The Kingfisher Resort and Spa

Gary and I are back from our 4 day vacation. We feel relaxed and rejuvenated. It was the perfect amount of time away, in my opinion. We left the kids on Sunday afternoon, and then had 2 complete days to ourselves, and then picked up our kids on Wednesday. The kids had a blast at auntie Maria's, Gramma and Grandpa's (most time spent there) and Opi and Joanne's.

We went to the Kingfisher Resort and Spa (in Courtenay) for two reasons; it was where we went for our honeymoon 5 years ago AND they had a `Winter Getaway' package deal:) For less than $400.00 each, we got our 3 nights stay plus a $150.00 restaurant credit and $100.00 spa credit. If you ever think of going, I would recommend getting a package!

(Deer in Comox)

The first two days had beautiful weather so we could walk around a lot and explore.

(I am wearing a bathing suit under there so don't be scared)

We went in the heated mineral pool and hot tub, did a yoga class, had a hydrotherapy treatment and full body massage, explored Cumberland, Comox and Courtenay, went shopping, ate a lot of good food, walked along the ocean, read books, and watched tv and movies in bed. Sound good? It was.

We skyped with the kids each night and because I could see that they were doing well, I didn't miss them too much. Kai would've loved it if we were gone longer! Koen did not seem super excited to see me, kind of indifferent. Somehow in the last couple of days, he has starting trying to say so many more words like birdies (he says `babies') and apples (`appies'). I do feel that Koen may have been a bit too young to leave but he did totally fine. I think it would be really easy to leave if Koen was Kai's age.

The pictures above are from Filberg park in Comox...it would be a great location for a wedding or a photo shoot:) There were deer walking around all over the park!

We had a breakfast and dinner with Mark and Maria who were also vacationing there!

This was Gary's chocolate lava cake...

I had the chocolate mousse the first night....

and a berry cobbler the last night. My favourite meal was the smoked salmon eggs Benedict for breakfast. Yum yum.

This place was great for Gary and I; food and spa. Ahhhh. I would say the majority of individuals there are 60 year old women. Gary and I were trying to figure out if we would go back there for our 10 year anniversary but I think we may try something different next time.

It was so nice to just sit and eat our meal at a leisurely pace and not have to run around the restaurant with Koen or talk about diggers the whole time:)

I felt really relaxed. The hydrotherapy and hot tub were really bad for my thyroid but now I know:) I'm glad that Gary and I took the opportunity to get away, just the two of us. It was a great way for me to be able to focus all of my attention on him and myself, rather than on the two monkeys. I felt like we were dating again and it was just really nice and healthy for us.

We are so excited to have another week off for our family...we went swimming this morning and the kids LOVED it. I hope the pool doesn't cause a flare up of Koen's eczema or his ear infection. Koen was fearless in there, it was awesome to see. Well, Kokies is crying, nap time is over already.......have a great weekend!!

Love, Louise

10 Things

1. You know you are having a mild winter when you are at the park at 9am in February and you're not even wearing a jacket! Well, the kids were wearing one, but I wasn't. Loving this weather.

2. I'm loving the Olympics. I love watching it and it's nice to watch events in our time zone! We had a party on Saturday for the moguls and it was really fun to have people over, eat food, and cheer on the athletes.

3. Our kids have been the grumpiest they have ever been these past 3 days. They are both fighting colds, and Koen's is especially bad. He is coughing a lot and is quite congested. His grumpiness is mostly his non stop crying in bed and refusal to go to sleep, even though it's what he needs. Two nights ago, I got up with him and just held him, but nothing helped. We both got very little sleep. Last night, I just let him cry. Poor bubba. He probably cried about 5 different times throughout the night...only 10 minutes each, but still, he's not a happy camper. Kai is staying home from preschool today because of his cold. I don't like it when he misses it but its what we have to do! Oh, I should mention that Koen's eczema is 90% gone! Now, I don't know what it is due to (no soap/bubble in his bath, goat milk, or aveeno baby lotion) but I'm very glad. He accepted the goat milk with no problem at all. Only downfall is that it is twice the price of whole milk.

