Loving on Isaac

Big Sister Imogen's turn.
This is the same look of pride and privilege, joy and wonder that Ivan has had with each baby sister and now cousin that he has held. So cute!!
Dominique couldn't get enough of Isaac and kept asking to hold him.




Emora couldn't keep her hands or eyes off Isaac. She was the most enthralled of the three of them.


I didn't get enough time with him either, but at least we will be seeing each other again. We are scheduled to go up in a couple of weeks for his baby shower and for Brian to go see his favorite band play- Arcade Fire. Then they may all come for Ivan and my birthday. So fun!

Ready to live life

I'm ready to exit my cave of settleling in and do fun stuff with the kids again. Today I spent the entire day cleaning the house. It was so exhausting, but the regular cleanings should be way better. The laminate was a breeze and it made me really appreciate them. I spent quite a bit of time trying to repair furniture that was scratched or had surface removed along with the duct tape upon unpacking.

Ivan had another fabulous day at school. He and I walked this morning. I guessed it was a 20 to 30 minute walk. It took us 12 minutes! So awesome. He wants to ride his bike, but we told him he had to learn to ride it without the training wheels first. His school is doing no nuts because of deadly allergy reactions in other kids, so we can't do peanut butter sandwhiches!! How will we survive? I'm actually not upset, because I don't like them having p&honey everyday anyways. The school was good to send home a bunch of lunch suggestions that don't include nuts or nut products and I thought that was awesome.

Two funnies from yesterday. When Ivan and I arrived at the school, we found his shoes in the mud room, the same looking shoes he had on his feet, only the ones on the shelves had his name on the tongues staring at us, accusing us, crying out to be heard. Then it dawned on me- he had worn someone else's shoes home that first day! Oops, sorry shoeless kid. I guess that's why they wrote home and said to write his name on everything even all his clothes, all year. I just wrote in his shoes and jacket. I figured they won't be removing pants and shirts anyways.

Also, my cousin stopped by yesterday while Ivan was taking a bath, as I update her on his day, I hear peals of laughter from 3 voices emanating from the bathroom. I go to check and see not one, but three children in the very full bath. Dominique removed her clothes and got in. Emora did not. She was sitting chest high in warm bath water, with pants, diaper, and shirt on, a pad of soggy paper in one hand and a pen in the other, trying to write on the wet paper. I yelled at Sheena to come look, then went for the camera, but Emora was already crawling out when I got back.

I'll try to upload the pictures of our house set up soon. In the meantime, here are more pics from our time in Stoon, where the cousins had fun playing, dancing, meeting Isaac and doing anything but sleeping. This year my extended family increased by 7. The Baggett 5 moved here, Andrea (far left) arrived from Germany, she is on my brother's lap- yep, they are so happy together, and Isaac was born to Jenn (with baby) and John in front on the floor. Also seen are my mom on the couch and dad, with Jenn and John's daughter, Imogen.

success!

Ivan totally loved his first day of school. I asked him what was his favorite part and he said the whole day was his favorite. From what I gathered, they had an assembly and Ivan along with other small kids were helped on stage with the big kids to sing and dance. He played with a kid on the seasaws, but can't remember the kid's name and was overly bubbly and proud of his day. I didn't think I was going to get emotional but found myself overcome as I drove home. We would have walked, but it was overcast and had been raining all night, plus his backpack had about 30 lbs in it.

Meanwhile, Brian and I finally got all the pictures hung. I couldn't believe how many pictures we had! We didn't hang all of them, saved some for downstairs, but still there were tons and of course we had to figure out how to put them all up. You have to remember that the only time we ever moved, we went from just the two of us in an efficiency apartment to a much bigger home. We barely had anything and moved into tons of space. Now we have too many things and are coordinating it all into a new space. It's working, but a much different experience.

Here are pics from our weekend. We celebrated my brother and his wife's reunion (presently) and wedding from last year. She arrived about a month ago from Germany. I got to mc the affair. Here I am with dad who is wearing a kilt made out of the MacLeod tartan. My brother was wearing one too and so was John, my sister's husband. The pic above is cousins from Fort Qu'Appelle who came and Imogen too.

