Happy New Year's... eve - 12/31

...to all of you! We'll be busy tonight, with friends, and probably tomorrow, but I hope you all have a great new years! And for those of you who can't stay up that late, it'll still be the new year in the morning!
I just have finished putting more pictures on our photos and videos site. And a couple videos, if I remember correctly. I'll post a few here, too, as always. But there's definitely way more there!
:o)
Here's the kids in their Christmas pajamas.

Isaac laying on his blankie.

Ruthie took this picture of Isaac and me (with Josh's help a bit) and I cropped it and changed it to black and white. I rather like this one!

and a happy new year! - 12/27

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We definitely did. We kept it pretty low-key, didn't venture out too much, just really spent a bunch of time with the kids. But, ya know, that's kinda what it's all about for us!
On Saturday we did get to my friend's family Christmas. That was really nice, we all had a lot of fun there, and felt like part of the family. It definitely didn't take the place of spending time with any or all of you, but it sure helped fill the hole for us.
On Sunday we got in to Brandon for church in the morning, then came home for the rest of the day. We had veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, chicken nuggets, and meatballs, and let the kids picnic in the living room and watch a movie. They had a lot of fun, I think. They all actually got to bed a pretty decent time that night and so got a good night sleep. Definitely needed, as they were all feeling a bit under the weather with a cold.
Christmas morning we woke up with the kids and opened our stockings. Then we took time to eat breakfast before opening our gifts. The whole thing took nearly until noon! Ruthie likes to open all her presents and then play with them, while Zech likes to open and play with each one before opening the next. It was a lot of fun to do with them! Isaac slept until a bit after 10am... I guess he enjoyed his first Christmas?!!
I have lots of pictures to share, but probably won't get a chance to upload them for a bit yet. I'll try to get them on the end of this week!

Isaac is 7 months old!! - 12/19

How times flies!
Isaac Benjamin is 7 months old today!! I can hardly believe it!!
He's doing well, growing like a weed, and getting into everything that he can. He doesn't sit up on his own yet - I think he can, because he will for a bit if I just hold him and then let go, but he's lazy and lays down to roll around to reach things. He doesn't seem interested in the least bit to get up on all fours or crawl. I guess rolling suits him fine?! Just like me, from what Mom and Dad have told me! :o)
Ruthie and Zech are getting very excited for Christmas. Every night we're home and able, Josh and I sit down and wrap a few gifts to add to the pile under the tree. Ruthie has all ready said we have TONS of presents... and have to open them all! Zech is doing really well not touching them, just looks for a while from time to time!
Tonight we're going in to Brandon for Ruthie's last dance class before Christmas Break, and we're going to stay afterwards and go to Brett and Jeff's school Christmas Concert. I think Ruth and Zech will really enjoy being there to see the boys, and I think the boys will be happy we're there, too.
I'm hoping this will be the last trip to Brandon for us until Saturday. Though Thursday we'll be going to the school's Christmas Concert here in Minto (and Santa is supposed to drop in!!), and Saturday we'll be going to Ernie and Kathy's (friend's dad and step-mom) for their family Christmas.
See? With being so far away from you, and not having convinced any of you to move and join us yet, we have to adopt more family!
The biggest countdown, I think, is Josh's countdown to break! He's looking forward to a bit of a break, and it'll be really nice to have him around for the kids.

Some pictures! - 12/11

Here are some pictures, finally! Sorry, I got busy with bedtime for everyone the other day and yesterday was another busy day in Brandon. But here are some of the pictures!
Isaac playing in the exersuacer - he really likes that thing!

Isaac and Jack - he really likes that thing, too!

Ruth and Zech ballet dancing together! She gets the idea from the '12 dancing princesses' movie (a barbie movie). Zech doesn't mind dancing with her, though!!

All three kids - christmas pic. The ONLY picture I got of all three together!

