Friday, April 27, 2007

Standees Permitted:)



Kai has just started holding himself up. He loves it when we sit on the front porch and look at all the construction and the cars driving by. Sometimes a dog will come by too which is obviously his favourite. Now, he can look outside on his own! I'm looking forward to him becoming a bit more mobile as I think he's pretty bored with the same old toys and routine each day. This afternoon we're checking out his probable day care for next year...hope it goes well! I'm planning on going back part time in September which means I would be working every other day and then home with the little guy on my days off. I have enjoyed this maternity leave time soooooo much although I must admit, it def. takes some adjustment due to the lack of social interaction and the different form of productivity. I have so enjoyed watching Kai grow and am so thankful for year long mat. leave, we are so lucky here!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

And the grade is...

I'm currently taking a course through TWU in the Masters of Educational Leadership program (ya, I just like to say that:)) called the `Political, Legal and Social Context of Education'. I was soooooo nervous to hand in my first paper. If I got a C-, I would be stressing so much for the next 3 papers. Also, the paper was on political leadership which I felt I knew little about (I guess that's what all the readings were for). Well, I just got my mark back and I got (drum roll please) an A-! Woohoo. Confidence renewed. I know, it's not all about the grades but I really do like to be tested on stuff. Also, I guess it shows that I have learned something and I don't have to put more time than I want to into my work! Quiz me:)

Clearance bin

Okay. Don't judge. So, I go to Extra Foods about 4 times a week. Do I go because I love it there? Well, not really. I go because we just have one car which Gary takes most of the time, and its within walking distance for me. Its nice to walk so that I get some exercise and to make it worthwhile, I spread out my grocery shopping over the week. Besides, you can only put so many groceries in the bottom of the stroller. What makes it really worth it though? The clearance bins. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a deal. I think its the way that we grew up but we all share this love differently. My dad, he loves garage sales. Maria, she is the coupon queen. Me? I love sale racks and clearance bins. So...let me explain the 4 clearance bins at Extra Foods and the order in which I approach them.
When I first arrive, I head to the fruit and veggie clearance bin. I only look for a bag of carrots, apples or pears so that I can make baby food for Kai. I can get pounds of pears or apples for $1.00! Then, I head off the next bin which is the dessert bin. I am only looking for one item, and I've only found it 3 times since September. It's the M+M cookies, other than those, I like to do my own baking. So, usually I take a quick glance and head on. The next bin is the bread bin. Here I can get a great multigrain flax loaf of bread for $1.50 instead of the regular $3.75ish. Sometimes (like yesterday) they had this cheese bread that Gary loves for $1.75 but that's only on special occassions because we know that white bread isn't good for us. I just freeze the bread and its good to go. The last bin is my favourite. It is in the far end of the store and it contains all the non food items...clothes, shampoos, towels, dinnerware, candles etc. My last great find was allergy medication! I have really bad allergies (hay fever) and can't stand to pay $20.00+ for a month supply of antihistamines (I know, I'm so cheap), but I found boxes of 36 tablets for $4.84 and they don't expire for a long time so I stocked up. Very exciting. There was a time period of 4 days in which that last clearance bin was not there. I thought it would be gone forever, I tried to remain calm. Thankfully, it returned. Guess where I'm going in an hour from now? Just waiting for Kai to wake up. Probably not too much in the bins today as the best time to go is on MOnday mornings. Please don't all rush there, leave me some good stuff. Remember, don't judge:)

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Almost two years...

