Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Koen

Love my Kokies.  His nickname has actually turned into `Pokes' which is a little ridiculous...I think it comes from a mix of calling him Kokes and Gary giving him `Tickle Pokes'.  Anyway...here's some pictures of Koen.  He is loving his Bubi and his stuffies.  Maybe it's because Kai is gone now but he sure loves his stuffed animals these days:)
Pokes, we love you!

Monday, September 24, 2012

4 Months Old

My little baby is 4 months old.  Tomorrow she will get her immunizations so we'll see how big she is but I think she is just 14lbs.  She is still long and lean.  We are coming off of a 5 day nursing strike.  My boys never did anything like that so it was a bit stressful.  She would only breastfeed when she was super sleepy and she would bite me continuously.  Like, many, many times in a row.  However, little miss does not take a bottle so we made it work.  And today, dare I say, she has started breastfeeding normally again.  I'm pretty sure it was hormonal changes as my hair is really starting to fall out etc.


She is so, so, so easy going.  The only time she is upset is when we are driving.  She is a giggling machine.  I love, love, loooooooooooooooooooooooove the giggles!!!  She wakes up laughing...what a great sound to hear:)  Happy, happy girl.

This weekend we had a wedding in Coal Harbour and being that Little Miss does not take a bottle, we had to bring a babysitter with us:)  The boys went to grandma's and I hired my sister for the day.  She spend time walking around Robson, Stanley Park and Starbucks etc so that I could just feed Nya one time for maybe 10 minutes.  What a little monkey.   A cute monkey.  Apparently she was super well behaved and I'm not surprised.  Thank you Auntie Jackie!

Today we babysat Hannah for a bit.  She makes Nya look so small!  Hannah loved seeing Nya and pretty much tried to put everything in her mouth. It will be so fun to see all the babies being buddies when they are three or so:)
{Hannah}



Koen's skin is starting to get better on his torso.  His arm and legs are still not great.  So, I'm thinking/hoping/praying that by November he should be pretty good.   Maybe. At least the weather is now cooler!
{Koen loves his bubbi more than anything in the world.  He always rubs the ear under his nose:)}
The boys continue to love and miss each other every day.  When they came home from grandma and grandpa's on Saturday they were craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy.  That, my friends, is why we do not give them sugar.   Here's a typical picture of them.  They love to `set the scene' and then have us take a picture of them:)
I should add that they wanted to hire a photographer for this.  They paid 11 cents.  Then, they put on a show that cost 11 cents to watch.  Win win.

School is going well for Kai.  The one place I notice a change is his reading.  He read `The Giving Tree' by Shel Silverstein to me last night.  He just couldn't get `straightening'.  It's very fun to see him reading to his siblings too.


On Sunday we went to my sisters church as baby Georgia got baptized.  Our family took up two pews:)


Time to go for a bike ride with Koen.  He feels like such a big boy with his training wheels and it works well if I'm pushing Nya in the stroller alongside him.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!
Love, Louise

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Kids

Thank you to all of those who signed up for the photography classes as I only have a  few openings left!   Awesome.  I've spent hours putting together all of the info I want to teach so we'll see how it goes.  I still have a bit more to add.   So fun to be `lesson planning' again!

What's going on around here? 

Kai is loving school and his reading is crazy good.  He plays hockey every recess and has adjusted well to full days.  He is sort of going through this weird phase where he does really annoying things that I think he thinks are funny but they just aren't...they're just weird.  I think he's just figuring out appropriate behaviours for different situations.   It will be interesting to talk to his teacher to see if he's doing it at school too.  They do a sharing thing once a week and he was supposed to talk about his hockey stick this week.  When I asked him how it went, he re-enacted how he threw his stick down and did some sort of robot dance and said everyone laughed.  Now, I don't know if he was telling the truth or what but I hope he's behaving himself!  He has also started stretching the truth a bit.  

Nya is cute:)  You can see a picture of her here in her summer dress wearing her hat for the winter:)  I love it because I love Echinodermata (which includes sea stars) and it matches her eyes perfectly.  It's big enough to cover her ears and will hopefully last two winters!  You can see more of my friend Melissa's crocheting at Wild Arbutus.  Mel, I'll send you a picture of her wearing it this winter:)

I've never had a baby refuse to breastfeed.  The past two mornings, when she wakes up for the day at about 8am, she refuses to eat.  Maybe she's just full from her 4am feed still? So strange how little she eats but I guess I should relax about it because she is growing well.  It's almost 3pm and she's only had 2 `mini' feeds today.  That is very little for her even so hopefully she eats a ton this afternoon!  