Ruthie's Christmas pictures


Zech's christmas pics



Isaac's christmas pics

we're counting down to christmas! - 12/09

Well, the countdown is definitely on! Ruthie and Zech have advent calenders (the little chocolate in the window ones) and they love getting their treat every night! Ruthie's been telling us every morning what number the day is and which chocolate she'll get. Zech doesn't really get the whole idea, but he likes the treats! Grandma and Grandpa (Patti and Ken) have sent us our presents all ready, and they're sitting under the tree. To Zech this means it is Christmas, thus we open the presents. Each day we remind him that it's not Christmas until all his chocolates are gone. So far, so good. But we'll see what happens as the days continue to go by - a little guy can only wait so long!!
This weekend's another busy one. We're going to Brandon tonight to try to see the Holiday Train (going across the country to raise donations for food bank, I think? stops in a bunch of towns for a half hour concert) I don't know how long Zech will care about the music, but I'm sure he'll love to see the train pull in with christmas lights!
Then tomorrow we're going to get in for church in the morning, go for lunch, and then go to a different church's (jill and reg's church) christmas concert. It's some neat singing christmas tree concert, supposed to be really good. So, I'm sure the kids will enjoy that one, too!
And that's about it for now!
...
Oh! Bethlehem Live went well. Ruthie did really well staying outside with us - the first night she lasted almost an hour, the second night she stayed out for 1.5 hours! I didn't, however, get any pictures of us dressed up. By the time we got there and got fed and ready, we were late... so no pictures. But I've put a bunch of new pictures and one new video on the site for any who wanna peek! I'll put a few on here, too.
...
Okay pictures aren't working right now and I have a tired baby in my lap. I'll get him down for a nap and try the picutres again later! If nothing else, just go through the link to the photos and videos and you can see them all!

Happy December! - 12/01

Well, it's definitely winter here. We've had a couple snowstorms this week all ready, and it looks like another one brewing now. Hopefully we'll still be able to make it into Brandon tonight to be in our church's 'Bethlehem Live'. I'll have to remember to take my camera and have my friend got some pictures of Ruth, Josh, and me all dressed up.
Oh, for clarification, the church sets up an outdoor display, obviously with live people and animals, and people can come for a "tour" of Bethlehem. They walk through the "town" - past sheperds with sheep, homeless people, a marketplace (where we'll be), see the tax collector, and end up at the nativity scene. It's pretty neat, and a great outreach to the community. Last year I took the kids by myself, and there were TONS of people waiting for tours. The whole sanctuary was FULL of people waiting. So awesome to see!!
So, we're hoping for decent weather tonight. We need the roads to be clear enough for decent driving, and we need it to not be too cold. Snow is fine, but bitter cold is not. Noone would come, and besides that, the actors would all freeze being outside for 2.5 hours!
And, in case anyone worries - Isaac and Zech will be inside the church, with baby-sitters. Ruthie will get dressed up and come out to the marketplace with us. I'm not sure if she'll last the whole evening (though I'll have to come in for a bit, at least once, to nurse Isaac, so she can have a break then) but if she wants to, she can play in the church too.
So, hopefully there will be pictures to be shared after tonight! There are a couple really cute ones of Ruth and Zech "ballet dancing" together last night. Josh kept them home and I took Isaac into town to get some groceries and a few more Christmas things done. He called me just to tell me how cute they were and that he'd take pictures for me to see. :o)
Well, things are obviously busy, but good, with us. Sorry I haven't updated again in a while. With the computer downstairs, and (for now) in the spare room, I don't get on much. I know I don't need to be on as much as I used to be, but I do need to a bit more than I have been recently!
The kids are all well, growing and laughing lots! The boys both did awesome with their needles last week. Isaac didn't react at all to his (dptp, hib, prevnar) and Zech hasn't had any reaction yet (mmr). I know his can take up to 14 days to show reactions, though, so I'm not jumping for joy yet! Ruthie is bugging us EVERY DAY to get the tree put up for her. I think she thinks putting the tree up automatically makes it Christmas?? Might be a shock to her that just because the tree is up doesn't mean she can open and get her presents!! But I do need to get it up, if nothing else, so I can take the kids' Christmas pictures!
Hmmm... thinking about which... I should try and see if I can't use the timer to get some shots of all of us. That'd be neat. I realize as I see our pictures that we're always the ones taking them, so we're not IN them! Well, at least me anyways! I'll try to get a few of this old mug to share.
And that's about it for now! Gotta get a snack going for these guys, and maybe start on the tree for Ruthie.

