The morning of present opening has come and gone, but we are still joyfully celebrating this season of remembrance in this house. I am trying my hardest to make Christmas about more than just the presents. Getting things is definitely fun, and giving things is even better, but Christmas is about something entirely different than presents. It's about God being faithful to His promise to send a Redeemer to a broken world. It's about the life of that Redeemer - that humble, sinless, world-changing life. It's about the hope we have that Christ will come again, put all to right, put an end to Satan's reign, and take us to live in His presence for ever. Presents play a minuscule part, if any part at all. We give gifts of love to each other because we have been given the greatest gift of all: the complete erasing of our sins if we believe on Jesus Christ.

That being said, all I have to show you of our Christmas is pictures of my boys getting presents. Ha! It's just so much fun to watch their faces as they explore the wonderful new things we've given them. I hope they remember the joy of these times, but when they are old enough, I hope they come to love our Saviour more than those momentary warm fuzzies.

The boys were thrilled to get a set of play food.

porcupine puppet & a play banana!

Judah is a big boy with a big boy backpack.

Benjamin gets yet ANOTHER set of toys that stack!

I think Grandma blew Judah's mind.

Benjamin is stacking things. He is in his happy place.

To infinity, and beyond! (Cheesy toddler smile photobomb).

2012 Christmas Letter

It’s time, once again, to sum up an entire year’s worth of Sawatzky happenings in one little letter. 

At the turn of the year 2012, Benjamin was just a little four month old goober. That age is easily my favourite for babies. As expected, it passed all too quickly for my liking. In three month’s time he was speed-crawling, climbing, and walking along furniture and walls with reckless abandon. Judah was a constant motivator, what with his constant aerobatics and daring. Two years old brought a few more tantrums and the development of the dreaded Opinion on All Things. Judah’s language gradually morphed into semi-intelligible words, although his own flavour of gibberish still gets its fair share of use.  

With such a mild winter as we had last year, the summer seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Soon we found ourselves settled into the rhythm of Bible camp season. Most days it was all I could do to get to the meals on time with my two active little boys. Judah struggled with containing his excitement at having so much space to run, things to touch, big people to tease. Benjamin wanted desperately to crawl everywhere and put everything in his mouth. Needless to say, my back kinked and my left hip was sore by the end of summer. Even though summer camp can make you forget the time of day or day of the week, our little family was given enough time together to feel somewhat “normal” during the busy season. I could tell that Joey did not feel the least bit burnt out by the end of summer, and going to camp everyday was a true joy. It’s a wonderful thing to see your husband truly thrive in his workplace.

The end of the summer season brought many changes to our family. One, Benjamin mastered his walking skills. We became a two-toddler family overnight. Two, we made the decision as a family to end our term at Valley View Bible Camp on a good note and start on a new adventure. It’s our desire to one day attend Bible college debt free, and we knew we needed to make a step towards this goal if it was ever going to happen. Three, God surprised us by placing another little miracle inside my womb. We have never been so surprised by a pregnancy as we were by this one, and we are so thankful. Four, a close friend of ours was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. At times I felt completely numb when I allowed my mind to dwell on motherhood/moving/packing/pregnancy/lung cancer/leaving close friends & family all at once. It was difficult to be productive during those last few days in Manitoba. We are so thankful to the friends and family that gave of their time to make this move as simple as possible for us. Manitoba will always be a special place for us.

And now, here we are in Saskatchewan. It’s been quite exciting to adjust to living so close to my parents. I cannot express how wonderful it is to have constant help raising our two rambunctious boys. We are also truly blessed by the church body we are a part of. I have been able to take my boys to a weekly ministry for moms and pre-schoolers. It has been just fantastic to get out of the house and see so many little ones interact with each other. Joey is settling into a new job cooking for some of the health care facilities in Weyburn. It’s a different type of cooking than he’s used to, but so far he is enjoying the work. He never works evenings, and for that I am grateful. The only downside is that he often works weekends. Again, I am so happy we are so close in proximity to my parents! My mom has volunteered to look after the boys so Joey and I can go to the weekly Bible study/prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings. It may not be the full Sunday experience, but it is much-needed fellowship with other Christians – what’s more, it’s without distraction! 

