Election Results and Liberal Promises

Being a parent is difficult. One of the many challenges that parents face is trying to balance the need to earn an income while also caring for our children. The more time we spend working, the less time we can spend with our children. As parents of three small children, my wife and I have often struggled with finding the ideal balance in this area.

I recognize that in some families both parents want to work full-time. For other families, one parent might want to stay at home to focus on raising the children. I expect that many parents try to find a middle ground where working part-time can provide a balance of both. I beleive that it should not matter what a family decides is the best balance for them, the government should tax the family fairly based on how much they earn together, instead of basing the tax rate on how much one parent earns compared to the other.

Last year (2014) tax rules were changed in order to make the challenge of finding that balance little easier. It no longer matters how our income was balanced between me and Katherine. We could choose the work-childcare balance that we felt was best for our family, knowing that as a household we would be taxed fairly based on the total amount of money that we earned, and not based on who earned it.

 

One of the key Liberal platform items is to undo this change. On their website, they presented it as “Ending Unfair Tax Breaks: We will cancel Stephen Harper’s tax breaks for the wealthy, to give Canadian families more money to raise their children.” It would appear that the Liberals have completely missed the boat on what the Family Tax Credit is, and what it is supposed to do. It would appear that the NDP also missed the purpose of this tax policy as they were campaigning with a similar element in their platform.

On my way home from work on election day, I saw my local NDP representative out encouraging people to vote and so I stopped to talk with him about this issue. He was instant that income splitting was primarily a benefit to wealthy couples with no kids. He did not believe that it was a benefit that only applied to families until I looked up the page on the CRA website that explains income splitting and showed it to him. I am deeply concerned that changes to this tax policy will be made by others who are equally ignorant of its purpose and effect.

 

The purpose of the Family Tax Cut is to balance the amount of taxes paid by a household with a stay-at-home parent so that taxes are similar to those households that earn the same net income by having both parents work. If it was understood that this is the purpose of the Family Tax Cut, then the Liberal Platform would have read “Ending Family Tax Equality: We will cancel tax equity for stay-at-home parents to encourage Canadian families pay someone else to raise their children.”

The Liberal platform lists all of the people that do not, and should not, benefit from income splitting as though this was a bad thing. They completely miss the point that those people do not need an adjustment to ensure equality.

1. Income splitting delivers no benefits to working parents who earn similar salaries.

Working parents who earn similar salaries, already pay the lowest taxes for their household income. Despite having the same taxable income, a household were each parent earns $50,000 each pays substantially less tax than a household where one parent earns $80,000 and the other earns $20,000. The entire purpose of the Family Tax Cut is to ensure that all families pay the same low tax regardless of how that income is divided between parents. It shouldn't matter if the parents’ salaries are similar or dissimilar, one family should pay the same amount of tax as another family that has the same net income.

To make matters worse, the tax system is rigged to reduce the possibility of allowing parents to have similar salaries. Tax deductions for childcare must be applied to the parent with the lower income. The more a family pays for childcare, the greater the difference in taxable income will be between the parents.

2. Income splitting delivers no benefits to single parents.

Single parents benefit from income splitting through Child Support deductions. The total taxes paid by a split household where one parent earns $60,000 and gives $10,000 in Child Support to the other parent who earn $40,000 is similar to the taxes paid by a household where each parent earns $50,000. However, if those parents weren't separated and were earning $60,000/$40,000, they would pay higher taxes than they would if they were divorced and balancing their incomes through Child Support payments. It seems absurd to me that there would be a tax benefit that favours breaking families apart through divorce over keeping families together, but that is how the tax system worked prior to 2014, and that is what the Liberals are suggesting needs to be done again.

I recognize that many single parents do not receive the Child Support. I agree that special policies should be implement to assist those parents. However, implementing such policies does not require families with stay-at-home parents to pay a disproportionately large share of taxes.

3. Income splitting delivers no benefits to Canadians who do not have kids.

There is good reason that the proper title for income splitting is the Family Tax Cut. It was never intended to benefit Canadians who do not have kids. Couples that do not have children are free to work as they see fit given their situation. It is reasonable to expect that couples who do not have children should pay the same amount of tax whether they are married or not. The fact that this policy only applies to families with children prevents wealthy individuals from avoiding taxes by transferring income to a trophy-spouse.

Parents of children receive tax advantages over those who do not have children. The intent of these policies is to ensure that parents have the resources needed to raise children so that they can contribute to society. There seems to be a universal agreement that this is appropriate, as all of the political parties campaign on improving benefits for families. Income splitting is another such benefit with the specific goal of allowing parents to choose the balance between providing for their children's financial and nurturing needs as they believe will best benefit their children.

 

4. All told, income splitting benefits only about 15 percent of Canadian households.

Who is that 15 percent? If you think about it, it is obvious who is getting the benefit: they must be parents of children under the age of 18, and one parent must be earning more than the other. What is the most obvious reason for one parent to earn more than the other: because one parent is more focused on raising their children than trying to match the income of his/her spouse. Like I said earlier, ending income splitting is effectively saying “We will cancel tax equity for stay-at-home parents.”

 

Is there a group of people who could be benefiting from this tax rule more than they probably should? Possibly: Wealthy parents of teenagers where one parent earns a high income and the other earns a modest income do stand to benefit substantially from this policy.

I do not have access to the statistics to figure out what potion of the Family Tax Cut goes to families that are in that sort of situation. However, if that does account for an excessive portion of the Family Tax Cut the solution is not to abolish it. If the parents of teenagers are gaining too much benefit from the Family Tax Cut, then it could be refined by lowering the age requirement for the children; as a possible example, the Family Tax Cut could be applied to families with children 12 and under instead of children 18 and under. If wealthy families are gaining too much benefit, the 50,000 limit could be adjusted based on household or individual income so that high-income families have a shrinking transfer limit. There are countless ways that the Family Tax Cut could be tweaked to better achieve the goal of providing tax equality for stay-at-home parents.

 

In any case, I would point out that it is not necessarily a bad thing that upper-class families with teenagers benefit from this tax equality. There are key balances built into the existing system that prevent abuse of this tax credit.

First, there is a limit to how much inequality can be balanced. At most only $50,000 can be transferred between spouses. That means that a family where one parent earns $200,000 and the other earns nothing can only balance their incomes so that they pay the same taxes as a family where one parent earns $150,000 and the other earns $50,000. It does not matter how much more the higher income parent earns, the most that they can transfer is $50,000, and once a person has an income that exceeds $186,270 they cannot transfer enough to their spouse to get out of the highest tax bracket, making it irrelevant how much more they earn. An upper-class family might run into this limitation, while a middle-class family cannot.

Second, the more the lower income parent earns, the less benefit there is from the transfer. If the lower income parent’s income is more than $136,270 after the equalization is applied, then further income splitting is completely irrelevant. Both parents would end up in the highest tax bracket, so it does not matter how unequal the parents’ incomes; they would pay they same amount of tax. Therefore, income splitting cannot benefit families where both parents have high incomes. Again, this limitation only affects upper-class families.

Next, a wealthy household is likely to have more disposable income. That disposable income provides flexibility such that a wealthy household can use RRSP Contributions along with other deductions and tax strategies to reduce the difference in income between spouses. A wealthy household, is more likely to be able to balance the taxable income between each other. Low and medium income families are unlikely to have such flexibility, making the Family Tax Cut the most relevant way for them to equalize their taxable incomes and thus reduce the taxes they pay.

Remember, the Family Tax Cut (aka income splitting) is about ensuring equality so that families pay similar taxes to other families that have similar household incomes. One wealthy family shouldn't pay more taxes than another wealthy family that has the same taxable income just because they choose to have one parent stay home to raise the kids. If wealthiest families need to take on a greater share of the tax burden, then they should take it in a fair and equal manner. The tax increase should not be biased against families with a stay-at-home parent.

 

I hope that our new Liberal government can look past the fact that the long overdue equalization of our tax system made possible by the Family Tax Cut happened to be implemented by a different political party. The Liberal party has had many opportunities in the past when they could have been the ones to implement this much needed policy. They can still be the ones to fine tune it to perfection.

I fully support initiatives to decrease costs for daycare, help parents that do not receive the proper Child Support and generally benefit middle-class families. However, those initiatives should not be funded by taking an extra $2 billion a year from stay-at-home or part-time working parents.

 

To our Members of Parliament: Please don’t cancel tax equity for stay-at-home parents; please don’t cut the Family Tax Cut.

Baby Mary is Here!

Well, a new little angel has arrived on earth! Mary Louise Watters was born Saturday September 19th at 2:00 pm. 21 inches long and weighing in at 9lbs 12 ounces. She is named after her great grandmas Mary Selman and Louise Brown. Here is her story:

I was very anxious the last week. After all Caeleb was born at 38 weeks and 5 days and Elva at 35 weeks so why was this baby not coming? (silly, paranoid me).
Chris was expecting the baby to come on his birthday September 14th. He was just joking of course but somehow when baby did not arrive, I became anxious in the days after. That did not spoil Chris and Caeleb's birthday though. We went to Spruce Meadows on Saturday with Mom and Dad Smith and had a birthday picnic and cake. We had a small family party with just the 4 of us on the Birthday Monday with homemade pizza and leftover cake. I made cupcakes for Caeleb's kindergarten class. Caeleb got a couple of Elefun games and some books. Chris got a date night to the Calgary Tower sky restaurant. On Tuesday, I was all ready to go to the hospital just because of anxiety but I held off (did alot of kick counts that day though) and at my 40 week (due date) OB appointment on Thursday September 17, Dr. Fahey, Chris and I planned for an induction Saturday September 26th. With a plan in mind, I had a lot more peace of mind. Dr. Fahey stripped my membranes for the 3rd time in the last 3 weeks and I had regular painfulish contractions up until I feel asleep that night (I had had a lot of them in the last few weeks and had several moments where I thought that this might be it). I woke up the next morning feeling contraction free and perfectly fine.

Friday, Mom called in the morning to say she was coming to take the kids after Caeleb was done school that day. I know she was inspired to do so. I love my mom and how she lives close to the spirit. I met Mom and Dad in Okotoks after school and Caeleb and Elva went to the farm (which they are always excited for). I came home and rested a bit and tidied the house a bit. I made plans to do more tidying and organizing the next day. Not many contractions were happening that day. My cousin Kamille had given me some herbs to help bring on labour so I took those. (she was a jule and had watched Elva the day before while Chris and I went to my appointment). At 9:00 at night, I was craving some Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt so Chris and I took off to the nearest Tutti Frutti and had a little date night. And we brought some back for Nathan of course. I was asleep by 1130 pm after watching some Sister Act 2.

