Recent Photo's

Tackling Caleb. She'll hold her own, I'm certain of it. My adorable, handsome boy.She's almost crawling. Today she took one pace forward....

"Mommy, I don't feel so good." Again, trying to crawl.

Sucky when sick, gotta love the comfort of the soother. Caleb's bed turned into the toddler bed. He was so excited about his new bedding. Ahh, teething. getting out and enjoying the spring weather. Caleb circled the driveway with this lawn mower for a very long time. Super cool babes!

Ewww, the Flu.

The flu arrived unwelcomed in our house Thursday night. All was normal, no one saw it coming. Caleb went to bed at his usual time, and an hour into his sleep he woke up crying. I went into his room only to discover he had thrown up big time everywhere. We got him changed into new jammies, and Dave was cuddling him while I changed his bed. He threw up again on himself, so we then put him in the bath. He was shivering the whole time in the tub and threw up again in there. Finally after all was cleaned and laundry started we finally got back to bed past 11pm. He then woke up with the runs in the morning. So we called Christa and told her that Caleb wasn't coming that day. I had made sugar cookies and everything for Caleb to take because it was a Tea Party for Stuffy's that day. Oh well. He had no energy, refused to eat anything, and I barely got liquid in him. He threw up a few times that day, and Saturday morning. But then it seemed to be leaving. Until last night, when Amberly threw up big time at Fern and Mert's. We have never seen her throw up that bad before. She was even choking on it. It was awful. After a chat to a health nurse on Telehealth, Dave went out and bought Pedialite, with instructions to give her 1-2 tsp's every 5 mins for the next 8 hours! CRAZY!! Thank goodness it was bed time, we got maybe about 10 tsp's in her before bed time. Then she slept wonderfully. This morning she woke up and in an hour drank her normal bottle, and I'm keeping fingers crossed, no throw up so far. A few runny diapers, but I rather deal with that then vomit.

We did have a good week last week. Nothing too exciting happened. My parents came on Tuesday for the day. It was great weather, so we did get outdoors a lot. This meant awesome sleeping for the kids!

Saturday, Dave and I did a few things that needed to be done a while ago. We lowered the mattress in Amberly's crib. Then we finally turned Caleb's crib into the toddler bed. That night he did fall out of bed. But so far, he hasn't realized that he can actually get out of bed. He stays there until we come and get him. I'm hoping this lasts long!

Sunday, we had church. I had to teach toddler nursery, and normally this is o.k. But I had a terrible hour. Amberly is making strange now, and she wouldn't settle in her nursery, so I ended up having to take care of her on top of teach 4 toddler boys! Caleb was still a bit out of sorts and was crying all the time, I think he was afraid I was going to leave him. It was just nuts. My helper, who is a full time missionary, attends our church and even fills in on the preaching from time to time was not having a good time either. First of all I felt a little intimidated with him there, then 20 mins. into all the chaos, he says to me "Yep, I rather spend 10 hours preparing a sermon then spend an hour in this craziness!" HA HA HA! He's a father of 2 toddler boys, so that's why he is recruited to help sometimes.

After church we left our kiddies with Dave's parents while we went out to lunch to Montana's with Steve and Christa (we haven't done this without kids in a very long time) Then we wandered around the Superstore. Christa and I had an extremely good laugh when we discovered the book The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. We were so excited about it, that we took it to our husbands. But oddly they didn't see the humour in it. We then headed to a bowling alley where we attended a 30th birthday party for our friend Darcy. It was so much fun. I haven't bowled in such a long time. It was so refreshing to do that again and had good laughs and met up with old friends.

Not much on for this week. Friday I have to go to a Physiotherapist. I've been having a lot of pain with my groin, it's been ruled out that there is no hernias, so next step is to do some physio. I'm nervous that I won't be able to play baseball. The pain is really bad some days. It's disabling sometimes. I did have pelvic pain when I carried Amberly, so I don't know if it's all related or what. But I'm hoping I'll get things better sooner than later. Plus this Sunday, Amberly is being dedicated at church. I'm looking forward to that. My family is all coming for the day, lets just pray that the flu leaves our house completely this week!

Crazy Weekend!

Yes Folks, Dave and I were out galavanting again! We left our little ones with Fern and Mert for the weekend, while we headed to Toronto for the World Baseball Classic. This wasn't really my cup of tea, I mean, to watch 3 baseball games in two days, isn't exactly what I call "get away!" However, this is something Dave was looking forward to, and I didn't mind getting away with him. I went expecting what I have normally experienced at a live Blue Jay game, where I would spend a few innings wandering around the dome, and a few innings people watching. To my complete surprise, this was an all together different experience. The first game was Saturday afternoon where Canada played the USA. Dave had amazing seats, we were only 20 rows behind home plate. The Dome was filled. I haven't seen it that full in a very long time. Over 42,000 people attended this game. Who would have thought?! People were decked out in the Canada Jerseys, and the US Jersey's with flags and face paint. The cheering alone was entertaining. Nearing the end of an inning the fans would rise to their feet claping, chanting, and yelling, just hoping for the final out. It was so exciting. Mind you, we were surrounded by drunks. Drunks with lots of money. One cup of beer cost $9.25, and the guys in front of us atleast had 5 rounds! The guys behind us were a little late, probably drinking before they arrived, because they were just out of control with terrible language and really discusting conversations! Canada gave the US a challenge but lost in the end 6-5.
Dave took me to Canyon Creek for dinner, which is almost like the Keg, it was really yummy. Then we were back to the Dome for the Italy and Venezuela game. The dome was not full at all for this one. But there were Venezuelian fans everywhere. They not only came in with the jerseys, flags and face paint, they also had noise makers, crazy hats and wigs. After this game we headed to the hotel and crashed.