1st cereal! - 11/16

Isaac had his first taste of rice cereal last night at suppertime. He was hungry (I think?!!) and I just didn't really feel like feeding him myself, so I just made some cereal up for him to see what happened. I figured he's only a few days shy of 6 months, so close enough! He made a mess, but finally was able to swallow some of it, and really liked it!

long time no see! - 11/13

Well, we're finally back online! It's been a while away from the computer, not actually all that bad a thing, really. But I've sure got a lot of updates to catch up on now!!
I just put some new pictures on the photos site to share with you all. Some from Halloween and Ruthie's birthday - she's 4 years old!!! Holy!!! Where does the time go.
I don't have very long right now, it's getting to bed time and Isaac isn't very happy, but everything went okay and we're moved into our new house. The kids (and we!!) love having all the extra space. The kids aren't used to having a playroom yet, and stay in the living room with me a lot, but more and more are "going downtairs" to play. There have been a few things that haven't been quite as good as hoped, like our kitchen taps, but they're getting fixed in time.
I'll add a few pictures here, too.
This is our new kitty, Jack. The kids love him!

These are pics of the kids on Halloween. Ruthie was the little mermaid, Zech wore my old bunny costume (which Ruthie wore, too, her 2nd halloween), and Isaac was Eeyore.



Ruthie had a great birthday party. She really liked her "cake"!

A picture of Isaac with Jack. He really likes kitty!

the move is on - 10/27

We've been moving things here and there all this week, and the big move of all the rest of everything is on Saturday. I have to get the modem taken in to set up disconnection of the net and cable tomorrow, so this is the last time I'll be on here at this house! Next time I post to you all, I'll be at our new house!!
I don't know if I'm excited or not about this. All I know is that I can't wait for it to be over and done with!
I have things switching over with phone and dial-up internet (for the time being) on Monday, so I'll be back in business then!
Wish us luck!!
Elena

big week - 10/22

This has been a big, busy, not so fun week for us here. Zech's birthday was Monday - he's 2 years old now!!! How time flies! And Isaac Benjamin is now 5 months old!
Mostly we've been busy trying to get things figured out and righted with the house. We were supposed to have possession last Sunday, the 15th, but the vendor's lawyer decided he needed confirmation that Dad had signed the papers, so that held things off until Monday. Though the papers were signed and faxed to him on Monday, however, he didn't bother calling to release the keys and so we waited. Tuesday morning, after our lawyer forced him, their lawyer released the keys and I packed up the van to move some things. When I got to the house, though, it was very messy and dirty. Garbage left in the garage and on the deck, the fridge was filthy, there is a hole in the wall and through the bathroom door downstairs that were not there when we saw the house, and actually had been covered with posters to hide them. Very dishonest. Also, there was a ton of mold in the storage room downstairs and TONS of mouse droppings in the downstairs bathroom, laundry room, and kitchen.
We felt very badly, and called our realtor. She hired a lady to come in and clean the house completely (only took her 2 full days!) and she found more mold in the boys' bedroom and the closet in Ruthie's room. She did a good job and got it all cleaned off, and we got a dehumidifier for the basement. We're going to get new doors for the closets and the storage room, first thing, louvred doors (the ones with slats) to allow for air flow. I think that should ward off the mold until we are able to find time to paint everything.
To ward off mice, we're going to get 2 cats from our friends' Dad. I'll be sure to post pictures, when I get some!
After all is said and done, we were planning all along to move yesterday, but only half the house was completely cleaned, so we're putting it off until next weekend. Basically, all this screwing around by the sellers and their lawyer has put us a full week behind schedule. I'm sure it doesn't matter to them a bit, but we need to find time at the end after the move to clean the carpets here still!
I'm sure it will all work out in the end, but this has all been very discouraging, for me anyways.
Before I go - I am putting some new pictures up on the photos site (link --->), including some of the house, empty but still! I'll put more pictures of the house once we're in and settled a bit, and I'll be sure to share with you all as we make our house really ours!

no keys yet - 10/16

Well, we've done everything the vendor's lawyer wanted and still no keys. Apparently we're not important enough for him to take the couple minutes to call the realtor and tell her we can have our keys. He's had the papers at his office all afternoon, yet our realtor called and was told he "just left the office" at 4:45pm... without ever dignifying us with a phone call.
What a jerk.
I've definitely learned one thing from this - I will never do business with this lawyer ever again. Heck, if we ever have to move again and we find the perfect house, but this is the seller's lawyer, I'd never make an offer.
I can't believe how rude this guy is.
We've now lost 3 days of moving things. And I won't be able to get anything moved until Friday because I've just got other "life" stuff to do.
Maybe we should demand a refund on our land taxes for these days without possession?

