Christmas is Coming!

The days are flying by while we prepare for Christmas. Cailin is getting very excited, and Carter is too, by association of course.

The presents are made, bought and wrapped (and hiding!). I'd like to say the house has been scoured clean and is ready for company, but that might be stretching the truth a bit. Heehee.

Cailin did her last day of Kindergym. They had crafts and rang bells for their song and poem. Someone brought the cutest gingerbread cookies, but for some reason they got lost between the house and the Jeep. They might still be in the Jeep so I'll have to have a look.

Cailin had fun, and she was thrilled that I was allowed in the gym with her for her last day. Both kids are on a waiting list for just gymnastics starting in February.

We've been sticking close to home. Cailin had a cold again, passed it on to Carter and now I'm sick again. I'm curious to see whether this is just a bad winter for germs or if they were all coming from preschool. My bet is on preschool.

I've been baking a lot lately, and trying new recipes from Pinterest. The shortbread recipe was a disaster. It called for more cornstarch than I thought was necessary and I was right. The dough was awful (always a bad sign), and the resulting cookies burst into atomized powdered crumbs at the slightest provocation. The recipe was given 4.5 stars out of 5, but I'm sure most of the testers were embarrassed to admit the crumb massacres they had just created.

The other recipe was candy cane sugar cookies. Now how could that go wrong? Cailin and I crushed up peppermint candy canes in a baggie, but when she found out they were going in cookies she was done helping me. Her dislike of anything minty is strong. She refused to sample the dough and won't eat the cookies. Carter on the other hand, ate two cookies and wanted more.

At any rate, the minty dough didn't taste all that minty to me, but then again I'm in that stage of a cold where everything kind of tastes off. (Except coffee. Keep it coming, boys.) The cookies were rolled in powdered sugar, pressed with a fork and baked up lovely. I'm sure the resulting cookie tastes okay as Carter and Ryan have been snacking on them with many compliments.

Yesterday I had to restore my phone to factory settings to fix a glitch where it shuts down all the time. It took almost four hours by the time all was said and done. What a disaster! It seems to have rid the phone of issues, but now I have all of Ryan's music in my phone along with mine. Our tastes in music are worlds apart. Galaxies. Universes. There isn't a distance big enough to describe how different our music tastes are from each other's. It took longer than I wanted, but I've figured out how to erase songs from the phone itself and when I have a spare hour I will go through and delete the yuk from my phone.

I'm done all my customer orders for hats and such. I'm so glad I didn't take on as many as last year. I was able to make presents for family this year with the extra time. I plan on taking it easy now this last week before Christmas.

I get my hair cut and highlighted tomorrow. Can't wait! Now if someone would only give Bailey her Christmas bath...

Festival of Trees

 This morning I was thinking how nice it would be to do fun Christmassy things this year with the kids.  Cailin is old enough now to get a real kick out of stuff like that, so I googled a quick search for local ideas and this weekend is the Festival of Trees!  I asked Cailin if she wanted to go and see Christmas trees.  She ran to get socks on (that means yes).  

There was so much to do and see at the venue.  It was pretty cost effective too, $20 for the whole afternoon, including souvenirs (including the priceless souvenir, see below).  I unloaded the jogging stroller and away we went.

The whole building is decked out in holiday splendor.  Cailin was so excited about the entrance booths because they had a snowman and candy canes on them.  Once inside the actual venue, she just stood with her mouth gaping and taking it all in.  It's absolutely beautiful and a child's Christmas dream come true.  The whole place is filled with trees of every shape, size and decoration scheme.  Giant snowflakes, twinkling lights and music.  There's booths painted like the North Pole, a gingerbread house display, mini shops, letter writing to Santa, and the man in red himself was there in person!  

We made a couple laps around all the booths and activities for Cailin to soak it all in.  We checked out the candy shoppe (and left just as quickly, everything looked delicious!) and wandered over to the Teddy Bear Hospital.  It's set up just like the NICU at the hospital with different activities at every station.  The 'nurses' were helping kids into doctor's coats for the 'rounds'.  Cailin wasn't brave enough to put a coat on.  She was extremely shy, but managed to drop my hand long enough to take a teddy bear's blood pressure and temperature:

 There was a big bear that had the "flu" and needed a cuddle and his temperature checked in both his mouth and armpit.  She wouldn't let go of my hand:

Carter was all snuggly in the stroller and did doze off here and there because it was naptime.  He liked the Teddy Bear Hospital too and was pretty friendly with the nurses.

We looked at the big decorated trees that were entered into the decorating contest.  There was some fantastic entries.  Cailin just looked and looked and looked.  So did Carter.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the trees.

Next we wandered over to the craft booth and decorated some gingerbread men:

Cailin had a riot and spooned so many sprinkles onto her cookie.  We made one up for Carter too.  At that point I figured we had been there long enough and everyone was feeling brave enough by now to ... MEET SANTA!  I would be wrong on that point, naturally.

I pulled Carter out of the stroller and smoothed his hair down.  Cailin immediately vaulted into his vacant spot and did up the seatbelt.  No way was she meeting Santa.  Santa is scary!  And forget a picture, she wasn't going anywhere near him.  We stood in line and I let her watch the proceedings without comment.  Carter was amazed by the blue trees nearby and told me lookit lookit! and pointed to so many things.

Finally it was our turn.  I told Cailin that Carter and I were going to have a picture done and she could come with us if she wanted, but that she didn't have to.  We would put the pic on Nana's fridge when we were done.  The 'no pressure' sales pitch worked.  She whipped off the seatbelt and joined us.  I put her on one knee and Santa took Carter.  Carter eyeballed Santa and put his blanket on his head and played peekaboo with him.  Then he lounged in Santa's arms and pulled his blanket up to his nose to fall asleep.  Santa had to keep pulling his blanket down so we could see Carter's face.  I held Cailin close and hoped she at least looked at the camera.  And hoped my lovely double chin would not be too visible, ha.  Santa asked Cailin what she wanted for Christmas.  Whenever we ask her, she replies with,  "A Christmas tree and lights." So I told him that.  He told me that Carter is an awfully friendly little guy and wished us a Merry Christmas.  On our way out of the photo area Cailin handed me a big booger.  Sometimes there isn't even words for that kind of thing.

