BC Bound

Well we are packing our things and heading to BC. Tomorrow will be our first as a family of four on a plane. Should be an adventure. Kelly gets to sit with Ethan, lucky guy. Don't think he is going to enjoy being stuck on Kelly's lap for an hour and a half. We are going for five jammed packed days. I`m looking forward to it, but I am already excited about being back at home. It is always go go go at home but i`m exc ited to see everyone!

Yesterday we went to visit Santa. We got there early and there was no one there. Perfect! I wasn't sure how Ethan was going to react. He didn't cry but he was a little nervous around him. It wasn't till Santa offered him candy until Ethan smiled (of course not for the photo). Hoping that Ethan won't go with everyone that offers him candy :S. We got our photo, Wyatt was wide awake and Ethan well he was trying to make a quick getaway. I don't think ther is such thing as a good photo with Santa.

Today we slept in then went to pick up photos, and I promise this is the last time I will complain about the Superstore photocentre, but they lost both of my orders, and they had both been processed and I had my forms. So I went home and ordered them from Walmart and I have already picked them up. We went over to Virginia's and decorated gingerbread houses. I totally thought Ethan would just sit an eat them all but he actaully decorated for half an hour. It was fun! Now I need to try not to eat all his candy!

Both the kids slept this afternoon and I finished wrapping the presents. Maureen and NOlan came for dinner and we are just waiting for kelly to come home. Ethan has just brought me his potty, should I take this as a sign?

Well we just did the whole diaper off, pants down, no pee... we'll keep trying.!

Pictures of my Boys

Michelle and I with our little boys. 6 weeks apart.

Ethan is outta here.

Attempt 2

Attempt 3

Attempt 4. Wyatt is extremely unhappy, Ethan's finger is heading to his nose again. All I wanted was one decent photo of me with my boys.

Atempt 5. Finger still in nose... The verdict on the one good picture of me with my boys.... not possible. We give up.

We threw the big one into the mix.

Cohan and Wyatt, they both kind of have the same look happening here.

My little boy!

I think they are smiling at each other :)

Wyatt and Ethan. Ethan being a goof as usual!

We were trying for a pictures of all three of our heads... in mind mind this was going to be easy. In reality, it didn't happen :)

Sunday Morning

A blurry photo of baby Wyatt.

Wyatt and Fabian's 'bunk' bed and Ethan of course!

It is real! He is a pet! Strange...

Well, it is Sunday morning, we are having a relaxing day so far... well as relaxing as it can be. Ethan is sitting beside me driving his car over his cookies (creating large amounts of crumbs), Wyatt is sleeping (in his bassinet I might add) and I am here, still in my pajama's because my one pair of pants had to be washed this morning. So while I wait for them to dry I thought I would update my blog.
We had a great day yesterday, the kids were very good! We went to a friends baby shower (she had a little girl). Ethan had fun with all the kids running around and Wyatt slept. We went to the the Spruce Grove 'Light' ceremony last night. In the paper they said there were reindeer, free hot chocolate and crafts. My vision of the event was a beautiful night in the snow, sipping hot chocolate, decorating cookies and playing with the beautiful and magestic reindeer. Fun right?
Well we got there, it was packed. I put Wyatt into the baby bjorn and was going to hold Ethan's hand. We headed over to the reindeer. Not magestic... more like deathly deer with antlers. Somewhat disappointing. We headed inside to make some crafts, it was SO jam packed that we could hardly moved, so we left to get some hot chocolate. The line up was like half an hour long... So no hot chocolate. We thought we would walk over to the Santa Story time... Well Santa had already left?!? Ethan's mitts were falling off constantly, at one point he fell and I heard one woman look at him and say "Oh my gosh, NO GLOVES". I wanted to walk over to her and slug her in the face.... Anyways they were supposed to turn the lights on at 5:30 (and I hear it was worth the wait). But for me waiting 45 minutes would have been far to difficult so we went home. We will drive by the lights tonight. Virginia and I decided that we should plan the event to make it more kid and family friendly... Either way it got us out of the house and we all got some fresh air.
Last night after Ethan went to bed, Wyatt and I settled in to watch "Christmas with the Kranks". It is a completely ridiculous Christmas movie, but somewhat entertaining. On Friday night we watched RV (with Robin Williams)... now that had me laughing! haha!
Today was weigh in day, down two pounds. Better than last week, at least I can start running next week. Hopefully then the pounds will shed quickly!
Well the dryer just finished, time to get dressed :)

A Little More Sleep, alot less crying!

