Bug Parts

In the past few years, I kind of wanted to get a tattoo which would symbolize two huge things my life; my mom and being a mom. I wanted to get a symbol of motherhood. I have found out though that Gary is really not into tattoos and it's not that I really wanted one, I just want some way to always remember my mom. I have a ring that she gave me and maybe that will just be it. Anyway, I decided to get this necklace made (off of etsy.com) and it came today. I think it's cute.

We went bowling last night with our care group and I have to say 2 things:

1. I've never gotten so many strikes and spares

2. I pulled some muscles and I felt more sore today than I did after a 5km run:)

(Kai asked if we could go outside so I could take pictures of him)

Koen and Kai are doing good and we've been back into our routine now that Gary is back at school. Kai is loving learning. Yesterday he learned the three parts of the bug and can say and point them out on his toy bug; head, thorax and abdomen. I have a cute video of it but the format can't be uploaded and I don't have the time to figure it out right now. Today he was learning about the largest bone (femur) and strongest muscle (tongue) in the body. I love it.

(I think he looks alot like his Chapman cousin, Jayden, in this picture)

I went to see if I could find any clothes tonight and ended up coming home with a food processor. We've thought about getting one for a long time and I found a Kitchen Aid one at Superstore $60 off so I got it. I hope we use it!!!

This kid just loves the bjorn with a soother. After 45 minutes today, I took him out and laid him on my lap with his soother in and then I read for an hour (Kai was napping). This may have to be what we do for a few more months. I weighed Koen today...16lbs. Big boy. Started getting all the 6-12 month clothes out.

And finally...FOOTBALL PRACTICE TOMORROW AND THEN OUR FIRST GAME ON SATURDAY. SO NERVOUS. SO EXCITED. LOVE IT. Kai can't wait to come to a game. Bon nuit!

Random

A bunch of random stuff:

a. Any suggestions for a healthy snack that I don't need to prepare? I love eating homemade muffins but am getting sick of making them all the time. I am just hungry all the time and need a filling, healthy snack I can just grab and eat while holding Koen in the bjorn. I know I could just eat carrots or apples but they do not fill me up.

b. Fenugreek. Wow. If you are needing to increase your milk supply, this stuff works. You take 6 pills a day and within 24 hours, you've got enough milk. It is sold to help in digestion so it um, really aids you in that department too:) I'm not sure if that is what did it or if it was drinking and resting a lot, but I've continued taking a bit, especially if I'm exercising more. The downfall is that you smell like fenugreek. It comes out in your sweat, breath, urine etc. You can get it at health food stores...90 pills for $10. I think I will stop taking it if someone says that something smells funny when I'm around them:)

(so hard to get smiles out of him when I'm holding the camera...I'll need to get Gary to take pictures while I get him to smile. Gary says that Koen has dumbo ears, maybe they do stick out a bit:))

c. Having Gary home for 2 weeks has been really good for all of us. Kai got some special one on one time with each of us and I got a break in the mornings. I got to go for a run whenever I wanted! I hope Gary felt that he got some rest. Koen does not nap in the day unless we are carrying him, this means he has maybe three 45 minute naps during the day. At night, he sleeps so well in his bed. I don't understand him. He has been doing so well at night, sleeping 8 hours straight...until last night. He was up to eat 3 times and he has been eating every 2 hours today. Growth spurt I'm guessing.

(two cute dimples)
d. Kai is a wild boy. He is just go, go, go all the time. He also uses a TON of inflection when he talks which makes him so funny to me. Gary bought him some more train tracks and trains for his table and he is loving it. We set it up in our unfinished basement and he loves going down there...only thing is that he wants one of us to always play with him. I said, `Kai, you need a friend to play with.' and he said, `You're my friend mommy!'. Today he was playing with a small toy and he said `Mommy, this is small like plankton'. Ah, love it. Also, in the garage he said, `Mommy, dere's (there's) a quitter by the door!' A quitter? What's a quitter? I found out that it is a CRITTER. There was a huge beetle. Today he had to apologize for hitting me in the head with a ball. I said `I forgive you Kai'. He said, `I forgive you too Mommy'. His potty training has gone so well, I'm so proud of him.

e. Had football practice on Saturday. Love it. Love exercise. Love team sports. Love being outside. Love that my ability is still there. I told Kai that my friend Lisa got a bloody lip at football and he said, `We should pray for Lisa'. What a cutie.