While we waited for the picture to be printed, we wandered over to the super secret kid-only shopping booth.  It was super cute inside, and no adults allowed.  Well, Cailin wasn't going for that so I snuck in and hoped I would blend in.  Ha ha, I really didn't.  But Cailin found these lovely bells for her and Carter to ring:

The idea of that booth is for kids to go in and buy presents for their parents without them there.  Very cute idea, and the volunteers were so friendly and helpful.  The lady at the till laughed at me, "Hey, you're an adult!" She said it was okay to be there.

We walked around the venue a few more times to make sure we had done and seen everything.  It was then that the entertainment started on the stage.  Dancers came out and danced to neat music.  There was classic ballet, hip hop and modern.  Cailin was really impressed by them.  Then there was a number with lively and catchy music.  Cailin started dancing all over the place and had such a good time.  I got video of it.

The last place we visited was the mini Christmas tree area.  There were so many of these tiny and perfectly decorated trees.  Cailin's favorite was the Sesame Street one.  I liked one with owls on it.  There was every conceivable theme, from little plastic dinosaurs to a tree decked out with baby socks. I think we should decorate a little tree for Cailin's room to use as a nightlight.

I got them both back into their coats and ready to go outside.  Finally our picture was printed and I went to collect it with a dancing Cailin in tow and a sleeping Carter in the stroller.

Ready for it?

Seriously best five bucks I ever spent.  Carter is lounging and Cailin is about to pick her nose.  So that explains the booger.  Ew, ew, ew.  Yes, that's my princess.  This picture is now on our fridge and I will treasure it forever.  It will remind us of what a good day this was.

The day wasn't quite over yet.  Cailin knew there were sleigh rides and wanted to see the horses so badly.  I wasn't sure what to do with the stroller, but they let us put it on the wagon and take it with us.  Carter laughed going over bumps and then fell asleep.  Cailin enjoyed herself thoroughly, and I'm sure this was the favorite part of her day.  It was cold, but I wrapped Cailin in a blanket and Carter was toasty in his stroller.

I knew the driver, so he took us on a long ride around the park.  At night, they light up all the displays and it's so pretty to see.  It was still neat in the daylight.  There was a gentle snow falling, and frost on all the trees.  The horses were gentle and huge.  And gassy but no one will hold that against them.  Cailin didn't even comment when one pooped in front of her.

She asked me all sorts of questions about the horses and wanted them to neigh for her.  They didn't say anything at all, but they listen so well I was amazed.

It was peaceful listening to the horses' hooves clopping along and Cailin's sweet little voice exclaiming over all the wonders she was taking in.  Carter slept soundly.  When we got back to the building, she got out and petted the horses' noses and told them what good horsies they are.  She absolutely loved them.  I picked her up and held her close so she could get a good look at them.

Then because it was cold out, we went back inside and walked through the building to other side where the Jeep was parked.  Cailin didn't want to leave very badly.  Once we got home though, we broke out the gingerbread cookies and had a snack.

Carter was thrilled to get a cookie.  He called it a cracker and ate the entire thing.  He picked the sprinkles off and ate them and ooh'd and ahhh'd all over that cookie.  He was so tired he went to bed at 5pm.

Cailin ate only the head off her cookie and is saving the rest for later.  She opted for a whole wheat bagel instead.  Crazy kid!  She fell asleep on the couch and I woke her up as soon as I noticed.  I was so busy keeping Carter awake until 5 that I didn't know she had dozed off.

What a perfectly lovely day we had.  I want my kids to have the best Christmas memories of their childhoods and I think we can safely say this day will be one of them.

Look Who's Talking Now

My children have been amazing me with their language skills. Approximately every five minutes in their awake hours they drop linguistic bombs that both surprise and delight me.

Carter is talking nonstop now. He speaks a lovely Carterese most of the time, but lately it has been peppered with real words. Spoken clearly and in context.

He loves "P" words: papa, purple, paper, puppy and the ever effective, poop. I inadvertently taught him "poop" while changing his diaper. He spent the rest of the afternoon crawling around announcing "poop!" quite happily.

He was getting fussy in the pharmacy the other day so I was distracting him by pointing around and asking him what various things were. I was using an overly-cheerful-keep-the-baby-interested voice. "What's thaaaaat?" I crooned. Using the exact same tone and inflection, he replied, "I don't knoooow!"

At the till he realized that there was a nifty echo in that part of the store. After a couple test shrieks to perfect his pitch, he really let one whopper go, stopping abruptly to hear the resulting echo of his voice. Then his face lit up in an enormous grin, he laughed hysterically and did it again. The cashier leaned over to him and asked kindly, "What's the matter with you, pumpkin?" To which Carter replied, "I don't knooow!"

After a moment or two of silence, he decided to liven things up again by yelling, "DADDY!" at the top of his voice. He usually says 'dada'.

On the way to the parking lot he amused himself by yelling "No!" to all the passerby he came across. He's never said 'no' before.

All in all, it was quite an eventful trip to the pharmacy I'd say.

He's been saying 'thank you' for quite a while now. Whenever you hand him something, he replies with a cheerful thank you.

Other words used frequently: cookie, cracker, mama, nana, papa, truck, Bailey, Kelli, Cailin, Ry (my fault), go, dog, cow and more every day.

Cailin amazes me with her insight and inquisitiveness.

Last night she asked me where the sun goes at night. I told her it goes to sleep.

Cailin: Does the sun have a blanket?

Me: Yes, it uses a big cloud as a blanket.

Cailin: Does the sun get mad when his mommy makes him go to sleep when he's not tired?

Me (spying a Lesson Moment): No, the sun knows he has to go to bed like a good boy to get big and strong, just like you.

Cailin: I don't want to get big and strong! I want to stay little! I don't want to go to bed ever!

This morning I was carrying Carter while fending Bailey off my leg and walking behind Cailin. The stuffed Angry Bird in her arms chose that unfortunate moment to fly the coop, and she stopped and bent over to retrieve it. Lacking brake lights, I bumped into her, effectively kicking her in the bum and knocking her over at the same time. She stood up, brushed the hair off her face and told me, "Cut it out mom!" and went about her business. I was positive she would be more disgruntled about her mother kicking her down, but it was water off a duck's back. Then I closed Bailey's head in the cupboard about thirty seconds later. She wasn't quite as forgiving.

Cailin has also fully embraced the power of 'why'. Whenever I tell her to do something (or not to do something) she doesn't like, the "why?" gets rolled out for my amusement. She listens to my assessment and points out the loop holes. I was under the impression that she's too young to pick up on any inconsistencies, but she's proven me wrong a few times.

