stuff

happy (tired) mommy :)
the 'before' picture of our backyard. dave is cleaning up our dumpy yard this week!! yippppeee. so here is a pic of the shed moved off its rotting foundation, contents strewn about the yard. soon the trees will be gone (so we can have grass and bee-free play space) and there will be a lovely fence, some decor and niceness too.....i CANT WAIT!!!

heya

aunti bonita came for a visit!! thanks for lunch!!

sweet dreams!

more pictures for those too far away to see us up close...

first things

FIRST bath in the sink
FIRST bath assisted by big sis Julia

FIRST day to church...wow a lot of commotion there for a little new baby. even though--compared to little Anna (born on the same day)you look half grown up!!
FIRST melon-eating-headdress-princess spotted in our habitat.

our BOY

first day to church today, everyone loves the new ROUND of babies...what do i mean by that? oh...3 babies were born to church members THIS WEEK.
wow. we aren't a big church either...Sammy and two girls.....wooohoo!!

the little prince

the midwives visit us in our home as often as we need them, or just for the regular visits. here samuel is being weighed...he is now 9lbs 4 oz. (he went down to 8lbs 15oz in the first 2 days, and then put on 5 oz in ONE DAY)
how lovely to have a midwife...no driving to the doctor right after the baby is born, no waiting in the doc. office tired and sore.....lovely - we are eating supper here while Samuel gets weighed and examined. :) supper was the most delicious shepherds pie i've ever had! (thanks to our church sending us meals!!! :)
cute cute cute! funny, his skin is fairly uniform in color, until i take a picture- then he looks very red!!

Julia has been cracking us up lately, her humor is developing nicely (although some of it is her deception, otherwise known as "charm to get her own way")...i've heard the expression "rip-roaring laughter" or "being in stitches"....but lately i've experienced a different laughing sensation....the "roaring because i nearly ripped my stitches while laughing" sensation....okay so i didn't REALLY rip my stitches, but man, they are in an awkward place for laughing, coughing and other things.....

anyway, julia's humor: one example is supper time last night with aunti karli...all meal long julia sweetly asks her aunti to share what she has to eat with julia, finally we ask her to stop asking because it is rude (since karli was holding sam and hadn't had the chance to eat yet). julia responds, very sweetly and in a concerned-for-her-life tone, "oh but i LOVVVVE food. and i NEED to eat a lot so i can grow into a real big sister!" (raising her arms high above her head, to emphasize just how big aunti karli's food wil help her to grow- apparently)

at this point none of the 3 adults could hold it together,as she had been trying a few other charm(deception) tactics to get around mom-dad's rule...and we all burst out laughing at her. ah it was a good supper.

Samuel is doing well. my midwives told me the third night he would be up every hour to eat (to encourage my milk to 'come in'). they were totally right - amazing to me how predictable these little bundles are at times (and so totally not at others) he ate every hour-hour and a half for 24 hours.......wow. and then he put on the weight he DESPERATELY needed and slept for a 5 hour stretch last night. ah, i feel good. praise God for rest!

anyway, i should run...lazy saturday morning will start ssoon...my family SHOULD be awake, althouigh i don't hear them...hmmmm...well it is 8:30 and we dont want to miss the magic school bus!!

-su

my helpers

happy big sister
very happy big sister!
proud daddy, taking Samuel to the farmer's market to introduce him to our vendor-friends who have been patiently waiting!

i feel soooooooooooo blessed.

1) dave has been such a GREAT support....i don't know of too many husbands that, when left to themselves for an hour, will organize the fridge and do the laundry....this man is a machine. i mean, i don't even need to open my mouth, these things just happen. he sat down and wrote out a list (susan style-haha) to feel productive for his 4 days off of work. (one of those items was a massage of my shoulders-- while i laid on my tummy for the first time in 6 months!!) Anyway, i love my husband. God made him very very special.

2) the next blessing: my daughter. first born and such a delight. julia has taken to this new position of "big sister" with a passion. her desire is to help, love and of course..play and open all the fun "bigsister" gifts. haha.

some moments-before this mommy-brain-of-mush kicks in and forgets:

-breakfast table, "dave, could i have the honey please."..."i'll get it!!!!!!!!" julia says excitedly JUMPING off her chair and returning from the kitchen with the honey and a knife from the drawer.

-bed time, daddy and sam crawl in to pray with her in bed. julia asks in her sweet excited hopeful voice, "can baby Samuel please sleep with me?"

-at every cry,she brings a toy. (or plugs her ears, or asks what is wrong-very concerned)

-Opa was holding Sam, and she says in her voice of concern, "you can't bring him home....."