f. I've been struggling with the loss of my mom lately. In May, it will be 3 years since she passed away. I'm not very sad, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that she is not there for me for my physical/practical and emotional needs. My mom was a practical woman and she could've helped out with child care/babysitting which seems to keep being a problem for us (if you know of any good babysitters in our area, let me know!). Their house is across the street from us, do you know how convenient that would've been? She would've been here to listen, care, encourage and compliment me. Thankfully I do have a lot of support, but still, I know she cared about me more than anyone else in my life does. She was so proud of me. I am so thankful for what she did provide in my life; she was a great example of what a mother and wife should be. If only she was here just a little bit longer....

g. I didn't mean to end on a sad note so...um...let's see. When I was putting Kai to bed the other day, I noticed a bunch of marks on the wall. I asked him what they were from and he said (with the hugest grin) `My boogies!'. Gross. Is that appropriate? Probably not.

Days 10 & 11

On Wednesday morning, we were up and out of the house within 10 minutes to catch the 7:45am ferry to the island. We just went for the day to visit my oma and uncle Al in Port Alberni.

Oma turned 86 this weekend and she is my mom's mom. I have great memories of going to Port Alberni with my family growing up. It was difficult explaining to Kai that this is my oma, his great oma, and that his oma is in heaven. I had told Kai that they are older so he needs to sit and talk quietly while we were there. He just kept asking, `But why are they old?'. Kai also got into the whole `Are we there yet?' routine but travelled very well, it helps to have the ferry ride in the middle. Can't wait for our road trip through BC and the Alaskan panhandle in 1.5 years...we'll def. get some dvd players for our van by then:)

(That is a baby under my sweatshirt in case you were wondering)

On the way back, we walked through Cathedral Grove to check out the huge trees. Kai loved running around and had a fabulous melt down when getting him back into the van.

I sat in the back of the van to hold the soother in Koen's mouth. He didn't cry at all in the whole 12 hour trip....he can hold the soother in for maybe 1-5 minutes and we are working on this, who knew how fabulous a soother could be! I love our van. Love it. So useful and comfortable. Love it!!!

Yesterday we had a photo shoot in Fort Langley (and got some great pictures, I love them!) and then in the afternoon we took some pictures of our friends at Campbell Valley so we took our boys along. Kai loved it there and especially loved copying and running after their 2 older boys.

Days 7-9

Wow. So tired. Will be brief. This weekend Maria and Mark got married and I was a bridesmaid in their wedding. It was a beautiful day (weather included) and I wish I could've taken pictures! The whole time I was thinking `that would be a beautiful picture' but I didn't bring my camera because I was in the wedding and also I didn't want to impose on the photographer:) It was cool to be on the other end of the camera and see how other people do it. We had our photos done at Crescent Beach and the wedding and reception were at the Surrey Art Center. Gary took pictures at the reception so I'll include one of those here. I'd include more but they should probably see them first:) I can't wait to see the wedding photos!

(instead of cake they had chocolate mousse...Mark's favourite. I love it too!)

I thought everything was very well thought out and creative. In their vows, Mark said he would eat salad, go for long walks and watch less tv. Maria said she would make good salads, hold his hand on long walks and watch a little more tv to spend more time with him. If Mark decides to not go on the long walks, that's okay with me because Maria has now moved about 2km's away so now we can meet halfway and go for walks!

Being in the wedding meant I was away from Koen most of the day. I missed 3 feeds (he took a bottle..yippee! I had pumped 4 bottles worth over the past month, I haven't had much extra lately) and he was brought to me twice for a quick feed in the back of the minivan. Since then, my milk supply is nearly gone. I think its because I missed feeds, didn't drink enough water, and was really exhausted. So, I'm not going for a run today, I'm going to drink lots of water, and take fenugreek pills.

Today we went to the Aquarium. It should've taken 45 minutes to get there but it took about 2 (frustrating) hours based on today's traffic. Thank goodness Koen only cried for about half an hour. The aquarium was soooo perfect for Kai. He has a short attention span, needs to run around and he loves animals. So....he just ran and ran and wanted to see more and more animals. Koen behaved nicely and we had a good time. It's amazing how different Kai is from Ani (my niece). We took her out for dinner last night. Ani sat nicely and Kai ran around wildy and was throwing things. Seriously, we do discipline and he is well behaved most of the time. However, he really cannot sit still and I don't know if he'll always be like this or whether energetic kids calm down at a certain age....if not, his poor teachers....