My handsome little man!

Loving the snow!

Wyatt

Wyatt and Ava all bundled up 'watching' their brothers play in the snow.

On their way out to the snow, Caleb is so good at posing for photos, Ethan, clearly, could care less.

Well the last two days have been so peaceful (compared to the night from hell the other night). I have tried a few of the tips people gave to me to soothe a crying child, so far some of them have been working. Wyatt was given a giraffe at his shower that makes snoring noises, he loves it. Puts him to sleep, quite obnoxious for me to listen to but whatever works, and it does. He also enjoys being swaddled. Today while I was packing I had him in the baby bjorn and he fell asleep, I was able to tranfer him to his bassinet with no crying. I have also learned that my bouncy chair also bounces well when pushed with you foot (a tip I learned from Virginia). So this keeps him content, and eventually puts him to sleep, PLUS i get a claf work out all at the same time.

Last night we got some sleep, he didn't cry much at all but he would not go to sleep in his bassinet so he layed on me all night. Again, if he is sleeping and I'm sleeping, I am happy.

We had a great today, we woke up late, usually I get everyone dresses bright and early and try to get out of the house as soon as possible. Today though I left everyone in their PJ's and we just hung around the house for awhile, Ethan played, Wyatt slept and I wrapped presents. I Love wrapping presents.

This afternoon I went over to Virginia's and we took the boys out into the snow. Ethan didn't enjoy himself last time so I was determined to make him like the snow. He had fun for awhile, played around with it them stuck close to the door in hopes we would notice and bring him in soon. Caleb didn't want to come in, but if it is nice and warm like this for awhile we should have plenty of snow time!

Tonight we went to Babies R Us. I had one gift in mind, I was going to buy four of them, they were all sold out, so we just stroleld around, I find that if I am out at night it makes for an easier night (with Wyatt). SO the store was opened till ten. I think we left around 9:20. A little late for Ethan but he went right to sleep.

Wow, What a Night....

Well last night was my most challenging night to date (while be a parent of two). We were out all day,which was great, Wyatt slept all day and Ethan was very well behaved all day. At about 5:30, in the middle of Ethan and I's dinner Wyatt started crying, the crying didn't stop, literally, until 1 this morning. And it wasn't just any cry, it was a scream! Ethan went to bed at 7, and I was just hoping to heck that Wyatt's cry woudln't wake up Ethan. Thankfully it didn't.
I don't know how to explain it, Wyatt was screaming, screaming screaming ALL night, He would stop to eat, but not like he usually eats, he was suck for a couple minutes then stop, look around and start crying, he couldn't figure out how to latch like he usually does but he was getting lots to eat I mean he ate all night (that was the only time he was quiet). It just wasn't his normal eating habits. He was exhausted, I could tell he was TRYING to keep his eyes open and he was yawning every couple of minutes.
I did a little bit of research online (typing with only one hand, because heaven forbid I put him down). I got lots of suggestions from friends as to what his issue could be and things I could try to get him to stop crying. Trust me I tried most of them.
My good friends at google suggest Colic. So I looked up Colic, Wyatt seems to fit into the Colic category, but then a growth sprut was also suggested and that makes sense too. He was hungry all night, and would eat every time I tried, but he wasn't frantic for food which makes me think that it possibly is more likely colic than a growth sprut.
Colic, on the internet, is described as a baby who crys for more than three hours in a row, three days in a row. CHECK... Wyatt has accomplished that. I finally got him to sleep around one, we were on the couch, my head was in a very uncomforatble position but I dare not move incase I woke him up.
He actaully slept (when he fell asleep) for his longest ever, we woke up at 5:20. So that is four hours and twenty minutes, I slept through three phone calls (dumb faxes), i woke up with a terribly sore neck, but happy that we had actaully got SOME sleep. We had a feed (which seemed to be back to normal) and were back to bed until 8:30.
I had a minor breakdown this morning when Ethan woke up and Wyatt was screaming. I just feel so bad that I can't give Ethan the attention I want to. But i'm feeling much better now as Wyatt is asleep!! WAHOOOOOooooo.
I am a little nervous about tonight though.... perhaps it was just a one time deal??? Maybe? Hopefully?

