Lots of changes.

Our beautiful Naomi.

Just lounging around.

Wow, where does one start on a month of so many changes. I guess we will start with the most obvious one.
I'm no longer fat.
Sylas Alexander Wutzke was born to us on the evening of Thursday April 26, 2012. Yes, yet another shared birthday in the Harker family. The cousin that he will celebrate his birthday with is Benson Bateman, who turned 5 this year.
We really weren't anticipating that they would share would a birthday, as I went into labor the day before. We were trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) this time. I started to feel mild contractions around 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, and by the time Aric got home around 4:30, there was no question that these were real. By about 6:45 we called up Chelsea and asked her to come over and stay with Naomi for the night as were going to be heading to the hospital. She got there in time to watch vomit everything up that I had had for lunch. Now there was nothing left in my system.
We got to the hospital around 8 that night with contractions about every 3-5 minutes and lasting around 1-1.5 minutes long.We went into emergency admitting was closed for the night. They took me upstairs to check me out. I laid around for a few hours at about 1 cm. They had offered me some morphine with graval to help with the pain. Well that caused the ice chips that I had been munching on and the last little bit of anything in the stomach to come up. I do not remember the last time I threw up that much. I think it was around 11pm that they decided to admit to the hospital even though I was still only at 1cm. They wanted to be able to monitor me since I'd had a c-section with Naomi. So they took me to the anti-partum ward (whatever that is). All I knew is that the bed was softer than the rock I had been laying on. We spent the night there very uncomfortable. Aric was in a recliner and I was contracting all night about every 5 minutes. In the morning (around 11 I would guess) they took me to labor and delivery as I had finally dilated to 2cm. WOW! They offered me an epidural which I gladly accepted, and I said goodbye to the feeling in my legs for the next 6-7 hours. Ha ha ha I love that feeling. Finally after no progression, they decided to break my water hoping that would start the show. I dilated to 3cm!!! And then stayed there. Finally we discussed c-section. They just didn't wan to see me labor any longer with no progress. My doctor had discussed with me earlier the risk of laboring after a previous c-section. The risk being that the old scar in the uterus could start to open up and cause problems for the baby, possibly ending in losing the baby.
Well at this point we decided to c-section it up! Lets get this over with. So Sylas was born to us at 5:57 pm by c-section. After the surgery, when I was in the recovery area, one of the doctors came and discussed the surgery with me. He told us that when they went in, they saw that the uterus scar was in fact starting to open. We have now been told that I am not allowed to labor again. We will be c-section from now on! I guess for the next child we can choose their birthday, and make it a unique on in the family.
So that is the story of Sylas. He is cute, adorable, whatever you want to say. We love him to bits. So far we have been blessed with 2 fairly mild infants. We are grateful for this.


Just about to be cut open.


Big boy... that translates to be 9lbs. 13oz


Proud momma (tired momma)


Breaking out of jail (hospital) a day early.


Just waking up from one of my many naps.


Looking so handsome.


Ahhhh.


Naomi is/will learn that she is not the one and only anymore, and that there is enough love and attention from mom and dad to go around. She likes to help us put by getting his chewy when he is upset, or even if he is not. She loves to give him kisses, plug his nose, poke his eyes and even cover him with whatever she can find. I guess this is normal.


Naomi learning to feed her baby.


Sharing her baby's bottle with Sylas. What a nice sister.


Bonding time.


More bonding.


Pretending to be a big girl. It's just for fun right now in her mind.


Still loving multiple hats on her head


Showing off her teeth brushing skills.


Well we found last week that Aric's contract will be ending at the end of this year. But have no fear we are applying for almost every job. He has an interview via Skype tomorrow afternoon for a french immersion job in Airdrie... the same elementary school I went to as a matter of fact. That would be weird to go back there I think. But kind of fun too. I could reconnect with old friends. Wish him luck as he preps for the interview. He said that had a really good feeling about Airdrie when applied. He applied one of the other elementary schools there too. The school that Chelsea attended.




Well yesterday was Mothers Day. We had an absolutely gorgeous day to celebrate it. I think it was supposed to get up to 26 degrees. It was hot. We decided that we were going to go the park and have a picnic, and let Naomi run around and play on the swings. We don't get out much these days unless daddy is with us, or we get invited to go with someone else. The reason we don't get out much is that I'm not allowed to lift Naomi for 6 weeks after the c-section. That means I can't put her in shopping carts, and most definitely can't lift her to put her in a swing. It's hard on both of us to have this restriction. I'm trying really hard to follow this counsel. I have to admit that there are times that I've had to break this in order for her to get in the car so we can make an appointment. Anyway went to the park yesterday. Naomi just lights up when we mention the park or swings. This summer should be pretty fun with her.


