"Lovin' every minute of it..."

Living in the moment and loving it and respecting every minute of it is the greatest feeling. Life has been busy but I wouldn't ask for anything more. I've had a bit of a turn around this past week which has felt amazing I must say I still have a long way to go but knowing that it's only been a few weeks since the birth of our third child I feel a bit more at peace knowing it's still soon and it will come together even more every day. After having a baby my body is what I thought a horror zone but my husband keeps telling me how beautiful I am and I was getting all depressed thinking he was wrong and I was putting all my energy into feeling unattractive and gross. What I just realized is my husband loves me for me and all of me and he respects the way my body has changed because I gave birth to his son and he loves me more for that. I felt so guilty because it was pretty insulting to him to hear me degrade myself when he's sitting there telling me I'm pretty and I'm rolling my eyes and it was starting to affect my overall happiness. Stupid stupid. So the other day I decided to wake up believe in myself a little more and trust my husbands judgement and just look in the mirror and see what my husband sees. Let's just say I've been a million times happier just changing the nasty tapes in my head. It's helped me to enjoy my children more and my husband more and just life in general.

Speaking of life...we were back in Saskatoon for Thanksgiving which was nice. A lot of my family and friends I hadn't seen in a whole year and that's so hard. I definitely need to make it home more often. Life is just too short to not visit our loved ones more often. We will be taking the Calgary route all the time, we decided to drive through Cranbrook on the way to Saskatoon and it was ridiculous it took us 20hrs. On our way home through Calgary it only took us 15hrs. I'm so proud of the kids. Emily and Carter had a little bicker fest here and there but nothing over the top and they were so patient and entertained themselves very well with little sleep and lots of excitement. The baby did so well. He just needed to be nursed often and changed a lot also but other than that not a wimper out of the little dude. I sure miss every one...aww man I wish I could have everyone out here for Christmas or something, especially my little nephew.

Since we've been back it took us a bit to get all unpacked and organized and errands errands errands. Emily was busy attending birthday parties this past weekend and Carter is getting used to sharing a room with little Cohen. Cohen has started smiling a lot yet he's still so serious and still content (thank goodness). Justin's article was released and publised in the Sys Admin magazine and he just cracked a huge code in a contest the US put on and he was sent a bunch of goodies.

Well here are some photo's of our time in Saskatoon and some recents of the baby.
Enjoy and happy belated Thanksgiving.
Blessings to you all!!
Cohen w/ friend Peter who's only 2wks older..what a difference hey!!




Auntie Jenna and Emily











Dante and Carter playing.














Grandpa Corky

Gramma Billie













Grandpa Ron
Gramma Rose















Carter in daddy's sweatpants.
Emily with Daisy.


















My bro Nathan aka Norman and the Justin's a la geeking!!

Yup!

It's midnight and Justin and I are still wide awake ... well trying to be anyways. Cohen has been a little cranky the past few days and nights and Carter is sick and up watching the old Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We're wiping noses, bums and tears. Not a lot of fun. Emily on the other hand is sleeping peacefully in her bed, oh how we wish we were her right about now dreaming of barbie dolls and tea parties.

Yes the joys of parenting. As tough as it is to be up all night and have screaming whining children and boogers and poopies. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. It's even harder to look in your childs eyes and see them feel so sad and sick. It's heartwarming to know that our love for our children is the best medicine.

Hopefully we're getting all the colds and yuckies out of our system before we head back to Saskatoon. Before things took a peak we were in Penticton checking out some mini vans. We brought one home for the weekend to test it out and see how we like it make sure everything is aok and good for the highway etc. Hopefully the vehicle turns out because it is so roomy and convenient.

Well I guess I better try and convince Carter to take some more medicine to keep his fever down.... hopefully catch some zzz's before the sun rises or resets haha. Anyways till next time.
Toodles!!

It's Officially Fall!!

I have waited so long for this season. Fall and Spring are my favorites especially Fall I absolutely love it when the leaves start changing and falling to the ground and all the rain...oh I'm in heaven. Here in the Okanagan the summers I feel can be somewhat unbearable especially during a pregnancy...ouch it was a scorcher. I'm so glad it's over. Even though most of the time I was on bedrest we were still able to have a lot of fun and visits throughout the summer. It all started with my sister coming out to tend to my every need which was awesome but then I missed her a gazillion times more when she left and I'm still having Jenna withdrawal.

