There really is a God

It's so easy to give up on God when things get tough. Why do bad things happen to good people?

I read a story today that made me realize that there really, truly is a God. And he is good.

Austin Hatch, a 16 year old boy from Charlevoix, Mich., was in a fatal plane crash 8 years ago which killed his 2 siblings, his mother, and left him and his father alive and alone. Over the last 8 years, his father re-married..

On Friday, that same family was in another plane crash that killed his step-mother, his father, and his dog Alli and his other dog, Brady, is missing.

Austin Hatch survived. He is in a medically-induced coma because of bruising on his brain.

Now the amazing part.

This poor kid is going to wake up from his coma to learn that his father and step-mother are dead, and that he has been in yet another plane crash (I'm willing to bet that he will have quite the plane phobia after this!). He is going to learn that his one dog, Alli, has died in the plane crash.

And then he's going to learn that his dog, Brady, has been found 3 km from the plane crash site completely unscathed. Wet, frightened, but completely fine.

So while I sit here reading this story, I can't help but think that this is nothing short of a miracle. It reminds me a bit of Job. God took everything from Job - his family, his flock, his farm, any and all income... and then blessed him greatly. This poor 16-year old kid had his mother, siblings, father, and step-mother taken away and God left him his beautiful white labradoodle to be his companion through, what can only be assumed, will be a lot of mourning.

So... thanks, God, for leaving this kid with someone to love!

First Big Allergic Reaction!!

My dear baby girl... you are your father in so many ways. You were blessed with his red hair, his fair skin, his tree trunk legs, and ... his allergies. This may not be that big of a deal right now, but as you get older, you are not going to like this fact. You are going to have to steer clear of so many foods and environmental factors.

On Saturday, June 25, you had your first big allergic reaction. And it wasn't even bad - mommy just freaked out. You had a small reaction to almond oil a few months back, but even then, comparing to what happened on Saturday, that was nothing (and mommy is still not convinced it was an allergic reaction as opposed to just super red cheeks).

Mommy was feeding you breakfast - your regular banana, cheerios, and then I gave you some pieces of pancake. You had pancake the night before and LOVED it, so I thought I'd give you a bit more. They are milk-free pancakes, made with orange juice as opposed to milk.

Well.

You ate it up. Gobbled it up, really. And then your chin was red. And it was spreading. Daddy then noticed you had a hive on your neck. So, I decided to take you to the hospital.

By the time I got there, your entire face was bright red and you had hives on your face. They bypassed admitting and brought you right in to the back room. They checked to see your breathing, and you were breathing fine. Your right eye was a bit swollen and they drew a line on your face with a pen to be able to confirm if the infection was spreading.

They then ordered Benadryl. By the time we got the Benadryl, your face was clearing up, but the infection was now on your neck. By the time we left, the neck infection was gone and you had broken out into major hives all over your tummy.

We got home, I put you to bed (you were so exhausted you fell asleep in the 3 minute drive from the hospital to our home!) and when you woke up (and after I checked on you 8 times in your 1.5 hour nap) your entire reaction was gone. No more hives.

Whewf!!

The nurses and student doctor were awesome - they checked on you repeatedly, they made sure you were very looked after and they made sure everyone knew how super cute you were!

You were a trooper, and everyone loved you. Mommy was so proud of you!! We don't know if it was the orange pancakes, or the fact that daddy was eating Cheeze Whiz near you (ew!), or what caused it... but I do know now how to react to these outbreaks and to keep a good eye on you!!

Scary stuff!!!

I'm SO GLAD you are ok, and I love you so much!!

Here are some photos for you!

First Big Allergic Reaction!!

My dear baby girl... you are your father in so many ways. You were blessed with his red hair, his fair skin, his tree trunk legs, and ... his allergies. This may not be that big of a deal right now, but as you get older, you are not going to like this fact. You are going to have to steer clear of so many foods and environmental factors.

On Saturday, June 25, you had your first big allergic reaction. And it wasn't even bad - mommy just freaked out. You had a small reaction to almond oil a few months back, but even then, comparing to what happened on Saturday, that was nothing (and mommy is still not convinced it was an allergic reaction as opposed to just super red cheeks).

Mommy was feeding you breakfast - your regular banana, cheerios, and then I gave you some pieces of pancake. You had pancake the night before and LOVED it, so I thought I'd give you a bit more. They are milk-free pancakes, made with orange juice as opposed to milk.

Well.

You ate it up. Gobbled it up, really. And then your chin was red. And it was spreading. Daddy then noticed you had a hive on your neck. So, I decided to take you to the hospital.

By the time I got there, your entire face was bright red and you had hives on your face. They bypassed admitting and brought you right in to the back room. They checked to see your breathing, and you were breathing fine. Your right eye was a bit swollen and they drew a line on your face with a pen to be able to confirm if the infection was spreading.

