Monday, April 30, 2012

Ultrasound at 36 Weeks

This is the most unflattering picture of everyone and was on my dad's phone but it's the only one we have:) Who puts the two pregnant ladies closest to the camera? Yikes! However, it is a moment I want to remember so here it is. After church on Sunday my sisters and my dad went to Newlands for the Brunch Buffet. So good. Seriously. Wow. My headache disappeared for about 2 hours and during that time, I ate and ate. Yum! My favourites? The Curry Beef and Pecan Pie.
Jan brought little Jack along and he's such a cute little peanut (although I guess close to 9lbs so not so little). The reason we got together was because on Monday May 7th, it will be 6 years since my mom passed away. I miss her and although I will remember her forever (especially her smile and laugh), I forget her voice and I can't imagine what a conversation with her would be like now. She would be super excited about all these babies though, that's for sure!! Miss you momma. Praying baby is not born on May 7th (which would be 3 weeks early) because I would really rather not have that birth date for babe.

In other news, I had my ultrasound today. I actually invited my in laws to come along as they hadn't seen an ultrasound before. Unfortunately, at this far along, there wasn't much you could see. They did get to see the heart but the rest of her was pretty unrecognizable. I'll meet with my midwife on Thursday to go over it but this is what I got from the tech (please note that not all readings are accurate but it's the best guesstimate for now):

1. Baby is transverse. I knew this already but I had hoped she had gotten into position.
2. Baby girl has a head that is `off the charts'. What does that mean? Basically as big as a baby at 40 weeks. Seriously, another Kai sized head is not good news for a VBA2C attempt.
3. Baby girl's chest measurements are in line with her head ones; large.
4. Baby girl is estimated to weigh 6.9lbs right now. If she gains .5/week, that would put her at about 9lbs on her due date which isn't huge but not ideal for a VBA2C for me. Koen also was the same estimated weight but was born 10 days early at 9lbs 7oz so ya...I know it could be anywhere from 8.5-9.5lbs.

So, I'm assuming baby girl will be born on May 22nd (C-section date) at 9lbs 3oz. If the head is really that large, then I don't feel comfortable going for a VBA2C. I know women do it all the time, but this woman tried with Kai and it was not ideal.

So ya, good to see that she's growing big and strong and I'm really looking forward to seeing what this sweet big girl looks like:)

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Tylenol

I am so thankful for Tylenol. Major headache for 24 hours. Of course I feared pre-eclampsia (due to my sister's experience with it). All night I was thinking of who I would get to do the wedding for me today if I did have high blood pressure. I do have a list of photographers, I was just thinking logistics and all that jazz. Went and got it checked this morning and although it was high for me, it was still totally in the normal range. Exhausting and long day with a wedding downtown. Gary does the reception portion on his own so he's still there for another 2 hours or so. Apparently I'm huge even though I don't think I am. Lady at Costco says, `You must be having twins!'. Nope. I am measuring 38 weeks (I'm 36).
If I could do anything right now, this is what it would be (all at the same time):

1. Lay in bed
2. Have a professional massage that lasts 2 hours. She would focus on my upper back and the back of my neck.
3. Have a pedicure with a non stop foot massage
4. Have a chocolate milkshake or some sweet and sour pork. Let's be honest, it would be both. First the sweet and sour pork.
5. Watch a new episode of New Girl or Modern Family

I dislike feeling unwell and stressed. I mean, who does like it. Sorry to be a complainy pants. To end on a happy note...I have only bought baby girl one outfit but I also couldn't resist these organic muslin swaddling blankets. They have since been washed and are nice and wrinkly. Cute eh?
Okay, back to uploading photos...
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Love, Louise

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Stress and Good Stuff

Wow. So, I've been a bit stressed.

With the boys, I had a month off before they were born to relax and rest up. This time, not the case. I am working full time for the next three weeks trying to get all caught up with weddings before the baby is born. It's one thing to edit all throughout the day/night but it's another to do that while still keeping the house decently clean and the kids entertained/fed/disciplined and trying to get exercise in daily. So ya, a bit busy round here. That's one down side of being self employed. Oh ya, and not having a year maternity leave! I'll have one month:(

Other stresses?

