Toes and Snow

Last night Kai said he wanted to go downstairs and take pictures. If he ever says it, we take the opportunity because we want him to enjoy it. I REALLY want some nice family photos outside so maybe this evening if the weather holds up??? Otherwise Willms'...we may have to bug you when you come up in June:)

We probably should've used the white backdrop (often looks better with young kids...helps their eyes to really `pop' in the pictures) but the black one was already up.

This afternoon I went snowshoeing with my sister Jackie. We went up to Mt. Seymour and hiked Dog Mountain. It's about a 1.5 hour snowshoe and I def. got a good cardio workout in with all the hills. While I was gone, Gary took the boys to Home Depot and bought some more seeds (and some fun ones like lemon thyme). I love that Gary is so capable and willing to be so hands on with the boys....makes my life so much easier!!

(Yay! I got to put on all my hiking/camping gear.....LOVE IT)

(Jackie at the top...finally!)

(Great view of Vancouver at the top)
Can't wait for summer and having Gary home all the time. We've been planning our summer holidays and I'm excited. Well, we just have 2 short trips but I'm pumped!

Easter

*Videos at the end*

My precious big boy

Koen and Gary slept like this for 1.5 hours today. We went to gramma and grandpa Chapmans on Friday for an Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner. Kai LOVES hanging out with his cousins.

Kai collecting one of a billion eggs that he got over the weekend. We are saving them all as his treats when he uses the toilet to limit how many he gets per day:)

All the Chapman cousins

Grandpa Chapman with our boys

Chubs, uh I mean Kai, going in gramma and grandpa's hot tob for the first time. It took him a few minutes to warm up to it but then he was practicing his swimming and LOVING it. He went back in again later.

Today Kai learned about Easter in Sunday school. He also learned that it is not okay to wrestle in Sunday school. Also, you need to ask someone if they want to wrestle before you tackle them to the ground. Oops. I worry about his goofiness because I really want to make sure he's not the wildest one in the classroom. I think as a teacher you see such a wide variety of kids and wonder which one your kid will be like. He does make us laugh though. Wow. Today I was talking to a friend at church and Kai came up to me and said, `Mommy, what's a bagina?' (if you don't know what he's talking about, don't worry). He knows the answer but took that moment to ask again. Oh Kai.

Here's Kai showing bug parts. By the way, I'm copying his intonation...I don't talk like that:)

And a video of Kokoes giggling last week.

Dekens boy?!

I grew up with 4 sisters and no brothers. It's hard to know what a boy in our family would've looked like. Perhaps he would've looked like the fellow below? I think there is a little more Dekens in him than Chapman but time will tell. I really, really hope that he looks like me as Kai is about 98% Chapman. The 2% Dekens portion is his dimples.

Here are some pictures of me as a baby...

(We both def. have the lack of hair:)

I mean, its not like we look the same but I think Koen is more similar to myself than to Gary. I only have one picture of Gary at this age and I'm not going to scan it now...

Koen is a super drooly pants these days. Not expecting teeth anytime soon as Kai was about 10 months old when he started getting them.

Maybe in the picture below he looks more like me. That was a joke. He really does love being in the bjorn and looking around.

Gary and Kai spent the morning planting seeds and preparing the garden.

I've been talking to Kai over the past few days about what Easter means. It's kind of hard to summarize it to a 2.5 year old kid in language that they understand but here is what he got from it:

God had a boy named Jesus (he doesn't know the term `son')

Jesus died but then he went into heaven with God.

He died so that when we say `sorry', God says, `It's okay, I forgive you'.

And one of the culprits of my CRAZY hay fever is below. I can't take any antihistamines so I've been irrigating my nose with a saline nasal spray. Thinking of getting a netty pot.

Kai always asks me to take pictures of him and then gives this super fake smile. What a punk.

And...another goofy face.

