Christmas cards

I took a card class this morning with a couple of friends - and this is the result. These cards aren't too fancy, the idea is that you could do a whole bunch to send to friends and stuff. My friends won't be getting these for Christmas though - I think I'll stick to the tried and true family photo montage.

The sneaky mommy.

A couple of weeks ago I tuned into Oprah when Jessica Seinfeld was promoting her new book "Deceptively Delicious".



The premise of the book is sneaking in various items to your meals that your kids won't normally eat. Since Nicholas is a very picky eater, I thought it might be worth it to order the book. Nicholas still won't eat meat, eggs, cheese, fish....the list goes on. He does eat alot of healthy stuff though - whole grains, fruits, some veggies, flax, milk, yoghurt and nuts to name a few. I figured any new ideas I could get would be great.

When I was online ordering, I decided that to save on shipping costs, I'd also purchase "The Sneaky Chef"



I thought that I'd get two books with great ideas of how to make better meals for my kids. After having a better look at both books, it was surprising to see that alot of the recipies are quite similar. Since I have bought the books, I have discovered that there has been alot of activity in the blogging world discussing how Jessica ripped of Missy. Interesting stuff. Personally I really like Missy's book and have used it much more than Jessica's. Nicholas is a big fan of the sneaky chef's chocolate chip cookies (made with pureed chickpeas). Jessica's recipe is very similar, but with whole chickpeas (which wouldn't work in this house).

In addition to the cookies, I have also made both author's recipies for brownies (Jessica's has spinach and carrots in it, Missy's has spinach and blueberries). Nicholas took one bite of Jessica's and said they tasted funny, but he did eat Missy's with little complaint (he does love blueberries, so that may have something to do with it). So I guess in this house the jury has concluded that Missy beats Jessica.

NaBloPoMo

Well it is here, National Blog Posting Month. Which pretty much means that if I am up to it, I post something EVERY DAY. Not too sure if I can do it, but it can't be any worse than say eating the 200 or so candies that we have lying around the house because we were TOLD to expect huge numbers for Halloween, but we only got THREE kids. If I do a post for every time I feel the urge to eat chocolate, I'll have multiple posts per day, and I may get skinny.

Wish me luck.

Out of the mouths of kids - part two.

When we bought this house at the beginning of the year, one of the things we knew we would have to do was get the roof replaced. So for the past two weeks, we have had roofers here during the times it hasn't been raining - and since we are in Vancouver, they are here about once day per week. At the rate these guys are going, I think that they will still be putting on the new roof a couple of months from now, and I may just have to invite them for Christmas dinner.

One day last week as I was leaving the house I was trying to be extra careful as there were cedar shingles strewn all over the driveway from the old roof that the guys were removing. I had Renee in her carseat and I was holding Nicholas' hand trying to make sure that he navigated the mess without too much trouble. Unfortunately, I wasn't watching myself too closely and I stepped on a nail that went right through my shoe and into my foot. So off to the doctor I went, with all three kids in tow, and got my tetanus shot and a week's worth of antibiotics.

That night as Nicholas get his pajamas on he got his foot caught. "Jesus C****t", he said. Ken stopped in the doorway, turned around and said "Nicholas, where did you hear that?". "That is what mommy said when the nail went into her foot". So Ken came downstairs and told me what happened. I figured that since I had only said it once, and if we don't over-react when he says it, hopefully he will forget it and keep his mouth shut.

Fast forward a few days. Nicholas is playing with my dad in our rec room. I get home from running some errands and ask how things went. Dad tells me that Nicholas is quite good at balancing on the furniture. He proceeds to describe a game they were playing where Nicholas climbs up one side of the couch, walks across the top and jumps off the end. After about the fifth time of doing this (!!!!) he stubbed his toe. So my dad tells him to put a pillow on the floor and aim for that. So he does. And misses. And says as clear as day "Jesus C****t!!!". Dad says it is one of those times that you want to burst out laughing but you can't. So he tells Nicholas that isn't a nice word. Nicholas goes up on the couch again, jumps, misses and cusses. So my dad tells him to say Geronimo instead. So once again, Nicholas balances on the couch (did I ever mention that safety is my background???) jumps off, and says "geron....geromemee....geronmoo....oh Jesus C*****!!!!".

Out of the mouths of kids...

This year "back to school" was quite a time in our house - Ethan started kindergarten, and Nicholas started preschool.

On Ethan's first day, he was so excited and couldn't wait to meet all his "new friends" and play with all the toys. Since we just moved into the area where we are now, we didn't know anyone at the school, and since Ethan is my oldest, I didn't really know what to expect.

Well, that first day consisted of going to school, staying for about 10 minutes to take attendance, and then leave. Ethan promptly told me after that episode that he would like to go back to preschool and that kindergarten pretty much sucked (well he didn't exactly say that, but it is what he meant).

As the week went on, kindergarten was one hour per day. Just enough time for him to be convinced that school was pretty cool, and as long as he got to play it was all good. One hour wasn't quite long enough for us to go back home though, so when Ethan was at school, Nicholas and I went for long walks to kill time until we had to pick him up. We are lucky that the school is close to a big forest and a good sized lake, so we would walk around those areas and explore.

One morning, we came across a man walking his weiner dog. Nicholas was in love. "Look at that puppy mommy" he yelled at me as he ran towards the poor terrified dog to give him a cuddle (we are working on the whole asking-the-owner-if-we-can-touch-the-dog thing, but Nicholas usually forgets until he is just about on top of the poor terrified animal). Luckily this dog didn't freak out, but she wasn't overly interested in Nicholas and just wanted to get on with her walk. Unfortunately for her, the owner was only too happy to talk to Nicholas.

After a few minutes, Nicholas thanked the man for letting him pet his puppy. The owner then told Nicholas that the dog wasn't a puppy at all, since she was 8 years old she was an "old lady". Nicholas gave the dog a snuggle and we were off.

