Sunday, February 15, 2009

Conversations

We tried to get some family photos and then...our remote shutter release died on us!!! It could just be that it needed a new battery but man, Kai and Koen were behaving so well. Here are two pictures that did not make the cut:)

(We weren't even trying to be dorky on purpose)

(at least Gary and I look decent...the boys just want a snack)

Okay, onto conversations. This is how it goes:
Person: How are you doing?
Me: Pretty good!
Person: How's Koen, is he a pretty good baby?
Me: Ya, he sleeps well at night so that's great!

What I really want to say/what I am thinking:

Person: How are you doing?
Me: Good but I feel trapped. Koen is pretty much attached to me and I haven't been out of the house for more than 3 hours and I am dreaming of the day when I can be kid free for 24 hours! I wish I could eat whatever I wanted but I'm dairy/onion/garlic/tomato free diet to help decrease Koen's gas. I wish I could be more active but I've got these 20 extra pounds (since before Kai) and I'm recovering from a C-section.
Person: How is Koen? Is he a pretty good baby?
Me: He cries a lot. He has a lot of gas and reflux. We can't lay him on his back. I can't wait til he's older and can sit upright and entertain himself a bit more. He clamps down on me when feeding each and every feed. Gary and I are not baby people.

Why don't I say these things? I don't want to be a complainer. Do people really care? I know things could be way worse. I know we'll get through this newborn stage. I know I am so blessed to have him as all I hoped and prayed for was a sibling for Kai so I will not complain. We are so, so blessed with two healthy boys.
My dad cuddling with `little Jack' (one of his middle names is after my dad). I like this picture.
All my boys. I told Kai I didn't want to be the only girl and he told me his friend Georgia was in our house. I asked who Georgia was. He said that she is his best friend from Africa. She's also 2 years old. She likes to play tools with him. Wow, an imaginary friend already! Kai often says he is scared of things now. He is scared of monsters (who taught him about monsters??) and today he was scared of the kids in sunday school because he said they didn't like him. I reassured him that they liked him because he was such a nice boy who shares his toys:)

The weather is BEAUTIFUL today. I ran for 15 minutes (woohoo, non stop!). If I keep adding 4-5 minutes each time I should be good for my 5km run in 3 weeks. Then, Gary and I tossed the football around and it felt GREAT. Our practices start in one month and I cannot wait!!!
I got to go to Gary's basketball game last night and they won. This means they are playing in Mission all week. If they don't make provincials, this will be the last week!

(Kai above and Koen below...both at 6 weeks. I think they look different but so hard to tell with different angles/lighting/facial expressions etc)

Finally, I'm turning my blog into a book because looking back, I have documented a lot of stuff. Has anyone done this? It looks like blurb.com does a good job. I think it will have to be 2 books:)

9 comments:

  1. Louise, I soooo hear you on the 'how are you/is your baby a good baby?' thing! What is with people? They ask the stupidest questions. I always want to say,
    "Actually, I suffer from post partum anxiety, my baby has poonamis and pukes all the time, and my crotch is always itchy from yeast infections. Wanna trade?"
    I mean, I do love the infant stage but it is so not easy and I detest insincere questions about our welfare!
    xo!

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  2. When you think about it, it's funny we even bother to ask people how they are doing. We always just say, "great!". I hope that Koen's reflux gets better soon. Caileigh used to projectile vomit after every feeding. Keeping up with the laundry was a task in itself. It must be hard not to be able to lay him down. The pictures of Kai and Koen in the bath at 6 weeks are really sweet. You can tell they are brothers but I think they definitely have their own looks.

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  3. Oh, and I would also be interested in how to turn the blog into a book......great idea! Makes me feel sad that I deleted my original blog.....whoops. Great family photos by the way! I love the new look on your blog.

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  4. I've made a book using Blurb.com and it turned out really well. I am also currently turning my blog in to a book of Livi's first year. It is pretty easy. So far she is 6 months next week and I am on page 80 of the largest size they make! I might be breaking it into two books as well. Using technology is so much easier than scrapbooking!

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  5. I checked blurb.com and it won't pull posts from blogger. Apparently there are two which do:

    blog2print and printwhatyoulike

    Check out this article: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2008/11/blog-slurping-not-working.html

    That sucks about the remote shutter release dying! We haven't tried ours yet because it came with one dead battery dead and we haven't replaced it yet.

    Praying for your challenges during this newborn period! Way to perservere! I will send you a couple of articles I found about clamping down during breastfeeding.

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  6. thank goodness the newborn stage passes :) i hope things improve for you so you're able to truly enjoy Koen at this young age a bit more (I don't think I enjoyed much about Taeya as a newborn...)
    that book idea sounds really cool - i'd be so interested in that!

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  7. Anonymous9:03 AM

    I think we tell people we trust what's really going on and everyone else is on a "need to know" basis ;) And your blog is always a safe place to let it all out because you're in control.
    The verse I remind myself of during tough stuff is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) You're definitely doing that Louise - you're an inspiration!

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  8. Andrew downloaded the software from blurb and apparently it does work with blogger! That said, we seem to be having a problem with the photos but it might be an operator error.

    In other news, the battery on the remote shutter release was fine, but the plastic was still on it, that's why it didn't work. Oops! Do you know what is wrong with yours?

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  9. p.s.
    Riley was a major chomper, too. Major. The very first thing he did the very first time I put him on my breast, was bite me. Ack! Especially when he had gas, he would bite.
    All I can say is, I tried to focus on getting a really deep latch every time because with a mouth absolutely FULL of boob, it was way harder for him to actually bite me. Other than that, he actually outgrew this at 4 months and no longer bites me. Ever.
    Yahoo!
    It sure sucked while it lasted and I was worried about when he grew teeth. Luckily it didn't last long enough for that to be a problem.
    Hopefully Koen outgrows it too!

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