Freedom; The Overlapping Nap

Each day, I get the kids to nap at the same time so that I have an hour to blog or exercise. Ah, love it!!! We had a busy weekend. Friday, Gary took the kids to my game and even hand painted some signs. Bonus points to Gary! More bonus points for the Mother's Day post Gary wrote. I was surprised to open my blog and see something there that I didn't post!

Kai with his new friend Mandeep.

The huddle

They double rushed me the entire time which meant I couldn't run or do any hand offs and had to make a bunch of just really short plays.

I'm still really enjoying playing but its def. a little frustrating that we haven't had a win in a while.

`That way Mommy!'

Kai and I watching auntie Trish play some defense

Then, we went to Noah's 2nd birthday. Kai had a great time running around and eating pizza and cake. Terri, Noah's mom, just had her second boy via planned C-section so we're def. in the same `Two boys via C-section' club:)

Okay, I need to talk about each kiddo here.
KOEN
Oh boy. So, I've been keeping him up for 2 hours so that he goes longer than 2.5 hours between feeds. He now eats every 3 hours. Phew. He was sleeping from about 9pm until 4 am for about 3 weeks. However, he is now going to bed at 9pm and getting up at 12am, 3am, 5am and then 7am for the day. I've been feeding him because he's hungry. This has been going on for almost 2 weeks and I am tired!!! I can't nap (mentally I can't let myself sleep in the daytime because there is `so much to do').

(Koen eating Kai's hand. I had to bribe Kai to sit with Koen. He truly has showed no interest in him and asks my dad to take Koen to his house.)
I tried giving him some rice cereal as well as pears but he is not into it. It took Kai about a month to get into it so I will be patient. I know some people put rice cereal mixed with breast milk into a bottle but he won't take a bottle from me, only Gary. Did you know that a lot of rice cereal has skim milk in it? Not so good if he has milk allergies. I don't know if he does but me being off dairy has helped him. He was spitting up a lot this weekend but it could be that we forgot to give him his BioGaia drops OR its the new solid foods we are giving him. I just changed his 8th dirty diaper of the day, and its just 2pm. I think by now things should've slowed down in that department.

I was reading old posts and saw that Kai slept 7pm til 7am when he was about 6 months so I just have to wait 2 more months and hope that Koen is similar! Koen is a really easy baby to take anywhere. He doesn't fuss and if you are holding him, he will fall asleep without crying much at all. He is easily amused and loves to giggle and laugh with people.
It seriously seems as though Koen is yearning for Kai to care about him. One day.
KAI
So, not sure if this is the terrible two's all of a sudden or if this is what a three year old is like but ya, not pretty. I'd say that there were two days this week where I found him extremely annoying. He has behaved in ways that he knows are completely unacceptable. He says rude things to Gary and I and this morning, he slapped me in the face twice. He hasn't done that since he was 1.5 years old. Time outs generally work because he doesn't like being there but I'm thinking we may have to take it up a notch and take his best friend in the entire world, Bubi (the blankie) away for a certain period of time.

(Still being bribed to be even close to his brother)
I don't know if its jealousy or being over tired or what it could possibly be. We are trying to figure out the perfect amount of nap time for him. If he naps 2 hours, he's up til 9pm. If he doesn't nap, he is a monster. One hour, mini monster. I'm a little stressed because Gary is gone on a hiking trip. Between the lack of sleep and Kai driving me nuts, I'm not sure what is going to happen! Well, better wake Kai up so he actually sleeps tonight....

Happy Mothers Day

On the way into watching mommy play football this morning I asked Kai what he loved most about his mom. He said emphatically, "Sidewalk, she takes me on walks on the sidewalk". I know that he also means that he loves it when you sing with him, do your exercises together, write ketchup letters on his food, try to steal his bubbie, kiss his owies, make sure he is safe, walks to the mail box or the park, give him baths, tell him fun stories, answer his questions and then answer even more questions. Koen really loves how you always hold him, get up in the night to feed him, change his diaper, wash his poopy clothes, always smile at him, give him baths, place his need above your own, and how you have given and continue to give of your own body so his needs are met. By the way these are by no means an exhaustive list about why they love you. I love you because you are an amazingly loving mother who wants the very best for our kids just like the mothers we both know and love.



Happy Mother’s Day Mommy Bear.

Bridesmaid

Here are a couple pictures from Maria VT's (now Vberg) wedding in March, courtesy of Frances Eden Photography. How fun to be on the other side of the camera!

It was super chilly but tons of fun getting pictures taken.

Also, Kelly asked for some of my `fit tips'. I don't know what I can tell you but here are a few things that have worked for me so far:

1. I only drink water. No juice, pop, coffee etc.

2. Try to have no food after 8pm

3. Lots of apples and carrots for snacks:)

2. I work out 6 days a week and make sure to go on a nice long walk on the 7th day.

3. Each day is a different work out. I find cross training is best, that way you don't get bored of the same old and you work different muscles etc.