Kai wanted an octopus and seastar. I'm surprised he sat and got his hand painted but he loved it.

Koen is really into the soother except he can't hold it in by himself so we have to hold it. He falls asleep without it but if we hold him in the bjorn and hold a soother in his mouth, he falls asleep within 10 minutes. Kind of ridiculous but whatever works. I bought Koen a new extra firm crib mattress yesterday. He always sleeps on his tummy so I wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could to prevent SIDS.

The new jellyfish section is pretty cool...

All that's left for Spring Break are three photo shoots and a trip to the island. I'm really hoping the weather improves as we had to cancel several shoots last week. Looking forward to the summer...

Day 7 and 8

Ever since Ani got a princess dress Kai has been talking about wanting to be a princess. I think that after finding out that the costume is itchy, he hasn't been so interested in wearing it again. You should've seen his face when he saw the costume, he was pumped. Can't wait to show him when he's older:)

Kai trying out his big boy bed. He thought he was going to sleep in it but when I went to get him up from his nap, he had migrated back to his toddler car bed. We're in no rush moving him into a big boy bed but if we can get him into it, then we can move the train table into his room in place of the toddler bed.

My 400 page blog book came after just one week! I am impressed with blurb.com.

(no idea who these kids are...we're just going to photoshop Kai's head onto that boys:))

We went and saw Dora and Diego at the mall. I was too late to get tickets (which would allow him to get his picture taken with them) but that was probably a good thing as the wait was at least an hour. It was pretty lame as they didn't have anything going on (music, dvd's etc) except for Doar and Diego standing there. We met Ani and Bbelle there and I think the kids had more fun running around Toys R Us. Gary and I realized that we don't ever go toy shopping and thank goodness our hands were full with the two boys or who knows what we would've bought. Well, at least its good that Gary's hands were full because he sure talked A LOT about the Hot Wheels, Star Wars and Indiana Jones stuff.

(Kai's face when he saw Diego)

For Maria's stagette, we went and got our nails done, had dinner, and then a lingerie party. All of us bridesmaids got our nails done the same. The wedding colour is purple and so I was wild and got purple nails. Kai looked at them in awe this morning and said in an drawn out, awe filled, whisper, `Your nails are so beautiful mommy'. Then he wanted to know if he could eat or lick the nail polish.

Maria got a pedicure and manicure.

Gary's just on a jog right now with Kai. Koen is sitting happily in his swing. Our house is a disaster, its amazing how two kids can create such mayhem. I think a lot of it is all the baby stuff we have out everywhere. It had been 2 months since we had given Koen formula. When he was 3 weeks old he had some, and, 2 hours later it just started flowing out of his mouth. Formula takes longer to digest and so if a baby has reflux, its a lot harder for them to keep the formula down. Well, I thought that I would give it a try yesterday. He had 3 ounces of breastmilk and then 3 ounces of formula. Gary held him upright for one hour afterwards. Then, laid him down for the night. After not much time, he heard Koen vomitting up every last ounce.

I had such a hard time sleeping last night. I think because I was out til 11pm and my mind couldn't relax. Then, I was irrationally worried that because Koen couldn't take formula, I was his only source of nourishment and what happens if I can't pump enough for when I go out? What happens if something happens to me? What happens if he can't keep his solids down in a few more months? I feel a lot of pressure to make enough milk and because he has been drinking so much more lately, its been a bit harder to keep up.

Gary was in the bathroom this morning and Kai yelled out, `Daddy, do you need any help?'. I can't believe how fast our spring break is going. I think the only thing that is different is that I can get out during the day and we have better meals. I'm also able to stay in bed til 8am:) Okay, lots to do...better go!

Day 5 and 6

(I'm counting the days of Spring Break in case you were wondering)

Day 5: I took the kids for a walk and then Kai and I went `swimming'. I forgot that when you go to the pool with a 2.5 year old, you are basically standing in water up to your knees the whole time. At least everyone got a view of my new bathing suit?! Awkward. Kai was really brave and went up to his neck without even thinking about it but was not interested in swimming. He said he wanted goggles to dive down to the bottom so maybe we will get some. We put our feet in the hot tub at the end and he jumped right in.

