a glimpse of Christmas on Bains 2009....

Here are just a *few* pictures of what Christmas looks like at our house... and of course *some* super cute pictures of my kidlets. Enjoy the many many pictures.........

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The kids enjoying the snow; making snow angels, sliding down the hill... and of course throwing snowballs!

SLIDING!!!!!!! wwweeeeeeeee....

Gracie giving 'frosty' a little kiss.... ;)

SNOWBALL FIGHT! gotcha!!

Snow angels..

And now.. here is a look at how we decorate and get ready for Christmas, the birth of Christ ...

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and myrrh. Matthew 2: 10 & 11

Playing catch-up!

Needless to say I haven't posted for a few weeks. Not only am I busy with homeschooling, a newborn, the Christmas season, visiting family, Christmas concerts and Christmas baking... I have also been busy taking pictures. So here is a bit of a hodge podge look at what we've been up to:

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Here we are trying to put up our Christmas lights, thankfully it hadn't snowed yet.. but who would have thought four kids would slow us down instead! ;) But it was soo fun! I can't believe how much fun just doing the simple things with my family could be!

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I planned to do something special with Ava after the birth of Linden and so we went to a Edwardian Christmas Tea. It was a really great day! Ava had a great time eating the little sandwiches, tiny pastries and drinking apple juice! She also had a great time looking at the manson that was all decked out for Christmas!

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This year we tried something different. Instead of trying to haul... now four kids to a photographer to get our Christmas picture done we opted to stay home and try it out ourselves. It was a *bit* less hectic... ha ha who am I kidding! It was a crazy! But soo much fun! After seventy-eight pictures.. we managed to get a decent one. We were trying soo hard to get a nice one as I wanted to put them on the cover of our Christmas cards... the final pick is the one on the header of my blog.. but I decided to also share some of the more *real* pictures!

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Another first ... was a four hour road trip as a family of six. The kids actually did really really well! Linden was a trooper too! We usually try to leave once the kids have had a meal that way once we get in the car and they are all settled in they nap. But for the first little while Ava amused herself with her *laptop*. Below is a picture of Ava writing her story! She said she was typing out a story... what an imagination! I can't wait until she can actually write.. it will be very very interesting! And below that picture is the rest of the brew.. Gabriel, Grace and Linden! It was really strange to look back and see all the kids.. I couldn't help but wonder what they would look like when they were older ... and we were on another family road trip... hummm.

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Our destination... my family Christmas. We will not be able to spend or see my family over Christmas so we thought we would go visit for the weekend about a month before Christmas. It was a very busy weekend ~ but well worth it. We were not only able to visit with family, but we saw some of our friends as well! We were thankful too that it had not snowed yet.. so the roads were perfect for driving!

The next two pictures are of Gabriel and my brother:

Left to right: Jay, my dad, my brother & my brother-in-law

Ava was really excited, not only to see her Auntie, Uncle and cousins but also some old friends! Ava kept saying over and over again before we left: "THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!!" I am glad we had the chance to see some of our friends too. Ahhhh we just love them soo much! We wish we could have seen all our friends.. but we were only visiting for the weekend..

Here Ava is decorating a gingerbread man at her Auntie's house:

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And finally here is a picture of our first big snow fall... it is a bit hard to make out.. since by the time I got outside it was already dark! (can I just say that these shorter days are just killing me! I already feel like I don't have enough hours in the day!! But once it gets dark.. I just start to shut down... time to slow down, sit by the fire or watch a movie... *sigh*)... anyway back to the picture. Here is a picture of the front of our home.. I really really hope we don't have a green Christmas!!

These are just a few things we've been up to. I have to admit life with four kids can be busy... ok is really really busy! Most days I'm just cruising on coffee ~ and I'm ok with that ;) It's a lot of work, takes a lot of patience, a lot of time... but it's soo worth it! Hope you enjoyed a peek into many of our days..

It's a... It's a... IT'S A BOY!