Zechariah is 2!!! - 10/16

Zechariah Joshua is 2 years old today!!!
We're going to have friends over tomorrow night for pizza (zech's favorite) and cake (Bob the Builder! another favorite!). We've gotten him a couple more train things for presents. Oh, and he picked out a pack of trucks to buy himself with the birthday money Nana and Papa sent in his card! Thanks Nana and Papa!! :o)
We're not quite moving yet, though we had hoped to be in the process of all ready. Apparently the vendor's lawyer is being a bit sticky about things and won't let us have the keys until Dad signs the papers. So, we're waiting on purolator to show up with the papers!! Hopefully we'll still get moved this weekend, though if not, there's still another weekend after which we can get it done on. So, kind of disappointing, though not unexpected, and at least we know it's all happening, it's just a matter of waiting right now.
Mom and Dad were trying to show friends the pictures of the house, and found that the link doesn't work anymore, which makes sense. I'll take pictures as soon as we get the keys, of it empty, and then with our stuff inside. And of course, I'll take more pictures as we do some things to make it ours! Auntie Jill has a great idea for painting Ruthie's room, and said she'll help! Yay! I think that will be part of Roo's birthday present, maybe.
Oh, Josh's Aunt Jill and Uncle Reg are moving to Brandon!!!! We're so excited!!!! They were here house hunting last week, and came over for dinner last night. It was SO awesome to see them and visit with them. I miss all our family so much. It'll be so nice to have someone close by!! Now we just need to work on all of you to move here! ;o)
And, I think that's it for now. There are some more pictures and a few more videos (really really cute!!) on the pictures and videos link site over there --->
And I'll get new pictures of the house once we have the keys!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! - 10/08

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!! Hope yours is a good one!!
We're all just sitting around here. The kids are watching a movie, Josh is playing video games, Isaac is napping, and I'm... well, I'm typing this! Our chicken is in the oven, roasting away.
Hard to believe that one week from today, we will officially have our house! We're hoping to pack up the car and the van that day and move a bunch of stuff. I think we'll be able to make a good size dent in the stored stuff in the shed, if nothing else. Then, during the week, I'll pack up decorations and pictures from the house, and later in the week I'll take clothes and dishes and toys we don't need for a few days here, and get all that moved. I'm hoping that by the time the following weekend comes, we'll only have large things left to move.
I can't wait!!! I'm getting very excited to move, especially for the space we'll have! I wonder if it will feel lonely to not have someone under foot ALL the time? :o) But I'll know exactly where to find them, if need be!
The other night I put Isaac in his bassinet and was looking at how HUGE he is in it. He's got barely a 1/2 inch left to go before reaching both ends at once. I feel so bad leaving him in it this long, but there's just not room for anything more up there. So, I was thinking about how nice it'll be for him to get his crib. And then I really looked at our bedroom... and realized that Ruthie's bedroom in the new house is about the same size as our room here... and her's is the smallest room!! How awesome it'll be to have space to breathe! And how nice (and necessary) it will be for Ruthie to have her very own bedroom. She so desparately craves alone time that sometimes she locks herself in the bathroom with toys to just not have Zech bugging her. Poor girl!
Speaking of Ruthie, she is SO enjoying her dance class!! I'm so happy that we were able to make this happen for her. She has a great time, and for the most part, she's doing really well listening to the teacher and doing what she's asked to - sometimes with the wrong foot or hand, but that's okay!!! She's always excited to go to the next class, and is always asking how many more sleeps!
Oh, before I forget to mention it, I think Isaac is getting his FIRST TOOTH!! All ready!!!! I couldn't believe it, but there's a teeny tiny sharp white point poking through the gum, bottom left. WOW!!! It seems WAY too early for him to be getting teeth, but I know some kids do this early. It's just that Ruthie didn't get her first tooth until 8 months, and Zech was 7 months, so I never expected this so early for any of our kids! But, that's okay, he's just gonna be a different kid!!
And I think that's it from this end... or rather, the middle, really. We're always missing all of you. And thinking of you, especially during holidays. I wish we were able to share these times with our family and friends.

