What I Woke Up To

My sweet little boy did this for me this morning. Kai Love Mom. Life is good.

Here you can see the rash on his face...I kept him home from preschool even though he apparently isn't contagious. I feel bad because it's so itchy but he's being such a good boy about it. Kai is wonderful. He has grown up so much in the last month or so and I cannot remember the last time he was in time out. He is so kind and inquisitive and understanding. I think he's fabulous, rash and all:)

Itchy Kai

**UPDATE: Doctor says it's an unknown viral infection. Apparently not contagious anymore. Jackie: he could get measles even though he's vaccinated, it happens in 5% of cases. Yay, we can still go on holidays!!!**

Someone is sad.

He has a rash from head to toe (I overexposed his face so you can't really see the rash on his face...he wanted to have a sad face:)).

It started on Saturday and has gotten progressively worse. I can't think of a single thing that could have caused it. He hasn't eaten anything new and the only place he went that Koen did not was the hot tub (but he's been in there many times with no reaction). It's itchy.

Heading to the doctor this afternoon because I want to make sure he's not contagious AND we leave on holidays soon!!

Has anyone seen a rash like this on their kids before? Head to toe?

Spring Break Countdown

Spring break in just 5 days! I'm really excited and our first stop is the Water's Edge Resort in Ucluelet. Should be good! I've already started baking each day so we have lots of snacks to eat:) We'll have a full kitchen too so we'll make our own meals. I feel that the kids are at the perfect age to do this so I'm hoping that is the case!

I really wish that it would be sunny for maybe, I don't know, three days?! I'm so sick of the rain and to go the Vancouver Island with more and more rain is not making it as exciting as it could be. We had a good weekend; dinner with friends on Friday, a wedding (in the pouring rain) on Saturday, and then church and my niece's first birthday on Sunday. The picture below is me saying `Gary, what are you doing?'. When I ask him to take one picture, he takes about 30 in a row to try to prove a point but he never even checks the shutter speed which drives me nuts. I should clarify this...he is trying to be funny by just taking a bunch of photos in a row which makes me think he isn't `trying'.

Gary is at a cooking class at Well Seasoned tonight. It was one of the gifts I got him for Christmas. He loves cooking. It's actually a vegetarian class as we would like to incorporate more vegetarian dishes into our repertoire.

Kai Bear got a human body book from my sister Jantina. He LOVES it. It's probably at a grade 9 level but he is so fascinated it. He said to his friend today, in extreme excitement: `I have a new human body book and it even has pictures of real red blood cells and white blood cells!'. The friend just stared at him blankly:) Today we read all about the urinary system and I was seriously weirded out that my 4 year old was learning the word `nephron'. He is way nerdier than I ever was, and I was pretty nerdy! He suggested that maybe the white blood cells should hold a sign that said `No germs allowed' which would make their job much easier. He also thought the reason some virus' are difficult to get rid of is because they are too camouflaged.

Kai realized today that one day, Gary will likely be his science teacher and possibly his coach as well. He was so incredibly excited. He asked if I would also be his teacher and I guess that will be a possibility too. Crazy. Oh man, if Gary ever coaches Kai and/or Koen in basketball I think it will be the coolest thing too watch, I'm looking forward to it:)

Okay, time to put the kiddos to bed. I know it's bad, but I am so thankful that Koen can now watch tv. Pockets of peace. I'll take it! And can I just say, that although the boys have their moments, for the most part they are such good buddies. It is the sweetest thing to see them chasing each other while giggling away. Kai even offered to eat Koen's peas and carrots so that Koen could have ice cream for dessert:)

Have a fabulous week.

Love, Louise

10 On 10

10 on 10 is where you take one picture every hour for 10 hours. You are supposed to do it on the 10th of every month. I just found out about it today so I tried it out. I don't know that I'll do it again but it was kind of fun. Originally I was going to try to take nice pictures but then I just decided to take a picture of whatever was happening whenever I remembered each hour. If I took a picture of what the kids were doing almost the entire time, it would be eating. Kai should probably be 6 feet tall by the end of the week with the amount he eats.

