I'm not fat, I'm...

Kai, Gary and I are very happy to announce that there is another little Chapman on the way! We have known for about 6 weeks now and I just don't want to wait any longer to tell people:)

(My belly at 10 weeks...Kai says he wants to go in my belly to see the baby. By looking at me hopefully you could guess I was pregnant?).

Baby Chapman should arrive over our Christmas holidays (uh oh, middle of the basketball season!) and I'm so excited to be huge this time in COLD weather! Also, we are telling people now because my belly is pretty much giving it away. My doctor said that with the second one, you can look 8 weeks larger than your first and that is def. the case. Let's just hope it sticks to the belly and that's it.

This is a picture of me at just 9 weeks and look how huge I am! I am not even pushing it out or anything. It's pretty much the same size that I was at week 17 last time. I have gained 2lbs so far and this pregnancy is different in so many other ways. The biggest difference is that last time, I was sick for the first 3 months and could barely eat more than crackers and grapes. I vomited a couple times a week and felt very, very crappy. This time?! Bring on the food! I can eat meat!!! I still get queasy thinking about certain foods but am def. eating normal amounts. I get cravings like crazy and it's not just in my head. I want sushi, then guacamole, then grapes etc...it happens all day long. The other difference I have noticed is that I am extremely tired. It may be getting better now but while teaching, as soon as lunch hit, I was ready to curl up and nap. I did have one puking episode at school where I had to run all the way downstairs to the staff room but I made it...phew! I have to say that being pregnant without being sick is so amazing and a billion times easier!

(This was my 7 week picture, already feeling HUGE. Not sure if you have seen my stomach normally in real life but it was quite flat before! I'm excited to head downstairs and take some studio type pictures when i get bigger:))

I wish you could've experienced my excitement, disbelief and tears when we first found out, I was ecstatic. I told Kai there was a baby growing in my belly and he rubbed his belly and said `Kai doggy belly' (Kai has a doggy in his belly...silly guy). Since then, he grabs my belly and says `Kai go in it?' because he wants to go in there with the baby. Funny kid. Every morning when I take my prenatal vitamin he says `Medicine. Baby growing'. At first when we found out, I couldn't believe it and took several tests and visited the clinic and then my doctor. I still am very excited but I'm starting to get nervous. I found out through Kai that I am not really an infant person, I'm def. a lot better with toddlers. Although, the situation was very different last time so we will have to see. I am going to write out my expectations for everything soon so that I can look back on it and see if I had any idea of what I was getting into! I am def. going to ask for a lot more help and support this time around, no more `I can do this by myself' type attitude. No way Jose.

This may be a bit too much information now but if you are interested in our fertility journey over the past year (and perhaps a few tidbits on the female body), read on, but don't say I didn't warn you! For those of you who don't know, we got pregnant with Kai in our second month of trying. I assumed that the same would be true this time. Not the case. Gary and I started trying about a year ago and we weren't just kind of trying, we were really trying. Just like with Kai, I was charting my temperature every morning at 7 am as well as recording um, the main indicator of fertility which is your cervical fluid. Your body is amazing and I loved discovering more about it by learning about the changes that occur each month, in detail. Through charting, you know exactly when you ovulate (and just that fact that you are ovulating is indicated) and when you are most fertile. It may seem a little unnatural and controlish but I think its just the science in me that thinks it just awesome to know so much about your body. By six months, when nothing had happened, I talked to my doctor. Many people had said that they won't do anything until a year has passed. This is not true. He commended me on coming in and being so aware of my body (I love my doctor). I had some basic blood work done to check my hormones, blood sugar etc. and all came back well. A month later, Gary had `the test' that came back fine as well. I was scheduled to have an appt with the specialist right around the time we found out we were pregnant. I was pretty relaxed throughout the entire time, although month 9 of trying was a little more tough as it seemed like everyone was announcing a pregnancy! I was happy for all of them and just wanted to know what was going on with my body. I really do believe that it is all God's timing but I do like to think that it's important to put forth the best possible effort:) **Warning, could be too much info but may be interesting to some...***There was one thing we did differently in the month that we conceived but I'm not sure if it was what did it. I started taking Robitussin once a day as it contains an ingredient called guaifenesin which helps to increase the cervical fluid which is necessary for the sperm's survival. Regardless of whether that was it or not, it doesn't hurt to try it! My sisters will be so embarrassed/mortified that I shared that info and my dad never reads all the writing so I think I'm okay there:)

(This picture was taken May 7th, the 2nd year anniversary of my mom's passing. We had just found out a few days before that we were pregnant so Kai wore his new `I'm the Big Brother' shirt so we could `tell' her).
Well, this post is a lot longer than I thought it would be but that's where we are at! If you could remember us in our prayers, please pray that the baby would continue to grow and that the rest of the pregnancy goes well. Yippee!!!!!

