Run For the Cure | 2010

First off, I would like to thank everyone who supported me financially in the Run For The Cure, I really appreciate it. This day is always special to me because it is a time where we can focus on family and remember the one person who isn't there. Miss you mom, so much. I wish you were there to see all your gorgeous grandkids, there's so many of them now!!!

The weather was perfect and my adorable 6 month old niece, Sami, had some serious pink going on!

My sister Trish (below) kept Maria company in the stands as Maria is still recovering from her post pre-eclampsia. It's so interesting each year to reflect on where we were the year before. Last year, I didn't run because I had just been diagnosed with Graves' Disease and also, Sami and Kenzie weren't born yet.

Kai was really pumped about the `race'. He understood that it was a time to remember oma. Another time he mentioned that we are running the race so we don't get `cancered'. Sort of bittersweet...the term he came up with but the fact that it is a reality. He knows that some people get cancer and get better (like my dad) and others go to heaven (my mom). It's a hard balance in trying to get them to understand yet not freak them out about death.

Kai was so excited to wear a race shirt with his `super fast runners'. As you can see below, we needed to get Koen in a better fitting shirt:)

Family picture (with Kai's fake sad face)!

Team Dekens for 2010.

So, Gary took the boys in the jogging stroller for the 5km run and then took them out for the last 100m so that they could run to the finish line. You can see my bro-in-law running alongside him.

I could see Gary the whole time...he ended up about 4 minutes ahead of me.

This was Kai's highlight; running the last 100m in the race. He LOVED it. He also enjoyed the can of orange juice and popcorn at the end, just not as much as the finish line:)

Koen took it a little slower (the 5km runners finish with the 1km walkers....). Gary was the first double stroller in. There was a single stroller that juuuuuuust passed him.

Here's my dad and Doug finishing the 1km walk. Thanks to my sister Trish for taking the pictures for us!

Gary walked the kids back to the 100m mark to meet with me so we could all run in together. Kai has some serious speed (check out his stride below!) and I...uh, didn't. However, I ran the whole thing!!!! 5km!!!! Phew. Can't say I loved it at all. I don't know how I used to do that all the time. I used to enjoy running and exercise so much. Now, not so much. What is wrong with me? I just don't feel motivated to exercise. I mean, I love walking and playing sports, but to just work out for the sake of it, I'm not so into it. This is so not me, but maybe it's the new me. That would explain the 15lbs more that I have on me this year!

I ran it all in 35 minutes which isn't too shabby considering I haven't been running much. I can admit that my sisters that ran it (Jantina and Jackie) both beat me. Jan beat me by about 5 seconds:) I know it's not meant to be competitive but we can't help it.

We finished off with lunch at dad and Joanne's and the kids had a great time playing. I can't believe there are now 6 grandkids on the Dekens' side and there will definitely be a lot more in the years to come! It's so beautiful to see them all together and I know my mom would've loved it. I'm not sure what she would be doing with the kids, but I know she would definitely be holding the babies:)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Love, Louise

Kai: Mr. Dramatic

(Kai isn't allowed Bubi downstairs because then he sucks his thumb. His excuse this time? `But mommy, I made a thumb sucking machine!').

First off, I just need to say a huge `YIPPEE!!!' as my sister is home from the hospital. I won't share too many details but she had a super, duper, tough first two weeks with Kenzie which included being hospitalized for 4 days with post pre-eclampsia. Kris totally took care of Kenzie and brought her to and from the hospital for feeds and snuggles with Maria. Thank goodness they live close to the hospital and that there they could get the care they needed.

(Opi's idea of babysitting 4 kids...stick them in a box)

Today was Kai's first party day. If you don't know Kai, he is very friendly and outgoing and confident. He totally displayed that all today. When the teacher told them to sing loudly, all I heard was him.

(He had some interesting moves!)

He did all the actions and did them..uh, with vigour. The parents were all smiling and laughing with him. At one point the teacher said, `Does everyone want to sing the warm up song?' and of course all the kids are like,` YA!!' and Kai says, `Well, actually, that song is too long for me' (aka too boring).

They are learning a different letter each week and so he recited the `B' poem loud and clear when the teacher asked for someone in the class to say it.

