6 weeks

Joshua 5 weeks

I also just wanted to take a few minutes to share some updated pictures of Joshua. He is now in his 5th week!

Samara is 4!

Our lovely Princess Samara is now 4 years old. Here are a few pictures of her celebrating with friends. She had a fun time at her Frozen themed party. She is looking forward to her "Blossoming Ballerinas" class in January and can often be found tip toeing around the house. She was really excited for her Birthday this year and is still referring to herself as "the Birthday Girl." Apparently she will remain the birthday girl until all her presents are opened (one more get together with family still to come).

We love our Sweet Samara... Happy Birthday "Birthday Girl!"

Christmas Letter 2014

December 1, 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy (soon to be) New Year 2015!

     For us this year began with plans for a new addition to our family and much of the year was spend focused on this goal. We were very happy to welcome Joshua on November 6^th. For the first time we feel as though our family is complete as we marvel at our new born baby boy. David couldn't be happier to have a brother and the same goes for the girls.

     Rebekah (our baby girl) turned 2 in August and with that came the realization that our last baby girl is growing up. She now attends Sunday School and does just about everything else her sisters do too. We love her sentences... she says anything she wants to say. She is loving, funny, competitive and helpful. She will often help David with his chore of unloading the dishwasher.

     Samara is about to turn 4 and is eager to do all things big girls do. I am thankful she is only one school grade behind Angeline because she likes to keep up with her big sister. It seems I am always having to tell her she she has to wait until she is in kindergarten. She can write her name and several other words but mostly just likes putting random letters together and asking “what does this say”? We are looking forward to celebrating her December Birthday with a Disney Frozen theme.

     Angeline started kindergarten in September at 5 1/2 years old. I was wondering how I would handle homeschooling 2 but it has been going really well. She is eager and works efficiently and quickly... just have to remind her to slow down and work on her tidiness! She attends class on Tuesdays and has the following activities planned for the new year... ballet, swimming lessons, and soccer. She loves to help around the house and is our official egg cracker. She is also a big help with her sisters and baby Joshua.

      David is almost 8 1/2 and is continuing to thrive at home in Grade 3. He loves to read chapter books and his favourite subject is math. He recently finished the Geronimo Stilton Fantasy series (6 chapter books) and has read every Captain Underpants book he can get his hands on. He is planning to start Karate Class in the New Year and is also looking forward to swimming lessons and soccer in the Spring. He is also starting his first job (a paper route) to earn some spending money and save up for his next motor cycle.

     Jonathan has been enjoying playing floor hockey on Tuesday nights and is looking forward to another Spring Season of Soccer. He recently took 3 weeks off work to help out at home when baby Joshua arrived. We are going to miss having him home full time since he has to go back to work tomorrow.

     I am doing well and am very happy to have Joshua in my arms and no longer in my womb! I am looking forward to getting back in shape as I shed these baby pounds for the final time. We recently celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary and look forward to celebrating our 10^th in a special way next year. Lots to look forward to in 2015!

     Love,

           the Neufelds

PS- Here are our new photo's taken on November 27th by Charlie Vowels. These are the runners up... saving our favourites for Christmas pictures... Enjoy!

3 weeks

Joshua is 3 weeks old! Today we had our pictures taken by Charlie Vowels. Here are a few of her pictures of Joshua. At his doctors appointment yesterday he weighed 9 lbs 10.5 oz! He gained 1 whole pound in 12 days. He is continuing to do well and we are continuing to enjoy our baby boy!

1 week pictures

I just wanted to share a few pictures of Joshua from last Wednesday when he was 1 day shy of 1 week. The last picture was one my Dad caught of him smiling in his sleep on Sunday at 1 1/2 weeks. He is doing really well... already having passed his birth weight by 3 ounces at 1 week old. We are loving him and wishing time would slow down so that we could better enjoy every moment. He will be 2 weeks old already on Thursday.

Joshua Peter

Joshua Peter Neufeld

November 6, 2014

8lbs 7oz

Here he is! We were so happy to welcome our son into the world on Thursday night. If he would have waited another 28 minutes he would have been born on Friday but I was glad not to have another 32 minutes of pain! He holds the record for our heaviest baby at 8lbs 7oz! I can tell you the extra pound makes a lot of difference! He was also born with his hand at the side of his face and his shoulders got stuck which didn't help matters. Thankfully we are both happy and healthy. I am definitely taking it easy this next little while.

