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CNY/Tet party with friends

2012-01-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Tet/Chinese New Year with some fellow adoptive families and what a blast we had! Aren't they cute all posing for the camera? I think they were yelling "happy new year!" None of the boys had any Ao Dai's that fit - but Gavin solved that problem with a last minute trip to the Pacific Mall in search of some traditional clothes for the next party. I guess while leaving the mall Owen announced " There are a lot of Chinese people in there!" ;) too funny.

Catherine planned a craft for the kids - they made their own paper chain dragons! Here Owen is helping his friend with her paper chain.

Of course Owen made his dragon the longest he could and at first I thought he was going to follow a "pattern" as patterns seem to be a big thing in his kindergarten world.

Enjoying some Asian takeout - A medley of Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese foods.

Waiting anxiously for some cake. I was inspired to make a dragon cake after seeing this beautiful one - I couldn't find any single coloured M&M's around here and opted to use these gummy candies instead.

After dinner there was our very own dragon parade ;) Super cute - and the kids were so proud of their creations :)

Happy New Year! Hopefully the year of the Dragon is a lucky one for all!

4th Forever Family Day

2012-01-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 4th "Forever Family" day this past tuesday January 17th! Can you believe we've had Owen for four years now? crazy how fast time goes! I just love my little boy and can't begin to imagine life without him, our lives sure changed forever that day in January. Such a frightened little baby he was, yet he opened his heart to us and is such an amazing kid! I get teary whenever I think about our time in Vietnam, and can't wait for a return trip someday!

My mom helped me take the kids out for lunch on Tuesday. Owen was excited to leave school for an hour and have a "date" with mom :) we went to McDonalds for something fast and easy with the kids, but it was still special for Owen. Later, we met up with Gavin at Chuck e Cheese for some family fun and dinner! Owen loved it - now he wants to have his birthday party there! oops.

The kids were excited every time they won "tickets" and ran from game to game wanting to play everything :) What a fun night! Happy 4th Forever Family Day Owen! We love you soooo much!

5 Months Old

2012-01-12T05:42:00.001-08:00

Grayson had a wellness check -up on Monday, just shy of 5 Months old the little guy is smaller than I thought :) He weighed in at 13.9lbs (10th percentile), height was 68.5cm (75th percentile), and his head circumference was 40 cm - not even on the growth chart the Doctor had! so he's tall and lean. The Doctor commented on our rough winter with regards to illness (mostly nasty colds etc) and I had to agree that it's been a long winter so far- seriously it seems like one of the kids is sick with a cold every. single. week. I recently read an article that children tend to catch 1-2 colds a month and I believe it! Poor Grayson's immune system has been working in overdrive this first winter of his, hopefully that means less colds in the future :)

This past month Grayson has lost some of his "young baby" look and suddenly looks much "older" to me. I think he looks older because he is getting more hair, it's coming in quite blonde. He's taken an interest in toys and so far his favourite toys (besides his hands) are his sophie giraffe, the jumperoo and the exersaucer. He's been reaching for toys and putting them straight into his little mouth - causing him to drool everywhere! I tried at least 3 times to get some video of him enjoying his jumperoo and every time I was recording he started fussing! so I don't have any proof - but he really does (usually) love his jumperoo :)

Some exersaucer play

and 1 more super cute photo of my boy - I couldn't decide which photo I liked better between the top one and this one - so I'm sharing both :) These photos also prove that Grayson gets to wear actual clothes once and a while, & not just his pajamas ;) Catherine mentioned that she rarely sees Grayson in clothes and I had to admit my laziness to her ;)

Happy 5 Months Grayson!

Boxing Day

2012-01-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

We spent Boxing Day with Gavin's side of the family, we had a great time visiting with family and watching the kids play together.

It never takes long for all of the kids to gang up on someone - usually Jeff ;)

Gavin with his boys

Noah opening a gift from Jeff, Theresa and Kids

Papa opening his present from everyone.

The next day we the kids enjoyed playing with their new toys, Owen finally was able to use his Blizzard Maker and make us all an ice cream treat. Santa hadn't read the directions and we were missing a few key ingredients - oops! Owen was great about it though and was very patient until we could go shopping for the ingredients we needed. He was so excited to try out the Blizzard maker and wanted to do all the steps himself. That is until he realized that churning for 10 minutes was ridiculously long, then he handed over churning duty to daddy :)

The ice cream didn't turn out quite as thick as it should have - it was kind of like eating melted ice cream. The kids declared the ice cream "delicious" and we all smiled and praised Owen for making us such yummy treats.

Playing with a few other new toys. Such fun! but it amazes me how the boys naturally start speaking in a scary creepy voice when dressed up in costume. Noah's new line is "haha I've got you now, you'll never get away!"

Owen with his new toys

The helmet was huge on Noah's tiny head:) he kept yelling "Help! I can't see a thing!"

Christmas Day

2012-01-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

Grayson was the first to wake up Christmas morning and the three of us lounged in bed while we waited for the other two sleepy heads to wake up. Noah woke up and joined us for some cuddles, and finally Owen woke up around 7:30 and came rushing in to announce it was Christmas morning :) I really don't think Noah knew what was going on. We waited while Gavin went downstairs and put the lights on the tree and got the video camera ready.

We didn't have to be at my sister's house until 3pm so we had a good part of the day to enjoy our time together, open gifts, play our new toys and have a yummy breakfast.

Our Christmas Tree

We attempted to get some cute "first Christmas" photos - and while they are cute, not all of them are happy :)

Family photo in front of the tree

The boys playing the "drums" at Maegan and Bill's

We had a great Christmas with family!

Grayson Rolling!

2012-01-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Grayson rolled from his belly to back for the first time yesterday! My mom was here to witness the milestone and we all cheered and clebrated with a very proud baby! He probably hasn't gotten the tummy time that Noah did, but I try to remember to do tummy time whenever possible. Up until this past week Grayson hasn't shown very much interest in rolling over, whenever he was placed on his belly he'd just appreciate the change of view and look around :) all of that changed yesterday! He hasn't rolled from his back to front yet, but I know it's just a matter of days until he does, he is getting so close. I've also found him squirming around his play mat and I sometimes find him in the opposite corner to what he started out - meaning I need to keep a closer eye on him :) Oh baby you are growing up way too fast!

We were sure to catch a short video of him rolling over last night. Way to go Grayson!

Christmas Part 3

2012-01-05T11:53:00.001-08:00

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed getting together with Gavin's sister Meggie and her boyfriend Liam. They were hosting an open house and joked that we are always their "earliest" guests, arriving in the morning hours all the time :) Just a reminder of how different our lives have been since having kids - oh well, we wouldn't change a thing!

I love this photo of Noah and his Aunt Meggie! you can just feel the love!

The kids attacking Liam :) what a good sport he is!

More gift opening! The biggest play doh gift pack ever! the kids loved playing with it once we got home :) They also received a Mr. Men story collection - how fun! who else remembers those awesome books? they were my favourite growing up :)

A cute photo of Noah just before leaving for Aunt Meggie's!

After visiting we went home and played with the new presents, made pizza and attended Christmas Mass. The kids were so well behaved during church this time! we really need to make an effort to go more often. I've found that the times we attempt sitting in the pews as opposed to going immediately to the 'crying room' things always turn out better! I think the kids sense that they should behave, when we are in the 'crying room' with other kids things can get a little crazy! Afterwards we stopped home to pick up some hot chocolate and cookies for our annual Christmas Eve Christmas light drive!

Our favourite decorated house - a little blurry

Someday I hope to live here...lol! I can just picture the shiny marble floors now :)

After setting out the cookies and eggnog for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer the kids were fast asleep after our busy day! dreaming of Christmas morning I'm sure!

Christmas Part 2

2012-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

After our family Christmas brunch we prepared for a friend's Christmas drop-in party! I love the idea of an open house around Christmas to get together with family/friends that you may not otherwise be able to see near the holidays. It's starting to become a tradition for us to attend this annual party and we love it!

The kids especially love playing together and playing the drums downstairs. I didn't get many photos of the fun evening, but plan to next year :)

We made such special friends during our adoption wait, we are always so happy to spend time with these friends - especially during the holidays!

Christmas Part 1

2011-12-31T11:20:00.001-08:00

Oh man I'm so behind in blogging! I'm going to try my best to get caught up within the next couple of days, but of course that all depends on how much the little ones sleep :)

Christmas parties started early this year for us and we didn't stop until we rang in the New Year! My brother, SIL, and Niece were home the week before Christmas so we hosted a gift opening brunch that day with my side of the family. It was nice to sped time with my brother's family and especially nice to spend time with my sweet niece. This year she kept up with the boys and is running all over the place!

Grayson's first gift opening experience :)

The last couple of years my dad has taken it upon himself to purchase gifts for the women of the family - hopefully that tradition continues as it's given us some great photo opportunities and a few laughs along the way :)

Gifts are always crazy with my side of the family - this year a total of 29 batteries were needed for the kids new toys! It was great spreading out some holiday parties because it gave the kids some time to actually enjoy their new presents :) This year I tried out a new recipe I found on pinterest - think we've found a new Christmas breakfast tradition! goodbye pillsbury cinnabons and hello pillsbury biscuits smothered in warm syrup, brown sugar, butter and pecans! Yummy! you can find the recipe here. No photos as those sticky buns didn't last very long!

What a great morning we had!

They Still Love Swimming!

2011-12-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we we're invited for a swim at Aunt Meggie's. The boys were excited about swimming "inside Meggie's house" and decided that it wasn't a good idea for us to have a pool inside our house because the carpet would get wet :) smart boys they are. We invited ourselves for lunch, so after swimming we enjoyed Liam's perfected grilled cheese sandwiches. Yummy!

At first Noah was a little timid, but he soon remembered his love for the pool. Owen just continued to jump over and over - he was exhausted on the ride home :)

My Lil' Angel

2011-12-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

My sweet boy had his first school Christmas concert this past friday! I was more than a little excited about it and couldn't wait to see the cuteness! His costume was to be a men's dress shirt worn backwards and tinsel (either gold or silver) for a halo and a sash. When we tried his costume on him he was a little disappointed, he thought he looked like a ghost instead of an angel :) after the tinsel was on he liked his costume more but added an extra embellishment of his own - a gold star garland for a necklace! we decided it wasn't a battle worth arguing and left him to personalize his costume with his "necklace".

Grandma and Papa came to watch the concert with us and although we were early for the show, lot's of people were even earlier. next year we'll have to be there about an hour before the show starts in order to get a good seat, even though we were early we had to sit near the back. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get much video (camera was set in high definition mode- oops) but we did manage to get some short video clips and many photos! you can tell by the short videos and photos how much Owen loved being on the stage performing! he did an awesome job and I was so proud of him. I think I shed a few tears watching him do so well!

There were 4 kindergarten classes and each class performed 2 songs, then they all joined together for 2 more songs at the end. During Owen's first song he and his dance partner somehow got pushed behind the rest of the class and we could hardly see him. I was seriously going to ask his teacher to move some people over, but she noticed the missing boys from the show and pulled Owen up front. Things couldn't have turned out better as he was placed in front of the microphone and the only person you could hear singing was him! He was so precious! singing, dancing - giving it his all! afterwards, his teacher mentioned that Owen is her "go to guy" to get the job done :) and a few parents commented on how well he did and that he must have practiced often. He didn't really practice at home, but anyone that knows Owen knows that he is a bit of a perfectionist and likes to do things well!

I love that you can tell how much fun he was having just by the photos!

Here is a short video of Owen singing with all of the kindergarten kids.

