Picture Time Once Again!

A new friend of mine, Adrienne, who is a gift from God, has opened up a whole new way of posting pictures to me! I have seen other bloggers do this but have myself just learnt! If you would like to give it a try, download the new version of Picasa and voila you will have a super user friendly way of posting and sharing pictures!!

What is going on with the Wilsons!?!

Wow it has been way too long since we have updated the blog. . . things around here have been very hectic and busy lately. Caidy has started sitting, she is very proud of herself and loves to be the center of attention with Leah and Elijah. Also since she has just turned 6 months we are more actively starting her on solids. I don't think she minds eating them but every time we put the spoon near her mouth she cringes. Definatley from her hate of massaging, anything near her mouth makes her mad, but she needs to eat!

Also along the lines of change James has been offered the job of Associate Pastor of Youth in Grand Forks BC. We are really excited about the chagnes that are most likely going to be taking place in the next couple months and would love your continued prayer as we seek Gods wisdom in knowing if this is where He wants our family.

Look what we caught!

On Tuesday Aug 22nd my dad, brothers and I went Salmon fishing. It was a succesful day. We caught 11 Salmon, and had lots of fun. Plus, had some great father---son bonding time. We look forward to doing it again next year!~

Change is in the air. . .

A couple days ago I made mention of a job prospect for James.

I am now pleased to announce that we have been invited to candidate at The Gospel Chapel in Grand Forks BC. We are a little uncertain as to when we will be going, there are 2 possible weekends that may work, but we are both very excited for James to potentially be getting a job and going back to the ministry and for myself to go back to being a stay at home mom.

Grand Forks is located along the Crows Nest Pass, Highway #3, which runs parallel to the US BC boarders. The town is approx 5000 people, so just what James and I are looking for, the chance to get back to a smaller community.

We are excited for this change and the fact that we are starting to see Gods hand in how things have been working the past couple months. My job has been a big blessing, and James has done an amazing job being a stay at home dad, but we are sooooo ready to have a normal schedule back.

Please be praying with us that Gods plan will continue to unravel and we will soon be past this time of growth ;)

More pictures from the Maze!

A Day at the Corn Maze

Today we thought it would be fun to take the kids to the Meadow Corn Maze. Leah and Elijah were both super excited to hear that there would be ponies to ride. Although as soon as James told them Leah went on to tell Elijah that she would get the pink pony and he could have the blue one! After James explained to them that most ponies are either brown or white, the only other concern they had was to whether or not they should bring their cowboy hats!

Caidy started the day out pretty grumpy with a trip to a walk in clinic because we thought she may have an ear infection, but it turned out she is just teething and not taking it very well! The poor little girl was so grumpy but slept the majority of the time we were out, so all was well! You'd think by our 3rd we would know the difference! Oh well :)

5 Months Already

It is hard to believe Caidy is already 5 months old today. She has gone through so much in such a short time, but you would never know it. She is developing right on track and already weighs in at 11lbs 10 oz. I think her height is around 24.5", but that could be off by a bit because I didn't write it down after her shots the other week! She has been eating well, like always, and soon we will be introducing solids. I am in no hurry though because she seems comtent after her bottles and with the other 2 I didn't start until after 6 months so I figure I will do the same for Caidy and start her next month.

There are some prospects in sight for James as far as jobs go and we would appreciate your prayers while we seek Gods plan for our family. We are really excited about what is to come and will tell more after this weekend when we have a little more information!! Stay tuned. . .

~~Picture Time~~

From a day playing outside to seeing more of Caidys' beautiful smile. . . here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Pictures of Caidy

Caidy's lip has been healing so well. We were at the Plastic surgeons' today and he was happy with how things look and would like to see us again in Sept. Once the little bit of scaring is gone, we will start massaging Caidy's lip. Dr. Courtemanche would like us to use alo vera and using a circular motion rub lightly on Caidy's lip where the scar is to help stretch the skin as well as minimize the scaring. While the scar is healing it will shrink causing the lip to be pulled up, the massage will encourage the lip to not shrink up, and also will allow us to get a fully healed lip quicker. He said that before massaging was practiced it would take up to a year to see the final results of a lip repair but now that people have been doing this there can be results much sooner. Hopefully this will work for us and the scaring will be minimal as well.




Also as you can see from the majority of the pictures she loves having her fingers in her mouth! Having the arm rastraints on was so hard for her, during the day we would allow her to go without them and she would instantly want to suck on her fingers! We could never leave her alone with them off but she was also just happy to be able to move freely! I don't think she is teething at all, she just really likes to chew on those finger and slobber everywhere!!

Picture of the Kids

My Beautiful New Smile

Here are some pictures of our beautiful little girl! She looks so good and we know that she will get more beautiful everyday as the swelling goes down and she heals.

