Random Stuff From Today

Today, Gary had two softball games. He pulled his hamstring quite badly last weekend so he wrapped it up this weekend and played it safe. He's got bruising from the back of the calf up to the thigh...looks tough I guess. Then, I had a football game in Vancouver. It was our second game of the season and we won! Yay...glad to finally get a lot of completions, touch down passes and even a touchdown. Our defense was awesome and it was a lot of fun. Thanks to lil sis for watching cutie Kai.

Gary just installed a light/fan thingy in our bedroom so I'm excited not to sweat my brains out this summer.

Just wanted to let you know one of my favourite inventions ever: `Tide To Go' pen, so amazing. Wow. I kind of just want to stain my shirt just to use it again. Fortunately with Gary around, it gets a lot of use!

Half way done my course.....learning lots.

Kai learned to clap today, what a smartie.

Kai is enjoying kiwi.

Happy birthday to my dad who turns 53 tomorrow. Here's a collage of pictures of Kai and my dad when Kai was just a little baby. My dad made sure that Kai made it on important outings like Home Depot and The Wired Monk.

9 Months Old

(He's actually 9 months tomorrow but tomorrow is a busy day so I'm posting now)

Stats:
Height: 29 3/4"
Weight: 21.6 pounds
Fun: 10/10

He's not so into the crawling

He loves this animal book, its got lotsa stuff to feel in it (like rough `skin' and soft `fur')

His favourite place to stand is looking into the toybox. He has mastered standing using one hand and then using the other to dig through treasures.

When you press the ducks foot, it prays. Kai always looks at me like, `Mom!! Can you believe this stuffed animal is talking to me?!'

Wow. These past 2 months have flown by, unlike the last 2 months of pregancy which dragged on forever!! What has Kai done new this month? Let's see.
-He loves standing by holding on to anything
-He is not really loving sitting and playing with his toys anymore
-He has tried new foods and is eating a lot! (new foods this month were yogurt, whole peas and banana chunks and I forget what else:))
-He's not really sure how to feed himself, I gave him a bigger piece of bread today and he was able to feed himself so hopefully his pointer finger and thumb work out a system soon.
-He still has no teeth.
-He does not like being on his belly one bit which makes practicing crawling very difficult. He can crawl/push himself backwards or in circles.
-He is an angel in the nursery..phew.
-He loves going on walks
-He loves looking in the mirror
-He started giving hugs when he's tired
-He goes to bed at 7:30pm (usually although sometimes will wake up at 9:30pm and want to play for an hour) and wakes up at 7:30am
-He has one nap at 9:30 and the other at 1:30 (each one about an hour or two). He cries for maybe 20 seconds for these naps...what a dream!!!!!!!
I'm sure he does lots of other fun stuff but that's all I can think of right now. I'm really looking forward to him walking around...I know I better be careful what I ask for but right now he is needing a lot of entertainment and also, he's getting kind of heavy! I loved month 8, it was the easiest one by far and I guess the most enjoyable too. Looking forward to his 9th month!

New Running Shirts!

Gary and I can now dress alike. I bought 2 boxes of Vector because they offered a coupon for a free Saucony drifit shirt (valued at $40.00) from the running room. I wasn't sure what the expect as I have quite the variety of drifit shirts, but they are actually pretty nifty. It is extremely light and fits well, so, if you see a special box of Vector (has to be the specially marked smaller box, found that out after buying 2 big ones first!) you might wanna pick it up. Besides, Vector's a pretty good cereal (although multigrain cheerios are my favourite!).

Standees Permitted:)

Kai has just started holding himself up. He loves it when we sit on the front porch and look at all the construction and the cars driving by. Sometimes a dog will come by too which is obviously his favourite. Now, he can look outside on his own! I'm looking forward to him becoming a bit more mobile as I think he's pretty bored with the same old toys and routine each day. This afternoon we're checking out his probable day care for next year...hope it goes well! I'm planning on going back part time in September which means I would be working every other day and then home with the little guy on my days off. I have enjoyed this maternity leave time soooooo much although I must admit, it def. takes some adjustment due to the lack of social interaction and the different form of productivity. I have so enjoyed watching Kai grow and am so thankful for year long mat. leave, we are so lucky here!

And the grade is...

I'm currently taking a course through TWU in the Masters of Educational Leadership program (ya, I just like to say that:)) called the `Political, Legal and Social Context of Education'. I was soooooo nervous to hand in my first paper. If I got a C-, I would be stressing so much for the next 3 papers. Also, the paper was on political leadership which I felt I knew little about (I guess that's what all the readings were for). Well, I just got my mark back and I got (drum roll please) an A-! Woohoo. Confidence renewed. I know, it's not all about the grades but I really do like to be tested on stuff. Also, I guess it shows that I have learned something and I don't have to put more time than I want to into my work! Quiz me:)

