The Rourkes

Friday, September 16, 2011

Family Pics

Here are the family pics I promised from the photo shoot. We were really happy with them and glad we had them done. My cousins did an amazing job and if you are ever looking for a photographer feel free to check out her website and get in touch with her. www.renarayphotography.com.

All of us together

My sister, brother-in-law and 4 beautiful neices

My brother, sister-in-law and 2 nephews

My parents with all 7 of their grandchildren

The Rourkes

First time standing all by himself . . .and we caught it on camera :)

Lochlan at 11 months old - such a little man

Thursday, August 4, 2011

40th Wedding Anniversary

My parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary on Aug. 14th. We had asked them back in the spring if we could do a big party but they said wait until their 50th :)

Instead my Dad asked for us all to go away on vacation together to a place we loved to go as a family throughout the years - Penticton. My Mom grew up in Penticton and as kids we loved to spend our summer vacation there. I haven't been back since Lance and I got married and to go with all my family was so much fun. So in July all 15 of us headed on up to enjoy the summer sun. It was a quick 3 day get-a-way but we enjoyed every moment of it.

Us enjoying our first family vacation of 3 :)

Beach time with Daddy

3 generations playing Frisbee

Having a chat with Auntie Heather on the beach

Hanging out with Papa

It wouldn't be a trip without a stop at Starbucks :)

Cousins going for a walk :)

On the actual anniversary we had family photos taken (once I have a bunch I'll post them) and had a BBQ potluck dinner in William's park - another place we have a lot of memories throughout the years. Here is the pic of my parents - they are still so much in love :)

Mom & Dad, words can't express my thankfulness for your amazing example in honouring your vows you made 40 years ago. In our world today that no longer values marriage, you have shown that when you build a marriage on the word of God, 40 years is just the start of what the Lord can do. Through good and bad you have worked together, raised your kids to love the Lord and fall more in love with each other. You sacrifice daily for your family and it does not go unnoticed. HAPPY 40th ANNIVERSARY to the best parents in the world!! :)

A very special visit!

In May we had a very special visit from Lochlan's Nana & Papa from the other side of Canada. (Lance's parents) This was their first time meeting Lochlan and he was pretty excited to get to know them face to face and spend such quality time with them as they stayed with us.

We had a lot of fun even though the weather wasn't the best here but we got a couple nice days to head down to the ocean and do a bit of shopping in Ft. Langley. Here are a few pics of memories we will never forget.

Having morning cuddles with his Nana

Having fun in the hat store in Fort Langley

I got inspired from the Royal Wedding in April :)

Lochlan just prefered Papa's hat :)

3 generations

So excited to be at Whiterock beach :)

He LOVES his Nana & Papa

Our family :)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A new attempt at blogging

Well for anyone that still reads this I'm going to try and start again with keeping up with blogging. I've had a few people in just the last couple months ask me about my blog so I resurrected it today and thought why not try again. So here we are.

A LOT has taken place in the last year. Here is a quick update :)

Our son was born September 13, 2010. Such a miracle of life that we treasure daily!

We moved December 1, 2010 (Yes with a 2 1/2 month old baby) We do everything at the same time :)

January/February we did mild house renovations

Spring we enjoyed finding a new normal as a family of 3 in our new home

June I went back to work - God blessed me with a new place of employment that is a part-time role and I LOVE IT!

This summer has been full of day trips, family adventures and enjoying being parents to the most adorable little boy as he discovers the world.

Here are a few pics over the last 10 months. If you do still read this blog, leave a comment when you have a chance. I'd love to hear who still drops by :)

Our new family of three - September 13,2010

6 weeks old

Our little Christmas elf sleeping after quite the night of toy making :) - 3 months old

Working on the computer with Daddy -4 months old

80's party in February

"I found my toes!" -5 months old

6 months old and loving his Bumbo

My little Mozart - 7 months old

All the cousins (on my side of the family) - 8 months old

Snuggles with Daddy - 9 months old

Monday, August 23, 2010

Exactly 1 month today

Hard to believe Baby Rourke is due exactly 1 month today. We are VERY excited to finally meet this little person and start a new chapter in life as a family of 3. :)

35 1/2 weeks

So update from around here, I know it has been awhile. Well I'm now on Maternity leave. I actually was put on Mat. leave by my Doctor a week earlier than planned. I've had high blood pressure from the beginning of this pregnancy and my Doctor has kept a close eye on me to make sure this doesn't turn into Preclampsia at the end. A week ago I went in for my regular appointment and explained all the symptoms I was having. Lower back pain, LOTS of braxon hicks contractions, very 'puffy' especially in my ankles and feet and feeling very 'off. I just summed it up as being what goes along with the end of pregnancy but she said it was premature labour along with my blood pressure rising and said my last day of work would be the next day instead of the end of the following week. At this point I was 34 weeks. Too soon for baby to come. So she ordered a bunch of tests to be done for the next day and the week after.