I still can't get over how great she looks!! Her eyes look even so much bigger as well as her cheeks look so much chubbier! This is Caidy today when Daddy arrived at the hospital, she was so excited to see him, I think she will be even more of a daddy's girl than Leah! He's one pretty lucky guy to be blessed with such gorgeous girls ;)
This is more of a close up, sorry about the blood, but they were really pleased that there wasn't much. I am so excited now for the last little bit of tape to come of so that we can really truly see her beautiful smile! Here is how I saw Caidy when I first walked into the recovery room. I couldn't stop the tears after I saw just how truly beautiful she is! The nurses were tying to comfort her, but she needed to see her mommy to stop the tears. I held her for over an hour in the recovery room while poor James had to wait since only one of us were allowed in. When we walked out to meet him it was like we both just wanted to stare at her because it was so amazing that she looked so perfect!
I absolutely love this picture James took of Caidy and I while we were waiting in the room for the nurse to come and take all Caidys' vitals (ie. blood pressure, temperature, listen to her heart beat, and weigh and measure her.) I really wanted a great picture to remember how beautiful Caidy looked before the surgery and I definitely got that!!

Quick Update

Last night was a long one!! I have a couple minutes free because the nurse is watching Caidy so I can grab some breakfast. She only slept about 3 hrs on her own and the rest of time was wanting to be held, so I am tired! Also if you could pray for her, she hasn't eaten anything since her almost 2 oz yesterday around 3. The Dr. Came by this morning and said that until she starts eating they are going to keep us around, so I would LOVE to be able to go home today or tomorrow. James is actually coming by this afternoon to stay with Caidy so I can either sleep, or go for a walk, more than likely sleep!
Thank you again for all your prayers

Update

Just wanted to let everyone know Caidy is doing great, she looks FABULOUS! Unfortunately I can't post pictures from here in the hospital, but as soon as we are home you know there will be a ton!
Her surgery actually was closer to 3.5 hrs long, roughly 1.5hrs longer than expected, but they told us she did great and she is now sleeping from all the excitement! She ate only 2 oz once she woke, but I know that is will increase once she starts feeling better! Thank you all for continuing to pray for us and we can't wait to show off how beautiful she looks and how much she really looks like Elijah!! There is one picture where it is uncanny!
Now that I am just babbling I need to go back and check on her (there are computers in the hospital to use) Thank you again!

Surgery Tomorrow

As you all know Caidy's surgery is tomorrow. We had our pre-op appt. at the hospital today and the the surgery will be at 9:25 am. It will be approx 1.5-2 hrs long and Caidy will need to stay in the hospital for at least 1 night, maybe 2. Please be praying for our little girl, that she will do great while in the operating room and also that the healing process will go smooth and quick!

Thank you again for keeping us in your prayers. . . :)

Wee Piggies and Paws

I won a gift certificate from Wee Piggies and Paws and was excited today when we got the phone call that it was finished. They put Leah, Elijahs and Caidy's feet into clay and then here is the finished product. I think it turned out great! There are quite a few other picture frames that I would love to get as well, but I really love the one we had done! On the frame it has the kids ages engraved and the date on the bottom. I would highly recommend doing this so anyone who loves beautiful little baby feet!!

Donating over 500 oz of Breast Milk!!

As you all know I have been pumping for Caidy. Since I am making a whack load of milk I contacted Children's Hospital Milk bank to see about donating it. I phoned them a month ago and since our freezer has been full I have been throwing out all that Caidy doesn't need. Well today I got a call that they will accept my milk, I just needed to answer some questions and I will need to so some blood work, but everything should check out fine and some babies who need it will be getting some amazing mommy milk! This makes me feel so great! I know Caidy needs my milk and I am doing this hard work for a reason, but what a great motivator to know that other babies who are premature or whose mothers aren't as fortunate to have a great supply will get to benefit as well! YAY this made my day!!

We have a DATE!

Yesterday our Plastic Surgeons office called and Caidy has a date for her lip, nose and gumline repair!! June 29th is the day. That is only 3 weeks away and we are extatic!! It is so hard to believe that this time has past so quickly, that I have pumped the entire time, and that soon our little girl will look totally different. WooHoo we are getting closer!!

Milo and Otis

Our family had an addition of two new members for a night! As you can see Leah and Elijah were in love with their new cats.

Yesterday afternoon we headed out to Megan and Nicks farm to look at the new kittens and because James has always wanted a cat, we ended up coming home with 2:). I said that the only way I would agree to this is if we gave them a 1 week trial. Well our trial only lasted 1 night and today I brought them back to the farm!! :) If you know me, you know I am not an animal person at all! I actually can't believe I agreed to this in the first place, but seriously didn't really mind having them around!! I was the one to bring them back to the farm and contemplated a couple times turning around and bringing them back home! Maybe our kids are too young right now to have an animal, but next time I don't think James and the kids are going to have to work quite so hard to persuade me!!