Joshua also hold the record for longest time without a name. It took us over 10 hours to name him which may not seem long to some people but we have had all of our other babies named in the first 30 minutes. Joshua was on our favourite name list... it just took us a while to decide if it suited him. The meaning of Joshua is "God is Salvation." Peter is Jonathan's middle name, the name of one of the twins I nannied when I lived in Switzerland and the name of Joshua's Great, Great-Grandpa.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to share some pictures. I hope you enjoy them. We are all very much enjoying Baby Joshua.

38 Weeks

I have now been pregnant about a total of 228 weeks. We are currently partway through our 38th week in this pregnancy (by my original due date) or just about starting our 38th week (by my ultrasound date). I have never made it to my due date (though I know I should never say never) and my last 3 babies have been born at exactly 38 weeks. So, we are ready to welcome this baby boy into the world!

At my last doctors appointment my cervix was stretchy and I was 3-4 cm dilated. I have a doctors appointment this afternoon so we will see if that has changed any. To some people this seems like a lot but it is pretty typical of me to dilate before labour begins. With Samara I was 5cm dilated for a week. I have had several bouts of contractions over the last several weeks even lasting for up to 6 hours! This makes it difficult for me to predict if I am just having another round of practice contractions or if Baby is on his way. With Rebekah I had 6 hours of contractions before I was mostly confident that it was actually kicking in to the second stage of labour and that she was indeed on her way.

The last few weeks have been difficult. It spends a lot of emotional energy wondering if I am just up for another sleepless night or if it is baby day. I try to ignore the contractions for the most part but the question is always in my mind. You would think that with this being my 6th baby I would relax a bit about the whole labour and birth but I think I feel more stress and anxiety with this one then I have with any of the others.

I am looking forward to my mom coming for the long weekend. It will be nice to have the extra hands to distract the kids and some visiting and help to distract me. Jonathan is taking the rest of November off and works his last day on Saturday. I feel less overwhelmed knowing that soon I won't be on my own.

I may include a pregnancy picture later on if I get one. Hoping rather to be posting some baby pictures soon. We will likely put our first pictures of baby on Flickr when we are in hospital. You can view them by clicking on this link:

Neufeld Flickr Page

First Day of School

Last week Angeline had her first day of Kindergarten and David had his first day of Grade 3. We have a lot of new things going on with school this year. While we are continuing to Homeschool we have changed which school we Homeschool through and with that comes a number of changes because there are many differences in how they operate. We were formally homeschooling though RCOA which is a Private Christian School. We are now currently homeschooling with HomeQuest which is part of Delta School District. HomeQuest operates out of PineWood Elementary School in Delta. So far we are really happy we made the switch.
Currently Angeline and David attend class on Tuesdays with the option of attending twice a week. We have decided to attend once a week for now and will look at attending 2 full days a week when school starts up in January.
One of the advantages of HomeQuest that we are really excited about is that they offer many field trips. We all visited Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch on Friday and are looking forward to "Learn to Fish" near the end of October. There are 1-2 field trips each week so you can pick and choose which ones to participate in (for free). The above picture was taken at the Pumpkin Patch and the kids each brought home a different colour pumpkin. We are looking forward to tasting the blue, white and red pumpkins we brought home which are supposedly much tastier then the average orange pumpkin.
I was not sure what to expect having 2 students when the last 3 years it has been 1 on 1 but much to my surprise we have transitioned very well. We are looking forward to another great year of learning, family time, and many memories made.

Bekah is 2!

Rebekah is now 26 months so her 2 year update is overdue. The main reason for the delay is I have been hoping to capture some special pictures of her to celebrate this special milestone. She doesn't really like to pose for the camera at the moment and her two year birthday pictures are out since singing her "Happy Birthday" puts her in tears. I'd like to say that they are happy tears but the truth is she really doesn't like it. She broke out crying for her first birthday as well.

Regardless of whether or not I am able to capture the perfect posed picture I have in mind, her birthday has come and gone. She is transforming more and more every day into a little girl and the only thing really holding her back as a baby is her diapers. Jonathan and I are both finding it difficult that she is growing up so fast, I think this is particularly the case since she is our last baby girl. In another month or so she will be a big sister!

