At Last, Pictures

My aunt and uncle from London, England came to visit for the weekend on a cross Canada tour of sorts. They brought a functioning camera and we benefited. Aunt Pat brought each of the children a brand new GAP t-shirt; Hannah got two. Jacob has not yet tried his on.

Unfortunately our visitors' arrival also coincided with a visit from the flu. Yes, I know, the flu in the middle of the summer: isn't that against the law? Fortunately, this stomach flu is a rather mild one and Ben made it through with only a fever. Joseph has yet to succumb. Hannah spent Saturday morning with it while Jacob began a downward spiral at Sunday morning mass. Here he is as the lethargy began to overtake him.

Aunt Pat also brought an incredible set of puzzle/mystery books for the children. They are filled with hidden animals, codes and mysteries. Joseph appreciated the beautiful illustrations. (Note the shirt.)

Here are the three ladies working on finding an incredibly well-hidden starling. Mommy eventually found it following an afternoon nap and 30 minutes of searching. Finding the missing starling somehow felt like a greater accomplishment than that of my undergrad degree.

Ben enjoyed some swinging at the park late on Sunday afternoon.

More puzzling. Aunt Pat is a teacher: can you tell?

Ben never takes off his hat except for mass and supper. It is worn at all different angles and must provide some sense of security that I have failed to provide.

Interesting.

Jacob after a night of heaving, crying and fitful sleep. Dave asked me not to post the pictures of him (the Daddy) after said night as he was the parent who generously covered the night shift. Truthfully, we are hoping that I don't catch this stomach virus and somehow trigger labour.

Hannah: fully recovered in both of her new shirts.

A brave picture of Mommy. In Dave's words: That's not so bad.

The rest of the shots are various attempts to include everyone in a group photo. Plus, Uncle Simon makes his long-awaited debut. He is my father's older brother and, in stature, is to my father what I am to my older sister - big:small.

Thank you, Pat and Simon. We had a wonderful time and will cherish the memories of our time together. The distance is too far and the time is too short.

35 Weeks, 2 Days

She's All

Baby.

Local Talent

I promised one of my cousins that I would post this short film to the blog as she attended the high school at which it was filmed. Enjoy. Many of you will recognise some of the names in the credits.

Trying to parent without injury (or: the post in which I admit to subscribing to satellite TV and, sigh, actually watching it...)

Thank God for delightful fourteen year old girls. I have one living with me this week and I am wondering if her parents are willing to grant us some sort of joint parental rights so that she can live here much longer than five days. Her name is Rachel and she is the fourth of six children belonging to Joseph's godparents. I think she is a teenager according to the Original Plan. By Original Plan I mean the plan that God originally intended for teenagehood before we screwed it up with precocious sexuality, sequestered bedrooms and moodiness. In essence, she is a breath of fresh air. (Besides providing wonderful childcare she is also an excellent companion to me throughout the day and the lonely evenings. Last night we watched I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant. To say the least: I was riveted and now understand why one of Dave's colleagues is terrified that she might find herself at 34 weeks gestation without any knowledge of her condition.) This fresh air has been breathed into our house for the week as Dave is away in the extremely big city (to which I rarely venture for fear of raised blood pressure) where he is marking standardised testing.
Dave phones nightly to report on, ummm, what he ate for supper, where his roommate went (to Jersey Boys last night) and any remarks people make when they find out that the Valley Boy who is easily mistaken for Valley Lad (i.e. 18 years old) is having a fifth child in August: shock, awe and donations of hard cash. He has two more days of nose-to-the-grindstone-palm-pilot-recording marking to go and then he returns to us. I smile in anticipation.
Meanwhile we continue to swim. The twins are now able to jump into deep water with no life jackets; Ben will jump with a life jacket and even let his head go under; and Joe insists on carrying a noodle and jumping into my arms at such an alarming rate that I am almost unable to reposition myself for the catch. The baby spends all his time swimming and is due for a rude awakening come the end of August.
Speaking of babies, it seems as if everyone is pregnant. Yes, I exaggerate but here's a short list: me, my older sister, my maid of honour, two of Dave's NET teammates, a blog friend, a local friend, several Facebook friends and the roster grows. Not to mention the many friends who have recently given birth. I guess it is the age at which I find myself, 32; but I am still in awe at the burgeoning life around me.
Nevertheless, I had better go because Ben is still crying about a purple and pink rope that he desperately needs, Jacob is trying to arrest him in a G20 take-down, Joe is colouring the front-room carpet with blue chalk and Hannah is trying her best to create order while simultaneously perfecting the day's outfit.
Ah, a piece of heavy machinery is moving past our house and all is not lost. Thank you, God, for dump trucks and diggers.