Cailin says stuff that is hilarious to me all the time:

While making Playdoh food: Your waffle will be done in a minute mom, don't panic. You need to stop your whining in my ears. (I blame Nana for this particular phrasing).

While playing down the hall: I need you to come here and see this mom, it will only take a minute okay? Don't give me trouble for playing in Kelli's bunk!

Cailin has also been completely potty trained, day AND night, for a while now. She will get up and use the potty in the night if she needs to, using a bubble bath bottle to flick the light switch on. Sometimes she feels the need to tell me if she did a number one or a number two (or heaven forbid, both) and that can never wait until morning for some reason. But hey, I'm okay with that.

Sub-zero Trick-or-Treating & Other Such Fun

 Happy Halloween!  It was decidedly cold and snowy here this year.  We've been really spoiled with the fantastic weather the last few years, so it was about due for a cold and snowy Halloween.  As our usual, we headed over to the Sorgens' for pizza and let the girls go wild.  We wrestled them into snowsuits, painted their faces and put costumes on over top.  There was much mind-changing, costume swapping and face paint fixing.  Cailin was supposed to be a skeleton (skelegon as she calls it), but changed her mind to be a fairy.  Olivia tossed her pretty pegasus costume and pink painted face to wear the skeleton suit and get her face painted white and black (and scary!).  It took some doing, but we got the girls dressed warmly with newly chosen costumes on.

At a fantastic and balmy -15'C we bundled up and headed out for some trick-or-treat action.  As a real treat, we had Kelli with us this year.  Cailin and Carter go absolutely nuts over her (so do I) and we had a great night.  Since it was so cold, we only made it around part of the cul-de-sac, but that was more than enough to get an almost full bag of candy each.  To make sure our own house stayed relatively trick-free while we were gone, I put out a large bowl of Tootsie Roll mix.  Surprisingly, when we came home, the bowl was empty.  I'm actually surprised the bowl didn't go too.

Kelli as Frankie Stein

Sub-zero Tinkerbell (with white scary face paint)

Halloween Parade at preschool

Carter didn't dress up this year, but sported a snazzy orange jack o'lantern shirt instead for both the preschool parade and Halloween.  He didn't say much when I put him in his snowsuit and wheeled him around in the jogging stroller either.  He will enjoy trick-or-treating next year though.  I can't wait to see him running around after his sister and her friends.

The day before Halloween, I made Oreo bat cupcakes for Cailin's preschool Halloween party.  I was under the impression that there would be time to dole out treats and to eat them during the party, but it was more of a 'put the treats in the bags over there, take pictures and then take your kid home' kind of a deal.  Next year I won't spend a lot of time on making an intricate treat since my (time-consuming-slaved-over) cupcakes were tossed unceremoniously into sandwich bags and smushed into the students' brown paper treat bags on a table in the lobby.  The whole ordeal was confused and crowded with parents and siblings that had no idea what was going on.  Cailin refused to dress up, but then changed her mind and participated in the parade when I walked with her.  I got some cute pictures and she got some delicious treats.  Win win!

When we got home from that hairy and stressful Halloween charade, it was time to start our own Halloween fun.  Ryan had picked up pumpkins for the kids and it was time to carve them.  I cut the tops off and put the pumpkins down on the floor for the kids to look at.  Cailin took one look at the pumpkin "guts" and recoiled back - "That's scary!" she exclaimed.  Carter crawled right up to his pumpkin, tossed the top off and dug right in with his spoon.  He also tried a lick of the innards here and there.  So did Bailey.

Cailin took about 30 seconds to be completely grossed out, then grabbed her spoon and joined in.  They had a lot of fun.  Carter took a bite of the rind and decided that it wasn't so edible.  Bailey did too.  She liked it much more than he did.

Cailin took the bowl of innards and made a salad out of it.  Once Carter and Bailey had politely tried her pumpkin salad, I carved faces into their pumpkins and lit them up.  Cailin loved them, but Carter was less than impressed with the finished product.  He much preferred to scoop.  Then it was bath time.  

Quiet winter day cookie building

Kelli was supposed to go back to Nana's the next day, but there was no way we were giving her back.  We had a quiet and relaxing day at home.  No more Halloween stuff, no preschool parties/parades, no more costumes, no more rushing or needing to be anywhere, no more candy.  Oh, wait, yes candy (let's not get carried away now!).  I packed away all the Halloween decor while Cailin wasn't looking.  Kelli did her school work and I made the girls sugar cookie dough to decorate.

Making a mutant snowman cookie

There was much giggling and enjoyment had while making cookies.  We had fun watching them bake too since the marshmallows puff up to impossible sizes when they get hot enough.  The kids have so much fun playing together.  Kelli is wonderful with them, and they love her to pieces.

Teaching Carter to scoot around on his back

We watched Halloween flavored (er, themed) movies, and laughed ourselves silly at "Night of the Living Carrots" - a short with the Aliens vs. Monsters crew and starring zombie carrots (it's much funnier than it sounds).  I let Cailin skip her Thursday class of preschool to recover from all the excitement of the week.  Honestly, I was so tired that the thought of driving her there and having to unclamp her arms from their death grip around my leg sounded like far too much exertion.  I might have to simply enroll her in the gym part for next semester, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I've noticed recently that I haven't had the 'big' camera out in quite a while and have been taking all my pictures with my phone.  While it boasts a decent enough lens, I wanted to switch it up a bit.  I've been taking pics right, left and center for the last week or so with the Nikon.  It feels great to be back behind the lens and I got some fabulous pictures of the kids for upcoming Christmas-themed stuff.  They had a good time too, crawling around and making faces for me to capture.

While I was crawling around after them, I started to get a pain in my side.  This weird pain went from 'slightly annoying' to 'I may possibly be dying' in about three minutes.  It lasted for about ten minutes and then was suddenly gone, leaving only a slight ache in its wake.  It was the weirdest thing.  I stopped by the doctor on the following Monday and they told me I described passing a kidney stone.

Yep.  Kidney stone.  And after checking my urine (ew, too much information I know!) it was discovered I had a kidney infection.  So I got to go on antibiotics too, just days after the kids finished their respective rounds.  We've been sick in one way or another since September.  If that's not a good enough reason to pull your reluctant kid out of preschool....  Germs.  Ugh.

