Birthday Getaway

So, either I don't get out much or Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa is pretty awesome! I had such a good time! Maybe it's because I didn't do any work for 24 hours:) We only went for one night but that's all we needed. It' s just over an hour away and we were able to check in 4 hours early and get our full usage out of the pool.

There were two queen beds for us and then Nya slept in the playpen in the large walk in closet. It even had a door so I'd say she had her own room:)

{We also went to the beach on the first day, just a 5 minute walk away}

There are 5 pools there and they are so nice and warm. One was a bit cooler, but ya, so nice! The water comes from the hotspring so that's why it was so warm and had a different chemical makeup to it. It is soooooooooooooooo family friendly and yet, it could be a romantic getaway too (there is an adult only pool and there is one restaurant just for adults). Our trip wasn't so romantic:)

{The only thing that made me nervous was that Nya was going to poop in the pool. Once they're on solids, I trust swim diapers. Before then? Not so sure I can trust them! Anyone have experience with this?}

The pools are open from 8am until 10:30pm (and then even later for adults), so we definitely got our use out of them! Kai can now swim without any kind of flotation device. His rendition of the Butterfly is pretty hilarious. Koen swims using water wings but is pretty comfortable in the water. Nya was really good overall. She went in the pool a couple of times and napped well. She's been getting up once at night, usually around 4am, and that is totally fine with me!

It was totally worth the money. Normally I wouldn't spend more than $100 on a hotel but this one was $150 using Travelocity and I would rather spend more and have an awesome place for one night than to go for two nights and stay in a not so nice place. We brought our own lunch and breakfast and just went out for pizza for dinner. All together, with gas, our 2 day getaway was under $200.00. Once Nya is 3 we will likely be camping for most of our holidays, but for now, this was pretty great!

I'm really glad that I booked this. It was a birthday gift to myself:) I am now 34 years old. Really, all of the 30's have sort of been the same for me. This birthday made me think of my mom a bit more. A birthday is really almost more about the one who birthed you. Big thanks to my momma for pushing me into this world, it was not an easy birth, I know that:)

I am just feeling so incredibly thankful these days for all I have. Every time I look at Nya, I can't believe that she's part of our family. So, so thankful for everything. By the way, can I just say that I did not even think about how I looked in my bathing suit once? Times have changed! I think that when holding a baby and keeping your eye on two others, you don't have time to think about what you look like:)

Happy 34th birthday to me!

Love, Louise

Swimming

Wow...we have been busy! Who isn't though?!

Lots and lots of taking photos and therefore lots and lots of editing. Did a last minute wedding yesterday and have an engagement session downtown tomorrow night...I like to be busy but I still do need to find a bit more of a balance:)

I know once I get to November/December/January it will slow down so then I will have more/some down time:) It's just `easy' to work now with Gary home to help out so much.

Today I ran the Tynehead Perimeter Trail with Ali. It's supposed to be 4.8km so we did an extra 200m to make it 5km but it seemed like it was less than 5km. Oh well, still an awesome half hour run! I loved doing the 6 week program and it's crazy how I've gone from just running 1 minute at a time to running 30 minutes straight, no problem. The ridiculous thing is that after running 3 days a week for 6 weeks, I've lost maybe only 2lbs. I think my body is holding on to the weight until I'm done breastfeeding. It did that with Koen too. In the meantime, I'll keep wearing my maternity clothes?!

This evening we went swimming as a family. Gary has been great at taking the boys to the free outdoor pool a couple times a week. They were much better swimmers last summer so we're trying to get that back. Today Nya went in the pool for the first time and she loved it. I'm thinking we're going to have to take her a few more times as she has 3 different bathing suits. So ridiculous, I realize, but I didn't buy any of them!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Love, Louise

A Great Day

Yesterday was awesome. One of the things on our list for this summer was to go to Playland. The past few years we've gone to the PNE but have realized the boys just like the rides. So, we went on a cloudy day and it wasn't busy at all! Kai got a ride ticket for his birthday (Thank you Adam and Noah!!) so it was a super cheap day for us. We got free parking, Koen is still free, so we just had to pay for the entrance fee for Gary and I. For $30 we rode on the 48" and under rides for 3 hours. They loved it.

Next year will be a bit trickier as I guess Kai and Gary will go on the big rides while I stay with Koen on the little ones. That's a bit more of an investment...we may go to the Northwest Washington Fair instead, I'll have to check that out online.

Kai and Koen love getting scrambled!