They then ordered Benadryl. By the time we got the Benadryl, your face was clearing up, but the infection was now on your neck. By the time we left, the neck infection was gone and you had broken out into major hives all over your tummy.

We got home, I put you to bed (you were so exhausted you fell asleep in the 3 minute drive from the hospital to our home!) and when you woke up (and after I checked on you 8 times in your 1.5 hour nap) your entire reaction was gone. No more hives.

Whewf!!

The nurses and student doctor were awesome - they checked on you repeatedly, they made sure you were very looked after and they made sure everyone knew how super cute you were!

You were a trooper, and everyone loved you. Mommy was so proud of you!! We don't know if it was the orange pancakes, or the fact that daddy was eating Cheeze Whiz near you (ew!), or what caused it... but I do know now how to react to these outbreaks and to keep a good eye on you!!

Scary stuff!!!

I'm SO GLAD you are ok, and I love you so much!!

Here are some photos for you!

9 Months

Weight Update

Weight: 22 pounds 9 3/4 ounces

Height: 30.5" (up 2" from last month!)

My dear girl,

I can honestly say without a doubt in my mind, that this has been my most favourite month yet. You have made me laugh and smile - literally - all day every day. You are the happiest, funniest, silliest, and absolute CUTEST little girl I have ever seen in my entire life. This past month has just been a breeze!!

Updates:

- You are THISCLOSE to crawling! Over the past month you've gone from somehow moving from Point A to Point B while sitting on your bum, to now you go straight onto your stomach from the sitting position and then the next thing I know you're straight across the room! You haven't figured out being on your knees yet (there is a lot of weight your poor legs have to hold up! haha) but you push yourself across the floor pretty good. Did I say "push"?? Yes, PUSH. You push yourself in circles over the floor and you have learned that with every spin, you get closer and closer to your destination. Sometimes you spin 18 times just to get from the middle of the floor to your toys. And you do it the entire time with a big smile on your face. Today, on your 9 month birthday, you have learned to pull yourself across the floor and you made quite good time in your inspection of mommy's office. You're SO CLOSE to crawling!!! Everyone tells me that I should enjoy these no-crawling days. But I honestly can't wait until you can learn to crawl. The things you'll learn about. It's going to be tougher and a lot more work but I just can't wait!

- You are still in love with that dog. And any time you get even remotely close to him, he runs as far away from you as possible. If your little chubby hand even touches his, he pulls it back. If you get in bed with us, he jumps out of bed - no matter how tired he is. If you come in the room, he runs out of the room. The only time he likes you lately is when you have food - and that's because he knows you're going to give him some. And you do - on purpose! You throw food down, then look over your high chair to see Bauer gobble it up. Then you throw him more. He "loves" it. Personally, I think he thinks it's his vendetta for you coming into his world!

You have become quite the little sleeper! At 7pm you're ready for bed, so I put you in bed as close to 7 as possible. I then sleep feed you at about 10:30pm, and then you sleep straight through until about 7-8am. Mommy LOVES it. You have the odd night where you get up but you fall back to sleep quite quickly. Sometimes it takes a couple minutes, sometimes it takes an hour. But all in all, you're an amazing sleeper. Last night I tried to skip your sleep feed and you woke up at 2am crying, so I fed you, and then you were up at 6am. But I blame the 6am on the crop sprayer airplane that was SUPER loud. Mommy was not happy!

This month you had your first big trip to Montreal, but I already talked about that. I still can't get over how great you were!! And your great granny Bina keeps the high chair in her kitchen because every time she sees it, she thinks of you. You are so, so very loved. I wish your great grandpa was here because he would have loved you so much as well.

Morning breakfast is my favourite meal for you of the day. In the morning you are SO HAPPY. I get smiles and giggles and coos. Mind you, I get those throughout the rest of the day as well! Your meals are pretty planned out. You like me to feed you, you like the same things, and you prefer veggies. You are still being nursed anywhere from 3-5 times a day (sometimes less) but I am constantly offering you the nursing option before solids but you just prefer solids. Breakfast is banana, pear/mango and apple sauce with oatmeal. Lunch is 1/2 an avocado and a cup of baby yogurt. Supper is 3 veggies (sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, carrots) with multigrain cereal. I tried giving you chicken one day and tofu the next, and you didn't sleep well either night. So I went back to veggies and you slept awesome. So... we're sticking with veggies for now.

Hmm.... what else. You are brilliant. I mean, SO smart. And lazy, which is hilarious. If there's a toy you want to reach and you can't, you'll pull the blanket towards you. If your bath toys are on the other side of the tub, you'll splash the water until they're closer. If I'm holding something you want, you'll grab my arm and pull it until you can reach it - which is usually my phone. You sure do love mommy's phone!!