Still hot. Still no pictures.

Dave finally figured out what's wrong with the camera (other than not wanting to document my pregnancy): the rechargeable battery has finally decided that it no longer wants to be recharged. Thus, another battery is necessary ... at the cost of $34 ... isn't that 1/3 of the original camera price? If so, we are officially a culture completely duped by consumerism; but I have no energy to write about that.
Instead, I'll tell you about our latest purchase. (Yes, I grasp the irony in that segue-way.) An Ipod. Or is it IPod? I don't know. But it belongs to Dave and sort of Hannah. Turns out Hannah is a bit of a technology whiz and had the darn thing figured out long before her father. In fact, around about a month ago, I found that she had made her own Ipod. I wish I had thought to have taken a picture: it was an ingenious contraption made of a tiny plastic box with two pieces of wire emerging from its side to which she had attached two beads as earbuds. It was easily identifiable and was quite the "it" object over which to argue.
Apparently she has been granted exclusive rights to incredibly occasional use of the new gadget to, in her words, "I don't know. Whatever. Listen to farm music and maybe some country music." Oh. Apparently she has already used an Ipod on her class trip to Frontier Trails where, on the bus, she sat next to her friend Isabelle whose mother let them use her Ipod. (I don't remember anything about Ipods on the permission form. Jacob said his seatmate had a video game but he preferred to read his book. Smile. Well done, eldest son.) Hannah came home singing a song that after some deciphering (she is lyrically challenged much like her mother) was finally identified as belonging to Taylor Swift. Uh oh.
But relax, we are not parents who will hand over the reins of technology and cultural access very easily. So far, 18 has been set as the date for all rites of passage and, ahem, at the tender age of seven, the twins have agreed... Except for driving: they are both determined to drive at the age of 16 and Jacob is absolutely adamant that he will obtain his license exactly ten minutes before his twin sister. He is willing to produce documentary evidence of their birth times.
Dave spent the late hours last night downloading music to the Ipod in preparation for his marathon of marking which he begins on Monday. He will be marking provincial testing 8 hours/day for five days. He said that the first two hours are somewhat stimulating. Thus, the Ipod. In the midst of his musical downloading he discovered a treasure trove of home videos on our computer. Who knew that I had thought to record Joseph trying to walk. For 11 whole minutes. I and the kids watched the footage this morning before mass. Joseph was torn between cheering for this other baby called Joseph and saying, "No yaffing. This is not funny." But, it was. Especially when Benjamin appeared stark naked about half way through.
And, in only-by-the-grace-of-God news, Joseph is completely toilet-trained in just 10 days. On our all-day outing to a nearby citylette (a town that pretends to be a city) in order to purchase the Ipod and everything that we could possibly need before the baby's arrival (diapers, school supplies and deodorant), Joseph wore a diaper. Nevertheless, he insisted on peeing at every locale: Walmart, Pizza Hut (twice) and the side of the road. I think that he was marking his territory. To say the least, we are all amazed at his potty prowess: peeing took only 2 days and the other kids are jealous of how quickly he achieved this latest feat. Must be the cod liver oil.

Thoughts in the midst of a heat wave

1. I saw the funniest headline in the newspaper the other day: Trucker charged with practising dentistry while driving. Turns out that the semi being carelessly driven down the highway was operated by a trucker with a toothache. In an attempt to remedy the situation he had tied a string to his tooth and attached the other end to the outside of his truck. In his words, "I was waiting for that one big bump to do the job." Apparently, his plan worked, although the resulting highway fine may have been equal to what he would have paid the dentist.

2. It's officially hot, hot, hot in our part of the world. We are on the fifth (?) day of a heat wave that is lasting upward of a week. Temperatures today are around 35 degrees before the humidex: over 40 degrees with humidity. Fortunately, swimming lessons started on Monday so we will be at the beach between 10:30 and noon, five days a week for the next six weeks. I imagine that my feet will spend their time dangling off the dock and cooling in the lake. This is the first pregnancy that I have ever spent my third trimester in the dead-heat of the summer. My daily walks have moved from pre-supper to pre-7am and the dog and I are both dragging as we make it up the last hill toward home. I spend my time praying that we don't run into any squirrels or chipmunks so that a sudden lunge from the dog doesn't send me hurtling to the ground. So far, we have been OK.

