A Speech

I just want to say a huge thank-you to my Nate. I married a good man people! Basically, since December, my husband has been scheming and planning for my birthday to make sure it was a great day for me. He arranged the schedules of 2 other busy couples who I adore and managed to rent a house for a weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday. He said it was not easy to lie to me about certain things, but in the end I was very pleasantly surprised and had a weekend filled with things I love. Cheese, wine, laughter, friends, a hot tub, and fun. Nate is a good man, he cares about me a lot. I know it, but I don't always say it.

I had an awesome, amazing, outstanding weekend and if I could do it all over again next weekend, I would.

I also have to give props to others who helped make this weekend possible. To my Mom who watched Jer and Kai for 2 days even though she wasn't feeling well, THANKS! I hope you had fun with them : ) It was very nice of you to do that for us.

Thanks as well to Janine and Danielle who helped out big time as well.

Thanks to D, R, S, & M who made me laugh, laughed at me, and who helped make this weekend what it was. I had fun eating, drinking, laughing and watching Dog with you. That show will never be the same again. I think I'm going to add a bunch of those songs on my computer and practice my moves.

Thanks also to all you sweethearts out there who wished me a happy birthday! It was a really great day and it was nice to see people sending me messages and things to say they cared.

A big thanks to Tera for doing what I asked her to do about 9 months ago. She ended up having her daughter today! On my birthday! We had a very quick visit on our way home and here is a picture of the birthday girls!



Let's do it ALL again next year.

365 days until my birthday!

Last Day

Today was the last day of my 20's. I had a great day, here are some pics.

My friends told me I HAD to blog... so here it is.

Does this mean I have to be mature now?

Tomorrow

I have an appointment tomorrow at a local hair salon to have my hair cut and coloured. I'm excited, yet nervous. The last time I had my hair professional coloured the woman butchered my hair. It was terrible terrible terrible. So bad in fact, that I called the manager and another woman tried to fix it.

Needless to say, I am trying another salon. Wish me luck!

Today was a crazy work day, and it was the first time I cranked out 5 hours worth of work with no sitter. It wasn't all that bad as the boys were great today. They just played downstairs while I finished billing. I usually have it done by the 25th, but Matt couldn't come by yesterday and go over it with me, so I printed it off and we had a series of phone meetings throughout the day. The other issue was I usually have 3 or maybe 4 jobs that I bill for and this month was the first time I ended up doing 5 as Matt has some new work going on. It does make for a lot of work, but this is why I get to pay extra to have my hair done. : )

Today's funny: Malachi has learned to say, "Dada go?" and it's adorable. I guess that's not really funny per se, but I'm tired and can't remember my day that well.

Funnies

Jericho was put in time out today because he kept doing something we had told him not to. So he was sitting in his bed and he ended up having an accident.

Can you guess what body part he blamed it on?

Nate was talking to Jericho later on about how we were going to get them ready for bed, and he mentioned 'brush teeth' as part of that routine. We haven't been that great at remembering to brush Kai's teeth, but he promptly started walking right into the room where the toothbrushes are kept, pointing right at them and started grunting. He later screamed when he took it away. How different he is from his brother!

While he was waiting to get his teeth brushed, I told him to sit on his bum and he bent over and smiled at me through his legs.

Jericho and Kai went for a walk today with Danielle and they came across one of their favorite people, "Mail Lady"! Or as Jer calls her, "Meal Eighty". They both just stared at her as she walked up and Danielle let her know that they are obsessed with her and watch her everyday. She thought that was awesome, but probably won't feel the same way in about 20 years.

I gained weight this week at WW, but I did look at my book closely and found out I had lost more weight overall as someone doesn't know how to subtract.

My twenties die in 4 days : P

6 days

I can't believe this week is finally here. I also can't believe how tired I am and how little I care. Maybe it's because this weekend was LONG and filled with parties for my birthday so now it feels like it already past? I KNOW my husband has something up his sleeve. I can tell because I know him and that gleam in his eye tells me it isn't over yet.