Sunday we had to wait around for the 8pm game. So we slept in (but did we? since we lost an hour) and then walked to the Eaton's Centre. We had lunch there, and spent a few hours wandering around the mall. Walked up and down Younge St. and then looked for a movie theatre, at Queen and John but came up empty. We walked and walked and walked. My feet were tired. We walked back to the van after 4:00 and then decided to go up the CN tower. This was the 2nd time I have ever done this. The first time was fun and exciting, I wasn't married, no children. This time, I thought I was going to fall over. Going up that elevator completely freaked me out. I am typically afraid of heights, but knowing I'm secure usually alleviates that fear. It didn't this time. It took me a few seconds once on top to calm down and relax. Once I was relax, I enjoyed every minute. Don't know why I felt this way, Dave told me it was because of my kids and him, I have attachments now that I didn't before! ha ha ha. Even walked out on the glass floor. After that experience we had some dinner and headed to the Dome. We watched the US take on Venezuela. This time we were only 10 rows behind home plate. (Dave taped the game and we watched it today and saw ourselves quite a bit, it was neat!) It was a slow game to start off, but then the crowds chanting and cheering made up for that. By the 6th inning, the game was over, the US took a huge lead. It was 10:45pm by then, so we packed it in and headed for home. By the time we got home and into bed, it was 1am. Jeepers, 7am rolled around fast!

Here are a few shots of the weekend.

The CBC Building on Front St.The Gardiner and LakeshoreMe, just peering over the side!

Dave and I outside where is was totally cold and windy!Ahhh yes, the glass floor!

Dave, in our best seats ever!

Overall, it was the best baseball I have ever seen, and it was a lot of fun. Dave is still watching the games up until Wednesday when it is finished in Toronto. I told him I would tag along to the next World Classic, probably in the next 3 years, where ever he might have to go.....Mexico???

burrrrrr, I'm cold

Although I loved hearing the pooring rain in the middle of the night hitting the roof top, I don't enjoy a dull and dreary day. Especially when it's cold and wet at the same time. So to remedy this, I'm boiling some water and I'm going to have a nice cup of hot chocolate.

This week has gone by so quickly. I was out most evenings but Tuesday. Monday night I attended two babies showers for Dave's cousins. (it was only one party) Then Wednesday night I was out at my small group, we're looking at a book about women saying yes to God, and it's interesting. Last night, Dave and I had volleyball. The last game of our season. It was the first night of play offs and we were playing the number one team, and yes, we were like lambs being lead to the slaughter. They killed us, however, I do feel quite proud of the amazing serves I had, (especially when I got praised for them from the other team....) and the amazing blocks my Davey had. Because of our loss, we were eliminated. But that's alright, there's always next year.

Tonight is a regular night. Friday nights have become somewhat of a "date" night for Dave and I. Once the kids are in bed, we pop the popcorn, and settle in for some Lost which we tape on Wednesdays. We sometimes add The Office or Corner Gas to the selection as well. And if we're still awake, we'll pop in Planet Earth and watch an episode of that.

Caleb is a lucky boy, Dave's parents are taking him out for dinner. Last week they took him for Chinese food, mmmm, how I want to eat Chinese food. I don't know where they are taking him tonight, but he's lucky!

Not much is planned this weekend. Just another quiet one.

Well, as I typed this, I enjoyed my hot chocolate, it warmed the bones! You should have one too!

Quiet Day

It's dull outside, and it seems pretty dull inside too. Caleb is with Christa today, and Amberly is currently napping. I hear the hum of the dryer going, and that's about it. It's nice to have days like this, but in the moment, I'm lost as to what to do.

This past weekend was a long one. Not only was Monday Family Day, Saturday was Valentine's Day. Friday I packed up my children and took them to my parents. They were going to stay a couple of nights with them. It was a long quiet drive home when I left them there. And I was sad that they were gone. I even called after their bedtime that night to see how my mom made out with that. Saturday, Dave and I slept in! It was so nice not having to get out of bed and rush around making a bottle, getting juice and cereal before seeing the kids! I could actually get out of bed and go pee before doing anything else! It was wonderful! Dave and I walked uptown to the eye place because I have a new prescription, so I picked out new glasses and ordered new contacts too. Then we just went up and down the main street and checked out a few stores. In the afternoon we left at 3:00 for Red Lobster for an early dinner. It was good that we left that early, because when we were finished and on our way out, (4:20pm) the lobby was so packed and people were waiting outside! We enjoyed our meal there. Now normally, I don't like seafood, but I really love their shrimp trio meal. Afterwards we were going to check out the movies, but there wasn't anything worth watching, so we came home and watched Iron Man. It wasn't so bad.

Sunday again, I slept in! And I skipped church this week. I sat in my jammies and watched Coronation Street all morning, something I haven't done in ages! It was great! Once I got ready and finished watching that, I walked over to church to join the Faith Steps group I am in. We're going through a series called Effective Parenting in a Defective World. After church and lunch we headed out to my parents to retrieve the kids! We stayed for the day.

Monday we got together with Steve and Christa and we went skating on an empty lot on our street. It sounds funny, but it was such great ice and we put bob skates on Cara and Caleb. It was cute to watch them. After warming up with hot chocolate we went to Wendy's for lunch. It was good! After lunch we parted ways and our family headed to Dave's parents place to celebrate Joy's birthday.

I didn't take any pictures at all this weekend. That's different! hmmm.

Not much happening this week.

Spiders On Drugs

Ahhhh Dear. The things that amuse me!

