Not what was expected

Monday 17th: The first unexpected event of this week was having Asher and I head off to town in an Ambulance after lunch. All the details are in my previous blog post here. I forgot the blanket that she loves holding when she falls asleep. Thankfully she was happy with my jersey. Once she was asleep they did an ECG. You can see how much she moved though because by the time we had the ones on her chest attached - the ones on her arms had already been knocked off.

Lovely to have her back to her happy talkative self that evening. It was rather funny to watch her giggle as the one doctor listened to her chest. I should have gotten a video of that. It was so sweet.

Tuesday 18th: The ECG report from last night got misplaced - so they had another one done this morning. This time it was done by someone who specializes with doing ECGs and she was more than happy to do it while she was awake. We were all trying to hold her a little bit still to get a nice clear reading but she just kept kicking her legs. Eventually the lady was having a look at the report - and with everyone letting go of her - she kept nice and still and the lady got a nice clear reading.

Wednesday 19th: We made it home just in time yesterday afternoon as Louisa was coming to our place after school to go to ballet with Rachel. It was her once a month sleep over again. This morning the girls built this nice tall marble run together. I was so thankful to a neighbour who gave Louisa a lift to school with her children. It was so icy cold out there.
Rachel and Ruth helped me to get a nice stack of wood ready inside and right at the back door (and Rachel filled the wood box). The expectation for this week (starting tonight) was a snow storm that would be the biggest the country had seen in 20 years. We wanted to be ready.

I finally got around to taking Asher's 4 month photos today.

Such a happy girl. We thank the Lord for you Asher.
We realized when Grandpa died that we need to make sure we get one-on-one time to talk to Ruth about things as she generally puts on such a strong face even when she is really sad inside. So on Monday night Brendon got to chat to Ruth a bit about Asher as she started crying when she went to bed. She said something like "I don't want to not have a baby sister." She had been really worried about Asher. Brendon could then tell her about how she had been laughing at the doctor and that made her feel so much better.
We all love you very much Asher.

Thursday 20th: The school had also anticipated a load of snow today and so had cancelled school. Sarah is great at making jewellery and so invited Rachel and Ruth to do some jewellery making at her place today. Rachel took her two huge boxes of beads with (thanks to Lynn who handed them our way when she did a big clean out) and they had a great time.
I kept wondering if the snow would arrive. Thankfully Sarah has a vehicle that would be able to get them home if it did start coming down heavily. Although we did not see any snow through the day the rain was incredible.
It just kept coming and the wind along with it made it so cold. It must have been so unpleasant for everyone working out there (including my dear husband). I know Brendon kept wishing it would stop raining and rather snow as he says the snow is much easier to work in.
The girls also did some baking while they were there. They really had such a fun time. What a lovely treat for them. Not so great for me though as these two big girls are such a help for me at home. It was rather full on with Asher and Hezekiah - but a good opportunity for me to realize how much the girls help.

This was the marble run Ruth and Rachel made this morning before they left. The started by sharing the "exit" and tried to make almost exactly the same run on each side.
Friday 21st: The girls were disapointed that there had not been any snow over night (again) but were excited to see my phone's weather report for the day. Unfortunately although there were a few flurries - there was just not enough to even think of settling and just too much rain still. Freezing cold though and I think this is what has made the week so hard. The temperatures have been so cold due to all the snow around (even Christchurch getting a good amount in places) but we have just had the cold wet weather and no enjoyment of snow to go with it.

You can see how much has fallen on the hills around us. Friends who stay up in the mountains got around 9 inches and are housebound for a while.

Ruth loves talking and playing with Asher and today Asher decided it was so much fun getting her fingers into Ruth's mouth.

Saturday 22nd: Still no snow and wet again today. I had to smile when I heard Ruth and Hezekiah playing together this morning. They had their hats on and were collecting things in bags and having a wonderful "pretend" game that he was happily enjoying with her. Such wonderful times together.

This especially made Ruth laugh as there is a photo of her as a baby looking up at my mug in just the same way. So we said "Asher is doing Ruth's trick now."

Thanks Ruth Love for the lovely pjs for Hezekiah. Here he is finding something different to do with this toy library toy just before bed. He had us all laughing so much. :-)