Mothers day she insisted on putting her winter boots and fuzzy jacket on in the house. She was making me hot just watching her.


Who could ask for anything else on Mothers Day. They are so cute.

Just a little update.

Well no baby yet. For those of you who do not know, this baby is measuring huge!!!!! The Dr. had me go for an ultrasound at 36 weeks to gauge the size. The tech told me that at the point, give or take a pound to a pound and a half, he was measuring 9lbs 4oz. That was on the 3rd of April. My actual due date is May 1st, heaven help me! We still want to try to have a natural birth this time so we are putting of the c-section until May 3rd. It was originally scheduled for May8th, but we bumped that up so I don't go to far over and have the world record sized baby. As you can guess, I'm getting very uncomfortable. I haven't had any contractions that I can tell. Just a lot of braxton hicks. Everyone cross your fingers that this baby comes sooner than later.

The Dr. told me to try all the old wives tales to get this baby moving. So if you have suggestions, pass them along.

Chelsea comes over usually once a week with her kids so that can get out of the house and not kill her children. Witnesses are key for that. Here we decided to take them into the backyard, since it was so nice outside, and play with bubbles. Oh my did they love chasing those all over the yard.

Here... proof that Kimber is not always tormenting Naomi. It's really cute when we are all out together and Kimber wants to hold Naomi's hand.

After helping mommy put lotion on after bathtime.

Watching Elmo while mom gets dinner ready. We didn't even ask her to smile for this one.

She just loves Elmo.

So we finally got the kids room together so that Naomi can get used to her big girl bed. We decided to keep the 2 kids together in the same room, and in the smaller of the 2 rooms. First we decided to keep them in there because of the drapes. They are too small for the other room. Secondly, the guest bed would take up the entire room if we were to move it to the smaller room. So the kids room is lined with stuff. We removed the rocking chair and rearranged almost everything. The following are the photos to show the changes.

Naomi just loves her new bed. Here she last night, her first night sleeping in it. Boy I'm glad we got a rail, because she moves alot!!! She started facing the other direction. Before we went to bed I went and re-situated her as she was getting close to the end of the bed.

She is all smiles

Playing with her purse


So this blog post really is to show off Naomi. Surprise, surprise!
This little girl is definitely not a baby anymore. She loves to get involved with whatever mommy and daddy are doing. We are trying to teach her that mommy will be having a baby and she regularly will rub my tummy and say baby. The other day were all out grocery shopping (as Aric is on spring break right now) and she just rubbed it and repeated "baby" over and over for about 3 minutes It was so cute.

So I need to tell you about the other morning before I forget. It was 5:30 and I woke up to Noami on the monitor. I could hear some chitter chatter, then some giggling. I go into her room to find her sitting in her bed talking to her stiffed animals. So I tell her that it is not time to be awake, lay down and go to sleep. I tucked her in again. She went quiet. About half an hour later, I hear chatter and giggling again. I go back in and there she is conversing with the animals again. Again I go in and put her back to bed. She finally went back to sleep for real. But my question to you is: What do you think their conversation was about. What were the animals saying back to Naomi to make her giggle? She was so cute it was impossible to mad at her.

She decided that she wanted to tuck herself into mommy's bed. She even pulled all the covers up over her legs and cozzied up in the pillows. She is so cute.

Learning the alphabet in the tub

Playing cow girl. She usually keeps hats on her head for a while, but this one she did not and we had to hold the hat on to get this picture.

Ok we really enjoy checking on Naomi before going to bed. This had been our favorite position by far. She didn't even move when the flash went off .

So Naomi is all smiles these days. She loves to smile for the camera, or really anytime that we ask her to smile. She is such a happy child, and I'm glad we can share these precious moments with all of you.

The other morning we made some really good pancakes and Naomi was such a good helper. She was so happy to help daddy mix the batter, then help (from a short distance) as daddy cooked them up. She had so much fun.

Just a picture of her being soo cute.


Ok so some of you have seen this video already. It was short enough that blogger allowed us to post it. I have entitled it "The Great Banana Amazement". This is the reaction we get every time Aric performs this "stunt". She is such a ham!!! Love, love, love this girl to bits!!!

