Canada Day Long Weekend

Oh man, I've realized our summer is going to be a little less fun this year. It's really just about settling in as a family and doing some day trips. I am so thankful for all I have but at the same time, I do wish that it was a bit more adventurous. It will come, I know. That's just the reality of 3 kids with one being 6 weeks old.

The boys love being with `little sister' (that's seriously what we call her all day) when she is awake, and so far, they have been very gentle with her. She is so consistent with her 3 hour schedule. Eat, change, awake for a total of one hour, back to sleep. Her baby acne is gone and she is way more alert.

In our Canada Day clothes. Koen wasn't so excited about Canada Day:) He was over his flu but still really tired. As always, we went to McLeod Park in Langley to celebrate and see Bobs & Lolo. Unfortunately their show was at 6pm which was way too late for our kids (Koen needs to be asleep by 6:30pm unless you want a monster on your hands) so it was all good until about 15 minutes into their concert. We did end up leaving half way through as Koen was a major grumpapotomous.

Before the concert though, we went on a few rides with Ani and Izzy...

I think a lot of our summer will be me hanging out with Nya and Gary doing activities with the boys. Last night I had my first night out and SHE TOOK A BOTTLE. You don't know the stress of this (well, you might!) as it took a good 2 weeks to get Koen to take one. So, I left right before a feed with a freezer stocked full of milk and several bottles to try. She took two bottles while I was gone (for just 2.5 hours). We need to keep this up because I'm going to be gone for full days in August (for weddings). Anyway, MAJOR celebration here.

I feel like I really worked hard taking care of the kids and house for 6 weeks while Gary finished work and now I need some time to recover from that. It didn't help that the weather was terrible so it was a lot harder entertaining the kids. To people who have parents that volunteer to come and help them for days on end, be so thankful, that's all I can say! In regards to relaxing, part of that is reading! I read `The Art of Hearing Heartbeats' (so good!) and I'm almost done `Two Kisses for Maddy'.

Gary took the boys berry picking at Krause farms. I stayed home with Nya as I wasn't about to pick strawberries with her in the bjorn. I will probably go with them when we pick raspberries! Gary never takes pictures of our family unless I ask him too so I'm thinking there will be a bunch of activities not documented this summer.

And, I'm starting training for a 5km run. It's such a slow start but I know it's a healthy way for me to do it. Gary is gone all day today so I started yesterday instead. It was super easy with a walk, then run, then repeat. I did the first bit with Kai and then brought him home. Unfortunately, I get really bad headaches from exercise. Usually when I sweat a lot so not sure why it happened yesterday as there was no sweating. I'm assuming it was dehydration and I'll just have to really, really hydrate myself next time. Hope you all started ALI, TERRI, MARIA, and ASHLEY (and maybe HALEY?) !!! The program is in a tab at the top of the blog for your convenience:)

Yes, we are bathing her in her room because it's the only room with heat! I refuse to turn on the heat in July.

Well, Gary is gone all day to a lighting seminar so I better get going....

Hope you had a great long weekend!

Love, Louise

Spring Break: Green Lake

We just spent three nights at Green Lake (up by 100 Mile House). It's where Gary and I got married and my dad has a house there. We went up with my sister Maria and her family and the benefit of that is that the kids just play non stop. Very little parenting involved:) It actually isn't my favourite place to go in the winter, especially when I'm pretty pregnant and not really able to do many activities but it was still good. I forgot to bring my computer which was a bit annoying because I had planned on working/editing each night. Now I feel like I'm behind but oh well. There is no internet there so it's good to get away from that for a few days:)

So, here are some pictures from our time. We had great weather but it was windy and cold. The drive home was a bit stressful as it was snowing quite heavily. The boys had a great time with their cousins and they just played so well together.

