Just Pictures

Double Stroller

I am looking for a second hand double stroller... please let me know if you know of any. Thanks!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone! We had an enjoyable but busy weekend. Angeline is 4 weeks old (as of Saturday) and on Thursday her doctors appointment went well. She weighed in at 8lbs 6oz so she is continuing to gain well and she measured 21 inches tall. She is now out of new born clothes and wearing 0-3 month things. We are just considering ordering some cloth diapers for her and David (though hopefully David won't be needing them for long).

Nana and Papa have been here for the weekend. They have been painting our house for us. They got a lot done but the ceiling has needed several coats of paint since the previous owners smoked in the house and one point. Also we ended up ripping out the carpets... thanks Bob! (he has been helping a lot too) so we are having some of the hardwood floors refinished near the end of this week. Jonathan and Bob are painting this morning before Jonathan goes to work. Thanks to everyone who is helping us out with our new place as well as everyone who has offered. Karen has been doing some extra babysitting for us too.

When we move in I will be sure to post before and after pictures, definitely a big difference! Lots to do still before we can move in. We have to put laminate floor in David's room because the hardwood isn't in good shape there and we haven't decided what we are doing in our room or Angeline's. We have some volunteers to help with the laminate and I will be letting people know what days we will be needing help but we are still waiting to see when the hardwood is finished and Jonathan doesn't have his work schedule yet.

David has been a bit cranky lately. He missed mommy and daddy (mostly daddy) because Jonathan has been putting in long days between working and working at the house. He also decided to do some redecorating of his own with blue dry errase pen on his walls, carpet, rocking chair, diaper mat and toys. Most has come out but I still have to work on the walls. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures!

Magnolia's and Penaten

I didn't take much notice of the tree in our front yard when we bought our house but when we got possession on April 4th we noticed it because the flowers had all started to bloom. I took a picture on Wednesday so that everyone could see our beautiful magnolia tree.

Yesterday David played quietly while Angeline and I had a nap. When I woke up he had a poopy diaper which was the least of my concerns. He had climbed onto the change table and styled his hair with penaten cream. At least when he was finished he put the lid back on and he didn't get it anywhere other then his blond locks but what a mess! I used olive oil, paper towel and a comb to get it out then washed his hair with dish soap. When Jonathan got home he gave him a shower and washed it again with shampoo.

Sweetheart

Our House (is a very, very, very fine house)!

We got our house yesterday so we are very excited about that. We have been doing the countdown all week... I even thought that Thursday was Friday so I had 2 days spent thinking "we get our house tomorrow." We spent 4 hours there yesterday cleaning and just enjoying it. We spent another 5 hours there today doing the same thing. I've included a few pictures. 1. The flowers my mom and Al sent to our new house (thanks!) 2. David playing in his new room which he proudly calls "David's room" (he also calls our place "David's house") 3. Angeline in our living room 4. David playing guitar 5. Angeline from sometime earlier this week. She is getting so big. This morning when we woke up Jonathan and I both thought she must have grown in her sleep. She has an official cranky time which is unfortunately around 3-4am but other then that she is pretty content as long as she knows her milk is near by. She had her 3 week birthday yesterday.

Myself

What about myself? This last week I have felt more like MYSELF then I have in a long time. Probably more then I have in the last 2 years. I didn't really feel not like myself most of the time but now I just feel so much more like myself that it makes me realize how much I didn't feel like myself before (confused?). I realize that it is normal not to feel like yourself when you are pregnant and I have spent 114 weeks pregnant over the last 3 1/2 years that we have been married so that has to account for some of it. And learning to live without Noah has to do with another big part. When Noah died I had this awful feeling inside that I would never be the same again... that I would never be "normal" again (that's the best I can describe it). Of coarse I will never be the same again but I am back to myself, back to my normal. I also feel like loosing a child no longer takes me out of the "normal" category. Most people wont outlive their children... and most children will not leave this world before they are adults (thankfully) but getting to know parents who have lost children has helped me to know that there are other people who feel how I feel, think how I think, grieve how I grieve, love how I love and live how I live. Passing the first year anniversary since Noah died doesn't magically cure us, and it doesn't make us miss him any less but we are all feeling more like ourselves again. We are also really looking forward to moving into our first house.
These flowers are from Jonathan... for no reason. I think he is just happy to have his wife back! (and happy to see me in a pair of jeans that are not maternity!)

2 Weeks Old

Tomorrow is Angeline's Due Date (Happy Birthday Grandma) and today she is 2 weeks old! I thought I would take a few pictures of her throughout the day so you can all see what she is looking like at 2 weeks. Her hair seems to get longer everyday... she is getting quite the little mow-hawk. She has a lot more awake time and last night she nursed only every 4 hours (which I am hoping she sticks to).