4. When are kids are super grumpy (Koen crying, Kai in time out non stop), I stop and think about having a third:) However, I know that these grumpy days are far outweighed by fabulous wonderful ones so I'm not worried. Just 5 weeks until we start the first part of the adoption process!

5. My friends, Tessa and Simon, had a baby boy last night! Their first baby! I don't know many details except it happened so fast, the baby was born at home just as the midwife arrived! Can't wait to meet him and hear a bit more of his birth story. So fun when you see you friends or family becoming parents.

6. I am the emcee of my sisters wedding (and photographer too!) in just 2 weeks. Any tips? I have no problem public speaking but if you've seen any wonderful things done by an emcee (or terrible I guess), please let me know! I need a tip or two!

7. I've started getting rid of a ton of stuff, craigslisting it etc. Our house is not very big so the more stuff in it, the more it feels super cluttered. Also, we would like to gradually finish our basement suite so I would like to have as little as possible in our basement. Talking about houses, we got our house and auto insurance through Coast Capital and saved $100 on each. Just saying....

8. I've started exercising 5 days a week. I've been quite inactive for 5 months and I'm tired of waiting for my thyroid to be 100%, so, I've started. I'm only doing yoga and short jogs but I think it will be very effective in getting me back into shape. I am quite a fan of yoga. I do feel quite well, still at 85%, and I just need to make sure that I take good care of my eyes and remember to take my medicine. With Graves' Disease, your eyes are attacked separately from your thyroid, so even if I get my thyroid under control, the immune system can still attack my eyes. The biggest problem with my eyes these days are dryness so I just really need to stay on top of it with the artificial tears and lubrication at night. Fun times.

9. Our second wedding (and first full day coverage) of the year is on Saturday and it's supposed to be nice out! Looking forward to it! So thankful that we are able to turn our hobby into a source of income, especially since we are now down to one income!

10. Gary and I are heading downtown on Thursday after he is done work. My lovely sister, Maria, is watching the kiddos and even putting them to bed for me!!! Woohoo!! Gary and I aren't really sure what we want to do but the object of the evening is going to be to take pictures. I think. Just 3 weeks until our 3 night getaway! Oh man, I have a feeling gramma isn't going to get any sleep having Koen sleepover:)

Remember, I need some tips on emceeing!!!

Love, Louise.

Everybody Dance Now

Monday was such a good day. I just felt good. Like, almost normal!! The kids were pumped about the snow. We played outside, Kai and Koen went sledding down a hill, we drank hot chocolate...you know, the perfect wintery day. Kai was so well behaved, I even took both of them to get my blood test done. Kai, loose in a BC Biomedical building, full of needles and vials, while I'm stuck in a chair with a needle in my arm. He did fabulously!! He just asked a ton of really good questions. Koen was in the stroller, I'm not that crazy:) Afterwards Kai said, `Mommy, I had really good behaviour! Yahoo!'. By the way, if you live in the Langley/Surrey area, the Willowbrook BC Biomedical is the best one...I've never had to wait more than a minute!

(I asked Kai to sit next to his brother. This picture looks so unnatural to me because Kai is sitting and not doing anything.)

Had our care group Christmas social last night. Gary had a bball game (they won!) so I went alone. Lots of good food and fellowshipping. Thanks to my sis Maria for babysitting! I've had a sore throat all week but last night it really starting kicking my butt and today I feel knocked out. Had to cancel today's plans and I just feel gross. So ready to be healthy one day....

(Kai is loving the snow this year!)

Koen (dare I say it) has slept 14 hours straight for the last 3 nights. Yippee!! He has another bottom tooth coming through but it only seems to make him a little monster like during the day. Phew. His mouth is very jack-o-lantern-ish:)

Kai has gone to bed at 6:15pm the last three nights for giving Koen naughty things. It always happens around 6pm-ish. I wonder if it's because he's getting tired? I wonder if he does it because he hopes that Koen will get in trouble for being bad? Regardless, these kids need to be constantly supervised when together....especially if Kai is tired.

(Maybe I should leave Koen in this snowsuit all the time...greater protection from big brother Kai)

Tuesday was a snow day for Gary! This made my day much easier as I had to head down to Vancouver to the Eye Care Center and that way Gary could do the preschool pick up for Kai.

