Update

We're staying home today. Apparantly BunBun has H1N1.

Creativity & Cleaning

After having friends over twice last weekend, our basement was a bit of a mess. Okay, more than a bit - it was a big mess. So earlier this week, Naomi and I tackled the job of cleaning and reorganizing the toys while Petra slept. Naomi likes to pretend as she cleans up, and I joined in with her, hoping to make the big job a little more enjoyable. Naomi decided that she was an orphan missionary child. Her parents had died, and so she was taking care of two sisters. I was a store keeper, and the house was my store. Naomi asked if it was okay if her sisters slept in some of the beds in the bed section of the store. She also asked if she could work for me in the store to make some money. I said yes, but that I was doing an important job - the health inspector was coming to my store later that day to make sure that everything was neat and tidy so that the store was safe for people coming in. She said that she could help me. (Perfect!)
As we cleaned, she continued in her role as orphan missionary child. First she told me about where she used to live - in a country where no one was allowed to worship the true God. She had to live in a house with no windows or doors so that no one could see her pray. (After thinking about that for a minute, she did add that there was a secret door that would open if she pressed a secret button.)
Then she asked, "And do you know what my county's name was?"
"No, I don't."
"Foolish," she replied.
We continued cleaning and playing. She asked about my family, and upon discovering that I had no children, came up with the solution that she (and her sisters) could move in with me. Then I wouldn't be lonely anymore, and I would have help in my store. But, before she could commit to this, she asked about the town where I lived.
"Are there people in this town that don't trust in God?" she asked.
"Yes, some of them don't. Probably about half," I responded.
This was key for her, since she wanted to contine being a missionary. We kept cleaning.
A few minutes later, she asked, "How many people are in your town?"
"100," I answered.
"What's half of 100?" she asked.
A little puzzled, I told her that half of 100 was 50.
Then she asked, "Which half of the town do the 50 sinful people live in?" Just doing a little prep work before she goes out on her mission.
Anyways, we had a good afternoon. We talked, we played, we cleaned - and my store passed the health inspection!

Another one of Petra's favourite phrases lately is "Buy more." I pour the last bit of milk in her cup - "Buy more." The sugar pot is empty - "Buy more." Put the last of the chocolate chips in the cookies - "Buy more."

This afternoon, Petra was digging in her pockets, looking for the penny she had stored in there earlier in the day. She told me it was missing. "Oh that's too bad," I commented. "It's okay, Mom," she said, "Buy more!"

Three Months

Today Rachel is three months old. This past month has been a good one - we've gotten in to a good routine with naps and night time sleep. Rachel has been content (unless I try to sneak in a cup of coffee), and has given us lots of good smiles, giggles and little coos and babbles. She loves to chew on her fingers or fists, and is also starting to grab at toys and try to put them in her mouth. This month Rachel moved into the bedroom with her sisters, and that has been going very well. All three girls are usually asleep by 7:30-7:45, with Naomi usually being the first one asleep. Rachel usually wakes up for a drink around 4:00 am, and the other two sleep right through that. When Naomi and Petra wake up in the morning, they (usually) sneak out quietly and let Rachel continue to sleep. We do have a play pen set up in our room, which Rachel usually naps in during the day. All in all, the transition has gone very well, and the three of them seem to enjoy being together.

Here are a couple of pictures taken today:

Imagination

Along with Petra's speech, her imagination has been developing over the past month or so. She loves to pretend to be different friends or pretend that friends are coming over. And she likes to tell us who we are - which sometimes causes disagreements between Naomi and Petra as they sort out who is going to be who.
The other day, Naomi and Petra were playing in the basement before breakfast. I heard Petra coming up the stairs, talking about her baby Cole. She got to the top, told me she was Cole's mom and showed me baby Cole. "Cute," she said, looking down lovingly at her pretend baby and rubbing what must have been his head. I looked in her arms - there was no doll or stuffed animal - just my knitting needle case.