So that's my sob story of the week.  The actual infection didn't really cause me grief, but the pills to get me all better cause nasty headaches.

Frosted leaves with sunrise

 This morning I looked out the window to catch a glimpse of the sun peeking out from the clouds to shine on the frosted leaves of the tree in our backyard.  It was gorgeous, and I had to run out to get a picture of it.  The pictures I took simply don't do the scene justice.  Cailin and Kelli are at Nana's and Carter was sleeping so I stood in the yard and enjoyed the sunrise by myself.  Absolutely breathtaking.

Hats, Sickies and Dragonfly Dreams

Cailin has had a cold now for over a month. It got worse, and she developed a bad cough. I phoned and luckily got both kids in to see the doc right away. Cailin has a throat/lung infection and Carter has a bad throat infection. Thank goodness his ears were okay. Poor Carter doesn't say much when he's sick, and he's been super snuggly.

They are both on antibiotics, and a different kind for each. Cailin is still quite sick, but Carter seems to be on the mend. She missed a week of preschool and I hope she can go next week.

I woke up feeling quite sick myself yesterday morning. I hope we can all get better soon now.

The weather is turning. It's been too cold to go for runs outside so I've been using the indoor walking track. Proud to say I've been jogging my 5 kms without stopping or walking. At times it's very slow jogging, but I'm getting faster in general.

I took Cailin with me the last time, and we had a riot running around, having races and drinking out of the fountain. Then we went to the indoor playground (and we were the only ones there!) and shot a few hoops in the toddler basketball area in the court. We had a really fun afternoon.

My hat business has really taken off in the last while. I'm working on a couple huge orders and there's still more coming everyday. I'm finding it very exciting to work with customers and on new items.

I also have big news! A local gift shop in Beaverlodge is now selling my hats. It's called Dragonfly Dreams, and they now proudly carry items by Sock Monkey Hats & More. I am so excited to see my hats on display there! They want me to bring in new items as soon as possible too. Coming soon - Beaver hats! I'm going to need more brown yarn....

In other news, Bailey has an ear infection again. Poor dog. As soon as I got the drops out, she ran for the hills. She also seems to be on the mend.

Ryan and Cailin cleaned up the yard and put all the toys away for winter. That's always such a sad part of the year. But we are excited for Halloween, and Cailin is beyond excited for Christmas. She keeps telling us Santa is going to bring her a red train and a big toy for Buddy.

Pictures: I'm writing this on my phone, so the pictures all go to the bottom and I'm not sure there's a way to change that.

Anyhoo, one is me with my haircut. One is the panda bear hat I made for a customer, I think it's the cutest hat I've ever made. One is Cailin "showering" in the bathroom sink.

Then the one where the kids were chasing a spider around in the tub. They were both totally enthralled by it and there was lots of giggling. At one point Cailin had enough. "I squishet with the shampoo and stuffed it down the drain, mommy." She's going to be a hunter someday I think.

Birthdays and Thanksgivings

On Saturday we went to two birthday parties and had Thanksgiving dinner with some cool relatives - cousins of my dad's, but we grew up calling them uncle and auntie.

Carter slept through most of the first party, but as it was just across the street it was pretty easy to go grab him when when he woke up. He played around the other kids and had a good time. Cailin had a blast with the balloons of course. She gets along with Hayden (the birthday boy) really well and they had fun, especially playing with his new toys.

I made the cake and cupcakes for this party and didn't get a picture of the finished product for some reason. I will have to get one emailed to me. The cake was a hilly scene with blacktop and a fire engine on top. The cupcakes were made in ice cream cones and looked just like chocolate soft serve. Cherry cake with chocolate icing makes a great kids' cake, and I'll be using that tasty combo again in the future.

So after a delicious hot dog and some messy cake, I herded the kids home and got them cleaned up for party number two. We were fashionably late getting there, but Cailin didn't waste any time, chasing her cousin's Yorkie Willow around in the backyard and making friends with the other kids immediately. I can't believe what a difference going to preschool has made. She is no longer shy around other kids.

We had a wonderful time. Cailin and her cousin Alex (short for Alexandra, the birthday girl) got to know each other a bit and started playing. They are both three now. I can't believe how fast they are growing up!

We had a quick jaunt to the park after turkey dinner (which was fabulous) and the girls had a blast. Alex loves the swings and Cailin loves the slide. When we got back, Carter was being a pooper, trying to play on the stairs. He had a good time too, and snuggled with uncle Randy and auntie Bonny.

Eventually both kids tired out and fell asleep, an unprecedented event in our (short succinct) travels. So we got in a nice long visit while they snoozed. We all had so much fun, can't wait to visit and have another play date soon.

On Sunday we got a big bag of potatoes and headed out to the farm to see Nana and Papa.

Ryan and Papa winterized our trailer (booooo!) and Nana burned leaves and yard waste while Cailin cruised around in the police car and Carter crawled all over the yard.

Papa made deep fried pickles, potatoes and turkey for dinner. Deep fried pickles are delicious! I had no idea how good they are, or how extremely addicting. The potatoes turned out like restaurant style potatoes and were also delicious. Deep fried turkey is also very tasty so we had a great meal.

Cailin slept through dinner, then got up and wreaked havoc on the household until what I assume was a very late hour. She talked Papa into letting her stay over.

Carter chatted to us all the way home and took forever to fall asleep too. He had a fun time too.

Another Thanksgiving weekend is drawing to a close. I'm so thankful for my husband, our children, our health and wealth, and our families, near and far, blood-related or not. We love all of you.

Gym Photos and Stuff

I absolutely love this picture of Carter from his first birthday party.  He ate a TON of cake.  GG kept sneaking over and removing great big hunks of it from his tray when he wasn't looking.  Just so he didn't get a bellyache.  He also had recently had a haircut.  I can't believe he'll be fourteen months tomorrow.  He's getting to be such a big boy!

Last Tuesday I woke up and decided it was time to cut my hair.  I'd been thinking about it for a few weeks and it was time to do it.  I always grow it out to about this length (middle of my back) and end up getting it all cut off.  Why? Well, it grows super fast so I don't worry about it too much.  It took three years to grow it from a pixie cut to the middle of my back.  Also, it was way too heavy and giving me headaches all the time from being pulled back into a bun or ponytail.  Not conducive to being in the pool and working out.  I called my hairdresser and she had one spot left, so off I went.  I donated my pony tail to the Cancer Society.

