28

We got back today from our lovely little trip to the hot springs. It was a really great time actually. My two favorite men were especially nice to me on my 28th birthday yesterday. Jericho slept through the night both evenings and it made my nights soooo awesome. Your days are so much better when your nights are free of crying baby. Nate & I took him swimming in the hot springs and he LOVED it. The indoor pool was a little too cool and he got the shivers, but we went yesterday afternoon to the outdoor pool - that's how beautiful a day it was - and he had a great time. He's so cute how he kept kicking his little legs. The absolute best part of my day was getting my birthday card from my son.

"You are my wonderful Mom. When I am big enough I will thank God for you. I am not big enough to say 'I love you', but I know you see those words in my eyes and smiles. When I giggle I say 'thanks' for:

1) Getting up with me at night
2) Loving me when I'm fussy
3) Holding me tight when I am sad
4) Giving up SO much to be my Mom

You are perfect!!

Jericho"


I bawled. Seriously, how adorable is that? My husband thinks of everything. My birthday morning was rough though as my eyes were both really red and itchy and no where in the hotel was there any conditioner and mine was at home. I'm the type that loves a perfect birthday so these little things were really bothering me. But then we went for a swim, had a marvelous panini sandwich, went window shopping, and spent a glorious time enjoying dinner and dancing at the Copper Room. All in all, it was a perfect way to turn 28. I'll post pictures later.

Long time no blog

Ok, it's been a long time by my standards. Thanks to Miss Shannon for the little push. Here goes:

1. A huge thank-you to Jane and Pendo for coming by to visit Jericho last Thursday. We were so blessed by your sweet prayer for our little man. You were the first ones to visit and pray out loud for us like that and we thought it was perfect.




2. The party on Friday night rocked. My mom brought me a gelato cake. GELATO. It was rich chocolate with a touch of orange. I wanted to eat the whole thing. Nate worked really hard on dinner... I helped a little by making the marinade for the steak.. but he did most everything else. The funniest part was how upset Jericho seemed everytime he saw Riley. Pictures say it all.








3. Our good friends invited us to the Canucks Open Practice on Saturday. It was AMAZING. We were 6 rows behind a very bendy Luongo. I was in my element. Jericho kept staring at the Jumbotron, probably wishing he had one like it at home. All three of us wore jerseys - Jericho got a Canada jersey from Uncle Phil. After the practice we went to Nate's favorite restaurant - this really great Mongolian place that is so yum. All in all a fabulous family day.








4. Tomorrow we leave for Harrison for 2 nights. I have a deep tissue massage scheduled for Thursday which is promising to be the most amazing 55 minutes of my day. It's going to be interesting to see how the baby will be in a strange place - he didn't seem to like the hotel in Penticton much... but with all the water around we should be set as the sound of running water really calms in down. We are lucky in that last time we went to Harrison it really sucked and I complained and now we have a room upgrade. King size bed with a garden view here we come! Now I just need to track down a dress shirt for the Copper Room. Dude.

A big thank you to both my parents for the scrapbook stuff and to Nate's parents for the card and cheque - and also to Matt & Chris for the bonus!

eat baby eat

Thanks to all you wise mothers for your advice last week when Jericho wasn't eating well. Today was the first day he did amazing. We decided after his doctors appointment that we would try not to give him a bottle for awhile. It was really hard, but then we realized I wasn't producing that much milk... so I started pumping 2-3 times per day. I feed him oatmeal cereal mixed with breast milk for breakfast and nurse for the rest of the day. We found the only time he was really fussy was around 8-10 pm. It was getting really frustrating trying to feed him. So we decided that would be the time he would get a bottle. That way he tends to sleep through the night and I tend to be less stressed and tired throughout the day.

Tonight I didn't give him a bottle, he didn't fuss at all and actually nursed quite happily. I don't know if he'll sleep through the night, or if he'll happily nurse tomorrow night, but for today it brings me happiness.

Since 2004 my dear husband has been working hard on his Masters and also working full-time. It's been stressful and expensive, but I'm amazed how little we're in debt. We have a bunch, but it could be so much worse had we not made a commitment to pay for most of his tuition as we went. But now we are getting excited about paying off the rest of it. We have this excel spreadsheet where we enter what we are putting on the credit card and what we have paid off. Hopefully by the fall it will all be kaput!

