Praise be to the giver of life...

, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

who brought a new little nephew, Mitchum Price Dubitz, into the world late last night. He was delivered by c-section after a very long day of labouring. Both he and Kristie are reportedly doing well (not sure about Murray > > :) ), but please keep Kris in prayer. She's got a long recovery ahead of her.

Welcome to our family, little guy!

Sunshine

, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Kisses for Ranger

Kisses for Ranger, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

He was having a good scratch but she thought he was waiting for a kiss.

Flyaways and Scruffies

Flyaways and Scruffies, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Watching their brother work outside with the big boys.

One of the things I dislike about my 50mm is that I can rarely get more than one of my kids in the same frame without scheming to make it happen. I love it when I can catch them together unaware.

Head and shoulders

Head and shoulders, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

knees and toes. It amuses her even when she's not feeling well.

"Maw-cheen, maw-cheen..."

"Maw-cheen, maw-cheen...", originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Emmy loves the song about the battle of Jericho from my uncle, Jamie Soles' 'Memorials' CD. She doesn't know all of the words, but she's got the marching bit down cold.

Oh look. A real dog.

Oh look. A real dog., originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

16 months

Addie and Buddy. He usually gives her a wide perimeter because she is a loving terror to all creatures big and small, but he was momentarily tranfixed on the neighbour's Jack Russel and forgot himself.
As you may gather by reading her body language, she has unapologetically decided that the beagles are really magnificent steeds and must therefore be a good means of transportation to town. She has made many attempts to convince them that she is a featherweight princess, but alas, they disagree.

Smokin' a stogie

, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Don't worry. It's only a "betend cigaw".
Note to self: take more time to play babies with her instead of letting her run wild with the boys. At least she hasn't come to show me how to make a g-string with her underwear yet like my sisters and I did to our poor mother. ;)

All who think she looks like Auntie Tammy now, say "aye".

Aye.

P.S. Ang, if you still frequent here, I hope you had a wonderful birthday too!

An early appreciation for photos

An early appreciation for photos, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

She loves our engagement photos. So what if they were taken by WalMart. I'll teach her to be more discerning when she gets older. ;)

Happy Birthday toooo yooouuuu!

Just wanted to pop on for a sec and wish my niece Baillie and nephew Harrison the happiest of birthdays from their sad excuse for an Auntie. I'm not good at the birthday thing. I seem to be perpetually a day late and a dollar short, but I love you both anyway and I'm so glad you're in my family!

Ah, spring.

Ah, spring., originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

It was close to 90 degrees out there today. A beautiful 90. A 90 without humidity. I got to get out in it several times since it was laundry day and we dry our clothes on the line as much as possible. Emmy obliged me with a few photos in exchange for a grass fight. You're thinking she works cheap, right? Not really. You will recall that I'm enormously pregnant. A grass fight is a serious workout for me.

Sometimes...

Sometimes..., originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

the unconventional is just more appealing.

My son. All boy. All the time. He's been having a blast with his cousins. They play war quite a bit. He wears his battle wounds proudly - after the fact, of course.
Yesterday I gave him an old John Deere calendar that one of the boys was getting rid of. Josh thought he might like to look at the paintings in it. There were a couple of scenes depicting farm kids riding on or playing around mini tractors. Joshy naturally gravitated towards these and immediately hatched a plan to get one of his own.

Joshy: "Hey Dad! Look at these cool tractors. Don't you want to make me one? It'll be so easy. Ok. First, all you have to do is get some supplies like an old mailbox and some tires, and then you can just take two days to make it for me!"

Ah, the optimism of youth.

Our room 3

Our room 3, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

You can't get the whole picture from these, but they'll have to do. I've got to go make cookies and bread before the girls wake up.

Our room 2

Our room 2, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Click on the photo to read the notes.

Our room 1

Our room 1, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Here's the dormer, Jode.

kids' nook

kids nook, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

It's squishy, but it works. Click on the photo to read the notes.

Good morning

Good morning, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

The view from my window on a sunny morning. Hooray for spring! I'm so glad to see green again.

"Boooow!"

"Boooow!", originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Her word for "boo". She was peeking out at me from the window seat in our dormer.

"Mmmmm-AH!"

"Mmmmm-AH!", originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

She loves her baby.

