Cait's Blessing

Back in the day....an eternity ago...when Cait was 5 weeks old...so three weeks ago...we blessed her in church. NOW, I'm not a great newborn mom. I really struggle with this stage. I don't struggle nearly as much when they are 3+ months old, so normally that's when we bless our babies. But because of summer plans and other events (a new nephew being born soon...yay), the only time to bless this sweet baby of ours was when she was 5 weeks old. So we cleaned the house, bought enough food to feed an army and prepared our self for our visitors. They all showed up on time, and Ben gave our baby Cait the sweetest blessing. To mark the occasion, we took a few pictures outside. I mentioned earlier that my lens is broken...well these pictures were the first sign. They wouldn't focus at all. So sad. But at least we still have these blurry memories....and to be honest, some of them I don't mind being blurry:

Like when we're running around like crazy trying to round up our two other kids for the picture, when I'm grimacing because my life feels so out of control etc.

Or when that middle child of mine acts so much like a...well...a middle child

But then there are some pictures I wish weren't as blurry...like this one, where the middle child is only partly acting like a middle child and more so like a 2 year old, where the oldest looks sweet and angelic, where the Dad is smiling, where the Mom looks half decent and where the baby isn't crying. This one I would have liked in focus.

Overall the day was great. It was fun having all our families here...and it was actually kind of nice doing this with a newborn. She just slept in every one's arms all day long. And the best part of it all? I don't have to worry about planning it anymore...because it's DONE!!! hahaha...I'm so positive!

Anyway, just in case you were wondering, the middle child sometimes is sweet and angelic too. Like when she's reading to her baby sister. Yes. She's sweet and angelic...and THIS pictures is in focus! So I hope to remember it clearly!

Life

Life has been normal lately. Nothing exciting. Nothing boring. Just the every day normal kind of stuff.

Hailey started soccer - which means mom (me) and the three girls get to look like a gong show every time! That is unless Ben can make it, and then if he does I think a LOT less people feel sorry for me. Hailey takes the whole soccer business pretty seriously though...so do I. Paige takes her snacks pretty seriously, and Cait just sits there taking life seriously.

Paige had a sprinkler date with her cousins...oh she LOVES her cousins! She's not a big fan of playing with other kids. But when her cousins are around she gets right in there.

 Hailey got some new quad gear. This gear was actually MY mothers day gift. Ben asked me what I wanted: something for me, or something to ensure the safety of my children. Easy choice for me.

We gave the trailer it's first trip of the year. People thought I was crazy for travelling with a newborn...but the beauty of new babies is that they wake up in the night no matter where they are. So my sleep remained the same old crappy sleep. She did pretty good though. I can't complain about 5-6 hour stretches at 7 weeks.

And the baby got to sleep in her own bedroom. This was a direct result of camping. Up until now we haven't been able to get her to sleep past 6:30 am. That just doesn't work for me. BUT while we were camping, I got frustrated and left her in her 'room' and went and slept in the other end of the trailer. I could still hear cries (if there were any) but none of the grunty stuff she likes to do while sleeping. Well...turns out that when I'm not responding to her grunts, she'll sleep in until 8:30. And so the idea of her own room came up...and it was a GREAT decision!

Anyway, my real camera broke. Well the camera's ok, the lens is toast. I'm soooooo sad. So I've been using my iPhone WAY more then necessary. And that's ok for now.

I'm trying to remember

I'm trying to remember the newborn stage with my other two girls. And I can't!! Which is good I think...because I'm just not a good newborn mom, and it's nice when you don't remember how tired and emotional you are. But I'd love it if I could remember it a bit better so I could compare to this stage with Cait. I'm just feeling so worn down and I feel like there's no way it was this hard with my other two. But Ben keeps telling me that it was!! Cait's not even a bad baby by any means...she hardly ever cries. She naps really well and is generally pretty good at night. BUT two nights ago she woke up at 2am and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4:30! And I couldn't take it (I cried a LOT more than she did, that's for sure). Or last night she took two hours to put up sleep!!!! But then she was asleep and slept for 5 hours. So not bad at all!! I just hate how unpredictable it all is!

So I'm just patiently waiting for things to feel a bit normal. In the meantime I'm enjoying quiet moments where Cait just falls asleep anywhere. Or those sweet beginnings of smiles we're starting to get now. Or how much she just LOVES to be cuddled! Because these are things I actually want to remember!

Instagram to the rescue

One of the best gifts I've ever received was my iPhone. Maybe that's silly or materialistic of me...but I really do love it! My favourite thing about my iPhone is the camera...and especially the instagram app. I can take quick little pictures of our daily life without worrying whether the camera is set right...or charged..or has a memory card in it. It's just so simple: I whip out the phone, snap a picture, load it into Instagram and add a filter or effect to the picture. Awesome!

So...these last few weeks, Instagram has come to MY rescue. It's been there to take pictures of my kids (and even me) when I just don't feel like getting out my real camera. So now I can remember these sleep deprived, cloudy (but so sweet) early days of Cait's life. I can remember that even though I'm perpetually in zombie mode, my other two girls are still having fun.

I'll always remember what Cait looked like when she wanted nothing but to cuddle into my neck

I'll always remember how excited Hailey was to finally figure out how to drive and steer her quad...and how she spent hours on it and her Nana and Granpa's farm

I'll always remember Paige's daredevil face as she cruised down our driveway on her bike...stopping just inches from the busy road we live on

 I'll always remember Hailey's sweet, timid expression as she started to learn to ride her bike without training wheels (or pedals...to help teach her balance)

I'll always remember how small my girls were...or how big Cait looked in Hailey's arms...or how silly Paige could be

I'll be happy to have these memories one day...one day when I wonder how I ever survived these early days. And I'll see that I did just fine!





Cait Pictures

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented people! I'm especially lucky that one of my oldest friends is an AMAZING newborn photographer and that she took these darling pictures of Cait when she was just 11 days old.

I was so worried that Cait wouldn't cooperate at all...but she was the PERFECT baby! I think a LOT of it had to do with Laura's technique. She was so calm, and patient and kept the studio so toasty warm that I even had a hard time not falling asleep. But I was most impressed with the time and thought she put into each pose. She just calmly held Cait in the pose until it was perfect and then pulled out her camera to take the perfect shot each time. She didn't once quickly take a half decent picture because she wasn't sure if she could get something better. Nope. She KNEW she was going to get good pictures and was willing to take the time to get them! I was VERY impressed!

Anyway, have a look at her blog...and especially this post with Cait's pictures. I KNOW I'm biased...but I still think Cait is a BEAUTIFUL baby! Don't you agree?

http://laurataylorphotography.ca/sweet-cait-calgary-newborn-photographer/

April So far

I'm trying really hard to take real pictures...you know the kind that don't involve my iPhone. BUT, it's soooo hard when my phone is ALWAYS on me and when it really does take half decent pictures. Plus, I kinda LOVE instagram. But I still need to make an effort to take out my real camera and document our life with real pictures. So here is April so far...from the real camera. The pictures are far from perfect, but the little people IN the pictures couldn't be more perfect:

Crafting...
Totally the BEST thing about little girls...
We craft at LEAST once a day


This one is waking up...
We hope this is a good thing...
She like to gnaw on things

Playing on the iPhones...
Pure Concentration...
Nice break for mom

Easter Sunday...

Easter Dresses...

aren't these girls BEAUTIFUL??

A spring Snowstorm...
the BIGGEST smiles I've ever seen...
the BIGGEST snowflakes I've ever seen


The Girls...
all three of them...
not one of them with their hair brushed...
but still sweet as ever

a 9 year update

So this year...way back in February we celebrated our 9 year anniversary. We had BIG plans to celebrate in a big way! Haha...just kidding. But we did plan on at least going out to dinner and a movie, or something equally as exciting. BUT it never really happened. Life sort of got in the way, and then we had a baby! But I did put together this little slide show video that documented our life together. I learned a few things while making this video...

