Our big Girl & Our baby Girl

March is always a busy month in our family for birthdays. Grandpa Rob turned 50 this month, I celebrated my 28th, Samara is now 3 months old and Angeline turned 2 on Monday. Still more March birthdays to come. We were able to celebrate during our time on the Island as well as since we've been home. Angeline has LOVED all the extra attention as you can probably tell from this picture of her with her cup cake. She spent a good part of her birthday singing "Happy Birthday" to herself... very cute.
Samara LOVES to talk anytime anyone is willing to listen and now gives very big smiles as you can also see from the picture. She isn't full out laughing but she had a little laughing noise that you can tell is a laugh. She hasn't rolled over as of yet but she pulls her arms into her chest and lifts her head like she is going to. At 3 months she weighs 11 lbs 5 oz.
Jonathan and I are LOVING our family. It was nice to be able to go to the Island together and for Jonathan to have a bit of time off work.
I am especially looking forward to some warmer, sunnier days... finding the rain and the cold a bit much at the moment.

Family Photo

It was definitely time to update our family picture. We were able to do this on Sunday thanks to Tony. Jonathan took pictures of the Mitchell's and Tony took pictures of us. These are our 4 favorites. Which one is your favorite??? Thanks again Tony!

Not a Newborn anymore...

Samara is now 10 weeks old and it was just over a week ago that she moved from newborn to baby. She started smiling and cooing and just staying awake more in general. She had her first shots at 9 weeks old and weighed 10 lbs 3oz last Friday. She is between the 25th and 50th percentile. Had to share this adorable video of some of her first coo's... it melts our hearts! We love her to bits... she make me want 2 more!

A Beautiful Day

Before & After

Here are just a few pictures to show how much progress has been made. Tomorrow the grout will go in and then hopefully Saturday it will be sealed and my new washer and dryer moved in and hooked up! I think we might have to have a party to celebrate!

Busy, Busy, Busy

We are certainly BUSY x3. Not only do we have a 7 week old baby but we are also undergoing major renovations. Jonathan and Bob have been working on adding a bathroom to our basement. It has been a long process... beginning in September (and I have not had a washer and dryer hooked up since then). And I am very happy to say that it is almost complete! This means that not only has Jonathan been working long hours at work but he has been coming home and working late on the bathroom and then getting up early the next morning for work. I don't know how he does it but I am very thankful that he is a hard worker and I am proud of him for what he has learned and accomplished with Bob's help (THANK YOU BOB)! I just wanted to post some more pictures of Samara and one of Angeline being silly. I hope to post the before and after pictures of the bathroom addition soon.

Our creative son...

This is a video that David took of himself spinning.

Look away if you get motion sickness :P

5 weeks already!

My little Samara is 5 weeks old already. Between Christmas and us all being sick into early January the time since her birth has certainly gone by fast. She had a check up at the doctors yesterday and she is doing well, weighing 8 pounds and 15 ounces. She slept a lot at first but we now enjoy more awake time with her. David and Angeline love to lay beside her and hold her hands. This months tasks include getting used to taking all 3 kids out on my own and thus getting back to our regular scheduled programing. I am also hoping to get Samara sleeping in her crib and sleeping for longer periods during the night. We should probably work on getting a family picture of the 5 of us as well.
The plan is to have our basement bathroom reno's completed this month and that keeps Jonathan quite busy between work and work at home. It is almost ready for some paint and then a floor. I CAN'T WAIT until it is finished.
Looking forward to hopefully going for some walks when we have some sunny days. I normally find January to be quite long so I am both happy and surprised that it is almost half way over. I am hoping for an early Spring this year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas from us all! We had a nice Christmas this year with family celebrations on the 18th, 25th, 26th & 27th! It has been a special Christmas celebrating with our newest addition Samara. On the other hand it has been a difficult Christmas as we have all had a bad cold. David and Angeline started us off and are now mostly recovered and Jonathan, Samara and myself are still on the mend.

