leave for home soon.

we leave on thursday for the states and i am so excited..just another pic of kael. i gotta go now, he's crying

Kael Pics

correction

Henri is still in ywam, working of course with randy with ywam nexia...so sorry about that. just wanted to correct my post below.

rachel's partner (or BF)

Hello. Well......this weekend has been absolutely great. And actually since my last post i've had a few emails and comments from people and i tend to agree witheveryone..i think it is a mixture of things we have choosen...(by choosing to leave ywam and live in the states it takes some work to mike's visa....etc..) and also i am tired, and having a kid does just bring your life under a new perspective and in my case that means, i want some more space of our own and i want a home..and in the long run, six months here isn't that long if it will help us save up money toward a house and let us get mike's visa.....so i'm adjusting to the idea, i think i will take other people's comments and maybe take some online courses or try to work on some creative ventures while being a mom....
so that's that...and now this weekend ..friday night, we picked up Rachel, Henri and Rachel's Boyfriend from the train station in Glasgow..headed to starbucks to catch up ...and then came backk to the house..played dutch blitz and after we were all tired....headed to our rooms....Because this is a big place there are lots of rooms, so one of the girls put nametags on the rooms and on Tim's room (rachels' boyfriend) it said:
rachel's partner...:) and they couldn't remember Henri's name so on their room it said Rachael and her friend..:) we thought it was pretty funny.
and it was just soo relaxing to be with my friends again....to hang out, we went bowlling and the boys kicked our butts...but we still had a great time.....and since none of us are i ywam, we could think about doing stuff ad not worry about the money so much....i feel like it was a good break for me, to be with people where i feel myself, peope that know me.
and here are my thoughts on rachel's boyfriend.....
i really like him. i forgot to get a picture of him....but he's good looking and really nice. He's quieter..but maybe that's cause he didn't really know us and in a way i felt bad for him cause alot of times we were talking about things that he didn't know about or people....but it's okay, cause another part of the time i was the oddball cause they were reminiscing about shows from here they used to watch and since i'm the only non-british one among them i had no clue what they were talking about....

but anyways, back to rachel's partner...i can't say that i got to know him tons but what i saw i really liked him....i think they are very good together, he seems to really care about her and they are very relaxed together. overall i approve. :) so that's my weekend......and now mike's sister is coming today actually....the first time kael will see his aunt lisa. fun times......ell my friends i miss you all too bad you all weren't here for a wonderful dutch blitzed filled weekend.
i'll post pics soon ..

bored

so.....we have decided and it has been recommended that we stay another 6 months...i know it is the right decision to make, it will make sure we get mike's visa, and it wil help us save up for a downpayment for a house...but in all honesty..it's so hard for me to adjust to the thought that we will be here for another 6 months..i'm bored right now. not having our own place is getting to me, i like having my own space..i like cooking meals..i like going a whole day and not seeing anyone but mike and kael. i love being a mom, but i'm finding it hard having nothing else to do, eating all of our meals with my in-laws ( they are very nice people) i just want my own dinner time with my own family, i want to cook a meal just for us and be able to share with mike all the funny things kael did that day......i want to relax....i dont' want to make small talk everyday....i want a place of my own..see right now, we have one room, which is always a mess because its small and cramped and i'm not sure what else to do..we don't have a kitchen that i can cook in...i have to either run up and down stairs or down the hall or both for a cup of tea, i have to drag the moniter with me everywhere cause i can't hear kael if he cries...the thought of the next 6 months being like this is driving me a bit mental..but i know God can do miracles..so i want to see one..i want to see Him provide a little more space for our family...all this moving doens't make sense to me...anyone have any theories on why our life has been this way?? i'm confused and yet i will praise God, i will trust that He has to come up with a solution....
don't worry i'm not depressed or anything and i love kael to pieces..i enjoy having lunchtimes with mike and evenings....we make do..but i need a change..i need something different.

visitors and more pics.

