My Other Family...

Last night the boys and I went to visit one of the most important families in the world to me, the Orr family. I guess being stuck in Wainwright while John's in Vancouver on a business trip has at least one perk. The husband of the Orr family, Jason, is really special to me. He started as a friend, but became like another dad to me, was my seminary teacher, was a witness at my temple marriage and is also the reason for Ty's middle name. He is such an amazing person. He was a bishop before in Milk River and is now the Branch President in Wainwright. His wife, Lori, has been my visiting teaching companion before and was also my bridal escort or whatever they call that. She was there for me through the adoption process and was even at the placement. The kids and I get along great. The younger 3 all treat me like I'm another sibling. I am 2 years older than the oldest B, I think. B1 is currently serving a mission in California. B2 and I took seminary together and I think I even got him to do a semiary homework lesson one time, lol (we had home study). B3 has grown into such a beautiful young woman, she makes me jealous. B4 has become an amazing young man who I happily call my brother. B5 is still to me that adorable girl I taught in primary with such a strong testimony for someone so young. Even though she's almost 12 already, she'll always be that adorable little CTR girl in my mind who when she was told she could draw a picture of anything that she wanted to chose to draw a picture of The First Vision. As far as I know, I still have that picture.

Anyways, while I was over there, Jason gave me a blessing for the emotional and mental trials I've been struggling with so badly. It was a great blessing and I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood and that men like my husband and Jason choose to live so that they are worthy to be a mouthpiece for the Lord when people need it.

Anyways, so you know how you get those rhetorical questions asked during church lessons sometimes? I was once asked if there was a couple that I wanted to strive to be like. Jason and Lori are that couple. They are so strong in the church and do their absolute best to do the right thing for their children. Even though B2 hasn't been active in the church for a long time now, they still show nothing but love for him. They truly amaze me and I hope that John and I can grow to be the strong pillars of strength that they are.

Next post is #100, YAY!!! So, in the spirit of celebration, I will be announcing on the next post who will win a prize. It will be announced with the winner. The winner will be selected from whoever comments on this specific post. I don't know when I will post again, but it will definately be within the next week, as my birthday is on Monday, so I'll probably be doing a post for that.

My Little Wubbie Sir Nut

I don't want to forget to do this tomorrow since we'll have company and I'll be getting ready for the party on Saturday, so here is celebrating Caleb's 3 years in our family.

I went into labour on Sunday, Sept 24th late in the morning, and immediately went to the hospital (you can do that in Wainwright). They confirmed that I definately was in labour, and so they started trying to speed it up. First we did a pill thing, which didn't do all too much for me and 2 seperate times we tried the drip, but Caleb did NOT like that. His heartrate went all nuts. At about 1pm on the 25th my doctor broke my water and said he'd check on my at 4pm to see how I was doing. I went to the washroom and then sat down in the rocking chair to talk with Mum and John. I was in a LOT of pain and then I realized that I needed to push. I had Mum call a nurse. The nurse and John got me to the bed, with me almost giving birth to Caleb standing up at the window in the process. She checked and sure enough, it was time. She called the doctor in a panic and called for every available nurse to get to maternity. She kept telling me not to push and I'm thinking "yeah, right, I can't stop it at this point lady". 2 pushes later, with no one looking, Caleb's head was out. Ah, sweet relief!!! John looks down to see how things are going and says "Eww!". A nurse turns around and exclaims "Oh my gosh, it's a head". They unwrap his cord from around his neck and I finish getting him out. Then in runs the doctor and his intern, ha ha. Let me add that my doctor is only a 5 minute drive from the hospital normally, and he was speeding to get there, so this was a SUPER SUPER fast delivery.