So I've had a week off of work so far and while it was a busy one with lots of appointments I'm happy to report everything now is fine with baby and myself. The contractions have calmed down, blood pressure is also down and I'm feeling SO much better. Amazing what being off of work will do. :)

Our summer has been a good one around home. Lots of day trips, spontaneous dates, evenings on our patio, weekends spent with friends and family, and enjoying the great weather. We have kept pretty close to home as Lance is saving his holidays for when baby arrives.

Lance's work place threw a baby shower for me last week. What a blast of a party. My Mom and I went and it was so great to reconnect with all the office ladies that were such great friends when I worked there. That is definitely what I miss the most - the wonderful friendships with them all. They are all so excited for Lance and I and this new little one. The food, the cake, the fellowship and the laughter made the night one I'll never forget. We were blessed with so many gifts and truly 'showered' with love. I kept having to pinch myself that this was actually happening . . .this shower was for our baby, not someone else's. A dream becoming a reality, a gift sent from God - and to share that with these special ladies was so incredible.

Me and 'baby' cutting the cake

Let's see what else is going on. OH I start teaching piano this week. I have 5 nieces I'm continuing to teach this year while I'm on Mat leave. I'm starting 2 weeks earlier than normal as I'll be taking a month off once baby arrives and I wanted to make sure they had a good month of lessons before that happens. . .if all goes to plan. :) I'm excited that I get to keep this going as I love introducing kids to music through piano and who better than 5 very precious little girls.

Besides that I'm taking advantage of this time off before baby and enjoying being at home, having fun puttering with little things but stopping when I need to put my feet up. This is a special season to enjoy before life changes as we know it. We have been enjoying every moment while we look forward to the future.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Simply Beautiful

My birthday was a few weeks ago and my parents gave me some money to go find something for me. Lance also gave me a gift card to House of James in Abbotsford so we had a 'date' to go find some fun things I could purchase. I found a great book of a series I'm enjoying that I'm saving to read on Mat leave and I also was able to get the new Mercy Me CD. I don't have any of their CD's except their Christmas one which I LOVE. I had heard one of their new songs on the radio and thought it would be a good CD to pick up.

This group is great in not only providing good music but worship & ministry as well. The one song that I have been listening too a lot is called "Beautiful". It is such a great song that describes God's constant pursuit for us and how much He thinks of us. The part that has just rocked me is the bridge that describes His love and that YOU are His beautiful creation. See below . .

Before you ever took a breath

Long before the world began

Of all the wonders He possessed

There was one more precious

Of all the earth and skys above

You're the one He madly loves

Enough to die

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

In His eyes!

I can't seem to get through this song without tears . . . now that goes with pregnancy I know, but what an amazing thought that before the world even was created, YOU were thought of and planned and LOVED! Simply BEAUTIFUL :)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Pregnancy info

Ever since we found out we were pregnant my friend Carrie recommended an INCREDIBLE website that has been so useful for a newbie like me. It sends me an email every week letting me know what is happening to me and the baby. It also sends emails with random questions answered, things to know while you are pregnant, things to avoid, etc. It also has a place for you to type in ANY question and you get answers from doctors! I wanted to put it out there for anyone who would like info in an instant that is so good and true. This website has been better than the books I've read and has become a wonderful tool. The best part is the website doesn't stop at pregnancy, it keeps going right up to 9 yrs of age. I think I'm hooked :)

http://www.babycenter.com/ or http://www.babycentre.ca/ I found the US site to be better but both have been very useful.

Enjoy!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Baby update

Hard to believe I'm now 30 weeks. Only 10 more to go and w

e are getting so excited to finally meet this little peanut. We had another ultrasound this past week and what a difference from the last one. Quoting Lance, "It actually looks like a baby instead of a little alien." Everything is going along smoothly and looking good. My energy has definitely dropped from where it was a couple weeks ago as each movement takes more effort. I've GROWN that is for sure as you can see in the pic below but I'm feeling overall really good.

We have pretty much finished the baby's room as well. What a fun project that was to put together. We went with a Teddy bear theme and can't wait to introduce this little one to their new room. :) Only a few little things left to get this month and next and we should be set with the necessities.

Lance and I are enjoying time for us and look forward to more day trips this summer. We have been taking every moment to just enjoy our little family of 2 before it changes to 3. Lots of spontaneous 'dates' on the weekends and evenings which is so much fun.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Summer is finally here!

