Just Words

 It's been a minute.

Last time I blogged, we were celebrating the first birthday of our first daughter. Now here we are with another beautiful baby girl just turned 3 months old.

I've realized that if I take the time to wait to upload all of the pictures I want to share, or to write all of the words swirling in my head, I'll never find the time to blog. I do feel called to use this space. For me, it is becoming not about finding the time, but making the time.

Both of my baby girls are taking their naps, and the hubs is doing his daily cattle chores, so thought it would be a good time to check in, and catch up.

Nevaeh Marie. The perfect, sweetest little new member of our family. She was born on October 25. Little stinker was 2 weeks overdue, and had the chub to prove it. She weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 9 oz. Subsequently, while labour was induced, and we had a few good hours of labour, her birth story ended in an emergency c-section. Nevaeh's heart rate was to high and there was meconium in my water... two indications that baby girl was under to much stress for a natural birth.

But. She is here.

The day that we were to leave the hospital, we were told that Nevaeh had a heart murmur. As a result, five days after enduring a c-section (hormones and emotions raging) I had to navigate the underground tunnels of the hospital on foot, all alone (thanks covid), to check on our baby girl. We were told that she has 2 holes in her heart.

2 months later, we went for her second check up, and the doctor informed us that the holes are closing up on their own! Thank you Jesus!! Upon sharing her story on instagram, I found out that a lot of you have been through the same journey with your babies. I hadn't realized that it was so common. Definitely not something that any momma's heart wants to go through!

Other than that, and the virus that has thrown a curveball at everyone's life... our lives have been going on as usual. We have been calving for a month already. We are getting close to having half of the calves on the ground. I haven't been able to help out like I usually do, so it has been a quiet (can anyone say that when there is a toddler running around the house?!) winter for me. Abi and I venture out on the warmer days, with little sister snuggled in the baby carrier, to visit the barn and have daddy show us all of the new calves. Sometimes Ben will take Abi choring with him. It is easy to tell that she will be an animal lover, as she already tries to play with the newborn calves. Fearless little girl.

I love the newborn stage and all of the baby cuddles that comes with it, but I'm always a bit relieved once there is a bit more stability and routine in my day. Nevaeh is a great napper, so that has come a bit earlier this time than it did with Abi! It has been so much fun watching a relationship develop between our girls. Abi ADORES her little sister, and Nevaeh is starting to enjoy watching big sis run around... even trying to communicate with her at times in her own little way. <3

That is us! 

Now that life has become a bit more stable again, I'm looking forward to taking the time to write more. I'm trying to be intentional about getting things done as they need to be, but at the same time not stuffing my day so full that I don't have time spend time with the girls and Ben, and also to do the things that I love and have a passion for. It's been a learning curve, but I'm working hard at it.

Anyway, I've been rambling for a while, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Up next... a picture update.

Coffee Shop Talk

My hubs is on a coffee date with one of his friends, so I decided to have a coffee date with all of my blogging friends, because it has been a while! Apparently a coffee shop is a popular hangout on a Friday evening, this place is buzzing with friendly chatter, and heartfelt conversations.
This is happy hour for our little peanut as well. He/she is currently working on it's kickboxing skills inside my ever growing belly.

What a whirlwind couple of months it has been.
This winter seemed to last forever, as it likely did for every Manitobian out there. We had a rough calving season due to the extreme cold, large calves which caused more c-sections than normal, and a nasty virus that plagued our herd. But even though things didn't turn out the way we planned, God is good, and we know that His plan is perfect.
Needless to say, we are thankful that spring is here!
We are planning to put crop in this year. Though Ben has grown up farming land with his Dad, this will be the first year he has done any of his own... so it will be a new experience!

I haven't taken many pictures of really anything lately, other than phone pictures of course. :)
I'm enjoying this season with just Ben and I while our little munchkin is still safely squished inside my uterus. But I'm trying to get back into the habit of capturing memories.
I just passed the 33 week mark, which means only about 7 weeks to go! The Dr. changed my dates after my first ultrasound, making me a week later than I originally thought. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that the baby will come a week earlier than I first expected, but all expecting mommas out there know that isn't easy to do. Needless to say, I still feel like I have SO much to do before we are ready for our baby to make it's arrival. I just finished getting the baby room ready, and organizing clothes that had been borrowed/given to me. Now I'm working on stocking up on all the things our little bundle will need. I actually just did a bunch of shopping for soothers, baby soap, and things like that today. Makes it that much more real!
I'm also planning to get spring cleaning done, make some meals for the freezer for after baby comes, and put our little garden in. We shall see if I can manage all of that in 7 weeks. :)

The third trimester has hit me harder than I expected (apparently I'm not superwoman ;) with all the aches and pains that come with carrying a child, but we are grateful that the baby is healthy and that there have been no complications thus far.

We did end up finding out whether it was a boy or girl, but only told immediate family... or at least tried to. It has slipped out of few times. :)
I've loved being able to buy gender specific items, and decorate accordingly.
We also have a name picked out, but will not be 100% certain about it until we see his/her little face.

