Long week

Nate comes home tomorrow and for some reason this time it was harder for me. It may have been the fact that I was bombarded with work of my own and didn't get my usual Friday off. Or maybe it was because I didn't schedule any 'me' time? Or it could have been the fact that I missed two of my Curves workouts and now I'm out of the Biggest Loser competition. Boo! The boys have been really good. Almost exceptionally good. I think they realize I'm quite tired and just not able to put up with much.

Some cute things they did this week:

1. Started playing this new game where Jericho asks Kai if he wants to be carried.. then he proceeds to wrap him arms around Kai's neck and they cling to each other so tight and fall over. I hate the game as it stresses me out, but it's pretty adorable watching them hug each other and giggle.

2. Jericho told me on the way to church that he was going to be a very very good boy.

3. Our next door neighbour passed away on Thursday so today we took over a bouquet of flowers to his wife who had tears streaming down her face. Malachi gave her the biggest hug.

4. We went to White Spot for lunch today and as we were leaving Auntie Nina, who works there, took a moment to kneel to the ground and beg the boys to kiss her goodbye in front of about 5 customers. They both ran to her and smothered her with kisses.

5. Friday night we met Lisa at our new favorite park in Langley. We played for awhile before going to East Side Mario's. While we were waiting for a seat, the boys played with the booster seats in the lobby and Kai would turn around and back into the seat. Most of the time he would miss it completely.

6. Lisa also came over for dinner on Tuesday night, but we headed to my parents with her instead. On the way home, both boys were almost catatonic so Lisa asked Jericho to smile really big. It took awhile, but all of a sudden he smiled his huge smile and we laughed and laughed.

There are so many other things that just aren't coming to mind, but they've made me smile a lot during a week that's been hard, long & tiring. I did go to the doctor in regards to my stomach pains and I was sent for an x-ray which showed nothing. I was told to drink more water and eat more fiber, but I still have the pains so I need to go back. They almost feel like hunger pains and have been particularly bad after coffee. Sometimes I wonder if it's just gas, but then I would have to be eating something positively horrendous if it's this bad!

Monday, my in-laws are in town for two weeks. We're taking them somewhere which will remain nameless here for surprise's sake. I'm really excited about it!!

Sundays

Maybe I'll become like Post Secret and only post on Sundays.

It's been a crazy week. I've made July holiday plans, deck for my backyard plans, shopping in Langley plans as well as lots of other non-planning activities. I've been over the new bridge exactly 4 times. I am in love. I'm not much for shopping anymore as I don't enjoy putting myself through the stress of dragging along little boys who haven't inherited the love for malls. I will, however, take my husband and we will share the stress together. But there's something about having Langley so close that makes my pulse quiver a little more. All those new restaurants! It's like having stores sprout up overnight! We have a GPS that Nate uses to get to work and it seemed to think we were driving in the Fraser, but once we were over we noticed that we had shaved off a half hour, which is more than a little lovely. So not only do I feel excited over having new stores, the commute doesn't leave much to be desired... save the traffic... and the tolls. Well.. anyway.

Today was Fathers' Day. We woke up around 8 and since we went to church last night, we mosied with our morning. Jericho gave Daddy his new shirts and socks, which were much appreciated while I made everyone breakfast - Brown Sugar Bacon Breakfast sandwiches with a side of fruit salad (strawberries, kiwi, plums & bananas). Nate liked the bacon and that Tahnee had thought of him : ) We then decided we would go to the Zoo seeing as it is now so much closer - see above. We packed everything up - except, tragically, Kai's jacket! - and ended up having a great time. The double stroller was brought, but remained in the car as we rented a double bike and put the boys in the front instead. It was fun just laughing and pointing at all the animals... did that not come out right? Anyway, we left after our train ride and the boys were devastated.

A trip to McDonalds for apple slices - which Nate said tasted like mold - and some chicken parts and we then headed to the mall to let Nate pick out a new hat. Afterwards we headed to Marks to pick up a Fathers' Day present for my Dad. Nate and I both bought ourselves a little something too : ) During our Mark's trip, Christa called to see if we could make it for dinner at their place for Dad's tribute dinner. hehe. We had been planning to go to Nate's favorite restaurant but seeing as the traffic was terrible it was fairly easy to change plans. We left Mark's at 3:30 knowing we had to be at Matt's at 4:30 and pick up a dessert on the way. No problem - see above.