5 things:

1. Yesterday Josh and I took the...scenic route to the hospital I hope to deliver the baby at. Scenic meaning over an hour past our exit and a long meandering road back. Thank the Lord this was a trial run and I wasn't in labour or I would have had him in the van for sure. I completely missed my ultrasound (they wanted to check my fluid levels), but the kind midwife on shift squeezed me in for a quick visit and then we got to tour the birthing center afterwards. It's nice. Very much like St. Mary's only a bit smaller. I was happy to see big windows. My camera is coming with me this time.

2. Baby's check-up was good. He's head down again which is a huge relief. I'm doing all I can now to get him to roll over into an anterior position. Only 6 weeks to go, yay! This is the first pregnancy that I've been anxious to have over with.

3. The kids are loving it here. Now that spring has finally arrived, Joshy and Em are outdoors most of the time. Poor Addie has to watch from the sidelines since she has to wait for me to get the inside things done before I can take her out. She feels the deprivation most bitterly, I assure you.

4. Tomorrow is Josh's 30th birthday. Thirtieth. Wow. Where have the last 14 years gone?

5. There is a pile of laundry waiting for me to fold it. I guess I'd better scoot.

My Sweet Girl, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

My sweet girl

My sweet girl, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

From this afternoon's www.scarletstitch.com mini shoot. She's wearing the Camel linen newsboy cap and Chestnut Sunday Sash dress.

Lately when she's feeling affectionate, she comes over, gives me a squeeze and says, "Momma, I'm yours".

, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

I was taking photos of Emmy this afternoon for www.scarletstitch.com. She had to get in on it too. She gave me two shots and then took off. She's hitting the terrible ones.

I'm waiting for Josh...

to finish caulking the countertop so we can go out. Just the two of us. *sigh* We usually go to WalMart or some other humdrum-why-did-I-come-here place, but today, today he's taking me somewhere special. That's right.

Home Depot.

I know. It's hard not to be envious.

I leave you with a small portion of Psalm 100 as sung by Emmy.

Adieu.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Awww peep-o dat on dirt do weeeelll..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were in the middle of Psalm 23 the other night when Joshy interrupted:

Joshy: "Excuse me, Dad?"

Daddy: "What is it?"

Joshy: "What's a sflocky?"

Daddy: "A sflocky?"

Joshy: "Ya. We are he sflocky doth us feeeeed..."

Still no photos. I think my phojo is gone. How about some funny kid stuff?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joshy: "Mom! Momma! I killed a ladybug for you with my spear!"

Me (from the bathroom - as if he could hear me over Emmy): "Oh, don't kill those anymore. Let's take them outside. They're good bugs."

Joshy: "ACK! Emmy! NO! Do NOT touch that dead ladybug. It's got insects!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emmy praying after morning worship: "...and I pway that when a tigoo wuns up into duh house dat Joshy and Daddy wiw be aboe to get theiw guns an' shoot it so Momma and I can chop it up in duh kitchen an' cook it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Addie communicates with signs and non-verbal communication for the most part, but she's increasing her vocabulary every day. Her latest:

Ranger (Jackson's dog that she adores) - "Rayrayray"

Shoes - "Shoosh?"

Boots - "Boo?"

Outside - "I. IIII. Shoosh? Shoosh? IIIIIIIIIII!" She would like to live out there.

Baby - "Beebay. O-o-o-o-oh"

Smell - "Mou" She likes to smell everything just like Emmy did.

Bad dog - "Baa Baa"

Daisy (Ann's beagle) - "D-sheshe"

I love you - "Yuhyou"

Her favourite, and most often heard phrase is still, "By-tuh, by-tuh DO' FA' DOWWWWW!" She gives horsey rides to her dolls, her cup, her pots, and pretty much anything else that she can fit onto her lap.

It's too early to be blogging...

but I can't sleep. That's what I get for going to bed at 8:30.

My visit with the midwife was positive. She said I'm a good candidate for a VBAC. :D I'll be going to the birthing center in two weeks for my next check-up. I could have it here, but I want to time the trip and make sure I know where to go on the big day. My due date is May 26. That's my final answer. ;)

The midwife said that the baby is head down which is what I had figured. Kicks in the ribs are just good things. I have come to appreciate and welcome them. Now he just needs to do the hokey-pokey and turn himself around so he won't be sunny side up.

I still haven't taken any more photos. I was going to yesterday, but it was not a good day. I woke up feeling headachey and sick to my stomach, Joshy and Emmy didn't go to sleep at rest time, two Beagles joined the household (imagine the mayhem if you can), and then it took me a year to make fajitas and chocolate chip cookies. I'm making the tortillas a day ahead next time. That was crazy.

Almost as crazy as blogging this early in the morning. Oiy. I'm going back to bed.