Great Great Gran

The oldest and youngest members of my Dad's family. Great Great Gran turns 104 on August 19, Wyatt turns 1 in October. Great Gran was born in 1907 and Wyatt is 2010. Great Gran is a pretty amazing women!

I have lots of great photos from our mini road trip to Coombs and Victoria but Wyatt is in need of sleep and the computer is in his room!

Our Vacation so far!

I realize it has been awhile since i've posted anything on my blog. We have been on the go from morning until night since we got here, no rest at all! We have been having a great time, the weather has been great and we have lots of visits with everyone! And we still have so many more people to see and things to do! I can't wait!. I am so in love with Courtenay! Everytime I come, it is SO beautiful here, the ocean the green, gosh everything. It has been wonderful to have some help with the kids. Infact i'm not sure Ethan is ever going to want to go home. All of a sudden I have gone from Ethan's favorite person (well i'm not sure I was ever his favorite) but I am not at the very bottom of the list. Ethan is obsessed with Granny and will not do anything if she is not around. I can't even push the dang stroller, 'Granny push, Mommy walk'. If Granny isn't around he moves onto Grandad or Dad, i'm pretty much at the bottom of the barrell, oh well at least Wyatt is still my pal!
So here we go, our trip so far.....

Thusday
We got in so late on Wednesday night that all four of us were completely exhausted. Ethan of course woke up so excited to be at GRanny's and all set to do some seriously playing with all of Granny's great toys. Kel and I took a trip downtown to check things out. No major purchases (just a bubble tea). Kelly and I went for a drive in the afternoon to check out some houses. Half way through our drive we were both falling asleep and hardly able to talk to each other so we came home and joined the kids for a nap for a few hours in the afternoon. AFter dinner we headed to Simms Park to watch the band!
Granny and Wyatt listening to the live music!

Wyatt, where is your hair?

Granny with her little guys!

Friday....

CANADA Day! The weather wasn't too great, cold infact. So cold that we had to light a fire at the house. But that wasn't stopping us from going to the parade downtown. We bundled up and headed to the regulary corner. Lindsay and Danika met us there and we watched the parade. Ethan sat in the stroller for most of it, he wasn't SUPER intersted in it but they were throwing candy so that is always a bonus with Ethan. We went and visited GRandma Teresa, Uncle Eric, Alex and Jayden in the afternoon. Ethan had a ball, I don't think he had ever seen so many toy cars!

Danika, Lindsay and me!

Waiting for the parade to start. Ethan would not leave the house without this stupid ball. Of course I have no authority anymore, Granny lets him do whatever he wants. This could be a problem when we head back to Alberta....

Wyatt and Grandad, Wyatt had just woken up from a good sleep, I think he missed most of the parade!

Kelly and I on Canada Day

Waiting for the Ducky Race to begin. This is the first year we bought a duck, $10 and we didn't win. I guess there is always next year!

Some of the ducks!

Ethan and Wyatt in their Canada gear and Grandma Teresa's house.

Saturday....

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Courtenay Farmers Market. I bought nothing (well thats not true I bought a choclate mouse and a gingerbread cookie). Erica met us there and we did a few loops around before we headed home. We caught the 3:15 ferry over to Powell River to visit Auntie Andrea, Uncle Brian, Jorja and Brady. Ethan was pretty excited to be on a 'Big Boat'. We had an awesome BBQ once we got there and then headed out to check out Andrea and Brian's new place! Wyatt didn't have his best night ever. He had a good hour long scream, finally fell asleep around 11;30 and was up a few times during the night. We were all up early on Sunday morning and headed to TImmy's very early. SO glad they have a Tim Horton's in Powell River now!

Uncle Eric with Wyatt

Sunday....

After a quick trip to Timmy's we had a wonderful breakfast in Powell River. The sun came out so we headed to a beautiful beach just down the road from Andrea and Brian's. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and the water. I even sat Wyatt down in the water and he puddle around, ate some sand.... The ferry ride home was an adventure, Ethan just kepting walking around and around and around, we all took turns, Wyatt did some crying and then some more crying. Just as we were docking a lady came up to me and passed me a card, i glanced down and it and it said something about vaccinations, so I told her we had done all of vaccinations. Then she looked at me and said 'Well most babies aren't like that'...assuming she had been listening to him cry the entire trip. I wanted to freaking slug her, I wish I had a good response for her but I wasn't prepared, I wish I was ready for a fight. Anyways I just turned my back and threw the card in the garbage right in front of her. What nerve....