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks ago she was born and we had just gotten home from the hospital. She continues to do well and won't see the doctor again until just before Easter when she will be 1 month old. Her new born sleepers are getting tight so we are going to have to find some 10 lb sleepers soon. As you can see from the pictures David likes to help give her a bath. He is a good big brother but I think he is definitely missing his mommy time a little more as the days go buy. Angeline is still nursing quite often so it is hard to make time for my boy but the other day we did play outside just the two of us and we even went for a wagon ride down the street and back (I wasn't ready to do a whole block)... hopefully it is nice tomorrow and we can get some more outside time in.

the Hair cut

Here is David with his new hair cut. It looks nice like this when it is wet with a bit of gel but after it dries it's another story! He seems so much bigger now that we have our tiny Angeline.

Miss Piggy

This morning we took Angeline for her second doctors appointment. He wanted to make sure that she passed her birth weight and indeed she has. She now weighs 6lbs 14oz and measures 20 inches tall. Since last Wednesday she has gained an average of 43 grams per day and 15 grams per day at this stage is considered good. So there certainly isn't any concern that she is isn't getting enough food. She will see the doctor again when she is one month old and then at two months when they begin her shots.

Bad Hair Day

Today we went to the mall to get hair cuts for both Jonathan and David. Jonathan went first and David watched while I explained that Daddy was getting his hair cut and then next it would be David's turn to get his hair cut. I have been cutting his hair at home since July because he was creating too much of a scene at the hair dressers and he would move around so much that he would end up with a crooked cut anyway. So I came prepared with bribes and everything but the only hair that got cut was Jonathan's and the right back side behind David's ear. When we got home I tried to blend it but it is still much shorter on that side, and even though he normally let's me cut it he was so upset from the hair dressers that he wasn't being cooperative. Hopefully I can get it looking somewhat normal before we all take Angeline to her doctors appointment tomorrow. So does anyone know if there is a day course mom's can take for cutting hair? It looks like I am going to be doing it for a while and I could use a few tips! David has been really happy lately but he spent the rest of the day in a bad mood... at least until we had jello for dessert.

1 week old already!

These pictures of Angeline were all taken today on her 1 week birthday. It's hard to believe that it has already been a week and at the same time it feels like she has been a part of our lives forever. Happy 1 week Birthday Girlie!

David and Angeline

Yesterday was my first full day alone with David and Angeline. I am still needing to rest so I was a little bit worried about how the day might go but it went really well. David was on his best behaviour. He didn't have a nap but he did play quietly while Angeline and I slept. I also didn't have to remind him once not to touch buttons or climb. Here they are watching "Diego." David requested that Angeline watch with him. He definitely loves his little sister.

Angeline's 1st Doctor visit...

Angeline had her first doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is looking good. She has started gaining weight again so she now weighs 6lbs 4oz and measures 19 1/4 inches tall. She nurses extremely well and never cries unless she is hungry. I know it's a bit early to give her a soother but she really likes to suck and yesterday we tried it and she loves it. It was just enough to stall her while I had dinner. Like all our children we love her more everyday and think that she is more beautiful every day too. She is a real joy to take care of and it looks like (though it may be too early to tell) we have another easy going baby.

A short clip...

Here is a short video of some cute moments with David and Angeline.

The Latest Addition!

We are proud to introduce our first Daughter Angeline May Neufeld!

She weighed in at 6lbs 6oz, 48 1/2 cm, and was born at 0523 hrs. (5:23am) on March 14th of 2009 that's the quick info.  

A day shy of 38 weeks!

Melissa did very well in dealing with an intense 5 hours of labor and 25 minutes of pushing.

She was quite alert like her brothers, but preferred to sleep after the first hour and a half looking around.

David is thrilled to be a big brother again!  He has given her hugs and has made very good attempts at saying her name.  When we asked him if we should take his sister home he said "ok!"

The story thus far goes as follows:  It all started with flu like symptoms starting the morning of the 13th Melissa was getting really tired and slightly dehydrated, so we all went to bed as early as possible (considering it lasted until late in the evening)  About a few hours of resting later (not sleeping) Melissa started having contractions, and thinking that this was just another round of pre-labor [apx. 0000 hrs] she proceeded upstairs to have a bath to help calm it down (leaving me to sleep... thank you!).  After soaking in the tub and not having any slow down Melissa woke up her Mom and started the timer [0130 hrs].  About 30 minutes later I was woken up as it was time to get organized because this was no false labor!  A quick call to our life saver Auntie Heather (A thousand thank yous!) to watch over David and she arrived in no time, so off we went to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital [0245 hrs] and were in assessment for about 35 minutes where Melissa dealt with some contractions in the 5-6 cm. dilation range without any help from gas or drugs.  When a room was finally cleaned up (the hospital was full) we were in and making quick progress [0320 hrs].  At about 4:58am Melissa was 10cm and the doctor broke her water (and with a bit of fentanyl in her system) it was pushing time for Melissa and 25mins later (with an annoying 5 minute stall where we all panted the contractions through) we all had the news we were all waiting for... It's a baby!?!?  Mommy made an effort to watch this time and got to watch the baby come out (which she missed with the first two boys) and I helped with placing her on Mommies tummy and the cord cutting, but nobody knew what this baby was!  After realizing that there was no announcement we all went to flip the baby over and the nurse said it's a GIRL!