Friday night we're having a family birthday. My family has gotten large enough that now we try and celebrate more than one birthday at a time. Friday will be me and Phil's turn. He turned 17 on the 15th and I'm turning 28 on the 29th. What should I make for dinner? Hmmmmmmm.....

My how we've grown!

Before


After

Too many things to blog about!!

First of all, a very happy birthday to my youngest brother - PHIL. He's old now - 17. Which in turn makes me feel ancient seeing as I'll soon be 11 years older. We went over to watch the hockey game with him tonight seeing as his girl is in Hawaii.

Second, a shout out to Tanya who posted anonymously on my blog. It was her first blog visit and even though when she posted I had not a clue who she was, it was nice of her to comment regardless. I love comments. I think they are cool. I think when you have a blog post with many comments, it's as if you are the most awesome person in the world and people actually care about what's going on with you. So yeah, thanks T.




My sister's son is gorgeous. A completely beautiful child. I love him already.



I was just talking to Nate about how sometimes when I am hanging out with Jericho.. I'll be right with him and getting a good snuggle - and I'll miss him. How can I miss him when he's right there? I think I miss the intimicy of being pregnant. Weird, right?



And a HUGE thanks to all who responded to my post in regards to feeding my Jericho. We went to the doctor today because he was being so fussy and the doctor had asked us to come back in two weeks to record his weight gain and I had been supplementing him. Turns out he did not gain a single ounce in 10 days. Not one. So we've been referred to one of the very best pediatricians in the area. She saw him over Christmas when he was colicy and was GREAT with him. We're also getting his tailbone checked out. It just sticks out a little bit and it's slightly odd. Oh - and he's in the 25th percentile for weight. It seems like just a short while ago he was in the 70th..so he's gone down quite a bit. But I'm not too worried yet. We'll see what the baby doc says.

Wish me luck - I'm entering a contest for a makeover. I have to write a 250 word essay, but I think it's pretty stellar so I'll keep you posted.

PS - Less than two weeks until our first official family vacation. We'll be off to Harrison for a scant 2 nights, but it shall be fun, I decided.

Happy and Sad

Jericho slept 10 hours last night.. I woke up and felt well-rested for once! Ever since the end of January he has been waking up at least once per night, so it was great to put him down at 9:30 and have him wake up at 7:30. I wish every night was soo nice!

Problem is, he spent a lot of the time this morning being really fussy. He nursed really well when he woke up and we played for awhile...then he seemed tired. When I put him down though he was just wide awake. Finally he went back to sleep at 10 am and only slept until 10:40 when he usually sleeps an hour and a half. He woke up screaming and would only calm down for short periods. I decided to give him his rice cereal and added a bunch of breast milk. I thought maybe it would distract him if he had his first high chair experience. It worked for about 5 minutes then he SCREAMED again. I then noticed a red mark under his chin, maybe his clothes were rubbing against him? I thought maybe he was mad because I wasn't feeding him fast enough...so I tried to nurse him again. This did not work. I was starting to get upset because you hear a crying baby for long enough and it makes you CRAZY. My mom was going to take us to the clinic, but I decided to give him a bottle instead. He calmed right down... Even smiled at my mom for awhile. Then I put him to bed and he has been sleeping for almost 2 hours now.

Part of me wants to nurse this kid, but the other part just loves the convenience of the bottle. I've noticed already that he's really into wanting to eat what we eat and nursing doesn't always seem to be what he wants. I know I'm the MOM and he's the KID, but... I don't know. I have a lot of friends who breast fed their babes exclusively for a long time and did fine... and I have a lot of friends who feed their babes formula and rice cereal and other little baby foods and they also did fine. How do you know if you're just spoiling your kid by not giving him what he doesn't know he needs??

Spring Ahead = Exhaustion

What a weekend! It was fun, but long. It started with a really great evening at our friend Kathy's with my brother Phil. We have this thing with Kathy where we go over to her house once every few months and have dinner and play Balderdash. It's hilarious. Some of the definitions we come up with keep us in stitches for most of the night. This time we had Monica join us... and we had Grandpa take Jericho.

Saturday was NUTS. We headed off to IKEA to get a wedding present for Rich & Amanda and also to pick out a few things for us. Nate and I are always able to find SOMETHING to spend money on there. We also wanted to get some ideas for a new wall unit. Then we went to next-door Linens & Things and got more fun stuff with a gift certificate Nate got from work. Free stuff is AWESOME! I won't tell you we spent some of our own money as well.