5 years today...- 10/6

Happy Anniversary to us!!
5 years ago today we were married in 108 Mile Ranch, BC. Seems like just yesterday and forever ago, all at the same time.
Things are moving along with the house stuff. We went to the bank last Friday to sign the mortgage papers, and Dad went to his bank to sign them at the bank at home the beginning of this week. I'm assuming they've made it back to our bank here, and all is well, as we've heard nothing more! We go to the lawyer to sign everything next Wednesday, and then the house is ours on the following Sunday!
There still are some things that need to be done, like getting house insurance, but it's hard to find time (and energy) to do it all with 3 kids in tow. They don't exactly sit and stay when told. But it will all be done in time.
I attempted to get some pictures of all the kids yesterday. Ended up with one decent one! I'm hoping to get a couple more attempts in between now and when I need to take Christmas pictures of them so they're all practiced up!
... I just thought of it, we get to have a real tree this year!!! ...
Anyways, I'll put a few of the pictures on here. There are more on our pictures site!

Isaac's 4 month check - 09/27

I took the boys for their needles yesterday. Interesting appt, with all 3 kids in tow and only one set of hands! But we survived!
Isaac is now a few ounces over 14lbs, and about 26.25 inches. So, he's growing, but not as fast as he was - and that's a good thing!! But he's in the 90th %ile for height and only the 25th for weight, which explains why he's so darn skinny! He's slowly dropping %iles in height, and actually dropping one %ile each weigh-in, but he's healthy. He got his 4 month needles (dptp + hib, and prevnar) and has been fine so far.
I did give both boys some Tempra at the appt, to ward off fever, and gave them some at bedtime to help through the night. So far, so good!!
Zech is now about 27lbs, and 36 inches! He's a big boy, but we all ready knew that!! He had to get needles, too, as we're working on getting him caught up to where he should be. Another couple visits and he'll be done. I'm just doing him at the same time as Isaac, cuz it cuts down on appts for us. This time he got the dptp + hib and single prevnar. Because he's only a couple weeks shy of 24 months, he'll only get one prevnar shot, which is nice for him! Next time we'll get his MMR vax's started. I was going to do the first MMR this time, but the Dr said he'd prefer to just do the one's Zech got, so that's fine. And, like I said, so far so good, with both boys! So, that's awesome! Zech is a bit sad today, and says his head hurts (headache??) but he won't take any medicine for it, so it can't be that bad. A few extra cuddles here and there seem to be doing the trick for him.
And what else is happening...
I haven't started packing yet for the move. Though lots of people ask if I have. I never pack until we're actually moving. Lazy? Maybe. But really I just can't see things to pack that we don't need!! Because we take possession on a Sunday, we won't be able to really move anything until the following weekend, so during that week I'll be loading up the van and moving things each day. That'll actually get a lot moved, I think. Like the stuff in the shed, and dishes we don't use. I can even take clothes, I'm pretty sure, if I just pack the duffle bag with stuff we need here.
Anyone want to help with the move?!! Just come on out! :o)
And now baby's up and hungry, so I gotta run!

What a Week!!! - 09/22

Well, this week has been a little bit crazy, but, overall, a great week!
On Sunday we had our church's fall family fun day, sort of a kick-start to the year. It was supposed to be in the university's football field, but because of rain, was just at the church. That meant we didn't get as many new people coming, but we still had fun. Ruthi got her face painted for the very first time!!! This picture was taken by a photographer for a paper here (the "Wheat City Journal") and made it into the paper!!! She's a celebrity! :o)

On Monday it was more running around and stress for me, still trying to figure things out with the mortgage. But we DID get it in the end!!! Mom and Dad are going to co-sign, but the bank said it's only because Josh is just starting out working, and after the first term is up on the mortgage, we can get just our names on it. Not a big deal, as I know Mom and Dad want this house for us as badly as we do!
Thanks to you, Mom and Dad, and you too Patti and Ken, for ALL your help and support for us. It means so much more than we can say. Thank you. We love you.
On Tuesday, the 19th, Isaac Benjamin turned 4 months old!!! Still seems like he's been here forever, in some ways, and then only been here a day, in others. He's such a great little boy, so happy and content. :o)


Zech's just busy as always. He really loves his train table! And, yes, it is just our old coffee table. But he doesn't seem to care much at all!!