Uncle Eric with Ethan, Uncle BRian with Jorja and Kel with Wyatt.

Daddy with Wyatt

Pretty near impossible to get a picture of them both looking, this was the best we got!

Mid-STOMP

MONDAY

Monday morning was our first day of swimming lessons. Kelly was still around but not at all intersted in swimming, so I had to put on my mommy bathing suit and head in. I had Wyatt, because of course EThan wanted nothing to do with me. It wasn't too warm out, Wyatt's lips were turning blue so we got out a little bit early :) Monday afternoon we met Kelly's friend Anni for lunch at Moxie's in Campbell River then took the kids to the park. We had a fantastic dinner at Greg and Lil's house, and some yummy cake for my birthday.

All set for swimming lessons

REady for the water! Wyatt learning to swim!

Tuesday

THis was our first day we got to relax, a little..... Swimming lessons in the morning. Kelly left at 5 am to head back to Fort Mac. After swimming we went to check out the new Costco in town. I got a great deal on a new shirt but that was about. I checked out the local consignment store after we all had a nap. We headed to Comox for ice cream and a walk after dinner. Granny went to knitting club...haha!

Ethan could do this for house!

I had a great nap! This is Ethan's face when he knows he is doing something he shouldn't be....

This looks messy

Wednesday

Swimming lessons again, bright and early. Wyatt is a WATER baby, LOVES the water! We went to the petting zoo after swimming, then just hung out and relaxed, we are having a bbq with family friends tonight!

The Journey

Fabian trying to get comfortable. Ethan was very excited that the kitty was in the car!

Ethan really didn't want to wake up....

Our little alarm clock. Wyatt in the hotel room.

Stopped in Blue River for a run, Ethan ran around with his suitcase for ten minutes, I fed Wyatt and then we headed back out. It pretty much rained our entire trip!

Fabian has become a little road cat. This was his 5th trip on one of these journeys. He much preferred the van to my old car. He layed between Kelly and I on the console most of the trip. He sat on my lap for awhile and down at my feet. The car is COVERED in hair, I'm just about to go vaccuum it out!

Fully tummy, showing off his two new teeth!

Big smiles!

As we pulled into my parents driveway last night at 12:35 (I guess I should say this morning), both Kelly and I agreed that this would be the first and last time we EVER make this drive with the kids. The journey was, well it was not fun, not because the kids were bad but because 0f a few unforseen circumstances that couldn't be avoided.

Kelly arrived home Tuesday night at 9:30. The car was completely pack and Ethan was waiting at the door with his suitcase all ready to get in the car and head out. Kelly quickly showered, we put the kids in the car and headed out (with a quick stop at Timmy's of course). Wyatt fell instantly back to sleep, Ethan was clinging to his blanket, dancing away to the music and not interested in going to sleep at all. We told him we were driving to Granny's house. Which we learned was quite the mistake. He thought that we would be at Granny's very soon, not so much. Ethan made us listen to 'Shake Shake Shake your sillies out' OVER and OVER and OVER until neither Kelly or I could shake anymore. I reserved a room in Hinton so that was our destination for the night. At 12:15, just as we were coming into Hinton the backseat was very quiet. I figured Ethan was asleep. I turned around to two big brown eyes staring at me. I told him to go to sleep, he looked at me with big eyes and said 'Granny's house', 'Big Bed Granny' (Translation: I want to sleep with Granny in her big bed). I felt terrible, I realized that he figured we were just about at Gran's house.

We rolled into the hotel at around 12:35, Kel went and got our keys and to pay for the room. The second we opened the door (without thinking about it) the cat FLEW out of the car and made a mad dash through the parking lot. Kelly and I both had kids in our hands so we couldn't run after him. I thought he was a goner. Thankfully 20 minutes later Kelly arrived with Fabian in his hands. PHEW that could have been catastrophic.

This was Ethan's first night ever in a hotel, he was wild, running around, screaming, ceratinly keeping everyone anywhere near our room awake, I couldn't get Wyatt go to back to sleep because Ethan was chitchatting, Finally Kelly layed Ethan down and whipsered to him and it seemed he fell instantly asleep.

A quick 5 hours later and we were up and on our way. Another stop at Tim Horton's and we were off. Kelly made it until Jasper before he started to head-bob and slur his speach, dang that meant I was up. So I took a turn driving from Jasper to Blue River. I'm not a huge fan of driving on unfamiliar roads such as the ones we were on, so when Kelly woke up and realized I was driving 80km/h and had a train of cars behind me I had to pull over and switch. We stopped in Blue River to feed Wyatt and give Ethan a little run, then back into the car. I must say the kids were incredibly well behaved the entire trip. Only a few little outburst and i'm sure it was because they were bored and sick of being in the car.

I think someone needs to open a Tim Hortons somewhere between Jasper and Kamloops. There isn't one for hours and no one can make tea quite like them. I swear they would make a killing.

We stopped in Merrit for another quick feed and pee break. We heard on the radio that there was a mudslide just outside of Hope and Highway one was closed both way. OH Great..... but they said use Highway 7 as a detour. I checked the map and that seemed to be an ok alternative so I wasn't really worried. If only I had known what was to come....

We pull into Hope and being our detour.... Traffic was slow, there was a TON of traffic and finally our slow crawl turned into a complete stop.... for TWO and a HALF hours. We were stopped completely for two and a half hours. We would creep fowrard every half an hour or so but maybe 5 metres each time. Wyatt was SCREAMING his brains out for 2 out of the 2.5 hour stop. Ethan was getting very frusterated being stuck in the car. It was POURING rain out and the traffic coming the other way was zooming by so it was not safe to take Ethan out, plus every so often we would move and I wasn't about to let anyone pass us because we were putting kids in the car. So we waited, waited and waited some more. As we were waintg I develoepd a migraine. The kind of migraine that made me have to puke. So I had to puke, Wyatt was screaming everyone was grumpy, the chances of making any kind of ferry were dwindling. We were all pretty miserable.

When we finally started moving we decided to just take the back route the entire way (rather than getting back onto the number 1 with all the traffic). It was a beautiful drive. I wasn't sure how busy the last ferry was going to be but when we got there it seemed we made it with no troubles.

We enjoyed a $32 deep fried crappy meal on the ferry and then Wyatt and I found a nice place on the floor and both curled up and went to sleep. Kelly was stuck with our exhausted Ethan who was walking around pulling his suitcase and just falling for no reason at all and the crying because he fel. Just before we had to drive off the ferry Ethan took a massive poop. Kelly was stressed out to the max, there were wipes flying everywhere, poop all over the seat, the car stunk. I couldn't help him because I was hoping the cat so he didn't run out of the car onto the ferry. HA almost wish I was videotaping.

The one hour drive down to Courtenay was a tough one. Kelly and I were both so tierd I had to shake my head to keep myself awake. Ethan and Wyatt were both sound asleep, but Ethan woke up just before we got there. Granny and Grandad were waiting up for us and Ethan was SO excited to see them! Big hugs, then headed straight for the toys. It was after 1 before we got him to sleep and he was up at 7 all set to play. Kel and I fell asleep within seconds as did Wyatt. Wyatt woke up at 4 then for good at 6:30. It is a good thing I don't need a lot of sleep to function!

We will be flying from this day forward. THe money we saved by driving is not worth any part of that drive. In my head it would be a fun family trip. Never again... EVER... not even when the kids are older. No more flapping road trips. Driving sucks!

.

Laundry

Laundry, I loathe doing laundry. I am really good at putting the dirty laundry into the washing machine and turning it on, but that is where the process stops for me. Putting it into the dryer, folding it and putting it away is just not my cup-of-tea. I have three tactics to avoid doing laundry.
1) Wait one week, let the laundry pile up and let my obsessively clean husband take care of the laundry.
2)For the kids I just keep buying clothes, buy enough clothes that I really don't have to do the laundry for months if I didn't want to.
3) and finally, for me, I wear the same thing over and over and over and over until the day I decide that if I wear the same outfit one more time someone might pull me aside and tell me I stink.

Last night I had to pack for our trip. This forced me to do the laundry which hadn't been done in ages. 10 loads! 10 loads of laundry later, I sat beside a MOUNTAIN of clothes folding and watching the Bachelorette. As I was packing up the kids stuff I was picking out all of the cutest things, I think I realized that the kids have too many clothes and too many great clothes that that. Pretty much the suitcase is over-flowing.

We aren't even close to being finished packing. I kind of got caught up in the Bachelorette that packing took a backseat. So the boys and I have our work cut out for us today. We need to finish packing, load up the car, get some groceries for the trip.

So excited about the trip.

That is all,

Well no wait... Who do you think will win the Bachelorette? Last night was a gooder, I think it is going to be JP

28

Today I turned 28. I don't feel 28, I feel much MUCH older than 28. I've got wrinkles, grey hair, a body that is hardly recognizable, swollen feet and an addiction to caffiene. On the flip side I have an amazing husband, two beautiful boys and so many wonderful friends and family. I'd say despite all of the negative issues mentioned above that I am doing pretty well.

