It's Been Awhile...

The end of June is nearly here and I haven't published a post since March. Given how much I enjoy writing in this space it seems odd, but I suppose I haven't known exactly what to say. Well that, and we've been knock down, can't catch our breath busy for the last 6 months. But now, I think we are starting to breathe. Life is changing, drastically, but I think we are starting to relax by the grace of God.

Since January 2014 we were able to visit family, I was able to see Ebony for the last (earthly) time, we went to her funeral (which was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time), I started back at work which brought with it a ridiculous schedule and pace for both Henry and I, Sy turned 1 and Zoey turned 4, an a whole host of other highs and lows, joys and sorrows.

My job has been wonderful for the past six and half years. It's allowed me to have my children home with me and work full time. Something I have not taken for granted. However, it brings with it a crazy schedule, developing most of the day and then you teach in the evening 4 nights a week, which means you don't have much of a social life. Henry and pass by each other as I hand him the kiddos and headed into the office. It's always felt like a lot, but the last six months felt so much harder. It likely had a lot to do with the workload, and the fact that up until the last couple weeks, Sy was up in the night at least twice. Everything can feel more challenging without more than 4 hours of sleep. But we stuck it out and struggled and pushed to stay connected as a family. 

All that being said, it seems clear that our family is trying to adjust and pray about changes we need. We are not entirely sure what that means for us yet, but we are talking about it, a lot. And in the meantime we are looking forward to summer, because regardless, summer means Mommy isn't working. It also means, more family time, and actually eating suppers together. I'm also excited about the prospect of using this space for more creative things, perhaps postings about recipes (white chocolate sauce or the perfect cheesecake anyone?), activities with the kids and our new family venture with It Works! Global (we are finally feeling healthier! Boo stress yay Wraps and Greens!). 

So keep our family in your prayers and forgive me as we navigate this stage in our lives. But we are genuinely excited about what is potentially in store!

Winded...

I've reached a stage where I feel metaphorically and physically winded lately. As is typical with this stage of pregnancy, Baby Roo is getting tighter and tighter on space which means a lot of pressing up into my lungs. It honestly for me, feels equivalent to the winded feeling you have when you sprint for 30 seconds to a minute. Not completely out of breath, but a need to stop and suck in some extra air. However, it's only three (ish) months left and I'm not feeling in a crazy rush for everything to be over yet. I'm trying to savour the moments in this pregnancy and enjoy my time with Zoey as an 'only' child. So for now, I'll shove a pillow behind my back and push baby down and take as much in as I can.

25 Weeks

Metaphorically, getting back to work after this Summer has been far more challenging than I anticipated. Changes in schedules have increased the workload in these first weeks back. We're managing but it's been mentally draining. I also forgot how at times you just want to put your computer away and play with Zoey. Regardless, we are thankful for a job where I can be with her all day and each week that passes, I am getting more and more prepped for my classes.

Playing with Great Aunt's Yarn

 

Zoey has been, as always, just a ball of energy and joy. Henry and I adore how we see more and more of her personality everyday. She is a girl who needs a little time to warm up to new people but once she feels settled and safe she will bring toys and books to play. She loves stickers lately and last night I went to bed and realized I had a whole line of them covering my legs. Her latest obsession is any kind of Doctor kit. She has one simple one and we recently got her a Doc McStuffins playset which she plays with at least once everyday. She sings the "Check Up" song as she puts on a stethoscope to examine Mommy and Daddy or any of her Stuffed animals. It's pretty awesome. She's becoming quite the singer lately as well, along with the Check Up song she surprised us one day by singing Twinkle Twinkle. As well, she is a huuuge fan of 'How Bad Can I Be?' from The Lorax. We love seeing her show a musical side and fully intend to foster that if she continues to show an interest.

We really couldn't ask for much more and feel so incredibly blessed. Honestly the only thing we wish we had more of was simply Time. We do our best to manage some family time every weekend/week but lately we're not sure why, it just seems harder and harder. However, as always we figure it out and put our priorities in order. We know that God wants us to be strong as a family even more than we do. So we continue to be thankful for all the amazing blessing we have and enjoy the ride as we eagerly await Baby Roo's arrival. Can you believe we're 27 weeks along already!

