Goodbye Edmonton

My last week in Edmonton has been a bit of a blur. Probably because I've been crying so much... making my eyes blurry.  Last week, I got together with some of my favourite girls for one last Girls Night Out.  We've been following the Bachelorette (like the good sinners we are) and last week was the Finale!  So we made it a big to-do (to be honest, we bring treats like this pretty much every week and indulge a little too much).  Mostly, it's just an excuse to get together often and visit and be among women.  It's something I look forward to every week, ...so whenever these types of TV seasons end, we have to find another excuse to get together (be it book clubs, or clothing swaps, or our very own Project Runways).  It's fun to have such a great group of girls to get together with and just be easy around.  I love this picture because it's like I am presenting my friends.  And here they are!  Haha!  I told every one that I wanted to pretend that  it was just another get together and that I would see them next week, ...but then Cassie (the Bum), came back inside from already saying good bye and had tears in her eyes, ...which of course got me started.  I hate crying.  I've been trying not to think too much about it so I wouldn't cry one of those really ugly-cries.  But I did.  Everyone went home and I hugged Sarah one last time (although I knew I would see her a couple more times that week before I officially left), but I also couldn't help but remember how it felt when Jenny left a couple years ago.  Same scenario.  Same house.  Same ugly tears.  And then I bawled driving all the way home.

(L-R: Cassie Bayly, Tarilyn, Kelli Gordon, Andrea Barnes, Sarah, Moi, Barb Butler)

Here is an attempt of trying to get the kids to cooperate and take one last group shot together before we officially left. I don't think they really have a clue.   Which I guess is good.  Otherwise there would be a lot more tears besides the ones I've already cried this week.
After the cousins said goodbye, we packed up the house (thanks to the help of my Mom and Dad, Sarah, Colette and the Burnham clan) and headed to Lacombe where Joe and his Dad handled the final touches.

Noah's "bed."

Here are the guys just moments before leaving.  I made sure to take pics because honestly deep down I wondered (like the paranoid wife I am) if this would be the last time I saw my husband.  They travelled 36 hours straight without stopping, and to someone like me, that sounds pretty ludacris.  No hotels.  No stopping.  Just going straight through the night like ninjas.  They left Thursday night and arrived very early Saturday morning.  I could finally sleep again once I knew that Joe and his Dad had arrived.

The kids kept me busy with fevers and pooping.  So, I couldn't be too sad once Joe left.  Just busy.  And very sleepy.  I had two days in a row of 3-4 hours of sleep and it was brutal.  So once I could relax again and know that my Tweedle-heart was safe and sound (and once the kids' fevers broke), life felt AWESOME again.

I tried to fill my time apart from Joe by planning one last girls-get-together.  Barb and Sarah came up from Edmonton while Amelia and Jordana came from Olds (Tarilyn and I were already in Lacombe) and we all met in the middle at Gull Lake to chill for the day and then headed over to BP's to enjoy some of Lacombe's finest-dining!

We eventually ended up back at the Burnhams after dinner where we chilled, played a game of Scribblerish, and visited until 12:45AM! These girls still needed to drive an hour back home that night too! I think I was in a bit of denial that this would be our last rende-vous for a while.  I kept wanting the night to just slow down a bit so I could really just drink everything in and remember how lucky I am to have such awesome friends (but I think I just came off as more quiet than usual and a touch awkward.  Haha!).  But alas, the night ended and as I was giving hugs goodbye (I was being pretty strong up to this point), I looked over at Sarah, my best friend, and she was welling up with tears and I was pretending like I wasn't going to be affected, waving her away, trying to dismiss any tears that were coming.  Well.  I am a terrible liar, so I bawled right there on the spot.  And we just hugged and wept.  I think I will miss just going over to her house during the day, letting the kids play with each other while we visit and/or vent and/or drink slurpees and/or Skype Jenny so it feels like we're all together again.  I try to remind myself that no one has died.  I will Skype her in a few days when we have internet set up and things get settled a bit.  It will not be the same of course and I imagine I will have a lot more tears to cry (as I still have a plane to board with my three children, a baby to have, and our lives to get settled there-- hopefully in that order).  But, c'mon!  Two years is not THAT awfully long.  Or is it?  (This is me trying to make myself feel better, but I don't think I'm terribly convincing).