After the rest of the nation seemed to be experiencing a wonderful, warm summer that started in June - the lower mainland in BC just kept getting hit with rain and cold and damp horrible weather. I'm happy to announce that summer has finally arrived and it came with a bang this week. The temperature went from 17C to 30C overnight. It was a bit of a shock to most as we all still had our heat on in our homes last weekend, but overall we are happy for the sunshine and hot days. It did reach 35C yesterday which is a bit too hot for my liking but has gone back down to 30 today.

Everyone has been quite concerned about me in the heat being pregnant but I must say I'm doing okay. But then I have it pretty easy :) I work in air conditioning all day, drive home in AC and our basement suite is also really nice and cool. It has been a bit uncomfortable trying to sleep . . .or should I say stay asleep as you wake up hot but the fan has really helped. The only part that is swelling are my ankles and only a bit compared to some. I am blessed! I much prefer warm sunny days to rain, damp cold ones. Hopefully the sunshine sticks around for a while.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Counting down and finding joy

My work place is quite the place. It has been a job that God provided when we were in a very desperate place after I was laid off. I've never enjoyed my job but it has been full time work that I'm very thankful for. The Lord brought a job that I'm capable of doing. It isn't anything I'm passionate about or look forward to going to work everyday - but God has provided a place that I can bring in income for our household and keep me somewhat busy throughout the day.

I'm working in the glass trade and for anyone who knows this is an industry that has been hit pretty bad by our economy. Business is slow and it is by God's hand I still have a job here as there have been so many lay offs. The Lord knew the timing in us conceiving this child as it is what has saved my job and them putting me in different departments throughout the day to stretch the work until I go on Mat leave. Lance and I both knew this job was a 'holding' place until God set up the next season in our lives. This baby is what God has next for me. :)

I'm now on the count down until Maternity leave. On Friday it will be 7 weeks left - 7 WEEKS, that is it!! Pretty exciting :) It seems the closer I get to being off work the more excited I get as it means we are that much closer to meeting this little person inside. Of course that means the last 2 weeks and here on in the weeks will stretch on. Why is that? Whenever you are looking forward to a particular date in the near future it seems time goes slower. Funny how that works. :) Everyday seems to be harder in being at work as the finish line is so close.

So everyday I'm determined to find something that brings me joy and helps me embrace today. A new day is a gift from the Lord and I love how His mercies are new every morning. :) Today I find joy in the sun shining through the skylight in my office (no windows in the middle of the warehouse) and that it is Tuesday, not Monday. I also thank the Lord for a 4 day week instead of 5 due to Canada Day off work. YAHOO!! God is good.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Vistor from out of Town

I love vistors from out of town. Playing 'host' is always a lot of fun and a great blessing to show our love for people coming for a visit.

When we returned from Victoria, Lance's brother was in town from Edmonton. He has only been to our place 1 other time for Lance's 40th birthday this past winter and it was such a pleasure to spend time with him. We got to hang out with him for 3 days and have an awesome visit. We are so bad in forgetting to take pictures but here is a fun pic of 'brotherly love' the night he left. :)

We had such a great time catching up with you Sean and have you around for a few days. Love ya bro!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mini Vacation

This past weekend we headed over to Victoria for a mini vacation. We had been saving for this trip and had planned it for months as it would be our last vacation just us before baby arrives. We took 4 days and enjoyed every moment!

Victoria holds a very special place for us. This is where we got engaged and have done a lot of day trips to explore our beautiful Capital City of BC. For myself it also holds a lot of childhood memories as we had cousins that lived in Victoria that we would visit throughout the years quite frequently.

There is so much you can do in Victoria but also so many places to just relax. We both had a few places we hadn't been in years that we wanted to explore and experience all over again. That included the Parliment building, Hatley Castle, Butchard Gardens, the downtown core and browsing all the fun, tacky gift shops. :) The weather was perfect for the entire 4 days we were there and we felt so blessed God would give us the opportunity to have a little get away. I've put some pics below of our great trip.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

24 weeks - 6 months pregnant

I can't believe I'm already 6 months pregnant. The last 3 months have flown by and we have been having so much fun getting everything ready for baby Rourke. It has been a very busy season with more birthdays then we can remember in other years but I think that is because this year it worked out for us to celebrate them all on a separate day which means for the past 7 weeks every weekend has had at lease 1 birthday celebration if not 2. Another reason we didn't want a spring baby. :)

Anyway, this week is a busy one again with my Piano students final concert. Lots of prep for that but it is always worth it to see the students do such a fantastic job and showing their family & friends how much they have progressed in 1 year. A true highlight to end off the spring and welcome summer.

Here is the latest prego pic of me. I'm feeling great but starting to look quite big!! According to the doctor though I'm right on track and measuring nicely.

