He's 1!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's official, I have thrown my last first birthday party (at least as far as we have planned, lol). It was actually a lot of fun planning a party and decorating a cake for a boy, even though there were no princesses or fairies required. I had come across this picture of a cake when I was looking at cakes for Emme's birthday and knew that I was going to attempt it for Mason, so I was pretty excited to actually try it out. I managed to decorate his cake, wrap his gift, clean the house, and survive the party without any tears, which I know means I have just put them off until I have time to absorb the fact that I am moving out of baby mode and into the final years of toddlerhood. Oh boy, here they come, sniff, sniff. I can't believe he's ONE already, I swear this past year has gone by faster then all the others. I don't know if was because Cheyanne entered school, or because I was trying so hard to will it to slow down, but for whatever reason it seems like a blur. It doesn't seem like a year ago today I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that I was bringing a baby boy home from the hospital instead of a girl, and now I can't imagine life without this little boy. Good thing God knows best! The changes in the first year are so profound, so amazing, I don't know think there is another stage where one year makes such a difference than that of newborn to one year old. They go from this helpless little blob that can't even control their heads to talking, pointing, standing, even trying to walk. I think it is such a beautiful example of intelligent design, there's no way the universe could spontaneously create such an intricate being!

  

Mason is such a sweet heart! He cuddles just long enough to make you sigh and feel like you could sit and hold him forever, and then he lifts his head off your shoulder, looks at you, smiles with a big toothy grin and squirms down to get into mischief. Mason is a content little guy. He will just sit happily in his high chair watching the girls as they noisily run around the house. Already he enjoys wandering the house and will entertain himself for fairly long periods of time, although, if it is too long he tends to be up to something. I have found him playing in the toilet, the garbage, the girls' barbie house, our bedroom, and his favourite place, the pantry. He seems to have a radar for when a door has been left open to a room that he's not supposed to be in and manages to get himself into trouble faster than any of us realize. It is amazing to watch how different each kid is. He is so busy and active that it reminds me of Emmersen, and yet he's so laid back and content that he reminds me of my nephew Brodie. If you know either of these two, I don't think there could be more polar opposites then Emme and Brodie, and yet for some reason Mason reminds me of them both. His giggle is infectious and I love how easy it is to get him going, even after being up for hours with him in the middle of the night his giggle melts my heart, it has even made me attempt to video tape him at 2am because he was so wired. Mason has figured out how to point at what he wants and it's so cute to watch him point and coo at something, it's pretty hard to resist so he usually gets what he wants. I have a feeling he might be just a tad bit spoiled as he grows up! I have also noticed that he has started to have an opinion about what he eats and will no longer eat a healthy alternative when the rest of us are eating pizza. He has also discovered dessert and Michael and I can't get away with not sharing with him anymore while we sit and have our morning coffee together. Mason is a huge game player. He loves peek-a-boo. When we have our coffee in the living room in the morning Mason crawls over to the curtains, sits beside them and wraps them around his face popping out from behind them long enough for us to make a goofy facial expression of surprise while he sits and laughs, sometimes hard enough to knock himself over. He also can turn meal time into a game by biting the spoon hard enough so that I can't get it out of his mouth after giving him a bite or by quickly putting his hand over his mouth right before you go to put the spoon in then taking it away long enough for you to think that you can get the spoon in but he quickly puts his hand there again and giggles. Another favourite game of his is mimicking. He loves to make a goofy sound and then have us copy him, he just shrieks, and looks at us and smiles to make sure we will play with him. He has taken to dancing to music lately or to his own singing. His dance moves remind me of Stevie Wonder, he's all head and shoulders when he dances. Mason is standing on furniture and walking behind everything, sometimes he will even stand on his own for a brief second or two but I am happy to report he still isn't attempting to take steps, and doesn't show any desire to do so, nor am I encouraging him to start, lol. His crawl is quick but sometimes turns into something that looks like the way a three legged dog would move, it's hard to explain unless you see it, and I haven't managed to be quick enough to video tape it, but it is definitely unique to him, none of the girls crawled like that. He always has his tounge out, especially when he is focused on something, which is apparently a Haak thing, hehehe. The other unique thing about Mason is that he has an extra tooth, yup, his toothy grin is even toothier than it should be, good thing he's a boy, hahaha. He still doesn't sleep through the night despite the fact that every night I go to bed thinking "tonight's the night" but usually that is far from the truth, however, he has on occasion, had a night where he sleeps through or only gets up once, but the norm is two or three times, with a few nights a week that he decides to be up for three to four hours solid. At one years old he still has not spent a single night in his crib, instead he still sleeps in the ensuite bathroom. We have thought about moving him many times but the fact that he gets up so often, and Bella isn't a great sleeper has just kept us from doing it. I did try it one night and he was so freaked out about being in another bed that I ended up putting him back in the bathroom.