Our Big Girl

Time for another post. I would have to say that the funniest this week happened yesterday. Boy do I wish I could have a video camera on Naomi 24/7. We were invited out to dinner last night with our friends the Palsky's, for Robin's birthday.Well we decided that make sure that Naomi would be nice and sleepy for the sitter we skipped the morning nap and was going to put her down around 1 for her nap. Well she was doing fine until lunchtime came. She ate most of it while I was entertaining myself on the computer. Then I noticed she was very quiet. I looked over and yes she was asleep in her chair again. So I picked her head up (so I could clean her up) and she re-positioned herself in a sitting up sleeping position. Sesame street was playing on the TV in the back ground. When Elmo's World started she bolted straight and screamed "ELMO!" Remember she was asleep! My goodness this little one has a strange fascination with Elmo. I don't know what it is with that character... but all kids just love Elmo! Elmo is everywhere! I was on Facebook yesterday and there was small advertisement on the side with a very close up picture of Elmo... well she caught onto that and chanted Elmo until I acknowledged that he was on the screen. I do have a short video showing her love for this red fuzz ball. Follow the link

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10151354626210004

She also has really enjoyed declaring "dance time". Her dancing is so cute. The mood can strike her on mommy's bed, or really anywhere.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151353656200004

And now Naomi is in love with pizza. This video is after i had opened the fridge to get her milk and she saw the pizza box. She chanted "pia!pia!pia!" while standing by the fridge, for literally about 3 minutes before we took this video. She had her mind set on what she wanted.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151353449525004

OK. Naomi likes her bath time, most days. We have a bucket in the tub that we use to rinse her off with, but but it also doubles as her chair. She loves to sit on it. The next couple are of her in the tub... smiling for the camera. Her crooked little smile is so adorable. Why she pushes her jaw off to the side I do not know.


Naomi has taken to beans. She just loves the pork and beans. Chelsea didn't understand how much until she was babysitting Naomi one day and she wouldn't eat her sandwich so she gave her some beans that Chelsea was going to eat. Apparently Naomi ate almost the whole can herself. This picture shows Naomi actually sticking a bean in her ear with her spoon. She would not hold still enough for me to get a picture of the after affect.

Good morning!!!


The other day Naomi wanted to put on her boots. Then her coat. After a while of walking around the house like this I decided that we should go for a walk. So we put on the snow pants too. Just as we were walking out the door, daddy came home and we all went together. She just loves her sled we got her for Christmas her first year.


What a big girl. She is growing so fast and I'm afraid he feet will never stop. She is already a freak... look.


She has seemed pretty interested in mommy going to the bathroom. So we got her a little potty for herself. Basically every time I go to the bathroom, she comes with me now and we put her on her potty. no results yet, but maybe she will figure it out. I know she is a bit young, but why not start if she is interested.

That's what we have for this week. She is growing like a weed! She is learning so much and just a little chatter box sometimes. Even though she can be distracting at church people are always commenting on her being so cute. I think some people try to sit near her on purpose.
Well have a great week all... actually before I blog again, it will probably be more like 2-3 weeks.
Love you all.

The Happy and Sad.

For those who are not aware. Aric's Grandmother passed away Feb 5, 2012 after a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer. It is always sad to say goodbye, but we are also very happy that she is no longer suffering, and she has been reunited with her beloved husband Fritz. We went down to Lethbridge last on the weekend to attend to the Funeral service which was held on Friday Feb 10, 2012. All of her children (minus a few in-laws) and many of the grandchildren were in attendance. The church was packed with friends and family there to celebrate her life of service. I did not get to hear everything that was said as I was attending to our VERY TIRED child!

So of course, on to the photo gallery of our little Gnomer. Here you can see how much she loves her "nacks". She is carrying all of her her snack cups at once (not all have snacks in them though).
She really loves this hat for some reason. I would think that it has been too hot for to wear it, especially around the house!She is loving mom's dilly bar. I decided to let her finish it off for me as she was watching me longingly eat it.
Here you go mom and dad. I put the shirt on her that you bought her for Christmas.It's a little bit big, so I think we will wait a while before wearing it again.
Sporting mom's toque.
Playing with daddy and her chair o the couch.

Someone was not listening or being obedient. She had to put her nose in the corner. She is so cute there we both giggle to ourselves, and I HAD to take a picture.

Bubbles and bath-time. Boy she sure loves the bubbles.

Naomi's auntie Casey was at the funeral and she brought Naomi some new hats. Here is our little Raspberry.

Ok after bath-time last night she would NOT hold still at all to get dressed. This is as far as got a for a while. She ran around like that for quite a while.

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

She decided that for a Valentines Day gift to mom she would wake up at 5:30 and not go back to bed. Well a few hours later (at breakfast) she decided that it was nap times.

Well that is all she wrote this week folks. I hope you enjoyed it.
We love you all.