We love her so much... she gives the BEST cuddles and LOVES to make us laugh. She did promise Daddy that she would stay little forever but we know there is no stopping the inevitable. So we will catch snap shots when we can and cherish the moments as we attempt to enjoy the present without longing for the past or fretting about the future.

Tad Lake August 26- September 5

We got back yesterday from our trip to Tad Lake. Now we are busy getting things organized before we start school Monday. The next few months are sure to pass quickly and we are anticipating the end of term one along with the arrival of our new addition.

Our time at Tad Lake went well. The kids didn't want to come home... though they are happy to be reunited with their toys and they all slept extra well in their own beds. There was lots to do as always. Tire swing, walk to the cattle guard, bikes, motorbikes, quad rides, play house, rock panting, gardening, frog hunting... just to name a few.
David learned to drive the big quad and is hoping to get one his own size before our next visit in the Spring.
We spent the first week there without Daddy since he was hunting outside Fort Nelson. It was good to have lots to occupy us and lots of family around while he was away.
Just wanted to share a few pictures from our trip.

Baby Boy 27 weeks

Here is another sneak peak of our Baby Boy. I am 27 weeks pregnant and he is measuring 28 weeks (over 2 lbs now)  which probably just means my original due date of November 17th is more accurate (always is). We had to have another scan because the doctor was concerned he was big or I had too much amniotic fluid but the measurements came back fine.

My guess is that he will arrive November 7th and weigh 8lbs 2 oz.

Port Alberni - Summer 2014

This month we were able to spend a week on Vancouver Island visiting family. We started off our trip with a day at Parksville Beach which has become an annual tradition. This year we brought Angeline's kite which David enjoyed flying. We also enjoyed Roger Creek Park Trails and Water Park where we were able to get an updated family picture. Another highlight is always Sprout Lake and we were able to spend time at Taylor Arm and at my Aunt & Uncles Place. The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake... Rebekah was so comfortable in the water she decided it was a good place for a nap! While we were there we were able to celebrate David and Rebekah's Birthdays twice... lots of fun was had by all. I will share a few highlights but if you want to see more pictures just click on one of the pictures and it will bring you to our flickr page where you can view lots more.

VBS 2014

Vacation Bible School is always a summer highlight for us. This was Samara's 1st year so she was really excited to be able to take part. It took her a little while to warm up to the new experience but she had a great week and by the last day she had lots of hugs and smiles for her leaders. Grammy & Grandpa volunteered their time to help make VBS a success and they loved seeing them every day.

Baby Gender Reveal

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound and a little get together to share with some family and friends the gender or our baby on the way. We are very thankful for a healthy baby! And we must admit it is going to be nice to have a change from pink and bring out some of our blue again! So that's our news... Baby BOY Neufeld coming soon. We are all very excited... the kids didn't go to bed until 10pm last night. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

David's 8th Birthday - Lego Party

Well, it has been a busy few weeks. It is actually July 4th but I wanted to back post David's Birthday before I continued blogging with our Baby News from yesterday.
David chose a Lego Movie theme this year and had a fun party with 5 friends (Joel is missing from the pictures as he had to leave early). Thank you to everyone for coming and for the special gifts!

8 isn't one of those milestone Birthdays that brings tears to a mothers eyes but I am still in awe that my Baby (my first baby that is) is 8 years old! That is only 2 years away from 10! As part of turning 8 David got to move into his own bedroom which he is going to have to share eventually when his new room mate arrives. He love, love, loves Lego as you may have guessed from his party's theme. He has also recently developed an interest in Pokemon. A new age came with a bit of new attitude but he continues to be our loving, considerate, generous & happy first born son. We love you David!

It's A...

