Adventures along the way

Wordless Wednesday-little goofs!

2011-02-09T15:14:00.001-06:00

18 weeks

2011-01-05T13:48:00.002-06:00

How far along? 18 weels
Total weight gain/loss: down 3lbs thanks to a cold and flu that has lasted 3 weeks.
Maternity clothes? Nope
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Better now. Up until a few weeks ago i'd nap whenever possible and be in bed by 10.
Best moment this week: Starting to feel baby move.
Movement: Yup, a little squirmy in there
Food cravings: Veggies.
Gender: No feeling
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? It’s on its way out
What I miss: Nothing yet
What I am looking forward to: Being half done.
Milestones: Hmm, nothing yet.

Bad blogger

2010-11-26T15:28:00.002-06:00

I know, its been a super long time. So if I still have any readers left, here goes.

We've been in our new house now for almost 5 weeks. Loving it. We still have some things to do but I am enjoying decorating and organizing. The kids are so happy and play so well.

Christmas tree is up, some presents are wrapped and the Christmas music is playing. I'm getting so excited.

And of course, the most exciting news, as you may have noticed in my side bar...we are expecting baby #3 in June. I am 12 weeks.

Thats all for now. Sad I know.

As promised

2010-10-07T22:09:00.002-05:00

This is the dining room (or lack of a dining room before)and after.

And the living room. Don't you just love the previous purple wall. It nicely matched the purple toilet and bathtub in the bathroom. Yikes.

Notice the difference in the fan to the Awesome light fixture!

So there ya have it. I forgot to take a picture of the kids room with Cadens bed in it, but I'll probably wait until Avery's crib is in there and its all done.

Its obviously not done yet. No curtains, decorations and in some places, the baseboards are still missing. But its coming.

coming soon...

2010-10-07T14:18:00.002-05:00

Check back later tonight for a few before and after photo's of our new house.

In the mean time, did you know its only 1 month and 1 day until my baby turns 1? I know, crazy!

Recap

2010-09-30T20:30:00.007-05:00

I was doing so good with blogging, and then nothing for so long. I'm sorry.

But I've been busy. With what you ask? PAINTING MY HOUSE!!!

It's done. Took my mom and I 6 days for a total of 24 hours each. I also had a good friend help prime the house, and my MIL came for 1 day.

I Love It!! Betcha can't wait to see it. Soon you will, I promise.

The flooring guy finished today. I can't comment on how it looks cause I haven't gone to see it. I was gonna go. But then stuff happened and it got too close to the kids' bed time and I couldn't. Its killing me. I can't wait for tomorrow to come.

Whats left? All the trim. Which will (start) happening this saturday. Which means I will go to my house and as they finish a room, I will move stuff into it and make it a room. I can hardly wait. I will finally be able to put these together.

I've already told Rob that the dining room is the first order of business so I can get these babies up. I didn't want to put them together until they could go into the dining room. They take up more room put together. Now I can remove them from there box in all their beauty.

The bathroom also needs to be put together. Let me just say that I love, love, love my bathroom color. It looks fantastic. Its called Aqua bay and it is gorgeous. Might be my favorite in the whole house. Now that the flooring is done, the toilet needs to go on and the vanity needs to be put in. Also, the tub surround needs to be glued in.

The light fixture in the dining room and above the island needs to be put up. The entrance one is in and its beautiful. On that note, the island also needs to be put in.

We also need to finish the dry wall in the basement. At least I think so. I'm waiting to hear back from MSTW on that one. However, we were waiting for the upstairs to be done so we can move oh so much stuff from the basement, upstairs. That way the drywalling will go quicker.

I sold these yesterday.

They are coming this weekend to pick them up. That'll make an entire corner of my basement empty. Awesome. Plus the money doesn't hurt. At all. Its amazing how quickly you can use up ALL the money you got for renovations. One thing after another.

Won't she be cute??!!

2010-09-30T20:17:00.001-05:00

I bought this dress online this week. Its going to be Avery's Christmas dress. I just love it. Hope it looks good on her and fits properly.

Premium or Unleaded?

2010-09-20T22:38:00.004-05:00

Oh boy. This ones a doozy.

Rob quit his job.

He has been working at Loewen Auto for about a year. His boss is not great. He knew that at the end of this month he'd be out of a job, because Loewen Auto is sold.

He was offered a job at Janzens Pontiac, but turned it down. (more on that later)

Well, last Monday morning, his boss tells him that Friday is now the last day. (4 days later) He had upped the sale date.

Throughout the last few months, Abe has been very dishonest about alot of things. He tells one employee one thing, and others different things. Then if they confront him he denies one or the other. Rob was promised a raise 2 months ago. He never got it.

Rob was worried that Abe would end up selling his tools with the business, or saying that some were his. Thats just the kind of guy he has turned out to be. So Monday night, Rob got a bunch of buddies together, and they removed absolutely everything of Robs from the shop from his tool box, to tires, to a filing cabinet. He told his boss he was done.

So now where is he at? Fas Gas. Yup, my husband is now a gas jockey. Don't get me wrong, someone has to do it. But it shouldn't be a 34 year old married guy with 2 kids and a new house to pay for right? I mean really, his wage has been almost cut in half. Yikes.

Why doesn't he find a different job? Here's the thing. The guy who owns fas gas is building a new mechanics shop. Hopefully, in 3 months it'll be running. Rob is going to work at that shop, when it's ready, where he'll also be able to continue his car sales.
Therefore, he didn't really think it was fair to take the job at Janzen's, when he knew he'd be done there in a few months.

Matt (fas gas) is also letting Rob park 2 of his cars on the lot for free. He currently has 8. (I'm driving one, he drives one, 2 at fas gas and 4 parked on our yard) He is still operating his business, TAC Auto.

All in all, this worries me a little bit. I mean, our mortgage just went up and his wage just went down...way down. Not to mention that in 1 more month my mat leave is done. Oh boy. Lots of praying is happening, let me tell ya.

"I broke it"

2010-09-18T09:33:00.003-05:00

Those are the 3 words I heard first thing this morning. Caden was in bed with me, since he was up at 7:30 and I didn't feel like getting out of bed yet. He decided to play with my phone. It was dark in the room, other than the light of the phone. Then I hear it "I broke it". I knew right away what had happened. I was mad. I love this phone. I mean really really love this phone. It's better than any phone I've ever had. Now I have to go buy a new one. And no, I'm not gonna sign a new contract so that I get the phone for free because I am on an awesome contract. The 9.99 contract. Its been over for a year now, but I just can't sign a new contract to pay $10/month more. I don't think its worth it. Maybe, just maybe I can find one for around $100. Would that be asking too much. It wouldn't be as big a deal, except that we don't have a home phone. Rob and I both just have our cell phones.
Oh, who am I kidding. It'd still be a big deal. I NEED my cell phone. I text wayyyyy too much. ;-)

Anyhow, off I go to the wonderful MTS store to find the cheapest phone. Grrrrr. Not how I wanted to start my day.

Friends

2010-09-17T23:18:00.003-05:00

I have been blessed with amazing friends. I am part of a group of girls (10) who have been friends since high school, and remain close. We actually still get together once a week, on Wednesdays. Girls night. We've been doing this since we graduated high school 9 years ago.
We used to go camping, but that has changed in the last few years because of some with kids. ( I think). We do however, still do a girls Christmas every year. This is last year. (I am exactly 1 month from having Avery here, hence the belly). We started off with our Christmas function being a night at a hotel in Winnipeg, and going to Celebrations. It has since grown into a full weekend event, in Grand Forks. Its been wonderful. Its always a great weekend. Sometimes there is only 5 of us, sometimes there is 8. This year, looks like all 10 can make it. I look forward to this weekend starting the Monday of the one we get back from.
I realize not all of my friends are like me. I need time away from my kids. A weekend away is the perfect thing. And who better to spend it with then amazing friends.
We do alot of shopping. A LOT!! From Christmas gifts, to clothes for ourselves and our kids. (6 of us have kids, 2 are expecting) This year for the first time, I will be able to go to the house decor section of my favorite stores. A section that I've never entered, as I knew I didn't have a house to put things in. I Can't Wait!
I am blessed. I am lucky. I have amazing friends. I am blessed.

In other news...

2010-09-15T12:14:00.005-05:00

Baby girl is teething...something fierce. She needs to chew on everything. She's ornery (sp) and gets super mad super fast. Its kinda funny. She did pop out 3 teeth a week and a half ago so that brings her count up to 6. All 4 front ones, and the top and bottom left. I'm sure I'm wrong but it almost seems like the next one will be either an eye tooth or a molar. Just based on how she's acting. Anyway, I never gave Caden anything for teething until his eye teeth when he got a little tylenol. He never needed it. Avery is different. It must hurt her more. Well I've heard a few people talk about these teething tablets that you buy at the health food store. I figured I'd give them a try, although i'm not usually an herbal person. I was surprised at how tiny they are. And they dissolve instantly in your mouth. (yes i tried one, had to make sure i could give it to Avery without her spitting it out) There would be no time for spitting it out. Not sure if it does anything for her but I'll keep giving them to her. They are not cheap. Almost $10 for 125 tablets. Yes, that sounds like a lot of pcs but you can give 3 tablets 4 times a day. Thats only 10 days worth then.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully a few more teeth can make there way through soon.

Gonna win it.

2010-09-14T19:53:00.002-05:00

As you may know, we do not let our kids watch a lot of tv. In fact, until about a year ago, we didn't even have the tv on when Caden was awake. Its just something that we believe in very strongly. I don't want my kids to be asking to stay inside to watch tv when they should be outside, exersizing their minds.
In the last year however, I've been trying to get Caden into a little bit of tv. At the time it was because he was getting up at 6am. Now it would be nice just for a little big of down time. I've found that the only thing he'll watch for any length of time (maybe 10 minutes) is Tractor Tom. So I've bought him 4 dvd's.

I'd really like to get him into other videos as well, however I'm pretty particular about what I'll let him watch.
Well, over at Glimpse they have introduced us to a new tv/video series about race cars. I think its something Caden would absolutely love as he is very into fast cars. (thanks to his dad) I'm hoping to win a copy of the first season, but if I don't, I just may have to head out and buy it.

Lets go!

2010-09-13T22:05:00.003-05:00

The house is coming along. Slowly but surely. The taper was suppose to start today, although i don't know if he did. I'm hoping/praying that he finishes this week because I am organizing things to paint all next week. Trying to get sitters lined up for every day. Yikes. I was hoping that my kids would just be able to go to my in laws for the week, but that doesn't seem to be working out. It'll work for Caden to be there for a day or 2, but not Avery. That girl is trouble. Not to mention that I don't exactly want her crawling around the house. It is filthy.

I'm gonna try to get them into day care for 1 day. Fingers crossed that everything works out so that we can get the house painted as quickly as possible.

