2 to 3...the honest truth

Back when I was pregnant with Cait I remember being warned. I was told ALL the horror stories about how two kids was a handful and three was just a disaster. Which by the way...thanks for the WARNING! You know...it's not like there was anything I could do about it. The baby was on her way no matter what...so warning me served no purpose other than to scare me. Anyway, I didn't believe anyone. I deserved an easy baby. I really did. Hailey was a handful in only the ways that I was a new mom. As an experienced mom I would says she wasn't all that tough. But I do remember the only way I could get her to nurse passed 4 months was in a dark room...standing up...rocking and bouncing her with white noise in the background. And we lasted 16 months!!!  Paige. Well she was so much my baby and only my baby. Others learned pretty quickly to not even bother looking at her otherwise hysterics would ensue. She LOVED her soother...and as along is it (and me) were nearby, we were good to go. She had a few rough adjustments to sleeping, but by the time she was 6 months old I was guaranteed a good full sleep EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! It really wasn't that bad...in hindsight.

And then Cait came along. She was a bit colicky to start. Then she chilled right out. Everyone was wrong...completely wrong! She was relaxed, quiet, slept like a dream etc. etc. etc. Life was smooth. There was no impending disaster. Three kids was a piece of cake! Then she got her first kidney infection. And then another and another....and you get the point. Things went down hill pretty fast. Everything changed. She started waking at night when she never used to, she would cry all day long, she was just so unhappy. She had a surgery in October and we hoped for a change in attitude. But it felt like things just got worse! I would say we have a happy Cait maybe 20% of the time, and then the other 80%...well that's when I barely make it through the day. I cry a LOT. The poor big girls, they are VERY neglected. And then there's Ben. He just works soooo much! And when he's home, he's got three (ok 4) crying girls to deal with. It's pretty rough.

I don't know. Today has clearly been a pretty rough day. The baby's sick...and I feel like I have been running on empty for too long. I'm also so conflicted right now. I just really want 4 kids. I LOVE the idea of 4 grown children...but I'm not sure if I can handle another baby. Or if it's even fair to my other kids. I want to volunteer in school with my kids...but I can't so easily when I have a baby. Especially a cranky one! I'm jealous of other moms who have 'easy' babies...or who handle the cranky ones with ease. And I don't want to be jealous. I have this beautiful life! I have sooooo many blessings. I have great children...and I especially love that crying baby! I have a pretty amazing husband. He's patient and kind and gently and fun and crazy and just plain awesome! I also know that pretty soon this rough little patch in my life with be a distant memory...and I'll one day say "it wasn't that bad" again. I know it. But until then, I thought I'd just share a bit of honesty.

Here's a picture of Cait...see that face? That face is trouble brewing! LOL. She is one mischievous babe!

p.s. this post came from some social media frustration, I feel I'm getting a bit sick of the perfect lives everyone portrays on instagram and facebook. It's so refreshing to hear some honesty once in a while. It's also ok to brag once in a while too. But it sure can beat me while I'm down.

p.p.s. since I'm pretty sure my mom is the only one who still reads this. And since she's across the country and will worry...just know I'm actually ok! Life is pretty good!

It's a Party

One of the those parenting things I'm still learning (among MANY) is how to take care of the middle child. I'm not sure if I had a great example on how to do this since my parents dealt with their middle child LONG before I came along. And then when I was born I was the baby forever and once Sarah came along I was never forgotten. Having siblings so far from my age had it's benefits.

But since my kids are pretty much 2 years apart it's been a bit of a struggle to make sure they're each happy and taken care of. This year has been especially hard on Paige with Hailey at school. Hailey gets to do all sorts of fun things...like school, concerts, parent free gymnastics etc. But the biggest of all the Birthday Parties she gets to go to that Paige just isn't invited to.

So I took a page from my moms parenting book and threw a party for Paige's baby dolls! She got to pick her favourite two (baby dum...and love baby), we went to the dollar store and bought them each a gift, we bought stickers for a craft and a treat for the treat bags. Paige then wrapped the gifts, got her best party dress on and posed for the first picture.

We sang Happy Birthday to her Babies

Paige helped them blow out the candles

She acted genuinely surprised while helping open the gifts

And she devoted all her attention to opening her Smarties from the treat bag she decorated!

It was a super easy and very fun afternoon for Paige and me. This 'one on one' time was just what we both needed. I think we'll have more little Birthday's in the near future!

p.s. do you like her babies' names? Baby Dum - well, that's a good one. It originates from Ben...he calls them Baby dolls, and Paigey just couldn't quite say it right. Somehow it ended up as Baby Dum. 

And 'Love Baby'... Oh my Love Baby. She's MY first baby. Honestly, I thought she was my baby growing up. And still to this day I am quite tender with her. I am careful to make sure her head is supported correctly etc. She's a VERY VERY loved doll and has brought me MANY great memories!

A random intro to 2013

We've just been lazy lazy lazy lately! We just tried to take it easy between Christmas and school starting up again. We've done a LOT of playing at home...and nothing else. So here are a few random pictures:

I never get tired of this little girls profile:

This baby LOVES the dishwasher

She also LOVES to make a mess while eating

My middle child has come out of her shell a bit...she LOVES to perform little songs and shows all the time

I spent the day hanging out with my good Friend Laura and tried to take a few pictures in her studio...I didn't have a willing participant

These girls....so loved, so adorable, so much personality

Waiting for Daddy

Anyway...we're just slowly coming to terms with the fact that reality hits tomorrow when Hailey goes back to school. I/we really enjoyed these few weeks of no schedules or responsibility! I'd like a few more!

p.s. I've been working on a little project. I started a photo-a-day blog. Have a peek: One-a-day

2012 in Review

Our annual year in review video:


2012 Vimeo Version from Meagan McCance on Vimeo.

For past years see 2011 and 2010

Christmas

well, I'm so happy this year! At first I was a little sad because my parents were gone and it seemed like we didn't have anyone to spend Christmas with. But then Sarah and Nick came and we just chilled all day and the girls were in heaven. I think Sarah and Nick may just be their favourite people!

Christmas Sunday (the 23rd) was a hit....meaning, no one was sick!! Yay! I really really wanted to get a picture of the girls before church with their hair done and everything...but we slept in. So we tried one after church. A little bit scraggly, a little bit hungry and a little bit tired. This was the best I could do. lol. I think they look like angels! We spent the evening at Nate and Tans for a delicious Turkey dinner with the whole family! It was amazing!

 
Christmas Eve: we went to Becc and Jar's we ate and ate and ate and ate. And of course the kids performed the Woodruff version of the nativity:

The Angel came to Mary to tell her about her upcoming pregnancy

and then the other Angel arrived...and Mary said "what's the babies name...and can it be a girl". And she thought about it, and said "nope, it's a boy and it's Jesus"

And then they all got together...a sheep or two tried to escape. But they still all sang praises to baby Jesus, who we're grateful turned out to be a boy!

 Christmas Day: Presents!! now let me tell you...we have a special little family. We ALL sleep in! So around 9:00 am the big girls woke us up...they were soooo excited to open presents. We started with our stockings. Then put gift opening on hold, ate a HUGE brunch (aebleskivers, bacon, eggs  etc). Then we skyped with mom and dad...and THEN around NOON we finally opened gifts!!! Different for sure...but perfect!

So...Hailey is the best gift opener...always excited and always showing it. In this picture, the excitement is mixed a little with disbelief! See...a few weeks earlier I caught her snooping in my closet...discovered that she'd found this Barbie makeup kit...and therefor made her return it to the store! Probably the meanest mom in the world. BUT of course I bought it back when she wasn't there and we still gave it to her! So it all worked out in the end, and she learned a little lesson about snooping. She now has makeup on every day!

Cait certainly enjoyed her gift from Sarah!

Paige...this picture is pretty much why parents love Christmas so much. Soooo cute! And it was just a Barbie...but a Barbie is just what she wanted!

A glimpse of my house after presents...messy!

Boxing Day: We went to Claresholm to celebrate with Ben's family. They rent out the church every year and the kids just run around and play. So fun. We also had a little gift exchange for the kids... and a million gifts from Nana and Grandpa. 

 Candy!! Why bother buying this kid anything else?

and the best moment of the day...the snowman building contest! I think Ben wins!!

Anyway, Christmas this year was all sorts of magical! We missed my parents a ton, but it helped to have my family so close by! Thank you Sarah and Nick for spending the day with us...we LOVED having you here! And thank you to my beautiful for girls for being so in LOVE with this holiday and enjoying every moment! And thank you to my perfect husband...for everything - and especially my new camera! It's a keeper! Anyway, I've got to get my 2012 recap video uploaded and I'll try to post it later!! 

Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings etc.

Christmas prep

Christmas Preparations are well under way. We've been a bit under the weather since Mexico... so things haven't been all that exciting. But we've tried out best.

We sent letters to Santa

Paige couldn't reach...so Hailey thought her three inch advantage would help. lol

We decorated a gingerbread house...and the kids had full artistic license

We made sugar cookies

And at them...of course

We did some Christmas crafting (Michael's premade kits...that's the way this house rolls)

We've been reading a LOT of Christmas books

And we even attended the cutest Christmas concert ever!

It's been a pretty good Christmas season. Cait didn't really want to be involved in any of the activities....so she didn't get any pictures taken. Scrooge. Kidding...she's been pretty happy to crawl around and eat crumbs off the floor while we ignore her. Kidding. Sort of. 

Mexico 2012

Well...I'm starting to really get used to this yearly Mexico thing. It's just sort of nice. Well a LOT nice. I'm so grateful to my Aunt and Uncle for inviting us down every year! We LOVE and look forward to this week every year! Anyway...we clearly went to Mexico again this year. Each time is special in it's own way, but this year was fun because we took our kids...and a ton of my cousins were there with their kids. So it was pretty much just solid play time for the kids! We missed my parents though (they are our travel buddies, and discovered that travelling without them is way harder then we'd expected. We were outnumbered by the kids you know).