Chinese Gender Prediction Calendar = BOY
Baking Soda / Urine = GIRL
Ring over belly = BOY
Sweet VS Spicy= BOY
Heart Rate = GIRL
Cold Feet = BOY
Belly Shape = BOY
Face Shape= BOY
SKIN = BOY
Morning Sickness = GIRL

As our ultrasound date approaches I am finding myself more and more anxious to find out the gender of our newest family member. If any of these predictions were accurate we wouldn't need an ultrasound to find out baby's gender but I thought it would be fun just the same to see what we came up with. There are a few tricks I haven't tried... like mixing urine with drano crystals or boiled water from red cabbage... and I haven't bought an at home gender prediction kit (because again none of these methods prove to be accurate) but here are some results from the few things I have tried. Do I think I am having a BOY based on these results? No! Still waiting to see what the ultrasound tech says in just less then 2 weeks. If you are curious to find out check our blog on Sunday, July 6 (it should be posted by then if not earlier... though I would like to keep it a secret so I can announce it myself at church to those who haven't found out already). We will be having a small gender reveal party on Thursday after the ultrasound.

Samara's Hospital Stay

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping Samara in their thoughts and prayers. We got home from the hospital this morning. Her heart rate was a little high before we left but she was getting more anxious about being at the hospital the longer we stayed. She also refused liquid medicine so she could only take the chewable tylenol they had rather then alternating between tylenol and advil like she is supposed to. Now that she is home we have both in chewable form so pain management should be less of an issue though it is supposed to get worse before it gets better. That being said she is doing well. She is happy to be home. She is currently playing a board game with her siblings.
After her surgery she had to stay in recovery for 2 hours which is a little bit longer then usual. There were no major complications she just had a bit of a hard time waking up, some blood in her saliva and needed some oxygen for the first little bit. Please continue to pray for her since pain tends to peak on day four and she the risk for bleeding is its highest between day seven and day ten.
We are very happy to have her home.

Samara's 1st Operation

Samara is having her tonsils and adenoids removed tomorrow. I will be spending the day and night with her at the hospital. We are pretty much ready to go bright and early Friday morning, just a few more things to pack. Not sure what time she will get discharged on Saturday but once we've settled in at home I plan to update the blog to let everyone know how she is doing. We will be checking in at 7:10am and her surgery is schedule for 9:10am. Please pray that she responds well to the anesthetic and that there are no complications. Thank you.






We spent a fun day together at Bear Creek Park and then to Menchies for frozen yogurt. I am glad it worked out that Jonathan had today off. Once Samara has recovered we will have to celebrate with another fun family adventure. Until then we wish her a speedy recovery.

16 Weeks

At 16 Weeks Pregnant "Pumpkin" is about the size of an avocado (hence the picture) and we are half way through our 4th month. The half way mark for us (19 weeks) is just around the corner. "Pumpkin" is scheduled for a growth spurt... and should be doubling his weight in the next few weeks (which means I am scheduled for another growth spurt too).
I am feeling pretty good... second trimester is everyone's favorite. I have started an iron supplement to bring my iron up and I am having some difficulty sleeping but that is mostly because I have to keep getting up to pee. Nothing truly to complain about.
In just less then 4 weeks we will be having another ultrasound and if "Pumpkin" cooperates we are planning to find out his (or her) gender.
I am beginning to wonder if this baby might be part Mexican (not seriously) because I seem to want the spicy version of anything and everything. I've been adding jalapeno's and hot sauce to most of my meals which has culminated in some very interesting and tasty discoveries.

Summer Challenges

Well... we have nearly wrapped up another year of home schooling... and so I am finding myself in need of another challenge... not that my life doesn't have enough challenges on its own but I think it might do me some good to have a project. I have several to choose from... always things on the to do list I don't have time for but I have decided to choose the challenge of Angeline's Baby Book. David's is done... though I think I may add a few things here and there. Rebekah's is done (because I did her's online... one month at a time). But Angeline's and Samara's remain. I would do theirs online too but I already have the albums, paper, stickers and pictures printed so all I need now is a little determination. I'm not setting a timed challenge because I really don't know how long it will take me to complete it. But I want to have it done by the end of summer if I can manage. The challenge really is to get started and make time to work on it. It is nice to have some uninterrupted time where I can feel like I am accomplishing something. Lately I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the "lather, rinse, repeat" duties of motherhood. To complete her album will be a big check mark off my list, a sure sense of accomplishment.
I am also hoping to host a book club for 8 weeks in July and August on Monday nights from 7:30-9:00pm. We will be discussing Kevin Leman's book, "Have a New Husband by Friday."Don't worry... I'm not actually planning to trade Jonathan in. Truth be told it has more to do with changes we can make as wives to better our marriages but if there is enough interest it should prove to be a fun and informative weekly girls night out.
When I think about challenges there has been one thing in particular on my mind lately that really challenges my heart. Samara (our 3/12 year old) is schedule for surgery to have her tonsils and adenoids removed on June 13th. It is a routine day surgery but because of her age I will be staying with her overnight and I am grateful that they will be monitoring her at the hospital for the first 24 hours. You might say I am struggling with it because she is my first child to have surgery. Or maybe it is because at the adorable age of 3 1/2 she pulls on my heart strings a little more strongly then her syblings. But I think the real reason is I'm afraid my decision could turn out to be the worst thing for her when it is meant to be the best. There is the complication of the anesthesia and the possibility of bleeding for up to 3 weeks afterwards though the odds are in her favour that she will recover quickly and be as good as new in no time. Like any parent I just can't bare the thought of having to say good-bye. Unlike most parents I have had to do it before. I know the reality is that each and every day could be any one of our lasts. I am trying to be logical and remind myself of all the ways she will benefit once she has recovered and somedays I can almost convince myself but my reality remains that sending her off into the hands of her sergeant will be the second most difficult thing I have ever had to do.