Whew!

Melissa and Angeline are both healthy and happy, and after waiting 6 hours in our delivery suite we got moved to a post-partum room (like I said the hospital was full).  Upon arrival we realized that we were not going to get much rest as we had neighbors in suite, we decided that it would be best to go home as soon as possible.  Our neighbors were very nice and the father had a great camera with a detailed zoom lens so we look forward to seeing the photo's of our daughter Angeline and their son Luke.  As we made it clear to the nurses that we wanted to go (and they were overfull so they made sure we could) we had a few checks, a bath for Angeline and we were gone.  After a quick stop at McDonald's for Melissa (and cones for Daddy and David) we arrived at home at 4:30pm.  What a day!

Baby Pool Update!

Mother and Daughter both had the date right but Mom was closer in the end!  I'm still interrogating to find out if caster oil or raspberry leaf tea were involved... Just kidding!

Melissa N. - March 14, GIRL, 5lbs 12 oz
Carol H. - March 14, GIRL, 6lbs 12oz
Katherine K. - March 15, GIRL, 6lbs 7oz
Huber's - March 17, BOY, 7lbs 8oz

Sharon - March 17, GIRL, 7lbs 0oz

Jenn S. - March 17, GIRL, 7lbs 3oz

Marg - March 17, GIRL, 6lbs 12.5 oz

Ryan P. - March 17, GIRL, 7lbs 11oz
Karen N. - March 18, GIRL, 6lbs 11oz
Sabrina - March 18, GIRL, 7lbs 11oz
Jonathan N. - March 19, GIRL, 6lbs 5oz
Rob N. - March 19, BOY, 7lbs 4oz
Mandy P. - March 20, GIRL, 6lbs 6oz

Evelyn M. - March 20, GIRL, 6lbs 10oz
Michelle - March 20, BOY, 7lbs 1oz
Theresa M. - March 20, GIRL, 6lbs 7oz

Nicole - March 20, BOY, 8lbs 1oz

Joleen K. - March 20, GIRL, 7lbs 2oz
Jared N. - March 21, BOY, 7lbs 3oz

Margaret N. - March 21, GIRL, 6lbs 15oz
Lindsay - March 22, GIRL, 7lbs 2oz
Sheena L. - March 22, BOY, 7lbs 3oz
Janet P. - March 23, GIRL, 7lbs 11oz
Lauren - March 24, GIRL, 6lbs 8oz

Linda P. - March 24, GIRL, 7lbs 7oz

Brent P. - March 25, GIRL, 6lbs 2oz
Nikki - March 25, BOY, 7lbs 8oz
Brent L. - March 26, BOY, 7lbs 6oz

Okay, Katherine and Jared both guessed the days they think Sweet Pea will arrive which gave me the idea to start a baby pool on our blog. You can leave a comment with your guess or phone or e-mail us and we will continually update this post with people's guesses. You can also include a guess for weight and gender. The only rule is you can only guess once so if the date you guess passes and no baby has arrived you cannot try again.

Mommy's Birthday

We celebrated Mommy's birthday today.  It started off with an early morning wake up followed by some Backyardigans.  Mommy and Daddy went out for breakfast while I played with my Nana.  Then they went to the doctors to see how Sweet Pea is doing, the doctor says he is doing good and I will be a big brother again soon.  Mommy and Daddy then went to the spa and had a couples massage to help them relax.  Mommy left the cucumbers on her eyes for a long time, so I hope it helped her head as I jumped on it earlier this week.  I really didn't mean to I was just really excited!

Here is a picture of Mommy enjoying her cake!

Here is a video of me really excited about my piece!

Daddy's pulling me off the computer again so I better finish this quick... bye!

David

37 weeks

We are finally in our 37th week. There are 2 days left to vote if we are having a boy or a girl so if you have NOT voted yet please do so. 21 more days until we are "due" but I think and hope Sweet Pea will arrive much sooner then that. There have been a couple days now that I have thought would be D-Day (delivery day that is) but no really painful pre-labour yet. I can definitely tell that it is getting closer. Thankfully all our colds are almost gone so I am feeling much better about the state of our health. We have been able to clean up and disinfect things a bit and my bag is now packed for the hospital. My mom is coming on Tuesday to help out so I am very much looking forward to that.

