Waiting for Bob

And Away We Go!

2011-01-17T11:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I created another blog. I've decided to keep Waiting For Bob as is and just link to the new blog, MummaBumma.blogspot.com, because I'm just not willing to say goodbye to WFB forever.

So go on, check it out, but remember you can always come back here to read old posts.

This isn't goodbye, just...see you soon at our new hangout.

For Your Consideration

2011-01-14T11:54:00.002-05:00

Readers, I need your help.

I took a long, hard look at Waiting For Bob the other day and realised it looks a little dated. I think its time I move forward a little and update the design. I toyed with a few different looks last night, but have yet to come up with the winning formula.

But here's the thing. As I sat trying to figure out how I wanted to present the blog, I wondered if the title doesn't fit anymore. Waiting For Bob. I mean, I'm not waiting anymore, am I? Is it time for a name change? How would you feel about that?

I actually went so far as to save the potential site address www.mummabumma.blogspot.com.

Now, don't panic. Nothing has been done yet. I don't want to fix it if it ain't broke, but I've lost perspective on the whole thing now, so I need your help. Should I change the blog name (this would also mean I would have to redirect you to a new site, of course. And perhaps a new year is the right time to make that leap?) and if so, what should I change it to? MummaBumma was just an idea, although I do kind of like the ring of it.

Please give me your thoughts, I can't make this decision without you.

The F***ing Fours

2011-01-12T10:13:00.005-05:00

The boys are back at school after a wonderful Christmas and New Year spent with family. It was lovely to be away at the cottage for the holidays again this year, but its equally lovely to be back at home and have Owen and William in school during the week. Is that harsh? Do I sound like a mean mummy? I don't mean to be, its just the reality of living with two boys going through the F***ing Fours at the same time.

Sorry? What's that? You don't know about the F***ing Fours? You've only heard of the Terrible Twos, I suppose. I was as clueless as you before October 2010. Clueless and a little cocky, to be honest, because I thought we'd done pretty well to avoid too much drama during the Terrible Twos. I seem to recall the boys were fairly pleasant that year. Well I've got my comeuppance this year. We've made up for it in spades because now we're right smack dab in the middle of the F***ing Fours and I'm ready to throw in the towel. Can't anyone see my little white flag on a stick being waved frantically about in the air? Stop the ride, I want to get off.

Lordy. Its just constant. If they're not fighting with each other - "I don't yike you, Owen! You're not my best fwiend anymore!", "Mumma, Will is trying to push me down the stairs!", "MUMMY! Owen BITED me!" and so on and so on and so on ad infinitum - then they're taunting each other in sickly sweet voices until the physical fighting resumes - "Sorry, Will, but you can't have this toy because Mumma gave it to me", "Sorry Owen but you can't pway with Wyatt today because we don't yike you."

And when they're done with each other, they turn on me. Owen's favorite thing to shout at me when he's angry (because I have doled out a consequence to some inappropriate behaviour/have not yielded to his demands/have insisted he eat his meal/told him he couldn't watch tv all day/looked at him the wrong way) is "I HATE you, Mumma-BUMMA!" Charmed, I'm sure. William on the other hand just turns into a fiery ball of rage that storms and stamps and incoherently screams its way around the house.

Oh yeah, fun times.

I've been told that this behaviour, whilst rather challenging to the parents, is perfectly normal. They are so well behaved at school that when they come home tired and hungry, their only recourse is what my friend calls "emotional vomit". They know they're in a safe place, and are loved unconditionally, so the pent up emotions of the day just spew out of their tired little mouths. Doesn't make it any easier for poor Mumma-Bumma though.

They don't show this stuff in any of the marketing for baby items do they? Its always a mother beautifully made up, smiling serenely at her sleeping baby. Where's the mother pulling her hair out wearing yesterday's sweats as her four year old sticks his tongue out at her. I don't recall a chapter in What To Expect When You're Expecting entitled How To Cope When Your Darling, Sweet Baby Hits The F***ing Fours And Morphs Into A Troll. Guess the world might be a little less populated if we had a chapter like that.

So how do I cope? Well, sometimes I don't. But my New Year's Resolution to myself was to be a better mother. To not rise to the bait and scream back, to not lose my temper at every turn, to try to remember to take deep breaths and speak calmly, to let them know that my arms are always open for a hug, no matter how much I just want to say "NO HUGS FOR YOU, YOU LITTLE MONSTER!" To enjoy the quiet times with Elly during the day and focus on the good behaviour when the boys are home.

And to try to remember that by all accounts, seven is a wonderful age.

The Little Things

2010-12-30T04:00:00.001-05:00

Slowly but surely, they're learning how to write their letters. Owen recently asked me how I spelled my name. I wrote it out for him and a few minutes later he proudly brought me his version.

Its the little things that make parenting awesome.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2010-12-25T04:00:00.001-05:00

Intrepid Explorer

2010-12-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Elly has become quite the adventurer lately. She's crawling full speed ahead and desperate to cruise around the couches, if only her legs would stop wobbling long enough to hold her up. For now she'll settle for kneeling and banging on things.

She yells down to the boys in the basement all the time, no doubt saying "Come play with me!"

How to keep a nine month old busy? Let her have at it with the winter hats and mitts basket! Best play ever!

"If I smile like this, do I still have to put it all away, ma?"

"Ooooh, this looks cosy!"

Staring out at the squirrels eating all the birdfood.

And just to keep us on our toes, the girlie has decided she loves nothing more than mastering the stairs. This is one determined little bean. If at first she doesn't succeed (ie, falls on her backside), she just chugs right on over to whatever she wants to conquer and keeps going until she does it. El freaks me out sometimes with her bravery/lack of awareness of consequences - she just charges up the stairs, not looking to see if she has a spotter or not. I don't remember the boys being this adventurous at this stage.

My girl isn't afraid of chores either. The dishwasher was open the other morning, waiting to be emptied and she launched herself right in there.

Pretty pleased with herself! Elly's face now lights up like this every time she sees the open dishwasher, whether its clean or dirty!

Don't forget this one, Gaga!

She made me nervous though...she's still pretty wobbly and has no idea how to get down safely once she gets on to something. Here's the video with my nervous clucking included.

And as an added bonus, here's Elliot being awfully cute as she eats her dinner. She was helping me blow on her food to cool it down. I yuv dose yips!

New Traditions

2010-12-20T22:34:00.008-05:00

I decided to start a new tradition this year, based on something I read on my blogging friend Jen aka Brazenlilly's blog (by the way, if you're looking to give to others this year and aren't sure who to give to, you might want to read about Jen and her family's adoption process - they're planning to adopt a baby from Thailand, but the financial side of adoption is difficult to say the least and they could use any help they can get). Instead of the usual chocolate advent calendar, they do an "event" calendar...something they do as a family each day. I loved the idea of finding time as a family to celebrate Christmas and after seeing a gorgeous tree calendar at Pottery Barn Kids decided to try it this year too.

Here's our advent calendar hanging on the wall in the living room and kitchen area. Cute, huh?
Now it looks very pretty, but filling all those little pockets with daily activities is actually a lot of work and planning. This year is definitely a learning experience and I think next year it'll be easier! I looked for examples of fun activities on Jen's blog, as well as online and came up with a good list to draw from, as well as some events that I knew we'd be doing on certain dates. So, for example, on one of the early days we went and chose our Christmas tree, decorated it and had egg nog.
I also knew we had to make a special trip to the airport last week, so on the 13th, our activity was to "Go to the airport wearing Santa hats and pick Gaga up!" That went down very well!

We also had a cookie decorating party with our friends Aiden & Andrew.

And tonight we got ready for bed and then went for a drive to look at the Christmas lights in our neighbourhood. I love the legs sticking out of big boots and big jackets.

We've definitely had some misses too, what with kids being sick or someone not being interested in the activity of the day, but I think I have a good sense of how this works now and can perfect it for next year. FYI, here's a list of some of the other things we've done, or I've planned for us to do! I wish I'd consulted this list more often the night before and written things down rather than scrambling quite so much during the day to get things done. Ah well, like I said, its been a learning experience and next year, well! Look out December 1st, because I. Will. Be. Ready!

read Christmas stories
sprinkle oats on the lawn for the reindeer
go tobogganing
make a snowman with a carrot nose, hat and stick arms
Color picture for Christmas card.
Make house smell like Christmas. (Where you toss cinnamon sticks, cloves, anise seeds, etc., in an old saucepan and warm it up every once in a while.)
Polish toenails in Christmas colors. (I am thinking light metallic green with tiny red dots.)
Hang candy canes on tree.
Hang paper snowflakes from ceiling.
Make peanut butter pinecones to feed birds.
Paint face like Rudolph.
Color Christmas pictures.
Eat reindeer food. ( reindeer food = popcorn and m&ms and peanuts.)
Drive around and look at lights.
lleave out milk and cookies for Santa
celebrate the season with friends
make salt dough ornaments
hot chocolate stirred with candy canes
watch Christmas movies (another good babysitter activity)
write a letter to Santa
make our own wrapping paper with potato stamps, glitter, etc
make and mail cards for our friends
make and decorate sugar cookies
Local lights tour
decorate our doors (use a big roll of white butcher paper to make huge Christmas trees and add cut out ornaments)

Remembering Jack

2010-12-04T14:36:00.019-05:00

Our wonderful boxer Jack, passed away on Tuesday November 24th shortly after 10:30am. It was a difficult day for Mark and I, he was our beloved puppy, but we knew the time had come to say goodbye. I'm still struggling to find that elusive sense of closure (I hate the term, but don't know what else to call it), of having made the right decision, even though my brain knows we did. My heart won't let me accept the reasoning offered up by my mind. I guess I have to trust in the passage of time to help ease the sadness.

***

I found Jack on the internet when we were living in Ottawa. I saw his picture on petfinder.com a couple of months after Mark and I got married and immediately emailed his picture to Mark, asking, "Can we get him?!"
He was a year and a half, living in a dog shelter in Northern Quebec. His owners decided that having three boxers was too much, so the youngest one had to go. Luckily for him and for us, my heartfelt plea to the shelter meant that we would become his new parents. They arranged to drop him off at a halfway point between their northerly location and Toronto where they were taking other rescued dogs to new homes. And this is where I look back with gratitude, because my cautious husband, who had never owned a pet before, took a huge leap of faith. The arrangements were that we would pick Jack up at 9pm at a truck stop outside of Montreal. We would have to hand over about $300 in cash to a stranger and he would in turn hand over a dog we had never met before. Um....even I can see it was a weird situation, and I'm usually oblivious to these things.

On the arranged night we drove the two hours to Montreal in excitement, wondering about our new dog and our new life with him. We waited patiently at the truck stop and went over what the shelter had told us thus far about Jack. They'd said he was good with people and other dogs, didn't like cats too much and was also going to need some TLC because he seemed a bit depressed in the shelter. He's lost some weight, they said. When the pickup truck with the trailer finally pulled in two hours later, we were pretty excited. But when our ghostly-white boxer finally jumped out of the truck, we were shocked into silence. Lost some weight? He was a skeleton. You could see every rib, every vertebrae. His hip bones stuck out painfully on either side. I think we both gasped at the sight of him. But he did a boxer wiggle for us to let us know he was okay, and we quickly scooped him up into the backseat of the car and took him home to fatten him up. And we never looked back.

This is Jack lying on the bed Mark made for him on his first night home. Its a bit blurry, but can you see his spine sticking out? So thin, so wary, so desperate to be loved and safe.

It didn't take long for him to settle in once he was home. I think within a couple of weeks he realised he was here to stay and started packing on the pounds (at his heaviest, he was 80 lbs, thanks to peanut butter Kong treats and too many leftovers). He quickly wiggled his way into the hearts of our family and friends.

With his Auntie Karen

With Mark and our good friend Paul, who famously tried to be a really good friend and scoop up Jack's poop, only to discover there was a hole in the bag...
With Grandpa Bill, who always had some leftovers for Jack, especially at Christmas.

He was most definitely what we thought of as our first child. This was the beginning of our little family.
Jackie was a beautiful dog, but really tall for a boxer, and the white fur was unusual enough that it either made people think he was gorgeous and rush over to say hello, or cross the street in fear of him. Personally, I thought he was a stunner - when he was out for a walk he would hold himself so proudly...there's nothing like a boxer stance to make me smile.

Jack was a great dog who only ever wanted a cuddle. And maybe some cheese. Or a yoghurt pot.

He was incredibly loyal, and loved us deeply at our best and even at our worst.

When Jack was having fun, you were having fun because his happiness was infectious.

We were lucky that Jack was so good with the kids - he basically ignored them, no matter what they were up to.

But I think he secretly adored them.

Jack was definitely at his happiest at the cottage, and that is how I'm going to choose to remember him. Running like hell up the hill in winter, head low, tongue lolling out, legs going like mad as he tore through the snow or the dirt, depending on the seasons. He would end each day at the cottage happily exhausted from all the fresh air and tearing around. In the winter, you'd find him passed out on his side in front of the fire, turning a lovely shade of pink has he warmed his belly. In the summer he was happiest on the back deck, on his side, turning a lovely shade of pink as the sun warmed his belly.

I love that dog and I'm so angry with myself for not loving him more, for telling myself since he got sick that my life would be easier once he was gone, that three kids was enough, I didn't need a dog too. Because my life isn't any easier. Its just lonelier. He's left such a silence, such an empty space. We miss you Jackie, very much.

I have to try to end this on a happy note, because otherwise I'll just cry every time I read this post. So here's Jack at the cottage a few winters ago, having fun in the snow. Good boy!

Falling Behind

2010-11-16T18:46:00.009-05:00

Time is marching on at a pace I'm not quite in step with these days. I feel like I'm constantly trying to catch up on everything around me - the dishes, the laundry, the groceries, the kids' "homework" (how do 4 year olds get homework?!), emails, friends, blogging. Everything is either half done or not started or just being thought about at four in the morning.