Since she liked it so much from yesterday (RACHEL).

My other friend Rachael would think that was about her, since she spelled her name wrong in my card the other day :P She would blame the power outage or the wine, I blame the pen.

Tonight my husband is at Bible Study and then headed to work. The thought of going to study exhausted me when it really is a good thing for me to participate in. Usually if we haven't arrange a sitter, Nate will stay home as I've been with the kids at home.. but it was more work for me to go out than it was for me to stay with them for the 1/2 hour before I put them to bed. They were quite good today.

Some funnies lately:

I took Jericho's shirt off because he got it wet washing his hands and he will ask me repeatedly to take it off even if it's just water. So I asked him to put his hands up and his response was "Baby, hands up!"

Kai loves books. So much so that you can pretty much distract him from anything with a good book. He'll even steal ones from our bookcase, "A Wedding Story" and "Pillars of the Earth" to name a few. His age appropriate favorite is the Makka Pakka book. It was his first 3 words put together actually.

Tonight Jericho got a sucker for going on the potty 4x in a row, no we don't think he has a bladder infection and we have no idea what he drank. But Kai saw his sucker and would follow Jericho around screaming for it. If Jericho put it down, Kai was there faster than you can say "Aren't you too young for candy?" It was a little amusing watching him put it in his mouth and clamp down so Jericho couldn't get it back. If he couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough, he would just high-tail it in the other direction and scream when Jericho wrestled it away.

Jericho is still obsessed with cleaning. I don't know whether or not to blame Nate or my Mother in law, but it's a good thing to be obsessed with. It's just annoying to walk into the kitchen and 10 seconds later have him follow me with a chair saying "Time to clean Mommy?" Most nights he will stand by the stove and Nate will spray our trusty Method cleaner while Jericho wipes and wipes and wipes. He'll then move on to Kai's chair, rinsing dishes for the dishwasher, and maybe (if he's feeling particularly energetic) he'll even attempt to sweep.

Yesterday was the first day my sons ever played outside all by themselves. Mind you, they were on the deck and I checked every 3 seconds to make sure they weren't up to no good. It's surprisingly how much "No good" these boys have the potential to get into. But they had a great time playing with our $5 garage sale Tonka trucks. It was just so funny to me to have my babies playing outside when they still seem so little. Last year at this time Kai was 12 days old so he wasn't much into Tonka, plus we didn't own them yet.

I would blog more, but I really am quite tired and looking forward to spreading out in my bed.

Meals

I'm on week two of meal planning as last month I spent way too much money on groceries. So now I plan what I'm going to buy and do my best to save as much money as I can. Last week we had Roasted Vegetable Lasagna which is great for leftovers and saves money on lunches for Nate, as well as Tuscan Pork Roast, Key West Chicken, Meatballs and Rice, and Beef Fajitas.

This week I have a Pesto Chicken Pasta planned as well as Rachel's Red Robin salad and Turkey Meatloaf. I need a few more recipes and I'm wondering if any of you out there have some tried and true specialities you would be willing to share that are relatively inexpensive, healthy, and not one of the above.

Oh yeah, one more week until my age increases by a number.

Best Party Ever!

I had a surprise birthday party last night and it was awesome!

Yesterday around 4:45, my brother called me and asked if I wasn't busy, would my little family like to come over for dinner? Sounded normal. Nate came home and was relaxed, if not a little happier than usual... and the only weird thing was he did most of the communicating with Christa after that. He HATES using the phone unnecessarily, but I didn't think anything of it.

When we got there, Matt was out front putting some stuff away and even casually mentioned that I should watch out for the dog poop. I got to the door and there was Christa and lovely Sophia waiting for us. I walked in, took my shoes off and turned around to a wall of "Surprise!!" I started to cry, but not scared cry.. happy cry. And I was shaking so bad that it was good when Michelle took Kai out of my arms. I hugged everyone and proceeded to have a wonderful party.