I appeciate all the helpful hints from everyone, I'm going to see if cutting dairy and caffiene out (suggest by a friend and many many websites) will do anything to help. I will try it for a couple weeks, if nothing changes then I will go back to my tea and chocoalte habits :)

ALMOST....

Ethan playing on the rocking horse thing... strange toy I got at the swap meet for 3 bucks. I am so thankful that Ethan plays well on his own because I just haven't got the time I used to play all the time... That being said i'm terrible at playing....

My precious Wyatt, doing what he does best! I would have put a photo of him on of his cute little face and his chubby cheeks but this was the best I could get :)

Well I think we had a successful night last night... or reasonably successful. After complaining about my crying child at around 10:30 last night, he fell asleep and slept until 1:15, woke up very briefly then slept until 3, We woke up at 6 and stayed up (well I did, Wyatt fell asleep again after an hour of crying). So really our successful night was a success because he really only woke up once if you consider I went to be at 1 and got up at 6....

Ethan, my little sleeper, Thank GOSH for that, slept in until 9. We all got up and dressed and headed out to our "Time to Play Class". Ethan had a ball, not shy at all this time, he actaully spent some time doing his snowman craft, then he sat down and played with playdoh, didn't even try to eat it. He loved it. So I have purchased him some playdoh. Wyatt and Ava slept beside each other the entire class.

After class we jumped in the car, I was risking getting to Michelle's house without feeding Wyatt but I took the chance and thankfully we made it. I fed Wyatt and then we headed off. Our big day plan was to go to the Super Walmart. I had to finish my Christmas shopping and this Walmart is quite quiet. Perfect for us! So I finished most of my shopping. I still have a few little things to buy but for the most part I have completed my Christmas shopping! Yahooooo.

When we were finished Wyatt's eyes were just starting to open so I didn't think I could attempt the 45 minute drive home, so Ethan, myself and Wyatt made our way to the Mc Donalds in Walmart so I could feed Wyatt... I felt I was being judge (feeding McDonalds to my kid) just sitting in there..... Anyways

We got home and of course Wyatt took this as his time to start his crying for the day... I mean it make sense, he thinks it is night time, it is dark outside! I ALMOST found something that calmed him down. I bought batteries for the vibrating bouncy chair. It stopped his crying for all of three minutes and has now resumed.

A Busy Week!

It is Tuesday, that means Kelly has left on a jet plane to make the mula for the family. The kids and I have a busy busy week, trying to keep the days full, and trying to get Ethan out for a run around every day. This morning before Kelly left we went to the Perc for a play with Caleb and Nolan. I did a workout in the 'home gym' before Kelly left.
Kelly left aroun 3:45 and I piled the kids in the car and we were off to the mall for some Christmas shopping. I was a little nervous because Ethan doesn't usually like the mall or sitting in the double stroller but it was no problem after I bought him two delicious cookies :). Of course while we were in La Senza I noticed that we were missing both socks and both shoes... So we re-traced our steps, recruited some employees and recovered both socks and shoes... phew.. So Ethan had barefeet for the duration of our time at the mall. He was in such a great mood, said hi to everyone and gave some big waves! Wyatt slept the entire time.. perfect!
We made it back home, we pulled into our garage, and I shut the door behind us, then I realized I didn't pull in very far, the door was about two inches from hitting the car...

Gosh darn it, Wyatt just fell asleep and he's crying again.... Can't handle his cry. (i'm going to ignore it).