Thank you my friends for being awesome, and Edmonton for being my home.  I will miss you both! 

Edmonton Temple

Something that I know I take for granted is that we have the temple right across the parking lot from church.  So, I figured on our last Sunday in Edmonton it would be nice to snap some pics on the temple steps.  I will miss being so close to a temple and seeing it every week as we pull into the church parking lot for church and hearing the kids exclaim, "there's angel Ramoni!"  Though I will say that I do enjoy attending the temples in other cities;  But of course since this was the one I got married in, it will always hold a special place in my heart.  Look at how far we've come Joe!

Ultrasound Baby #4

Today I had an ultrasound for baby number four at thirty-seven weeks.  I've never had two ultrasounds per baby, especially not this far along in my pregnancy, so it was a real treat to be able to see this baby so clearly... and looking like an actual baby ...as opposed to an alien.  I "scored" high on my gestational diabetes test (probably shouldn't have had Wendy's and a slurpee the day before....) so they wanted me to go back and re-test which required me to fast for 12 hours, then drink that nasty orange drink and stick around for TWO more hours, ...no food in my tummy, just that orange nastiness.  So, ...I said it wasn't possible and an ultrasound was what I got instead!  Thanks.  I'd much rather this than throwing up. The funny thing is that from these pictures I think more than ever that it's a girl, and Joe thinks it's a boy!  Haha!  In the first pic, the baby's lips are a lot like Ellie's, ...but in the second picture the baby's eyes/eyebrows are a lot like Noah's.  Obviously, it's too hard to tell from just these two pics just exactly how the baby will look when he or she comes, but it's exciting to see what technology can give us.  Now it's just a guessing game for another three weeks, ...well, I guess it's been a guessing game this WHOLE time, but only three more weeks of agony to go!  The baby's hair is dark and there's lots of it (surprise!  Surprise!), which makes me think we will be having another Ord baby as opposed to a Burnham baby (the Burnhams were generally fair-haired or no-haired).  We shall see though.  One of the cool things that was neat to watch was the baby's head moving back and forth.  Now I know what it's doing when I feel that wonderfully uncomfortable movement down there!  Burrowing!  And it kept swallowing and sticking its tongue out, which was also really neat to watch.  It was definitely active and the technician said that the baby was already practicing breathing in and out, which is neat too.  I also got to see how the baby was positioned so I don't have to wonder anymore if it's the baby's bum, or spine or foot, etc.  Such a neat experience.

I think it will take everything in me not to look at these pictures everyday.  It's like having a sneak peek of your Christmas presents a little too early and now you have to wait until Christmas to enjoy them.  That's kind of how I feel.  But this has me completely pumped up to have this baby and hold it and love it.    Only three more weeks to go.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel!

Taylor's Baptism

This weekend was my niece, Taylor's, Baptism. It was so special for me as an Auntie because I've watched Taylor grow throughout all these years and to turn eight and choose to be baptized is such a special time. I got to say the opening prayer and as you can imagine I cried and had to say the whole prayer with a "lovely" shakey-cry voice. Haha! She is so beautiful and so special to me. I'm so grateful for the girl she has become.