Well, I paid the wrong Mastercard bill. I paid our old card instead of our newer one which means we were late a payment which I have never done in my whole life. Our old Mastercard is mailing us a cheque to return the money. Pregancy brain.

Revenue Canada sent me a reassessment asking for even more money. After several phone calls it became clear that I had to pay double the CPP because normally your employer pays it and I am my employer. It costs so much money to have such a small business making such little money. Makes me want to not do everything `by the book' but I have to follow rules:)

But, there's a lot of good stuff too. Like....

1. Kai had Grandparents Day at school. Gary's parents made it and my dad did too! I was so happy that my dad showed up, it was a surprise to me, and I think he enjoyed it. He also got to meet Kai's `fiance'. I don't think I've talked about her before but him and Lauren are planning on getting married eventually. I've met her, I approve:) I do have a picture of her whispering into Kai's ear which is oh so cute but I generally don't post pictures of other people' s kids. You'll just have to trust that it's very cute.
Thanks for coming, grandparents! It means a lot to me.

2. I am 35 weeks pregnant. If I do have a C-section, it will be May 22nd which is in JUST 27 SLEEPS. I feel good. Tired, but good. I can't believe that I will have three kids by next month. I can't wait to meet my little/big girl! Praying I stay healthy as I am not doing a C-section with a cold ever again. Totally in denial that my Graves' could be back in 2 months...
{Yay for comfy pants. Don't think I can wear anything but work out pants for the next month.}

3. Today we had student led conferences. Kai got to show us everything that he has been working on all year from his journals, to stations, to skipping etc. I know I'm a bit biased but he is really a wonderful kid. He is so helpful and has such a gift for teaching (mostly evident in his relationship with Koen). I love him so much and I love that he still snuggles with me. Five year olds are pretty cool.


4. I am so happy that there should be decent weather on Saturday. It is the wedding I am most nervous for and rain would stress me out so much. Please, please, please let it be nice!

5. I get to go to the midwife and for a massage tomorrow. Should be good! I'm going to try to get a half hour massage every week til babe gets here. Might as well!

Have a good night.
Love, Louise

PS Thanks for the cabinet handle advice! You'll just have to wait and see what we chose:)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Advice Needed

It's embarrassing but you have no idea how much I've been thinking about cabinet hardware. I think because we are spending a billion dollars on these cabinets, I need to make sure we like the hardware on it. Seriously, I'm starting to question why I didn't research cabinets/prices more but I assumed Home Depot would have decent prices in comparison and they had a 10% off sale. Oh well, it's done.

Okay, so I need your help!! Our cupboards will look sort of like this one:
Now, these are the handle options for the cabinet cupboards:
{If it matters, most of our cabinets are 36"}

And these are the options for the drawers:

What would you use for the cupboards? The drawers? Sorry, you'll have to give an A,B,C for the cupboards and for the drawers separately as they are labelled differently and maybe you would just want the bigger ones for the large drawers...who knows.

If you want cost to factor in, let me tell you: The ones that are currently attached to our cupboards and drawers would cost nothing. The smaller flat ones cost $50.00 for all of them (about $2.50 each in a value pack). If we want the larger ones, it will cost us approx. $225.00 (almost $10 each). At this point, I don't really care about the price.

Hope this makes sense and hopefully a bunch of you know way more than me about kitchen cabinet handles!!

Thanks in advance!
Love, Louise

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Wedding In Runners

I made it through the wedding and I felt pretty good. Yay! I ended up changing from my dress shoes into runners half way through the day but nobody made fun of me so I guess it was okay:) I only have one dress that fits but after matching the bridesmaids from the last wedding, I wasn't going to risk it again and good thing, they had knee length purple dresses too! The wedding party was super nice and the weather was amazing. Now to work twice as hard this week to try to get as much edited as possible before the next one.















I had a dream last night that I had the baby at 35 weeks (where I'm at now). It was a very easy birth and ended up being a boy:) I do feel like I'm going into labour based on the Braxton Hicks that I'm having, it's pretty unreal. They last about a minute long and happen all day long. I have exactly one month until my C-section date. Crazy. I'm sad that I won't be pregnant again as it has been such a great experience. On the other hand, I look forward to finding clothes that fit again. Oh ya, and meeting the little miss.