4. Workouts rotate between: team sport (football), running (I think this is THE best way to lose weight and get in shape, although, Gary would say weight lifting is), and work out video. I'm doing the 30-day shred video (as I know many others are) but I only do it 2-3 times a week. I do it on the days I'm stuck at home and Kai does it with me.

5. Good/comfortable athletic gear; I love my new Saucony runners, my yoga pants (from Costco), and dri fit shirts. If breastfeeding and running, probably 2 sport bras at once:) When running, I listen to music. I have the same old radio armband that my mom gave me 10 years ago. For running, I always have a route or distance or time planned before I go. I'm not allowed to do any less than what I decide on. Running is such a mental thing.

We'll see if I continue to lose weight. I def. feel much faster and running is much easier which is awesome. I'm just glad my clothes are fitting a little better now!

Have a good weekend all. Gary and the boys might watch my football game tomorrow...should be fun!!!

Three Years

Three years ago today, on a Sunday at 5pm, my mom went to heaven. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2001 and had surgery, chemo and radiation. Then, in the fall of 2004, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. No cure. Average person lives 2 years. Very painful. Again she had chemo and radiation. She was supposed to be there for the birth of Kai, she said she'd be there til Christmas of 2006, but she died when I was 6 months pregnant. I was able to tell her I was having a boy. What an emotional moment that was. The first boy. Two days before she died, I told her what his name would be. Her eyes were closed but I got the feeling she thought `Kai' was a little too much of a weird name. She smiled at his middle name though....Deken.

Here my mom is with my cousin's baby about 6 months before she passed away. This picture is probably the hardest to look at of all of them because she loved babies. She had 5 of them. She wanted to be an oma. I WISH SHE COULD'VE MET MY BABIES. She wrote us a letter and in it she says she said she felt blessed to die slowly. She mourned the fact that she wouldn't meet her grandbabies (besides Maria's first daughter who was 3 months old). She felt bad about all the we and her would miss out on. HOwever, she said we have to treasure what we DO have, not what we don't. Here is a random assortment of pics, most are from the early 90's. I have hundreds of pictures of happy family memories but due to time constraints, I just randomly picked some.

Our last time all together at Green Lake.

In mom and dad's front yard

My UBC grad...mom had been diagnosed right before this.

Hawaii

Massage train

I used to come home from UBC once a month to do my laundry, eat yummy food, and then mom would drive me back and give me $20. I think I'm eating some of her fresh bread here:)

I can always picture my mom in the kitchen. She spent so much time there and LOVED baking. That was one place where she spent quality time with us growing up, we could help her bake and cook.

Out on the boat. Check out that waistline after having 5 kids!

Boat again...

Mom and dad on the West Coast trail. I think they did it 3 times together.

Mom and dad loved the outdoors and spent tons of time out on the water.

Whistler family walk

Wow, we were on that boat a lot! Dad always went just a bit to close to all the seals and sea lions.

I'm about 14 here, I loved playing with my mom's hair

Hawaii

Long beach? Dad, you look young!

Niagra falls (I was 13)

Newfoundland

Putting make up on my mom in Saskatchewan. My outfit was cool in 1992 okay?

Fishing in Bamfield...every summer. Trish, you loving all these pics of cute little you?

Newfoundland (we went across Canada one summer...a 6 week trip)

Please note that I'm carrying our video camera which is attached to the VCR. That's what they were like in 1992.

Mom and dad reading at the picnic table. Mom always read a ton on family vacations.

Mom baking with Trisha. Imagine if that was Kai instead of my sister Trish? If I had one wish, it would be that I could watch my mom with my kids. Just a minute of making Kokoes giggle and just one baking session with Kai. I wouldn't even have to talk to her, I would just want to see her being an oma to my kids. And I would take 10 billion pictures.

I have to say that the `C' word is not a hard word for me. The `M' word is hard. Mom. Do you know how many times people mention how their mom helped them out with their kids, they went out for lunch with their mom etc? WHY CAN'T MY MOM PLAY WITH MY KIDS? WHY CAN'T MY MOM SEE ME AS A MOM? Being a motherless mom is a sad thing. My mom would def. want me to cheer up and be a little more positive so, ya, I truly am thankful for all I have.

One of the reasons I blog so much is because if something ever happens to me, I want my kids to know how loved they were. I want them to know what their childhood was like. I loved my childhood but there are a lot of questions I can no longer ask. Dads just don't have the same memories as moms. See you one day mom. I hope that we know who our family is when we are in heaven.

Week 4: Journey to Being Fit Again

Had my `last chance workout' last night (if you watch The Biggest Loser you know what I mean) and I'm surprised by how much weight I lost this week because last week was a big one.