You have really made this past 9 months such a joy, Aryn, and I can't wait to see what else you'll learn this month. Mommy and daddy love you soooo much and we can't imagine our lives without you in it!!! Bauer... he'll grow to love you haha!

Happy 9 months, baby girl!!

And here are some videos!

Aryn and Daddy:

Aryn Laughing:

Aryn "Crawling":

Montreal

On May 25, at 5:20am, I woke Aryn up from her deep slumber, got her dressed, put her in the carseat, and we raced to the airport for our very first trip together to Montreal to visit family!! I was nervous and afraid of how the trip would go. Would she cry the whole time? How would she sleep; she likes to sleep on her own, not cuddled with me - how would we do that? How would I feed her?

Cutest kid ever, right??

We got to the airport and I realized I forgot her breakfast and yoghurt in the fridge. Awesome. So now to top off my fears, I have to do this with a kid who likes her food and has none!!!

All of my fears were quickly set aside as we took off. I mean, the worst part of the trip was trying to collapse the damned stroller!! There are 4 buttons you have to press - in a certain order, no less - to make that thing collapse. Who thought that trick up!?!?! 1-button release is ALL it should be, people.

Big girl sitting in the airplane seat all by herself!

Aryn sat in the seat next to me as I grabbed some Cheerios and mushed up her banana. That was my makeshift breakfast. I nursed her as we took off, which was quite unsuccessful since she hates the nursing cover and was much more interested in looking around at all the people talking. I don't think it would be very polite of me to ask everyone to shut up for 5 minutes so I can nurse my kid, haha!

I had countless people come up to me to tell me how adorable my little girl is. The flight attendant even asked to hold her because she was so cute. That's right, lady 5 rows back with a not-as-cute-as-my-kid kid!! Aryn smiled at everyone. That big, 2-toothed smile. She even tried to stand on her tip toes to see behind me so I held her up by her gams- I mean, legs - and she smiled at everyone (with a soft "awwwwwwww" from everyone behind us). Thankfully the flight wasn't too booked so the 3-seater we were in allowed for an empty seat next to us to lay her down and have a nice hour-long nap.

She was an angel!

We got to Montreal and when she saw Grammy and Grampy, her feet and hands started shaking in excitement! We drove to my grandmother's house and again, I was nervous that Aryn would just cry because she tends to not like strangers.

Well.

Right when we got there; everyone talking about how Aryn rolls her feet and hands when she's happy.

This kid smiled and laughed and played for her great granny Bina! She was, again, amazing.

Who needs toys when you have Glad??

Even Granny got in on the Elmo fun!

Our trip was wonderful. Aryn got spoiled by everyone, she got huge cuddles and love from her wonderful Aunt Shirley, she got to meet her cousins Tim and Chris, she got to meet my mom's sisters Bella (Yvon), Maria and her brother Frank. We didn't get to meet any cousins on my mom's side, which is very unfortunate, but maybe next time.

Aryn meeting Auntie Maria

Aryn and Taunte Alida

Meeting Tim and Chris!

We went to the Jean Talon Market (my favourite place in Montreal, and I am still having a tough time buying fruit from No Frills after experiencing the Jean Talon Market!), we went to the cemetery to see my Grandpa Jack's and my granny Helen's grave.

Apparently photos of Maurice Richard's headstone is much more important than family.

It rained most of the time but we got to have long, beautiful walks with huge maple trees and gorgeous greenery.

Who needs to crawl when you can do the splits?!

Aryn was constipated (poor thing!) and got a bit grumpy sometimes, but she was always smiling when she was! She didn't get her normal naps and didn't sleep very well at night (away from home), but she was a real trooper. Even with sometimes 2 20-minute naps, she was still smiling and laughing and being a real sport. I mean, seriously - the poor kid barely slept the whole time we were gone!

Cuddles with Great Granny Bina!

Great Granny Bina LOVED her, and I am so grateful that she got to meet Aryn. It's a trip I'll never forget.

The flight back was a bit different. While the flight was an hour late, that meant that we were leaving right at supper time for Aryn (I worked really hard to keep her on the same Calgary schedule, and not mess her up with the 2-hour time difference). I fed her on the plane and then she was soooo tired and soooo wired that her eyes were red but she was jumping and trying to play. Thank God for Grammy and Grampy to help out! We finally got her to sleep and she slept most of the flight, but she went down with a real fight hahaha!!

Learning to walk...

Aryn, you were a wonderful little traveller and it made me realize that even though I have you on a pretty good schedule, you are very easy to manoeuvre and I feel like I can start doing a lot more things without worrying about your sleep!! And since we've gotten back, you have been an awesome sleeper!! Mommy and daddy love you soooo much and we're so proud of you!! I know you won't remember this trip, but the rest of us will and we're so glad that you are a part of our lives. We love you!!

Everyone singing "Skinamarinkidinkidink". It was a big hit.