At about 3:00, I woke up automatically like I had been doing most nights, and did some kick counts. At about 3:15, I felt a big pop and a few seconds later I felt a gush of water come out all over the bed. I woke up Chris and calmly told him that "either my water broke or I have really peed my pants." I went to the bathroom and it was still coming, changed my clothes, got off the toilet, another gush came (pads don't help a bit), changed my clothes again, went downstairs and sat in the rocking chair while Chris hurried around and got dressed and got the hospital bag. I felt fine, just uncomfortably wet and a bit worried as I was not feeling baby. So off we went to Calgary South Health Campus to check on baby. (Sorry Chris for being a bit sharp as we searched for a parking spot close to the nearest elevator in the underground parking) As I got out of the car, another gush came and I was soaked again so off Chris went to find a wheelchair to bring me up to Labour and Delivery. I did not want to present a fall hazard by leaving a trail of fluid on my way up to the unit.

Triage took me in right away. I was starting to have some contractions but they were not very painful and so I asked if they would send me home for a while. They said no as I had had a previous C-section. Baby was okay on the monitor so I breathed a sigh of relief. An IV was started, they found me a room and we were settled right in by about 5:00 am. We walked around the unit a few times to get things going faster and MD Fahey came to see us at about 0900. (She was on call this weekend -what are the odds). I was about 75 % effaced and 4.5 cm dilated by then and was having regular, quite painful contractions. I was trying to distract myself by watching rugby on TV. Not sure why I thought that would help. Rocking in the rocking chair and bouncing on the birthing ball helped a bit. Laying down in bed on my side was not helpful!! I had to be sitting up straight or bending forward and rocking side to side. The contractions continued to get worse and closer together until I was not having much of a break at all. At about 1000 I asked for laughing gas. It did not help with the pain much but it sure made me loopy and so I laboured quietly (whimpering a bit) in La La land for a while, wondering if I could possibly survive the next few hours - like I said, I was loopy - not thinking clearly). I held onto the laughing gas mask for dear life and was trying to focus on a happy place (horse riding) but my loopiness, pain and nausea (from the laughing gas I figure) were not making that easy. I asked to be checked again at 1100 and was thoroughly disappointed that I had only progressed to 5.5 cm in two hours. And so at 1130ish, I asked for an epidural. It was in by 1215 and I got almost immediate relief. I feel so blessed to live in this modern time of epidural bliss. By 1230 I was already 10 cm. My nurse said that I most likely jumped to a 10 so fast because I was finally able to relax and that she sees this kind of thing happen. I was left to rest for an hour to get my energy up for pushing. MD Fahey joined us at about 1330 and everything was readied for pushing. I only pushed for about 15 minutes - 3 or 4 contractions - before out popped big, beautiful, full head of dark hair, Mary. I guess the cord was wrapped around her neck once, one shoulder got a bit stuck and her heart rate may have  dropped a bit (the scalp fetal heart monitor that had been put in earlier due to some scattered heart rate drops had come loose so it was hard to tell) but MD Fahey was amazing, took it all in stride and all those kinks were smoothed out quickly. The Nurse laid a quiet Mary on my chest and it took some rubbing to get a good cry. Apgars were 9,9 so she did well. It took a bit for the placenta to pop out and MD Fahey joked that last time my placenta didn't want to stay in and this time it didn't want to come out. I had a second degree tare so I became her sewing project for a while with 10 stitches in total. I didn't feel a thing then but I am sure feeling it now.

We stayed in the hospital a day and were home by 4:00 pm on Sunday. Mom, Dad, Caeleb, Elva, Camellia, Doug, Sterling, Liam and my friend Lindsey visited us Saturday afternoon. Caeleb and Elva seem happy to have a baby sister (Caeleb wanted a brother but he does not seem disappointed). Chris was able to stay Saturday night as this new hospital is incredible and has a bed in the room for the husband. You are in same room for labour and postpartum care, the rooms are new and big and you can order up room service with a selection of about 6 meals. I felt pretty spoiled. In fact, it felt like the hospital I worked at in Idaho.

It is Wednesday today and Chris has been able to take this week off of work. Monday, Mary had her first appointment with the Postpartum Health Nurse. Tuesday was her first Doctors appointment and today she goes to get her tongue tie fixed. Tomorrow I have an appointment and Friday is Caeleb's first parent teacher interview. We are keeping quite busy this week but I am getting my resting in too. Mom and Dad brought Caeleb and Elva up Tuesday morning so Caeleb could go to Kindergarten. We have received supper from ward members every evening since we have come home. Like I said before, I feel so spoiled. The Mahogany ward is awesome. I feel so blessed to be in that ward. I feel blessed to have Mary here safely. I feel blessed to have wonderful family who are such a support. I feel blessed to live in Calgary, in a cozy little home in Copperfield and I feel like we could live in this city for our whole lives and be happy. My mom has told me that it is important to be content in life and I feel like Heavenly Father is helping me with that. I love it here. I pray that others can have the blessings they desire and I hope to be used as an instrument in helping with those blessings for others.

 

Caeleb has started Kindergarten!

Caeleb started Kindergarten on Tuesday September 1. He is going to the Spanish bilingual school - Eugene Coste. The bus picks him up at a nearby park at 1210 Monday to Friday and then drops him off at 4:10 PM. He looks adorable with his spiderman back pack on his back (with a snack inside) and looking so handsome in his "new" school clothes. I would be lying if I said he has had no problems adapting to Monday to Friday school. He is  sensitive and anxious at times but he has hopped on that bus each day like a trooper ready to face that big old world on his own for a few hours. He waves and smiles at me as the bus takes off and I feel so proud of my little boy who is growing up so fast! I have also shed some tears - it is hard sending kids off into the world and this is only kindergarten. I hope that he is kind to his classmates and that he listens to his teacher. I think he does.

Well, tomorrow I will be 39 weeks. To tell you the truth, I thought baby would be here by now as he measured so big on the 31 week ultrasound. And Caeleb was born at 38 weeks and 5 days and was 8 lbs 8 ounces so he was a decent size for a week before his due date. And Elva was born at 35 weeks (then again, she was a different story). My outlook has now changed. I need to enjoy this last week or two with baby inside. I need to enjoy the moment. I plan to do that.

Going back in time summary. And update on baby.

So the posts below, that I have posted today, August 16, sum up my journal since Chris and I got married to when I started my journal blog. Read them if you like. I have enjoyed reading them again. I know I could do better at recording (I did better with Caeleb then with Elva) but I do want to record my thoughts and feelings so that future generations can know what experiences I went through in life and learn from my thoughts and my testimony.

On another thought, I am 35 and 1/2 weeks. A few more weeks to go and baby number 3 will arrive to join our family. I am excited, scared and a little impatient. I feel baby moving now and I count my blessings that this pregnancy has gone so well so far. This baby is measuring big (95% percentile - he or she was measuring small when the nurse measure my tummy so they sent me for an ultrasound at 31 weeks and low and behold, a big baby! not sure where I am hiding him, but I do feel big). So, I hope all goes well in getting him out (that part makes me scared). And it will! Positive thoughts. 4 more shifts of work to go. I am tired (not sleeping well), short of breath, having to go to the bathroom all the time, etc. But I am not complaining. I need to soak it all in. I have been blessed.

Going back in time part 12: August -September 2012. Letters to the family.

August 2012

I worked pretty hard from the middle of June to the end of July. Then we took a week off and Camellia, Sterling and Nathan joined us for the August long weekend camping by the Shuswap lake in BC. We played at a beach there, went to church on Sunday and enjoyed campfire meals, sleeping in a tent and a relaxing weekend. Then on August 6^th Nathan, Camellia and Sterling went back to Calgary and Chris, Caeleb and I continued on to Victoria. We spent the week there and went to Nathanial and Suzanne’s wedding on Saturday August 11. It was the probably the most expensive wedding I have been too. And very elegant. It was at a winery and after the 2:30 wedding, there were hordevers and cocktails and then a buffet supper at 6:00 and a dance after. Suzanne looked beautiful  in her dress. It will be fun to have her part of the family.

I was supposed to go back to work on August 16 and 17^th but had a turn of events. I had an ultrasound on August 16^th and we found out that we are having a baby girl. We are really excited. Maybe little Lilly is making a comeback. The perinatologist was worried about the large Hematoma that was still covering my cervix and the cyst on the babies brain. I was also getting over a bad cold and really bad cough so I am sure it would not have been a good idea to go back to work as I sounded horrible. I had to cancel my shift that day. My lst appointment with my OB/GYN on Monday August 20^th left me with a Doctor’s note stating that I should not be working. I guess Dr. Albretch thinks I should not be working because of that bleed. So I guess I will take an early sick/maternity leave and just take this time to enjoy Caeleb and prepare for baby girl.

The month of August and September has brought a rollercoaster of events and I have summed them up in letters I have written to my family.

June 29^{th 2012} (starting with the first letter to the family about this new adventure) Dear Family,

I hope all is going well for all of you. We had fun visitng with Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Gord and Aunt Sharan when they came up to Calgary. I would love to go on a road trip and go down to Utah and up to Edmonton to visit family but Chris has not been at his new job for too long and he does not have alot of vacation time saved up so our summer vacation this year will be a short trip to Victoria for Chris' brother's wedding. We plan to head out there the second weekend in August. Life is good. Chris absolutely loves his new job and we love our new house that we are renting in Ranchlands. I am working 3 shifts a week at the Rockyview right now which is a bit much but I feel I need to get a little more seniority. We love having Nathan live with us. He is an awesome uncle to Caeleb and Caeleb and him are great friends. They love to play hide and seek. Caeleb is at a fun age. He was jabbering on and on today. He says quite a bit but I can only pick out a few words that make sense - Car is still at the top of the list but he loves to say outside words like rock, lide (for slide), bus, pane (plane), tain (train), and lots of animal sounds and words. We went on the train today and he always loves his walks and train rides. We miss mom and dad (Nana and Grandpa - or Papa as Caeleb says), but we are so grateful for the awesome technology of skyping. Caeleb likes to give his Nana and Grandpa kisses and hugs on the screen. And he runs around the couch and dances for them.

