Maegan and Bill's Wedding

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

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)

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 :)

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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.

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

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.