Introducing Rebekah...

Rebekah Margaret Grace

Rebekah was born August 2nd... 5 minutes shy of midnight! She came rather quickly... wanting to make sure she made it in time for her Great-Great-Granny's Birthday (would have been 100th) & my cousin Chelsea's Birthday. She is named after her Oma... Margaret Neufeld and my Grandma Grace Tourangeau. She arrived at 38 weeks just like her two sisters before her and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. We stayed in the hospital until noon on Saturday. She has been doing very well. She has dark hair and we aren't sure about her eye colour yet... definitely some blue in there but not sure if it will change or not. It is possible her hair might also change as David's started out quite dark too but she seems to be the darkest one so far. Yesterday was our first full day as a family of 6 since David and Angeline had been away for the long weekend so we are still settling in. Jonathan is taking some time off to help ease the adjustment. I will be posting the story of her arrival soon... just havn't had much time to work on it yet.

Picnic Day

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day timing contractions. They were steady for over 6 hours but not progressing. Without completely giving my hopes up I was thinking Summer was on her way. I had a similar labour with Samara only we went to the hospital and they broke my water to encourage things to get going. After breaking my water my contractions stopped so then they didn't have much choice other then to put me on oxytocin (which is NOT fun)... rather then have a repeat I thought I would just wait it out and see if my body would kick into the second stage of labour on its own (but obviously it didn't).
That being said today needed to be a picnic day. I needed to get out of the house and get the kids out too. They went for a bike ride in the trails (we walked) and then played at the water-park and playground. And we had lunch. It was a nice morning for everyone... just thought I would share some pictures.

37 weeks- the hardest part

Waiting is the hardest part... and that's saying a lot knowing full well what my body has to accomplish to bring this Baby into the world.
We are 37 weeks today (which is considered full term). Summer could arrive at any moment or she could decide to take her sweet time. My body is definitely showing signs that it is preparing for labour to start but the varying range for  when those first true contractions will occur can be anywhere from hours to weeks.
This morning the minutes are passing by slowly. We have not been getting out of the house much because at this point it just requires too much effort (and way too many bathroom breaks).  As a result the kids and I all seem to have a bit of "cabin fever."
We are "ready" for the most part in the sense that our bags are packed and the car seat is installed. As always there is still lots to do. It would be ideal to be on top of the house work and there are several projects I would like to complete before I bring Summer home... I guess I just need to focus on those and keep my mind off the when and the how.
If we take a picture in the next few days we will add it to this post.

What's new...

 This is an all in one update with our newest family picture. It's a special family picture because we are all together with the white rose bush planted in Noah's memory at Grammy and Grandpa's house. It's also my latest pregnancy shot... taken just shy of 36 weeks.
Today we reach the 36 week point and Baby Summer is nearly 6 pounds, 18 1/2 inches tall. She is ready to be born though she will thrive a bit better if she stays in my womb for a few more weeks. I am comfortable for the most part, seeing my massage therapist weekly at this point which really helps. My only "complaint" at the moment is that I am quite tired but I haven't been very good about keeping an early bed time so I think it has more to do with that then our pregnancy. Once I am in bed I have been sleeping well.
As far as an update for the kids David is almost 50 lbs now, Angeline has made her way to 30 lbs and Samara is 21 lbs. David is looking forward to starting school again in September. Angeline is anxious to learn to write more letters and to do everything else her big brother does as well. Samara is talking more all the time. We are planning to buy a bunk bed for D & A on Monday and move them back into the same room. Samara has been sleeping well in her crib at night and it has gotten much easier to put her to bed.
Our outfits came from Auntie Lauren and Uncle Brent... Summer Olympics clothes from England.

Who dun it?

KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Needless to say the Iron didn't survive the experiment)

Jonathan - my money's on Angeline... some Angel ;)

Vacation Bible School

This past week David has been spending his mornings at Vacation Bible School (VBS). The girls enjoyed going to pick him up today, and participating in the singing. I LOVE the picture of Samara with her hand in the air. Wish I had a video of Angeline dancing too. Thank you to the many volunteers and also to Carolyne for driving David everyday. He had an amazing week and will spend the next few weeks leading VBS sessions for all of us. The coffee table turns into a stage (and as you can see from the second photo he has no fear of stages) and the Sky VBS CD will get played continually on the CD player... he will also continue to wear his VBS shirt everyday... I am going to have to wash it when he is sleeping. HE hasn't lined up his teddies for a sermon yet but it wouldn't surprise me! This is David's 3rd year in VBS and next year Angeline gets to go too... she is so excited!

Fun Morning at the Park

This morning we had a girls day at the park. I HAD to get some pictures of Angeline and Samara in their matching swimsuits. They didn't get too wet but they had fun splashing. Love the water park and the toddler park at Ryall... will have to go more often! After seeing the pictures David said he would like to go too... he is having a fun week at VBS.

Our Kindergarten Grad!

Saying fair well to Shuswap...