I woke up this morning to the sound of Wyatt screaming away in his crib. I rolled over and looked at the clock, 4:18. I fed him and curled back up in bed. Wyatt figured it was time to wake up so he continued screaming. Even the pillow over my head couldn't muffle the sound of the screams. So I thought i'd take a shower. When I got out it was quiet. He was still awake I could hear him moving around in there but I again got back into bed to try to get more sleep. Thankfully Wyatt decided that he also needed more sleep and we all slept until 7:30.

When I went into get Ethan his streams of snot had gone through his mouth and down his chin. This was the same for Wyatt, they were both coughing and sneezing. Fantastic, the boys are sick. Then I sneezed.... Oh great, i'm sick too. The kids were miserable.... and I mean miserable so I decided we needed to get out of the house. That always helps. We stopped for a tea at Tim Hortons then went to the park. Ethan was happy (for about 20 minutes), Wyatt was not happy, clearly uncomfrotable and sick. As we stood in the park I opened my tea. Guess what, it was coffee..... I was getting more stuffed up the longer we were at the park and soon the headache came. We packed up and headed home.

We went back through the drive-thru to get my dang tea. I was going to raise a stink and try to get a free tea but instead I just paid the $1.64, made them triple check it was tea and we headed for home.

While I was making lunch Ethan was crying and hanging onto my leg. He was crying 'hug hug'. If it was up to Ethan, him and I would be in the hug position all day. So I gave him a few hugs between his crys all while trying to make lunch. When I didn't hug him he would cry out 'kiss' but I wasn't about to kiss the snot stream.

Anyways they both have just fallen asleep instantly and I have taken two advil and am about to begin some housework.

We leave for BC in two day and I have so much to get ready. I tried to make a reservation for a ferry on Thursday but they are all sold out, there was a travel advisory on the BC ferry website saying that Thursday (June 30th) is one of the busiest days of the year. So we had to do some changes to our itinerary. I thought we would drive to Jasper on Tuesday night when Kelly got home to get a headstart. Of course every hotel is more than $270 a night (even for the crappy ones I won't stay at). So the new plan is to stay in Hinton on Tuesday night (only one place would accept cats as well... thats right, Fabian will be joining on this 'going-to-be-epic journey).

On another note. I feel that it is time for us to move home. Kelly really wants to move home but it was always me that wanted to stay because of the wonderful circle of friends that the boys and I have here. I knew we would always move home and it was important for me to move home before Ethan starts Kindergarden. I feel the time is now, There is a house in the area I would like to live in by a school I would be very happy to send Ethan and Wyatt to. Kelly is able to work two weeks in and two weeks out and my stresslevel would come way down knowing I would have my family there to help. I would be able to play soccer again. It is definately a big decision and a big move (especially since we just moved into our new place) but I am now starting to seriously think about it. The house I want is still out of our price range at the moment but I check the area out daily.

I am going to put a smile on my face and enjoy my birthday housework!

Exhausted

Seriously, look at that face! How can something SO cute be so dang frusterating! Wyatt just doesn`t sleep, he will fight it kicking and screaming! Putting him to bed is a battle, not really for me but for himself. He will scream and scream and scream until `just-like-that`` it is silent and he is asleep. He doesn`t sleep long, he still wakes up at LEAST three times a night. I put him to bed at 7, if he wakes up before 12 I just leave him and he goes back to bed. After 12 when he wakes up he is SCREAMING and he just doesn`t stop. I CAN NOT handle his cry, it is not something you can ignore. Plus it is so loud the chances of him waking up Ethan are very high. So I go in, feed him and he goes back to sleep. Then we repeat this same routine one or two more times that night. I am exhasuted.
I don`t know what to do, I am so sick of being tierd and I`m sick of no consistent sleep. I can`t let him cry it out, he will be crying all night and will then wake up Ethan.

Heart and Soul Photography

A few photos from our photoshoots. Ethan and Wyatt were ok.... Ethan kind of lost his cool both times. We did a rainy photoshoot on Sunday, Ethan freaked out everytime we took his truck away, thus why his truck is in some of the photos and Thomas is in the rest of them :)

Ethan is grouchy and eating his snack, Wyatt is just eating the rocks~!

Puddle jumping with mum, and the trantrum continue!

Our Family Photos