Anneliese battled her way through the first of (I'm sure) many 24 hour stomach flu's and emerged a little older. Our girl is 4 months, weighs 15.8 pounds, and is cruising in the middle of the stat pack. She recently slept straight through the night, and although that might have been because she was getting sick, I'll still take it.

This spring can be summed up with one word that I don't particularly like. Tease. Just say it. Doesn't sound nice. The word pictures aren't nice either- like when you tease your hair, purposefully knotting the crap out of it for a little bit of volume. Or when you tease your sibling just to get that nasty reaction you find amusing, or when you whip up a pot to go with that scone. You get it. I shouldn't be asking on April 21 if it is winter or spring. The upside is the hyacinths and daffodils are put on hold in the cold snaps, and linger on when they should be flopping to their deaths.  Die already!  Heat instead of hyacinths, please! 

To usher in the heat, I dolled up Anneliese today with one over the top ruffly outfit. Ruffled skirt, shirt, and bonnet. I mean, I really went to town. It's a wonder that I get such a kick out of dressing her up when I typically dread dressing myself. My closet needs a spring pick me up to say the least. I need some ruffle in my life.

I am enjoying the routine that I have settled into in the little town of Jordan. James is currently doing his final placement at Heritage under my old nemesis Huizinga, and I have come to the realization that I have married my 'nemesis'. Jack and James are two peas in a pod, and this somewhat startling realization has enabled me to reassess my old science teacher with a level of maturity that can set aside my hatred of chemistry, and thus my irrational distaste for the man in charge of teaching it to me so long ago. He did not succeed then, James will not succeed now, but at least I can separate subject matter from personality, and THAT'S what matters. Kapeeeesh.

I attend two Bible studies, and though I have heard rumor that people think this is because I can offload my kids in a free babysit, that is not the real reason. I actually like to learn, believe it or not, and I am doing just that at both Immanuel (reading the Lies Women Believe) and at Trinity (in a series called the Truth Project). These hours discussing the Word stimulate and revitalize me. Some girls started meeting up at Port Dalhousie with their babes, and I spent a chunk of my morning walking the Pier, showing Jesse the ducks, and watching the bomb of babies play together in the sand and at the playground. I particularly like that Rach attends, because not only is she my sis-in law, but our boys are tight, and they each visibly light up when they get a chance to hang out, and I find that pretty neat.

I like Jordan Station too. I like walking with my kids down the street. It's an interesting street with a lot of things that catch the eye, and I'm ready for what spring/summer have to offer in terms of its aesthetics. It also holds a lot of my childhood memories because my pal Kris grew up in a house on this very street, and I spent a lot of hours exploring with her.

The biggest blot on the weekly routine is how we spend Sundays. There is no rhyme or reason to our Sunday church attendance, because we have 3 churches to choose from based on convenience, and that's NOT how I foresee our families future Sunday routine. This needs serious ironing out, and soon. As I mentioned before, Jesse is a creature of habit, with a very impressionable little brain, and I'd like him to sense Sunday as a day set apart, and not because it's always a crazy day of flying around. Working on it...
Anyways, overall, the days fly by, and the days are fun. I love our family. I love to read about how to be a good homemaker. I don't always like to implement what I learn because I think I'm kind of lazy, but I aspire to keep trying because I see my role as a mom to be a pretty huge one. A God given one.  A job given specifically to me as a precious gift, and like the recurring statement of all my posts-since-time moves so swiftly, I had better use it well. 

Jesse's 2!

I'm so grateful that God has given us this kid to raise, and love, and teach. It's unbelievable how quickly two years have gone, and I'm running out of 'breathing room' to make those mistakes that I write off as "it doesn't matter yet, because he'll never remember". SOON, he will remember, but in parenting we have learned more than words will allow in this post, or at this hour. For one, I've learned that 11 pm, although not ideal, is the time allotted to me to take up this recreational activity of blogging. The house is quiet, the house is dark. Both are essential. Quiet to think, dark to dismiss the mess I can no longer see, which means I no longer believe it is there :) Anyways, Jesse is a champ. He woke up happy, loved his new red barn handcrafted by loving parents that did not always display that specific attribute while creating it-(it was a stretch) but certainly knew they loved eachother, and thus remained dedicated to their task and their marriage. Building exercises. And he loved it. We had a good day, made a cool cake, and threw a party for him the day after, and now I think he's getting sick. At the moment, despite the hour, he's coughing and crying. I guess I should know by now that those moments I think are 'mine' just aren't. This job continues to be the 24 hour 7 kind of job, so, I'm out. Hope the little guy kicks his cough soon.. I'm about 3 days behind in proper sleep. And still....I type. I'll let pictures do the talking later.   Happy Birthday Jesse. You are so fun, and I love you to bits. And then some :)