After that, we do flooring and then trim. Then the fun begins. I can't even put into words how excited I am to arrange rooms. To bring all the things up from downstairs and put them in their room. To decorate. To put all these ideas I have in my head, into reality. I can hardly wait.

I don't even know if i'll remember how to have my own house anymore. We've been living at my parents house now for almost 4 months. Yikes. It'll be like we just got married, only we have 2 kids along for the ride.

Caden is so excited to move home. Every time I take him with me to the house, I don't see him the whole time. He's inside, he's outside, he plays. With all the toys he hasn't had for so long. And he's soooo good when we're home. I think it'll be a pretty easy few weeks when we move home because he'll be so good. I hope anyway.

I'm also looking forward to Grandma's house being Grandma's house again, and not his house. I know my mom is too. Normally, Caden wants to do everything with my mom. If she's going to town for something, he wants to go with. However, in the last couple of weeks he doesn't go with anymore. He wants to stay home with me. It'll be nice.

I'm gonna leave you with a picture of the cabinets we are trying to sell. My entire kitchen/dining room was cabinets. There was no room for a table so we took all of them out of the dining room.

Rehearsing

2010-09-11T11:58:00.002-05:00

This little boy is going to sunday school for the first time tomorrow and he is sooooo excited. We have been practicing a few songs. Jesus loves me, Alive Alive and Fishers of men. ( I'm not sure what songs they all sing in sunday school but these are the ones that came to me). For the last 3 days, he's been singing alive alive all the time. Today we got it on video. I love it.

How we roll

2010-09-09T20:54:00.001-05:00

From the garden, to the freezer

2010-09-08T13:15:00.002-05:00

19 bags at 2 cups each should get us through the winter.

Camping...

2010-09-07T22:19:00.006-05:00

she is cute...and dirty

she practiced standing

he took his sister down the slide, over and over again.
he enjoyed staying up wayyyyy past his bedtime, to enjoy a fire
we had a birthday party for Grandma (on the 2nd) and Daddy (on the 5th)

he got an owie, and a scooby doo bandaid

he went hunting for fire wood in the bush

he went for a spin

he showed off how incredibly handsome he is

she hitched a ride on daddy's shoulders

he got super good at riding his bike, even ramping over curbs

she went for walks

she ate...and ate....and ate

he played with trucks

New do

2010-09-07T22:11:00.002-05:00

I apologize for taking so long to post this. A few of you have been asking so here's the after hair cut picture. Nothing special. Just shorter with bangs to hide the baby bangs.

More free samples

2010-09-06T10:41:00.003-05:00

heinz formula

nestle formula

bounce/tide samples

John Frieda hair samples

Change of plans

2010-08-31T19:44:00.002-05:00

First of all, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post. After a lot of research, reading many many reviews on both machines, and of course, the fact that this mixer was also on sale at Canadian Tire, I decided to go with this beauty right here.It has a bigger bowl for one. (5.5qt instead of 5qt). And from what I am hearing from you guys, you find that your bowl is too small to do big batches of stuff. It also has a 800watt motor instead of a 475watt motor like the Kitchen aid has. Hey, more power is always better right?

I am going to the states tomorrow until Sunday so I'll look there and see what they have. But if I remember correctly, I've looked at every store (Kohls, JC Penney, Target etc) and they just do not carry Cuisinart.

Can't wait to start mixing and baking. And now my Christmas list has been started with the attachments. (pasta maker and food processor)

A day for Caden

2010-08-29T11:23:00.002-05:00

Today we are taking this boy
here, if it gets as hot as its supposed to get (fun mountain)
Here, if it stays cooler,
or here if we get the thundershowers they are forcasting (childrens museum)
Avery is staying home with my parents so its just the 3 of us. Right now Caden is golfing with my Dad, and once he's home, we're off.
At the end of the day, we're gonna go out for a nice supper and then head home. Can't wait.

Opinions

2010-08-27T15:33:00.003-05:00

This is what I'm thinking of getting. What do you have, and what do you think of it? I'm deciding between a kitchen aid and a cuisinart.
Canadian Tire has this one on sale this week for $350.
Suggestions?

Catching up/Help please***updated

2010-08-26T20:47:00.005-05:00

I was way behind. You can see that the last picture entered of Avery is her 3 month pic. She's now 9 1/2. Yikes. So, what looked like this, this morning....
now looks like this.

Feels good to be caught up on 1 thing. (I won't even tell you how far behind I am on her scrap book) Plus, hasn't she gotten soooo much cuter. I love to be able to see it like this. I'll be honest. I'm not a baby fan. I rarely think they are cute, including my own. I mean seriously, look at her 1 month pic, compared to, oh lets say even her 5 month pic. What a difference.

Here's where the 'help please' portion of this post comes in. As many of you regular readers know, I've recently started making hair clips. Now what I need, is a place to keep all of Avery's. I don't wanna just stuff them away in a drawer, I want them displayed. Which brings me to this ribbon.

I just got it today. Now I need some ideas on a cute clip holder. Anyone made one? I'm thinking maybe attaching it to some sort of hanger type thing so that it either hangs down, or has something holding it down on the bottom. Here's a few I found that I like.

I don't know. Help!!

Secondly, I need a button. How???

And lastly, I've posted this on FB, but I'm gonna ask here too. Where is a good place to get pictures developed. I have been going to Wal mart. I'm fine with them when it comes to just every day pictures. But when I make cards for my kids, and send it to them, its ALWAYS cropped off. I make my card to be 4 x 6. I go in, crop it so it looks perfect, and it still comes out uneven with parts cut off. Its soooo frustrating. I make milestone cards for my kids often, and its such an ordeal. I have to go back and forth to wal mart and then home to alter the card so many times and I'm done with it. Plus with Christmas coming, I also make Christmas cards for a bunch of people and I don't wanna do so much running around.

I use the adobe photoshop program. Anyone have any help for me?

At the cabin-in pictures

2010-08-24T22:03:00.004-05:00

On Thursday my mom and I, along with both kids, left for the lake. We got there at about 11:30pm. Caden was awake the entire 4 hour trip. Friday Rob and my Dad came up, as well as my brother and sil. We had a fantastic weekend, just lazing around. The guys fished. Caden spent several hours on the boat, and we hung out in the cabin. We played games in the evening, ate awesome food, and got up super early thanks to my dear Avery who thought morning was 6:30. I'll let the pictures show the rest of the weekend.

Fuzz head just chillaxin
Caden loved the lake. He would live there.
Hanging out on the deck

The boys

Chillin with the boys. This girl loves her Daddy and Papa

Going for a boat ride

Can you see Rob on the deck of the middle cabin?

Miss A, waking up from her nap

I love to read. But I don't do it often cause I neglect my responsibilities. Like my kids and stuff. But I got the chance to read an entire book at the lake. So good.

Couldn't keep this kid off the stairs.

Mmm mmm good

2010-08-24T21:30:00.002-05:00

What could be better than licking a beater with cream cheese icing. Yummy!

Free pictures

2010-08-21T14:48:00.001-05:00

I'm busy at the lake this weekend, but I found this link for 20 free prints from Kodak. So, i'm passing it on to you. Thanks to Lindsay who did the same and gave me the idea to pass on free stuff.

20 free prints

Look a like?

2010-08-17T22:26:00.001-05:00

Update on New do

2010-08-12T09:22:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately my hair dresser only had me in for a bang trim, so the pics of my new do are gonna have to wait until next wednesday afternoon.
I do however have bangs, which so far, are as annoying as I remember them.

Time for a new do

2010-08-11T15:48:00.019-05:00

I have needed a hair cut for a long time. I haven't had one in...well I can't even remember. Its probably been over a year.
Now I need one. After both of my babies, I lose tonnnnnnnsssss of hair when they are around 3 months. Then at around 6 months, I start to grow it back which results in what I call 'Baby Bangs'. I hate them, they look stupid. Not to mention the crazy hair growing above my ears. Sure, I can tuck it behind my ears, but when it gets humid (uh, hello last 2 weeks), they have a mind of their own.

My hair is long. Down to just past my bra strap. I like it long. Its handy that I can tie it in a knot if i don't have a pony tail handy. But its dry, damaged and I have tons of split ends.

So I've been watching and paying attention to anyones hair that I see. I still have requirments.
It absolutely must fit in a pony tail. Thats the kinda girl I am. In summer, when its hot, my hair is in a pony tail. Not that I like it, I feel like its lazy and boring, but its what I do. I have extremely thick hair, so if its on my neck, I sweat.
I don't wash my hair every day. Only every other, so on day 2, thats the easiest thing. Except that now, because of those stupid baby bangs, I also wear a headband to keep them hidden.
I will not do the shorter in the back, longer in the front look. I have never liked it and therefore it will never happen to my hair.
Other than that, this is sort of the idea I have.

Longish, layered, bangs.

Only trouble, is that I am a tucker. My hair has to be behind my ears. The hair dresser can make look all pretty, and I'll try to make a conscious effort to keep it untucked, but no matter what, somehow by the time I get into my vehicle and take a look in my mirror (come on, you all do it) my hair is tucked. I never remember doing it. It just happens. I do not like hair in my face. Could be why I hate bangs.
I also have funny kinks in my hair which makes the bangs have a mind of their own. So anyway, thats the plan for 7:00 tonight. I'll post a picture tomorrow of the 'after' and we'll see what ya think.

Down to 1

2010-08-09T20:58:00.003-05:00

For the last 3 days, I have had only one child.

Caden went to the lake with my Dad. It was exactly what I needed.

He's a tough kid. He's a great kid, but he's a tough kid. I was at my absolute end with him.

My mom has been at the lake since last monday. I was texting her on Thursday, complaining about Caden. Ok ok i was telling her that I was on my way ti thesuperstore to sell him, but whatever. Sure, he had a .25 sticker on him. But I wasn't serious...was I??

She comes up with the idea that I should send Caden with my dad the next day, Friday. I said no, no, no. I did not want to wreck their time together.

My mom is up there with a bunch of her friends, and all of their kids. She has her own 2 bedroom cabin. She told me she really really really wanted Caden to come up. She wanted to have a kid there too. (yeah right). I continued to say no. Thats how we ended the talk on Thursday.

Friday, my moms friend texts me to send Caden up. I end up chatting with her on FB for a while and she says that my mom really wants Caden to come up.

Now you may be asking yourself, why would I ever say no to sending one of my kids away with grandparents for a weekend. Well, remember that we live at their house ok. Which means my mom is with my kids ALL THE TIME!!!
But, like my moms friend pointed out, she had had 5 days with no kids, and will have another 5 days without kids once Caden leaves.

So I continued to ponder the idea. I hated feeling like she had offered just because I was complaining about Caden. Had it been just random, I woulda said yes right away. But then she wouldn't have offered had she not really wanted him to come.