I'm not sure what's making me fall behind so much lately. It might be that Elly has also been marching on. She's mastered the art of the army crawl and can get from A to B to Z in less time than it takes me to say "Where did you go?" You'll recall from my pregnancy posts that she was a wiggly, wriggly, kicky little bean in my belly. She hasn't changed a bit. She's a wiggly, wriggly, kicky little thing on the outside too, and into everything. I can't hold her in my arms for long because she's always arching this way and that to get down and go exploring. Needless to say the gates are back up and I'm following her around double-checking that there are no tiny toys on the ground, no tissues, no dog food within reach. Thankfully I've recruited Owen and William and they're excellent baby-proofers, if only because they don't want their toys to be slobbered on by Miss E.

And speaking of my guys, we get their progress reports back from school this week and then an interview with the teachers on Friday. I'm curious to know what's been going on in the classrooms and what kind of impression the teachers have of the boys. Since last year's preschool was a co-op, I really felt involved and aware of what was going on in Will and Owen's school lives. But now its all a mystery. I ask daily what they've learned, what they've had for lunch, who they played with and invariably get a shrug and an "I don't know" from the two of them. Seriously. They're teenagers already, didn't you know? Gah! But since they both appear eager to go each morning, I'm hoping I'll get the news that its a positive experience for both the kids and the teachers thus far.

I only have a couple of photos for you today, but I also have a video of my smiley girl at lunch today. You'll notice that I ask her to wave to Jack, the dog. He's her buddy, although he doesn't know it or perhaps chooses not to acknowledge this fact. Elliot absolutely lights up when the dog comes into the room, giggles and waves and seems to be trying to say Jack-Jack, although it comes out more like "Dag-Dag". If you ask her where mummy is, or daddy or Owen or William, she just stares at you like "I am so not into this game, people", but ask her where Jackie is and she searches until she finds him and then beams at him.

This is a bittersweet thing for me right now as poor Dag-Dag is succumbing to the usual Boxer fate. Our stinky puppy has mast cell tumours that have matastasized and have spread to his lymph nodes. He's on various painkillers and steroids to make him comfortable, but basically we're at that awful stage where we're watching and waiting for the moment we think his quality of life deteriorates to the point that a decision must be made. Elly's buddy isn't going to be around for much longer, I fear.

Anyway, enough of that sadness, let's just spend a moment looking and listening to a happy little munchkin. Hmmm, do you think maybe I'm not getting things done because I'm spending too much time looking and listening to a happy little munchkin?

Here are the kids with Elly wearing the beautiful balacklava that her Auntie Elle sent her when she was born. I love this hat on her!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:18:00.003-04:00

Boy, we sure do love Halloween in this house! Well, okay, the boys really love Halloween. I can do without the sugar-fuelled craziness, but their excitement is contagious and today was fun. Before going to a party at Amber's house with all of our friends and their wee ones, we carved the pumpkins and I made some pumpkins. Cupcakes that is. I think the pumpkin carving at our kitchen table was really just a way to distract the boys from all the sugar and icing I was playing with at the counter. I had to say "DON'T TOUCH!" too many times to count. I felt a bit mean too, because the boys asked if they could help me decorate the cupcakes and I just wouldn't let them. I wanted my creations to be perfect and my pride got in the way. I'm rolling my eyes at myself as I type. In retrospect, I should have let them decorate one each. Maybe next year.

Anyway, I can tell that I myself am now experiencing sugar-fuelled craziness and can't even type a proper paragraph tonight, so I will let the slideshow below do the talking for me! My favorite photo is probably the last one, which shows you the proper way to finish off your Halloween night! Enjoy!

Movember! In His Own Words

2010-10-29T16:34:00.002-04:00

Many years ago I grew a very distinguished-looking beard (or a very pretentious-looking beard, depending on your point of view). It kept me warm for a good part of my adult life, but time moves on. And with time the Johnson hair-line recedes. So I shaved the beard off to maintain follicular equilibrium.

This Movember, the month formerly known as November, I've decided to join my colleagues and bring the facial hair back in the form of a moustache (follicular equilibrium, remember) in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer. My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember (suggestions as to 'stache style welcome).

Close to 4,400 men die of prostate cancer in Canada each year and one in six men will be diagnosed during his lifetime. It's time we did something about this and I'm asking for your support.

To help, you can either:

- Click this link http://ca.movember.com/mospace/701166/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
- Write a cheque payable to 'Prostate Cancer Canada', referencing my name or Registration Number 701166 and mailing it to: Prostate Cancer Canada, Suite 306 145 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3, Canada.

All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit: http://ca.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Thank you in advance for helping me to support men's health.

Mark

Movember!

2010-10-27T13:45:00.002-04:00

So Mark is participating in a charity campaign to raise awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer, called Movember. For the month of November, he and his colleagues at work will be growing mustaches for charity.

The rules and regulations are as follows:
1. Each participant must start November 1st clean shaven
2. The non-moustache area must be shaved on at least a by-weekly basis (this rule is to be
enforced by other team members with comments such as “what’s with the stubble?”)
3. They must follow acceptable growth patterns, such as "The Hogan Handlebar", "The Magnum P.I. Chevron", 'The Sam Elliot Cowboy"
4. They are NOT allowed to grow a soul patch ala Billy Ray Cyrus, or scary mutton chops or a goatee.

There are prizes for Best Moustache and Biggest Overall Fundraiser in his team (The Preferred Hairholders - they are all corporate lawyers after all) and I really think my hirsute husband stands a chance here!

Help me help Mark. Help me help him feel a sense of pride about his facial hair. Help me help him raise funds for cancer research. Help me help him WIN!

You can donate at his Movember donations page by clicking here.

Grow, Mark, grow! Grow, Mark, grow! Grow,Mark, grow!

Easy as One, Two, Three

2010-10-24T20:32:00.004-04:00

I know a lot of you are waiting for some birthday party photos, and I will post them soon, but in the meantime, have you noticed I have THREE kids?! Man, that's a lot. Okay, maybe not a lot, I'm certainly no Michelle Duggar, but there are days when I'm amazed by all these little people that we made! For one thing, the grocery bills are starting to get a little scary - can you imagine what its going to be like when they're all teenagers? And don't get me started on clothes and shoes! How do they grow out of them so quickly?! All I can say is thank goodness we're being treated to all of Abigail's hand-me-downs otherwise people would be very confused when they were introduced to our daugher Elliot dressed from head to toe in her brothers' cast offs.

Its been quite fascinating to watch the twins and Elly start to interact more and more, she's really becoming their little sister, not just the baby. She's already making moves toward their toys, their food and their hair (baby 101 - when in proximity to hair follicles, pull as hard as you can). So far all of this is greeted with delight or amusement by Owen and William, but I'm wondering when all that will change. I can already hear the chorus of "MOM! She's got my stuff!" Actually, what I'm hearing these days is "MOM! HE'S got my stuff!", but I think I'll save my ranting about brothers and all the ways they find to bug each other for another day.

But like I said, she's still got the cute/novelty factor working for her, so Elly is safe from brotherly torture for now. Here are some pics I took of my three amigos before bedtime.

And a video too! Note my tired voice and sighs. It was a Thursday night, Mark was out for the evening and I was doing bedtime solo.

And speaking of three, we did a neat decorating thing this weekend. Mark and I are sick of the boys throwing their coats onto the floor in the hallway when they come inside, but they can't reach the hangers in the hall closet. I looked around for some interesting hooks to put on the wall by the side door, found these and these, but in the end, we did this instead:

The kids were thrilled with them

And we were pretty pleased ourselves. Now every time we walk down to the basement we smile a little. Mark said last night "Its ridiculous to feel so much pleasure over a set of hooks, but I can't help it!"

However, you will note that there was no room for a fourth hook. So we are clearly, most definitely NOT having any more children.

Funny Girl

2010-10-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Two Times Four

2010-10-17T18:54:00.004-04:00

You guys are four years old today. Holy Moly that went fast. It seems like only yesterday you were sleeping like this

And then before I knew it you were one year old, about to start walking, but most definitely cooler than cool already.

At two, you guys were most definitely my big boys. With big boy sense of style.

And suddenly you were three. And oh the places you would go!

And now, my lambies, you're four years old. Such handsome little men. Its true, at this age you drive me up the wall daily, push all my buttons and have me doubting my capabilities as a mother at every turn. But one hug from you, one kiss, one little "Mummy? I yuv you" and I am reminded that you are my gorgeous boys, my little guys, my amazing Owen and William. I see how much you love your sister and I'm excited for us as a family, excited to see all the fun things we'll do together this coming year, how much we'll laugh together. I see how incredible your imagination is and I can't wait to see what crazy story or plan you'll come up with next. I hope your friendship with each other stays strong - you've been pushing each other's buttons a lot lately too! - but I know you're always there for each other. Above all, I am very proud of you, WillieBear and Owie-Oh, and I love you more than you could ever imagine.

Happy Birthday Guys!

Rhyme Time

2010-10-11T19:37:00.002-04:00

Owen is learning to rhyme. He's getting along rather fine.

"Tall and ball," he said.

"That's great! Now off to bed."

But Will wanted a go. I could hardly say no.

He smiled and said "Spaghetti rhymes with bag."

"Weekenders On Our Own...

2010-10-06T20:04:00.004-04:00

..Its such fun."

Lou Reed really did say it best.

And it was a perfect day. Two perfect days actually. Thanks to Mark's work, we were able to go up to the Red Leaves Resort at Lake Rosseau in the Muskokas for a little getaway. Mark's parents came into town to look after the boys and we took Mlle E with us. First time we've been away together for a weekend without the boys. And let me tell you now folks...One baby is EASY! It was like we were Mark and Pascale again. Sure, we were still Mummy and Daddy, but we weren't really. We were just Mark and Pascale with their baby. Oh my, but it was blissful. The silence. The sleeping in. The not having to schedule everything, or fight about brushing teeth, going to the toilet, washing your hands after you go to the toilet, eating the food on your plate...need I go on?

It was a total vacation and I really, really thank you, Bill and Susan, for looking after the boys. Now...When can you come back?!

Elly-belle chillaxing on the drive up to the resort

My sweet, happy girl, despite the fact that she was teething.

The Resort. It reminded me of a 1960s family vacation spot, with planned activities and mini-kitchens in the hotel rooms. It felt like we were in Dirty Dancing or something, you know? Except way more modern and no babies in any corners.

The view from the rooftop terrace of Lake Rosseau.

Out for a walk near the water on a blustery fall day, with the smell of woodsmoke in the air.

And a snuggly, sleeping baby.

My little cuddle-bug slept in both mornings. Gotta love hotel black-out curtains!

Seven Months Old

2010-10-06T19:57:00.000-04:00

Seven months is clearly THE age for excitement and adventure in Elliot Anne World.

My girl has had quite the weekend as she celebrated the passing of time. She popped her first tooth, has mastered the art of sitting and is desperately trying to crawl. She's also started plaintively crying "mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum!" when unhappy or tired, but I don't mind, I think its awfully cute.

Her adoration of her brothers seems utterly limitless, and it would seem from the number of kisses she gets on an hourly basis, that the feeling is mutual. She still has the power to crack the grumpy frown, but lately, they've discovered that imitating her squawks and squeaks elicits big laughs from Elly too.

With the boys in full day JK, she and I have been busy doing Aquafit with Amber & Caleb and Annie & Miles, plus the usual errands around about town. But my new favorite activity is to plonk her down in the basement playroom and watch her roll, stretch, wiggle and worm her way around the room. I know crawling is going to be imminent and that it will keep me even busier than I already am with these three, but man is she fun to watch! I think crawling is just going to be one more adventure to have together.

When Granny Met Elly

2010-10-06T19:40:00.000-04:00

When September rolled in, it could only mean one thing...Granny's annual fall visit! And a visit from my darling Granny can only mean one thing...food! You see, she and I share a powerful love of food and so every year when she comes, we basically gorge ourselves on every delicious thing we can think of. But the most important gorge-a-thon comes on the Sunday of Granny's visit, when we head downtown for Dim Sum. Or should I say, Dim Sum YUM because that's just how we feel about our Dim Sum.

It was a wonderful week with our wonderful Great Granny Joan (the boys insisted on and persisted in calling her this, despite the fact that it was quite the mouthful for them - she'd offered GGJ, but they refused it), and I loved her company. As long as you stuff her full of delicious food, she's rather easy to be around. ;) But what I loved the most was seeing her with Elly. These two hit it off right from the get-go. And despite telling me she just wasn't all that into babies, Granny was clearly into this baby! What can I say, she's hard to resist when she piles on the charm.

Here are my gals at our favorite Sunday spot

Having a little cuddle

"Really? You can grab your toes like this too? So that's where I get it from!"

I love this photo. Every year, Granny and I take one of my "long-arm self portraits", but this year, Elly decided to get in on the action.

We miss you, Granny-Baby! Come back soon!

You're All Very Cute, But...No.

2010-09-21T13:21:00.000-04:00

That was my answer to William last week when he suddenly asked:

"Please, please, pleeeeeeease, Mummy, can we just have another baby?"

And they really are cute, but we are SO done!

Don't look at me like that you three!

There's no more room in the tub for a fourth. Or heaven forbid, a fourth and a fifth!

Okay, yes, you're stinkin' cute, Elly. But Mummy is saying NO MORE!

"Hmph. Well you don't have to be rude about it, Mummy."

First Day Photos

2010-09-07T21:07:00.001-04:00

Well that went fairly well. No tears, no hiccups, just a couple of wide-eyed kids and their wide-eyed mother along with all the other newbies at school. Only hitch was that the boys have to go in and be picked up at two separate entrances, making life a little complicated for me. But the teachers are aware of the situation and hopefully we can find a solution that doesn't involve me running around like a headless chicken every day.

Oh, and they seem to have eaten a tomato and two crackers between them despite the two snacks and lunch I sent them to school with. Apparently this is normal, according to my friends with school-age children. Its far too exciting to eat properly, I guess.