3) my help comes from the LORD.
the Holy Spirit is given to us as a Comfort and a Helper.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - romans 15:13

i have a major weakness i like to call the "unholy hours of the night", when in reality, it is simply my selfishness controling my thoughts and actions. knowing myself all too well in this area, i began to pray for joy in my lack of sleep--about a month ago. so far, God is reminding me of His goodness and the surpassing joy of motherhood in the wee hours of not-day-time. He is also giving me rest, and energy to be awake more than i'd like to be. :)

dave and i have been studying phillipians, and how paul had joy regardless of the people, things, circumstances or worries that were soooo pressing and burdensome. and i stand in awe because the times that i lose joy usually have to do with my sources of joy (kids, etc), whereas paul endured REAL hardship. talk about convicting! haha.

God is faithful. He even works through others to encourage us in our journey to trusting Him and knowing Him better. For example: my friend Heather was doing her devotions on monday night and felt the need to pray for me - not knowing i was in labor. Those are just some of the prayers that helped Samuel's delivery and helped grow the faith of those involved.

very cool.
GOd is good.

comparrison

julia's first hour in the world...........
julia above (day two in the world).......................samuel below(day one)............

The little man

I am no prolific artisan with words, but I will try to do this site some justice.

The story is quite an interesting one so I will inject it here before the pics of our healthy and happy little man.

so she left off the story at waiting to call the midwives.... we then went to bed when we were quite certain that there we were facing real labour and knew that we needed some rest. so we wend down at about midnight and slept for about an hour and a half (I slept, but Sue says she didnt get much). then sue had us back up and timing the contractions as they were getting stronger and at 2 we decided that it was time to get the midwives over. they arrived at about 2:30am and that is the time that they recorded as the start of active labour. so things got quite intense at a rapid pace. at 4 am we agreed to have them rupture the membrane to accelerate things and it certainly did we continued to labour standing as sue found that to be the most bearable position. Then about a half hour later sue was back on the bed and they determined that it was almost time to push (just wait 3 more contractions then we can start that. ) This is where things really started to get intense for me because the midwives were having a hard time finding a baby heart beat because of the position and when they could it was quite faint and slow. I cannot discribe the feeling of wondering if our child would survive as they discretely discribed the need to get this baby out NOW. Only made worse when they saw that he had the cord around his neck) I must say that these women were WONDERFUL they took charge and had sue pushing even between contractions. They needed to give her an epesiotamy sp? to expedite the process and in a very short time they had little Samuel up on mommys chest. I waited anxiously for that first cry, and when it came I became a ball of tears as the three of us lay together and I knew that he was alright. This is when it becomes wonderful to have midwives, because sam was able to lay on mommy until her stitches at which time I got to hold him for a good half hour. then they gave baby and mom a herbal bath(while cleaning out our room and making the bed), gave him his physical and had her feed him. The time after the birth was so nicely done by these ladys, and I highly recommend a home birth to anyone interested. They basically bring a small hospital into the room with them and were able to do in our bedroom exactly what they would have in a hospital. well now mom is resting and baby is sleeping on Oma's chest and that is our night in a compact and sporatically remembered form.

Of course as the writer of this I do get the first picture priviledge. (sorry about the orientation)
























































Julia was supercute when she got the news this morning her response over the phone was "OH, that's so special, I have a BABY." Then when she got home today she came in and sang 'Jesus Loves Me' to him. (that is a sure way to make daddy cry)















Thankyou all so much for your prayers.

In the same way that Hanna's prayers were answered to give her Samuel, your prayers were answered to give us our Samuel.

Daddy

bare details

I am holding (snuggling)

Samuel Herman Naus
born at 5AM March 20 (first day of spring)
weighing in at 9lb 14oz

that's all you get until sue gets some rest
Thanks for your prayers (they may have saved him)
daddy

sooooooooooooo

Pictured Above: after supper we had a Teddy bears' picnic. :) lots of fun.

today:

contractions started around 10 am. 10 miutes apart. not very strong. just annoying pains. (a lot better than annoying nothings though)

nap time i took a hot shower and napped, they slowed down.

when i got up they grew in strength and by supper they were 6-8 minutes apart.

Julia went to mom and dad naus's for a sleep over just in case this was THE NIGHT. and we headed out to walk a bit. oh yeah, and pick up some great chocolate desserts.

now we are just chillin. waiting. my midwife said to call as soon as the contractions are 45 seconds long. as of now they are anywhere from 20-50 seconds long, but usually 30 and not very strong. soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we are HOPING and PRAYING that we will have a baby tonight.

you can all PRAY for that, and pray for us.

thanks. talk soon i hope. hope hope.