I got to hold baby Amarys today...so did Kokies:)

Have a great weekend everyone.

Love, Louise

My Skater Boy

Our Kai Bear passed levels 1 and 2 of skating and we are sooooo proud of him. I'm mostly proud of his determination. It is so great to see that although he isn't blessed with the greatest coordination, he will give 110%. So, level 1 and 2 means basically that he can walk from one end of the rink to the other (ya, not so much gliding going on yet), turn in a circle, skate and touch his toes, fall down and get up. Pretty much it!

You can see by his sweaty face how hard he works! We went for a family walk afterwards to go to Starbucks to get a kids hot chocolate. I told him he could get whatever he wanted, and you know what he said? `Do they have apples?'. Crazy kid. Koen and Kai ended up having cake pops and hot chocolate:). Next up? Swimming lessons! I have a feeling that won't go as well but he we will see!

Kai is so into school it is driving me crazy. He asks me all day long what he will learn in grade 1, grade 5, grade 7, grade 11 etc. He wants to talk about everything he is learning, which is good, and I'm learning in the process. Right now in preschool, he is learning about the classification of instruments and the artist Kandinsky (he goes to a Wind and Tide preschool which we LOVE). I wonder if Koen will be as nerdy as him? (*Note: it is cool to be nerdy*). The boys continue to play so well together and Koen totally knows how to push Kai's buttons, it makes me laugh...and then tell him to stop:) Kai is now into computer games and Gary is in charge of that one. I have no idea what upgrades he is talking about, I just say `that's interesting'.

Just found this picture while going into our archives (2007/2008). Oh Mexico, it was a great trip with Kai bear and a bunch of friends! Just getting excited about our spring break and hoping we don't have to pack snowsuits to Tofino. Trying to figure out some business stuff. Trying to continue to work out the kinks in running a business with your spouse (don't know if I'd recommend it and I mean that in a nice way).

Gary and I are doing okay. We both had pulled muscles in our backs. I saw a massage therapist after dealing with a sore back for 2.5 months and now I feel fantastic. I just read `Room' by Emma Donaghue and it was a gooder. Gary just seems to be tired and understandably so. He works all day and then does the full out dad thing and then tries to fix our ridiculous computer. I am not buying a 4th computer but we might have to if I beat his computer up. DRIVING. US. CRAZY. Our 5D is also on the fritz. I think it's a battery connection type issue and I always have a back up camera on me just in case.....Gary wants to buy another 5D. Seriously, 4 cameras? Yikes. I guess that's what happens though when you have two photographers in the house!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend. Ours consists of photographing a wedding (very fun just doing one per month!!) and my niece, Sami's, first birthday!

Love, Louise

Counting

Koen's voice is adorable. He has been counting for a while but always messing up 3, 4, 5. Finally yesterday, he got it and it's so cute:)

One, Two, Twee, Sore, Sive....(all his f's are s's) up to 11. He loves counting and it always calms his down. He also really loves talking about colours.

He has the cutest singing voice in the world. It's what we woke up to early this morning and it started our day with a big smile. He was singing `Dinosaur Train' in the hallway trying to wake up Kai Bear:)

Oh, and I will miss the day when mommy's kisses don't make his owies feel better. It's so cute how he loves to get kisses and then he's says, `All better mommy bear! Thank you, mommy bear!'.

A Thoughtful Gift

A while back I had mentioned how I wish that people knew we were expecting via adoption. No belly to show for it, but wanted people to know. Well, today I went to the mailbox and there was a package (an etsy one!! Love it!!). I couldn't think of anything I ordered. I thought maybe Gary was surprising me, but I don't think he has a clue about etsy. I opened it up and it said: Love from, Team Willms. I love being surprised and burst into tears (I do tear up often, but don't often cry). Thank you, Team Willms. Yay for friends, support, surprises and thoughtfulness.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us, thinking of us, or sending messages our way. Much appreciated!