It gave me a start to see my hair all chopped off like that!  I picked up that pony tail and it was really heavy.  I'm so happy to think that maybe a little girl will be wearing a wig made of it.  I got a reverse bob kind of cut - much like Kelli's.  I'm loving it, though my natural curl really has a mind of it's own in the back.  Well, like they say - 'party in the back'.  Although I'm sure they're referring to mullets.  Hmm.  At any rate, I will post a picture of my new 'do when I get one I like.  I also booked the kids appointments for this week.  Cailin was, and continues to be really put out by my new hair.  She was horrified initially, and keeps asking me when I'm going to wear my old hair again.  I told her a little girl who is very sick and doesn't have any hair is wearing it.  She figures that's nice, but she should give it back soon.

This morning we had to run out of the house quick to get their haircuts.  Cailin got her bangs and hair trimmed up all nice, and Carter got his hair trimmed all over (looks just like the above photo).  They were both so good.  Cailin got up in the chair and sat by herself for her haircut.  So did Carter!  I was surprised when my hairdresser said to put him up there by himself, but he enjoyed it.  Don't worry, I hung onto him for safety!  He said it tickled around his ears, but he doesn't mind the clippers or haircut in the least.  Cailin demanded a sucker and we were on our way.  Not too bad, considering she was up well past midnight last night (they are both fighting a head cold at the moment.  Carter prefers to sleep through his cold, Cailin likes to be awake through hers).

The gymnastics club hires a photographer to come around and take pictures of the kids in action.  I was so excited to see Cailin's pictures, and I wasn't disappointed.  For the slightly inflated price of $93, I got a picture CD of her enjoying two separate sessions.  Naturally, one was the day her father dressed her and she had rubbed a great mass of toothpaste in her hair as 'hair gel'.  Heh.  The other session she dressed herself.

This kid is a prodigy on the trampoline.  She is light years ahead of the other kids in her class, and jumps so high it's borderline scary for her poor mother who's not supposed to be watching (but perhaps sneaks in and hides behind a pole to watch anyway).

The uneven bars are also a favorite.  She jumps to grab the bar and swings her little heart out, then lets go and lands it every time.

I am so proud of my gorgeous girl.  She barely let out a whimper when I dropped her off in class today.    She's really enjoying preschool in the classroom, and of course she's always loved the gymnastics part.

While she's at school, I take Carter and head over to the multiplex part of the building.  We go to the walking track with our fancy new jogging stroller, have lunch and go to the indoor playground.  He is tolerant of the walking track, and had a snooze today.  Lunch is always fun with him, he talks and laughs and smiles at people.  Sometimes we play on the basketball court if there's toddler play time.  He loves to crawl in the big open space!

Today I managed to jog the entire 5km on the walking track.  Some of it was really slow jogging, but it was jogging nonetheless!  I love my iPhone with all the running/health/calorie counting apps I have on it.  What a great tool in this weight loss effort.  I can chart my progress and see how fast/slow I was going during my run.  I did 101km in September!

Things are getting super busy with my home business.  I decided to let my website expire, and won't be renewing it.  It's a shame to lose the ability for my customers to pay by credit card, but I found the website too hard to keep updated.  It required constant care and attention to keep current and I simply don't want to spare the time I could be using to make the items (or dinner, or play with the kids etc.) on maintaining it.  So far it's been a huge relief to be 'rid of it' and I'm not missing it at all.

I'm now making diaper cakes, and have added rag quilts to my items that I'm selling.  Also going to be doing a ton of mittens this year, I can tell.  And earwarmers!  I'm extremely happy being able to work out of my home, and this year I'm making it manageable with the kids' schedule.  I will only be taking so many orders before Christmas and that will help a lot.

Speaking of Christmas.  Cailin and I decorated the house for Halloween yesterday.  She is super excited to go trick-or-treating this year.  Hopefully Carter is walking by then, he'll have a great time too!

Fall-ing in Love with Autumn

We had the most beautiful summer. Hot and unending summer days as far as you could remember and look forward to.

Carter's first birthday was a blast. He loved digging into his puppy cake and ate more than he perhaps should have.

We spent a lot of time at the farm camping in our new trailer. We saw most of the grandparents and had wonderful visits and conversations. Memories were built and much fun was had. Cousins ran wild through the grass and much playing ensued.

Then one day the leaves started turning glorious colors and the wind famous to this area came whistling back. While summer has continued to hold on tight, officially it is now fall time.

Which means school.

Cailin started preschool this year. She does a gymnastics/classroom hybrid that is very exciting. She had a bad time being left the first few weeks, but now we're down to 30 seconds of crying before she scampers off to play in the classroom. The gym part she really excels at. I snuck in to watch her a few times and she's light years ahead of the other kids. I am so proud of her! The little arts and crafts projects she brings home are so cute. Our fridge door is completely covered.

Carter is also doing really well. He graduated from Physio at his last session. He is crawling, scooting, cruising and right on schedule for his age. He says so many words, including thank you, welcome, what's that, dada, mom-mom, papa and nana.

We almost have the thyroid thing figured out. My last test revealed a slightly low-normal reading. The doctor prescribed another step up in meds and I need to get tested after 3 months (one month to go now). I'm having a feeling it's slightly too high now but it's better than being too low.

I have been keeping up with my walking, and have done a few 15km walks in the last 6 weeks. I have been jogging a bit here and there too, and feeling pretty good. I'm down 20.5 lbs now. It's pretty slow going but I'm excited to see the results.

I love fall. I'm waking up excited every day to get outside in the crisp air and see the gorgeous colors. We go for walks, play at the park and hit the trails. It's my favorite and most magical time of the year.

Tomorrow I'm going to break out the Halloween decorations and put them up with Cailin. Can't wait til she seems the gigantic purple cobweb we have in storage!

Beautiful Weather

 Summer is here!  As you can tell by Elmo getting out on his motorcycle.  Actually, that is a diaper cake I made and sold last month.  I really like making diaper cakes, and I believe I will be expanding my business with them when I get things organized for this fall.  Right now I'm working on getting my health in order, and getting Cailin into a routine.  This isn't leaving much time for sitting around crocheting, especially when the weather has been so beautiful!

Another order that went out recently.  I'm really liking how the blue one turned out - it's made of 100% cotton yarn.