I realize that I am rambling on and on about the baby and pregnancy, but that is kinda my life right now.
I've been struggling with figuring out what direction my blog will take. I've been so used to writing about my journey as a single woman as well as the experiences of living in a large family. It is harder than I thought to make the adjustment of writing about the season that I am in now. I feel hesitant to write about marriage and the lessons I have learned because I am still so new at it. But there have been things that I have felt on my heart to share that will likely make it into a post soon.
Likely the focus of this blog will drift away from single-large family living and on to the things I am learning now that I have become a wife and soon to be mother.
I'm sure I will find my groove yet.

Anyway, it is becoming time to meeting up with Ben again and make our way home.
I'll be back soon. :)

Life These Days

Hey all!
So it has been a while. This has been part due to the fact that we have been settling into a routine now that silage season is over and I get to see my husband more often (Yay!); and partly because we have been hiding a little secret that has pretty much consumed everything that I think and would write about. :)

As my last post indicated, we are expecting a little miracle the middle of June two thousand nineteen.  We are both beyond excited!

I am 14 weeks and 2 days along in the pregnancy today. Two weeks ago we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time, and it made it finally feel real. I had been doing a lot of research about what was happening to my body and how our baby was growing. But it wasn't until I heard the galloping sound of his/her heartbeat that it all sunk in for me. I'm a momma, and Lord-willing, in 6 months we will get to meet our new son/daughter.

It's been crazy/amazing to watch the little bump grow! Our little munchkin is already the size of a lemon. <3

Morning sickness left last week, which I am very grateful for. I won't say I had it bad, because though I was nauseous most of the day, I never actually had to make a run for the toilet. (Which I can thank my mother for... she passed down the gift of a strong stomach to me.)
But it is nice to have energy for more than one or two hours in a day. Ben spoiled me, bringing me breakfast in bed, running errands, and making meals for me when I was down and out.

I had hoped to be able to get a midwife, but apparently there are a lot of June babies expected next year, so there wasn't room for me. It hadn't ever been a question to us that we wanted to be in the care of a midwife and deliver at home, so it was hard to let that go. But I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I have been blessed with an amazing NP in a local clinic that I can see until 28 weeks.

We haven't yet decided whether or not we want to find out the gender. We both would love the surprise, but since we have zero baby stuff, it would be nice to be able to stock up on girl or boy things... instead of having to get everything gender neutral.
We would love to hear any thoughts or advice from those who have or haven't found out the gender before your little ones were born.

Ya, so that is the pregnancy update. :)

Calving season is rapidly approaching. Ben's Dad and brother bought a few cows that are due in December, and so we have had about 5 or 6 born already.
We also expanded our herd this year, so together with Ben's dad and brother... we will be calving out almost 200 cows.
Needless to say, with over 300 cows/calves/bulls on the yard, there is always something to do! If it is not getting calving barns and pens ready, then it is fixing fence or machinery. Feeding, bedding, sorting, and treating cows also takes up a good chunk of my hubby's day. And of course, once the calves come along, there seems to always be a calf being born, or needing help with finding his mama's milk. A farmer's work is never done!

I've also been tutoring Ben's youngest brother on school day mornings. Once a teacher, always a teacher. :)

So ya. That is life these days.

Life Update

Well, as promised, here is the "Life Update" post, filled with phone pictures and unashamed selfies. 

Once we arrived home from camping, there was a little bit of a breather in-between that and harvest. We used up that time to do some projects that were begging to be done, and to squeeze a few last moments of summer fun in.

Zee Man, and Nate. 

Weed eating around the electric fence to keep it zapping. :)

We got one last boating trip in. 

This one was short, but oh, so fun!

Ker and I did some work at the "Hope Home" gardens.

Also attended a baby shower for one of the mom's, where I got to play with this cutie. <3

Just before harvest, we took a trip with all of the kiddos to get ice cream from town.

The faces say it all.

Sneaked in a little bit of babysitting, always love hanging out with this kid!

My Sunday bench-mates. 

Then... harvest.

Since we had acquired more land this year, it has been the craziest one yet!

There was one solid week where if we got in by 2:00 a.m. it was early. 

I was thankful for coffee, and ride-along buddies.

The days off were special, because I got to spend time with my girl!

I always miss her during the long harvest hours!

Piper is growing like crazy.

She knows how to work those puppy eyes!

Mom and Dad's anniversary fell during a harvest break. So they took off for a couple of days (enjoying some well deserved rest!).

That Sunday, our friends the Thiessens took us to a PVBC fundraiser event.

The kids had so much fun enjoying all of the activities. 

The weather was amazing, and the view... equally so. 

We all had a great time hanging out with our favourite people!

Then... school began. We still have not completed harvest, we have some soybeans and late barley that we need to finish up. But for now we are going hard on school, getting as much done as we can before busy hits us for a few days again.

Josh and Becca also took a much needed vacation from the farm and the harvest crazy. 

I got to snuggle with this baby for two days. <3

Then, there are the sister hangs.

Coffee dates, shopping dates, did I mention that I miss these lovelies during harvest?!?

Guys. That is the update!

There is something that has been on my heart that I hope to share with you all soon, but for now I'll just let the words swirl around in my brain for a bit.

Until then... happy fall y'all! :)