Sunday, September 28, 2008

BC Lions

It's been a busy weekend, but a good one. Kai has been very excited the past few days and to everyone he saw, he said `I'm going to the BC Lions!'. He carried around a fake ticket stub that I gave him and was so excited. He thought he was going to play football with them but I cleared that up a bit.

Gary and I had won 2 tickets back in June and so we have been trying to find a day that worked because we have just been so busy. Saturday evening worked. We decided to take Kai with us as we couldn't find a sitter at the time and besides, he was free and when would he get a chance again?
In the morning, Gary helped a friend move. In the afternoon we went to Gary's cousins wedding reception. They had gotten married 4 months ago overseas so this was an opportunity for all the family to be together to celebrate. We don't get together with that side of the family very often so it was fun to see all of the kids growing up. There was also very good food there. Yum. Then we head out to the game and got there with just 10 minutes to spare which meant that we ended up parking in the closest and most expensive lot: $30!!!! Are you joking me? Who pays $30 for a parking spot for 3 hours? Apparently we do. I asked them how much a parking ticket would cost if we didn't pay and they said $82.50 plus towing. We paid. When I asked them, I prefaced it with `I'm just curious....'. Later Kai said, `Mommy, you're curious?'.
We had great seats along the 50 yard line and Kai was very good at the dancing and cheering. He yelled at the top of his voice `Go Lions go!'. Most people thought it was really cute but I'm not sure how the men in front of us felt when he leaned right in between their heads to scream it at the field. The first quarter, Kai was really, really good. The second quarter, he started walking down the row counting chair and eating some snacks. It was 8:30pm by that time and he had enough. I was also exhausted beyond belief and so we head home halfway (they won 40-10). We gave someone our parking stub so at least someone else saved $30. That felt nice. Maybe it would've felt nicer if they offered us $10 for it? How un-altruistic am I?:)
On the way home, Kai said `That was so fun mommy'. His verbal skills astound me. I love it. We may try potting training on Friday. Might. We'll see. I bought him some new sporty underwear so we'll see if the basketballs and soccer balls entice him. Talking about sports...you should've seen him! I brought him to the end of Gary's basketball practice on Friday and he stood there stunned for 15 minutes but then grabbed a ball and tried to dribble and pass etc. He helped Gary clean up afterwards by carrying water bottles and basketballs and he was in heaven! `Mommy, I'm helping daddy clean up!'.

Kai woke up this morning at 4:40am and I was already up because the baby usually starts his/her karate routine in utero around 4am and goes til about 5:30am. Anyway, Kai was crying so I took him into our bed and he actually attempted to sleep (using my pillow..great!). Gary put him back in his bed around 5:15. I had to babysit in nursery this morning but I went alone as Kai has come down with a cold. Great, he was getting sick (I had no idea) and then we kept him up til 9pm. He made it all the way through September without getting sick so maybe that's not bad? Poor little guy.

On another note; we are looking seriously for a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey. 2000 or newer. By November. Well, I should say Gary is. I have alotted $10,000 for the van and one year insurance. So much money. Anyway, if Gary is able to do it for less (getting a good van in the process obviously), he is `allowed' to sell his 20D Canon and get a 5D (second hand). I don't think Gary thought I would ever give the okay on that but you know, I'm nice. And supportive:) At least I share the enjoyment of photography so I guess I benefit there too! Hmmmm...maybe you aren't supposed to talk about financial stuff on blogs. Oh well. If you're not, sorry! Well, Kai is coughing away so I better check on him...adios.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Good Friends

Gary and Andrey making some curry sauces which were sooooooo yummy. Andrey and Gary have been great friends for about 14 years. Andrey and Jen stayed with us for a few days this week and have actually been our first overnight guests that were not family so that was fun:)

They were making food for all of these guys below! The various stuffed animals are meant to stand for the other Nerdy friends that couldn't make it out. I just realized that Riley is hidden by Melisssa's head but just so you know, there's a really cute baby on Brent's lap!

Just the girls...

Kai was soooooo pumped to have 4 other boys in the house and boy oh boy, those boys were all over the place (Well, besides Riley who is just 6 weeks old):)

This is Kai's buddy Bennett. Bennett is setting a good example for Kai by using the toilet!