Crazy Busy Day

I wasn't expecting today to be busy. In fact, I was looking forward to a day of nothing exciting. Things changed a wee bit when I was asked to watch Cara for a bit while Christa went for a doctor's appt. I had no problems doing that. Cara is one of the most laid back kids I know (besides my own!). It threw a wrench into my daily routine, I didn't think much of it, but as the day progressed, I came to the realization that not only do my kids thrive on routine, but I do as well. After Christa got back, she came in for a bit and we had a nice visit. Once she left, I started my routine mode, trying to catch up on things that I would have normally accomplished. This was at 10:30 in the morning. In my hurry, I fell down our basement stairs. I'm all good, no broken limbs, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be in pain tomorrow. When I think about it now, it must have been hilarious to see, if only I could watch myself do it again.

After feeding Amberly I took her to my work place, I wanted to buy some movie passes, and see my friends. I was there for a bit visiting. Then once I got home, I fed Amberly her lunch and put her down for her nap. I then had lunch and then started on more tasks that needed to be accomplished. I was so tired when 3:00 rolled around. And this weather didn't help at all, only fueled my sleepiness.

Caleb was at Christa's today. They had a big Valentine's party this morning, so he would have had a good time. He took little valentines to hand out to all the other little kids. It reminded me of my school days!

Tonight I have my women's small group. It's my turn to lead this week. I'm not nervous about it at all, I've gone through the material, and I'm prepared. It's odd, but I get more nervous when I have to teach the toddler class at church. Makes me go, hmmmm.

Well, I better go and get some cuddle and play time in with the kids before I head out. This weekend my parents are taking the kids for us. Dave and I will get the house to ourselves. I think we'll get bored really fast! Saturday, being Valentine's Day, we are going on a date, for dinner and a movie. I'm looking forward to that.

Gotta go.

The Office - Fire Drill. (Best Opening)

This was absolutely the funniest thing I have ever seen on a t.v. sitcom! I LOVE this show!

Into February

It's February, and I keep writing January.

Amberly is napping, and Caleb is busy playing with "Bear" and "Thumper". He's adopted Thumper into his family, and now all 3 have to do things together, eat, sleep, watch a movie, pee. It's quite entertaining.

I've been having issues with Amberly and her bottles. She's not really interested in them much, and it worries me. I talked to Deb on the phone a couple of days ago to get her opinion, and she eased my mind. At Amberly's age she requires at least 18oz's a day, and she is getting that, and more. But it was in a span of a week where she would drink 28oz a day and now I can just barely get 23-24oz in her. I would get so frustrated over it, and poor Amberly, she went through my emotions not wanting to, but I inflicted it on her. Now typing this out, it completely seems ridiculous. I was getting so upset when she wouldn't finish her bottles, and how silly am I?!

The other odd thing I go through is, I get so excited when I get them both down for their naps. I think to myself "yes, I get some quiet, alone time" and yet, I sit there, anticipating when I get to get them up, I'm excited to see them after their naps. I get them into bed at night and feel a sense of relief, but after an hour, I really miss them. I go in and look at them, and wish I could just crawl in with them and hold them, and I look forward to being with them in the morning.

Crazy! Motherhood is nuts! There are days where I'm so frustrated and upset that I say, "Never Again" and then there's days (like today) where I feel like I would be letting myself down if we didn't have another. Who knows.

Anyway, I better continue doing my work. Folding the laundry and getting a snack together for my little guy!

Hooray

I got everything accomplished today that I wanted to! Now the house is clean and my kids are happily entertained upstairs, so I can start making some dinner.

Supposed To

I really should be cleaning the house right now, but I find other distractions to turn my attention from the vacuum. The sun is currently shining, it makes the world so bright and beautiful with all the snow on the ground, and yet you can see the cold in the air. Amberly is in the exersaucer making noises, she is so noisey! Her baby babble isn't babble at all, it's full of grunts and squeals and screams! Caleb went to Christa's for the day. I want to accomplish the house cleaning today as well as run out to the bank and grocery store for a few items. But I'm wasting time. After I give Amberly her bottle, I'll do the running around, and I keep telling myself, during her afternoon nap, I'll get everything done I want to. I really should have gotten most of it done this morning, so I could use the afternoon for my time, but no.

Amberly is growing in leaps and bounds. We went to her 6 month appt. last week, and she surprised the doctor in her growth. She is now at 19.5 lbs, and 27 inches long. She jumped from the 70th percentile of growth into the 90th with in 2 months. The doctor said that was unusual, that most babies maintain their growth in a percentile not jump completely out of that range! So she's caught up to her big brother. Caleb at 6 months weighed 21 lbs. and was 28 inches long.

Caleb was sick on Saturday, everytime he ate a meal, he would throw up. He threw up 4 times, after breakfast, out at IGA with me, after lunch and after dinner. He was never fevered, nothing else pointed to him being sick, he even acted normal in between. Sunday we had no puke, but he didn't have much of an appetite. But I think he's getting back to normal because the first thing he said to me this morning was "snack".

Not much on the plate this week. Caleb goes to Christa's again on Thursday. Dave will be out tonight and tomorrow night helping people with computer things, I go out on Wednesday for my women's small group. I'm skipping volleyball this Thursday because it's a late game, and I don't think I would have the energy to play past 9pm! Ohhhh, we'll watch Lost too, love it! Friday night we may have a couple over from church. Sunday we may go out to Hockley for church for a change. I think that's about all.

I better go and do something.....