-su

Update

Okay...arg. So i am updating because i have nothing else to do...but wait, and i am sick of that. haha.

anyway.

Saturday: i walked walked walked briskly for 45 minutes. I started applying castor oil topically (massaging on stomach) as directed by a midwife of days gone by. I began to drink my Raspberry leaf tea. and i had Ann come over and give me a GREAT foot massage-leg massage on the pressure points she is learning about in school. (acupressure)

Sunday: midwife at 10:30 for another stretch. I was still only 2 cm, she stretched me to 3 (yes, very pleasant i assure you.) haha. and gave me a Secret Potion (midwife formula) to take 3 times a day. NO IT IS not castor oil, hahaha, it is a blend of 4 herbs in liquid form. i took it right away, and will soon follow it up with a second dose.

i have been crampy all day (since the stretch) which is normal. I will continue to feel crampy until dinner time, and if it continues longer than that perhaps JUST PERHAPS labor will start tonight. PRAY . haha, i'm getting agitated. i want a baby...no more going to church or shopping and having to tell people that 'i'm still hanging in there' haha.

anyway, thought i should send out the word of what is happening so you can all breath a sigh of relief. hahahaa.

trust me...no word is really...no word. i plan on posting during labor.

so.
love from su.

One little, Two little.....

So, yesterday i was only 1 cm dilated and today i am 2cm. however. no labor and no consistent cramps just yet.

sorry to all those who don't like reading these icky-sticky details. hahaha.

it is BEAUTIFUL and sunny out and we are going for a family walk now.

love. from su.

no baby yet

update:

no baby yet. no nothing. not a twinge, not a pain, not a thing.

Hopeful News:

midwife appointment tonight at five. she has some tricks up her sleeve......

talk again soon i hope!
from su and family

SPRING!!!!!!!!!

Wow, it is sooooooo warm today...and sunny and bright!! GLORIOUS!

Just so you all know what is going on in our lives: i swept and mopped the entire house today and then went for a walk with a friend to ensure that labor starts soon.

that's all for now.
keep praying for us please.
we hope to have good news soon....until then, i will sleep and eat and pray.
love from su.

waiting waiting waiting

Stories while we wait:

Julia has an ear infection....in both ears...and thus cannot hear us well. (one of the only indicators that there was something wrong - that and her excessive grumpiness and random teariness) This has been both a frustration and a humorous aspect of our lives over the last four days....resulting in strange conversations:

"We'd better get to the car fast, before the sun goes down and it gets cold." -daddy
"I'm not God"-Julia in an astonished tone of voice.
_____________________________________
there have been countless misunderstandings over the weekend, but i cannot remember the details of them all. she cannot hear us properly though, so we need to talk REALLY loudly and get eye contact before she realizes she needs to stop and listen...i'm sure that as we walk down the road half yelling in reply to her questions, that bystanders think we are terrible, grumpy, loud parents!!
______________________________________
Please pray that Julia will recover and also that she will be restored to her usual self....she is driving me nuts. Her obedience and respect have somehow disappeared in the last 24 hours and my patience is wearing thin. I am getting a taste of what it is like to have a child that needs reprimanding at every turn. very unusual for us. Julia usually takes a negative reply very well, but over the course of the day she has had no ability to hear mommy tell her "no" or "you must do this now...". Partially, i am thinking the illness has her in a bad place, but her heart is still the issue and that cannot be ignored. Pray for wisdom for us as parents. thanks folks.


-su

The First Due Date

So, we are here....at the 10th of March, and still no baby. hmmm.....perhaps i should have gone with the last date i was given...the 14th. haha. oh well. I am due between the 10th and the 14th....i guess i was overly optimistic about going with the earliest of the dates...haha.

anyway. no baby yet. we are still working on eliminating Julia's illness/earache and my own cold-stuffy-yuckiness.

loves from the not yet unpregnant Su.

Another Homemade Toy

We invented a 'rice game' a few months ago...it disappeared until one day...
...when Julia found the rice shaker and asked to play it again. I thought we needed an updated version, and thus, i made the "Rice Tray". Yes, my own variation of the famous daycare "Rice table"-- perfect for all your sensory development needs! If you are conserned that your child is being held back developmentally due to a lack of small particles to scoop, pour and sweep -- worry no more! The RiceTray-o-Matic is the answer to all our problems! Now not only will our children know how to dump, stir, cook and toss - but they can do it in the comfort of your own home! Who knew this day would come??
Okay, couldn't resist the sarcasm. I just love that the rice table is pretty much the mass-produced-don't-have-to-go-outdoors-Sandbox concept of a toy. And the water table, that usually accompanies it, is the mass-produced-kid-height-take-up-more-space variation of THE SINK. or the tub. haha.