Angel Band song - Grand Finale;)

Owen's Vietnamese name means "fame & prestige" and I have no doubt he will be famous someday! Way to go Owen! we are so proud of you :)

4 Months Old

2011-12-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

I love this sweet baby! Grayson is such a happy baby, he's always smiling and is very close to laughing. I love having little 'conversations' with him, after a feeding he is so content he chatters and babbles away. Sometimes in the middle of the night I'd prefer him to just go back to sleep, but he is still so sweet to listen to. Mommy is still his favourite person :) and I'll take that as long as I can get it! He's started to show more interest in his toys and will sometimes try to reach for them. So far his favourite toy is his own two hands! he constantly has them in his mouth and I try to get him to use his soother instead. Often I look and he's spit the soother back out and has his fist shoved in his mouth again.

We haven't been for his 4 month wellness check-up, our Doctor is just back from maternity leave and is working only a couple of days a week, so he will have his appointment in January. Grayson has been suffering from a terrible cold this week and has been put on antibiotics because of the phlegm in his lungs. He is sounding a little better this morning so I hope he is on the mend, otherwise he is to go back in a few days for puffers :( hopefully it doesn't come to that. He had me very worried monday evening and I am glad he is starting to act more like himself. It's so hard when your kids are sick and even more nerve wracking when your baby is sick!

Grayson hasn't rolled over yet but he hasn't had many opportunities to practice. Once he's feeling better I'll have to try to fit more tummy time into our day. He has good neck control and is quite strong so I think he will get it soon.

Happy 4 months Grayson! With each baby the time seems to go faster, If only I could slow it down a little...

silly baby, he's been drooling and blowing bubble lots - hopefully it doesn't mean he's going to get teeth early.

Christmas Tree Decorating

2011-12-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

Owen and Noah were into decorating the Christmas tree this year much more than last year. Such a difference a year makes! The tree ended up having two levels of decorations - one at Owen's height and one at Noah's :) I had to fight back the impulse to 'fix' the decorations and leave them where the kids originally put them. There are sections of the tree that are bare, some with too many decorations etc - but I resisted the urge! Gavin and I did make sure to put some special decorations (like the ones we got in Vietnam) up high just so Seymour doesn't knock them down and break them.

Choosing some decorations to place on the tree.

Check these decorations out! Noah thought he was funny pretending to put tissue paper on the tree!

So adorable!

This is one of my favourite photos of Noah :) I love how sweet he looks. I'm almost second guessing my decision to take him for a haircut this weekend he looks so cute in this picture!

Here's the perfect spot for this ornament!

This is Noah's 'trying to smile' look.

I like this ornament Mom!

Grayson slept the entire time, but has since liked looking at the lights on the tree.

Great job on the tree boys! I love how they are getting excited about everything that has to do with Christmas!

Christmas Parade

2011-12-06T12:52:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the Santa Claus Parade! we bundled them up like we do every year and planned an early dinner and a quick stop for hot chocolate - we were ready for the cold! as soon as we stepped outside we realized we were over dressed and quickly took off the hats and mitts. The kids were sweating by the time we walked and found a good location to watch the parade - I think our kids were the only ones in snow pants :) I love the warmer than average temps and am dreading that first real snow fall and cold Canadian weather.

Here are 3 of my favourite boys waiting for the parade to start, my other favourite boy slept for most of the parade. Once again we forgot a blanket for the kids to sit on, one of these years I'm sure we'll get it right :)

Last weekend Gavin and Jim took the kids to another Santa Claus parade. There are no photos of that outing, I'm guessing things were a bit too busy to bother with the camera ;)

Meet Frosted Flake!

2011-12-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

This year we started the Elf on the Shelf family tradition and the boys love it! Owen named our elf 'Frosted Flake' and I think the name is a perfect choice considering he is from the North Pole:) Each morning they race downstairs to find our elf doing something silly. Sometimes he's just hiding in a silly spot and other times he's up to no good! The first night Frosted Flake took Owen's digger for a spin, another time he got into the halloween candy and some popcorn, and yesterday morning we found him sitting on the couch with the remote control watching the Swiss Chalet channel!

I love the family memories we are creating!

2011-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

On Halloween morning as I was dropping off Owen at school, his teacher informed me that they were having their monthly Celebrates assembly and Owen would be receiving an award! I was really thankful my mom could come and watch the kids while I attended the assembly. Owen was surprised to see me and I enjoyed a few minutes witnessing what his little kindergarten life was like at school :) There are often times I wish I could spy on him and see what happens in a day :)

The Celebrates award recognizes a student from each class that displayed certain qualities that month. They are nominated by the teacher and awarded a certificate during the assembly. Owen's award was for being a discerning believer in faith, a good friend, and doing good deeds for others. He was very proud when his name was called and so was I :)

Owen has been talking more about the way people behave and what kind of behaviours make "good friends" I'm hoping these lessons lead him to find good friends and take him far in life! way to go Owen!

3 Months Old

2011-11-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

3 Months old already! Grayson has been entertaining us this past month with his sweet baby smiles and the sweetest baby talk! when we talk to him he tries to "talk" back. He has been more playful and interactive lately and Owen and Noah have enjoyed playing with him more. Sometimes I will playfully stick out my tongue at him and he will copy and stick out his tongue, and his newest game is to play "pop the soother" - he gets the biggest smiles when he spits out his soother on purpose It's the simple things in life :) but he sure is becoming more fun. We've tried to capture some of this fun on video but he gets distracted by the camera and just stares at it!

Here he is having some cuddle time with his brothers. Owen likes to hold him when he's "not fussy and not stinky" heh- don't we all ;) Grayson watches the boys play and I'm sure he's taking in all of the big brother trouble and saving it for me!

Grayson is an easy going baby and has never minded tummy time. He doesn't get on his tummy as often as he should, but I've been trying to make an effort to do tummy time more often.

Recently we brought out the baby swing and he loves it! he seems to like the swinging/swaying motion. He definitely likes to be on the move and the swing has given us a few breaks from having to carry him constantly. Still, his favourite spot is either in my arms or in the baby carrier.

I'm not sure how much Grayson weighs now but I've certainly noticed him getting heavier, and he's got some cute chubby thighs! He likes to feed every 2-3 hours during the day and will stay awake for about two hours before needing another nap. Nursing is going well but it has also made for a picky baby - he only likes me to feed him. I've been pumping and freezing milk and have quite a stockpile - all in hopes that Gavin can start to give him some bottles :) we thought he didn't like to feed from bottles because he would always refuse to eat when Gavin tried, but we've learned that he just wants mommy to feed him! he associates feeding with me and will take bottles from me. Gavin tried to give him a bottle once when he was sleepy and it worked for a bit, until Grayson opened his eyes and saw that it wasn't mommy, once again he refused to eat - he sure has a stubborn side to him too!

A few weeks ago Grayson caught a bit of a cold and since then hasn't been sleeping well. He was doing a five hour stretch early in the evening from about 8pm to 1am, and then up every two hours after that. While it wasn't perfect, it at least seemed like he was on his way to longer periods of sleep. The past few weeks have been awful with regards to sleep, (he's only sleeping two hour intervals) and I really am needing to make some changes in our routine to hopefully get things back on track. I keep reminding myself that the sleepless nights are temporary but it really is wearing me out!

Happy 3 months Grayson! you are just too cute and we are loving watching you grow and learn new things!

Halloween!

2011-11-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

We started our Halloween fun by having Catherine and Hannah over for dinner. We served our usual halloween meal 'pumpkin spaghetti' the kids love it and it's easy to prepare ahead of time. This year the trick- or -treaters started arriving at the door at 6, and they came in big numbers! I was glad we made the last minute decision to pick up more candy "just in case". We had lots of candy left over, but I have no idea how many kids we got they came too fast to count!

Grayson dressed for the holiday by wearing a borrowed halloween sleeper :) super cute! Grayson and I stayed home to hand out candy, but we enjoyed watching the kids trick-or-treating-from the porch.

Our collection of mostly disney themed pumpkins. Catherine and Hannah carved mickey, and we carved goofy and "a ghost with flames" as per Owen's request.

Trick - or - Treat! Gavin said this year was much easier because the kids could go up to the houses on their own! no carrying any young kids up and down the stairs, next year he will have Grayson to carry around :)

It took Noah a few houses to figure out what was going on, but after he did he was so excited! he would run from house to house saying "candy! candy!" heh- I don't think he realized just how much candy he'd be given.

Thanks to Catherine she caught these videos of the kids :)

This spooky house set Owen off for the rest of the night. He wanted daddy to go up to the houses with him after that. He had wanted to come home but stuck it out for the love of candy :) I'm glad he mustered up enough bravery to finish the night and continue to have fun.

Pirate Owen!

Cutest little strawberry, dragon and pirate around! here they are enjoying a treat.

My three trick- or- treaters

My three cuties!

We checked the boys candy to make sure it was safe and took out the candy we don't like them to have (really hard candy and gumballs) then we helped ourselves to some of our favourites :) Grayson snatched this lollipop as if no one would notice, but I was sure to snatch it back just after I took the picture:)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving monday turned out to be the perfect day for our annual trip to the pumpkin farm! just mentioning the word farm sends my kids into excitement mode:) The weather on monday was great and we were sure that everyone would have the same idea and the place would be packed. We went early to avoid most of the crowd and much to our surprise it wasn't really that busy!

Again no photos of Grayson :( that boy slept the entire time we were there and I wasn't interested in waking him just for a photo op. Obviously sleep is very important to me these days :) The big boys had a great time and enjoyed the wagon ride, tractors, farm animals and searching for the biggest pumpkin in the field.

Maegan and Bill's Wedding

2011-10-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

We were thrilled to be asked to be in Maegan and Bill's wedding party! Owen remembered the last wedding he was in and was so excited about this one! he picked out the song he wanted to dance to and all year would mention dancing at Maegan's wedding whenever he heard the song :)

The weather threatened to be cold and rainy all week but when the day came the weather was perfect. It was actually hot and sunny all day!

I was a little stressed trying to figure out how we would manage getting us all ready for the wedding and having a 6 week old baby, but it all worked out! Luckily we have great family members that helped - Jeff and Theresa babysat Grayson for the evening and came back later to pick the boys up after they enjoyed some of the dance. Thanks so much for your help!

I had Grayson with me while I joined the other bridesmaids getting ready and for photos. Gavin had the other boys back at Jeff's getting ready. Here they are fooling around before leaving for the ceremony.

Uncle Bill waiting anxiously for Maegan to walk down the aisle. The wedding ceremony and reception took place at Bill's parents farm and they did such a great job getting everything ready for the wedding. They transformed a barn into a beautiful reception hall and the decorations were fantastic!

Here are my two handsome ring bearers! They did an awesome job and even Noah was brave enough to go down the aisle. This picture makes me laugh it shows their personalities perfectly :) Owen holding the pillow perfectly and doing things exactly as he should and Noah holding his pillow by the string and swinging it around like he could care less about the wedding :) so funny these two are!

Maegan and Dad- Gavin wasn't able to get many photos because Grayson started fussing as the ceremony began.

Owen looking handsome in his tuxedo

Noah looking handsome in his tuxedo - he looks so much older to me in this picture.

My sweet little neice! look at how adorable she is :)

Isn't this how everyone eats cheesecake?

Noah being silly :)

There was an awesome fireworks show- everyone loved it especially the kids. Such a great idea and not something that you see at every wedding:)

Handsome daddy and Noah

I really need to make an effort to take more family photos - sadly, this is the only photo of the five of us :(

Maegan and Bill's first dance.

No pictures of Grayson all dressed up, we were in such a rush to get to the ceremony on time :(

2 Months Old

2011-10-12T04:11:00.001-07:00

We've been a family of five for two months and I can barely remember what life was like before Grayson arrived. Well, I'm sure things were 'easier' but I think we are adjusting to being outnumbered or at least we are getting used to the craziness. Owen and Noah have been fantastic with their baby brother and have stepped up to being the best big brothers ever! they are so loving and gentle with Grayson it is really sweet to see them kissing him and helping me out when they can.

