Monday, June 29, 2009

Phew

Okay, so this will be a random post but here we go.

Fitness Journey:
I am still eating healthy and exercising regularly (yay for family jogs!) but am taking a break from trying to lose any weight. I am expending too many calories right now exercising and breastfeeding so I just can't afford to lose any more weight right now. Once I'm done breastfeeding (I'm assuming in about 4 more months), I will work hard to lose the last 7.5lbs. Overall, I am very happy with my 12.5 lb weight loss in 10 weeks. I exceeded my goal by 2.5 lbs! I am back on my prenatal vitamins so hopefully that helps with energy levels.



Koen:
I don't want to jinx it but he has slept through the night 3 of the last 5 nights. It's about time if you ask me:) He has started to love eating a lot more and Gary steamed a ton of sweet potatoes today for him so we'll have to try that tomorrow. Koen is still a very bad sleeper (usually sleeps about 2 X 45 minutes per day) but I have to say that he is so happy-go-lucky that I don't mind having him awake. He has a difficult time going down to sleep at night and usually he will fall asleep around 9pm. I feel a big bump on his upper gums but no sign of a tooth yet...I know how long this process can take! He can go from sitting to laying on his tummy to going on all fours and rocking. He is a very active little fellow. I LOVE this stage as he can sit and squeal and play with his toys!




(By the way, the reason I asked who his favourite auntie was is because he told me earlier that he wishes auntie Maria was his mom because she has such a cool van).

Kai:
Has been busy playing with cousins and friends over the past few days. He is learning a difficult lesson about sharing his toys with his brother. He is still most fascinated with trucks, trains, and cars. His favourite foods are carrot sticks, grapes, and watermelon. He wants a car themed birthday so that should be easy to do. Last year was really low key as we just took him to the zoo. This year we'll probably have a party because he LOVES playing with all his little buddies.


Gary:
He is enjoying being home but I think he is slowly realising summer holidays aren't really a holiday because its busy with the kids from 7am-9pm each night. We did enjoy a lovely family jog yesterday morning, hopefully many more to come. Gary plans on doing a lot of professional development in the photography this summer and has already gotten started on it. It is very interesting having a photography business together. It works VERY well 95% of the time, but the other 5%, we def. argue in editing over what makes a photo a good one or not:)



Nerds:

(Eva and Micah love the little babies, which is a good thing, because they are expecting a little brother or sister in a couple of months!).


Been hanging out with our nerd friends and for a recap of who these people are, check out Melissa's blog. This has been really fun for all of us as we all have people to connect with.



(Some of the mini nerds, we're missing 5 other kids in this picture and a few more are on the way)

Teaching: next year I'm teaching Chemistry 11 (instead of Biology 11) and Science 9. I've never taught Chem 11 before, so, this summer I'm going through the whole course so I'll hopefully be an expert by the time I return!

Weddings:
Had our first wedding of the summer and it went really well. It's been tiring editing 1500+ pictures the past few days but I'm the kind of person who likes to work hard and get it done sooner than later...especially with another wedding this Saturday we don't want to get behind.



(This picture just shows how massive the wedding party was! Hopefully I'll have some pictures posted by Wednesday on our GC Photography site.)


Life:
I'm doing very well but feel a little fragile. Like, if I hear one more piece of bad news, I might lose it. I don't even know what `losing it' would look like. Not sure, just a feeling. Maybe I would take it really well. I don't know, we'll see! But seriously, I'm totally fine. I could also delve into my thoughts a lot more...thoughts like...one of the reasons I might not want to have another baby is because with the genes I have, I could get cancer and be dead in 5 years. I would've spent the last five years of my life being pregnant and breastfeeding (which isn't a bad thing) instead of getting out, experiencing life and getting onto the next stage in life with my family. Does this sound extreme? Does this sound crazy? Maybe to you, but to me, things like cancer do not surprise me anymore. I know any of us could die at any time but unfortunately, the rain has come down on my parade over the past 5 years and I think I'm just realistic. I'm totally not depressed or pessimistic. I do love my life and my family and pray that I will have a long, happy life with my family here on Earth. I totally trust God and His plan for our lives and would say I'm not worried, I just have to learn to not think about `what could be'.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