 All of the cousins and friends that were there sang, "When I Am Baptized" which is one of my favourite Primary songs. They were asked to sing both verses so I rehearsed with my kids almost every night for a month (bed-time song) so they could be ready to sing both verses for this special day. I love the second verse and I'm glad that the kids learned it. It's been really sweet to hear Jackson's prayers since he's memorized it. As soon as he understood what he was singing about, his prayers started to sound a lot like this, "I'm grateful that we can be baptized when we turn eight and that our wrongs can be washed away and we can say sorry and forgive...." What five year old prays like that? Also after Taylor's baptism, that night I thought it would be nice to have a little review of what happened that day and why it was so special. I asked the boys if they felt anything special when they were there.  Then I began to tell them that I felt the Holy Ghost and it was a warm feeling and that I knew that what Taylor was doing was the right thing and how much Heavenly Father loves us to be able to give us this gift, etc. As I look at them, they are both engrossed in playing Legos and I'm thinking, "...this is most definitely NOT getting through. Ha!" But when Jackson said prayers that night, he went on and on about being baptized, "...we're grateful we can be baptized and feel warm inside and feel the Holy Ghost and that Jesus Christ can tell the Spirit what to say to us to help us feel like a blanket is around us and we feel warm inside our hearts and that other people's families can feel warm in their hearts too and that the other children's family can feel the Holy Ghost and feel warm and get to be baptized when they are eight...." and he went on and on in this way for a good solid five minutes. It was so cute. I, of course, in Maren-fashion, teared up. I'm so glad that the kids were able to have that experience and see their cousin set such a good example for them. The boys are both excited about when they turn eight and get to be baptized like Taylor.

 I love you Taylor! Thank you for your sweet example!

Gull Lake

It is tradition for me to go to Gull Lake during the Summer. It's just a must.  It is only 10 minutes out of Lacombe and is such a great beach for kids that I have to make myself go at least once every Summer. With us moving earlier than originally planned I realized I still have not taken the kids yet to Gull Lake! What kind of a Mother am I? So, I managed to meet up with one of my besties, Amelia Low, and her fam, and Matt and Tarilyn and their fam. It was the perfect day for it! There were warnings of thunderstorms, so I am so glad it worked out the way it did!  Here are some fun photos of our day at the beach!


This photo above makes me think of how these two kiddos were just wee babes when Amelia and I started to become good friends!  And now look how old they are!  Sheesh!  Nothing like having kids to remind you how time is flying.  Now Amelia has baby #4 and mine is on the way.  We're so in-sync!  I miss you Amelia and wish you didn't have to live so far away, although, I suppose Lethbridge isn't REALLY that far, but far enough.  I hate that every one has to move and go on with their lives.  Me included.  The one thing I can count on in a good friend like Amelia is that no matter how much time has passed, she is one of those friends that I can pick up where we left off like no time has passed at all!  Love you Amelia!  Thanks for being awesome!

Steak Anyone?

I just had my first internal exam today and am happy to report that I am a thick and juicy 1cm (just as I thought I would be) and am likely going no where fast any time soon.  In a normal situation I think I would cry because I am sick of feeling pain and getting no gain, ...but this time I am relieved.  I kind of knew already that my body would just do this to me because it does every time.  Slow and steady... or not progressing at all!  Haha!  So yes.  I DO feel relief because it'll mean that I'll be that less stressed in a couple weeks when I get on an airplane with 3 kids.

And all of my contractions will mean NOTHING!

I'll take it.

Morphine Please?

Well today was my first real scare that I might actually go into labour early.  Either that or I am going to feel like this throughout the rest of my pregnancy... FOUR WHOLE WEEKS LEFT!  Maybe five if you're Ellie.  This afternoon I started getting painful contractions and they gradually got worse and closer together into the evening.  There was about a two hour period where I was laying on the couch hoping for them to go away and they came harder and faster like nobody's business.  Here's the thing though, I went into false labour with both Ellie and Noah, went to the hospital where they gave me drugs and then it all went away.  At the time I was so upset, but right now I am tempted to go there just so they can give me a shot of morphine and send me home so I can sleep tonight.  As soon as I started to wonder if I should start timing them and figuring out "who's going to watch my kids if I go into labour tonight?" and "I should probably get my hospital bag packed" ...they began to subside.  The funnest part is they are not completely gone, ...just farther apart.  And still intense.  Joe is being a dear and has gone to get me a slurpee as I feel it is the only thing that will make me feel better right now as I whimper away into my delirious abyss.  The saddest part is I know.  I KNOW that I am just going to feel this awful for another four whole weeks straight (or more) because that is exactly what happened the last two times.  Sigh.  I want to cry.  If we weren't in the middle of moving and packing right now, I'd be doing jumping jacks to get this kid out and further this thing along, but tonight we were planning on booking flights out East for August 1st, which means I need this kid to stay in here for as long as possible so we can move out there and get settled BEFORE it comes!  I hope my doc will still be able to give me a doctor's note so I can fly at 38 weeks!  First internal?  Two days.  I guess we'll find out soon enough what this baby's progress is.  Although I've been known to stay at 2-3cm FOREVER!