And as much as I hate to say it, Caden is sooooo much better for other people, when I'm not around. I remember that about kids that I babysat for. They were always so good for me, but not so good when parents were around. I always said I wouldn't have kids like that. Hah! Eating my own words, thats for sure.

Anyway, Caden woke up from his nap at 4:00. I knew that once I told him, there was no turning back.
'Caden, how would you like to fishing with Papa?'
'YEAH!!!!!!!'

Then it was over. He asked a few questions, like what he needed to bring, who was gonna be there, and which boat papa was gonna take, cause he really didn't wanna take the little one cause that ones not fun.

I told him we needed to pack. While I was busy with Avery, he went downstairs. Next time I see him, he's got his bed blanket in the living room. From his bed downstairs. He was ready.
So I went down with him and started putting things on the bed to pack in the suitcase. He grabbed everything and stuck it in the suitcase until I finally had to tell him to slow down.

'Mommy, is Papa home yet?'
'Nope, sorry buddy, not yet.'
'Well, I'm just gonna go check'

And he runs upstairs and goes outside to check. I peeked out at him and he was sitting on the driveway just waiting for Papa's truck.
He was there for a couple minutes. Then back inside.
'Papa's not home yet'

He did this 3 times before Papa was finally home.

As soon as his truck was on the driveway, Caden got his booster seat out of the van, put it in the truck, and sat in it. He told me he was gonna wait there till Papa was ready. I told him it would be a long time and he shouldn't wait in the truck cause he had a long drive ahead of him yet. So he got out, helped (hindered) Papa packing and finally they were ready to go.

Caden comes walking up to me and says,

'Mommy, I'm gonna be away from you for a long long time cause I'm going fishing with Papa'

I hugged him, kissed him, told him I loved him and buckled him in for his 4 hour ride to the lake.

Now, I miss him. I missed him about a half hour after he was gone. He's on his way home now but won't be home till around midnight. I told my Dad if I was sleeping when he got back, to just put Caden in bed.

But who am I kidding. I'm gonna stay awake till he gets home cause I wanna see him and I know I'll get a big smile and a big hug.

Sometimes I wanna strangle, sell, give away, etc my kids. But I love them. And time away from them is just what is needed. Caden is a tough kid. He's busy, active, crazy, wild, happy, big attitude, doesn't always listen, rarely listens, beats on his sister, loves his sister, misses his sister, wants his sister at the lake with him after being away from her for 1 day, smart, funny, oh so cute and I am in love with him.

I will remind myself of that tomorrow when I am at the end of my rope with him.

Overwhelmed

2010-08-05T14:19:00.002-05:00

Its happened. Although things with our house are moving along very nicely, i'm having a bit of an issue in terms of our plumber. We got a quote from a few, and picked a family friend to go with. Well, when I got the bill for the rough in portion of it, it was almost $1000 more than other plumbers. Which is why nothing has happened in our house since that in terms of plumbing (air conditioner, furnace, duct work etc)
I went and got another quote from another plumber, who was also high.
Now, I'm looking at the quote from our original plumber, needing to call him and make sure that when all is said and done, the total will not be more than he said. It can't be more than he said. We cannot afford for it to be more than he said.
Its stressful.
So after thinking about it all evening, waking up at night and thinking about it, and it being in my head first thing this morning, I feel better about it. Why?
Well, when I got in the shower this morning, a song was in my head. A song that I have not sung for years. I just kept singing it and humming it over and over. I finally stopped to really think about what I was singing. First of all, amazed that I still remember the whole song, but then I listened to the words as i was singing them. Amazing. Just what I needed. A little reminder that I need to put this all in God's hands. Its alot of stuff to deal with in terms of this whole house thing, but I need to remember daily to just give it all to God and it will all work out.
Here's the song.

I CAST ALL MY CARES UPON YOU
I LAY ALL OF MY BURDENS,
DOWN AT YOUR FEET
ANYTIME, I DON'T KNOW
JUST WHAT TO DO,
I JUST CAST ALL MY CARES
UPON YOU

Wordless Wednesday-The stairs are in

2010-08-04T14:19:00.002-05:00

Summer swap

2010-08-03T20:48:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited to be doing this for the first time. Click on this link to join me.

Nothing goes together quite like....

2010-08-02T13:14:00.004-05:00

A Hotdog & Pepsi

A Sandwich & Milk

Flip Flops & Painted toe nails

Icecream & Apple Pie

Salt & Garden cucumbers

Alphaghettis & Toast

Tomato Soup & A Grilled Cheese

A Good book & A Hot bath

A Pair of heels & A little black dress

A swimming pool & A floating device

A baby & A sleeper

Jello Shots & My best Friends

Laundry & A wash line

Chips & Salsa

Bare feet & Fresh tilled dirt

A fire & Zoat

Popcorn & a movie

Whats your list? Make one, link back here, and let me know that you did.

Noodle making

2010-07-31T11:28:00.007-05:00

This is how we spent one afternoon last week. We were catering a function (lunch and supper for the Oak Ridge Boys), and they wanted to have homeade noodle soup. So my aunt agatha came over and we made noodles. Caden absolutely loved it. That boy just loves spending time in the kitchen with us. Whether its peeling potatoes, or making noodles, he grabs his apron and starts helping. It makes me so proud.

Excuse the fact that I am not wearing any makeup, but I also got in on the action. I've decided that I need to get a noodle maker. I really enjoyed making them and once I'm in my new house, with my new island, it'll be perfect for making things like this.

And of course little miss princess had to get in there as well, getting all dirty. She loved playing in the flour. Lots of it ended up in her mouth, but she mostly just liked grabbing it with her hands and throwing it. It was so cute.

2 naps

2010-07-23T21:01:00.002-05:00

Avery is down to 2 naps from 3, which means I have to do alot more entertaining. She's usually up around 8:30 in the morning. This used to mean naps at 10, 1 and 4 with bed time at 8. Well for the last week, she was taking up to a half hour to fall asleep for any nap, which pushed all naps back, which pushed bed time back. That makes for an unhappy Mom.
So i made the decision to cut out the 3rd nap. So, now she's still up around 8:30. But her first nap isn't until 11:30 or 12 if I can help it. By about 10:30 she's grumpy, tired, whiny and just wants to be in her bed. So we go for a walk, drive to the store, play outside or I pretty much carry her around. Then she'll sleep for an hour to hour and a half which is till 1ish usually. Then by 3, the whole thing starts again. I don't want her down before 4, cause she sleeps for an hour which means up at 5 and then I have 3 hours till bed time. AHHHHHH!!!!!
I vaguely remember this whole transition with Caden. I'm not enjoying it. Not to mention that now I never have both kids napping at the same time. Caden naps from 1-2:30, right in between Avery's naps. This is not fun. But, whats a mom to do.

BOGO

2010-07-21T16:06:00.002-05:00

Sample clips I've made. Right now, buy one for regular price ($1.50) and receive one free. Or buy a matching soother clip for $2.50.
Other ribbon options available.

from 4 to 2

2010-07-19T21:42:00.002-05:00

When Rob came home from work, Caden went to him and said "Daddy, please take my training wheels off." So instead of taking them off his bike, on the chance he'd change his mind, we got out a bike my mom has and let him 'try' on that one. Well, he took off.

Summer fun

2010-07-16T21:49:00.004-05:00

We have been enjoying the crap out of summer this year. As much as I love living in the country, it has been nice to have a taste of town life this summer. I can go for a walk to places and to parks instead of just around the village. If i forget to pick up milk, its no big deal. I just go.

My parents also live on an awesome bay. It is completely old people other than my parents so I can even let caden ride his bike on the street and not worry about fast cars coming by. All the neighbors know him already.

The other day, I was getting ready to head out to cater, and was getting the kids stuff all packed up to take them to a sitter. I looked outside and saw Caden across the bay sitting on one of the neighbors bench that they have set up in a little circle on their yard. I walked over there and he told me he was just there visiting. He asked if I also wanted to stay and visit. I told him we had to leave. That couple is so sweet. They've really taken to Caden like there own grand kids.

Our house is coming along. Rob put the basement windows in yesterday and moved a few big things into the basement. Tomorrow his dad and our neighbor are going to help him build the stairs and close off the entrance from the outside. I am so excited for that to happen because then I can start moving things downstairs and make a little more room upstairs. Things are still moving along well. I'm getting a little anxious to be in our new house now. I wanna organize and decorate and do all that fun stuff.

I need to draw up a rough plan of our upstairs and bring it in to my cousin, who is a painter. She's gonna come up with some ideas on what I should do in the house. Mostly for the bedrooms, cause I think i know what I want in the rest of the house. But i'm excited for her input. I wanna stay pretty neutral this time. In our other house, there was not a single white wall. I still don't want white. But a red kitchen, yellow living room, brown and blue kids room and blue bedroom is a little too much color.

Tomorrow my mom and I are catering for the Oak Ridge Boys. They are coming to the concert hall here in town. We get to serve them lunch and supper, and then we are going to the 9:00 concert. I am so excited. I grew up listening to them, cause my dad listened to them. I am taking him to the concert as his fathers day/birthday present.

I am a little under the weather today with a bit of a head cold. Its not fun, and I hope I feel better tomorrow. I had things I wanted to do today, like make more clips, go swimming with Caden and even go to the park. Oh well, theres always next week.

and now, a few recent pictures.

The supplies finally arrived....

2010-07-12T20:39:00.003-05:00

so now I made these hair clips,
these hair clips/headband clips,

these soother clips,

and this soother clip and hair clip for a baby gift.

let me know if you are interested.

House update and such (long post, beware)

2010-06-29T22:26:00.008-05:00

Our house is on the basement. On Saturday, our neighbours who are movers, as well as some friends got the job done.

Now before I go any further with this post, I have to say what amazing friends we have. Especially our neighbours. They have already done so much for us and its just so wonderful. They have helped us burn our house, clean it up, backfill the basement, and level out the yard. I feel so very blessed to have such awesome people in our lives that help when help is needed.

Believe it or not, I forgot to take a picture of the house actually on the basement. So, this picture shows it the best. Its not quite on yet, but its close.

I can't believe its there. I drove to the house today to get some stuff and I got so excited. It looks so much bigger now that its all put together.

This weekend we are taking our 2 crazy kids to grand forks. The plan is to pick up our windows, bathtub, kitchen sink, light fixtures, and anything else we can get to bring us to our $1600 limit. We're staying at the Lakeview inns and suites with Robs parents and lil sister. I am super excited. I made the mistake of telling Caden about it already today. He hasn't stopped talking about going the the big swimming pool. I bought him new water wings last week when we were in Grand Forks for the day. He is planning to jump into the pool, by himself, with the wings. Lets see if he actually does it. I'm sure he will, as he loves to jump into the pool.

Avery has been a little feverish over the last 3 days. I'm very much hoping she will be popping out a few more teeth soon. She's also very red in the cheeks, and has had diarrhea. (tmi, i know) But classic signs of teething. I'm ready for my happy baby back. I sure can tell when the 4 hours are up, and I need to re medicate her.