Adam and Eve and Peanuts

This morning in the van on the way to David's soccer game Angeline asks
"Mommy why am I allergic to dust mites?"
(Me) "I don't know why but I am too."
(David) "Angeline... you want to know why people have allergies?... Adam sinned in the garden and that is why we have allergies. If Adam and Eve would have obeyed then he would still be alive and I could eat peanuts."

Introducing Pumpkin

For the most part our news is out but I was waiting to officially blog our new addition until after today's ultrasound so that I could include another picture of Pumpkin. The above picture was taken in April at 8 weeks, 2 days pregnant and the below picture was taken today at 12 weeks and 5 days pregnant! We are officially Due November 22, 2014 and as usual we are anticipating an early arrival by about 2 weeks which make's Pumpkins likely arrival sometime around November 8th. I wasn't able to get our scanner to cooperate so I had to take pictures of the pictures which doesn't make for the best quality but you kind of have to use your imagination a bit anyway. Regardless you can see how much Pumpkin has changed in the last 4 weeks. We have our next doctors appointment on Tuesday and we are looking forward to booking our 19-20 week ultrasound then. Which brings us to the big question... Should we find out Pumpkins gender at our next ultrasound OR leave it a surprise for his/her arrival in November?



Here is a picture of how we announced Pumpkin to some of our family members...

David's Dirt Bike

Tad Lake - May 2014

We recently spent a week at the family cabin at Tad Lake near 100 Mile House. It's still a bit cold in early May but the nice thing is there aren't many mosquitos yet (we saw the odd one but no bites). We had a great time and made lots of nice memories.
David had some big highlights this trip. We got him his first dirt bike (YAMAHA PW50) which he spent most of his time on! He also went fishing and caught his first fish, a rainbow trout.
The kids didn't want to come home and are already looking forward to our next rip.
I hope you enjoy these few pictures from our week.

21 Months

Rebekah is now 21 months old. Usually by this time the newest sibling has arrived. She IS going to be BIG SISTER to our new addition in November 2014. These pictures were taken during our week at Tad Lake. She loved spending time at the family cabin. She would have spent the entire time outside if she could have. "Outside" is one of her favourite words to say. She also says "downstairs" often... that is where we have our play room and where her siblings can usually be found. She is now saying small sentences... things like "I want juice." Her best friend is Samara and she LOVES following her around. They are often holding hands off on an adventure together. If Samara is climbing the rocks at the front of our house she has to do it too... same with the run bike etc. We love our Bekah... she is so much fun and adds lots of joy to our family.

Palm Springs

More March...

Angeline's Princess Party

3 Sisters at 19 months

Angeline & Rebekah

Samara & Rebekah


Rebekah is now 19 months old. Lately she has been reminding me a lot of Angeline when she was that age. Looking back at pictures the resemblance isn't as striking as I thought but I think a lot of it has to do with facial expressions. Most often I think they look similar when sleeping. Personality wise they are similar and David and Samara are similar as well. Interesting because Samara looks the most like David out of the 3 girls at 19 months... they both have a rounder face at this age. Anyway, thought I would take these pics as I was making comparissons. Enjoy!