Clearance bin

Okay. Don't judge. So, I go to Extra Foods about 4 times a week. Do I go because I love it there? Well, not really. I go because we just have one car which Gary takes most of the time, and its within walking distance for me. Its nice to walk so that I get some exercise and to make it worthwhile, I spread out my grocery shopping over the week. Besides, you can only put so many groceries in the bottom of the stroller. What makes it really worth it though? The clearance bins. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a deal. I think its the way that we grew up but we all share this love differently. My dad, he loves garage sales. Maria, she is the coupon queen. Me? I love sale racks and clearance bins. So...let me explain the 4 clearance bins at Extra Foods and the order in which I approach them.
When I first arrive, I head to the fruit and veggie clearance bin. I only look for a bag of carrots, apples or pears so that I can make baby food for Kai. I can get pounds of pears or apples for $1.00! Then, I head off the next bin which is the dessert bin. I am only looking for one item, and I've only found it 3 times since September. It's the M+M cookies, other than those, I like to do my own baking. So, usually I take a quick glance and head on. The next bin is the bread bin. Here I can get a great multigrain flax loaf of bread for $1.50 instead of the regular $3.75ish. Sometimes (like yesterday) they had this cheese bread that Gary loves for $1.75 but that's only on special occassions because we know that white bread isn't good for us. I just freeze the bread and its good to go. The last bin is my favourite. It is in the far end of the store and it contains all the non food items...clothes, shampoos, towels, dinnerware, candles etc. My last great find was allergy medication! I have really bad allergies (hay fever) and can't stand to pay $20.00+ for a month supply of antihistamines (I know, I'm so cheap), but I found boxes of 36 tablets for $4.84 and they don't expire for a long time so I stocked up. Very exciting. There was a time period of 4 days in which that last clearance bin was not there. I thought it would be gone forever, I tried to remain calm. Thankfully, it returned. Guess where I'm going in an hour from now? Just waiting for Kai to wake up. Probably not too much in the bins today as the best time to go is on MOnday mornings. Please don't all rush there, leave me some good stuff. Remember, don't judge:)

Almost two years...

In another month, Gary and I will celebrate two years of being married to one another. I thought I'd write about it now because its been a whole lotta blogging about Kai lately! I just wanted to say what I appreciate about Gary.
See, I thought I wanted a guy with a personality like mine but that would've been a disaster!!! For my go go go attitude, he's very laid back Ex. he won't try to pass someone going 5km/hour under the speed limit whereas I wouldn't give it a second thought. We're very safe driving with him:) I also think its important to be able to be in the car ready to go within a minutes notice and he likes to take about 15 minutes putting on his socks and shoes while sitting down. I think he's enjoying himself a little more than i do:)
Also, I like to talk about everything; what I saw on tv, how I'm feeling, foods I'm craving, stuff that needs to get done, every single thing that happened in our football game...etc.. And Gary? Well, sometimes I wish he'd talk more but he is a really good listener which is even better (for me). Sometimes I'm nervous to do something like walking along steep cliffs or handing in a paper for school (I'm taking a course) but Gary has faith in me and believes that I can do these things, and well. Gary also loves to cook and if I have a hankering for anything, boom, there it is! I just say `Gary, I feel like pecan pie!' An hour later, there it is! Mmmmmmmmm....
Being that Gary lived on his own for a long time, he's super good at housecleaning stuff too, especially bathrooms. He'll scrub the shower/bathtub way better than I ever would.
WE've learned a lot from watching tv together..he's introduced me to people on tv like Jamie Oliver, Cabbie on the Street (who I think is pretty funny) and Stump the Schwab. He'll even watch America's Next Top Model with me, although we do actually watch it for the same reason, to see how makeup, clothes and lighting can create some pretty amazing photos! We also share our 3 favourite shows; House, Lost and The Office. I love watching the Office together...if you are ever in a fight, watch this together and through laughter, your love will grow!!! Talking about tv, it does drive me crazy that he'll watch a sports game and then the highlights after the game and then the highlights at 11pm. By the way, is there EVER a month without a sport...its always playoffs or tournaments in something (right now, hockey and basketball...although baseball has started up again too)!! Gary has also taught me how to paint, how to cook with little tips like `a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one!' and that its always good to freeze your ginger.
He's super good at being a little rougher with Kai then I would be, which is good I guess. I look forward to seeing their relationship grow over the years.
Well, we've learned a lot about eachother and it isn't always the easiest thing in the world but at least we're going through it together! So Gary, happy 1 year and 11 months:)

Looking in the mirror, guess what I see?

I see someone there who looks like me!

Trying to give himself a kiss.

Before he kissed his friend in the mirror, he reached out and tried to touch and hug him:)
(By the way, I didn't try to do his hair like that, it just dried that way after his bath this afternoon)

Mommy's glasses

Wondered if he'd look more like me with my glasses on but that was not to be. He is 95% Chapman with maybe my eyes? My nose? My fat fingers? He's been eating lotsa fun stuff lately like chicken, salmon, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and bananas. He can't quite feed himself yet, although, we've had 3 successful hand to mouth connections with the chicken:) And no, he has not started crawling or teething.

Today I had football practice and then came home so Gary could go to his softball game. Its gonna take a little coordination (with Kai and the car) over the next 2 months to work it out but hopefully we'll both be able to make all our games! Kai will now take formula if I'm unavailable which is fabulous!

Looks like Pad Thai is on the go for dinner tonight, def. one of my faves! Better go..have a great weekend all.

Go Canucks Go!

Tonight we celebrated Jan's bday at her house, just with the sisters (and dad showed up for a bit too). We had some pizza and watched a little hockey together (okay, just the first period). Jantina is a super huge Canucks fan. Better head to the couch and watch the rest with Gary! HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY JANNY BEAR!!