My Dad is actually cooler than cool so getting together to celebrate him is a pretty big deal in my books. The kids all played together really well and we had a good time. The highlight of the night was watching Matt, Dad and Nate throw Jericho, Kai & Riley in a round. Are you picturing it?

Some pics from the zoo, and oh - today Nate noticed he has a few grays hairs. Let it be known - I didn't see a thing!

Why my husband is wonderful

Last Saturday Nate took the boys to Rona and came home to tell me he'd bought them a playset. We'd talked about it for the last little while and I knew it was something he really wanted to get for them. It had to be specially ordered and he finally arrived on Friday. We went yesterday to pick it up and he spent one of his precious days off assembling it mostly on his own. I helped when needed, but he basically did it on his own. I know it was a lot of work for him, and now the boys are very excited to be able to have their own 'park' in the backyard!

The other reason he's wonderful? Because he has this contract in Whitehorse, he's going to be able to take quite off quite a few days in July. This makes me happy!!!

Thomas the Tank Engine

As you may or may not realize, I live in a family of boys. My boys ALL adore trains. They actually obsess over them. Nate has an entire set downstairs he is dying to assemble somewhere. Jericho has loved Thomas the Tank Engine for a few months now, and Kai - let's just say he takes after those he looks up to. So, because of these three boys in my life, I decided we would go to see Thomas as he was coming to Squamish. We've been counting down now for a solid month or so. (It's truly hard not to get excited about something when EVERYONE else is!).

Originally when I bought the tickets, I figured we would be able to swing the 9:30 am train. Yes, it's a long way to Squamish, but I just thought it would be best to do everything early. It wasn't until I read the small print that I realized they were asking us to be there an hour ahead of time! Nine-thirty on a Saturday is a lot different than 8:30. Nate and I just decided we would make a day of it and if we had to get up early, so be it... maybe the kids would sleep most of the way there anyhow?

I mapquested the directions and we made plans to leave no later than 6:30 am. We weren't going to waste time making breakfast, but stop somewhere along the way. I also brought along a small amount of food: goldfish crackers, teddy grahams, apples, nectarines, cherries, cheese sticks, Spitz, Crispers, Diet Coke, apple juice, and some Babybel. Just in case : )

I stayed up last night packing and tried to be smart about it. Two backpacks, one for each child... wipes in each, change of clothes in each, sunscreen, hats, blah, blah, blah. Basically, we only really left the kitchen sink at home.

We arrived a little ahead of schedule... 8:00 am!! (I do have to make note here that Kai managed to fall asleep just as we were entering the outskirts of Squamish). What are we supposed to do with two babies for an hour and a half! Run around and watch Thomas leave at 8:30 half empty? Nate changed our tickets and we were able to go early! There wasn't very many families around at that time. I actually received kudos from my husband for making an excellent 'time of day' decision. By the time we were ready to leave at 11, the place was a zoo! It was so busy! All you could hear was kids, kids and oh! Some more kids.

We had a pretty good time in the end. I wouldn't recommend the ride with Thomas as it basically just took us backwards and forwards in the train yard. Can we say lame? And while you're riding, it's not like you can see Thomas... but you do hear this loud music playing the entire time. We much preferred the mini-train ride we had right afterwards. Then there was storytime where Malachi wanted to take over from the story lady. It was weird, she wasn't even reading it right! You can't just miss parts - this is Thomas! The kids KNOW the story.

I think the part Kai and Jer loved the most was going into the activity area and just playing with trains, but with tonnes of other kids. Jericho played awesome with a bunch of older kids while Kai was at a smaller table and hung on to two red trains for dear life. Even when a little boy/girl? named Cash tried to take over. It was when we went to the gift shop to see if we could get them a little something that everything came to a screeching halt. I don't know if it was sheer fatigue, or the fact that we had taken them away from the precious trains, but wow. There was even a little tragedy with Jericho trying to run away and tripping over an old train track.

Seeing as it was so early when we high-tailed it out of there, we had time to meet Papa, Matt & his little girl for lunch in Pemberton. After lunch, we went swimming for a bit and I thought it was funny my dad went swimming in his jeans. It was only 4 hours out of our way, but what's time when family's involved?

This may go down as my longest post ever, especially with all the pictures I'm about to add!










Does anyone think that three weeks with stomach pains that are starting to get worse is a big deal? Big enough that I should go to the doctor? They were so bad tonight that I wasn't sure if I should vomit or cry.