{Gary, Kris and the kids built a snow fort/quinzee which the kids loved tunneling through}

{Maria and Kris snowshoeing on the lake}

{29 weeks and the last time I will be pregnant at Green Lake. Kind of sad as I wouldn't mind doing this again:) I feel like I'm 3 months pregnant until I see myself in the mirror:)}

{And one of my favourite parts of the day...after a long day of playing, the kids in their pj's watching some cartoons before bed.}

{Kai and Koen look so much alike above!}

The kids traveled so well (it's about 4.5 hours) and it's so easy to go with the two boys. I know it won't be `so easy' for much longer so we are definitely appreciating it now. Looking forward to the rest of our spring break as the best is yet to come! Tomorrow is a work day for Gary replacing the back splash in our kitchen...not so fun but it will look great. Thinking of seeing `The Lorax' with the kiddos this week too, anyone else seen it? Okay for the little ones?

Hope you are all doing well.

Love, Louise

Ani's Appendix

My sweet little niece, Annnika, is in the hospital. Ani, not quite 6, started feeling sick on Thursday. Maria brought her to the doctor because it was not going away (flu like symptoms with abdominal pain). The doctor wasn't too concerned although he did run blood and urine tests. On Sunday night Maria took her to the ER. Ani had appendicitis and they removed her appendix last night at 11pm.

They will be at the hospital until Wednesday because they weren't able to do it laparoscopically and we're just hoping and praying that there are no complications so that they will be able to go home. She did just go for a little walk and is eating a popsicle so that is all good news:)

Poor Maria is running on little sleep as she is staying there (and also 18 weeks pregnant). We are glad Ani is okay and I'm so glad Maria took her in when she did.

Hope you are all healthy:)

Love, Louise

Mario and My Pumpkin

The boys had so much fun on Halloween. My sister brought her three girls over and they went out for about 45 minutes and covered a ton of homes. We live in a densely packed neighbourhood so it really only takes less than 30 seconds to get from one door to the next. The boys don't even care about the candy so much, they were just into the dressing up and running around.

{I think Kai grew an inch since I bought this costume. We deflated his belly after this picture. He loved his costume and didn't care that he had a wedgie all night:)}

Then, the boys wanted to come home and hand out candy. So, like many neighbours, we sat at the bottom of our stairs and handed out candy. We had 300 kids in one hour and then ran out and turned off the lights:)

{Koen kept up with the big kids no problem and only walked into about 6 homes this year:)}

My friend Ali came over on Tuesday and we got a few pictures of our kids (and her nieces) trying on some of her creations. You can find her now on facebook at Cades & co. I liked the shirt Kai tried on so I bought it:) Great quality and super cute.

Great for Christmas and birthday presents and even stuff for baby showers!

{We have two aprons for the boys, different from the ones shown, which makes baking time a little more fun and clean!}

I also really love the bandana bibs and may have to buy one or two for the little droolers/nieces/nephews I'll be having in the next few months! How cute is her little Cole?

I registered Koen for preschool yesterday. He'll be starting in September and I put him in afternoons. He hasn't napped for a year and I don't want to be running around early in the morning with a little baby.

Basketball is now starting. Now we shift from a busy photographing season to a busy parenting season for me while Gary coaches and teaches. Gary puts in a lot of time and does a good job. We're proud of our Daddy Bear!

I am VERY hormonal these days. I am not neutral. I'm either super angry and frustrated or very sad. I'm not a very fun wife and I don't like it. Yesterday was a sad day for me where I missed my mom so much. There are just some days where it hits me harder because the person who loved me more than anyone in the world is just not here anymore. 99% of the time I can focus on all the blessings that I do have, but that other 1%, I just need to mourn what I've lost.

Kai has been in swimming lessons on Mondays and is doing so well (compared to where he was a year ago!). He can now do a backfloat and assisted front float. He has come a long ways and will likely pass Sea Urchin and be a Jellyfish:) He does want to do skating again so we will see. I do love part time kindergarten because it allows for extra curricular without being too busy.

Okay, better go.

