A week from the iphone

Playing Baby and (naked) Momma in Cousin Millie's car seat

Doing a little Jungle dance with the scarf Nana and Grandpa brought mommy from St Maarten

Me Tarzan, You...CRAZY?

Begging Dad to take us to the wave pool (which he did...and we had a blast)

Playing with Daddy's iPhone

Sunday naps...maybe a bit sick

I never thought

-I never thought I'd defend my ability to have children to strangers so much. "Yes...because you asked...I AM old enough to have kids. I have been for quite some time. But that's not what you mean right? Ok, I'm married....have been for almost 9 years! Therefore I think it's OK to have two children and one of the way! Now send your judging somewhere else please!"
-I never though that after an hour of explaining germs to my 4 year old I'd just give up and tell her it's all magic and not to worry anymore. I was JUST trying to explain why she needed to keep her 'sneeze in her sleeve'.
-I never thought I'd hear my two year old walk into the room while I was in sweats, vegged out on the couch, and say "aaaawkward". Thanks 'child of mine' who I so lovingly have cared for all these years. Thanks.
-I never thought I'd be making pretend band-aids (out of kleenex and tape) for my kids because the real ones have magically disappeared.

It's a...

Surprise!

Yes...we're having a surprise:

We went in for our 19 week ultrasound last week. We were desperate and excited to find out what we were having. I've felt like it was a boy this whole time, Ben was pretty sure it was going to be a boy too. We really don't have a preference either way though. I have pretty strong opinion about this actually. For some reason everyone seems to think that I NEED a boy. Well, I'd LOVE to have a boy. But I think a girl would be equally as fun! In fact it would be kind of magical! And contrary to popular belief...you don't need one of each to make a proper family. I am fully capable of LOVING the family I have, just the way it is!!

Can you tell I have a bit of an issue with this?

Anyway, on to the ultrasound. In the past my babies have been VERY active....so much so that I have always been asked to come back again the next day because they had a hard time getting pictures of my busy baby. Not the case this time. This little baby just slept the whole time. The baby was curled up in a corner and didn't budge the whole time. This made for a quick and very easy ultrasound...until it came to getting leg and foot measurements as well as gender guessing!! The baby was in the perfect position to hide it's goods...which means we don't even have a good guess at all! With Paige, the ultrasound tech didn't get a good look, but still was able to tell us she was most likely a girl. This time was different...she couldn't even come close to guessing. At all!

So we got one grainy little profile picture (another hard one to get because the baby LOVED getting all squishy with my placenta...which doesn't make for good profile opportunities).


With this picture I at least I feel like there's a baby on it's way...even if we have no idea what we're having!

P.S. After this Ultrasound...I'm leaning towards it being a girl now!

Halloween...as it really was!

Life has been a bit busy lately...almost overwhelmingly busy. For example, on Halloween we went in for a our BIG ultrasound early in the morning (more on that later), then I drove to my sisters house (an hour away) and spent the afternoon cutting and prepping vinyl for our HUGE craft day at church this Saturday. We got stuck in serious rush hour traffic on our way home, and made it in the door just in time to throw these girls into their costumes and head out the door for some trick or treating.

In the mad rush of things...I forgot to try and get some decent pictures (i.e. use the right setting on my camera), so instead I got these blurry pictures of kids who wouldn't cooperate.

BUT, you know what? This is how our day really was. This is what my life really is. I don't have a perfect or clean house, my kids aren't models, they don't get along all the time, and sometimes life is plain ol' CRAZY!! When I think about recording our memories...I want to make sure I'm accurately recording them. I want to remember my REALITY and not my DREAMS! So there you have it! I've got a few rascally little munchkins who are dearly loved and adored! We have a LOT of fun being less then perfect..and that's just perfect to us!










p.s. in case you were wondering...the girls got some serious candy! Thanks to three rounds of trick or treating. The parents in this house may have been pushing the extra trick or treating so we could guiltlessly sneak their candy at night:) maybe.

Halloween Prep

Hailey is VERY VERY excited for this baby to come...excited in the way that she asks almost every day if it's time to go to the doctor to get the baby out! So we've made a little countdown of fun events that will happen BEFORE the baby comes.

First is Halloween...

Hailey got all dressed up for a party at school and did a few cheerleader poses for the camera before.

Paige has an equally as cute bumblebee costume that she'll hopefully wear this year (she's the mascot for Hailey's cheerleading game, and also has a set of pom-poms in order to get the crowd excited).