Soon we'll be heading out to the Chapman Easter Egg Hunt and Dinner. Hopefully I don't eat too much chocolate:)

Blessed

Koen is sitting in the bjorn as we speak, sleeping away. My back is just about to break but him having a good nap is more important to me. Not trying to sound like a martyr, if he sleeps well in the day, he's just a happier boy:) Yesterday, I fed him and then 2 hours later, I fed him again and he fell asleep. He then slept for 3 hours in his bed!! This was def. his longest day time nap and I was sooooo happy! He has been sleeping a solid 7-8 hours per night which is just awesome. He did sleep in his bed for an hour this morning (again feeding two hours apart) so I played a bit with our new lens extenders. I'm not sure how useful they will be as they only focus if you are about 2 inches from the subject but it'll be good for ring shots I guess!

(My engagement ring. It's a bit blurry as I couldn't stabilize the lens enough just using one hand. I don't wear my wedding ring...its just a band. It is smaller than my engagement ring and when I was pregnant with Kai my finger were so swollen that I stopped wearing it. On a side note, Gary never wears his ring. Something about teaching PE, playing sport, and it being uncomfortable? )

(Not sure if this is inappropriate but here's a picture of me pulling out my belly fat/excess skin. I'm about 1 day away from starting a serious work out routine because my weight has remained the same for 2 months and if my weight loss post Kai's birth is any indication...I won't be losing any more. The plan is to lose 10lbs and 3% of my body fat in 2 months. I know it's not about weight but a good 10 lbs would make my clothes fit more nicely. Our scale also reads body fat so that's why I added that in there).

I've been thinking a lot about what to do when my maternity leave is over. The plan is to go back to teaching part time in December. I'm concerned about finding daycare for my boys. In the past, we have had 2 great stay at home moms so maybe they could take on 2 kids? I think we could actually manage our mortgage and all that jazz on just Gary's salary but things wouldn't be as comfortable as they are now. Could I, or would I want to, do more studio photography sessions instead? I say studio because then I don't need child care, it's in our basement. I could do it while they are napping or put a little Diego on:) If I did just one shoot a week, that would give me some fun times with editing and learning more in that department. We have been trying to just stick with 1 session per month because of child care and also, we want it to stay fun and a hobby. I do enjoy teaching and being out of the home but it is truly exhausting. Maybe I'm just remembering how it was teaching when I was pregnant and hauling my 8 month self up and down those stairs to face a room of 30 wild grade 9's.

(The ring my mom bought me when i turned 18. Talking about my mom...last night we opened a jar of applesauce that my mom had made. Kai was eating it and we were talking about oma. It brought tears to my eyes that Kai was eating what my mom had made. I think my dad still has some jars. I'll have to get another and just never eat it, although, she would want me to eat it:)

Also, I've been thinking about a 3rd baby. If you have ever done the true colours workshop, I am as gold as you can get (routine, scheduled, time orientated, plan ahead, need control etc). I just like to know, as much as I can, what is going to be happening. Some days, i feel like selling everything that Koen has grown out of and getting rid of all our baby stuff. Other days, like today, when Kai said, `You should have another baby boy!' I think that maybe I should try to do just that. When I was being stitched up, my doctor/ob/gyn/surgeon said that I could maybe have just one more based on the thinness of my uterus. I believe that was the reasoning she gave. I would def. need to check in and figure out what exactly she was talking about as I wasn't 100% with it.

In April of last year we had been trying for nearly a year to get pregnant with Koen. I had just come to the point where I felt peace in the sense that Kai may have been our only biological child. A week later, Koen was conceived. I wish I could tell you the story (yes, of the events surrounding his conception) but I don't want my family to be mortified so if you ever want to know, feel free to ask me:) All I have to say is that I am so thankful to God that He has blessed us with another beautiful, healthy boy. Koen is so special to us and today when he was smiling at Kai, it brought tears to my eyes. I know they won't always get along the best but these guys are going to have a bundle of fun together. Motherhood is tough. Really tough. Emotionally. Physically. I never realized it was a 24/7 job until I was well into it. However, I've always known that I wanted to be a mom so I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with Gary, Kai and Koen.