So lots of exciting things have been happening.  We sold our old holiday trailer and bought a brand new one with enough room and accommodations for our family.  Here is a pic of the inside of the old trailer:

Sadly, there was no room for a playpen and both the table and couch needed to be folded down and made into beds every night.  Conversely, they had to be folded back up during the day in order to be used.  I was a little sad to see it go, but our new trailer is amazing.  I don't have any pics of it yet, but I will put some up soon.

We've used the new trailer quite a bit this year.  Our maiden voyage to a nearby-ish campground went really well, and we surprised GG and Papa Ray with a visit on our way back.  It's been at the farm since and we have our very own spot to stay when we come to visit.  We were planning a few big trips this summer in our fantastic new trailer, but we had to cancel our first trip to Jasper due to a nasty cold that rampaged through our house.  The second trip would be a lot more driving, and we decided to postpone a huge road trip like that until maybe next year.  We're going to do some maintenance and work on the house instead.  Hopefully we get down to the Calgary area later this summer though.

Cailin's birthday was at Mom and Dad's this year.  She had a bunch of her friends and cousins over to celebrate the day.  I got pictures, but they are on Mom's camera so I'll have to get them later.  She got some really neat stuff: a whole bunch of new books, crafts, a few toys, lip glosses (she LOVES lip gloss), an electric Spiderman quad and a trampoline.  She has been loving the trampoline.  I thought she would be on it a lot more due to the way she hogged the trampolines at gymnastics.  I can tell when she's been on it a lot when she passes right out at bedtime.

Oh bedtime.  The hell that was.  And still is.  She's been having a bad time going to bed since she was sick with ear infections in January.  It's taken about three weeks of carefully forced bedtime regime to get her into a semi-routine.  Every time we make some progress, then something comes up - like her birthday - and throws it out of whack again.  I know it's summer, and really hard to keep a schedule when there is so much going on all the time.  We tried a lot of different things to make bedtime more enjoyable and easier for all involved.  All of May we struggled with bedtime around 8pm.  It just wasn't working.  9pm seemed to be too late, and with her no longer sleeping in, she wasn't getting enough sleep.  She does not nap (no way, no how) and does not embrace 'quiet time' in the slightest.  This kid goes from the moment she gets up until she is forced into bed by her cruel mother.  So I did the unthinkable.  One night she was getting past the sleepy stage into the wound-up stage and I put her to bed at 7pm.  She was out in 20 minutes.  Eureka! Had I solved the bedtime mystery?  Had I found the magical routine to make my once amazing-sleeper back into a good sleeper?  The jury is still out.

Cailin is now in bed at 7pm sharp every night.  Some nights are ridiculous.  We read our books, sing our songs and she screams herself to sleep or calls me to her room approximately 311 times.  Some nights I don't even finish the books and she's out cold.  Some nights she simply tells me to leave, and leave the door open a little bit and she talks herself to sleep.  Sometimes it's silent, sometimes there's a lot of tears.  Other nights I have to sit with her until she falls asleep.  She is worried about shadows, and doesn't like to fall asleep with her night light on.  However, if she wakes up and it's dark, then it's a nightmare to get her back to sleep.  On average, she wakes twice a night and needs me to put her back to bed.  Some nights she is up five or six times, crying.  Sometimes I need to stay with her while she falls back asleep.  Five or six times.

Last night she went to bed nicely and slept all night for the first time in a long while.  Of course she was standing at the foot of our bed noisily mouth breathing at 7:45 this morning.  There is nothing more disconcerting thinking Darth Vader has taken up residence in your room while you were peacefully sleeping.  At least she let us sleep in.  She's been getting up around 6am for days.

Tonight is another story again.  It started out promising, but there were a lot of tears later.  Now I realize that she snuck downstairs, collected a soccer ball, helped herself out to the deck with Ry and is now playing ball in the backyard.  Sigh.  Also?  I just have to say something about those stupid kids' shows. I fully believe she wouldn't even know how to be scared of monsters, the dark or shadows without the express help of Caillou and Curious George.  Curse you, Curious George!

Potty training is happening!  One week accident free and in real underwear!  Night time training is just around the corner.

Carter is getting more teeth and is fighting off this cold the rest of us came down with.  He's been a little on the grouchy side and wants to be held all the time.  He's not crawling yet, but wants to get mobile so badly.  He's completely frustrated with his legs not listening to him.  He assumes the scooting position, but has yet to figure out that his one leg is holding up production.  We are eagerly awaiting his follow up with the pediatrician on the 16th.  I really want to know what they found on his x-rays and blood work.  We made one visit to the physio therapist.  He did pretty well, and she gave us some exercises to work on in the meantime.  They seem to be helping him strengthen his legs.  He does not qualify for a helmet, and his head is rounding out very nicely.  He also has been having some trouble sleeping.  Maybe because the sun shines on that side of the house at night.  Maybe because he ends up on his belly and doesn't care for it after a while.  Who knows.

Otherwise, Carter is still exceptionally giggly and happy.  He's really taking to solid foods and is turning his nose up at pureed baby foods.  He wants the real stuff.  I'm guessing I will have a cupboard full of baby food to donate soon.

I'm still working on my thyroid stuff.  As it stands, I'm going to get blood work done on Monday and make another appointment for the week after.  I think that's enough time to see if my current dosage of thyroid medicine is working.  I feel a bit better, but I'm sure it's still too low.

Recently I came across an App for my iPhone that counts calories and helps track weight, exercise, water intake etc. and started charting my calories everyday.  What a wake up call!  I had no idea I was consuming that many calories in a day.  Although I wasn't eating a lot of food every day, the foods that I was eating were laden with calories!  Add that to my lagging thyroid, and no wonder I gained 20lbs in a month.

It's absolutely astounding what I've been discovering and learning about health, thyroid and nutrition in the last while.  I came across an excerpt of a book on the dangers of too much wheat, and decided to go on a wheat free diet as well as count calories.  This would be the fourth day nearly wheat-free.  I feel fantastic.  Add that to the 5km walk I did yesterday, and the 7km walk I did today, I'm feeling really positive about this new lifestyle.  I haven't felt this good in quite a while, and I've lost 6.5lbs!

The kids enjoy the walks too.  They go in the double jogging stroller and off we go on the trails around the city.  Cailin yells when it's time for me to 'go faster'.  She's a slave driver.  We have to spend some time at a park too, of course.  Cailin won't sit in the stroller for long without the promise of sliding 302 times as a reward later.  In fact, we discovered a water park within walking distance of our house today.