Here's Petra cradling little Cole:

And then Naomi joined her. She was Cole's daddy:

And Rachel laid there, taking it all in. I can only imagine what it will be like when we've got three imaginations going!

The other thing that Petra has been pretending a lot is having a baby. She has two aunts with "big bellies" who will be having babies soon, so we've talked quite a bit about it. Sometimes when she has no shirt on, she looks down and sees her little toddler pot belly and exclaims with surprise, "Oh, big belly! Baby inside!"

This week she's been taking her baby out and passing it to Naomi or I, telling us to rock or smile at it. Aftern Naomi and I have given her invisible baby some cuddles and commented on how cute it is, she takes it back, lifts up her shirt, and puts it back in her belly. Not sure where this came from - maybe sometimes she wishes we could put Rachel back in my belly for a while?

A picture says a thousand words

We've taken a lot of pictures in the last few months. A lot. And often times, as I've looked back over the pictures, I've thought to myself, "I should write a blog about this." But it just doesn't always happen... kids to feed, messes to clean up (made by the kids), books to read (to the kids), and so on. So here are some pictures from the last few months, with short captions instead of long blog entries.

(Just a note - they are in reverse order.)

Naomi modeling her new haircut:

(I think I did a pretty good job.)

At the Williamsburg Harvest Festival - free pony rides, face painting, bouncy castle, a parade. Lots of free fun!

The "fruits" of our labours:
I took the girls apple picking. (No picture of that, as my hands were full with three girls, wagon and apples.)

We made a lot of applesauce. Petra was the official sugar-adder and taste tester. Needless to say, our applesauce is plenty sweet.
(Notice Petra's layered outfit. She's taking fashion lessons from her older sister.)

Rachel's baptism. I really should have written a separate post about this special day. Rachel Jean was baptized on September 6 by her Great Opa Depater. It was really special for us to have my Opa baptize her! I love the song "I will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord," partly because of the line "Your faithfulness to all generations." God has indeed been faithful to us and the generations before us, and having Opa baptize Rachel really showed this faithfulness and the heritage of faith that we are blessed with.

The service was also special as our families (my parents, Steve's parents, Ben & 'Tracy, Steve, Naomi & I) together sang a song with these words from Isaiah 40:11:

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

He shall gather the lambs in his arms,

And carry them in his bosom,

And shall gently lead those that are with young."
The name Rachel means "little lamb" and it is our prayer for her that she accepts the promises that God made to her when she was baptizes and that she follows the Good Shepherd.

Great Grandma Triemstra gives the girls a ride at out place after the baptism:

A couple of shots from our VanGilst camping weekend:

Great grandparents enjoying their newest great grandchild:

The girls enjoying the beach:

Correction

Tonight Steve made pancakes for supper, which I really enjoyed. After I finished my last one and was licking maple syrup and bacon grease off my fingers, I looked up and said, "Steve, you made my day."
Naomi piped up, "Mom, Dad didn't make the day. God made our day!"

One more...

When I wrote about some of Petra's phrases the other day, I forgot one - "Woo hoo!" She says this when it's dessert or when Daddy gets home or when she hears about some other exciting plans. My favourite, though, was when she was sitting with us in church, being quite quiet. Until I pulled out the roll of Mentos and she said, "Num nums? Woo hoo!"

Footwear

Twice this past summer, in our rush to get out the door with three girls and everything they need for the day (diapers, sunscreen, extra clothes, drinks, etc.), we forgot something crucial - shoes. One time Naomi forgot hers, and once Petra forgot hers. (That wasn't pleasant, as we were at a picnic along the St. Lawrence, with plenty of goose poop.)
We headed out this morning to go to Coffeebreak at church. We all had foot wear this time - but Petra's was the most interesting - two crocs - one blue, one yellow, one size 10, one size 11, (Petra usually wears size 7), both left feet. Better than bare feet, I guess!