This is a terrible picture but this is what you get when you set the timer and hope for the best:) I had a doctor appt today and all looks good. My uterus is measuring 23cm and I've gained 11lbs so far. The baby's heart rate was 150 bpm. My BP was 106/60. I talked over C-section vs. natural delivery again with my doctor and have decided that I most def. want a C-section. I think that I was feeling pressure from society, wondering if I would regret not trying etc but when we read over the report of Kai's birth (so interesting to read since I forgot a lot of the details/times due to complete and utter exhaustion), I really recognized that it would most likely be a repeat situation since we really did all we could last time to get him out. I have been referred to the same doctor that did my last C-section so hopefully she'll be able to do it again since I really thought she did a great job. My regular doctor (who is fantastic) will still be doing all my prenatal and postnatal care. Just have to have the glucose test in the next week or so, hopefully all is well in that department. In 2 weeks I will reach 26 weeks which is where I was at when my mom passed away when i was pregnant with Kai. I've already been thinking about it a lot and will post some thoughts on that later. Have a great evening all!

The Office!

Will have a post on the last couple days once Gary comes back from his hike in the rain with my camera....until then, we (Gary and I) are so pumped for our favourite comedy tonight; The Office season premiere!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The past few days...

Friday night I had dinner with my sisters and dad. My dad gave us all the book `The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands' which I read on Saturday and Sunday. She had some good tidbits in there and it is def my goal to be a better wife so if you have any other books to recommend please do so. The two things I really got from that book are not new but always a good reminder:
1. Your husband is not your best girlfriend. Sounds obvious but his responses and feelings will not match what you'd expect your best girlfriend to say or feel:) Gary does not vent. Ever. I try to make him and he comes up with nothing. Sometimes (often) he is thinking about nothing.
2. I need to cut down on `stuff' so that I have more energy. Energy=patience=calmer/nicer mommy. I feel too busy right now. Gary gets my leftovers which is basically nothing. Saturday was the best day in months. We relaxed and read around the house and I needed that more than anything. So ya, my family is my priority. Gary is my priority. When the kids are all grown up and moved out, it will just be me and him so it better be good!
Saturday/Sunday/Monday we visited friends, went to church, had a photo shoot, had care group and worked.
This morning we met Jen and Andrey (friends from the Philippines) at Campbell Valley Park for a little walk (Kai called it a hike). It was chilly but refreshing. Kai was hoping to see giraffes and elephants but had to settle for squirrels and birds.
Kai was quite taken with Andrey and had him read a bunch of his favourite books. He loves having friends over and always wants to know what Andrey and Jen are doing.
Gary, Jen and I made some ravioli with our pasta rolling machine...we had smoked salmon ones and butternut squash. Gary made a creamy cheese sauce and a tomato basil one. Andrey contributed by taking pictures:) Yummy stuff. Kay, time to relax!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Pearl On The Rock


(A picture before we left....Kai did not come with us! We are going to get nice family photos at some point...that's the problem with always being the ones behind the camera! Pam V, if you are reading this, I'm wearing your shirt!)