Anyway, here's the photos of my dudes getting ready to walk to school with me on their big day.

Hug it out

Aw, ma, you are so embarassing! Enough with the camera!

Can we go now? Can we? Can we?

The Beginning Of Formal Education

2010-09-06T20:26:00.003-04:00

It starts tomorrow. Owen and William will be entering Junior Kindergarten tomorrow morning. ALL day Junior Kindergarten, might I add. In separate classes.

Deep breath, Pascale, in and out.

Whew.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited for the boys, for Elly and for Mark and myself. This is the beginning of a new adventure for our family. With the boys gone from 8:50am to 3pm, I'll be able to focus my attention on Elly, prepare dinner, clean/organise the house a bit, read, hang out with friends, start running again, go grocery shopping with only one child, write on the blog, and so much more. Oh, and maybe I will occaisionally reaquaint myself with my old friend The Afternoon Nap (*involuntary sigh of bliss*). When I think of the silence, I get a little giddy.

And yet...I am freaking out, man! My babies! At school! All day! In separate classes! Without me!

But really, they need this. They need the busyness, they need/love the socialising, they need to be apart from each other for once so that they don't get totally fed up with each other. In my mind, I know that being apart will be really good for them, that they've been with each other 24/7 since birth. They've been fighting a lot this summer, and I really hope that giving them some time to just be themselves, to not have people call them by the wrong name, to discover that they can make friends on their own and not have to rely on each other will strengthen their bond. I picture wonderful after-school chatter as they compare notes on teachers, friends, activities and adventures.

But my heart is crying. My heart keeps dramatically wailing"my babies!" and keeps forcing me to imagine scenarios where they're looking around their new classroom, scanning all the faces to find the one person who really gets them, who'll stick up for them, who's been there 24/7 since birth...only to find that he's not there because their mother thought it would be an awesome idea to frickin' separate them!

Yeah, I know. I'm nuts. Sigh.

As for the kids themselves, they're excited, nervous, apathetic, confused and hyperactive at the thought of school. Owen has been fairly quiet on the subject, with the occaisional outburst of "I don't WANT to go to school tomorrow!", to which William replies, 'Well I do!" We then chat about all the fun things they'll be doing and that they get TWO snacks as well as lunch, which leads to a confused Owen asking,"Are we sleeping there?"

I think it will take a couple of weeks for everyone to adjust, but in my heart of hearts, I know this will be the beginning of a wonderful year, because, well, because its William and Owen and they always seem to figure out how to have fun, no matter what. And I guess that's all that matters, right? Right?

Deep breath. Deeeeep breath.

Whew.

Six Months Old

2010-09-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Oh sweet girl, how are you six months old already?

Elly-belle, I love you so much. I love the way you wrap your hands around my neck when I pick you up, how a smile from you can get rid of your brothers' grumpiest troll faces, how you reach out to touch those same faces and giggle when they pretend to eat your fingers.

I love your kicky long legs and all the crazy things you do with them, the way you fall asleep holding your toesies, the way you smell after bath (when I finally get around to giving you one).

I love your sticky-uppy hair, your ski-jump nose, your round belly when you stretch in the morning on the change table.

I love your I'm-fighting-sleep noises, your I'm-talking-to-my-feet sounds, your this-mush-is-delicious-mummy mmmms, and your shrieking laugh when I gobble you up.

I love the thought of you chasing after Owen and Will, how they'll protect you, how you'll bug them when they have friends over, and how I'm going to dress the three of you up in the cutest Christmas pyjamas I can find for our holiday cards this winter.

I love that you are my little girl, my shining star. Its only been six months, but I can't imagine my life without you.

Family Matters

2010-08-29T19:00:00.001-04:00

Of course, our wonderful holiday was partially due to the wonderful weather, but mostly due to our wonderful family. The kids just loved being with Gran and Grandpa and Auntie Karen and Uncle Dwayne. Love you guys!

The Cottage As It Should Be

2010-08-29T18:55:00.001-04:00

Just a few more photos from the cottage, I know you've all been waiting patiently. I hope you don't mind this collage format, but its so much easier and faster this way than uploading them one at a time. Especially easier when you have a wiggly baby girl in your arms who doesn't want to sit still.

I think all of these photos show what a great cottage holiday we had, making the most of the lake, the beach, "the mountain" (hence the climbers with their rope), and of course, our friends who came to join us! Such a great holiday!

Marshmellow Moment

2010-08-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

How is it possible that the boys are nearly four years old and this was their first time roasting marshmellows? They were quite enamoured by the sugar, not so in love with the sticky side of it all. But somehow they pushed through and managed to finish off a whole bag...with the help of mummy, daddy, uncle Dwayne and most definitely Auntie Karen.

Do you like that we had our campfire during daylight hours? It was a rush to get it in before the 7pm bedtime. After three foolish experiements this summer, we've realised that 7pm is a FIRM bedtime or there's hell to pay over the next few days. The boys do not sleep in, they do not nap and they most certainly need their sleep, or its grumpy trolls all 'round.

Ice Cold Baby

2010-08-16T22:17:00.000-04:00

"What's cooler than being cool? Ice Cold, Baby!"

"How you doin'?"

Sophie-Love

2010-08-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

Nothing better than hugging/sucking/gnawing away on a Sophie Giraffe at the cottage...

What I Did On My Summer Vacation By Elliot Anne

2010-08-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

Homecoming

2010-08-16T21:30:00.002-04:00

Loyal readers of the blog will no doubt have looked at the lack of posts this past month, checked their calendars and then nodded their heads wisely as they thought, "End of July, beginning of August, she must be at the cottage again" and patiently awaited our return. New and perhaps fickle readers will have thought, "Wow, this blogger sucks at updating us, I'm outta here!"

But I am back and although I do suck at posting lately (my excuse/refrain is to merely point at the twin whirlwinds and at the 5 month old who has suddenly refused to be anywhere but in my arms and mutter, "you try blogging with this lot, I can't even get a shower in"), I have lots of great photos but not nearly enough quiet time in the day to sit at my computer and compose witty captions for all the photos. This is a plea for patience and also a cheery wave to you all. I've missed writing to you enormously and am looking forward to all that I have to write about in the next little while. A bientot, mes amis!

Medieval Times

2010-07-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Owen and William have been at camp in the mornings this week, but not your usually woodsy camp. Nope, they've been to Arts Camp! And let me tell you, they yuv it! When I pick them up at lunchtime they happily sing new songs, dance new funky dances and tell me wonderful stories of the things they pretended to be that day. Its been really great to see them having fun at something different.

And speaking of different...I got an email last week reminding me of the camp and also informing me that on Wednesday, it would be Medieval Times Day and I needed to send my campers dressed appropriately for the theme. "Oh crap," I thought, 'What am I going to do? Send them in rags with dirt on their faces and say they're serfs?"

Well I thought about it over the weekend, but was too busy to do anything creative. Finally at 3am on Monday morning, as I sat up feeding Elliot, I had a brainwave. I would papier mache some knights helmets and borrow some leggings from Amber and Abigail and improvise the rest.

So that knight, sorry, I mean night, I blew up a couple of balloons, sizing them inside the boys' baseball caps for the right fit, tore up some newspapers, made my flour and water glue and got down to business. And you know, it was really fun. As I smooshed and splotched the evening away, I had visions of myself becoming a papier mache artist, creating bowls and ashtrays and pinatas the likes of which you have never seen. But then I got some in my hair and the love affair was over.

Here are the helmets in their raw state, waiting to dry somewhere away from little hands.

And the next evening, balloons popped, waiting to be painted.

And the final product, complete with personalized knight's crests and shields (that daddy made from diaper boxes, might I add).

A dragon rampant for Owen...

And a Red Castle for Will, with Princess Elly waiting to be rescued in her tower on the counter.

Very, very satisfying to see the outfits on and to see how happy they made the boys. They were a huge hit at camp too!

Romantic Anniversary Dinner For...Four?

2010-07-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

It was our sixth anniversary (although Mark insists that we also say 14th, since we've actually been together that long) last Saturday. The thought of getting a babysitter and going out to dinner was just a bit much for us, homebodies that we are, so we decided to do something even better. I went to our favorite foodie place, The Cheese Boutique, and bought us all kinds of wonderful cheeses, olives, pates and meats. We also bought some wonderful wine from my family's region of France, called Tariquet, which goes perfectly with this kind of relaxing dinner.

Our grand plan was to put the boys to bed at 7pm, then get Elly on her way at 8pm before heading out to the garden to enjoy a quiet, adult dinner together (and no doubt talk about our children). As I began the process of getting Elliot to go down, Mark set up our romantic dining area (yes, that is the kids' plastic picnic table)

Mmmmmm.......

But then he noticed we had an interloper. Of the smelly, slobbery, hairy four legged kind.

And then we had another intruder into our quiet meal. After running up and down the stairs every 3 minutes to try to calm her down, I finally conceded defeat, picked up my screaming daughter and brought her outside. Note how she is no longer crying and looking decidedly pleased with herself to be in Daddy's arms.

Ah well, it was still a lovely evening until the mosquitoes chased us inside.
Happy Anniversary Sparky!

PS - Do you like our new fence?

Movie Review

2010-07-15T19:46:00.003-04:00

Owen and Will have recently watched snippets of one of 'Daddy's faborite moobies' and Will gave me a quick summary over breakfast:

"And den de big guy who breeves did dis and da yiddle guys didn't yike it and so dey took dis fing and a bad guy took da pwincess."

Can you guess which movie we're talking about?

Here's a hint...this guy is in it (the boys LOVE this song and heartily sing along)

Four Months Old

2010-07-14T10:45:00.005-04:00

Oh Elliot, my Elly-Belle, you are such a joy. I could snuggle with you all day. Your fuzzy little head fits perfectly under my chin, your hands clasp my neck, you drool on my shoulder...I love every minute with you, little girl.

You've just had your four month birthday and your daddy and I are amazed at how quickly you've grown. We had to stop using the bassinet by the side of our bed at night because you're much too long for it now. We've put you in a pack n' play instead, although getting you out of it in the middle of the night to feed you is not quite as easy. And speaking of getting up in the night...you've managed to sleep through five times now, although never consecutively. Are you just teasing me, or do you think you might try that again. Mummy really would love a full night's sleep every once in a while.

Here you are in the basinett with your favorite friend, your left foot. You often cuddle it up to you, or suck on your big toe. I think the night after I took this photo we realised you were just too long to sleep in here anymore.

At nap time in your crib, hugging your buddy LF again.

Did I mention that I think this is adorable?

At four months, you're a very smiley and happy little thing, although you definitely save your best smiles for Daddy. When he walks in the door at the end of the day, your entire face lights up as you beam at him, and he, of course, melts completely. You're also very, very fond of your brothers. I was reading them a bedtime story this evening with you in my lap facing us and we had to stop reading for a bit because you were laughing so much at William and Owen. We started laughing too because it was so cute. Actually, you're very good at making the boys laugh. If ever they're grumpy or annoyed, one look from you changes their attitude completely. They can be in mid-tantrum when suddenly they catch a look from you and can't help but coo and smile back.

Here we are at the park, wading your toesies in the water. You look so much like your brothers.

I love the rolls on your legs - all that middle of the night feeding is clearly doing you some good.

You've just discovered Jack and grin at him when he walks over to you. He's been hovering near you lately, possibly under the false impression that you might pet him or give him food.

But since you have recently started eating cereal (Dr Farine said I could start you off now, even though I waited until 5 1/2 months with your brothers), maybe Jackie-Jack will get some food off you soon. You make such a mess already that he could very well lick your face clean if you let him get too close. Here's a video of you, my love, having breakfast with your brothers. Bon Apetit!

Pirate Story By William

2010-07-07T08:16:00.003-04:00

"One day, a pirate went on a ship and was yooking and yooking and yooking for a yong, yong time. Den he saw yots and yots of trevor."

Its Fun To Stay At The....

2010-06-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

Potty training has started again, and this time much more successfully. Owen and Will are in underwear all day now, except for bedtimes, when its back to diapers for the time being. The boys are doing really well. We still have accidents, but we have way more successes. And I just love those little buns in undies!

Here are my little cuties reenacting a Village People video, dressed in pirate costume (Will) and Pantless Cowboy (Owen). I love the chaps + underwear look. And you can see the little miss at the bottom of this photo, watching her big bruvs adoringly. Her leg in the air is a new trick - she's got some kind of Jane Fonda routine going on with the leg lately, its very cute. She pumps it up and down like nobody's business. I'll try to get it on video.

William & Owen's Idea Of Heaven

2010-06-25T20:40:00.003-04:00

One of the last treats of the preschool year (how on earth is it over already?) was to go to a local fire station. You can imagine how excited my two monkeys were! I have to say, I was pretty excited to go along with them too. Elly, clearly bored out of her baby mind, snored away in the carrier. Here are some photos of the tour:

Cooooool! A truck! Actually, this little fire station around the corner from us only has the one truck, but it was still impressive.

All the gear - it looks so heavy.

Owen was very excited to see the "jaws of yife" in the back of the truck

This giant man was Fireman Mike, who was huge, had a big deep voice and could have been really scary if he wasn't so nice. I was really impressed when he talked to the kids and told them that they should never be afraid of a firefighter, that if they were ever in trouble they always knew that they could go to a fire station and there would always be someone there to help. Most importantly, he reminded kids that if they saw a fireman like him in their house, they shouldn't be scared and run away, but should always run towards him, because he was there to help them. Such an important message and I was glad he said it, because he did look intimidating.

The captain got all his gear on for the kids to also underscore the "don't be afraid" message - the mask might make him look and sounds scary, but they were there to help. You can tell from the boys' faces that they don't quite believe that he's not scary. But Owen and Will still want to be firemen when they grow up, so it can't have totally freaked them out.