In another month, Gary and I will celebrate two years of being married to one another. I thought I'd write about it now because its been a whole lotta blogging about Kai lately! I just wanted to say what I appreciate about Gary.
See, I thought I wanted a guy with a personality like mine but that would've been a disaster!!! For my go go go attitude, he's very laid back Ex. he won't try to pass someone going 5km/hour under the speed limit whereas I wouldn't give it a second thought. We're very safe driving with him:) I also think its important to be able to be in the car ready to go within a minutes notice and he likes to take about 15 minutes putting on his socks and shoes while sitting down. I think he's enjoying himself a little more than i do:)
Also, I like to talk about everything; what I saw on tv, how I'm feeling, foods I'm craving, stuff that needs to get done, every single thing that happened in our football game...etc.. And Gary? Well, sometimes I wish he'd talk more but he is a really good listener which is even better (for me). Sometimes I'm nervous to do something like walking along steep cliffs or handing in a paper for school (I'm taking a course) but Gary has faith in me and believes that I can do these things, and well. Gary also loves to cook and if I have a hankering for anything, boom, there it is! I just say `Gary, I feel like pecan pie!' An hour later, there it is! Mmmmmmmmm....
Being that Gary lived on his own for a long time, he's super good at housecleaning stuff too, especially bathrooms. He'll scrub the shower/bathtub way better than I ever would.
WE've learned a lot from watching tv together..he's introduced me to people on tv like Jamie Oliver, Cabbie on the Street (who I think is pretty funny) and Stump the Schwab. He'll even watch America's Next Top Model with me, although we do actually watch it for the same reason, to see how makeup, clothes and lighting can create some pretty amazing photos! We also share our 3 favourite shows; House, Lost and The Office. I love watching the Office together...if you are ever in a fight, watch this together and through laughter, your love will grow!!! Talking about tv, it does drive me crazy that he'll watch a sports game and then the highlights after the game and then the highlights at 11pm. By the way, is there EVER a month without a sport...its always playoffs or tournaments in something (right now, hockey and basketball...although baseball has started up again too)!! Gary has also taught me how to paint, how to cook with little tips like `a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one!' and that its always good to freeze your ginger.
He's super good at being a little rougher with Kai then I would be, which is good I guess. I look forward to seeing their relationship grow over the years.
Well, we've learned a lot about eachother and it isn't always the easiest thing in the world but at least we're going through it together! So Gary, happy 1 year and 11 months:)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Looking in the mirror, guess what I see?

I see someone there who looks like me!

Trying to give himself a kiss.

Before he kissed his friend in the mirror, he reached out and tried to touch and hug him:)
(By the way, I didn't try to do his hair like that, it just dried that way after his bath this afternoon)

Mommy's glasses




Wondered if he'd look more like me with my glasses on but that was not to be. He is 95% Chapman with maybe my eyes? My nose? My fat fingers? He's been eating lotsa fun stuff lately like chicken, salmon, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and bananas. He can't quite feed himself yet, although, we've had 3 successful hand to mouth connections with the chicken:) And no, he has not started crawling or teething.
Today I had football practice and then came home so Gary could go to his softball game. Its gonna take a little coordination (with Kai and the car) over the next 2 months to work it out but hopefully we'll both be able to make all our games! Kai will now take formula if I'm unavailable which is fabulous!

Looks like Pad Thai is on the go for dinner tonight, def. one of my faves! Better go..have a great weekend all.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Go Canucks Go!


Tonight we celebrated Jan's bday at her house, just with the sisters (and dad showed up for a bit too). We had some pizza and watched a little hockey together (okay, just the first period). Jantina is a super huge Canucks fan. Better head to the couch and watch the rest with Gary! HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY JANNY BEAR!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Cousin Time Again


Annika (neice) giggled while driving the car back and forth over her belly with her rendition of `vroom, vroom, vroom'

Usually Kai doesn't care if Annika steals his toys but today, he was a little protective of his special toy and that orange button!

Annika going to give Kai a kiss, he had hugged her earlier which was really cute (except he pulls hair when he hugs which I can handle but Annika could not!)

You can tell that Annika and Kai have never used soothers before!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Toy of the Week


The remote control may have moved down to position number 2 now. He loves pressing this orange button in the middle over and over again. It just says `Ready?! Let's Go!' and then launches into `Lou Lou Skip to my Lou' or `Old Macdonald' etc. The cutest part though, is that I've caught him 3 times now rocking his head back and forth `dancing' to the music:)

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Laundry Basket



Good morning!

What a day, and its only 2pm! So, this morning we had our first football game. Let's talk highlights first; sunny weather, 3 times being approx. 5 yards from the end zone, a turnover (go Leah go!), good workout. Flip side; we lost:( Being within 5 yards of the end zone doesn't give you any half points, too bad. Once I coulda ran in a touchdown but my flag fell off by itself and if that ever happens, the play is dead there....grrrrrr.... Anyway, no one got hurt and it was good to play again. I felt that I played okay and although I did throw an interception, the positive side is we still really got a good 10 yards out of that third down cuz we pulled her flag right away.
What else?? Swap meet!! Got Kai some nifty new clothes (sleepers, jeans) and one of those popper toys that you push around (I had one as a kid and I got it for just 50 cents!). I did buy something silly. There were these cleats for a 3 or 4 year old and I was envisioning Kai playing some soccer and they were just $1.00 so I accidentally bought them. Got to talk with Brent and Melissa for a bit too which was nice. Love those swap meets. WE got there when it was almost over which I think makes me behave a lot more rationally and relaxed:)
What's up for the rest of the day? Little laundry, edit a paper, relax.