 4 generations of first born Neufeld men enjoying a bike ride along the Adams River

Yesterday we came home from our last week at Shuswap. Shuswap has been a summer vacation spot for Jonathan since he was a little boy. I have known Shuswap for the last 8 summers. David has spent every Birthday at Shuswap and thinks of it as another home. Needless to say we are sad to say good bye but we are happy to have so many fun memories there. I'm sure we will all love Tad Lake just as much or maybe even more as the years go by and we make new memories.
One of the special things about Shuswap is just being all together with Jonathan's family. This year we were there with his parents, brother and both sets of grandparents. The kids enjoy all the extra attention, games, food, and fun time spent in the outdoors. Thanks everyone for all the time you spent helping with the kids and making yummy meals.
Good bye Shuswap

David's 6th Birthday at Shuswap

 Waffles

 Love

 Presents

& Cake!

While we were at Shuswap we were able to celebrate David's 6th Birthday with Jonathan's family. David was spoiled with lots of presents and had a great time celebrating.

Samara's 18 month picture

33 weeks pregnant!

Here we are on Thursday... 33 weeks pregnant and feeling great! Don't get too worried... we just took it down the street and back. Our next doctors appointment is on Tuesday but things are going really well. I know that July is going to go by quickly... "Summer" will be before we know it.

One & a 1/2

June 8th Samara hit the 18 month mark. She certainly is less baby and more toddler with each day that goes by. I know this will change even more when Summer is born and she becomes a big sister!
At the moment she is happy trying to be like her big sister. She likes to wear Angeline's shoes and tries to put on her clothes. If Angeline is getting her hair done or her nails painted Samara is next in line... at least until she realizes that it actually requires her to sit still for a moment. I love to watch the special bond she shares with her brother and sister. She calls for them when she wakes up in the morning and tags along with them throughout the day. She especially likes playing "mommy" and can often be found with a doll in her arms.
As for vocabulary she definitely gets the point across when she wants or needs something but she is not using many words yet. She can say mom, dad, david, cracker, nana, more, no, ya, go... but can usually get what she wants by just pointing and saying "EIHN!"... Angeline talked sooner and David later so it seems that she is right in the middle.
She's becoming a bit of a fussy eater but she does drink really well out of a cup and I am happy not to be washing sippy cups all the time. She goes CRAZY for peanut butter so I can always give her that in a pinch.
She likes to sing and be sung to. She LOVES to have a bath. She really likes it when you play tickle rhymes with her like "Round and round the garden" and "this little piggy went to the market."
I would have updated this milestone earlier but I was hoping to include some recent pictures. She had a nasty bruise on her forehead which has delayed a photo shoot of any sort. Will post a separate entry of 18 month pictures soon!

32 Weeks

 I am 32 weeks pregnant today... which means we have about 6 or 7 weeks to go. I have realized more this week that soon I won't be feeling Summer's kicks in my belly... I will be holding her in my arms! She is nearly ready to be born, weighing almost 4 pounds and measuring almost 19 inches tall!

It has been a nice summer to be pregnant in... not too hot so far so I haven't had to worry about swollen ankles, although I'm sure I will face some of that in the next 6 weeks. I have hardly had any heartburn lately so I guess Summer is nestled into a comfortable spot for both me and her. My hips are getting a bit sore in the evenings but I have been going for regular massage appointments so that has been helping a lot. So far it isn't my most uncomfortable pregnancy... at least at this stage.

Still lots to do to get ready which will keep the weeks going by fast. Today I am attempting to tackle my overgrown garden before the rain starts again. Also trying to come up with a design for Summer's Birth Announcements... I think I have settled on a colour at least. We will be setting up the Toddler Bed soon to transition Samara and I would like to finish the girls Christmas Stockings before Summer is born but that might be a long shot. Once July hits I will start bringing out the baby clothes to organize Summer's dresser... and pack our hospital bag.

Needless to say we are all very excited... my next doctors appointment is July 3rd so I will likely try to post again after then.

David's 6th Birthday Party...

 David wanted an "Angry Birds" party this year. Grammy Traced out the decorations for me to paint and I was happy how they turned out.

 I also made the goodie bags and the kids all made their own angry bird craft (wish I would have taken a group picture... I always forget!)... here is David with his Angry Bird.

 From 5 years old to 6 has seemed like quite a jump! We are loving our little man and finding it hard to believe that our oldest is turning 6! 

 Thank you for everyone who was able to celebrate with us. Thank you for the thoughtful cards and fun gifts. David had a wonderful day and we hope you did too! Thank you everyone who helped and especially Grammy and Grandpa who had the party cleaned up before it was even over... we really appreciated not having to worry about the mess.

David and Tyler were dressed for the theme!

New Stampin Up Catalogue

Just wanted to update with a link to the new 2012-2013 Stampin Up Catalogue. This Catalogue runs from June 1, 2012 - May 31, 2013. It is the only Catalogue that an order can be placed with at the moment. There will be 2 Seasonal Catalogues coming out this year (not the usual 4). The first one is available in August. 

I can take your orders from this Catalogue during the month of June and will likely be placing an order at the end of this week. However I may not be continuing as a Demonstrator come July.