Nuts

Finn is totally nuts! This is a video of what Finn does best...ATTACK! Normally he attacks a person, but this time he decided that a couch would do. He will start hitting, and biting, shake his head around a few times, and then put his arms down to his sides and continue to bite.

He's nuts, but I love it!

Correction

So I said that Dad will be moved to Transitional...but then Dan heard he was moving to assisted living. NOW we've heard that that was wrong, he is being moved to transitional.

Clapping video

And don't forgot to check the "Finnians Video's" link on the right there every so often, because I put more on there....Finn Crawling (will be on there in the next couple of days!)

Edmonton

Last Sunday afternoon we (Conor, Finnian, my brother Dan and I) picked up a rental car and drove to Salmon Arm to stay with Conor's grandma. Finn did really well, he napped a bit, we stopped for dinner and I nursed him, and then while we were driving I fed him some banana so the time went by pretty fast. He didn't sleep the best that night, mostly in our bed, but he wasn't crying alot or anything, just fussing when he was in his crib and keeping us all awake.

On Monday we left Salmon Arm in the morning and drove 10 and a bit hours to Edmonton, where we stayed with Conor's Aunt Trudy and Uncle John. I was really worried that Finn wouldn't travel well, but he did SOOO SOOO SOOO good, I can't believe it. We played, he napped, we'd stop to eat, and he would just watch everything around him...all the trucks and such passing around us. We got in too late to visit my Dad in the hospital so we just visited with Conor's Aunt and Uncle.

Finn clapping, so cute!

Monday and Tuesday were spend visiting with Dad, talking to doctors, social workers, palliative care workers and two of my Dad's sisters (one who lives in Edmonton and one who also went from Abbotsford).

So first a Dad update: He has adenocarcinoma (cancer) in his esophagus, and it has spread to his liver. He was also having back pain so they did a bone scan and it has not spread to his bones, so it's his arthritis. He had the stent put in and is eating pretty well again, just has to chew his food well. He said he's feeling really well, except that his back is still hurting, so they were going to start giving him regular morphine for it, which should hopefully help. The cancer will make him weak and tired, but hopefully if the backpain goes away he will be able to sleep better and eat better, which should help a bit with his energy.

They have the plans in order for him to move across the street from the hospital to a transitional unit. **He's actually moving him to an assisted living place now...not sure how long for** From there, if he shows that he's getting a bit better, then he may eventually move to long term care...but more likely, if he starts deteriorating than he will move into hospice. He has an appointment with the cancer hospital to see if they will recommend any radiation or chemo - and then it's up to him whether he wants to or not.

Now a Finn update, he did soo well, I still can't believe it. He was so happy for everyone, and started waving at people when we would walk into the hospital. If you put him down he would start clapping and smiling. He slept well, he ate well - he was a little afraid of Dad sometimes, but dad did have a beard and was mostly in bed under covers, so I can understand why Finn would play shy.

My Dad and Finn - I love this picture!!

He wasn't AS good for the drives home, but it was a long drive, so that's understandable..oh and instead of 4/5 teeth, he has SEVEN! Seven teeth...four on top and three on the bottom.

Last Girls Night

On Monday I went out for my last girls night with the girls (obviously, the girls, right?)

It was sad, but we had alot of fun! We went bowling out in Langley (I did terribly, but oh well) and then onto the Marble Slab for some yummy ice cream. If you haven't been there before, you must go. BUT be prepared to make some very hard decision! I got coffee ice cream with skor bar mixed in...so good.

Julie and I

Julie and Tara

My cousin, Diana

Diana's sister (also my cousin!) Catherine

Jennifer, Sylvia, Diana, Julie, Tara, Me and Catherine!

Before we went to Australia I had really lost touch with all of these ladies...not completely, but I just didn't talk to them all very much...but while I was in Australia I started emailing them all more...so when we got back to Canada (even though I knew it would be hard to leave them all when we go to Rome) we started up a once-a-month girls night and it has been great to reconnect with them all.

I will really miss them and our girls nights, but I'm glad we had those times while we could. Hopefully they'll keep them up, and I'll join them for another one or two in two years!

Finn's Doctors Appointment

Today Finnian had a doctor’s appointment, his 9-month checkup.