Interestingly enough, the son of one of our teachers is training to be a fireman. It kind of makes me smile to think that when he was growing up, he would have loved all things firefighter and would have no doubt proudly made his aspirations known at a young age. I guess parents assume their boys will grow out of this phase, but in reality, some don't and go on to become the big, brave guys!

Parenting Olympics

2010-06-22T20:15:00.002-04:00

Today at lunch I decided that we need to create a new type of sporting event called The Parenting Olympics. Parents from around the world could compete for medals (or quality time alone at a spa of their choice) in a variety of physically, mentally and some other -ally challenging competitions involving child rearing. Here are just a few of the different events you could compete in:

The Fridge Toss
This is a time sensitive event which combines extreme mental agility with strong verbal skills. With a minimum of two grumpy, whiny children hanging off their pantlegs, parents have five minutes to open a fridge, realise they've put off doing the grocery shopping yet again, take out a jar of marmalade, an egg, a heel of cheddar that has come out of its wrapping and gone hard, some wilted mint leaves and a tub of sour cream that may very well be past its best before date and create lunch for the kids. The winner will be the parent who completes the task in the alloted time and who convinces their children to eat at least two and a half bites from their plate.

The Ten Minute Dash
To win this event, an athlete must possess both incredible speed and strong organizational skills. Each parent will be given a minimum of two children between the ages of three and six years of age as well as an infant under four months of age. The goal is to get the older children to school before the bell rings. As the gun goes off at the starting line, the parent must quickly assess which of the children still need to change their diapers/use the potty, whether its Show and Tell day, find the blue sweater with the zipper because he has a zipper and I want one toooooo, nurse the infant so it doesn't scream its head off in the car, slather sunscreen on exposed body parts, remove choking hazard from infant's car seat, strap everyone into the minivan and reverse out of the driveway without knocking over the garbage cans. Additional points can be earned for each family member with brushed teeth, shoes on the correct feet and breakfast crumbs brushed off.

The Poopathlon
Each competitor will receive an infant who has had a poop explosion in their onesie. The aim of this event is to change the child into a clean diaper without getting any of the diaper contents onto themselves or the child's new outfit. Participating athletes will encounter the following obstacles: wriggly, uncooperative infant, with at least three flailing limbs, no wipes left in the container and the nearest refill situated across the room, as well as various distractions from other children ("Mom! Timmy's in daddy's workshop. I thought you said we couldn't touch his power tools", "Dad, can I eat this entire bag of cookies? Why not? Why not?! I've already opened it", "Mama, my bum is poopy too. Can you change me. Oh, but I took my diaper off already on your bed. Is that okay?").

The Marathon
An extreme physical and mental challenge. Participants must successfully complete a series of tasks, including working their day job, driving children to extra-curricular activities, making meals, laundry, socializing with friends, assisting with homework, etc, whilst getting less than five non-consecutive hours of sleep a night due to a nursing newborn, demands for more water from toddlers and/or teenagers ignoring curfew.

I think I'm really on to something here. What would be your event?

Elliot At Three Months

2010-06-05T07:45:00.005-04:00

My lovely girl's three month birthday was on Wednesday and I didn't post anything! Yet one more thing to pile on to my mother's guilt. But more on that later. For now, let's celebrate the sweetest little girl.

She's a goofy one, just like her ma

She can sleep anywhere

"Um, ma, I don't think I can get away with this look. Its a little too...frou-frou for me"

"Seriously, could you just take it off and put me in some leggings?"

"Whaddya know? I CAN do girlie!"
This is my all time favorite outfit - our friend Gabe bought it for Elly and when she's wearing it, Mark and I can't stop kissing her and cuddling with her and turning to each other to say, 'Ok, seriously? This kid is freakin' cute!"

The Big Bruv's can't stop kissing and cuddling her either. I get daily requests of "Peas can I hold Eh-yee?" Elly's really started to smile for the guys, which thrills them to no end - "Yook! She's smiyin! She yikes me!" - and I'm really looking forward to the day they can play together a bit more.

Unfortunately, my camera was a little blurry for these next shots. This is Will and his favorite girl. She's found her fingers and loves to suck away on them, so now El always has sticky little fingers with lots of damp fluff stuck in between. Lovely.

This is a classic Elly smile. Just lights up a room.

I love how serious they both look. This reminds me of a photo my brother and I took when he was in university, the two of us posing with the exact same look on Owen's face.

I'm not sure how keen Elliot is on this pose, but the boys were very excited to be holding her.

Oh little girl, you have no idea how much they love you!

And just a reminder of how small she was when she was born - look how big she is now! Time flies, eh?

Long Weekend

2010-05-29T08:36:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone, we're still here! The computer with all the photos on it has been down for the past few days, but is finally working. I've also been writing many posts in my head about parenting three children, having a daughter, and life in general. Hopefully some of those thoughts will make it to the blog in the next few days.

In the meantime, here are some photos of our long weekend - Mark cleared a whole load of bushes from the garden to make way for our new fence, the boys showed signs of affection rather than aggression for a change, Jack tried his darndest to look cute so as to get some attention and Elly worked very hard on her adorability. All in all a perfect weekend.

2010-05-09T19:34:00.000-04:00

I've had a lovely Mother's Day - I got to sleep in with Elliot whilst the boys played in the basement with Daddy, then we had eggs and bacon and pancakes from Chef Daddy, a fairly good trip to Costco (looking for an extra car seat-booster seat for Mark's car, plus we hit the jackpot and got diapers, pullups and wipes on sale), pizza lunch, time to read a chapter about power struggles entitled "Parenting Your Little Hitler" in Honey, I Wrecked The Kids by Alyson Schafer, an outing to the park and bathtime. Not bad, really, not bad at all.

Best of all, I have someone coming to help me tomorrow. I've hired a 19 year old university student for a couple of months. She'll be coming for 4 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Her aunt has 6 year old twin boys who she babysits regularly, so she knows what she's in for. I think the boys are looking forward to someone to give them lots of attention and run around with them in the backyard and take them to the park. I'm just looking forward to an extra pair of hands, eyes and ears! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Here are a few more shots from the Mother's Day Tea - as you can see, its all action shots with the two tazmanian devils on hand.

And here is Little Miss Cutie Pants in her bumbo. Can you believe it? She's already in it! And looking mighty cute to boot.

Speaking of cute - get a load of our little Strawberry Bear. It was unseasonably cold today, so we dressed up in winter gear for the park. Elly crashed before I even got her in the baby bjorn. I think the cozy outfit did it. Love the ears!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T03:20:00.001-04:00

Will and Owen's preschool put on a lovely Mother's Day Tea on Thursday, and we were treated to songs, flowers and presents. It was very sweet. When they started singing, my eyes threatened to overflow. I looked around and saw that all the other women around me were in the same position. There's nothing sweeter than your kids being sweet.

Will is on the right in the red shirt and Owen is opposite him in the blue shirt

Two Months Old Already, But Still Perfect

2010-05-03T18:29:00.002-04:00

Two Months Old Already?

2010-05-03T06:19:00.004-04:00

Time is rushing along - how is it May already? Elliot is two months old, more alert and wiggly, smiley, talkative (coo-ative?) than ever. Each day shows us more of her smiley-girl personality (unless she's tired, then find a soother and a comfy place for her to sleep, STAT!) and what a good baby she is. Everyone talks about "good babies", but she's such an angel. She sleeps through all the noise her brothers make right next to her head, loves baths, likes the car seat once we're moving, eats well and is just so adorable and cuddly!

I don't have time to write much more today - the boys have coughs and have been up since 5:30am and are now clamouring for breakfast - so I have to go, but here's a couple of blurry shots taken with Mark's blackberry from last night when Jack decided to camp down next to Elly. I'm not sure if he was trying to cuddle or smother.

Gotta Love A Growth Spurt

2010-04-22T10:05:00.002-04:00

Hey, I'm writing! I have time to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea and write on my blog! How can this be? Must be because not only did Elliot sleep for SEVEN hours last night (9:30pm to 4:30am!), but she's been sleeping all morning! I fed her at 5:30am and then again at 8:30am and she's been conked out ever since. I even transferred her to the car seat so we could take the boys to school and she still slept. Unheard of. So now I'm just getting some odds and ends done, including adding some new photos to the blog for you to oooh and ahhh over.

All is well chez nous, we seem to be getting into a routine, the boys are...well they're still a handful, but we all seem to be coping with the 6am start, the lack of naps and the daily meltdown. I think the good weather and the ability to throw them into the backyard for some active play definitely helps.

Okay, quickly before she wakes up, here are some shots of the gorgeous three.

Pops

2010-04-11T08:17:00.000-04:00

My step-dad is awesome. Couldn't ask for a better Pops. Thank you for being such a wonderful grandfather to these boys, Dave. We love you.

Now will you please ditch the France project and come over to do the garden?

Big Brother Owen

2010-04-11T08:09:00.000-04:00

"Its me, Eh-yee! Its Big Bruvver Owen!"

This is the frequent refrain heard throughout our house. Well, that and "Owen, please stop touching your sister. Give her some room. Don't put your face right up to her's like that please. I'm trying to feed her, could you just wait a second, please." He loves her so very much, he can't help himself. Owen is constantly wanting to hold her, touch her, kiss, her, "yook" at her. Its driving me slightly crazy, but I also think its sweet. He's forever commenting on how cute or pretty she is and comes up with new nicknames for her on a daily basis. Today is Tico Eh-yee, which Will has told him he doesn't like as a name, but which Owen is sticking to. Yesterday it was Eh-yey Eh-yeephant. The other funny thing is that Owen calls her Elliot Anne a lot, far more than Mark or I do, we usually just call her Elly. He was having a bit of a temper tantrum yesterday about something or other and ended up screaming "I want to kiss Ehyeeot! I want to kiss Ehyeeot!" over and over. Well at least she'll know her full name. Of course, William loves her too, and also frequently asks for "one more kiss" from the baby, but Owen is particularly besoted right now.

Unfortunately, these photos are blurry, but I think they capture the devotion quite well. (And yes, that is the same outfit she had on in the other photos...it was the same day, when I had two minutes to actually take photos! I promise to try to blog more and add more photos soon. Since the boys are awake at 6am, they don't nap anymore and Elliot has a fussy period from about the boys bedtime until her's at 10pm, there's never a moment in the day for me to get things done. But once a routine establishes itself, and if we have more days like this one, where the babe is sleeping in and the bruvvers are playing with Daddy in the basement, I'll be back to a more regular blogging schedule. I have so much to say and write posts in my head throughout the day. Maybe one day soon it will transfer itself onto the blog! For now I hope you can live with the occaisional photo I manage to put up)

Elly Belly In The Evening

2010-04-10T17:43:00.001-04:00

My gorgeous girl, milk-happy in the evening sun

A Girl And Her Gran

2010-04-10T17:34:00.003-04:00

I love this photo, how happy Susan looks with this little munchkin asleep on her shoulder, and how utterly out of it Elly is...when she sleeps, she sleeps hard.

Elly 101

2010-03-30T07:08:00.004-04:00

In honour of Elliot's four week birthday (what the?! How did that come so quickly?) here are a few things you need to know about our little mademoiselle:

1. She is a champion eater, with multiple feeds throughout the day.

2. Those multiple feeds lead to multiple diapers, of the poopy variety. We're going through more wipes than I can keep on hand.

3. She's got a latch that won't quit...Those gums clamp down like a steel trap and don't let go until her belly is full. Yowza.

4. Speaking of her belly, her belly button is a swirly pattern, kind of like a cinnamon bun, which makes sense since I ate an awful lot of those during my pregnancy. You are what you eat, I guess.

5. She had two doting big brothers who cannot stop kissing her and asking to hold her. We usually comply with the latter about once a day, but I can't keep track of the number of smoochies she's been getting on a daily basis.

6. She sleeps in a bassinet next to my side of the bed. Until this past Saturday, Elly and I were bunking together on the futon in her room. But I knew that if I didn't get back into my own bed sooner rather than later, we'd end up as roomies until she went to college. I loved cuddling in the night, but I have to say, its sooo nice to be back in my own bed!

7. She likes baths. Owen and Will like to help with said baths. I'm trying very hard to let them help. So far they've been allowed to wash her toesies.

8. Elly doesn't like it when the milk machine leaves the room without her permission.

9. She smells like a root vegetable to me and has since the moment they plopped her on my chest. I find it intoxicating. Weird, but intoxicating all the same.

10. Since coming home from the hospital, Elly's been a bit stuffed up. She sounds like a pug when she breathes.

And here are some photos of the little pug herself. Pretty cute if I do say so myself.

The Joy In Each Day

2010-03-19T19:15:00.003-04:00

Wowza. Three kids is hard work. I'm not sure we thought this one through very clearly. Surprising, since Mark is such a realist and I'm usually enough of a control freak to plan ahead. But I don't think I was planning on it being quite this nuts. Oh sure, I knew the boys would have to go through an adjustment period, and that newborns mean less sleep. But, wowza, three kids is hard work.

Because Elly was born at nearly 11pm and you have to stay in hospital for 24 hours before being discharged, we decided I would stay overnight again rather than going home in the middle of the night. I got a little panicky at three in the morning on my second night in the hospital, as Elly taught me what "cluster feeding" is (basically eating non-stop for an extended period of time). I was so tired after nearly 6 hours of constantly feeding her and no sleep, that I began to wonder how on earth I was going to cope back home on this kind of schedule. But just as the hyperventalating was threatening to start, I channeled my mother and told myself to snap out of it. I decided that in order to survive the next few months of newbornhood and toddlerhood, I was going to have to focus on the joy in each day. It didn't matter if it was just one small thing or something huge, just try to find something that made me smile or laugh or glow at some point in the day.

Since then, we've had days when if you'd asked me what my moment of joy was, I would have said a nasty word and quite possibly bopped you on the head with some size 1 diapers. Its hard to find something pleasant to reflect upon when you're ready to kill your three year olds for various misdemeanors or you just long to lie down and sleep or the laundry is threatening to take over the house. Its gotten to the point where I've told myself my new measuring stick should be to ask myself "Is everyone still alive?" and if the answer is yes, then I know its been a good day.