Kai had `Happy Birthday' sung to him as his birthday was in the summer. At one point, a mom turned to me and said, `He is so freakin' cute!!' Now, I know Kai is cute but I don't hear that often. Usually everyone just thinks Koen is cute and that Kai is well spoken. But yes, my Kai bear is such a character. I wonder if he'll be into drama. He would do anything in front of any size group and loves to be the center of attention.

Koen now cries every time we leave Kai. They truly are great buddies and I love to see their brotherly love develop daily. Can't wait to add a brother or sister into the mix...one day!!

Have a wonderful day.

Love, Louise

PS Renos: the mudder will be here until Friday Oct. 8th which puts us right on schedule!! We are actually finishing a week earlier because we have hired someone to do the finishing work right after thanskgiving weekend. Just have to make sure the carpet comes in time or I may freak out:)

Kai and Koen

Something other than renos...

(The boys both sitting=100% unnatural photo:)

We Did It!

So, Gary and I worked our butts off this week and we have hung all the drywall! Woohoo! Special thanks to the guys from church for doing the ceiling, my dad for working with me and doing such a diligent job, my bro in law Tyler for helping Gary several days in a row (and walking one hour to our house each time!!), and to Joel for finishing the bathroom with Gary today. I have to tell you, Gary did not complain at all and I've never seen him so focussed and hard working on something. I'm so proud of him!

Gary sealing off the basement for the mudder tomorrow. Please do not notice the terrible full length seam on the far wall, that was my bad, you are supposed to stagger them so there are no full vertical lines. We rented a drywall screwdriver from Home Depot, it was awesome. Today I went back and forth on doing the playroom with laminate flooring (better for studio) but I think we will go with carpet. It's just warmer and safer for the boys....I think.

The bedroom which will be Kai's eventually. He wants to move into it ASAP but I'm going to hold him off until he's a bit older. It has a great walk in closet and is right next to the bathroom.

The bathroom. The coloured drywall is the waterproof stuff. It should be all around but the other drywall was already there when we moved in...

The mudder comes tomorrow and does his thing, hope that goes according to plan!

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I had 4 photography cancellations in the last 8 days. I never have more than one in a month so you can imagine that the weather has been sketchy!! We could've made it work on several of the days but oh well. So, now they are rescheduled which just means it will be a bit busier in the next few weeks. That's okay though because until we paint (in two weeks) I don't have a lot going on! For the first time since May, when Kai goes to preschool tomorrow and Koen naps, I have nothing to work on. I think I will just bake and make a nice meal. CRAZY. I'm excited.

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Today while steam mopping the floor (for the second time in one day, the drywall dust is driving me CRAZY), I noticed fresh drops of blood on the ground. I checked Koen's mouth and nose out but couldn't find the source. As he was heading to bed, Gary held him upside down and I found the source. Koen had fallen (aka pushed by Kai) about an hour earlier and the back of his head had been pierced by a sharp toy. There was a small, deep hole that was still bleeding. The back of his head was all red with blood, boy, heads sure bleed a lot! He is one tough cookie:)

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Me (I said a sentence with the word `stupid' in it which is a major no no in this house)

Kai: Mommy, you said a bad word!!

Me: You're right Kai, thanks for reminding me, I'm sorry.

Kai: Koen, do you forgive mommy?

Kai: Mommy, I had a bad dream last night.

Me: That's sad Kai, are you okay?

Kai: Well, you should've come into my dream.

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Koen can now say `Happy birthday' and it could be the cutest thing in the world. He was even singing it today. CUTENESS. Actually, that's tied with him counting to three in swahili (I always say moja, and then he says mbili, tatu).

Drywall

I left Gary in the basement, on his own, at 10pm tonight. I can't touch another piece of drywall. I am so done. The basement is so NOT done (probably 10-15 more hours to go). We have to have the drywall done by Monday morning and Gary and I are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo exhausted. I'm glad I've learned a lot but I wish there were 2 Louise's and 2 Gary's so that we could've had it done by now. We are only doing the painting ourselves after this. The rest we will hire the experts. Yes, it will cost $1500.00 more than projected to do the finishing but I don't care. I'd rather be editing pictures than cutting electrical outlet rectangles from big pieces of drywall. The idea of cutting the drywall for the bathroom and laundry room makes me want to vomit...all those circles to cut out....