Grayson goes for his two month wellness visit tomorrow and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. I'm guessing he's about 12 pounds now - he's grown a couple of extra chins and he's grown out of all his newborn and some of his 0-3 month clothes, he eats often during the day every 2-3 hours. Just this week he has spaced his feedings out a little which has been so nice for me. Also, this week he has started to have a four hour stretch of sleep at night, usually starting around 10pm and then wakes every two hours after that until he is up for the day at 7:00am.

He definitely knows who mommy is and wants to be held most of the time. He has been spending many hours a day in the Ergo carrier just so I can get things done, and it's a bonus that he loves being cuddled up in there. He's a very smiley and happy baby! I just love when he gives me a big gummy smile when he sees me :)

update: Grayson weighs 10lbs15oz (between 5th and 10th percentile) his height is 61.5cm (between 50th and 75th percentile) and his head circumference is 37cm (less than 5th percentile)

2011-10-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm loving that Owen is still enjoying school and comes home happy and telling me about his day. His favourite activities seem to be the house center, and riding the new bikes at recess. His least favourite time of the day is quiet time :) I'm guessing from what he tells me that quiet time is at the end of the day and I'm assuming at that point he is tired and wanting to come home. All day kindergarten is exhausting for him and he is asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

Every morning we play a little game where I tell him I'm going to imagine him playing and having fun, or going to the library etc. just to let him know I'll be thinking of him. he usually responds with "I'm going to imagine when you come and pick me up". Luckily when I do pick him up he only has positive things to say about the day and tells me that he had fun.

Some control behaviours have surfaced since the start of school which we expected, as controlling things seems to be his way of dealing with new transitions and stress. Luckily we know what to look for and are quick to deal with things so it hasn't gotten out of hand. He has also been dealing with stress in a much more positive way by asking us for extra cuddle time, which I think has helped a tremendous amount with his transition to school. Owen has always turned to us for comfort, but it is nice that he can express his needs - it makes it easier on everyone.

We are so pleased with his teacher and how school is going! below is a video of Owen singing some of the new songs he's learned. He starts off a little slow and distracted by being on video - but things pick up in the end :)

2011-09-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I went in to wake Noah from his nap (we had to pick Owen up from school) and this is how I found him :) Just one of the perks of working from home. Such a silly boy he is.

Mid Autumn Moon Festival

2011-09-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

I was reminded of the Mid Autumn moon festival after seeing a t.v commercial - oops! luckily we didn't miss it and planned a very last minute get together with some friends that have children from China and Vietnam. We are so glad to have friends that are up for anything last minute and we enjoyed a great evening together celebrating the holiday!

Our fun began early evening with some lantern decorating. Trying to take photos while keeping the glittery mess contained was no easy task, but we managed. Some little kids preferred minimal glitter and placed each decorative spot carefully, while others preferred their lantern to be covered in glitter (Owen and Hannah).

We ordered Asian from a local restaurant and Catherine made some delicious cookies for dessert that represented the moon.

Catherine ended up holding both of the new babies while we got the kids ready for the lantern parade outside.

Owen with his lantern during the parade - he kept calling it the "Automatic Moon Festival". It was cute so we didn't bother correcting him :)

Noah with his lantern

Check out that beautiful moon!

2011-09-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Owen and Noah had a Dentist appointment today and they did great! Owen has been to the Dentist before but for some reason I don't think I have any pictures of his first appointment. He voiced his dislike about going to the appointment this morning but didn't mind when he was there, he even had xrays done!

Teeth cleaned, new toothbrush, toothpaste, toy picked out, and more importantly no cavities!

Noah wasn't too keen on things at first - this is a very typical looking Noah :)

He settled once the Dentist gave him a ride in the chair. He listened to what he was supposed to do and was such a brave boy!
he was happy watching the t.v on the ceiling - an episode of Max and Ruby kept him entertained. No cavities for him either!

2011-09-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we tried to get some cute photos of all three boys together. Luckily, after about an hour we had a few pictures we loved :)

Grayson didn't have his eyes open but at least he wasn't screaming :)

Some of the pics that didn't make the cut are still some of my favourite. I love the 'brotherly love' felt in the pics :)

1 Month

2011-09-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been so busy that I haven't found the time to take the camera out and snap photos of our little baby! I was able to take a few pictures this afternoon while the other kids napped, but I really need to make an effort to take some more photos of Grayson.

At 3 weeks old Grayson developed baby acne, it's common with newborns and there isn't much you can do to treat it. I've just been washing his face a couple of times a day with warm water and a soft washcloth and it doesn't appear to be as bad as it was last week. Hopefully it clears up soon but I have read it can last a few months.

Grayson feeds every 2-3 hours and has given us an occasional 4 hour stretch of sleep, but a 2 hour sleep pattern seems to be routine lately. He has been waking at 5am the last few nights/mornings to feed and that has made for some very early mornings for me. No time to nap or rest much during the day and it's taking a toll on me! Last night when I woke to feed Grayson I realized I hadn't changed into my pajamas - I'm in serious need of sleep! All that feeding must be doing something though because my sweet baby now weighs 9lbs 5oz, his height is 55cm, and his head circumference is 37cm.

I just love this little face :)

We caved and gave him a soother - he was feeding and then soothing for an hour at a time and it was far too much for me.

The photo is blurry so I'll have to work on getting a better one soon - but he's been smiling more the last couple of days. I'm not sure if he was smiling when he recognized me or heard my voice this afternoon - but I like to think he was :)

Junior Kindergarten

2011-09-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Owen had his introduction to Kindergarten today and it couldn't have gone better! he woke up excited to get ready for school and to meet his teacher and "new friends" . We joined the rest of the Junior Kindergarten students and parents in the school gym for a short liturgy and then went to his class to meet his teacher and to see the classroom. His teacher had set up a scavenger hunt for the kids to explore the different learning centers and become familiar with the classroom. When it was time to leave Owen wasn't quite ready :) he wanted to stay and play more, the senior kindergarten students were outside for recess and he wanted to stay and play with them.

Here are some pictures of my cutie on his first day of school!

His teacher is fantastic and we couldn't be happier with how his first day went!

2011-08-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

Grayson- 2 weeks old

Yesterday was Gavin's first day back at work since Grayson had been born. I was fine when he went back to work after Owen and Noah but was dreading the day this time around! Luckily, besides being exhausted in the morning the past two days haven't been too bad. They are really busy between getting the kids dressed, having a shower , snacks, meals, nursing, pumping, getting outside at least once a day, naps, starting dinner etc. but I think we'll eventually get the hang of things. Next week things change again with Owen starting school, so that will be the real test. I'm not sure what time I'll have to get up next week to get everything ready and Owen to school for 8:30, but we'll try our best. I know things will get easier once Grayson has some sort of a "routine" but for now we're doing everything on his demand and trying to fit everything else in when we can.

2011-08-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last wednesday we took the kids to the CNE, I was worried about how Grayson would do but it turned out to be a great outing. We stopped by Gavin's work to show off the kids and to pick our tickets up :) and finally made it to the CNE by lunch. It started to rain just as we got there and Grayson also needed to be fed, so we waited out the rain while I fed him in the car :)

First stop was to get lunch. It seems that having another baby puts us behind schedule a little :) Then it was time for the kids to go on some rides. This year there were lots of rides that both kids could go on together so we didn't bother buying extra ride tickets for an adult to ride with them.

Owen and Noah loved this Mickey Mouse Bounce Castle

A favourite ride was the dump trucks - Owen took the job seriously while Noah sat casually with his arm out the window.

When asking for volunteers to be in the "backyard circus" both Owen and Noah put up their hands to volunteer. Owen didn't care what part he got chosen for and kept his hand up the entire time until he was finally chosen to play a tiger. Noah wasn't chosen because he was a little too young, but I think he would have done fine. At one point while they were choosing butterflies for the play Noah went up on stage. He was quickly booted off by the people organizing the play - but I think he would have been a great butterfly :)

After the play Noah was able to put on a tiger costume as well and pose for a picture.

Grayson was perfect the entire day! he woke to nurse and then went back to sleep. I was worried he wouldn't sleep that night but he slept as usual. I think the fresh air made him exhausted. Check out his cute little pose :)

Owen and Noah were so cute holding hands while waiting in line for a ride. The "love" didn't last long though, as soon as the ride was over Owen got himself off the ride and left Noah behind! Gavin was on his way to help the boys off of the ride but for a short while Noah looked pretty scared stuck on the ride by himself!

Owen was a little freaked out by the talking and walking tree.

Daddy caved and both boys were able to choose one treat before we went home. I think Owen was disappointed with his decision to buy a candy apple but he wouldn't admit it. Noah loved his huge lollipop and I couldn't believe how big of a mess he could make with it! This picture makes me laugh - so many photos of the two of them turn out like this :)

Soccer Fun Day

2011-08-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

There was a year end fun day with the soccer club and the kids had such a great time last year that we wanted to make sure they went again this year. the weather wasn't the greatest so I stayed home with Grayson while Gavin took Owen and Noah. Owen remembered that there was a clown last year that made balloon animals and was disappointed there wasn't this time around.

The kids wanted popsicles even though it wasn't the warmest day :)

They always enjoy feeding the animals at the petting zoo

The only soccer game we missed was the last one - and the kids received their medals that week. We had just come home with Grayson the day before and decided not to go to the game. Owen was able to pick up his medal at the the fun day and I took his picture with it when he got home.

Next soccer season Noah will be able to play! I think he'll love it. He really enjoyed going to Owen's games to watch this year.

2011-08-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Bath time is a family affair around here! both boys wanted to help give Grayson his first bath at home. Owen and Noah did a good job helping bathe Grayson, but I think they expected it to be playtime like their bath usually is. Giving Grayson a bath has been on our "to do" list since monday and we finally got around to it today. That seems to be the way things are going lately and we are happy if we get anything accomplished these days. A very demanding feeding schedule, and trying to keep Owen and Noah entertained as much as possible is not leaving much time for anything else.

We have gotten out of the house a few times this week - if even for short walks around the block and to take the kids to the park. Today we ventured out on our first real "outing" since bringing Grayson home. We actually took the kids to the movies if! Gavin took Owen and Noah to see The Smurfs and Grayson and I went to see the Stars and Strollers movie The Help. We had a great time and I was a little worried about how Grayson would do while we were out and how I'd manage feeding him etc. but it worked out pretty well.

There's no photo of Grayson and I prior to our movie as were running late - but here is a pic of the other boys just before their movie:) apparently Noah loved the movie (no surprise) but Owen got a little bored half way through the movie.

My Lil' Cutie

2011-08-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Oh my this boy is sweet! he his so content and hardly ever cries :) luckily for us he gives us lots of cues as to when he's hungry or tired so we can tend to his needs prior to any big crying session. Grayson likes to nurse every 2 1/2 hours - 3 hours for a total of 8-10 feeds a day (usually 8), I realized today that nursing him is a full time job as he usually takes almost an hour each feed. The past couple of nights I've had to set the alarm to make sure I fed him on schedule, he needs to be woken up to feed at least every three hours. So far so good! keep it up baby :) There have been a few times at night that after a feed he is still wide awake, he seems to have his days and nights mixed up a little. We are getting some sleep though, and for that I am very grateful!

Here are some pictures of our newest little cutie!

When we left the hospital Grayson's weight had dropped to 6lbs 14oz, but at his baby wellness checkup on tuesday he was back up to 7lbs 2oz!

2011-08-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday while we were at the hospital spending some quality time with Grayson, Papa took Owen and Noah to a family get together. Tirza sent us some great photos of the boys and I wanted to share a few of them.

I'm thinking this decorative bike is a plant stand or something, but my creative boy found another use for it :)

I think this is the only photo of Kian and Noah together where both kiddies are looking at the camera and smiling!

