Chapman's Marching Band

Here's a video of Kai's favourite thing to do before going to bed. Obviously this wasn't planned or I wouldn't be in my pj's ready for bed too:) Please excuse my voice...I'm the furthest thing from a singer out there.

Week 3: Journey to Being Fit Again

Okay team, this is a good week on the fit front!!!

Weight loss this week: 1.8lbs (total of 4.4lbs)

Body percent loss: 0.2% (total of 0.6%)

I'm feeling good. I wonder if I continue to try to lose about 1lb per week, how long this would last for. When would my body plateau? We will see! The plan is to lose just 10lbs but if I could lose 20lbs and be pre-Kai weight, that would be SO amazing. We will see. I'm one of those very realistic people who doesn't dream too big because I don't want to fail. Gary has huge dreams that probably won't be reached. Watching `The Biggest Loser' makes my 1lb a week seem like nothing, but nope, it's better than nothing!

Kai trying out the scrumptious cupcakes I made. I even had 2 small ones yesterday because they are just too good. Kai had his first dentist visit and did very well. It was a little emotional because that is where my mom worked for 20 something years as a dental assistant. Kai sucks his thumb to fall asleep and soon we will have to ask him to stop doing it. Maybe we'll start with nap time and then when he turns 3, tell him he can't do it at night. Unfortunately, Kai had an empty stomach at the dentist and then he swallowed all the fluoride she put on his teeth. I don't know if everyone is very sensitive to fluoride but both my dad and I are. We went to visit Gary at work and then we were in the van coming home and Kai threw up. Multiple times. I pulled over and stripped him down and he continued to puke. What a mess. He was so shivery and disgusted that he was covered in `yuckies'. I think it was def. the dentist visit because he was totally fine an hour later. Next time, no fluoride. This guy will eat anything. Cleaning Kai, the van, and his car seat took up most of the afternoon.

Here's the cutie pie who will be 4 months old in just a couple days. This month flew by insanely fast. Faster than any month I remember with either of the kids. I laid him flat on his back today for 5 minutes and he didn't vomit! He did spit up a whole lot but still, progress people. Also, the amount of spit up has really increased this week so I'm thinking it might be linked to me starting dairy again. It's often green and yellow too, gross hey? Sign of reflux.

I've been trying to figure out ways to walk with the boys without having to hold Koen. He does not like his car seat at all. Today, I just put him in the stroller and it doesn't even have a 5 point harness (is that bad?), just the waist strap, but he didn't cry the whole way and even fell asleep! Yippee! I like having Kai strapped in, rather than in the sit and stand, because in a store he has a really hard time staying in the stroller so this way he is forced to.

I bought two new pairs of running shoes. It was buy one, get one half off so I just got two identical pairs and will save the other ones for next year. I love saucony's. These ones are nice and light, yet cushiony. I love deals.

My wrinkly, deflated belly is below. I think its so amazing that my belly could stretch out so far to hold and grow a 9.5lb baby two times. When I look at the pictures of myself at 9 months pregnant, I'm absolutely amazed. I'm curious how much my stretch marks will fade over the years. Here's the reality folks. Something I never thought about growing up. I wish I had appreciated my body more when I was a teenager. I know people don't really show their bellies, especially post baby, but I think its important to know what the reality is. I'd say that over half of my stretch marks came from my second pregnancy even though I gained the same weight in each pregnancy and he was a few ounces smaller.

It reminds me of my mom's little belly, although her belly was smaller, even after 5 kids. Out of the 5 of us, only one of us inherited her petite figure. Gary thought I wasn't happy with my body and that's not it. I don't mind it in shape but I just want to be really fit. I want to be able to run 10kms again. I want to be able to do an overnight hike holding a 50lb backpack again. I know this will happen and I am being patient.

I'm really glad that my body is healed and I can be so active again. The only thing I'm still a little careful with is my ab work. I still feel like I want to take it a little easy for about 2 more months. I'm sure its fine but I don't want to risk anything.
Time to go play trucks and cars with Kai. Every time we go for a walk, he points out all the cars and trucks that are apparently way cooler than ours and asks if we can get a new one. I called him a silly goose this week. As soon as I said it, I remembered that my mom used to always call us that. He really is a silly goose.