Sweet Pea is about 21 inches long and weighs 6 1/2 lbs... definitely ready for this world. Now we just have to continue playing the waiting game. It's fun to phone Jonathan at work and tell him that I am in labour but I can't do it too much or he is never going to believe me when it actually happens. I learnt in my last pregnancy not to wake him up when I am having contractions in the middle of the night because he will just roll over and say "that's nice dear."

If I manage to take a picture of my belly today or sometime soon I will add it to this post but honestly it hasn't changed much since my last picture. We are looking forward to posting pictures of our Sweet Pea when he or she arrives.

We Remember Noah

Strangely enough a year has now passed since we held Noah in our arms and kissed him good-bye. I can't say that the year has gone quickly or that it has dragged either but "time" has certainly become a strange concept. Reflecting back on the last year brings memories or both joy and sorrow and I have surprised myself in many ways. The times that I thought would be most difficult were not and there were other times the grief has snuck up and surprised me. November was definitely the most difficult month for me, the anniversary of the month we truly grieved for Noah... shortly after it had been discovered that he had Trisomy 13 and that we might never get to meet him before he left this world. We continue to be thankful that wasn't the case, thankful that we had 28 days to hold him, love him and be loved by him.

Our life line this year has been the parent grief support group we attend at Canuck Place. I don't know how we would have made it through our first year without Noah if it wasn't for them. The support from family and friends is much appreciated so thank you for that. But there is something irreplaceable about the comfort which can only be offered by someone who can truly say "I know how you feel." I could attempt to explain in words what it was like to hold Noah while he breathed his last or how difficult it was to hand him over to the man from the funeral home, knowing that was the last time I would kiss or hold him on this earth... but I hope that no one will ever again have to experience such overwhelming sorrow. Other parents who have come face to face with these same moments (though they were once strangers to us) have played such a key role in helping us move forward. So, if you are thinking of Noah today or if you ever feel compelled out of the goodness of your heart to make a donation to make a difference please consider donating to Canuck Place. Their telethon is on March 15th and I have a link to their website on this blog. Last year the telethon took place while we were at Canuck Place saying good-bye to Noah. Many of you have already made donations to Canuck Place in memory of Noah and for that we thank you. One of the things we do at Canuck Place is light a candle in memory of each child as we meet near the anniversary of their passing. We stand in a group and say "We Remember..." Today and always "We Remember Noah."

Knowing that we have made it through one year helps us know that we can make it through one more and the next but it doesn't heal the place in our hearts that longs for Noah to be here. Know that we are "doing fine"... we are moving forward and we have chosen to continue to live life to its fullest not only for ourselves but for Noah and our other children.

Also know that we like to talk about him and that even if it does bring a few tears that it is helpful to us and that we like to know that you are thinking of him too.

As I write I think of the hymn "It is well with My Soul" and I could think sure... that is easy enough for the composer to say but if you know his story you know that he lost everything before he wrote the well known hymn. After one year it still hurts to sing those words but it is getting easier.

It Is Well With My Soul
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot,

Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well, with my soul.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss.
This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S.S. Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.
Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.[1]
The Spaffords later had three more children, one of whom (a son) died in infancy. In 1881 the Spaffords, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for Palestine. The Spaffords moved to Jerusalem and helped found a group called the American Colony; its mission was to serve the poor. The colony later became the subject of the Nobel prize winning Jerusalem, by Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf.

36 1/2

We are about 1/2 way through our 36th week of pregnancy... Noah was born right around this time. My body is definitely starting to get ready but this last week has been a complete write off. Jonathan and I got bad colds last Wednesday, he is still coughing quite a bit but for the most part we have recovered. And David got something similar on Monday but he also had more of a fever and was throwing up (always fun). He is in his own bed tonight and we are hoping he stays there because no one in the house got much sleep last night. He was playing today which is a good sign he is feeling better and when Grammy asked him this morning "How are you feeling?" his response was "chocolate cake!" so I think that is another indication that he is on the mend.

I had another doctors appointment today and everything is going well. My belly isn't showing any growth for the week but that is likely because Sweet Pea now has her head positioned very low. I've also lost 2 pounds which will often happen before labour starts but as I mentioned we've been sick so that could also be the cause. I am not ready to start labour yet. So much nesting to do... so little time! So we put off checking my cervix until next week in case that's all we need to start labour. Usually just checking your cervix won't cause labour to start but as of last week I have already begun dilating so we don't want to chance it just yet.

Today I've gotten the feeling that this baby is coming soon so I don't know if that is a motherly hunch or just wishful thinking. Really it is coming soon... in the next 3 weeks soon anyway.
This week we are just going to be trying to get back to full health and disinfect everything around us in the process. Lots to get ready before Sweet Pea does arrive but in the next few days we should have the major stuff done.

Please pray for our family's health. We have all been way more sick this year then usual and it would be really helpful if it was over now so that we can be healthy when there is a new born around... and in preparation for that.