Okay, enough of that. Here is a cute picture of dear Julia finding special places to read her bible all over the house. Today --it was laying under the piano. Unfortunately she got up before i could snap the cute lay-down shot....but she is still cute here. haha.

well, i am not in labor yet, but please, if you haven't already, read the last post and fill in the contest answers in the comment section!! :)

love from sue.

Husbandry and other topics of interest

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. So, here is my cutie, enjoying some art time at her little table....using the lovely cat stickers that Aunti Sarah sent to her in a package!! :) THANKS !! She loved them so so much that they were all used at ONCE in one special picture! haha. My sister is so thoughtful, always sending special little surprizes in the mail!! It is really sad to be so far away from her. Especially since she has two - almost three kids and we could have some AWESOME play dates together! Julia would like it too, today she asked if it was too early to call them (my sis's family) and invite them over to play. i WISH!
Here is a family shot of our Cowboy Picnic (part of our devotional series...) . We ate a picnic on our floor and dressed in whatever seemed Cowboy-ish. Julia had the best get-up. This Family fun activity was simply that....family fun. The stories we just finished up were loosely based around a cowboy story.

Now onto another important subject: Husbandry. Now, i'm not talking about the cultivation of crops or animals here...i'm talking about a different art form. That of being a Husband. (i think it should be called Husbandry) anyway. Dave is such a wonderful husband. I am forever baffled at how he knows just what to do to love me and our family!

Yesterday he showed up with a bag of gifts for us!! A new Veggie Tales movie for Julia and Two CD's for me. Now, it isn't so much the fact that it was a GIFT that made this a touching moment - for me at least, Julia, now she is a different story altogether!ha - FOr me it was the THOUGHTFULNESS. Dave is full of thoughtfulness !! I mentioned a while back that having some soft worship music with easily heard words would be awesome for bedtime in the home. We have a few that i play when J goes to bed: Hillsongs United(a little too upbeat for sleeping, but great songs) and Brian Doerksen....but it is nice to have variety. Soooo, he did just that. bought me two cd's that i can play for nap and bedtime, easily heard lyrics (important to me, because i think it is good for Julia to be able to understand the music is praising God) and soft songs!! yipppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

So , i just have to say. i think i have the most MOST thoughtful husband ever. He is so talented at surprizing us or getting well thought through gifts or planning a special outing. What a man. :) haha. I LOVE YOU DAVE.

________________________________________________________________
okay, very long post today: there is MORE.
________________________________________________________________
I would like to propose a contest, i'm not sure what the prize will be yet....but here is the idea:

In the Comment section please leave the following info:
1) guess the baby's gender
2) guess the baby's name (even if you think you know it already)
3) guess the baby's weight (please don't guess mine)
4) guess the length of labor

________________________________________________________________

Then another little contest:
Laughter is very helpful in the labor process. Not only does it do wonders for a persons' brain, but your body also relaxes allowing muscles to stretch more freely. I am hoping to have some laughter tools for this labor- can you help??
stories? jokes? pictures? movies?
think about it and send me your responses vie email, or post movies on your own blog, etc.
__________________________________________________________________

Okay. God bless. from su

Fluke?

So, on thursday Karli invited Julia to join her for supper, at the home where she nanny's. There are two kids there, 6 and 11. Julia thought this was a dream come true. :) Anyway, after the 'date' we picked her up and karli told us the most fascinating story....apparently Julia and the 11 year old were playing school (that isn't the jaw dropping part) and when the 11 year old wrote out, C A T on a paper, Julia looked at it and said: "C-A-T" and then SOUNDED the letters out individually, and then said, "Cat".

wow.

i still am in awe.

who is this child?? and when did she grow up? haha.

nothing profound

So, just posting a post for the sake of a post.


I thought it would be best to let everyone know that my absence is not due to a baby....although that would be nice. Hopefully we will have news, and a post for you all soon. Until then, i am working on a new post about dave's first day of teaching. he loved it!! i just have to wait for pictures to be emailed to me...and then i will write up Dave's teaching Tale. :)

until then, and until baby arrives....i think i will sleep. so -- G'day to you all. i 'm off to rest!

love from sue.