That brings everything more-or-less up to speed. As of right now we are living in the moment and trying not to look too far ahead. Yes, having a third child is kind of a frightening thing to us, but I know God will provide for all our needs come spring (just as He has always done!). We are so thankful for how well we have been provided for in this season of life, and can’t wait to see what 2013 brings.

In His care,

Andrea Sawatzky (on behalf of the family)

Our skating rink/street.

He is still cute and he still knows it.

Daddy worked hard at making a little surprise for the boys...

...a neat little "sleigh" for the winter season!

a different season

This is me, breathing a sigh of relief.

I have moved enough times in my life to get my fill... for life. Joey and I have lived in an apartment, a "warm up shack", a cabin, a one bedroom house, a house trailer, and now in a main level suite. Each time it gets more difficult to do this. Each time I wonder how we have acquired so much stuff...

...but this post isn't about that! It's about how grateful I am to finally be here. Living with my parents is already a huge blessing. This isn't just an extended vacation for us. We have our own space and aren't shy about admitting when we need some alone time. The boys are thrilled to have loved ones living so close. It's actually kind of difficult to convince them that they can't just run down there at any time of the day. A deadbolt they can't reach and a baby gate help with that little issue. :)

Setting up a home is one of my very favourite things to do. It is my goal to create little "pockets" of beauty all around the house. This house in particular has been a real joy to decorate. I promise I will post pictures as soon as the boxes stop multiplying and find dark holes to crawl into!

One of the biggest blessings to me is living so close to the church we will be attending. Yesterday I stepped out our front door with two boys in tow at 10:10 AM and made it to the church for (my very first!) mom's group at 10:15 AM. That trip would have taken me 45 minutes when we were living in the country! It was what kept me from getting involved in similar mom's groups. I now regret that decision after realizing how good it is to get out with other moms and kids and be SPIRITUALLY as well as emotionally built into. Friendship for mommies and littles is a very worthwhile thing to invest in!

God has been so very good to us in allowing us to make this decision for our family and providing so abundantly with willing hands to help make this as painless a process as possible. I hope that this will be a time of learning and growth for us and that we would grow closer to our Saviour as a family.

the ham that he is

"Daddy!" from Andrea Sawatzky on Vimeo.

Benjamin is such an animated little boy. For the most part he is not playing to the cameras (that's what Judah is into these days) and just being exactly as he is all day long. "Daddy" was not even home, but it's cute anyways. :)

when my heart is too full to write...

...I post pictures instead.

filling the quiver

I am pregnant again.

The whole world knows it by now. Baby is still very, very new (nine-weeks-new), but very, very alive. I know it's "traditional" to wait until something like 12 weeks to announce that one is pregnant, but we could not contain our happiness and simply had to share it with the ones we love. Also, it's not like I am any more pregnant at three months than I was at two. A baby is a baby is a baby - just conceived, nine months gestation, or just born. There is a tiny, grape-sized human being inside my womb!

Finding out we were pregnant was different this time than either of the others. We were undecided about when the "right" time to get pregnant again would be. Our long-term goals are to save money to go to Bible college, and somehow we just couldn't fit "have baby" on the list of things we want to accomplish. It's not that we didn't want another child, just that it's a serious thing worth some serious consideration. It's hard to plan out one's life - and experience has taught me that it is best to let God direct it, anyways.

I bought a pregnancy test because my cycle seemed to be quite irregular. Actually, it was my third test in as many months. I took it looking for confirmation that something was not working properly with my cycle... 

...except...

...this time it read a flaming POSITIVE! (There were no actual flames.)

Friends, I cried. I balled. I burst out in uncontrollable sputterings of JOY! I have not had that reaction with either of my boys - mostly because I was so extremely prepared for the end result of a + b = c. But this time? This time I was fully, unbelievably, inexplicably surprised.

When I think on the months to come, there are some things that scare me. I don't know what my prenatal care will be like in a new city with a new doctor and (sob) no midwife. I don't know what this pregnancy will be like - whether it will stretch an extra two weeks, or whether baby will want out like BAM. I will have to travel to a hospital an hour away to give birth, and that is a little disconcerting when I am on my third baby. I do not know how it will be to provide financially for three children. I do not know what it will be like to provide emotionally and physically for three children.