Happy Father's Day

WE

LOVE

YOU!

Reading with mommy

Here's another video...Kai and I reading:)

(I did this in the smallest format/streamlined so it uploaded faster and recognize that the quality looks terrible!)

By the way, we will be going to Disneyland with the whole Chapman family in a few weeks...any tips for going to Disneyland with a 2 year old? I'm thinking a good hat, sunscreen, good stroller (grrrrrrr), and lots of snacks and drinks will be good.

Horsie!

This evening we had our staff party. I began pumping Kai up yesterday that he would be able to ride a horse so he was REALLY looking forward to this party. He is very unafraid of any animal which freaks me out because there are some scary dogs out there that he wants to be close to. He loved riding the pony and feeding the bigger horses hay.

Today Gary and I were both home so I went shopping and I bought a dress!!! When is that last time I bought a dress? Maybe 10 years ago (besides my wedding dress)? I really like it and am excited to wear it to grad and my sisters weddings this summer. Its boring in the sense that its a black sundress but its just fun to have something new. I'll have to post a picture of me in it. I also plan on going all out and wearing heels too. This is not normal for me as my feet prefer runners:)

This is just a picture (taken in the car) of the appetizer Gary made for the party. Its an apple and pear salad with blue cheese dressing in endives.

My grade 9's have written their exams so they have been marked. Just have to wait til next week for my biology 11 class to write their exams. I've already started in on my summer reading; The Painted Veil. I took out a bunch of books from the school library and am excited to dig into them:)

Oh ya, we got our power cord for our new hard drive video camera. I'll have to post a video even though we haven't gotten any good stuff yet. Here are some giggles...

All done!

(Here's Kai watching his `Fifi and the Flowertots' dvd. It is the only tv he will watch, too bad its only 10 minutes long! There is a fun song about milkshakes in it and that is what is making him smile:) His hair is a little crazy from his nap, I know)

I finished teaching on Monday and now I have to go in 6 more times for meetings, invigilating exams, marking exams, and finishing report cards. Gary and I can kind of rotate days so we only need to pay for 3 days of day care. Tonight we helped my dad cut and weed eat his lawn. Kai rode on the riding lawnmower with Opi and LOVED it. He stood up the whole time and thought he was steering it himself.

Kai is def. turning two and we have found that providing him with options saves a lot of time and energy. We allow him to choose between two coats or two types of cereal (his new favourite cereal is rice `peepee's' (Krispies)) etc and therefore we don't get the dreaded `no' from him:) I don't know if this is what you are supposed to do but it sure works well! He is def. a lot of fun and is a lot more playful with Gary than he used to be, just running at him and giving him hugs. He also loves to wrestle with daddy. I don't know where his energy comes from, maybe its the 3 hour naps. Maybe we'd all be like that with a 3 hour nap:) I just find it so interesting how everything is so amazing to him. He gets excited when he sees a spider or when he's holding two spatulas (he announces over and over `Two Spatulas!!!'). I def. did not know that word when i was his age. HOpefully the power cord for our new video camera arrives soon so that I can post some video of our crazy energizer.

Finally, I got a few really sweet emails and notes from students over the past two days which have just brought tears to my eyes. I'm all about words of affirmation and their encouragement and admiration is just so uplifting. It makes you realize that all the work you do, the personal insight you share, and the role model you are in the classroom really does affect lives. I love teenagers! I was able to teach grade 9 and 11's this year and they were fabulous. I know how hard, emotionally, grade 9 can be and I wonder what goes on in their hearts and minds. I recognize that if I was a responsible student who appeared happy and yet was struggling so much with who I was, I can only imagine what some of them go through. Being a teenager can be tough. I love that we have time each day to check in with our students and pray with them for whatever is on their hearts. I love that they share what is going on in their lives. I love that they (mostly) enjoy being in my classroom. I love that they feel comfortable enough to ask questions or make comments. I love that they get excited about science. I love those kids. Each and every year, I feel sad about the kids I will no longer be teaching but then I get to meet a whole other group that makes me smile:)

Last game

Today was our last football game of the season. Gary and Kai came as it was early enough in the day. Kai had some good cheers like `Mommy Quaterback', `Go Mommy Go', `Yay Mommy' (with clapping). He also slapped my butt when I came off the field. We never play on a Sunday normally but they want to finish the season early enough that teams can go to the Duncan tournament.

