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?"!!