First I’ll tell you about yesterday. In the morning Conor and I had gone to the travel place to book our flights and get our travel health insurance. After that we drove into Vancouver to the Consulate General of Italy to apply for our visas to Rome.

Prior to going in, I had been talking to a lot of friends that are either in Rome right now, or going there within the next year, and they all had me paranoid about now much work it was going to be to get the visas. They each said that they had to go in numerous times, and that the info they were given from one time to the next was sometimes different, that some of their documents had to be translated into Italian and then stamped by a Consulate person, and a few other annoying things. So I was really nervous when we went in.

We had actually gone in a few months ago, just to get the application because I couldn’t find it online, plus to get the list of requirements. I also had some questions regarding the medical, because we will be covered by MSP while we are away, but the letter from MSP was very ambiguous and I was pretty sure the consulate wouldn’t accept it, which I was correct about. Anyways, we decided, just for the added security to get a couple months worth of travel health, so that’s what we ended up doing about that issue.

So, we went in yesterday with MORE than enough documentation. The list of requirements was pretty bare, not enough info, and I had tried calling the Consulate and emailing them to clarify what I needed so that we wouldn’t have to make multiple trips…but I didn’t get any responses. One of the things I was unsure about was “documentation of educational history in Country of Origin”. Did this mean just a diploma/degree? Did it mean transcripts? Did they want just post-secondary, or high school as well?

Since Conor was homeschooled I left it as post-secondary education, I brought his undergrad degree as well as his transcripts that I printed online (not official) and even got the Institute in Melbourne to send me his transcript, just in case. I only gave them the degree to start off with, and that was acceptable, so I didn’t need the other stuff…oh well.

Then I needed to prove that we had $$ to support ourselves, as the visa doesn’t include working. So I had a letter from Melbourne stating that they were covering the tuition, and that we had some money coming from Sydney. That wasn’t enough, so I also had our bank statements (which I KNEW wouldn’t be enough! Haha)…so then I ALSO had a letter from Conor’s dad, along with his bank statements, saying that they would be financially helping us out if needed. The man at the consulate said that I needed to show ID for Conor’s dad, and that I could just scan his passport, and email it in. VERY flexible, which was nice…it would have been a REAL pain if Conor’s dad had to come in, or if we had to go in again just for that.

What else was there?? Oh yeah, I had only filled in an application for Conor, because on it we included Finnian and I. The guy behind the counter said that Finn and I could go with Conor for 3 months without a visa…to which I replied “We want to go for the whole 2 years” So he was really confused and said he wasn’t sure if we could, or if we would need another visa, and said there might be a cost for our visas. That left me a little stunned…but we filled out applications while we were there, and left our passports, and he said he would find out what to do and email me back. He emailed back that night that he remember we would go on as “accompanying family members” and that they needed a copy of our marriage certificate, Finn’s birth certificate and $. Luckily, again, he said I could just scan it and email it to him, and for the $ I just had to mail him a money order.

So this afternoon Finn and I went to the bank, got the money order, went to the post office, mailed the money and then went to the doctor’s appointment!

So here’s the stats…Finn is 22 pounds 8.5 ounces (75 percentile) and 29.5 inches long (80th percentile)

He’s a healthy boy; no concerns…and we’re ready to go!

Oh - and Finn has finally STARTED crawling. He's definitely no pro yet, but if he's in the right mood, and you have an exciting object for him to crawl to, he will!

PS. If our visas go through, our flights are booked for October 13th...3 weeks yesterday!

Time change

So I know that we were only in Edmonton for 3 nights, but Finn is still set on that timezone. The last two nights he's gotten really cranky by 7 (which would be 8 in Edmonton, and 8 is normally his bedtime)...but I've held him off until closer to 8pm our time.

Then we had GREAT nights, where Finn didn't wake up at all until 6am to feed....but then the downside is that he won't go back to sleep! So we try our hardest to get him to play with toys for an hour, but he just wants to get up and eat breakfast. Boo....I hope he keeps sleeping through the night, but that he'll start sleeping in until 7am again.

Edmonton post to come

I'm writing a post about our trip...but while that's happening here are a couple of videos.

Oh, and Finn has 7 teeth now!!

Last post

This will be my last post before Edmonton. We start the trip tomorrow afternoon.