Anywas my goal for the week is to stay calm when i'm stressed, not get too frusterated and avoid yelling. Just after deciding this I looked over at Ethan and he was standing on the coffee table, so I calmly took him down. Five minutes later I look over at Ethan again, he is ripping all of the flaps off of his "Find Spot" book.... ARGGGG!! ok stay calm, done! THEN, Wyatt is in his bassinett, look over at Ethan again and the bassinet looks like the Titanic sinking, almost flipping over.... Wyatt almost fell overboard... Anyways i'm still calm, going to try to stay calm....

A Wonderful Weekend in a Winter Wonderland

Wyatt in his snowsuit, still far too big but nice and warm!

Our Cute little Ethan

Family photo, we took a bunch, Ethan has his finger up his nose... and Wyatts suit makes him look like a giant!

Our Christmas lights and the wreath on the door. Kelly snagged a ladder from the house under construction next door. We didn't do the peak, too dangerous with all of the snow.

Wyatt and Ava spending some time together waiting for their brothers to finish playing. Even caught them holding hands at one point :)

Ethan and Wyatt

Ethat enjoying himself at the perc.

Wyatt all bundled up at the Perc!

Well winter (snow and cold temperatures) has hit Spruce Grove. It has been between -15 and -22 for the last five days. I don't mind it and I actaully love the snow (don't love the fact that our car slips all over the place) but I love being stuck inside because it is too darn cold to leave! It has been snowing again all day, not really accumulated but still beautiful. We had a great weekend. On Friday we took Ethan to the PERC for a run around. He is now the perfect age for the Perc, I used to have to watch him climb up everything, now he is steady and strong enough to climb and slide and play all on his own (well except for the one mishap where he stepped the wrong way off the slide). But other than that it is great because I can sit and chat and Ethan can play! On our way home we stopped at Canadian Tire to buy Christmas lights. We chose (after about an hour of deliberations--Kelly is highly indecisive) red, white and greed lights. We bought those and a nice pinecone wreath for the front door.

Home in time for lunch and Claire and I sent Kelly outside to put up th elights (please keep in mind it was -22 out). But he put them up and they look fantastic! Nice work Kel!

Saturday was Wyatt's baby shower. It was a great success, Wyatt was very spoiled and it was nice to have everyone over for a visit. This took up most of the day and then it was time to take Claire to the airport. It was so nice having her here I really didn't want her to leave, but she insisted she had to go back to work (seriously who works these days).... SO we stopped at Ikea on the way to buy some frames and away she flew. Kelly and I settled into watch what we thought was going to be a tight game between the Canucks and Blackhawks, we were somewhat dissappointent when they started losing, then losing badly. I fell asleep and Kelly wandered off... Terrible game, it is even more sad because we hardly ever get to watch the Canucks games because they are very rarely on our TV stations.

Wyatt didn't have a great night last night. Again up at least every two hours.... At four this morning he just wouldn't settle, he would eat, sleep for a few minutes, scream, eat etc.... Finally we fell asleep, thankfully Ethan slept in this morning so we all rolled out of bed around 9. It was weigh in day, I wasn't expecting much, seeing that there has been to many delicious food products surrounding me for the past week, and as I expected I had gained 0.4 pounds. Dissappointing yes, but it motivated me to go down to our 'home gym' for a 40 minute workout. I could hear Ethan and Wyatt crying from the basment and Kelly attempting to deal with everything, but I pretended I didn't hear it and continued on.

Our big outing for the day was go head to Superstore to pick up our pictures. We only brought the single stroller so Kelly was walking with Ethan. I walked up to the photo lab, and it was the doof who couldn't find my photos last time. Oh great... there was lady right in front of me who was hoping to pick up her pictures she had dropped of half an hour ago (hey newsflash lady it is a one hour service). It was at this point Wyatt started screaming.... the doof from the photocentre decided to instead of telling her the photos werent ready yet went and got them out of the machine (slowly) and figured everything out so she could take them early, even though they weren't done. So I was waiting, Wyatt was screaming and Ethan was with Kelly in the toy department. I heard a loud SMASH, everyone turned to see what was going on. Kelly and Ethan came flying around the corner. I looked at Kelly and said "was that you guys". He said Yes.... Ethan had smashed a giatn piggy bank on the floor (in his defense it was a soccer ball piggy bank). What little child wouldn't try to pick it up off the bottom shelf... dumb Superstore... Anywho, FINALLY get the pictures and we are outta there. We had a very relazing (both kids sleeping) afternoon!,

Christmas is Coming!

