Christmas card collection 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

-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

Family

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

6 years ago.

I married this guy. Its been a crazy 6 years, but I can't wait to see what the next years bring. Love you.

Oh and happy birthday to Rob as well. He turned 33 yesterday. (Sept 5)

Bob the Builder

Just wondering if any of my local readers have any bob the builder movies they'd be willing to borrow out.
As I've said before, Caden doesn't watch any t.v. But with this baby coming, and the fact that he was getting up at 6:30 am regularly, I'm trying to get him interested. Its not working. He asks to watch a movie, but once I put it in, it holds his attention for about 2 minutes before he starts asking if he can play with toys. He does, however, like Bob the Builder. He only knows of him because of a pair of pjs he has, as well as a toy bob and scoop. I think the movies might interest him, but I don't wanna buy or rent them, only to have them sit there and hold no interest.
So, if you have any, or just one that you'd borrow out, please let me know.
Thanks alot.

one more makes 4

4 babies that is. Sunday morning I get a phone call from Pam. They are expecting baby #2 on March 7. So excited for you guys. This is the third set of doubles in our group. Erin and Shar had babies 1 1/2 weeks apart. Jodi and I are due 1 1/2 weeks apart, and Joder and Pam are due 2 days apart. Go babies.
Now if only Tiff and Candace would get on this baby band wagon...wink wink.