This baby is now crawling. Not a totally normal crawl, unless she's on rug. But she gets where she wants to go. She is also pulling herself up onto things. It makes me excited to see her accomplishing these things.

I need to get her to use a sippy cup. I have no recollection of how I did that with Caden. She uses her bottle now just to drink during meals. Its not that I give her a bottle as her only food. She is completely on table food. She feeds herself very well. Toast for breakfast is delicious. Grilled cheese sandwiches are so good. Not to mention her favorite snack, popcorn twists.

Today I finally took these pics of my kids.

I bought Cadens shirt before Avery was born. My friend Sarah bought Avery's as a baby gift. I've meant to take pics of them for about 2 months and I finally got around to it today. Its definitely no easy task to get them both to look and smile at the same time. When I call Avery, Caden looks at her to see if she's looking. Then she'll look and smile, but he's not looking. Ahhh!!! So frustrating.

I probably shouldn't say anything, on the off chance that I'll jinx it but my kids are sleeping until 8:00am. Don't tell them I told you. Its been wonderful. Its been fairly regular. I feel spoiled. Not sure how this happened, but I'm just praying that it continues.

Caden wants to be outside at all times. He's outside by himself alot. Some of his favorite things...

His bike

His gator (and his sister)

Jumping on the trampoline

Eating freezies

Running through the sprinkler, playing in the pool, or anything that involves water

On Sunday, my Dad asked Caden to go with him to patterson pits to feed the fish and do some fishing. He was so excited. He had a great time playing there. It was a pretty late night for him, but he did great.

Showered with love....and tons of gifts

2010-06-25T22:29:00.000-05:00

Last night we held a shower for my sister in law and my new niece. We had 26 people crammed into my parents house. I had 2 games planned that we played first and then Amy opened her mountain of gifts. She got so much stuff. That baby will have clothes until she's 2. Not to mention the toys, books and towels.
I again made a cake for the evening. It was alot of fun trying out different things again. I will say that I will probably not attempt to make a bow again as it did not turn out very well.

Amy & Ali
MMM, the food.

The cake

View from the top

Who are you??? Updated

2010-06-23T10:03:00.001-05:00

The mystery is solved. Thank you to all who delurked themselves. I now know who my mystery linker is.

De lurk yourselves please!!!

2010-06-19T21:32:00.004-05:00

So i have noticed that I have a few readers that I don`t know. One in particular. You have me on your blog list, as people have viewed my blog from yours. However, I have tried to view your blog and it is private.
I won`t print the name of your blog right now, but if I don`t hear back from you soon, I will post it here to see who knows you.

Thank you.

Baby steps

2010-06-19T20:25:00.004-05:00

Well, another week has come and gone. My how fast that happens.

-My baby has learnt to go from lying down to sitting. Its an accomplishment. She was pretty proud the first few times she did it. Now with this brings some not so great things. She is also now able to sit in her crib...when she should be napping. I had to lower her crib to the next level today to avoid any mishap that could happen. I just wish this girl would crawl already. She's so so close.

-I think she can wave. I don't think its coincidence, cause I got her to do it many times. Its so cute. I'll try and get it on video.

-Rob, along with my Dad and brother Randy left for Grand Rapids yesterday evening. Its an annual thing. Fathers day weekend they always go fishing. I don't mind. Only downside...

-Church camping is this weekend and, well obviously I'm not there. I've gone by myself the last 3 years, and its been fine. Its so much fun and I love it. This year however, I have not just 1 child, but 2. That would be a little hard to handle at the beach by myself. Next year, I'll give it a shot, cause Avery will be 1 1/2 and its a totally different ball game. But with Caden having no fear and her on the verge of crawling, I'm not sure how i'd handle the whole beach situation. Can't very well be in the water with Caden, while watching Avery on the beach.

-We catered a function yesterday. I think the easiest one to date. Only 65 people. Felt like nothing. Probably coulda done it with my eyes closed. When were used to 150-250 person events, 65 people is so simple.

-Got to sit in my friends hot tub last night while the kiddos stayed home with my mom. Perfect end to an evening. Love it.

-Found some awesome inspiration for a baby shower cake I'm making this week. Can't wait to see how it'll turn out

-I've discovered project free tv. Give it a try. Its awesome.

-Wanna wish one of my best friends a super happy birthday tomorrow. Hope your day is grand Sarah

-And of course, happy fathers day to this guy who has a little boy attached to his hip, and a little girl who has him right where she wants him.

3 year photo shoot

2010-06-17T20:03:00.006-05:00

Showing me how much he loves me

Preview

2010-06-16T22:46:00.002-05:00

3 year growth spurt???

2010-06-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what is going on with Caden, but that boy is exhausted all the time. He's up around 7:30am and by 11:30 he is so sensitive about everything, and looks so tired. He usually goes for his nap between 1:30 and 2:00 but I've been making him go at 12:30 or 1:00. Then he's in bed by 8 for night. It makes no difference what time he goes to bed, to what time he gets up in the morning. If he continues to be so tired, I'll start putting him to bed at 7:30. This poor guy is so tired. Yes, he plays hard. He is a very Very energetic kid and is always doing something. He doesn't have down time, other than for his nap. He doesn't watch T.V. so thats not an option for a quiet time. I don't know what's up.

Has this happened to anyone else's kids?

What happens in 4 days

2010-06-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

I can't even believe how quickly things happen. On Monday morning, we still had a house. Thursday, there was a basement in my yard. Crazy.

Demo pics

2010-06-08T20:45:00.003-05:00

Before it all began, this is what we saw. Less than an hour later...nothing

The first hit...which I almost missed, thanks to my stupid camera batteries that I had charged the night before, but decided to die at that moment. Luckily my neighbor had some for me.

Bye Bye living room

As you can see, Caden was so excited to watch. He sat there the entire time, letting out little screams. He'd say, now i have no more room. Mommy, now you have no more room. One of his concerns...'mommy, where's my closet?'

Down goes the barn

Nothing left.

The start of the basement

Burning the first pile of house

Our new yard. Robs standing pretty much where the corner of the living room was

Jesus can you hear me...

2010-06-04T21:09:00.002-05:00

Just want to share a super cute story with you.

The other day, I just jokingly mentioned to Caden that he should ask Jesus to make the sun shine. He was quiet for a few minutes. Then he said, 'Mommy you should use your phone and phone Jesus. I told him that we can't phone Jesus, we can only pray to him. He of course asked how come so I did some explaining.
Later that day, I was busy with something else when I heard this conversation from Caden who was walking around with a play phone to his ear.

Hi Jesus?
What are you doing?
Oh Okay.
Are you gonna make the sunshine?
Yeah?
Ok bye?

My heart melted. I laughed till tears came. So precious.

Fun in the sun...finally

2010-06-03T10:28:00.004-05:00

Oh yeah, we're cool

Couldn't be any happier

I couldn't believe that she had no problem sitting in the water. It was cold

What a perfect day it was. We spent the entire day outside, other than nap times. I got the grass cut, and we had an awesome lunch on the deck with some aunts and cousins. Caden had a blast playing in the pool with a friend. Avery surprised me with how much she enjoyed being in the water. It had warmed up from the sun, but it is still cold. Little trooper. I can't wait for more days like this.

Introducing...

2010-06-02T18:49:00.003-05:00

My most favorite niece. So happy to finally have a niece. She is so precious. Rick and Amy had their baby girl yesterday, June 1st at 1:54pm. Her name is Ali Elizabeth. She was 7lbs 2 oz and 21'' long. It is so incredible to be an aunt for the first time on my side of the family. Rob has 4 nephews but when its your own brother who just became a father, and made you an aunt, its so special. I can't tell you how excited I am. Mom and baby are both doing great. Amy looks fantastic already. She had a pretty good labor, that didn't last too long. She'll be coming home tomorrow morning. I was hoping they'd have a girl. I'm looking forward to all the trouble her and Avery will get into, being only 7 months apart.

The new family

Caden is so in love, the same as he was when Avery was born. She's received hundreds of kisses already. He even asks to go visit her.

Demolition

2010-05-27T20:50:00.004-05:00

So once again, I have to update information on our house. The bad news is it is no longer being burned down by any fire dept. I won't go into detail but I am so disappointed and upset and well, many other emotions.
We are now demolishing our house. Next week, not sure of the date yet. So if you have any interest in helping with the demolition, or know of ways in which to get rid of the pieces, let me know. I'd rather not make 20 trips to the dump.
The good news is that our basement guy called today and he'll have time in 1 1/2 weeks to do our basement. Plus, we were told by others that once the basement is done, we have to wait a month to put the house on. Not so. We only have to wait a week. Such good news. Its nice to get that thrown in.

Things are going good here at my parents. I'm not completely organized yet, but we're getting there. Today I cut the grass, and my mom and I cleaned up her upstairs pantry. On the to do list is the downstairs pantry/coma, all closets, and the rec room. I love organizing so this stuff is so fun for me.

Avery is back to herself again, after 4 days of being so much work. I hardly know what to do with a constantly whiney baby. Its so not like her. I figured she was teething, although she hasn't popped any more teeth. I don't care. She was so happy today. Played by herself. She also went down for her naps so good today, without a peep. Love it.

Unfortunately, it was raining today so we were unable to go take Cadens 3 year pictures. I'm hoping to get to that early next week.

We are catering a wedding this Saturday, which isn't such a bad thing because its suppose to rain all day. I'm praying for good weather next week. I really wanna be outside. And so does Caden. We spent some time outside yesterday. He is so loving his new bike.

Postponed

2010-05-25T21:39:00.003-05:00

Well, you may have noticed that I changed the countdown of our house burning party. It was suppose to happen tomorrow, but I got the call this morning that the Winkler Fire Dept has decided not to burn my house down.
So we called Morden and talked to the fire chief. He was super pumped about the opportunity, and they are gonna do it next Wednesday. So, mark the date and head out next wednesday to watch our house burn down.

6 month card

2010-05-25T21:06:00.002-05:00

Sorry to spoil it for those of you who don't have your cards yet. If you go to church, its in your mail box. If you're family, its coming.

Three

2010-05-24T22:34:00.005-05:00

My birthday boy!

Usually I make Cadens cakes, as you can see here, and here. But with all the business of moving, I just didn't have time.
This is what Rob and I got for him for his birthday. I John Deer bike. He was thrilled

Eating cake with 3 of his cousins

Happiness is...

2010-05-22T21:36:00.002-05:00

...my almost 3 year old, wanting so badly to sleep in his old crib and getting the chance to when he came to Grandma and Grandpa's house by himself. How funny does that look. 3 is a little old to be in a crib, wouldn't you agree?

...asking C to go change the laundry, this is what I come downstairs to see. He obviously can't reach, so why not climb in.