We've been busy each day. Monday and Wednesday we visited friends, and Jen and I did apples to freeze! Tuesday we went grocery shopping - I know doesn't seem like news, but try it with 3 little kids and you'll see how much news it really is! Yesterday my MOTS group started up again, which is awesome!! And today we're going to be out and about, getting to the bank and out for lunch with friends again.
This weekend we're going into Winnipeg to look for snowsuits for the kids, and also because 'Lunar Jim' is going to be at the mall!! Ruthie really loves him, so she'll be really surprised and happy to get to meet him. I'm sure we'll have more pictures to share then!
Oh, and I've put more pictures on the "pictures and videos" link. Just click that and you can see lots of pics of the babies!!! I put them on there for you to enjoy, so please do!!!!! :o)

Thank You Mom and Dad Lutz and Baker!!! - 09/22

I don't know what more I can say to any of you, other than "Thank You".
Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for letting us leave your side... even if it has left us halfway between all! Thank you for helping us whenever you could, and whenever we called.
We know now how it feels to be parents. And we have awesome examples in all of you. I only hope we can do for our babies what you have done for yours - give them an awesome start to life, and unconditional love throughout.
I know we can't do much to repay you right now, hopefully in time we will. But for the time being, I hope we can at least make you proud of us and your grandbabies.
We love you so very much. And miss you all every day.

still no mortgage - 09/15

So, we still have no mortgage, but we've done all we can do. Now it's left in the loan guy's hands. He is supposed to be letting the bank know Monday morning and they're going to call us and let us know. We're hoping they say yes, and quick! We don't want to lose this house, and we have to have this all settled by 6pm on Tues. So, cross your fingers for us, all!!!!
Josh had to take his personal day today so he could go to Royal Bank... for a meeting all of 10 minutes long. But anyways, it's done now and all the paperwork is in.
I am so badly hoping that this all gets settled and done with next week .Then all that there is to do is wait until the 15th of Oct to start moving our things. Oh, and I need to start looking for a kitty!!! :o)

links in the posts - 09/13

Sorry everyone, I just realized the links in the posts don't come up as link as I've been doing them!!
All you have to do is highlight that part, hit edit then copy, then paste it into the address bar at the top of the screen!!
Sorry!!
I'll post them differently to see if they'll work to just click...
Yay! They're working this way!!
Okay, this is the link to the pictures and videos: http://www.dropshots.com/canadianbakers
Here's the link to the house we (hopefully) bought:
http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=4690222
There! That's better!!

Ruthie's first dance class!! - 09/13

Ruthie had her first dance class last night. She did great! She wasn't bothered or scared when we left her, and when we got there to pick her up, I watched for a few minutes and she was participating and everything. Couldn't ask for more!! I'm glad she'll have something that's just her own, now. I think it'll make a difference for her.
We took the boys to a park while Ruthie was in class, to give Zech something more to do than just sit in the van.



There are more pictures, and a new video of the kids playing with their trains (really, the video is totally worth the time to load!!) here: http://www.dropshots.com/new.php?userid=141476&cdate=20060912&cimg=0
Just click on the one picture and you can see the whole days worth. The arrow will take you to the next picture, the arrow with the line will take you to the next day of pictures!!
And, finally, things aren't looking great on the house front. We have that house, but the financing is a huge issue. I think it WILL get worked out and we will get a mortgage, eventually. I just don't think it'll be done it time for this offer to stand. :o( Too bad, really. But the girl at the bank is doing all she can, so we can do nothing more than just wait and see.
Think of us, and keep your fingers crossed for us!!

we have a HOUSE!!! - 09/11

We accepted a counter-offer (which actually is our original offer) on this house!!
http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=4690222
The colors are horrid, and the carpet is pretty ugly in the bedrooms, and the lino in the bathrooms would turn your stomach, lol, but that's all esthetic stuff that we'll get to as we have time. As far as we can see, there's nothing major that needs to be done!!
Of course, the sale is conditional on our financing (which should be no problem at all thanks to mom and dad!!) and a home inspection. Which, like we say, would be a shock if something turned up.
So, now we've just gotta get things rolling with the bank and setting up the mortgage... but, really, we do have a house!!!!
Oh, other than the ugliness, it's got 3 bedrooms on the main floor, with a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and dining area. The basement is all finished and has a rec room, huge laundry room area, bedroom, and bathroom. There's another room downstairs that is a storage room right now, but we'll make into a bedroom eventually. So, all in all, a five bedroom house!! More than we even thought about looking for!!!