What I DO know is that none of this has surprised God. I know I can look to him, rest in Him, lean on Him for the strength to do all that He has called me to do. I know that I will have my family close by (aka living ONE FLOOR AWAY) and many, many friends (with many, many littles!) for support and encouragement. I know that the blessings of having children FAR outweighs the momentary, light afflictions one must endure before they are born.

All of this joy has been tempered by some very difficult news, however. A good friend of ours has just been informed that she has a large growth in one of her lungs. It's been affecting her health for quite some time. She is in the long process of going through tests to properly identify what she's dealing with. Please, please pray for this family. She has a husband and four girls from ages 8-14. I don't know all of the details and all I can ask you to do is pray for God's peace, for wisdom for the doctors, for the grace to understand why this is happening (especially for the girls). 

God gives and takes away, and yet in it all His name is blessed. He brings glory to Himself, and he works all things together for good - not necessarily the "good" that we desire, but the true good that only the all-knowing, all-powerful God knows, understands, and desires for His children. 

I just know that through all of this - new life, the upcoming move, a friend's sickness - that Christ's name will be praised. That is the best hope that I can have.

Disney lied to us.

Do you remember the cute little mice in "Cinderella" that were not pests at all, didn't make a jillion babies a year, and were open and friendly with humans? What were their names? Jaq, Gus, and Bruno.

Yeah. They don't exist.

After living with many different rodent friends and having the pleasure of catching somewhere around ten of them throughout our married lives, I was extremely pleased to move into a new house that was raccoon-, rodent-, ladybug-, spider-, and fly-free.

This house was a haven, a safe place. We had a year without any spider incidents, and the flies were reduced to the average lonely little housefly here and there.

But then... then there was this noise. This scratching. This unwelcome little intruder under the cupboards. We didn't see him (her? it?), but we didn't need to. Joey brought home a trap, pushed the vent over and baited the trap with irresistible peanut butter.

One day later, he opened it up, and, sure enough, a fat little field mouse had bought the lie.

That is not the most surprising part of this tale, however.

Joey reset the trap and closed up the vent. We sat down to watch the Avengers (which, as you all know, needs to be heavy on the volume to get the full experience) and forgot pretended to forget about the invading army.

It was only about half an hour later when we heard the "SNAP" followed by the sound of something in the throes of death. Joey opened it up, and, sure enough, another (less-fat) field mouse was slain.

Joey repeated this a third time. And, again, within half an hour we heard the telltale sounds.

YOU GUYS. THERE WERE THREE MICE IN MY HOUSE. (I am trying really hard not to think of how much they resembled the three mice in Cinderella. I feel like the bringer of death to children's fairy tales.)

As you might understand, I couldn't sleep that well that night. I dreamt about the cats I wished I had and the millions of mice scampering through our walls. The next morning, however, there were no signs of tampering with the traps, and there hasn't been any since. Joey  got under the trailer and figured out how they were getting in and put an end to it. He put out mouse poison and issued them a GAME OVER.

And now I am really, really hoping that this is the end of this saga.

RIP, Jaq, Gus, & Bruno.

shameless self-promotion

Head on over to my photography blog to see a bit from the gorgeous photo session I had with some great friends last night!

this is just about how I feel right now

Benjamin falling asleep from Andrea Sawatzky on Vimeo.

He's the one making the noise in this video. Car rides are awesome.

out of the ordinary

Sometimes you just need to get out of the ordinary and take a break.

Sometimes you need to hide from the demands of life and just be. 

Sometimes you need to stop letting everything get in the way of your family and take the time to drink them in.

That's exactly what we did for the last five days. With all of this moving drama happening, we kind of despaired of having our regular autumn holiday as a family. Then Joey worked three extra days and could choose to use their equivalents whenever he wanted.

And then a holiday was born.

We got away to a place that had no cell service, no internet, no PHONE, for crying out loud.

We spent long days going for bike rides, swinging on swings, digging in the sand, and playing games.

We shopped the random stores in a nearby town and found sweet robot & flannel shirts.

We played together, laughed together, and realized what an amazing thing it is to be a family.

The air was crisp and the leaves were falling.

It was a beautiful thing to leave all we have and take all that matters with us.

today we bake

today we play

the end of summer according to my phone