Turned the Page to 27

I woke up this morning to Jesse yelling "balloo". I was groggy, but could hear James blowing some up, 2 balloons, to commemorate me turning 27, on March 27. 7 years ago I met James, and for my birthday he dumped a bag of balloons on my head, and made me breakfast. This tradition has been kept alive, or would have been, I'm sure, had there been more than 2 balloons in the house, and had he not had to leave promptly by 7:30 a.m, requiring me to get out of bed and help with the breakfast part. Sticking with the breakfast theme, I received a griddle. I know some women may get stuck up on the fact that their is nothing sexy about a cooking appliance, and I admit, I'm usually one of them. But James did good. I have burned too many pancakes and wasted precious breakfast minutes hovering around my frying pan, which, by the way, can only fit one pancake at a time. So, I like the gift. And it makes a nice grilled cheese.

My mom wanted to know if I was going to do anything for my birthday, which made me think I should, which made me think that meant I had to invite everyone over. And as I thought about making this call, it dawned on me that playing hostess is not my strong suit. Don't get me wrong, I love having an open door policy, and anyone who comes in will find a beverage and something to eat and someone to talk to. Ground rules. But a planned party, for myself? Not my gift. SO, I waited until this morning (around 9) to call up people to come (at 10). I don't expect people to  particularly like these last minute shinanigans, but it is what it is.  Michelle and the kids and mom said they would come for tea at 10, and so I popped in my pie to be ready for 11, which is exactly when they came. One point for me! But minus that point on account of the pie burning anyways and my forgetting then remembering then forgetting to get mom her tea :) But things got fun as the house filled up with my wonderful family- nephews, niece, brothers, dad, mom, and I got showered with undeserved gifts (really, I rarely give birthday gifts anymore, so receiving them IS unexpected). I find that the crazier the house gets (and it doesn't take much in a one bedroom basement apartment) the more enjoyable the atmosphere. Kids under the bed, toys in the coffee, and a lot of giggling = a good time. So, the tea extended into unexpected lunch, and I liked that too.

Our evening was chill, until I thought James might be able to make Anneliese fall asleep by taking her in a car ride to Timmies and picking us up some coffees at 10 pm (it IS role up the rim, you know) . Which he did, but she promptly woke up when she got back home, and the caffeine that is now coursing through my veins and keeping me bright eyed has knocked James unconscious. Anyways, that leaves me awake enough to finish this post. Time to shift the focus.

Anneliese is about 3 1/2 months, and my guess is she's about 14 pounds, give or take. She's a butterball who loves her mom. She is ticklish when she gets changed, and her giggle makes Jesse laugh his little butt off. She spends a lot of time bouncing in her jolly jumper these days, gnawing on her fists and drooling or puking at any given moment, and so to date she's no different from any other baby, except that she's ours. And that's the best part. I get asked a lot if she sleeps through the night, to which I answer 'no', because lately she's been getting up around 2:30 am to eat, but I think the question should be rephrased to "are you sleeping through the night" because then I would answer 'yes'. Figure that one out. Anyways, Anneliese and I are getting enough sleep. Jesse, however, keeps me on my toes by getting strep throat, or pink eye, or the common cold in what appears to be some sort of cycle that is never ending. Please, winter, end already.

A few more things to document, and then I'm done. Anneliese- your nails grow too fast, and they require cutting every other day, which James and I are both hesitant to do since we snipped off the skin on your thumb. Aside from a serious bald patch, I think you will have thick, dark, curly hair one day. Fingers crossed. Your eyes look like they may be turning hazel. Your toes collect more lint than I can fathom, and you let Jesse push you around a lot (not by choice, but your jolly jumper does hang in his doorway, so he's right on that score. You're in his way a lot). But the bottom line is that you are our healthy, beautiful 3 month old, and Jesse, James and I love you like crazy. And truth be told, seeing you at 2:30 am isn't all that bad, especially when I know it won't last forever. The months just keep passing...

And just because I have a hard time leaving out my man Jesse, here he is at 3 months :)

2 months!