We have some good news. We are going to have another little one. We are 12 weeks, 4 days (at the ultrasound today). I have had some complications. I have a subchorionic hematoma which is pretty large so I will see a specialist. And there are always the risks like miscarraige and preterm birth with that. But we are being optomistic even if things sometimes don't go the way we want - like last time. But Chris is a very optomistic person and I look to his example. Anyways, we are excited and we wanted to share that with you. We hope that you are all doing well. I miss you all. I really do. Love Katherine

August 17 2012. Dear Family, So we had an ultrasound today. I am just over 19 weeks along. And it is a BABY GIRL! We are really excited!! But we are a bit worried and confused as well. The Radiologist told us that along with the large Hematoma covering the cervix, and a lower lying placenta, the baby has a choriod plexus cyst in the brain. I don't think this would be that bad if it was the only thing, but the doctor said it may be an indication of trisomy 18 which has a very small chance of survival to birth and babies usually only live a short time. He didn't say what the probability is for our baby having this. Anyways, we would love any little baby with any trisomy or monosomy, etc or any problem at all, but we are praying that all will be okay. We just want our baby to live! (I don't mean to be selfish but who wouldn't want that, right). I have a specialist appointment on Monday and maybe she can give us more information. We are being positive. After all, it is just an increased chance and we will have more ultrasounds later to give us more information. I just thought you all should know. Thank you for your support and love.  Love Katherine.

August 20 2012. Dear Family. So I had my specialist appointment today and it went really well. The Nurse and Doctor were both so kind and reassuring. They said that they would monitor the baby closely but that even though my risk of trisomy 18 is a bit greater than normal, I should not be worried about it. They were so positive and they think eveything will be just fine in that area. They will watch the cyst and the baby. The doctor was a lot more worried about the hematoma -clot. I left a bit confused because she first started out by saying that I should still go to work but that I should be on light duties. Then a few minutes later, she decided I should not work until I am at least 24 weeks along (4 weeks from now) because if I did go into preterm labor, a baby will not usually survive before 24 weeks and I would feel horrible if I had been working and went into labor. They are concerned that I may go in to preterm labor. I guess it happens quite a bit with these clots??? Well, baby does come first so I will take it easy.

Thank you for your support and prayers. I have sure felt them. We feel so blessed to have our family. We hope that we can always be there for you as you have been there for us. I will let you know how things continue to go. Love Katherine

September 10 2012. Hello family,

Hope you are all doing great! Just thought I would give you an update on baby girl. I was bleeding again two weeks ago and so we were a bit nervous for a while but it actually turned out to be a good thing. I had an ultrasound last Wednesday and it showed that the large hematoma was gone. Yeah!! I asked the doctor today if I should go back to work and she said no as I am still high risk (even though I really don't feel like I am now). So I will just take my maternity leave early and go back a bit early. I am going to take a Nursing module from Grant MacEwan in the next few months so that I can continue to learn and grow in nursing. I am a very forgetful person and have found it very hard to come back to nursing after breaks (mission and Caeleb). But most importantly, I will have this time with Caeleb. That is so important and I am excited for that. He is so funny. He is a rambler even though he is often the only one who knows what he is saying. He turns 2 on Friday (Chris does too but Caeleb kind of stole his birthday). Uncle Nathan is awesome and got Caeleb a power wheels jeep so that he can be like his uncle Nathan (who has a jeep). He had to give it to Caeleb early as he was so excited about giving it to him. We are excited to go to the temple open house in October. I went to the hospital and invited some of my coworkers today. We wish that you could all come to Calgary and experience it. Maybe Aunt Brenda, Uncle Gord and family and Uncle Ken, Aunt Sandy and family could come down from Edmonton. You are more than welcome to come and visit and stay with us. We want to thank everyone for their prayers. We love you all. Love Katherine

Sept 13 2012.  I just thought you should know that I am at the hospital again. I am bleeding pretty good and I am staying over. I don't know what is going to happen but I would appreciate your prayers at this time for baby girl. Love Katherine

Sept 15 2012. Dear Family. So, I got home yesterday afternoon. I am doing really good. So is baby. Not much bleeding now. The doctor wants me to take it even easier for a while which is a little tricky with Caeleb as he just turned into a busy busy two year old. Yep, Caeleb was 2 yesterday and Chris turned ??? (just kidding, I know how old he is). I felt sad because I was not able to do my original plans for my birthday boys. So it ended up being a Chinese take out (Thanks mom and dad), and Dairy Queen ice cream cake birthday party on the spur of the moment. Chris and I had bought Caeleb his birthday present a few weeks ago so we were set. He opened a wooden train set and him and uncle Nathan set it up and played with it for a while. He loves it! He is such a good little trooper and it was so good to see him again. Thanks for you kind words, love and support. Love Katherine

Sept 17 2012. Well, I thought I sent you an email this morning but I don't think it sent. I started bleeding yesterday at 5:00 pm and it was more than last time so back we went to Foothills. They are getting to know me there. They gave me IV fluids and they even gave me a steriod shot which will mature baby girl's lungs just in case she needs to come early. It works in 48 hours and the positive effects last for about a week. They were not going to give me it last time because they didn't think things were going to come to that but the possibility of preterm birth increases each time I bleed it seems. Right now baby seems to be okay and I pray that she is growing and getting the nutrition she needs. That is really what I am worried about. She is so small, 24 weeks today, and needs more time inside. The ultrasound today showed a bigger hematoma as well as the one from Thursday which is getting smaller (which is good). I am not sure how long I will be here but the doctor mentioned a week so we will see. The bleeding has almost stopped again. Camellia is with Caeleb today and tommorrow and he always loves being with his cousin so that is good. Nathan was telling Chris that last night, when we were gone, Caeleb was so tired that he comes to Nathan around 7:00 pm and took his finger and led him to his crib. He wanted up and to go to sleep. Caeleb is so good for his uncle Nathan and I had to laugh at that one. Caeleb is such a cute little boy. Nathan is a great uncle! Love you all. Just want to keep you updated. Love Katherine

Sept 18 2012. Dear Mom and Dad. I am doing really well. The bleeding is pretty much stopped. So maybe I will go home tommorrow. I have two doctors and one was the one who helped with the DandE in January. They are both so kind and good. I am just taking it easy. Chris and the Elders Quorem president gave me a blessing last night so that was nice. Baby is doing well. We are keeping positive and I feel good. We just take it one day at a time but little girl is a fighter and I guess if I bleed again, I will know what to do - go to the hospital. But be assured we are all doing well. I love you tons and I hope that you are enjoying Korea. Love Katherine

Sept 18 2012. Hi Mom and Dad, Camellia, Sterling and Caeleb just visited. Now Camellia and Sterling are headed home so she can go to work tommorrow and Chris just picked up Caeleb. They are so good to have come up to be with Caeleb. Tommorrow and Thursday Caeleb will be at the Radfords and then Kamille said she could take him on Friday. We have been so blessed that everyone can chip in to help. I hope that I can be that way when others are in need. I was talking to Camellia today and we were remembering how when we were on our missions, and Dad broke his legs, we felt devastated that we could not be there to help. But I know I felt that everything would be okay and that I was where I needed to be. That is the case now. You are where you need to be and we will all be blessed. I love you tons. Love Katherine

Sept 19 2012. Hi Mom and Dad, I am still here but the bleeding really is about stopped so I should be able to go home tommorrow maybe. Originally they wanted me to wait until Monday so I could have another ultrasound here but the bed could probably be used for someone else especially since I only live 10 minutes away. Well, those are my thoughts anyways. I watched Anne of Green Gables today and I have gone for walks on the unit and I am reading my book on President Monson. My Relief Society President found out about me too and she visited today and brought me flowers. What a sweetheart. Baby girl is doing well. Hopefully we are done with all of this back and forth. In a way it has been a good experience here because I can learn from the Nurses and see what it is like to be a patient. That should help me with my nursing in the future - don't you think. It makes me want to go back to work in a way. But really, what I want for now is to have this baby be healthy and strong. A little grandaughter for you. I love you and hope that you are happy and healthy. Love Katherine

Sept 20 2012. Hi Mom and Dad, Well, I am still here. Dr. Fay wants to keep me until Sunday and I didn't question her. I really like her and Dr. LeSuer and I don't question what they say. I did tell the nurse that if they need the bed for someone else, I could go as I live close. I think she thought I was being rediculous. I was just throwing it out there. I think they have their protocols and such. I don't really know this but perhaps lst bleed is a two day stay, second bleed is a week and a nurse told me that on the 3rd bleed they keep you until you deliver - 3 strikes your in (yikes). But I am doing really well. I been having some bleeding the last 2 days but it is old stuff and really is not alot at all. Baby is doing really well. I will have an ultrasound on Monday and that is what I am a bit nervous about because we want little girl to be growing. I think she is though. Well, Caeleb is at the Radfords today while the boys are at work. I miss him. I miss home. But now I can relate more to my patients who have to been in the hospital for a while. I need to shower and then walk around a bit. I figure I will be more active at home so I should do the same here. I love you both so much. Love Katherine

Sept 22 2012. Hi Family, So I have a funny story to tell today. I was on day pass from the hospital from 1000 until later afternoon which I found to really hilarious in itself because the doctor is planning to discharge me tommorrow anyways. I guess she just wanted to give me a test run at home to see if I overdid anything and started bleeding again. Be assured that I am doing great. Bleeding is pretty much gone (for good hopefully) and I feel great today! Chris and Caeleb picked me up and we went home this morning. Nathan made us a slow cooked roast beef lunch which was delicious and Caeleb entertained me in the afternoon before it was time to go back to the hospital. As I was in our room getting ready to go back, Caeleb comes running into the room, trips and falls and slashes his forehead on the corner of a wall. I assessed the situation and found out that the gash was long, deep and bleeding pretty good (I guess he figured it was his turn to bleed - te he he). It needed stitches. So instead of heading right back to Foothills, we detoured to the walk-in clinic right by our house (which I have come to know very well during this pregnancy as I have had baby's heartrate checked alot there - I have been a little paranoid since January). They saw him right away which was nice because if we had gone to the Children's Hospital I am sure we would have still been there now (3 hours later). Alot of crying and kicking and screaming was involved but our Caeleb got 3 stitches in his forehead and a big

bandage to cover it all up. As sad as the experience was, he does look adorable with the big bandage on his forehead. He was so exhausted by that tramatic experience that he fell asleep almost as soon as he got home. I joked with the nurses when I got back to Foothills that if that experience doesn't cause more bleeding or preterm labor, nothing will and I am set for the remainder of the pregnancy. Well, I just thought you would get a kick out of that. It is funny the little things that happen in life that lead us from one moment to the next. Another funny thing that happened today was that my nurse today was the sister of a really good friend when I was growing up in Champion. I remember that my labor nurse with Caeleb was my preceptor for my NICU rotation when I was doing nursing at BYUI (I had not seen her in 5 years and she had moved up to Calgary from Idaho without me knowing). The world just keeps on getting smaller and smaller.I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday. Love Katherine