a mouse in the house! - 09/09

Yup, you read it right. There's a MOUSE in my HOUSE! YUCK! He's coming up from the basement through a crack in the wall (big surprise about the crack... yeah, right) right into the food cupboards. I thought I saw droppings yesterday morning, but wasn't sure. Then later in the afternoon I heard the thing in there crunching away on our food! So, as soon as Zech woke up from his nap, I packed up the kids and we went to the mall. We walked and walked and walked for 2 and a half hours until Josh was home and he had unpacked the cupboads. Now all our food is sitting in boxes around the kitchen and there are 2 traps in the cupboards. So far, no mouse.
Of course, murphy's law, the landlord is in Saskatchewan this weekend, so he won't be around to do anything until Monday. Then he's going to come and fill the hole with insulation and put traps downstairs. And apparently we've been warned not to have a cat in the house.
I really dislike this guy.
And we're supposed to be allowing showings of the house. For the time being, until the mouse is gone, there'll be no showings. There's no way to not have food everywhere in the kitchen and that's not a good thing to see. Sure would scare me off a house! Of course, the leaking roof and the hole in the wall in the kids room (to outside! you can see right outside!!!) should be enough to scare them off.
I can't wait to be out of this house.
Yet we're not having much luck on that front ourselves. Though, we did look at a house about 25 minutes south of Brandon, and we're going to put in an offer on it this afternoon. I'm not terribly optimistic, but it's worth a shot.
And that's all for now. Oh, there are some new pictures and a video on the dropshots website!!

Things are starting - 09/07

Well, school is in here which means Josh is working now. His first day was a PD (professional development) day on Tuesday, and then his first teaching day was yesterday. He was nervous, but said all went well. Funny thing, he was supposed to be teaching 2 ITV (interactive television, basically satelitte classes) classes, but noone signed up for them at any other schools! So now he just has to teach all in one classroom - big teacher has his VERY OWN classroom!!! :o) I think he'll do really well. He's been planning and getting ready all summer, and he's even set up a blog for each of his classes, so that parents can check and see what their kids are doing each day! I think that's a really good idea. So, be thinking of him and wish him luck!!
We went and looked at yet another house last night. It's in Minto, about 30 minutes south of Brandon. It's only another 30 minutes to Baldur (where Josh is teaching), so that would cut his commute in half. The house has horrid paint colors and ugly carpets, but it's well cared for and very clean. We'd definitely be painting and putting down flooring, but that would be in time. It has 3 bedrooms on the main level and then really 2, could be more with work, in the basement. For now that would give us our rooms and a spare room for visitors, which could become bedrooms for the kids when they're older. So, we're going to be putting in an offer for it and see what happens.
Ruthie is signed up for dance classes for the year. Her first class is on Tuesday! I'll have to take pictures of her all dressed up and post them for you all to share!! I'm very much hoping that having dance class will burn off some of her energy, and maybe give her a better outlet for it at home to - hopefully she'll practice instead of bouncing off the walls!
The kids are so funny when Josh gets home. He's gone before they wake up in the mornings, so they don't see him at all until he gets home around 5pm. They go nuts!! I'm hoping they'll get more used to it and calm down after a couple weeks. Though it's kind of nice because it means I get a break from them! "Mom, what Mom?"!!