3. Heat also means hay; so, Dave has been at the farm sweating it out on the back of the tractor hoisting 60-pound square bales. Believe it or not, he loves such back-breaking work and relishes the sheer physical exertion. Jacob is completely uninterested by farm work and says things like, "I'd rather be having an adventure in the forest." Benjamin, on the other hand, gladly spends his day in the cab of the tractor, on a seat next to his grandfather, wordlessly taking in the cutting, raking and baling. In fact, his aunt took him and Jacob swimming while hay was in progress and he angrily told me afterward: "Humph. Why did I have to go swimming? I wanted to stay in the field. Humph. Swimming! Sheesh!" I imagine four-year-old Dave said much the same thing.

3. One of the advantages of hay is that Dave always takes a few of the children with him leaving me with a lighter load and some more one-on-one time. All of Sunday afternoon and evening I found myself alone in our house except for Joseph. Having one child is really a novel experience for me. As you might recall I started motherhood with twins and, thus, have had very little time to be mom to just one. In fact, this was the first time in Joseph's 2.75 years that I have ever spent so much time with him alone. (As I write this I can't help but think that it sounds terribly unjust to our children but life is what it is and I mustn't apologise.) However, I have to admit that the thought of only one child was actually slightly daunting at first: what would I do with him? with whom would he play? Pleasantly, the afternoon and evening were some of the most delightful hours I have had in a while. I discovered that little Joseph (described yesterday at church as being a handful) isn't so much of a handful after all. Our youngest child (ex-utero) was full of giggles, complex thoughts expressed in almost-three-year-old talk, kisses, hugs and just plain fun. For the first time in a while I simply sat and watched him and we are both the better for it. We played on the swings, ate hamburgers together, read books, went to the beach and finished the day off with a trip to the ice-cream store where he peed on the sidewalk. I enjoyed it all and hope to do it again soon with each of the children. We have promised them that, before the baby comes, each of them can have a full day with mom in which the two of us do something special together and just spend time with one another. It is so easy to lose sight of these little individuals within the bustle of family life and I am so very thankful that, every once in a while, there are snippets of time where I can gaze on just one child as I did when he or she was first born.

4. And, in the latest bit of news, my blood pressure was slightly elevated at my last pre-natal appointment. My doctor ordered me to have two readings taken per week for the next two weeks. My general practitioner (who is also my obstetrician) is over an hour away; so, I have to go to the hospital emergency room to get those BP readings done. In our world of socialised medicare such a trip is no easy feat and I seem to be caught in a web of red tape. For now, I have resorted to a friend's at-home monitor in conjunction with another friend who is a nurse practitioner. So far the BP readings taken at home have averaged a low 100/60. As my nurse practitioner friend said: "Looks like someone has white-coat syndrome."

On Kindness

First, an apology. You will have to excuse the lack of pictures lately. Our camera, which I've felt antagonistic toward from the day of its purchase, is experiencing an extended sick leave. This latest illness might indeed prove terminal and force us into yet another donation to the Chinese economy. We shall see.
Now, onto what I really wanted to write about.
It is quite easy to lament the state in which our world finds itself. Evil does indeed abound and anyone who argues the opposite needs to take a closer look at many of the latest developments around the world. Nevertheless, and I really do mean nevertheless, kindness, especially on a smaller scale, is ever present. The kindness of strangers and the kindness of neighbours.
Three examples.
A few days ago our next-door neighbour stopped by with the first of the new baby's gifts. He is still not due to arrive for another 7 weeks or so; but a blue sweater, hat and booty set are waiting his appearance.
Last night, in order to celebrate Canada Day, we brought the kids to the local ice cream shop for a treat. As we finished off our cones the owner of the shop popped by our table. (She is also the proprietor of the adjacent bakery.)
She quietly said, "I was just thinking that I have one or two day-old loaves of whole wheat next door. Would you like them?" I tried not to jump at the offer as her whole-wheat bread runs a cool $4.99/loaf.
"Umm, sure," I replied.
Within ten minutes she had returned with two grocery bags filled with six loaves. With a shrug of her shoulders she remarked, "I guess I had a few more than I thought I had." I thanked her profusely and she smiled and winked.
Then, shortly after lunch today, I heard an unfamiliar male voice in the driveway. A neighbour whom I had yet to meet was wheeling over a perfectly good boy's bike.
He said, "I saw the kids one day and noticed that the bikes were either too big or too small so I thought you might like this one. My guys have out-grown it."
"Wow, thanks. It's beautiful."
"No worries. Just don't skin your knees." And with that he left for home.
Those are only three examples, but they are real, they are heartfelt and the givers of the kindness didn't have to give it. They chose to and their choice made all the difference.
And, if you would permit me a fourth example. My husband steam-cleaned all the main floors as well as the bathrooms today. If that isn't an act of kindness to a woman who takes third-trimester nesting to manic proportions, then I don't know what is.
(Oh and one more: Joseph peed on the potty twice today and we only started training yesterday. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad.)