Sept 24 2012. Hi Family, I am home from the hospital (yesterday). Yeah! I had an ultrasound today. It went okay. Baby girl is still growing at a pretty good rate so that is good. She is a little trouper. I still have a large Hematoma right by the placenta. The doctor thinks the bleeding causing the hematoma is from the placenta and she indicated that the placenta could look healthier but for now everything is goingon as it should. The thing that could go wrong is that baby girl does not get the nutrients she needs to grow and be strong from the affected placenta but we are praying that she continues to be okay and gets all she needs to grow.  She weighs one pound and 11 ounzes today. Every ounze counts! It is amazing what they can tell from an ultrasound. I have an ultrasound next Wednesday. I feel like this is a rollercoaster ride but we count our blessings and pray also that we will know what to do as time goes on. Caeleb is a little trouper too. He is at his babysitters today. I miss him. It's funny how one can miss caring for children, housework, driving, preparing meals, etc, when that is put on the not to do list for a while. I guess my standards of an organized house will have to be lowered for a while but I will do anything for baby. She is moving around right now. That is always reassuring to feel. I think the steroid shots they gave her last week gave her some strength because she has some good kicks at times. Too bad she won't qualify for olympic kickboxing because she has been using steroids. Just kidding - te he he.  Well, I feel like we are all getting to know baby girl so much before she even arrives. She is a special little girl and I think we all love her a lot already. I know that cousin Sarah is having her little boy on Wednesday and our thoughts and prayers are with her. That is sooo exciting! Love you, Katherine

Going back in time part 11: February - July 2012

February 7

Today I just want to let everyone know how blessed I feel. I feel like I have been hiding these feelings deep inside and for some unknown reason have not been able or willing to tap into them. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life. What a blessing it is to live with a knowledge and hope that we all have a special purpose in this life and forever after. Our Heavenly Father and our older brother Jesus Christ can be our best friends no matter what happens to our family and friends in this life.  I feel so blessed for my husband, for his unconditional love for me, for his purity and goodness. I look to him as one who is steadfast and immovable, who loves the Lord and does not care what the world thinks. I love him so much and I completely trust him to lead our family in the ways of the Lord. I feel so blessed for my snuggly little Caeleb who brightens up each day for us and helps us live life to the fullest through the eyes of a little child. I am grateful for my parents, for their examples. We love going to the farm to see them! We feel so loved, cozy, safe and secure there and Caeleb loves his Nana and Grandpa and he so looks forward to seeing them. I am grateful for my Brother Nathan and for the friend he has become as we have lived together this last year. He is such a good uncle to Caeleb (Caeleb’s face lights up when he sees him coming home from work) and he has given me such good advice when I have needed it in my life. I am grateful for my sister and for the friend she is. We can talk and laugh all day and I miss her when she has to go from our visits. I love to look at how she is a mother and what a wonderful job she does at raising her Sterling and how she talks to him and I can see so much love in her eyes for him. It is fun to watch Chris and Doug as fathers. They are both such good Fathers. They take so much time out of their days for their little guys.

Feb 21 2012

We went to the farm after work on Sunday for family day Monday. Caeleb has stayed with Nana and grandpa these last few days and has learned a few words. I would say his first words have been Mama and Dada but he only uses them in context every once and a while with no specific reason. However, Kitty and Car have made their entrance after a week on the farm. It was a good relaxing day yesterday. We went on lots of walks around the farm and Caeleb liked playing with chickens and throwing rocks.

Feb 23 2012

I talked to mom on the phone today. They are patiently waiting for their mission call. More patient than me that’s for sure. I am excited to see where they are going and what they are going to be doing!! Mom gave me some valuable advice on the phone today. She said, “One thing I have been blessed with in life is to be content.” I know that mom and dad have never been rich. We never went to Disneyland growing up or had fancy vehicles or went out to eat all the time. We did, however, have parents who taught that we did not need all of that in order to be happy. I want to be content with my life. I feel like I am compelled to work alot because scheduling is always calling me and I am casual status. Mom did not work outside the home very much when I was growing up. I know that our day and age is a little different with the cost of living getting out of hand but I do just want to work minimal hours. I have felt good with the making $1000 a month and I am doing a least twice that these days it seems. I want to work 6 shifts a month, not 12. I want to be home with my Caeleb, to be a mom and wife, to live a simple life. I do so want that. I want to be content with that.

June 2012

Wow, time is sure going fast. Mom and Dad left on their mission on May 4^th. They have been out a month now. 17 more months to go. Sounds like they are enjoying Korea but mom says the smells are taking a bit to get used too. Caeleb is growing up fast. His vocabulary is increasing a little. He loves to run around the house and get into everything. He is a peoples person. He loves to be around other people! His favorite word is still Car which was his first word besides Dada and he also loves making animal noises. We went to the zoo a few weeks ago with Wendy and her 3 boys and so Caeleb has added Elephant, Lion, Tiger, and Monkey noises to his vocabulary. He also has been saying, “awgone (all gone), uh-oh, agan (again) for the last 2 months or so. He won’t say water yet but needs to learn as it is a guessing game to try and know what he wants when he wants water. He loves going to Nursery!

I found out I was pregnant again on May 14. I just wasn’t feeling well and feel blessed for having that reason as to why I was not feeling well. I started bleeding two days later when I was at work and my manager sent me to Emerg where I found out I had a subchorionic bleed and the Emerg Doctor was not very hopeful. But I have taken almost a month off of work and things are going a lot better now. We are praying and appreciating the prayers of our family and friends. I am nervous because of what happened last time around. I do count my blessing though having my Chris and Caeleb. Life is good and always is if you look at it the right way. We moved out of the Drapers house the last week in May. Kurt moved back home to Victoria and Nathan is living with us in a Duplex in Ranchlands. We loved the Drapers and feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to live there. But, I needed this change, to have a place of my own to decorate and make mine.  I have enjoyed putting my pictures up. I love the picture of the Temples that we have been too that Chris made for me on our 2 month anniversary. And I love the picture of Grandmas house on the farm and of my Lily from Ecuador.

July 18 2012.

Caeleb is so funny. He is sort of learning  how to count. Well, if you call 2,3,2,3 counting. He loves rocks and when we are out for our walks, he likes to collect any and every rock there is around. We lined up about 10 rocks he had collected at the park today and I was counting them. Then he decided to count them too – “2,3,2,3,2,3.” He is a cutie. He loves the water now (he was having a scared of water phase at about 3 months ago that lasted for several months. But with this hot weather, he can’t resist it. A few nights ago, he asked Daddy for a bath by running to Daddy and then to the bath and back and forth and putting his toys in the bath. He says bath sometimes too.

Going back in time part 10: January 2012. Sad news

January News (written Feb 6 2012).

We had some sad news this month.  In the midst of the business of me staring work again in October and the continuing business of Chris’ school, we found out early November that we were expecting our second child. The 12.5 week ultrasound was Dec 9 and it showed a beautiful healthy baby moving around. More active than Caeleb was in his 12 week ultrasound. Chris and Caeleb were even able to see that ultrasound. We have been so excited to add to our family and felt so blessed to have a sibling for Caeleb close in age. However, on Tuesday Jan 17, one of the coldest days of the year, I felt like I should see the doctor for a check up. Don’t know why, no odd symptoms, just felt like I should see a doctor. He couldn’t hear a heartbeat and so I went for an urgent Ultrasound and we found out the baby died around 15 weeks. However, the baby will always be 17.5 weeks for me. I had no way of knowing anything was wrong. I have cried many tears and Chris a few as well but we feel blessed for all that we have. We have each other, Chris and I, and we have our little Caeleb who is such a joy in our life. And most important, even if we all had nothing else, we still have the gospel in our lives. Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ will always be there as our best friends no matter what happens in this life. I bore my testimony to my Young Women about this on February 5 as I feel that we all need to know that we have our Heavenly Father when everything or one may fail us at some point in our lives. He will always hear us and provide us with his tender mercies as answers for our sincere prayers. We can see these tender mercies everyday if we look for them.

I had a Dilation and Evacuation a week later on Jan 26. I ended up waiting all day Wednesday at the Foothills hospital day surgery to have my D and E but they sent us home and I ended up having it on Thursday morning. I was scared as it was my first minor surgery but Chris and Dad gave me a blessing and everything went okay. It was good to hang out with Chris those 2 days. He also took the day off when we found out the sad news and the day after. It is so great to be together and have each other. We watched, “it’s a wonderful life” while waiting in the hospital for the surgery. I also feel blessed to have that day and a half at day surgery as I was able to see other Nurses work and came to know that all Nurses have their good and not so good qualities and we all make silly mistakes in our work. The important thing is how we treat others.  I was treated so well. It was a positive experience all things considering.

About a week after the D and E, a social worker called me from the Children’s hospital and said I “could come pick up my little girl.” I guess the little baby was a little girl and not boy. They can know for a surety through chromosome testing even when a DandE might jumble things up a bit and leave some things not intact. The chromosome testing done with the autopsy said it was a girl. Chris was a bit sad finding out it was a little girl – he sure wants a little girl to be his “daddy’s little girl”. But that will come too. And now we have our sweet memories of having had this special little girl in our life, thoughts and dreams, for a while. And I know that we will know that spirit and raise her in this life or the next, whatever Heavenly Father wills it to be. She will have a body again and we will be a part of her life. The lady at the Children’s said I could pick her up and bury her as we wish. She was in a little brown teddy bear box and I got to look at her and she was tiny tiny but beautiful too and I will always remember her tiny tiny tiny perfect foot. We named her little Lily Anne Watters and we are going to bury her under a memory tree at the farm that my dad picked out.