Watched the Canucks game tonight and it was sort of surreal that they lost. I feel bad for Gary and Kai as they are the major fans in this house. However, on the positive side, this will free up many, many evenings.

Okay, I'm supposed to be editing so I better get back at it:) Hope you had a great weekend in the sun!

Love, Louise

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Koen's School Work

Koen decided that he would like to be like his big brother and have some `school books' so I found this one which teaches how to write letters. Koen's drawings/writings are just spots and lines. Usually he has no interest in drawing real pictures or letters. He just likes playing with colours. Anyway, he loves when we do school work:) He knows all of his letters (and their sounds) and many numbers (even numbers like 25 and 99, that's from shopping prices) but hasn't shown interest in writing them at all. Until now. Now he feels like a big boy.

{Possibly a leftie like his brother?}
{This is his `Aren't you proud of me, mommy?' face.}
{Kai loves watching Koen learn and usually gives him a lot of encouragement. This is one of Kai's two faces. It's either serious and focused or it's this.}
We have three weddings coming up and for some reason I feel some anxiety about them. I feel nervous about how my body will do with it. I feel nervous about the long, long days. I feel nervous that I will be frazzled as I'm a bit more emotional these days. Fortunately the last one we are doing should be the easiest as it's at locations we are super familiar with and with a couple that we know the most out of the three.

Today I took Koen to the locations of the church and photos for this weekend as I just wanted to familiarize myself with where they were, time lines etc. I would not usually do this (especially spending an hour getting over that Port Mann...grrrr) but I thought that if it would relieve some anxiety, I should do it. I think it's mostly that I want to have everything all caught up by the time babe is here so I can just relax and enjoy our family of 5. Or really, so that it won't be so tough when I'm in newborn survival mode:)

It's strange that I don't have maternity leave this time. It's tough in the sense that I have to make an average of $500/month for our finances to be totally okay. I know I can do this, and it shouldn't be hard, it's just...I don't know, pressure. I know everything will be fine, I'm just tired:)
So ya, this weekend's wedding photo location is super nature-y so hopefully the weather behaves. It's supposed to be cloudy which would actually be terrific. This is the Old Mill Site in Port Moody in case you were wondering:)

Tomorrow I'm taking some newborn photos of my little nephew, Jack. He did go home this week so I'm glad all is well with him and his momma.

OKay, time to hit the couch with a book. I'm reading `A Heart For Freedom' by Chai Ling.

Love, Louise





Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Peace


The picture above makes me happy. Why? Well, on the island you may notice all our laundry folded up. My mom always folded our laundry on the kitchen island so I always feel like her when I'm doing that (which seems like every day with 3 messy boys). Secondly, my mom's spaghetti sauce is on the stove which is always a favourite around here. Although, I added too much spinach this time and boys weren't as in love with it as normal. And finally, not related to my mom, the boys were quietly colouring/playing. Nothing was getting broken. Their voices were not raised. No one was fighting. It was so relaxing. And rare.

In other news, I have continued to gain weight too quickly even though I am eating the same or even less than before I was pregnant and exercising 5 times a week. I eat pretty healthy too. I'm assuming it's because my free T4 has been at 10 for 3 months (normal is 11-22) which indicates my metabolism is a bit slower now. I'm fine with gaining weight, I mean, that's normal in pregnancy. But, it should be closer to 1lb/week right now to indicate all is healthy and well. I'm pretty much at the weight I was when Koen was born and I have 5 more weeks to go....it will probably be at least 40lbs total by then, maybe even more.

I'm now at the stage where I don't really want to talk to any more moms. Today at Strong Start, moms were all asking if baby was due any day now etc. Nope, 5 more weeks of growing to go here folks. And seriously, one mom, that I just met, told me after 2 minutes of conversation (where her second question to me was `Are you having a natural birth?' and I explained it could be a VBA2C or C-section) that I have to have a natural birth. Okay, thanks for telling me what I have to do, I was wondering! Problem solved. I'm glad you are the expert on me and on VBA2C's! Can you tell my irritability has increased? Just ask Gary.

