a family of 5

Our first family picture as a family of five. I don't think it has really sunk in for me yet. What an exciting time to be alive! Scott looks great, the kids are cute...too bad about my shiny forehead.
Oh well.

a closer look at Hannah

We had to take about a million pictures of Hannah in order to get just the right shot for her Canadian passport photo, so I thought I would post my favourite one of her here for your viewing pleasure. Plus, newborns, they change so fast!

Sooooo cuddly! And 2 out of 3 nights, I think I'm actually getting some decent sleep!

Dana is 3!

Now that I have two daughters with birthdays in May... I wonder if I can have double parties for them in the future...

I had to make it simple this year, obviously, since Hannah's arrival makes life busier than usual. Featured below are the refreshments served, and we ordered pizza for lunch. I made the cake and cut up the fruit and a friend brought the fruit jello which was really yummy.

Here's Dana in her favourite present: a new summer dress just in time for the weather heating up. It's almost time to start turning on the air conditioning, that's how hot it is here (30+ Celsius these days).

Here are all the party guests pictured after a rousing game of "Duck, duck, GOOSE!" We also played a simplified version of pictionary with our chalk board and whoever guessed what was being drawn (by an adult) got a candy. Oh, and they could shout out the answers in Chinese or English.

And the happy birthday girl herself. She's excited to be a big girl and to be going to preschool in the fall. She is a very good helper to me these days too, helping me rinse Hannah's bum in the sink, bringing me water when I'm nursing, throwing diapers in the garbage for me and giving Hannah a MINIMUM of twenty kisses and hugs daily.

Hannah's here!

Yay! She's finally here! Hannah Joyce was born on May 6th (my due date!) at 0715, weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz. and measuring 50 cm. Scott and I are so pleased and thankful. I was especially thankful that Scott was able to make it to the delivery...even though the doctor initially thought I was in false labour. Hah! Sure showed her!

I love this proud daddy face on Scott. I must say he was a huge help to me during my labour, quoting verses to me, singing to me, encouraging me and getting me water...even handing me pieces of chocolate at some points.

Here's Hannah at less than one hour old. I was surprised at how alert she was. I think she looks a bit like Eli did when he was born...but of course it's too soon to really know who she'll look most like.

And can't forget the mandatory picture of the newborn feet, still blueish and wrinkly...

We stayed two nights in the hospital and now we are back at home. I'm wondering how life will change with 3 kids now, I'm just taking it a day at a time and trying to get as much rest as I possibly can.

Eli and Dana were really excited to meet their new sister, Dana especially just dotes on her. It's so good to be home all together again.

waiting in Beijing...

I'm almost at my due date now and really looking forward to finding out who will be joining our family soon. I am in Beijing staying with some friends until the baby is born. It has been two weeks already, because I thought I might be early like I was with Eli and Dana. This baby, it seems, is in no rush.

Why in Beijing you may ask? There is a very good international hospital here that I feel quite comfortable with. Originally I was planning to give birth at a local Chinese hospital, but I found myself not seeing eye to eye with the doctor there (the language barrier didn't help either). I felt I would be a horrible patient at a local hospital because of my nursing background and because I have had two very positive birth experiences already. The rate of cesarean sections in Chinese local hospitals is also very high which scared me. I wanted to be somewhere where I could have a say in what was happening rather than being told as is the norm.

I'm reminiscing the baby days with Eli and Dana, pictured above is Dana, sweetly surrendered to sleep. I wonder what it will be like with 3... soon I will find out, but it is hard to be patient and not be anxious about when. With every twinge or slight discomfort I'm asking myself, "is that a contraction? am I in labour now?" It's tiring to keep that level of alertness up, only to be disappointed over and over again.

Here's a picture of baby Eli. I just love how he has his little hands clasped together, and I love his little toque too (hiding his cone-head no doubt).

Thankfully, last weekend Scott came to visit me with the kids. It was so good to see them and we got to spend 3 days together. We were hoping that I would go into labour at some point during the visit, but it didn't happen.

We had a little scare with Eli, he fell off/jumped off some monkey bars and bashed and gashed RIGHT on the outside of his left eye. He just missed it. I was also thankful that he did not whack his temple, which can be really dangerous if not deadly I understand. We did not take him to get stitches, I just cleaned and bandaged him up. Aside from some swelling, it looked a lot better three days later. Phew!

Well, I will try to post again as soon as SOMETHING happens! People say that no woman has stayed pregnant forever, but I'm beginning to feel as though I may be the first...