16 Weeks and a Holiday in the Mountains...

 Well it's been a few weeks and lots has been happening here in the Duiker household. I finished up my school year! As much as I enjoy my job I am entirely ready for a break once Summer rolls around. I finished up and we dove head first into a busy weekend with church activities and friends. On Canada Day we drove out to BC for a much anticipated week at a cabin with the rest of the Duiker clan. The small cabin sits right on the lake and has a spectacular view. It's hard to beat getting up in the morning and drinking coffee looking at that view. The first day we spent inside for the majority as it was raining none stop it seemed. The next day was gorgeous and we spent as much time outside with Zoey as we could. She loved the dock, blowing bubbles, and soaking up the attention from Oma, Opa, and Auntie and Uncle. She also reveled in having her Daddy around and was attached to him whenever she could get him.

Everything should have been perfect on our trip but the first night we were there I was feeling crummy. I thought at first it was the Pregnancy Congestion I knew so well with my pregnancy with Zoey. The second day I was getting some pitied looks from my Mother in Law and was snuggled up with the tissues all day. The next night was worse, I got less sleep and once I did manage to fall asleep poor Zoey woke up completely disoriented. So Henry and I let her fall asleep on our mattress, which we already know, does not allow for a peaceful sleep for us. Zoey is a squirmy sleeper and rotated every which way, kicking Henry in the head and chest as I tried to protect Roo from her flailing. At the very least she got some sleep, which parents know is incredibly important!

Henry asked me in the morning if I needed to go home since I was running on fumes, but I was determined to stick it out as long as I could. However, despite my resolve, once Tuesday Night rolled around I was getting sick, coughing a lung out, and Zoey and I both had a fever. Henry called it and I let him, we decided to pack up in the morning and head out much earlier than we planned.

By morning Zoey seemed to feel okay but I was just as bad or worse and in desperate need of a sleep in my own bed. I was so disappointed, but so incredibly grateful for a husband who could see what was best for me and sacrificed to do that. But really, that's the amazing husband and overall man Henry is and I'm so very blessed to call him mine.

Sleeping in my own bed was so comforting, even though I've been sick ever since we got home. I'll be checking in with my Doctor tomorrow morning and hopefully start feeling closer to myself soon.

So I hope to have a new picture of Roo soon, but as I've been feeling so under the weather this week, belly pictures weren't in my frame of thought. Trust me though, this baby is getting biiigger! I'm definitely feeling more movement, and even though it's early I feel like Henry might be able to feel something soon too. Today while I was laying down with Zoey I felt familiar flutters and squirms, my favorite part of pregnancy!

So in conclusion, while it was a holiday filled with illness and cut short, we sure treasure being together as a family!

Breakfast with Daddy

Snuggles with Daddy and Boots

Playing with a Lentil Sensory bin

Lots of colours and textures to play with!

Playing with a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse app before bed

God, Love, and Prayer...

I realized I haven't updated on the Blog how things went with my Dermatologist appointment. It went well. Our Doctor was compassionate and determined to see me healed. As he was assessing my condition he did say he hadn't seen a case this severe in quite sometime. I suppose that was some what validating in a weird way. It meant that I wasn't being a baby about it but that it's truly a challenge. He prescribed some pregnancy safe steroid creams for me to stop the reaction. After a couple days I did notice a big improvement in how I was feeling. I have felt better than I have in months. It's not completely gone and I have the odd minor minor flare up but I'm not complaining as it's such an improvement in my quality of life these last few weeks. The next step is to get to an allergist to find out what the trigger is for me and hopefully for Zoey as well.