Nya was super awesome. She sleeps SO well in her car seat...I wonder if she does have some reflux (she spits up all the time) because that generally helps babies who have projectile spit up.

Then, we went to McDonalds for dinner, and after that, we went to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. I've never actually been there before and I had a photo session with a family at 6:30pm. We went as a family so that the kids could explore and geocache while I worked. What a great location!! I'm glad it worked to do Playland on the same day so that we didn't have to cross the Port Mann twice and we saved on gas:) Also, I didn't really want to be away from Nya for 4+ hours due to the bottle situation.

Kai said it was the best day of his life and it was pretty good. I think that he also liked that we didn't get home until 9pm:)

I would love to go back there some day.

Hope you are having a great week!

Love, Louise

Tackleball

This is a variation of basketball that the boys have invented; tackleball. You just tackle the other person until you get the ball and then try to slam dunk it into the bucket.

It might look like they are in pain and not having fun but the giggling is non stop between Koen's complaining. The only reason he cries is if Kai doesn't let him take a shot now and then.

Koen has taught Kai to be so physical. Koen will be (well, he is) one tough guy.

These boys are having fun together this summer!

And, just because she is cute, here are a few Nya smiling/laughing photos. Can you see her eyelashes? They are gorgeous. I think today I gave up on the bottle. I quit. Can't handle it. She is happy 99% of the time and the bottle leads to pure screaming and such a waste of 1-3 hours in our day. I think we'll try again next month. I have only quit a few things in my life and this is one of them. NOT WORTH IT.

Today I booked a mini getaway for our family. As a birthday gift to myself, I booked a night for us all to go to Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. Got a pretty good deal online and should be a lot of fun with all of the pools. I have a feeling the boys will really love it.

Hope you are having a good week! I'm thankful that heat is gone. Phew. Back to the low 20's.

Love, Louise

A Couple of Birthdays

Thank goodness today is cooler! This weekend was HOT. I'm a 17C kinda girl. Three days in a row it was about 30+C and all I could think is `How am I going to handle SE Asia next summer?!':) Hopefully I will be down 20lbs by then and then it won't affect me as much?!

Friday we had Kai's birthday party. He had a blast and it was `the best day ever'. They played hockey with the dads there and did a super skills competition and ate food. The rest of us hung out in the shade beside the hockey box.

Nya liked being outside in the shade and then my sister Maria got her to sleep:) She is such a happy baby and I should get some more pictures of her.

My nieces have never played hockey before but I think they liked it! Everyone participated and were all good and sweaty by the end.

Even though it was such a simple party, he loved it.

What else this weekend?!

1. I had my first full wedding!! So good to be back at it. How did Nya do? Well, I left her with my best friend Lynette whose parents live about 15 minutes from the wedding location. So, she hung out at her parents house for the day. I fed her before, then Lynette brought her to me during the receiving line, and then I fed her 3 hours later. May seem inconvenient but Miss Nya cannot be trusted to take a bottle and I felt a billion times better just being able to feed her. A HUGE HIP HIP HOORAY to Lynette. She made it so easy for me and I am so thankful. Lynette said that Nya was so easy and didn't even cry once. Yahoo!! For the next wedding, I'm also getting the babysitters to take her to me. We're still working on the bottle but I just don't want the stress/pressure.

2. I ran 33 minutes straight today. I was supposed to walk for 30 seconds and run for 10 minutes three times in a row but I just decided to keep going and not stop. Felt good!

3. On Sunday we went out for dinner to Red Robins for Gary's birthday as we had a wedding on his actual birthday the day before. For his birthday, I gave him shorts, a shirt and an electric knife sharpener (he had asked for the sharpener and I found one on sale:)

Then, for the first time, I planned a little surprise. I planned for my sister Jackie to come by to babysit for an hour in the evening so Gary and I could go for a bike ride. Totally not exciting but fun for us to get out alone. I cannot keep anything from Gary. It was so hard for me to lie to him (I just said that Jackie and I were going biking) and I think he really liked being surprised:) We were just gone for one hour doing the Tynehead Perimeter Trail but that is our first date since Nya was born. It was a beautiful evening.

Hope you all had a great long weekend!

Love, Louise

Kai Bear Turns Six!!

Six years ago, after the longest 2 nights of my life, our Kai Bear was born. He was big at 9lbs 11oz and 22.5" long. He cried a lot so it was a good thing he was kinda cute:)

We had no idea what we were doing. I knew you fed a baby but I didn't know how often. I knew I would be tired but I had no idea I would be THAT tired. We learned so much. I learned that I was selfish and that it was hard to put someone else's needs ahead of your own. He made us parents and he will forever be our first born and we love him so much.