Grayson's Birth Story

2011-08-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

On wednesday morning I took the kids to the zoo and hoped that contractions would start with walking around so much. In the afternoon my O.B told me I was almost 4cm dilated and that I would likely be in labour within the next 24 hours. I started to have some mild contractions late in the afternoon and I thought that maybe things would continue. Catherine was nice enough to invite us to her house for dinner :) and the kids got to play together one last time before we decided that I should take some time off of work and have this baby already! After dinner baby grayson was feeling the need for some ice cream so we headed out for dessert with Catherine and Hannah. We had my mom come up late wednesday just incase things continued, I was worried about having to phone someone in the middle of the night to come and watch the boys. The contractions slowed down and stopped just before midnight, but I had big plans to take many walks the next day and get things moving again!

having dinner at Catherine and Hannah's - our last family pic of the four of us :)

On Thursday Jim and Meggie came up to help with the boys. They took them to a local splash pad and took us all out for lunch. I tried eating some spicy food for lunch and contractions got fairly strong, I started to think that maybe thursday would be the day and that I might have to call Gavin home from work. Contractions would come and go and they would get stronger after taking walks but again they stopped in the evening.

Friday morning I woke up at 4:30 with contractions that were regular and coming about every 10 minutes. I also had some bleeding and knew that friday would be the day! I liked that things were starting up in the morning which gave me time to eat, shower and call Jim to come and care for the boys later that day. By 8am contractions were every 7 minutes, and getting stronger. By 9am they were coming about every 5 minutes and by 10:30am decided to get checked at the hospital. My regular O.B was working that day and when he checked me I was 5 cm dilated. My O.B was eager to break my water and get things moving fast but the nurse on duty wouldn't let him. There were no labour rooms ready and she was worried things would move too fast and not be very safe. Looking back on everything I am so thankful she stepped in and stopped him from breaking my water!

I walked the hall for two hours and every few steps had intense contractions. We were to be back at 1pm in triage to be monitored and at that point my O.B was going to check me again. We finally got a room around 2pm and my nurse still didn't want the O.B to break my water until after I had an epidural. The anesthesiologist was busy in the operating room and I had to wait for the epidural. I really felt I needed on at 2pm and contractions felt much stronger and closer together that when I'd received the epidural with Noah. I tried to use the gas to take the edge off but that only made me feel sick. I was convinced they'd check me and tell me it was too late for an epidural and I was starting to get anxious. Luckily, at 4:30 the anesthesiologist arrived and administered the epidural, I felt immediate relief!

At 6:30 I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. I was able to "labour down" while the nurse prepared the room and I started to push at 7:10pm. After the second push the head was crowning and I was told to not push until the doctor got there! not an easy thing to do as I could feel the pressure- it was a really strange sensation. The doctor arrived -third push and the head was out. I screamed when I felt the head come out, it didn't hurt but it shocked me. Again I couldn't push because Grayson had the cord wrapped around his neck twice and it was really tight. The doctor cut the cord and i could push one last push to deliver the shoulders. I could feel what was happening but couldn't feel any pain. Grayson was born at 7:16pm, only 6 minutes after I started pushing. The experience was great besides my fear of not getting an epidural, and healing this time has been much faster.

post epidural - sweet relief. I couldn't stop shaking, but at least the pain was gone :)

First look at our baby boy!

Gavin cutting the cord

Welcome to the family Grayson! We love you so much!

We're Home!

2011-08-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

We're all home together! I'm so happy about that :) I missed the boys so much and they were very excited to have us home this afternoon. We were discharged at 12pm, we had to wait to get the lab results and discharge order from the Doctor. Here are a few pics until I can write more later! I'll try and update more after the boys (at least some of them) go to bed.

Today?

2011-08-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

Contractions have picked up in frequency and intensity. They are about 5-7 minutes apart and lasting about 45-50 seconds. Starting to get to the anxious stage and hoping to meet the little baby by evening and hopefully with lots of time to enjoy the epidural. Contractions aren't too bad yet - but definitely getting stronger.

39 Weeks

2011-08-11T10:53:00.001-07:00

I had an O.B appointment yesterday afternoon and was almost 4cm dilated already! I was told that active labour will kick in quick when it starts up and that things should move along fairly quickly. They suspected that I'd be in labour within 24 hours but so far I'm still at home. I had some cramping that increased in strength last night but then subsided and I've had some stronger contractions this afternoon. I'm hoping it will keep up and we get to meet this little baby later tonight! It sounds like it should be soon - so we'll see when he feels like making his appearance.

I went for a walk this morning and had some spicy food for lunch. During lunch i felt some strong contractions but they have eased off a little. Hopefully after one more good walk he'll be ready and then it's baby time! Gavin ended up going to work today but wasn't sure if he should. I've got my mom here just incase things happen fast and Jim and Meggie came by and are helping with the boys. The help is much appreciated! It's much easier to focus on labour without having to worry about the boys too.

39 Week belly pic - possibly the last one? I booked my 40 week O.B appointment but they don't expect to see me at it.

38 Weeks

2011-08-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

During the past week I've had some signs that labour may be near. Increased feeling of nausea, more trips to the bathroom, pelvic pressure, and overall not feeling well. Yesterday I took the kids to an indoor play place and was quite uncomfortable while there, my hips and groin were aching and I was getting cramps whenever I walked around. Then during the day the cramps continued and intensified and I was starting to think the baby was really wanting to come today. At 10 pm things tapered off and I thought I should go to bed and try and get some rest. I was able to sleep from 10pm - 4am but then woke up with very uncomfortable contractions. The contractions lasted from 4am - 7am but have since stopped. The baby is still really active today and I'm feeling ready for delivery :) hoping it happens soon and the false labour/ pre - labour turns into the real thing soon! It's been a very frustrating couple of days.

Tomorrow I have an O.B appointment and an ultrasound to check the size of the baby. Hopefully they are able to let me know if things are progressing. Fingers crossed that the next time contractions start they don't stop!

update: I had my ultrasound this afternoon and everything is great with the baby! baby is 6 pounds now - expected to be about 6 and a half at birth (same as Noah). He scored an 8/8 on respirations, movement, tone etc. The ultrasound tech was getting frustrated with him because he wouldn't stop moving and she had a hard time getting the measurements. I asked about the cord insertion and was told the cord was "eccentric" meaning not in the "fattiest, most common spot on the placenta" more off to the side. It could mean he hasn't been getting enough nutrients but based on his size and score he his doing fine. My O.B thought I had experienced prodromal labour on tuesday and that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing as it does help soften and dilate the cervix but just doesn't produce a baby in the end. It's not quite 'false labour' but not 'real labour' either. I'm only 1cm dilated and cervix is soft based on a check today. I'm hoping that things start up again soon and we get to meet him soon!

37 Weeks

2011-07-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

YAY! we made it full term! based on some crazy contractions early on I wasn't sure we'd make it this far :) I'm feeling great and still love being pregnant. I've had some cramping the last couple of days but nothing seems to be coming from it. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the baby doesn't decide to arrive on Owen's birthday (the 31st) but I know that we don't really have control over when this one arrives.

I've started to pack my hospital bag and have just a few last minute things to add to the bag when it's time. We've also finally decided on a name!

I have an O.B appointment tomorrow and will update with weight etc then.

update: only measuring 33 weeks now. I have an ultrasound scheduled for next thursday just before my next O.B appointment. I'm not surprised that they want to send me for an ultrasound as the same thing happened around the same time with Noah. However, based on my last ultrasound there is a cord insertion issue? I knew the placenta had been low but moved out of the way, this is the first I've heard about the cord. In any case they are checking to see if the baby is getting enough nutrients etc. and to see if there is any other reason for small growth. The O.B mentioned that it could just be that the baby has really dropped low and throwing the measuring off but they want to be safe and check, which I'm thankful for :) I feel as though the baby has really dropped recently so I'm choosing not to worry too much about having a small baby, plus he's still very active so I think he must be getting enough nutrients to have that kind of energy :)

Owen's 4th Birthday Party

2011-07-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Owen's 4th birthday this past Sunday just after the Baptism. It was easiest to get everyone together on the one day, summer is such a busy time! We missed having Jeff, Theresa and the kids but hopefully we will be able to see them before too long.

Owen was really excited about his birthday he went to bed telling us that the next day would be an "exciting day" heh. He woke up at 5:45 am and wanted to get up because the sun was coming up and that meant it was his birthday party day! Usually he wakes up between 7:30 and 8 on weekends, so he was obviously too excited to sleep any longer.

We had a great day and Owen really enjoyed spending time with family, opening presents and of course eating cake!

For months Owen had been asking for a construction site cake. He had even been viewing some on-line and deciding what details he wanted on his cake. I made a smaller cake than had originally planned so some details didn't make the final cut, but I think the cake turned out just the way he wanted. The day I baked the cake it fell apart when I removed it from the pan, luckily construction sites don't need to be neat and tidy :)

Enjoying a ride on his new bike.

I'm so glad my boy enjoyed his day!

Baptism

2011-07-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

It was long overdue but the boys were finally baptized this past weekend! Of course I was worried that Noah wouldn't behave but he was perfect - I knew Owen would be fine and didn't worry about him as much :) The front pew of the church was reserved for our family and I was worried the boys wouldn't behave during the Mass (usually we end up in the crying room at one point during the church service) but once again they surprised us all and sat quietly the entire time. I was so proud of my boys :) I think they looked so cute in their matching khaki pants, white polo shirts and new sandals. I wasn't sure what to dress them in as any other baptism I've been to has been for babies, and they usually are dressed in white christening gowns etc.

Some pictures of the Baptism
Owen went first and he did a great job!

Noah tried to keep his head up a bit but he also did great :) afterwards he said "that water's cold" :) so cute.

With Catholic Godparents Aunt Maegan and Uncle Bill.

36 Weeks

2011-07-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

The countdown ticker says 27 days *gulp* I'm starting to get a bit nervous now. I've been feeling anxious about some of the things I want to get done before the baby comes but I hope that after this busy weekend I'll feel more prepared. I've packed the baby's hospital bag and have everything I need for my bag, I just need to get it all put together.

I had an O.B appointment yesterday and everything was good. I'm measuring at 34 weeks and had no weight gain but so far there hasn't been any mention of concern. Next week I start my weekly appointments and will have a different O.B while my regular one is on holidays. I'm hoping that the other O.B isn't concerned about the size of the baby and send me for non stress tests etc.

This past week I feel as though the baby is dropping - more trips to the bathroom and feeling movement really low etc. I've read that second babies usually drop later in pregnancy, so maybe I'm wrong. My hips have been aching at night and I feel like I am constantly waking up to change positions and get comfortable. I can't even count how many times I wake up during the night - I think they say this happens to prepare yourself for a newborn :) but I could really use a few more weeks of sleep before the newborn nights start!

Here is my 36 week Belly Pic:

Camping

2011-07-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

We invited some family to join us on our camping trip this year and I think the trip was a huge success! The kids entertained each other freeing up a bit of time for the adults and having the extra eyes, ears and hands around to help with the little kids is always a bonus!

We had a great adjoining site and the kids could run back and forth and there was plenty of space for all of our tents and eating area etc. This year we were close to a rowdy group of people and didn't get much sleep the first night. The second night when the group started getting loud again we made a phone call to the park office and a park ranger came by and put a stop to the noise :) yes - we were those people. Seriously though - they were loud and we all needed sleep, especially the kids.

Usually we try and take a hike along the trail in the woods but this year we never even made it to the trail. Noah started whining not long into the walk and wanted to be carried and with the hot weather and getting close to lunch time we decided to forget the walk and head back to the camp site. The kids were more eager to go to the beach anyways so I don't think anyone missed the walk.

Below are some pictures from our weekend, Owen loved swimming and eating marshmallows and Noah could have played in the sand and dirt all day. There were a few times I thought he couldn't get any dirtier and he proved me wrong each time.