Then my parents came out to help us prepare for the arrival of our baby and lucky then the baby was able to see their grandparents before they left. We did a lot of fun things. We played mini golf at Loco Landing and then toured the SS Sicamous and then had a picnic by the water (no mosquito's bugging us I might add) and then had icecream at tickleberry's.

It was sad to see them go but it was good that at least they got to meet their new grandson and have some good quality time with Emily and Carter.

After they left we tried getting used to life with a new baby and then Justin's sister came to visit. While Auntie Shannon was here we had Gramma Vonn out of the nursing home everyday to visit the kids as well which was really nice for her and the kids and good bonding time for her and the baby. That was pretty special also because we haven't seen Shannon since our wedding and she's busy moving to Boston so who knows when we'll be able to see her next. Thank goodness the baby made his way to the world in time for Shannon's visit also. It was too short but every minute was spent visiting and catching up. While she was here she helped my husband with his new hobby of home decorating and helped him actually did all the set up of Justin's new Debbie Travis shelves. It was pretty cute she had the kids helping with measuring.


Right after Auntie Shannon left we had another special visit from Grandpa Harold and Gramma Paulette. We had a birthday party for Harold because he is turning the big 60 actually today or maybe it was yesterday ahhh man I always forget the birthdays and I feel bad because the birthday's we tend to forget are the ones who remember the most. Happy Birthday Grandpa WE LOVE YOU!! While they were here visiting we had a nice German meal one night and a Russian meal the next. It was so yummy but oh did poor little Cohen suffer from me eating onions. It was hard seeing them go because we knew that was the last of family for a little while and it's so hard to say goodbye and not see family as frequent as we wish we could.

Last weekend we had our friends Kristin and Eric over for a Chinese Potluck. It was yummy. Kristin brought a few dishes and I attempted to make salad rolls with rice paper. Not knowing how to do the rice paper properly I stuck a bunch of paper in boiling water and they came out all gluey...NOT GOOD. So as my little lunchbox needed to be fed again I was unable to finish my dinner project so my dear Kristin and hubby finished and found that you have to use cold water to get it to work properly. I was so out of it from not sleeping..heck I"m still out of it..,.but anyways I forgot the pork chops were sitting on the bbq and let's just say I figured out a way to make my own pork jerky...yummy yummy yuk. After they finished all the rice papers we got down to eating and man was it scrumptious. Now I just have to figure out how to make my own fish sauce and we're good to go. The next day we took some time to have family time. Emily helped me back a Strawberry Apple pie and a Ravioli dish that is to die for...(now I'm hungry again) and Carter played some mindless video games with his dad and Cohen just slept in the kitchen which in his own little baby way that's spending quality time with us.

Now we have no company and are left with a quiet weekend. We are preparing to go back to Saskatoon for Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately we're only there for the long weekend. I wish we could stay longer since it's been over a year since we've been home. But I guess a weekend is better than no weekend.

Tonight we went to McD's to celebrate the release of Justin's article which will be in the Sys Admin magazine on shelves Oct. 1st so if you want to check it out just stop in at McNally and take a peek. I'm so proud of him and I can't wait to see the article officially printed. I have no understanding of technology whatsoever but I love the article. Tomorrow we are planning on checking out the Bizarre Bazarre here in Naramata...it's a big town yard sale at the community church. Hopefully we can find ourselves a good bargain.

Well I think my baby might be ready for another feeding and then hopefully bed because boy do I need some sleep. This is an example of just how out of it I am. Well at McD's Material Girl by Madonna came on the speakers and I totally invisioned myself dancing on the counters in sequence frills and tutu's and when I snapped out of my daydream and found myself dancing in my chair...yup a little coocoo indeed.

Here's one last picture of the baby. He's gotten so big at 1mth he's now 10lbs. I guess my frequent nursing is really paying off.

I'm 3wks old and 8lbs 2oz

My first week alone.