Geeky stuff

So nerdy, I love it. Molecule earrings. May have to get a pair:)


Or, a new poster for Koen's room:)

Oh, I like this one more!


Hope you are all excited for Thursday's weigh in, its gonna be a good one!

Milk

I can't wait until Koen can go longer than 2.5 hours in the day between feeds. I'd say 2X a week, he makes it 3 hours. At least he's decent at night. Still though, he should be at almost 4 hours at this point. He has been this way for as long as I can remember. Even Kai, who was a huge eater too, would go at least 3 hours at this age. I AM EXHAUSTED.

Big Family

Saturday I had football and it was nice and sunny. We lost big time but it was still good to get out and work up a sweat! We play the same team next weekend so hopefully we can figure out a way to beat their defense at this weeks practice. Koen always seems to have his worst nights before football games so I'm always so tired on those days. Gary planted his upside down tomato plants so we'll see how those guys grow. Last year the tomatoes took over our whole garden so this will hopefully free up our garden for other things.

Sunday afternoon we got together with my whole family to celebrate my sister Jantina's birthday and have our Easter dinner. Jan is the 3rd from the left, with the pink streak. Jan and her husband were in a serious car accident last week and her car was totalled. Thankfully they are okay, although suffering from whiplash. Happy 26th Janny Bear!

I do want to get a full extended family shot one day but Koen went to sleep so I didn't want to have everyone in it except for him. There are 5 of us girls within 8 years and 1 month. How did my parents do that? Wow. And no, they didn't just keep having kids to have a boy. Both of my parents come from large families so it was what they wanted as well.

I have to say that the one downfall of larger families where the parents are both working (my mom was part time), is that my parents were never there for anything that I did in high school. My mom did go to parent teacher conferences because I wanted her to go:) No track meets, soccer games, or cross country meets. When I would get home, we would always have family dinners together but I think that I really wished that they would've supported me in my extra curricular activities. Sports were not encouraged (besides being available to pick us up or lend us a vehicle once we were old enough) and I wish that they were. They wanted us to be active and healthy but since my parents never did any sports, besides my mom playing baseball, I guess you kind of raise kids the way that you were. My mom did take us skating on Friday nights so that counts too:) We did do a lot of hiking as a family as well as skating and swimming lessons when we were younger. Academics and social skills were emphasized. My 3 younger sisters were big into music and my mom usually tried to go to their concerts which was good. That was kind of a random paragraph but my hope is to be able to support my boys as much as I can, whether it be their involvement in sports, music, art etc. And by support, I mean be there.

I could give you a ton of pros for large families too so don't get me wrong. I learned a lot about responsibility (taking care of my sisters, feeding them, doing their hair etc), team work and community. At this age, its great to have so many sisters around. It's interesting how we all grew up in the same home but are all very different. I would have to say though, that we are all quite active in part due to my mom always making us go outside and probably in part to inheriting our father's genes in regards to body type...ya dad, I went there.

Okay, time to get off the computer and do the mom thing.

Mr. Blue Eyes

I know I take and post too many pictures but if I have a camera sitting here and a beautiful baby beside me, how can I not? Also, I feel like he is getting big so fast and I just want to make sure I don't miss a second. Call me crazy, I'd say I'm just sentimental.

I'm loving this age. He laughs and smiles so much. He just loves watching everything going on around him. I'd say that this is my favourite stage so far.

Can you tell that he's up on his knees? I think this guy will be crawling before he is 6 months old. He can move forward and backwards already (not on his knees though!).

When I look at him, I feel like I know him. Does that make sense?

His cheeks are sooooo soft and he is so yummy to me.

I got together with a couple of girls from church today who have kids the same age as Kai. I don't know why I don't do that more often. Kai had so much fun playing with those two, especially since they have such a fun playroom and backyard!

Busy but fun weekend ahead....how can it not be fun, IT'S GOING TO BE SUNNY!!!! Today is supposed to be my `off' day for working out but I think I might just have to go for a run in this sun! I upped my distance by 1km and it was no problem. I've also started taking dairy again in my diet. Koen seems okay AND I recently read an article about the importance of calcium for weight loss (besides bone health which we all know about). Interesting.
Have a great weekend!!!

