GC Photography!

Hello all! Gary and I (well, I guess Kai too), are excited to introduce to you our newest little project! We now have a studio in our basement available to take photos of YOU (or anyone else you know). Our photos, and information, are available for viewing on our GC Photography blog on the side link. Once on the blog, there is also a link for our portfolio.

Above is the advertisement that we are handing out. We are also available to do on location shots, whether they be candid or posed. If you haven't seen Gary's photos before, he's pretty talented. This has def. been a team effort and I look forward to seeing what we can do. Don't worry, I won't be advertising on here at all, but if you know anyone that would like pictures taken, please contact us!

Doggie kisses

Kai got his fingers caught in the door (he could open and close doors all day long) and nothing would console him UNTIL....Thompson's doggie kisses covered his face. His crying was warranted as the skin came off two of his fingertips.

A nice relaxing stroll?

Kai and I went to the park this morning at 9am and after the fifth handfull of bark mulch that made it into his mouth, I decided it was time to go home. Sometimes, he would pretend to put it in his mouth and then throw it away. Other times, he'd look at me, smile and jam it in. I don't worry about leaves and dirt but when a sharp piece of wood could possibly penetrate his esophagus or intestines, I'm not too excited (I've seen too many episodes of `House'). So, we decided to head home. Kai wanted to push the stroller. That seemed good to me, it would tire him out. The 3 block walk, which normally takes a few minutes, took about 25 minutes. He had to stop at each tree to hold onto it and walk around it. Every leaf had to be put in his mouth. Sometimes he wanted to stop and play with my toes (he LOVES feet and everything to do with them; toes, socks, shoes). The lawn ornaments were extremely exciting and had to be touched. The fences had to be banged on. I just kept thinking of how patient I was being and I was pretty proud of myself:) I'm glad he could enjoy his walk, its fun to see him be so interested in everything. Hopefully I continue to be patient and appreciate his wonder.

Happy Birthday to....me!

Cute birthday picture from friends! Thanks guys!
My birthday was yesterday so it seemed to be celebrated with a whole lotta food! For breakfast, Gary, Kai and I went to IHOP. I never eat large breakfasts but boy, did we get our money's worth! Kai also enjoyed sausage, eggs, french toast etc. Then, Trisha (my sis) dropped off some DQ concoctions and my dad dropped off a milk chocolate hazelnut bar. My sisters all got Gary and I a gift certificate to Vij's in Vancouver so we went there tonight without Kai (thanks for babysitting Grandma!). If you are looking for good indian food, you probably want to check it out. Dinner starts at 5:30 but when we got there at 5pm, we were 9th in line. By 5:15 the line up was a block long. They were so friendly and efficient there and the food was AWESOME. I had beef tenderloin with a chesnut and mushroom sauce, garlic mashed potatoes with cumin and some greens. It was probably the best meat I've ever had in my life. Gary had the duck with a mango curry which was also amazing. They give you tons of naan bread (although I actually like Gary's better because I don't like cumin seeds in my bread) and chai to drink. Yum yum.
Finished off tonight by watching `So You Think You Can Dance'...no idea who is going to win but I sure thought Danny's solo was amazing. Bon nuit!

Pros and Cons

Gary is a great cook and photographer, which is super fabulous. Let me just point out a few things...

Pros: yummy food and great variety, don't have to cook often, don't spend a lot of money on eating out, great pictures, fun to be creative together

Cons: good food can be quite expensive (only real parmesan cheese for him), no excuse to go to a restaurant when he can make it himself, lotsa trips to the grocery store (walking 95% of the time which I like...a fun-ish family outing), we're not really `allowed' to buy macoroni and cheese or hot dogs (but I do when he's gone!!), expensive camera stuff, always new computer programs to learn, always one more piece of equipment needed for the camera or computer.



Please don't think I'm complaining, I'm not. Just showing both sides to something.