I did manage to get some Christmas cards out before Samara was born... still have a few to send. I think I should have stuck with my original idea and just sent Happy New Year cards this year. Oh well! Nothing "eventful" planned for 2011 so far but certainly lots to enjoy and keep us busy. We are working more and more with David to get him ready for Home Schooling Kindergarden in September. We have plans to potty train Angeline in the Spring... she does occasionally pee for a smarty when she is thinking of it. I am hoping to start walking more often as the weather improves and running some too in the next couple of months. Jonathan is really enjoying photography at the moment and there is a link to his new blog under our blog list. And Samara... what can I say about our little Samara? Hmmm... if you asked my a few days ago I would say that she is our best sleeper so far (I think she might be going through a growth spurt at the moment as well as battling her first cold). She is a very "easy" baby... always happy unless she is hungry. She poops a lot! And she also is a spitter! Not all the time but when she does you won't miss this.... apparently she gets this from Daddy. She is quiet so far but I am sure this will change as she learns to compete with her brother and sister. We are looking forward to watching them all as they continue to grow throughout the new year!

No official family picture since the one we took at the hospital but I thought I would post the two we have of the 3 kids together. Happy New Year!

Samara is 1 week old today!

When Jonathan came home from work today we set up a little photo shoot for Samara's one week birthday. All of these pictures were taken this afternoon. She did very well and once we were done she was ready for another nap. She does spend most of her time sleeping as most new borns do. She is also having more awake time and more time with her eyes open every day and she has started gaining weight again after her initial loss (which is normal). At the doctors yesterday she was back up to 6lbs 14oz. Her hair is dark but it we will have to keep guessing as David started out dark as well. Her eyes seem blue... David's we could tell from day one were going to be brown but she may surprise us with that as well. I couldn't ask for a "better" baby... she gives me 5-6 hours of sleep a night and is never fussy unless she has to wait for a meal. Our cuddle time is precious but I think mommy is being shared rather well.

I also wanted to say congratulations to Uncle Ches for winning the baby pool. He was the only one to guess the right date and he got the gender right too! Good job! And thanks to everyone who guessed.

Sunday's Christmas Play

Just a few pictures of David and Angeline in the Christmas Play on Sunday. Neither one of them ran off in tears so I think they did pretty good. Maybe in a few years Angeline will get the part for the Christmas Star. David wasn't too excited about it but he does like to perform... maybe he will be more into it next year.

Welcoming Samara

Welcoming Samara Anne Marie Neufeld

Born on December 8th, 2010 at 1:42pm

Weighing 7lbs 6ozs and Measuring 20 1/4" in length

Does mommy look like she's had a rough delivery?

I don't think so!

Here's how it went...

9 hours of pre-labor on November 28th (3 cm)

I told her to wait until I got home from work before she was allowed to go into labor

Labor started 11:15pm (when I got home) December 7th

Dropped off kid-lets at Mom & Dads at 3:00am December 8th

Thanks Mom and Dad for watch your grand babies while we got a new one...

Arrived at the hospital where contractions slowed around 3:30am (4 cm)

Contractions slowed further after moving into a delivery suite a few hours later

Doc broke her water to help move things along around 8am

Contractions stopped (4 cm)

Oxytocin started at 10am to help induce labor

Contractions started again and grew quite quickly in pain and duration

Around 12pm pain was becoming quite intense and lots of progress was made (7 cm)

Transition. Enough said... (8 cm)

1:10pm Pushing through 9 cm and leftover membrane covering Samara's head

1:10-1:40pm asking for every drug known to mankind

1:42pm a glorious arrival of a beautiful baby and a glowing mother...

1:42:30pm Surprised to find out that our boy is a girl!

1:42:31pm Happy anyways!

David giving Samara his kiss of approval

His most notable comment was 'You did a good-job Mommy!'

Angeline pointing out that its a baby!

Her most notable comment was 'Baby!'

One bigger happy family!

Finally at home sweet home with our new arrival.

David and Angeline have been fighting over who holds Samara.

They are both very excited about Samara,

although Angeline seems worried that this baby is going to stay for some time.

Posted By One Proud Father and Husband

P.S. I love you so much Melissa, you make me so proud.