My Angel Girl

Pretend

How is it, that a child just wakes up one day and decides to play pretend with an old stuffed bear that belonged to their mother, and they never had played with before? Well that is what happened in our household yesterday. Just before lunch Caleb carried down this old white bear that used to be mine as a kid, and put it in his booster chair. Then he wanted the bib on him, and then he found his sippy cup and decided to give the bear a drink. Once his lunch was ready, I was helping him eat it when he would then point to the bear and say "eat eat" so I had to feed the bear too!

After lunch I told Caleb that we were going to go pee pee on the potty then nite nite, and he ran to the toilet with the bear and wanted the bear to go pee pee first. I took the bear from his hands before Caleb managed to throw it in the toilet! I pretended to make the bear pee, and then Caleb went and he made bear sleep with him.

This continued for most of the day, from trying to get the bear to play catch to feeding him snack to dinner time and so on. It was so funny. This morning he woke up with nothing different. He got the bear to go potty again, "shared" his morning snack and wanted to find boots to put on him to got to Christa's. The bear went to day care with him.

I'm interested to see if we were to get him to switch from the bear to a boy cabbage patch doll. I think Dave still has his from a kid, I should try and find it!

Cherish

Tonight, as I sat and watched little Amberly jump in her jolly jumper, watching her little legs dangle from the harness, and seeing her expressions, her chubby cheeks, big blue eyes, it made me realize just how much I love babies. I don't particularily like the tiny infant stage, but once Amberly hit 3 months, I started to take every moment and cherish them. Children grow up way too fast, and what a blessing we as parents receive to watch the milestones roll by so steady and readily. I look at how quickly Amberly is changing and I see how creative and smart Caleb is becoming, and it makes me want more! Dave thinks I'm nuts, because I do have many bad days where I want to run away, but this past week, I haven't had many of those moments. Dare I say I'm getting better at patience? I don't know. But to nip those feelings of wanting another baby in the bud, I started looking at the possibility of getting a puppy! HA HA HA. Another idea Dave thinks is crazy! I know one day the Snyder household will have a dog in the family, but I don't think 2009 will be the year that will happen. Maybe not even 2010! As much as I love puppies, I don't think I want one. I think I will start first at looking at breeders and see if there are any adults they want to retire. But we'll see, I'm very much a "get the exact kind I want" kind of girl. Right now, I'm liking the Great Dane, but their life expectancy isn't long, and I don't want to lose something so dear, after only 5-9 years.

Amberly is currently asleep. I've yet to master her schedule. Especially now that I've thrown more food into her life. She used to sleep a little bit after supper, but lately she hasn't done that, and she now falls asleep on her bottle at 7pm. So I've put her down last night and tonight right away, in fear that she won't go until 7am. Now this morning she was awake at 6:30, but she was quiet and not complaining, so I just left her there. We'll see how tonight goes. We've had squash this week and carrots, tomorrow we'll venture down the sweet potato road!

Caleb is watching one of the baby Einstein dvd's before bed. It relaxes him and he's happy. I don't mind watching them either, this one is Baby Noah, and it's a mini National Geographic show really. I'm thinking I may have to take him back to the doctors, he's not sick or anything, but he still tugs on his ears during bath and at random times. So I don't know if there is still something bothering him or not.

Well, it's been a quiet weekend. It's snowing out right now, looks like shoveling will be in my near future. Something else that is in my near future is Dave and I are going to watch The Dark Knight after Caleb's in bed. I'm looking forward to that. Another thing I'm looking forward to is tomorrow. I'm going out! Val, Lesa, Cindy and I are going to go and watch Bride Wars, then we're going to eat dinner at the Mongolian Grill. I'm so anticipating this, it's been awhile since I've been out with the girls.

Well, looks like the dvd is almost over. I think I will get our snacks together.

refreshed

Yep, got a good little nap in. Feel great now!

All is quiet

My kids are sleeping. I think I may join in, just after a few moments here!

Yesterday was a big day for Amberly. She tried butternut squash. She gagged her way through it, but we got some into her tummy. She's not like Caleb when it comes to food. Caleb was a bird and always had his mouth open looking for more. Not Amberly, I basically try and force the spoon in her mouth. For dinner, she had her normal rice cereal, then I let her chew on a rice cracker. She did really well with that, she seemed to enjoy it too. Day two of the squash was just hours ago, and this time, she really seemed to enjoy it. No gagging this time. So that's a good sign.

Things are back to normal in the house. Well almost. I still have to take down the Christmas tree, but I think I'll do that tomorrow while Caleb is at Christa's. Routine is nice to have. I'm glad that my kids thrive on routine, because otherwise, I have no idea how I could get through a day!

This is Amberly trying out real food.Even attepting to use the spoon herself.The mess in the end.The next two are pictures I took with my new camera for Amberly's 6 month pictures. I was pretty happy with the turn out. I think I took maybe 100 pictures, I have plenty to chose from before developing!

Well I think I may venture up to bed and see if I can catch a bit of a nap!

Jan. 3, 2009

Christmas and News Years is gone. Sadly, I'm actually glad they are over. I had a rough holiday season. I still feel pretty sad as I type this out. Not sure why I'm in the sad mood, but I am. Christmas we were all sick. Caleb was on the mend, so he seem to really enjoy the whole Christmas thing (despite the melt down Christmas dinner at my parents). But Amberly caught a cold and suffered pretty good with it. This meant I suffered too. I endured countless nights with no sleep and burdened with worry. She never got fevered, but she was so congested that she would often choke on flem. It was awful. Then New Years Eve arrived, and she seemed to be better, so we went to a friends place for dinner. I had originally hoped to leave by 8pm, to get home and put the kids to bed in good time. But we ended up letting Amberly sleep in her car seat and waited for tired signs from Caleb, which didn't come until after 10pm. We got home sometime after 11pm. After putting things away and such, I sat down and waited to ring in the New Year. What is so grand about doing that by the way? I don't get it. I haven't ever really experienced excitment at bringing in a new year.