What did we do today? Gary ran a 7 km in 30 something minutes which pumped him up for the day and then we went for a walk around Mill Lake where Kai learned the word `duck'. We've been super busy getting our little business together and it should be ready to go by the end of the week!

Kai has turned into a big little boy in the sense that he no longer will go happily if I remove him from something, he now acts like he might die. If I'm carrying him away from the computer or something else he shouldn't be touching, he pushes himself away from me with all his might while verbalizing his anger with screaming. If I don't let him eat some food that I may be eating, oh boy, watch out. He likes to throw things and eat everything (today he ate some leaves and grass and would've continued to do so regardless of the taste or texture). I know little boys can be a bit wild so I'm getting a little nervous about what's to come. I have to say that I cannot wait to discipline him (I heard you should start at about 18 months, no idea where I got this from but sounds good to me)! Time outs, here we come! For now, its just the firm `no'.

Here's a cute photo of Kai that was taken a couple days of go by my lovely personal chef and photographer; Gary.

Tessa and Simon's Wedding

This was def. one of my favourite wedding to go to (besides our own of course:)). Situated on her grandparents ranch in Abbotsford, alongside a man made lake, it was so beautiful. If you don't know these two, they are very unique and fun individuals with a love for dogs, Rugby, and South Africa. Tesssa always said, since the first time they met, that she wanted to marry Simon (which was 10 years ago at UBC!). They celebrated by having a catered bbq, dancing, huge fire to roast marshmellows, a bellini machine...so nice. She was very thoughtful to think of providing babysitting which made it really easy for the mommy's there. Gary and I had a great time talking to the people at our table and around the fire as there were some really cool connections and similarities.

Tessa's grandpa/baba had passed away just the day before and so it was a celebration of family and love on various levels. Tessa was able to speak about this in her speech to everyone, sharing how the night before was her grandma's first night in 57 years without a husband and Tessa's last night without one. Tessa was very close to her baba and so it was an extra emotional day.

Colleen, the maid of honour, bringing the flower dogs (?) down the aisle.

Tessa bribing one of the dogs to walk her down the aisle (with her dad of course). Tessa is prob. the only bride I'll ever meet who dug dog treats out of the top of her dress during the ceremony AND who asked her dog if she wanted a kiss too after the bride and groom kissed!

Saying their `I Do's'

The wedding was situated on this lake/pond..so pretty! The canoe was a gift from some people, so fun!

Cutting the cake

What a wonderful evening.

Random

Two things that drive me crazy are:
1. People who don't wear helmets when they are biking. This is especially annoying if they have it dangling from their handlebars. If you have it, just wear it. Why does this bug me so much? I've seen a biker hit by a car who wasn't wearing a helmet AND I'm the mother of a little guy who will hopefully always wear his!

2. The sound of people eating corn on the cob. I can't enjoy the corn on the cob because I'm so distracted by the sounds of people eating it. Besides, what about all the gross white stuff that gets stuck between your teeth. I like my corn cobless thanks.

What's new with Kai?
1. He's decided that he wants to go back to wall walking and appears quite scared to be walking by himself. Could it be because of all the times he fell (evident by the bruise on his forehead that continues to get re-bruised)?

2. He got his shots yesterday and Gary got to come and observe for the first time. I cried one tear as he wailed in pain for 2 minutes. Then he played with the toys there and was fine. I asked Gary if it made him sad to see his son in pain and he just said it didn't really bother him because he knew he was okay. We are soooooo different and its so weird how I hurt when Kai hurts but Gary doesn't. It doesn't mean Gary is unloving, it just means he's less sensitive maybe? Again, this isn't a bad thing because a house full of sensitivity could be a little crazy at times but ya, another way in which Gary and I differ. Another thing I struggle to understand.