We tried to rush home in time to get to Meg & Joe's to drop off baby clothes, but to no avail. Traffic was a nightmare and we wanted to get to Rich's & Amanda's place for their open house wedding party. I called my sister and we arranged for them to pick them up Sunday... The party was pretty cool... I could tell Amanda was happy to see me as most everyone else there was either a relative or a friend of her in-laws. It's been sooo fun getting to know her and Rich and especially seeing Tasia & Jericho starting to take notice of each other. There were pictures taken of the two of them that I should be seeing soon and I'll post them hopefully...

The best part of the party was the pickled garlic wrapped in bacon. So yum.

Then we rushed home to get ready for D & R to pick us up for D's 30th birthday. I waltzed in the door and there was a message from Michelle- "we'll be there around 6:30" That was when I heard the doorbell ring!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! We ran around our house like mad getting ready and waiting for Matt & Christa to come babysit the boy-child. As soon as they got there we basically ran out and had a great ride with Steve & Michelle that was filled with phone calls from our house "Can he eat allll the formula?" etc.. and some nice adult conversation.

D's party was dinner at this BBQ place I had heard about called Memphis Blues. It was pretty good. We had this massive place of just meat...all kinds of meat. I was full after a wide variety of pork, ribs, catfish, etc. The best part was the company.. It was just a great night of LAUGHING! It was also fun making eyes at my hubby across the table...LOL.

Then in the middle of the night we experienced the LOSS of an hour. How sad. I'm happy there's more light in the morning, but I, like most people, really appreciate SLEEP.

Sunday morning a wonderful Michelle picked me up for church. That was sooo nice! Church was great, my nap that afternoon was also heavenly.

I'm An Auntie!

Introducing my beautiful nephew, Riley Matteo Canyon. He is precious and his parents are thrilled! Turns out God had a plan when they went in for a c-section today as little Riley had his cord wrapped around his neck twice. We praise and thank God for this little addition to our big family. Congrats to Megan & Joe!



And a belated thank-you to my Aunt Lori and my cousin Janelle for taking care of my munchkin while I was at the hospital taking all these pictures!

Baby, is that you?

I think I hear the baby coming!!!!

Emotions

I've had an overwhelming couple of days. I was having some 'me time' earlier and just thinking about what I would post about. I've been really sad about my uncle, but I'm also encouraged. My family is coming together during a difficult time and grieving in a unique way. Some people don't want to talk about death, and sometimes the loved one just wants people not to talk about it, etc. But my uncle wants to reminisce, he wants to talk to everyone and share the memories. It makes me choke up even now. He's really a special man and I'm having a hard time dealing with the thought of losing him... I just love how we're coming together to remember him while he's still around. Besides, we will meet again.

It didn't help my mood that I was sick yesterday - all day - with a migraine. Then I felt throw-up sick. Not fun at all.



Then I think about the fact that my little sister is due to have a baby in 3 days. There will be a little one who will call my 'auntie'. How exciting is that??? I love my sister and her husband will be an amazing father. I just can't wait to meet baby Green. Plus Jericho will have a little cousin!!!

And my new friend Amanda is getting married on Sunday at a local mountain. I'm so happy for her and wish her and her man plenty of happy years together.






As for Jericho - he did film a commercial for WestJet on Wednesday. It was a long day, but Nate got to come too so it was more of a family day. We saw Baby Ciaran again (he's been in two other productions with J) and met Baby Kyler. One of the funniest moments was when his actor Mommy told us that her friend is going to name her unborn son Jericho as well.... and she had never met another Jericho before! The commercial starts with a close-up on a baby being sung to sleep and slowing falling to sleep. Do you know how hard it is to get a baby to fall asleep and stay asleep on demand? Jericho was the first choice for the spot, which just meant he got to go first - but as soon as he woke up, it was the next baby's turn. And so it went. But finally - Jericho was being filmed for about 4 minutes and did a perfect HUGE yawn... so more than likely he will end up in the final product. Have any of you seen the A & W commercial where the son and his wife show up and take out his parents to tell them they will be grandparents? They buy the new grandpa a "Grandpa" burger. Well, the son from that spot was playing the dad in the WestJet spot. We don't know when it will be playing, but it's kinda cool to have a little memento of what he was like as a 4 month old baby.