And to finish on a positive note, somehow, I am still sleeping super well. This song came into my head last night and has continued running through it:


I CAST ALL MY CARES UPON YOU
I LAY ALL OF MY BURDENS,
DOWN AT YOUR FEET
ANYTIME, I DON'T KNOW
JUST WHAT TO DO,
I JUST CAST ALL MY CARES
UPON YOU

Have a good day.
Love, Louise


Sunday, April 15, 2012

A Lovely Weekend

Such a great weekend. Really, I think it's mostly sun related. I love, love, love being outside. Friday I helped out in Kai's kindergarten class (I do it every 6 weeks or so) and he loved it. He has been so much more affectionate with me in public and his emotions are so much more...mature. It's interesting to see this growth.

Saturday I went to watch my football team play...made me excited for the fall! Then I had a photo session (my last family one!) with a super cute family.

On Sunday we had church, then I visited my sister Jan, her husband Doug, and baby Jack in the NICU. He should be going home in the next day or two as he's getting his last round of antibiotics tomorrow. Jan has been staying in the hospital with him as it's too hard to go home to Mission and come back every 3 hours to feed him. I'm glad they've made it work for her and I'm glad he's breastfeeding well!

After a brief visit (the kids and Gary just went to the park while I visited because they can't go in the NICU), we went to Mill Lake for a walk. I love all the Magnolia trees in bloom right now, so gorgeous! It's an easy walk and a good distance for me because my pelvis didn't love the 5km walk last weekend:)

Finished off the day with another walk with my friend Leah followed by Amazing Race (and possibly a piece of apple pie). Have I mentioned that I love being outside?
{How gorgeous are these flowers?!}
{We never bring the stroller anymore but we did just in case today because Koen has been fighting a cold and just a bit more tired than usual.}
{The boys love finding `great spots for pictures':) }
After seeing the itty bitty babes in the NICU my fears/stress over baby's arrival have decreased a bit. I feel less concerned about how babe will get here and just hope that she comes out of my uterus safe and sound in about 5 weeks.



I have been having so many braxton hicks contractions that I wondered if I was secretly dilating but baby's head is still very high so I guess not. They are non stop and quite strong. Baby is in a really weird position (diagonal) so my belly makes some really funky shapes during those contractions.

Today we were talking about what it means to be like Jesus. To be kind and loving to everyone and to be very forgiving. Koen thought that sounded like a pretty good friend so he said that Kai is not his best friend anymore, Jesus is, and he would like to play Junior Monopoly with Jesus. He's so cute and funny. Three year olds are adorable.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Love, Louise

PS It was not wise to play soccer with the kids after dinner. I thought my body can do more than it actually can.

Friday, April 13, 2012

I'm Next; A Minor Freak Out

I'm a little freaked out. As soon as Jan had her baby, I realized that I'M NEXT. What am I freaked out about?

1. I'm a little freaked out that it feels like forever since I've had a baby and our family works/runs/functions so well and I don't want to lose this easy balance. However, I am also way too excited to welcome a little cute baby girl into this family and I know we will adjust.
{I love looking in these drawers!! I'm mostly excited about leggings and ruffled skirts.}

2. I'm a little worried about shooting three weddings in a row at 35, 36 and 37 weeks pregnant. I hope it isn't too hard on me physically/mentally and I really, really, really hope that I can work hard and finish editing them before babe is here so that I can have one full month off. In case you don't know, photographing a wedding is not just physically tiring, it's more mentally exhausting...it's go, go, go, non stop thinking/talking/engaging etc. I also wish I could wear running shoes and yoga pants for it:)

Oh ya, and I wouldn't mind seeing into the future so I could know how realistic it is shooting a wedding when babe is 2-6 months of age...hoping she takes a bottle!
{This mobile is not what I envisioned but it will have to do. My nieces `helped' me make the one with the hand stitching or whatever you call what I did. The rest were crazy glued:)}

3. I'm a lot freaked out about how this baby is coming into the world. I'm a planner and to be 34 weeks pregnant and not know whether it will be a VBA2C or C-section is a little frustrating. What does it depend on? Well, I have an ultrasound on April 30th. They will try to determine the baby's size based on that. If the baby looks like it will have a birth weight in the 8lb range (it could happen right?!), then a VBA2C is a lot more likely. I know ultrasounds are off. Koen was supposed to be 8.5lbs and he was 9.5lbs. Want to know my reasons for everything?
{I'm planning on replacing at least one photo with a newborn one or just taking a newborn one and enlarging it on a huge canvas because 8X10's are so small:)}