The past three years we've gotten to know Caleb, and what a wonderful spirit he is. My favourite way to describe Caleb is that he likes to take life by the horns and yank on them. He is a happy boy with the quickest temper I've ever seen in a child. He loves Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Tank Engine. He has already mastered counting to 12 on his own and does REALLY well with his ABCs with no help. Caleb is super active and loves to be on the go all of the time, apparently even during his sleep. His favourite people are his Uncle Kyle and his friend Brenna and his cousin Paul. He loves his daddy so much, but is a Mommy's boy at heart. Caleb loves to be the centre of attention and will do just about anything to be there. He loves his brother, but still has no concept of how to play nicely with him. But if Ty isn't crying, then Caleb always talks about the fact that Ty is cute.

We love him so much and are so glad that he came to our family. He and I had a rough start with severe morning sickness that left me flat on my back for a couple of months. He stuck through my PPD with me and still had nothing but smiles for me all of the time. He is an amazing little boy and I look forward to seeing him grow up even more.

My Week Without Facebook

I seriously thought it would be SO hard to go a week without Facebook, but the only part that was kind of off was that I apparently go through life now thinking of what to put as my status, ha ha. I didn't miss it at all, although I am glad to be back on there and see what people are up to (such a Kari expecting baby Gibb #2, congrats).

My week away went fairly well, but I am very happy to be back home in my own place with my own bed. John came to Wainwright and he and I got a hotel room for the night just to get away from it all for a while. We got a really good deal on a room with a king sized bed, jacuzzi tub and fireplace for only $149. Caleb and Ty stayed with my mum and Bob for the night. It was so nice to just get away and be able to relax without having to worry about the boys. On Saturday we went to some garage sales and among other things with bought Caleb 2 dozen Disney books for $5.50 and a bike with training wheels for $10. So glad about that bike, he has totally outgrown the tricycle and I really didn't want to spend tonnes of money on a brand new one.

I also found out that I have to wait until January 21st before I can get in to see the psychiatrist. Personally, I think that's a ridiculous amount of time to wait to see someone about bipolar, but I'm also on a cancellation list, so hopefully that will help out.

Anyways, not too much else is new here right now, so I should get going...

Wainmo Bound

So I have started my week without Facebook. I need to know that I can do that. This afternoon Mum is picking up the boys and I and we're going to go stay in Wainwright for a week. I'm hoping the change of scenery and lessening of responsibilities will help me out a bit. The parks there are closer and I can walk to the Walmart if I had to. John will join us on Friday and then we'll head home after church on Sunday. Then I will go into party mode, as Caleb's birthday party is on the 26th. He's having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party, which I think he's really looking forward to since he asks me every day if it's his birthday party today, ha ha. Anyways, not too much else is new other than that, so I should go finish packing. I hope you all have a great week.

Am I The Only One Singing?

So I'm wondering, is there anyone else out there who sees my blog title and starts singing "I am a builder, working each day to build my family"? Every time I see it I get that song stuck in my head, it's a catchy song from this year's primary songs.

Anyways, here's my exciting news for the day. John is finally letting me start the process to get our passports. First I have to get Ty's birth certificate and the detailed one for Caleb (I just have the basic one for him). I can't believe Ty's almost 11 months old and I still don't have his birth certificate. If you know me at all, you know that it's not like me to wait so long for something like that. Anyways, I soon as I get those I can get the application forms done and then get them and our pics signed and then it's the fun trip to Canada Place (BOO!). I don't know how they expect me to get my kids to cooperate for their pictures, but other parents do that as well, so I guess we'll figure it out.

And I'm getting even more excited for my cake decorating course next month. I'm really lucking out that because of when the classes are, I'll be able to make Ty's cake for him. Here are some of the cakes I'll apparently be making. The clown one is the one that we'll be using for Ty's birthday, the other two will go to Johns work.

I'm At a Place Called Vertigo

Last night we were in the ER from 7 until 1:30. The culprit: vertigo caused by a viral infection. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious, but it sure felt serious when I couldn't even sit up without getting so dizzy that I thought I was either going to puke or pass out. I'm glad I at least got an answer though.