Then tonight we carved pumpkins! So fun and soooooo gross according to the girls. I LOVE having kids around to let me enjoy these kind of traditions. I just feel so much better carving a pumpkin when there's a kid beside me who's more excited than anything to see the finished product.

Hailey brought out her scary face to get in the mood...

If I look a little tired here...it's because I am. Do you love Paige's new smile? Arrrgh.

So next we have the actual Day of Halloween. We've already plotted out our route and plan to hit up all the scariest houses on our street. Paige has been practicing her "boooooo's" to scare every one! And both girls have got their "trick or treat's" down pat.

After Halloween, we've got a few other dates on our 'countdown' to cross off, they are:
-Christmas
-New Years
-Valentines Day
-St Patrick's Day
-and the BABY!
Did I miss any?

Maybe it's time for a weekly

I have been reading other blogs lately...stalking a LOT actually (that's what happens when your library membership expires and you're too lazy to renew it). Without books to spend my time on I've had to read blogs...and because of that, I have decided that I like the idea of a weekly column - or whatever you call it. Anyway, I've been trying to think of some sort of subject I could use as a 'weekly' and I think I figured it out. My 'weekly' will be called:

"I never thought..."

The life of a mom is often so hilariously sad that I thought it would be helpful to share some of the daily battles I fight. So here are this weeks battles:

-I never thought I'd get in a heated debate with my 4 year old about Vaccines. Really? Since when did I even have that strong of an opinion? And why was I even arguing it with my 4 year old...who's all caught up on her vaccines for years to come.

-I never thought I'd get pantsed (i.e. pants pulled down) at the grocery store by my two year old? Really? I guess that's what I get for wearing maternity jeans that are a few sizes too big...but they're soooo comfortable!

-I never thought I'd bribe my two year old to go potty in exchange for getting her soother? Really? Shouldn't I be working on taking it away?

-I never thought I'd give my kids fake medicine to keep them quite. Really? Who does that? A little juice in the medicine syringe works every time....hehehe I'm evil

*and finally for this week*

-I never thought my two year old would be so good at putting on her own makeup...every single DAY!!

So that's it this week...I'll have more to share next Friday.

Update

On me only...

I was the BEST at recording my pregnancy with Hailey, and the WORST at recording it with Paige. I really do cherish the pictures I took of myself with Hailey and I wish I'd done better with Paige, so this time around I've decided to take more belly pics. It's fun to look back and see if I'm bigger or smaller then I was in the past.

So here I am in my 17 week glory!
I'm feeling good...but still very tired!

I haven't felt any baby kicks yet (anterior placenta to blame for this)

I stopped my 'Insanity workout' a couple weeks ago because it was too much for me. I still try to ride to exercise bike 3-4 times a week. I remember with Paige's pregnancy that if I kept moving I felt a TON better. So that's my goal this time again.

I'm still morning sickness free! Sort of. I get nauseous here and there, but NOTHING like my other pregnancies.

We're going to find out what we're having on Halloween day (if the baby cooperates)

Hailey loves thinking up names for the baby (Princess, Raggedy Ann, Strawberry Fruitcake etc.)

Paige loves kissing my tummy and talking to the baby

Ben still hasn't quite accepted that another baby is on it's way.

Besides that we're just really busy around here with Ben working a LOT, School for Hailey, Super Saturday business for church, Teaching Piano, etc. I'm feeling a bit worn out...but this is the life I signed up for, so I'll gladly play along.

Why Yes...I did have a Birthday!

Thanks for asking:)

So this year my Birthday sort of crept up on us...like it always does. Somehow life gets so busy in September that the early October Birthday's get forgotten. I'm not complaining....really. But it's true, it's also a little frustrating when your Birthday falls just days before Thanksgiving. Not as many people are excited about celebrating it with all the other exciting things going on. But this is my Birthday and I LOVE IT...plus I truly believe some of the best people are born in October:)

Anyway, Ben just so happened to work late on my Birthday, I just so happened to pick up 4 new piano students for the evening of my Birthday, and we just so happened to be broke. YAY Birthday! I did have a great day though, I took the girls to Walmart and closed my eyes as they each picked out two things to buy me...then I closed my eyes as I paid for them. I spent the day doing laundry (which sounds lame, but when you've been without a washer for over a week, and you finally got a new one the day before your Birthday...nothing is more exciting then 10 loads of laundry. Which clearly makes me a mom). Anyway, it really was a good day...just so normal and lovely. Lauren babysat my kids for me while I taught Piano (and so kindly helped them wrap their presents for me) and my good friend Lahni made me a brownie (with a candle) to snack on before piano lessons. With good friends and family, and a wonderfully normal everyday life, I honestly couldn't have asked for more.