Then 5am that New Year morning, Dave tells me that he's sick. He throws up in the garbage can beside our bed. So in the morning, I alone, get myself and the kids ready to spend another day with my family. It was fun there, but again, my mind was thinking about Dave and whether or not I should have stayed home to help him through the day. I mean, if it were me, that's what I would have wanted. But he seemed fine when we got home that evening.

I am so grouchy right now, it just sucks. I'm banished to the office because Dave has his brother over and watching hockey together. Not the way I wanted to spend my Saturday night. I was hoping for a nice movie to watch. But nope, I'll probably spend time on the computer then head to bed.

How is that for a depressing read?!


O.K. well, I guess it wasn't all so bad. I was spoiled for Christmas, Dave bought me a new digital slr camera for Christmas. I love it, and it's compatible with my other lenses from my old camera which is great. I also got a couple of frames and pj's and socks from him too. This year my sister had my name. She got me the new narnia movie, the ox and goat for my nativity scene, a willow tree christmas ornament and a Kutless cd. Fern and Mert bought Dave and I a really nice wall mirror for our hallway. The kids were super spoiled. There is so many new toys in our house! Yikes!

Today Amberly is 6 months old. I can't believe it. Every day I see more and more changes in her. She's way more vocal then Caleb ever was. She chatters with "da da da da" and "ya ya ya ya's" constantly and she also squeals and screams a lot too. She has her two bottom teeth already. And I'm just waiting for those top ones to pop through. I've been feeding her cereal for a good month and a half now, but I haven't ventured to the real food yet. Probably will start with sweet potatoes this week. Maybe even a sippy cup. Looking back at Caleb's 6 months, he was already on many types of foods and drinking from a sippy cup, as you can see, I'm proving to be a little more lazy with the second child. Definately in the photo department. Not that I'm not taking pictures of her, I am doing that lots, but as for getting them developed at all, that's definately not happening. I'm months and months behind in developing photos.

Caleb this past month has really changed. He's saying or shall I say, repeating more and more words. And he's so smart. I will tell Caleb things, and Dave will say to me "he doesn't understand you" but oh how he does. He wanted a hershey's kiss in the middle of supper and refused to eat anymore dinner. So I told him that he needed to finish atleast 3 more bits before I would give him one. Well those 3 bites took a good 15 mins. to get in him, but on his third bite, he turned around and pointed to the kisses. Dave didn't think he would get it. But he knows what I'm saying! He knows how to put a dvd into the player and play it. Which freaks me out! My baby is growing up so fast!

I think I'm running out of things to write, that's if anyone reads all the way down to here, since the start was so pathetic! I'm going to spend some time reading old posts now. That's always fun, to look back.

Two More Sleeps!

Christmas is almost here, it's coming, it's coming! Wow, I can't believe how the time has just flown by! I think we're practically ready. I have to start the first steps of a trifle I'm making for Christmas day dessert, and together tonight, Dave and I will make the cheese dip we're taking tomorrow for our Christmas eve party at my parents.

I've had some trouble finding the Christmas spirit, mostly because Caleb came down with a bad cold on Thursday. He was miserable, and wouldn't sleep, which in turn meant I didn't sleep either. Finally I took him to see the doctor and it turns out he has an ear infection. Ahhh. So I'm glad because we have medication for him now, but I wish I had gone sooner, the poor kid.

To help find the Christmas spirit I've watched lots of Christmas specials. Dave and I watched A Christmas Story last night, and the night before we watched Christmas Vacation. Tonight I think I would like to watch The Polar Express. Then maybe tomorrow sometime we'll get Home Alone in there.

Jesus and Santa

Here's another little clip that I thought was kind of neat!

The Real Meaning of Christmas

I was watching this tonight on t.v. and this part got to me. I love it, the simplicity. We are always confused during this season, and we forget about the importance of this holiday. God sent us the Saviour.

The Weekend is Over!

I am tired. Plain and Simple. Last week was just nuts and Saturday, crazy! I wish I could have a break, but we have 2 more events with people coming to our house this week, so it doesn't slow down. Caleb's birthday was a blast, despite the chaos and stress! In the morning we attended my work's Kids Christmas party. Caleb has decided he doesn't like Santa (we discovered this Friday night when we took them to have pictures done, he flat out refused, like stiffness and kicking refused to sit on Santa's knee!) so when it came time to go to Santa for his present and picture, I got to bridge the gap between the two! He loved his gift, a John Deere tractor that rumbles and a fire truck. Amberly just chilled, got her picture with Santa, she got the fisher price fish bowl set.

Then Caleb's party started at home. My family all arrived first so we could celebrate Krista's birthday first. She did great, getting books and crafty things. Then at 4, Dave's family arrived, along with Kris and Shannon, and their 2 little ones, and Steve and Christa and Cara. We served up a big meal of pasta and cesar salad and garlic bread. It was a lot of work, I found I got so stressed out over everything, but it went off without a hitch. Caleb was spoiled. He got trucks, books, cars, a train set, clothes! He was so cute, watching him open up things. He was so hyper too! After everyone had left, we put him in a bath and that seemed to help him calm down. Then he went to bed without hesitation.