...first experiences. I just love watching a baby discover new things. Ever wonder how dirt would feel to new hands.

...my cool dude. Gangsta style. Oh yeah!

...that smile. Lights up a room. No matter how tired, mad, grumpy, etc I am, I can't help but smile when I see that smile.

6 month photo shoot

2010-05-20T23:16:00.002-05:00

Country bumpkins no more

2010-05-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s official. We are now City folk. As of today, we are living at my parent’s house. Our water got shut off today, and the hydro is being shut off tomorrow morning. Rob his friend Joey and my brother Rick moved all of the big stuff out of the house tonight, most importantly, the freezer which is going to sit in Joey’s garage. I spent all of yesterday packing up a bunch more of the small things that hadn’t yet been moved, and moved them to the new house. Wow have I made trips back and forth. I’ll be glad when that’s all done with although looking at the house tonight, there is still a lot of crap to move. I sure hope I get it all done. It feels strange to look in my house, with it being so empty. Last week I took everything off the walls, and moved my big umbrella tree to my parents. It looks so naked. Throughout the last 2 weeks, I’ve been bringing stuff the their house every time I go to town so there really isn’t too much left to bring. Besides, we’re basically just bringing clothes, pantry food and Avery’s crib. My mom has a crib upstairs, but since we’re sleeping downstairs, it makes more sense to take ours instead of taking hers apart. That way Avery can still nap upstairs.
In other news, Avery had her 6 month needle today. She did well, as usual. She is 16lbs, 14oz and 25 1/2’’ long. Getting so big. She is totally able to sit on her own now, and is getting into crawling position. I don’t think it will be long and I can’t wait. She’s not content for very long anymore. She just wants to move. Mostly to keep up with Caden I think. She loves it outside. I took her for a walk in just the stroller the other day. Usually she’s in her car seat, in the stroller. She loved it. Normally she doesn’t like to go for walks, but this was great. She was kicking her feet and just enjoying seeing everything.
I have made her 6 month card, which I will post once I’ve given them out. I’m was hoping to take Cadens pictures tomorrow, but pretty sure I’ll be too busy so it’ll wait till next week. I still haven’t started Cadens card. I’m hoping for some inspiration once I see the pictures.
Caden has been so great the last few weeks, in terms of playing by himself. I’ve been so busy. First with the wedding, and then I’ve been focused on house stuff. I feel bad for neglecting him so much, but I’ve promised him that in a few days I’ll be able to play with him more again. Poor guy-told me the other day that he needs friends to play with. He’s right. I wish he could play with other kids more. He gets bored sometimes. I had full intentions of bringing him to the Winkler day care for a day sometime. I’m gonna have to do that soon. Just so he gets interaction with other kids, and learns how to play with them. I’m pretty sure he would love it there.
Well, back to un packing our stuff here at our temporary new house.

Goodbye wisdom

2010-05-13T17:46:00.004-05:00

Finally, after putting it off for, well, about 4 years, I got my last wisdom tooth pulled. It's been a long afternoon. I hate the dentist. It makes me nervous, scared and all clammy. I got a filling and the tooth pulled, and am now in a little bit of pain as the freezing has worn off. It was the worst one I think. It didn't really hurt, just alot of pressure. Not fun. When I left I noticed for marks on my hand, from where my nails had dug in to my palm. Yikes.
However, on another note, my baby got her first tooth today. I'm sure it was out yesterday, or even the day before because its through all the way already. I was so excited I screamed and scared her. She's a month behind Caden, so I was expecting it to be soon. I just love it when babies have their 2 bottom teeth. So cute.

Birthday Invitation

2010-05-11T14:12:00.001-05:00

No, this does not mean you are all invited, just wanted to show you the invitation :-)

At the moment...

2010-05-05T13:22:00.002-05:00

-although the wedding was awesome, I am so happy its over. One thing off my stress list

-finally brought our taxes away for personal and business. Yup, they were late, but I just procrastinated and then got busy with other stuff. So I’m proud of myself for getting everything organized and entered in 2 days.

-also got the business GST done in a very short time. That had to be in, no exceptions

-getting super excited for Cadens birthday. Less than 3 weeks away. Decided on a cake. Excited about making that. Can’t wait to give him his new bike that his been stored in my brothers basement.

-I have finished Cadens birthday invitation. Usually we have a big bbq at our house with family and friends. This year, because I’m doing it on the long weekend, not sure if I’m gonna invite everyone. My family is all around, mostly because my SIL is due a week later. But not sure about friends. That and who knows where the party will be with us in the process of moving.

-working on Avery’s 6 month cards…she’ll be 6 months on Saturday. Taking her pictures tomorrow

-need to plan a care group mystery meal. It was supposed to be in May, but I was too busy with other things that I didn’t get around to it. People are asking me about it. Somehow I got designated the care group social committee. I don’t mind. I’m a planner

-I’ve moved almost everything from our current upstairs, into the new house. Other than some big stuff, and Cadens toys that he still plays with. Also, some stuff out of my kitchen that I know I won’t need in the next few weeks.

-with all the stuff I’ve been going through, I have 2 big boxes full of stuff that I am bringing to twice as nice next week. I love getting rid of things. I used to be a huge pack rat but with having such a small house with very little extra room, I have really started to live by the motto, if I haven’t used it in a year, I don’t need it. Granted there are a few things, like kitchen things, that I have kept forever. I don’t use them because they are packed upstairs but once I’m in my new house, I will have them in the kitchen and be able to use them.

-I haven’t posted any pics of the new house yet because I’d like to do it at the same time as posting the updated pics. However, I want to show you the bathroom.

Yes, the tub and toilet are purple. No, we are not keeping them. So if you or anyone you know wants a purple tub and toilet, let me know. Its yours. We are gutting the entire bathroom. I’m painting the vanity and mirror, but we’re getting a new tub, toilet and flooring.

-hoping to have our house burning party in 4 weeks from today. Still can’t quite get my mind around the fact that we are actually just burning our house down. Seems like a waste, although I know that our house is old…135 years old…and not on a basement, so moving it isn’t really an option. I realize that we didn’t pay as much for our house and 1.1 acre of treed property as people pay just for their tiny empty yard in town, but its still hard. Its like burning money.

-I am sick of this weather. April, please come back. We haven’t played outside in almost a week. Caden is definitely feeling it. He’s been acting out and not listening. That boy lives outside when its nice.

-Avery is sitting. Almost by herself. I still put pillows behind her, because she does fall. But she’ll have long stretches, up to 5 minutes, of sitting without help. Its so nice. She’s getting a little frustrated with not being able to move. She does somehow manage to get around. Often she’s a good 3 ft away from where I left her. But she gets up on all 4’s and just wants to move. Soon hopefully

-she is loving her food. Cereal is great, sweet potatoes, and corn are her favorite veggies. And so far all fruits have been delicious. I love feeding a new baby. Its so great to watch their reaction to eating these foods for the first time.

-I am selling these dishes on PVOnline.

If you want them, let me know. I got the start of them, plates bowls, cups, as a wedding gift. I then purchased the rest of it until I realized that I didn’t actually even like them. Not my style. Its been sitting upstairs for 5 years because I spent a lot of money on it. Now its time to go.

Alright, enough ramblings from me for one day. I leave you with pics of my kids.

The wedding

2010-04-28T18:39:00.004-05:00

Our new family

Grandma and Papa with their favorite kids

Just waiting...

The newly married couple
Party central

First dance
The cake
Line dancing to Fishin in the dark

Dancing with my friends

What an amazing day. My baby brother is now married, and I have an awesome new sister in law. I am so thankful. It was an absolutely exhausting 4 days, but so worth it. We started on Thursday. My mom and I catered the wedding, and because we both were not wanting to do anything on the day of, there was a lot of prep work involved. So shopping was done Thursday along with bringing most things to the church and to the shop where the dance was. Then rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner at my parents house. Rehearsal was hard for me. I was standing close to the back of the church rocking Avery to sleep. When Michelle walked down the aisle, I looked at Randy and lost it. I did one of those gross loud cries. Good thing only the sound man heard me. I quickly exited the church to gather myself. It was ridiculous. I don't know why I was crying either. I'm happy. I love Michelle. But its my brother and I love him and this is a big deal.

Friday we started food prep at 9:00. My awesome friend Erin took both of my kids for the day. It was so nice to be able to be completely relaxed about them.

We also decorated the reception hall and set tables. Then more shopping followed by decorating of the dance hall.

Saturday. Last minute stuff in the morning, hair at 12:00, then home to dress myself and my kids. In town for pictures at 3:00. Then we had a bit of time to kill till we had to be at the church. Wedding at 4:30. Reception to follow. Short and sweet. The program was about 15 minutes. I gave my speech which I had worked on and stressed over all week. I have no problem standing up to give the speech, however I had a very hard time writing it. It didn't help that every time I sat down to write it, I'd end up crying. But I did well when I said it to Randy. Didn't cry at all.

Anyway, after the reception, we had a little bit of time until we could be at my Dad's shop for the dance. I dropped Avery off at another friends house. Then went to the dance. Caden had a blast there for the hour that he was there. Then I took him to Shar's house as well. Wow do I have awesome friends. Who else offers to take your kids for night, when they have a kid of their own??? My friends do. I'm so blessed.

So then back to the dance for me. What a great time. Erin and Sarah came as well, which was so great. I need my friends with me to be able to really feel comfortable dancing. And did we dance. The band left at 1:00, but we continued until about 2:00. (with an ipod...no we didn't just dance to nothing). Then a bit of clean up and home to bed by 3:30

Sunday morning we picked up the kids at 8:30. I came back to town for the afternoon to help with clean up, which took about 2 hours. Had a much needed nap and was in bed by 9.

Seriously, the most exhausted I've ever been in my life I think. Its a good thing I didn't know how much work this was gonna be before hand cause I don't think i'd have done it. But it was all so worth it.

The bride was absolutely breathtaking and my brother...well...he was so incredibly handsome and all grown up. I can't believe my baby brother is married. They are now off in New Zealand enjoying their 2 week honeymoon.

Sneak peek

2010-04-28T17:04:00.001-05:00

First Professional hair cut

2010-04-17T15:43:00.002-05:00

For the first time, I took Caden to a hairdresser. Usually my mom just cuts his hair, and she does a good job. But since my brother is getting married next Saturday, I thought it would be a good time to have it done professionally. He did so well and was so proud of it. She even put blue gel in his hair.

New tables

2010-04-12T15:01:00.003-05:00

Continuing on my journey to refurnish the new house that we are not yet living in, go here to see the coffee table and end tables that I purchased from the brick yesterday.

and here to see the dining chairs that I'm really considering buying.

Catch up.

2010-03-31T14:21:00.006-05:00

I am a bad blogger and I appologize. Lets play catch up.