hello all. well, i've just had almost a whole week of visitors....so that definitely makes the time go by faster but more important than that..i get to see people i love and care about. Last weekend our friends Rodney and Eva came down with their adoreable little girl Abby....she's 9 months old and i can't believe how much she's moving around, she tries to put everything in her mouth...everything...she was touching our toes and licking people's shoes..trying to put my slippers in her mouth....she's so cute..
and of course we loved hanging out with our friends.....and then on monday my friend from norway, (that i met in mexico) Franziska came....and it was so nice to be able to see her, to hear how she is doing, to hear her heart....we went to the sea and hada little bit of time there before the rain came pouring down on us...it was a great adventure trying to find our way around the little back roads of Scotland...but we managed and had a wonderful time..
now it's me and kael again. and mike of course...and this weekend, we are planning on doing nothing but vegging...me and mike and kaell.....watching movies, eating...and relaxing.....
so i hope you enjoy your weekend as well.....

kael

well here are a few pics of kael.....
so, i've just decided to enjoy my time here.....the enjoy the little things to just take it day by day.......this week has gone by so fast. not much more time before christmas..right now we are not sure if we will be coming back here after christmas or not...we'll see..anyways.......here's my baby...isn't he cute??

open season

friday night i actually got to leave the house wtihout the baby....and it's such a great thing to have a break. i love my son so much..but it's nice. so me and mike went to open season while the grandparents watched the little one...it was a funny movie and it was nice to be able to sit through a whole movie and not have to get up for something......and then when we got home of course i missed him and it's been a great weekend, we have just been hanging out , i've gotten to catch up on some emails....and we bought 24 season 5 on itunes...so we're in the process of downloading those and watching them.......sooo good....fun times. kael is smiling so much..it's so great...he's such a chunker it's awesome.
anyways.....that's all....

the role of motherhood.

the funny thing about the title of this post and the whole concept is that i have tried to start this blog at least 4 times.....but who's counting. finally it's almost 530pm and for once kael is really sleeping...probably cause he is so tired from only having short naps all day long...ones that don't really count and then gets so fussy cause he's tired.
ANYWAYS....being a stay at home mom is alot more work than i thought it would be. and for me at the moment, it's not really 'work' like housework...i don't have a kitchen so i can't really make meals..(we mostly eat with george and jo..except sometimes we eat on our own if i cook in their kitchen which is upstairs..) laundry is down the hall...and i've gotten to do two loads..but one stayed in the dryer for days cause i just didn't have time to go get it....

i'm alone so much, holding him either sleeping or eating that i have finished 4 books since i have been here and this afternoon i just couldn't bring myself to read anything else, so i just took a nap with him until he really fell asleep and then here i am, finally getting to write on this blog.

it's harder than i thought. i feel like i need a break and it's only been a week. This afternoon took forever

anyways....i guess i am cooking tonight. so i have to go.

We are in scotland!! sorry it's been so long since we've been able to update. But we are here now. In scotland..we arrived safely,everything went well...kael was a great traveler. So we arrived and are getting settled in...we have our own little suite.....it doesn't have a kitche, but we have a kettle and coffee pot in our room, so we're all set to make tea and coffee. We've got a little couch, a very nice king size bed, flowers, books, a desk for mike to work upstairs if he wants to. It's pretty nice. Mike worked a day and a half last week and already i'm realizing how it's going ot take some getting used to for me. I don't really have anything to do during the day but read, so i've already finished one book and halfway through the second....i think i'll be picking up some more books at the charity shops (thrift stores) i'll have to get used to driving on teh other side of the road and i may venture out with kael and at least browse or go to the library, but i'm not sure i want to go to the library with a baby....you know he might cry. anyways....mike is doing well, he's enjoying working and that's nice. there is no tv, so we've watched a few video's and have been reading together more and just hanging out watching kael and saying over and over how much we love him.
we had to delay our trip to scotland because kael's passport didn't come in time, even though we paid for a rush ...so $440 and a week later we finally we're able to leave and kael is officially an american......we know have to see about getting him his british passport...little traveler and he doesn't even know about it or care. so i think that's all for now.

family picture

well....kael is now almost 2 months old...since i'm at my parents, i don't have any new pictures of kael on their computer....