And my Koen.  Oh my poor Koen.  He had to go for another blood test to check on his kidneys and after 3 pokes, they couldn't get it.  Obviously he was a little upset when I had to take him a few days later and thankfully he was brave and they got it on the first try.  In the end? His kidneys are fine.  He is doing well, but still, his molluscum is crazy bad.  I have him in long sleeves and long pants while all the other kids run around in shorts and t-shirts.  He can't spread it though, if covered up, so I'm thankful he can still participate.  People must think I'm a strange mom dressing him in winter clothes already.  It covers both thighs, his whole left arm and his torso.  Fortunately it's not too uncomfortable for him.  


He is loving preschool and I'm so happy for him that he gets to be a big boy now:)  He wasn't nervous at all to be there on his own but he did tell me that he was too shy to tell the teacher he had to pee so boy, did he have to go when he got home.  Silly boy.  I am really liking his preschool so far.
{not sure what he was eating but his teeth aren't really orange}

Koen is finally interested in writing his letters.  Well, only the easy ones like : O, C, V, T, and I:)

Koen has also entered the `Terrible Threes'.  I'm not sure if it's because he's tired, but he used to go to `Time Out' willingly and happily (seriously) and now he still goes but man, he screams and cries.  This also happens sometimes when he needs to go to bed etc.  I guess I can't complain as he has been a pretty easy going fellow up to this point:)

Gary is good.  He's enjoying work so far.  I'm so glad I have a husband that loves his job!  He's busy planning his hiking trip which will be coming up soon.  I think we may have to go on a date soon. By the way, if you want to donate to `Run for the Cure', Gary just needs $10 to reach his goal:)  There is a tab at the top to donate.

I am doing well.  Happy. Content. Hoping everyone stays healthy.

Have a great Thursday evening!
Love, Louise

PS Blogger forced me to use the new template today.  Do you bloggers use the new one?  How long does it take to get used to?


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Photography Class!

All right, folks. I am sooooooo nervous about posting this but I'm going to be brave. The reason I'm nervous is because what if no one decides to sign up?! However, I love teaching and photography, so in order to teach it, here we go....

There will be two class dates (both the exact same) and they will take place in my home. The dates are:

1. Oct. 13th 7-9pm
2. Nov. 17th 7-9pm

I do have limited spots as I want to make sure that I can help each person out and I will have my lovely assistant, Gary, with me as well:)

Please send me an email at gcphotography@shaw.ca to book your spot or ask any questions that you may have! Hope to see some of you soon:)

**Update: 3 spots available for Oct. 13th and 2 spots for Nov. 17! Thank you, friends!! Depending on how it goes, I may have to offer another class in December:)**

Love, Louise


Friday, September 14, 2012

Phew

If you haven't read the post from yesterday, read that first:) As the day progressed, the bumps covered his face and his entire body and I was worried we would be in quarantine for years (sort of joking but not really).

Okay, so I had terrible dreams all night last night that I was covered in Molluscum too. It has been so tough keeping Koen away from Nya and all her toys etc. I was really, really upset last night.

Today I made a doctor's appointment to talk to him about how it progressed so quickly over his entire body and I'm so glad I did!!!!!!!

1. He still does have Molloscum but `only' about 200 that are on his torso and upper arms and legs. Totally safe as he will be covered so no one can get it unless they are wrestling with him with shirts off or something.

2. The rest of his body is covered in atopic dermatitis. Koen has always had very sensitive skin and eczema. We use a very safe detergent and he never has soap on his body. He often had flare ups that I didn't even realize were flare ups. Whenever he was in my inlaws hot tub, he had a major rash and I thought it was chemical irritants. He often has a rash on his face and I couldn't tell what food it was from. All of this is due to dermatitis. So, what triggers it? Well, I can tell you this time it was due to a whole lot of swimming. He has spent an average of 5 hours a week in the pool, the last time being about 2 hours on the weekend. Thank goodness that's all it is. Yahoo!!! I got some great cream that I can put on him and he can even wear the cream swimming to prevent it from getting worse. This is a lifelong condition but it should get better as an adult. And, you know, I don't care if he has all these red dots because it's not contagious.

So, I talked to the preschool teacher and it's totally fine for him to go back as long as he has on long sleeves and pants (pray for cooler weather because sweating makes his dermatitis worse!).