First of all, after Cadens specialist appointment in the city, we found out that he will not have to get tubes in his ears. I am so thankful. She figured it will clear up on its own, and I think it is. His hearing has definitely improved.

We bought a house. Yet we are not moving... What's gonna happen, is our existing house will be burnt down...yes, I said burnt down. Its 125 years old so not worth moving or selling. We are gonna take everything out of any value and use tho. Then, once that is complete, we will have a basement built and move the new house onto the new basement on our old yard. I am so excited. We will be doing some renovations to the house and of course painting the whole thing. I will post some pics eventually, when I take some. In the mean time, I've been so busy with getting pricing on stuff, and organizing everything from a plumber, to permits, to the basement guy. Its crazy. Hopefully soon. My goal is July 1 in the new house. I hope I'm being realistic. As I mentioned, we are renovating the new house, so if anyone has use for a lovely purple toilet and bathtub, let me know. We will be replacing them with new ones.

Shopping in Grand Forks yesterday was productive. After trying on nearly 25 dresses, I ended up buying one that I love. It was marked down from $125 down to $35. Good enough for me. But, when I ended up at the till, it was only $22.00. So pumped. I woulda paid $100 for a dress because I needed something for my brothers wedding which is in just 3 1/2 short weeks. I also bought jeans for myself as well as 3 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of shorts, 1 skirt, 1 shirt and 2 dresses for Avery. Total money spent...$165.00. Total duty paid...$0. Thank you Mr. crossing guard.

I also found these couches. I will be buying new furniture for our new house and these were on sale for $469. Love them. Microfibre that you just wanna wrap yourself up in. They are extra long and nice and wide. Perfect for watching a movie. Just have to convince Rob that we won't find a better price anywhere around here.

So, I suppose thats all for now. I'll leave you with 2 recent pics of my kids.

Just because

2010-03-10T10:01:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted a pic of my baby in awhile so here she is...4 months old.

Shower

2010-03-10T09:51:00.002-06:00

Last night we had a bridal shower for my soon to be sil, Michelle. It was at my moms house, and her and I spent the day making food and planning games. We had about 20 people over. It was a great time. Michelle got some awesome gifts. Makes me sad that I will never again have a shower. They are so much fun, and the haul you get is awesome. I'm a little jealous that she gets to put all this new stuff into her new house. Anyway, this was the cake that I made for the shower. Turned out pretty good I think. I'm no Amanda Hildebrand cake maker...lol...but I enjoyed making this cake. Took me about 5 hours to do everything from making the flowers, to baking the cakes and icing it. I had some help from my mom too, in rolling out the balls.

Solution to back talking

2010-02-25T11:10:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, I’ve found a better solution for a boy who likes to talk back to me. Until recently, I put soap in his mouth when he talks back, or screams ‘NO’ at me. It didn’t seem to be working. So I tried Tabasco sauce. The first time he had it was about 3 weeks ago. He screamed. I thought, great, its gonna work. And for the next 2 weeks, it did. Just the threat of me saying ‘do that again and you’ll get tabasco sauce’ seemed to work. Then on Tuesday he got it 2 times. Because of his reaction to it, I decided I should try it as well. Its not too bad. Yeah, its hot and burns on the tongue for a little while, but it went away after a couple of minutes without me even drinking anything.
What do you do for kids who talk back??

Wordless Wednesday (one day late)

2010-02-25T11:07:00.000-06:00

Surgery

2010-02-25T10:46:00.001-06:00

Well, they’ve figured out the problem and the solution is surgery. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Caden has had trouble with his hearing lately. We had his follow up appointment on Monday. His ear infection is gone. They did a hearing test on him. He did not score well at all. There was a box in the middle of the paper, and the line was supposed to come up into the box and go back down again. Well with both of his ears, the line barely moved from the bottom of the paper, let alone get anywhere near even the bottom of the box. His doctor sent a letter to the specialist in Winnipeg, who will send us a letter telling us when to come in for an appointment. From there, he’ll schedule the surgery to put tubes in his ears.
In the mean time, Cadens Dr. decided to try another round of antibiotics, as well as a nasal drop. Apparently, the passage from the nose to the ears can become blocked, which is part of why he can’t hear, along with his ear drums being pushed back.
It scares me a little bit to think of my little boy having surgery. I know its not a big deal, and they do it all the time, but its still my baby.
My Dr. said that once he has the surgery, it’ll be about 6 months till the tubes fall out on their own. They are so tiny. She said I would notice them on a Q-tip one day. Also, she said that he likely won’t be able to go under water. I don’t like that idea, as summer is coming up and Caden likes to swim. However, I talked to a friend who’s nephew just had this surgery done and the specialist had told him that he could go swimming to try it out. If he gets an ear infection, then he knows that he can’t go under water anymore. Apparently it doesn’t happen to all kids, that they have issues with going under water with tubes in their ears. Lets hope.
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted as to what happens with that. We go back next Thursday to see if this medication has done anything to improve his hearing. Then, we just wait for surgery, which I hope can be soon. Its driving me crazy to hear him say ‘what’ after everything I say to him. How nice it’ll be to have a boy who can actually hear me. Tuesday he was playing outside by himself. I went out to check on him and called his name, loudly, 3 times. No response. So I went looking for him. Turns out he was right beside the house, playing, but he didn’t hear me call his name at all. Scary.

Holiday inn

2010-02-17T14:04:00.004-06:00

Caden with his Papa
What an awesome hotel. We went with Robs parents and sister Jess. They have a huge play structure that is 3 levels. It has a slide, things to climb through, and air guns that shoot out foam balls. It was great for everyone. Even I got in on the fun. Caden had a blast. Happy Valentines day to us.

Not too big

2010-02-17T13:56:00.003-06:00

Sure, the tag on the jolly jumper says not to be used past 20lbs, or when child is walking. But hey, who says I can't put my 38lb 2 1/2 year old who's been walking for nearly 2 years into it. He had a great time in it. Didn't work as well as it should have, since I couldn't get it high enough, but he still enjoyed it.

3 months old

2010-02-12T17:33:00.002-06:00

misc. pics

2010-02-12T17:06:00.003-06:00

Ahh, the time has arrived that having kids is usefull to me...lol. I've been waiting for this. And he loves to do it.

I hauled out Cadens old clothes to give to some friends who have 10 month old boys. Caden found the pile of pants and thought it’d be fun to try them on. Surprisingly, they fit him great in the tummy, however not so good in the length…lol. Daddy's big boots

Avery's first time in the jolly jumper

Cadens' words, 'Grandma, take a picture of me with my nice jacket on.'

Caden can you hear me???

2010-02-12T17:05:00.000-06:00

Over the last 3 weeks or so, I’ve really noticed a problem with Cadens hearing ability. At first, I thought he was just being 2, and not listening. I’d hear, ‘what mommy’ after everything I said. I started getting really frustrated with him over this. When he’d be playing by himself, and I’d call his name, he wouldn’t have any response. I could say his name 3-4 times and still nothing. Eventually he started coming up to me and every so softly saying ‘what mommy’, with his head turned to one side (the right). I figured this must be more than not listening.
I took him to urgent care on Wednesday morning and explained the problem. The doctor took a look in both of his ears and told me that his left ear looked really red. She figured he must have complained about it, or have been pulling at it. I told her he has done or said nothing. I’ve even asked him if his ears hurt and he says no. So she prescribed some medication for him and we are going back to see his doctor on the 22nd. From there, she will take a look to see if his eardrum is able to get sound or if we will need to go see a specialist. Today is day 3 of the medicine and so far I’d say its only getting worse. But I’ll keep going with it and hope that I see a change soon.

Stubborn as a mule

2010-02-10T15:03:00.000-06:00

I never knew how stubborn my son really was until the other day. It all started when he decided he wanted to dump his tub of wooden blocks. I told him he could dump them, as long as he knew he would be cleaning them up by himself. He agreed. Well, after playing with them for about 5 minutes, he decided he was done. I asked him to clean them up and he said no. I told him he wasn’t leaving the living room until he did. Well, let me tell you, it was a hard day for him. It was 10:00 when he dumped the blocks. It took him until 7:00 that evening to finally clean them up. Other than his nap and lunch, he stayed in the living room ALL DAY!!! I couldn’t believe it. We fought all day long over those stupid blocks. He’d play nicely for awhile, then decided he wanted to come out of the living room, so we’d go over the whole thing again. I refused to give in. I was gonna win no matter how long it took. After 6 spankings, 4 times slapping his hand (he’d get mad at me and throw the blocks) and 3 times of having soap in his mouth (for screaming or saying NO to me) he finally did it. He was so happy with himself after he had cleaned them up.
The next day, it started off the same. He dumped a different tub of toys and pretty much before they had all hit the floor, he told me he was all done playing with them. I again told him he had to clean them up. This time it only took an hour. Ahhh, success.

Christmas card collection 2009

2010-01-13T10:55:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to make a bunch of Christmas cards again this year. I'm pleased with how they turned out. Plus, it was a good way for me to make a little bit of extra money, because I do charge most people to make their cards. Enjoy

Pictures and stuff

2010-01-09T12:47:00.002-06:00

It came and went. Feels like Christmas was forever ago, even though it was just 2 weeks ago.
We had a great Christmas week. Spent a lot of time with family. Caden thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say it gets better every year with him. He was so into it this year. He played so well, both with other people as well as by himself. I was so proud of him. He got some great gifts on both sides of the family. The favorites being a foot powered scooter from my parents and a remote control truck from Rick & Amy.

hmm, who's new toy is it boys...??

enjoying crab and shrimp with papa

its santa

Last weekend we went to Grand Forks with my family. This is now the third year we’ve done this. It was so much fun. I had some shopping to do, both for myself and for Avery, but we spent a lot of time at the hotel. I prefer it that way. I hate feeling like we haven’t spent any time at the hotel when we leave. It often seems like it’s just a place to sleep and rest in between shopping. Saturday my mom and I went out for 2 hours, with out any kids, and got a bunch done. Then we spent the rest of the day in the hotel, swimming and eating. Caden absolutely loved the pool. He spent hours in there. Jumping off the side of the pool was his favorite thing. He’s becoming quite a little swimmer. As the weekend went on he got more and more brave in the water. I also took Avery in the pool. She did super well. Didn’t cry or anything. It actually even seemed as though she was enjoying it.

flying with uncle Rick and uncle Randy

yup, thats Caden flying through the air

Well, with January almost half over already, I am beginning to look forward to summer. I know the month will fly by, as it’s a pretty busy one. We have our last Christmas gathering tomorrow, followed by a week of full evenings. Because of the cold weather, I’ve spent almost this entire week at home so next week I’ll be heading out a little more. I’m feeling cooped up. Another reason why I hate winter.

Looking ahead there are a few things to look forward to. February is pretty much empty, but in March my friend Pam is expecting baby #2. April my baby brother is getting married and in May is Cadens 3rd birthday, as well as a new niece or nephew for me. I am so excited about that one. By the time all these things happen, it’ll be summer. Yeah.