update - 08/28

Well, we're still trying to find a house. Seems we've been looking and looking and just not having any luck at all. There was one house we liked, but won't pay what they want for it. Another we were about the go see (and then probably make an offer) but right before we went to see it, the sellers pulled it off the market. Today we were planning to see 2 more, but they either sold or were pulled off the market... AS we were on our way there.
I just don't know what more to do now. There's nothing more out there. I mean, we'll keep looking, but really we've looked at everything in the price range, within nearly an hour of Brandon. And there's nothing. And probably nothing much more will be coming up, as it's nearing the end of the selling "season". So I'm not sure where exactly that leaves us. I guess we just hope that the house we're renting doesn't sell out from under us, or we'll really be up a creek then!
So, Josh is busy getting to the school some days and getting things all planned out and ready. I don't envy him, that's for sure. I don't know how he's able to handle thinking about going - I'd be SO nervous! Maybe he is, but not letting it show? I don't know.
I'm busy with the kids, as always. Now that fall is coming, things will be starting up again, like play groups and my MOTS group, so we'll have to get more of a schedule figured out for us. That's not a bad thing, I don't think!
I'm also going to be putting Ruthie in dance class one night a week. She's very excited to "do ballet". :o) I can't wait to see her!! She wants to get tap shoes and pink ballet shoes... unfortunately that level only wears black ballet shoes... but I'm sure she won't care once she's going!!
Zech and Isaac are busy just being themselves! They're happy and healthy, as always. Isaac's smiling all the time, and has just started laughing at times. He can't quite control it yet, though! We'll have to try to get a video of him laughing to share with you all. It most definitely is one of the best sounds in the world!
And that's about it for now. I hope that the next time I update it will be with news of our new house. Kepp fingers crossed for us!

Isaac is 3 months old!! - 08/19

Well, that about says it all. Isaac Benjamin is 3 months old today! I can hardly believe he's been here for 3 months all ready, though in many ways it seems he's been here forever.
There are more pictures and videos uploaded on our website for you all to see!! A really funny video of Zechie on there, being his normal ham self!
Things are going pretty good here. Josh has been down to the school a couple times getting things prepared, and he did a ton of work through the summer here at home - lesson plans and such. Just a couple weeks left of summer vacation and then he becomes "Mr. Baker"!
We're still working on finding a house for ourselves. We made an offer on one, but it wasn't accepted, and the lowest the sellers will come down to the house just isn't worth. So, that one's not going to work! We made an offer on another one today, which wasn't accepted either, but the sellers made a counter-offer so it's left to us to think about it and either say yea or nay.
I'm feeling very worried and scared about all of this. Buying a house is SUCH a huge step, and I hate that we really can't afford to do it. Though, we also can't really afford to throw money away for another year or more renting. I just hate having to ask for help from our parents. We appreciate everything more than words can say, but it's not a good feeling to not be able to make things work, to make ends meet sometimes.
So, I'm not sure what we're going to do about this house. I thought yes for sure, right up until they came back with their counter-offer. I was hoping, I guess, for more of an offer back from them, or at least that they were still willing to negotiate, but they're firm on what they've decided and that's it. So, I don't know!
...and I'm trying to put some pictures on here, but the website's not really working right right now, so I'll have to post this and try to get pics later.
Bye, all!

few more pictures - 08/10

Here's a few of the kids taken while we were in Souris (town about 30 mins from Brandon). Zech's pretty good about pictures when it's just him in them, but not so great when we try to get all of the kids together!!

Hello! - 08/10

Hello All! It's been a while since we've been on to update, but have no worries - all is well with all of us! Just very busy!! We've been enjoying Josh's time off this summer, getting out every day and going camping a couple times with friends. Ruth and Zech have really had fun having Daddy home so much - I'm not sure how they'll react when he has to go teach all day! But I'm sure they'll adjust.
Isaac's growing, though not quite like a weed. And that's good seeing as how he started out so big!! He had his 2 month check and needles on July 31st. He's now 12lbs 5oz and 25 inches. He's actually lighter than Ruth or Zech were at 2 months, though he's the same length as they were at 4 months!! No wonder he's long and skinny! He did well with his needles, no reactions other than a little fever, but easily treated with Tempra.
I'll post a few pictures here, and I've put a bunch more onto the website (the photos and videos link).
Here's one of Isaac I really like! Such a snugglebug, he is.
Here's a couple I LOVE of him - especially the face in the first one!!
Some of Ruth and Zech with Isaac.

Isaac's 2 months old today! - 07/19

Isaac Benjamin Baby is 2 months old today! I can't believe he is!! It just doesn't seem like it's been 2 whole months since he came into this world, yet in other ways it seems like it's been a lifetime.We went to Winnipeg on Monday for the night - stayed at a really neat hotel in a really nice suite! On Tuesday we met up with friends of ours and went to the zoo.There are more pictures from the zoo on our pics and videos page. I'm trying to be good about throwing pictures on there every week or so, and then they show up on whatever day they were taken - very neat! Hopefully you've all had a chance to check them out and see the videos, if you haven't, you should! There's an adorable one of Isaac cooing!!!