When Ben got home LATER that night we had a quick little party.

Ben was sooooo excited!

I was very surprised with the nail polish the girls bought me

I had to read the fine print on the mascara Hailey picked out...it looked kind of interesting

And I helped the girls put on the 'lipstick' they bought me

Then the camera died...therefore no pictures of the fabulous cake (which I made). It was delish!

To really celebrate my Birthday Ben and I went out for Vietnamese and a movie on the weekend. It was fun. So we did make up for the kind of normal and boring Birthday I had. But like I said...I really was happy with the way the day unfolded.

Let's talk about the potty

So it wasn't that long ago (maybe 4 months) that I snapped this darling picture of Paige using the potty.

photo courtesy of the iphone

I knew at that point that she was ready to be potty trained. I also knew at that point that I wasn't ready. So I did nothing about it. As the summer progressed it became more and more obvious that she was ready...and it became more and more obvious that I was just plain old lazy. It basically got to the point where she was exclusively using the potty, yet I still had her in diapers. Can you say lazy? Maybe denial? Crazy?

Well, two weeks ago Paige decided she was done with diapers. I literally could not get her into one...or to keep one on. So I said to my barely two year old:

"fine...but if you even almost pee your panties you're back in diapers!"

And so she actually listened. It's been two weeks...and not one accident. I didn't think potty training could be any easier than it was with Hailey...but apparently I was wrong.

Now before all you haters start your hating...let me remind you of a thing or two about this lively child of mine. So when you have "dream babies" that are so good you almost forget they're there, well I have babies that cry, some times a LOT. Or when you have toddlers that sit nicely and play...I have toddlers that empty entire toothpaste tubes, along with diaper cream, and lotion on a daily basis. And when your toddlers defy you...just remember this girl who potty trained herself is probably just trying to defy me. Once she figures out that I'm actually happy about it, I'm sure she'll switch directions. Oh and finally, when your kids are wonderfully/genius-ly/adorably smart...remember mine get to be too!

The legend of the Mini Van

Back in March when we finally made the transition from Car to Minivan, my dear friend Laura warned me that it would definitely result in another baby...whether we'd planned it or not. I assured her that my life was fully under control and that I would have a baby WHEN I chose to have a baby, and not when my minivan decided. But really, when in the past have I ever been able to choose when to have my babies? Never. They always come WAY later then I plan, and so who was more schocked than me when I found out we were having a baby a few months earlier then planned? Maybe Ben...that's who was more shocked. We've never been blessed with super fertility powers so I do feel like this pregnancy is such a blessing. It hasn't stopped me from constantly worrying though (just ask the ultrasound techs at all three ultrasounds I've had, who've patiently dealt with my full on meltdowns before and after I see that heart beat each time). I'm a mess...and that's ok. Pregnancy is full of so much joy and excitement for me...and it has also been a source of so much sorrow and pain. So I'm just a happy mix of every emotion.

I am very happy to be taking pictures of my growing belly...and if this is evidence of what's to come, I'm POSITIVE I'll have another HUGE belly again!
I'm also VERY VERY VERY relieved that the morning sickness Fairy didn't find me this time. In past pregnancies I've been bedridden for months with awful awful morning sickness. In preparation for this sickly time I went to the doctor VERY early and got a prescription of Diclectin to scare that morning sickness away. And boy did it do it's job, I haven't had to take ONE pill this pregnancy! Which is amazing since I usually spend hundreds of dollars each month trying to just survive. So I am blessed. Now don't get me wrong, I still feel sick at times...but THIS kind of 'barely there' morning I will take and I can easily handle!

Anyway, the baby's due to make it's arrival sometime at the end of March...maybe early April (depending on how things go). We're not sure what we're having yet, but rest assured, we WILL find out (if we can). We're going to be over the moon happy either way. I LOVE being a mother to girls and I would LOVE (LOVE LOVE) to have another. BUT, I've never had a boy and I think that would be exciting and so fun too! If I were a betting person I'd say it's going to be a girl (our record proves that we like to make girls...4 for 4), but if I were to guess based on my gut feeling, I'd say it's a boy. So We'll just have to wait and see. Any guesses?