Questions

Me: Kai, you are driving me nuts.
Kai: Why I'm driving you nuts mommy?
Me: Because you are asking so many questions.
Kai: Mommy, I have a question for you.
Me: Yes....
Kai: Why do I ask so many questions?

Week 2: Journey To Being Fit Again

(Koen's fav. toy of the week, so easy for him to grab)
Well, this week wasn't as successful but still there was some loss so I'll take it!

Weight loss this week: 0.4 lbs (total of 1.6lbs)

Percent body fat lost: 0.1% (total of 0.4%)

I've still been working out 6 days a week so we will see what happens. I'm too hungry to reduce calories but I probably could tweak what kind of calories I'm taking in. I bought a billion fruits and veggies last night so hopefully I can cut them up and have them as a ready-to-eat snack at any time.

(Kai LOVES his trains and trucks)

My friend Terri is having a baby via planned C-section today and I'm so excited for her! I think there is a special understanding/bond between people who have similar birth stories. She also had an unplanned C-section with her first son. I haven't met anyone yet who went to 10cm's and pushed for several hours and then had a C-section (although I'm sure there are TONS of people out there who have had this) like I did with Kai. Most people it seems have `failure to progress' at 4cm's or so or a breech baby. It was just so strange with Kai that I went from waiting to hear `There's the head!' to `I think you need a C-section'. I never even anticipated a C-section as a possibility for myself.

(Last week Kai and I had sounded out how to spell `GO' on the fridge, just once and just for a minute. Yesterday he just came up to me and showed me the word again using his letter puzzle. I think he's a smarty pants:)

(Like I said, he loves this toy. However, when he can't get it in his mouth he gets SO frustrated SO quickly).
Starting yesterday, we have been putting Koen down in his bed after being up for 1.5 hours. No holding him to sleep. I had waited until Kai was 4 months old to do this but guess what?! It's working!!! He goes to sleep after about 5 minutes. LOVE THIS. He only sleeps for about 45 minutes but whatever, my back is appreciating it! This makes it easier for other people to put him down too. He still can't keep a soother in and was gagging on it a bit so usually he just sucks his hand for comfort.

(Kai's huge stash of trucks, trains, race cars...)

(Smiley pants)

I have to admit that when I was pregnant with Koen, I was worried that Kai would be my favourite. I couldn't imagine going through each stage a second time and appreciating/loving it just as much. I am very happy to say that I love Koen just the same. They are so different and each has their `special-ness'. Kai is our firstborn who makes us laugh every day with his antics. Getting pregnant with Koen took a whole lot longer and he is just such a different baby in looks and personality. I love it. Koen is so laid back and his cheeks are the softest things I've ever felt. Yay for love. Yay for laughter. Yay for family.

(Mommy, stop taking pictures and play with me!!!)

Outside

This weather is amazing. We went to Crescent Beach this morning and then played in the backyard. Kai was in heaven (and has his lunch all over his face in this picture). He calls the kiddie pool his hot tub.

I'm making pizza dough right now and it is rising outside because it is finally warm enough!!!

I can't wait for the summer and having Gary along when we go to the beach or to different parks. Also, having him in the vehicle helps keep Koen quiet as Gary can hold the soother in Koen's mouth while I drive. Koen cries for every car ride and this agitates Kai making him scream at Koen. Basically going anywhere with the two of them is a bit frustrating. I've tried getting Kai to ignore Koen or sing a song and today we just turned the music up nice and loud.

Tomorrow is supposed to be like today...woohoo!

Preschool

We went to what will be Kai's preschool in September for an Open House. I have so many thoughts on preschool. Growing up, we never went. When Kai was a baby, I never thought I would ever send him (waste of money, parents job to teach socialization/academics etc). I don't think he `needs' it in any way, however, Kai loves socializing and learning so....why not? I am impressed with the structure and goals of the preschool. They focus on social development, academics, and global awareness. Also, although it is not a Christian preschool they do `seek to demonstrate and promote Christian values and attitudes' as well as help children to `develop a love for God and His creation'. Unfortunately the academic portion focuses on science and math at his age (they even learn about photosynthesis and all that is involved with it!). The reason I say `unfortunately' is because we do a lot of this at home already and I would love it if they focused more on social studies and music which is not my forte. I have very high expectations for his teachers and school as I'm assuming any parent does. I was not very impressed with the facility itself and we'll have to see what he thinks of his teachers. How interesting to be on the other side of things:) I wonder if Kai will even sit in a circle and listen as he doesn't do this very well at Sunday School. I'm curious to see what kind of student he is. All I know is that he is not shy and he will jump into any room and just go, go, go. I hope he can focus a little! I'm not sure if he will be able to continue to go once I go back to work due to daycare and driving etc. One day at a time.