3. He's invented a type of crawl that I have never seen before. He was never a crawler so this is a cross of walking and crawling. He keeps one leg upright as if its walking and the other is curled under him for leverage. I tried to get a picture of it and will post it below.
4. His stats were: weight 25lbs, height 30.5inches. His 5th tooth is approx. a nanometer from popping through. Below is a picture of Kai flirting with himself in the mirror. He likes to give the head tilt and smile.

5. He now smiles a lot at people when we go out. Well, if they smile, he give the hearty `haaaaa' sound with the face below.

Hmmm...what's new with Gary?
1. He painted all last week.
2. He has been working out and running lots. I'm trying to encourage him to run a half marathon in October but he likes to think about things for a while, so, maybe I will just sign him up.
3. He has been reading a lot on photography lighting
4. He has enjoyed running around, doing errands with me. Really, he has.
5. He's getting his hair cut by me tonight! This allows for it to grow out a bit before school starts again in case it looks a little scary. Every time it gets a little better.

What's new with me?
1. I read `The curious incident of the dog in the night-time' and give it a 7.5/10. It's written from the perspective of a boy with autism. I'd recommend it, it's a quick read.
2. Just wrote my sister Jackie a letter, she is safe and sound in Namibia.
3. Going to a wedding of good friends from UBC this Saturday, it's going to be a beautiful one!
4. Low blood pressure. Always have it but seems worse lately, prob. because I'm not drinking enough water. I know its good to be low, but when systolic is always below 100, I keep getting dizzy.
5. I turn 29 next week. Not a very exciting birthday, 30 will be the big one I guess. Gary and I are planning on going to Vancouver for fancy dinner, we love our food:)
6. I really enjoy watching `So You Think You Can Dance'. Results tonight!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Family Time at Aldergrove Lake

Yesterday we went to Aldergrove lake with all the Chapman family. The kids all played in the water and Kai was LOVING the water and the sand. I thought that once he got a mouthful of sand, he would realize it was gross and never eat it again. Nope. That kid continued to try to eat it and everything else. When does it end?! Anything he finds, he puts into his mouth. It can't be that he's hungry because he eats so much. Talking about eating, he always has baby cereal for breakfast (like wheat cereal with grapes and bananas), when do you switch to toast or something? Or is it good to keep giving him cereal for the high iron content?
Then we went to gramma and grandpa's for a bbq where Gary got Kai to hang from the basketball rim...oh boy. Kai is so in love with any ball or balloon that he sees and calls it `baw' which is not to be confused with `beh' which is bed. He also really loves his `beh' as long as his blankie is there.
Being that it's August, I'm starting to feel nervous as I'm heading back to work in 3 more weeks! For those of you that don't know, I'm going back to teaching part time. That means I will be there M,W,Fri one week and then T, Th the next. Kai will be at daycare with a friend's sister who lives 3 blocks away from us. I'll be bringing him there next week to get him to start adjusting and I'm sure he'll be fine. He's really good in any environment without me, as long as there are toys of some sort to play with. The thing we are working on right now is that it appears he is switching to one nap. It's not working too well as he wants to have his nap earlier than later so we keep trying to extend how long he is up in the morning. It seems that his one nap is from 10:30-1 or so which makes for a very long afternoon. Fun times.
Hope you all had a good weekend. We keep thinking of going camping but there seems to be something going on every other day which makes it difficult. Oh well, day trips are good.

Well, we are off on a family bike ride. Kai loves the bike trailer!

Happy Birthday to Gary!!

Well, this birthday was a little more celebrated than the one last year! Last year we were both completely out of it as Gary's bday is one day after Kai's. So, what did we do today? Well, this morning we had a garage sale. I know, so unromantic and `unfun' for a birthday right? Kind of. This was the only weekend that worked. We just had one for 3 hours and made over $170.00 so that's not too bad! It's sad to see stuff that you bought for a lot of money just go for $1.00. It's sad that people talk you down to such a little amount for stuff that has been with you for years.