P.P.S. Stop trying to make me cry with all these beautiful moments, its embarrassing :)...

Jonathan's Work Kids Christmas Party (Yesterday)

Angeline LOVED the bouncy castles and finally convinced her brother that it was safe to join her!

Chocolate Pudding

This Week...

First snow experience.

First Hair Cut

One night when they insisted on sleeping in the same bed.

Yesterday Angeline had her first hair cut and she did very well. After hair cuts were done we all played in the snow a bit while Jonathan shoveled the drive way and then we had hot chocolate. It has rained since so the road is slushy and icy. Being stuck at home has not been so bad as we have been able to continue to get things checked of the list. I think baby is waiting until we are "ready" for him to arrive. Maybe we will do some Christmas decorating when Jonathan gets home. 36 weeks pregnant yesterday and my next doctors appointment is Tuesday.

35 Weeks

We are 35 weeks pregnant and the weeks are finally going by quickly... a little too quickly. I can't wait to hold this little one in my arms (not to mention have him out of my stomach) but there is still so much to do. Yesterday we got the baby car seat out and moved David and Angeline's chairs to the back of the van. I have to wash the car seat cover, the baby clothes and blankets. I am packed for the hospital finally! Some of you may think it is too early to pack but my doctor told me that baby will likely be here in 2 more weeks (I'm hoping he's a good guesser). We could have a November baby after all but I am still thinking December. That being said the baby pool is closed! Thanks to everyone who put a guess in.

I'm doing really well... just exhausted and wondering how I am going to get my house ready in time for baby's arrival and Christmas but what gets done gets done and the rest will just have to wait.

David enjoying his Halloween Candy...

Baby Pool

Counting down the days until baby's arrival we thought it would be fun to invite everyone to guess about baby's birth date, time, weight, and gender. You can "vote" Boy or Girl on the side bar (please only vote once) and we would love for you to leave your more detailed guess in a comment or an e-mail to us with your name and we will publish your guess on this post.

Hints: We are due December 23 and I have not made it to my due date so far. David was 1 week early, Noah was 3 weeks early and Angeline was 2 weeks early.

Start guessing!

Melissa (Mama)... Dec 9, 2AM, 7lbs 7oz, BOY!

Jonathan (Daddy)... Dec 9, 6AM, 7lbs, BOY!

Lauren & Brent (Aunty & Uncle)...Nov 30,9PM, 7lbs 2oz, BOY

Karen (Grammy)... Dec 7, 6PM, 6lbs 14oz GIRL

Evelyn (Great-Grantma)... Dec 13, 10:20AM, 7lbs, BOY

Janet (Great-Aunt)... Dec 13, 10:20AM, 6lbs 10oz, GIRL

Shawna J... Dec 18,7:30PM, 8lbs, BOY

Conor J... Dec 23, 12PM, 7lbs, BOY

Margaret L... Dec 23, 7:30 AM, 7lbs 12oz GIRL

Linda L... Dec 14, 7lbs 2oz, BOY

Carol (Nana)... Dec 12, 5:37AM, 7lbs 14oz, GIRL

Margaret (Oma)... Dec 14, 5:30AM, 7lbs 10oz, BOY

Brent (Grandpa)... Dec 7, 2:30PM, 6lbs 2 oz, BOY

Shelley... Nov 28, 3:30AM, 6lbs 7oz, BOY

Mandy (Aunty)... Dec 5, 11PM, 7lbs 2 oz, BOY

Rob (Grandpa)... Dec 10, 8:10PM, 7lbs, BOY

Anne (Great-Grandma)... Dec 4, 7:30AM, 6lbs 10oz, GIRL

Abe (Great-Grandpa)... Dec 14, 6lbs 5oz, GIRL

Theresa... Dec 5, 8PM, 7lbs 2oz, BOY

Linda (Great-Aunt)... Dec 10, 5PM, 7lbs, BOY

Ches (Great-Uncle)... Dec 8, 8AM, 6lbs 8oz, GIRL

Christina M... Dec 10, 10:30PM, 7lbs 8oz, BOY