However, we've also had some really truly wonderful moments, where I've been close to tears with love and gratitude for this family of ours. I've seen Owen and Will playing so nicely with each other, making each other giggle as they shared a toy, seen their gorgeous dimples as they cackled on their bikes in the sunshine and I've thought, "yes, I can do this, we will be alright, we will survive." I've looked down at Elly in my arms and felt so peaceful and so overwhelmed with love for our third child . There's been a lot of joy. My next goal is to find out how to distill those feelings into a drug that I can inject directly into my arm on the not so joyful days...Anyone know a good chemist?

Elly Doing Her Thing

2010-03-15T11:43:00.002-04:00

This video will either thrill you or bore you depending on how you feel about newborns...Personally, I'm so full of hormones that I just melt at this video of Elliot doing her baby thing.

Keeping Little Whirlwinds Occupied

2010-03-15T10:10:00.004-04:00

Trying to keep the big brothers happy and busy is a full time job that currently requires three adults. I'm so thankful for my mum's help and for Mark taking two weeks off work (sadly he went back to work today...booo!) to figure out how to keep these guys out of mischief and not in constant tantrum state. We have been dealing with some very, very whiney boys. However, we've also had some really lovely moments in between the tears:

The Salad Years

Worker guy Owen busily helping mummy take the chairs apart so we can wash the covers.
Chef William making Lamb Pot Pie with Gaga (note the tongue sticking out) - it was delicious!

Mummy taking five minutes from nursing the incredible eating Elliot to read a story to the boys before bedtime.

Chubby cheeks are here to stay if she keeps eating at the milk bar like she has been for the past two weeks! At her 1 week check up she was back up and slightly past birth weight at 7lb 13oz and change. Attagirl!

One Week Old

2010-03-09T20:02:00.004-05:00

No time to write it seems, feedings and changings and taking care of overtired, overactive three year olds keeping us all busy. But here are some photos to keep you entertained.

Quiet Moment

2010-03-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

She's perfect

Home

2010-03-04T19:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, am doing this super fast so I can get to bed and try to snooze before Elly-Belly wants another all night feeding marathon. Just to say we're home, all is well, the big brothers are thrilled with their sister and she's just so freakin' cute!

Will post more eventually, but I need a bit of time to find some kind of normal. In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

Her Ladyship

2010-03-03T11:03:00.004-05:00

Here's another great shot of Little Miss Sunshine or, as my mother calls her (that's Great Granny Joan), Her Ladyship. Gosh she's cute. I've been looking back at photos of the newborn twins and, at the moment, she reminds of teeny one day old Owen.
Pascale will be in hospital overnight tonight as they like to keep a newborn in for 24 hours and, unless Pasc wants to go home at 11pm (no, thankyou), they will spend another night at St. Joe's and go home tomorrow.
Mark is taking the boys to meet her this afternoon. How much would you love to see their faces when they finally meet their little sister.
If I get any more photos, I'll be sure to post them too. This is Gaga - Over and Out

Welcoming Little Miss Sunshine

2010-03-03T07:55:00.009-05:00

She's here at last. Hi everyone. Gwamma Beanz/Gaga here instead of your usual blogster, who is otherwise engaged.

An e-mail from Mark last night reports that Elliot Anne Pergant Johnson arrived at 10:52 Toronto time at St Joseph's Hospital - the same place as her big bruvvers 3 and a half years ago. She weighed 7lbs 12oz (the same as her Uncle David 30something years ago) and is 56cm tall. Daddy reports that she has a fine set of lungs. I spoke with Mummy just a few minutes ago who says that Elly is absolutely gorgeous and, so far pretty calm. She's nursing well and sleeping in between.

So - would you like to see a photo? Silly question.Here she is then

And What Of The Big Bruvvers?

2010-03-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

Mark and I just dropped Will and Owen off at school for the morning, not mentioning anything that will be happening in a few short hours. We felt that getting them worked up this morning about the arrival of their baby sister would be too much for them. Their grandparents will pick them up at lunchtime and explain things then. I've suggested telling them that mummy's at a doctor's appointment, since they're quite comfortable with that - it's been happening a lot lately - but that Bill and Susan should feel free to say what they think is most appropriate.

I went in to check on the two of them last night before going to bed myself (having taken a gravol to make sure I did sleep rather than lie there with my brain whirring at 60mph) and kissed their sweet little heads as they snored softly. I'm so excited for them, for what it will mean to be big brothers to this baby, but I also can't help but feel a bit guilty at just how much their world is about to change. Thank goodness they have each other for support and for keeping things "normal" - they'll still have a buddy to play with, to talk to, to fight with, to go to sleep with.

Oh, we're in for some exciting times to come! I wonder what they'll say when they see her for the first time? When I came home from the hospital, my brother pushed me in the stomach with his forefinger and said, "I poke it." Will and Owen are a little more verbose than that, so I'm sure I'll have some interesting soundbites for you.

Okay, my brain is starting to do the whirring at 60mph thing and this post is in danger of spiralling out of creative control, so I shall sign off before the real waffling begins. But don't panic, friends, my mum has been charged with updating the blog, so you'll be able to find out how our big day went (thanks, ma!). And finally, may I just yell a very excited and slightly nervous

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Now It Gets Interesting

2010-03-01T15:14:00.003-05:00

Back from the OB's, a whole two centimetres dilated...at this rate it'll be another 8 weeks before the kid comes out!

However, Dr C is on call again tomorrow and since she's going away the following week, she suggested that I go in for an ultrasound at the hospital and see her up in the birthing wing immediately afterwards. Since I'm 40 weeks + 5 days, she says she's happy to break my waters...

How does March 2nd sound for a birthday?

Now I just have to keep my cool and not drive everyone in the house crazy between now and my 12:30pm u/s appointment...

FYI

2010-03-01T08:01:00.002-05:00

I have an OB appointment this afternoon, so I'll update properly after I come home.

Mark wasn't thrilled about going in to work today. I think he's bored because no one is giving him work in case the baby comes and its hard to sink your teeth into all the smaller stuff he has on his desk. There's also the possibility that he might go postal if one more person asks him where the baby is. Oh Baby-Bobette, you're stressing your daddy out already!

A Conversation With The Big Brothers-To-Be

2010-02-28T08:31:00.004-05:00

This morning in bed....

Owen, playing by the side of our bed with his worker guy tools: "Is Baby comin' now?"

Me: "Not yet bud. I think she's just too cosy in mummy's tummy."

Owen: "But we want her!"

Me: "I know, sweetie, but she'll come when she's ready. Why do you want her to come now?"

Owen: "Cause we big bruvvers an' I want to show her my tools an' make her yaugh. An' its Febuwey."

Me, yaughing: "You're going to be such a great big brother! But you know, boys, if she doesn't come today, she's not going to be born in February. Today is the last day of February. Tomorrow it will be March first, so she might be born in March."

Will, with great concern: "But she's too yiddle to march!"

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

2010-02-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

At least I'm a human female. It could be a whole heck of a lot worse:

* Blue Whales' gestation lasts around a year

* Elephants have a gestation period of 22 months

* Spiny Dog Fish are pregnant for 24 months

* The Alpine Salamander give birth to live young after a 3 year pregnancy

* Frilled Shark have been recorded to have gestation periods up to 3 1/2 years.

Overdue

2010-02-26T07:01:00.003-05:00

My own husband has taken to asking if I'm in labour now. He'll call from work and say "Anything?" to which I reply in a somewhat exasperated tone, "Don't you think I would TELL you?!" I think he just needs something, anything to tell all the coworkers who keep asking him for news.

Apparently the boys were complaining about her at school - "Da baby is yate! She isn't comin' out! We're all waitin' for her!" Oh dear. Well, you can't say this baby isn't wanted.

Its a very blizzardy day here in Toronto, so Mark thinks we'll inevitably have to go to the hospital today, but again, I'm feeling just as I did three weeks ago, so I'm not holding out hope. At this point, I'm becoming more and more certain I'll be induced sometime next week.

But once again, I promise to keep you posted if things change.

Happy Feet Help

2010-02-25T16:53:00.003-05:00

Nope, nothing new on the belly front, but I did go get a pedicure this afternoon as a little pick-me-up. Now my feet are looking happy and therefore so am I. I also asked for a silly extra - a flower for each of my big toesies - so I could have something cheerful to look at when things finally do get rolling and I'm lying in the hospital. I'm sure my brother, who absolutely loathes painted toes, will think they look horrible, but every time I look down, over and around my belly, I smile. And that can't be all bad can it?

Due

2010-02-25T07:47:00.005-05:00

Well its only 7:45am, but I figure since its my actual due date, maybe you can have a few updates today. Although since we're still waiting for even a hint of labour there might not be too much to add throughout the day.

Mark had to drive his dad to the train station extra early this morning so he can do some work back in Ottawa and unfortunately that meant that the supersonic-eared boys woke up at 5:30am. I somehow managed to keep them in bed with me until about 7am, but it was with a lot of complaining and whining from all three of us. Perhaps one needs to be truly exhausted to go into labour? Maybe they're doing me a favour by not napping for the past 5 days? Thankfully Susan/Gran is still here to offer cuddles and calories and get the boys in and out of their carseats for me when we take them to school. I think they're feeling the impatience their parents are radiating and its affecting sleep and routine. Ah well, when Her Ladyship finally arrives our routine will go out the window anyway, so why not have it happen a few days in advance? Again, maybe the guys are just doing me a favour, trying to prepare me for the reality of three kids.

I'll keep you posted...

D-Day Minus One

2010-02-24T08:50:00.002-05:00

Still nothing. No sign of any action, apart from Mademoiselle shaking her little booty throughout the night and keeping me awake. So now I'm tired, grumpy, fed up and fat.

How's that for an update?

Daily Update

2010-02-23T11:12:00.004-05:00

Kat in Australia has requested a daily update from now until the baby comes, just to let you all know what's going on, and I guess that's fair enough. I know all too well what its like to wait for the news of a friend's labour and how you can't help but wonder if they've had the baby and are just too tired/busy/distracted to write about it or if that poor girl is still hanging around with a huge belly getting more and more impatient as the days go on.

Can you guess which category I fall into? I went for my 39 week OB appointment yesterday and basically there were no signs of a downward movement from the little person my granny has taken to calling "Her Ladyship". Actually, that's not true, I was 1 cm dilated, but Dr C didn't seem all that impressed and said I shouldn't hold out much hope for the baby to come today. That's too bad because she's on call at the hospital today and it would have been nice to have her deliver ALL my babies. I'm not sure when she's next on call, but if it means waiting another week, I think I'll take my chances with whichever doctor happens to be there in the meantime.

Bobine isn't officially due until Thursday, the 25th, but man, I wouldn't mind if she made her appearance before then. I know she'll come when she's ready (or when I'm induced if it comes to that), but her grandparents would like to see her before they have to go back to Ottawa, her brothers are asking for her everyday and her father said "if she doesn't come soon I'm going to have to iron more shirts for work". So I ironed his shirts for him today, seven of them, but I really, really, REALLY would like her out before we need to iron any more!

Anyone want to place a bet on when she's going to emerge from her cocoon?

The Cavalry Has Arrived

2010-02-18T16:39:00.002-05:00

My lovely inlaws, Bill and Susan, arrived last night to help with the boys and the girlie (whenever she decides to make her grand entrance). I was sitting on the couch when I heard the door open and I had the same feeling I had when I picked my mum up from the airport two days before I was induced with the boys - Its really happening. I'm going to have a baby. Soon.

You'd think after already having two kids I'd be a bit blase, perhaps not quite so surprised at the thought of a new arrival, but nope. The thought of a new person joining our family, a new life in this world, totally blows my mind. I can't think of any other, non-surfer-dude way of saying it. She's been a reality for so long and yet still so intangible, hiding there in my stomach. I've been aching to hold her and the fact that I could very well be doing just that any day now is quite overwhelming. I've been so impatient for the last few weeks (months? Mark would nod here) but now I'm almost freaked out. Almost. I'm ready. But...woah, dude. I'm having a baby.

Practicing The Art Of Patience

2010-02-11T19:34:00.005-05:00

When I was pregnant with the boys I knew at about 30 weeks when I was going to be induced. I had a date set in my mind and I was working on keeping those kiddies in there for as long as possible, terrified at the prospect of them coming too early.

Now, I'm nearly 38 weeks pregnant, pretty much the same number of weeks as when I went into the hospital to have the boys. So in my head, I'm ready to go. To my mind, this is when a person should stop being pregnant and start being a mummy. My body and my baby seem to have other ideas though. With two weeks left until my official due date, I'm not really showing too many signs of imminent labour. Or at least I don't think I am. Since I was induced before, I have no real idea of what those pre-labour pains are like, or how quickly things might progess. I was just shoved full of pitocen and away we went. So I now spend my days wondering if every little twinge, every slight cramp could be it. "Ohp," I mutter to myself as I place a hand on my lower belly, "is this it?" Nope. It never is.

Everyone tells me I'll definitely know, so I should just chill out and get on with life, but its so hard to concentrate on anything else. My whole being is waiting for it. I'm straining to keep a lid on my impatience, but it keeps popping out, frustrated and grumpy. "Just hurry up already!" my mind is yelling. "I want to hold her NOW!" Of course, I'm a little fed up with my body too. I'm not as big as I was with the twins, but when you have to lug yourself out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the washroom yet again, it doesn't matter if its one or two babies in there. At this stage, I'm big and cumbersome and almost need a push from Mark to make it out from under the covers. Throughout the day I notice I waddle when I walk, I grunt when I put my boots on, I sigh when I sit down on the couch. I'm most definitely at the beached whale stage of things and it doesn't help my mood, let me tell you.

