Elizabeth Mae

Elizabeth Mae is my baby. And yesterday, my baby turned 3! It's funny, to be totally out of the baby stages - something that was so familiar for SO long.... and now, it's done. Kinda makes me sad....kinda makes me excited for the next stage.

So, Ellie Mae was almost born 10 weeks early. We had just gotten back from Kelowna, where we were visiting my parents for Christmas. I was SO sick during Christmas, with some lung/bronchial thing. Art wanted me to go to emergency, which I, of course, didn't. Instead, I slept and coughed, and my mom made me mustard plasters(which, by the way, really do work!).

We had gotten home late at night, and the next morning, at about 6 am, I woke up to contractions. I called the health link, and they told me to come in RIGHT AWAY. So, I had a shower, woke up Art, we called his sister who came over, and headed into the hospital. We walked into the ER, they sent me right up to labor and delivery. The nurses and doctor looked at me, checked me, and then time stood still...but moved so fast. I was 2 cm. dilated and 50% effaced. They called an ambulance, gave me shots in my butt, and sent me off to the Royal Alex (where they have a neo-natal unit). The paramedics told me later that they thought I would deliver in the ambulance. However, we had called people to pray, and together with the medication, contractions stopped. Praise the Lord! I spent one night in the hospital, and they sent me home, on bed rest, for the next 8 weeks. NOT FUN!

8 weeks came and went, and Elizabeth Mae was born on Feb. 27. She was my biggest baby (7 lbs. 1 oz.), and stayed in the longest of the bunch (was born at 38 weeks).

This was her at birth.....



And here she is today (well, on Tuesday, actually, when she went for her Auntie Date). Ellie Mae loves to do anything her sisters are doing. She LOVES to color and draw, play with dress up clothes, and basically, do anything. She loves to make people laugh, and jokes around a lot. Last night, when I was putting her to bed, she said, "Mom, I'm cute and smart!". And it's true! We were planning on calling her Beth, but when she came home, Auntie Frieda came over, and said, "What about Ellie Mae?". And so....here's our Ellie Mae.

Happy Birthday, baby!

Auntie Date

This past week, one of the girls favorite people, "Auntie Frieda" (Art's sister), wanted to take each of the girls for an 'auntie date'. Every year for their birthday, she asks them if they would like a present or an 'auntie date'. They, OF COURSE, want an 'auntie date'.

She was on holidays, and so each day, she took one girl to her place for a sleepover and other fun activities. She took Hannah for to a used bookstore (her idea of heaven!!), and then they sat in the coffee shop and read their new (old) finds. She took Abby to the used bookstore as well and had dinner WITH a Shirley Temple. Molly got to go to glow in the dark mini golfing, and Ellie Mae got to hung out at her apartment (she is only 2!).

I thought that Auntie Frieda was very fabulous and ambitious to take them all, day after day (I don't think we've seen her that many days in a row ever!). The most interesting thing about their 'auntie dates' was the change in dynamics in our house. With each of the different girls gone, the other girls were affected in different ways, as was I. I have come to the conclusion that I can never be without them! Not to say that I can't ever leave them, but they must grow up to be healthy and outlive me!!

One of the craziest things about this week was that on Tuesday (one of the 2 days that Hannah and Abby are at school), Molly was gone, and I only had Ellie Mae. So we went into the city and did some shopping. It was bizarre to only have one baby duck following me, instead of the four that I am used to!

I am so thankful for Auntie Frieda, and how she loves our girls!!

Valentine's Day

Let me start off by saying that Art doesn't really believe in Valentine's Day. He says, "Why do I need a day to tell me that I need to tell you that I love you. I tell you every day!", which is true. This used to really bother me, but it doesn't any more...it's quite nice, actually. So we never do anything special for each other for Valentine's Day. However, we usually do something with/for our girls. This year, I decided to buy them all dresses. Hannah is getting a bit old for matching dresses, but I thought I just might be able to get away with it for a little bit longer. Here are the girls, looking mighty sweet, before we headed off for church.

And here they are, looking mighty silly....

I know it's not the typical red or pink, but it worked for us!! I love these little ladies!

It is finished!

Well...kind of! We have finally finished the framing part of our basement reno's. The framing wasn't the part that took so long - it was going through all of our junk!!! We took 4 loads to the dump and one (very full and overflowing) load to Goodwill. I was fairly embarrassed at all the stuff we've collected over the 9+ years we've lived here, but you know how it goes - if you have the room, then you don't have to organize or be choosy about what you have down there.

Here are some pictures of the end result of our organizing: The Storage Room. We were able to fit (almost) everything in there (thank goodness!). Now, it's all in bins and on shelves, and I'll (in theory) be able to find anything I need to!





There is also a great picture of my "food shelves". Sometimes, I feel a little bit crazy and indulgent and guilty, knowing that I have shelves and shelves of food in my basement. However, the times that I have had a whole slew of people show up for dinner (or a week) and need some extra something far outweigh the guilt I feel in having so much, when many don't have enough. The last shot is of the temporary kids play area, way at the other end of the basement. This is where their toys will be when we finish the basement, but it'll look a bit better then (I'm sure!). However, for now, I have realized that I am a terrible mother, and need to have them playing downstairs instead of upstairs - they get awfully loud, you know!

The (Almost) First Thing

This jam cupboard is the (almost) first thing that Art made for me when we were first married. I say almost, because when we were engaged, and he was still working at the woodworking shop, he made me a sleigh bed. But this jam cupboard is the first thing that he made for me when we were married. He used a hand saw to cut it, sanded it by hand, and I think we painted it three times to get the color I wanted. We first used it for our dishes, and then, I actually had canning in it. I think at one point I also used it for quilts...Now, it sits in our basement. And I just can`t bring myself to get rid of it!

This week, we had the basement framing finished. And, I am embarrassed to say, we took a (full and overflowing!) load to Goodwill, and three loads to the dump....and we still need to take one more load. I can`t believe all the junk we had in there! As we were going through everything down there, I did manage to rid of our claw foot tub (only because it was too short for us giants here!), the wood stove (thanks, kijii!), and I am still trying to get rid of a sideboard. But I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the jam cupboard! To me, it`s a memory thing.... Now that Art has a shop, and many, MANY more tools, he still makes me lots of stuff, but somehow, it`s different. So, what I think I am going to do it paint it white...chicken wire and all, and then it`ll fit great in my house....somewhere.

I would like to believe that one day, one of The Girls will want some of these things...but who knows for sure. For now, I will slap on another coat of paint, and I`m fairly sure I can`t find someplace to put it.

I Must Remember...

I must remember that I CANNOT look at decorating magazines or blogs before bed. I usually remember, but last night, I forgot. And I was up FOREVER! Just looking at other people's creative ideas gets me thinking....and not sleeping. Here is a picture of a craft I want to do with the Girls sometime soon.
These blossoms are made out of pop bottles. How fun would that be to do to decorate for Spring? Thanks to Anthropology for the e-mail with this fun, spring idea!

That Fateful Day...

So, many of you have been asking about the pictures I recently posted on Facebook...and asking for the story behind these pictures. So, here it is...
It was a cool, fall day. The day of the woodworking show in Edmonton. We had a friend here from out of town, who was looking for some tools. And of course, Art is ALWAYS looking for tools. So, we made a date (sort of) of it, with Art's sister watching the Girls, and headed off into the sunset....and to the Agricom. I was probably one of the few women at the Woodworking Show (surprise, surprise)! Our friend, who shall remain nameless. Actually, no. His name is Stuart. We love him. Anyhow, he wanted to buy a drill. So, he picked out a Makita drill. While talking to the Makita rep, we were joking around, and I told him that we needed something for Art. Maybe a free drill? He said no, but ended up throwing in a 130 pcs. drill piece set (I think). But of course, then Stu felt left out, and he HAD bought the drill, so we got him to throw in another set. By that time, we had drawn a bit of a crowd (the Bosch booth was right next door), so we kept joking with them that they were coming there next! We paid for the drill, and got the free stuff, and then I remembered: I hadn't gotten anything! So, he threw a sweatshirt at me, and told us to "Get out!".
After that, we headed over to the Bosch booth. Art was buying a portable table saw, and we got them to throw in a cordless drill, a bunch of jigsaw blades, a hole saw, and then they gave us the fantastic clothing that you saw modelled...and hats, of course! The very funny thing about this whole story, is that the next day, when Art went to go and pick up his booty (not bum...buttload of stuff), the Bosch rep asked, "Where's Teresa?"
"Teresa, my WIFE?", answered Art.... "She's at home with our children."
"Well, here's at $50 gas card for her..."
When Art and our friend Stu got home, we were looking at the beautiful apparel, and thought that we should try it on, and send pictures of us proudly wearing the Bosch gear to the Bosch rep. It was our way of showing them.....not cool, people, not cool!

PS. Notice the ugly, old decor?! SO GLAD we remodeled!