Life goes on, work and school go on and soon we will see what the next adventure is on our path as Chris graduates in a few weeks.

Caeleb is doing well. He loves to snuggle with mommy, daddy, Nana and Grandpa. And he loves to charge around the house in circles and sing and be the center of attention. He loves playing with other kids and when Stirling is around, he always seems to want to kiss him and sit on his head – silly little goo – can’t quite figure that one out. He makes his animal sounds pretty good now. Ruff, neigh, baaaa, cak (quack) are his favorites. Grandpa taught him some of those but still needs to teach him mooo. His hair is quite patchy. It is long in the back and sides and quite fuzzy and curly. In the front, however, it is strait and not much is there. We are seriously debating a first haircut for him but he does look so cute with his wild hair look.

Going back in time part 9: Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011

It was a wonderful Christmas this year.  I worked quite a bit 2 weeks before Christmas at the Extendicare and the hospital. We left for the farm on Dec 22 and we were able to make it to Champion’s ward Christmas party which was a lot of fun to go to. We celebrated our Christmas morning on Saturday Dec 24 because Camellia, Doug and Sterling needed to go to celebrate with his family. It was a lovely Christmas “eve and morning.” We had a program on the evening of the 23^rd and Camellia, Doug, Chris and me quoted and read stories and poems. Camellia and I sang Silver Bells and Caeleb did his dance to Deck the Halls. He even at times sang fa la la to the song. Then we read the Christmas story, had snacks and watched the Grinch. I fell asleep in the movie of course. I have been so tired lately.

We opened our stockings and had our Christmas morning Crepe breakfast on Dec 24. Nathan arrived for that and for opening presents. It was a perfect “Christmas Morning” with our family around. Caeleb really enjoyed opening gifts – any gifts. Not necessarily just his. He got a little train and Noah and the Arc book from Grandma and Grandpa Watters and he got a little suitcase to bring to Nana and Grandpa’s house when he goes there. We got a Train game from Wendy and her boys. Mom and Dad gave me some shirts and a book on Finances for Chris and I. Nathan gave us a gift certificate to Boston Pizza. Camellia and Doug gave us tickets to “My Fair Lady” in Cardston at the end of March. We gave Dad a Sunday shirt and Missionary journals for mom and dad. We gave Nathan speakers for his Jeep. I gave Camellia a little white figurine of two twins that I have seen at the Rockyview gift shop for the last 2 years and have wanted to get it for her ever since the 1st time I laid eyes on it. Kurt got Chris’ old shaver set and a box of Reece’s Pieces cereal – his favorite. Stirling got a little ring toy to play with. Aunt Marilyn got us girls necklaces.  Aunt Sharan gave us some nuts and for Caeleb she got some books including a favorite of mine called “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”

Chris gave me a very special gift. He recorded a little video of himself on my phone. He said that he loved me and gave me a one night Banff experience with him for the next week including a massage and sleigh ride. I have always wanted to go on a sleigh ride!! Can cross that off my bucket list now.

We had a Turkey Supper at 2:00 pm and them Camellia and Doug had to leave. Chris and I went to Calgary to pick up Kurt from work and then we went home and had a low key Christmas Eve.

We went to Champion wards one hour Christmas day service at 11:00 am on Christmas Day (Sunday this year). Then we came home and had leftovers from our Christmas meal and we opened the rest of our gifts.

Going back in time part 8: May - December 2011

May 31, 2011

Well, life is going on. I (Katherine) am feeling soooo humbled right now. I have had a new calling in the ward since April – Ward Chorister. I have been humbled sooo much and feel like crying every time I think about Sunday. It may be silly but that is me right now. I hope that when others go through tough times in life, I can help make them feel better by sharing my experiences. I have been taking “conducting” lessons these last several weeks and I called up a friend in the ward to see if she could be my cheering squad as she sits center back usually.

June 3, 2011

A windy day today. We got our first thunder and lightning shower 2 days ago at supper time. It was fun to hear the rain on the roof and the thunder. I love that weather. Caeleb is doing well. He is still not crawling yet but is a bum scooter (not too far yet) and he pushes him back and back and back when he gets on his hands and knees. I took him to the doctors last week to see if he had an ear infection as he had a fever and not much appetite. No infection – probably just feeling off from teething. He has 2 and ½ teeth now and yesterday he just started clucking his teeth together. Fun, Fun. He is happy mostly. I am a new mom who is just learning so I have just starting putting him to bed without feeding him (me). I have tried the let cry thing but it is too hard in a house of guys and with Chris doing homework and hard on me too. Started last night ( Caeleb is 8.5 months) and it took a good 20 minutes  on holding him up to me to make him go to sleep but today at nap time it took only 5 minutes and we will get there. The goal is to put him in the crib and he won’t make a fuss. Soon enough.

Caeleb “I like hanging out with my friend Luke. We went over to his place 2 days ago (June 1) and had a photo shoot.” He is about 11 days older than me and we mostly like to claw each others’ faces which is fun for me to do but not so fun with Luke does it. He is a big boy. 23 lbs. Mom weighed me yesterday and I am 19.3 lbs. I am growing slowly but surely. She was worried about my weight gain and so took me in to the open Nurses clinic but is relieved to know I am gaining. Life is good. I love to say mamamamamamamama and dadadadadadadada. I started about 2 weeks ago and I don’t know if you would call them my first words as they are not a solid mama or dada. But I am a talker. Not a walker, but a talker says mom.

June 13, 2011

Caeleb “ I am doing better on the crawling. Today mom left me to go outside to get the flyers on the steps. When she came in she took a double take on where I was. I was almost to the door. My crawl is a slow move arms one at a time and then scoot legs together - as if my knees are tied together. About a week ago I started getting up on my knees holding onto the crib bars and 2 days ago mom saw me sit up by myself in my playpen – back to sit. I am definitely a growing little boy. I eat more and more each day. I love my bananas and strawberries are a new favorite but I still eat my veggies and meat – just not as much.

Katherine: Chris and I walked to Macs tonight and to Nosehill. It was very special to be together as I feel like with him doing soooo much school, we don’t spend too much time as a family. But we do okay – we have our family prayers morning and night and scripture study and we always eat supper together. So we are doing good.

Dad is staying with us as he had surgery last Monday on his head and mom went to New York on Thursday. It has been wonderful having him here with us. I love daddy so much. We have good talks about the past – Grandma and Grandpa and the farm. We went out to Cochrane on Friday for ice cream and a drive. We have gone on walks and we weeded the yard and mowed the lawns.

June 15 2011. “My 9 month old Birthday today and I actually did a real, quick professional crawl for the first time. Mommy was proud”.

July 5 2011.

Chris’ cousin Athena, her husband and two little girls stayed 2 nights here. We went to the water park at Riley park today. I bought some little swimmers for Caeleb and we went swimming today. His first time.  He did not like the coolness of the water and cried but he was starting to get used to it. He picked up his legs really good one at a time when I set him down in the water and it was his first time walking with assistance. Good job Caeleb!

Caeleb loves playing with his dad and uncles shoes. He likes to pull them around. It is funny to watch. He also loves to help mom sort the laundry. He will pull the laundry over his lap from one side to the other and spread it across the room. It is so much fun to watch him.

July 10 2011. We had such a great Birthday. Mom and Dad took us to the stampede chuck wagon races and Grandstand show. Doug, Camellia, Mom, Dad, Nathan and Dana (Nathan’s date) came. It was a lot of fun.

July 19, 2011

Evening time and Chris, Caeleb and I are sitting in the living room. I am on the couch and Caeleb comes up to me and says, “ Mamamama.” He said it like he knew that was what he was saying. We then said “where is Dada,” and he looked at Chris. He has said Mamamama and Dadadadad before but this time he seemed like he really knew what he was talking about.

August 22, 2011

It has been a while since we have written. It has been a great summer. We have done so much. We have been to the temple once in July – we don’t get there often enough – and we have been to the farm 3 weekends. Camellia and I went to the farm to can peaches and I have been working with Danny a little bit too. I love to work with the horses. I am a lot more careful now that I have a little boy but it feels so good to get a good workout lunging Danny and having horse smell all over me when we are through our workout.

 

August 26,27,28   2011

We did our lst real little Watters Family campout trip to Drumheller this weekend. It was sooo much fun. We camped in our tent – only I forgot to pack the air mattress so we had to sleep on the coldhard ground. My boys were troopers though. Did not complain. The first night, thunder and lightning woke us up at 3:00 am. It was a clear beautiful night so we got in the car and drove a ways to a field and took pictures of the lightning.  On Saturday, we went to the Atlas Coal mine museum and the Dinosaur museum. Then I got a sliver in my eye so we ended up in Emergency for a few hours but it only added to the adventure. I think my favorite part of the trip was cooking over our camp fire. I love campfire smell.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   September long weekend.

Caeleb and I went down to the farm on August 30 and Stayed until September 6. Chris drove us down and then came back on the Friday evening after work. I love him so much and I miss him when he is gone. I look forward to our daily (or 3 x a day) chats on the phone when I am away. It is so good to hear his voice. We mainly went down to the farm to wean Caeleb. He did pretty good. He still feeds once a day with me but I don’t mind that. That should be manageable when I go back to work. I helped mom and dad on the farm and clean the church. It rained a few days but most of the week was okay. Chris and I went to Camellia and Doug’s house on Friday evening and then we went to the Temple while they took care of Caeleb. We love visiting with them and it felt so good to go to the temple. On the holiday Monday we had Aunt Lorna’s family come to the farm and ride the horses and have a hotdog roast. We had a good visit. My dream is to fix up Grandma’s house so that we can live in it in 8-10 years from now and people can come at visit.

Caeleb’s Birthday Party – September 11 2011.

Mom and Dad Watters, Wendy and her two little boys ( Calvin and Quinton), arrived here at 10:30 last night (Saturday). They are here to celebrate Caeleb’s first birthday and to visit for a week. We have been looking forward to them coming. We miss our family out west and often wish we lived closer so that we could visit more.  On Sunday, at our 1:00 pm church meetings, Camellia and I sang “I am a Child of God” in our mission languages. Lou Ann played the piano – it is so nice to have her play the piano. She is very talented. For supper we had the Gainors over and Camellia, Doug, Mom, Dad Smith and the Watters that were already here. We had BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, green salad and Watermelon. And we had a Tractor cake for dessert and Caeleb got it all over him. He loved that. Then it was time for gifts. Caeleb got a lot of cars. He likes to drive a car around on the floor and make the noises. He also got a music spinner ball from mom and dad Watters. We had a fun evening chatting and celebrating with Caeleb.

