It didn't take long at all to get pregnant. It must have been the right time. I was excited about being pregnant but VERY nervous about the delivery. I think most first time moms feel that way. I was a little sad as well because my Mom was living in China at the time and Steve's parents had just moved to Kelowna. I was without a mother. Thank goodness for the internet! We emailed quite a bit during those few months. It was fun to call her out of the blue to give her the news that she would have a new little baby waiting for her when she got home. I had a really good pregnancy though. Actually, all of my pregnancies were great!.
Of couse, I read all the right books and I really liked my doctor and she was very helpful about answering all my questions. I did have what I would call evening sickness. I never usually felt sick in the mornings...it was usually the aftenoon and evening. I quit working 3 or 4 months early because I would start to black out and feel nauseas at work...I wan't getting much done there anyway. It was torture to have so much time to wonder about our new little person.
We wanted to find out early if we were having a boy or a girl but Maren was unco-operative. It was left to be a surprise, although, I knew deep down she was a girl. We had a boy and girl name picked out and they both starte with M so we called her baby M during the pregnancy. I am going to post a really personal picture of myself next. I want to warn anyone reading that you are going to see a really pregnant person. I am 81/2 months pregnant in the picture...don't worry I am decent! haha! I am only posting this picture because the kids love to see how I looked when they were in my 'tummy'. The following pictures are of Maren as a baby and toddler. I will quit at her 2nd birthday. Blake was born about a month and a half later and we will pick up the story in the next post with him. Enjoy!
Maren was such a wonderful baby. She was born on May 20, 1998 in Lethbridge. It was a really long labor(18 hours, I think) and miraculously, I didn't have an epidural. I had something to prove to myself. I am the worlds biggest baby and I wanted to show myself that I was strong. I still don't know how I did it. I guess just 1 breath at a time. Steve was so patient and helpful too. It is so hard to put into words the emotions you feel when the doctor hands you your first perfect little person. She was so beautiful! I smiled and cried and so wished my mother could be there. It was actually my first thought to call my mom. It was torture to wait until the commotion died down a bit. My sister Shonna was with me, and I am still grateful to her for her support and love. Shonna was actually present for the births of all my children. We videotaped (in good taste) a lot of the labor and the deliveries of each of our children. Now that the kids are older they love to watch them and see the moment they came into the world. It is fun to be able to share with them the first time we met each other. Just so you know, I am crying now as I relive those emotions again. I love being a mom!
I love these next pictures. The first is the the first day we brought Maren home from the hospital. We didn't go to our house though. We went to stay with Mark and Adele who were taking care of my parents house in Magrath. It was so nice to have Adele to take care of me, make me rest, show me the in's and out's of breast-feeding and fawn over my new little girl. It was something wonderful that I was able to share with her. She has taught me so much over the years about the kind of mother I am trying to be. Thank you to her again for all her help and support. I had to put the other picture in there because I never could resist that grin of Marens'. It makes me smile!!
I was brushing Maren's hair after her bath and gave her the brush to play with while I got her dressed. It shocked me so much to watch her try to brush her hair that I had to take a picture! I will fight anybody who tries to tell me that she really didn't know what she was doing. And the other picture is one of my favorites. Maren and her cousin Chase - in the picture - have always had a unique relationship. They are really close. Chase loved her and was so gentle from the first day we brought her home. I think they were close friends before they ever came to earth. They are still close cousins even though they have grown up so much. I love it!!
There is that grin again! Maren was always a happy baby. I don't think I fully appreciated her happy disposition until we had our later children. She was very rarely sad or upset unless there was a real problem. She never seemed to make a fuss unless she needed something. She also seemed to sleep an awful lot. We actually have hours of video of her sleeping away. She used to snore softly and we thought it was so cute....it is torture to watch it now. She was a heavy sleeper too. You could take her in and out of the car seat, walk around stores and shop, enen change her clothes and she wouldn't wake up until she was ready - unless you laid her in her crib. She would sleep anywhere, for the first few weeks, except her crib. I think she was at least 3 months old before we could put her in there without waking her up.
I love these two pictures as well. It was really hard to go through our pictures and try to decide which ones to put on here. I tried to get an assortment of all ages. And I also chose ones that were meaningful to me. I love being with family and I love my children to play with their cousins. This is how I always think of Sarah and Court. Then I remember that they're all grown up now. Sharlee was back from China and it was fun to have her want to spend time with us and get to know Maren. I love the other one because it is our first family picture! We had a little picnic at Henderson with a couple friends and we got our first snapshot of us as a family.
Maren always loved - as most kids do probably - to be in small spaces. We have many pictures of her inside of boxes or sitting in a laundry basket or cupboards and things. She always had fun when Steve would put her in the garbage can after changing the bag. We actually still have that garbage can too! I think all of our kids have had their turn in it! Maren looks like she is being shy for the camera in the other picture, but don't let that face fool you. I think she must have been playing peek-a-boo. Maren has never been shy a day in her life. We used to have to stop and have conversations with complete strangers in the grocery store. She loved to say hi to everyone and tell them all about her life. She has never been to shy about getting up in front of people either. I guess the only time I have seen her timid is when she bears her testimony.
Aaaahhh! The swing-set! We spent many hours on that swing-set in our yard on the north-side. We didn't have any parks or playgrounds close to our house and we only had one car then, so we bought a swing-set and sand box for our yard. She would have played out there all day if she could have. She really loved it when grandpa would come over and swing with her. And, there she is all dressed and looking pretty for church. That is one of my most favorite dresses - I am pretty sure it came from Aunt Paula - as most of my favorite clothes did. I still want to smush that little face!
Aha! The bathroom photos. How could this have been complete without them? Maren would play in the bath for hours. She really loved it when we would shampoo her hair and make it stick up and out in all directions. Steve loved to make sculptures with her hair. In these pictures she is 2. This was right around her birthday. She actually got the big girl potty as a birthday present. She is growing up in these pictures and getting ready to be a big sister.
This was another birthday present. She would ride up and down the street on her little trike - or she'd ride around and around our big basement. It is so hard to believe that this picture was taken 81/2 years ago. Back then our biggest worry was whether or not she would have a potty training accident or color on the walls and now we are preparing her for Young Womens'. Time seems to have gone by too quickly and I suddenly feel like I didn't take enough time to enjoy it. I guess... there's always tomorrow!