It was a little more memorable than most parties, not only because it only happened last night ( : P) but also because the power was out for the entire time! We played board games, laughed, & ate by candlelight. My awesome friends and family even had the forsite to purchase a large gift certificate for me for Coquitlam Centre!

All in all, I had the most wonderful time and was so glad to see everyone. Now I'm just waiting on those crazy pictures!

Oh - and I just found out tonight that two people I adore... and who Jericho and Kai love having over to play are going to have their very own rugrat soon!!! Congrats AC!!!! After all the experiences you've had with our kids, you've got it in the bag : )

Countdown getting closer

My birthday is coming so quickly! I'm still excited about it, but there's been so many different things going on that I don't think about it as much as I used to. Deacon is still in hospital, hopefully coming home tomorrow morning. Today I heard that he could have died had Megan not brought him to get checked. That devastates me.

I hope he gets better and starts really gaining weight soon. He's such an awesome little guy and I adore him. He's like the underdog you stand on the sidelines and cheer like nuts for. I don't want him to be the underdog anymore. I don't want people to look at him and think he's only 3 months old when he turns one in May. I don't want people to feel sorry for him, or to not know whether it's okay to hold him and kiss him. I want what's absolutely best for him, and I'm glad his Mom is my sister because with that fact he's already way ahead.

Conflicted Insides

I'm having weird feelings right now. On one hand I'm very excited to be leaving in just over an hour to go to the second Canucks game in 4 days, but on the other hand I'm very worried and concerned for my nephew Deacon as he's been admitted into Children's Hospital again as he has the flu terribly and has lost 2 lbs since Sunday. If you knew everything he has been through in his short life already, you would know that a 2 lb weight loss at this point is devastating. He's almost 9 months old and is only about 13 lbs.

How can I be so excited yet so sad at the same time?

Dad

I think my Dad is right up there with awesome Dad's of the world. I really appreciate his wisdom and sense of humour. I guess I have less of the former and more of the latter and that is why I am posting this picture of him.

7 paragraphs It Is!

I wasn't expecting that many! So of course I will follow through.. and I'm not going to be skimpy either. Some might choose to do the shortest paragraphs known to man, but I am not like that. The last post had some lovely people making lovely comments so my answer to that is to record a lovely post for you all! Oh I'm so funny!

Last night my good friend Lisa took me out for a birthday surprise. Apparently a number of months ago she bought hockey tickets! She sure knows me well : ) We went for dinner first and had so much fun talking and just being together that the time got away from us a little bit and by the time we left the restaurant in Langley it was 6:38. The game was due to start at 7:00 p.m. I don't think I've ever tried to hurry a car along as much as I did last night. It didn't really work that well because by the time we sat in our seats it was 7:52 p.m. But Henrik Sedin scoring twice within 30 seconds made it all worthwhile! It was an awesome way to break-in my birthday. You know I'll be celebrating from now until people get sick of it : P

Tomorrow is Philip's birthday and I can still remember the day he was born. He was due March 15th and I remember talking to my Mom the day before and telling her I was excited for the baby to come the next day. Her response after giving birth four times previously was that babies NEVER arrive on their due date. Imagine her surprise and my 11 year old gloating to find out Phil proved me right. It took a long time to name him too. I guess after having 4 kids you use up all your good material in the beginning.. come on, Sara Joy!! That rocks! Anyway, I remember Dad had asked us what names we liked and Matt insisted his name be Spike. At Matt's wedding Phil, Meg & Nina were actually in a skit where Matt's son's name is Spike. I don't even remember where he got it from, I think it was some dog's name.

I had to stop writing for a bit because Kai threw up. I started hearing these strange, yet familiar noises that still make me break out in a cold sweat. Nate and I went in his room just now and he had a made a little mess everywhere. We were quite worried that he had been given Cheerios in the nursery tonight and I called Tanya, but that's not what it is. I don't know whether to be reassured or freaked out. The flu better not be back! Poor little dude!