Husbandless Adventures

Nate, of course, is back. He has returned from his 5 day journey to the Yukon (Newkon as Jericho calls it). It was a great trip for him and he's considering going more often. What makes that previous statement alright with me is that I had fun too! He had planned to go in March or April and that trip had fallen through, but I had been a little excited and made social engagements for almost every night he was to be gone. Imagine his surprise to end up being wife-less for a few nights! But this time I only made a few plans. Only once did I do something on my own (besides my weekly three visits to the gym) and that was having company over. The one time I went for a big excursion, I took the babies.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend Lisa ( I adore her) and we planned to take the boys to White Rock. Little did we know it would turn out to be a gloriously beautiful day. We had a great time and the boys loved it. Jericho was especially fond of the ocean and enjoyed running in and out and splashing and laughing. It's so great to watch happy kids! I wish we could have stayed a lot more into the night, but there is a reason for this thing called bedtime. Most of my readers are my friends on Facebook so you would have seen MY White Rock pictures, but here are some that Lisa took:












Now my plan is to plan a lovely 5th Wedding Anniversary for Nate and I. I have some ideas, but I've decided I'm going to keep what I settle on a secret. If you have an idea, feel free to message me.

Tomorrow night we're headed out for the entire night. I will not need to get up in the middle of the night. I won't need to be putting boys back to bed at 6 am. I am looking forward to it, just a little!

Hugs all around

I'm here, but not in much of a mood for typing. I just finished writing in the boys journals and that just wore me out. Just know I love you all!!! Nate's gone to the Yukon soon so I should have you all over for a partay!

Sleep and how it taunts me

Actually, sleep doesn't taunt me as much as Jericho does. I think he's wanting to give up his naps, but he's not quite ready yet. He's missed his nap for the past two days, but crashed early and crashed hard. He also had one night, I think it was Thursday, where he basically had a tantrum because he didn't want to go to sleep. It lasted until 10:30! We were quite firm with him and he hasn't done it again at night, but he does push the buttons a lot more at naptime and I just have to figure out if I should cut them out and put him to bed earlier or just keep fighting. The expression "pick your battles" screams at me through out the day and I don't always know when to listen.

I've actually, in spite of all that, had a pretty amazing few days. My kids are pretty awesome and I kinda love bragging about them! I'm sorry if you don't want to hear it, but THEY ROCK! Last night we went out for dinner with my parents with the boys and Kai spent the night being cute. He ate his ice cream with a spoon and managed to stay amazingly clean. He gave out kisses to everyone, smiled, said his "peez" and "tant too!" And when we were leaving, he blew kisses and waved like crazy to the man in the car next to us. When Nate's home I feel like I'm constantly pointing out cute things. Tonight Kai found his play camera and proceeded to take pictures of all of us while laughing and saying "cheese".

Jericho asked me this morning if he could wear my black beaded necklace. I said no. It's a nice necklace and the worry of him breaking it far outweighs the cuteness factor. So I found this old dog tag I got at the PNE a few years ago and he ended up wearing it the entire day. In fact, he's currently in bed... still wearing it.

Ok, enough with the kid stories... my friend R had her Granny pass away this week. I was very sad for her. But apparently the service was really good and I think she's happy she was able to go and see her and be with her family. It makes me want to invite my Nana over more and try and see GG more often. Both my Grandmothers turn 80 this year. They are both splendid in their own rights. My Grandma had 6 sons and never remarried after her husband passed away in his early 40's. My Nana had 8 children and her dream is to write a book about her life.

I know that before I know it, my babies are going to be 12, then 20... and maybe one day I'll be wishing I saw my grandkids more often. It kinda freaks me out actually to even ponder those kind of things, but I think that's what happens when you take time out of routine to try and do things right. I feel like I always want to try and be better, nicer, more intentional... but at the end of the day sometimes it's just an accomplishment to have my house clean.

What a rambler. Oh - and for those wondering about the Thailand thing... my sister in law will likely be getting married there next March. Nate and I are trying to decide if it's better to go for 3 weeks and make it an amazing family vacation... or go for a shorter period and make it more about just the two of us. Maybe even to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary? There are pros and cons to both sides, so we'll see.

Anyway, my house has been completely silent for about an hour now, so I think I'm going to join the slumber party.