Over all, I don't think I can express just how much I love this little guy and that ooey gooey feeling inside I get when I hug him and squeeze him and just don't ever want to let him go. The best word that I have found to explain the warm gooshy feeling hugging your own little baby gives you comes from another language, I heard it first on my cousin Jessica's blog, the word is Gheegle it's a Filipino word that means the urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute. That pretty much sums up the way I feel every time I look at my precious little gift from God! We love you Mason, can't wait to see the way you grow up, even though I am sad that it seems to be happening so quickly!

happy to watch life from the best seat in the house!

getting ready to go watch skating.

can you find him hiding in there?

he just crawled right in and made himself at home.

getting into the flour in the pantry.

getting a candle in your toast is a birthday tradition

at our house. Mason was pretty excited about it, and

seeings how he wasn't really getting the hang of blowing out the

candle, Michael figured we should give him a spoon to try and

knock the flame out, it didn't work.

The Birthday Boy all ready for his party. He looks all

grown up in that shirt.

The cake, it was so much fun to make!!

Michael helped out by constructing the fences for me.

Cows, pigs, and chickens, looks like the ideal farm to me!

He went for the little pig right away!

loving the icing!

He ate the cupcake so fast that we had to give him a

 little more cake while everyone else was eating theirs.

He actually did a great job opening his gifts, when his sisters

would leave him alone long enough to do it, probably the

story of his life, lol.

Future Canuck fan, and I put fan because I am hoping he

never desires to actually play hockey, fingers crossed.

My Valentine!

In the last couple of weeks I have been looking over some of my past blogs and just reliving the stories that I have taken the time to record and enjoying them, but it has become apparent to me that my thoughts and passions are in my posts, and I record stories about the kids and what we do, but often I have neglect including Michael in my writing, beyond a sentence or two. I want this blog to be a record for my kids of our lives and obviously Michael is the most important person in all of our lives, so I figured Valentine's Day was an appropriate day to write a mushy, gushing post about him as a husband and father, lol. So if you don't like Valentine's Day or are sick of the mushy stuff, feel free to stop reading now, hahaha.

As a Father Michael is an incredible role model. He inspires me to be a better parent! I love how God just knew that he would be a wonderful dad to little girls, and so blessed him with three princesses who adore him! As a dad to girls he has always been very intentional about making sure the girls know that they are loved, know that they are special, and know that they are beautiful. He has a way of seeing what they need to hear and making sure that he expresses it. Ever since Cheyanne was born Valentine's Day has been important to him. He has always made a point of getting the girls a card and writing down a few sentences encouraging them and blessing them in who they are as individuals. Today was no different, each of our girls received a special gift from daddy with their own handwritten Valentine in it. Cheyanne's said "Cheyanne, you have grown up into such an amazing little lady. Remember to keep singing, Daddy loves hearing your beautiful little voice. Lots of Hugs and Kisses, Daddy." Emmersen's said "Emmersen, you are one of a kind Hunny. You are such a Joy to be around and you bring so much Joy to others. Never stop acting silly :) Lots of Love, Daddy." and Bella's said "Isabella, You are such a sweetheart :) You better never stop hanging out with me like you do now. Hugs and Kisses Tink, Daddy." If you know our kids and their personalities at all, you can tell how each card let them know that who they are is valued. I admire his ability to light up their world. Cheyanne was so excited to bring her dad to school today. She couldn't stop telling her friends how funny he was, and how great he was. Michael is always up to play any game, or dance to any song with the girls. He takes time to spin a twirl each one just like a princess. Squeals and shrieks of laughter can always be heard when he is playing with them. As Mason is getting older he is slowly starting to be a part of these activities too and can often be heard giggling away as daddy is rolling on the ground playing with the four of them. I know that he will be just as good of a father to his little boy as he is to his princesses. 