The Eye Care Center was truly remarkable and there is more about it on my thyroid blog. My eyes are paying for it today though, sore, sore, sore. Basically my eyes seem to be improving overall and we'll check back in a few months to see where they are at. He was a wonderful ophthalmologist who was validating, knowledgeable and easy to talk to.

I made these `Amazing Veggie Burgers' the other day. I forgot how much I loved them! This is a different recipe, from the `Today's Parent' magazine, so I just tried it out. I used a bean medley instead of black beans. I also love a little cumin in my veggie burgers and omit the bbq sauce on the kids ones to reduce the sugar. Koen loves them too...so easy for a baby to eat as it is soft (yet they can feed themselves) and nutritious. I think everyone should make a veggie burger once in their life...just to try it out:)

Finally, I am working on a dance routine with Koen, Kai and myself. It is hilarious....to me. We dance to `Everybody Dance Now' which Kai LOVES. Okay, I use the words `dance' and `routine' loosely. Koen starts off with his arms waving in the air and then Kai does his routine dancing on a bench and then he likes me too spin him and finish dancing on the ground. Basically, it's a good way to get the sillies out. May have to capture it on the video camera one day:)

Oh yes, if you are interested in newborns at all, check out this post by Melissa's mom about the benefits of skin to skin contact.

Have a great day everyone!

Helping Hand

(Kai playing with his shadow. We haven't opened our curtains in probably 2 weeks, because of my eyes, so the kids were so pumped to see sunshine!)
I love preschool. I love what he is learning. I love that I get to see what he learns each month through their party days. I love that he loves it. I love that I get a break. I love it that they tire the kiddos out for their parents. I love that Kai has learned to sit quietly in a circle!! Anyway, today the teacher said to me, `Kai is our best helper! He always wants to help with everything and always has his hand up first.'. Awesome. I love that!

(learning how to make the shadow of a dog)

He always says at home, `What can I do to help?'. He wants to be part of every meal, project, cleaning activity etc. It's exhausting but I think it's really good for him. If I end up teaching again, I will be sure to email/call/talk to parents more often on what their kids do well.

(He has that terrible dry skin around his mouth from licking his lips all the time and it's starting to hurt him. Any tips besides chapstick?)

Koen is wild. He is still just go, go, go all day. His favourite activities are getting into the garbage can, toilet or fridge. If he can get past the gate and up the stairs, he giggles with glee. He just toddles around all day long.

(This is his stone face. He gives it when he is first around new people or really just wants to cry but is mildly occupied)

He is about 50/50 on the breastfeeding and bottle now. He doesn't seem to be drinking very much which concerns me a little. He has maybe just 16 oz per day (4oz/4 feeds). This is totally different than Kai who was and is a great lover of milk. Kai probably had 32 oz per day at this age! Maybe Koen just gets more of his nutrients from solid foods? He def. eats a ton. I now end up going in to soothe him via feeding him once in the night as I just can't sit there and listen to him cry for hours at a time (because then i don't sleep!). I feed him and 5 minutes later, we are both asleep:) This happens prob. every other night. I'm planning on sending Gary in there to put him back to sleep once Gary is on Christmas break.

(His `I'm teething and it hurts' face. It also means, `I don't know what I want to make me feel better so you can't help me!'. )

Gary is full out into bball. He either comes home from work at 6:30pm or, he comes home at 4:30pm and leaves again at 6:30pm until 10:30pm. So, I'm on my own for either dinner or bedtime. Oh well, usually not both. He has the largest team he's had in years so that is good in terms of coaching kids who will be back next year too. So far, they had a tourney where they had one win and two losses. I'm trying to think of how they did in their league game and I can't remember. I know it was close though:)

As for me, I've been off my meds for over 24 hours. Read my thyroid blog to hear the latest (may not have Graves' Disease!!). I feel good, maybe 80% today. I have a strange headache and my heart and eyes are not doing too well. My body has really gone through a lot these last 3.5 months and it feels weak and sore and tired. I am sooooooooo hopeful that I will get better. I'm so giddy. Last night, Gary got us blizzards to celebrate. I had ice cream. Sugary, creamy ice cream. My mind is going wild with thoughts like, `We need to drive to Alaska with the kids this summer!'. Things that I've always thought we would wait on, I feel like we need to do it NOW in case something else happens. If it was PPT and I am possibly getting better, I don't know what I will do. The idea that I might not have Graves' Disease never entered my mind. Over the past month I have just been processing how significantly different my life would be. How sucky things would be for Gary. How the day to day would differ greatly. How, many people, just don't understand it. I'm trying not to get too excited yet....just in case. But the idea that I could have a normal life is so absolutely unbelievable!