What great fun we had spending time with family and I'm sure the kids will remember the special time they spent with their cousins!

34 Weeks

2011-07-07T17:44:00.001-07:00

34 Weeks! This week I'm taking advantage of having some time off (hannah is on vacation) and crossing some things off of my ""To Do" list! some things are baby related and some things aren't but it sure feels great to be getting things done :) I've made a list of things to pack in my hospital bag and plan on getting that organized next week. I'm not sure if it's 'nesting' or just the realization that this week is the only time off I have before the baby comes, but I have a sudden interest in cleaning. I've been cleaning out the closets, plus we steam cleaned the carpets last weekend and I'm bothering Gavin to pressure wash the house and clean the windows :)

I had an O.B appointment today and everything continues to be good. I've been feeling great, although getting more tired by late afternoon. I'm up another 2lbs (total is 24lbs so far) and am measuring at 33 weeks (1 week behind). I booked my next appointment two weeks from now and then I start my weekly appointments! Yikes! Not long until baby comes now! 41 days and counting :)

Canada Day Weekend

2011-07-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend with their family! we had planned on taking advantage of the long weekend to get some work done around the house, but woke up on friday morning and decided to take the kids to the zoo instead! The rest of the weekend was spent doing work that was long overdue (by about a year if I'm honest) like clean the carpets but we did manage to squeeze in some family fun as well.

We packed a picnic lunch and our bathing suits and we were off to spend the day at the splash pad at the zoo. The rest of the city must have had the same idea as the place was packed! I didn't get any pictures of the splash pad fun because Gavin was afraid the camera would get wet :( but the boys had a blast! even Noah got more wet than usual and it was hot enough that I even went in the water :) The boys wore their new ankle bands without any fuss, and I'm so glad to have them! they are bands that are embossed with My Mommy and my cell number in case one of the kids get lost.Thanks Catherine for ordering them for us! hopefully we will never need them but they certainly make me feel better about taking the boys to busy places, especially since Noah has been wanting to walk more than be in the stroller. I ordered some daycare ones as well so we will have them on our outings :)

A Birds of Prey show was starting just after we finished at the splash pad so we decided we would sit and watch the show instead of walking around the zoo in the crazy heat. I was definitely feeling the heat on friday and my hands and feet were so swollen even though I tried to stay as hydrated as possible and sit when I could.

This bird freaked me out a little. We sat in the front row and he got a little too close at times.

The boys loved the show and loved seeing the owls the most, not surprising as Owen knows many facts pertaining to owls because of a couple of books he often wants us to read to him. We had to laugh when he would point out the seagulls flying overhead and thought they were in the bird show too :)

First Time Bowling!

2011-06-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

I signed the kids up for the kids bowl free program and we had our first try at it today! The kids get two free games all summer long (you just have to pay for shoe rental) and I think we'll get lots of use from it. The next time I might just plan on playing the one game as the two little ones lost interest after the first game. It took about an hour for the first game so I just put Owen's name and my name down for the second game and let Hannah and Noah play using my name when they felt like participating :) that made things much faster and we were still able to make it home for lunch and naps.

I wanted to take a picture of the score after the first game but I forgot :( I edited the players for the second game but didn't realize it would erase Hannah and Noah's score from the first game. I think Noah scored 40 something and Hannah's score was 27. The only accurate score was Owen's anyways, the rest of the scores were based on whoever felt like bowling at the time :)

Even though it looks like Noah doesn't have much strength behind his throw/push his ball always made it to the end and often he knocked pins down!

What a fun time we had today and we will likely be bowling again very soon!

Canada's Wonderland

2011-06-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

We take the boys to Wonderland during the summer every year and we always have a blast! This time we decided to keep the day trip as a surprise because we thought if we told Owen beforehand he'd be too excited to fall asleep the night before :) Owen was really excited when we told him in the morning that we were taking them to Canada's Wonderland, Noah was excited too but I think he was just caught up in Owen's excitement.

We arrived at the park around 10am and didn't leave until 8:30pm. There is so much for them to see and do there, we never even left the kids park! and I think Owen made it on every ride this year. Noah went on most rides but also enjoyed just lounging in the stroller and watching everything around him. Even I went on some of the really tame rides like the swans and the train ride:)

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Think They Like Disney Much?

2011-06-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video of how my kids react while watching our disney vacation video :) you can see that sweet Hannah has watched the video before and shares the same love of Disney. It makes me laugh how Noah starts talking in a high pitched squeal that I'm sure only I can understand. Obviously they love the stunt car show, plus the part when he and Hannah start slow dancing like Beauty and the Beast cracks me up. Hannah and Noah can act like an old married couple bickering one minute and dancing together the next. Oh and please ignore the part that he picks his nose :) apparently when you are two you don't care what is captured on video.

They still talk about their Disney vacation every day and I must admit that even though I wasn't a big Disney fan prior to our trip, I've gotten caught up in the Disney excitement myself. I find myself searching for the latest Disney vacation package deals even though I know we won't be able to go until the baby is a little older. Having kids sure does change you in many ways!

2011-06-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

We've spent many hours already at local splash pads trying to beat the crazy summer heat! Owen sure does love the water and doesn't mind getting soaked one bit! Noah on the other hand prefers to get just close enough to feel the mist but hates to get really wet. Noah still loves the pool but isn't a fan of spraying water or getting his crocs wet :)

This is the "seriously do you NEED to take pictures of EVERY single thing" pose

This is the "ok fine...hurry up and take the picture" pose :)

Oh how I love that my "job" is spending more time with my boys:) I'm such a lucky mom! I'm going to have to repeat this often to myself as Owen doesn't need an afternoon nap anymore :(

2011-06-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we attended sweet Ben's 3rd birthday party. My boys felt right at home as it was obvious that Ben shares the same love of trucks, tractors and diggers as my boys! Thanks for inviting us to your party Ben! we love spending time with you :)

The handsome birthday boy!

Noah could hardly believe his luck - someone was actually letting him ride on the tractor :) that doesn't happen often around our house.

Owen loved playing with the digger in the sandbox

32 Weeks

2011-06-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

I got the results of my ultrasound yesterday, and it looks like everything is well with the baby! The fluid amount is good, the placenta has moved out of the way by 4cm, and the cervix is completely closed so the cramps haven't caused any real concern:)
My O.B did mention that I won't be having the largest baby in the world and thinks that he will end up being close to Noah's weight by delivery (Noah was 6lbs 7oz) maybe a little bigger. This week I am measuring at 31 weeks (1 week behind) and it is right on track to when I started to measure behind with Noah. Everything is still within the normal range - I think I just grow at a rate my body can handle. I'm hoping that as long as I am still growing and gaining weight (22 lbs so far) they won't need to send me for Non Stress tests later on.

32 Week belly pic

Ultrasound #3

2011-06-13T10:11:00.001-07:00

My O.B wanted me to come in for an ultrasound this morning to check the position of the placenta and to see what may be causing the cramps. Gavin and I took Owen with us so that he could see the baby, and I think he enjoyed being able to see his baby brother kicking and squirming on screen. No pictures from today :( but we were able to confirm that it is a boy and he moves a crazy amount! he was constantly kicking, stretching, moving his head around, opening his mouth and blinking. He looked much more like a baby and is quite a bit bigger now. It was also confirmed today that he is head down - he still may move in and out of position but at least he's there for now! that has me feeling positive that the placenta has moved - I'm guessing it would be hard for a baby to be head down with the placenta in the way?

The O.B will have the results in a few days and I imagine if there is a problem I will hear about it soon, otherwise I I have another bi-weekly appointment next week and will learn the results of the ultrasound then. My O.B was concerned that the placenta may still be low and that could be causing the cramps. I'm still praying the placenta is out of the way and that I won't be needing a C-section but I will know more soon!

30 Weeks

2011-06-08T17:14:00.001-07:00

Only 10 more weeks! I am seriously not ready, I have so many things to prepare for before the baby comes it's crazy - and none of the things are baby related! I know that everything will get done on time, it always does. I'm wondering now if it's the nesting urge...ahhhh just another thing to make the reality of another baby set in!

Last week I had a couple of nights that I woke up with heartburn - I didn't experience that with Noah. This week it seems to be increasingly worse and I've taken to sleeping propped up on a couple of pillows most nights, it seems to help things and I can get back to sleep. I caved this evening and bought some tums so now I'm prepared to take on the battle tonight! from what I've read it seems like this pregnancy symptom might be here for the remainder of the pregnancy.

I'm still having some cramps but haven't been able to count them like the O.B wanted me to. The cramps are like menstrual cramps but kind of constant and they last anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour. They also seem to happen when I'm in bed or sitting so I don't really think it's because I'm over-doing it. I've felt tightening like braxton hicks contractions - I had the same thing with Noah but these other cramps are definitely different. I'll mention it again at my appointment tomorrow and I'm also supposed to have another ultrasound at one point so maybe they'll do a more detailed exam and see what's going on.

The baby is still moving like crazy - I can't believe how strong he feels to me. I should try and get some video of my belly as he moves because there are times it looks likes he's trying to bust his way out of there!

I weighed myself tonight and it looks like I've gained another 3 pounds bringing the total up to 19 pounds. I'm thinking my weight gain is still on track and heading towards the 30 pound total I was expecting. My weight gain is also the same as when I was pregnant with Noah, maybe up a pound. I feel bigger this time around regardless of weight, maybe the heat has something to do with it. I've got my fingers crossed that August isn't record hot this year but I'm not holding my breath.

30 week belly pic

Today at the park a lady told me I had a "lovely belly" lol.

30 week pregnancy comparison pic - pregnant with Noah.

Soccer

2011-06-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

We signed Owen up for soccer the minute the summer registration was open - we knew the field near our house always gets filled up first with enrollments and we wanted to make sure we could play close to home. Owen was excited to play his first game of soccer last week, but unfortunately the city closed the fields due to the rainy weather we had the week before. We were able to pick up Owen's uniform and then played at the park for a bit before heading home with a disappointed little boy.

The evening is split up into several soccer drills and a mini soccer game, similar to last years program only parents remain on the sidelines this time. I must admit it was nice to be able to sit and watch him play instead of having to run around, I'm really enjoying having a big kid now and watching him do things on his own.

Totally worth the money - the soccer uniforms on the little kids just make me so happy :) I just love how the uniform is still too big.

Owen stands like this all the time - I've noticed Noah standing with his hands behind his back now.

Every time Owen would get a goal I'd hear him say " I did it!" he's always looking for approval - he wanted to make sure his coach noticed he scored!

Noah would cheer Owen on saying "YAY Owen! kick the ball!"

It was fun to watch the kids play soccer - you could tell that they are so used to being told to wait their turn, share etc. as everyone was waiting for their turn with the ball instead of trying to get it away from the other players. So cute! there was only one incident when Owen tripped and fell and someone accidently stepped on his hand with cleats. He cried a bit and Gavin had to go out on the field to console him, but he was back in the game quickly. Gavin tried to explain that sometimes people get hurt playing sports and it's not intentional but I think Owen will be staying clear of that little boy for a while :)

Big Boy Bed

2011-06-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

Noah is now sleeping in his big boy bed! he was really excited to have a bed just like Owen's and the new sleeping arrangement is going better than expected. We do find that it's been taking the boys longer to fall asleep and often we are returning one of them to their own bed as we keep finding them "hanging out" on each others beds, but for the most part it is going well :) Once they fall asleep we rarely hear from them until morning. We weren't sure when we should transition Noah out of his crib, but knew it should be before the new baby arrives so we decided last weekend to try it out.

