Angeline

In March we celebrated Angeline's 6th birthday but we only recently added her party pictures to the computer. Even though she is nearly 6 1/2 I had to share an update and some pictures of our oldest daughter. Mature beyond her age (most of the time) she in an amazing helper with Joshua and her other siblings. She loves having a baby brother and if she had her way would have a bay sister next! (Tried explaining to her that she already has 2 baby sisters but "they aren't little anymore"). She does plan to grow up, get married and have five kids of her own. David has nicknamed her "second mom" and she carries that title proudly. She thoroughly enjoyed her first year of school (attending 2 days/week of class at HomeQuest) and is eagerly waiting to start Grade 1 in September.

Joshua 8 Months

As of yesterday Joshua is 9 months old! I am hoping to take his 9 month sticker photo's today but since I haven't posted some 8 month pictures yet I decided to do that first! The last day of his 7th month he pulled himself up to stand for the first time and there has been no stoping him since. He's not that motivated to cruise furniture but he does occasionally take a few steps. He crawls everywhere at full speed including up stairs. Baby proofing is now in full swing. He naps in his crib but continues to co-sleep with us once he wakes up during the night. His hair is getting thicker and seems to have some curl to it. He likes to wrestle and play peek-a-boo with David and he has his sisters wrapped around his little finger. As always he is growing up too fast. Love, love, loving our littlest man.

Joshua 7 Months

Joshua is 7 months old! I caught a picture of his new trick... clapping! He is very proud of this accomplishment. He often claps to show he is happy about something. When we had him dedicated on Sunday he clapped when we got up in front of everyone. In his smilie picture you can see his two bottom teeth which have come in nicely. He is working every day on the next ones but for the most part  isn't overly bothered by them.
He is continuing to try new foods and also new means of transportation. I was trying to coax him to crawl for the camera earlier today but no such luck.
I'm sure these summer months will all go by in a blur as he starts to crawl, gains speed, starts cruising furniture and learns more words. We are just trying to take it all in and we are certainly enjoying our littlest man and his older brother and sisters too. Feeling very blessed!

Joshua's Dedication

 

Joshua,
your name has been a favourite of ours since we first started choosing baby names more then 10 years ago. Along with the significance of its meaning we are also reminded of Joshua's declaration found in Joshua 24:15 which is the very same declaration we are making today "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
We thank God for the gift you are to us and the joy you bring to our family. We pray that your knowledge of the scriptures, your faith and you love for God will grow as you grow. That when the time comes and you find yourself at a crossroad your declaration would also be "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
The scripture we have chosen for your dedication is God's commissioning of Joshua (Joshua 1:7-9).
 
"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
 
Be Strong and Courageous son, and may the Lord your God be with you wherever you go.

Love,
Mom & Dad

Joshua 6 months

While we were away at Tad Lake earlier this month Joshua hit the 1/2 year mark. He is continuing to do well, weighing 17 lbs 8 oz. He is in the 50% for weight and 60% for hight which is the same as David at that age. His ability to sit on his own is improving everyday. On Saturday he got his first tooth and I am sure the second is close behind. He is wriggling everywhere but not quite crawling. He likes to babble... especially "Dadadadadadda." We are looking forward to having him Dedicated on June 14th. We love you little man!

10 years ago...

10 years ago (yesterday) Jonathan and I were celebrating out 6 month anniversary when he proposed at White Rock Beach. We decided it would be fun to go back with the kids and show them the spot where it all took place. The tide was in so we couldn't exactly replicate it and neither one of us could really remember his exact speech but it was nice to reminisce. So, here we are 10 years later!

Joshua 5 months

Lots of firsts between 4 and 5 months old. We have started him on solids, mostly rice cereal but he LOVES bits of bread or plain rice from our plates. He got his cereal into his mouth with a spoon on his own so that gives you a bit of an idea how eager he is.
He also likes to spend a bit of time in his exercauser and enjoys longer bouts of playtime on the floor.
Joshua is a full fledged thumb sucker but will humer us by taking his soother once and a while.
It seems like he is always discovering a new voice and has recently started making a car sound when we are in the van.
Joshua is continuing to grow well weighing 17lbs 1oz at his 5 month weigh in (that's exactly 1 pound gained in one month).

Joshua 4 Months

Joshua had his 4 month check up today and weighed in at 16 lbs 1oz. When I compared his 4 month picture to his 3 month picture I could see that he hasn't changed as drastically in the last month as he has from month to month previously. He roles onto his tummy more often (he used to just roll onto his side and lay that way), he takes his soother a bit better (but won't have anything to do with a Nuk), and he is a thumb sucker. He still LOVES his swing and he is starting to go in his exersauser for short amounts of time. We have made it a morning routine to sing him his favorite songs "My God is SO BIG" and "Running Over" and we also like to sing these to him after diaper changes and throughout the day. He has found some new voices and loves to talk... sometimes sounding quite growly. He loves kisses and will kiss you back. We are enjoying him and soaking up all the baby goodness we can get, knowing all to well how soon he will grow up.

Joshua 3 months

Joshua is now 3 months old which means he is 1/4 of the way to his 1st Birthday! I took him to the health unit on his 3 month birthday so see how much weight he has gained since last month. He is now 14 lbs 14 oz! What can I say about our little man? He is no longer taking a bottle and is not fond of his soother either. He seems to have quite the temper at times, though he is most often easy going (gets this from Daddy?). He has started giggling, especially if we tickle him. He LOVES to talk and be talked to. He sleeps well at night for the most part (yay), but he hasn't really settled into a day time nap routine.
He is wearing size 3-6month and 6 month clothing and since we recently finished a pack of size 2 diapers we went right to size 3's since he grows fast and I am worried we wouldn't make it through another pack of size 2's. Hope you enjoy the pics and quick update.

Joshua 2 Months

I just wanted to take a few minutes to post Joshua's official 2 month picture. I am including his 1 month picture so that yo can see how much he has grown over the last month. At his 2 month check up he weighed 13 lbs 6 oz. He is doing really well. He does seem to have a bit of a fussy tummy and can sometimes be a challenge to get to sleep. He loves his swing (we ALL love his swing)!
What is fun about 2 months? We are loving his smiles, giggles and coo's.

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.