Baloball

I went to Costco to pick up one picture and ended up spending about $200.00.  That always seems to be the case.  Anyway, one of the things that I picked up was a Baloball set.  It is also known as Blongoball but I guess there are variations.  It was $40 and usually when I buy these sort of things, I wonder if Gary will recommend that I return it.   Usually I need Gary as a more rational sounding board as I do tend to make some impulsive purchases (yay to Costco for amazing return policies!).   Well, it was a keeper and we played last night and then Koen played bright and early this morning!  We normally play outside but it was before 8 am and the grass was still wet (didn't want Nya crawling around in wet grass) so we played inside.   Totally safe as the balls are rubber so our home and Nya's head won't get hurt. I'm thinking it will be good in the basement this winter too!

{I always wonder what people use so all photos taken with the 85mm lens if curious}

{Nya's job is cheering!  As a side note, we got the Dora chair for free and I was going to get rid of it but Nya just loves climbing on it all the time.}

{Her big thing is pointing right now}

{Koen was playing against his stuffies}

{`You are letting him play it in the house?'}

PS It's good for teaching addition too!

PPS My mental/emotional state is so good right now.  I wish I could be like this always and forever.  I'm sad that I am so affected my hormones these days as I never had this after the boys.  For the past 4 days I have felt clear and calm and happy.  I love this feeling.  However, I know that next week, my hormones will shift again and then will come the stress/anxiety, anger, frustration, etc.  Poor Gary.  Right now I'm so nice and loving and then next week he'll get grumpy Louise again.  I'm going to get some  B complex vitamins today...we'll see what happens.  I've been taking fish oils too.   It's like I'm 14 all over again, and that my friends, is not cool.

Beach

Sunday was awesome.  Usually it's our only day as a family and this week we skipped church so Nya would get a good morning nap and then we went to Crescent Beach.  Something so simple and no cost (except for gas which is about 139.9 now..so nuts) brought us all great joy.

 

Nya loves the beach and the water.  Apparently she also likes the taste of sand.  She even swallowed a shell the size of a nickel so I really hope it doesn't hurt her little intestines.  And yes, she is covered from head to toe.  Us Chapmans are a pale bunch :)

Teaching the boys how  to pick up a crab and how to tell the difference between a male and female (the males have a `V' shape on the underside, females are more of a wide `U'.)

Being at the beach made us all very excited for our trip!  We leave in one month! Yay, it's finally here.  I can start thinking about what to pack and all that jazz.

I love some good shoes.  Not `good' as in pretty but good as in functional and supportive.  I have very bad feet.  I found these Keen sandals at 50% off and I'm a fan.  

And, as mentioned in my last post..I have been working a lot.  I don't like complaining about it here because half of my friends/clients read this blog!  The picture above shows Nya with me at one of my sessions last week :)  I don't ever take her with me but it worked out as she just explored.    I LOVE what I do but need to figure out how to do it well while taking care of the kids.  On Monday I hired someone to take care of my kids for 4 hours. I brought the kids away and I was able to work for 4 hours straight and accomplished a lot. The kids also had a fantastic time as she has two kids of similar ages.  Times like that I really wish I had my mom to come for a couple of hours a week so that I could work or run or get my hair cut or just something you know?  Oh well.  I would do daycare more often but then it's not really worth it to be a work at home mom as it's almost what I make per hour :)  Once the kids are in school? Wow...I will have soooooooooooo much time!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Nya gets her Hep A shot today. It's not a fun one but I'd rather that than the alternative...

Love, Louise

This Past Week Which Includes a Ring

1.  On Friday, May 17th, Koen asked Jesus into his heart. So sweet. Our little Koen.  In the picture below, he asked for meat for lunch because his T-rex is a carnivore.  Koen is currently interested in Pokemon (oh my goodness, I do not like Pokemon.  It makes Star Wars look way more awesomer),  and dinosaurs.  His great, GREAT love for Cars is waning.  Koen is the one who tells me that he loves me and wants a snuggle daily.  This kid needs physical touch.  Love my Kokies.

2.  My auntie Nellie passed away on our anniversary.  She was diagnosed with cancer in the fall :( Here is a picture of her from about 35 years ago.  She was always smiling and laughing and had such a soft heart, especially for animals :)  I'm very sad for my uncle and her two kids as I know how much this time really, really sucks.  My sisters and I will be going together to her funeral on the island.

3.  The picture below won't rotate but here is a middle of the night feed/cuddle with Nya.  My favourite cuddle.  She is delicious.