Story time before bed with Aunty Claire.

Singing the `Wheels on the Bùs`. Ethan was just getting into things by the time was class was ending. Believe it or not, Ethan is quite shy around other kids for the first little while!

Ava and Wyatt hanging out while their brothers have fun in their class!

Wyatt in the bunting bag made by his Great Grandma Rogers, he really loves it! Seems to keep him quite content!

It was very snowy and cold yesterday so we decided we would turn the Sharon, Lois and BRam Christmas album on and make cookies! Pretty much we just spent the day inside yesterday. We left once to go to Ethan`s class. I told Kelly that if the car didn`t make it up the street we would be heading to the carlot, but Molly the Mazda pulled through for us and we went sliding up the hill!

Kelly giving Wyatt a bath... he does not enjoy the bath.

Look at those chubby cheeks!

Wyatt, one of the few times he has actaully awake and not crying or eating.

Kelly has been waiting years to be able to shovel his very own driveway. He bought new boots last year and just recently purchased a top of the line shovel. He was out there for about an hour!

Watching Kelly shovel the front step!

Kelly and Ethan spent the day together today while Claire, Wyatt and I spent the ENTIRE day shopping (finished only half of my Christmas shopping). Kelly took Ethan out in the snow, first time he was able to walk in the snow, all bundled up (it was extremely cold out... I think it was 15 today). Anyways Kelly said he couldn`t figure out how to walk and kept falling and crying, so he packed him up in the wagon and took him for a walk.

Ethan may look grumpy but he was really into the books. Trains and books, two of Ethan`s favorite things. A second at this photo was taken Ethan let out a good laugh!

Ethan and I, beautiful new toque from Lynn and John. Lots of room for growth in this toque and cozy warm!

Poop here, Poop there, Poop, Poop EVERYWHERE!

My two little monsters.....

After a fairly good night (Wyatt woke up three times between 11 and 7) I woke up in a good mood. I went in to get Ethan, he had taken his pants off at some point during the night, he was a little chilly. Anyways I changed him and dressed him and we headed down for breakfast.
And this is where my good mood quickly goes from good to bad. I got Ethan all set up with Yogurt and Cheerios. He was doing well feeding himself but to prevent a disaster I decided I would help him with his remaining Cheerios. I turned around to grab a cloth from the sink and Ethan flung the Cheerios (with lots of milk) on the ground and all over the cupboards. I grab the tray from him, wipe him off (in a less than gentle way) and he was done. This is right when I heard Wyatt upstairs so I headed up to get him. I brought him downstairs and put him in the bouncy chair.
I sat down in hopes of eating my breakfast peacefully. No such luck. Ethan was pushing his highchair, patting the babies head, trying to get into the bassinet. It was then I noticed him standing with his hands down his pants, I then scanned the kitchen and noticed brown streaks all over the place. All over the high chair, all over the bassinet, on Wyatt's head... it was POOP! I pulled his hands out of his pants and sure enough, covered in poop. I picked him up and rushed upstairs to changed what was the nastiest poop to this day. We washed his hands and then I got to disinfecting. Ethan was tugging at my legs, I turned around and he was just about to sit on Wyatt, and I wasn't fast enough to stop him. So poor Wyatt had a giant poop child sit on him. Poor thing, so I lifted Wyatt out of the bouncy chair. He was soaked....
So operation change Wyatt began... (right now this is a fairly big procedure because he was just circumcised so it involved gauze and Vaseline and everything else). I open up the zipper to Wyatt's sleeper and his entire legs and feet were covered in lovely newborn poop.... What a mess...
At this point I'm sweating, I wasn't prepared for this much poop so I'm trying to get to the sink to get more wet paper towel (can't use wipes at this point). On my way to the sink I noticed that my boobs are leaking through my shirt and are both dripping on the floor (sorry for too much information just have to tell the whole story). So I finish changing Wyatt and rush upstairs to change my shirt. Wyatt is screaming because he is 'starving'.....
So I sit down to feed him. Ethan has learned that when I'm feeding Wyatt he can pretty much get away with anything and all I can do is tell him no (repeatedly) from the couch, so basically I can do nothing. Ethan dumps his entire container of mega blocks down the stairs.
Things have finally calmed down, Ethan is playing by himself, Wyatt is in the swing, not swinging (because the piece of junk is broken) and I am still in my pajama's. We have to go into the university today for a one year appointment after Ethan's surgery last year. I have no clue where to go so I'm giving myself two hours to get there, find parking and find the building we are supposed to be in.
On the plus side, yesterday Ethan, Wyatt and I all went to Toys R Us and got tons of great Christmas gifts. Ethan is all finished and I just need one more thing for Wyatt!
Just and FYI Kelly (and Claire). I am taking the week off from parenting when you get here tomorrow!!