On a much happier, less queasy note, I asked Jericho the other day what HE would want to name a baby if Mommy & Daddy had another one. His response? Daveigh. That's his little cousin he was able to stop from crying for those of you not paying attention. It's a lot better than Spike! No offense Matt... I just love asking him these questions and seeing what he comes up with. The other day he picked up this old phone that doesn't work and pretended to have a conversation with Uncle Mamu for 20 minutes. He told him all about his day, what Kai was doing.. how Mommy was tired... I guess he really is paying attention!

I thought this was the last paragraph, but apparently I don't know how to count. My mom called me a few minutes ago to let me know I have a new cousin of sorts. I say that only because I'm not entirely sure how we're related exactly. I think second cousins. My cousin Cory and his wife had a son tonight! Congrats!

Nate and I rented a movie for tonight and I told him I had to write this post first because otherwise I might forget. We rented "Burn After Reading". I'm not sure if it's going to be good or not, but I have low expectations and that seems to help. I would have looked more at Rogers but Jericho had to go pee and when duty calls, it's fairly urgent to attend to matters as quickly as possible. I'll let you know how it turns out! Thanks for all your comments, you make blogging fun : )

Experiment

Okay... since my last two posts received zero comments (hehe), this post is just to say that on Saturday I will post as many paragraphs as there are people who comment on this post.

So Nic, that doesn't mean you can post 10 times!

: P

I'm going to go watch Grey's now!

Malachi's REAL Birthday

If you want to get technical, today marked one year exactly since my Kai was born. I spent most of the day working and not making a big deal, although I would pick him up whenever I was upstairs and kiss him and wish him a happy birthday. I don't think he was paying attention because he was fairly miserable today, uncharacteristically. He and his brother may be coming down with something which is depressing in and of itself.

Kai took about two bites of this fantastic pancake breakfast I made (from a box) and Jericho wasn't much better. I was left with 5 pancakes in the end when I usually have about one or two at most. At lunch Jericho ate a whole sandwich on his own plus two applesauces which made me feel a little better, but all Kai had was one applesauce. So I basically tried to fill him with liquid. At least dinner was okay... they both ate almost all their chicken tomato whole wheat pasta.

I thought it would be nice to go out for a treat since it was Kai's birthday and we love to get out as a family, even though it's not always an easy nor simple adventure. We headed to Marina's and Kai had a baby cone while Nate and I tried to share with Jericho the Monster. He attempted to take all of our spoons and call them 'mine' and had moments of sheer greed over the gelato. Poor boy doesn't realize that with this Mom & Dad he's been placed with, we don't go for that.

So it wasn't a really adventful day, nor was it memorable on it's own. But, I did find myself reminising over my experience in becoming a Mom for the second time. I remembered drinking the midwife potion to encourage labour, I remember being REALLY uncomfortable at 9 days late, I remember having a grilled cheese sandwich during early labour and having my water break half an hour before my midwife appointment, I remember Nate stopping at 7-11 for drinks when really all I wanted was to get to the epidural.. I mean hospital, I remember being really upset when I found out the epidural was never going to be an option, and I remember giving birth to another boy and being so happy and so tired.

I can't believe it's been a full year since that day! I can't believe he hasn't been around for longer than that. He's my beautiful child and I adore watching him and laughing with him.

Now, move over little man... it's my birthday next!

Happy Birthday Baby!

I think I'm having growing pains. Not because I'm turning 30 in three weeks (yay!), but because my Kai's age is now listed as a big fat 1. I don't think I like the fact that there aren't any babies in this house anymore.. at least no little babies.

We had fun celebrating.. it was busy and loud. There were 6 kids under 28 months here as well as some adults who sometimes act about that old : P

I have pictures to prove it.. MATT. I mean.. hmm.

My cousin Emily made the most spectacular cake I have ever seen. It was adorable and perfect. The first thing Kai did when it was placed in front of him was rip Makka Pakka's head off. Oh, children!