Justin's holidays were over on Tuesday and back to work he went. I was so sad when he left I actually cried liked a little baby. I just had so much fun with him around and he is my main support that when he went back I just felt lost. It was a sad day on Tuesday because Justin went back to work Emily went back to school and Carter decided to fill my day with trial after trial after trial. He discovered how to climb walls with his bare feet and swing off the fridge doors and climb cupboards and wash floors with buckets of water. It took me a few days a lot of advice from people around me and we finally found a comfortable way to deal with his behaviour troubles. It turned out that Carter was worried that we were going to love the baby more than him and he did not like the fact that I had to feed Cohen all the time. So during the feedings Carter gets something special out to play with and we sit down together so he can have some attention just like Cohen. It is not perfected yet but it is coming. Both kids are slowing starting to find their place. Carter is improving his behaviour slowly every day and Emily is improving her attitude slowly everyday also. My nerves are also slowly improving however my sleep deprivation is not. Baby Cohen is now 2wks old and he is still such a good baby. Life has been busy but I love it. I am just so anxious to be completely healed up and get back to my normal everyday activities. As I've already discovered getting organized is challenging with three kids. It seems that as soon as we have something to do, get ready for or go everything happens all at once. We've got Cohen pooping or feeding, Carter pooping or getting into mischief and Emily needing to get off to school or somewhere. I'm trying to find tricks to organize myself better and prepare for things in sequence instead of all at once. I better get some rest while Cohen is sleeping and the family is in Penticton shopping. I will post some pictures of all the company we have had out and our adventures with everyone. Justins dad and stepmom are here visiting right now and we have a lot of pictures of the little birthday party we had for Grandpa who is turning the big 60 in a couple weeks. But for now here are some more pictures of week number two with Baby Cohen. Sleeping peacefully like always!!
Mom and baby snoozing.
Cohen is actually awake and enjoying tummy time.
My boys!!
My little mother hen!!
Lil Goldmember
Our Mr. Fixit!!
Our Favorite Drama Queen....with the neighbourhood girls.
My sleeping beauties :0P
Justin, his sister Shannon with baby.

Our First Week!!

Tomorrow will mark 1 week since the baby was born. It's been wonderful. There is still so much excitement in the air. Cohen is adapting well to his new life and family. He's so content, alert and such a happy baby. We went to the doctor to check on his weight and make sure that all the frequent feedings were paying off. Indeed it did. Cohen is back up to his birth weight. During the day he feeds every hour and a half to two hours and at night it's every hour on the hour. I've been trying to adjust to the lack of sleep. Thank goodness Justin is around and on holidays. He is totally my saving grace. He is arranging activities during the day to keep the kids busy so I can nap and at night he fetches me my water, pain meds and changes diapers during the night so I don't have to get up and move too much and then I do the feedings. I am anxious to be 100% recovered from the surgery so I can get back to running around and playing with all the kids. The picture on the left is Cohen's first stroller ride. Justin let Carter and Emily take turns pushing their brother in the stroller to the mailbox. They were so proud. It was cute. The kids already want Cohen to be big so he can play with them. It's hard for them to understand why they have to be so careful around the baby. Ahh before we all know it Cohen will be bigger than a bean and walking and talking. I wish we could just preserve the babyness in a little bottle.
Here is a picture of Cohen and Daddy. Justin wanted a picture to visualize just how tiny the baby really is and from Justin's elbow to his middle finger tip is exactly the size of our littlest one. Cohen also loves his little bed. He's started noticing the hanging animals. Carter and Emily like helping at diaper change time. They think baby poop is the funniest thing in the world. Cohen likes to cuddle with a blanket my mom knit for him. He looks so precious in this picture.











When I look at these photo's I go back in time when Emily and Carter were both Cohen's size and I can't believe how time just zip's right by. Emily starts Grade 3 next Tuesday. Her highlight of the week is her shopping trip with her dad. Justin let her by a big girl back pack which in Emily's eye's is the coolest thing ever. She's grown out of the tinkerbell and barbie backpacks and clothes. Thank goodness she still likes to play barbies and make believe. She has been helping out so much around the house. She loves to clean so she's been cleaning and organizing baby things. She was having so much fun helping her dad do yardwork today that when he took a break she surprised him and raked 9 mounds of dead grass. So to take a bit of a fun break her and her dad played a little one on one baseball. But she passed on her rake to her little brother.














