our trip to virginia

Two and a half weeks ago, hubby, myself, and our little bumpkin left the blistery northlands for a nice little vacation to Virginia (where he and i both grew up). We went down, not only to show off our new little baby, but to get my brother married off as well :)

It's a 28 hr. drive. I was a little nervous about attempting the trip w/ a 3 week old baby, but Brighton did so good :) she traveled like a pro! the problem always came when we stopped traveling...that's when she decided it was time to fuss! I guess she liked the movement of the car.

Part way through our trip we actually passed through the town of Brighton, MI.  

 Mom and Grandmother making gourmet potatoes for the wedding. 

Family picture before heading to the church.

A very happy groom and new uncle!

youngest to oldest: Autumn (20), Rebecca (21), Benjamin (22), Christian (24), and Me (25)

a big ol' smile when Ben first saw his beautiful bride coming down the isle :) :) :)

"you may now kiss the bride"

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Cline!!!

welcome to the family Melissa...we are so glad to have you :)

the beautifully decorated fellowship hall for the reception

Melissa chose gold and pink for her colors.

While home i took the opportunity to get a "4 generations" picture with both my Mom and Dad's side of the family:

 Mom, Grandmother, myself, and Brighton

Granddaddy, Grammy, myself, Dad, and Brighton

on this side of the family Brighton is the oldest child of an oldest child of an oldest child :)

One evening my family went out to eat to celebrate Mom's 50th. Her birthday was in November but she wanted to wait until all of her children were home to celebrate. 

Myself, Mom, Dad, Autumn, and Rebecca

Abe (Rebecca's boyfriend for those of you who don't know), Melissa, Benjamin, Christian, and Dave, and little Brighton was in her car seat at the end of the table...she slept through the whole thing lol

Mom, you are the best! You have taught me so much about what it means and what it looks like to be a woman of God. Your gentleness, kindness, devotion, and love surpass that of almost any woman i know. I am so thankful that you are my mom. I feel that i could not have been given a better example to follow as I now step into motherhood and raising my own daughter. Thank you!

Brighton spending some quality time w/ family who won't get to see her for approx. 6 more months:

Brighton and my Grammy

Brighton and Dave's Grandma

Brighton and her Grandpa (Dave's dad)

Brighton and Grandma (Dave's mom)

with Auntie Bec

and with Auntie Autumn

getting some quality time in with Dad:

 nap time

 play time :)

The week immediately following Ben and Melissa's wedding was the week of my family's annual sewing retreat...when my mom, her sisters, and any of the rest of the family who wants to join, get together for 7-10 days to sew!!! It's amazing what all they accomplish!!! I come from a very creative and talented family :)

 the "workshop"

 Grandmother sewing away

 Autumn working on her newest project

 Brighton keeping up with the action

 and hanging out on one of Mom's quilts

It was unusually warm while we were in the States. In some areas the grass was green!!! It even got up to 70F one day!!!

 I sure do miss my rolling hills and beautiful mountains!!!

 a few more snapshots:

 snuggled up in warm, fuzzy towel after a bath

 a bit of tummy time on Dad's chest

 bright eyes!!!!!

We left Virginia on Friday, traveled 6 hrs, and stayed at Dave's grandma's house that night.

Saturday we traveled 14 hrs, and stayed at a Super 8 for the night. Unfortunately Brighton left a bit of a surprise on the bed for the cleaning ladies :(

she doesn't seem too bothered about the fact...

she woke up around 5:30 and was fussing around so i picked her up and laid her up on the bed w/ Dave and i...i soon learned why she was grunting and groaning!!!

sorry about that Super 8!!!!

hanging out on the bed after we got her all cleaned up :)

and since we've been home...

 Brighton got her 1st piece of mail!!!

her Canadian health card :)

 SMILE!!! --- 5.5 weeks old

house and baby update

today Brighton turned 3 weeks old!!!!

she has already changed so so much...i can definitely tell she's chunking up a bit :)

here she is hanging out in a swing that we were able to buy thanks to some money sent by my Grammy and Granddaddy; Dave's Grandma; and Grandpa and Grandma Sonifrank

i forgot to post a picture of Brighton's baby blanket that Mom finished up while she was here...

thanks so much Mummsy!!!!

also, while Mom was here, we visited the house...

Mom warming her hands by our newly installed fire place :) so excited to relax and sit by the fire once we move in. It's one of the things i miss most about home. 

this is another picture from when Mom was here...demolition was still in progress. 

but now we are building back!!!! yay!!!!

this week Dave began drywalling, and when we get back, the painting will begin :)

 kitchen area

 our bedroom w/ a brand new walk in closet :)

 baby room...Brighton also gets a new closet :)

 new stairs...no more rope to hang onto while descending into the basement lol

 living room

 entryway closet

entryway entrance :)

things are coming right along!!!

we are hoping to get moved in sometime around the end of february/beginning of march

and i'm off...leaving in 5 hours for home sweet virginia home :) so so so so excited!!!!

can't get enough of this little munchkin!!!!

is she not the cutest thing ever!?!?!

thanks auntie autumn for the cute little bow clips :)

we love having dad come home over lunch!!!

i think he likes it too ;)

16 days

birth announcement!!!!!

so excited to get these printed and sent out sometime soon!!!!!!

Bump's first week at home :)

Yesterday my baby turned a week old!!! time already seems like it's flying by...

January 1

January 2

Mummsy came to visit!!! Dave drove 6.5 hours to pick her up from the airport in Thunder Bay, and then another 6.5 hours back here to Red Lake to be w/ Bump and me for a week :) it has been wonderful!!! she is taking such good care of us :)

nap time :)

January 3

all ready to go out on her 1st excursion...we went to a fabric store to pick out fabrics so that Mummsy could make a baby blanket for Brighton while she was here.

our stack :)

family picture!!! we couldn't get her to open her eyes, so we opened them for her :)

January 4

more nap time ;)

January 5

working on the baby blanket:

daddy's little girl :)

all fresh, clean, and bright-eyed after a bath :)

at this point, she's not all that fond of being wet :(

our one week old, little angel :)

Brighton Noel Sonifrank

our perfect little bump is here :)

we tried and tried to predict the day it would happen...3rd time is not the charm ;)

Brighton Noel Sonifrank surprised us on December 29, 2011 at 3:09 pm. she weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 inches long.

the morning she was born i wasn't feeling the best (aka. i was going into labour and didn't realize it). dave and i got up late...around 9:00. we had just gotten back from a 5 hr. drive from winnipeg the night before. i was planning on getting stuff done that morning, but called my mom and talked to her for an hour instead :) we hung up right around 11:00. i messed around the house for the next 45 min. trying to get comfortable, and slowly realizing that i might be having a baby sometime in the not too distant future. about that time dave came home for lunch, and my contractions started getting painful. we started getting stuff together to go to the hospital and timed my contractions. they were roughly 2 min. apart and were lasting 20-30 seconds. we went to the hospital around 1:00 and i was 3 cm. dilated. i asked the doctor how much longer he thought it would be. he said for first-timers you can expect to dilate a centimeter an hour...i about freaked out!!!! i was pretty sure i would not be able to handle 7 more hours of what i was going through...especially since it was only going to get worse. around 2:00 i tried using nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for the pain, but it didn't seem to do any good. about half an hour later i asked for drugs of some kind. the pain was worse than i ever imagined and i had absolutely no faith in myself to make it another 6 hrs. they said the doctor would have to check me first...so the doctor came in, checked me, and said i was fully dilated!!!! none of this 6 more hours business :) i was allowed to push away :) i think i probably breathed the biggest sigh of relief in my life! at 2:50 the doctor broke my water and at 3:09 our little baby girl was born :)

one happy little family!!!

so happy to have her on the outside now :)

she already has his heart ;)

we spent 2 days at the hospital, and then it was home sweet home!!!

all packed up and ready to go

she has been such a good little baby and we are enjoying her to the fullest!!! God has truly blessed us far beyond what we could have ever imagined...all praise, glory and honor to Him alone for this beautiful and perfect little miracle!