A few minutes later, a woman was walking towards us with her small dog. Nicholas in his best three-year-old voice (with no volume control) yelled out "hey mom, look at that old lady"! Of course he meant the dog, but she didn't know that. She just gave me a dirty look, muttered something under her breath and stormed past us. Honestly, I was just barely able to keep it all in with out exploding into fits of laughter.

Happy sack and man tubes - part deux

Yesterday was a big day in our house. It was the official event marking the end of ever having another child (well, I guess it is official when Ken is confirmed to be shooting blanks).

I wrote about his consultation for the snip way back in October of 2005. Yes, it was almost TWO years ago that he went in, talked to the doc, and picked up the infamous bag of recovery goodies that would help him through this very trying and traumatic event. Note the sarcasm from a woman who has given birth three times with no drugs, and nothing more than a couple of expired extra strength tylenols to take home after delivery. I am thankful though that Ken got a case of cold feet at that time and didn't book his actual snip, because if he did, Renee wouldn't be here now.

After Renee was born, I was 100% positive that I don't want more kids. So Ken had to go for consultation #2, I told him that if he left the doc's office without an appointment WRITTEN IN PEN in his calender it would be grounds for divorce.

All last week I think he was sweating bullets. He had a countdown every morning that went something like this:

"Anna, in only X more days, I will make the ultimate sacrifice for this family - and I will need at least a week to recover, as I have been told it will feel like I have been kicked HARD in the nuts"

As you probably can imagine, response each morning varied and after I had heard numerous times about how much prep work was required (shaving, washing, etc) I offered to give him a good swift kick myself and we could just get it over with. I think Ken seriously considered it.

Yesterday morning he went into the office, and got to chatting with a gentleman in the waiting room who had just had the procedure. Ken said he didn't look too good, and the only advice he gave Ken was to "take the lollypop when they offer it to you". Huh? You get a lollypop?

He later found out that the lollypop is designed to get your mind off the "business at hand" so to speak. Before the snip itself, Ken found himself sucking away at his lime lollypop while a kind nurse candidly pointed out that his shaving skills left much to be desired so she would need to "clean things up down there". I don't think Ken will ever look at a lime lollypop the same way again.

The procedure itself took seven minutes. We are told recovery time will take about seven days. Ken did well, and he is recovering nicely. Considering it is only the day after I am pretty impressed. The only hiccup so far is that Renee managed to give him a baby kick to his newly neutered parts, just to remind him that us women stick together, and she didn't want him to get off too easy. That's my girl!

I forgot

A few nights ago before I went to bed something happened and I thought to myself "now that is a great thing to blog about", and at the time I thought that I really should write it down because I may forget. But of course I didn't write it down. And now that I have had a couple of completely sleepless nights thanks to my wee teething baby girl, I have no idea what the hell was so damned interesting that I would put it out there in cyberspace. But I am sure it was good and riveting. You'll just have to trust me on that.

Coulda, shoulda, didn't...and now I'm paying for it.

I just finished watching a bootcamp show on tv. I really should sign up for something like that to help me shed some of this baby weight. Of course, the fact that my hubby just walked in the door with an oreo cookies and cream blizzard from Dairy Queen won't help in my quest for sveltness. What's worse is that I wasn't even hungry. My brain told me to put the blizzard in the fridge after a few mouthfuls. My hand kept scooping all that ice creamy goodness into my gullet. My brain said "stop". But I didn't. And now that I have finished the whole damned thing I feel like I want to barf. As my good friend J says, "tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes". Perhaps tomorrow starts my new run at sveltness.

Tis the season....

For weddings! I was recently going through some photos I had taken at weddings, and here are some of my favourites from two that I was at in the past years. I was going through a bit of a "sepia" phase...

Here is my friend D and her new husband (well, not so new anymore, they have been married for three years!)

And here is my brother and his wife (happy 2nd anniversary guys!). She looked stunning....

holiday? Today was a holiday????

A funny thing happens when you find yourself a stay at home mom. Being on maternity leave is wonderful, but there are no holidays.

When I am not on maternity leave I work part-time for the government (ok, insert joke HERE). When I worked, I loved my holidays. I looked forward to them and started counting down about a week beforehand. AND contrary to popular belief, us government workers have the same holidays as everyone else.

Now that I am at home I am kinda floored when a holiday comes. Today was one of those days. It was BC day. I totally forgot. Ken was home from work, so I just assumed it was Sunday - until he didn't go paddling. I tell you, I get all screwed up when a holiday is thrown in the mix. The kids are totally oblivious that a holiday is here. They still get up at six. There is no such thing as sleeping in on a holiday when you have three young ones.

I am also kinda hesitant to go anywhere when there is a holiday. There are lineups at ferries and borders. In hot cars with three kids, two of whom need to pee RIGHT NOW and there is not a toilet or bush in sight. And all the stuff you need to bring - strollers, playpens, toys, blankets, food....the list goes on. What happened to the carefree backpacking and roaming the world days? Oh yeah - we grew up. We got a minivan. We have to fill it full of crap every single time we go out. So it is just that much easier to stay home and enjoy the "holiday".

Little Miss Hair

Quite the lid on my wee girl....

CRAP

Ken just got back from the storage locker with the last load of boxes that we put there before we moved. When we put the house on the market in January, we had to do some serious de-cluttering to make the place look better (HGTV would have come in REALLY handy then). Since we had absolutely no storage at all we had to rent the locker.

Our house was a rancher, about 1700 square feet. Our new house is about 2800 square feet, and guess what? We can fill every space in this new place. People who have visited us in the new house have commented on how we have managed to fill all of the rooms even though this place is so much bigger than the previous house. And this was BEFORE we emptied the storage locker.

I just about fainted when I saw the FIRST vanload of stuff. And by vanload, I mean pull-out-all-the-seats and fill up the van to the top. So much so that the bumper was not too far off the ground (a lowered minivan - we have reached a whole new level of cool).