So, overall I've had some crappy days thinking about sad stuff, but some really cool things to look forward to as well. Thanks for listening... I don't always talk about me and how I'm feeling...and I didn't really delve a lot into it now - but thanks to you who are praying and thanks to my family for checking up on me.

What it means to be a wife.

I had a long day today. By the time 11 am came around I had burst into tears twice. Partly because I was exhausted, partly because I've just had it with sad stuff lately. So my husband, in all his wisdom, decided it was a good idea for me to try and book a massage. Wow. I love him. It was just what I needed. I came home in a great mood and ready to take on the mess that had become our abode. We attacked it together... and as the night wore on (the house still isn't clean btw - anyone know a good housecleaner?) we started joking about how I say things to NOT say things.... For eg.

1. "Nate, I think that prized possession of yours would look SO much better in the office!" TRANSLATION: That thing is ugly as sin.

2. "Nate, I think these plants would look really nice up here on the top of the cupboard" TRANSLATION: I hope those suckers die while they are up there in the dark.

3. "Nate, I'm fine" TRANSLATION: Dude, get me a massage before I crack.

The problem with all this? He knows. He knows what I mean even though I'm going out of my way to be nice about it. It's time for a new strategy.. except for where that massage comes in.

The Bad and The Good

Thanks to all of you who are praying in regards to my post below. It's my Uncle who is really sick. We aren't sure how long we have with him, but it was quite a shock and it's still hard to think about.

But the good part of this week is that Jericho has been hand-picked to be in a WestJet commercial. He's their first choice and it's his first role as an actor and not just an extra. So we're pretty excited about that. Filming is Wednesday - so I'll let you know Wednesday night how it goes. This time he'll actually get to be a little boy too!!!

Sad Day

You were always the biggest and strongest I had ever known. Your teasing was a way of saying "I love you". I always figured you were invincible, but even the strong get cancer. We are hoping for a miracle, but things do not look good. Please know I am praying for you during this time. I love you.

PS - Happy Birthday.

Not for the Faint of Heart Part 2

Not for the Faint of Heart Part 1

Whew.

I've been so bagged these past few days. Jericho seems intent on waking up twice or three times a night - I'm thinking growth spurt. Today was a little better on the tiredness front as I made a point to eat mostly fruits and veggies today. Pineapple was for breakfast and a salad with feta cheese and balsamic vinegar was for lunch. Dinner was leftover prime rib with steamed veggies and some risoto. I'd say I did well enough to have some low-fat chocolate mousse for dessert which is now sitting in the fridge waiting for me to finish this post.

Valentines was great. We had both had the feeling of being 'run off our feet' this week, so staying home was wise. Neither of us felt much like leaving the house, especially since Nate got home around 7pm. We picked up a prime rib from a local farm butcher next to my parents and I marinated in with roasted garlic and horseradish. I had also picked up some eggplant which I've had NEVER. I found a recipe in our trusted Gourmet cookbook and made some eggplant sticks. Totally not healthy, but sinfully delish. Added some lemon asparagus and a ceaser salad and we were good to go. Unfortunately, the prime rib didn't fully cook and we filled up on brie cheese with bread with the rest of our dinner. But it was arguably the best Valentines Day Nate and I have ever shared. He bought me some beautiful white roses with some pink gerbera's that made my day.

Having a baby really affects a relationship. Not negatively per se, but it's just different. Nights you might have spent cuddling on the couch are now filled with playing peek-a-boo and changing the random diaper. Wednesday gave us the chance to reconnect and to focus on each other. We are really lucky to have the kind of marriage we do - I'm lucky to have the husband I do.

Anyways, I'm just happy my mom is home and doing great and that I get to eat my mousse now.

Update on My Mom

My mom's surgery went well. She's still in the hospital, and the pain medication is making her sick - but she was more herself today than yesterday and the day before. She was even walking around when we arrived. I think it brightens her day when I bring in her "Popo". Please continue to pray for her!

Picture of the Day

My little monkey

Disneyland 2005

A cute picture of me and my cute husband from a holiday long ago

My Mommy

Please pray for my Mom, she's going in for surgery tomorrow at noon. She'll be in the hospital for a few days and unable to do a lot for 6 weeks. Anyone who knows my mother knows this will be difficult, to just let other people take care of stuff and to relax and get better. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.