On Wednesday night, Gary and I went out for dinner. This fancy dinner was a gift from my sister Jackie and brother-in-law Tyler as appreciation for doing their wedding pictures and whatever else we did to help out with the wedding. We were treated to the tasting menu. It was some amazing food and excellent service. They have actually won or achieved the 4 diamond status which only 13 restaurants in BC have. We had two appetizers and 4 courses and then 2 desserts. It was amazing. Each time a course was done, they cleared out our cultery and brought new cutlery depending on what the new course was. They cleared the crumbs off our table with a little scoopula (no idea what its called but it looked like a scoopula that we use in chemistry). When we had a napkin on the table, they refolded it. My favourite food was def. the halibut and short ribs. I have never had such moist and tender meat....YUMMY! I also liked the proscuitto dust on one of the dishes as I've never had that before:) Gary enjoyed the scallop on the Quinoa salad and will probably be making his own rendition soon. The whole dinner took about 2 hours (when is the last time we sat and ate for two hours by ourselves???) and Jackie and Tyler babysat for us. We never would've treated ourselves to such a meal so we are very thankful.
It has been a busy week as I have gone out 4 out of the 5 nights. Wow. Tired. Today Kai and I brought a pair of pants the the tailor (awesome at home business in our neighbourhood) and went to Extra Foods. The bike trailer/stroller is way easier to push with him and all the groceries so I think I'll be using that for the next 3 months.
This is Kai's idea of hiding. If you ask `Where's Kai?', he says...
`I found me!'.
This is Kai and his beaver, Bubba. Kai finds it very interesting that beavers will slap their tails on the water if they are scared and likes to talk about it several times a day. Bubba has been his fav. stuffed animal for the last 3 weeks. We are starting to talk to him about strangers and how he should only talk to strangers if mommy or daddy are with him. I think this is def. a stage where he will start to understand. I have been asking him everyday if he's ready to use the toilet and this morning he woke up and said `Mommy, Kai use the toilet today!'. Unfortunately, he meant well but has not made any use of it yet. I don't think stickers or m+m's are going to do it for him. I think we are going to have to have a really exciting, big gift that he will be able to have if he tries for a week or something. I know there is no rush but my back does not enjoy changing his dirty diapers.
I have had some crazy dreams lately, here is a quick summary of 3:
1. I rode a riding vacuum cleaner to a concert (yes, vacuum cleaner). I found a parking spot in an abandoned elevator. When I came back to retrieve it, I had recieved a $300 parking ticket. My name was on the ticket because I had labelled my vacuum cleaner.
2. I had a bunch of mackeral (fish) placed in my abdomen for storage. They moved around so much and painfully that I reopened my stitches and the fish poured out (I also tore outside of my stitches). I remember thinking that pain wasn't that great and maybe I could have a natural delivery.
3. A HUGE black horse was terrorizing a town and trampling people. It could climb ladders etc. I was able to calm the horse by singing the `Dora the Explorer' song over and over again.
Well, Kai put himself to bed (woohoo, could be a nap day!) so I better get a ton of school work done!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Best Dinner Ever

I will post on our dinner at `Pearl' tomorrow. We went there for dinner last night. I wish I had a picture of Gary and I at White Rock last night, the lighting at 6pm was perfect and I thought I looked pretty nice. I'm so tired right now, I feel like I'm asleep. What would I do right now without Gary to help me with Kai? Wow. We may have eaten dinner at Costco tonight, I'm so embarrassed. Again, I'm so tired. And my bee sting is so itchy. I need a new book to read. One more thing; I'm so proud of my littlest sis!! She has been working hard and had a tough interview process (with many applicants) and got her dream job. I'm so proud of her, she's all grown up:)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Crescent Beach

Gary took the bike to work today so I got to use the car! Kai and I went to Crescent beach this morning with Maria (sister), Ani, and Isabelle (neices). On the way there, Kai said, `Ani is my favourite. Ani is so funny. Ani is so nice!'. He also rubbed his belly and said, `Mommy, the baby is kicking me!'. Oh boy. I thought he was understanding the baby was just in my belly!
I got a bee sting while kneeling down to get the above picture. Great. I haven't been stung in years so it was interesting to remind myself of what it feels like. Kind of like getting your ear pierced I guess.
I can't believe that leaves are already changing colours and starting to fall! I love this season!
What is better than throwing rocks in the water?
Kai was really hoping to see an octopus or an alligator. Unfortunately, we just found seaweed, crabs, and clam shells:)

Toothy grin...

Kai is starting to find B-belle a little more amusing
Kai and Ani are in the `I do it' stage. So, here's Kai pushing the stroller the whole time
And Ani trying to put her coat on by herself:)
We just got a bunch of plums from a friend and she had made this amazing plum pudding with it so I think I'm going to make some now too. My fav. dessert in the world is a warmed fruit dessert with vanilla icecream. Gary and I have a fancy dinner date tonight so I hope I don't eat too much before I go, I want to savour every bite!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

More comments

Me: Gary, look at my blisters! (grr...I wish I could wear runners to work!)
Kai: Mommy got an owie?
Me: Yes, Kai, I have an owie.
Kai: Mommy need an ambulance?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Conversations

(Kai fake crying in his room)
Me: Kai, what's going on?
Kai: I'm crying in my bed.
Me: Why are you crying?
Kai: I'm sad.
Me: Why are you sad?
Kai: I miss daddy. I need daddy.
Me: What do you need daddy for?
Kai: I need to play with Bubbi (his blankie) with Daddy (Gary plays fun tickling/hiding/type games with Bubbi).