I must admit it is a bit like Christmas - opening up each box to see what I haven't missed at all in the last 6 months. I have only opened up three boxes today - mostly thanks to my newly teething daughter who won't let me leave her sight for a second. My poor mom is going to faint when she sees the spare room, which up until yesterday had a bed, a nightstand and a light. Now she will have to share the room with a desk, and ab-roller, and about 14 boxes. We won't even go into what is in the closet. My mantra of "if you can't see it - it doesn't exist" still reigns supreme.
I am almost starting to think we should have had a garage sale and just sold all the boxes un-opened. Kinda like a grab-bag of sorts. Twenty bucks a box – you might get a box full of toys, or a box full of CD’s. At any rate, I doubt I would have missed any of it.

Why?

Ever since we moved a couple of months ago I have become and HGTV and TLC addict. Not only because this house needs ALOT of work (and I can't think of any designs to save myself) but because we now have cable. In our old place all we had was bunny ears, but since they didn't work in the new house, we decided to bite the bullet and pay for tv. "Treehouse" is now a part of the boys' vocabulary .

The other day I was watching "A baby story" while feeding Renee. When I used to watch it I would cry happy tears - probably because at that time we were trying for kids, and I had NO IDEA how painful childbirth could be. Now that I know we are done with the babymaking, the show doesn't have same effect on me (I still get a bit emotional when the baby is born, but not like I used to). The other day though I was so pissed that I turned the show off. There was a young girl who was in labour and obviously was given an epidural - she was having contractions while getting her nails done at her bedside, and just after the doctor checked her and told her she was 10cm, she pulled out her phone book and started calling all her friends to come to the hospital because she was just about to push. I kid you not, she must have called at least five people, giggling and laughing telling them that "OMG I am 10 cm, and cool, I'm going to push and have a baby".

I distinctly remember being 10cm with all my kids. And I was in NO position to talk, never mind call my girlfriends. I was in so much pain. And yet watching this show made me ticked that maybe I missed out on something by not having an epidural (first kid was by choice, the other two, not at all). I cannot even begin to put into words the pain. With Renee, I asked for the epidural at about 11 am, they came to test my blood about 40 minutes later, and then NOTHING. Renee was born at 2:15 pm. It was like they totally forgot about me. Sigh. At least I know that I never will have to give birth again!

AHHHH.....

You know the feeling when you have found the PERFECT piece of clothing? I am the first to admit that I don't have the most up-to-date or edgy fashion sense. Most days if I get a clean pair of pants and shirt on that match I am doing well. I recently bought a couple of pairs of light cotton pants with the intention of wearing them around the house - they fit well, were lighter than sweat pants and cheap. Little did I know how comfortable they were, or that I would even wear them out in public - especially when the tag says the pants are from the "sleepwear collection".

The first time I wore the grey pair was to the movies. I was going for comfort, not style, and I knew that no-one would be paying any attention to me, so what the heck. I loved the fact that I was comfy, and it felt almost as though I was at home hanging out on the couch.

Last week it was so gross and rainy here in Vancouver (surprise!!!) that I decided to wear the dark blue pair to the boys soccer class. I have never in my life received so many complements - not on the pants, but on how good I looked for just having had a baby. These pants hid my weight - and hid it well. I love them so much that I feel like I could be Oprah - I want to give a pair to everyone in the audience (and I so totally could afford it as there are only two of you!)

Stuff

Three months is a long time to leave a blog neglected. I get so ticked when I look at blogs I regularly read and they haven't been updated in a few days. And it isn't as if I don't have blogging moments. Many a time during the last few weeks something would happen and I'd think - I really need to blog about THAT.

I have been busy with the kids, Ethan is driving me a bit crazy as he is now done preschool and he has to look at my ugly mug every day - so he has developed a bit of an attitude in part because he isn't seeing his friends as often as he'd like. "Whatever mom" has been uttered on more than one occasion, and the stomping and dirty looks have increased exponentially since the end of June. Maybe this is just a part of being five. I hope not. If that is the case it will be pure hell once Nicholas reaches that point.

Speaking of the second born, I think we can now "officially" say he is potty trained. He regressed when we moved and when Renee was born, but now he is doing very well. Thank goodness. Of course now that I have put that down in black and white I have likely jinxed myself.

Little miss Renee is doing great. I can't believe she is four months already. And the hair on that child - it is what EVERYONE says when they first see her. I have stopped trying to do anything with it and I just leave it in the natural mohawk. What the hell - it looks cute on her.

She has also started to suck her thumb - which is great at night - if she wakes up she just pops her thumb in her mouth and soothes herself back to sleep. We have had a few nights where she has slept through the night and it makes for one less grouchy mommy.

Speaking of eyelashes...

Lazy post - I didn't realize how long my niece's eyelashes were until today...they are amazing. Renee is still working on hers.

Can someone please tell me why beautiful eyelashes are wasted on BOYS?

Case in point. My eyelashes suck. My sons don't get their beautiful lashes from me....

Oops.

I honestly thought that being at home would give me an opportunity to blog more and pull my camera out and actually take some pictures of my new wee girl. Yeah right. People are dumbfounded when I tell them that the pictures I took in the last post are pretty much the only ones that I have of Renee on her own (I have a few of the boys and her, but I really want to get some nice arty farty type ones of her that I can put on the million thank-you cards I have to get done at some point).

I am still working at one of my jobs, which thankfully is over in a couple of weeks. I am teaching a distance education course at one of our local post secondary institutions, and it is all good - except the marking. Final exams and final assignments, and 40 students all wanting their marks RIGHT NOW. It is funny being on the other side of the fence - teaching instead of being a student and stressing about the next paper I have to write. It is a different kind of stress now, I want to be sure that I am fair to all students when I am marking their papers. It is funny how some students just "get it" and others are so far in left field it isn't even funny. By kid #3 I am quite good at the multi-tasking, and have managed to get breastfeeding and marking done all at the same time.

Introducing Renee

Well, she came early - 11 days to be exact - born on Sunday afternoon. She was 8 lbs, 12 oz and I cringe to think how big she would have been had she decided to stay put until her due date. Labour was no picnic, longer than Nicholas, shorter than Ethan. Still hurt like hell - but she was worth every second.