I'm looking forward to our walk tomorrow.  Better do it early in the morning since it's going to be another hot day.

We're also going to start work on our house tomorrow!  Super exciting.  We're getting a new vanity/paint/light fixtures/tile/shower door put in the downstairs bathroom, a deck out the front door complete with railing and a gate, two new screen doors and new eavestroughing.  Next year I will be doing flower pots/flower beds off the front deck.  I also will be very busy painting the entire upstairs - ceiling and walls included.  Nothing too wild - everything is going bright white.  Then I will accessorize with nice bright colors.

One of these days I'm going to paint Carter's room, but still don't have an idea for the scheme yet.  I spent some time in there with him today.  He in his toy bins, gleefully ripping things apart and driving cars across the floor; me adjusting the crib mattress to the lowest setting.  It struck me that this will be the last time I adjust anything on this crib.  The time of the crib is almost over.  Big boy beds, potty training and walking are all coming our way next.  I can't believe he will be 1 next month.

Liv's 3rd Birthday and Mothers Day

 Dreaming of summer days...

Liv had her 3rd birthday party on Saturday.  I made her a Hello Kitty cake that took about 8hrs to make, start to finish:

A good time was had by all.  The birthday girl really cleaned up on Hello Kitty loot, and especially loved her new HK boombox.  We all had a laugh over the fact that it is a radio/CD player and has a cassette deck in it.  I still have cassettes somewhere, by the way.  It's funny these girls won't know what even CDs are by the time they get involved in purchasing their own music.

Blowing out the candles:

The next day was Mothers Day.  I really love the idea of Mothers Day.  Breakfast in bed while your husband and children dote on you lovingly.  Taking the whole day to put your feet up and relax.  Of course, reality is a little different.

Mothers Day isn't like that in our house.  I got up, made pancakes (pamcakes says Cailin) for the troops, and tackled the mountain of laundry that had come out of the holiday trailer.  Which is back in our driveway taking up precious room for the summer (it's not like we'll use the darn thing).  We did a lot of Sunday chores and cleaned the house.  Mom and Dad came in for supper and that was nice.

I don't take a 'Mothers Day' for myself, but I'd like to send a shout out to all the moms out there working hard for your families.  GG and GramE, thank you for all your hard work, then your second round with grandkids, and now in the throes of the third round with great-grandchildren!  We love you and appreciate everything you do for us!

A shout out to all my friends celebrating your first Mothers Day too.  Heh, you have no idea what you're in for.  Enjoy every second with your sweet babies.  They turn into two year olds way too soon. She just peed on me for saying that.  Massive Pullup fail.  Ugh.

Happy Mothers Day to Shelley!

Also Happy Pammys Day to the one and only Pammy!

And my Mom.  She's not a typical mom.  She's much cooler.  I love you.  You deserve a whole Mothers Week.

"Are you eating the bubbles?"

"...NO."

"Okay then."

(These would be super-colored Crayola bubbles that come out super purple.  Very pretty, oh so stainy.)

What, it's May Already?

So I have a lot of updates to catch up on.  Let's get started shall we?  (By the way, I'm really not digging this new setup Blogger has going on here.  They changed everything!  Can we all say, "Timeline"??  I can only learn one new thing at a time, I'm getting old!)

Cailin and I attended a welcome shower for baby Mark and had lots of fun.  Both boys and girls were invited, and I think that's a wonderful way to welcome a baby to the world.  I made the monkey themed cakes - and there's a bit of the diaper cake I also made in the corner here:

The man of the hour himself!  Baby Mark is doing really well and getting bigger!

The girls had a great time ingesting copious amounts of sugar:

Then they got really crazy and ran around the house like monkeys on speed.  It was hilarious.  Liv proceeded to put herself to bed at 7:30-ish when she had enough. I think Cailin stayed up past 10pm.

Then there were birthdays!  Happy 75th birthday to GG!  Wow, what a milestone year!  Wishing you all the best this year and many more!

My friend Cassie turned 25 on the same day.  Mega milestone birthdays this year.

We would also like to wish Uncle Duster a great big happy 30th birthday.  No worries, 30 isn't so bad.  Now 31 on the other hand.... Gah.

For GG's birthday, I spent a good portion of the day readying, wrangling and rodeo-ing my children into the Jeep for Carter's long awaited pediatrician appointment.  I had a feeling it was going to be a long wait so I bribed Cailin with fries and chicken nuggets.  She got dressed and in the Jeep so fast it made my head spin.  So she is completely capable of moving quickly when we're going somewhere.  Who knew?

It turns out it wasn't that long a wait at the doctor's office.  Cailin had her brown paper bag of certain deep-fried doom and was as cheerful as could be.  Poor Carter had been rousted out of bed and was a little out of sorts but smiley enough.

The doctor was wonderful.  He didn't rush and he addressed all of my concerns.  Carter's flat spot on his head is nothing to be concerned about.  We will be making a trip to the orthopedic place at some point, but it is very doubtful he will "qualify" for a helmet.  His head will be completely normal in a year or so, and it's already rounding out.  That's a big relief!  Still, to be safe Carter is getting a head x-ray as well.  (Here's the kids playing in the crib, you can see Carter's flat spot:)

Carter is a very relaxed and laid back baby.  But maybe a bit too relaxed because he doesn't like to stand up or use his legs much (other than to splash in the tub of course).  We think it's part of his charm that he's so floppy.  The doctor noticed right away and we'll be starting some physio to get him using his legs more.  I'll be learning some exercises to help him build his lower motor function up.  (Since then we've been really working on making him stand and he's getting better.)  Again, to be safe he's getting a spinal x-ray done to make sure everything is good there.  Annnnnd they want me to get his blood work done too.  I'm not looking forward to that.

The whole time we were in there, Cailin tried to get the doctor to look in her ears and throat.  He wasn't quite sure what she was trying to accomplish there, but he was very kind and spoke to her a lot.  She settled for climbing on his desk and securing his squeaky froggie toy in my purse.  She told me, "I'm taking that Kermit home!  I put him in your purse and zipped it up!"  The doctor very kindly asked for it back and she relented.  Then soiled herself.  Ah, kids.