and to give an 'update' we are leaving for scotland now in less than a week. it's going to be an adjustment...mike will be working, i may or maynot be on my own all day with kael. we'll see mike may be able to at least work upstairs with me. i'm looking forward to having a routine...i think the baby needs and it and i think i need it alot.
we're all doing well though.....i've got kael with me right now.
anyways...we've been hanging out with my family...got to see my brother last weekend, he actually babysat and did a great job....i think kael really liked his uncle. And my dad has gotten to hang out with him some as well.....tonight we're having dinner with some friends and they'll get to see him for the first time. i have been watching Home channel on satellite nonstop..it has decorating shows..buying homes....all kinds of things and i'm really looking forward to the day we have our own home. we got enough money to get our video camera, so that arrived today and i'm sure we'll take hours of video of the baby doing nothing.... uumm.....God really really blessed us, especially mike, he was really wanting a mac computer and i just didn't see how that was going to happen....well through a series of emails, his dad ends up offering to buy him one in exchange for mike making some video's for him....easy deal since mike wanted to start making video's anyways...so mike now has a beautiful really nice mac computer....i don't know much about macs but i know he got one of the nicest ones....we are definitely feeling blessed lately. here's a family picture ....i think it's a great picture.:) one of my favorites.......well that's all for now....
love you and miss you all....

family picture

well....kael is now almost 2 months old...since i'm at my parents, i don't have any new pictures of kael on their computer....

and to give an 'update' we are leaving for scotland now in less than a week. it's going to be an adjustment...mike will be working, i may or maynot be on my own all day with kael. we'll see mike may be able to at least work upstairs with me. i'm looking forward to having a routine...i think the baby needs and it and i think i need it alot.
we're all doing well though.....i've got kael with me right now.
anyways...we've been hanging out with my family...got to see my brother last weekend, he actually babysat and did a great job....i think kael really liked his uncle. And my dad has gotten to hang out with him some as well.....tonight we're having dinner with some friends and they'll get to see him for the first time. i have been watching Home channel on satellite nonstop..it has decorating shows..buying homes....all kinds of things and i'm really looking forward to the day we have our own home. we got enough money to get our video camera, so that arrived today and i'm sure we'll take hours of video of the baby doing nothing.... uumm.....God really really blessed us, especially mike, he was really wanting a mac computer and i just didn't see how that was going to happen....well through a series of emails, his dad ends up offering to buy him one in exchange for mike making some video's for him....easy deal since mike wanted to start making video's anyways...so mike now has a beautiful really nice mac computer....i don't know much about macs but i know he got one of the nicest ones....we are definitely feeling blessed lately. here's a family picture ....i think it's a great picture.:) one of my favorites.......well that's all for now....
love you and miss you all....

two years ago today

two years ago today we were married....without the little one even a thought in our mind.
now we are happily married...we are headed to the waters tonight (where we got married) have a jacuzzi tub in our room..mom is going to watch the little one for the evening, and bring him to us later....and we are going to enjoy the day....mike got me a lovely new perfume for a gift.....it smells really yummy .....anyways......i had updated everyone on our trip but then forgot to upload the page and lost it all.....so obviously we got across the border just fine, no problems at all , thans for all of you who prayed! it's a bit surreal this whole thing....i feel like it's finally sinking in that we don't have a 'home' anymore and we will be livign with our 'parents ' for awhile...but there is always positive things in everything, we have live in babysitters, grandparents who love kael to pieces....when i arrived at the airport uncle andy and grandpa bill got to see keal for the first time....it was great! this little guy is going to know he is loved.

are we there yet??

i'm wondering if when i titled my blog a long time ago it became a prophecy or if that's just the way it has been..and the title is just fitting...you know??
our plans are more concrete now but have changed again...here is the plan right now....who knows things could change, but at least for now they seem pretty set...
so , we will still go to wisconsin for october....hang out with my parents...let my dad hang out with his new grandson for awhile....then wewill make scotland home for a little while...mike has been offered a job by his dad to set up an ebay store for him...so that will give us something to do, help us make a bit of money ( means i don't have to work ) and then we can apply for mike's visa while we are there....so we'll still be in wisconsin for christmas but we'll spend a few months in scotland, so after christmas we'll probably go back and once we get mike's visa, we'll come back and finally be ready to live in the states....
it's not exactly what we had in mind when we thought of leaving canada, but there are many positives and we are actually looking forward to it....

so we have two days left here, head for seattle, where i fly home and mike and his dad and wife drive all of our stuff back to wisconsin. so when i get home, i'll be picked up by my brother and dad and they'll get to hang out with kael, we are all looking forward to it.

here's some pics of jamie and kael hanging out....he looks so cool in his shades that mr and mrs church gave him.