Lighten the Mood 3!

I wasn't liking the fact that everytime someone was logging on to our blog the mood was so low so I wanted to tell a little of the good things that have been happening. We are still uncertain of what the future holds, getting no info yet on the jobs, but we are enjoying our time together as a family and knowing that God has us in His will is helping ease the stress. The kids are doing great, Caidy had another orthodontist appt today, and everything is ready for surgery, we just have to wait on a date. Also Elijah had a follow up appt with the Urologist and I am happy to say he is looking perfect! As for me the new job is going pretty well, it is taking a little time to get back into the swing of things, but I am really enjoying the time out and James is getting to know what being a stay at home parent is like, he is really great at it. Leah asked him the other day if he could always stay home! Also Caidy is enjoying her Bumbo seat! She loves to be able to sit and look everywhere without having to be laying or propped up against something. Here is a picture of her in it. We will update as soon as we get news of any kind! Thank you again for all your prayers, we really appreciate it.

Also her feet aren't really that big!! She is wearing Robeez and they are huge on her but help keep the socks up!

Big Changes

There are some major changes taking place in our family right now. For starters Caidy is all ready for surgery and we should be hearing from the Plastic Surgeon in the next couple weeks as to when the surgery will be. We are both feeling excited and apprehensive at the same time. We want Caidy to look 'normal' but at the same time we have grown to love her for the way she is and don't really want her to change. I know it is going to be a big difference once her lip is repaired and we are praying and would love you to as well, that things so smoothly and quickly.
The other news that we have is a little harder to talk about. As you all know James has been working construction for the past 9 months and although he wasn't too fond of the job, it did pay the bills and he had an amazing boss who was great with all the appts and hours James had to work. We have been praying about when it would be time to move on, he has been applying at numerous jobs and nothing seemed to be panning out. He knew that God was telling him that he wouldn't move on to a new job until this construction one was finished and James had peace with that, and felt he would move on once they were done working at the Elementary School they were at. When that date came and went and he was still doing construction he started to question God but knew he had to trust that what he heard God say was true, so James stayed on and we continued to apply at jobs. This week on Tuesday the the unthinkable happened, James' job finished. LITERALLY! He was laid off, there are just no more sites right now and his boss had to let people go, James being one. WOW this was not what we were expecting at all, but God did say finished and James is now completely finished his construction job. We are trusting that God has a plan for us, we have no idea what that plan is, but there are 2 job possibilities right now and we are praying one of them works out to be the one God was preparing James for.
In the meantime since there are still bills to be paid and we do have 3 kids I have gone back to work. I will be going back to waitressing at a fine Italian Restaurant here is Maple Ridge, unfortunately it is only part time, but realistically I don't think it is even feasible for me to go back for anything more than that while I am still pumping for Caidy and James does have to be actively looking for work. Having read all this we would really appreciate your prayers right now. This is something that is humbling to talk about, it is always hard to talk about your weaknesses.
We know that we are going through everything right now for a reason and although it is really hard to stand on truth and trust we know that it is what we are supposed to be doing. God does have a plan for our little family and there is a reason we are here in BC. We also know that we have an amazing network of friends and family who are willing to pray for us and we thank you all so much for it!!

Update on us

Wow it has been a really long time since I last updated everyone. Things around here have been so uneventful there has been nothing to write about! I know it seems odd for someone to say who has 3 kids so young, but we have gotten into a great routine and things are going well. Caidy is sleeping and eating wonderfully, she takes anywhere from 3-6 oz at a time and sleeps 8-10 hrs in a row at night. She usually goes down at either 9 or 10 and sleeps till 5 or 6, eating and then going right back to sleep for a couple more hours. If I could only get her older sister to sleep in I would be set!
I am not sure if anyone out there is a Survivor fan, but proceeds from the auction of the Survivor Panama show to go to Operation Smile. http://www.operationsmile.org/landing/survivor/
They are auctioning everything on e-bay and since this is a charity that James and I would love to support one day I was pretty impressed.
I just wanted to let everyone know we are doing great and still here! ;)

Great Tuesday Trip into Vancouver

Today was such a gift from God! James and I have been both a little anxious about what is next, trying to rely on God that He has us here for a reason while having the patience to see what that reason is! It was maybe a little glimpse today when we were able to enjoy the beautiful area we live in with an afternoon at the ocean. We are in the lower main land so why not make the most of it, especially when we are having to go into Vancouver every week, we thought we would do a little sight seeing.
Leah was so excited about the beach that she had her shoes off within minutes and was wanting to make sand castles and swim! If the weather would have been warmer we would have let her, but it was super windy and quite cold, so we held her back! :) Elijah on the other hand has never expereinced Saskatchewan winters so isn't used to the cold and didn't really want to do much of anything but shiver! Poor Caidy didn't have a choice but to stay bundled up out of the wind, there was no way I was going to expose her to the cold ocean air.
It was a great trip in today with Caidys appt going well, all the orthadontist had to do was move the stint a little and we were on our way. Tomorrow may not go quite as smooth as she is getting her 2 month shots, so we may have a grumpy little girl on our hands!