January 2014 Family Portraits

18 Months

Time has not slowed down for us. Was going to post some pictures when Rebekah reached 18 months and she is now 18 1/2 months old. We have been so busy that I actually haven't taken too many pictures since Chrsitmas. Here are a few recent ones of Bekah and her buddy Gunnar taken last weekend.
Not much of an update since my last blog. She hasn't made any leaps and bounds with her words. She is continually working on new teeth and almost has a whole mouth full. She is growing up so much though. I love watching her sing and dance and play with her sisters. And I love watching her with David. He often gets her when she wakes up in the morning... so sweet! The other night when I was tucking him in he asked me if Bekah was going to wake up during the night. I said that she might wake up once and he told me that he would go get her for me. LOVE all my kids.

Happy New Food

All Recipes Pad Thai
This year I would like to make some new recipes. In my mind it would be wonderful to have a designated day of the week be "New Recipe Day"... that would be 52 new recipes for 2014. That is not going to happen. But I would like to make it a point to try a few new things a month.
Yesterday the kids spent the night at Grammy and Grandpa's which made for a perfect opportunity to use the peanut sauce that has been waiting patiently in my pantry. I've linked a recipe for Pad Thai from allrecipes.com which is my favourite site for recipes. I used this recipe for inspiration only which is sort of what I like to do. I didn't use bean sprouts but I did use carrots, celery, sugar snap peas and green onions. I didn't make my own sauce because I had the peanut sauce which needed to be used. I looked at a few other recipes and then through my own together. First new recipe for 2014

Happy Nothing New Year 2014

      As each year comes to an end, in preparation for the New Year I like to make a list of what I would like to do differently. I guess you can call them resolutions. Some of them are typical like loosing weight, which after a month of turkey dinners, Christmas cookies and chocolates really shouldn't come as a surprise. Mostly it just seems like a good time to evaluate how things are going and how one might make some improvements.

      This year I've made a list but there is also something different we are trying. We have committed as a family to buying Nothing New for the entire year of 2014. So, we are now in the middle of our first week. I have to admit, my first trip to COSTCO was hard! And Jonathan has already had to remind me once that it still counts even if it is 50% off. Even though we are only 4 days in we have already come across a few things that we would normally set out to buy. The kids use small glass cups for drinking out of and being that they are kids they sometimes get broken. I've broken a few myself. We buy them in a pack at ikea for a reasonable price. They fit nicely in the dishewasher. They match. I think we lost a few over the month of December and with 4 kids drinking out of them we seem to be out of clean cups before super. I was tempted to just go to Ikea and pick up another set. The other thing is our Brita has had a crack in it for probably more then a year. Some unfiltered water leaks through as it is running its course, not really a big deal but we just finished our last filter and so it was time to say good-bye. We decided we can live with just drinking tap water but it makes for lots of trips to the sink during meal times. So we used a juice jug to bring to the table when we eat. This works fine but I would prefer to use a glass pitcher. So, I made my way to Talize and found 6 matching glasses (49 cents each) and a glass pitcher (2$) for our water. Now I can feel good about saving money and reusing.
      Another Resolution for this year is for Jonathan and me to go on a monthly DATE. That makes for 12 dates a year which probably doesn't sound like much but I think it is about 9 more dates then we had in 2013.
    So, Happy New Year to you and Happy Nothing New Year to us.

"Bekah"... 17 months

Rebekah is 17 months old today. We certainly noticed some big changes in this last month as she journeys from baby to toddler. Firstly she is no longer nursing and subsequently not "needing" mommy as much. She is expressing her  independent spirit as she explores new things she can do on her own. She likes to practise undressing herself but usually only manages to get her pants and shirt half off. This makes for an interesting fashion statement and also a tripping hazard but it is cute none the less. She is using her words more and managed her first sentence "Angie did it!" Her most common words are her siblings names "Dayday, Angie & Mara"... Mama, Dadda, all-done, water, cheese & chocolate are also used often. I can't forget "Gunnar"... Grammy and Grandpa's puppy. When we spent the night at their house the first thing she said in the morning was "Hi Gunnar." She is often singing and dancing. Here are a few recent pictures of her from Christmas. Can't believe our "Baby" is almost 1 1/2!