Ups and Downs

I'm feeling sorry for myself these days. No particular reason and this is just a really strange feeling for me. I haven't felt this way in about 10 years. I know how incredibly blessed I am and I'm tired of feeling unsatisfied. I don't need you to list all the ways I am blessed and how much I have to be thankful for. I know.

I know that part of it has to do with the fact that the weather sucks and we've been indoors forever (with never ending sick kids). I know part of it has to do with the fact that my uncle is currently undergoing chemo. Seriously, can cancer just disappear? I know part of it has to do with the fact that all I can do is pray for our baby and that's it (by the way, I really feel like it will happen by Oct. 12, although I don't know if it's 2011 or 2012:). We have our baby girl name (our second choice for a girl was Zoe, I really like it, Gary doesn't love it) and for our boy names, we have three names we love that all start with `C'. And this seems petty, but I just don't get a break anymore because Koen stopped napping at the age of two. That includes no quiet time. I tried to contain him in his old crib and he jumped out head first. Twice. I feel grumpy with the kids and Kai announced this week that daddy was a lot more fun. Ouch. And finally, I was really hoping to go on a sunny romantic getaway with Gary over spring break but the reality is that we don't have anyone to watch the kids for a week. Understandable, just a bit sad. We have the time and money, but I guess we just need to wait 10 years or so. We could go with the kids but that is twice the price and only 10% the romance:)

So yes, life is incredibly good and I don't know what my problem is. I'll blame it on hormones and the weather:)

On the upside...

1. Today I had football practice and I could participate 100%, no problem. I didn't even take any meds today. I am so incredibly thankful for my health.

2. We went with good friends of ours, the Rehmans, to the zoo today. We had such a great time together.

3. Photography is so great. I love it. I don't know what I would do without it. I love learning and with this, it's non stop.

(We bought a new vinyl backdrop from B&H. No more paper ripping and having to replace it! It currently smells like vinyl but I'm excited for it's long term usage!)

4. We are going on three trips for our two week spring break!

a. Tofino with the kiddos, staying in a hotel. Kai is desperate to see something to do with Emily Carr but we aren't going through Victoria. I wonder if there is anything Emily Carr-ish in Tofino?

b. Green lake with the kiddos and my sister Maria and her family

c. Seattle with just Gary. We have childcare for two nights. We got a great hotel on hotwire.com right in the Pike Place Market area. We're excited to eat good food so if you have any recommendations, let me know!

I know this is random. Just where I'm at. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Love, Louise

I'm Gonna Miss This

My favourite time with Kokies; post bath, in pj's, snuggling and reading bedtime books.

Two year olds are pretty special. I'm gonna miss this.

On Birth

From February 28th to March 1st, I had the honour of photographing the birth of baby Amarys. It was such an honour to be invited to document such an intimate occasion and I am so thankful that I could be there. Usually I would just go the hospital when the momma was 9cm or so to document the parents meeting baby for the first time. In this case, Melissa (a friend of ours), is a self proclaimed `birth nut' and wanted the whole birthing journey captured. What an honour!

Some people have been very surprised that someone would want a birth documented with photos. I totally understand that it is not for everyone. However, it's a one time event, with the birth of each child, and in this case it is likely her last:) It is such a life changing journey and I don't think there is ever an event with such raw emotion. When baby Amyrus came out, I was openly sobbing like a baby while trying to focus my camera.

It was my first time being at a midwife attended birth and it was beautiful. Everything just happened like it was meant to happen if that makes sense. It was calm and quiet and just...natural. I will be sharing some photos on my photo blog later with more of the actual story. Melissa was super woman and her relaxation almost put me to sleep. Her support team was amazing. Her baby, a girl (after 3 boys!), is so gorgeous and latched on immediately and didn't ever want to stop.

This whole experience just puts me in awe of every woman who has ever given birth. With Kai, I had pushed for several hours and then it ended in an emergency C-section as he was coming out ear first (and stuck!). It has also made me appreciate our future birth mom even more.

What a beautiful experience. Yes, the whole thing was beautiful.