Carter's highlight of the week is during the shopping trip with daddy he got some office supplies. If you don't already know Carter's favorite playtime is pretend office. He is darn serious about it too. At first we were concerned that he was going to turn into some workaholic but then realized Emily hasn't become a barbie a holic and they both play equal pretend time. We have decided to also enroll Carter in preschool. Justin is going to try and set that up this week. I think that will help Carter feel more comfortable being a big brother. He will have something to call his own.

A few exciting things happening this coming week. Tonight my sister in law is coming. She is driving out from Seattle. We haven't seen her since our wedding and the kids are looking forward to playing toys with her. Also the cul-de-sac we live on shuts the street down and has a big block BBQ. It will be nice to meet some more of our new neighbours. Speaking of which. Our neighbours have been great. Right beside us is a la leche instructor and she's been giving me breast feeding tips I had no clue of and another neighbour brought us fresh out of the oven banana bread and while I was in the hospital she brought over a box of peaches. Everyone is so nice and friendly and we feel so lucky to live on a street like this. It's a nice distraction also because I'm really missing my family. My parents left on Saturday and it's been hard on all of us to not have them around. Carter misses playing business with Grandpa and Emily loved knitting with my mom. I wish my nephew could meet his new cousin and man don't get me started on my sister. She has been through absolutely everything with me and for her to be so far away is just killer. And my grams oh boy...I guess we're going to have to plan a trip home soon and boy will that be so special.

Well I better get some sleep so I can visit with Shannon when she arrives. Keep checkin in because I'm sure I'll have tons more photos' to post throughout the week.

Baby Cohen is Finally Here!!

Yes our baby is finally here. Justin and I are the new proud parents of Cohen Harold Matthew Seitz. I went to the Dr. Tuesday morning and discovered I had absolutely NO cervix left which was awesome because all that was holding the baby is was a stitch that was about to burst at any second. So I was sent to the hospital only to be disappointed once again. There were no nursery nurses on and the pediatrician was still MIA. So we had to be admitted and wait until the next day when everyone was back on call. I had Dr. Goncalves visit me first thing in the morning and my options were to either take the stitch out and try naturally or to go straight in for a c-section. We opted for the c-section and to our suprise it was booked exactly 1 hr from the time the dr visited us.

The c-section was a totally different experience from the other c-sections I had had. I could actually feel absolutely everything. I was so so scared until I finally heard the precious cry. The dr. was amazed at how big and healthy the baby looked thinking he was only a 36 weeker but as Justin and I knew and were trying to tell dr.s all along was that this wasn't a 36 weeker. He was more like a 38 weeker. He came out 6lbs 10 oz and 51cm in length. He also scored a 9 out of 10 on the apgar which is awesome. He is doing so well. He's feeding great and he's so alert and bright eyed. I couldn't be happier. I am also feeling absolutely wonderful. I expected to feel like crap after a 3rd c-section but as soon as I had my IV and cathadar out I was up and walking around. I feel really energetic and healthy and just on cloud nine to finally have my baby in my arms. The dr. s were happy with my improvement so they sent us home early. Which was nice because my parents were still here visiting. So they got to spend a good day with Cohen at home. Emily and Carter are so happy to finally have mom and dad and baby out of the hospital and back home. They were a little concerned that we would have to go back but that will soon change in a few days. It's funny how being out of our routine and in the hospital disrupts the family life. Here are some photos ...

First photo with mom and dad!

Emily enjoying a cuddle with her new baby.

Wide awake on Gramma Tammy's lap. Big brother Carter worried Cohen might poop.

So happy to finally have my boy!!

Such a proud daddy!!

My parents Jeff and Tammy enjoying their new grandson.

Kristin and Eric Amundson and Gramma Vonn all enjoying some precious cuddles.

Dr. Goncalves the day he discharged us

Cohen having his first swing.

Goin to have my baby!!

Wow the time has come to have my baby. This has been a very long and sometimes scarey pregnancy so I am overexcited to greet this little baby that had the strength to make it through the last 9mths. I want to extend a special thanks to everyone who prayed for us and was just there for us with love, support and kindness. We couldn't have done it without you all. Justin and the kids are so overwhelmed with joy also. We are all anxiously awaiting our lives to get back to normalcy and to just enjoy the new addition to our family.

As much as I'm going to be happy the pregnancy is over and to have my baby in my arms I am going to miss the pregnancy. I mean even though it was tough it was still such a blessing. It's an amazing feeling growing life inside and all the quirks that come with it.

Some of my favorite pregnant moments have been
1) The waddle
2)The kicking and hiccups
3)The ability to eat whatever whenever
4)Being able to justify my weird mood swings and not get in trouble for it
5)Laughing hysterically
6)The special attention and getting looked at being told I am beautiful every day
7)The foot rubs and back rubs and belly rubs
8)The large consumption of icecream
9)The closeness it brought my family
10)The gift of life itself is just so lovely words cannot express enough and to be able to share it with the people I love and even strangers is amazing

I will not miss the swelling of my hands and feet and I am so anxious to wear my wedding rings again. I cannot wait to play with my kids without the restriction of a huge watermelon in my abdomen.

So tomorrow when we wake up we are heading to my doctors appointment and then off to the hospital for a non stress test and prep for surgery. Hopefully by early evening we will be holding our new bundle of joy in our arms. If you could please pray for a safe and healthy c-section and that the baby will be nice and big and have strong lungs and I can have a speedy recovery. I cannot wait to share pictures with everyone and share the birthing story. I really hope my kids will handle this last bit of stress alright. Emily is stronger and understands more and is super excited where as Carter is more worried the baby is coming out walking, talking, copying and playing with his toys. Another special thing is my parents are down from Saskatoon and they were really hoping I would have the baby during their visit and sure enough tomorrow they too will be able to greet their new grandson. They will also be around to help Justin with the kids for a few days. Unfortunately they have to leave on the 25th but then Justins sister is coming on the 29th for a few days and then his father and stepmother will be coming the following weekend. Hopefully more family will be able to come down also. Also our friends who are more like our family are going to come to the hospital and share this special moment with us. This makes me just well up inside because Kristin and Eric have been through a lot of tough times and good times with us. They have shared the entire pregnancy with us by helping us with the children, preparing meals, helping with the move, prayer, support, fun and love and much much more. It just would not be right if the baby did not get the chance to meet them on his first day of life.

Stay tuned for some updates and pictures. I know I promised pictures of our new house and they are coming. I just keep taking pictures of everything but....
Here is a picture of 2 weekends ago when the Naramata fair was in town.
Well I better try and get some sleep. I have to be up in a few hours and I do not want to feel like a total pile of pooh. So goodnight everyone and We love ya and we will keep you posted on the upcoming events...
YAY YAY YAY YA
GOIN TO HAVE DA BABY!!!!!!!

Ooooh can you guess what the name will be
Cohen, Henry, Brady, Harrison, Charlie or something completely not even thought of yet.

Till next time...................................................

A Bear Where??

Okay so I don't have the pictures quite yet but soon I promise. I started taking some today actually. I just want to finish cleaning up and unpacking before I post them.

So last night we went for dinner at our new landlord's place. We arrived home around 10:30 pm when Justin was going to unlock the back door he heard noise, like rustling and grunting. So he got spooked and ran back to the car and pulled the other car along the fence, turned on the lights and noticed that something very large fat and black was running around in circles. By the time we got inside the house and peeked outside we didn't notice anything. So this morning we went out to get ready for the village parade and noticed a very large dropping of poop. NOT DEER Either. It is totally Bear pooh mixed with a lot of fruit. So our yard had some exciting business happen in it I just wish we could have got a good eye and a picture or video or something.

Anyhoo I gotta get back to steaming the couches or watching Justin steam them for that matter. I will take some pictures and hopefully by tomorrow night a new lively post to enter.

Nighty night!!

Mini Update

No we haven't fallen off a cliff or ravine or even the planet for that matter...we've been extremely busy with the move and all. We are completely moved into our new home in Naramata and boy does it feel nice. What a breath of fresh air. We're enjoying the smaller community and the village. It's so nice to be able to just grab our swimming gear and walk to the beach in a timespan of 5 minutes. The unpacking is getting a little old and I'm just feeling old period haha. I am going to post some pictures once I finish getting the rooms set up. I will try and get them up within the next few days. So stay tuned...........