4. Friday was not my favourite day.  I got a phone call that Kai had vomited in a van on the way to his field trip.  He was in Richmond, what did they want me to do?  What?!  Give him a bucket? I don't know, I'm not there.  I assumed it was car sickness (it was) and didn't know the extent of it.  I was worried about him for the next 3 hours.  I couldn't pick him up though because I was on my way to do photos and then while there, I got a flat tire.  Like, all the air gushed out.  I had to call Gary who was subbing a class and he saved the day.  It was very overwhelming with all this going on at once (Kai, photos, van).  Then we had to get the van to Costco to get a new tire (and we just got 4 new tires, who doesn't love spending $500 all of a sudden?).   

{She makes me want to have 7 more babies. }

5. I have been working 40 hours a week all month.  This is without child care.  I am going nuts.  Working in every spare minute in the day and then weekends and evenings until 11 pm.  It's my own fault.    June is much friendlier.  I am hoping to finish all my work in 3 weeks so that I can have one week to pack and prep for our trip!  It is nice having the option to work as much as I want though, so I will not complain.  Soon I will have ONE MONTH OFF!!!! I think I just felt pressure to make up for missing sessions for all of July.  Also, the trip is kinda pricey, you know...about $10,000, so there is this desire to get our savings back up again!

6.  Gary and  I went to the Washington Avenue Grill for our anniversary.  We liked it!  We are going to go out for dinner now once a month.  Hopefully we can swap babysitting with Maria and Kris to save money too!  I gave it an 8/10, Gary a 7.5/10.  We had braised short rib poutine (sounds fun eh? Not as good as the tempura bacon at the Onyx), and then I had lobster ravioli and Gary had the seafood hot pot.  Totally affordable with the coupon book. Oh ya, I had a martini too. Had to, it was half price.  Gary can pretty much make anything as good as many restaurants (in my opinion) so we are very reluctant to say that some food was `amazing'.   I would say that two places we have eaten that have been amazing are Vij's and the Pearl.  The service at the WAG was very good.

{The poutine...didn't love the horseradish aoli as I don't love horseradish.  Should've asked for a different kind because I love aoli.}

After dinner, Gary pulled out a ring box!  Totally unexpected.  Gary does not surprise me.  Ever.  I sort of wanted him to fake a proposal right there in front of everyone.  Inside the box was a pretty blingy ring!  When we got married, I wanted a very simple ring because I'm not very girly. I also anticipated that I would be hiking every weekend or something like that. Ya, what was I thinking?!  So, my engagement ring is very me and I love it but it's fun to have something kinda womanly or blingy or princessy. There's like 40 small diamonds and one big jewel (not sure what it is) in the middle.  Good job, Gary!

{Don't mind my sausage fingers.  Inherited my dad's fat fingers.}

7.  I had sessions 3 sessions this week AND a wedding today so I'm exhausted. Gary won't be home until about 11 pm (he does receptions on his own).  I'm just uploading pictures hence time to update this.

All right, uploading done.  Must go.  Have a wonderful weekend.  

Love, Louise

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary To Us

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary!  I am very thankful for Gary in my life...most of the time.  Ha.  Maybe not when he's snoring like a walrus at 3 am but most of the time.  I don't think we would have chosen each other, I really do think it was God.   Or maybe a massive group of grade 9's who probably would like some credit with their signs that read `Isn't Mr. Chapman cute?'  or writing on the white board `Louise + Gary'!

One of the things that really brought Gary and I together was a love for adventure and the outdoors.  We loved to camp and hike and explore.  We still do love it.  I just haven't done it in a while.  By the way, we have a lot of very similar interests; playing sports, food, photography, teaching, science etc.  I don't know if we have any hobbies that the other one doesn't love.  Oh ya, video games.  I don't do those.

There is nothing like a grueling 4 day hike to see what someone is really like.  

I think one of the hardest things for me has been that I haven't been able to do anything adventurous with Gary in the past few years.  I've always been pregnant or breastfeeding or my health was really bad.  Gary still gets to do this with his LEAD class at school but I really do miss that part of our relationship. I look forward to delving into this again.  It's actually really important to me as it is a huge part of who I am.

True, we take our kids hiking and we are taking them on a big trip, but I do miss that one on one time with Gary where we can work hard together and see some amazing sights.

I'm glad that we didn't get married until we were 26 and 29.  We were able to become more of who we were.  Had I married whoever I was dating when I was 22...um ya, things would be very different.   I see a lot of people get married younger and it  works well for them, but for us, there is zero percent chance we would've chosen each other years earlier.  