Just a few pictures, my foot

Yesterday was one of those marathon days. We left Stoon about 11am after spending the morning packing up all our stuff, our dog and a few plants I'd gotten for Camp Cousins. Once in Regina, Brian took the van and girls on to Fort Qu'Appelle so that Ivan and I could do some shopping at Walmart and Superstore. Have I told you I hate shopping? I do, but picking out new plants was fun and I think I found my new favorite isle at Superstore- the bulkfoods. Tortillas cost a fortune here, but couscous was very affordable. I love couscous and I have with help, once made tortillas, so it is possible to do it again. Once home, there were groceries to unpack and suitcases to empty and curtains to hang.

Today I had several goals, many of which were accomplished even though it feels like I got so little done. I used up some of our sour milk in pancakes, cut Ivan's hair for his first day of school tomorrow, did some laundry and discovered that the washer only leaks with the oversized loads, then had the bright idea of hanging pictures. The new paint thanks to Brians hard work, looks fabulous and made our home feel so much better, then when we added the curtains I made all of last week, it really tipped the scales. I started thinking I could really settle in here and how blessed I am. I thought that hanging some pictures would be so great and then the unpacking could be done for now, since we need to renovate, we could leave the rest for when we have more house to put stuff in.

The boxes brought back memories of the nightmarish first week of trying to settle. There were a lot of boxes of pictures and with them more stuff, where do I put it all? The kids pulling it all out and making huge messes while I'm wondering why we even brought this stuff, and yet they are so full of joy to see things familiar and walk down memory lane through them. We get the kids in bed, the thought of it being Ivan's first day tomorrow a recurring theme. I call my cousin to make sure I know when to get there and he and I make his lunch together. So surreal. Is my first born really about to be in school? Crazy.

But not more than the boxes dilemne. We now have pictures all over the couch and tables, we laugh remembering them and remembering our life before this place and are hit with the same question of where? We got about half of them hung before conking out tonight. The dining room is shaping up and the kitchen, which has very little wall space is done, I think. Kid's room is nearly done. We still have the living room, our room and the hallway, but it is exciting to see it coming together.

It was also exciting to see our ceiling leaking water from the rain, but not in a good exciting way. It caused Brian to jump up from the dining table and crawl into the attic. Sigh, sometime we are going to get to the renovations, and Brian won't have to keep rushing to fix pre-existing issues.

Tomorrow will be a great day and I'll take pictures to show you the rooms once they are done.

not so settled

Since Isaac's grand entry into the world we have been trying to catch up on rest in the midst of a wild nest of children (ha,ha). OK, so the brunt of them are my 3, but you add a cousin to the mix and do they ever get fired up! Thankfully auntie Andrea has come with us a couple of days to help with crowd control. Today, I took them for a short walk to mail a letter at the mailbox, then we picked beens and potatoes in grandma's garden. We also picked a bunch of green cherry tomatoes off the dead potato plants. Mom later explained they were potato plant seeds. I didn't even know they made seeds! And do you know they look just like unripe cherry tomatoes? I was wondering why there were tomato plants on top of the potatoes, but thought maybe some plants got mixed in together. Ah, well, I'm mostly a city girl, so I can't be expected to know everything! It is a bit embarrassing however when my 5 year old son knows more than I do. Brian usually does a lot of mowing when we are here on the riding lawn mower. Ivan was telling me that the grass is too long and that he would teach me how to drive the thing. He probably could too. Of course that would be interesting me trying to drive it with 4 kids on my lap. Yeah, it's not going to happen.