It you want a prayer list, here you go :)

1. Safe trip
2. That Finn travels well, and sleeps well...we'll all need the sleep
3. For my Dad - for his physical and mental health through all this
4. For the Doctors
5. For my siblings and my dads siblings

Thanks, see you all in a week!

Two nights in a row!

Sleep, glorious sleep!

Last night was the second night in a row that Finn only woke up to eat once (around 4:30am). We had a bit of a difficult time getting him into bed in the first place, but it wasn't so bad since I got such a good sleep.

Updates

Firstly, I REALLY wanted a good night sleep last night - it was very needed, here's how it went. Pretty much EVERY night for a long time Finn will eat around 8pm, go to bed, and then wake up at 11. I usually just fed him, didn't even try to rock him...but I have been getting tired of that feed, since I usually go to sleep around 10:30, I hate being woken up a half hour later. Anyways. last night I was going to watch some Star Wars on my laptop until he did his 11 wake up, and then I would go to bed. But when I got on my laptop I started talking to my brother and then I realized it was 11, so I started watching then, expecting Finn to wake up any moment. He kept making noises, and I would pause the show and get ready to shut down my computer, but then he would fall back asleep. Finally at 11:30 I was sure he was waking up, so I put away my computer, but he fell back asleep, so I just went to bed. But then Conor came to bed, and we were talking, and Finn finally did wake up around midnight. I fed him on one side, but he fell asleep, so I just put him back in bed.

I expected him to wake up for a better feed...and I heard him at 4am, but again, he fell back asleep and so did I. Only to wake up at 7am! It was a good night :)

Okay, onto the important update.

The tests have come back on Dad's esophagus - it is cancer, and it is inoperable. I know that sounds bad, and trust me, I had a good cry over it, but I don't know if the doctors have given him a time frame, so to speak. My aunt was telling me that there are some missionaries moving into her house next door, and she was mentioning my Dad's health problems and the guy said "that's what I have". He told her that he also had a lump and couldn't eat, he got a stint put in, his lump is also cancerous and they can't do anything about it, but he's had it for years. So even though it sounds bad "cancerous - inoperable", never stop praying.

The bigger thing will be the test results from the liver biopsy, but we haven't gotten those back yet. He's also been complaining about back pain. He used to have really bad arthritis and was in a wheel chair for awhile, so it could just be there...or it could be that the cancer has spread to his back.

Even though I said that they haven't said he has x number of days, my brother did get the impression, when talking to my aunt, who spoke to the doctor, that Dad won't be going back home. He will be staying somewhere indefinitely - whether it be a room in the hospital he is in, or a long term care facility...possibly even the cancer hospital, depending on his liver results.

Please keep us in your prayers. Our family has some past issues that we all have to deal with and reconcile, and even though this is a terrible way for it to all come about, I think we all realize that God has his timing, and something good can come out of all of this.

Packing

The daunting task that I don't even want to THINK about.  But I know that I should.

It's all the more complicated now that Finnian is around, but that's just a whole other person to pack for.  In some ways this time will be easier than when we went to Australia, but in A LOT of ways it will be harder.

When we moved to Australia, our vision of the future didn't go beyond the two years we would be there, so we anticipated, at the time, that when we got back from Australia we would be living in Canada.  Actually, we really just didn't have any clue what we would be doing after Australia, so when we packed our stuff away to leave here, we kept a lot of stuff.  Then when we came back to Canada, knowing that we were going to be moving to Rome for two years, and then on to Melbourne for five years, we got right of lots of stuff.  It really makes you think about what's important.  I had a lot of STUFF, but it just wasn't necessary or practical to keep it all.  So I've learned my lesson in that regard....get rid of almost everything!  And, except for the RARE clothing item, do NOT pack clothes away for you to come back to in 2 years and think you'll actually wear!  I only wear a small handful of the stuff I left here...and if I hadn't kept it, I probably would have forgotten about it and not mourned the loss of it.

But this time it's more complicated.  7 years is along time to be gone.  I think there will be some things that we pack and leave here while we're in Rome, but we'll bring with us to Australia.  Also, baby things...what do I do with baby things!  I'm going to keep all of Finn's clothes, because we plan on having more kids, and clothes don't take up that much room.  Finn's crib, change table, exersaucer and a few other things were borrowed, so those will go back to those people (or to their sisters who are having babies!)  But there's a few things that I'm just not sure what to do with.  If my sister-in-law, who is pregnant (yay!!!) wants them, she can have them, but if she doesn't do I keep them, try to sell them?  Even trying to sell them is just another added stress.