I'm feeling so much more movement from the baby and we get more excited as the time gets closer to meet this little one. What an incredible blessing for me to be able to carry this child and experience life being created within. God truly is a miracle worker.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Latest blessing

This is just a quick post regarding the latest blessing the Lord has done for us regarding this new child on its way. As I've written in other posts, we are trying to be really creative on how to purchase everything for baby as it can be so expensive and we don't have the extra cash around. Once again God has proven His faithfulness in providing for His kids.

I've had my 'eye' on a Graco travel system (Stroller & Car seat) in Sears since back in March. We have been watching flyers every week to see if it would come on sale and down in price. The most it has is by $20 due to it being a newer model. I've looked at other travel systems but nothing seems to grab me like this one has and it has all the safety features we wanted plus it is more compact of a stroller that would be easier for in and out of places, the trunk, etc. We decided that if it did not come down in price by June we would buy it full price.

Earlier this week I went onto Cragslist once again to hunt for other things baby as I've found such great deals on there and thought, why not type in 'Graco Travel System". Sure enough there were LOADS of travel systems on there. But when buying a used car seat you have to do your homework. I found a site called "Safe Kids Canada" that outlines all the requirements you need to know for buying a car seat, used car seat, when to change sizes, etc. You need to know where it is bought from (If bought in the States you won't be covered if in an accident), if it has been in an accident, how old it is as they expire within 6 years and if they still have all the paper work. So once I had done this and knew what to look for I started reading through all the listings.

Just posted on Monday was a "NEW" travel system bought at Sears. It had been purchased 6 months ago and the car seat was only used for 1 month. I emailed the lady with my questions and she responded with the answers and photos of her stroller. Are you ready for this? It was the EXACT SAME ONE I've been eying at Sears!!!! NO JOKE!! She was getting rid of it because her son had grown too big and she preferred to use her umbrella stroller. She herself had been in a bad car accident 6 months ago and had to get rid of her car seat & stroller due to the accident and bought this new one. At this point her son was 8 months old and was too big for the car seat within 1 month, that is why she didn't use the car seat. Not only was she selling the car seat & stroller but also the extra base for the car. That alone can cost $50. All for $250. If we bought all this brand new it would cost us around $400. Now THAT is the God I serve!! :)

So we went out to have a look and you would think it was brand new. Hardly any wear to the tires on the stroller, had all the paper work, sticker to verify it was bought in Canada and just PERFECT! I was ecstatic!! God is so good!! We bought it and thanked the Lady so much for such a great blessing. Never under estimate what God can do.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Life's little things

I'm not much of a person who focuses on the 'big stuff' of life. I'd much rather look at life's little things and appreciate each one. Over the years in my life of big things taking place - good or bad - I've found if you look at the little things and start thanking the Lord for those little things you realize that life is pretty good, pretty blessed and you can get through anything big by thanking God for the little. :) 'One step at a time' was the best advice I ever received. Whether trying to get through a season of feeling very overwhelmed and stressed, or a family member in need of healing, or a tough day with a child that just won't behave - one step at a time and looking at the little things can do wonders.

The little things I've been thanking God for are usually as they cross my path everyday. Like 'Thank you Lord for sunshine today, thank you Lord I have a full time job I can go too today, thank you Lord for my health, Thank you Lord for doctors to help with our health. Thank you Lord for a roof over my head, thank you Lord for food in our house, thank you Lord for my husband, family & friends. Thank you Lord for music, for nature, for my sight! Thank you Lord for a vehicle to drive. Thank you Lord for the free country I live in., etc., etc. Once you start it is hard to stop. :)

Lately I've been starting each day with saying, "Thank you Lord for life in YOU!, Thank you for the cross and what you sacrificed for me." That is no little thing but I think sometimes we forget as we go along our days of how rough life would be without him. I really don't know life without Christ and I'M SO THANKFUL He found me so early in life and I chose to live for Him the rest of my days. If I didn't have His shoulders to lean on I would be so stressed. (Ps. 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.) Its funny when you start each day with that how the little things start to pop up around you and ones you didn't notice before are right in front of you.

Last week I was rear ended on my way to work by a big Lily Dale Semi-truck. I've only been in a few accidents over the years (Thank you Lord), but this one I was at such peace when it happened as I had just said, "Thank you Lord for life in You". I've had nothing but peace ever since. With talking to the driver at the accident, to being at the doctor to check out baby and myself were okay. To neck pain from the whiplash to meeting with ICBC to get the back end of my car repaired. When you are focused on life in Christ, everything seems to have a different focus and you can deal with things better. Probably because I know my life is in His hands and with Him any big thing can be dealt with through 'one step at a time'.

So start to thank the Lord for the little things today, the little victories, the little steps because they are the ones that lead to the big things in life.