This is the video to one of Michael and the girls' favourite songs to dance to:

As a husband he daily demonstrates his love for me through actions and words. Often I am asked how I am still sane and manage to get out of the house with 4 kids 5 and under, while getting no sleep and attempting to work part time in our home, and the answer is God's grace, and the fact that he blessed me with an amazing husband. I really don't know what I would do without Michael's help, I am truly in awe of single mothers and women whose husbands work away. I don't know how they do it. I spend my day anticipating Michael coming home, at lunch, and especially at dinner time, and so do my girls. Michael helps in all aspect of our household, there really aren't any "pink"jobs in this house, aside from maybe scrubbing the toilets, lol, and yet there are definitely "blue" jobs, like taking out the garbage, shoveling the snow, cleaning the fish tank, etc. His servant heart means that when he comes home  from work he doesn't just check out and demand time for himself, he instead, looks for ways to help. He seems to be able to see what I couldn't get done in the day and finishes it for me or plays with the kids so that I can finish it, even if it is simply managing to fit a shower in! When I need to get out the door by a certain time he rushes around the house with me and helps in any way, whether it means dressing Mason or doing hair. When I have company coming over he is an expert at staging the house, he can make our home look like it is tidy and organized when only a half our before it looked like a tornado had hit it. It might not be "clean" but it is at least tidy! I have been truly blessed to marry my best friend. We have been married for almost ten years now and in this time I have experienced Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens irons, so one man sharpens another." I have seen how God has used each of us to challenge and strengthen the other, I love that this verse illustrates that in relationships there will be friction, and yet it is that friction that can be used to our benefit as an individual and a couple.

I love these photos, they just show what a wonderful father Michael is:



Michael loves to play music with the kids.

Last year for Christmas we all got Jewelry boxes made by Michael. He took the time to go into the Jewelry store in town and get plaques engraved to put inside, every time the girls open their jewelry box it tells them that they "are beautiful just they way they are."

Father's day right before Bella was born.

Making "Swedish Pancakes" with his three girls

shoveling snow with Emme on his back

Playing the prince and the princess

Christmas Eve 2010 at my parents anniversary dinner

This is the doll house that he spent many hours and late nights lovingly putting together for them.

Canada Day!!



Update on Cheyanne's Project

I figured I should do a post on how Cheyanne's project for the homeless turned out. Cheyanne collected winter clothing and sleeping bags from many people in the community, as well as some family in the lower mainland. Our church family in particular, really made this a success for Cheyanne. We also received toques and scarves that were specifically knit for Cheyanne to take to the Mission, it was pretty neat! We collected so much stuff that it began to take over Bella's bedroom. On Christmas eve we were able to go to the Upper Room Mission in Vernon, and deliver a full van load of sleeping bags and winter clothing. The lady that we delivered the stuff to was so excited to have received such a large donation and thanked Cheyanne repeatedly for taking on this project. Cheyanne was very proud of what she had been able to collect. After dropping off the donations Cheyanne wanted to make sure that the homeless people would not be required to pay for the sleeping bags, but that they would be able to go to the centre and get what they needed for free. We assured her that this would be the case. Her concern and compassion for people that she has never met is truly inspiring, especially at such a young age. When we were driving away from the centre she announced that next year at Christmas time she wants to do another project, and that would be to collect new toys for the kids in Children's Hospital because they don't get to go home for Christmas. She got this idea from Uncle Andrew and Auntie Marie, as well as our Haak Christmas gathering where this done in memory of Josiah. Doing this project with Cheyanne made our Christmas special and reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas, which often gets lost in the busyness of the holiday season. It also gave us an opportunity to show her that not everyone has as much as we do, and to help her see how blessed we are.

We have continued to receive donations from people and are hoping to make our last drop off of stuff in the next week or so, if anyone else has anything that they would like us to donate please contact us.

The stuff overtook Bella's room!

The girls and Michael taking the donations

 into the Upper Room Mission in Vernon.

Eavesdropping

The other day I was eavesdropping on a conversation that my girls were having about heaven. It was too cute to listen to them discussing a topic that for me is so a deep and mind boggling, and yet their simplistic little conversation was tackling it. Cheyanne was asking Emme about whether she wanted to go to heaven. After a bit of back and forth conversation about wondering whether teddy and woof woof could come along they decided that they would like to go to heaven. Cheyanne told Emme that she wanted to go to heaven because she would get to see daddy's grandma that was in heaven, and that daddy's grandma was a real nice lady. She made daddy yummy food and played games with him, and daddy really loved her. They also came to the conclusion that they could see Josiah if they went to heaven. After discussing this back and forth for awhile Cheyanne said that Josiah was in heaven all alone but that actually he wasn't and that daddy's grandma was looking after Josiah because she was such a nice lady.

It's a New Year!!