A blog from my iphone

So there are lots of times when I'm running around or even doing really fun stuff but don't have my camera. I would love to blog about this kind of stuff, but what's a blog without pictures? Not worth it really. Anyway, I've discovered a solution...the blogger app. I'm not sure how this will work, but I thought it would be a fun way to blog about the pics on my phone. So here is a glimpse into our summer via the iphone camera:

Bike Rides...Hailey and Paige's view from inside the bike trailer

Calaway Park with the Taylor's

Camping Sept Long with Nate and Tan and Kids...these two LOVED each other

Cute babies sleeping

Spray park poses

Calaway park with Becc and her boys

Late night decorating for Birthday Parties

Spray park in teeny tiny bathing suits

Trips to the dentist for us all

Well...this was fun. I think I'll do it again. Maybe I'll find some more random pictures and share them on here.

First....Day of school

Hailey started Preschool this year. Last year a few friends and I did a little "joyschool" program for our kids. We just created our own curriculum and met once a week. So it was a HUGE change for me (and Hailey and Paige) to send Hailey off to school 3 days a week for 3 hours each day. It was even a BIGGER change because her preschool class is smack dab in the middle of the elementary school. So she shares the gym, the bathroom, the library and the park with older kids. She also will have grade 6 reading buddies come in to read with her and the other kids. WOW!! This seems like real school to me! It's a good thing she loves it, because I'm still a bit mixed on the whole thing.

The night before, I let Hailey pick her outfit from 6 different options. Apparently NONE of them were acceptable because not a single outfit was going to be big enough for her on her first day of "high school" as she calls it. She was also very worried as we put her to bed that night that she was going to break the bed when she magically grew up while sleeping! So adorable...so innocent...so perfect!

Somehow when she woke up she was BIGGER...but magically still fit into her clothes - AND her bed was still in decent shape.

Paige was certain she was going to school too...and therefore insisted on being in the pictures with a backpack too).

I think this little girls is so precious! So sweet, so tender, so kind so loving.

These two friends didn't seem so excited...me thinks they were just playing it cool in front of the bigger kids. Either that or they were sick of my camera in their faces (I needed something to cover up my teary eyes)
When I had her to myself she gave me one last smile before running off into her classroom to start the rest of her life.

First...Dentis Visit

So Hailey and Paige both had their first visits to the dentist this last month. Hailey's a thumb sucker and has two cavities that even I could see. So we knew we had to get her in soon. Paige just came along for the ride.

Hailey...what can I say about this child? She just breezes through life like she already knows what's going to happen next. Nothing phases her. She had no problems with the lights, or the glasses, or the loud buzzing of the polisher, or any of the visit. She was such a trooper!




Paige warmed up pretty quickly and let the hygienist count her teeth and inspect them. She wouldn't let the dentist anywhere near her. Which was fine...really she's only two.


"Mom look...I have teeth!!!"


I was the proud, sappy mom with the camera. I've been a little extra emotional lately and even the simplest of milestones has me nearly in tears. I thankfully held it together for this appointment...and will hopefully be ok when they freeze Hailey's mouth tomorrow to fill her cavities. She'll be fine I know...I'm the concern:)

The rest of our summer

The rest of our summer was spent...(can you guess?)...CAMPING!! We spent every single weekend of August travelling around BC and Montana. We camped with friends and family and by ourselves. It was a fun and busy month. We would get home late Sunday or Monday night...then I'd spend all day Monday recovering and unpacking. Tuesday was usually spent just having fun with my girls (i.e. spray park, Calaway park, the regular park) or running errands/completing necessary tasks (i.e. groceries, dentist visits, doctors appointments, paying bills) then Wednesday and Thursday I did Laundry and packed for the weekend, and then we'd leave Friday and start the whole cycle all over again. We made August the month of the quad. Every trip we went on had to be planned around our quads and we made sure we got some good use out of them. I also made August the month without my camera. I just got tired of taking pictures and therefore boycotted it almost altogether. I wanted to make some memories instead of just record them. And boy did we make memories!

