Sometimes that boy really impresses me...

We're currently reading Understood Betsy for school (probably my favorite book so far!). In the chapter we read today, an older aunt is explaining how a sundial works to a little girl who had never heard of such a thing. The aunt comments that "sometimes it seems to me that every time a new piece of machinery comes into the door some of our wits fly out at the window!" I stopped and asked Gavin what he thought that might mean (not really thinking he would have caught the intended meaning)...

"I think it means that every time someone invents a new machine that can do things all by itself, instead of a person doing it, we lose some of our skills and ability to do that thing." He went on to give me the example of the dishwasher and how people used to have to take their dishes down to the creek to scrub them. :)

I'm pretty proud of that boy! :)

Baby faces

A picture's worth a thousand words, but sometimes a video is worth even more?? This is for those of you who don't get to see and snuggle Katrina in her 'newborn' stage. :)

(Sorry about the background music, I was watching the Olympic opening ceremonies on the computer...)

Butter making!

We're reading Understood Betsy for Gavin's school right now, and after reading how butter was made in the olden days, we decided to try it for ourselves!

It was actually much easier than I had anticipated (I thought we might be shaking our little jars for hours...) and it turned out great! The kids loved watching the cream change from liquid, to whipped cream, and then suddenly separating into buttermilk and butter! We all enjoyed some of the fresh butter on some fresh bread this afternoon! Yummy!

Yikes!

I knew it had been a long time since I had updated...but yikes!!

I think everyone has heard now (hopefully!) that we welcomed a new member into our family just before Christmas - Katrina Nicole Hope joined us a month earlier than expected on December 19. There were some complications with the delivery and Katrina was in the NICU for five days and came home on Christmas Eve. What a wonderful Christmas present that was!

She was readmitted the next week for observation because there were some issues with her heart that we had known about during the pregnancy but weren't sure of the severity. She's since seen a pediatric cardiologist from Edmonton and she will continue to be seen every few months, but she's doing great and likely won't need surgery to repair a hole in her heart until she's between three and five years old.

Katrina was 5lbs 2oz at birth which was quite a change for us as our other kids have been 9-10lbs! She's up to 6lbs 13oz now and is definitely looking fuller in the cheeks - very cute!

I'm loving maternity leave and being able to stay home with all four kids - I can't imagine having to go back to work at this point like many moms do in the States. Hopefully I'll have more time to keep the blog updated now! ;)

Shortly after she was born - lots of tubes and wires in the NICU, but we got used to what they were and how to 'unhook' her to hold her pretty quickly.

Cuddling with Daddy on Christmas Day

This gives you a bit of perspective on how tiny she was. Just a little dolly. :)

Snuggling with Granny while she was at our house helping.