Not to be a copy-cat....

I had a mid-wife appointment today and saw Nikki... she thinks that the baby will come any day (she's hoping this weekend because she is on call -- crazy lady!) The baby's head is in the "perfect" position, so says Nikki, and she guesses the baby already weighs 8 pounds... so I'm hoping that she's either wrong about the weight or that I deliver this baby sooner than later. Last week Karen thought that the baby was breech and therefore requested an ultrasound. Even though it caused me to worry, having a 36 week ultrasound was very cool. We know that the baby will have some hair, and we could see her eyelids moving. The picture is just of the face, hopefully you can make it out. Her forehead is at the top of the picture, and she's kind of frowning a little... I would be sad too if I was stuck in someone uterus for 9 months!

As I started to upload my pictures to post them I checked everyone's blog and saw that Mel has just posted a belly shot... great minds think alike I suppose. I've been trying to post all day, but had to wait for Justin to come home so he could fix our computer. But anyway, here I am at 37 weeks and 3 days.

Finally Finished!

While Megan and I were in Vineland this week, the nursery furniture was delivered. I now have a place to put away all my clothes, bibs, blankets etc which gives the room a finished look. Everything fits in the rooms perfectly, and the armoire has a clothing rack to hang up sweaters, dresses, etc. The dark finish looks really great with the floors but will end up showing the dust... oh well.
I also finally got to put all my crib bedding on, so I can see how it all looks together. Only 3 more weeks!

Melody

Just thought I would post some cute pictures of our niece, Melody, that I took today. It was hard to capture a good photo as she is such a fast crawler! (Even though she's only 7 months) But I think these ones are pretty precious!

Check out Jusitn's Blog

Sorry Val, but this picture of Jack is pretty hilarious! Go to Justin's blog:
www.rabid-blog.blogspot.com (or just use my link). It's good for a laugh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!

Happy 21st Birthday to our favourite sister named Lisa. We hope you have a good day today and we're sure we'll see you sometime soon to give you a big birthday hug!

Love Jen and Megan

Poker Room No More!!!

Sorry guys, but the poker room is officially gone! I now have a nice "den" for the computer. And now (once my kitchen is put back together) I can have the ladies over for coffee and have somewhere for all the kidlets to play.

Reno pictures

Just an update on my kitchen. The drywall is up, and the pot lights are in. (All the electrical is done). I even have two speakers in the ceiling that will be hooked up to the radio/receiver (or little silver box as Janet refers to it!! :) ) in the living room. That way I don't have to have my ugly, circa 1999, CD player on my counter all the time. With the dry wall up the room looks huge. Justin is still on the look out for someone to come and finish up the job, but I think he has a good lead from Dan. Hopefully things will keep progressing at the same rate, as so much has been accomplished lately. I'm posting a WAY before picture of the kitchen (from the last home owner) just to remember what it used to look like. Looks nice in the picture, but I have to remember the lack of counter space, and the fact that none of my appliances fit between the counter top and bottom of the uppers!

And.... one last picture of the nursery. I was informed by my lovely husband yesterday that I'm not a very good photographer when it comes to taking pictures of rooms. He doesn't want everyone to think that our baby will be living in a closet (apparently the last picture I posted made it look too small). So here ya go.....

Sorry about all the text, but it really is 2:55am and I'm just a tad bored!

Some pictures from around the house!

I just felt like blogging today, and so for all of you who haven't seen our upside down house, here is a quick update. My dining room set is now behind the love seat in the living room. It wouldn't look so bad if it wasn't accompanied by various boxes, dishes, etc. My dining room is my makeshift kitchen complete with a temporary counter, fridge, microwave, and even a plug in burner. I can't complain too much... Justin is working very hard to get this kitchen together. He is ready to start putting up the dry wall, and can then start making the cabinets.



I also posted a picture of our new recliner... I really wanted one for when the baby comes, and since my dad works for a division of lazy boy it was our Christmas present from my mom and dad.
And lastly, here is a picture of the flowers the girls at the bank got for me on my last day. I just thought I would take a picture since I don't really get flowers very often, and I think they're on their last legs...