She totally looks like Dad, she certainly didn't get that hair from me!

Out of the mouths of babes....

Ethan is at the age where he is obsessed with all bodily functions and body parts, especially those ones that some people can get mighty squirmy about. For the most part I try to be very forthcoming and answer all his baby related/body related questions honestly (and most of the time I manage to keep a straight face, but not always).


When Ethan was smaller, my brother and sister-in-law bought him a book entitled "All about Scabs". He loved that book. So, since "poop" is the theme of the month, I bought him a book as a "present" from the new baby, do you think I might be encouraging him much?




The other day when Ethan was out with my Mom, those "questions" came up again. Thankfully my mom is around here on a regular basis and has had a front row seat to my explanations about babies, poop, intestines and childbirth to Ethan, so she isn't totally taken aback with some of the things that come out of his mouth. They were at the mall, and mom had to go into a clothing store to look at some tops. On the way out, Ethan asked her why mannequins don't have penises. We have gone over the girl/boy body parts list a number of times, but I guess since he saw breasts on some, he naturally wondered why the boy bits weren't on others. I have no idea what my mom told him, but I am sure the number of shoppers that heard Ethan ask would have loved to know her answer.

A bit of pampering.

Today I spent some time with my SIL and we got our toes done. It was so nice to just relax and chill, because I know that I won't be in for that type of pampering for a long time once the baby is born.

Before Ethan was born, I painted my toes blue. At the time I had hoped to do one foot pink and one foot blue (since we didn't know what we were having), but after struggling to get the polish on, I just did both feet blue. With Nicholas, I was just too darned big to reach my feet, so I didn't do anything at all. So for this wee babe, I decided to go all out and here are the results - I made sure to get both pink and blue...

Wordless Wednesday

So....boy or girl? And the "?" isn't photoshopped in, it is actually on the shirt!

Insomnia

It is 4:30 am. I am wide awake, and I can't even blame the kids. I am up this early BY CHOICE because I just can't sleep. Yesterday I spent most of the day lying on the couch with the worst backache I have had in my life. At one point I thought I may be in labour - and you'd think since I have done this twice already I'd know if I was or not, but honestly, I didn't. It was so different. One huge backache that lasted all day. And from what my friends have told me, that can be what back labour is like. Oh joy.

Right now, no backache - so that is a good sign. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to do for the next couple of hours before the house wakes up. I could mark exams, but ick, I don't feel like it. I am reading a great book with only a couple of chapters left, but I hate finishing great books because then I have to find a new one to read and I don't have any around that I can start. I guess I'll just have to find a movie to watch, and enjoy this "me" time because I know that within the next couple of weeks there will be none of that left!

Could be a week....could be four.

Judging by the two boys, this kiddo could make an appearance next week, or in a month. Ethan was surprisingly early, Nicholas annoyingly late. I was told that genetics played a part in when you deliver and how long delivery should be. When I was born, I was two weeks late, and according to my mom, her labour wasn't too bad and not too long either. I remember when I went on maternity leave with Ethan I was looking forward to getting the house all sorted, and then parking my ass on the couch for lots of TV and rest. I didn't get either - I had pretty much only a weekend to "relax" before he made his very early appearance. As for my labour - it was long, about 20 hours, and quite painful (why is it that no-one tells you about the "ring of fire"????)

So, when I was going on maternity leave with Nicholas I figured that since he would be early like his brother, I would leave work earlier. I was off for almost a month before he was born. And it wasn't a relaxing month - looking after a toddler when you are as big as a house is a bit of a challenge. Thankfully labour was shorter (about 3 hours all up). We were lucky that we got to the hospital when we did - I thought they would just send me home because my contractions weren't regular (my water broke first), but it didn't take long before they got to the point of me just about passing out with each one, so I was going nowhere.

All I ask of this wee bean is that he/she stays put for a week at least. I have got the worst hair going at the moment, and am in BAD need of a dye job. My hairdresser is always booked months in advance, and I have had to wait two months for this appointment. Sounds quite vain, I know...but really, if I can't get my hair done before this baby gets here I have to wait another couple of months at least, and that would just be scary.

The only thing I fear about this birth is the pain - I did both previous with no drugs (the first by choice, the second I was begging for them, but the hospital that we go to is a trauma hospital, and the doctors that have all the happy pain free drugs are usually tied up with serious accident victims or in surgery, so pregnant women don't rate too high on the scale). I totally understand, but ugh...I now know what to expect and I know it won't be fun. I also hope we make it to the hospital on time - Nicholas was pretty quick, and hopefully this one will be too.

At this point it is a waiting game - I am enjoying my maternity leave, the boys are quite good at keeping themselves occupied most of the time, so as long as their fights are kept to a dull roar, the house doesn't collapse and there are minimal amounts of blood shed I am one happy camper.

An update of sorts...

Wow...two months have gone by since I have updated my blog. Funny how I get so ticked when the blogs that I read daily aren't updated, and yet I have gone ages without doing anything with mine. Mind you, those that are "regular" readers are likely the odd family member or co-worker, so they get the scoop (usually).

Alot has happened in the last two months. We bought a bigger house. We sold our house (in 18 days!). We met some really slimy dickhead real estate agents, one of whom accused us of living in a drug house (and the idiot put it in writing, so I will be using that when I write a complaint to the real estate board). It was a stressful time, especially since we bought the bigger house before we even put ours on the market. Thankfully all the hard work of de-cluttering and keeping the place spotless paid off. Now that we don't have to deal with showings or open houses we can go back to living like normal, whatever the hell that is with two young kids who are always into dirt and making the biggest mess possible at every opportunity.

Oh yeah, we also bought a MINIVAN. Anyone who knows me and my dear hubby knows what a big thing that was. We were never going to be minivan drivers. NEVER EVER. And now we are. I can fit three carseats IN ONE ROW. Insane. Ken tells all his buddies that the minivan is mine, but secretly, I know he loves driving it.