1 - I'm so grateful that Ben's in my life. He's really my best friend in the whole world and I just LOVE spending time with him
2 - I'm not 18 anymore...really, how did that happen?
3 - We HARDLY take pictures of just the two of us - some years were definitely not picture years and it was hard to find even just a few decent pictures. I have a MILLION of one of us with the kids, but not very many of Ben and I!

I've been sort of hesitant to share this video because it means a lot to me. When I started making it, the video was just a fun way to mark a milestone in our married life. But because of recent events, it's become more of a way to celebrate the fact that my husband is safe and here with his family. A reminder that we were lucky enough to have him come home to us every day! And it makes my heart break for those in this world who are missing loved ones, those who have had to say goodbye way too early.

Anyway, I'm grateful that this is just the start of our married life, I'm grateful that we have many more years of happiness to come, I'm grateful that I married such an awesome and fun guy, and mostly I'm grateful for this beautiful family we've created. I couldn't ask for more!

Untitled from Meagan McCance on Vimeo.

Cait Elizabeth

Well, I did it! I decided to have another baby!! We welcomed Cait Elizabeth into this world on March 29th at 7:30 PM. It was an interesting labour...and a little bit too fast for my liking, but we're glad it's all done with and that she's here! She came a day before her due date, which was honestly just a small bit of torture. I had my other girls earlier, so with each day that Cait didn't arrive, I got more and more impatient. But she eventually made her debut!

The morning Cait was born I was woken by contractions at 6:00 am. They weren't anything special, difficult or worth calling in our support system for. So I just hung around in bed...timed a few and slept. Around 8:00 am I called my parents and told them I thought the baby would be here today...but that it wasn't going to be anytime soon. So they loaded their bags into the car and arrived at my home a few hours later. We spent the day hanging out, going for walks etc. The contractions were still inconsistent and not painful. So I let Ben stay at work a little longer.

We took one last picture of my belly:

Around 3:30 my contractions started to regulate a bit more...still not "real" labour, but at least it was a sign that things were moving in the right direction. So I called Ben home from work and we headed to the hospital. When I had Paige I had about 6 hours of this slow inconsistent labour and less than 2 of real labour before she was born...so I wanted to make sure I was IN the hospital when the real labour started.

We arrived at the hospital about 4pm and were sent home at 4:30 PM because I wasn't in 'labour' yet and was only 3cm!! Let me tell you...I was pretty annoyed because I KNEW that it would go FAST once things started. BUT, we left. We drove home, picked up a few things, picked up McDonald's from the drivethru and headed back to the hospital. I didn't want to go INTO the hospital but wanted to be near by. So we drove around town for a bit, took the truck on a few dirt roads etc. The bouncy truck sure got things moving! At 6:45 I decided that I needed to pee really really bad, so we headed to a gas station. At this point I KNEW I had about 2 or 3 minutes between contractions, so I ran in quickly, asked to use the bathroom and when they refused me, I just broke down crying and then a brutal contraction hit. I crawled back to the truck and Ben decided it was time to head into the hospital. So I agreed...but only to use that washroom. I did NOT want to go back in and get sent home again!! When we got there I quickly ran to the bathroom and when I came out the nurse was there and she quickly ushered me into a delivery room. I still thought they'd send me home. But I was wrong.

It was 6:56 when we arrived at the hospital. I was 7 cm. It took about 20 minutes to get settled in and get things ready for my real labour to start. Then at 7:20 the doctor came in and I begged for an epidural...and was refused, so I begged for something else and was once again declined because there wasn't time! At 7:27pm the doctor broke my water and at 7:30pm little Cait arrived!! I was definitely in shock! I had expected to labour for at least a few hours in the hospital...and was totally unprepared for her to arrive when she did. In fact, our camera and EVERYTHING was still in the truck! It was quick, it was nice, but it was definitely intense!

My parents brought the girls up an hour later to meet their new little sister and everyone was soooo happy!


Paige did a lot of looking at my tummy and then staring at the baby...and looking at my tummy and staring at the baby:


Hailey was in HEAVEN!! She was made to be a big sister!