The one thing I am worried about, and will continue to worry about until he is probably 25, is what he will learn from the kids around him. I know that there are kids that will teach him very loving behaviours, but along with that, there will kids that will teach him new ways of misbehaving. When we are at the park and he sees a kid, especially an older one, do something that he hasn't seen (like jokingly kick his dad), Kai will try to copy them exactly. I love being there with him so that we can talk about all the behaviours he is seeing or experiencing and discussing why it was good or not. I have been reading `Hold Onto Your Kids' by Gordon Neufeld which addresses how parents should be the primary influence in their children's lives (which seems obvious) and why a shift has occurred to being more peer centric. I just have really high expectations for his behaviour, as I'm sure any parent does, and I have to make sure that I have realistic expectations. Don't want him to have perfectionist issues:) Watch him be the one teaching other kids bad things!!!

Other stuff:
-we are now using cloth diapers on Koen during the day. We have them, might as well use them. Helps with the `explosions' which he has every 3 hours.
-Koen was sleeping a solid 8 hours through the night for the last 6 weeks but is now up twice (1am and 5am). Could just be a growth spurt. I know my doctor would tell me to start him on solids (because apparently we were all on solids by 3 months back in the day), I'm just trying to wait at least one more month. I'm very curious/nervous how his reflux will react to solid foods. I should probably start researching this. He has been doing SO much better. I would say that he hasn't vomited in a month, he just spits up all day long. He loves people so much. Loves being held. Loves watching. He gets extremely frustrated by not being able to maneuver a toy into his mouth. He cries very easily when this happens.
-Gary is getting his level 1 kayak thingy today...tough life:) He is hiking the Juan de Fuca trail with his class next month and I'm SO JEALOUS. Hopefully I can go with them next year when Koen can survive without me!
-Kai and Koen have colds AGAIN. Boo to runny noses. Yay that it's not any worse.
-I have been exercising so much and LOVING it. I think I would do even more if I could because it feels so good, but, kids (changing, feeding, bathing, playing, holding), husband, and cleaning come first:) I do have to admit that I am slightly frustrated by the scale but I am impressed by my strength and endurance which I guess I didn't lose too terribly over the past 4 years. Still a long ways to go though.
-Just finished `Change of Heart' by Jodi Picoult. Nice, easy read. If anyone has read it, the murder and the circumstances around it are sooo familiar to another book I've read but I can't remember. Do you?
-We lost our football game on Saturday but it will still a decent game so that's good!
-THE SUN IS OUT!!!!

Week 1: Journey to Being Fit Again

Over the next 10 weeks, I am attempting to lose 10lbs and decrease body fat by 3% (which I'm now thinking might be impossible, I don't know what a realistic goal is in this department. I just want my body fat % to be what it was before kids). If this does not happen, I am okay as long as there is a noticeable difference in my fitness level. I will include an update every Thursday. I am working out 6 days a week. Twice a week I have football (about 1.5 hours each time) and the other 4 days, I am running and doing abs and arms (about 30 min). Even though Easter was during this week, which means large meals and a few chocolate eggs, I did manage to lose a bit.

Weight: lost 1.2 lbs

Body fat %: down 0.3%

I have noticed that my time on my run has really improved. That means that I need to increase the distance which I will be doing this week. I have not changed my eating at all because we eat quite healthy and I don't want to restrict myself of the calories that I need to feed Koen. I'm really trying to remember to drink a lot more water because I get headaches due to dehydration so easily. So thankful that Gary is home by 4:30pm so that I can usually run before dinner time. I have a feeling my body will hold onto my fat reserves until I'm done breastfeeding so we will see what happens over the next 10 weeks. I might not notice any real results until Koen is a bit older and eating solids and less milk.