All in all it was a good party to celebrate the sweetest little boy, I just miss my tiny cuddly baby.

FIL & MIL:

Looking at getting a live Skype feed for you for Kai's birthday party in a little less than 2 hours... interested?

Another day, another few birthdays

It was the busiest day this household has seen in a long time. Jericho and I headed to Riley's birthday party at Jungle Jacks for 9:30. I had forgotten my wallet so D lent me $10 to get in, how embarrassing! Good thing my kid didn't need me to buy food or I would have had to beg.

We left a little over an hour later to pick up Nate and Kai and go back to my parents for lunch and cake. I realized my dad is going to enjoy having things to buy for four grandsons and one granddaughter a little too much. He bought this book all about trucks and tractors and I think he's too attached to give it up.

Around 12:40 I left with my Mom's car to go home and get ready for Lisa's party in Delta. I was due for a pedicure at 2:00 pm. I raced home in the Jeep, got in the Jetta all niced up and was on my way.

During this time we realized we would not be able to have D & J come watch the kids as they were both under the weather, too bad we couldn't find their phone number : ( But it all worked out and Nate brought the babies to dinner for 6 in Surrey.

It was pretty much go go go, but I have to say I was so proud of my kids, especially Jericho for staying completely dry the entire day and being incredibly well behaved. Our restaurant experience tonight was the best ever. They sat and ate and entertained the entire table. It was a great day and I am glad to be heading to bed this very minute!

PS - Did anyone see the video below? It is the CUTEST THING EVER! Not that I'm biased or anything.

The best 2 year old babysitter ever!

My brother called me around 5:00 tonight and asked if it was possible for us to take care of Sophia tonight. NO PROBLEM!! She's adorable and sweet, why not?! The boys were so excited when they heard she was coming, especially Jericho. He begged me to let him hold her and I finally, cautiously, relented. This video is the result. Don't worry, I made sure she wasn't going to fall!





PS - Don't worry everyone... I haven't caught the baby bug..... yet.

Riley

My nephew Riley turned 2 today! I love him, he's an active little toddler who makes me smile. When we were on the island last summer for some reason he took to me. Whenever he sees me, he yells "Sawa!" It's pretty cute, actually.

Jericho and I bought 2 cupcakes today, one for Ry and one for Jer and we went to share them. Auntie Megan was out doing errands though so it will have to wait until Saturday. The cupcake lady put them in these little Chinese food-ish boxes and put blue bows on them. They are sitting in my fridge and will remain there until Ry's party.

Anyway, I'm just pretty proud of my eldest nephew and love him to pieces!

Happy Birthday Riley!!!

Jericho is funny

I didn't just realize my son has a sense of humour, but I really saw it come out today. He peed on his stuffed dog. I was just getting off the phone and looked over to see him aiming and I pretty much ran as fast as I could to try and stop him. But it was too late. Poor puppy.

Then later, Nate was reading him a bedtime story and he decided he wanted to eat the 'bowl full of mush' in Goodnight Moon. Then when it got to the part of saying goodnight to everything he kept saying 'hush' to Nate and finally told him to stop talking.

I guess you can't really tell he's funny from those stories, but they sure made me laugh!

My Birthday

So if you know that something is going on for your birthday, in fact... you know ALMOST the whole story. Do you (a) leave things alone and hope that people feel comfortable enough to carry plans along even though they may not feel like it or (b) take things into your own hands and plan something for yourself?

I don't want to hurt or offend anyone cause that seems to be happening in spite of best efforts to the contrary, but I just want to have a great birthday with little or no drama.

I know I probably shouldn't post this on my blog, but it's what I'm feeling right now. I've been counting down since September and at times I've felt it would be easier to not celebrate at all. I HATE conflict and I've avoided people and situations that stressed me out and so naturally if I hear there's issues with planning a birthday party, I want to try and eliminate that.

I think I might just be PMS'ing.

A Walking Re-Creation

Check here:


Then watch this: