Our New Home

We have officially arrived and moved into the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton.  My mom arrived on Wednesday evening, and we spent Thursday packing and organizing in Calgary.  This morning we finished getting our things together, cleaned the house and departed after lunch.  We could only fit less than 1/2 of our stuff and were blessed to have friends that drove the 3 hours to deliver the rest!  It's amazing how much stuff you need for 3 adults and 2 children.  I had to pack pregnant clothes and post baby clothes which doubled my baggage!

The staff at the house are amazing, we were warmly welcomed when we arrived and shown to our new home for the next couple of months, a single room with 2 double beds and a bathroom.  The room is fairly spacious and houses Sadie's playpen and all of our belongings.  We were blessed to have dinner provided for us by some volunteers that had come in to cook for the families here.  Sadie is having a ball as she explores the many play areas and watches all the other kids.  After dinner, Shawn put Sadie to bed and my mom and I hit the nearest grocery store for our breakfast essentials.

In some ways, our arrival is relaxing, we're in a safe place for Hope to arrive and are no longer in the planning and waiting mode for our move.  At the same time, we start waiting again...this time for labour to begin and Hope to join us in the world.  It may be a long three weeks if she decides she's comfortable and wants to wait it out.  I want to meet her, but also fear her arrival and all the unknowns that it will carry.

Our last few days in Calgary were hard on me emotionally.  I was saying goodbye to friends, trying to do too many logistical things and feeling overwhelmed that I was sure to forget something.  My mom's arrival was a reminder that the journey was now beginning and I was on the verge of tears for most of Thursday.  I had a less than attractive "snap" in the car when the GPS was supposed to take us to Tim Hortons...however, it was an empty building!!.... and I quickly realized I wouldn't be getting a snack or using the bathroom!  I'm praying that over the next few days, or weeks, that I'll have patience as we wait for Hope and be able to enjoy our time as a calm before the storm.

We are already adjusting to sharing a room with Sadie, she's woken up a few times tonight as we tried to unpack, watch tv or talk to each other.  Over time, I'm sure she'll learn to sleep through a lot more noise and give us our freedom back.  If only we had one of those portable wall dividers, that would solve the problem in a lot of ways!

Well, I need to get some sleep as I'm emotionally spent and physically tired too.  We will continue to update you as we settle in and find out more information.  We have an ultrasound on Monday afternoon, they may be able to give us an idea of Hope's potential arrival.  If not, we see the OB on Friday and may get some insight from her as well.  Thank you for praying for us up until this point and for continuing with us now.  Please pray for Shawn this week as he starts work at the Edmonton office and will be out of his usual environment, we are thankful that he is able to continuing working!