Look At Us Now!

More fun at home….

BEFORE:

DURING:

After (still to come)

Little Dara is now home.  What a whirlwind week it’s been for her! 

One week ago, exactly, we were on our way to BC Children’s.

God is good.  Love you, baby girl!  So glad that you are home safe.  I can’t wait for our next adventure ;)

*See the post below for an update on Dara.  Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.  Please continue to pray for the family and little Dara.*

Susannah is definitely an active little girl.  There’s no keeping her still.  While playing in the backyard, and on a recent camping adventure (pre-Tofino), we discovered her desire to pick up items off the ground and put them in her mouth.  I’m not sure why (other than that’s what they do at this age), but she’s inclined to pick at the littlest things and shove them in her mouth.  She’s always put things into her mouth, so this is no real surprise.  Even in her first ultrasound we saw a lot of mouth-action.  We knew what we were getting into, it’s just funny and still interesting.

So, last camping trip there were a lot of little rocks to be found in her diaper after a few hours on the beach or just hanging about camp.  Loads (bahaha) of fun, that was.

On the trip to Tofino, we was prepared.   We borrowed my parents’ playpen.  Awesome.  She loved it, eh?

L commented that this was the first time he had ever heard Susannah upset. Don’t worry, she wasn’t always this upset in there.  Mostly, she was content to play.  Around camp, though, it was a lifesaver.  With the firepit and all, it was reassuring to know that there was a clean-ish place that she could be and not get into trouble or get hurt.  

See the huge grin?  Daddy picked her up and snuggled her.  Because he’s sweet like that.  The girl is totally used to playing on the floor by herself (or hassling Hunter for his current toy) but with Hunter occupied with his friends and she not being able to snuggle Dara (a little too rough), she wasn’t happy.  Plus, heaven forbid that we weren’t paying attention to her!  A lot of fun that lesson is going to be!

In Tofino, we were pretty much there for the beach.  Yes, there were lots of other fun activities to be had, but the ocean and the beach were the main attraction. 

The boys wanted to surf. 

The first morning was foggy.  Gorgeous, but foggy. 
 

We headed out anyways and hit a low tide, which was AMAZING!  It was the lowest tide I’ve ever seen, there.  The little boy had sea stars IN THEIR FACES!!

Susannah was in the mei tai and, because it was chilly, was comfy and snuggled up next to me.

The next days, however were a different matter.  With the big boys at play and the little boys at play, baby girl wanted to play, too! 

So, we let her.

With every hand-grab of sand, one fist went to her mouth.  There was a lot of sand ingesting going on.  I tried to deter her.  I would pull the sand out of her fingers and tell her “no” but then the other hand would grab a handful and shove it in.  Who am I to argue with determination like that?  Beach day one and beach day two pretty much consisted of the same scenario.  Susannah eating sand.  Fistful after fistful.  I have no pictures of beach day two, however (which, by the way, was even worse for the sand-eating), because I was covered in sand myself.  I built a SWEEET sand castle-thing for the boys. 

Susannah, Susannah, Susannah.  Her poor little bottom.  It looked like she had been sanded from the inside, out.  Which, pretty much, I guess she had.  After two days of passing sand-poops like there was no tomorrow, I decided the girl was just going to have to stay out of the sand… while we were at the beach.  And the boys were playing.  I was prepared for a sad little one.  However, with naps timed perfectly (me? timing naps?), it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. 
  

Then, the evening of that at-the-beach-in-the-chair day, Susannah was nursing by the campfire and had fallen asleep on my chest.  An ember popped out of the fire into my face, bounced off and dropped onto poor Susannah’s neck.

I think I’m lucky that she was fast asleep because she only cried and whined for a few moments (while the ember was lodged in her wee neck rolls) and fell back to sleep once I had flicked it away.  We cleaned it up and applied Polysporin and, amazingly, Susannah barely even notices it!  In fact, I had a bandaid on it for a few days and she didn’t even flinch or pull at it, ever!  It’s healing up really well.

Now, with an open wound, I was certain to keep her clean and sand free.  The next day we hit up a nearby lake for some freshwater time.  Susannah spent most of her day like this…

Or like this…

We found a park (remember, the park?) and Susannah was like this…

Lesson learned:  Sand helps to clean out your system.  Prunes also work, however and are much less abrasive.

Lesson learned: Susannah loves sand.

 Hey, Chelsey, doesn’t Susannah look like Maya in this one?