Tie lake with the Hills...we were too lazy to walk anywhere, so we road this quad around the whole time. Hungry? Ride the quad to the trailer. Want to swim/boat? Ride the quad to the dock. Want to sit by the fire? Ride the quad to the fire pit. There was NO walking done this trip!
Hailey decided to test her mother's fear levels and swim in deep water!! That's her in the pink box (and blown up larger to see). She wore a life jacket the whole time and was very very brave. My heart on the other hand was beating very very fast.
Paige (bless her heart) was too afraid of the water for most the weekend. The old me would have encouraged her to swim, the new me was fine with her staying far far away from the water.
In Elkford with Ben's family - the girls LOVED the bubble machine
Hailey also loved the crafts she got to do during quieter times
I wasn't feeling very good this trip...and Ben's dad was feeling even worse (if an ambulance trip to the hospital with a very painful kidney stone is any indication of how poorly he was feeling), so my camera sadly didn't get much use at all after this picture. But we did a LOT of quadding in. We saw some spectacular views and just really enjoyed the time together as a family. It was a good way to end August.

Stay tuned for my next post...all about "Firsts"

Life changing

Sometimes you just can't pretend that things are normal...or ok. Or that nothing happened. Sometimes things happen in your life that change you forever. I've experienced a few of these kind of events in my life. The kind of life changing event that has you figuring out how to be YOU again....but with this new knowledge/experience. These kind of experiences aren't always bad...sometimes they are the best things ever, and sometimes they are important lessons disguised in heartache.

The first is when we lost the twins. I changed in so many ways during that time. I lost my innocent view on life. I found a deeper love for my husband. I longed for a baby more then ever. I grew up. I learned how to laugh and smile again. I learned what sorrow was.

The next was when Hailey was born (and Paige too of course). I learned how to love like I never had before. I learned what motherly guilt really felt like. I felt exhaustion like never before. I joined the 'motherhood club'. Again I found a deeper love for my husband. I learned what true joy was.

This summer our family experienced something else that changed me...and everyone involved. It's not really my story to share, but it's also something I feel strongly about. I feel like it wouldn't be fair to share the rest of my summer and not talk about this at all. I also feel like others need to learn from this. So I will share in minimal detail what it is that changed my life again.

My little family camped with my husbands family this summer. At one point we lost my sweet little toddler nephew and then found his lifeless body floating in a pond. We watched as his courageous mother performed CPR and brought him back to life. I can describe in great detail how horrifying this was for everyone there, and how awful the nightmares have been the haunt us still. But I won't. Like I said it's not really my story to tell. But, I do feel like sharing this with everyone:

PLEASE update your CPR! We're so grateful that my nephew's mother had recently re-certified her first aid/CPR.

PLEASE always watch your children. It literally takes 5 seconds for a child to disappear from sight. Be especially careful around water.

PLEASE always appreciate the beauty of your children...life is so precious!

Like I said earlier, this has changed my life in many ways. I have learned that no matter how difficult life with little ones can be, I need to be grateful for the blessing they are in my life. I've felt true fear. I've found comfort in my family and feel like family is more important then most anything. I've cried as my desperate prayers were answered. I'm still struggling to balance life with this constant fear I now have. I've learned to rejoice in every single breath my children take. I've learned to love a little bit deeper and a little bit more.

And then we had a Birthday Party!

I'm still working on July here. If I blogged for any other reason then to keep a personal record of our life...I'd just skip it all and write something truly witty. But the main reason I blog is to document this fabulously normal life I live...and therefore, I must and will slowly work my way through each and every little thing we do. If there are actually people out there who read this blog (and I suspect there are few), just deal with the deal. My life is boring, my documentation of my life might be more boring...so if you're reading this - what does that say about you? Sorry Mom....and anyone else who reads this thing. I'm just kidding.

Anyway, between camping trips this year I decided to have a VERY last minute, VERY small and VERY unorganized birthday party for Hailey. Basically we invited Hailey's cousins and whoever happened to be at church the Sunday before. Who knew so many people would be at church on Sunday...and who knew everyone who was there was also available!! It ended up being a very last minute, very HUGE, very unorganized party. I also didn't even have a chance to invite half the people I would have wanted to...but I'm sure they're glad they didn't have to participate in this gong show:

Pin the clothes on the princess
A million little mouths to feed
Hailey marrying her prince charming
Me - more excited then anyone to open presents (either that or a woodchuck impression)
And Hailey blowing out the candles on her Ice Cream Sunday (my kids don't like cake...I don't like to make it...so why bother?)

Anyway...I make it sound like it was this terrible party. But it wasn't. I did do lots of decorating and cute things for the party - and I enjoyed every minute of it. Hailey and her friends seemed to have a blast. And it was well worth the little bit of craziness you get with 12 Four year olds running around the house! I'm glad and feel very blessed every year that I get to have Birthday parties for my kids. I'm one lucky lady.