This brings me to thank you for your prayers. Henry and I have been amazed and humbled by the love and prayers from so many. We truly believe it's impacted our lives positively. Prayer is one of those areas that we strive to improve and strengthen in our lives and to pass that on to our children. This week we had the pleasure of attending a speaking event at The Gate where Dr Jeyseelan and his amazing wife Lizy (I hope I'm spelling that right!). They talked about their ministry in India and the amazing experiences they have had and what they hope to achieve in the future. I was so captivated by what they had to share and touched by their faith and sincerity. As they finished, they told the congregation that they would be praying for anyone who needed or wanted them too. I'm not sure why, but I've very very rarely taken advantage of these offerings. But as I sat there listening to the music, I was overwhelmed and I felt God tugging at me and telling me to go. In my quiet time of prayer, I have felt a strong sense that God has a plan for restoration and healing for me and I knew in that moment that God was asking me to act in faith and allow Dr Jey and his wife pray for me. Henry came with me, since by this point I knew I wouldn't be able to speak clearly through the tears. I'd like to blame pregnancy on this one, but I know that rather when you feel God moving you, it touches you deeply. As we approached the front, Henry spoke for me until I could squeak a few words out myself. We spoke quickly to them about the trials and deep pain that we've been dealing with and said we were praying for healing, restoration, and peace. As they laid their hands on me and prayed with urgency and faith I felt a quiet calm slowly come over me. I felt God assure me of his presence and his plan for us. I felt a renewed certainty of his love for me and my family.  After they hugged us and we thanked them we gathered our things and Zoey and headed home quickly. I normally would have stayed to visit but I felt I needed to take a moment to process it all. I am so grateful for the kind words and prayers of Dr Jeyseelan and Lizy, they will truly resonate with me for many years to come.

In regards to life in general, we are so excited for Summer to be here! Summer holidays for me means a great deal. It means having my evenings with my family, it means that I am not at my computer for hours during the day and I get to focus entirely on Zoey. It also means we can go visit Henry at the shop and see friends during the week, even have people over on, oh, a Tuesday! There are many amazing aspects of my job but the hours truly take their toll on our family as a whole. Sometimes I get fooled into thinking I'm the only one who feels the effects of the nights, but I realize that Henry and Zoey miss me just as much as I miss them and we revel in the additional time together. We will be kicking off our summer with a trip to a family friends cabin. It will be Zoey's first time there and we are so very excited for that time.

I am at 13 weeks in this pregnancy and I am continually feeling better and more like myself. I am still exhausted by 8:30 at night and the familiar pregnancy congestion has set in, I sound like I have a perpetual cold which is exactly what happened while pregnant with Zoey. While it's unpleasant, it's so unbelievably worth it. Even though I know it's going to be exhausting and challenging, we are already so excited to meet Baby Roo. Zoey is already prancing around talking about Baby! Although, last night Henry was telling Zoey that babies do not go in the microwave or on the stove (in her play kitchen). I think I felt some teeny panicked kicks and squirms during that conversation ;)

Finally, I got a call to set up my first Prenatal appointment with our OBgyn. I'm so excited already, mostly just because we couldn't love our Doctor any more so I'm looking forward to catching up with him.


It's going to be an amazing summer! And I'm hoping to record as much of it as I can!

Six Months and Back to Work I Go!

My baby girl is 6 months old and I cannot believe it! She is growing so much everyday and her personality continues to develop and we love it! This is a really fun age for us. She plays more and interacts in brand new ways.

So new things that she is doing! She is sitting up all on her own now! I still prop some pillows up against the hard items around her (just in case she tips over which does happen). We are letting her tip over since we want her to know that she is okay if she does tip over but we are always right there for her and nothing too hard around her. Common sense stuff :)

Also she has been able to roll over from back to tummy very well for a little while now, but has been pretty resistant to rolling back from tummy to back. However, in the past few weeks she is learning that she can do that. She will pull herself by tugging on blankets or mummy and daddy. She can also do it purely through leverage. Very exciting.




The past few days she has been tilting her head when she looks at people which is unbelievably hilarious and adorable. As well, we finally found some rice cereal that she likes but apparently she only wants daddy to feed it to her :) She is very smitten with daddy! When she hears that door open she gets very excited and has a huge grin just for him.



Little girl is awake now, but I will mention that October 12th I will be returning to work. I work from home so I am very fortunate to still be with her during the day but it will be a challenge to figure out how to get my work done during the day and still make sure she feels engaged, loved, and happy :) I have my work cut out for me but we will figure it out!