Kael's first party

Well, i'm sorry i haven't updated in awhile..for those of you who weren't there.....on Thursday night there was a Welcome To the World party for Kael...hosted by our lovely ywam friends. It was a great night, I personally felt really blessed, as i know mike did as well...and one day i think Kael will too...of course it was nice to see everyone, to have dinner together, lovely to have people hold kael and think he's so cute, and then my favorite was when Don and Gwen led a prayer time for kael, they annointed him with oil and prayed over him. And there were prayers as well that we would know God's love as we are on this journey of being parents, and i know it gives you such a different perspective and we are just at the beginning of this 'parenting' thing. We both felt really blessed by the time, i was reminded that these people really are my family, they have been with me through so much, through singleness, through getting married and that whole journey, and then through my pregnancy....major life changes. and it's nice to be 'known' in those different times.....

life changes

well.....it's almost been three weeks since kael was born. life changes fast. i still can't believe i'm a mom, it's a bit surreal still....i think with all the unknowns of our future it's hard to feel as if we can really settle into a routine. i just realized that we leave in 2 1/2 weeks. it's going to come fast, that's for sure....it is coming fast. i'll give you a bit of an update on our lives.....well it's harder to get Mike a US Visa than we originally thought, and since our Visa here in Canada is up this month, and we aren't staying with YWAM< so we can't get it renewed, we have to leave the country. We should be gone already but it was unrealistic with having the baby ..so october 1st we definitely have to be out of here. But now since it's harder than we realized for Mike to get a visa, well it just takes longer than we thought, so we have to be careful crossing the border, so that he doesn't get rejected and worse case scenario we would have to go back to scotland while we apply for his visa, not something i'm wanting to do......but that is worst case scenario..i kind of feel like it will work out, and we have 'friends' helping us out ...friends who have connections. anyways......life is one big adventure with us..it seems like 'home ' is something that is always changing, always moving, but we sitll have each other..our little family if three now.

kael and daddy

8 lbs 11oz

Well our little guy is quite the eater, he has already gained alot of weight..means he's healthy...the midwife came to see both of us today and she thinks we're doing great. He looks healthy, my incision is healing well. we're doing well as a family. still tired though...adjusting to littler amounts of sleep....and i'm pretty much a homebody..and since we've had lots of visitors it's wearing me out..so if your one of those in town still waiting to see us and we don't return your phone calls or tell you not today, please do not take it personal.....we are very tired from all the visits....we have appreciated so much though everyone's attention and love and food....it means alot that we have such a great community of people here. we are still in awe of our little guy, he's too cute!!!
we think so at least. :)

gramdma left today

well my mom left this morning, it was a tearful goodbye,.she didnt cry, i did....she left us this amazing note last night about being able to be here for the birth and how blessed she was, and then had written out these amazing bible verses for us and kael and really encouraged us as parents.......it was so great having her here although i wish so much it had been longer. i cried alot knowing she was leaving. but today we are doing okay so far. i am pretty tired and so mike watched baby kael and i slept while he slept this morning.....and we went for our first walk today, our little family. here is a picture of baby with his grandma.

KAEL = Celtic name meaning Mighty Warrior, Our son...Kael Asher Oates NOT "Kale" = a form of cabbage.

KAEL ASHER OATES

well.....finally after all of your checking, the baby has arrived. He is here. He is here.
He took his sweet little time.....the entire labor was 39 hrs.....and little Kael tried every possible way to enter the world on his own, but in the end He needed help. So with the help of a very painful c-section, Kael entered the world at 3:13pm August 24th, 2006, weighing 8 lbs, 1 oz. He is beautiful. We had to stay in the hospital for 5 nights, (including the first night of laboring) and today were able to come home. It's so lovely to be home with my new family. we all have new names...mom, dad, grandma,,, and little Kael Asher Oates. Was all worth it.

i'm a house.

mike told me the other day, i was a house ( cause i was so big) and i said, i am a house, for the baby. he lives inside me and has made himself all at home.
and here's a pic from the other day at whiterock where i think i look pretty big.

check out mike's blog

hey, mike actually posted again.....
pray the baby comes tonight.
bye for now

kicked out of our home.