My number one cheerleader pigging out on the sidelines. There were TONS of doggies there to keep him occupied.

Watching the defense on the field. I love wearing the long socks because it keeps me warm and that's where I keep all of our plays.

I just think my face looks so funny. The rusher was probably the fastest I've experienced yet but I always managed to get the ball off before she pulled my flag.

Football

This is a picture of our flag football team for 2008. We have our last game tomorrow against a very good team so it should be an interesting way to end the season. Today we played the top ranked team in Western Canada (they were National Champs a few years back but I'm not sure if they still hold the title). My goal for the game was to keep them at 40 points and for us to get one TD. Well, the score was 42-7 so pretty much what I was hoping for. It felt so amazing to get that TD AND the 1 pt convert against them (3 other teams in our division didn't score a single point against them). They have been playing together for over 15 years and we have just been playing together for 3. I was especially proud of the convert as I was patient and calm while waiting for the perfect moment while maintaining an adequate distance from the rusher. I was unable to run any yards in this game as they had the best rusher I have ever played against, she was amazing!

I will def. miss football in the off season as it in an integral part of balance in my life. I love being part of a team where we can work out, talk strategy, socialize and celebrate together. I love that I am just Louise there, this is so important to me. I love NOT talking about kids and just focusing on the team. Does that sound harsh? Obviously Kai is so important to me and I can't even explain my love for him. However, I just love getting out of mom mode. We are quite a random group of women from about 25-40 years of age but we have done all right moving up to the top division after being in the B division for 7 seasons. I'm proud of us. I hope that if Gary and I are blessed with more children, that I will be able to continue playing for many years to come. If I stop playing for any reason, remind me to get involved in a team sport!

Stolen

This morning, Kai and I headed out for our walk to Extra Foods. We have done this walk about every other day since he was born. I always put him in the stroller for this walk because I don't have the patience to let him walk that long. We do a walk at another point in the day when he is allowed to actually walk; we see the diggers, get the mail and go to the park. ANYWAY...today we went to the front porch where our stroller has been for 2 YEARS and it wasn't there. It took me a minute to register and then I got really sad. I actually cried for a second about our stroller. Its not the fact that it cost us over $100.00, it's the fact that it was the first baby item that we ever bought when we were expecting Kai. It's the fact that Kai was a baby that would settle down when I took him for long walks. We have gone on so many walks with it and I just can't believe its gone. It was perfect with its large storage underneath for all the groceries, the tray for him and me, so lightweight...I'm sad. I told Kai that it is gone and he just kept saying `Daddy take it?' I think he thinks its coming back.

(the replacement stroller for now which kai almost fell asleep in)

So, we went to the store in the jogging stroller that i can't stand due to the front tire that does not rotate. It always makes my neck sore. The storage underneath is not as accessible. I'm not into spending hundreds of dollars on a stroller so i have to figure out what kind I want...maybe the same one:) I hope that whoever took it really needed it and wasn't just selling it for cash.

By the way, it was not locked on our patio. Many people in our neighbourhood leave their strollers on their patios. I used to lock it up but haven't done it for about 1.5 years. Our house doesn't have room for it and we can put it in the garage but it is detached and in our back yard which means a lot more work when bringing Kai out there and then groceries back in. I guess that is what we will have to do. Gary always bugs me that I'm so nervous about stuff getting stolen but at least now my fears are validated. It also makes me nervous for someone actually breaking into our house. We really don't have any valuables other than emotional valuables (there's probably a proper name for that) such as all of our pictures stored on our computers. WE do have back up drives, but still, we don't back it up all the time.

On a different note, Kai's new `joke' is that if he sees something gross, he jokes that he is going to eat it. I think he might. I was pointing out fluff between his toes. `Eat it?' he says and then proceeds to stick his feet in his mouth. Digging in the dirt yesterday, he says `Eat it?' and put it in his mouth. He thinks its hilarious and I think its disgusting. Today when Gary left for work, Kai said `Later daddy', it was cute:) He has been asking if we can go to the store and buy him a skateboard. I'm not sure that a kid his age could use it in any capacity, maybe he could sit or lie on it? Hmmmmm...we'll see. When we say that its time for bed, he says, `Cuddle mommy? Two minutes?' He also thinks that anything we buy costs $30 because Gary had mentioned 2 weeks ago about these 3 Diego DVD's for $30.00. He says it perfectly, `Thir-ty doll-ars' . His language astounds me. All I can say is that I am soooooo thankful that he naps for 2-3 hours a day so that I have time to myself. Need it. Love it.

22 Months

In some ways, I can't believe that Kai is almost 2. In other ways, such as the way he has been acting the past 2 days, it sure makes sense! I hope this sounds like a nice blog entry but i do have to admit that today he has been testing me to the max! Usually he gets about one time out per day, this morning, he had 4. He is trying to do whatever he can to get a reaction out of me. This morning he hit my face, attempted to pull out my earrings, and threw his chilli all over the ground AND into my face. What made it so aggravating, is that he did this all with a smug smile. I may have yelled at him today (after the chilli landed on my face) and he just laughed. He is old enough to know much, much better. Grrrrrrr....

Above is a picture of Kai watching `Fifi and the Flowertots'. We got this dvd with my Today's Parent magazine. He gets to watch it 2X a day (it's 10 minutes long) and he LOVES it!!! It's his first dvd and I have to say, I love those 10 minutes while he's watching it!

This is the scene when I got to get Kai in the morning. He usually wakes up around 6:30am and then brings all his books and teddy bears into bed with him and just sits there. Then when we get him at 7am, we just clean it all up. One night I went to check on him and he was curled up in the corner with all the stuff in his bed, what a monkey.

Kai is still very much interested in the garden and the plants. The peas and beans have started sprouting so it's been fun checking it out each day. Did you know we put 2 years worth of compost into the garden? Wow, that is some nutrient packed soil!

Kai was given some diggers and trucks from his cousins and he has enjoyed playing with them in the backyard. He sort of plays by himself in the backyard which is nice, although I pretty much watch him 100% of the time through the window. Obviously he wants me out there with him but I think its good for him to play by himself too.

He is still a crazy chatterbox. Today when we were going to go outside, he had to say bye bye to everything in the room. `Bye bye balls, bye bye letter D (on his blocks, he always can pick out `D' for daddy), bye bye tv, bye bye chair...etc'. I love that he can let me know what he's feeling all the time. When we go for a walk to `Extra Poods' (as he calls it), he likes to know which items we are going for and will repeat it several times on the walk there and in the store. It's nice to have an audio shopping list:)

I used to think preschool's were silly (before I had kids) just because I never had one and I was very prepared for school and well socialized etc. However, I think Kai really needs that kind of structure, new experiences, and he loves interacting with other kids, particulary older ones. I can't wait til he's old enough to go. I think he will absolutely love it.

Gary and Kai have a lot of fun together and def. interact way more now that Kai is older. I love their conversations and seeing them work together on dinner or the yard. Gary is an excellent father. I think its hard when they are younger because there is only so much a dad can do when all a baby needs is food from mommy. But now, Gary can provide all his needs and a lot of fun so it is good for all of us! I have to say that Kai is still a momma's boy and would rather cuddle with me but he loves being with daddy too.

I love that we have so much family around. Kai loves all his uncles, aunts, cousins, opi, grandma (Mama) and grandpa (Papa). We are so fortunate to have family nearby. I especially appreciate Gary's parents who have taken Kai for the day or even overnight. He loves it there and I don't worry about him at all. Having Ani (his cousin) near in age has provided tons of fun for Kai too. They usually get together once a week and get along for the most part.

Pretty soon I'll have to start thinking about what to do for his second birthday. I don't like a lot of gifts and stuff and I'd rather he had some sort of experience instead. However, I'm def. excited to make a basketball cake:)

Time Out For Mommy

Phew, I'm exhuasted. We had a really busy weekend (football, family stuff, photo shoots) and now I'm going to sit back and relax. Hopefully. Today we were taking pictures at a one year olds party and the party started at 2pm. Kai usually sleeps from 12-3pm so we woke him up after just one hour of sleeping. He morphed into this crazy kid, and I just kept thinking `Who are you?'. I think more than anything he just kept running around touching and throwing things he knows he's not allowed to. He probably sat down for 20 seconds the entire time we were there. I watched the other kids sitting and playing with the toys and wondered why Kai couldn't just relax. Usually he likes to go, go, go but today he was doing this to the extreme. I think that a good nap is crucial in his life and I won't be waking him up again. I will work my life around his. A well behaved kid=happy and relaxed mommy. I think this goes for students too. Generally, a well rested student= an attentive and well behaved student. Kids do not get enough sleep these days and they have so much stuff on their plates, they need to be well rested.

I only have 3 teaching days left, isn't that crazy? I was so blessed with wonderful classes this year. I won't have any of these kids in my classes next year which is too bad. My exams are ready to go and my final classes are all planned out and prepped for. Nothing left to do but show up...and then do all my report cards, mark all the exams, attend a few meetings and evaluate final projects:)

Okay, time to relax. I should really post some recent pictures soon. I guess that means I should actually take some of our family!