I will update

Hey team...I know this is probably the longest I've ever gone without blogging but I will be back:) There's no reason for not blogging except for a lack of pictures, extreme fatigue, and a very busy schedule! Did I mention EXTREME fatigue? I've even napped 4 times in the past 2 weeks and I never nap unless pregnant and I'm not. I feel like I could lay in bed all day long. I think it's just 6 months of not sleeping through the night catching up with me. I will for sure blog for Koen's 6 month post on Thursday. In the meantime, I'm editing wedding pictures from today. They had 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen along with 2 junior bridesmaids, a flower girl and ring bearer. Wowsers. Thanks to auntie Jackie and uncle Tyler for watching little Koen and thanks to Auntie Pam and Uncle Brent for taking Kai bear!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Dekens Father's Day

Last night we went to Maria's to celebrate my dad. Here are some pictures.

So squishy. So cute. So precious. He doesn't look like a baby anymore...

Izzy, my niece, has wild hair ...I def. have a thing for her eyes
Go go go... Yes, Kai got quite the hair cut but if you cut it short you don't need to cut it as often:)

Ani...dress with rain boots. Perfect.


Izzy's eyes again


Joanne and Koen



Opi and Izzy


Kids table


Koen's first time in the swing. LOVED it.

They have a great backyard to hang out in. I love our house but dream of a yard. Not a big one, just an average sized yard that you could have a bbq in and have kids run around. Oh ya, I also dream of a bigger kitchen. I'm tired of running out to the garage to get our pantry type foods.

I wonder if he is also out of sorts because of his recent physical developments. Sitting, trying to crawl etc.
Talking about sitting...he is officially sitting! This is the exact same time that Kai did, 5.5 months old. Ah, check out that good ole drool. At least its just saliva.

He's still up til 10pm every night and its not because he's sleeping too much in the day, that's for sure! Just makes our nights very tiring. He just wants to drink, drink, drink from 8-10pm. Grrrrrr. I think I'm going to try to give him more solids (he has maybe 3oz a day). It's hard work feeding a 20lb baby on milk alone!

-Trying to figure out my new camera...so many settings. Similar to our other ones but still, so much to learn.
-Homeopathic teething tablets=a happier baby.
-I feel like something is wrong with me because I am just so exhausted. Maybe 6 months without a solid sleep is why? One night he slept all the way through and that's it. Maybe I'm exhausted because I'm still feeding him all the time. My BP and blood sugar are low. Maybe I'll start back on my multivitamins.
-our first wedding of the season is this Saturday. I really, really hope it doesn't rain.
-Gary and I made popcorn (air popped, relatively healthy stuff) at 9pm and Kai heard it and begged from the top of the stairs to come down and have some. I let him. We cuddled in the recliner and ate together. He asked if it was morning time. Obviously this isn't a normal occurrence but I felt like what would it hurt to have a little special cuddle time with my big boy. As soon as he was done, he said that he loved me and up to bed he went. He has been soooo much better about talking to Koen and bringing him toys etc. Koen loves him so much and nothing makes me happier than when Kai makes him giggle.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Gary! Gary, you are a fabulous father and are an excellent role model for our boys. You are very involved in their lives. You help them stay on track and have a lot of fun being super goofy with them. Couldn't do it without you Gary...we love you!

(It was a better idea in my head but still looks decent. I had this printed and put in a frame with the kids footprints. Kai had a lot of fun painting his feet:))

I think that is one of the biggest things that attracted me to Gary, I knew he would be an excellent father. Thank you God for Gary and our two little boys.
I think this is so cute. Gave the boys hair cuts yesterday and Kai wanted to help out. He wants to help out with everything which is nice but at times extremely aggravating:) Kai was so excited it was finally Father's Day today and that he could reveal the Party Size M+M's under the bed and have some with daddyo.



Koen keeps getting up on all fours and rocking...yesterday he moved his chubby little knees and made some forward movement. There is something wrong with him right now. Not sure what it is but he has all the symptoms of teething without a tooth in sight. Drooling, coughing (on saliva), irritability, not sleeping, low grade fever, chewing on everything (including me when feeding...OUCH!). I feel bad for him but have to admit I'm exhausted and frustrated with him. Totally not his fault but I don't know what to do.


I fed him so much yesterday and last night. I'm getting some homeopathic teething tablets for him today. If it continues, I may bring him to the doctor to get his ears checked. We never had an ear infection with Kai so I'm not very familiar with them.


Me and my boys. So blessed. Little boys are too much fun.