VBA2C PROS:
-Faster recovery!!!! Also less chance of respiratory problems for babe but really, it's more about the recovery. I like my exercise and I don't like major abdominal surgery. And seriously, the first 3 days are so painful. To me, anyway. Not being able to exercise for 6 weeks is tough for me and I hope to be playing football again in the fall:) Also, if my Graves Disease comes back (likely), I want to be in top physical form to tackle it.

-I've gone through labour before so I know how it goes. I made it almost all the way to the end (pushing for a couple of hours) so I know I can do it that part.

VBA2C CONS:
-Could go all the way through labour and end up with a C-section which makes infection a higher risk. I have about a 66% chance of success.

-I have several factors against me: 2 C-sections, babies over 8lbs 12 oz, had to be augmented with oxytocin last time

-higher chance of uterine rupture (about 1/150) and 1/2000 chance baby had brain damage or dies. My midwife was telling me that 1/2000 means something is so rare which helped me a bit. HOwever, to me, that doesn't sound rare. In the pamphlet, they equate it with being diagnosed with breast cancer in a year...something that seems likely in this family of mine:) We've had a few random things happen that I just can't risk it (mom gets cancer and dies, dad has heart attack and dies and is brought back, dad has cancer, all sisters pregnant at once etc).

-risk of shoulder dystocia (I don't care as much about broken bones but I do care about nerve damage and lack of oxygen to the brain).
{I love how big this dresser is. It's holding all of her clothes up to 12 months plus all the cloth diapers, crib sheets and receiving blankets.}

THE PLAN
I have my ultrasound on April 30th. I do think this baby is smaller as I'm just measuring only a touch bigger. With the boys I was always 1-2 weeks bigger. I have a tentative C-section date set as May 22nd. I wish it was a bit later but I didn't realize it was up to me to call and set it. In case you didn't know, May 22nd is in 39 more sleeps. I still don't know if the Langley OB's would take me on for sure but I think it depends a lot on the ultrasound.

MY HEART
I have been having nightmares (normal for 3rd trimester) for the past 2 months which usually involve murder and death. I think putting my baby at risk is just too scary for me and unless she's a little one, I will go for the C-section and suck up the recovery. I will appreciate my midwives role in making this my best C-section ever. I will have my sister donate breast milk for the first feed and/or more (my kids have both had low blood sugar and needed to be supplemented up to 24 hours), I will have Gary do skin to skin while I'm in recovery etc.

It's hard because I don't have my mom to come home with me and take care of me and babe for the first week but I do have a helpful husband and grandparents willing to help take the older boys while we are in the hospital.

So, until I meet with my OB on May 2nd, I will remain calm and just be prepared for whatever the decision will be. Praying that it is super duper clear.

Have a beautiful weekend! I'm looking forward to seeing friends, taking a few photos, going on a family outing and holding baby Jack again.

Love, Louise

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Baby Jack

My sister Jantina and her husband Doug had their baby boy!!! Jan always said she would go two weeks over, just like she did with her daughter. However, baby Jack had other plans! Last time, Jan was induced and it was a pretty terrible experience. It ended with her stalling at 5cm in a lot of pain and having a C-section. Then, she ended up back in the hospital due to a suspected blood clot and infection.

