All dressed up for church

As we did not know what we were having during pregnancy, we did not purchase any gender specific clothing for our little one.  So, as we were headed to church the next day, we ventured out to the mall on Saturday to find little Anna a dress.  I don't believe we dressed Natalie in a dress for her first Sunday at church, so we didn't have any little dresses from when Nat was a newborn.  As Anna was only 4 days old, the venture to the mall was a little much for me, but it was worth it as Anna looked too beautiful on Sunday.  Since we were all dressed up, we got a family photo taken as well.

And heres Nat and Anna at the mall.

Introducing our newest sweetie

Anna Simran joined our family in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.  We waited patiently for her arrival... and then she was in a hurry to come.  But baby Anna did wait for her big sister to come home, completing our family of 5.

My labour was very short and very intense, not at all what I was expecting.  I thought we'd have some warning with the labour, and be able to go to the hospital with plenty of warning, but Anna had other plans.  With my first two, each time I went to the hospital I had not even started dilating, and each was born about 12 - 15 hours later.  With Anna, I was contracting in the evening, about 10 minutes apart, and definitely manageable.  At around 9:30 at night, the contractions were still 10 minutes apart, but they were starting to get painful.  I thought we were in for a long night at that rate.  At 10:45, my contractions started and didn't stop... we rushed to the hospital!  We got to the hospital around 11:30pm (after dropping Nat off at her grandparents - Chelsea was already there for a sleepover), and were rushed into a room.  Anna was born at 00:16 am. 

The doctor barely made it (he was getting his gloves on as she was coming out), and Anna was blue (she had the cord wrapped around her neck).  There were lots of nurses taking care of her.  I was worried as she was not crying, but they took excellent care of her and she came around quickly.  After the first hour, her vitals were great, and she weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz.

Since bringing Anna home we have truely been enjoying our family time.  Chelsea adores her, and Natalie is curious but adjusting so well to having a baby around.  Daddy is the best, he's taking such good care of the two of us (giving me rest when I need it).  Anna feeds very well; she is sleeping great, and allowing me to get sleep at night as well.  She is so content (so far). 

Anna is so precious, we are so blessed!  God knew what he was doing when he knit her in my womb, and we trust her to His care as she grows.  We have three daughters, and each one is unique and special!

Enjoying the park

As I'm getting too tired to do much, but still needing to keep Nat busy, we took her out to the park.  Good thing Daddy was willing to play.  I just sat on the nearest bench / picnic table and enjoyed watching them have fun.

A bunch of friends met at the park for dinner also, just an impromptu bring your own dinner kinda evening.  It was nice relaxing evening out, and lots of friends for Nat to play with.

Keeping cool

Although we haven't had much warm weather yet, the one scorcher week we got last week required a lot of "keeping cool" tactics.  We headed out to the water park in town and played for a small bit in the water.  Nat does not like the sprinklers, and she didn't want to get wet.  She'd rather play at the park, and she really wanted to play in the pool next to the water park.  At least we had watermellon to cool down.

The next day, I took Nat to the pool.  Since its pretty deep, I had to hold on to her the whole time, but she loved being in the water.  It was hard to get her to come out when I was tired.  To top the day off, Nat got a mini ice cream cone.

We also went to the kids play time at the local rec centre, and Nat had a blast running around in the gym.  She does have to learn to share and not take toys away from the little kids (but she's too intimidated to play with the bigger kids).  We escaped to various shopping centres in the evenings to avoid the heat, and slept in the basement to keep a little cooler at night. 

Now, we're back to a week of cooler weather... go figure!

Anticipation

We are getting so close to meeting our newest little one... and with much anticipation.  The green and yellow baby things are washed, the crib is set up, the car seat all ready (and base installed in the van).  Now we wait.  I am 39 weeks already, and I can definitely say I would like this little one to wait another week (or so), as I am hoping to rest before its arrival (and we'd love for Chelsea to be home to complete our family).

I would love to know who this little one inside me is... it is exciting not knowing what we're having.  I know already that it is a squirmy one, and loves the sound of music.  Although the first little while will be exhausting, we are so looking forward to this new addition to our family, and the new dynamic that a baby brings.  We pray that God is watching over it now, through the delivery, and as it grows.

Canada Day

I love all the celebrations around Canada Day!  It is such a festive day, when everyone comes out to celebrate in red and white.  And friends love to get together.  This year was no exception, although the weather didn't make it much fun. 

We started at the annual Abbotsford parade... although it was less exciting than in years past.  Not sure if it was sitting in the drizzly weather, or if there was just less excitement in the parade itself.  None the less, a whole host of friends from church showed up at the same spot as usual and enjoyed the floats and the kids got candy (most important part). 

We headed over to a friends for a BBQ at lunch, which is always a bustling fun time!  Some of the kids braved the cold pool... I was too tired so we headed home so that Nat and I could nap.

The evening fireworks at the stadium are always a hit.  Although we didn't meet up with too many friends, we did enjoy the outdoor concert with some hot chocolate, jackets, hoodies (we contemplated bringing out the toques and mitts).  This was Nat's first experience with fireworks, and she and her buddy Zach loved them (it was very cute watching them sit beside eachother under a blanket).

Here's to hoping the summer warms up... July 1st was a cold one.

Newest family member...

Depak's cousin and his wife had a baby at the end of May, and we got to go and visit the family and the newest little one.  We love getting together with Depak's family, and the Nat just loves hanging out with the young cousins (especially since they are boys... she has a thing for boys!).  Chelsea isn't as enthusiastic about holding the new babies... we have to force her to hold them, but she'll mostly oblige.

Here is a very pretty Jasmine...

Birthday fun

Every year some friends and I celebrate our June birthdays together, and every year it is getting harder to plan as we all lead such busy lives.  We did get to go for dinner this year, which was at ABC.  I must commend the restaurant on their excellent choice of dessert, which they provide free to someone celebrating a birthday.  My all time favorite dessert is the hot fudge Mt. Baker, which we didn't even have to pay for... yeah!!!!

I didn't get a good photo of my friend Joce, but happy birthday to me, Barb and Jocelyn! (Joce... I cannot remember your beau's name... how awful of me... it was his birthday in June too.)