Today is my first day of maternity leave from work. I can't believe that I don't have to go back for a year (maybe more). I think after a week my kids will be begging me to return to work. After a week I might just feel like I need to go back for a rest. Thankfully I only worked part-time, so it isn't as much of a shock to the kids as if I had been away all week at work.

Not much in the way of baby news. I am HUGE, but it is mostly all baby, which is much different from the last two pregancies. We had a heart ultrasound done on this wee bean to check to see if all was ok (it seems to be), but they wouldn't tell us if the baby was a boy or girl, so it is still anyone's guess at this point. I suppose this baby could come anytime in the next couple of weeks, so I guess I had better get a belly shot at some point! I am really not looking forward to labour, the last two were painful, and my chances of getting any drugs for this one are slim to none. ACK.

So that is about it. Even the pictures have been terribly lacking - but I am sure that will pick up once this baby gets here.

If you made it through all of this and didn't fall asleep, congrats.

Merry Christmas

It is almost 11pm Christmas Eve. I have just finished wrapping Santa's gifts for the boys, and I can hardly wait for them to wake up tomorrow. Christmas is just so different with little ones, Ethan has been like a kid in a candy store for about a week - we finally have the house decorated and a tree up, and he is just beside himself waiting for Santa to come. I caught him today talking to one of the many Santa's we have up around the house, he was asking Santa if he likes cookies, and can he leave something out for the raindeer to eat too? Ethan also wanted to know if Santa knew the alarm code to the house...

The only thing that really sucks this year is that I have to be very very careful of what I am eating, as I am measuring my blood sugar levels 8 times/day for this supposed gestational diabetes. I had it (borderline) with both boys, but I thought I might be off the hook with this wee bean because I haven't gained much weight. It is a crappy time of year to have to really watch what I am eating, but having said that I am so thankful that all is much better with this pregnancy and our wee bean will be here in a few months.

Merry Christmas to all my loyal readers (yes, all one of you). I hope to post more in the new year, but in the meantime, here are a few pics of the boys and their gingerbread house...

From rain to snow...

So last week it was so bad with the rain that there was flooding everywhere, and this week it is the snow. We have at least about a foot and a half at our place - so that makes commuting hell, but lots of fun for the kids (even the big one).

Filthy Dirty

Many of my friends have little girls. Little girls who can sit still for more than five seconds and colour (on the paper, and not the walls and chairs thank you very much). My little guys can't sit still. They love being on the move, and all the better when they are outside covered in dirt. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind the fact that our backyard looks like an excavation site ("look mommy....HOLES"), or that my kids create more laundry than I ever thought I could do in a lifetime. As long as it isn't sleeting outside - which by the way it has been for the last week - they are in the backyard doing their thing.

A couple of months ago I managed to capture my two little munchkins in happy moods and quite receptive to being within a foot or two of each other. Even though they are filthy, I just love this shot. I could easily photoshop out the dirt, but I am not going to.

There is another side of "filthy" I was exposed to this week from the youngest - his little wee potty mouth. Big brother was having a fit over something, and generally being a bit of a handful. Nicholas just sits and watches Ethan, and after a couple of minutes asks Ken "Daddy, is Ethan being a little shit?". Perfect context and everything. Oy. Wonder where he got that from....

If you think you are having a bad day, be thankful you aren't a female rat.

A couple of nights ago I went to a "girls night in" gathering at a friend's house. It was a group of women that I don't see to often, and a couple of them I don't know very well, but it was a really nice night (it would have been MUCH nicer if I could have partaken in a bit of alcohol - a glass of wine would have really hit the spot - that and a plate of sushi).

One of the women who was there works at one of the local colleges. She was telling us that if we ever have a bad bad day, to think of the poor little mamma rat she had to deal with last week.

D went to work and saw that one of the female rats had seven babies the night before. So there she was, nursing all seven. Cute. Until the older baby rats decided that they wanted to nurse too (they belonged to another rat mommy). So this poor mama rat was trying to move with seven little babies as well as a few older babies fighting for one of 10 of her now bleeding little teats. D told us that this poor rat made her way to the glass, pressed herself up against it and it looked as though she was PLEADING to be let out. But that is not the worst of it. Oh no.

Apparently someone (likely a male lab tech) thought it would be a good idea to have the male rat left in with this group. And he wanted some action. NOW. So the poor mama rat now had to contend with hungry babies and a horny male rat, who did the deed with her seven times in about 20 minutes. My friend D (who doesn't even work in the lab) had enough, and pulled the male rat out.

So if you think you are having a bad day, thank your lucky stars you aren't a female rat.

Tagged!

The lovely Ryann has tagged me, so here we go....

1. One thing I've never done in front of an adult: Hmmm...can't really think of anything offhand.

2. One sport I wish I could do: Surf. Then I wouldn't look like such a dork in Hawaii (yeah, like I'll be getting there anytime soon!)

3. One thing I used to be able to do but have lost the ability to: Drink. Alot. Now one glass of wine and I am hooped.

4. One job I wish I could have had: Flight attendant - I would have loved to have seen more of the world.

5. One food I can't live without: Chocolate and coffee. Couldn't just narrow it down to one.

6. One food I could easily live without forever: Peanut Butter....eww......

7. One book I think is a classic: Too many to pick just one.

8. One movie I feel is personally significant to my life: Forrest Gump - but not for good reasons.

9. One song I wish I'd written: Thriller - oh to be rich.

10. One thing I wish I had more control over: Nicholas. He sure is a handful.

11. One Thing I dislike about myself: I sometimes don't say what I mean - I wish I was more honest with some things and would just "push back" when I am asked to do something I really don't want to.

12. One thing I admire about myself: If I say I am going to do something, I do it. And I am LOYAL to my friends and family.

13. One thing I would change about Canada: The politics.

14. One vehicle I hope to own someday: Something cool AND practical.

15. One profession I have no respect for: Drug dealers (is that a profession?),

16. One sexual activity I have never tried but want to: what Ryann said: "hahahahaha not a chance am I answering that one".