I am NEVER moving and having a baby at the same time AGAIN!

8 Months

The last month or so has been a bit of a blur!  Things have been a touch busy with moving and travelling that I kind of forgot to post about month 7.  And to be honest, I don't feel MUCH of a change between then and now, except that each day that goes by I feel like there is less and less space for this baby.  Sometimes I try to sit forward or sit up straight and my tummy is so hard and solid that it is EXTREMELY uncomfortable and kind of impossible.  And then I have to pee because I moved.  I feel contractions ALL the time.  Mostly very uncomfortable braxton-hicks about every other second and then at the end of a long day I may feel the real thing.  In my back.  Yeay for back-labour!  I wake up to go to the bathroom 2-3 times a night, which I guess is preparing me for interrupted sleep.  (Thankfully I am pretty good about falling right back asleep.  It's a talent of mine I guess).  I am officially the biggest I have ever been.  Thankfully it is only by a pound, but I still have a month of growth left on me, so we shall see what this last month does to me!  I am 163 lbs and I'm pretty sure half of it is in my bottom.  I have never felt so out of shape and in so much pain from putting forth ANY amount of energy.  It's quite frustrating actually because I've always been pretty athletic, or at least in decent shape.  At the end of each day I am in so much physical pain around my hip area and tummy area from all the stretching and movement, I can barely walk 5 mins without feeling like I might die from working my body too hard.  It hurts to lift my kids.  It hurts at the end of a grocery-run.  It hurts to bend over.  It hurts to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee as I hobble to the toilet.  It hurts to see my house fall apart because I can't keep up... because I hurt!  The way my doctor so-gently put it was "You're getting old, and this is your fourth child."  Thank you Doctor Brown.  I didn't feel this way with my first two, but I did with Ellie so I was more prepared for it this time around, but man!  It's still not very fun.

Now that I've complained my face off, let's talk about the perks!  There is something so beautiful about feeling a baby move inside of you.  Sometimes Joe asks me what it feels like and it's really hard to explain.  I think the best times of the day are when I am lying in bed at night because it's such a quiet and concentrated time of day.  I am still but my belly is moving LIKE CRAZY!  I love being able to find the baby's limbs and maneuver them here and there, and because I move something one way, it counter-acts in another.  It's pretty neat.  What a miracle.  Another perk is that Joe sees how pathetic I am and will remedy my pain by getting me a slurpee and Cheetos like he did tonight.  True love right there.

I am also finding myself hoping for a late-baby for the first time in my life!  Jackson was a week early, giving me false hope for when Noah came along... two days late.  And Ellie stubbornly stayed inside the whole 8 days after my due date right up until my induction appointment.  What a little Toot.  Either way, I have never gone on my own and have always been induced.  I have a feeling I have nothing to fear with this baby coming early... but watch this be the ONE time I go way earlier than expected and fast!  You see, Joe and I were planning on having the baby here and then moving after it comes but now it is looking like he needs to be out in Ontario for school much sooner than we expected, so we are looking at moving before the baby comes now (Aug 15th is the due date).  If everything falls into place, Joe will leave a few days before me and travel by car with all of our belongings right before August and I will be travelling on a plane at 38 weeks with our three kids to a home that Joe has hopefully already (mostly) set up for us.  As crazy as it sounds, I'm not gonna lie, I think I would prefer to bring a baby home to a settled home, rather than have the baby, pack up and move, and be healing/milk coming in, etc, and all that fun stuff while travelling across the country with four kids instead of three.  Thinking about that just stresses me out.  I don't know why that didn't hit me sooner.  Probably because I keep telling myself that I just have to do it and that is that.  But with this second option, it just sounds much more relaxing.  Kind of.  The saddest part is that most of my friends and family will not get to meet our new addition until we come back home, and by then our baby will no longer be a baby.  So, I am trying not to think about that too much because it is what it is.  And isn't.  This plan isn't even set in stone.  We don't have a rental property yet (although we've put in an offer on one), and I am going to need a Doctor's note to travel that late in my pregnancy and my first internal isn't until next week (he could say forget it).  So, a lot of plans still up in the air, but I have a feeling that things will come together.  Well, I HOPE so.