(Isn't Kai the cutest kid ever?!)

Oh ya, great whole wheat pizza dough recipe that I made yesterday. We made a pesto chicken pizza. SO YUMMY.

Day 6: We brought Kai to gramma's this morning to play with all his cousins and we'll head there for dinner tonight. I took Koen on a run and I totally forgot how hard it was to run with a jogging stroller. He slept the whole time though which was nice!

His feet are so wrinkly because they are always sweating regardless of the temperature.

Chubby fingers

TIP: if you ever buy a present for someone who has a kid with reflux....buy zippered sleepers. It's the clothing that can be changed the quickest and that's good because:

a. they can't be on their back for long while changing them

b. you change them a lot.

I've started reading `The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series and I'm enjoying it. Nice, light reads that can be finished in a couple days. Gary and I are feeling like we don't have a lot of time to just relax or read or run because Koen requires a lot of time right now. We were talking last night about what we thought about having kids before we had them. I don't think we even really thought about how much work it is to have kids. Kids are exhausting and we only have 2! It's the newborn stage that kicks our butt. Totally worth it. Koen's giggles and smiles are awesome.

And of course, another picture of my big boy who is now wearing underwear everywhere we go (except for at nap or bedtime). I can't wait til my purse/bag is just full of my stuff and no more diapers and wipes!!

Day 3 and 4

Day 2 continued: We attempted to go out for dinner as a family. Um, we're not ready for that yet. We just went to White Spot and Gary had to stand and hold Koen the hold time (he was crying) and Kai ended up covered in ketchup, head to toe. I did not enjoy my meal due to the antics.

(We put him in here and his neck is fine. He wants to reach the toys but can't grab onto them. He loves being upright!)

Day 3: Church and then I went and picked up a huge lot of awesome size 3 clothes off of craigslist. It was a whole box of clothes that will be his entire wardrobe for a year, all name brand stuff in perfect condition, for $50. Then, Gary and I spent about 2-3 hours each cleaning the house. We've been decluttering and also cleaning all the things you rarely clean (you know, behind the fridge and stove etc).

Day 4: We went for a family walk at 8:30am to see the houses that were burnt down by our place. Then, we all did some shopping and I got a new bathing suit and shoes! Kai and I played outside and Kai learned how to ride a tricycle.

I love having one on one time with Kai. He is such an easy kid. I find Kai way easier than Koen right now so I appreciate it when Gary takes Koen and I can do something fun with Kai.

(I wish i had changed the aperture...this could've been cute. It's so hard to catch him looking at the camera these days)
Koen has a crazy schedule. He basically eats every 2 hours throughout the day. He eats for 10 minutes, is up for about 1.5 hours and then power naps for 30 minutes to an hour. I fed him at 7, 10, 12, 2, 4, 6....so frustrating. However, all this eating during the day allows him to sleep a lot at night. Last night he went down at 8pm and woke up at 4am for a feed and then slept til 7am. Good stuff.

This is how he sleeps during the day with Gary. If we put him down somewhere, he just cries and does not sleep. I tend to carry him in the bjorn because he's just so heavy. When he's a bit older we'll have to work on this a bit more but as long as he's sleeping well at night, I don't care how we get him to sleep in the daytime (at this point!)

Spring Break!

(Playing together)

Day 1: Last night we had a photo shoot in White Rock and the weather was perfect! Not sure when this rain will stop now...maybe once Spring Break is over? When Gary and I were gone for 2 hours, Koen took a BOTTLE!!! He took 4 ounces and gramma said it only took about 10 minutes for him to start drinking which is a HUGE improvement. The bottle that has been working....Born Free. I don't care if it cost $100.00, I'd buy it:) (it didn't by the way, they cost around $16 each though)