28 Weeks

2011-05-26T15:15:00.001-07:00

Last week I had my glucose test and a O.B appointment, luckily I was able to start my glucose test then go to my O.B appointment and return for the blood work. Of course it was the only time my O.B was running late and the one hour test turned into a two hour test, I'm so thankful that my mom cares for the kids while I have all of these appointments. I have another one at 30 weeks and then the bi-weekly appointments start - Yikes! it seems to be happening so fast this time around!. I mentioned the cramping I was having to the doctor and he was quite concerned about the frequency of the contractions. He told me to monitor how many contractions I was having an hour and if it was 6 or more to head to the hospital. While braxton hicks contractions can be more painful with each pregnancy, they shouldn't have been occurring as often as I was feeling them. He looked at my paperwork and mentioned that while having other kids at home it's hard to find time to rest but it's important to listen to my body and rest when needed to avoid going into preterm labour. I'm glad that the cramping has been better this week and I will do everything I can to avoid having this little one come earlier than August!
I was glad to have had the appointment when I did because just a few days earlier I came down with an awful flu and ended up losing 5lbs in one day! I was still up about 2 pounds by my appointment bringing my total weight gain so far 16 pounds. So far I am measuring right on and the doctor doesn't seem concerned with the weight or my size.

Welcome to Trimester 3!

26 Weeks

2011-05-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

This past week I've had some cramping that I assume are Braxton Hicks contractions, but I don't remember them being painful when I was pregnant with Noah. I'll ask the O.B about them next week but they aren't really in a pattern nor are they intensifying so I don't think they are anything to worry about. It could also just be some "growing" pains as I think I've gotten a little bigger over the past couple of weeks.

Here is my 26 week belly pic

and a comparison pic of when I was pregnant with Noah

Yikes! did you notice the ticker is less than 100 days now? seems like the birth is just around the corner and we have a million things to get done first!

Water Lovin' Boys

2011-05-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Swim lessons this time around are going great, the boys are showing such confidence and truly love to be in the water! The difference a year has made in Owen's swimming is incredible. Last year he didn't like to get his entire face wet, he would blow bubbles in the water when asked but that would be about it. When jumping in the water he always tried to keep his head from going under, this year it's a different story! he has no problem jumping right in and will even go under the water to retrieve dive sticks from the bottom of the shallow end, he requires a bit of help to get to the bottom of the pool but we are so surprised he will even attempt to do that. We'll likely take a break from swim lessons during the summer months but plan to put Owen into his first non parented swim lessons in the fall.

Noah has the same instructor as Owen and they have their lessons back to back. He loves to be in the water and his favourite thing so far is to jump into the pool, whenever they are given a few minutes of free play Noah always chooses to practice jumping, most of the other kids want to play with the pool toys but not my boy! I love watching him count to three before he jumps in, he prefers someone to be holding his hands while he jump but has no problem with going under the water. One thing we find funny is that the boys have always practiced blowing bubbles in the bath tub so we know Noah can do it, but for some reason in the pool he tries to lick the water instead!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mother's Day this year and the boys were so sweet and well behaved it was perfect really. The morning started with Owen wishing me a Happy Mother's Day and telling me that I really love him that's why I'm his Mother :) sooo sweet and it took everything I had to fight back the tears. Then he finally caved and told me what my gift was (he didn't spill the secret all week until last minute)

Gavin had asked Owen what he wanted to get me for Mother's day and he said a stamp. Gavin thought it was kind of a strange gift for him to want to buy but he went along with the suggestion. As soon as I opened it I understood why Owen thought it would be great. Weeks ago we went to apply for Owen's SIN card and one of the office clerks had a hand stamp that Owen thought was great, he kept mentioning we didn't own one and I guess he never forgot!
Anyway the gift is perfect and is so my little boy. I'm looking forward to stamping some little love notes for his school lunches in the fall - I think he'll love little surprises like that.

Below is my Mother's Day card. gavin asked the boys a few questions and these are Owen's answers.

Noah's answers (some he actually answered on his own) I'm not sure who thought pudding was my favourite food though...

The boys took me out for breakfast and the rest of the day we spent together enjoying the great weather.

We think of Owen's birth parents often but especially on holidays such as these. We hope somehow his birth Mother knows just how much he is loved and is comforted by that.

2011-04-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Once I heard that Baskin Robbins was having a fundraiser and selling single scoop ice cream for 31cents, I knew this pregnant Mama would be there for sure! Fire Fighters were helping serve the ice cream as proceeds were in support of families of fallen fire fighters. The kids were excited for their mid week treat, and were even more excited to be able to sit in the fire truck! Owen asked the fireman a few questions about putting out fires and everyone was impressed that Noah happened to be wearing his firefighter raincoat and boots!

Just prior to leaving we bumped into Catherine and Hannah, luckily Catherine is always armed with her camera and was able to get some pictures of the fun weekday evening! Thanks Catherine!

24 Weeks

2011-04-27T11:01:00.001-07:00

Everything is going well, I'm still feeling comfortable and have no aches or pains yet :) I'm gaining weight steadily, up 3lbs since my last prenatal visit (14 lbs so far) which is on track for the estimated 1lb a week from 20 weeks on. I often wonder how much bigger this baby will be compared to Noah, I can't seem to stop eating!

This baby boy is a kicker and is always on the move! You can see my belly move when he kicks and Owen has even felt him kick a couple of times. Often the baby will be moving but when Owen puts his hand on my belly the baby stops, and Owen always says "this baby is trying to trick me" :) so cute. I love how excited Owen is getting about having a baby brother, he kisses my belly and talks to his brother, it is really sweet. Noah has started to give my belly kisses and has mentioned the baby, but he doesn't really understand what's happening.

We are still not agreeing on names, I have two names that I really like and even have a middle name picked out, but Gavin doesn't love the names. It will be interesting to see if Gavin comes around to my names in the end or suggests something that I actually like :)

Here is my 24 week belly pic:

2011-04-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a lighter daycare day so I decided to make the best of it and take the kids on an outing to paint ceramics. There was a family fun day at a local ceramics place today and prices were a little cheaper with a food donation. What a messy, great morning we had! the kids each chose a piece to paint and got to work quickly! Noah was a little fussy and didn't want to put much effort into painting but I think he's getting his 2 year molars as we've had a couple of rough days lately. The kids had such a fun morning that I think we will have to try this again sometime soon.

Easter Fun

2011-04-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

Friday evening we had a delicious Easter dinner with Gavin's family. I don't know why I didn't get many photos but Gavin was able to get a picture of the boys doing the dishes after supper :)

Owen was so excited about Easter morning that he woke up early and called from his room "It's light outside, can I go see if the Easter bunny came?" haha we had told him the night before that we couldn't get up before the sun came up :) so at 6:30 am he was ready to find the Easter eggs and get his morning started.

I'm not sure any holiday around here would be complete without someone crying :) Noah was still a little tired and frustrated that Owen was faster at finding the eggs.

after breakfast treat :) The Easter Bunny brought the boys a couple of sugary treats including a giant easter egg cookie and kinder surprise egg. The boys each found one summer toy and a couple of T-shirts in their baskets and they were thrilled with their easter surprises. No chocolate eggs this year, but I think next year that will have to change. Owen found the plastic eggs within minutes this year and the entire Easter egg hunt was over far too quickly.

sharing an easter egg find with his little brother :) Noah didn't care who found the eggs, just as long as he had some in his basket.

After a quick early morning breakfast we were off to spend the day with family and enjoy a yummy brunch together! I didn't take any more pictures but we had a great time visiting with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Maegan and Uncle Bill.

2011-04-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

22 Week Belly Picture

Growing Up

2011-04-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

seriously how handsome can one child be??

Lately Owen has been acting so much older almost like a school aged kid :) It's really easing my mind to see how ready I think he is for kindergarten in the fall. He's interacting with kids at play groups differently, he's not shy at all and he's always asking kids if they want to play with him. Before I realize it he's made some friends for the day and he's off running around and playing with them. It's been nice to see him meet some other boys his age to play with and see the fun games they come up with. Yesterday at a local play place he played pirates with a group of boys on a play structure and they were really getting into some good fun, I almost hated to have to leave and go home for lunch!

We enrolled Owen in a half day camp during the March break to start a getting him ready for school and the "mommy will pick you up later" routine. Some kids were crying when they were dropped off and he gave me a kiss and hug goodbye and was off to have fun! Because we spend all day everyday together it was nice for me to see him like that. When I went to pick him up I went early to peek in and see how he was doing and he was fully participating, laughing and having a great time! he came running out the gym doors and gave me a big hug, and told me about all the fun he had. We have plans to enroll him in a summer half day camp prior to school to further help the transition to kindergarten...for both him and I :)

Until this past week Owen would go to sleep in his own room without any problems, but if he would wake during the night he'd always end up coming into our room and going back to sleep in our bed (probably 80% off the time) We didn't fight the issue we always felt he would stay in his own bed when he was ready, but we were growing increasingly concerned as we get closer to the new baby. The past couple of weeks Gavin and I were starting to talk about ways to get Owen to stay in his bed every night, and what do you know he's done it on his own! with no encouraging from us he has slept in his bed all night for the past 7 nights and if he wakes up to go to the bathroom he returns to his own bed! This has made for a very happy mommy and I have been enjoying the extra sleep and more space! I am so proud of him and am even happier that we didn't have to push him to to it, he did it on his own like a big boy! I realize it's only been a week and he may change his mind on his new sleeping habit but knowing he can do it and is comfortable doing it makes us feel better and we aren't as nervous to make him do something he might not have been ready for.

I love you Owen!

Disney Video

2011-04-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

We finally finished the Disney video, it is really long but the kids love to watch it over and over :)

20 Weeks

2011-03-30T06:13:00.001-07:00

20 weeks pregnant - I'm not sure how we got to this point so fast and while we're excited to meet the baby I kind of want things to slow down a bit. Some days I still can't believe that we will have 3 boys by the end of summer! Last week I had an O.B appointment and learned that the placenta is low lying, not covering the cervix but fairly close to it. I'll have another ultrasound in a few months to see if it's moved out of the way, if not the O.B mentioned talking about delivery options which I understood to mean a scheduled C-section if it doesn't move enough. Hopefully it moves as most cases do, but there's nothing I can really do but wait and see. The rest of the results were great - the baby is healthy, there's enough fluid, my size is good and I'm gaining weight steadily (11 pounds total so far). If I have any cramping that doesn't go away with rest or any bleeding I'm to go to the hospital, but I wasn't given any restrictions so I don't think the Doctor is really worried about it.

The baby has been moving lots and I notice it mostly in the evenings and when I'm going to bed. Gavin was even able to feel him move last week which was surprising because the movements still seem somewhat light :)

As far as baby names go we still aren't agreeing, but at least we have a couple of names picked out :)

Halfway there!

Here is a belly pic at 20 weeks and below is a comparison pic at 20 weeks pregnant with Noah :)

20 weeks with Noah

Florida Part 4

2011-03-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday we had plans for a character breakfast at Tusker House restaurant in Animal Kingdom. When we woke up it was pouring rain, by the time we got to breakfast we looked like drowned rats and of course they take your picture before you go in for breakfast and try to sell it to you afterwards. Owen was excited about having breakfast with Mickey but we should have made it clear to him that Mickey was just stopping by our table not actually eating with us.

The first character to stop by our table was Donald Duck. Noah wasn't too sure about the characters coming to him, he wasn't really scared he just wasn't interested :)

Owen's favourite character was goofy. After breakfast Owen joined the other kids and Goofy in a parade around the restaurant. He enjoyed following goofy around with his shaker :) Gavin got it on video which I'll share soon.

It was still raining after breakfast so luckily we were able to watch the Lion King show and get out of the rain for a little while longer. The show was fantastic! we just loved the singing and costumes.