The Weigh in...

So today is Sunday, that means it is 'Weigh In' Day. I thought i'd better just do it once a week rather than everyday, otherwise I would get frusterated if it only went down a little, or even up. So I walked over to the scale. Felt like I was on the Biggest Loser (except no one was watching and I didn't need to wear spandex and a sports bra). I step on the scaled, super nervous that perhaps my number was going to be bigger than I thought, or more than it was last week. I have been eating super healthy and breast feeding also helps. Obviously didn't do a last chance workout ;) or any workout at all for that matter. All I could think about was the temptations I had given into yesterday at Virginia's baby shower.... wooooops. Anyways I was happy with my number, I have lost five pounds since last week. That leaves me with 35 more pounds for me to loose.
We had a great day yesterday, it was Virginia's baby shower for Ava. Richard wathed Ethan, both of my kids had Three poops in the matter of an hour, people just kept coming up to me with Ethan or Wyatt and saying "someone needs a change"... Anyways the shower went well! We came home and all had a nap. I had wanted to get out for a walk after the naps but it gets dark so darn early now! So we had dinner, Ethan loves Lasaugna!
Bed timef ro Ethan. Wyatt and I watched 'Just Like Heaven' that was on TV. It was very cute. On Friday night we rented 'Grown Ups'. It had some funny moments, kind of just what I suspected kind of dumb but funny.
I talked to Kelly about Christmas gifts last night. For some reason he seems to think that the longer we wait to buy them the more money he is going to save.... I disagree, things will probably get more expensive as we get closer to Christmas and plus i'm looking for something to do!
We had a pretty good night last night in terms of sleep. We were up early so I put my one pair of jeans in the wash (it had been like a month since they had been cleaned....seriously... so now I'm just waiting for them to finish drying and we are heading out for a walk. Wyatt is sleeping again and Ethan is hovering around the computer waiting to Skype Granny!!

A Calm, Great Day!

Ethan giving Wyatt a nice kiss on the head!

My handsome boy!

Ethan showing Wyatt where his nose is!

I am happy to report that we all slept well last night (or reasonbly well). I don't remember the exact times but I know I woke up refresehd. Our big plan for today was to head to the West Edmonotn Mall and buy Ava a gift for her shower tomorrow. I dragged out the double stroller and loaded it into Molly the Mazda, got both kids ready and we were out the door by 9:10. I stopped at the post office on the way because we had a parcel to pick up. Finally get the kids unloaded, and make our way into the store, only to find that the parcel was some dumb sample of formula. How boring and lots of work for nothing!

Anyways onto the mall, we were there for the opening, not thinking that the kids in the Alberta had the day off, it was a ZOO. We spent about an hour tehre searching for the perfect gift and came up with nothing. So back home we go, we had lunch, played for awhile, we finally vaccuumed downstairs and then both of the kids had a nap. I tried to catch up on my email replys and did a little bit of tidying up.

I woke Ethan up at 3 because we had to head out to buy a few things for the shower. We stopped for a quick play at Ava and Caleb's then headed home for dinner. By the time we got home Wyatt was frantic to eat so I quickly popped some chicken in the oven for Ethan. He is obsessed withe Shake and Bake for some reason! The UPS man showed up with new CD's we ordered. Sharon, Lois and Bram and Raffi. Ethan needs to have music on all day so we were getting a little sick of the old CD's.