We just returned from an awesome adventure.  We went camping, with some friends, on Vancouver Island.  It was a fantastic time.  Lots of laughs, great weather, good food… what else do you need?

Before I blab on about the good times and pour out a billion pictures with little stories, I want to tell you about the role God played in our trip.  Not only did we have great weather and good times, He guided us safely on our travels and brought us where we needed to be at the perfect time: BC Children’s Hospital.  God is Good.

Little Dara (whom I have introduced to you before), at seven weeks old, the youngest member of our camping crew.  On the last days of the trip she started to have trouble keeping her food down.  She was spitting up a lot and her poop wasn’t normal.  Her spit up was slowly escalating in severity and started to look not-normal.  Her Dad, an Emergency Room nurse, and her Mom, years of experience with her own kids and in daycares, were watching closely and monitoring her eating.  We finished our time at Green Point and were trying (having decided before Dara started to really feel yucky) to extend our trip by a day or so to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Also, we were planning to spend some time in Vancouver to hit some family sites and enjoy a hotel room (shower!!).  God is Good.

In Port Alberni, Dara wasn’t happy and wasn’t feeling well, it was HOT, the kids were hungry and cranky.  We didn’t know where to go as we weren’t familiar with the community…  frustrated.  We needed someplace to rest, to eat and for the kids to have a chance to blow off some steam from the long and winding car-ride out of Tofino.  As we were driving around Port Alberni, looking for a park, I was praying for peace.  For rest.  For a sense of relaxation to come over our group and for us to feel refreshed.  L was in the lead vehicle turning through streets we had never seen before.  All of a sudden, he turned left and there was a park.  With shade.  And lots of space for the kids to play and picnic tables at which we could eat.  God is Good. 

As we moved towards the ferry, there were no vacant campsites to be found.  After speaking to a camp attendant, we decided, at 3:30pm on Saturday, just to head to the ferry and make our way back to the Mainland to adventure in the Vancouver area.  We have yet to actually catch the ferry we were heading for on our trips with this family.  Usually we miss the one we are trying to get and wait at the terminal for hours for the next one.  We made it to the ferry, with only a ten minute wait before boarding, and sailed our way over.  God is Good. 

When we landed, we tried to find a picnic site for dinner.  We decided to check out Cypress Mountain.  On the drive up, Dara became violently ill again.  We had talked about it before, but now it was time to head to a hospital.  J and I pulled out our trusty BC map and drove into Vancouver to try to find a hospital.  The first one I found on the map was BC Children’s.  I looked and found others then  I called Mar and asked which hospital she wanted to head to.  BC Children’s was the choice.  With no hitches, we arrived at the hospital at about 8:00pm on Saturday.  God is Good.

Justin and I took the two older boys and headed out to try and get a hotel room for the night, waiting a call from our friends to return to pick them up.  At about 10:30 we were finally checked into the hotel and had the boys (D, C and Hunter) and Susannah all ready for bed.  Justin got the call to return for the pick-up.  When baby Dara was having her last check to be discharged, she became ill again and the attending doctor made some observations about Dara that had not yet been made.  God is Good. 

An x-ray concluded that there was a twist in her bowels.  They ran some other tests and some bloodwork and it was decided that she would need surgery, right away.  How incredible that we just happened to be close to the right hospital for Dara to get the treatment that she needed?  How awesome that, in one night, she saw all the specialists and had the surgery required to help her on the road to recovery?  I’m completely in awe of God’s care in this situation, that we were able to be there with our friends and support them in this tough time, that there were no hitches in having Dara receive the best care possible.  Had she been seen in any other hospital she would have been flown to BC Children’s.  God is Good.

By the next morning, Dara had had her surgery.  The surgery removed a large cyst from her abdomen and a small section of her bowel.  From what I understand the cyst was of a significant size for her age and had dropped (because of it’s weight) pulling the intestine and twisting it, cutting off the food passage into her intestine for further digestion and nutrient absorption.  Today, was day two post-op.  Dara has had trouble keeping in her iv’s and is having some swelling because of it.  She is in pain because of her surgery.  Our friends are still at the hospital with Dara.  They will be there, until discharge, perhaps a week. The boys have arrived home with their grandparents.   

Please pray for them.  Pray for healing for Dara.  Pray for strength for their family, as they are apart.  Pray for strength for Dara’s little body, as she deals with the change in her body.  And be thankful for them, too.  Thankful that they are a wonderful family and so loving and such a blessing to others.  Thankful that Dara could recieve treatment and care.  Thankful for answers and a plan to move forward.  God is Good.