Flip flops

Today I really realized how little, if any, tv we watch when its sunny out! We walked to the store and the park and played in the back yard. Kai was somehow confused about shorts. I guess he doesn't remember wearing them last summer. He kept saying they were his `sports pants'. Today Kai got to have a special treat. Growing up, we used to have sprinkles on toast...it's a dutch thing. I introduced this to Kai and he loved it (obviously). I was explaining how I'm dutch and Opi is dutch etc. He then asked, `Is daddy a dutch?'.

(Do you see how his tongue is heart shaped? I really wonder how being tongue tied will affect him, if at all)

(He likes facing forward these days...he just chews on the bjorn and stares at everything going on)

I had a great day with the boys, although Koen's need to sleep in the bjorn is driving me nuts. He does not sleep in his bed during the day, no matter how long I let him cry. My back can't handle it and I do like to get a break from the little slobber monster. Usually I try to hold him for about 45 minutes so that he gets a mini nap. I will continue trying to put him in bed during the day and hopefully, one day soon, it'll work. He does fall asleep in the stroller, the only problem is that I have to push the stroller and hold the soother in for 15 minutes. Have you tried pushing a double stroller and walked bent over holding a soother in? Once he is almost alseep, the soother stays in. If he learns to actually hold it in by himself I will be one extra happy camper.

Today Kai saw the sun outside and said `It's sunny! We get to go camping!'. I had told him that once its sunny and warm we could go camping. I had to tell him it will probably be a few more months but he is so pumped to sleep in a tent one day.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to visit our friends, Tessa and Simon, who live out on a ranch in Abbotsford. Kai was so excited to go that he didn't nap. They have 2 dogs that Kai loves and their place is amazingly beautiful...especially in the sun! We were there for just an hour and half but it was such a great time and Kai can't stop talking about it.

When he saw the pond, he started taking off his clothes and said he wanted to go swimming. I let him attempt it and he didn't get in too far before realizing it was kind of cold!

We went for a walk up the hill to have a little picnic. Tessa is carrying Kai in the backpack. I met Tessa at a UBC orientation day and we found out that we were living on the same floor. That was back in 1996...wow. Simon actually lived on our brother floor so I met him just a year later.

These guys love their dogs and Kai loves them too. Tenge, one the left, can run forever. There are trails all around their property that he has created by just going, going, going. Kai kept trying to feed them leaves.

Tessa brought some juice boxes which is the greatest treat ever to Kai. He hasn't really caught on at home that when I give him a drink that is 50% juice and 50% water, it just doesn't taste as good.

Finally, today I made a really fast and easy dinner. It's a crustless spinach quiche. I think next time I would add some ham to it but ya, it was gobbled up pretty fast. I just used cheddar and mozzarella cheese instead of what they asked for. I also made some bread this morning and it is really yummy, just a little more time consuming.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crustless-Spinach-Quiche/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Whole-Wheat-Bread/Detail.aspx
Tomorrow there is more sun!! Woohoo. More shorts. More flip flops. Yes.

Sunshine!!

So much fun outside today. I had to leave by 7:20am this morning to get to football. With two little guys (and more importantly one breastfeeding), that meant a very early morning to prepare for 4 hours away. We won our game. Awesome. The rusher's cleats scraped their way down by my achilles...don't think I'll be wearing shoes tomorrow. This is our 9th season playing together, although, I have missed 2 seasons due to being pregnant. I love playing and am pumped that we won 19-0. I even ran in a TD today. I definitely feel sore now and look forward to getting into better shape. Oh man, I am sore. I've decided that I will increase my activity level and just take in more calories. I won't lose any weight but I will hopefully be more fit. When Koen is about 6 months old, I'd like to lose at least 10lbs to be pre-Koen weight. Don't think I will ever be pre-Kai weight again (would require 20lbs loss total and I really can't change my life style all that much).

Kai and I were playing some hockey outside when he saw Opi (my dad). This is seriously how excited he was when he saw him. We had a lot of fun playing outside together. Who doesn't have fun out in the sun? I may have even gotten a tan today:) Time to get the sunscreen out for my fair skinned boys!