What a silly boy. His fake cry is really weird. I kind of just laugh about it because its so fake.

Today I took Kai for a bike ride in the bike trailer behind me. We had to bike just 3km away (that's 6km return:) to pick up something I got off of craigslist. I was nervous because last time I got a lot of cramping but this time, it went really well! I usually warn Kai about the bumps because there's really no shocks on the trailer. He said, `Mommy, does your bum hurt? Mommy, are you scared?'. It's strange that he's now wondering how we are doing. He'll often ask us, `Mommy, how you doing?'. I love talking with him.

He has really been on a letter kick lately. He is interested in his alphabet book and loves recognizing letters out in the real world. The letters he now knows are (capitals): A, B,C,D,E,K,M,O,U,W, X ,Y,Z. I hope he'll love reading as much as I do!! He doesn't recite the whole alphabet, he just fills in the blank if I do it. He thought LMNO was elmo:)

The hard part about working part time is not being able to do all my school prep stuff while at home. I can do a bit but I need all my binders, textbooks, lab supplies, photocopier, library etc. which is all at school. This means that during lunch hour and after school I am running around trying to get stuff ready for the next teaching day. Obviously its easier just teaching 2-3 times a week BUT the days that I'm there are busier than they were before.

The start of this week is a busy one...care group starts up again tonight (small group from our church), Tuesday we have `Meet the Teacher' evening, and Wednesday Gary and I are being treated to a special date which I will blog about then:)

Baby wise, I feel good. I've just gained 9lbs which is pretty normal. Although, I did start out 7lbs heavier than I was with Kai so I'm not sure how all that gets factored in. We did get the results from our triple screen marker test. I know some people mentioned that i didn't have to do it, and I know, my doctor asked if it would make me more or less anxious to do it. For me, the more I know, the better so i'm glad I did it. All of our results came back normal so that's good. We have decided not to have an ultrasound at one of thost 4D/3D whatever they are places. I don't want to actually see our baby, I wanted that to be a surprise, I just wanted to know if it was a boy or girl. Sex determination at one of those clinics costs $125.00...not worth it to me. I feel like if I was supposed to know, I would know by now. At this point with Kai, we had already named him, bought him some outfits etc. I look forward to the surprise and know I will be crying regardless:) The idea of Kai holding his little baby brother or sister brings tears to my eyes now so I don't know how I'm going to handle it! Yesterday he felt the baby kick. He thought that was pretty cool and told me he wanted to play with the baby. I explained that the baby was still growing so he suggested I take more medicine (prenatal vitamins) so the baby grows faster. I honestly have no clue if its a boy or girl. I can't imagine either but I guess if i had to picture myself with one, it would prob. be another boy, just because I `know' boys and I think they are pretty fun! Sorry this is a pictureless post...nothing really to take a picture of today.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Happy 40th Anniversary


Last night we celebrated Dan and Judy's 40th Anniversary. They are Gary's parents, or, my in-laws. It was a nice evening with lots of food, family, friends, some entertainment and speeches. Kai was up until 9:30pm and was actually quite well behaved (I'm so thankful yesterday was actaully a nap day!!!!).
Cutting and feeding eachother their Columbian flag cake. Dan and Judy were missionaries there for 10 years or so.

Gary and his brothers played their instruments for their mom and dad. They used to play with their mom in church and wherever their mom wanted them to play. They have not played together in 15 years and I have never heard Gary play so it was a sweet surprise.
The sister-in-laws giving a little speech on their appreciation for Dan and Judy (I can't call them mom and dad and the other sisters call them by their names so that works well for me!).

The grandaughters saying how important gramma and grampa are...Kai went at the end and said `I wuv you gramma and grampa!'