May Part 1

This week has been a little different than most, but because we bought a NEW CAR it was much less stressful than it could have been. My babysitter has had the stomach flu which is terrible for her, not good for me. I tried doing work with the boys being downstairs, but they have a love of papers and there are quite a few down there that are off-limits. I have been able to work a little during naptime, but I wasn't as productive as I like.

Because of all of the above, I almost felt like a normal stay at home Mommy. I spent a tonne of time with the boys, went shopping, did other errands, etc. It was awesome. I was a little worried because I haven't spent that much time with them in a very long time. I was concerned I wouldn't be as patient because I'd just be thinking about all the work I should have been doing. When in fact, my patience seemed to just keep going and going and going. It was like I wasn't ever frustrated with them, but things just didn't bother me as much as normal.

It might have had something to do with how hilarious they were. Jericho now says, "Know what I saw today?" and when you ask him what he saw, he usually talks about some fire truck with either a puppy or a baby in the back. Random. He also has this stuffed giraffe that he's been carrying around and he calls it his baby Moose. If he's carrying it and I'm nearby, he'll ask me over and over to "Pet my baby Moose!" Hmm. Kai is definately getting more cognitive of language. He says a few more things, but mostly just to copy whatever it is you just said. But I can say to him, "Malachi, please go pick up that train and put it away in Jericho's room." And he will do it right away! He also loves getting his shoes and hates taking them off. Socks however come off as soon as humanly possible.

Tomorrow is Nina's birthday. She's having some friends come over to our place for a late dinner that Nate is going to make for her. Tonight was a test run on recipes we hadn't tried yet and he burnt his hand pretty bad. BUT the food was OUTSTANDING! Too bad I don't get any tomorrow. I'm excited to decorate for her and get things together. It will be the fourth day in the row we go shopping, the three of us!

Speaking of which, Jericho has been impressive with his listening when we've been out. I've let him walk beside me instead of having to be in the cart or stroller. Now the deal has been that the SECOND he walks outside of where I'm comfortable, and doesn't come back when I ask, he goes right into the cart or stroller with his brother. End of story. Works pretty good! I'm quite proud of him.

Again, I've waited too long to blog and there are too many things going on. Oh - I might be headed to Thailand next March.

Ever Felt "Stuck in Mud"?

One of Jericho's new favorite expressions is "stuck in mud!" He uses it mainly for two purposes, the first is for times when he really doesn't feel like doing something I've asked him to. "Can't do it Mommy! I stuck in mud!" The other occurence is simply when he's playing and happens upon some huge pile of 'mud' in our living room or other strange place and it suddenly sucks him in. "Mommy!! Help! I'm stuck in mud!"

I had have days like that for sure. In fact, one recent morning Jericho awoke and came into my room to ask me to cuddle him on the couch. I prefer it when he comes into my bed and falls back asleep so I was slow to move. His response? "Mommy, you stuck in mud?" Yes baby, Mommy is stuck in the mud and you won't be seeing her escape for another 20 minutes.

Another fun thing he's doing now is turning into "Lion". Lion is fun except he constantly roars at everything and anything. But if Jericho is ever particularly "stuck in mud" I tell him he should turn into Lion. It works 90% of the time.

Kai is developing less fun and more obnoxious habits. His new favorite thing to do is to say no. This is not fun for me nor Jericho. In fact, the other night we had gone grocery shopping and Jericho was dawdling up the stairs. I usually need to close the gate rapidly before Kai decides to throw himself downwards, so I tried to encourage Jer along by telling him that his brother was going to fall if he didn't hurry (I was holding Kai back). Jericho walked up, looked at Kai and proceeded with the following lecture, "Malachi, don't go down stairs. You fall, get big owies!" To this lovely older-brother talk, Kai responded with an emphatic NO and swiped his hand towards Jer. At this, Jericho was quite upset. He said, "You DON'T say NO to MOMMY! Don't say NO to JERICHO EITHER!!" Sigh. Jericho is becoming Mommy #2.

Tonight we had an old friend over for dinner and at one point Jericho was telling Kai not to do something and Kai would say "No!" Then Jericho would tell him "Don't say no Jericho!" Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Does this mean they won't be little buds?

There are so many other things I could blog about right now, but I will leave you with pics from this past week.

Oh, and Nate JUST finished Zelda. I.am.so.happy.