(Trying to play hockey with Opi while holding a snack...not the best form)

Loving the sunshine. He picked his clothes out today so the shirt is a bit big (size 4) but he loves it. I think we've saved a bunch of money by having two boys. Koen gets all of Kai's clothes. However, any money saved will go into our grocery bills when they are teenagers!

Pure joy....yet kind of a scary face. This kid can make us laugh and smile but boy oh boy has he ever learned to push our buttons. You know when you see wild kids out in public and secretly think that the parents really need to discipline them more? Our son has too much energy which comes out looking wild. He is also quite imaginative. He is not allowed to have Bubi (his blankie) downstairs so he comes up with a lot of wild excuses to have him downstairs....`Mommy, I have a present for you!' `Mommy, I'm a Bubi ghost!' `Mommy, I'm going on a trip' (Bubi in a suitcase).

Finally, we bought some lens extenders instead of getting a new macro lens. You just attach them between the camera and whatever lens you are using. Kind of fun. We've def. realized they do not work well on little kids who are moving around a lot:)

By the way people, I realize there is nothing really interesting to comment on in this blog entry BUT seriously, my kids are adorable. Leave a comment sometime....

3 Months

I can't believe that Koen is already 3 months! I am loving each day more and more and look forward to what's to come. I'm glad that I am not sad about the stages that have passed. Although, walking with a pregnant friend last week I was thinking how cute she looked and how special it was that she was going to have a baby, and again, I considered #3. But then, I came home. Two seems perfect:) Koen is a wonderful `little' (16lb) boy.

His favourite thing in the world is to be held. He loves it when he is facing towards you and you talk to him. He could stay all day in different people's arms. He doesn't mind the swing or exersaucer but is def. happiest interacting with others.

Kai and Koen don't interact much yet but Kai is looking forward to Koen getting older so that he can help him lift heavy rocks. Koen enjoys watching Kai. Kai likes watching his diaper changes (and acting grossed out every time), putting a soother in Koen's mouth and singing songs for Koen. Kai is known to yell at Koen when he's crying...`KOKOES STOP CRYING!'. Kai still asks about once a week if Koen can go back in my belly. One day I will get a cute picture of the two of them together.

His reflux is pretty much under control. He just spits up all day long but that is easy enough to handle. I've started putting big bibs on his so I don't have to change his clothes all the time. I have football 2X per week for at least 3 hours and it's really hard for me to pump a lot of extra milk. So, last night he had 3 ounces of pumped breastmilk and then just 2 ounces of Good Start Formula. I have heard that this is good for reflux babies because it is easy to digest. Two hours after he took it, he vomitted everything up. Half an hour after that, he vomitted up a whole lot more and I have no idea where it came from. Gary was covered head to toe 2X. Thank goodness for laminate floors and our new steam mop! I really hope that solid foods will stay down when we get to that point! It seriously makes me teary eyed when he's vomitting. I just feel so bad that his tummy is empty and he's hungry but everytime I tried feeding him after that, it would all come up. He handles it well though, he smiled and giggled moments after vomitting. No more formula for this guy. None.

For the past several nights, we have put him down to bed at 10pm while he is completely awake and he fell asleep on his own! This is crazy for us as Kai never did that. He doesn't do it during the day but its the night time sleep that is most important to me! He sleeps about 7 hours straight at night which is awesome. I usually have a really hard time going back to sleep and am up from 4:30-6am which is frustrating but oh well, at least I'm getting about 6-7 hours per night straight!

Today during a bath, Kai dumped a whole bucket of water over Koen's head and he didn't care at all. He is so easy going.

The little cry face....just means, `I'm done being in here, pick me up!'. He has recently been learning how to laugh and it is so cute. I love it. He sort of does it while inhaling which makes it sound funny. I think this guy is going to be laid back, relaxed and easy going. So, he may look a little more like me but probably has Gary's personality. I'm looking forward to the summer and getting outside with these guys a whole lot more. I wonder if Koen will crawl as Kai never did. I'm assuming that since he spends so much time no his belly, he will learn how. Kai never went on his tummy so he never crawled or really rolled, he just went right to walking. Happy 3 months Kokoes, we love you!!!