Funny story....on tuesday we got a call from our landlord saying that on wednesday by 1pm we had to leave our house for 24 hrs...because they were going to fumigate for bugs. Mike talked to her and was trying to explain how inconvenient this was because I was due anyday and that i was having a homebirth, so what was i suppossed to do if i went into labor. But it seemed as if we didnt' really have a choice. So our landlord booked us into a hotel and yesterday at 1pm we had to leave our house, so me, mike and my mom went around vancouver, went to stanely park, out for yummy cheesecake at true confections.....checked into our hotel, went out to dinner (thanks to our landlord as well) and then vegged and wateched tv at our hotel...and luckily i didn't go into labor and it was just fine. there was no pool in our hotel, but it was kind of nice anyways......and we got a free dinner out of it. so now we're back home and this little baby is free to come out.
i'll keep you all posted.

my mom

my mom is here. she arrived today. ahhhh..you know what this means....the baby really is ready to arrive, it's all coming together. i'm pretty much ready to have this baby......it's so nice to have my mom here. we picked her up and it's so fun to have her at 'our' place, our very own home.....she has her own guest room, she brought us cheese from wisconsin....and we have just been able to relax with her. i love being around my mom, we've got a fun trip planned for tomorrow....a trip to white rock, hang out on the beach....enjoy the sunshine.....and not be in labor..i can go into labor another day..just not tomorrow...:) anyways, my mom is great and it brings me lots of peace to have her here.

human sex trafficking

me and mike rented this movie this week..human trafficking. it's hard to watch but i recommend it....it brings up the real issue of human trafficking. And it's so interesting because me and mike watched it this week and then on the news twice there have been stories regarding human trafficking, one woman right here in vancouver was beaten almost to death with a machette, then in seattle and LA they found containers full of woman being trafficked into the country. Then as well on csi miami me and mike were watching, it was about woman being trafficked in as well, to be used for prostitution. it's crazy how much it has come up, it definitely has gotten our attention, i've always wanted to be able to do something to help but never really sure what to do. But it's amazing how it seems as if God brings something in front of your face and really gets your attention....it's gotten both mike and i's attention...we are hoping God helps us a find a way to help these women..or stop this horrible thing that is happening all over all the time.

changes again......

no baby yet. i'm guessing people check my blog everyday just to see if we've had the baby yet.....i think it will be soon, but not yet.
so those of you who check mike's myspace thing and have read his blog, know that there are more changes than the baby coming in our lives......we are moving as well. i think it's funny that the title of my blog is ' are we there yet?' because it seems as if we are constantly on the move. We are now moving countries one more time....this time not across any oceans just across North America back to the MN/WI region of the world. Close to my parents, yet still in a city, not back to Tomahawk. Mike and I have been praying for some time about our life, and direction and with ywam and the church and everything here.....we really were seeking God and it seems as if He has been leading us to make thismove for al ittle while and now that we have it makes sense. We will be leaving ywam, and starting a new life really. It's scary and exciting all at once. It's definitely hard to know what life will be like with a new baby...but i'm actually it gives me alot of peace to think of moving closer to home while starting our new family....to have my parents around and to be near my brother is kind of a relief. It amazes me too because we have this great place here in Vancouver and part of me has realizedc that God probably knew we were going to move but chose to bless us with this great place to be in together to prepare for our new life. To relax and enjoy each other before this baby and because i'm having a home birth...it's a place to feel comfortable in and am blessed that God gave us this place so that i could give birth here......it's all amazing. This journey we are on. I'm so glad that I've got God..and i'm so grateful He gave me mike as well to go through all of this with......So, those are some of the other big changes ahead. We'll be making our way home by October 1st...so that's all for now. so soon we'll be holding our new baby..yeah....

belly

here is my prego belly....
no baby yet, so jacqui's first guess is wrong.....i don't know what you win if you guess it right...i'll have to think about that one.....keep the guesses coming....i can't decide if i want him to come now or wait til my mom comes....(not like i have a choice..but it'd be nice...)

guess the date the baby will come

so i'm curious.....i want to know what day people think our little guy will arrive...
i'm getting really pregnant....my belly is pretty big, on friday me and mike went swimming and then we were sitting on the edge of the hot tub with our legs dangling in and these two teenage boys kept staring at me....like i was the fattest woman they had ever seen....mike wanted to say to them 'have you ever seen a pregnant woman' ....i felt like a novelty....a big fat novelty..;) so ANYWAYS...
i want to know what day people think our little bundle will arrive....