Also, regarding my last post, I had a lot better of a day today. I was brought a meal by someone I never would have expected it from and it really brightened up my day. I know that there are really great people in our ward. I guess I am still a little bitter about no one helping me out when I couldn't lift Caleb and could barely even walk late in my pregnancy with Ty, even after I specifically asked the Relief Society for help. That really hurt me, but it's really time that I got over that.

Thank you Heidi, Alana and Amber for your comments, they made me feel loved. I guess I have a hard time remembering in the moment that there are people who care about me, even if they live over 1000 miles away. Would that I could get my passport tomorrow and hop down to Utah for a week or two...

And, also, I would like to post a pic of the logo on the shirt I got today. Needless to say, John LOVES it...

Is There A Point?

I'm starting to wonder if there is even a point to blogging. It's seldom that I get a comment...Hmm, oh well, it's still journalling, right? That means it counts for something.

So there was no Red Deer during the long weekend due to some strange welt-like rash that is completely covering Caleb's body. Took him to the doctor and they just gave him some hydrocortizone or something that we have to put on him 3 times a day. I don't think it's really helping, personally. If he's not doing any better by the weekend, I'll take him to a different clinic to go see a doctor who hasn't brushed us off before. Unfortunately, he was the only doctor working that day at the closest clinic to us. He's also being tested for strep throat, so I have to keep him away from people for a few more days yet until we know for sure.

Also, I don't think I've posted it on here yet, that I am getting VERY frustrated with the fact that I haven't heard about my appointment yet. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and told him I needed him to refer me to someone to be looked at for bipolar. I won't go into a lot of detail, but lets just say that with the things I struggle with, it would be a lot safer to get me in sooner rather than later, but I still haven't even received a phone call telling me when my appointment will be. So if I haven't heard by Monday, I'm going to call my Dr's office in Wainwright and tell them what's been going on and that they need to get me in to see someone ASAP. Dr deVos is so much better about taking me seriously than Dr Jackman. Really wish I wasn't 2 hours away from him, he is such a great doctor and I miss him so much. I must, if I did almost all of my prenatal 2 hours from here and stayed in Wainwright from 8 months on with Ty just so he could be my doctor...Anyways, so that's a huge issue for me right now. Things aren't going too well in that department. I really need help with my boys and my house (it's that bad), but our ward is SO awful for people helping others and accepting callings and what not, that it's just easier to not ask than to deal with the disappointment of no one 'being able to help', as they like to say.

However, on a plus note, I am now down to 150.1 lbs and John is around 174 ish. I'm so happy, so close to not having an overweight BMI anymore.

Also, since I have wanted to learn how to decorate cakes for about a year now, John is letting me take the Wilton Course 1 at Michaels next month as my birthday present. I am very excited. I will send the cakes to work with him each week and they can eat them there, so that I don't have to gain weight by having us eat them here. Should be lots of fun, and helps me to get out of the house once every week. I'm hoping to complete all 4 courses within the year, but we shall see.

Is It Really September???

Guess it's about that time of the week again, hey? I'm looking for ways to make my blog more interesting, so if anyone has any ideas for me, they'd be greatly appreciated (that means you, Christal, your blog is awesome).

What else is there? Hmm, not too much, I guess. I don't have exciting 'back to school' stories yet, I have 2 more years until that happens. We haven't really done much of anything this summer for both money reasons and the fact that my husband is SO not an ourdoorsy kind of guy. It's hard to deal with sometimes, but I still love him:)

I guess I could post where we are going this coming weekend.


DISCOVERY CANYON















BOWER PONDS















MY FORMER STOMPING GROUNDS - CFB PENHOLD














"A house does not have to be perfect to be a home of joy, a child does not have to behave perfectly to love and be loved, and every moment of life does not have to be perfect to be of value. Too often, I realize, we fail to see the glorious reality of the simple joy that abounds in the seemingly mundane routine of day-to-day living. Instead, we tend to idolize the past, idealize the future, and devalue the present.... What better way to show our appreciation to Heavenly Father for what we have than to embrace our lives, albeit 'ordinary' and 'unexciting,' with joy?" --Winnie Dalley; Ensign, March 1998, page 59