In the morning, my sisters took Kai and Ani to the pool. I warned them of his fear of the pool and told them not to pressure him into anything:) He ended up walking in up to waist! I'm very proud of him as this is a big step for him. He loves `swimming' and putting his face in the water in the bath tub but anything bigger than that freaks him out a bit. During this time (2 hours!!!), I was able to vacuum in peace and finish my book. I really didn't want to finish it because I was enjoying it. It's called something like `The Amazing and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters'. I found it funny and sad and easy to read. Great 25cent garage sale find! Gary spent this time cooking like crazy. Then, our friend from work came by and we took some shots of her with her husband and new daughter Olivia. You can check them out here
23 week picture. I often forget I'm pregnant and time seems to be flying. Kai finds it so funny that he used to be in my belly. He asked what he was doing in there and I told him he was growing and swimming. Today, while driving home from church, he said `Mommy, look at the mountains! God made mountains so high!'. He is such a funny guy. Last night while Gary's parents were giving a thank you speech, Kai noticed the chocolate fountain and ran around the room telling each person `Hey everbody, it's chocolate time!!'. Kinda funny and a little disruptive:)
Kai was really into hugging and tackling people last night so here is tackling his cousin. Well, I better rest up because i think Kai is napping again!!! Woohoo!!! I get to stay home tomorrow which I am so thankful for because my classroom does not have AC and its supposed to get pretty hot.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Easy Morning


This morning Kai and I went to hang out with Maria (my sis), Ani, and B-belle. What an easy way to make time fly. Ani and Kai play together so well and really don't even need to be watched. It was so relaxing for me to just sit back and enjoy a cup of tea. We also went for a walk although I `let' Maria push the double stroller and take Bailey (the dog) while I just push B-belle:)
Here Kai is helping daddy pump up his bike tire which always seems to have a hole. Kai loves helping daddy with anything. Gary asks him if he wants to help him in the garage and Kai says, `See you later mommy! I'm going to help daddy. ' Gary biked to work today so I got the car!!! Woohoo!! We are looking to buy a minivan by December and we may even keep our car so that when Gary is busy with basketball, he can take the car instead of the van (cheaper gas) AND then I can get out of the house with the 2 kids! We never wanted to have two vehicles because we really don't need it but we will see how it goes with two cars and then re-evaluate after basketball season is done.
(Bailey..Ani's dog and someone Kai loves)
I'm currently doing laundry and blogging but I should really be marking as I do not like having work to do on the weekend. We have a busy weekend, well really, our entire September is busy. October looks okay right now, but I'm sure it won't be long before the calendar fills up. Okay, I really should do some work. Kai is actually napping, I am so excited!!!! Who knew he would go from a solid 3 hour nap to just napping once every 3 days. I have a feeling that this year will be quite interesting with him because a tired Kai is def. not as enjoyable as a well rested Kai.
Ani and Kai play so well together because they actually speak in sentences to one another. Ani is 2.5 now and totally potty trained. Kai doesn't seem too impressed but I'm trying to be patient with him and I guess we will work on it over the Christmas holidays before the baby comes? I don't know.
I got a bunch of newborn sleepers from Maria today. Not sure why, but I'm totally getting stuff ready already. I just want to see if there is anything that I need to get before the baby comes. I think just some BPA free bottles and that's about it. I plan on breastfeeding again but def. want to pump and have bottles so I can get out of the house without the children. I used a manual pump last time, does anyone know about renting an electric one? From where and how much? I'm thinking it will be a lot more efficient:) We did this with Kai when he was 5 weeks old and I started playing football again. This time, I will have a good 12 weeks before football starts so hopefully I can get my body back into shape by that time! I am so thankful that Gary is so good with kids and that he supports and encourages me to do my own thing too. I guess it makes for a happier Louise which makes for a happier Gary:)
Finally, Gary and I are evaluating taking pictures (GC photography, not our own personal ones) and we have somewhat decided to take a break from December to June. It is something we love to do together and is just too difficult with childcare involved. Sessions at our house our pretty easy because now Kai can just watch Diego or nap during that time but with another little one? Not so sure how that would work! We will see how it goes but for now, once December hits, I would like our calendar to be as empty as possible:) Okay, now I'm really going to work. Nothing like marking 60 labs in a row!