Avery is doing so well. She’s 2 months old now. We still don’t have a complete schedule down, but we’re getting there. She has been sleeping through the night though which I am so thankful for. Usually from 11:30-7:30 or 8. She’ll then have 2-3 1 hour naps, and one 4-5 hour nap. I really can’t complain. She now will also go to sleep all on her own without needing her suckie put back in a thousand times. I’m not one to rock my babies to sleep. I like to be able to put them down and have them go to sleep on their own. For a long time, she’d need her suckie put back in so many times, it was ridiculous. I let her cry it out a couple of times and now it’s much better. Every once in awhile I have to go put it back in once.
She’s also been fighting a cold for the last week which makes her really stuffy. Caden and I are also working on getting over our colds. When it hits, it hits hard.

Well, that’s all the catch up for now. Hope you all are having a wonderful start to 2010.

1 month

2009-12-22T15:54:00.003-06:00

Yup, she is 1 month old. Well, by now she's already 6 weeks, but these pics are from a month. Its gone by quickly. We still don't have much of a schedule, which drives me crazy. But we'll get there. She is sleeping great at night. Usually from 11-5ish, and then till 9:30 or so. It's never the same. Naps are never at the same time either, or the same length. Hopefully we'll get that all figured out soon. I need a schedule.
She has started smiling a little in the last few days, although not as much as I'd like...:-) I'm looking forward to her being 3 months old, when she can interact more. I've never been much of a baby person.
We are all ready for Christmas. The gifts are all wrapped, as of yesterday. I'm getting excited. Tomorrow we leave for Emerson till Thursday night. Then home where we'll have Christmas on Christmas morning. Then we come to my parents house, where we'll be until the 27th, with the exception of an all day gathering on the 26th. I'm looking forward to good food, and spending time with family. I do love the holidays. And I'm especially excited for Caden to experience Christmas in a different way this year. Last year he was still a little too young to understand, but this year he is excited about his presents, he knows that its Jesus' birthday, and we are going to see Santa this evening. I love it.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Hope your holidays are everything you hope they'll be.

Shaving

2009-12-22T15:52:00.002-06:00

Yes, he has 2 uncles. I don't very often talk about Uncle Randy, because he has very little to do with my kids. Only recently has he started to interact with Caden a little bit. I'm hoping it will continue.

Randy was going to go shave, and Caden saw the razor. So, Randy first 'shaved' Cadens whole face, and then Caden wanted to do the same to Randy. With the cap on of course.

My kids

2009-12-22T15:31:00.003-06:00

I know, I'm a bad blogger. So, for those of you that still read my blog, here are some pics for you.

4 generations

2009-12-22T15:27:00.002-06:00

Here I am with my Mom and Grandma. Oh and Avery of course. Yes, I know, Caden made 4 generations, but this is all girls. On my Dad's side, we were so close to getting 5 generations. My grandma passed away 1 year before Caden was born.

She's a month

2009-12-09T18:49:00.003-06:00

Well, we are 1 month old, and sorry, I don't have any pics right now. Avery is doing great. Sleeping mostly good still, although not so much with the sleeping through the night anymore. Which is ok. She is only a month old after all. I usually get a 6-7 hour stretch and then another 3-4 hour stretch so I still can't complain. Caden has also been sleeping in longer as a rule. Till at least 7:30, often closer to 8. Its been wonderful.
I'm needing to get my but in gear and finish my Christmas shopping but with the weather being so cold, I really don't like hauling 2 kids out. It really makes a difference in that way, having 2 kids. Some carts...mainly dollarama, are not made for 2 kids and I sure don't trust Caden to walk by himself. I'd be buying a whole lot more stuff then. But I have been able to leave the kids with my mom, which is awesome. Errands get done so much faster. I even went out for supper and to a movie with my friends and left Avery with my mom. I just pumped and left her a bottle. Love to know that I can have a little bit of freedom if I need/want. With Caden I couldn't pump...it just didn't work. This time it works. I did also give her formula yesterday for the first time. She didn't notice a difference. I really don't enjoy nursing. I do it because I know its good for her, and its free. I nursed Caden till he was just over 5 months. My goal is to make it to 3 months with Avery. 1 down, 2 to go... :-)
Well, i hope everyone is keeping well, inspite of the freezing cold temperatures.

Ahhhh, sleep.

2009-11-25T13:32:00.004-06:00

Can I really be so lucky. I know, i shouldn't jinx it by telling you this right after it happened, but Avery slept through the night last night. She fell asleep at 11:30 and didn't get up until 7:30. It was so needed. I was getting between 4-5 hours of sleep a night. On Sunday night I switched her to sleeping on her tummy. What a world of a difference. And you can judge me, and tell me that babies are not supposed to sleep on their tummies, but mine do. Caden did, and he's fine. I've been lucky to have my mom and my brother and sil take Caden for a night each, so that I could sleep when Avery did. Its a lot different having 2 kids when it comes to sleep. When you only have one, you can sleep when they do. When you have 2, and the older one wakes up at 7:00am, you have no choice but to be up, even if you only got to sleep at 2:30am.
It's also been so great to have people bringing us meals. Not that I can't cook, because I do have a good baby and have time. But there's just something special about having supper brough to you. Last night we had our 4th meal come, and today and tomorrow are covered as well. I am definitely going to start doing this more often when people I know have babies. Its not difficult to double the meal that you are making for your own family, and its such a blessing to be on the receiving end of it.
Christmas is now just a month away. I would say I'm about 1/3 done my Christmas shopping, for 1/3 I know what I'm getting and just have to go buy it, and the last 1/3 I have no idea. Good thing I have a month, although I'd like to be done soon. I hate the last minute scramble to find the perfect gift when everything is picked through and you don't feel happy with your purchase. Its so satisfying to be done, and have gifts you know people will love.

Labor & Delivery story

2009-11-21T17:58:00.001-06:00

Well, for those of you who want to know the whole story of Avery’s labor and delivery, read on. If you don’t want to know the details, skip this post.

I went into labor at 2:30am Sunday morning. I woke up to a contraction, and they continued every 10 minutes, all night long. In the morning, I had Caden tell Rob that we were gonna have a baby today. My contractions continued, although I spent a lot of time lying on the couch, and it seemed that they slowed. If I would walk around, they would be more consistent.
At 1:00, Caden went down for a nap so I decided to try as well. I did manage to get some sleep, in between the 10 minute contractions. I got up at 3:00. At that point, the contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes apart. I called Joder to ask if she was ready to have Caden. She came to get him at 4:10. We got to the hospital at 4:30pm.
They brought me to my room right away, and the nurse hooked up the fetal monitor. Babies heartbeat was good. She checked me at 5:30 and I was 5cm. She also told me that she had called my Dr. and she wouldn’t be in till 7. This disappointed me. With Caden, the doctor broke my water as soon as we got there, and the next contraction was so much stronger. I was upset that I would have to go through the next hour and a half of labor without my water broken, thinking that things wouldn’t be progressing as quickly as they could be.
My contractions continued, although not consistently at all. It’d be 10 minutes in between sometimes. It was so different that with Caden. With him, I was walking around the room the whole time, having contractions every 2 minutes. This time, I was wishing that we had brought a game or a movie because nothing was happening.
At 6:45, the contractions were getting worse, although still not very frequent. The nurse suggested I take a shower, as the warmth can help. I was willing to try it because with Caden, it did help. Well, I had a contraction while in the washroom, and because I was so incredibly hot, I ended up throwing up for about 5 minutes. At that point, I decided a hot shower was probably not the best idea so I went back to the bed.
At 7:10 I had 3 contractions almost in a row. I hardly knew where to leave myself. I was ready to ask for drugs. However, with the last contraction, I was feeling the urge to push, so I sent Rob to get the nurse. She came right away and checked me. She said I was ready to go, and to keep pushing. My doctor walked in right after. She broke my water. During the next contraction, I pushed. After it was over, they told me I was doing great. I didn’t believe them. I pushed for 2 hours with Caden, and they kept telling me that it had been a great push. I would ask if the head was out and they said no, but it was still a good push. I got frustrated. I felt like yelling at them that until the head was out, don’t tell me it’s a good push.
So with Avery, when they said that push was good, I asked if they could see the head. She said yes, 1 more push and baby will be out.
Next contraction hits, I push. The head comes out. She tells me to stop pushing so she can check for the umbilical cord. Then gives me the go ahead to continue. 1 more push and she was out. Born at 7:18. 2 pushes. I was amazed how quickly it all went. From us sitting there passing the time, and 8 minutes later we have a baby.
They put her on me right away and cleaned her off. Then took her to do all the things that they do. Apgar score was 9 and 9. She was 8lbs 10oz and 22’’ long. A whole pound less than Caden, but only a ½’’ shorter. No wonder she just slid right out…lol.
All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good experience. A lot different than last time, but I managed to do it without drugs again.
We went home on Monday evening. It was nice to have a night at home, because hearing the constant beeping and the hospital, mixed in with a screaming woman giving birth, doesn’t allow for a lot of sleep.
Avery is doing great. Eating great and sleeping mostly great. She’s a little mixed up with days and nights, but we’re working on it.
I feel completely healed up. And, I only have 10lbs to go to be back at pre baby weight.
Now I’ll leave you with a few pictures, as well as Avery’s birth announcement card.

Avery Dakota Jade

2009-11-11T17:43:00.002-06:00

We had a baby girl on Sunday, Nov. 8. She was 8lbs 10oz and 22'' long. I will share more details soon.

39 weeks, 5 days

2009-11-06T16:30:00.003-06:00

This little boy is so in love with the baby. He hugs, kisses and talks to baby all the time. We sing Jesus loves me and almost every morning he'll come kiss my belly and say, 'baby come out soon'.