On Monday September 12 I served at a funeral of a man who passed away in our ward. I was in the Nursery. I had to do a Nursing Labs/Diagnostic testing exam in the morning so Chris’ parents watched Caeleb. It is good to have them here.

From Sept 12 -16 we did things with Chris’ family. Well, Chris had to work , but we made day trips to the Drumheller Dinosaur museum, the Nanton Train museum and the farm, while he was at work. He met us for his birthday celebration on the farm. We had a hotdog roast and cake and the little boys, Calvin and Quinton, loved their tractor and lawnmower ride with Nana Smith.

I started work at the Hillcrest Extendicare on Oct 4. I have been averaging 3 shifts a week and have felt drained but I really enjoy the work. I love working with people. I love learning and thinking. I love being a Nurse. I know that Heavenly Father wants me to feel of great Self-worth being a mother as well. That is my greatest calling now in life. And Chris has the great calling of being a dad. He is an amazing father. I want to be the mother that he is father.  Caeleb is going to Krista Larson’s house when I am at work. He has a bit of a hard time going there but I think it will get better with time and it is good that he get’s used to others besides mommy and daddy. Last week, we went to the Farm for Thanksgiving day and then Caeleb stayed with mom and dad from Tuesday to Friday when I worked 3 days. It was his first time away from me for the night and I think he did well with nana and Grandpa. He slept for 9 hours one night for them.

This is the letter that I wrote to Krista Larson explaining what Caeleb does in the day.

Caeleb’s Daily Routine (which has a tendency to change).

8:30 – Breakfast. (has about 1/2 cup of cereal, part of a banana, sips of water).

8:30-11:30 – play time. He likes to play with his cars and blocks. I often take him outside on a walk at least once a day when the weather is nice. He loves these walks and it often comforts him (that or car rides) if he having a sad moment. He loves interacting when he plays – someone at his level crawling around with him, playing peek a boo. He likes story reading too.

11:30 – I am trying to get Caeleb to go down for only one nap a day about 11:30  as he generally only sleeps and perhaps needs one to 1.5 hours during the day in total. He generally gets ups around 6:30 but during working days, we will be up a bit earlier (but will sleep in the car).  I expect he may need a morning nap around 9:30-10:00 and in that case, he will be ready for another nap around 1:00 or 1:30. You will tell he is ready, when he is grumpy and rubbing his eyes.

Nap – We are working on the leaving in Crib (play pen) and him going to sleep by himself but to tell you the truth, he is not quite there. I generally read him a story while giving him a bottle or let him watch a little bit of his Winnie the Pooh movie (or baby TV) to wind down. I wrap him in a blanket and face him away from me or rock him in a rocking chair. I love singing him Primary songs or hymns. He will fuss and cry for a bit but if he is ready for bed, he will be asleep in about 5-10 minutes. If you just need a break, put him in the play pen and let him cry for a while and peek in on him every 5-10  minutes or so. He can be a persistent little guy. He once cried for 3 hours on a off in his crib on his own before he finally fell asleep but I would never let it get that far again.

Lunch and snacks – He likes cut up cheese sandwiches, Mac and Cheese, plain Jam sandwiches, fruits and some veggies. I give him sips of water as well. If he is fussy, it is often because he is thirsty or sometimes he is hungry.  He is not a huge eater. I am not sure why but don’t worry if he will not eat well for you because he will have a good supper if he does not have a good appetite in the day. I try to give him a few small snacks in the morning and afternoon. – cut up toast with Jam, banana or cut up cucumbers or a fruit cup, or a few baby cookies or cheesy crunchies.

Chris will be by about 5:00 to pick Caeleb up.

Thank you soooo much for doing this for me.

Katherine Watters.

Oct 16 2011.

Caeleb took 2 steps by himself today for the first time. It was when we were waiting to get our temple recommends signed by a member of the stake presidency. Two steps and then fall down but it was fun to see.

Dec 2 2011.

Well, we have all been working hard these last two months. Chris – work and school. Me Katherine – work at the Extendicare, Rockyview, being a mom and wife. Caeleb – Learning to walk. It was a slow start but now he can walk across the room.

Going back in time part 7: January, February, March, April 2011

Feb 7 2011

A cold snowy day out but a beautiful one looking out into in from inside. Caeleb and I were to drive Chris to work and then go househunting after as that is our new hobby but the roads are too slippery. I got set apart for my new calling as ward missionary on Sunday. I have a special assignment to take care of a lady named Liz who is a new convert. She is a lot of fun.

Caeleb talking. “On Friday Mommy and I went to IKEA to have a dollar breakfast with the 1^st ward ladies. It was a lot of fun. I got to see my buddy Luke Michelson. He is a week and ½ older than me and weighs about 3 more pounds which is funny because I am big and weigh about 17 lbs now. I am a solid boy and both look and I are comparable in chubby cheeks. A lot of moms old first ward friends were there including Connie Shultz, Jordon Fuller, Tammy Michelson, Pam Glenn, Rachel Campbell.

Feb 25-28 2011

An email to my old BYUI roommates I Wrote Feb 2011

This is Katherine Watters (Smith) here and has it ever been along time since I have seen or talked to you all.

Guess what. We are coming to Utah in April (16-22). I really would love to get together with you all - Diane, Millie, Tara, Holly, Chelsie, Sara, Emily and whoever is around that area that we know from the past. That would be awesome if we could have a little roomate reunion. I really do want to see you all!

We are doing well. Chris and I have been married for 16 months. Our Caeleb is almost 5 months old and he is already 17 lbs and is a talker! He doesn't quite roll yet but he makes up for it in his "talking" abilities. He sometimes goes nonstop for 1/2 an hour! I am at home now being a fulltime mom. Up in Canada we get one year of paid maternity leave. Yep, we sure are lucky. Then I will go back to casual status at my old job at the Rockyview hospital. I love it there. I work on a medical unit and work with wonderful nurses so I am happy. We are house sitting a really nice house up in NW Calgary now. The rent is amazing for what we get. The couple that lives here is on a mission to Florida and will be back April 2012. Chris is in school (online) full time and works full time so he is soooooo busy. But he never complains. He is working for a Networking and Communications degree. Right now he works in computer support for the workers compensation board of Alberta. We hope he lands a job in Calgary after school is done as we love it here. It is only 1 and 1/2 hours to my parent's farm. They are building a temple in Calgary and that should be done by spring 2012 as well. You all need to venture on up here soon to visit and I mean it.

We went out to Victoria BC for Christmas (Chris' family is from there). It was alot of fun. We went to a winter resort up in the moutains and went skiing on Christmas day. Caeleb played baby Jesus in the Victoria LDS nativity pageant. He looked so cute. He is such a blessing in our lives.

Well, I have been thinking of you all and I hope to see you this spring. Hope all is well! Please write back. I really want to know how you are doing and what is going on in your lives. Your friend, Katherine Watters

March 11, 2011

Caeleb talking. “ Mom and I have a little job. Yep, we deliver flyers on Tuesday and Thursday and started last week. Mommy says that this will be my first job – that I can start saving for my RESP with $25 of this money monthly. Then when I am a big kid and leave home I can have some money tucked away for school. My parents don’t have too much right now but know how important it is to save for the future. And they know the importance of a good education whether it be University, College or trade school or classes.

Mommy makes up stories for me while she rocks me at bedtime. Tonight she told me two stories and I will read them to you.

Bedtime for Caeleb

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Caeleb. He was a good little boy but he did not like going to bed. One evening, mommy said to Caeleb: “Caeleb, you are tired and you need to go to bed.” And Caeleb said, “I am not tired. I want to play with my toys all night.” And mommy was like, “But Caeleb you are yawning. And Caeleb was like, “I am not Yaaaaawwwwwnnnniinnggg,” as he yawned rather loudly. Mommy said, “Okay Caeleb, Another 3 minutes. 3 minutes later, mommy came to Caeleb and said, ““Caeleb, you are tired and you need to go to bed.” And Caeleb said, “I am not tired. I want to play with my toys all night.” And mommy was like, “But Caeleb, you are rubbing your eyes. And Caeleb was like, “I am not rubbing my eyes” as he reached up and rubbed his eyes with his hands rather strong. Mommy said, “Okay Caeleb, Another 2 minutes. 2 minutes later, mommy came to Caeleb and said, ““Caeleb, you are tired and you need to go to bed.” And Caeleb said, “I am not tired. I want to play with my toys all night.” And mommy was like, “But Caeleb, you are getting grumpy.” And Caeleb was like, “I am not getting grumpy!!!” (In in a very grumpy voice). And mommy said, “I will give you 1 more minute. 1 minute later, mommy came to Caeleb and said, ““Caeleb, you are tired and you need to go to bed.” And Caeleb said, “I am not tired. I want to play with my toys all night.” And mommy was like, “I will tell you what.” You get your pjs on and brush your teeth. I will come in and snuggle you up and then read you a story before you go to sleep. So Caeleb put his pjs on and brushed his teeth. Mommy came in and snuggled him tight under the covers. And she started her story, “Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Caeleb. He was a good little boy but he did not like going to bed.” She looked over at Caeleb and he was fast asleep. (Snore).

Jump Jump Jump

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Caeleb. He was a happy little boy. He liked to go for walks with his mommy, he liked to lay on his back and look at the ceiling and he liked his tummy time. But what he loved most of all was his jumping time. It sure made him Jolly. When his mommy did exercises in the morning, he would go in his jumper and he would jump jump jump jump jump jump jump. After his mommy did her exercises, she would say, “ Caeleb, How about you go on your back and play with your toys

for a while. On his back he played and played and played and had fun. But soon, he would think to himself… “I like being on my back…I like to play with my toys…but what I want to do now is…

I want to jump jump jump jump jump jump jump

I want to jump jump jump jump all day long

I want to jump jump jump to mamma’s excersize song

Mommy would know that Caeleb no longer would want to be on his back. She would say, “Caeleb, How about some tummy time.”Caeleb would think, hmmmm, I like my tummy time. And over he would go. On his tummy he played and played and played and had fun. But soon, he would think to himself… “I like being on my tummy…I like to play with my toys…but what I want to do now is…

I want to jump jump jump jump jump jump jump

I want to jump jump jump jump all day long

I want to jump jump jump to mamma’s excersize song

Mommy would know that Caeleb no longer would want to be on his tummy. She would say, “Caeleb, How about a walk outside.”Caeleb would think, hmmmm, I like my walks outside. And so mommy would bundle him up and into the stoller and out the door he would go. He looked at the birds and blue skies. He felt the sun on his skin. But after a while he would think to himself, “I like to be outdoors, moving and seeing and feeling. But what I want to do now is…

I want to jump jump jump jump jump jump jump

I want to jump jump jump jump all day long

I want to jump jump jump to……….