Of course, the poor unfortunates who are most affected by the moody, impatient behemoth are Owen and William. I'm sure they're wondering what on earth has become of their mother and who this large, grumpy replacement is. I snap at them constantly and argue with them over the smallest things. This morning, William was upset when I forgot to say "On your marks, get set, go" as I pulled out of the driveway, something that has become a little ritual as we leave for school in the mornings. And instead of stopping the car on our quiet street and saying those six simple words, I turned it into a "lesson" telling him that sometimes we don't get everything we want and mummy can't do everything, etc etc etc and told him to cut it out when he cried. Yes, I am indeed aiming for a nomination for World's Meanest Mother. Maybe that's why the baby hasn't emerged yet. She's listening and has decided she doesn't like what she hears.

So I'm trying really hard to be better, to take deep breaths and remember that its just hormones, its just pregnancy, its just a few short days away. I try to keep calm when little people jump on the couch or ignore requests to put the scissors DOWN RIGHT NOW, and be grateful that they've been napping steadily for about a month, letting me get some much needed rest every afternoon. I remember to enjoy the quiet moments we do have together, the cuddles and kisses, their excitement at the imminent arrival of a baby sister, the wonderful questions and suggestions ("When Baby comes, I gonna show her cows and horses. I gonna hold her so she can see dem", "Maybe when Baby comes we can go to da cottage and she can play in da yake wid us. I gonna hep her swim!") and their gentleness with our friends' little ones. All in all, this is a magical time, something I'll probably never experience again (I say probably because I'm aware that accidents happen and I don't want to jinx myself) and I should just go with the flow.

But could the flow hurry it up already?! Jeez.

Good Girl

2010-02-02T15:48:00.004-05:00

She's head down. Whewf! That's a bit of a relief. Now we just have to wait and see if she stays that way! The technician was laughing for the whole 5 minutes it took to do the appointment because the baby was wiggling and jiggling around like mad. She said she got one good shot for the doctor's files before little miss wigglebum took off.

Anyway, I'm greatly relieved that I don't have to be making any decisions and can let nature and gravity do their thing. Of course now I'm going to be on high alert for any and every possible sign of labour starting and will no doubt drive everyone around me nuts. Since I was induced with the boys, I never had to make the decision as to when it was time to head to the hospital after counting contractions for hours beforehand or having my waters break at some inopportune moment. Du calme, control freak, du calme.

Speaking of the boys, I was reading my W book, Who Has Seen The Wind, set in 1930s Saskatchewan and nearly burst into tears in Starbucks this morning as I came across this passage about a mother reflecting on her two young sons after an incident at school upsets one of them:

"It was like being on the other side of the fence - to have lives of their own. Dear God, she wished fervently, make them turn out all right - not just alright: world beaters - the best there was[...] Like their father - that would be enough."

I know, I know, its the hormones, but I felt weepy for the next half hour every time I thought of it.

OB Update

2010-02-01T20:06:00.002-05:00

So I had my 36 week appointment today and all was well with growth, fetal heartbeat, etc. The OB thought the baby's head was down just by the feel of my belly, but since I'm still feeling lots of movement at the lower end of my uterus, she's sending me for an ultrasound to double check. I managed to get an ultrasound for tomorrow morning and will go straight to the OB's office to report back once I know which way she's facing. Conveniently, the lab and her office are on the same floor.

If it looks like she's breech my options are

1. Book an ECV (external cephalic version) where they try to turn the baby when I'm 38 weeks (meaning the week of Feb 15). The OB says she'd want me to book it on a day when she's on call so that she can do it. She'd administer an epidural since she says it can be painful and she'd want to make sure I was relaxing my stomach muscles, but also so that if it didn't work or if something went wrong, she could do a c-section right away. If it DID work and they turned the baby, she would suggest inducing me then and there as sometimes the baby can just turn herself back the other way.

2. Wait and see if she turns herself on her own - this can happen with breech babies. Some even turn during labour itself apparently.

3. Deliver her breech, if the doctor on call is willing. She said it depends who's on call at the hospital, some would just want to do a c-section right away, but others would let me try to deliver, especially since I've got a "tried and tested" pelvis! Ha! I asked her what she would do if she was the doctor on call and she said that if the baby was descending well and not in any distress, she'd let me try, but she said with a smile, "I have to admit, I'd be having palpitations the whole time."

But all of this might be moot if my ultrasound tomorrow shows that she's vertex. My friend Meg, the naturopath, was counselling to just let nature take its course and that if the baby is breech, there's a reason for it and she might very well just not be ready to come out yet and will turn herself when she's good and ready, so I shouldn't rush her by inducing her. I can see her point as well.

My mind is reeling a little from all the possibilities and from just not knowing (that would be the control freak in me trying to assert herself), but I keep reminding myself that at the end of the day, as long as she's healthy and happy and so am I, it doesn't matter which way she comes out. I just want to do what's best for both of us and I'm not sure which option that is. I'm not stressed, just...impatient at this point. I hate not knowing, you know?

Compare & Contrast

2010-01-30T12:38:00.004-05:00

The day before I was induced to give birth to Owen and William at 37 weeks, my mum took pictures of me in an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, blue, green and yellow patterned bikini. I don't think I ever published the photo results on the blog, but I would often look at them over the course of the next three years and marvel at what my body had done in order to produce my gorgeous children. I was huge! How can skin stretch like that? How on earth did I breathe when my lungs must have been so compressed? The mind boggles.

I'm now 36 weeks pregnant with my third child and am once more amazed at the human body and the whole process of growing a child. And growing is the operative word, let me tell you. Although I don't feel quite as huge as I did with the twins, its still quite hard to adjust to the basketball strapped to the front of my body. I'm assuming that sometime in the next three weeks, I'm going to go into labour and we're going to have a little girl in the house. That idea is also sill taking some getting used to, but I don't think we could be any more prepared than we are at this point. I've packed my hospital bag, figured out who to call in the middle of the night to come look after the big-brothers-to-be (this would be you, Amber!) and spoken at great length to those boys about what will happen when their baby sister decides she's ready to meet them. So really, all that was left to do was take more photos.

Photos on the left are the twin bump. Photos on the right are the girl bump.

If anyone makes a mocking comment, you're dead meat.

Note how Jack managed to position himself in exactly the same pose as well. He wanted some continuity for the shots too.

I should add that I have my 36 week appointment on Monday and will hopefully find out if my daughter is still breech (I've been feeling a lot of kicking at the lower end of my bump, so I think she probably is), and if that then means I will be going to the hospital any time soon to have her turned. If that is the case, I'll probably also be induced at the same time. I have no idea what the timeline is for any of this (I have lots of questions for my OB on Monday), but I'll keep you posted as to what's happening and if this means we're going to have a newborn sooner rather than later!

My Cheating Ways

2010-01-24T20:08:00.003-05:00

I just finished Vanity Fair and was about to start my W book (I have Who Has Seen The Wind? by W.O. Mitchell on my bedside table) when the library called to tell me one of my book orders was in and waiting for me. Just before Christmas, on a whim, when I was looking for my U book, I requested Stephen King's latest, Under The Dome, but since the computer was showing that I was about the 200th person requesting the book, I figured I wouldn't see it before the spring and would have plenty of time to finish my project before starting it.

But suddenly it was available. I've been itching to read it and had even contemplated going and buying it for myself, but the cost was a little prohibitive, being a huge hardback and all. My sister-in-law/bestest bud Karen got it for Christmas, but I figured I couldn't snatch it out of her hands without causing a family incident, so that option was out too. So after the phone call, I ummed and ahhhed for about five minutes and then went to the library to get the book. Its just going to have to be a blip on my otherwise fairly cheat-free project history (I think I neglected to tell you that over Christmas I speed-read the Josephine B Trilogy by Sandra Gulland - excellent, highly recommended - and Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg - also excellent, great murder mystery set in Toronto - neither of which belonged on my list at that point...but it was the holidays and I was on a break!).

So I've started Under The Dome and let me tell you, I'm finding it hard to put down. This isn't another Stephen King horror, this is one of his human dramas, where the scary thing isn't some awful clown or a nasty doggy eating everyone in sight, but is in fact the far more frightening evil known as human nature. I'm totally engrossed and also full of admiration. He really is a brilliant writer. His characters are so real and lifelike within the span of a couple of sentences, his dialogue so genuine that I am in awe. I know Mr. King has a very strong work ethic when it comes to his writing and I think it shows. He's not a hack, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm not too sure why I'm wasting my time writing all of this out when I could be reading more about the fascinating people of Chester Mills and the strange predicament they find themselves in, so I bid you goodnight and happy reading!

More Of Boys' Room

2010-01-21T11:03:00.002-05:00

As promised, here are more shots of the boys' room now that its a little more lived in, ie, toys everywhere and unmade beds. Maybe I should have tidied up, but I figure this is real life.

Notice anything that probably doesn't belong? Although he does match the colour scheme...I went in to take the photo and there was Jack fast asleep on Will's bed. I'm not sure Will would be too happy, but it made me laugh. When this was our tv room, Jack always slept in here on one of the sofas that has since gone into the basement. I think he misses his old "bed" as well as the sunshine in this room. He looks so funny on such a little bed! He takes up more room than William!
And here's the other side of the bedroom. Our good friend Elaine donated her daughters' old IKEA wardrobe and it works perfectly in the space. I also love that we put the twins' artwork on the walls. Very colourful and they're so proud its there.

New Rooms

2010-01-18T19:36:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mark and I are nesting. Yup, Mark is nesting too - more than me. He's so intent on organising and tidying and readifying this house that its putting expectant mothers the world over to shame. Admittedly this "get-it-done" attitude is just intrinsically in Mark's nature, but he's doing a mighty fine job, let me tell you. We've moved the boys into their new, amazing room and have pretty much sorted out the baby's room too, as well as sorting out the basement, now the family room/tv room/play area/guest room and tidying up a lot of junk that was hiding in plain sight in our dining room.

Before you look at the photos of the boys' room, I should explain a little. Mark works in downtown Toronto and we live in the west end of the city. The boys and I often drive east, towards the downtown core for various activities throughout the week and have spectacular views of the city as we drive along the lakeshore. Owen and William's favorite view is of the skyscrapers of our city, and most especially the CN Tower. For some unknown reason, they think their dear daddy owns that tower and works in it (perhaps for the same unknown reasons that their mother used to think her father owned the various hotels he managed in her childhood) and every single time we see the tower in our travels, there's a gleeful chorus of "Daddy's tower!" from the back of the car. Every. Single. Time.

So the CN Tower has been renamed Daddy's Tower forever now. And when thinking of the various ways in which to decorate the twins' room in such a fashion that it wouldn't be babyish, would grow with them and would be unique, as well as matching the red, white and black of their sheets and furniture, we came up with the design you'll see below. I'd had an image in my head for a few months and I have to say, Mark executed it exactly as I had envisioned it. Perhaps even better than I'd planned. The boys are absolutely thrilled and tell everyone about their new room. The photos were taken shortly after the paint dried and I moved their beds in, but not the rest of the furniture, so the room looks a little sparse. But trust me, its great. I'll try to remember to take a photo from the other side tomorrow so you can see the artwork we have on the walls and our storage system as well. In the meantime, have a peek!

Mark beginning to tape out the design with eager observers asking many questions and offering helpful advice.

Work in progress - it took him two and a half hours to tape everything before painting. Mark's such a superstar.

Finished product with two happy campers giving the thumbs up! Cool, huh?

And then we have the little girlie's room...

Thankfully we didn't have to repaint, since we'd chosen a nice warm yellow when we decorated for the boys. I found some great vinyl stickers for the wall at Michaels (sorry that I didn't go with your very cool products, Jen, I just didn't get organised enough to order them from you!) and had a lot of fun cutting and arranging and sticking them to the walls last night. I'm thrilled with the way it looks and very happy to have my Bobine's many, many, many bags of gorgeous donated clothes put away at last. Basically, we're as ready as we'll ever be for this munchkin. Now if only she'd turn herself over...

A little bit of pink at last

New shelving above the change pad...very handy. Actually, its not new, just new to this room. Mark is happy to finally have a place to put these shelves that have been sitting in the basement since we moved here.

The president of our co-op nursery school has two daughters and she very sweetly offered me the gorgeous pink blanket you see on the back of the crib - its very soft and in such amazing condition, I'm a little nervous to get the inevitable spit-up on it. And the pink bunny is from Auntie Amber. The boys got it out this morning and brought it into our bedroom to show the bump and tell her all about it and how much fun she was going to have playing with it.

This kid already has so many clothes, I think I'm going to have to change her three times a day just to make sure we try everything once. I've been so lucky that Amber and another friend Mel have donated their beloved girls' clothing to me. Note the bags and bins on the bottom left of the photo - those are ALL the other clothes I haven't put away because they're sizes 6-18mths and my drawers are full with the 0-6mth stuff. Like I said, she's got a lot of clothes.

And here's the other side of the room. I still need to swap those two pictures on the wall for something else and hem the straggly curtains we cut last year in an attempt to stop the boys from pulling them into their cribs, but that can wait until later. We put the futon here as extra sleeping space for guests (the baby will sleep in our room for a bit, so if we have an abundance of visitors, someone can sleep here) as well as for middle-of-the-night situations that might need us to sleep in the room with her - no more sleeping on the floor for me like I did when the boys were in here!

Flippin' 'Eck!

2010-01-12T19:31:00.004-05:00

I had a routine ultrasound today, at 33 weeks, to see how the little bean is growing, but have to wait until next week's OB appointment to know those details. What I did learn today is that my little chiquita is most definitely a girl, so now I can put all those pink clothes away in the cupboard, that her heart was beating strongly and that she's practicing her breathing.

I also learned that she's breech, the little stinker. Not Frank Breech, where she's in a pike position, but kind of curved like the letter c, with her head at the top of my stomach and a bit to the left and then her legs down on my right side. I think she must have flipped in the last few days because last week at my doctor's appointment, Dr C said she could feel that the baby was head down. She told me at that point that the baby's head was "quite floaty" though and not engaged (meaning down in my pelvis) which meant she could still move, but that once settled into the head down position, most babies tended to stay that way as it was comfy for them. Either the little missy wasn't listening or, like her mother, she hates being told what to do!