Ice Storm

Just thought I would post some pictures of the ice storm. Everything looks so beautiful. I was supposed to go out to do groceries today, but I don't think I feel like scraping my car (or falling on the ice!). I was also going to go over to see Ethan today, but I will just have to wish him a Happy Birthday on here!

A day with the babies

Aidan, Ethan, and Abby were my test models for our new camera. We have a colour accent option on our camera that allows you to pick out one colour and leave the rest in black and white. It's a pretty fun feature, and with babies this cute of course they look adorable!

I'm done!

After working on my nursery everyday this week I am finally finished! I convinced Stephen to come over and put up my chair rail Thursday night, and although I didn't get home until 10pm, I was so excited that I had to paint it. So now I am completely finished. I can put my paint cans and rollers away! I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the colours match my bedding perfectly. I couldn't have done it without my sister (I'm sure she wasn't planning on spending her vacation painting my ceiling (a million times) - but without her I would still working on it.

The last shot is before the chair rail was put up, but it's a better representation of the colour.

Blog Links

I finally figured out how to add links to my blog. If anyone is linked that does not wish to be, just let me know.... I figured this way is easier than emailing everyone individually to ask permission. Thanks!

Day One of the Nursery

step one


step two

Now that I am officially finished working (well, at the bank anyway!) I have started on the nursery. It took me all day today just to clear everything out, take down the shelves, and give the floor a good scrub. I've also applied the first layer of drywall compound (thanks Jan) to the MILLIONS of pin holes in the walls. Tomorrow I will still be fixing all the dents and dings in the walls and maybe on Wednesday I can start painting.

New Years at Tim and Jannyne's

A highly competitive game of Dutch Blitz!

The girls in the kitchen!

The guys in the living room!

Thanks so much Jannyne for hosting New Years Eve. Your house is the perfect party house! There was lots of great food, fun, and company.

Before and After New Years!

Here is Stephen before midnight

And here he is after!!

Our Warm House!

Today Great Northern came to our lovely home to spray foam the kitchen and half way down the basement walls, and blow loose insulation into the attic through a hole in our bathroom ceiling. Justin worked very hard to get everything ready in time for them to come and spray, and it all turned out just the way he wanted. And he was so sweet to vacuum the entire house, clean the bathroom, and re-arrange our living room to accommodate some new furniture. I was very impressed when I came home from work at 8:30pm (a day that seemed to never end!).

A few pictures

Just thought I would add a couple of pictures from a wedding we went to in November. We used to vacation with Gordon (the groom) and his family when I was growing up. His bride, Angela, has a real survival story... when she was a little girl, her house caught fire and before she could make it out, she also caught fire and the pajamas she was wearing were made from polyester and melted to her skin. The doctors did not expect her to survive, as over 50% of her body was burned. She was in the hospital for over a year and still has to have future surgeries to deal with the tightening skin around her neck. She looked absolutely beautiful on her wedding day, and despite her scars, still wore a low back, lovely silk dress. She is truly a fighter!

Abigail Jean Van Dyk

Congratulations Megan and Rick!

Abigail Jean Van Dyk was born last night (Sunday, Dec 17th) at 8:51pm, weighing in at 8lb2oz. The OB told Megan to be thankful that she went into labour early, as going to full term (or perhaps even later) would have resulted in a 10 or 11 pound baby. Just goes to show that the Lord knows exactly what He's doing! :) She did deliver Abby the "old fashioned way" and does have some stitches from an episiotomy but does NOT have any internal stitches. Both Megan and Abby are doing well, although Megan has to stay in the hospital until at least Tuesday morning as she spiked a high fever during labour and as such her OB wants her on IV meds for 36 hours just to be safe.
Megan is very happy to not be pregnant anymore and to finally be able to hold her sweet little girl in her arms.
Congratulation Megan and Rick!

Another Blogger....

Justin has recently started his own blog. His address is rabid-blog.blogspot.com
He created this blog just last night, and was very disappointed when no one had visited it when he checked it a couple hours later!! So I thought I would give him a hand and let everyone know about it.