17. One holiday I could live without: Valentines day.

18. One piece of clothing I can't live without: My track pants.

19. One thing I'm afraid of: something happening to my family.

20. One thing I'm happy to have: My friends, family and health.

I tag whoever wants to do this....besides, I am sure there aren't even three people who read this to tag to do it!!!

Oh the stuff you see in the IKEA Catalog...

Ok, so I am a bit slow on the uptake - we all know that. But I thought this was just too funny, even though it was talked about here and here in late August. I don't think I will ever think about IKEA the same way again....

Sleep - who the hell needs it?

With baby #3 on the way, Ken and I figured that we should probably think about getting Nicholas out of the crib and into a "big boy bed". Thinking is where we should have left it. Nicholas didn't mind the crib at all, and still hadn't figured out that he really could get out of the pen if he really tried. He and Ethan share a room, so when we put them to bed, we expect the chatting and giggling, but it does settle down and they both go to sleep. That is until last week.

I had the week off work this week b/c of daycare issues (my mom who helps out with the boys when I work is off having a great old time down under - so Ken and I are switching days off to cover off childcare until she and my dad get back). So with me being off this week, we figured that it would be a good time to set up the racing car bed (thanks Ebay!) so that if Nicholas had any issues, (like not sleeping because there is just TOO MUCH TO DO WITH ALL THE FREEDOM) I would be home to deal with it.

And deal with it I have....NO naps this week (except yesterday when Ken was home), and late nights every night because there are books to pile on the bed, drawers to empty and bookcases to explore when you have free reign of the room. Poor Ethan has had to put up with all this too, we hear regular yells from the room of him telling Nicholas to "get back in your racing car bed - I want to sleep".

Here is just a sample of the crap I have had to deal with this week (this is pretty minor, just all the books on his bed and the expression on his face telling mom to take a hike).

Well Holy Crap!

Rick Mercer updated his blog. Mind you I only caught it now, about 20 days late, but it does make me feel a tad better that I didn't let mine sit stagnent for as long as he did (yeah, and like I have the readership he does - thanks to all two of you who regularly check in).

THIS is why I haven't posted lately...

Yup that's right - we are expecting #3. Shocked to say the least was both our reactions when we found out. Apparently as I get older I get more fertile.

I have been super sick with this wee bean - I still haven't gained back the weight I lost in the first month, and I am still having days where I wonder how in the heck I made it through.

I hope to be posting more often as the sickness wears off (does it wear off????) but for those of you wondering where I went - you now know.

Haircuts

Ethan had is first official haircut when he was about a year old. He had to wear a special helmet for a condition called "plagiocephaly", and I figured it was bad enough he had to wear the thing in the middle of summer - so I decided to get his cute little mullet chopped first. We went to a kids haircut place with racing cars for seats and a TV for the kids to watch while getting the lid trimmed. Nothing like a little bob the builder to distract a screaming one-year-old from the wrath of the deadly clippers.

Nicholas on the other hand had his first real haircut last week - at two and a half years old. I have tried a couple of times to neaten his locks, but it was time for the first official chop. I decided to forgo the kiddy place though - too much money ($20 for a two year old) and the last time they cut Ethan's hair they butchered it. BADLY.

The boys loved the salon. My hairdresser, who I have been going to for almost 12 years cut the munchkin's hair for me - and did a wonderful job.





Who needs a TV to look at when I can just look at myself????

Running - a non event.

This year in my aim to lose some weight I took up running. Actually, the running was really an excuse to get away from the kids for a bit each week and have some "me" time. The weight loss would just be a bonus.

I signed up for the sun run training clinics and did the sun run in April. I had never run 10k in my life, so the fact that I did it non-stop was (for me) pretty impressive.

So a group of us got together and decided to train for the Royal Victoria Marathon in October. Actually, we decided to only do the half marathon, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be ready for a full marathon yet.

Up until about three weeks ago I was training my ass off. Doing quite well too - I hadn't lost any weight, but I felt great. Then the damned thyroid started to go all nuts. It has happened once before, but it took awhile to stabilize. So now, instead of running 15k without even thinking about it, I can barely even climb a flight of stairs without my heart rate going through the roof. It sucks. The one nice side effect is that my internal thermostat is working overtime, which means that the weight is just coming off - AND I AM NOT EVEN DOING ANYTHING. I know as soon as this gets all sorted though the weight will come back on, so the sveltness will be short lived.

Hopefully this will all get sorted out soon. For now the running is on hold as I can barely even keep up with the kids.

MH, this one is for you...

So, after dressing my kid in a rugby jersey, ball cap with the Canucks logo, and a nice pair of vans so that he doesn't look at all like he belongs on a soccer field - I have failed. He loves soccer, much to my distaste. Here is the proof...

Practicing stopping the ball with my foot...


Are you sure this isn't basketball?



Running with the ball (the right way)


Stopping the ball (the not-so-right-way)


He shoots....


HE SCORES!


Of course, big bro can't have all the fun, now can he?

I am now OFFICIALLY a soccer mom.

Today Ethan had his first soccer class. The local community center has soccer classes for boys aged 3-5 for the month of July, one hour/week, $5 per class. What a deal. Mind you, it would have been nice if I actually got to socialize with a couple of friends instead of chasing Nicholas for the hour and giving him lessons on various bugs we found (now there is a good use of my biology degree).

A couple of nights ago I had a bit of a freak out, as Ethan doesn't have appropriate shoes for soccer. He loves being barefoot, but I figured that I should at least make the effort to find something for him to wear so he doesn't stand out like dog's balls in the middle of the field. In the end I decided that he would be ok in his Vans - not quite runners, and definately not soccer cleats, but it would do.