Here's to a very scattered and unknown next few weeks!

Canada Day 2012

After a lovely visit with my parents in Montana, I drove straight to Hill Spring with the kids to meet up with Joe and the Gibb-side of his family for Canada Day weekend.  The kids were MORE than excited to see their Dad again (I'm sure after a week of me it was Heaven-sent.  I felt the same way seeing Joe too!).  On Friday evening, the cousins all got together at the River-bottom with all their kids to have a weenie-roast (while all the parents -the originals- got to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Gibb sans chaos).  The kids were sent on a race up and down the hill and on an "Easter" egg hunt.  It was so cute to watch them get into it.  At first the kids started with collecting FIVE eggs only and if there were left overs they could continue.  Well, Jackson, my competitive boy, was so sad because after he realized he could collect more than five, he didn't find any more while other cousins did, so he felt pretty gipped.  I was telling Nicole this, and like the good Auntie she is, she found the stash of extra candy and extra empty plastic eggs, filled them up with goods and hid a few extra just for Jackson to find.  "The Bunny got off track Jax, I think I see some over there!"  It was so sweet.  Made Jackson's day!  What a good Mom Nicole is going to be!

A visit to the farm is never complete without a Quad ride.  Well, since we caught a ride down to the river-bottom, we decided it might be a fun adventure for all FIVE of us to squeeze on one of these babies UP hill back to the farm so we could set up the trailer and put the kids to bed.  Let me tell YOU!  That was an adventure.  I was using tummy muscles that have been hidden deep within me during this pregnancy that I didn't know I still had left.  Let's just say, I had some lovely contractions during AND following our wild ride!

Joe is so good with gift-giving.  One of the gifts he gave me upon greeting me back into his arms was an attempted mustasch.  So lovely.  So red.

My hunk of burning love.  I know.  Don't be jealous ladies.

The next day was our Canada Day celebration which we always kick off with pancake breakfast at the elementary school.  Can you tell our kids missed their Dad.... just a little?

This year instead of watching the parade, we were IN the parade!  This is our massive float!

Great Grandpa Gibb turned 90 this year, and this float represents his posterity.  We each got numbered shirts from when we entered the family.  I think it went up to 130-something... not including the many pregnant women still expecting.  We also WON first place for best float thank-you-very-much!

An attempted group shot.  This was the best one I got and of course it's of Noah wanting to be held while Joe and I try to haul him over all the sitting children.  Why can't you just sit with the kids?

It was an extremely HOT day that day, which was awesome... but not when you are pregnant.

I love this pic of Noah.  He never poses for me!  But alas, here he is.  Being adorable.

This shot below is one of the many random pics that Jackson captured.  This is of me almost fainting from hunger and heat-exhaustion.  Joe was standing in line to get beef and beans which they serve every year at Spring Glen Park and I was left with the kids.  I had a very sudden attack of extreme hunger (thank you hypo-glycemia mingled with pregnancy) and could NOT wait for Joe to get back, however, I DID notice every one putting out their side-salads, ...so this is me walking back determinedly with my plate of food trying to make it to my chair before blacking out.  I was literally shaking.  I don't think I have ever felt so ravenous!