PHEW. Although the Molluscum is still yucky:(
Every post needs a picture. Let's stop thinking about rashes for a second by looking at this cutie pie:) PS Sisters, does this shirt remind you of mom's favourite pink plaid shirt? The one she wore to Ani's baptism?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Not My Favourite Day

So, I think Tuesday made the top 10 of my least favourite parenting days ever. It was a combo of no sleep (Nya's first noticeable growth spurt), 3 visits to the doctor in 2 days for Koen, a blood test and urine test for Koen, and having to do that last doctor visit with all three kids. In that visit (such a small room), Koen was jumping on the chairs and yelling, Kai had a bowl of cereal along (?) and dumped some on the ground and ate it (in the doctors office aka Germ Central) and Nya finally pooped after a couple of days. I almost cried. Instead, I sort of yelled at the kids in the office. It was terrible. It wasn't my family doctor, it was a clinic which is not my favourite place.

ANYWAY...ya, back to school=Koen is sick. He has three things so if you never want to hang out with us again, I understand. A cold. No biggie. Strep throat. Really? On antibiotics so no longer contagious. Molluscum Contagiosum. So gross. Has anyone else's kids ever had this? The virus lives only in the skin rash/bumps so can only be transferred if you touch the bumps. Most people have about 20 but with Koen's skin you can bet we're way over 100 already and heading to 1000. How long does it last? Oh you know, 2 months to 2 years. So far we can keep them all covered with his clothes but I'm praying for colder weather so he can wear pants and long sleeves AND I'm praying they don't spread to his hands or face. If they do spread to where they could come into contact with others, he will be very lonely:( His blood test indicated a problem with his kidneys so we need to have him retested this weekend.
Thankfully the rash is just ugly and isn't itchy or anything like that.
Nya is lovely. She rolled for the first time yesterday, from front to back. It totally freaked herself out:) She weighs 14lbs and is very, very long. I looked back at Kai's baby photos and they are totally twins with Nya just being more feminine looking. I don't know if it's because I am unable to have more babies but I really want more. It's not that I want to be pregnant, I just love babies. Fortunately I have sisters and friends that will have more and hopefully that will be enough:) Otherwise, adoption is always an option if my husband is on board...he's not quite as much of a fan of more kids as I am.
School work time for Koen:) He has known all his letters and the sounds they make for about a year but he has zero desire to write any letters. So, we mostly colour:)
I have a girl and I dress her in blue...can't help it, her eyes are blue:) She loves being in the bjorn facing out now.
And a necklace from Kai. This was the conversation:

Kai: Look mommy, I made you you this beautiful necklace.
Me: Oh thank you!
Kai: It will cost you $1.00.
Me: What?
Kai: Well, usually jewelry costs like $50 so I just saved you $49!

He did end up giving it to me for free. As soon as he comes home from school I quickly put it on:)
Kai is doing well at school. He's very tired from the long days (he's there from 7:30am until 4:15pm) and harder school work but so far, so good. He does not like reading for fun but he's a great reader. I think he would just like to play ball hockey all day. He brings his stick with him to play at recess.

I have not done much exercise in about 3 weeks which makes me feel terrible. I just have no energy by the end of the day:( If I don't have enough sleep I don't like to expend more energy. Hopefully I will get back on track soon, I just need to figure out how to work it into my day to day. If I didn't have to work during the day, then I could def. exercise. We will see.

Hope you are all doing well and germ free!
Love,
Louise




Monday, September 10, 2012

Running For My Mom

These pictures are taken about 34 years apart. Mom and me. Me and Nya. I wish so badly that I could have a photo with the three of us together:) My mom was so incredibly happy when I was born. I was the first child and they waited a long time for me. My mom LOVED being a mom. I miss her a lot. I find that by having a daughter, I feel more connected to her. When I look at Nya with awe, I feel how my mom must've felt looking at me.

I fear getting cancer, I really do. Both of my parents had it...more than once. I really, really, really want to be a grandma one day. I want to see my kids become adults. I want to be around when Gary retires.

We are doing the Run For The Cure again in just 3 weeks and this time we'll have 5 more babies on our team! If you feel like you would like to donate, I still would like to raise an additional $75.00 (and I'm thinking Gary still needs to raise $150!).

You can click here to support me or here to support Gary.