My sweet baby girl is 2 months. I would say the typical "time goes so fast", but really, it feels like she should be older. A lot has gone down in her short life. I mean, she was born, we ushered in the in-laws- along with Christmas, and New Year's, and then we got the boot from our previous home, and spent a full night at McMaster before the big move with Anneliese who sprung a fever (or so we thought) and contracted bronchiolitus at 3 weeks old. And during all this, she has kept her cool. I could not have imagined a baby this chill after bearing and rearing my man Jesse. I'm not sure if it's because she's our second, or because she's just that different, but she makes my job easy, and with Jesse, a perpetual ball of energy entering "sponge" phase, she really is a blessing.
Here's the quick 2 month update
I believe you are around 12 pounds-- that's just a guess though. I missed your doc. appt. today, which would have given the official weigh in :)
You have slept 5-8 hour stretches consistently at night-- unlike Jesse, who took half a year to reach those numbers.
You LOVE to cuddle, and I spend most evenings bouncing you on my  belly (you get a kick out of that :) and rocking you to sleep.
You smile at me a lot now.  You definitely like when I'm around, and you like your big brother too. Not to mention, he's a gem around you. You won't find a better helper at finding your soothers and keeping you warm. Although our appartment is a comfortable 20 degrees, Jesse has made it his mission to keep you covered in blankies at all times. It's kind of his thing. (Along with singing, kicking things, scowling, saying 'no way'  'oh my' and ' I pooped' , standing on my hands, asking for juice 30 times a day, helping me with baking, and vacuuming, and laundry-- all to the best of his ability, and craving the great outdoors as much as his mom. This photo gives a snapshot of the kind of fun Jesse has these days. He was pretty proud of this one.

This tangent could become another post, so I digress)

You don't know your daddy so well yet, but his time will come. I'll enjoy our bond while it lasts :) I know you and James are going to be a lot alike, and I'm looking forward to that developing relationship. He's thrilled to have his little girl. :)

You are very observant, your eyes follow me everywhere, and you don't rely on your soother to calm down. You like riding in the car, you rarely cry, and your fussy time is in the evening, but only if you are left alone somewhere. You take a bottle, your hair is dark and getting thick, and you are strong. You are also absolutely adorable. I know I'm biased, but really, it's true.
On that note, I'll wrap up the 2 month update. I'll be due for another one in no time at this rate.

In other news, James took a job in Copetown, and he signed his contract today, which means it's officially official. The Harskamps are heading back to Hamilton. I have mixed feelings about this, because it's been great getting back into my old community. BUT, I sense adventure is just around the corner, and although the physical act of moving can get old, God's unfolding plan doesn't seem to, and that's good enough for me.

The Story- 2^nd time around

30 minutes into Wednesday, Dec. 19—12:30 am "labour" started. It was all new to me, because with Jesse I was induced, and on top of that, I spent the good part of a year mentally blocking that horrific and beautiful event. Anyways, it was a bit uncomfortable, nothing debilitating, so an hour later I popped some Tylenol and thought I should pack my hospital bags, just to be safe, something James’ had been hounding me to do for about 3 weeks. I should have listened, because true to Ree form, I couldn’t find my track pants, and packed a pretty useless assortment of unnecessary things. Then I got on the phone with my pal Kristina, (my makeshift doula) while James' gathered 'data' on his ipad to see if this was the real deal. Any excuse to use Tech is a good excuse for James :) Anyways, after talking for about 30 minutes, she told me I better get my butt to the hospital because contractions 4 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute are a pretty sure sign the baby is coming. This was the cue James’ was waiting for, and Jesse was out the door and tucked in at grandmas before I had a chance to grab my coat. And then, untrue to James’ form, we drove 150 km/h to the hospital. I was impressed, and still quite sure that we would be turned around and told to come back when things actually got serious. Well, that may have been the case, if they hadn’t made us walk outside, around the hospital to get to labour and delivery, only to have to walk back to emerg because the hospital’s front doors were locked. I’m told a lot of women, full term, go jogging around hospitals between contractions to speed things up...

Anyways, we got into the hospital at 2:30 a.m., found a nurse to check me out, and apparently I’m at 6 cm, which means I'm staying put and having a baby. 15 minutes later, I’m at 8. Soon after that, 9 ½… and then BAM. It’s time to get real. The rest of this story is hard to recap, because I couldn’t conceive of labour without an epidural, and I kept expecting it to get way way worse.The fact that I had time to actually breathe between contractions was a small miracle, let alone that I wasn't numb and listless. The  nurse kept saying it was going to be quick, and I kept telling her that I had heard that before, and I wouldn’t let her dupe me with optimistic statements. But then she gave a very unexpected go-ahead to push.  Whaaa?? With Jesse, I waited a day for those instructions, and then proceeded to push for another day (or at least it felt like it). Having been in the hospital for all of 45 minutes, this didn’t compute. 