Day 2: Kai was up twice in the night crying loudly. The first time (3am) he was sitting up in bed crying that he wanted to go for a walk. At 5am, Gary went in and he was talking about his big boy bed but we didn't know what he was saying. Koen also got up at this time for a feed. Not bad considering he went to sleep at 10pm. This morning I had football practice in the rain and although the turn out was not the greatest, I still had fun. Gary took care of stuff at home. Koen took 6 ounces. Woohoo!! Seriously, we have been working on this for 1-2 hours/day for 2 weeks and finally, success!! Apparently Kai wanted to marry Gary so they had a wedding and the chess pieces were the guests. I think this is coming from the fact that I will be a bridesmaid in Maria VanTol's wedding next weekend. Kai was asking me when he was going to sleep in his big boy bed (it's in his room but he sleeps in a toddler bed). I told him he could sleep in it when he was ready, maybe when he was 3. He said, `Then I'll be big and I can shoot baskets on daddy's team!'. Not sure how much they'd like a 3 year old on the team. Now, we're just editing pictures while the kids are both napping.

Sick...again

-he now weighs 15lbs 6oz
-he has his second cold! I don't think Kai ever had a cold while I breastfed him...
-he's a pretty happy baby
-still not taking a bottle. We have tried 3 different types of nipples and have also fed him with a syringe and little cup. The reason for the sense of urgency is that I am in a wedding in one week and also, football games start in 2.5 weeks (so I'll be gone for more than just a few hours). It's not feasible that Gary come to the games with Kai either, its just too cold and Kai has to nap. Another reason was that we are doing wedding photos this summer but hopefully by then he'll be taking some solids so that should hold him off for a bit. Also, I will not be at the receptions so I shouldn't be away from him for more than 6 hours or so. Any bottle or nipple recommendations? We've done Avent, Playtex Dropins and Evenflo.

(Looking like an old man)

(Uh, is this supposed to be fun?)

-Kai ended up in the ER again last night. He got really sick yesterday, which I realized when we tried to go for a walk and a few feet down the sidewalk he laid face first on the ground and said he was too tired. He went to his room at 10am to rest for the rest of the day. He wasn't eating or drinking anything except for a kiwi. Even with medicine, his fever got up to 103.5F so I got Gary to take him to the hospital around 9:15pm. They waited in the ER for 2.5 hours and not one person saw a doctor in that time so Gary came home. I know I may sound a little paranoid taking him in but the last thing I wanted was for it to get worse and take both kids to the doctor today. Also, a cold I can handle but a fever...it stresses me out. Since our crazy bout of sickness in January, I have been using sanitizer on Kai's hands after church or after visiting with other kids. Can't wait til the summer, everyone's healthy in the summer right?

(our living room completely taken over by toys...always. I caught Gary playing with the race car track after Kai went to bed.)
-today he is feeling a bit better and I'm surprised he wasn't grumpier being that he didn't get much sleep last night
-when discussing what to plant in the garden this spring, Kai told Gary that an M+M plant would be a good idea:)
-when begging me to go outside with him, I told him it was too cold and he said, `It'll be okay mommy, I'll hold your hand'. He is so sweet. I had been trying on my bridesmaid dress that I'm wearing next weekend and later, when putting Kai to bed, he said, `That was a pretty dress mommy'. Every night, when I say `I love you Kai', he says, `I love you too mommy'. What could be better?


ME
-I'm good. Terrible sleep last night. Dreamt that my niece (1.5 years old) was carrying a match and lit my mattress on fire. Dreamt I was measuring Kai's temperature and it shot up from 40C to 100C and he died in my arms. Dreamt of giant leaping fish in my house and wild dogs.
-finally finished my blog book (by blurb.com) and should have it in a few weeks. It covers 3 years..from when we were newlyweds til present day:)
-I made some cupcakes last night and I have no idea why. Unfortunately they are not healthy but they taste amazing.

GARY
-I think he is tired. Fortunately Spring Break starts this Friday. I have to make sure not to schedule too much stuff in there:) We have 3 photo shoots, I'm in a wedding, and we are going to the island to visit my oma and uncle. We would also like to take the kids to the aquarium which I think Kai would LOVE.
-We've been rotating dinner nights which has been good. Sometimes I make part of my dinner (like the sauce) the night before when Kai is in bed. I love having a husband that can cook and loves to do so. He's so pumped to get our mini garden and herbs going again. I love fresh basil.
-We might be painting our trim this summer. Well, Gary would. Right now it is a weird green colour which we actually chose. We may be going brown like everyone else in this neighbourhood.
Okay, time to try to ease Koen out of this bjorn and into bed and then check Kai's temperature.