I was so nervous to have a boy. Growing up in a family of girls, I didn't know much about what young boys were like. Well, I can tell you, they are a lot of fun and they can be really gross:) He is such an eager boy who loves to learn (he asks great questions!) and loves to play with anyone and everyone. He is such a quick learner:) He can read and loves to play all sports. I love his freckles and I love the way he trusts me 100%. He has the most beautiful hazel coloured eyes and a fabulous dimpled smile.

I could say a whole lot but I will just say that I am so thankful that I was given the gift of our son.

Happy 6th Birthday Kai Bear!!!! We love you forever and ever. Love, Mommy, Daddy, Koen and Nya.

PS Today is his hockey party and it's a million degrees out. I hope he loves it!

10 Weeks Old

Things around here have been busy but good. Busy taking care of 3 kids, getting ready for Kai's birthday party, editing a million pictures and getting ready for another wedding this weekend!

I'm working quite a bit July/August because I have Gary home. That way, I will be able to take it much slower when he goes back to work. And besides, he makes every single dinner. Yup, and a good one at that. Tonight he even made a peach and cherry pie for dessert. I know I'm spoiled in that department.

I woke up this morning to Nya giggling away in her crib. How cute is that?! I'm not going to talk about the bottle situation again until it is successful but I think we are getting closer.

I have committed to the following three things:

1. Exercising 3 days a week for a minimum of 20 minutes. I'm currently on week 5 of 6 of my running program and able to run about 25 minutes straight! I am not playing football this fall which is sad but it just doesn't work very well for our family. Especially since Kai is in school full time, we will want Saturdays to be family days.

2. Using 3 cloth diapers per day. It's really an environmental thing, and if I have them, I should probably use them. The main reason I don't like to? This sounds terrible but then she can't wear her cute clothes.

3. Only accept 5 sessions per month. I am currently booked until the end of October!

I think the best investment we made was our trampoline. Seriously, the kids use it for a minimum of 1 hour per day. I love it.

I'm starting to research our trip to SE Asia for next summer. We are for sure going to the Philippines and trying to figure out where else we will go. Malaysia? Thailand? Indonesia? We will only go once in our lives so we want to make it worthwhile. We plan on going for one month. I know it's a bit crazy to take three kids, one being just one years old, but we want to do multiple international trips with our kids so we might as well start now. We will be visiting our friends in the Philippines which we are really looking forward to! If anyone has any recommendations/connections, please let me know!

Have a great week.

Love, Louise

Green Lake

We had a quick 3 day vacation to Green Lake (my dad has a house there). The boys loved the water, the sand, playing baseball, the quad, and eating snacks:) I do love how `easy' it is to go there...all the comforts of home (except internet and tv which is good/bad!!).

{The boys did go swimming}

Nya traveled very well both ways, but man, she did not want to nap. This has been the way she's been acting the last month...maybe 45 minutes naps. Then, we have to hold her for another 10 minutes and she'll go back to sleep. Let's be honest, it's usually Gary that does because I don't have the patience:) At least the nights are still good!! We are still sticking to trying to get her to take a bottle. Tonight it took 2 hours for her to take 3.5oz. I feel so mean but I don't know what to do. She never has a good latch on the bottle. She just chews on the bottle's nipple and swallows what comes out drop by drop. Anyone else have a baby that did that? I am two seconds away from giving up. The ONLY reason I care is for weddings where someone other than Gary will have to try to give her a bottle.

{The boys loved roasting hot dogs and marshmallows!}

{Nya is starting to grab on to toys!}

{The very same arbour where we said our `I Do's}

I remember on our honeymoon, Gary and I ran into a woman who was there (at the spa and resort) by herself. She said that every year she left her kids and husband for a few days and went to the spa. In my head, I couldn't believe it. Why would someone WANT to leave their husband and kids to vacation by themselves? I so get it now. Except, I would probably take Gary. Probably. Love my kids, but man, I NEED A BREAK!!!

{And today Koen started riding a bike with training wheels. We're not cool enough to have a run bike. We should but ya...}

Okay, better head to bed. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Louise

PS I ran 22 minutes straight!! Go me!!

2 Months Old

Wow, time has flown. Nya had her shots today:( She cried and screamed in pain which I've never heard from her before. I had a few tears of my own. However, I know it's better than her getting really sick later on.