After lunch, the races began!  I only have a pic of Jackson doing the kid races because the boys got lost and were crying trying to find Joe (I could see them, but couldn't get to them quickly enough to calm them down), and Ellie wanted to stay at the park.  So when it came time for Ellie and Noah to race, they were all in tears and well past being happy enough to participate.  I'm sure it was a funny/entertaining sight to see (for everyone else but me). Thankfully Jackson cooled down before his age group raced each other.

Unfortunately he was busy stretching when they said "GO!" so he got a late start and cried after the race anyway because he didn't come in first.  Where does this competitive-streak come from?  Here's Joe trying to console him.

This was Ellie a good majority of the day.  No nap.  Sick.  Cranky.  Awesome!

Thankfully there was licorice to save the day!

Yes.  Even the adults get to race.  Here's Joe up against Jordan and Kevin.  I'm lovin' the high-shorts look.  First the mustasch, then the high shorts.  What more could a lady ask for?

Here's Jax and I getting ready for the three-legged race.  I feel bad because I was hoping this would be something to help cheer him up and have fun, but of course we came in dead-last.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaan he cried.  (You would think my children weren't getting enough sleep or something.  And you'd be right!).

Balloon-toss time!

After a beautiful nap, Ellie was spoiled by many girl second-cousins who dressed her up as a "Princess."  When Ellie was revealed, she was SO proud of her new look.  It was pretty cute.  She kept giving me this shy-flirty look, like she knew how beautiful she was.  Haha!

This is Larry and Connie's dog, Buddy.  He was so well-behaved around the kids and the kids LOVED him.  In fact, as soon as we got home Noah looked at me and said, "I miss Buddy."

Here they are with Auntie Celeste trying to make him do tricks.  Although Ellie is not in these pics with him, she loved him just as much.

A weekend at the farm is not complete without a scoop or two at the famous Glenwood Pioneer Ice Cream Parlour!

The line up was crazy, but worth it (because I got to sit down in the shade and wait while Joe stood in line to get ice cream for all of us).  Looks like he didn't mind too much!  Haha!  Or Eric... and your awkwardly close relationship with my husband....

I know I am usually a chocolate person, but I had to go with my childhood-favourite and get Tiger.  I was not disappointed.

I love this shot of the Gibbs below.  They look so tough eating their ice cream!

I know this pic below is a touch blurry, but it's hilarious.  Ellie managed to spill ice cream on Noah, and he was ticked.  So here she is running away from him.  What a sweet/sad face Noah has!  He's good at that.

That night, a bunch of the cousins got together to play baseball.  Unfortunately being the pregnant wife,  I got to stay and give the kids a bath and put Ellie to bed.  We joined up with them shortly thereafter and the kids played a bit of ball with Dad themselves before the fireworks began.

 This is the first time we let the boys stay up to watch.  They were not disappointed!  Here they are snuggling with Celeste while enjoying the production.  Happy Canada Day!

The next day was Sunday of course, so after church we met up at the community centre to have lunch and visit and watch slideshows that people have put together from the previous year(s) or special occasions, etc (which is tradition every year).  Here's Ellie on the swing just outside of the community centre while we waited for lunch to begin.  I know it's not the clearest shot, but I thought she looked pretty cute.  Anywho, ...unfortunately, with me and the kids being sick and lack of sleep, I was feeling pretty gross at this point (it finally all caught up with me and I threw up that morning.  Fun!) and decided that it was time to drive the 5 hours back home!  In order to make it in decent time, I ended up leaving before the slideshow presentation and am SO sad I did!  Joe stayed behind (he was driving the 5th-wheel), so he got to stay and enjoy it, along with Grandpa Gibb's 90th Birthday cake.

This whole trip was most definitely an adventure.  A part of me still can't believe that I managed to make that trip all by myself starting in Montana and ending up in Southern Alberta and then back home.  We packed a lot of stuff in, but it was so fun and worth it!  Not sure that I'll be doing that anytime soon though.  At least not while I'm pregnant!  I am definitely happy to be home and back into a routine (I'm proud to say my kids are sleeping again and Ellie is her pleasant self again.  Thank GOODNESS!).  Thanks to all those who made this week and weekend possible and so enjoyable!

Happy Canada Day!