Have a good evening all. I'm off to the couch to watch The Biggest Loser. I just need to say that I have not laid on the couch all day. What does that mean? I'm feeling not too shabby:)

Oh yes, one more thing. I'm looking for a fun and unique nativity scene. Maybe a cloth one? Let me know...

Sunday Morning Walk

Maria (my sister) sent me this picture of Kai, I think it's from the summertime. Makes me smile.

This morning we skipped church because we have 2 sick kids (Kai with cold, Koen with who knows what) and I need to be in the dark. Fortunately it was perfectly overcast this morning so we could get out for a walk!

Jackie, do you notice Koen wearing the toque that you made?

Sometimes I can still get Kai to hold my hand...

Kai loves his `new' hoodie that allows him to hold his hands inside, he thinks its the coolest thing.

I got my hair cut 2 days ago and wanted a nice picture with it all straightened and clean etc. but I've been a bit too lazy so at least here you can see the new length:)

Mr. Happy Pants it back. So awesome to have my happy, giggly baby back. PHEW! Well, until the next tooth.....

This was the first time that we let Koen walk for part of our family walk. Not sure if it's best for his Robeez but I don't know how well he would walk in actual runners and his super cute size 4 rainboots (they are only cute because they are so small) are a little too awkward for him still.

He has never held our hands to walk, it puts him off balance and he wants to do it all by himself.

Then I wanted some exercise so we put them both in the stroller. You can tell that Kai really loved that idea:) I love that my body, besides my eyes, is feeling so good these past two days. It's very weak as I've lost a lot of muscle mass and core strength, but it feels much better! I know I have to start very slowly but I'm confident that one day, I will be quite fit again.

Kai's cold has made him such a grumpy pants which makes me exhausted. He also has to win at everything right now. First to the door, first to the van, must win in any board game. TIRING. He is looking sooooo much like Gary these days, it makes me smile. Gary's participation in `No Shave November' will end tomorrow...I wonder what kind of mustache he will create....

I'm so thankful it is so cloudy and that I am able to for walks. I'm so thankful that my eye lubricant works so well. I'm so thankful for my husband and kids. Talking about kids.....

(First day of life!)

My baby will be 11 months old in 3 days. This makes me sad. Is it okay to feel that way? I love this stage and am incredibly sad that this is likely my last time breastfeeding or watching my baby take his first steps or learn how to talk etc. Every time he snuggles with me I want to say, `Please take 100 pictures!'. I know how hard it is to get a 3 year old boy to give good snuggles, especially the ones where they want to fall asleep lying on your chest.

(Koen 2 days old)

I am so thankful for this guy, especially since he took a lot longer to come along and especially since he came before I got sick....that I got to have a second child before all this craziness. Although pregnancy is one of the instigators of Graves' Disease, I wouldn't change anything for a second. I love this guy to pieces.

Okay, can't think of a fun way to end this so have a great evening. I'll be watching Amazing Race:)

Party Day Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Kai's Party Day at school today....

He does so well with all of the actions and is very animated with his singing:)

Kai and his partner were wild and fast do-si-do-ers! My little man has moves:) How cute is it to see your three year old do-si-do-ing?!

Below they are shaking their tails (they were squirrels of course).

And below is Mr. Grumpy Pants. Terrible picture but here's his goofy face. I think he was dancing here. He's also got some sweet moves! He looks so familiar to me in this picture but I don't know who he looks like...me? Kai? Gary? He loves music. Loves to dance. He swings his arms and shakes his head and does some squats. SO CUTE.

And below is a picture of my eyes after a GOOD night sleep. My sister saw me yesterday and was like, `Well, you just look like that because you're not wearing makeup'. Um, yes, I was wearing make up! My poor, tired, tired, sore eyes.