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Nap-less

For the past 3 weeks, Kai has been refusing to sleep for several of his naps each week. This is driving me NUTS. He does stay in his bed but he talks and yells for me and bangs his feet against the wall. The part that frustrates me the most, is that for the rest of the day he becomes this crazy whiney (no idea how to spell that word) boy. He fake cries and says he's a baby, he really cries over the most ridiculous things, and the word `no' comes out a lot more easily. He didn't nap at daycare yesterday but fortunately, he's generally better at other people's houses because there's other kids there and its a bit more fun with all the different toys etc. I did discover a bottom 2 year molar coming in yesterday so perhaps this is why he is acting a bit differently. He hasn't complained of any pain so who knows. He does suck his thumb to fall asleep so perhaps it is painful to do so. Talking about daycare, he is going to two different ones each week (due to availability etc) and its working really well. He hadn't been at that one he went to yesterday since last Christmas so I was curious as to how it would go but it went perfectly. He didn't want to come home, always a good sign!

The other day, I was teaching him the names of the characters on the DVD Shrek case (he's never seen it before). After I went over it with him, he said, `Mommy, who taught you that?'. So funny. On our first day of school, when we talked to Kai about his day he said, `I missed mommy and daddy'. Aw. He has started saying a lot more things like `I love cookies!'. `Oh ya!' `That's amazing!' `Oh my!' etc. He also loves letters. There's a couple shows on tv that talk about letters (Super Readers and something else I forget) and he loves it! He now recognizes A, O, E, M, D,and K. This means he recognizes the words; Kai, Dad and Mom (his favourite letter is still D). Today we played with playdough for the first time and he really enjoyed it. I may have given him a few too many rules for playing with playdough but the last thing I want is more cleaning to do at the end of the day!
Yesterday, school went really well but once I got home and continued to stay on my feet making a meal that took way too long, I had to sit with my feet up for a few hours to recover! Any recommendations for some EXTREMELY comfortable shoes that feel like a runner but look dressy? I'm willing to pay some serious cash because I need something to take me to Christmas. I guess I forgot that at work, I'm standing 90% of the time! I can't imagine what I would do as a career if I didn't teach, I just don't think I would like anything else more. Well, better go let Kai come out of his room WITHOUT a nap. Grrrrrrr...at least the sun is out now so he can play outside. I still want some time to read my book:)
Oh ya, one more thing, Kai has been loving looking through the scrapbooks that I have made. He particularly loves the one I made of his first year of life. He seems to understand that the baby in the ultrasound piture is him, the baby being weighed at birth is him etc. I think this is a good way for him to understand what the baby will be like and how it will grow just like baby Kaisie did.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

22 Weeks


Today I watched my old football team play...boy, I cannot wait to play again!! I got to throw the ball in after a kick off and it felt GREAT! Went to a few garage sales again this morning, I love it! Now I'm off to a friends place for a bbq sans Kai and Gary. Above is my 22 week picture. Talking about pictures, we packed up of photo studio stuff (it is VERY portable) from the basement and changed that space to a play room. If we do some photos, we can easily change it back. We will be taking some pics in a month or so and somehow try to get photos with the three of us. The timer is not effective because with Kai we need someone behind the camera making him smile and look...may have to ask a sister to help us out. Have a good weekend in the sunshine!

Friday, September 05, 2008

Kai Helping Opi in the Garage

My dad asked if Kai could go to his place to `help' him in the garage. He sent me these pictures afterwards. How cute for a little man time:)

Fixing? the trailer for the seadoo/jet ski which is actually named `Gretski' which was one of my dad's nicknames for my mom back in the day.

Yesterday Kai was sitting in his play car pretending to drive. I asked what he was doing and he said, `Kai's going to Mexico!' So random. Later, he was holding his hair out on the sides and I asked him what he was doing. He said, `Kai looks like a girl!'. What a silly guy. One last thing about this silly guy, I think he's grown an inch over the past month. All of his pants are turning into capris on him. I think I'll just have to put him in size 3T pants and roll em up a bit!