My mind is racing, I want so badly to go up and see my sister and her son. I did get to see Isaac that first day he was born, but didn't get to hold him. However, I can't get away while keeping all the kids and they can't go up, he's still in NICU actually, although doing really well. Plus I got some material to make curtains and want to get working on that, but again, when do I do that really? I could now, but they are napping in the room where the sewing machine is. Then I want to see the colours at our house in Fort Qu'Appelle and how that is progressing. I'm happy though that Brian is coming this way once the paint us up so that he can work at Jenn's and if I'm just patient, I will get to see her and Isaac, sew and get settled too.

Early morning laughter

Yesterday I drove with the kids so that I could be here for mom and Jenn while they had doctor appointments today, but early this morning I was so excited to meet this not so little guy.

Baby Isaac Sol Wallace brought surprise and laughter to all the family when he decided to come a little before schedule. Jenn was going to go in for an amnio test to see if his lungs were developed and deliver him the 26th, instead, she started having regular contractions the night of the 24th. She was giggling, smiling and overjoyed that baby would come soon, but John was a little concerned that the time may be sooner than later. Jenn went in that night to figure out if she was having braxton hicks or was in labor. We were surprised that she was at a 6 or 7 and she was rushed for a c-section- since that was the plan and the healthiest option for Jenn with this pregnancy. Baby came out with full lung capacity. It was a wonderful birth. John and Jenn are visibly elated. Grandma Ruth, Grandma Sue and I were the privileged trio who braved the night and got to see baby first. All the family was called and are so happy. Immy still thinks she had a baby sister, but she was also full of smiles that the baby had come when she saw the pictures and gave the news to her cousins. Jenn and Isaac (laughter) Sol (answered prayer) are doing great. He came out weighing a healthy 9lbs, 4oz at 1:44am, Aug. 25th. Isaac is in NICU for a bit as they make sure his blood sugars will regulate themselves, but he nursed like a pro and is expected to move out of the NICU quickly.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Jenn's pregnancy and this birth. I am glad I will get to have some time to hold and know my nephew. Brian is still in Fort Qu'Appelle painting the entire upstairs of our house and then will come here for my brother and sister-in-law's reception/shower on Sept.4th. We are looking forward to going back to our even newer with paint house, and taking Saba to our new home.

Whirlwind

I feel as though we've been caught up in a tornado since we got here. I can't even remember what we were doing the first few days we arrived, but the pictures tell me that by the weekend, we were in Moose Jaw at a wedding of my cousins. We got to see many of my first cousins there, uncles, aunts and of course our beloved IMOGEN! The kids danced the night away and we came back to Fort Qu'Appelle exhausted.





The next night, it was time for a powwow on Standing Buffalo reserve, so off we went for another late night of revelry. Again lots of dancing, but we got to watch this time. There were about 9 stations of drummers. This group was right in front of us. Here is one of my cousin's former students. I thought this little girl with her father and the boy doing an improve dance was so cute. Later we saw her playing pat a cake with one of her relatives and then later again, she did a dance off with another dancer.

Then, after our fully loaded weekend, we closed on our house and the real mayhem began. I don't recommend unpacking. Not so fun, except to see the kids delight when we located some of their toys and books today.

It feels like we went on a really long vacation, but when we came home, the house is all different, we don't know where everything goes or how all it fits, so it's not the relaxing "ah, we're home" feeling. However, I got the last of the big rooms mostly arranged, so all of our space is livable at present. We are still figuring out where all the stuff goes and plan on not unpacking everything since we still need to paint and redo all of the basement. Today it started to feel a little like home. Brian mowed the lawn, I have a functional kitchen and I did some laundry.

So tired

I am so tired of unpacking and we still have a ways to go. There are mountains, in fact entire mountain ranges of clothes to sort and put somewhere. The hard part is that we are sandwhiching the kids into one room and they have so many clothes, plus I need to get some warmer clothes out too AND Emora is growing out of one size and moving into another, if I weren't so modest, I would seriously think of moving to a nudist colony to just avoid all the work of it. Good news is that the kitchen is nearly unpacked. There are a few things missing, one being my waffle iron, so we are about to try hunting it down.

