Kai's First Date

This video was taken a few weeks ago at Green Lake. Kai was such a little man taking the neighbour girl on a lawnmower ride. Don't worry folks, they were closely supervised (by their grandpa's) and the blade obviously wasn't on:)

Funny things Kai has said this week:

Upon seeing Gary come down the stairs in his nice clothes for wedding photography, Kai said, ` Daddy, you look handsome like Bob!'. You know, like Bob the Builder.

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Kai learning that flattery may work...`Mommy, you have pretty eyes. Can I have a freezie?'

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Kai: Daddy, what kind of flower is that?

Gary: A marigold

Kai: YOu're right Daddy, you are so smart!

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Me: Kai, you've got so many bumps and scrapes, you're falling apart!

Kai (looking so concerned and worried): I'll break like glass?

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Not really a funny story but Kai is so upset that his broken toy jeep is currently buried in the dump somewhere. Last night he really wanted us to take him to the dump to go get it back:)

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Kai was recently given the job of taking the compost out to the bin. He is so interested in the process of worms eating the scraps and pooping out good soil which in turn makes our garden grow. Ask him about it, he loves to talk about it!

Koen `Chases' Kai Video

Be prepared for giggles...starts about 7 seconds in. Unfortunately as this was the 10th time we did it, Kai was no longer into it:)

A Beautiful Day

Today we started the day with homemade waffles and then went on a 5 km family jog in the cool weather. This is honestly a dream start to the day for me:) Then, homemade smoothies, yum, yum! Everyone should have frozen berries in their freezer. This week I made blueberry pancakes, blueberry waffles, triple berry crumble, raspberry muffins, and berry smoothies (frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, milk, vanilla and honey). Love it!




I've been struggling this last week with some insomnia so I think I need to start running a little more. We've been so busy that I took about 5 days off. I think that must be contributing to it. That and the inability to stop thinking about Caden's birth:)


Koen can now go from crawling to sitting. I can't believe how much this guy is moving!!!


He visited a massage therapist on Wednesday to get a visceral massage. She compressed and massaged his digestive system, particularly his esophagus. Koen did pretty well lying on his back for 10 minutes and just kept pulling on her hair:) We're going again next week so we'll see how it goes. He has vomitted up several ounces twice in the last week and although he is getting a lot of solids, he is still spitting up frequently. He still stays up til 10pm each night, has maybe one feed in the night, and then sleeps til about 7am.

Koen is Mr. Personality. He LOVES people and exploring and giggling and MOVING. I'll post a video later of him `chasing' Kai and laughing hysterically. I love it. I love this age!

After seeing Ali seconds after the birth of Caden, I've been so emotional. A baby is such an incredible miracle and we are so blessed. I went and held Caden today and he curled up on my chest, with his arms under his head and man, that is too cute. There's something about another 9lb+ baby boy, brings me back:)

Little hands, don't get too big too fast.

Brotherly Love

Today was fabulous as Kai and Koen started doing things together. It makes my heart so happy.

Baby Kooger

I had one of the most amazing nights ever. It's currently on facebook so I think I can talk about it now:) Ali and Joel are good friends of mine who had their first baby last night. I was allowed to take pictures immediately after the baby was born and it was soooo emotional. I couldn't sleep afterwards. Ali did the best job ever. She pushed out a 9lb 7oz baby boy with a HUGE head. I don't know where she was hiding all that baby in that belly of hers.

Caden Theodore Kooger (I love his name!!) was born at 11:57pm and was immediately sucking his thumb and hand. Most of Ali and Joel's family were ready, waiting, and eager to celebrate in the good news. So cute. So precious. Congratulations!!

There are a ton more pictures but I should probably let them see them first:)

Just seconds old, mom and dad get their first glance at their big beautiful baby boy.

Koen will now have a little buddy to play with! Congratulations Joel and Ali!!!

Good Eats

We're starting to get some good food from our garden which is always fun. You don't realize how good home grown strawberries are until you have one. These guys taste way better than they look.

Wedding shoot went well on Saturday and I should have some (okay, a lot of) pictures posted tomorrow. We are heading out in a few hours for an engagement shoot. I just realized this week that this is our job, not just a hobby. We just enjoy it so much, we forget its work. It is also a great option for me in the future to be a stay at home mom. The only problem is that I will be a mom-in-front-of-the-computer-for-hours-editing kind of mom, but I guess I can do all that when the kids are in bed. Thank goodness we have summers off to do this as there's no way we could do what we do if we were working full time in the summer! I guess I sort of have experienced working while having 2 kids which I always thought would be very overwhelming. Teaching will be an entirely different story I'm sure, so exhuasting!