So here is the birthday boy doing what he loves best...playing Madden football in the basement. He thinks that because he named his quarterback Louise and the main receiver Kai that I would take a greater interest:)

We ate some cake that Kai decided felt nice on his belly. This birthday boy was a chunky 25lbs at his one year mark. I won't say how much today's birthday boy weighs:)

Then we went for dinner at Red Robins...so family friendly with the little ones. I told them it was Gary's bday so they made him stand up and they all sang and clapped. I'm surprised Gary wasn't more embarrassed because he really doesn't like being the center of attention like that. We got a free Sundae out of it too! Also, due to the great money making this morning, we celebrated the special day by getting a drink other than water with dinner. I'm very hesitant to post this fact as I really don't want to be made fun of. Growing up we would always get one large pop at McDonalds and split it amongst the 7 of us:) Whenever we go out, Gary and I always get water. But today being Gary's birthday, I had a coke and he had a strawberry lemonade...we are WILD!!!:) Then, we went for a walk at Campbell Valley Park which was a nice way to just talk and breathe some fresh air. We wanted to go out to see the new Bourne movie but will have to wait til family is available to watch the little guy.

Happy birthday Gary!!! For his card I wrote `32 Reasons why I love Gary' (because he's 32)...so I will post them here (there are many, many other reasons but here are a few):

1. He helped me make a beautiful baby boy
2. He makes me yummy dinners (he is seriously the best chef ever)
3. He goes on walks with me
4. He watches `America’s next top noodle’ with me (Gary makes up `interesting' names for each show and it sticks in my head, like `Okra' for Oprah) By the way, we honestly watch this show for the photos at the end and not all the model hoopla and walking etc...
5. He agreed to get rid of cable to save $50.00 and spend more quality time together
6. He is a good photographer
7. He is a hard worker
8. He loves sour cream and onion chips too
9. He is reading a book with me
10. He understands computers and fixes them for me
11. He listens to my venting
12. He agreed to have a garage sale
13. He listens/agrees to my creative suggestions
14. He goes on runs and takes care of his body
15. He takes kai on runs
16. He comes up with cool nicknames for kai and i
17. He loves his family
18. He is a good teacher…
19. He is a good basketball coach and puts in lotsa time
20. He appreciates his friendships as he’s had the same friends for years
21. He dresses, changes, and plays with kai
22. He tries to bike to school when its sunny
23. He composts and recycles
24. He is tall, dark, and handsome
25. He smells yummy
26. He’s a good painter and can `cut in’ without using tape
27. He would look up different fonts instead of just using this one
28. He’s good with kids
29. He talks nerdy to me (we really do talk sciency to eachother)
30. He cleans the bathrooms, the kitchen floors and does laundry!
31. He is uber patient
32. He loves me and tells me so all the time

Happy First Birthday!

*Warning: LONG POST!!!*

Happy First Birthday Monkey!!!! (Mr. Teething pants wasn't giving me too many smiles today)

Wow. I feel like this should be a very special post. I am the mother of a one year old! Wow, just remembering what I was doing exactly one year ago isn't the greatest memory but boy, is it clear. Let's see, it's 10:24pm as I'm writing right now. I was about 9cm dilated and sucking back on the gas. I had spent cm's 6-8 in the shower, well, more like on the floor of the shower with an exercise ball. 1am I pushed for 1 1/2 hours and was then given an epidural to `relax' and try to sleep. 6am I pushed for another 1/2 hour. I ended up having a C-section at 8am the next morning.

This year. Wow. I'd have to say that the first 4 months were the hardest months of my life. Lack of sleep was probably the greatest contributor with crazy hormones coming in as a close second. Gary and I had to work on a lot of stuff that seems to come up when both people are sleep deprived and suddenly a little more sensitive. Oh boy, I'm not making this sound very positive yet, just wait, I'll get to the nice stuff! I was proud of our guy for being so big but really, nothing else. He cried a lot. All the time. Getting him to sleep took an hour of rocking back and forth in my arms or using Gary's special method of pulling him back and forth on a blanket on the floor. I never really thought about what it would be like to have a newborn, I just knew I wanted to be a mom. I really thought that it would be easier. I loved being in the hospital (you're in there for 3 days with a C-section) and it was tough getting my mobility back. It's amazing how you use your abs for everything.