Louise

Cousins

Because Kai and Ani are in kindergarten, and Izzy is in preschool, the kids don't get to see each other as much anymore. However, the last two days we did hang out so Maria and I could share the joy (chaos) of dinnertime with the kiddos while the husbands were working. I can't believe how well the kids still get along, it's amazing. Totally different interests but they make it work. The girls even played Transformers with Kai at our house, that's pretty wild for two princesses. They also make homes for ladybugs and play soccer and hopscotch.

As a side note, if there is anything that my kids can't finish eating, I usually point out what it's good for (protein=build your muscles, you'll be so strong! etc). It doesn't work as well on Izzy. Apparently eating all your dinner is good for growing princess hair. The things I never had to learn about by having boys.

Kenzie scrunchy nose smile. She's on the move running around! The littlest baby in our extended family is all grown up just in time for the next babies to start coming in December! I know I've got at least one new niece in the mix!

What else is new?

Koen, who has been sort of potty trained for months (meaning, we take him every 2-3 hours and he's fine), has now been consistently going on his own. We don't have to ask/tell him, he goes when he needs to. Finally. He's cute and wild.

Kai took a big whiff of Langley farm air today and proclaimed, `I LOVE the smell of manure'.

I definitely need to take more pictures of my own kids. This is probably the toughest time of year photo wise because each weekend has about 4 sessions and it is so, so, so weather dependent with not a lot of room to reschedule. Anyway, back to my point, taking pictures of my own family is what I love best so I need to do that some more.

Bon nuit.

Love, Louise

Whistler

(**First off, thank you so much for all of your comments in the last post! Now you'll just have to see whose advice I take...ha ha!**)

Oh my goodness. So much fun over the last two days. I am so happy and so tired:) Whistler with my side of the family. The days have consisted of; exploring nature, hiking, geocaching, a whole lotta pool time, biking, seeing bears, and eating together. Good times.

{Brandywine Falls. Koen stayed asleep in the Ergo, so unlike him! Kai's `I'm totally not going to let you get a nice picture of me' face.}

{Murrin Lake Provincial Park}

{Sami}

{Kenzie}

{Lost Lake Loop where Maria led us power walking around it this morning:)}

{Kai is suddenly so comfortable in the water! He'll jump in (without a life jacket) and go under. He'll go down the waterslide on his own. He's working on his back float and swimming (with a life jacket). I'm so incredibly proud of him. He learned a valuable lesson that you must tell an adult when you are going down the waterslide without a life jacket as it's over his head.}

{Koen is fearless in the water and doesn't realize that he needs to make sure we're paying attention when he wants to jump in.}

{Our family takes up the whole pool. Please note the waterslide, it is Kai's highlight by far.}

{I think we found 3 geocaches so far...}

{We are staying at a beautiful place and each have our own suites which keeps us all from going crazy in the chaos:)}

{Giant family photo that kind of worked out?}

Thanks Dad and Joanne for such a great trip!

Bon nuit.

Louise

Seastar

Today I took the camera while the kiddos had swimming lessons. Who knew the lighting was so good in there? Just sat on my butt and used the 70-200mm while Koen kept dashing for the pool:)

Kai's favourite part of swimming lessons is that he is in the same class as his cousin, Izzy. The other girl is my niece Ani who is a level ahead of Kai.

{So proud that he can totally put his head under now and does it all the time.}

{Izzy does not love putting her head in...yet}

{Ani, the expert back floater}

{It's great that Kai is now close to Ani and Izzy. Yay for cousins!}

{Poor Koen, not so fun to just watch. Can you tell he went to bed with wet hair last night? Yikes.}

{You can see that Kai is the oldest in his class:}

{And Kenzie. She is on some serious food restrictions, and therefore Maria is too, due to allergies (no dairy, eggs, wheat etc). Her face is clearing up as it used to be covered in a raw rash from the allergies.}

In other news: Gary got his first hair cut in 6 years from someone other than me!