We were all a little surprised...but VERY happy to have another girl!


Cait wasn't such a fan of her first bath:


But, when we came home she snuggled right into the arms of her big sister:


A family shot...I guess with each child you have it gets harder and harder to get a decent shot hey?


And finally...the sleeping baby. She's a bit colicky so we cherish every sweet quiet moment like this.


Anyway, it's been a whirlwind of a week. I think everyone is adjusting pretty well. I'm exhausted, but functioning and overjoyed to have another sweet girl to cuddle with. The girls are as happy as can be. And Ben's yet again smitten by another daughter!

39 weeks

So here I am at the end of this pregnancy. It seemed like it took FOREVER! Yet somehow the last 6 weeks have just flown by! HOW?? Really, how is it almost over?

We're pretty much ready for the baby to arrive...maybe not so much emotionally/mentally, but in every other way I'm ready. I'm tired and my body's sore. Yesterday I wiped out on the ice, so I'm even a bit extra sore. But I have just a few days left and then I'll start to feel normal again. I can't wait to roll over in bed without all the effort, and I especially can't wait to sleep on my back. Oh how lovely that will be.

I'm also looking forward to a little alone time with a baby. Some peaceful cuddle time. I'll even take a LOT of crying time as long as I get a few peaceful cuddles in. I'm looking forward to my little girls getting even bigger and seeing them with their new baby brother or sister. I'm just looking forward to meeting this baby.

Now we just have to come up with some names. lol.

Anyway, here's me and my belly at 39 weeks. I feel like I was bigger at 36 weeks...but it's really just that I've dropped. The baby is getting READY!

A boring Update

Life has been pretty low key these last few days. We're slowly...very slowly working on getting ready for this baby. I'm rounding up things like baby clothes (for boy or girl), baby blankets (also for boy or girl), baby swing, bassinet, crib, car seat, diapers, diaper cream etc. I've also finally packed my hospital bag...which is surprisingly early for me. Normally I pack it while I'm rushing around like mad as I head into the hospital. But I just feel like being more prepared this time. I have less than one week until I hit my due date. I was early with both my girls and although I'm trying to NOT expect an early baby again, I do sort of have my hopes up. I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday would work for me! We'll see.

Anyway, besides getting ready for this baby, we've been doing a lot of sleeping. Ben was involved in a pretty traumatic Snowmobile accident a few weeks ago, and although he's fine, we're all pretty shaken. And if you didn't know, feeling 'shaken' makes you TIRED! So most everything important in our lives has been put on hold while we process things and try to figure out what our new normal is. I'm pretty sure our new normal will be arriving this week, and will make us even MORE tired! But it's something wonderful and amazing to look forward to!

Anyway, here's a glimpse into our daily lives. Both our girls are such blessings in our lives. But sometimes we really know how lucky we are to have Paige in our family. She is ALWAYS game for a cuddle or two. So when Mom's sad or Dad's tired, she's ALWAYS there rubbing our backs and snuggling in tight. Nothing beats that!

Anyway, I have big plans to blog at least twice more before this baby arrives. So stay tuned for a 39 week belly update and an anniversary post (9 years).

Valentines Day

You know when you're pregnant and every ounce of your brain power gets stolen by that growing baby in your tummy? Oh yeah, I know that feeling. It's the kind of thing that makes you leave a kid in nursery at church 15 minutes after church was over, or that doesn't remind you that you're NOT wearing a shirt when you take your preschooler to school (thank goodness I invested in a maternity winter coat that fully zips up), or the kind of thing that makes you forget all about the pictures you took on Valentines day...and then has you blog about how you didn't take any. Oops.

Well, I did take some. And they were terrible! Terrible in the way that it was dark, my external flash won't 'talk' with my camera, I had to use the lame-o built in flash, my kids were hungry, my husband was dirty and grungy from work and I was fat.

BUT they were great in the way that in a years time I'll be grateful that I took some pictures...I won't think I was fat (just pregnant) and I'll laugh at how cute my kids were. And in 30 years time I'll LOVE these pictures because I'll not only NOT think I'm fat...but wonder how I could possibly have been so skinny, and I'll miss how small and cute an perfect my babies were, and I'll think how totally HOT my husband was!