Once home, we walked a lot. I would walk to Extra Foods and by the time I was about to cross the last street to get to the store, he would usually stop screaming and fall asleep. If he wasn't asleep by that point, I'd head home. It was weird recovering from abdominal surgery as I couldn't even do one leg lift. However, I healed quite quickly and was able to do a 5km run after 2 months (and play football too around the 6 week mark!). Back to Kai. He had a very, very good appetite and loved his milk. He would eat at least every 3 hours although on those lovely growth spurt days, he'd eat every hour.

Around 4 months or so, he would just wake up at 4am and that was AMAZING!!! He also stopped crying so much and I really fell in love with him. To be honest, I was a little sad that he didn't look like me. He could've been anyone's kid and I didn't see me or Gary in him but now, I see our personalities and he does have my dimples:)

Okay, I really shouldn't talk about every month as its already in my old posts. I just want to focus now on who he is today. Wow. What a great kid. He is very laid back (ya, ya, he gets it from Gary) and loves to dance (woohoo!) and eat (that's both of us!). He is pretty careful (that's me) and gets a sneaky grin on his face when he shakes the lamp or pulls on the tv cables because he knows he's not allowed. He is a FABULOUS sleeper going down for his naps and bedtime without a whimper (as long as he has his blankie). He sticks his thumb in his mouth and minutes later, he's out. For this, I know I am sooooooo blessed! He is really loving his independence now and its harder to get hugs and kisses unless I'm holding a bottle of milk or his doggie. He's discovering something new each day and is really into opening drawers this week. He doesn't know how to go from his stomach to sitting to standing as he is pretty helpless on his stomach. Sometimes he wakes up in a panic in the night time because he's rolled onto his stomach and can't figure out how to get back onto his back.

These past 2 weeks have been tough on him because he had the chicken pox. He was unable to hang out with other kids which he really missed. He didn't understand why I had to detour from the park on our walks. I do have to say that teething has been really tough on him too but that's too be expected. I love this little guy so much and am so thankful to have him in my life. I'm nervous about the responsibility I have to help raise him and I'm scared of anything bad happening to him. I don't focus on these things and I mostly feel really happy to have such a great little guy to spend my time with.

Here's Kai with his buddy Micah at the park this week. His chicken pox finally scabbed up and he is no longer contagious.

(Gary is now going to bed, it's 11pm and I just want to finish this) Gary just wants to say that he loves Kai. One of his favourite moments was running with Kai in the jogging stroller the other day and as he was going up a long hill, Kai stared clapping and saying `Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!'. So cute, what a great little fan he is:)

He still does the spiderman walk around this house, holding onto the walls but just yesterday, he started walking on his own without our coaxing. Now, we REALLY have to keep our eyes and ears open!

Spiderman

Walking!

Eating

Kai, I just want to let you know that Daddy and I love you so much! You make us laugh and smile. We love it when we are driving and you sit in the back seat saying `Yesssss!' after one of us uses the word `yes' in our conversation. We love how you are so well behaved wherever we go. We love watching you play and dance. We love that you are taking careful risks with your walking:) We look forward to seeing what this next year brings and are so thankful to God for giving us a special little boy who brings such joy to our lives. Kai, we are going to try our best to show you what a good marriage looks like and how to communicate openly. We know that we will mess up but we know that with that comes forgiveness and growth. Again, we love you and we pray that this year will be full of wonder and learning and safety and laughter and even more love. You have taught me so much and I look forward to seeing what else I can learn from you! Happy first birthday Monkey!!!

PS Sorry you didn't get a dog for your birthday, I was tempted!