If you have a mom, give her a hug and tell her you love her:)
Love,
Louise

PS Doesn't my mom have a great smile? I miss that smile and her laugh. She had a great/terrible laugh where she didn't hold back.

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Preschool!!!

Oh wow, we have been waiting for this for fooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeever. Koen was so excited to be a big kid and go to preschool. He actually said he was an adult as he let go of my hand and ran across the road. We had to talk about that:)

He had a great time but was happy to see me afterwards. Poor guy didn't get a new backpack (stuck with Kai's Diego one from 3 years ago) or new clothes but he couldn't care less.
{Kai: Mommy, I'm going to get all the stuffed animals and then we can sit with them and you can take a picture okay?}

From what I've seen so far, I really like the preschool he is at. It's a different one than the one that Kai went to but I think it's perfect for Koen. It is more play based and meets in a church building. Also, they sanitized the kid's hands as they came in....not to sound all germaphobic but that was awesome.
The van was crazy quiet with just Nya in it. It was a bit sad but a bit awesome too:)

Kai has been pretty tired after school. He's feeling the challenge but so far it seems okay. They have him set up with the grade 2 reading books but will still be working from a grade 1 math book. I'm looking forward to meeting with the teacher next week to talk about it in more detail.

Hope you are having a great week!
Love,
Louise

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Grade One

Today I took Kai to his first day of Grade 1! From now on, Gary will be bringing him back and forth (on his way to and from work) but I wanted to do it on his first day. Kai wasn't nervous at all and I was trying to hold in my nervousness so he wouldn't get nervous:)

I wish I had taken more `Back To School' photos of him but alas, I had 10 other kids that I also took photos of as a fundraiser (so fun by the way!). I did get some of him actually on his way to school today so I will post them at some point. You can see on the top right photo that our chubby little Kai Bear is now a tall, lean, lanky Kai Bear. So funny. Gary was like that too until he stopped playing basketball:)

So, the big thing about this year? Kai Bear is in a Grade 1/2 split class. Fortunately I had known there was a split class back in June and I sort of assumed he'd be in it. I've heard that it's for kids that can work more independently and might need more of a challenge. I think it will be tougher for him, which makes me nervous, but also happy. I know it will be good for him.

I'm sad that there's only 3 people that he knows in his class. There are only 8 grade 1's in that class and all the rest are grade 2's. Fortunately Kai is okay with that and he still met up with all his buddies at recess. It's harder for me too because I'm rarely at the school so I don't get to meet the other moms and I also lose touch with the grade 1 moms because I'm in a different wing of the school. Oh well, change is good:)

It was sooooooooooooooooo quiet with just Nya and Koen today! I can't wait for Koen to go to preschool on Thursday. I'd send him to kindergarten if I could but he still has to wait 2 years for that! I really think that if I spent time trying to read with him he could. I should probably get a workbook for him, like I did for Kai, and spend some time doing it each day.

By the way, gave all the boys hair cuts on Monday morning and I did Koen's way too short. He has the smallest head in the world and now it looks smaller. Is there a trick for making your kids head look bigger? Let his hair grow?

Nya is still wonderful. She makes me want to have more babies:) I mean, I'd be way too sleep deprived, but still, there's just something soooooooooo special about her. Her smiles and giggles make me so happy.

I hope you had a wonderful day. I have to really start meal planning.

Love,
Louise

PS If you haven't seen...the staff at the high school (including Gary, he's in the lab coat) are in this...it's pretty funny:)

Monday, September 03, 2012

Lego

Later I'll have the whole `Oh my goodness!! It's back to school!!' post but for now, here's some pictures from our weekend.

We went to the Surrey Museum for it's free lego exhibit! They had a scavenger hunt which made it way better. I secretly enjoyed searching the exhibits for specific lego guys.

This afternoon I'm doing a bunch of mini sessions to raise money to sponsor a child (or children!) in Sierra Leone. I'm a bit nervous about it, just because it's something different and last minute, but I think it will go well!

And, just to show you Nya's dress for church this week. Sweetapotamus!
Talk soon!
Love, Louise

Saturday, September 01, 2012

Back To School

Last year I did some `Back To School' Photos for Kai Bear and it was so much fun! Just today I decided that I am doing an evening of these photos to raise money for a student (or students!) to go to school at CRC Christian Primary in Kabala, Sierra Leone. This is a school that was built and is supported by the school that Kai attends. There are just 6 spots left, please email me at gcphotography@shaw.ca if you are interested in it!