OK... so it has taken me a while to put this post up.. but .... we had a baby boy!! Linden Isaac Jardine was born on Thursday November 5th at 2:08pm! He was 8lbs 1oz and 20 1/2 inches long! He is a super good baby! The first few days all he wanted to do was nurse, nurse, nurse. Pretty hard on my poor boobies! ~ but my milk did come in on the 3rd day! He is a really good eater!! Certainly I know everyone has their ups and downs when a new baby comes into a family.. but a really good rule of thumb and schedule that I use.. is this: When baby is first born I just let them feed as much as they want until my milk comes in. Then I start with the 'schedule':


During the day I wake my baby every 3 hours. I can generally get the 'day' to start at 7a.. so then the feeding schedule is as follows 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p, 7p and then 10p. The steps I follow during the day are: feed, change, play and then let them fall back asleep (this whole process can take up to an hour or so). At night I let them sleep as long as they can go and I just omit the playing part. I just feed, change maybe feed again then back to bed. At first their bodies will automatically wake every 3 or even 4 hours through the night and I just feed on demand.. but once they get a few weeks older I don't jump up and feed them as soon as they wake through the night.. this is how I get them to sleep through the night. I let them stir or suck on their soother and prolong the feed for 15 mins or 30 mins.. then I feed. I do this a few nights in a row... then their bodies get used to going a little longer through the night. Another reason they tend to go longer through the night is because I feed them every 3 hours during the day ~ and wake them (I know, I know... everyone always says DON'T WAKE A SLEEPING BABY)...but from my experience you'll pay for it later... and it will likely be at night! If you don't wake your baby.. they can get their days and nights mixed up. Also they won't consume enough calories and I find if they don't eat enough during the day they are trying to play catch up at night. Also it helps to make your feedings more predictable. I know when I can go out.. I know when I have to be home.. and I know my baby is happy and gaining weight at a healthy and reasonable rate.


I remember reading this great book after I had Ava... and for the life of me I can not remember the name. But I found it soo helpful and this is where I got my 'schedule' from. I've altered it a bit to suit our family's needs.. but it works! And that's what matters to us!


Back to the birth.. we did indeed have a home birth. And it was everything I thought it would be! So comfortable, so familiar just a really natural process! I loved not having to go to the hospital.. I could just stay in the comfort of my own home... pace, eat, drink and use my own bathroom! Awesome! Once he was born.. I was able to take a shower in my own bathroom, put my new pajamas on and slip back into my clean bed that the midwives made up. It truly was a great birth experience. And I am glad I was able to do this considering this will be my last birth.


Jay was great too! He held his head when he starting to come out, helped with getting the shoulders out, caught and cut the umbilical cord. I was a bit surprised how involved he wanted to be... but he was really excited about the whole process! He was able to cut the cords of our other three children.. but again not as involved as this birth!


Ok Ok... so what you`ve all been waiting for.... some pictures of our perfect baby boy Linden Isaac! Enjoy!

Just born!

A few hours old..

2 days old

And that is our little man! Our family is complete... two girls ... two boys... all healthy! It doesn`t get any better than that! Thank you God for blessing us with our children and we pray that we can be the parents you want us to be :)

40 weeks and 3 days ~

So technically I am now overdue. Not sure what this baby is thinking or doing in me... but what I do know for sure is I am tired. I've been having contractions, mostly at night. Monday was a full moon, apparently for many women this affects them and go into labor, generally 4 days before and for a few days after the full moon. But for me... it hasn't brought full on labor but just a lot of contractions, again mostly at night which doesn't really allow me to get to bed early and have a good night sleep.

I'm hopefully that he or she is getting ready to come out. I have a midwife appointment tomorrow.. just a regular weekly check-up, but also to discuss what will happen if I go past 42 weeks (but I've been praying I don't). Because I am planning on having a VBAC I can not be induced (which is just as well for me)... however the ONLY other alternative if I do not go into spontaneously labor is a c-section. This is a very strict practice with both doctors and midwives that a women who has had a previous cesarean that they are not to be induced. Inducing considerably increases the chances of having a uterine rupture - which is something I certainly do not want to happen!

Therefore I am really really hoping that I go into labor before we even have to start discussing another c-section. Please pray that the baby will come before then and that we are to have a relaxing home birth.