And he fell asleep.

March 14

“I am 6 months old today and mommy made cookies for my birthday.” Mommy says I don’t get any yet but I do get to have my first taste of solid food tomorrow. I am excited!!

Katherine: The Brittons (Alison and Andy) came over for a supper of Tacos and FHE tonight. It was fun getting to know them. We laughed a lot and play a game called Aquire which I had never played before.

March 15

(Caeleb) “I had my first taste of solid food today. Rice pabulum. My mom and dad caught it on tape. I thought it was weird at first but caught on quickly and got my fill. I even threw up some (because I was so full I guess).  Uncle Kurt was there to witness it and they all cheered me on.

Also, I have been learning to sit up very well this last week. I can sit up for about 10 minutes at a time and then I flop over which I enjoy doing but I don’t enjoy the fact that I can still not get up after.

March 23

Caeleb) “Mommy and I went down to the farm today for Grandpa’s 67^th birthday. Mommy made them a lunch of spinach soup, baked vegetables and a Swedish favorite for dessert – Blueberry soup with icecream. We stayed overnight as the roads were not very good and mommy said it was stressful driving. We slept on the couch in the living room.

March 26.

(Caeleb) “ I learned how to splash in the tub today. Mom was showing me how to do it last bath and I caught on quickly today. I can sit up in the bath tub now on my own and I splash around and it is soooo much fun. I like to play with my rubber ducky too. My mommy says it reminds her of when she would play with the rubber ducky when having bath time at Grandma Smiths house.

March 28.

(Caeleb) “I started blowing bubbles today. Mom and Dad and uncle Nate think it is hilarious, especially at the supper table when I blew bubbles (raspberries) and my food all comes out. I am now eating peas and quite like them. I had carrots after my rice pablum but did not enjoy them to much and then squash which I thought was better but I think peas are my favourite vegetable now. I make funny faces with the rest. I love my rice pablum the best though.

April – Trip to Victoria

(Caeleb) “ Well, mom, dad and I headed out to Victoria to visit the Watters side of the family.” We left on Friday April 22 – Easter Friday. We left early – at 7:00 – but I am always up by then. I usually get up between 6:30 and 7:00. I only slept for about 3 out of the 12 hours. I was busy looking around and playing with mommy and daddy (whoever sat in the back seat). I must admit, I did get a little tired of the car ride towards the end of the trip. Who wouldn’t! But mommy and daddy say I did really good for my first long long car ride.

May 16, 2011 – CAELEB AND THE SCARY GREEN BLOCK.

Found a fear of Caeleb’s today. We have these 4 blocks – red, green, yellow and blue. Well, we discovered you can pull a sting on the green block and it makes and funny noise. Nathan discovered it today and Caeleb immediately put on his grumpy pouty face and burst into tears. Who would have thought. It was not even a loud noise.

Crawling update. Caeleb has not quite got the hang of it but he does get up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth over and over. Today he started to put one hand in front of the other and move his knees but he has not gotten far. But, he does get far on his bum. I am not sure how he does it but I look and he is in one place and then I look again and he is halfway across the room. And he even goes farther pushing himself back and back and back when holding him up with his hands.

Caelebs Nicknames.

Before being born: little guy.

When first born: Little Duffer. Snuggie guy, snuggles, Mr. Snugs, etc.

Now: Snugs as well as Goo. Chris calls him goo all the time. I say Snuggers Mcgoo.

 

 

Going back in time Part 6: Christmas 2010

It was such a wonderful Christmas this year. For a Christmas present Mom and Dad Smith flew us out to Victoria to be with the Watters family – Talk about the most selfless of all gifts. We had a Smith Christmas the weekend before and we ate and played games and enjoyed each other and Caeleb especially. Doug, Camellia, Mom, Dad, Chris, Caeleb and me Katherine went to church on Sunday (Nathan was not there)  and then I stayed a few extra days at the farm.

We left for Victoria on Friday the 17^th of December. An hour and 20 minute flight and Caeleb did wonderfully. He slept through a lot of it. Too bad we could not do some more flying as Caeleb seems to like it and he is free (under two). There was a crew of the Watters Clan to meet us at the airport. What a special and fun family.

We spent Saturday relaxing and visiting and then went to a Christmas tree display downtown Victoria. It was chilly outside. No snow but it gets chilly with the humidity. The Family got together after church on Sunday to visit and play games. We spent the rest of the week helping Lou Ann get ready for our trip to the mountains. I tell you what – she is organized and efficient and a hard worker. I don’t think I did much to help but I tried. I also enjoyed almost daily runs by myself. I have kind of missed them as I so love to run and it is hard to with a little one here.

Chris, Caeleb and I went up to Mount Washington with Nate in the big truck. It was about a 4 hour trip and it rained most of the way. But once we hit the mountain, the snow was falling big and heavy. I don’t think I have ever experienced the snow that I did on that trip from Dec 23 – Dec 27. It was record breaking for the base of the mountain and the truck was on the news. We had to dig ourselves into our cabin and once settled in, we stayed put. Well Chris and I did go skiing on Christmas day afternoon which was fun. I do love to ski and it came back easy and Chris did well too. I sure love it when we try new things together  - our first time skiing together. I tried Snowboarding but could not seem to get up and a ½ hour into it I figured I needed a whole day to figure it out so that was put off until later. Chris is a better snowboarder than I am. We had a delicious Christmas Turkey dinner on Christmas day evening. We all sat around table together – all 16 of us and then Suzanne (Nate’s girlfriend) making it 17.

We gave everyone homemade turtles as per tradition and for the little boys a train engine made out of candy. Mom and Dad Smith and Watters got  a “ Grandparents book of Caeleb” and Camellia got some pictures of Caeleb and Doug some granola bars  and to the both a “gift of 2 free tickets to Heritage park.” To Nathan we gave a date night and some beef jerky and we will do the date night soon. I know who I want to set him up with.

We stopped at Aunt Mary and Uncle Lindsay’s house in Nanimo on the way back from the cabin the day after Boxing day. We had a nice left over meal with them and I had fun talking with Lindsay’s dad.

Lou Ann and I went to see a play on Dec 28 called The wind in the Willows – it was hilarious and it was fun to spend time with Lou Ann. She is such a good person – Quiet, does not say anything bad about anyone as far as I have heard, happy and peaceful. And Gary is so happy and he just seems like he enjoys life so much – every minute.

I took many runs this week and enjoyed them so much. It is beautiful in Victoria but I do like my Alberta.

While mom and dad Watters watched little guy on New Years eve, Chris and I went dancing at the Stake dance there and we had a lot of fun. We ordered Chinese food before then. Chris and I made chicken enchiladas for the family on Sunday after church and then we played games. I love how the Watters love to play games.

We left early Monday morning at 7:00 am and Caeleb did well on the plane again. To bad we could not go on more plane rides while Caeleb is free but we feel so blessed to have been able to save miles on the care and fly out to Victoria for Christmas. It sure was a good visit

(Caeleb insert) – My goodness, I am 4 and ½ months now and I am loving life. I love my jolly jumper so much. I can be having a bad day when I feel so sad and want to cry but when mommy or daddy put me in the jumper, I jump all my sadness away for about ½ an hour. And it is great for mommy too because she can do her workout while I do mine.

I have rolled over from front to back about 3 times now but am not so interested on doing it regularly. I am more interested in standing with help but nanna tells me that I need to work on crawling before I have anything to do with standing and walking. I guess I need to work harder on my rolling over. I am getting very close from back to front too.

Right now I am a talking and yelling away. I love to talk and yell – I have so much to say even in the middle of Sacrement meeting – I know how things really are and I want to tell everyone.

I am still only drinking milk – mostly mommy juice but I am really interested in what my mommy and daddy and everyone else are eating. It looks very interesting and I hope to try some soon.

I was 16.2 lbs at my 4 month old vaccinations. I am in the 75^th percentile for my height and weight but only in the 25^th percentile for my head circumference. This was the case at my 2 month vaccinations as well. Mommy and daddy find that funny. I am more “people proportioned”.

Going back in time part 5: Caeleb joins the family. September to November 2010.

September 13 2010

The lst ward picnic/corbust ended up being on Friday September 13 at Sandy Beach park. I was fretting a bit about whether it would rain or not but it did not rain. About 65 people showed up and we had a potluck and corn and roasted hotdogs by an open fire. I think it was a success.

Well, little guy arrives in less than 2 weeks. Chris is talking about how he will have “his little guy very soon.” He will be such an amazing dad! His snuggling skills are up to par. I don’t know what to think. I am excited and nervous and excited and a bit inpatient – all at the same time. We went to a 2 hour new parent class on Saturday Sept 11. We learned about diapers, baby states, bath time, care seats, etc and it has made us even more excited. We have our baby corner set up in our room with Mom Watters’ old baby basinet for baby’s first month as well as a nice change table we found at once upon a child. We have quite a few pieces of clothing. And I have my hospital bag ready to go. Since I am on maternity leave, I am trying to keep myself busy with the

nesting instinct of cleaning and organizing. I feel baby kicking and I am nice and round and as ready as I feel I will ever be. Goodness, we are excited for yet another chapter in life.