This & That

2009-11-03T09:55:00.002-06:00

-No baby yet. Although I’m still feeling good, I am so ready. Caden was a week early, and because of that, I feel like I am now late even though I’m still 4 days from my due date.
-I’ve been keeping busy. I guess its what you call nesting. I’m going through boxes of stuff, cleaning out Cadens closet, and making room. I’ve brought 2 rounds of things to Twice as nice. However, somehow, my house still feels cluttered. Gotta fix that.
-My freezer is pretty well stocked. I have probably 10 meals in there. For the last month, depending on what I'm making for supper, I’ll double it and put one casserole in the freezer. I didn’t have time to do this with Caden, so I wanted to make sure to do it this time. Today I’m making a double recipe of corn chowder.
-I need to buy another fridge. I’ve been meaning to for a long time, but now I need to. Just for drinks, and that extra jug of milk, and all the jars of soup that I’m canning. My fridge is always so incredibly full and I hate it. We go through at least 2 jugs of milk in a week so it only makes sense for me to buy 2 at a time, even 3 would be nice, but who has room for that in their main fridge. I tried the scratch and dent place in Winkler and they had nothing. Today I’m gonna try Sears and Coop and see what kind of deal they can give me. I don’t want to spend a lot because it is only a second fridge. I’ve tried PV Online but there is rarely anything, and when there is, it’s gone right away.
-I’ve been trying to get some cards made, both for the baby’s birth announcement, as well as Christmas cards. I have a few to make for people again and wanted to get some done now while I know I have time. Although I’m feeling a little lost for ideas, they’re coming to me. I need to look online for some inspiration. With that said, if you need a Christmas card made, let me know.
-Our care group/bible study has split into 2 groups. We were 11 couples. Ours now has 6. I was a little apprehensive about it in the first place, just because I don’t really like change all that much. But we’ve met once now, and will be again on Thursday. It feels closer, different people are talking and it’s comfortable. I think I’m really going to enjoy it. Plus, with there only being 12 people now, instead of 22, we’ll be able to host it at our house, where as before there was no way we could get that many people in our house.
-Does anybody want a cat? We have a beautiful orange male cat that needs a good home. He is great with Caden. Pretty much lets him do whatever he wants. He spends a lot of time outside, although would like to be inside more. The only reason I want to get rid of him is because I am done with animals. I feel terrible for not letting him inside when he wants to get in. He does need to be fed, as he’s not so great at providing his own food. I told Rob that by the time we have this baby, the cat better be gone. He’s not. He needs to be. If you have any interest at all, let me know. He is fixed.
-I am getting close to being caught up with Cadens scrap book. My mom and I have done some hard core scrap booking. Up until a few weeks ago, I was only till his first Christmas. That’s almost 2 years behind. Now, I am till this summer. It feels so good to be getting close to caught up, expecially considering I’ll be starting another one soon. I am determined to keep up with them after this. It’s a little overwhelming to wait so long. Not to mention, to do 1 page takes a good hour usually, so if Caden is around, that only allows for 1 page a day, during his nap.
-Well, I suppose that’s all the catch up you get for now. Hopefully my next post will be about some exciting news.

My little chicken

2009-11-01T10:41:00.001-06:00

Family

2009-10-28T14:35:00.003-05:00

The baby book that I have for this baby has a place for a picture of our family before baby was born. So, I got my mom to take some pics of the three of us. These are my favorites, as well as a pic of me at 38 weeks. Hoping to post more soon. Sorry for the lack of a blog lately. With me not working, I don't spend nearly the time on the internet.

Picture post

2009-10-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

Group shot of my friends and I at our weekend away in Grand Forks. We had an awesome weekend of shopping, good food and lots of talking.

Monkey see, monkey do.

He loves to play in the dryer, which I only let him do when I'm cleaning the bathroom. He hauls toys in there and drives them along the side.

37 weeks

2009-10-17T10:46:00.001-05:00

How far along? 37 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 26 lbs
Maternity clothes? Not really
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Oh yeah, if I'm home, I'll nap when Caden does.
Best moment this week: Getting ready. Crib is up, car seat is waiting, bought 2 baby soothers.
Movement: Not as much now, but still a lot.
Food cravings: Chips & salsa
Gender: Still feel girl.
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? It’s out
What I miss: Sleeping comfortably
What I am looking forward to: Labor and delivery.
Milestones: I am now at weekly appointments.

4 weeks and counting

2009-10-09T14:08:00.002-05:00

Only 4 more weeks to go. Which could mean anywhere between 2 and 6, but I'm gonna go with 4. Not that I am done work, and wow is it awesome, I've had time to 'nest' as they call it. I've been getting food into the freezer, I put up the crib and mobile yesterday. Caden and I went through some of his baby things and kept a few blankets and nursing pads out. Wasn't too excited about that part, but its all part of it.
We had to clean the ball pit out of Cadens room to make room for the crib. I thought he would be upset about it but he wasn't at all. He was just too excited for the crib to come. That little boy is so in love already with what he is told is a baby. He kisses and hugs my tummy for sure 10 times a day, and often randomly, like when I'm going to the bathroom. This morning he came into our room and kissed my tummy and said ' Mommy baby coming out soon?' It was so cute. I know that he really has no idea whats in store for us, but for the time being, he's pretty excited.
We are still working on a boys name, but the girls name is solid. And I still love it. We have some time...right??
Anyway, I will try really hard to post a preggo pic soon. We are off to Beausejour on Sunday for Thanksgiving with Robs family.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What would you do?

2009-09-29T10:04:00.002-05:00

For the last week or so, Caden has been having a hard time with the dark. He has never had a night light on in his room and the door is shut when he goes to bed. But somehow, he's discovered a fear of the dark. I'll put him in his bed for night and he'll say 'no dark mommy, no dark'.
Last night was the worst. He was crying...hard. He called me in to his room numerous times. Now with that said, let me also tell you that I don't do night lights. I do not like it when kids are so reliant on a night light that you have to pack the stupid thing when you go away for night. I've babysat kids like this and I don't like it. Just like he doesn't have any music or a fan or anything. He falls asleep hearing the noises of me cleaning up, or watching t.v.
Any ideas? I know one option is to leave the bathroom light on or something like that. But has anyone else encountered this problem with your kids? And what did you do? Will it pass? I feel bad for him, but I don't want to start something to fix it for now, if he'll get over it.

Sick Mama

2009-09-22T12:13:00.002-05:00

I sure struggled through a bad cold this weekend. I don't know if it was worse because of being pregnant, but it was bad. Saturday was an awful day. Its hard for moms to be sick. Normally I can still funtion somewhat normally, but not this day. I was on the couch for most of the day. Luckily Rob was home for the afternoon so he took care of Caden. I definitely miss the days of being sick when my Mom would make soup, and I'd lie on the couch all day watching t.v. Not the case with t 2 year old running around. He was very good though. He musta known cause he wasn't demanding of my attention at all.
I did manage to get 6 loads of laundry done. And we mowed half of the lawn in the morning. It was something I could do while sitting, and Caden could still be outside. We have a new lawnmower so it goes super quick. I was in bed at 9:15 Saturday night and didn't get out of bed until 8:45 Sunday morning. Thanks Rob.
Anyway, I feel much better now. My voice is still a little funky, and my cough hurts a bit, but its nothing compared. And I should be thankful I got it now, instead of 7 weeks from now.

We also finally have satellite again. Just in time to watch all the premiers. We didn't have it all summer, which was great because it forced us to be outside and to do other things. But its nice to sit, relax and watch a show in the evening after Caden goes to bed.

My mom and I canned some delicious salsa last week. Tomorrow we'll do another batch with what I get from my tomato plants. They look really sad this year, although they've still surprisingly given quite a few tomatoes.

I have a doctors appt tomorrow as well so soon I'll post another preggo pic with the usual write up. Only 7 weeks to go now. I want this baby already. It moves, so incredibly much. Literally rolls around in there. I'm not sure if this means I'll have a smaller baby this time, cause it has room to move around so much, or if it means nothing...lol. Caden was 9lbs 10oz so thats what I'm preparing for. I would actually pick that over a little 7 pounder cause those little babies just feel so fragile and tiny. I liked the bigger baby.

And I need advice again. Caden found a bottle of red nailpolish at my moms house. How do I get nail polish out of clothing? I tried nail polish remover almost immediately but that didn't work. Anything??

In a nutshell

2009-09-09T19:35:00.004-05:00

Finally, we have summer. And boy have we been enjoying it. Who would have thought that come September, we’d finally get the weather we’ve been waiting for all year long. We did take down our pool, because the water was getting really gross. We had only used it 4 times. Then of course the weather turns nice and I woulda loved to have been in there on the weekend. But instead I hauled out our blow up slide and small pool from last year and Caden still had a lot of fun. We also put the garden hose down the slide on the playhouse and let Caden slide down that. He Loved it. It was great. I wanted to try it too, but we need something bigger to land on.

I pulled out all my corn stalks from the garden, and yielded 2 whole cobs. What a waste. I was very disappointed with how my corn grew this year. I guess because of the cool weather, it didn’t grow. I also pulled out the beans. I enjoy watching my garden get cleaned out. I need to till now. I made 6 jars of pickles with my mom, and will make more, as long as Rob does the picking of the cucumbers. I’m tired of doing it, and it really hurts my back to be bend over for so long. It takes a good half hour to pick all the cukes. The tomatoes have been delicious. I’m only hoping that they will all turn red yet so that I can make some salsa. If anyone is in need of some spaghetti squash, let me know. I have about 40 of them…not a word of a lie.

Caden has decided that 6:30 is the new time to get up. It’s been about 2 weeks of that. I can not get him to go back to sleep after that, no matter what. I’ve put him to bed at 8:30, and I’ve let him stay up till 10:00. It makes no difference. It really sucks because I pretty much go to bed right after he does because otherwise I’m exhausted the next day. Naps have been happening more frequently these last few weeks and I don’t like that. I feel like I’m wasting away the beautiful afternoon. I hope and pray that this will end before the baby comes. Not only because of the baby, but because 1 week before my due date is time change, which means he’ll be getting up at 5:30…AHHHH!!!

I’ve found something else that keeps Caden occupied for a fair amount of time. Coloring with markers. I bought the pip squeak markers for him and he loves it. He’ll spend 15 min coloring. He made Grandma and Daddy a birthday card and he’s drawn a picture for Uncle Rick. We now have 2 things, play dough and markers, that will keep him busy. Oh please let this next baby be not so busy.

Thanks to Colleen, who borrowed me some Bob the Builder, and Tractor Tom videos. After his nap today, I put in tractor tom. Caden watched a whole 10 minute video. He was totally into it. Probably because there was a tractor, 4 wheeler and a dirtbike. He sang along to the songs, and imitated sounds the characters made. It was great. He has never watched t.v. in his life, which was done on purpose. I also don’t really want Caden watching t.v in summer, but once this baby comes, and with him getting up at 6:30 in the morning, this will give me a little break. Plus, winter is always long so I need to teach him now.

I only have 9 days of work left, counting today. Oct. 8 is my last day. I am so excited. The girl that is taking over my job is doing a really great job. I think she’s gonna be great, which is such a relief to me. I hate leaving, knowing that my Dad is going to have so much extra work to do. I am not planning to go back to work after this baby, so having someone there who is good will take a huge load off my mind. Once I’m done work, I have to catch up on Cadens scrapbook, make a baby book for this baby, start working on Christmas cards that I will be making for other people, as well as make a birth announcement card for baby and a 2 ½ year card for Caden. I’m hoping to get it all done.
Anyway, just thought I’d play catch up a little bit.

Baby shower

2009-09-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

My cousin Heidi had a baby girl on Aug 22nd. My mom and I are hosting her baby shower tonight. We've got some games planned, but does anyone know of any different/fun games to play when the crowd is a mixture of older and younger people?