And to let you know, I am pretty cool. I can cut drywall and then get up on a ladder and drill it in AND it will fit perfectly. I can carry a 4X8 1/2" sheet on my own. Now that I know I can do it, I'm never doing it again.

And seriously, I am so done with drywall dust all over our home. Oh, and the four couches in our living room (two belong in the basement).

Once Monday comes, we have 2 weeks `off' while the mudder is in there. All I need to do is buy a couple of light fixtures, doors, bifolds and carpet. Easy right? Better be!

Kenzie (and the basement)

I went to visit my nieces today and it was the boys first time seeing baby Kenzie. Kai just whispered around her (I told her she was sleeping) and then ran outside. Koen spent a good 10 minutes staring at her saying `baby' over and over.

I had to take a few pictures of her but will be taking some better family photos in a few days. Here she is!

She is sleeping so well at night, maybe getting up to feed once or twice. I know that this can change, but for now, I'm happy for Maria!

She just looks like a 2 month old to me, just like my boys were....big!

And for the basement, sorry, I think every post will have a basement update.

Last night we had six guys over from church and for four hours all I heard was the sound of drills and it was awesome!! Who knew it could be so exciting? They finished the ceiling! I love people willing to help, especially when they have cool tools. I did learn a valuable lesson. The basement was not sealed off so there is now drywall dust everywhere upstairs. I steam mopped 3 times already and it's terrible. Let's just say it's sealed now. Not so great for our lungs. I did one piece of drywall today (cutting and hanging it) by myself and it took half an hour...at least I know I can do it!

(The finished ceiling!!)

I'm thinking of moving our studio into our garage so that I don't have to store it in the playroom and transition the playroom to studio any time that we want to use it. We'll see once it's done. Too bad the bedroom is to small to use as a studio, it's nice and out of the way.

Tonight I am taking the evening off to watch `my' two shows; Criminal Minds and Modern Family. So excited!!

Love, Louise

Insulated and Life

After one week, we have finished the framing, plumbing, electrical and insulating. Gary and I insulated Fri, Sat and Sun evening. Phew, done!! Not a difficult job but a kind of itchy one. We had to do a lot of tuck taping (the red tape) because the vapour sheet was half done when we moved in so we had to seal it all off.

I realized something. I like things to look nice and fit perfectly. Gary likes things done quickly. So far, we actually have gotten along pretty well working together but I'm trying to be a little more `cool' about mis-measured things and Gary is trying to be a little more patient with my `that's not how they did it in the video...' comments:)

Tomorrow night is our drywalling `party' and I am SO nervous for some reason. Gary and I will do a bit tonight but save all the ceilings for tomorrow (ceilings are supposed to be first but the walls were partially done when we moved in). I just want the guys to do a really good job on it and I think I will be such a stress case if I'm around...I'm thinking of just leaving and letting them do their thing. We'll see! Our mudder is going to have to work over a 2 week span (due to holidays) which puts us back onto the original schedule, even though currently we are one week ahead. I have to say that I am learning a ton and it`s interesting. Just time consuming.

I had to get a picture with these shoes. I have to throw them away but they are special to me. They are Kai and Koen`s first walking/running shoes. Good old brown Dr. Scholl's shoes. I bought them secondhand for $5.00, 4 years ago, they have done well!

This box remains in our living room and has provided oodles of entertainment for the boys.

And Koen, my monkey. Seriously, isn`t he gorgeous? He can climb up into his booster seat (we have pub style chairs), walk down stairs with or without the rail, climb up the climbing wall at the park, climb into his own carseat...he keeps us busy:)

In photography news, we are pretty much booked up until September 2011 next year as I am cutting down my bookings to half. We got asked about 3 weddings (for next year) on Saturday alone...I am getting so much better at saying no. As much as I want to take everyone's picture, I can't. There is no way I could repeat this years work again. I want to have a lot more family time. This year we have 20 weddings and next year we already have 10-12. We will see. Interesting balance though, life and work, with kids and a husband in there.

Okay, time to work!

Louise

Hot Date Night | Insulating the Basement

Yesterday our drywall came...it was pouring so we improvised. I'll be honest, I only carried 3 single sheets down (they come in packs of 2). Gary and Tyler were machines!