Sunday was so great, because he was so taken with all his new stuff, he happily played all by himself in his room, which in turn gave me a quiet morning to get ready at my own pace, instead of being rushed! Then after church we had a Christmas party to go to at 4pm. It was o.k. Because I was tired, it just seemed like a lot of work to be at the party with both kids. But they seemed to be happy, which made me happy.

This morning, I went to get groceries. After lunch I had a bath and slept a bit. But I feel just as tired as before. I have to pick up Caleb at Christa's at 4 and Dave is working late tonight, so I'm just throwing in a pizza in the oven, and hoping for a quiet evening.

Upset Rasberry Blower

Amberly has begun blowing "rasberries" But she seems upset when she does it. Then Caleb also joins in as well. It's hilarious!

Tackling the Little Stuff

Today Caleb spent the day with Christa. So I had the opportunity to run out and do some things. I went and ordered Caleb's cake and pick up a few things, then I stopped to get a prescription re-filled and bought wrapping paper. Then once home and baby fed, I thoroughly cleaned the basement, and wrapped Caleb's birthday presents. (We are giving him a tent thingy with a tunnel, and a little basketball net and from Amberly he gets the balls to go in the tent thingy). I took a nap while Amberly did, and it wasn't long enough, in fact, I wish I could just sleep a day away, I just want one day where I can just do absolutely nothing! Then after feeding Amberly again, we went to get Caleb. I chatted with Christa for a bit. Dave has already begun the discussion of July, and what to do. I want to go back to work part time. My boss has offered this to me, and I think 3 days a week would be perfect, but the biggest issue is Christa doesn't have room for Amberly right now. After chatting a bit, there may be a good chance she could take her. She can definately have the kids for July and August because she doesn't have some as their parents are teachers. As far as September is concerned, everything is up in the air. So we're really hoping that circumstances change and she can take both, otherwise, I may not go back. I know it sounds ridiculous that I'm basing it on my babysitter, but seriously, she is such an amazing lady, that I know, there is no one who could compare, so if we can't have her, then it's gonna be me!

Ahhh, it's getting late, and I want to go to sleep. Dave is playing volleyball on his own tonight. The game didn't start until 8:30pm, so I stayed home to be with the kids. After they were in bed, I made Krista some cupcakes. We're celebrating her birthday on Saturday as well. We thought we would do both her's and Caleb's the same day, since this time of year is insane. She'll be 7. Man, she's growing up so fast!

I was thinking of watching The Office, but I think I'll just go to bed.

Christmas is Coming! Hooray!

We're full blown into the Christmas season now. It's wonderful! I find myself getting excited more and more every day. I love this time of year. This year, however, I find that I'm easily stressing myself out over things. I don't know if it's the underlying economic times, but I get stressed out about money, and I feel like everything we needed has all come to surface this month. (why this month of all months!) I also stress over the sentimental aspect of my gifts. I think and think about Dave's Christmas present and how I can make is special and meaningful. But I have to remind myself, that to him, it's no big deal. Anything I get him, he will love. (well not everything) And there's so many things I want to do to make it memorable for me, that I think all I'll remember is the stress of trying to get everything done. I want to get the kids to a mall to see Santa, I want to get to Waterloo park to see all the lights, it seems never ending. It's Amberly's first Christmas, so I want it to memorable and it will be the first Christmas where Caleb will actually be excited opening presents.

This Christmas brings change too. This may be causing a bit of my stress too, since I don't deal with change so well. But this year is the first year where I won't be at my parents over night on Christmas eve. Dave and I decided that it would be easier on the kids and on us to come home after my extended family Christmas eve party, be at home Christmas morning to open up our gifts and then head back to my parents for the rest of the day.

Many gathering with friends happens this month too. Starting this week! Tomorrow night I'm helping out at a ladies function at my church where we'll be making Christmas cards. Tuesday, hopefully my parents are coming for the day to babysit while I attend my department Christmas lunch, then Tues. evening, I'm meeting with friends for dessert then going to see Australia the movie. Saturday is Caleb's 2nd birthday. It's a packed full day. In the morning we're going to my work's kids Christmas party, then my family is coming in the afternoon to celebrate Krista's 7th birthday, then at 4, Dave's family will be joining in and we'll start celebrating Caleb's. We have about 17 adults and 6 children to feed dinner to. Yikes! Then Sunday we have a friends Christmas party to attend. It's exhausting just thinking about it.

It's the little details that I'm a sucker for, I leave it all to last minute. I did finish my Christmas cards this weekend, now I have to remember to get stamps!

Ahhh I love this time of year.

Ho Ho Ho

Caleb came home on Monday with a letter for Santa Claus and knowing what Santa says!

Amberly's first try at cereal!

I was pretty amazed with how strong Amberly was with sitting up. I think she's going to be a very independant little girl when she gets older!

November Memories

November is almost over. I can't believe how quickly our time flies. Now we are busy preparing for Caleb's 2nd birthday and Christmas. It's just crazy! My kids are growing so fast, Caleb is coming out with more and more words everyday. He's our one hit wonder, he'll repeat something Dave and I say, and we of course get blown away by it, but then he won't say it a second time. Plus he's doing great with potty training. He's staying dry most days, with the exception of nap time, which when we started he would wake up still dry, but this past week he's been wetting his pull up during his sleep. But that's o.k. I'm just glad that he's pooping in the toilet now!
Amberly is more and more becoming stronger and developing her own little personality. She is our little princess, that's for sure. At her 4 mth. check up she is now upto 14.5 lbs. She picks up things and sucks on them, her back and neck muscles are so strong and she actually is jumping in the jolly jumper as opposed to just hanging there! Below are some recent photos.

Aren't her cheeks just so cute?!?!I tried getting photo's of the two of them together, this was the closest to "non frustration" looking.