I have never been a big fan of soccer. I have told my best friend on a number of occasions that if either of my sons shows an interest in the game that she can ferry them to practices and games. We live close to a fairly large soccer field, and every year it seems to pour rain whenever there are soccer tournaments. ICK. The idea of standing outside freezing my ass off and getting soaking wet doesn't do it for me. Unfortunately, once my sons find out that they can kick a ball and get filthy dirty all at once it will be game over. Sigh. At least soccer is cheaper than hockey.

So we show up today at the field, and just as I expected, there were some boys all decked out head to toe in soccer gear. Jerseys, shorts and soccer cleats - on THREE YEAR OLDS. At least there were a good number of kids (mine included) that looked like they rolled out of bed and put on whatever was left on the bedroom floor from the night before.

Ethan loved the class. His listening skills need alot of work, but all in all he had a blast. Once he figures out that he doesn't need to tackle the ball to stop it we may have a half decent player on our hands. Oy.

Rockstar....

Last year I was addicted to Rockstar INXS. I couldn't get over all the talent, and this year Rockstar Supernova looks even better. And I find Dave Navarro very sexy in a tattoo covered bad boy sort of way. So not my type, but easy on the eyes.

Rockstar makes American & Canadian Idol look like a second rate 7th grade talent show. I must admit, I can't sing worth crap, and I know that if I ever had the nerve to try out for Canadian Idol, I would be one of those who would be THE WORST of the worst. The Canadian public would never forgive me, thank goodness I am just too old for that kind of stuff.

I am not even going to begin to say who I think would do great on this show. There were a couple of performances tonight that didn't do much for me, but most of them were quite good. I must admit, it is brilliant marketing by Mark Burnett - worked wonders for INXS, I think it will do the same for Supernova.

Long time, no blog.

So this thing called "life" has made blogging a bit more difficult...it seems whenever I get five minutes to myself I just want to turn my brain off. I am too paranoid to blog at work - mind you it isn't like I ever say anything about it or the people I work with - which all in all are a pretty good bunch. That is saying alot for government employees. Ha ha ha.

Actually, I don't think I am a "typical" civil servant. I work my ass off - most days I don't stop to take lunch, although a coffee here and there is a must, hell hath no fury like me without my java. I really do like my job (most days), I guess the best part is that I manage stuff and not people.

I have a great view from my office - if you like to watch people strung out on who only knows what gearing down and showering with a hose in the back alley. Last week we found some people sleeping in our front bushes to the building. There is always something interesting going on in the general vacinity of the workplace.

So not much new with us, same old same old. I am loving this Vancouver weather - lots of sun and nice warm temperatures. The boys love it too - they are spending an obscene amount of time outside playing and just getting filthy and enjoying every second of it.

Cute as the bee's knees...

I know I am a whole lot biased, but he sure is cute!

How to really piss me off....

Key my car from bumper to bumper - just enough for everyone to notice and make me wonder if it really is worth getting re-painted or is this something that I am going to have to live with. ARGH.

I just don't get it...

Young kids just amaze me. The stuff they come up with is fantastic, and even though I have bitched and moaned about Ethan's parent participation preschool, I really enjoy my time in the classroom when the kids get a chance to tell stories or just talk about "stuff". Three year olds come up with the craziest things, and it is all so innocent. I love it.

One of the greatest things about living in Vancouver is the diversity of people that you see every day. There are so many different cultures and ethnicities that the boys are exposed to on a daily basis, and with this comes people who speak with different accents. Honestly, I don't think much of it because it is such a way of life here. The reason I find this all interesting is that my kids seem not to be phased by any of this at all. They don't seem to notice the differences in people - when they meet up with young kids at the park they all manage to get along and figure stuff out even though there are sometimes language barriers. It is great to watch.

A few weeks ago, I took Ethan to my hairdresser's shop for a haircut. I used to take him to the kids hairdresser close to us, but the last few times they have butchered his lid, and I was getting fed up. We went there because they had great cars to drive in and TV to watch while the kids got their hair done. So I told Ethan that we would go to a grown-up shop instead and he would just have to deal with looking at himself in the mirror instead of Dora when he was getting his hair done.

We got to the shop, and the girl that was going to do Ethan's hair was quite young, and covered in piercings, tatoos, and had jet black spikey hair. She was so nice and friendly, and did an awesome job of Ethan's hair. What struck me as odd is that Ethan didn't ask once about her piercings (in her nose, eyebrows, lips and chin) or her tatoos all over her arms and legs. He has never mentioned it at all. I thought it might be something he might ask me about, but it didn't seem to phase him in the least.

Today, we were at the dentist's office when a young boy (about eight) came in. He was bald, and had been undergoing chemo (I heard his mom talking to the receptionist about his treatment). I peeked into the play area where the boys were playing with this young kid, and they were having a blast. Again, Ethan didn't ask at all why this little boy had no hair. He didn't seem to notice the difference.

Ethan has entered the "why" phase - EVERYTHING I say is followed by a "why?". I wonder at what age he will notice differences in people and ask about it.

Road trip

We just got back from a road trip with the boys - we went down to Oregon for a few days for a "holiday". As most people know (or can imagine) a holiday with kids and a holiday without kids are two entirely different things. Before we had kids, we didn't really have to think much about where we went - we just found somewhere interesting, packed a few things and took off. Now planning a trip entails making big lists so we don't forget anything (special blankets, cars, toys, books, cars, cars and cars), booking hotels that have an inclusive breakfast with lots of options (for the second born who is the pickiest eater EVER), local playgrounds, and planning for lots of stops on a long road trip.

We have friends who live just on the Washington/Oregon border, so it was nice to catch up with them. We then went to a "fair" of sorts - it was called "Kids day America". Apparently these are held all over the US.

So we looked at all the different things for the kids, such as spinal health screenings, they had tips for healthy eating habits, fitness & exercise and lots of different saftey things (child ID cards, etc).

Nothing could have prepared me for what we found at one of the tables though. Right next to the Mr Yuck stickers and the pamphlets on bike traffic laws was a container full of FREE GUN LOCKS. Something I have never seen in my sheltered little life, and certainly nothing I would expect to find at a table between the speech therapist and the dentist at this kids fair. But there it was....and what did I do? Pulled out my camera of course.