One thing I took away from a marriage course that we did once was that your husband is not your girlfriend. I know, sounds like common sense.  Gary is one of my best friends.  I would rather do any activity in the world with him than anyone else.  However, when it comes time to talk through feelings or decisions, I often turn to my sisters or friends.  I will talk with Gary about them but I can't expect him to totally understand.  He will sometimes say something like `Well, don't feel that way then' `You don't need to worry about it' etc.  And that's just really how he feels/thinks.  So ya, that has been one lesson that I have learned in our marriage.

The day we got married was awesome.  I wish I had cared more about our wedding photos at the time :) 

{Finally about 6 cm dilated with Kai...had been up already one whole night...Our lives were about to change drastically!  I would also venture to say that my hair has never looked worse?}

The biggest thing to affect our marriage?  Kids.  I had no idea how much it  would affect our lives.  They have been the hardest thing on our marriage and the greatest thing. 

These little people suck every ounce of energy from me and leave me as a tired old lady. Ha.  Doesn't that sound fun to be married to?  I have way less energy/time/patience for Gary and that's sad.  I know it will get easier as I sleep more (eventually) and the kids don't need me as much for the every day tasks.  Hopefully Gary and I will be able to get away just the two of us more often.  Whether that's just for dinner or a walk or even over nighters.  

For me, life is `boring' right now.  And that's okay I guess.  I just do need a dose of adventure and somehow the whole `take three kids to the grocery store' is not the adventure I seek.  It is a good life and I think not one day goes by where I do not appreciate all that I have.  I do look forward to more than the `wash, rinse, repeat' days though.

Gary and I have a great commitment to one another.  He's stuck with me, I'm stuck with him. I joke, but we aren't going anywhere!  If I had to choose 3 things that I am most thankful for in him right now, they would be:

1. He is an awesome dad.  I couldn't do this on my own.  Although we parent a little differently, that is so important and so good.  Our kids will learn so much from each of us.

2.  He is a great cook.  We love food.  A lot.  We love GOOD food.

3.  That his love is unchanging.  His love for God and us.  I know that no matter how emotional and wild I get, he loves me just the same.  Such security in that, you know? I don't have to worry if I can't lose those last 15 lbs or I cry too much or I'm too tired to be any fun (wow, I'm not really this bad all the time).  He's there.  Always will be.  

 Some of my favourite times are seeing Gary in action with the kids.  The post dinner wrestle time is awesome.  Nya has a lot of love in her heart for her dada and I really think they have a special relationship.  The boys weren't drawn to him like she is.

Gary, I'm glad you realized how awesome I was and that you wanted to date me and marry me. Lucky guy! Ha.  I'm glad that we took the chance on each other even though it could've gone really bad as we worked together.   You just never know...

I love you.  Here's to another 50 years?!  

Love, Louise

Nya's 1st Birthday Party!

For our kid's first birthday, we don't buy them a present but we have a big party with friends and family.  Our yard is small so this year we went to a local park and it was perfect!  There was a covered picnic shelter, tennis court (we brought soccer balls, baseball, football etc) and playground.   

The coffee maker has nothing to do with her party but I just wanted to tell you that I love it.  Gary was gone all week (hiking the Juan de Fuca trail with his LEAD class) and I've been working 30-40 hours a week and not sleeping through the night, SOOOOOO, coffee is my friend.

Gary got home Friday night and then today was her party.  We put together some helium balloons and a bunch of food and off to the park we went!

Those aren't cake pops, they are marshmallow pops.  Soooooo easy to make.  Cake pops take about 2 hours.  Marshmallow pops take about 10 minutes.  I can't eat them because they are so sweet but they went quickly!  Just put a marshmallow on a lollipop stick (or not stick), dip in melted chocolate, put sprinkles on top.  Takes about 10 minutes to dry and then keep in an airtight container. Easy. Cheap. Done.

Nya had her immunizations yesterday (she's just 19 lbs 9oz!!) so I wasn't sure how she would do today.  She was so fine and loving life. 

With gramma and grandpa Chapman

With Opi below

Time for her cupcake!

Kai helped blow it out

She didn't love it as much as the cupcake she had last week :)

Opening presents!  This box contained a pair of pink Toms that she might just be wearing to church tomorrow :)  

I had a great time today. I just want to say thank you to all of our family and friends who were able to come and help celebrate our baby girl's first birthday.  We are so thankful for her and I love being able to celebrate her together.

And seriously, how come when I do extended family sessions I can't get all the kids looking right at the camera and smiling?!  Look at them!  Maybe because cupcakes were next? 

When we got home, Nya was on such a high.  She just walked around giggling and climbing on everything.  I think she really liked her day too.  

Yay for family, friends, and the celebrations of our births!

Love, Louise