Caleb willing went along with my plan because a) I let him in Amberly's crib and b) he was allowed to push her mobile button!

Here's my girl working out!

I decided to gel Caleb's hair one afternoon. I was brushing my hair and he wanted me to do that to him, so I got Daddy's gel out too, I thought, what the heck!

My happy girl!

Caleb helped me make brownies one day last week. He of course wanted to lick the spoon!

My beauty playing with her fishy ball.

Amberly's nite nite time, Caleb giving her kisses before bed.

One of her "4 mth" shots.

So that's about it! I love taking and looking at all these pictures, but I've majorly fallen behind in my scrapbooking, I mean majorly! Over a years worth that's for sure! Maybe it will have to be my new years resolution!

What to do, What to do

Well, it's way past my bedtime, but I'm a single parent tonight, and I need to stay up to give Amberly her late feed. I'm so tired. I left some tasks that I must accomplish before going to bed (like washing bottles which I'll need before I feed Amberly) but I just want to crawl under the covers and sleep. Dave is in Toronto for tonight, he is attending the Promise Keepers conference. He went with Kris, so Shannon and I thought it would be a good idea to have supper together to pass the "yucky" time of our day which seems to always be around dinner time. It wasn't easier that's for sure. Caleb was having such a great time with Mason that when it was time to go he had a complete melt down. He was kicking and screaming out the door, and Amberly was tired, and she was screaming, so both my children were screaming which then made her Jaden scream. Then the funniest thing happened, I opened the door to step out and just like that it was pitch black the power went off! I couldn't see my hand in front of my face it was so dark! Both Shannon and I said together "ohhhhh nooooo" I think we were in tune because we sang it out really! But praise the Lord, the power came back on, but man, immediately things rolled through my head, things like "where's our flashlights, there goes bath night, how do I warm a bottle?, what will I do with Caleb till bedtime"

We got home and settled back into a normal routine and both babies are sleeping sound. I watched a movie. Baby Mama, don't ask me why, but I did. I only had one laugh out loud moment, and that's about it. So not so great.

The time is slowly moving on to 11pm. Tomorrow I'm going to my parents place for the day. I'm going to take Caleb with my brother Steve and his girls to the O'ville santa claus parade. It will be Caleb's very first parade. Amberly will stay with my mom, she can wait until next year. Dave has taken Monday off and we're going to Christmas shop, I'm looking forward to that. Caleb will be at Christa's for the day so we'll only have Amberly. We're hoping to get the majority of it done, we'll see! I'm really looking forward to Christmas. Buying for the kids is just so much fun.

Anyway, I will go and try to get those things done, through my yawning and watery eyes. Ahhhh dear.

Halloween

That's my Happy Pumpkin Girl!

This was the end of the night and both kids were so tired!

This last one freaks me out, Caleb's facial expression is such a big boy smirk! Yikes! All in all, we had a fun time!

Halloween

Wow, October 31st is here already. Less than 2 months from Christmas. This year has just flown right by. I was looking at Amberly as she was sleeping just now, and I just can't get over the fact that she's almost 4 months old, and all the things she is doing now. She's teething, I'm not enjoying this so much since there is constant drool, wet shirts and her fists are always in and out of the mouth. I guess it was at this point we starting adding bibs to Caleb's wardrobe, but I don't want to cover up her adorable outfits. Teething also means interupted sleeps. Just the last 2 weeks Amberly has started to sleep through the night, but the last 2 nights she's been up every hour crying. It's been exhausting. She now prefers to be held standing her up, she's rolled over a couple of times from her tummy to her back, she's in the jolly jumper, and she's wearing 6mth clothing, and is laughing, grabbing toys, blows rasberries and is very dramatic with her coos.

Caleb is finding more and more words to spout out. Tuesday we spent the day with my parents and he followed my mom around calling out for Suzie. He says, truck, pee pee, Christa, Mommy, Daddy, juice, treat, please, bless you, thank you, up, shoes, baby. Then there is the random ones that he'll say, but when asked to repeat, he won't. He also sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, he gets that out and Up Above, but all of the rest of words he mumbles out to the tune. It's so adorable. The potty training is going good. This past weekend he did major backsliding and I was so upset with him, so now I'm using the treat reward where he gets one smartie for a pee and 2 for a poop. He's gone 3 days dry, so we'll keep going.

My life, outside of the children, hmm. Well, I've been pretty tired. I've been trying to take the time I have for myself during their naps and accomplish what needs to be done around the house. I try to ride the exercise bike for 20 mins, while reading my Bible study material, sometimes I will grab a 20 min nap too. I had that norwex party last Friday, and I did pretty well. Many of my friends came, even Amy drove all the way to provide a trifle and the blanket I asked her Mom to make Amberly. Saturday night Fern and Mert babysat and we went to Shannon's place for her birthday celebrations. We played some games, and it brought back memories of what life was like before children! Sunday we've been going to a marriage discussion after church which Dave and I have really enjoyed. The speaker is so funny but so right at the same time. I think what I enjoy most is hearing the other couples many of them older than us share their experiences and what they've learned. Monday a couple of ladies from church took Shannon, Wendy and I with all our children to McDonald's in Kitchener, where the kids could play in playland and we could visit. It was fun, I really like seeing Caleb interact with other kids. Then last night Dave and I played volleyball. We joined a church team and I haven't played on a volleyball team in 3 years. It was a lot of fun, but the short ride from Cambridge home was just enough to show me how out of shape and stiff I am! I could hardly walk in the house! How sad is that?!

