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.