Sept 14 2010

Wow. Yesterday was when the last Journal entry was entered and today our lives changed. It all started at 2:00 in the morning. I woke up with “gas pains.” Yah, I did not think it was anything really. Just indigestion. But I could not get back to sleep and the pain just kept on coming back. I could not sleep at all and that was unusual.  So I woke Chris up at 4:00 and said,”I can’t sleep, will you watch a movie with me. So we watched about an hour of Avitar but I would have to get up every 5 minutes or so because I was having  this rhythmic pain that I could not get rid of. Well, about  5:00 am we decided to go into the hospital to have it checked out. We were not panicking or nervous at all. We had our showers and breakfast and Chris even had time to shave. We were laughing and talking on the way over and I remember hearing the song, “my wish” by Rascal Flatt and thinking about Camellia.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 am and walked right through Emergency and up to the 6 floor. I told the receptionist that I thought I was in labour.  She showed me to a triage room and a Nurse checked to see how things were going. Much to our surprise, I was 5 cm dialated, 100 % effaced and having frequent contractions so they told me that I was not going home. Instead they gave me a gown and we called our parents and Camellia and Doug and texted the other family.

The contractions started getting painful and I was like, “I am not opposed to an epidural.” However, the labour rooms were full so I had to wait in triage with no epidural until 11:00 (my opinion is if we have the blessing of technology, use it!).  Chris was a big help and he rocked back and forth with me. I knew my labour Nurse - April.  She walked in the room and I said, “I know you.” She was my preceptor from BYUI in the NICU and I had not seen her for 6 years. What a tender mercy of the Lord. It distracted me for a while as we talked and got updated on each other’s lives. The epidural worked fast and I was able to rest for about an hour. Mom and Dad sneeked in to see me for ten minutes. It was good to see them. At about 2:30 pm, I was fully dialated and ready to push so 45 minutes after that – 3:17 pm to be exact –little Caeleb was born. 8 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long. A beautiful baby boy. So alert from the start. The Nurse took me to the postpartum unit about an hour after delivery. I couldn’t walk because of the epidural but I felt really good.

(Written on Oct 8). Mom and dad came to see me right after and Camellia did not take too much longer to arrive. Nathan and Doug could not come. It was a busy night in postpartum so I did not see my Nurse too much but I understand as I am a Nurse myself. I guess a record was set today for the number of babies born in the rockyview hospital. This being my first hospital admission, I was very impressed by the nurses who took care of me. I admired their knowledge and patience – especially the labour Nurses. It takes a special kind to be a labour nurse – I am convinced of that! Well little Caeleb seemed to do good with feeding right off the bat and he woke up about 3 times in the night for feeding. I was a bit weak but right on the ball and excited to be alert to his every need. Bishop Palmer was doing rounds in the morning at the hospital as Pediatrician and Chris saw him in the hall so he popped by. Also, we went to the feeding class in the morning and then I had a rest for a while. Mom and dad came to visit again and then we spent the afternoon doing paperwork and preparing to go home. It went by fast and we were ready to leave by about 7:00 pm. Stopped by shoppers drugmart on the way home – Caeleb’s first shopping trip.

The first night at home was busy but Chris was a huge help. He would wake Caeleb up and change his diaper and I would feed him and then Chris would put him to bed. Chris had 3 weeks off of work – so smart of him to take his vacation time now. We worked as a team these 3 weeks ( Sept 14 – Oct 5). I keep telling him that his vacation time consisted of learning how to breastfeed and change diapers but he didn’t mind at all. I don’t know what I would have done without Chris. He has been such a support. Mom and Dad have been a support as well and Camellia too. They have been up several times to help out. Caeleb was slow to gain weight and he went down more than 8% of body weight after birth so we

worked with Lactation consultants and have been weighing him frequently at the clinic to help him grow. And he is now (on Oct 8 2010) past his birth weight at 9 lbs 2 oz.

We had Woolfs up the end of September and we went down to the farm – Caeleb’s first adventure  there. It was fun to be at the farm with Heather, Logan, Justin, Mom, Dad, Nathan, Camellia and Doug. Camellia and Mom took night shift for Caeleb and gave us a rest. Nana and Grandpa Smith are the proudest Grandparents ever. We love to watch them with their Grandson.

We also went to General Conference on Sunday in the Champion ward and it was fun to show Caeleb off to some ward members.

Caeleb is the hightlight of our lives now. Chris is back to work – day 3. I feel so blessed being a mom – that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with a little guy is humbling and makes me want to be ever so better. We are loving every minute. Right now, Caeleb has been eating all morning and has just fallen asleep on my lap. He is so alert during the day now that he is in his 3^rd week of life. He likes to look around but is not focusing yet. He coos and makes a lot of noises but only cries when hungry or has tummy pains. He is holding up his head really well now – thanks to Chris’ coaching. We sure love our little guy or as Chris calls him – snugs or snuggly lump.

Oct 13.

I just want to let the world know that I love my family. I love my Chris and my Caeleb and feel so blessed to have them in my life. We had Caeleb’s baby blessing this last Sunday – Oct 9. We had mom and dad Watters out from Victoria which was fun. The blessing was beautiful and Caeleb looked so handsome in his white romper. Chris, Dad, Gary and Ryan Michelson were in the circle. We had a Thanksgiving supper at Aunt Sharan’s after. Those who attended: Mom and Dad Smith, Mom and Dad Watters, Camellia and Doug, Kurt and Meghan, Kamille, Paul and the girls, Todd, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Gord and Pheobe and Aunt Sharan of coarse.  We spent thanksgiving Monday with mom and dad Watters and Kurt. We drove out to Elbow falls and had a hotdog roast out there which was a lot of fun.

Caeleb insert – 1 month old: Wow, I am so excited to be here on this earth. I can tell my family and friends love me so much. People always say how cute and handsome I am. They even give me gifts. I am now lifting my head quite well though I don’t like my tummy time too much. I have learned that mommy means food and daddy means comfort and sleep time. I don’t quite smile yet but I will be there soon (though now I like to put on serious expressions) and I like to move my arms and legs but I don’t really know what they are for. I like to sleep and eat and I do like to cry too at times for no apparent reason at all but it seems to relax me. I do like back floor time up to ½ hour at a time and you know something, Dad’s uncle Toni gave me a vibrator chair which I absolutely love unless I am hungry or feel like I need to be held.

Oct 25^th: Well, we are packing up boxes here at our little apartment. I am kind of sad. We will have lived here a year next weekend and that is when we are moving out.

Oct 30

We have had many wonderful experiences in this little one room apartment on the 14^th floor this last year. Just read back on them.

On Friday, or October 22, I recreated Chris and my first date to celebrate our 1^st anniversary (on October 24). I made him lasangua like he made me on our first date. Then we dropped of Caeleb at Aunt Sharan’s  (not like our first date) and went to see the new temple site (we actually went to nose hill on our first date). Then we went dancing at the same place Chris took me on our first date. We learned the Cha Cha. We had Chris’ favourite icecream when we got home – Chocolate Moose Tracks. It was a simple and beautiful memory night.

Nov 11 2010. (Katherine talking).

Well, this last month has been yet another busy month. Caeleb continues to grow and at his 6 week checkup (Oct 26), he was over 11 pounds. He is long and is starting to put on a little bit of chubbiness. Mom (me) was a little bit scared that he was not smiling yet or that he did not focus well but in the days that followed his check-up, he did both. I remember my visiting teacher (Sister Palmer) came over and she whistled at Caeleb and he gave the biggest grin. That was the first big one I really noticed.

We moved to Edendale cresent up in Northwest Calgary on October 30. It was a very busy day even though I worked hard the week before packing up all our things. My goodness we have a lot of things – most things have come from our wedding we figure. It took me about 5 days to unpack – with baby and all his needs, it takes longer to get things done.

Mom and dad Smith came up Nov 7-10. It was fun having them here and we feel blessed to have so much room. Mom (or Nana should I say) and I made turtles while “Grandpa” and Caeleb bonded. We went for daily walks and Dad and I went shopping. The weather has stayed fairly warm. I do love the fall.

On Nov 11 (today) we went to a remembrance day service in Bowness. It was packed there and it felt so good to see so many out and wearing their poppies. I love Rememberance day and I think it is so important. I think of Grandpa and his sacrifice and how he would march with the other veterans on remembrance day and how he would have a huge smile on his face. I will always remember that smile.

 

Nov 15 2010.

(Katherine) Caeleb and I went for a super long walk today. It was beautiful outside – about 6 degrees. We walked 40 minutes to Super Store to do our weekly grocery shopping and then walked 40 minutes back. Caeleb slept most of the way and I couldn’t help but smile as it was so good to walk so far. We enjoyed it while we could as tomorrow we are to see the white stuff.

Nov 19 2010

(Katherine) I am glad we went for a walk on Monday because on Tuesday it snowed and snowed and it is still snowing. But I love this winter wonderland. I went out with Lisa last night to do some Primerica and I enjoyed it. We were out late though – till midnight and both our husbands called being worried about us. Caeleb is sleeping right now. He is such a good little boy. We ventured out in the snow on Tuesday for a meet and greet doctor’s appointment for him and then again on Wednesday evening for his first vaccinations. He cried hard for about 3 minutes but calmed down and forgot all about it after. Being a paranoid mother, I still gave him 2 doses of Tylenol for comfort measures even though he really did not need it I think. Caeleb is cooing quite loudly now and it seems as though he has a giggle every day or so. Really cute! He is a smart little boy. Kind of funny though, Caeleb is bigger than average for height and weight (75^th percentile or so) but he has a small head (25^th percentile). I had a big head for a baby I think so I think this is strange but Chris isn’t concerned in the least and we will just go with the flow. I am sure Caeleb is as bright as ever and he is a handsome little guy – more big people proportioned and we laugh at that a little.

Nov 27^th 2010

A fun weekend this weekend. I went and visited a friend, Mallory, on Friday as she wanted to see Caeleb. We work together and she is on maternity leave too with a baby 6 month old. We had lunch at her place and had fun talking and laughing. Afterwards I went and visited my co-workers at the hospital and they loved seeing little Caeleb. He was so good for them. Then I picked Chris up from work and we did not get out of the city until 6:30 or so because of the roads (they were a bit snowy and it was a bit windy). We got to mom and dad’s by around 8:00 tonight and slept over night. Then we went to Camellia and Doug’s at the Draper Cabin for a pig roast which was a blast. About 30 people were there including Mom and Dad Smith, Nathan and the Radfords. We had fun chatting and ate so much good food including a pig, potatoes, and tons of salads and desserts. Doug and Camellia were so good to do that for us. Chris and I talked at church on Sunday so we had to leave at 7:00 in the morning. But we got there in time and I enjoyed our talks so it was definitely worth it.