Today to mark Halloween, Caleb and I carved our pumpkin. Well I did it. Caleb didn't even want to touch the guts inside, which surprised me. They are both sleeping now, but late afternoon I'll get them in their costumes and take some pictures. Then Fern and Mert are coming over to hand out candy and watch Amberly for us, while we meet up with our friends and watch our little ones go door to door. It will be lots of fun! Cara is a horse, Caleb a skunk (again), Mason a dog, so I told Shannon we should have Cara pull the wagon, run over Caleb and have Mason chase the wagon. HA HA HA! I will post pictures soon!

Amberly Talking

Caleb Kisses Amberly

Thanksgiving, Come and Gone

Wow, I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already. It was really fast. The weather was so great! Sunday we spent out at my parent's place. It was nice. Caleb just loves being able to run around with freedom. Plus his Uncle Benji easily entertained him for the longest time by throwing a ball onto the roof and letting it fall to the ground. Caleb eagerly waited for the ball and was so excited each time it would come back! We also got him on the 4-wheeler finally with no tears! He liked it too.

This one is cute, all 4 cousins. Caleb was so excited about the campfire that was over in the corner, Brooke was trying to hold him down for the picture. It didn't turn out too bad.

Pictures

Amberly is three months old now. I tried getting creative for pictures. I'll have to get better at it, but here are just a few that I liked.

We took our babies shopping for pumpkins today at a patch. It was so much fun and lots of great photos were taken.

Three Months

Amberly is three months old today. It's hard to believe. I haven't gotten around to taking her pictures today, but I will. She is becoming more and more like Caleb when it comes to sleep. Caleb always loved his sleep, he still does. He gladly says "nite nite" to us and walks to his room for his afternoon sleeps. Bedtime is hit and miss, if he's tired, he willingly goes, if not, then he cries, but after a few lullabies, he's out. Amberly has always been funny when it comes to sleep, but I find lately she's becoming more predictable. She's still a cat napper if I don't wrap her up. So in the morning, I let her have her cat nap in her crib, and it once only lasted 15 mins, but the past few days it's gone on longer, to a good 30-40 mins. Then always around noon she gets pretty fussy, and as soon as I lay her down and she feels her first arm getting swaddled, she gives off a big smile, I think she's telling me, "Yes, BED!" Now on good days she will sleep for 3 hours without complaints, but there are other days where she will cry after 1/2 an hour. But I am persistant at keeping her in the "sleep mode" for the afternoon. That way both kids are sleeping (like they are now) and I have free time to myself. The best part is at 8pm for Amberly. She totally loves bed at this hour. We have started the same bedtime routine with her that we used with Caleb. We put her on our bed and read her "Guess How Much I Love You" (we still recite Goodnight Moon to Caleb, but we needed a change in story!) then I wrap her up in this Miracle Blanket, which is basically a straight jacket for babies. But she loves it. The whole time during the story she's talking right back to me, and then she's full of smiles when I start wrapping her up. And once I put her in the bassinet, we don't hear from her. Dave dream feeds her at 11pm, and 3 nights in a row she went until 5-5:30am for a bottle. So I think we're getting there. After that bottle I put her back to bed and she goes until 7:30-8am. It's becoming a routine.

On the Potty front. Well I don't know if I can say success or not? Caleb isn't 2 yet, and he doesn't have many words. He doesn't tell me if he has to go or not. So basically as my friend Cindy put it, I'm trained, and Caleb isn't yet! ha ha ha. I know what to watch out for, and we have had many days where Caleb has been in a dry pull-up for the whole day. I watch him to see signs, and if I think he has to go, we go. Now he knows when he doesn't have to go, so it's a start. He says NO if I ask, and at first I wouldn't believe him so we would go anyway, and 9 times out of 10, he sits there and doesn't do anything, OR he says no and then I discover he's wet his pull-up, which technically means he doesn't have to go. So we're getting there. I don't think I'll go back to diapers, not yet anyway. I haven't used a reward such as candy yet because the little guy thinks flushing the toilet and waving and shouting "bye bye pee pee" is so wonderful! I just don't let him flush if he didn't do anything. That may have to change too, I might have to find something more thrilling for him to make it worthwhile, but again, I'll have to wait and see.

As for me, well, I've been doing o.k. Our house is pretty much all settled into, things are on the walls, and we have some windows covered. We are getting central vac next week, since our other vacuum died on the day we moved. I'm trying to get myself into a routine, and take advantage of when the kids are in bed, and I get things done, but one thing I have to find time to throw in the mix is to scrapbook. I was once doing a page a day, and I want to get back to doing that, so I can finish Caleb's first year and start on Amberly's. This past Wednesday I went out with my friends from work and we watched Nights in Rodanthe, didn't love it, but it was o.k. Plus I try to never pass up an opportunity to meet with the girls and get out, so what ever movie they decide, I would go! Our church has changed the Sunday morning schedule and now our sevices start at 9:15am. This I don't really like because it makes it really hard to get there on time. Many times I'm doing it on my own if Dave is already there because he runs the power point. But then after the service we have what we call Faith Steps, it's to take place of Sunday School and we started to attend that. The one Dave and I joined is a group of married couples, from all different ages, and it's great. I love hearing older couples talk about issues that they deal with and realize that we deal with the same things! It's encouraging to say the least.

Tonight Mike and Joy are coming for some pizza and Rock Band. Dave and I have been playing after the kids are in bed, and so we're all going to "Jam" tonight together. It's fun. We don't really have plans this weekend, but I think if we can catch a stretch of time where there isn't any rain, I think we'll be going to the pumpkin patch that we took Caleb to last year. A great opportunity for pictures! Which I'll post sometime!