L, M, D, C and Dara… we love you guys so much.  You are in our every thought and prayers.  Thanks for being awesome.

**Update July 16th**  Day 4 post-op.  Dara is off suction and so is using her bowels on her own.  She is, I think, still on IV.  She has passed a BM on her own - yay, Dara.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please keep them coming.

Art In The Park went well.  I had fun, though Justin and I were totally DONE at the end of the day.

I just want to say a public THANK YOU to my Mom and Dad and sister, Amanda.  My Mom came up to our place at 6am to be there when the kids woke up and she spent pretty much the whole day chasing them around and bringing them where we needed them to be.  My Dad fed us and also chased the kidlets around and brought them where we needed them to be.  He entertained Hunter by taking him for a bike ride and even prmoted my wares by wearing Susannah in my hot pink mei tai, around the park.  Amanda hung out with us, supported us, watched the kids and even waited in line for me to use the washroom, then called me when she got to the front.  My bro and sis in law also helped out by watching Hunter and walking my nieces around all wearing tails to promote my stuff.

What a blessing you all are.

Then there is Justin.  You encourage me.  You love me.  You support me and you believe in me.  You were beside me, helping all day, and have been letting me sew while you take over whichever task, for months now.  What words can I say to thank you?

Thank you, all, for your support, your encouragement, your positive words… I am so grateful to you.  Now, did I not say that I’m not doing this again, because I just signed up for the Christams craft fair… Ooohh boy!

Well, with two sleeps left until the Canada Day celebrations here, in town, I am putting finishing touches on my creations.  It’s my big debut.  30,000 People are expected to pass by my table on Tuesday.  Also, it’s supposed to be stinkin’ hot!  I’ve been sewing every spare moment I get.  Pretty much as soon as Justin got home from work he’d be on kid duty.  Or I’d just stay up until 1:30 am.  That’s not something I need to get used to because when the kids both wake up at 8am (earlier than usual) I’m a pretty groggy mama.  I’ve got quite the stock together and I am almost done, I’d say… or as done as I will get to be.  Wraps, mei tais, tails, aprons, purse organizers and pouch slings.  Fun!

Aprons (13):

Wraps (42):

Tails (?):

Mei Tais (25):

 Wish me luck, and if you’re in town… swing by and say HI!

Also, Happy Canada Day (almost)!
Is it this hot where you are?

Yummmmm

and, also, 

Ouch

When did cothing companies get so bizarre in their sizing?  I have pants, that fit, ranging about 6 sizes.  Also, some of the bigger sizes are too tight, but the smaller ones fit just right.  What’s up with that?

Why is it that my daughter is wearing 12 month clothes at 9 months and my son is wearing 18 month clothes at 36 months?

How come the weight/age sizing doesn’t continue into older clothing?  I think it’d be awesome!  It would totally help a lot of people (me) out.  Also, a lot of women with teen girls that want to wear older clothes.  Looking at a pair of shorts… 100 - 115 lbs, 16 - 18 years.  Good to know…  Or a shirt, hanging in my closet… 100 - 130lbs, 20 - 25 years… Hmm… too old and too heavy for that one ;)  I think it would help my wardrobe a lot.   

Susannah is down for her morning nap.  Hunter was playing nicely.  He came up to me and asked, oh-so-sweetly, “Mommy, can I help you?  Can I sit on your lap?”  So, I pulled him up onto my lap and he helped me sew and apron for Canada Day’s Art In The Park.  He drops the foot, pushes the “circle button” to knot and, basically, just gets his head in the way.  He picked up the scissors beside the sewing machine, “snip snip” he says.  All of a sudden there is blonde hair falling on my fabric.

Yep, Mother Oh The Year (to use Mrs Wilson and Dutch Blitz’s term (links to the right) )!

The reason that the life is all caps is because I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.  I’m not that kind of blogger.  I know too many of my readers for any “Business Time” talk.  I’m talking about loving life, the life you lead, the life you have been given.  And also?  Loving the lives of those around you. 

If it’s not enough for me to try to be sewing for Canada Day (10 sleeps), my wonderful husband and I threw a party last night.  We invited, no joke, pretty much everyone we know.  Out of aaaalllllll those people (and trust me, it was a lot), we had about 80 wonderful people show up for dinner (beef dip!!) last night and to share in a FANTASTIC concert put on by our wonderful friend Andrew Allen.

It was awesome.  Totally. 

The kids had a great time.  The adults had a great time.  The weather was perfect.  It was fantastic.