Moving day went great. We had 2 trucks and a van being loaded and unloaded all day. Mike (my cousin) and Brian did most the packing and unpacking since I was on kid duty most the day. Mike counted 13 trips to get everything over. The worst part of the day was that we had planned to stay in our new house the night, Brian and I were beyond tired and he was trying to put the bunkbed and our bed together, the kids were crazy hyper and tired and we had no idea where sheets, towels or anything was, despite all our careful packing and labeling. The best part was being in our own home.

The next day was consumed with me trying to get the kitchen unpacked and Brian trying to get the fridge to fit. I've pretty much been unpacking everything, because he ends up having to saw off some of a cabinet, move another cabinet, move a cable. I found a phone cable coming out of the heat register behind the front door in fact. I should probably tell him about that too, but the list seems to get bigger before it gets shorter. Still hadn't found towels, some sheets were found. Worst part was realizing I had only 2 drawers about a foot and a half wide in all the kitchen. Best part was realizing that silverware doesn't have to go in a drawer, a cupboard, albeit unconventional, works just fine.

Today was another monster day, although the morning felt pretty unsuccessful. I unpacked a found "kitchen" box and it only had a few kitchen items, none of which were the waffle iron, however, after being totally bored with eating p&j, Ivan saw a ramen noodle, I pulled out food offerings of potatoe salad, some fruit and fresh farm vegies from my uncle and we had a first real meal in our home. Then I drove to the city by myself (yeah) for the biggest shopping spree of my entire life. I had to do it in two sections. I did all the toiletries and pantry foods in the first run. The cart was full to overflowing, quite litterally- I had to pick up the giant toilet paper set a few times and I could barely push the cart. It had taken me 1.5 hours and cost $231 and change. Then I hauled it out to the van and went back for the next run. It cost about the same, but I ended on a great note, finding chicken for super cheap. Food here is very expensive and chicken is the worst, so I was all pumped and know I got about twice the amount of groceries for the price that I could have gotten in town. Wost moment- being indecisive about a shower curtain and pushing my monster cart through a giant store. Best moment- Brian saying "good" after I called with each run to tell him what the tally was and seeing the fridge, freezer and pantry with food in it, and eating delicious frozen pizza and salad for supper.

You'll have to be patient

Last week I got to visit with my friend Sarah. I ended up chatting with her THE ENTIRE AFTERNOON! It was so great. The kids played and we talked the day away. I had no idea it had gotten so late until I got in the van and was driving away.

In a park in Moose Jaw, where the wedding was.

My sister-in-law and daughter's dress shoes were discarded while they played kites in the grass.

Today is the big day, so I should actually get to bed, there are only 7.5 hours until we are given the key to our new house, then there will be moving and house setting up, grocery shopping, then renovations (probably not as early as tomorrow- haha, but the internet won't be hooked up until Thurs. So we may have to live sans life via the web! I know, you are crestfallen, and I promised you pictures, so added to my list is to take pictures tomorrow.

On a side note, we went to my cousin's wedding yesterday. It was so incredible great to be able to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids! Here are some of my favorite pics from the event, if you want more, go to my facebook photos, which is where I snagged these from, so they will be small!

my cuz Amber
It's a family affair
my dad at right wearing a skirt (did I spell that right, kilt, skirt, they look so much the same). ha,ha.
Emora was literally and emotionally quite taken with Everett, my giant cousin. They had lots of special time together.

Some of the sounds from the Saskatoon exhibition parade

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan parades have a few different sounds than in Abilene, Texas. Stoon had more bagpipes and minority groups- first nations peoples, ukrainian, caribean, environmentalists, politicians... We had fewer marching bands and cheerleaders, but our cheerleaders were fully clothed, which is a good thing, since it was raining. I remember once in Abilene, when the kids saw the cheerleaders with their midrifts showing and Ivan yelled out "why is she buck naked?" I had to explain that "buck naked" means completely naked and that while she was not wearing much, she did have a little bit on. There were also lots of roughrider themes (the provincial football team). Our favorite part was to share it with family.