It must have been medical mayhem week in our neck of the universe:

I got to go to the dentist - and made it through the entire appointment without wishing ill fortune on anyone in my immediate vicinity.  Except for one issue - "Oh my, you must have hormonal issues, look at those gums!", I got a clean bill of health.  Er, teeth.  (Hormonal issue coming up.)

I took Cailin in to get her blood drawn for her iron and sugar level checks.  She was a trooper in the waiting area, and was one tough cookie when they gave her the "pokey".  Of course she got a horrible bruise and there were a few tears but she did excellent.  Until it came time to remove the bandaid.  It popped right off in the tub and she was irritated that it wasn't still on her.  I showed her where my bandaid had fallen off in the shower (I got thyroid checks done again).  That made her feel better.  Of course disaster struck when she told Nana that "Mommy farted in the shower this morning" when she really meant to say "Mommy's [bandaid] fell off in the shower this morning".  I suppose this is a good time to say her blood work was completely normal.  Heh.

At any rate, I paid a visit to our regular doctor's office, made an appointment for the following week and got my blood work done too.  I couldn't bring myself to get Carter a "pokey" too, so he still needs his blood work and x-rays done.

Which brings us back to that darn old pesky thyroid/parathyroid stuff.  I managed to get in and do the radioactive isotope injection CT scan/x-ray thingy for my pesky parathyroid.  I got to see some of the results on-screen right away and it was super cool!  I could see my shoulders, ribs, spine and skull.  The injection they gave me lights up the heart too, so I got to see my heart glowing gold on the monitor.  The results came back normal and I get to repeat the scan in October.  The tumor or nodule is still present, but not causing any issues at this time, ie - it's not "hot".

Soon after doing the scan I realized I was feeling really good.  I was no longer shaky, over-excited or hyper feeling.  I didn't feel antsy-in-my-pantsy anymore.  I didn't feel overly irritable with the entire world.  And I wasn't hot all the time.  Then my energy was all but completely gone.  I was sleeping much better than I have been previously.  My back suddenly flared up again and started to hurt for the first time in a long while.  Then I noticed I had gained over 15lbs in the course of ten days.  Now, logic tells you something may not be quite right there with all this going on.  But it wasn't until I was in bed one night shivering under three heavy blankets that it hit me - my thyroid level is no longer high.  I felt ripped off.  I knew exactly what was going to happen next.

I went in for my lab results and bingo - my thyroid is low.  Yay, me.  So our doctor has hopes that it might steady itself out yet, but we're not waiting for that to happen.  I'm on the lowest dosage of synthetic thyroid hormone possible for the next 30 days.  Then we'll do more blood work and see if we need to adjust the dosage.  Three days in and I can feel some of the antsy-in-my-pantsy coming back.  I'd like to get back to that place where I'm not hyper and shaky, but not bone-tired exhausted.  Is that too much to ask?

Also, I got an iPhone, heard the song "Sexy and I Know It" in its entirety for the first time, and something else happened that was ground breaking (but I can't remember what for the life of me) ALL IN ONE DAY.  I'd say that was a violent shove forward to at least the year 2011.  I'm almost current now.

Anyway, how about some cute baby pictures?  Carter loves Cheerios a lot.  That would be the ones with nuts and honey on them, cuz hey? Why wouldn't we feed our 9 month old nuts and honey before he's 3?  He also found out how much he likes peanut butter cereal.  Again with the nuts before he's 3.  Eating Cheerios is serious business:

Cailin recently spent the week at Nana and Papa's house with her cousins Grace and Odin.  She had a blast playing with them.  GG and Papa Ray also came up for the week and we had a great visit.  I also turned 31 quietly in there somewhere.  Carter and I spent some time together by ourselves and he helped me sort out hats for an upcoming auction:

I love his little face!  He is really the most happy and giggly baby ever.  I'm enjoying him every single day.  Cailin is getting more vocal and eloquent every day.  She talks so much now and has quite the sense of humor.  Potty training is on and off - her choice of course.  Somedays she puts herself in underwears and goes the whole day without a pullup.  Other days she changes her own pullups.  Yet other days, you just don't want to know.  I'm signing her up for Kindergym next week so she better be trained by September.  (That would be preschool with 45 minutes of gymnastics and 45 minutes of classroom twice a week).

I'm sure there's a lot more to tell, but it's getting late and I spent all day in the kitchen making this cake for Liv's birthday party tomorrow:

Cailin ate her weight in icing and fondant so I'm sure she'll wake up with a terrible sugar hangover tomorrow.  Heh.

The Easter Bunny was Here!

Just before Easter weekend, we welcomed baby Mark to the world. He was four weeks early and it was quite a journey to get him here, but he's here, perfect and sweet. Many wishes and congrats to Shelley, Blaine and big sister Olivia! Mommy and baby are home and doing well.

The Easter Bunny also came to our house for the first time ever! Carter got up first and checked out his Easter bucket. Sadly, he didn't get any candy this year (or so I thought, but Cailin did slip him a jelly bean. He loved it). He was thrilled with his toys. He played with the bucket all morning. His dear sister decided that she wanted the blue one and gave him her pink one instead. They both wanted the blue one so that didn't work so well.

Cailin slept in quite late and was surprised to see eggs and a bucket outside her door. Once she figured out the eggs had jelly beans and chocolate inside though, she was all up for the egg hunt.
She was also thrilled to know that eating candy for breakfast was allowed. Cailin had a great time running around the house looking for eggs with Bailey hot on her heels. Bailey got enough dropped jelly beans and treats that she got sick later at Nana and Papa's house. Well, they say it's not truly a holiday until someone eats too much candy and barfs. Right? Please say right.

Look, Carter was even willing to do some tummy time to play with the bucket!
Pretty soon we got ready for Easter dinner at Nana and Papa's house. I told Cailin to go get dressed so we could go see GG and Papa Ray. You know how little girls always wear those cute little Easter outfits or dresses? This is what Cailin came up with:
Yeah. That would be a tutu shirt with a dress-up tutu underneath, black leggings and hot pink gum boots topped with a lovely orange monkey hat. She then paired it with a red ladybug rain jacket. Hey, at least she was dressed. This would be the exact reason why I didn't bother buying her a cute Easter dress. My lil Rockstar.

We had a wonderful dinner. Cailin played outside with a hose and washed everything in sight, including both the Papas I'm sure. It was lovely to see GG and Papa Ray. It was just a lovely Easter weekend in general.