(Protecting the bjorn with a massive bib)

Koen's daily 2.5 hour routine:

1. Wake up and eat (10 min)

2. Change diaper and sleeper (5 min)

3. Put him in the swing, not moving (20 min)

4. Put him in the exersaucer (10 min)

5. Play with him (10 min)

6. Hold him in the bjorn outward facing until asleep (30 min)

7. Lay him down in his bed to sleep (1 hour)

REPEAT 4 times and throw a bath in there.

While I was making tonights dinner (I make it early in the day and bake it later...tonight is a spaghetti squash lasagna) Kai was making a playdough pizza.

Saturday morning I'm leaving the house at 7:15am for football and then in the afternoon, we are going to an Open House for Kai's preschool in the fall. Good times. I love my boys.

Kai's Comments

Me: Who peed on the toilet seat?
Kai: I think it was you mommy.
Yes, in a house full of boys, it must've been me.
***
Oh ya, when you laugh about things that kids say at home, realize that it will be repeated in public. LOUDLY. Kai has always called olives by another name....nipples. Don't know why. I'm assuming we laughed when he said it the first time. So, imagine how red my face was when we were walking around Costco and Kai got a sample piece of pizza with olives on it and he proclaimed loudly `Yay, nipples!'
***
Kai was leaving to go out with Gary. Kai says, `Mommy, I'm going out to Home Depot. Be good when I'm gone'.
***
Ani and Kai were hanging out today. Ani announced that she was a princess. Kai said he was a king. Ani looked at him like he was crazy and said, `Kai, kings don't wear shirts with undies'.
***

My Baby

*new pictures below*

Too bad he wasn't smiling, but I still think he's a cutie! I guess it was kind of chilly out. We attempted the family photo tonight. I'll post more pictures later but there def. wasn't a good family one. We'll just try and try again. And maybe bribe Kai.

Toes and Snow

Last night Kai said he wanted to go downstairs and take pictures. If he ever says it, we take the opportunity because we want him to enjoy it. I REALLY want some nice family photos outside so maybe this evening if the weather holds up??? Otherwise Willms'...we may have to bug you when you come up in June:)

We probably should've used the white backdrop (often looks better with young kids...helps their eyes to really `pop' in the pictures) but the black one was already up.

This afternoon I went snowshoeing with my sister Jackie. We went up to Mt. Seymour and hiked Dog Mountain. It's about a 1.5 hour snowshoe and I def. got a good cardio workout in with all the hills. While I was gone, Gary took the boys to Home Depot and bought some more seeds (and some fun ones like lemon thyme). I love that Gary is so capable and willing to be so hands on with the boys....makes my life so much easier!!

(Yay! I got to put on all my hiking/camping gear.....LOVE IT)

(Jackie at the top...finally!)

(Great view of Vancouver at the top)
Can't wait for summer and having Gary home all the time. We've been planning our summer holidays and I'm excited. Well, we just have 2 short trips but I'm pumped!

Easter

*Videos at the end*

My precious big boy

Koen and Gary slept like this for 1.5 hours today. We went to gramma and grandpa Chapmans on Friday for an Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner. Kai LOVES hanging out with his cousins.

Kai collecting one of a billion eggs that he got over the weekend. We are saving them all as his treats when he uses the toilet to limit how many he gets per day:)

All the Chapman cousins

Grandpa Chapman with our boys

Chubs, uh I mean Kai, going in gramma and grandpa's hot tob for the first time. It took him a few minutes to warm up to it but then he was practicing his swimming and LOVING it. He went back in again later.

Today Kai learned about Easter in Sunday school. He also learned that it is not okay to wrestle in Sunday school. Also, you need to ask someone if they want to wrestle before you tackle them to the ground. Oops. I worry about his goofiness because I really want to make sure he's not the wildest one in the classroom. I think as a teacher you see such a wide variety of kids and wonder which one your kid will be like. He does make us laugh though. Wow. Today I was talking to a friend at church and Kai came up to me and said, `Mommy, what's a bagina?' (if you don't know what he's talking about, don't worry). He knows the answer but took that moment to ask again. Oh Kai.

Here's Kai showing bug parts. By the way, I'm copying his intonation...I don't talk like that:)

And a video of Kokoes giggling last week.