Fire Trucks, Sleep Ins and Play Off Tickets

It's been a really good few days here in our house. Yesterday the two boys and I went for a morning walk. I usually do my 6 km loop, but Jericho really wanted to go see the Fire Hall and watch the trucks. So I went up to Dewdney instead. When we got to the Fire Hall, the ladder truck was just coming back from a call. It was pretty awesome to watch the 49' truck turn around in the middle of the road and back up into the hall right in front of us. Both Jer and Kai were in complete awe and as much as I tried to talk to them, they were zoned. The fire chief came out and started talking to us as we were just standing on the sidewalk and asked us how we were. Jericho didn't talk at all and Kai only smiled. Finally he asked if we wanted to come in and meet the firemen! Jericho said "No". Um, too bad kid, we're going in! So we went in a looked around and it took me about 5 minutes to convince Jericho to come out of the stroller and get in the truck. He was being pretty shy, but I don't blame him - have you seen how TALL those guys are??

Anyway, he ended up getting in the truck and the one fireman let him turn on the lights and toot the horn a few times. Jer wanted to turn on the siren, but we explained that it might scare some people. Then he wanted to go on the BIG one - the ladder truck that had returned. The fireman said it was alright so Jer went in and the guy put those ear phones on him and explained what happens when they go to a call. Then they moved to the back seat and Jericho got to wear one of the backpack-like seat belts. He was pretty excited, he even asked if Kai and Mommy could come in too... so we did. Then Jer asked the fireman if Mommy could drive. We all had a good laugh about that.

After we were all done, the chief said we could come back anytime which was so nice! I would like to go back with someone who could take pictures of Jer so we could put them up in his room. I think the guys were fairly jealous of the fact that Jer has a firetruck bed! It was funny because I told the fire guys that my boys loved fire trucks and I don't think they believed me until I explained about the bed and they saw Kai's jean jacket with fire trucks on it.

As soon as we left, Nate called and I told him all that happened and I think he wishes (a) that he had been there and (b) that his silly wife would have brought the camera!

That was one reason for a great day yesterday, but another reason is that both yesterday and this morning my boys slept in until 9. I feel so well rested it's ridiculous. I figure I've earned SOMEWHERE along the way.

My mom just called to say my dad got a hold of play off tickets. *sigh* Too bad he's taking her and not me : P

If there's anyone reading this who is incredibly wealthy and giving - could you get me a pair?

371st Post

It's been a long week. There's been sickness ending, friends visiting (ones with three children under 3), great food consumed, babies celebrated, and me left with the feeling of sadness over missing some great Easter moments. We went to church this morning and will have dinner at my parent's with Auntie Nina later today, but I wish I could have been part of the choir again. The last time I sang with the Easter choir was when I was pregnant with Jericho, so three years ago. I also missed the Good Friday service for the first time in I don't know how long. I love going to the Good Friday service and I was even asked to participate in the service by doing a reading, but it's hard when you have company coming to stay... Maybe next year?

We had lots of fun with Casey & Tera. They are the couple we like to copy. They had their first son and exactly nine months later - to the day - we had our first son. Then they had their second son and about 8 months later Kai was born. They brought their 10 day old daughter with them and I prayed like crazy that I wouldn't get the baby bug. She gorgeous, but I don't think I'm ready yet.

There's been lots of talk of babies lately - on Monday my eldest cousin Bill and his wife Bonnie had their first child, William Braydon, but he'll go by Braydon. I had heard on Sunday that my sister Megan, who usually gets pregnant AFTER me, is expecting her third. She'll have three kids under 36 months! I know I can't guarantee my sanity will be intact after three so I want to make sure I'm ready. Megan is ready, but I am not. I've had about 4 people ask me when I'll be next, and as much as I love babies, I would prefer to wait. I also went to a baby shower for Lucas on Friday night.. he's not born yet, but it was rather tempting watching all these little boy outfits going by.. I wonder if Amanda has noticed anything missing yet : P

There have been a few more funnies lately from the boys. One of the funniest was when the boys were in the tub last night and Kai hit Jericho. Jericho's response was to try and hit him back. Nate explained that that was not an option and Jericho replied, "Mommy hit Malachi?" Oh dear. There are some things you just hope your child doesn't say in front of people and that was one of them.

All in all, I truly feel like my life is pretty awesome right now. Good things are happening and I'm happy. If there's one thing I'm hoping for - it's that trip to Italy... oh and I sure wish Coquitlam Centre was open today.

Jericho & Kai's Modeling

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.