Kilimanjaro Safari

The rain stopped by noon and we were able to enjoy a full day at Animal Kingdom including having lunch at the Rainforest cafe and watching the Finding Nemo musical. Even Gavin was able to get on a few rides while the kids had their afternoon nap :)

Friday was our last day in Florida and we were all dreading leaving the warm temperatures and the long car ride home. We planned for half a day at Epcot and ended up staying until 2pm. The next time we go to Florida we'll have to try and spend more time there.

We were already planning our next trip to Florida before we even left! we are thinking of going again when the new baby will be closer to two. Owen hasn't stopped talking about his trip to Disney World since we got home so I'm sure he'll be after us to book another trip before too long!

The Drive home went better than we expected, we thought the kids would be grumpy about leaving and whiny on the way home but once again they were perfect! A little fussiness about wanting to get out of the car when we were in Buffalo but Owen fell back asleep and we were home at 2am Saturday. We decided to stop for a five hour sleep on friday night and that was enough to re-energize and feel well enough to keep driving. The trip took about 36 hours each way and while the kids were great in the car we will likely consider flying next time! By then Owen will have Canadian citizenship and a passport, we can't wait for that day!

Florida Part 3

2011-03-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we were all excited to spend the day at Magic Kingdom. We were there for the opening of the park and planned to stay until just after the fireworks, we were expecting a fun and busy day!

After learning how convenient the fast passes were the day before we knew the first thing we had to do was get a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin ride. We went on plenty of rides that day and were so surprised that the wait times weren't too bad! much shorter waits then Wonderland :)

We were able to get in the following rides/shows at Magic Kingdom:

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets of Aladdin,
Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt Disney World Railroad, Dumbo, The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan,
Mickey's PhilharMagic and there might have been a couple more rides that I can't remember. After you fit in meals, two parades and the fireworks show we were all ready for bed by the time we got back to the hotel! The boys missed the afternoon Disney Celebration parade because they were napping, we decided not to wake them because we knew we had a long day ahead of us!

Below are some pics from our day at Magic Kingdom

Wednesday was our day "off" so we spent the day playing at the hotel and in the kiddie pool. After we all had an afternoon nap we headed to Downtown Disney for Dinner at Planet Hollywood and to do some shopping. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Downtown disney because it started to pour rain after dinner and our time shopping was cut a little short.

The Toy Story section at our hotel

Florida Part 2

2011-03-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

We were up early Monday morning to get to Hollywood Studios, we had big plans to meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody that day! The boys were excited and we had no trouble waking them up early to get to breakfast and on the road again.

When we first arrived we got a fast pass for the Toy Story Midway ride and obviously everyone else had the same idea as our return time was scheduled for 4:30 that afternoon. Next we were off to watch the Disney Playhouse Live show. We don't get the Disney channel at home so the boys were a little unfamiliar with some of the characters, but Grandma had purchased a Disney Playhouse video and they watched it in the car on the way to Florida so they at least recognized the main Disney characters and the theme song. They were most excited when bubbles started falling from the ceiling and they would dance and participate along with the other kids. It was a fun show to watch and since then the boys are in love with their Disney Playhouse movie so we may need to pay for more channels soon :)

After the show we decided to make our way to Pizza Planet for lunch. We expected the place to be busy so we thought it was a good idea to go early and miss most of the other toy story fans at lunch, it was a good idea because just as we finished lunch the place was packed. After lunch Gavin stated with the boys and played in the arcade while my mom and I went to hold a spot in line to meet Woody and Buzz. Unfortunately while we were half way through the line we learned that Buzz would be returning in an hour and it would just be Woody. I had the idea of having my mom go line up again so that after the boys met Woody they could "skip" some of the line and the wait wouldn't be so long for Buzz. The timing was perfect, we really didn't have that long of a wait and they were first to meet Buzz!

The boys were most happy to meet Buzz Lightyear. Noah showed Buzz his Toy Story crocs and the kids hugged him and held his hand. Then after the picture Noah tried pressing the buttons on Buzz's costume - he was so cute!

After meeting their favourite characters we watched the Lights, Motors Action Stunt show. Owen can be sensitive to noise so I was prepared to have to leave with him but he surprised me and really enjoyed the show. The stunt show must have been one of his favourite things we did because he tells everyone about it.

Noah finally fell asleep in the stroller so Owen enjoyed some time in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play structure.

The boys met one of the Toy Story Army Men - Noah was a bit weary of this guy but Owen was fine.

Beauty and the Beast Show

We also watched the Pixar Pals fun parade and I think that might have been my favourite parade of the week. I was excited to see the kids reaction to seeing all of the characters from the Disney movies they watch. I'll post a video of all of the parades and shows later in the week -once it's finished! We left Hollywood Studios around 5pm but wished we could have stayed longer there was so much more to see and do! we had dinner reservations for 5:30 that night so we weren't able to stay the evening. Oh well, we had to save some things to do next time!

2011-03-18T14:32:00.001-07:00

At 1:30 today I had my over 18 week ultrasound, we were really excited to get to see the baby again! I drank orange juice instead of water in hopes to get the baby moving around. The ultrasound tech we had was the same one I had with my first ultrasound with Noah and the first time around I didn't find her very pleasant, this time around was much different - she was actually very cheerful. Right away she asked if we would want to find out the gender and I told her we would want to know. Immediately she said the baby had it's hands between it's legs covering that part - so it must be a boy ;)

Moments later the baby moved and....

We are really excited to find out we are expecting another boy - but it will take some time to get used to the idea of being totally outnumbered in the household! The ultrasound lasted much longer than my first one, probably close to an hour to measure everything. I'm guessing if there are any problems my O.B will have the results at my next appointment on Tuesday morning.
The ultrasound tech made sure we knew it was only a "guess" but she sounded confident and from what we could see there was definitely something boyish there :)

Below are the pictures from our ultrasound today

The baby kept opening his mouth like he wanted to say something or perhaps eat something :) maybe that's why I've been so hungry?

foot

hand

Our baby boy seems very active in there and moved non stop, he should fit right in with this family! We can't wait until August to meet our sweet boy!

Florida Part 1

2011-03-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

We were on our way at 7am on Saturday March 5th for Florida! Owen was so excited it took him until midnight the night before to fall asleep. he kept asking if we were leaving for Disney in the morning and talking about how much fun we'd have there! We decided to leave as early as we could because we expected a wait at the border due to not having Owen's passport. I had spoken with the U.S Customs and Border patrol and was expecting a delay but we ended up being held at the border for two hours. We had our entire file folder of paperwork that proved Owen was ours including everything from our adoption dossier, photos, and a travel letter from Children's Birdge. They never checked our car they mostly just checked the process verbal paperwork. In fact they never even questioned us much, they just made us wait to speak with different people including immigration. Everyone was really friendly and kept telling us they'd get us on our way to Disney soon! such a relief to hear we didn't have to turn around and go home!

The rain really slowed down the drive and we ended up having to stop more often than we expected, we finally decided at 3am to stop at a rest stop and try to get a couple of hours sleep before starting again early in the morning. Owen was wide awake when we stopped and wouldn't stop talking, he kept us quite entertained but we would have preferred the sleep. I was feeling pretty sick because of lack of sleep so poor Gavin had most of the drive on the way down.

We tried to let the kids run around and burn off some energy whenever we stopped. I can't believe how well they did in the car, they never once whined or complained. We were all so proud of them!

The weather finally started to warm up in South Carolina and it was great to finally see some sun!

After a 36 hour car trip we finally arrived at our resort All Star Movies at 8:30 pm on Sunday! I think my mom and I could have kissed the ground when we finally got out of that car!

More to follow soon!

18 Weeks

2011-03-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say that my belly has officially "popped" it happened around the 17th week, last time I think I was closer to the 20 week mark before you could tell I was pregnant. I've been really busy the last couple of weeks with our trip to Disney and a few outings this week with lots of walking, so I've had some fairly bad hip pain in the evenings. I'm sure it looks like I'm full term the way I limp and waddle around some nights but the pain makes it difficult to walk properly. Also, on our drive home from Disney I had some cramping that was stronger than I'd experienced so far this pregnancy and I have to say I was a bit worried. I figured that once I got some rest it would go away and luckily that's what happened. I'm assuming the cramps were caused because of lack of rest and days of walking around Walt Disney World, I was thinking it was too early for braxton hicks but I'll ask my O.B about it at my appointment next tuesday.

This baby sure has been kicking lots lately, the little kicks feel like pokes and are more obvious this past week than the fluttering feeling before.

This friday we have our over 18 week ultrasound and we are looking forward to (hopefully) finding out if the baby is a boy or girl! Any guesses as to what we're having? Lately I've been feeling it's a girl but I was wrong last time around so I wouldn't trust my gut instincts. Either way we''re really excited about the new baby and are looking forward to meeting him or her!

2011-03-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

Creepy moustache boy :)

This is Owen's interpretation of Noah

16 Weeks

2011-03-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Last week on February 22nd (14 weeks 6 days) I had my first O.B appointment and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat! My O.B's doppler doesn't record the actual number so I don't know what the heartbeat reading was but it is always a nice sound :) After reviewing my pregnancy and delivery records I had to laugh when the nurse wrote "uneventful pregnancy and birth" on my paperwork. I'll pray for another one of those this time around :) I will have monthly O.B appointments for the next while and my 2nd ultrasound is scheduled for March 18th hopefully we are able to find out the sex of the baby!

Tet Celebration

2011-02-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Year of the Cat! (cat in Vietnam, rabbit in China)

This post is incredibly late I know, but I wanted to post about Mary's fabulous Tet party and post some pictures from the evening before it got too late to do so. We attended this year's Tet party on Saturday February 12th and it was such a great party! The planning and preparations for this celebration must take weeks and we are so thankful to those that put in the effort to host it every year. The Tet celebration is one of our favourite traditions and we enjoy celebrating with many other families similar to ours! We are so blessed to have met so many great friends through the adoption community :)

Owen and Noah are checking out some of the decorations

Owen's Buddy Ben

Owen wanted to be in the parade this year!

Noah's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

We started Noah's Birthday party at Build-A-Bear and we had the best time! I highly recommend hosting a birthday party there, they were fantastic with the kids and everything ran smoothly! Both Noah and Owen chose the same dark brown bear so we decided to let them purchase outfits for their bear so we could tell them apart. Owen chose a soccer uniform for his bear and we helped Noah choose a birthday T-shirt for his. The kids were so well behaved and everyone had fun choosing, stuffing and washing their own teddy bear. Even the youngest of kids had a great time and participated as much as was expected :)

Here's Noah with his teddy waiting for it to be stuffed. Noah was quiet and shy for most of the time at build-a-bear, he preferred to hide behind mommy's legs and watch things from there.

Here's a videos of Noah getting his bear

Hannah with her bear

Owen stuffing his bear

Here's a video of Owen stuffing his bear :)

Almost everyone waiting patiently for their turn

Owen giving his bear a bath before he went home

All done and ready to take his loot home!

Kian on his way home with his bear

We were there for about an hour which was the perfect amount of time for the little ones. Afterwards, we headed back to our house for some pizza, cake and gifts.

Noah had mostly cheezies and chips for lunch, every time I looked for him he had his hand in the chip bowl, he even managed to score a juice box for lunch instead of water - apparently he was taking advantage of his special day :)

I'm not sure how the gift craziness started, all I know is that next year I'm handing the gifts to Noah one by one. Seriously in two minutes flat he and Owen had torn through every gift, it was total chaos before I even knew what was happening. In any case Noah really liked his gifts after we had the chance to check everything out once the party settled down. He even wore his new rain boots that Aunt Maegan and Uncle Bill bought from the time cake was served until he went to bed. The boy loves his boots!

Noah loves his new Rex - he can't get enough of anything Toy Story

Noah's Birthday Cake. I baked the cake thursday with the help of the daycare kids and then decorated it after my kids went to bed in the evening. I think the cake took about 3 hours to make including baking, making icing and decorating.

I think Noah enjoyed the ice cream more than his cake.

Thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate Noah's 2nd birthday! We had such a great time and I know that Noah enjoyed his day.

14 Week Belly Pic

2011-02-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

14 week belly pics

14 weeks already! I'm still feeling great and I'm looking forward to an expanding belly - one that people notice! this in between stage of looking chubbier isn't really that fun. I'm still wearing my regular clothes except for some jeans that are a little snug so I've moved into my mat jeans just recently for comfort more than needing too. So far I think I've gained 4 pounds - another pound the past couple of weeks. I definitely have an increased appetite and have found that more than once I've had to get up and have a snack in the middle of the night or there is no way I'm going back to sleep! I'm hoping that wears off soon or things might be a little scary by the end!

Happy 2nd Birthday Noah

2011-02-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

updated with stats

Noah turned 2 years old today so I guess that means he's no longer my little baby and is officially a toddler! He woke up this morning fairly cheerful but after a few rounds of "happy birthday" from all of us he said " No Burfday! No Two!" haha that's my grumpy boy :) Gavin joked that he wouldn't have a party but I'm not so sure the kids found that amusing.

I can hardly believe how much older Noah is acting lately. He still idolizes his big brother and acts like Owen's shadow following him everywhere, repeating everything Owen says and doing everything Owen does. Seriously we hear an echo all day long as he repeats everything these day!

I'm not sure how much Noah weighs, but I'll update once he's had his two year wellness check up next week. I'm thinking he's about 24lbs. There are times I look at him and am amazed at the things he can do, he still seems so small to me.

updated :stats: 25lbs (14th percentile), height 35 inches (63rd percentile), head circumference 18 inches (less than 3rd percentile) still my little boy! I thought he was on the lower end for weight but I'm surprised by how small his head is still!

I'll post more about Noah's birthday after his party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday Noah!

Baby #3

2011-02-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

After an early pregnancy loss in October we are thrilled to be announcing that we are expecting our third baby August 17th/2011! this little baby seems to be doing well and for that we are very thankful. On December 18th we learned of this pregnancy and while we were a little surprised we were also very happy.

check out how strong the test line is! much different than the previous pregnancy we lost - that one was very faint.

Morning sickness kicked in early on at about 5 weeks and while I was feeling queasy most of the time, things seemed worse if I didn't eat often throughout the day. The one difference I've noticed this pregnancy compared to being pregnant with Noah is just how hungry I can get! every two hours or so I have to snack on something or the queasy feeling comes on full force. I didn't gain any weight first trimester first pregnancy but with this one I've already put on three pounds. Luckily my morning sickness has been better since 11 weeks and I've noticed an increase in energy this past week as well. I still go to bed really early usually by 9:30, but I'm not dragging myself through the afternoons anymore :)

At 10 weeks I had my first prenatal appointment with my doctor, she didn't try to listen for a heartbeat as she felt it would be too soon to hear anything. My next prenatal visits will be with the same OB I had before. At just under 11 weeks we had a dating ultrasound and were able to see our little baby bouncing around and kicking his/her legs etc. The dates were right on and I was glad to have the due date confirmed. The ultrasound tech gave us two pictures to take home but they are basically duplicates. The picture doesn't show much but it proves there really is a baby in there!

that "bulge" you see clearly at the bottom of the picture is my bladder about to burst. I didn't even drink nearly the recommended amount of fluid prior to the ultrasound because I learned before that there is no way I can hold that much! the ultrasound tech was like "wow your bladder is full!" seriously how do they expect people to drink that much liquid?

Below are a few pregnancy belly pics. I'm going to try to take them more often this time.

9 weeks

12 weeks

I've noticed that my belly is growing faster this time around or at least the bloating is more :) other than that I haven't noticed too many things different with this pregnancy and I'm hoping that things progress just as smoothly as they did with Noah. We are really excited that our family is growing and we are looking forward to the day we get to meet this little one!

Junior Sports

2011-02-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Owen recently joined a junior sports program at our local community centre and although he fusses about going he has a great time once he's there. The program offers a different sport/activity each week, so far he's had a soccer class, floor hockey class and a gymnastics class. He really enjoyed the gymnastics class last week and the balance beam and trampoline were by far his favourite!

What I really like about the program is that it is non-parented and gives him the opportunity to gain independence and not have his mommy and daddy there all the time, he knows that we are waiting for him just outside of the gym. One thing I've noticed is that in the circle activities he is always sitting beside the instructor. I don't think it's something anyone else would notice as the program is only once a week, but I notice it. Hopefully that neediness eases up a bit and he feels more comfortable soon. I did notice that in the last class he didn't seem as clingy so hopefully that improves each week, but it certainly has me question what he'll be like in school. Hopefully he gains confidence and isn't clingy with his teacher! that's something I'll have to watch for. I am very proud that he doesn't seem the least bit shy and is always ready to answer questions that the instructor has even when most of the kids are just sitting there not saying anything!

Hopefully we can enroll him in a few more non-parented type programs prior to starting junior kindergarten in the fall, I think both him and I need that time to prepare ourselves for that day! Kindergarten feels like it's just around the corner even though I know it's still months away, I think it's because I registered Owen for JK on January 17th that it just seems too real now.

I won't be able to get many pictures of Owen in his junior sports class because we aren't allowed to stay inside the gym for very long during the class, but here are a few from the first day when he played floor hockey.

More Christmas

2011-01-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of the pictures from Christmas! we spent Boxing day at Jeff's house and were able to visit with extended family and have lots of fun playing with cousin Kian. There were times I wasn't sure Kian quite knew what to make of his busy cousins but he was able to keep up with them.

Owen was sure interested in the chocolates that Leah won in the gift stealing game.

Adam and Kian

Papa and Noah

More gifts

The next morning we had my side of the family over for brunch. My brother had finally made it home from Ottawa and we wanted to exchange gifts with his family and cuddle baby Lexi! Owen and Noah were great with the baby and very gentle. Noah kept saying "hi baby" but wouldn't call Lexi by her name. Owen was happy to be able to hold Lexi but wasn't interested in holding her for very long, I'm guessing he wasn't expecting her to wiggle so much.

Christmas Part 2

2011-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

After the kids napped we went to dinner at Maegan and Bill's house. It was great to see some extended family that we haven't seen for a while. Unfortunately we didn't get many family pictures, next year we'll have to be better at that!

One picture we did get was of Uncle Bill pretending to steal all of the dessert for himself. Owen takes everything so seriously and still asks why Uncle Bill was going to eat all of the dessert. So funny.

Grandma and Grandpa bought the boys Buzz Lightyear and Woody pajamas. Noah LOVES his buzz lightyear jammies, I think they are the only clothes he actually wants to wear. He runs around pretending to be buzz and the last couple of nights it sounds like he's trying to say "to infinity and beyond!"

We saved gift opening with my family until my brother came home a couple of days later.

Christmas Part 1

2011-01-03T09:14:00.001-08:00

Owen chose the cookies for Santa and left the reindeer three baby carrots to fight over :) The other day we found a baby carrot in the backyard (left over from our melted snowman) and Owen thinks a reindeer must have dropped it while flying away.

As soon as Owen woke up he asked "Did Santa come already?" He could hardly wait to get downstairs to see his presents.

Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying what Santa brought them. Noah was still a little unsure of what to make of things, but it didn't take long for him to rip open his gifts! Tearing the paper off the gifts was his favourite part I think.

A little candy after breakfast never hurt anyone :)

We had a great time celebrating Christmas morning with just the four of us! It was so relaxing and enjoyable not having anything to do except spend time together!

A Visit with Santa

2010-12-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

This year the kids received a personalized video message from Santa via the PNP! Owen was a little freaked out by the fact that Santa knew he'd played soccer and that he was asked to listen to his Mommy. Santa asked that Noah always be good while at daycare, oh how I hope they listen to the big guy in red!

The main gift that Owen is hoping for this year is a backhoe, that item certainly made number one on his " would like list". We delivered our Santa letters to the Canada Post mailbox during the parade and every day since then Owen asks if it's Christmas when he wakes up in the morning. While out shopping last week Owen spotted a remote control backhoe and we just had to take a few minutes to play with it in the store. This backhoe is cooler than the one that was previously bought so while my mom took the kids to a different area of the store I purchased the very last backhoe on the shelf! moments later Owen returned and noticed it was missing from the shelf and was heart broken :( he has been worried all week that Santa won't know that he wants a remote control backhoe because he didn't say that on his letter. I tried to tell him that Santa knows what he would like but he still wanted to make sure.

This morning Owen wanted to go and pay a visit to Santa at the mall. We've seen Santa at the mall the last few times but Owen didn't show any interest in meeting him until today. I asked him why he wanted to visit Santa and he said " I have to tell him I want a remote control" heh. We went early to a less popular mall and were second in line so we avoided the massive line up. The kids did great and weren't afraid to sit on his lap. Owen was able to tell Santa what he would like for Christmas and I'm sure feels much better about being able to clarify his request with Santa personally! Santa told the kids to be asleep in their beds when he comes on Christmas eve and Owen was quick to say "but there will be presents under the tree in the morning right?" that boy cracks me up!

Here are a few pics of the boys and Santa (not the prettiest Santa display but whatever there was no line!) from the sidelines.

In this picture you can see the "hurricane simulator" in the background. We laughed at how many people put their kids in there prior to getting their pictures taken. Lots of messy haired kids visiting Santa today :)

Santa gave the kids candy canes and I could hear Noah say "tank you Danta" and then he wanted Santa to open his candy cane for him. My kids make me smile so often!

I will post the picture from the photographer once we get it back later today. Our photo got jammed in the printer and wasn't ready for us once we finished with Santa. That is such our luck :)

I forgot to mention that this morning Owen gave away one of my Christmas gifts. While getting our coats on Owen asked Gavin if "Mommy could wear her gloves" (I asked for leather gloves) we asked him what he was talking about and he said "the gloves we bought for mommy yesterday" haha. so much for Christmas surprises :) after telling Owen that the gloves were supposed to be a surprise he then yelled out "surprise Mom!" so funny.

updated with photo:

Kids Toy Drive

2010-12-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

On friday my mom and I took the kids on an outing to shop for toys for the Christmas toy drive. One of my little daycare kids was absent so the trip to the toy department was easier than I had anticipated. Owen found it difficult to give toys that he wanted to have himself so my mom had the brilliant idea for him to find a toy he already owned that another little boy would like. He chose to donate a Mr. Potato head :) he doesn't play with his much, but perhaps the recipient of his gift will.

Noah chose a toy story gift.

Sweet Hannah chose this toy :)

Santa waved to the kids as we donated our gifts and then we went out for lunch before heading home for naps!

First Snowman

2010-12-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we enjoyed our first real snowfall of the year, the kids could hardly wait to get into their snowsuits and get outside and play in the fluffy white stuff! Even Noah was excited to get his snowsuit on and he usually hates being bundled up. The snow was perfect snowman making snow and the kids did a great job! It was hard to get a picture of the sweet little snowman because the kids enjoyed destroying him as fast as he was made! It was great to see how much fun they were having playing in the snow, it makes winter a little more enjoyable!

Santa Claus Parade

2010-11-21T13:34:00.001-08:00

You can tell we've entered into a busier time of year by the lack of blog posts! I really need to try and make some time to update the blog more often. Last night we bundled the kids up and headed to the Santa Claus parade. We had a good time but had to wait quite a while for the floats to get to where we were waiting. Next weekend there is a smaller town parade and I may try and take the kids there, I found that it was a great parade for little kids last year.

After the parade I asked Owen what his favourite float was and he told me it was the tractor. No surprise there.

I've been busy planning activities for the daycare kids and getting things ready for the Christmas season, we have dozens of cookies to bake and tons of crafts to make. I'm exhausted thinking of the things we have planned to do! It should be loads of fun though!