I have to say that today has been so relaxing just hanging out at home with Kai. Teaching yesterday exhausted me more than it ever has. I guess on the first few days, there's just a lot of talking that needs to be done. My classes are also larger than usual. Please don't think I'm complaining as I really do love teaching. Each place has its pros and cons. I love school because its interesting and I love teenagers. I love being home with one kid because its relaxing (I get a 2 hour break!). School can be tiring. Home can be boring. So, part time teaching again should be perfect right?! Let's hope so! I was reading where I should be at now that I'm 21-22 weeks pregnant. Apparently, this is when I should feel the most energy. Uh oh! If this is as good as it gets, I feel sorry for Gary:) My belly has def. increased in size this week and I'll post a picture this weekend.

By the way, any baby name ideas? We really like short, original names. It can't rhyme with Kai, which is too bad because I like a lot of names that sound like Kai (Mya, Nya, Rylan, Ryder etc). We've got meaningful middle name ideas but for the first names, we are struggling a bit. We've got one name each for a girl and boy but I'm not sold on them, especially the boy one. So, if you have any ideas...let us know!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

25 months old


Kai is in bed napping..well, playing. Phew. I'm tired. He hasn't napped for 2 days in a row so let's hope he sleeps today! I'm trying to figure out the best way to have enough energy for the next 4 months. Today I did all the cleaning while he was playing and eating so that when he is napping, I can rest too. I think school will be a lot more exhausting this year being that I'm 5 months pregnant already. We had school yesterday but my first official classes will be tomorrow, I hope they go well. I don't think I will have a lot of patience for kids that talk too much! I hope I can make it til Christmas holidays. Last time, Kai was born on August 3rd so I had about 5 weeks off before he was born. It will be interesting just having 2 weeks off. I am so thankful that I will be huge when it is cool out.
Last night I made a yummy dinner. It was a beef stew inside a giant Yorkshire pudding...this picture was taken before all the gravy was added, but it was good! I think next time I will def. add a lot more veggies. Gary and I made a huge lasagna together on the weekend, after Kai had gone to bed. We made it to freeze in case we needed a quick meal. It totally brought us back to the good ole days when we would cook together. We did that all the time when dating and first married and it was so fun! Now, one of us cooks and the other takes care of Kai. I think we will try to make a meal together, after Kai goes to bed, more often. That way we spend quality time together AND we have meals in the freezer!
Kai is now 25 months old. There are a few changes I noticed this month. He will now say things like `The park is so fun!' or, when we left the beach the other day he said, `That was nice!'. Basically he is sharing his feelings about places without me having so ask him any questions. Another thing is his use of pronouns and tenses. Last month, he would've said `Kai throw it' but now it is, `I threw it'. I was trying to teach him that `2 mans' is supposed to be `2 men', so then he said `2 mens'. This english language isn't easy!
I can't believe how much Kai loves all of his cousins. He gets so excited seeing them. Yesterday he played with Ani and Maria was remarking about how much he was screeching/screaming all day with excitement. I'm so thankful for so much family nearby, at the same time, I recognize that it can be very tiring at times with some sort of get together every week. I guess that's what happens when ALL of our family lives within an hour and we have large families!
(Doesn't he look old in this picture?!)
Today, Kai and i went to Extra Foods. I'm pretty sure I will only be doing that walk once a week with him now. It's just too tiring to get back up that little hill pushing him and the groceries. I'm such a wimp. We also went to the park and Kai got to ride his bike there (aka, I pushed his bike). He is nowhere near pedaling yet. He also wanted to practice baseball today. He hit that tee-ball all the way across our yard...he's def. improving. It's pretty funny that I was teaching him how to hold the bat etc. as it is not my forte, let's hope I didn't mess him up!
I'm very curious to find out how he will behave once the baby comes. He is quite well behaved right now so I hope that continues! Sometimes, he gets a little ridiculous and pretend cries and says `Kai's crying. Kai's a baby' when he doesn't want to come in the house or something but a good talking to usually straightens him out. I really realize how vulnerable and innocent kids are. I can't imagine hitting or constantly swearing at my child and it makes me so sad to think that kids grow up in abusive homes. Parents are who they trust most in the world, and when I hear Kai using my lines on me, it really makes me see that they are the hugest sponges ever. I hope and pray that Gary and I continue to be patient and loving parents. I will be praying for this big time when I'm sleep deprived in January. I feel so ready to have our baby even though it is so far away. I know I should appreciate this time, where I have time, and where I can sleep 8 hours a night! Okay, time to relax!