{You should see the CUTEST purple vintage carriage that I have for her 6 month photo session! It will be on our GC Photography site sometime next week for a one year old session that I had, but ya, I love purple!}

She is growing so well!!

Length: 24" (97th percentile)

Weight: 12lbs (75-90th percentile)

Head: 40.5" (90th percentile)

She is so full of smiles and starting to make some really cute sounds. Somehow I haven't really been taking as many pictures of her lately. I have a feeling that once she's sitting up I'll take a ton more:)

Her personality is evident already. She is relaxed and easy going. She is not a big eater and you could hold her off for an extra hour or two if you wanted to (the boys would NEVER go longer than 2-3 hours). I hope she doesn't turn into a picky eater though, that would never work in this house!! Talking about milk, she spits up all the time. 24/7 her shirt is wet. She just wears a bib constantly and we do a lot of laundry:)

Koen took 2 weeks to learn how to use a bottle and Nya is on to week 3 at least. We do it every day and after an hour she takes it (when she's falling asleep from the exhaustion of fighting it!). Either she's stubborn or she just can't figure it out. Either way, if it doesn't end up working, I'll just have to get my babysitter to take her to me so I can breastfeed her while Gary does family portraits or something.

And, I'm nervous to say this, but YAHOO, she started sleeping through the night!!! Kai was 6 months and Koen was 18 months but Ms. Nya has started doing it this last week. I give her her last feed somewhere between 6-9pm and then she sleeps til about 5 am (I feed her then and she goes back to sleep for another 3-4 hours). Today she slept til 6am so after I fed her, I put her back to sleep and I got to work for a couple of hours. It's so interesting because I've done nothing different with any of the kids and they are all so different. I am very well rested which makes me a much nicer mommy:)

The boys love her and we all refer to her as `babes'. Koen thinks she is the cutest and Kai likes to make her smile. They don't spend a lot of time with her but they do love when she is awake. They also like to introduce her to everyone we meet:)

I am totally recovered from my C-section and have been running for 3 weeks now. I feel good and just have a solid 15lbs to lose. I'm not in a big rush but it isn't fun running with the extra weight. Oh, and I wouldn't mind finally having one wardrobe and not 3 different ones (maternity, in between and normal size).

Well, babes is wanting to eat now so I better go. I just have to say that I am so incredibly thankful for my baby girl. I love her to pieces and I love that I have a daughter. I am so thankful that she is healthy and growing so well. She adds a touch sweetness to this family which makes me smile.

Have a great day.

Love, Louise

Aquarium

Today we went to the aquarium. Who knew that it was insanely busy in the summertime? Yikes. Maybe it was even busier because it was raining? Whatever the case, we will never go during peak season again! Now, not to say that it was't good, it was, but not ideal. And besides, you can't use your coupons during July/August:)

{I wasn't going to include this picture but this is Kai's fake sad face that he pulls out all the time. Not sure if you can see the huge goose egg on his forehead...he was sleeping on the floor and kicked the bunk bed ladder and it fell on his face while he was sleeping. So scary for him!}

And, as much as I want to believe that it doesn't matter that we have three kids, one being a newborn, we can still do what we used to...well...things are different and it's a little more work and a little less fun on day trips (and based on the photos...just fewer photos when managing three kids). Nya screaming during the Beluga show and while stuck in downtown traffic were definitely not highlights. Why can't one of my kids take a soother?

However, I love the ocean and I love all of the marine life. I have amazing memories growing up fishing and exploring tide pools every summer. I have my scuba diving license and just love, love, love the ocean (Kai's name means `ocean' in Hawaiian). I have a degree in Biology and taught it for years too. So ya, I love seeing my kids touch sea anemone's and stand in awe of a huge octopus. Kai giggled with glee during the dolphin show and Koen loved seeing clown fish. They had a great day which makes me happy.

And, this is random but I do feel a little disconnected from the boys. I don't like that feeling. I think it's that they are just more independent these days and like hanging out with each other. Gary is able to take care of them a lot more these days as he is around. My attention is often on Nya. It's a bit sad that they are growing up and don't need me as much anymore. I mean, it's nice, but I'm not their world:)

Finally, Koen is our entertainment when in the van. He spends every car trip asking us all a whole bunch of questions; what makes you sad? What makes you happy? What's your favourite snack? What embarrasses you? etc. And, you have to have an answer for everything and everyone has to answer. I'll admit that it does make the time go faster!

Tomorrow Nya gets her 2 months immunizations. I'm hoping not to cry. I'll have a two month update on our bottle refuser (takes an hour to take it) tomorrow.

Love, Louise