been trying to keep busy in the past few weeks waiting for the baby to come, and so I've been sewing and crafting a few projects for the new one and tiny tot. Some of them are not finished yet, and some are not interesting enough to blog about but I am particularly proud of my latest one as I sewed it entirely by myself with only a few tips here and there from my wonderful mother. Remember the duvet cover that I originally sewed for tiny tot before she was born? Well, now it will be passed down to the new baby...




I loved it so much (and still love it) that I decided to make a similar one for tiny tot. It is a larger size and so sweet and girly. I chose these three fabrics...

If you look closely you will see that the white fabric has a subtle flowery pattern in it.

I cut all the pieces in random widths and arranged them. I then sewed black ribbon between each layer...

Added buttons and button holes on the bottom. Thankfully my sewing machine has a very easy button hole foot...

And voila! New duvet for tiny tots new big girl bed. You won't be able to see the new bed until we get into our new house though. This is uncle ryles' bed posing for the picture...

I tried to get a couple of pictures of tiny tot cuddled up under her new blanket but she was way too distracted with all the things in her uncles room...

A little better...

Aaaaaannd for those that have been asking... This also has been a project that i've been working on for.. well... approx 9 months! With only 2 weeks to go I decided that I better take a picture of baby number 2 inside, before it's on the outside! Of course this is the MOST unflattering picture. We are going to blame it on Hunky husband's picture taking skills and not the fact that I generally look tired and blah these days.... Please just focus on the cute baby :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful Lord's day tommorrow. I know we will. We are celebrating the Lord's Supper in the morning service and a baptism in the afternoon. How rich are God's blessings?

John 1 :16 "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."

I love to reflect on where these blessings come from. It is so important to remember that these blessings come from God, by GRACE through Jesus Christ. And not because of anything that we have said or done! And then that makes me think of the greatest blessing that we have been given - our salvation. How amazing and awesome is that!

Life in the Families

Since we've been living with my parents, it seems as if we've fit in and become a closer part of their family instead of just our own family that visits once in a while. I've been joking lately that tiny tot is no longer just our kid, that she belongs to my "upstairs" family just as much. We have had many blessings so far in the five months that we've been here. I wanted to share some pictures with you of things that we do with our little family, our upstairs family, and one picture of tiny tot and her other Grandpa. :)
If your wondering about our moving status... well... there is still no moving in the near future. A few months ago they (the condo contractors) were predicting that tenants could start moving on Nov 1 2010. Since then there have been some delays in the building and the date was then moved to the middle of November. A couple weeks ago G&G got word that they would not be able to move in the month of November at all. Now they just got a letter over the weekend stating that they should be able to move within the first and second week of December. At first I was a little disappointed as our baby is due Dec. 2 and I was really hoping to be in the new house by the time the baby came. However, Hunky Husband and I (with the help of our upstairs family) have turned our little house into quite the cute nest, and we are feeling ready for the arrival of the new baby here. I just had to try and look at all the positive things that will come as a result of still being here. It was hard but I think that it will all be worth it once we finally do get to move. We are all crossing our fingers that the move will be before Christmas!!! :)

A few weeks back tiny tot started getting rash on her face. At first I thought it was a heat rash and then as it got worse I thought maybe mosquito bites. We had been outside that day and the mosquito's were quite bad. We were in Carman visiting Hunky Husband's family for the weekend, and as the weekend progressed the rash got worse and worse. By Sunday lunch she had a rash covering her face and her entire trunk. However, there was nothing on her extremities. At first we thought that maybe she was getting the chicken pox (she is not immunized), but when we got home that evening we looked in a couple of medical journals and concluded that it was probably Measles or Rubella (German measles). I decided to take her in the next day and she was diagnosed with either having Measles or Rubella. We were prescribed an anti-itch medication and within a few days the rash cleared up and she was back to normal....

Tiny tot LOVES books. She can read a book by herself over and over for a very long time. However, if she can get one of her uncles or aunties or anyone else for that matter to read to her that's even better. Notice her concentration...

Waiting for her bottle...

She's even into Archie comics...

I found her one day reading by herself under the table...

And in the laundry basket (she put the book down when I got out the camera - "cheese")...

Reading with Grandpa L before we head back to the city...

I don't know how the excitement hasn't rubbed off yet, but we (well...err...tiny tot) are still VERY welcomed by our upstairs family. Most days when we come up to start supper this is how we (ahem...tiny tot) are greeted...

Tiny tot also loves to help out upstairs. I think we should get some sort of discount off our rent for all the help she provides! Helping Auntie Eee clean the bathroom...

Helping grandma put the wet clothes in the dryer...

Helping Grandpa sort the Christmas lights...

Assisting with homework listening... I think.... ?

Helping the uncles build the best Lego creation ever...

Hunky Husband did some work this Saturday as well... not that he minded much. He was able to play with a chainsaw and cut down trees for a few hours....

Here is a few random every day pics. This is my 18 month old! I can hardly believe she is a year and a half already...

She loves her dolly...

Dancing with daddy...

My parents had our pastors daughter over for a few days while her parents were at the ministerial. Tiny tot loved the extra attention...