kiwi friend

well, my friend Mary is visiting from New zealand.....she was on staff here at ywam vancouver for 2 1/2 years while i was here, and we were friends and worked together. And she has been gone for 3 years and now is back with her husband and brand new baby....and it's just like she never left. It's so great just to see her and chat and have tea together.....we saw them the other day and then tonight just dropped by as well and it's just like old times.....she is the same and yet so much has changed in both of our lives....getting married and she just had a baby and we are obviously about to ...and i am so grateful for being able to see her at this time in our lives......so those of you who know mary and are in vancouver...remember tomorrow at the parizeau's she's having people around for tea to be able to see her and jay and her new baby......3pm come around and see her. i've been enjoying the time together again.

answered prayer

well...instead of asking for stuff this time, i thought i'd give a little report on answered prayer, thanks to friends.

1. a Doula, we have been praying for a doula for awhile, probably since may when we met with this Christian doula and we wanted her but couldn't afford her. Then just recently a friend said He'd be willing to help out......So after trying other options for cheaper doulas, nothing was working out. So, we actually took this friend up on their offer to help out. And thanks to Stacey and Alastair we now have a Christian Doula! ( for thsoe of you who don't know what a Doula is, she is basically there to help me deal with the pain of labor, atural ways of dealing with the pain) So praise the Lord for our friends we were able to hire a Christian Doula, and she is very grateful as well because she is a single mnom who needed the business.

2. Sheets and towels,...again all thanks to my lovely friends....Hannah, Jacqui, Rachel and Joanna have all generously donated towels and sheets to me.....actually Joanna lent me quite a few items for my homebirth.










3. Back to our Doula, she bought a kiddie pool for her son and never opened it so she lent it to us so that i can have a water birth.

4. Scrapbook.....Andrea offered to come and help me with my scrapbook, so the other day she arrived here at 11am...and we started working, and thanks to her, we finished all the wedding and honeymooon pages for my scrapbook..and they look soo good, much better than i would've done!!! Her creativity looks great on the pages of my scrapbook and so i've just got the rest of our year of marriage to do.....but it looks so good and she was here til almost 5pm helping me with it.

So, thanks to all these lovely people in my life, these prayers have been answered. It's so cool to see God work things out. We are believing He is going to provide many more miracles before this journey of labor is over....:) anyday now guys....anyday.......
thank God and thank all of you my friends.

what to say

i've been meaning to post for days, but everytime i sit down and try to write nothing comes out. right now it's 530 am....couldn't sleep cause my stomach hurt and i was hungry, so i got up to have some oatmeal crisp and then head back to sleep....there is actually a thunderstorm here in vancouver right now too..it's kind of soothing, i miss thunderstorms alot. my thoughts are still constantly around having this baby, i feel as if it's the only thing i think about. some days this week were pretty hard, i felt overwhelmed and like i have so much to do...and then i've had some good days where i just don't worry about it...but this morning laying in bed and my stomach hurting, i guess sometimes it just hits me that ths baby could really come anytime and i'm really not ready. not just emotionally, i think emotionally i'm ready, but physically i am not ready. like, we haven't bought diapers yet, or i don't even have the birthing pool and i want to have a water birth.....i guess that's where my trust in God comes into play...i have to trust that he'll help keep labor off a few more days so i can get myself organized and actually be ready to have this baby. it's still so mind blowing that there is a little baby living inside me, that i will be responsible for, he will look like me and mike and will forever be in our hearts. it's all kind of incredible. a miracle......that's why that call it a miracle. God amazes me more and more....how could someone not think there is a God, when the way we are created is miraculous and it happens everyday...everyday women all over the world are giving birth....and it's amazing.

well...those are my thoughts for now.....if anyone still wants to help with the things from the last post, please let me know and please come by. i'm going back to sleep now.