So here they are:

Making our heart shaped pizza:

Smoochy smoochy:


Lovely Happy (ish...if you don't count the two year old) Family

36 Weeks

The countdown is ON!! 4 more weeks (give or take a bit) until this baby arrives! I'm feeling EVERY single week of these 36 weeks! I'm also feeling like I need every single second in these next 4 weeks to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for this baby. I'll be honest, I get pretty postpartum after I have babies and I'm not looking forward to meeting that crazy lady again. Pregnancy is a breeze for me...postpartum emotions/baby blues/depression...not so fun at all. I'm terrified actually. BUT I have some tools to help me through this time and hopefully things feel better, hopefully I feel better and hopefully everyone else can be patient with me.

Some of the things I'm excited about though are:
-holding my new baby and KNOWING I'm his/her number ONE!
-checking out this baby and learning and memorizing every part of her/him
-watching my girls love on this baby
-having an excuse for a messy house
-all the baby's 'firsts' - smile, laugh, etc
-nursing this baby...I LOVE nursing my babies!!
-middle of the night cuddles - ALONE time!

Now we just wait and see when this little one decides to arrive. 4 days early like it's sisters? Or earlier (wishful thinking)? Right on time? Or maybe it's going to be an April Baby and show up late. We'll see!

Another month via the iPhone

What is my problem?? I can NOT get it together enough to blog. I'm sure a LOT of it has to do with the lack of content I have to blog about. We don't do anything exciting these days. I lay around all morning...then get Hailey dressed and send her off to school. Then Paige and I lay around all afternoon until Hailey comes home from school. Then I teach Piano, then I lay around, then I warm something up for dinner, lay around some more and then it's bed time! Once the kids are in bed Ben (if he's home) and I lay around and watch tv. Seriously, I just lounge out all day on the couch. Ahhh, the life of luxury!

In between all my laziness I do manage to take a picture or two with my iPhone. I'd love to take my real camera out and put it to use, but it's usually ALL the way across the room. And I'm sure at this point it would take a few large cranes to get me off the couch. So my iPhone camera it is!

Since Ben and I got married on February 15th we decided that Valentines Day will be for our kids, and our anniversary will be for us. This year the girls and I made a heart shaped Pizza for dinner. We even went through all the effort to cut ALL the meat into heart shapes as well...and I'm really glad we did, because as you can see, all that heart shaped meat is so obvious! (Sense the sarcasm?) Next year I think we'll skip that step! The Pizza was D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s though!

On Family Day weekend we spent the day at the wave pool with Ben's sister and Cousin and their kids. It was sooooo fun! I didn't feel like cooking (swimming isn't anything like lounging on the couch all day you know), so for dinner, Ben and I and the girls went to Moxie's. It was surprisingly VERY kid friendly and we had a lot of fun colouring on our paper place mats!

Paige was VERY insistent that I draw soothers all over her page...do you think she's maybe in withdrawal over her lack of soother use these days?

This week I spent MOST...well all of the week sick. Ben got a mancold on the weekend which worked it's way over my direction. How did I get a mancold you ask? Maybe I really do have a boy in my baby belly! Regardless of how it happened...the mancold turned into a sinus infection which resulted in me laid out on the couch all day everyday (which I guess doesn't sound much different then my everyday life). My kids watched a LOT of TV this week and played on the computer WAY more than I should have let them!

Hailey also spent a bit of time chatting on the phone with various people....mostly Grandma. She's looking WAY too grown up here!

Today the weather was nice and my antibiotics were starting to kick in. So I took the kids to the park. I celebrated by glaring into the camera. That's how GREAT I feel!

After this week, the girls are pretty used to me laying around doing nothing, so they take care of themselves! Sweet hey?

Anyway, tomorrow's Sunday. Maybe I'll get up and put some makeup on to look decent for church. If I do, I'll post a picture of my 36 week belly!! I KNOW, the anticipation is killing you!