Well, 4 contractions and 8 minutes later, Dr. Nwebube (called down to catch my baby before he started an emergency C-section) delivered Anneliese Marie into the world, and there we had it. My job was done.  Well, at least the first job of getting her out. This job is sort of ongoing, but I’ll leave that for the next post-- entitled either "Harskamps get evicted", or "Anneliese gets bronchiolitus at 3 weeks old and her parents spend 6 hours in emerg the night before moving day, because 'Harskamps got evicted'"Thoughts? 

I am only 3 weeks away from my projected due date, and here's where things stand.
 If the baby was born today-- we'd have no name picked, no girls clothes, and no diapers bought, BUT we'd have a crib for the very first time, AND at least some idea of what to expect this time around. So I'm not sweating it. I did have that feeling of "nesting" that so many pregnant women talk about for the very first time a couple days ago. And the result was setting up for Christmas. We now have a mantle draped in garland, and an urn filled with red sticks and pine branches. I also play a lot of Christmas music. In the chaos that is my living room, music and Christmas lights temper the anxieties I am feeling at the thought of giving birth a second time. In preparation for the next bundle of lungs and joy, we have introduced Jesse to his "big boy bed". I am not sure why this would matter at all, but it just seems like the next step. That, and we realized two days ago that he can actually get enough momentum to flip himself head first out of his playpen. I was there to see it, and prevent that trip to Emerg. So, the time came to put him in a real bed, and I am already mourning the loss of his playpen. There are serious drawbacks to a 19 month old in a real bed.
Such as, he is no longer contained and I am left to wonder at all the sounds coming from the other side of his door. He can also open doors, and so the next logical step is that he will now come out of bed (quite easily) and chill in the living room, at any hour he feels so inclined. Last nights issue with the big bed was anxiety, which could not be soothed-- and so James spent the night with Jesse's feet pummeling his back because we caved and let him sleep with us. I cannot get my head around the amount of movement that goes on while this kid sleeps. Last night is not one I would like to see repeated. But, peace reigns again while he sleeps, and I blog, and feel new little feet pummel my insides while I try to get comfortable in this recliner chair that makes me uncomfortable. That thing I wrote about 'peace' a moment ago has already been interrupted by the fact that the garbage truck just caught my attention-- or more accurately, the truck that drove past with nothing on my curb to pick up,  and James' voice coming back to me as I dropped him off for school...' make sure you take out the garbage Ree....'  Oops.
At least I remembered to bake. I am participating in a Christmas bake exchange this aft with a few girls, and although my numbers were off, and I made enough for everyone excluding myself, I'm banking on getting way better stuff in return :) Speaking of which, I should be heading there now, and I doubt the towel on the head look is going to cut it, nor James' sweatpants that I've claimed as mine for the duration of the 3rd trimester. Time to put myself together.. and then the living room.

Pioneer Day!

One of my unabashed annual anticipations is Pioneer Day in Jordan Station. I'm not sure why I get such a kick out of the reenactment of life "back in the day", but I suspect it has to do with my long time desire to churn butter and dip candles. In short, BE Laura Ingalls, braids and all. So this is the closest I'll get, and it happens once a year. These two handsome gentlemen, future teacher, future student, are getting a taste of the 1900s classroom. Fantastic.

Outside the old schoohouse.

Jesse wasn't totally on side with making applesauce out of doors.

Jesse and the nephews picking out some gourds to decorate my house.

 Total Harskamp ?  :)

Done with his fries-- and moving on to the next supplier.

Photo Op.

I thought there was room on that hay bale for the clan. At 7 months pregnant, it was ambitious.

The old barn.

Jesse's first proposal. By his cousin. I'm sure this is in keeping with the Pioneer Day spirit.

After Pioneer day, James and I got to work preparing our Thanksgiving Day feast for the Hamilton friends. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, gravy, some beans, fresh bread and apple crisp. Fall has been embraced :) And then Jesse and I went foraging in the ditch to make some centerpieces. I didn't realize this gesture would also usher in a million bugs to join the feast. Ew.

Uncle Brian and Jesse, getting to know each other on a deeper level.

The group, and our home.

So far, a fantastic start to fall. Can't wait for the photo ops that October has to offer. Cheers, and happy early Thanksgiving!