getting ready

k, so i'm in 'getting ready' mode. i'm not sure who even reads my blog, i know of course a few people do..but whether you are near or far away, i'm going to tell you how anyone can help me in these last few weeks before the baby is born. i feel like i just need to ask for help with a few things:
SO, of course there are always the 'things' material that i need, but there are a few other things as well that i wouldn't mind some help with, if somone has time or knows someone else who has time.
1. scrapbooking...i have been wanting to make a scrapbook of me and mike's wedding, and our first year together ( since we traveled to a few places..i thought it'd be fun to make one scrapbook of our first year...
why i need help with this is because i am good at collecting stuff and i have saved all kinds of stuff but i need someone to just help me get going, to get the pages made and put the pictures in, i have it all spread over my dining room table but i can't seem to get it going, so if there is someone decisive and creative who wouldn't mind helping me, please let me know.
2. i am in need of old sheets/towels...because it's a home birth if i want to have the baby in the bed, of course there will be lots of fluids and since me and mike only just bought a set of sheets for our bed, we need some old ones we can use for when i give birth, or old towels that can be used( we don't have any 'old' stuff because we barely have enough new stuff..:) i might end up just going to value village but that kind of grosses me out. so if you know anyone with old sheets/towels that we can have that would awesome.
3. let's see......if anyone is wanting to help out really practically we are in need of some basic things that we would like to have for when the baby is born and directly after let us know , i definitely won't list them, but you can always email me and ask or if you have something in mind, just ask us, because we might just need something you are wanting to get rid of. ( like a rocking/glider chair) otherwise we are in need of some more expensive items still that if anyone wants to donate money towards we wouldnt say no either.
4. a video camera.....we were hoping to buy one, but there are just too many other expenses for this baby and so if anyone has a vide camera they would be willing to let us borrow for the next month (since we could have this baby any day or not for weeks) that would be really cool.


of course a bit closer as well, i'll be needing to do lots of laundry ( i have to wash all the baby clothes i have.,,) so if someone likes doing laundry and wants to hang out that would be fun as well. i don't have a dresser yet so i won't be doing the laundry until i get a dresser.
so now i feel a bit funny just having been so honest with you all, and i hope that i'm not whining or coming across as 'pathetic' i just wanted to ask for help and let my friends and family know how they can help. because i think everyone loves a baby and there is no pressure to help, it just seems like people want to help, so i'm giving the opporunity ...this is definitey not a demand. okay enough rambling.....this baby is coming so soon....today i'm going to go get some of the birth supplies we need...so i feel a little more relaxed knowing we are a bit more prepared. hope you are all having a great day.

hot

i at least was able to sleep in...the heat didn't wake me up. and then for some reason i was a bit ambitious and thought i could try and go all over to garage sales....so i took a shower, had my list of addresses and started out....but after being out there for not very long realized that it's way too hot and too much energy for me to be walking around and getting in and out of the van. so i came home and am just trying to stay cool, drink lots of water. So i've been watching oprah dvd's and reading, and it's interesting. i'm reading this book called 'the living end' about a woman who's husband wrote a list of 'while i live, i want to.....' and then shortly after he dies. so she decides to do everything on the list. Also, the few oprah shows i watched had stories about amazing people, but of course the sad part is that alot of these people died. So of course i am fitting the stereotype of pregnant woman by crying at all these sad and yet beautiful stories. I think that i have this fear in my life of not really living....i know that the thing i want the most is for my life to count for something, i want to really impact people i interact with, i want to truly live...but today i feel compelled to just enjoy life as well and not be so caught up in 'missing out' that i don't just enjoy today. today i haven't done anythign 'productive' but i've definitely enjoyed just relaxing, reading, watching oprah, thinking...and not so worried about the 'big' things.

reading.

so, i've decided i'm going to take these last 4 weeks and try to relax as much as possible. i finally feel like mentally i can rest. just a few weeks ago i felt so overwhelmed that i wasn't resting much at all but now i feel like i can take a bit slower and easier, yesterday we stopped by the library and i got out 4 fiction books and i plan on reading them all. i like making decaf ice-tea and eating ice and just relaxing. for me too i realized that i have this desire to 'figure it all out' before the baby comes and to make a plan, but i will just not be able to figure it all out, so i'm going to keep pursuing God...keep asking Him to reveal 'more' to me. and keep exploring my options as far as developing my strengths...( i'm seriously wondering how it would be possible for me to go to school part time for psychology/counseling and have a baby) and see how it all unfolds i guess......this weekend mike is away, so i'm looking forward to the time alone. i know it will be my last before our life takes on a whole different direction and i'm glad for the change, but i will enjoy the time to read and relax and reflect on the ways God is speaking and moving right now.