(Kai's hair is crazy...we are growing it out. He has very awkward, very straight hair. He says he wants to grow it as long as mine. We'll see about that).
Koen has really started moving. It's kind of a random crawl with some leg extensions, belly flops and big wiggles but he gets to where he wants to go! Pretty soon it will be time to put the baby gate back up. Talking about baby gates, I think Gary and I are pretty confident that we would like a 3rd child, just not right now:) Who am I? As I predicted (as did my sister Maria), you just can't make that decision while 8 months pregnant, or recovering from a C-section, or getting up 4 times in the night. I guess things get easier when the baby is 6 months because it was at this magical time that I thought that I really, really want one more baby. We will see if that is what God has planned for us or not, but in the meantime, we're going to enjoy our wonderful family of four.

And as for moving, we are going to stay put until our mortgage is up for renewal (1.5 years). Then we will see what the rates are at and whether or not it would be wise to take on a larger mortgage. For now, we will try to maximize our space (any tips?) and do a little painting to spice things up. And, I will stop looking at MLS:)
See ya!

Picture This

Hey team, just a quick update as we haven't taken any pictures in two days (GASP) and we will be busy taking pictures at a wedding and engagement shoot over the next two days so I will def. be pictured out! I went for a run in the crazy hot heat yesterday and have felt sick ever since. I find I get dehydrated so easily while breastfeeding and it gives me the worst headaches. No more running in the heat, I'll just work out in front of the AC (yay for AC!!!).

Just wanted to let you know that I have another blog called `Picture This' which is linked on the side. It just shows some general photography tips right now and I'm not sure where its going but take a peak, let me know what you think. I'm not claiming to be an expert, just someone sharing some stuff she has learned over the years. I know I'm a little blog crazy but I find that its a quick escape and its easier to do than reading a book with 2 kids around. Leave a comment:)

I'm eagerly awaiting the day that Koen goes to bed before 10pm. It's just mentally exhausting to not have down time. I LOVE that Kai goes to bed at 7:30pm each night. Maybe I was just spoiled with Kai who napped 4 hours a day and slept 7pm-7am every night at this age. Oh well, he can't be like this forever..right?!!! Tips people?? Any tips??

Gary and I realized that we get along best when we are out of our house and on holidays. We had some good talks, without distractions (other than the kids), on the way to and from Green Lake. We discussed trying to have a third child and buying a new house. Two big things in my book. I'll let you know what we decided when Gary confirms our decision:)

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And in closing, a couple comments from Kai:

Kai: Mommy, can I have some of your drink?

Me: No Kai, its not good for kids (a frappaccino, which I could truly become addicted to but don't for fear that it would keep Koen up even later)

Kai: Oh mommy, I'll just try it, it's no big deal.

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Me and Gary were discussing something about houses and Kai pipes up excitedly from the backseat...`Did you say dessert? I LOVE dessert! What a great idea!' We were not talking about dessert. He has done this several times, always with different things that he loves and thinks are a great idea.

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Today Kai put on his underwear by himself. Apparently daddy taught him how to do it. Not sure what I've been doing the past month. Apparently with a VERY firm tone, he suddenly knows how to do what he has been `unable' to do. Good thing daddy taught him. What do mommy's know?

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Okay, hoping its not too hot tomorrow and that there's a little cloud cover for our wedding shoot. Oh well, better than rain. Have a great weekend all!

Thank You Officer

Dear Officer B, thank you for the warning. Who knew the speed limit was 90 km/hour between Yale and Hope? I know now. Louise
PS Gary was impressed I didn't swear, I just kept saying, `I'm going to vomit, I'm going to vomit.'.

Mr. Adventure

For those of you who don't know Gary, he is very even keel. He doesn't show much excitement for things except when coaching basketball. However, we have found that he really enjoys the mystery and adventure of geocaching. I think it fulfills his secret inner desire to be a spy or detective.

I do have to admit that when we found this one, I was pretty pumped. It was a hard one to find. By the way, if you are ever on your way to 100 Mile House, hike up Mt. Begbie. It's just a bunch of switchbacks but it only takes 5 minutes (without Kai) to climb up and you get a great view.

Green Lake Trip #2

We are up at Green Lake with my dad and having a good time. I do have to say that the kids do much better in their own beds. Gary and I did not get much sleep last night. Oh well, Kai is having the time of his life so it's worth it?!

Admittedly, I'm obsessed with making these picture packages in Photoshop, I just think it summarizes everything nicely. Shows the max amount of pictures in an optimal space. It seriously just takes 5 minutes to do.



Gary and I are hoping on taking Koen for a hike later and leaving Kai behind with Opi. We will see if that works out. Kai on a real hike with us would not be much fun, especially with the incline.

Not sure if it's a good or bad thing that there is an internet connection up here right now...this is usually where we get a ton of reading done. I did read a bunch of my chemistry workbook yesterday and had teaching nightmares last night (I'm teaching chemistry for the first time in the fall).

Right now both kids are napping, for probably just 30 minutes, so we are enjoying the peace and quiet. I'm on the computer and Gary is out on the Jetski. Aw man, Koen is crying. His 30 min. nap is up. Seriously.

This was before we left, but seriously, Kai is showing some brotherly love. Love it.

Our herb garden.

Time to feed a kiddo and head on back outside.