Adoption

Thank you for your encouraging comments everyone. We really appreciate knowing that friends are reading our blog and sharing in our experiences. It makes us feel closer to all of you. We wish we were physically closer too!!
After much deliberation, we have decided to adopt a dog from the local animal shelter. Well it isn't so local. We have been looking around and there are not a lot of dogs in our immediate area so we had to extend our search region. We searched online and found a dog at the SPCA in Yarmouth. The last dog we had adopted, Ford, had been abused and all the love in the world could not stop him from eventually being aggressive and biting Michael. So we said the next dog we got would be a purebred. We hoped this way we would be more sure of its breed characteristics. We also said we would get a puppy because then we could train it and make sure it had not experienced any mistreatment or abuse. When the time came to really find a dog, we could not justify the cost of a purebred dog ($500-700) to a mixed breed who needed a home. We had been looking at the Nova Scotia Duck Toller breed as one of our options for purchase so when 'Red' came up for adoption, we decided to go take a look. Arriving at the shelter, we were met with meows and barking. We walked into the kennel where immediately 15 dogs begin to bark even louder and Maetia starts to cry. It was so hard to look at each of them and give them all treats and base our decision of who will have a new home on that two minute interaction. We wanted to take all of them!! Not to mention the 20 or so cats. So it was hard but we went with a purpose and after meeting Red and taking him for a walk, we decided to.... go home and think about it. So we drove back home for 2 1/2 hours with Maetia crying much of the way. How would you go to an adoption agency in say China and pick out a child to adopt? How would you actually choose the one you like the best when you don't know any of them? Michael said it is like choosing the personality you are going to deal with for the rest of your/its' life. I know a dog is not at all the same as a child but for these dogs, we are picking one that will have a good life, not a perfect life, but a good one and it is really hard to decide which one is guaranteed that. Red has a nice temperment. He is 7 months old and is a Duck Toller mix. He is very hyper but gentle with Maetia. He likes cats and water which we have at our house. He also has a bum leg, kind of like Max/Tripod (Eric's dog) but not as bad. We decided to adopt him because he was the one we felt the best connection with. We will send pictures when we get him. He is currently awaiting the dreaded neutering process.
Here are some photos of Maetia instead.


Dordt Poster child



She can go up but not down

Dancing

So last Friday I got the call I have been dreading. It was my boss from my job with the Department of Natural Resources. He was calling to ask if I had decided if I was going to come back to work or not. In Canada we are allowed to have a whole year of maternity leave so I haven't had to make a final decision until now (I know we are lucky). For the past few months I have been going over it and over it in my mind; what should I do? I liked my job and it could potentially lead to a better job, making contacts and getting experience, but...... I never was a career minded person but I do like working outside, in the woods. And I liked to think I was making a difference, as far as promoting sustainable resources use went. I just couldn't leave her, in my heart I knew what I had to do. By the way Chole, your post about not going back to your job helped me verbalize what I had been feeling for so long, thank you. But when I got the call in the middle of our dancing session to my favourite song "Bridal Train" from The Waifs it was still hard to let go and say 'no thank you, I want to be a stay at home mom'. I question my expensive education and when I will use it again. I wonder if I will get enough intellectual stimulation just by being at home and in the garden. But as my daughter is weaning herself from me and I am mourning that phase of our lives, I am reminded of what a good friend said to Michael and I when discussing our financial situation=need to work. He said 'you will never get that time back' and I believe it. So I hung up the phone and pressed play on the the player and we finished our dance.



Maetia helping in the kitchen



Michael bonding/feeding Maetia



Together with the Youth Group from our church, we participated in a service project over March break. We all learned a lot by serving homeless and hungry people on the streets of Halifax. We are so proud of these kids!!

Icebergs

For the past week, we have smelled spring coming up through the ground. It is a nice feeling to walk outside and smell the earth again. Very refreshing and encouraging. Just when you think you might not be able to handle any more winter, spring arrives. Part of spring that we have learned about by living on the Bay is the chunks of ice (as large as cars) that are breaking off of shorelines and esturaries and drifting into the bay to eventually make their way out to the ocean. Or at least that is what we think is happening. Right now they are floating in the wrong direction but we believe it is because of the tidal impact and ocean currents.


There might be something in the water or in our genes but this little one is the final baby in the countdown of the VanHattem cousins to have a baby in the past year. There have been seven girls, this latest cutie is Madeline Grace.


This beautiful girl made my day and helped me celebrate my birthday by watching the moonrise and lunar eclipse with a great view from the shore.

travel

Today (like almost everyday), Maetia travelled in the car. We headed to the Osteopath after we dropped Michael off at work. This was our third visit and hopefully our last. It looks like she has done all the work that needs to be done. Re-aligning her spine, decompressing her sacrum and releasing the pressure on the right side of her brain were the main focuses at each consecutive visit. The doctor moved her fingers around on her head and I held her while she looked at me and sometimes smiled, sometimes cried. The doctor has said that she will no longer have breathing problems, digestive problems and will begin to use the left side of her body more. These are things I assumed were just how babies were. Colic, constipation, and asthma. I thought we had a future using medicines that I wasn't sure how I felt about giving to her in the first place. Could it really work? Could she be all better? It sounds too good to be true but the more I have met with Sarah Hayes and learned about Osteopathy, the more I realize how complex this form of medicine. I do trust and believe that it is at least making her much more comfortable even if she doesn't get completely better.
We also made a trip in our car to the Valley Cloth Diaper Company. This is where we have bought all our diapers, except the ones we found second hand or that very kind people gave to us. We bought one new kind called Kissaluvs and we love it already. Very comfy and soft. We also bought a new wrap/plastic pant that is made of fleece. It seems Maetia is going to like textures just like her mother and Grandma Contant. Whether she wants to or not, she is experiencing them all day, so the least I can do is make it a good experience.
The rest of the day Maetia spent time travelling in her three other favourite styles and we have pictures to prove it.

little joys

Maetia brings a smile to my face each day. Lately our days are consumed

with teething: mouths full of fists and many tears but there is still time for some giggles.

She has learned to enjoy the sled now that we finally have some snow!

Bath time is our favourite time of the day. Maetia loves water of any sort and lets us lay her down on her back and float. She just recently started bathing alone and seems to enjoy her independance but her wiggling makes her mama nervous.

good neighbors

On February 3, my horse broke through her paddock fence, ripped her chest open, and proceded to run down the road about one mile. The vet had to come and sew her muscles and skin flaps back together. Having always wanted to be a vet, once I realized she was going to be okay, I enjoyed the procedure despite the freezing cold temperatures. The neighbors let us use their barn for the surgery and another neighbor lent us their trailer to get her back home. The rest of the them, about 6 more, (big news travels fast) helped me and my dad hold her up while she was sedated and very ready to drop all 1000 pds onto the vet crouching in front of her. She just had her check up and is healing nicely but not enjoying her manditory stall/bedrest.

touque

Maetia stays warm and snugg in the backpack with Laura as they go out for their daily exercise and fresh air.