Weight Loss: 1.4 lbs (total of 5.8.lbs)

Body fat percent loss: 0.5% (total of 1.1%)

I feel strange. I've had stages in my life where I worked out a lot harder but it was always to get in shape and not to lose weight. From the ages of 22-26 my weight did not change. I've never actively tried to lose weight but it's working. I am working out 6 days a weeks so I'm glad that there are results. I haven't changed my eating all that much so I'm glad that the exercise is doing it. I love working out and am so thankful that I am able to find time in my day to do it. Just 5.2 lbs left til preKoen weight...I'm thinking this is possible!

Please feel free to leave me a `Way to go!' or `Good stuff!':)

Celebrating Friendship

Did you check out our latest pictures?

4 Month Stats

Weight: 17lbs 6oz (Kai was 18lbs 5oz)
Height: 26.5 inches (Kai was 27 inches)
Head circumference: 41.5cm (Kai was 44 cm)

His height and weight are in the 90th percentile but his head is somewhere between the 25-50th percentile. He did well for his shots and only cried for a minute. Thank goodness Kai was at a friend's house because the doctor's appt was an hour late (he had to deliver a baby). I'm planning on starting him on either rice cereal or pears tomorrow, I know its early, but I'm his mom so I get to make these decisions:) I'm not doing it because he's too light (obviously) but because I'm hoping he can go a little longer between feeds. His nights are getting worse and worse and I'm getting just way too tired.

By the way, please pray for my family as May 7th is just around the corner. I don't like May 7th. Three years ago, my mom passed away on that day. Mother's Day is just three days later. Ouch.

Jeans and Beans

Koen has been making sounds like he's trying to play the trumpet. This is his trumpet playing face.

Here are just some cute pictures of Koen and a very cute giggly video. He is growing up so fast in front of my eyes. Today he sat by himself for about 20 seconds several times. Unfortunately he is not going to sleep as well because he's rolling around so today I had to feed him to sleep for each nap.

Terrible picture but I had to run and grab the camera before he fell over:)

How can you not smile watching this?!

I would also like to say that I now fit comfortably in my favourite jeans which I haven't worn in about a year. Yippee!

Tonight I made bean burgers for dinner. We've been trying to eat a vegetarian meal once a week and it was a keeper! Kai said it was a very good dinner and had 2 burgers. Basically, here's the recipe:

Throw all of the following into a blender:

One can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed), 1.5 cups of bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of oats, 1 chopped onion, 2 shredded carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, basil, oregano....whatever you want. When mixed, add one egg and mix again. Refrigerate for an hour. Make patties and fry up on the stove on medium heat, about 3 minutes per side.

More cute pictures...

Give Kai some water and dirt and he's good for hours:)

Giggles with daddyo.

Okay, I've been editing pictures for about 3 hours today (Kai and Koen napped for 2 hours at the same time!!! Woohoo!!) so I need to get my butt off the computer. Check out our pictures on our photo blog tomorrow though, they'll be some gooders. Bon nuit.

4 Months Old

My baby is 4 months old! Wowzers, that last month flew by. I have to say that things are getting really fun and (dare I say it) easy. He still eats every 2.5 hours and at least once at night (usually 3:30am). He gets his shots this Tuesday so I'll give his stats then but when I weighed him yesterday he was 17lbs 5oz. This is a whole pound lighter than Kai was at this age.
I will be the first to admit that he is a little goofy looking. Can I say that? I think goofy is cute. Just like nerdy is cool. He's just makes me laugh as he seems to be enjoying life so much. I'm so curious to see what he likes at Kai's age. I can already tell that they are SO different. I LOVE different! Below is a picture of Kai at 4 months.
Koen has also started sucking his thumb which I'm actually happy about...great self soother:)

His thighs are the pudgiest ones ever. He is one strong boy. Also, when I went to get him this morning, he had turned from his stomach to his back. When he saw me, he was just smiling away with a look that said `Look what I did mommy!'. Tonight when we put him down for bed, I heard some strange babbling coming from the monitor so I checked on him and he had turned over again.

Feeling the grass for the first time.

We haven't planted much in our garden yet so Kai has loved playing in the mud and dirt. Yuck. We've decided to build a new huge planter box to grow blueberries this year and I'm excited about it.

It's really too bad that Koen can't sit in the Bumbo more than 5 minutes, it just puts too much pressure on his tummy. I guess by the summer he will be sitting up by himself and that will make things so much easier.
Kokoes, we are SO happy you are in our lives. You bring us so much laughter and many smiles. I look forward to the day when you and Kai can play together (or even when Kai begins to acknowledge you a little more!). You are just such a character already and we are so thankful for you! Yay for boys. Yay for 4 months!