Friday, April 13, 2007

What's new?


Kai has been sticking his tongue out a lot for the past few days. He now says: baba, dada, mama, Uh Uh, Ah Ah. He also loves grabbing for everything around him which made shopping yesterday a little different. He still isn't crawling but I don't mind because then I don't have to run after him all the time. I think the best thing to ask a mom is `So, what's new with him this week?' instead of `So, is he crawling/walking/standing/teething/rolling' etc.
Football starts tomorrow (hopefully if it stops raining) and if it is cancelled, I'll be going to the baby swap meet to find Kai some bigger clothes. I bought Kai size 18 month pj's yesterday and they fit pretty well, his feet were coming through the bottom of his 12 month ones. Oh ya, he's started hugging me! Its so cute, he wraps his arms around my neck and lays his head on my shoulder. He also hugs his little teddy bear....precious. Have a good day all!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Sick Baby


Kai and Opi. Happy Easter:)
Just a couple things:

1. Kai was pretty sick from Saturday to Sunday. He had a huge puking episode which covered the both of us from head to toe and fortunately landed on the laminate. He also had a fever that went up to 101F but fortunately didn't get any higher. He was up every couple hours screaming but seems to be okay now. We missed the Easter service but it def. gave me something to reflect upon. I thought that If I'm this concerned about a fever that my son has, I can't imagine God seeing his Son suffering so much. What a sacrifice.
2. What is up with facebook? Wow, everyone is doing it. Craziness. Good way to connect up with people but I don't want to neglect my blogging:)
3. Time to go for a walk in the sunshine!

Friday, April 06, 2007

Buntzen Lake


A group of us went for a little hike at Buntzen lake this morning. It's so nice to be able to breathe the fresh air, get a work out, and catch up with friends. There was beautiful weather, a million dogs, and Kai was super duper fabulous in the backpack carrier! Overnight hike, here we come!!! Gary and I started brainstorming summer hike ideas on the way home:)
Kai playing with grass. I know it sounds crazy but he's never really felt it before and he's 8 months old!!! He tried eating some branches but I didn't want that heading through his digestive tract so I was mean and took it away.

Family shot...we don't get enough of these

Kai loves `walking' around and now can show me where he would like to go. By the way, last night at care group, he fell asleep in the playpen! This is the first time he's fallen alseep in the playpen at someone else's house in a long time, we were so happy!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Mama!!


Does mama count if he doesn't really mean to say it? He's been saying it all day! I love it! Admittedly, dada came first a couple days ago. However, looking into this common phenomenon, it is generally due to the fact that the sucking reflex is very similar to the `da' movement of the tongue so ya, he still loves me the same as daddy:)

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Playing


Annika (my niece) was over today...hey Kris, I think she might want to play football instead of hockey!

Auntie Jackie getting some giggles from Kai

Peek-a-boo with daddy!

Monday, April 02, 2007

April Snowfalls (?)


Seems so oxymoronic with the blossoms and all. This was taken this morning when it started, it hasn't stopped!


Kai will be 8 months old tomorrow. He's really started `talking' a lot, like he's having a conversation with himself and its so cute! He also has taken to lifting his legs in his crib and slamming them down, you know, like a beaver slaps its tail in danger. Anyway, he does this sporadically throughout the night waking us up. He still has a bald spot which is strange because the only time he lays on his back is when sleeping, the rest of the time he's upright (and has been for several months). He has only gained a few ounces in the last 2 months, is this a concern? Mom's out there? For the first 6 months of life, he gained 2lbs/month so this is strange to me. When we hold his hands he now puts one foot in front of the other so maybe he'll walk before he crawls? We put him in the nursery at church and he did really well so that's good! It's good practice for me too:)
Talking about practice, we had a 2 hour football practice on Saturday and it was great....so sunny and now I'm so sore. I may be QBing this season which always adds some stress but its a good challenge.
Talking about challenge, I'm taking a course right now which is so not my forte but its good to challenge yourself!? It's on the political, social and legal context of education....should be interesting to see what kind of papers I can write, its been a while! For my first paper, I get to incorporate Gandhi's autobiography which I've always wanted to read anyway so that's what I've been reading these past few days.
Have a great snowy day all, thanks for stopping by and reading!