Update...

First off - I haven't been blogging much. Life has been busy, and to be honest, I haven't really felt like it. I love reading other blogs, and there are those I visit on a daily basis (and I get ticked pretty quickly when I don't see a new blog entry - talk about being a hypocrite...). So for those who have dropped me a line asking where the heck I am - I am still here, but feeling pretty blah about the whole blogging thing.

The boys have been great - Ethan has developed an interest in all things S.E.X and baby related - I think Auntie K who is expecting in a few months may have something to do with it :). Out of nowhere he will ask me about boy parts and girl parts and baby stuff - I can't say I wasn't ready for it, but man, I just want him to be my baby forever and never grow up.

Nicholas has been having his head examined - for fun and a bit of cash. A few months ago, I signed him up for a study looking at social interactions of toddlers. Since I was a science geek back in the day (now you can just drop the "science" part of it), I have always been interested in experiments, especially the ones that don't invlove killing something or the stench of formaldehyde.

This experiment on the whole was fairly simple, and Nicholas' education fund got a bit of an injection. Suffice it to say that my son is one little thinker - I don't think this series of experiments was a pass or fail kind of thing, but if you get points for making the experimenter laugh his butt off, then my kid probably kicked every other toddler's ass. I can't go into any great detail, but the series of experiments basically involved Nicholas interacting with a pimply faced twenty something guy who obviously has not been around children much. He was really nice, but was puzzled at the fact that he couldn't always direct Nicholas to do exactly what he wanted him to do when he wanted it.

One of the experiments involved fish crackers. The tester would show Nicky the cracker, hide it (while Nicholas watched) and then tell him that he couldn't have it until a bell was rung. Nicholas looked at the tester as though he was nuts, lifted the cup where the cracker was hidden and popped it into his mouth. This whole exercise was repeated about four times, each time the tester getting a wee bit more agitated. Finally he told Nicholas that he absolutely couldn't have the cracker until the tester rang the bell (what two year old knows the word "absoultely"?). Nicholas - to his credit - waited....about five seconds, and the he reached over, rang the bell himself and got the cracker. The tester just about wet himself he was laughing so loud. It was a proud, proud moment for mama.

Hubby and I are still plodding along - he has been getting more heavily into the dragonboating thing and a wee bit of golf on the side. My running (or more of a shuffle) is still going - I ran a 10 K race a couple of weeks ago, and am training for a half marathon....haven't decided I am actually going to do it yet, but it sure sounds good to say I am training for it...mind you, while I was running the 10 K I thought to myself NEVER AGAIN. I guess it is kinda like childbirth - you forget the pain. Sort of.

When it doesn't rain...

This is why I love Vancouver....it is just such a beautiful place (even when it rains). I took these pics this past Easter weekend at my folks place - they live on an island just outside of Vancouver.

so much to do, so little time....

When I first started this blog I was pretty good about posting something every day or two. I look now and I am shocked that it has been over a week. It isn't that I don't think of things to blog about, but it just seems like I don't have much time, and all I want to do is crash on the couch at the end of the day. I was thinking of all the things I have to get done in the next week or two and honestly, I am scared to write it all down. Between work, preschool, photography and miscellaneous other stuff, I hardly have time to breathe it seems.

One thing that I did start a few months ago was running. I joined a running clinic with the hopes that I could finish a 10 kilometer run. The big test is next week's Vancouver Sun Run. I have run 10K a couple of times, and suprisingly, didn't collapse at the end. Thank goodness for the running group, there are some days it takes ALL MY ENERGY to get out the front door, especially when it is pissing down rain. There has been talk amongst the group that we may start training for the Victoria half marathon....I think I might give it a try and see what happens. The thought of running 21 kilometers without stopping is a bit daunting though.

I have never been a runner. Years ago I was a swimmer, but I got so burned out that the smell of chlorine almost makes me wretch. The nice thing about swimming is that it is great exercise, and the stress on your body is pretty minimal. I am hoping one day to get back into the pool (maybe join a masters swim team) but right now I am doing the running thing and enjoying it quite a bit.

In the next few weeks I hope to have up some of the photos from the wedding that I did about a month ago...gotta get on that!

Milestone....

I wrote quite awhile ago here about Ethan's little ritual of getting completely naked when he goes to the bathroom to poo (I have no idea why I find it so weird to type "poo". I have no problems with shit, crap, dump, #2, but "poo" just feels funny to type out). Typically, he just announces that he has to do a poo-poo, and proceeds to gear down to nothing (including socks) right where he is standing. It could be the living room, family room, kitchen...you name the place, and he has gotten naked there. In fact, after Christmas dinner this year, he got down from the dinner table, stripped, and streaked through the house to get to the bathroom. At that point I decided that we would work on the whole getting naked thing.

I am pretty damed lucky that he hasn't had to go while at preschool - I explained to the teacher that he gets naked when he poops, and her first question to me was "where did he learn that?". Hmmmmm....I have no idea. I think that she thought that we just all get naked as a matter of course to go to the can in our house. Actually, I am sure that it stems from the time that he got his shirt wet when he was taking a pee - Ethan hates being dirty or messy, and I guess that this memory is etched in his little mind and every time he goes to the can, he wants to make sure he will stay as clean as possible.

So I figured that I would try something this week to get him to go to the bathroom with his clothes on. I had tried in the past to do it in baby steps, leaving his socks on, then his shirt, etc...but that didn't work. We didn't get past the socks. So in despiration I did what all the parenting books tell you not to. I bribed him. With a toy. I told him that if he did a poo poo with all his clothes on, I would buy him a special treat (thank goodness for dollar stores!). It worked. A little too well. No fights, no arguements, no nothing. He trotted off to the can, did his business, and that was it. I was fearful that I would have to buy him special treats every time he took a shit until he was 21. Thank goodness that (at least to this point) it seems as though one small firetruck is all that it took. For now.