Picture time once again. . .

Leah and I were playing dressup with Caidy, she did so well for the first outfit. (compliments of Grandma Wilson)
Not so well for the 2nd outfit! The afgan she is on was made by Great Grandma Wright, it is just gorgeous. Leah and Caidy being silly! I love her smiles! Elijah in a monster truck tire last weekend when we went to Abbotsford for a children's convention at the Tradex center. He loved the trucks and bikes, typical boy!

Defying all the odds

Caidy's clefts have really been improving from wearing the tape and I wanted to compare a picture of her at 1 week to her at 6 weeks. It is amazing how much it has shrunk! We really don't notice it because she always wears her tape, but WOW what an amazing difference. Also in the 2nd picture you can notice the gap in her gumline, I am not sure if you can see it in the 1st picture but her gumline is pretty much covering the gap now. Our orthodontist was guessing that due to the size of her cleft her first surgery would most likely be at 5 months, but because she is responding to the tape so well and her cleft has shrunk by so much in such a short time, the surgery will more than likely be in July now. Although nothing is set in stone, it is so encouraging to know that she is really beating the odds in every area!

Big Smiles!

Our beautiful little girls smile!!

Our little Piggy!

Our little girl has changed so much in the last 2 weeks! She is smiling all the time, more alert and turned into quite a little piggy! Caidy was weighed yesterday and is {{{{{{{{{{ DRUM ROLL PLEASE }}}}}}}}}}}}
8lbs 3 oz!! She gained 10 oz in 2 weeks! We finally figured out a bottle that works, Dr. Brown bottle with Cleft palate nurser nipple. She takes only about 15 mins to chow down 4 oz! Half the time she doesn't even want to burp until she is finished the entire thing and then lets out a huge one and starts smiling away! She is also still only getting breast milk, which is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I know she needs it. As of today my goal is to make it to her first surgery and we will see how things are going after that, I don't want to overwhelm myself by saying I am going to make it to her first b-day, I know that would just make me want to quit more!
We have tried our hardest to get a picture of our little princess smiling, but can't seem to time things right, so hopefully in the next day or two we will be posting a picture of her beautiful wide smile!

Lighten the Mood 2

Here is a Comic from the Vancouver Paper that relates to our family! It's funny

Elijah's Big Day

Thank you all for thinking of us today. Elijah did really well and amazed both James and I with how great of a kid he is! :) When we arrived at the hospital he was flirting with all the nurses and making everyone there fall in love with him! Every single person commented on what a well behaved boy he was, and I think he made an impact on everyone!
James took ELijah into the room and was there when they gave him the anesthetic, he was instantly asleep, daddy came back a little teary eyed having to see his little guy put under. I know I wouldn't have been able to go in there with him.
After the surgery I was able to go in and see him and he was just sitting in his bed hanging out! He didn't cry once while we were there and allowed all the nurses to take his temp, blood pressure and listen to his heart. Tommy met us at the hospital and once Elijah saw him all he wanted was his uncle and didn't want anything to do with mom or dad! He was pretty upset when Tom put him into the van and had to leave.
He has also been doing really well since we have gotten home. It is a fight to give his his tylonol with codeine, but you can tell it is working. He had a very full diaper tonight and it really hurts when he has to pee, but once he does he goes back to playing hockey and running around. It has been more of a fight to get him to sit still!
He is gone to bed and Caidy is sleeping as well, so James and I are going to bed early because we are a little unsure what tonight is going to be like!

Elijahs' Surgery

Please be praying for our little guy tomorrow morning. We have to be at Children's Hospital at 7:40 am and Elijah goes in for surgery at 9:10. We should be able to leave the hospital around 11:30, which is nice to not have to spend the day there. We will update everyone when we get home tomorrow! Thanks for all the encouragement and support!

More Pictures!

This is one of the professional pictures we had taken, I scanned it in so its al little fuzzy, but I love it none the less. Plus if I ever get around to it they will be in the mail to so many of you soon!
A very proud Leah
An equally proud Elijah

Grandpa West

I love this picture! Grandpa and Grandma West were out visiting the past 2 weeks and unfortunately are now gone home. Leah and ELijah had a great time playing and re-getting to know their grandpa and grandma who lives too far away, they miss them almost as much as I do! :)