Anyway...preparations for the trip were slow and LONG. Half of us go the stomach flu, and my parents left on a mission all the week before we left - we stayed pretty busy with all that. So things were definitely put into mad rush mode by the end of the week. BUT we got it all together and made it to Mexico. The girls were angels on the plane. Even Cait - who we were the most worried about. She was about a week into fighting a pretty intense bladder infection and we were worried that she would cry the whole time. Instead she slept the whole time...and was patient in our three hour delay.

Sunday: We arrived in Mexico pretty late Saturday night...so it was fun to take Cait out in the sun on Sunday morning. She LOVED it. But sadly we kept her in the shade the rest of the trip (her antibiotics and sun don't mix too well). We spent Sunday relaxing around the pool, boogie boarding, getting groceries, etc. It was a GREAT first day.

Monday: Another great Beach day. Another great Pool Day. Some Dirty Taco's and an awesome dinner in Punta de Mita. Imagine a restaurant to yourselves (and the 20 other members of your party), live music, a table for the kids to eat at (while watching Nick jr), a waiter to spoon feed your kids because they are too distracted to feed themselves, and the waves crashing on the beach just a few feet away. Seriously, it was awesome!

The kids had a poolside dance contest. So cute!

Tuesday: Ben and Hailey had the stomach flu. Which meant they slept all day...never even saw the sun. So Paige, Cait and I partied at the Beach, and relaxed on our balcony.

Crawling....a favourite for this little girl

iPhone movies during nap time

Post bath pictures with the elephant towel

Reading books during nap time

Wednesday: The day started out GREAT!! We got to witness the hatching of a turtle nest just steps away from our villa. It was AMAZING! We watched well over a hundred baby turtles make their way to the ocean. Seriously....such an awesome thing to be part of. We finished off the day with some shopping at the market in Bucerias and dinner back at the resort.

Look at those little guys...so tiny and adorable

Do you see them? The Turtles? I think I see 8 in this picture.

This turtle is just waiting for the surf to take him away

Starting to feel a bit better...I guess dinosaur towels brighten any mood

Already adjusted to the heat....long sleeved shirts!

Thursday: Ben and the girls hung out at the resort and I got to go Zip lining with my cousins. Ben may just be the best hubby ever. He went last year and I couldn't go cause I was pregnant...so he made sure I got to go this year. It was soooo fun! Then Thursday night we took the girls into La Cruz for Dinner at Frescatti's. It's a sweet little Italian Restaurant. It was soooo nice to eat normal food. I really do love Mexican food and all the dirty tacos we ate, but I was craving some tastes from home. And I KNOW Ben and Hailey's stomach's appreciated it as well.

Friday: our last full day! We spent the whole day pool and beach side. Oh wait...I actually spent 2 hours in the spa. Like I wasn't spoiled enough having a day without kids the day before...Ben decided to surprise me with an 85 minute massage and 25 minute facial. Hello husband of the year! I also  had Ben catch a few pictures of me Boogie boarding so I could add them to my '30 by 30' bucket list. One of my goals was to go boogie boarding in mexico...which I have done before, but just wanted to make sure I did again! I also was supposed to eat shrimp and actually like it. AND...I did!! But there are no pictures to document that moment. But I did order three different shrimp dishes while in Mexico...and each time it was delish! Anyway...we ventured back to La Cruz with my cousin Emily and her family for dinner that night. We asked some ladies we saw on the street where they'd recommend we eat for dinner and they pointed us in the direction of Philo's bar. So we headed there and had some great pizza! The place was clearly a tourist spot - meaning only white people were there. But that's sort of what we were looking for..or at least what our weak stomachs wanted. The place was awesome! We were the youngest people there by at least 30 years but loved every second of it. The best part of all was the live band! I think it was the owner and his buddies? Anyway, they played great music for dancing and the kids LOVED every second of it! I'll have to try to upload a video of them dancing! It was a magical evening! The perfect way to end the trip!

Only my kids could be cold in Mexico!

Eating her favourite thing...the beads on my bathing suit

My main man

Me...Boogie Boarding..the waves were weaksauce this day

We always had the BEST sunsets from our room!

Saturday: Check-out, return the rental car, and eat one last Mexican Taco at Marlin Tacos across from the Airport. mmmm. They were yummy! Hailey and Paige were GREAT on the flight home. Cait not so much. She cried on and off for a good 2 hours. And then slept for an hour and was ok the rest of the flight. Everyone was pretty patient with us...but wow, that baby was sad. As it turns out, we all have colds now. That may have explained her extreme crankiness...she probably had a hard time equalizing her ears. I know it took me over 24 hours to equalize after we landed...thanks to my cold.

Anyway...the trip was GREAT! The company was even better! I LOVE this place and hope we get a chance to go back again one day!

p.s. some of these pictures or pretty low quality - we didn't always have a real camera with us, so made due with stills from our video camera or iPhone.