I actually wonder if she didn't flip herself yesterday or the day before, since she wasn't moving as much as she normally does (ie constantly and with great enthusiasm) and when I was getting ready for bed last night I thought my stomach shape had changed somewhat. Maybe she got herself into this new position and then thought, "Oh. Wait. This isn't right" and has been sitting there pondering how to get herself back to the more comfortable position ever since.

I'm not too concerned though at any rate, since we still have about 6 weeks to go, plenty of time to move again or be moved. And frankly, if I have to have a c-section because she's breech, then so be it. As long as she's healthy, that's my attitude at the moment.

Below is today's ultrasound photo - the technician said that its hard to get good shots at this stage because babies tend to be folded over onto themselves. My little girl had her arm up over her face, so we got a partially obscured shot, but I think what we can see is pretty clear, and I'm thrilled with it. Can you see her nose and mouth, with little lips parted, to the left of the scan? Tilt your head to the left to see for yourself.

Precious little lambie, I'm so excited to meet you!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T22:11:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year to all my dear readers. I hope this year has started well for you all!

We had a really nice and impromptu dinner with some of our favorite people last night. Originally, we'd just planned to have an early dinner with Amber, Jon and Abigail, with the kids in bed by 8pm at the latest. But the fates smiled down on us and after sending out a couple of "not sure what you're doing, but if you're interested...." emails, we managed to snag Amanda, Mark and the gorgeous Peter as well as Annie, Paul and the very late Miles. Miles, if you're not aware, was due to be born on Christmas Day, but he's decided that he's so snug in mummy's tummy, that he wanted to stay put. As you can see from the photos below however, Annie looks amazing and despite our pleading, didn't go into labour after dessert was served.

The other thing you should know about is that this was the first time Peter has been to our house. I don't think his mummy will mind me sharing that unlike Miles, Peter decided to come out rather early - at 26 weeks! - and we haven't been able to have a proper playdate with him since his birthday last April thanks to our continuous stream of colds, flus and general ill-health. But, like I said, the stars aligned and this young man, who won the best-dressed award for the night, was able to come see us and charm us all with his smiles and giggles.

Will and Owen were a little on the crazy side, since they hadn't napped, which usually leads to chaos around bedtime, so they were asleep shortly after 7pm. Abigail was then taken home to be put to bed by visiting grandparents and all of a sudden we were having a lovely adult evening. We had french onion soup, spinach and strawberry salad, a cheese and deli platter and a white chocolate, lemon curd and pomegranate pavlova (thank you, Santa, for my new Lucy Waverman cookbook!) and even managed to have a champagne toast, albeit at about 8:30pm! Peter insisted he was about to turn into a pumpkin shortly thereafter, so I think everyone went home by 9:30pm at the latest and Mark and I were in bed by 10:30pm! And the dishes were done and everything. Sheesh, is this what being an adult is all about?

And today, the first day of the new year, was spent being very productive. I'm now 32 weeks and going through what is commonly described as "the nesting phase" in most parenting books (despite never showing any inclination with my first pregnancy). I cleaned out and organised my disaster of a closet this morning as well as the disaster of a hall closet and somehow convinced my husband he wanted to join me in my efforts. Bless him, Mark has been a superstar today and we've started to transform the upstairs of our house into a three-child family home. I've been itching to move the boys from their room into our third bedroom for ages now, which we've been using as a den/tv room since we bought the house. Their room is going to be the baby's room and since I have bags and bags of clothes for this little girlie sitting in our dining room and no where to put them until her room is ready, as well as grand ideas for decorating the boys new room, I'm quite excited to get things moving, so to speak. Thankfully, Owen and Will are very excited about the prospect of moving - possibly because they think they're going to sleep on the sofa bed in the den AND they get to keep the tv. Um...fat chance, fellas. Tomorrow, Jon is going to come over and help Mark move the the two sofas and the tv into the basement where they will join the three bookshelves we moved down earlier today (they were very light and Mark did most of the lifting, I promise. I was just there for balance.). We spent the evening geekily alphabetizing our novels whilst watching Mythbusters. It was very satisfying and I feel like we've started the year well. And of course, once the new rooms are finished, I'll post pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Speaking of pictures, here are a few shots from last night:

Amanda and Peter, looking lovely and happy

Amanda, Me (and the Belly), Annie (and Miles) and Amber (and Baby Burkinshaw) - so nice to spend time with such great friends.

Here's Will at breakfast this morning, rocking his New Year look. Apparently the goggles help with the eating of cereal. And yes, they're upside down
Actually, I should admit that these are...Doggles. My brother bought them for Jack a few years ago and Will just discovered them yesterday. He thinks they're awesome and has been wearing them for most of the day. Apparently, the dog doesn't mind.

I have photos and videos to post from Christmas at the Johnson Cottage, but since my baby belly is telling me its bedtime, they'll have to wait for another day. Bonne Nuit!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T21:28:00.003-05:00

Happy, Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

We wish you joy, laughter and lots of hugs coming your way in 2010!

Blankie Photos

2009-12-16T17:30:00.002-05:00

As promised, here are some photos of the beloved new blankies being put to good use in front of the mesmerizing television.

Rudolf The Grumpiest Reindeer...

2009-12-15T21:27:00.003-05:00

The Belly

2009-12-14T06:43:00.001-05:00

Finally, some pictures of this 7 month belly of mine! We were off to the firm's Family Christmas Party, so everyone was home, washed, wearing nice clothes and sort of smiling. Unfortunately, a little cheeky finger had just smeared the front of my lens, so some of the photos are a bit fuzzy.

I love how Jack is looking at us like "what are you doing, humans?"

Trying Again

2009-12-14T06:39:00.003-05:00

Owen, looking an awful lot like Will in this photo, with everything he needs for a successful trip to the potty.

Goodbye Soothers, Hello Blankies!

2009-12-11T22:11:00.003-05:00

The deed is done.

Owen and Will and I drove to Stef's place late Thursday afternoon, and I chatted away in the car to the boys about how proud I was that they were going to be saying goodbye to their soothers and how Stef had made them some lovely blankies just for them. We talked about how they could give her the soothers in exchange for the blankets, how cozy the blankets would be and how great it would be to take them to the cottage for Christmas to show Gran and Grandpa. They were both fairly chatty in the car about what was going to happen, but they clearly weren't entirely on board.

"Maybe we can buy new soothers next week," suggested Owen.

"Maybe Stef can fix our broken soothers," mused Will.

"No, guys, I'm afraid not. We're going to have to say goodbye to the soothers tonight, because you're big boys and the soothers are making your ears hurt. But you can give them to Stef and she'll give you the blankies, okay?" Don't overdo it, Pasc, I kept muttering to myself.

"I don't want to give Stef the soothers. I'm shy," said Will. Oh boy, I thought, here we go. "Can you give them to her?" Okay, at least he wasn't saying she wasn't going to get them at all.

Well lovely, lovely Stef (if you haven't been to her Straight Stitch site, please do. You can check her out on her etsy site or you can go to her facebook fan page to see all the fantastic things she makes. And clearly, she does amazing custom orders) invited us into her home, where Will and Owen were completely distracted by her daughters' toys and hardly glanced at the beautiful blankets she'd made. I, on the other hand, was thrilled. I suggested that maybe the boys might want to thank Stef and pay her with the soothers and internally cringed, waiting for the crying to start. But both boys just handed over their beloveds like it was no big deal and ten minutes later we were back in the car and they were all bundled up in their cozy new comforters.

I'll admit there were a few mini-hiccup-cries on the way home, but all in all, it went very smoothly during the drive and once home, the guys played with their blankets and took them upstairs all by themselves. But come bedtime, Owen was quite upset.

"I want my sooooooooder!" he sobbed into my shoulder, as I patted his back in bed. "I don't want my blankie!"

"I know you're sad and that's okay," I said, "but we've said goodbye to our soothers. Do you want me to take the blanket back to Stef if you don't want it?"

"No! I want my blankie! But, but, but, I want my sooooooooooder!"

William was far calmer, more annoyed that Owen kept crying and being "too noisy", but he did tell me he needed something "to go in my mouth". Not necessarily his soother, just something in his mouth. Is this how kids start smoking?

After about forty minutes of me going in and out of their room to comfort them, they did fall asleep and slept soundly throughout the night. In the morning, they woke up and dragged their new blankets into our room which pleased me. Naptime today was another twenty minutes of Owen sobbing his heart our for his soother whilst Will complained about the noise and requested something for his mouth. I find it so interesting that he didn't want a soother, just something. Maybe his mouth feels odd without it?

Anyway, they napped for a good three hours (and so did I - bliss!) and this evening before bed, Owen told me "I not going to cry when I sleep" and lo and behold he didn't. William was a bit more out of sorts, but after some chatting between the brothers they've fallen asleep again without too much interference from me. I'm really quite pleased by it all. Now, Mark has been working very long and very late hours this week, so perhaps when he's home tomorrow there will be some acting up to see if Daddy will cave on the no-soother front, but I'm anticipating that by this time next week we'll be done talking about soothers and just enjoy the coziness of the new blankies.

I had hoped to have some photos of the boys asleep with unobstructed mouths and the blankets tucked in around them, but my camera battery has died and I can't find the charger. I'll look this evening and hopefully have some up for you this weekend. In the meantime, Stef has some photos of them on her facebook fan site, so there's one more reason to have a peek.

On a final note, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all their advice and encouragement in regards to getting rid of the soothers. I know in a couple of months I'll be facing new challenges and this will seem like such a minor issue, but when you're living it, it always feels all-encompassing. It was nice to know you understood what a big deal this was for all of us.

Soother Update & Book Request

2009-12-08T20:07:00.003-05:00

I cut the soothers. I cut two little holes in them yesterday before naptime and then today I cut the two little holes into a much bigger hole. Owen couldn't care less, but Will is definitely not impressed. I think the ear infection is making the whole situation worse for him, but hopefully by the end of the week this will all be resolved.

My plan is to continue cutting more and more of the soothers away until Thursday afternoon when we're heading to my friend Stef's place - she has a sewing business called The Straight Stitch and after posting a plea for blanket ideas on Facebook, she offered to make me some special blankies for the boys which they can pay for with their soothers. I'm hoping that two more nights of annoying, non-sucking, cut up soothers will make the goodbye go a little more smoothly.

The fact that the boys are still sleeping at night, with only about a half hour of whining from William makes me think this is all doable and that we'll be okay. I was expecting absolutely no sleep for a week. Mind you, we haven't gotten rid of the soothers entirely yet, so maybe I shouldn't count my blessings just yet. But still...I thought we'd be having a rougher ride than this already so...fingers crossed. And hopefully this darned ear infection will go away (I would use stronger language here, but am trying to be polite, my granny reads this blog. Mind you, she swears like a sailor. Kidding, I'm kidding granny! Like a sea scout.) and we can be all healthy for, oh, maybe a week?

By the way, the baby is doing just fine. I know I never blog about the poor wee thing, but I am thinking of her constantly, mostly because she's constantly moving around in there. I've had some pretty spectacular kicks and nudges in the last few weeks, making me laugh to myself in the midddle of the night as I wonder "What on earth is she doing in there?!" I often get little feet or hands, or possibly a bum pushing its way out behind my belly-button and there's at least one awkward moment each week when I have a sudden, panicky feeling that I'm about to pee uncontrollably thanks to Little Miss Jumpy wedging a body part deep into my bladder. I forgive her each time though, because there's just something so thrilling knowing she's in there and moving about in what I choose to believe is happiness. I can't wait to meet her.

Now, onto books. I've just finished a very interesting T - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - and am now stumped about U. I don't want to read Ulysses. And I've read Under the Tuscan Sun. Please help, I want to get this alphabet list finished before the baby arrives, if at all possible. Something tells me my reading time might be limited for a couple of months once she makes her grand entrance. Any suggestions?

Soother Dilemma

2009-12-06T20:04:00.002-05:00

Its finally time. Its time to get rid of their soothers. Hoo boy, this is going to be hard. They love those darned things. But since William has come down with his third ear infection in a month this weekend and my internet research clearly indicates that prolonged soother use can increase middle ear infections, I think its time we get rid of them.

I was always planning to try to lose the soothers at Christmas anyway, but now I think it has to happen before. However, I think maybe I need to slow myself down rather than just tossing them in the garbage and praying they go to sleep at night anyway. A wise friend counseled that it would be cruel to just whip them away without setting the groundwork for their demise with the boys first. So as we were putting the boys to bed this evening, as they were calling out as usual for their "sooders! sooders!" (have I mentioned they really love them and haven't slept a single night without since day two at the hospital?), I casually brought it up.

"You know guys, these soothers are probably one of the reasons your ears are hurting so much. I think maybe we're going to have to stop using them soon."

Cue hysterical sobbing, "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Hey, hey, hey, its okay. I didn't say you couldn't have them tonight. You can have them tonight. But I think in a couple of nights, we're going to have to stop."

More crying. More clutching of soothers to faces. William looks up at me from the change table and says desperately, "You're just pretending, right? You're just pretending?"

Now I feel like a horrible mother, but I say as gently as possible, "No, bud, I'm not pretending, we do have to stop using them soon, because they're hurting your ears. But..." I turn to Mark for inspiration and he jumps in, "Guys, I think we'll stop using the soothers but you'll have something else instead. Like a clock in your room."

We bought a big digital alarm clock for their room a month or two ago as a possible step to get them to sleep/stay in their rooms longer, but never brought it out since they started sleeping again on their own. But they'd been coveting the clock in its wrapper for a while. Maybe this is our answer? They calm down a little, distracted by the idea of a clock in their room and we get them in to bed.