All in all we are still very much enjoying our time here. Of course we would have loved to be in our new place by now. In the end you are still your own family and would love to be on your own and have your own space. I've had to readjust my focus and look at all the blessings, and all the positive things. There are many people in this world that don't even have a roof over their heads, clothes on their back, or food in their bellies. We have all of that and so much more! Praise be to God!

I want to share Psalm 100 with you. I find that it is such a clear psalm about God and his ENDURING, FOREVER love for us, the people that he made, and how we are to worship him and sing joyfully because of this.

Psalm 100 (A psalm for giving thanks)

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD
with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is GOD. It
is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him
and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his
faithfulness continues through all generations."

Trip to Ontario... and Beyond!

It's October the 1st! That means it's been two months since my last post! Where did the time go??? But lets not dwell on that shall we :) October means I only have 2 MORE months till' baby #2 comes! I only have 9 weeks left! Anyway, that being said it is definitely time for a post again. Unfortunately since I am so behind on posting, I'm going to have to do quite a few posts in a short period of time to catch up so... stay tuned :)

In the first couple of weeks in August (yes, it's been that long), Hunky husband, Tiny tot and I took a trip East, to Ontario. We went to visit family, celebrate my parents 25th wedding anniversary, and attend a family and friends get-together to celebrate and remember Darcie and Gavin's lives on this earth.



We finally made it to Owen Sound, Ontario after three days of driving! We stopped at Montana's to feed a starving tot and her mommy... Visiting with the Hunky Husband's side of the family....

We stayed with Hunky Husband's uncle and aunt who live in the Owen Sound area. They were such generous hosts and we felt so at home there. So did Tiny tot!

Visiting Hunky Husband's Pake and Grandma...

Unfortunately his Pake was suffering from a very sore back...

On Saturday we went to Gavin's parents house for the get together...

Relaxing in their wonderful backyard...

Hunky Husband chatting with one of Gavin's best friends. Notice Tiny tot's lipstick kiss courtesy of Gavin's oldest sister!!!

Dinnertime! This picture gives an idea of how many people were there...

On the Friday before the party (which was the day Darcie and Gavin had planned to be married), our family went to visit the cemetery and see the headstone. This was the first time we had seen it, since the last time we were in Ontario was for the funeral. It is beautiful...

Off we then went to Ottawa and Gatineau to celebrate my parents and uncle and aunt's 25th wedding anniversaries. This is how Tiny tot spent mealtimes for much of that trip...

Crossing the bridge from Ottawa into Gatineau. Did you see the Parliament buildings?... *giggle*

Centennial Flame...

First view of the Parliament buildings. In front is the Peace Tower...

We were lucky enough to go on a tour inside the buildings....

The Green room...

The Red room...

It was soooo gorgeous inside. The architecture was so beautiful and detailed...

Hunky Husband and the rest of the crew went zip lining on a gorgeous day in Gatineau. I stayed back to let Tiny tot nap since pregnant ladies aren't able to zip line anyway...

This gives you an idea of how high they were! Some of the lines were around 22 meters off the ground, over lakes and forest. Amazing! And it took them around 3 hours to complete!

Enjoying some mommy and Tiny tot time back at camp...

That afternoon we hiked approximately 3 miles to Lusk Caves located in Gatineau park where we were camping...

Climbing out of the cave...

Group shot...

In the caves...

All the "kids"...

It was a looooong hike for a pregnant lady but it was worth it! The caves were amazing!



























Back at camp. Enjoying some time in the "pen" while we packed up...

This is how Tiny tot spent many hours during our trip. She was soooo good while we drove, I couldn't have imagined better...

Just a funny shot of the both of us while we made a pit stop for a pukey passenger... well, a funny shot of Hunky Husband I guess, I think I look ok... :)

We went down to Dunville for the weekend. Here is our Juliet...

We headed to a wedding for my cousin on Saturday. A shot of some of the lovely ladies...

A picture of the gorgeous couple...

A wonderful randition of "Lit'l Eyes" put on by the Flatsos Barbershop Quartet (and their sons).

And then we finally made our way home again. Aunty Eee came along which was very helpful since we drove back in two days instead of three. Here they are relaxing in a hotel with some Treehouse T.V. I believe...

All in all, we had a fantastic trip. I miss my family dearly though and wished we all lived closer. I wish we could squish Canada so we could all keep our jobs and houses etc. but live together. Especially right now. It's been a hard couple of months over here. With Gavin and Darcie's passing still fresh, having to process the news that Aunty Eee's brain tumor has been changing, having an uncle diagnosed with cancer, and a few other minor things, and being pregnant and living with my parents, it's been a bit overwhelming. It's definately stopped me from doing the blog a few times. It's hard to write a comfort message at the end especially when you are not feeling very comforted. I have my ups and downs, my times where I cry out to God, and times when I praise him for all the wonderful things we experience as a family. I really didn't know which text to chose for today. I kept asking myself "what is the most comforting text you have ever read?" Every time Lord's Day 1 popped into my head. Now, I know this isn't a bible text but it is a summary of comfort in the bible. I want to share it with you today. I hope it gives you comfort today, as it has for me...

Lord's Day 1

Q. What is your only comfort in LIFE and death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

He has FULLY PAID for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me FREE from all the power of the devil.

He also preserves me in such a way that without the WILL of my heavenly Father not a HAIR can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.

Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of ETERNAL LIFE and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for HIM.