We drove over the new Golden Ears Bridge yesterday. It's so crazy that you can be in Maple Ridge in just a few minutes. Our kids will never understand what it was like to take the Albion ferry. Very cool.


And to my father...you have gone through too many life experiences in the past 5 years (heart attack where you experienced dying and being brought back, bladder cancer, loss of your wife, learning how to date again, getting engaged...). Although we sometimes don't know what to do with you, we love you and thank you for your involvement with the kiddos and your attempt at being soft and motherly with us.

Yay for Gary, my dad and my father-in-law. Fabulous fathers in my life. Very blessed.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Gary and I

I wanted a picture of Gary and I to put on our photography blog so people can see what we look like for when needing to meet up with us. Seeing that the kiddos were up at 6:30am, we just walked down the street at 7:30 am and took some cheesy and fun pictures. Regardless, it's nice to just to have pictures of the two of us. Here are just a few...

#1
(Aw man, his stubble put my hair in my eyes)
My new `baby'!!

#2

#3
(His stubble did it again)
#4
My new camera...woohoo!

#5

#6

#7



#8
(I'm not trying to be Vanna White-ish, that camera is heavy!)

#9



#10
(I'll admit it, this one is weird/cheesy)

#11
(I kind of like this one)

Then we went to Bear Creek Park to check out the Gardens for wedding pictures. They've actually got a huge garden with lots of options for this time of year. While we were there, we got to see a police helicopter up close and personal which made Kai VERY happy.












Which one do you think is best for our photo blog? We could do individual pictures or one with both of us. I'll number them.

So excited for Tuesday. I have a friend that is a massage therapist and she needs work on infants that have reflux or gastrointestinal issues and I have a baby with just that! I'm curious to see how Koen handles it and what it does for him. I'll let you know. Okay, off to the Chapman Father's Day celebration!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Week 10: Fitness Journey

Wow. I could not believe the scale this morning. Is Gary changing it somehow to make me a happier wife?
Weight loss this week: 2lbs (total of 12.6 lbs)
Body fat loss: 0.2% (total of 2%)

I am more than happy with this and a little nervous. Why? Can I keep it off? Can I actually get rid of the weight that I had left over after Kai was born? Is there something wrong with me? Part of me doesn't want to lose any more because I know I could easily maintain where I am now. What about when I stop breastfeeding, how will that affect things?

The goal is to lose 7.4 more lbs which seems realistic when I see what I have done so far. Still sticking to my raw veggies throughout the day and seriously, my longest run this week was only 2.5km's which took about 14 minutes of full out running. I have been checking out the calories and fat of almost everything I've been eating but still trying to stay laid back about the numbers. I am very thankful that I am able to actually lose weight with diet and exercise as I know some people do all the right things and the scale doesn't change. I have to say though that I have felt very tired lately. I don't know why that is if I am eating so well and staying active. I actually even took a pregnancy test (it was about to expire and I didn't want to waste it). I'm not pregnant but I feel like I am, that's how tired I am. Maybe its the warm weather? Maybe it was our long road trip?

In other news, I'm getting my `new' camera (off craigslist) today and I'm very excited! I'm pretty cheap in all areas of my life but somehow spending the amount we do on cameras and lenses doesn't phase me anymore:) I guess because its for our business and we will be working hard this summer! I will have it in my hands at 3:30pm today....woohoo!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

For Sale: My Amazing Camera!


(Just taken off the internet...the lens we are selling with it is different. I can send you a picture of the camera and lens if you are interested)

Gary has convinced me to upgrade to a 40D so I am selling my Canon 20D for $425.00. I bought it about a year ago (2nd hand) for $500.00. You can get it with a lens (Tamron 28-200mm) with UV filter and lens hood for a total of $500.00. The camera is in fantastic condition and this lens is very well used but I think most people would want a lens with their new camera:)
I just took a picture with my camera and that 28-200mm lens so you get an idea of what the pictures look like. This camera is all you will ever need (I've done all our wedding photography etc with it) and if you are wanting to be serious about photography, you will prob. want to invest in a better lens down the road as this was our first lens (we now have 4 others):)
I will be putting this on craigslist but would love to see it go to a loving home:)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cuteness

Just got some pictures of Gary and I when we were playing with our cute little chubby boy this evening.



















(Isn't his face hilarious?)

















(Future dentist?)