Okay, I guess I have to just stop thinking about it, and start DOING it!  For me there's no hard and fast rule of keep it or toss it...it's a case by case basis with each item, and I have to just start somewhere.

My Dad

Please keep my dad is your prayers.

He was supposed to fly out here today from Edmonton, but last week he went into hospital.

He had been having troubles eating for a couple months, and has lost alot of weight.  He finally went in for tests, and they've found a lump on his esophagus.  On Sunday they put a stent/stint (not sure) in his throat so that he can eat, and it sounds like that went well and he is finally eating again.  He's having tests done on the lump, and we'll hopefully find out more today.  Since I'm not there, I'm not 100% if all this info is correct, but they may also have found some spots on his liver, meaning he might be going to the cancer hospital.

So far the plan is for my brother Dan, myself, Conor and Finn to make a road trip up there on Sunday.  I would like to be there now with him, but I don't know if we can afford to go on our own (if we go with Dan we can split costs of rental cars etc).  But we'll see, if there's more bad news today from the tests, than maybe we'll go earlier, even tomorrow maybe.

This is really hard for me...and we're still trying to work out all the Rome stuff...please pray for us.

Oh, and new videos

click here

9 months old (yesterday!)

I've been really bad about taking pictures of Finn and doing updates on here, but I've been distracted (I'll explain more later)

Anyways, I honestly can't believe Finn is 9 months old!  It's gone by sooo fast.  But at the same time, we went up to Golden Ears this week and last year we were there in September, and I was pregnant with Finn, but that feels like it was YEARS ago!

He's soo closed to crawling, but just won't do it.  He rocks back and forth on his knees quite aggresivley sometimes, and other times he goes backwards, and other times he just gets angry.

He has 5 teeth now - or almost 5 at least, I can see white, but I'm not sure if it's his tooth, or just the skin being pulled so tight where the tooth is about to come.  So I'll just say he has 5 teeth!

He's so talkative sometimes, I love it.  "Mamamamamamama" (not directed at me or anything, just blabbing)  And his cheeks really puff out when he's talking.

Oh, and he does this near hyperventilating thing when he gets really excited...it's kind of scary, but I'm pretty sure he's just playing!

Okay, short update I know, but here are some pics click here to see more

Watching the bath fill up

Crawling position

Sitting cross legged at Golden Ears

So excited playing with Grandma

Eating Grandmas hand

If Finn doesn't have his soother in his mouth, he is seen chomping on his hand ALL day long

Love/hate

For anyone who reads the blog alot, you'll notice I have a very love/hate relationship with MSP (health insurance Canada) and the Canadian Revenue Agency (taxes).

Once again I'm in love with MSP....after alot of complaining and humming & hawwing, they have agreed to give me medical coverage for the whole 2 years we are in Rome (as opposed to being covered until June 2010).  Yay me for being persistant :)

Oh and we got a check from them the other day because we applied, and were approved for, premium assistance - which means everything we have paid to MSP since January we got back!

Magical

Last night was magical!

We went for our usual evening walk with Finn, but this time he fell asleep.  So when we got back home, I just put him to bed, and he kept sleeping.  Just before 10pm he woke up to eat, I fed him, gave him some teething tablets (I think teeth number 5 and 6 are on their way) and put him to bed.  I went to bed shortly afterwards and didn't get woken up again until 5:30am!  That means about 7 straight hours of sleep...and he went right to sleep after that feeding and I slept until 8:45.

I should say that, for quite a while now, he's been waking up twice to feed at night, and then sometimes waking up because of his teeth.  It's been awhile since I've slept more than 4 hours in a row, and I was really hoping for one of those nights soon.

Contradiction

Finger foods.

I'm confused, is it just me??  When I read about finger foods, other than fruits and veggies, alot of the list are things like: cheerios, frozen bagles, pasta, toasted bread, etc.

Here's the contradiction though, in the SAME books and websites, one of the number one things to avoid giving babies before age one are wheat and gluten...don't all of the above finger foods contain wheat and/or gluten!?!