This time she had a lovely midwife and used more natural forms of inducement (is that a word?). She used Evening Primrose Oil and it worked! The plan was to do whatever it took to avoid another C-section. On Tuesday night, Jan called me at 9pm and let me know that she was in the hospital. I met her there at about 10pm.
She was having terrible back labour and was in triage waiting to see if she could be admitted. She was 4cm dilated and contractions were pretty regular.
They did admit her after an hour and by 11am, Jan was happily sucking back on the gas:)
Jan said from the moment she was pregnant that she wanted an epidural and any other drugs but definitely did not want a C-section. Therefore, we wanted to hold off on the epidural for as long as possible. (risk of repeat C-section is higher if epidural is given too early)
The gas worked wonderfully. When she was checked a couple hours later, she was 5cm.
Sometime between 1-2am, she was given an epidural. It took about half an hour to kick in and get comfortable and then we all tried to get a little nap in before she was checked again at 3:30am.
Jan was at 6cm for a couple of hours. You can see below that she was much happier with her epidural! She was still able to move around in the bed so that was good. I decided to go home at 4am as things were moving a little slower than we had anticipated and also, I have two boys, and a baby girl in utero, to take care of.
{I wasn't here for this part but this is the gist of it}
Jan got to 10cm at about 9am. She pushed for an hour but his positioning was not good. The doctor came in and said she would need a C-section and Jan basically said no. She pushed like crazy and the midwife continually manually repositioned the baby and then when the doctor returned closer to 11am, he said that he would be able to vacuum the baby out. After 2 pushes with the vacuum, out he came!
Baby Jack Lucas was born on his due date! He was 8lbs on the dot. He had to be admitted to the NICU because he had a high temperature and high white blood cells. He will be there for a couple of days. Jan and Jack are both on on antibiotics. She is able to go to the NICU to feed him but still, so hard to be separated by a 5 minute walk from your baby. They aren't sure exactly what is going on so hopefully there are some answers tomorrow.
I got to visit him this evening and hold him for a minute or two. He looks like a skinnier baby Koen with a big mix of Doug in there. I'm pretty sure I just slept 2 hours last night. Yikes. I'll be honest that I'm freaking out a bit that I am next. I'm pretty sure I'll have a C-section but if it's a small baby, I will try for a VBA2C...so, we wait.
I'm so, so proud of Jan for not giving up. She was hooked up to so many things (epidural, catheter, IV, breast pumps etc) but continued on giving 100%. Yay!!
Welcome to the world Little Jack! We are happy to add another boy to the mix and oh my goodness, it is so ridiculous that all 5 of us will have kids within 6 months of each other. Crazy.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Family Day in the Sun!

Monday was beautiful. I think we broke a temperature record in Cloverdale of 21.5 degrees. I never realize how much the rain/clouds affect me until we have a gorgeous day or two like this weekend. We had a very busy weekend but Easter Monday was a time for us to just be with our family.
We went to check out an area of Tynehead that we had never walked before. It's a 4.6 km paved loop called the Perimeter Trail. Kai biked the entire thing, without training wheels, and did so with such a great attitude. I was so proud of him.
Koen did ride his tricycle the whole time too although we push him with the handle to help him keep up:) I don't know why it was so hard on my body (really my pubic bone..yikes, so much of the relaxin hormone going on, feels like it's broken) but it felt so good to be outside in the sun. With sunglasses. And sunscreen. And a short sleeved shirt!
We stopped for a snack halfway:) Thumbs up for snack time! By the way, upon seeing myself in these black workout pants I said `They make my thighs look so big!' and Gary replied `I don't think it's the pants.'. Yes, he did. But you know what, it's okay. Gary is truthful and...well, himself:) He still thinks I'm beautiful, big thighs and all.
I cannot wait for summer! Or really, just some more sunny weather. Our summer will not be very adventurous this year as we will likely just do day activities like the beach, waterslides, PNE etc. We might do a trip to Green Lake but we will see. It will just be a whole lot of family time getting to know our little girl:)

By the way, my sister Jantina is due tomorrow!! Can't wait for a new baby to hold. I think the plan is for me to be there for the birth and I can't wait!

Have a wonderful week.
Love, Louise

PS Koen said his name is Koen Jacob Daniel Sedin:)

{And here's my lovely assistant, Gary, from a session at Lynn Canyon this weekend. Usually we just do weddings together but my rock scrambling ability is slightly lacking right now for obvious reasons:)}

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Not Handsome

Just a quick update:

1. Fun times. It works in case you were wondering:)

2. Koen on being handsome: `I don't want to be handsome. I want to look like Kai!'. ha ha
{Koen would only smile if I took a picture of him with Bubi. Isn't he cute?}

3. Having Braxton Hicks like crazy. It started out just in the evenings and now it's all day long. Reminds me of the contractions I had when I went from 1-3cm with Kai. Uncomfortable but not painful. Baby is getting big and long and I guess my torso is short because there's just not a lot of room for food or breathing when I'm sitting. Six more weeks! Not ready yet, that's for sure. I'm able to sleep at least 8 hours a night now so I have got to get a whole lot more uncomfortable before I'm ready:) Baby room is now ready!

4. Kai is obsessed with `Where's Waldo' books. One of the characters they have to look for is Odlaw. Koen asked if it was the `Odlaw Senators':)
{A genuine Kai smile. I love it. He is handsome. By the way, this kid kicks my butt in `Where's Waldo'.}

5. The boys are crazy over board games. Hours a day. Love it! (mostly love it because I don't have to play with them. Sounds terrible but you know what I mean).

6. Easter has been good. So interesting having age appropriate conversations with them about it. Kai was nearly in tears on Friday when talking about Good Friday and how Jesus died on the cross. He has become a lot more sensitive lately, maybe it's an age thing? I love talking to the kids about grace and forgiveness because they (especially Kai) get it...I mean, how many times a day do we talk about being sorry for the naughty decisions that they (or I) make.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.
Love, Louise

PS Gas prices are CRAZY.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

The Boys

{Pictures in this post by Megan Edelman}
KAI
-we ended last summer with a bit of a biking accident for him so he has been petrified of biking again. Understandably. I couldn't keep up with him and he went straight into a busy road and ran into a curb head on. Nothing major but still, he had some major lack of control (forgot to brake). So this week we started biking again. In just two days he has made so much progress and I am very proud of him (and he is proud of himself). I helped him the first day to help build his confidence and then Gary worked with him the second day to work on his skills a bit more.

-he had his first filling today. He did a great job and apparently loves the funny tickly feeling of the freezing. He likes feeling `weird'. Great...keep teenage Kai away from drugs and alcohol!
-his favourite part of school is the before and after school care because they get to play hockey and basketball. He is obsessed with sports to the point that when he realized a few weeks ago what day it was, proclaimed `IT'S WOMEN'S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP TODAY!!'. He especially loves watching hockey and can remember what the score was when the Canucks last played the same team. He only gets to watch the first period but then gets up early to watch the highlights.

-is a great big brother in that he gets up with Koen and gets him breakfast. Then, they play a board game together while watching sports highlights. This means I get to `sleep in' until about 7:30pm each day. The boys still fight daily (except for Monday which was the best day ever) and it drives me crazy.
-looking forward to being a big brother and enjoys feeling the baby's kicks and high fives:)

-I didn't even notice when this happened but Kai used to suck his thumb when he was little and eventually just sucked it for 5 minutes when going to sleep. He no longer sucks his thumb.

-chatterbox. He did not get this from Gary.

KOEN
-a monkey
-is very independent and can play for hours on his own. He does love to race cars with his brother, that is probably his favourite thing to do.

-goes to bed at 6:30pm and wakes up 6:30-7am.

-loves every single type of food in the world. He will eat anything.

-loves being outside and playing basketball and soccer.

-rarely serious, always goofy (Kai is and was a lot more serious). One of the times when Koen is serious is when we look at his baby pictures. He wants to know why he was sad or happy and will actually start crying if he sees pictures of himself crying.

-loves Bubi (his blankie) so much.

-very laid back and willing to try anything. He never really did the `terrible two's'.

-his big brother is his best friend. He is really looking forward to having a baby sister. He enjoys rubbing my belly and singing songs to her (especially `You are my Sunshine'). He always asks at every meal `Does baby like it?'. I'm nervous that Koen will not get as much attention anymore once baby is here, but am so thankful for this time that we have had together, when Kai is at school, one on one.

-also a chatterbox.

GARY
-busy

-a wonderful dad who gets the kids' sillies out as I am unable to wrestle or chase them much anymore.

-a great husband that makes great meals numerous times a week even though I'm the one home all day.

Yay for our little family. They exhaust me, and I can't believe that they are mine, but I love them to pieces. Can't wait to meet my little girl in just 7 more weeks. I wonder if she will look just like the boys or maybe, just maybe, this kiddo will look more like her momma.

Have a great week! We're off to Costco for some snacks:)
Love, Louise