Tonight I went to Home Depot to get the last of our supplies for insulating. I kind of felt cool buying my own T square. Last night we watched a super dorky DVD: `So You're Renovating: Insulating Your Basement' in preparation.

I made it just 2 hours down there before I felt like I could no longer breathe. I think we are about 1/3 done the insulating. Guess it's back down there tomorrow after we pack up our van full of insulation again (we can only buy 6 bags at a time). I started out pretty excited as I love learning new things. And then, well, it got a bit old....fast. At least Gary does the ceilings and I just have to do the walls:) And let me tell you, the walls look nice. We're getting there!!!! Just have to plan our drywall party....

Trendy

This weeks random jabbering on our adoption journey.

Here is a conversation I had with someone this week:

Person: You have such a glow! Are you pregnant?

Me: No, but we are expecting through adoption.

Person: Oh, that's great!

Me: Ya, we're really excited.

Person: Well, aren't you trendy! (75% joking, 25% serious)

Me: That's why were doing it! (100% joking).

I'm not trendy one bit. Look at my hair, my clothes, my car. Ya. I do not do things to be cool. We are obviously not doing it to be cool. I'm so thankful for the people that we have in our lives who have brought children into their homes through adoption. We do not have adoption in our families, anywhere. However, we do have friends that have like Melissa and Brent, and now, Jen and Andrey!! I'm so thankful that their journeys have helped bring us to where we are today...they have made something so unfamiliar to us, familiar.

And this is my guilty confession: I have not read one book on adoption. This is 100% the opposite of normal Louise. I have attended the conferences and spoken to a lot of adoptive parents but I have not read one book. I have asked for recommendations of good books but I haven't actually read any. I did go to Chapters and to the library and found out that there are maybe 2 books somewhat related, that I would never read.

I read a ton about parenting, babies, and kids, before we had kids and when Kai was a newborn. I found the books stressed me out and made it worse. Too many different opinions, I didn't know who to listen to! I will seek the advice of those that have gone through it before. I will seek the support of others around me. Maybe if something specific comes up, I will look for a book on that topic.

Our first month of actual waiting went well. We are so insanely busy that I don't have a lot of time to focus on it. Although I'll be honest, one of the major reasons why I want to push through this basement reno so quickly is just in case, by some teensy tiny chance, we get matched in the next couple of months, I want the basement done. There is no way I could finish the reno while bringing a newborn into our home! I want that time to just be us. Our family.

Okay, Koen is awake and we need to get Kai from preschool. Have a fabulous weekend!!! Gary and I are going to spend any free time insulating the basement! Woohoo?!

Louise

Renovations | Day 6 (and Koen)

The schedule for week one went right according to plan! Our wonderful electrician (nicest guy ever?!) is coming back tonight to finish his job. I mean, the plumber and electrician will come back after it's almost done to put all the fixtures in etc but for now, all good!

(The tub is in!)

(We'll have 6 recessed lights in the playroom...and really nice ones at that:)

Today we are having 45 sheets of drywall dropped off which means hopefully we can start on that soon. Gary needs to put in a vent to the outside (you know, drill through our wall...eek!) with his dad (for the bathroom vent) on Friday and then we will insulate away.

Koen is actually really stressing me out. We put the baby gate back up because I can't risk him getting into the basement these days. Yesterdays activities included eating 1/4 cup of margarine (using the butter knife) and picking every last unripe tomato off our vines and throwing them all over the yard. We have a lot of various tomato plants. This is what happens when he's unattended for 5 minutes. I love him like crazy and especially love the cuddles when he drinks his milk, but unless I am playing with him, he's causing trouble. I'm sure renos during this `monkey stage' are not helping. I have been off beta blockers for months but yesterday, I took two. I feels like my blood pressure is super high, even though it probably isn't. Love you Kokies!

Okay, that's my 5 minutes and I had to go get him twice (once for taking my entire purse apart and the other time for pulling a chair over to the edge of the basement to try to get over the gate). Gotta go!!!

PS When talking to Kai about Kenzie being born at Langley Memorial Hospital...

Me: Kai, do you know where you were born?

Kai: In a stable!!

Pretty sure that wasn't you buddy:)