Our plan at this point, unless you guys have other brilliant ideas, which I'm very keen to hear, is to keep raising the subject of going soother free for a couple more days. The clock can go in their room, with all its novelty-ness, but Mark also suggested that we maybe get them a special blanket that we can let them choose in a store (which I will scout out ahead of time to see its suitability for W&O appropriate blankets). I went one step further and thought that maybe we could take the soothers with us to the store and "pay" for the blankets with the soothers. All of this would be discussed with the boys ahead of time. What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea?

Marginally Better

2009-11-25T20:54:00.007-05:00

Am I allowed to start breathing again? The boys are back in school and sleeping through the night without coughing again. We've had a couple of good-ish days and I'm hoping they keep coming. I'm still not feeling great myself since my sinuses are as blocked as....well, something really blocked and I think I have a tooth infection, but I'm trying to look at the world with a more positive lens.

I should actually thank my friend Elly for this new outlook. She sent me two interesting books about finding peace and quiet in your mind, something I could really use help with. I've only just started reading one of them - Loving What Is by Byron Katie - but already its had an effect on me. I'm trying not to stress about things I have no control over or that have not happened yet and am really trying not to live "in other's people's business", meaning not to worry about what other people are thinking or feeling, since again, I can't control them and I certainly can't know for sure what they're actually thinking. How am I doing, Elle?

Here's a little photo proof from the boys that we're feeling better:

Actually playing, rather than sitting on the sofa in our jammies watching Curious George over and over
And not crying either. Amazing!
How much fun can you have with a book of construction stickers, a couch and your mother's enormous baby belly? Lots!

Will giving a highly decorated Bobine a kiss

Mummy was decorated with stickers too. You can tell how much fun I think this game is, can't you? I actually had them all over my face before Owen ripped them off (who needs a trip to the esthetician's? Just have 3 year olds come over with their sticker books).

It Never Ends!

2009-11-19T20:26:00.003-05:00

We're still on the sickness train, and I for one, am ready for this ride to end. The boys apparently have H1N1. They're on Tamiflu and painkillers. I'm on my last remaining stock of energy. Mark is ridiculously busy at work but is trying very hard to be home early to help. He's downstairs making me some dinner right now. And maybe after dinner I might shower for the first time in four days.

All I can say is that these kids had better have the world's best immune systems by the time they get to kindergarten or I'm giving up entirely and moving to some remote island from October to April from now on.

Baby Bobine is hanging in there, although I think she'd probably be happier if I wasn't stressed out and exhausted all the time. I honestly can't even begin to contemplate how I'm going to manage three children next spring. I'm overwhelmed at the mere thought of it.

I've decided over the past several sleepless nights that the worst part of parenthood is the worry. It would be so much easier if we just didn't worry. But then I guess that's when people start calling Children's Aid...

Please send some healthy vibes, we need all the help we can get this week!

My poor little guys passed out in our bed yesterday, shortly before spiking fevers again and crying all the way to the doctor's office.

More Dinner Conversation

2009-11-15T23:04:00.002-05:00

Just another one for you with a bit more Will this time. Can any of you actually understand what their saying, or do you need an expert to transcribe it for you?

Some Dinner Conversation

2009-11-15T19:59:00.003-05:00

Its been a while since you've seen the boys "live" - here they are chatting away about who knows what at the dinner table this evening.

We've Got The Plague

2009-11-04T17:02:00.003-05:00

Okay, maybe not the plague, but definitely nasty colds as well as ear infections for the boys. Welcome to the house of fun!

Once again, I'm very glad I listened to my maternal instincts and took the boys to the doctor today, even though they were only exhibiting signs of a bad cough, which usually you can't do much about. But since they were also keeping themselves up all night long (all. night. long. Do I need to repeat that for you?) with their coughing, I figured it was a good idea to go in. And lo and behold, there are ear infections hiding in those little bodies.

So now they're on amoxycillan, which Will's body doesn't seem to keen on already. We've had some nasty side effects in the diaper department, not to mention he threw up on me as well as on himself this evening. I'll have to give the doctor a call in the morning to see if I continue with the course or if we switch it to something else.

Owen and I are having daily battles that usually end in ineffectual time outs for him and teeth clenching for me. I have to keep reminding myself that he's not feeling well either, but not quite to the same extent as his brother, so he has more energy and is feeling bored. But boredom and three year olds are definitely not a good mix, especially when the outlet is poking a sick brother or tormenting the dog or throwing temper tantrums every 15 minutes.

Did I mention that I'm sick too? I have a nasty cough, sore throat and stuffed up nose, but you really don't have time to be sick when you're a mummy, do you? I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself today and definitely overwhelmed. But I have to say I'm amazed that my poor 6 months pregnant body is holding up under all the lack of sleep and stress. All I want is for us to get better and for this concert I'm organising to be over and for our lives to get back on track.

Yeah, yeah, I see that tiny violin in your hand. Whining over. Here's a few cute shots of Dr Will yesterday when he was feeling better, preparing to give me and the baby belly an H1N1 shot (more on that particular brand of crazy another time, maybe)

Eep!

2009-10-29T07:40:00.003-04:00

Please don't leave me. I'll try harder, I really will. Its just that things have been so busy...I'm organising a fundraising concert for the boys' school, I've been doing duty days at the school every week, I've been growing a baby, I've been waking up at 5am with my three year olds who refuse to go back to sleep. But I think about you every day and I write stuff for you in my head constantly. It just never gets to the computer because something/someone else distracts me before I get the chance. Are you there? Hello? Hello? Aw man. I think they left.

Birthday Month

2009-10-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all the many family members and friends who've visited over the past month or so, William and Owen have managed to have an extended birthday. Here's a little look at some of the highlights:

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2009-10-17T09:36:00.000-04:00

It always surprises me when another birthday comes around. I look at William and Owen, amazed that all this time has passed by already. And I automatically think back to what Mark, my mum and I were doing at this time three years ago today. Waiting for those little bobs to emerge, we were all excited, nervous and tired already. When they finally did arrive, at 6:02pm and 6:10pm, the room was filled with cheers. Its amazing how so many people can love you so much before they really know you.

And now my birthday babies are becoming independent little boys, chatting away about all that they experience with an infectious sense of joy and wonder, and a large dose of mischief added in for good measure. I laugh with them everyday, I probably fume at them everyday too, but more than anything, I love them with all my heart every single day.

Happy Birthday Lambies. I love you.

making birthday cookies - we need ear protector because the Kitchenaid is so "youd"

Waiting for Cookies - the title of a 3 year old's blog?

It takes a lot of concentration to decorate a sugar-cookie properly

Its A...

2009-10-06T14:16:00.002-04:00

GIRL!

Boy Or Girl?

2009-10-06T07:40:00.002-04:00

Fingers crossed that the pipsqueak cooperates during the ultrasound this morning and we find out whether its a brother or a sister for Owen and Will!

If you're very, very good, I just might keep you in the loop...

Poop Art

2009-10-04T14:12:00.002-04:00

Mark and I just cleaned some interesting art off the walls of the tv room and the boys' room. Turns out when the kids are playing upstairs and you say to your friend "Isn't it nice when your kids can play quietly upstairs without supervision" you should actually be upstairs supervising your kids.

Photos available upon request.

What We're Learning At School

2009-10-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

Green apples are called "Granny Sniff" and Red Delicious apples are called "Yummy apples" according to William.

When mummy is on duty at the school, she shouldn't participate quite so enthusiastically at circle time, because doing the Squirrel Dance only leads to backache for the next two days.

Mummy should also be prepared to spend a good 20-30 minutes in the washroom as she assists half the class in using the potty. And wear a short sleeved t-shirt because its hot in there and sweat stains aren't attractive.

And finally, playing outside means that half the sandbox comes back with us daily, hiding in jean pockets, socks, shoes and diapers and requires frequent trips to the laundry room.

Disappointment In The Reading Department

2009-10-04T08:58:00.001-04:00

I've finally updated my reading list on the left hand side of the blog - I'm now reading my R book and I'm really hoping its better than the last three books I've read. Its been a real slog to get through O-Q, which is always disappointing. In fact, and I'm ashamed to admit this because I think I'm breaking some self-imposed rules here, I didn't even finish One Hundred Years Of Solitude. I only made it two thirds of the way through. I know, I know, its a classic and the author is legendary, but I just found it so....boring. Sorry to anyone who loves it. I really had hoped I would grow to like it, but I just found it was getting to be a chore to pick it up and I was starting to skip lines, so I realised I had to stop. Reading should never be a chore.

I then turned to Prep, which is a book about a fictional girl's experiences as a scholarship student at a private school in the US. It was a fast read, but once I'd finished it I was left feeling grumpy and depressed, because the character within the novel is always grumpy and depressed.

Q was Queen of The Tambourines, which was about a woman slowly going crazy in her flat in London, as revealed through letters to an imaginary neighbour. Yeah, that really perked me right up.

But now I've turned to the correspondents of Gourmet Magazine, writing about the joys of living and eating in Paris. I'm really hoping this collection of essays brings me back to my love of reading. There's nothing worse than being in a reading slump.

I'm still trying to decide what to do about the letter O, because I feel like I was cheating by not finishing it, but I do have a plan...Margaret Atwood has written a sequel to Oryx and Crake, which I read a while ago, called The Year Of The Flood, so I'm thinking I could make that my Y book. But since its a sequel, I think I should go back and re-familiarise myself with Oryx and Crake. So although its a book I've already read, I think that combined with reading the majority of One Hundred Years Of Solitude, I somehow balance things out again in the O department. Does that still seem like cheating or is that fair?

So...Now What?

2009-09-23T11:31:00.002-04:00

Its awfully quiet...Granny hopped on a plane this morning and the boys are at school. I'm sitting at my desk in the new kitchen, on my own, wondering what on earth I should be doing with myself. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have so much stuff I could be doing right now - organizing the office, filling all the nail holes in the baseboards, writing a shopping list, going grocery shopping, making meals ahead of time and freezing them, the list goes on - but I feel so overwhelmed by not having little people with me that I'm kind of paralysed here. I've checked the internet a million times, made myself a second breakfast, read the school newsletter and made myself a cup of tea, but it all feels a little odd. I think tomorrow I'll definitely have to go and actually DO one of those aforementioned chores or else I can totally see myself getting sucked into daytime tv or trashy internet sites. Okay, I should say more trashy internet sites than the ones I already read. Or I could just blog a lot.

Speaking of my pumpkins at school, it seems as though they're really doing well. The teachers have said they're very verbal (meaning they don't stop chatting) and are quite happy to play without each other. However, William does often stop what he's doing and suddenly say "where's Owie? OWIE?? Where's Owie?!" Once they point his brother out to him, Will then calmly goes back to what he's doing. I guess he just likes to know he's still there. But the teachers said Owen "couldn't care less where Will is". They're so funny, these little people of mine, they honestly keep me guessing, hopping, worrying, laughing all day long.

On Monday, a non-school day, Owen bit Will so hard on the cheek that he left a huge mark and the poor guy's face swelled up. I have no idea what Will did to deserve such treatment, but we were both highly unimpressed with his brother's actions. In the back of my mind I was also thinking "Oh great, now we're going to go to school tomorrow and everyone will know I've got a couple of biters on my hands!" Before we left for school on Tuesday, I sat the boys down and said "No biting, no hitting, no pinching and no throwing sand at school, do you understand?" We went through the list a couple of times to make sure they got it, but I wasn't too sure it had really sunk in. There was definitely a "yeah, yeah, lady, whatever" quality to their answers. But at pick up that day, Mrs S, one of the teachers, told me that at circle time, when they were discussing school rules, etc, one little boy said 'We should never hit anyone" and Will and Owen both started yelling at the same time 'Yeah! Yeah! My mummy says you NEVER hit, or bite, or pinch or..." She said they were quite forceful and that I'd clearly made an impression. Huh. So sometimes they actually do listen!

I'm really starting to hope that some of the stuff we say at home (well, the good stuff anyway) makes its way into their regular vocabulary in the big wide world. I recently heard the boys playing together in the other room and the conversation was lovely:

Will: "You yike some of dis food, baby?"
Owen: "Oh, no tanks, but tank you for askin'."

I couldn't get the smile off my face for the rest of the morning.

****

I just went to pick up the boys and when I asked how they were, Mrs O told me that it was fine, but...They were being very disruptive at snack time with another little boy, A, who was sitting between them. Apparently they weren't listening to the story that was being read and were chatting with their new buddy instead. So the teacher has decided they won't be sitting them next to A anymore. I think I should just stop asking how they did.

Once we came home, the boys and I ate lunch. They did really well and ate a curried chicken pita sandwich with chopped up cauliflower and grapes inside. They didn't know about the grapes and the cauliflower, I just told them it was chicken, but they sat there and ate it without any comments. They seem to be doing better and better with food these days, and I think its because I've finally decided that I just don't care if they don't like it or eat it. What's there is there and if they decide not to eat it, that's their problem. And more often than not, if Will starts to whine about what's on his plate, or Owen says "I no yike dis", I tell them fine, you don't have to eat it, you can leave the table. The option of leaving never really appeals to them if they're hungry so they usually just eat in the end. Hurray to me for not giving in! Hurray to them for being brave enough to try new foods. I think it also helps that we've decided to put the high chairs away and just let them sit like "big boys" and that we try very hard to sit and eat with them, rather than leaving them alone at the table whilst we do other things.

The biggest food surprise came this summer when I discovered that both kids absolutely love veggies and dip, but only if its served in the proper plate. I've tried giving them their own individual veggie and dip plates with no luck, but the pottery bowl below that we bought up at the cottage is their preferred method to eat raw veggies and interesting dips. We're particularly fond of an arugula and almond dip that tastes kind of like pesto. And if there's a day when I feel like they didn't get enough greens, I just give them this for dinner and they're perfectly happy.

Last Friday's dinner

"Here you go, baby", says William as he shares a tomato

I love this family of mine

Right, now its time for me to put the monkeys to bed for their nap and maybe I can actually get a little rest in too, although I think I really should have done more this morning to deserve one. I guess I was growing a baby all morning, right?