It's a New Year, and I am already behind, lol. I feel like the last few blogs I have written have all been a bit behind. Oh well, that is an accurate reflection of my life, I usually feel like I am behind and am trying to get caught up. If I could have one superpower it would be the ability to freeze time, hahaha. I think all moms should be given this power at the birth of their first child. Anyways, that's a total transgression and not at all what I want to blog about.

I have never been much of a New Year's Resolution person, but the last few years I have really felt that it was important to slow down and reflect with the passing of each year. New Year's for me has become a day when I make sure that I set aside some time to look back on the last year and see if the way I lived my life matched what I said was important to me, and the direction God has for me in my life. This year as I looked back there were many things that stood out as highlights and blessings in our lives. There were also many things that I looked at and know that I want to improve or change. One of the things that I have decided to focus on this next year stemmed from a blog that I wrote in September. It was titled If I can justify it that makes it right....right? (to read that blog click on the title). Servant hood is something that I believe is so important and yet is often the first thing that we cut out when we feel life is too busy. The past few years I have felt like I am stretched too thin and just too busy, but I know that just because I can justify myself doesn't mean that it is right for me to look the other way when someone is in need of being served. Ever since the sermon that inspired my previous blog I have started really paying attention to the people in my life that are wonderful examples of a servant heart. My husband is one of these people, he is such an incredible example to me and the way that he demonstrates his love through service, his servant heart is one of the key reasons I feel so blessed. I was at a ladies brunch this past December, and as we went around the circle telling one another about our lives and what we were doing I was struck by how almost all of the women were involved in some type of sacrificial service. It was quite inspirational. Because of these and many other examples in my life I have decided to create a list of people who to me, display a servant heart. I will continue to add people to this list as the year goes on, and my goal is to observe these people, to look at what characterizes their service, and to follow their example. I hope that by doing this I will work more diligently at becoming like these people that I admire so much.

One of the other things that I have noticed about servant hearted people is that they don't ever sit back and look at all they are doing and say "well I am doing enough, look at me." These people are like chameleons, they often blend into the background, they often miss getting the praise, and yet they are indispensable to those they are serving. I am amazed at how they continually recognize the opportunities God is giving them to serve. After writing my previous blog I was visiting with a lady. This lady is the woman that, as I was writing my previous blog, I was visualizing in my head as one of the most beautiful examples of a servant heart. She is truly an inspiration to me and she has blessed me and many others in my extended family because of her servant heart. In our conversation we were talking about this situation where she had seized the opportunity to serve a young girl whom she barely knew. As I was talking with her she mentioned how when the situation came up she had just read my blog about service and felt that she really needed to help this girl. When I wrote the blog I wanted to inspire people like me, I wanted to prompt those of us who maybe aren't servant hearted to start looking at the world in a different way, and yet this wonderful example of a servant heart had been inspired, all I could think was, but you do so much for everyone already, how could you feel the need to do more? Later that night I was telling Michael about this conversation and we were discussing it, well I was discussing it and he was trying hard to listen to me instead of falling asleep, lol, and I came to the conclusion that when you have a servant heart you really never stop and say, "no God, I am doing enough right now, I am going to let someone else take care of this one." Instead you say, "okay God, I am busy, but I know that you have placed this need in my life so I know that you are asking me to trust you and serve in this way." I think most of us serve in some way or another, we serve our families, we maybe help in the nursery at church, but only the truly servant hearted serve when it hurts, serve when they are already doing enough, serve when they can justify not.

So, as this New Year begins I am dedicating it to service. One of my tools to help me make service a priority in my life is my lists. I have created two lists, one, as I have already mentioned, is dedicated to the people whose example I want to be like. I plan to watch how they manage their time and resources to enable them to do so much for so many. My other list is dedicated to ways I can serve. This list is divided into two parts, one is for now, ways that I can serve the people in my life now, the other is for the future. In my stage of life I have discovered that there many things that I would like to do for young moms that aren't feasible because of the demands of my own family, however, my family will only be this young for a stage, when that stage passes, I want to make sure that I don't forget to serve in these areas. Of course if I make these goals, these lists, and don't seize the opportunity to serve when it is presented to me I have failed, so the most important step is to take action. I believe that the way I can chart my progress is to look at the example of this amazing lady in my life. I will know that my heart is being transformed into that of a servant when I don't look for the praise when I serve, and when I don't ignore the needs around me because I am too busy. So here is to a New Year, to a new goal, and to a challenge that I believe may take me a lifetime to complete, but will hopefully show great progress in 2011.