Merry Christmas

Hey everyone... here are some family photo's from over the holidays. Keep posted because I have a lot more to share.

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/4777199908-1167323863-40892/47771

See ya next year....

Cohen's First's

Tonight was a very exciting night as parents...Cohen Harold at 3 mths, 2wks and 1 day old rolled over for the first time tonight. Cohen absolutely loves watching hockey. As soon as it comes on TV and he can hear it his little head bobs side to side trying to find where it's coming from and when he finally catches his eye on the screen he doesn't move. So tonight we placed him on his stomach for some tummy time and he lifted his head so high and was working on the roll and finally did it. He rolled to the left and then to make sure this wasn't a one time deal we placed him on his tummy again and he worked his way to the right. So he rolled both ways...then we did it again and again and he just kept rolling over. Justin and I were just screaming in delight and accidently woke up Carter and Emily who came out in surprise but at that point Cohen was tired of played and wanted to be nursed so they will have to see him do it in the morning.

Another funny thing is we have been able to get Cohen to say "hi". It's the cutest thing. I know he's only 3mths but seriously he has said his first word. If we say it to him he will repeat it. He isn't at the point by any means where someone walks in the room and he knows how to use the word but he's said it and it has excited us to no end. We actually caught it on video and Justin is going to find a way to post it on my blog. Emily has been showing all her friends and Carter had a buddy over today and had to show him. It's just the cutest thing.

I just love these precious moments. Being a mom is truly the best gift in the world. Knowing that we have some influence in teaching a child these little things in life is huge. I mean I can't even describe it. If the good Lord sees fit I could go on having babies forever I really could.

Christmas in the Village

I'm now 8 yrs old

what? I'm trying to get my fist in my mouth here...

awwwwwwwwwwww

Canuck booties....ready for the game now.

Our Future Scholar...

Setting up the Christmas tree.

bath time=fun time

Largest chebrek ever.....Justin and Uncle Eric were actually cookin...yay boys

Happy Birthday

finally got polly pockets

auntie kristin helping make treat bags

almost gigglin

New birthday monkey

Smiley lil man

Carter with his show n tell.

Going from City to Village has been pretty interesting and fun actually. I never thought I would like living in a tiny village away from shopping malls and grocery stores but I like it so much I would find it hard to leave. Yes, there is the case of the everyone knows everything around here but in a sense it's good, we feel safer, you know when someone isn't from around here.

Last night we went down the street for the Christmas tree light up and trees along the street were lit up also. The church choir was singing Christmas carols. There was a fire with hot chocolate, apple cidar and cookies galore. The children waiting in line for some popcorn as we watch the parade of two firetrucks and stanta and his reindeer come down the street then they blasted some songs out of the speakers and everyone just mingled and had a good ole' time welcoming the season. All free too which was neat. The spirit of this town is so neat and it's nice to be able to share that with the kids.

Tomorrow I'm having a bunch of ladies over from church for our first motherly fellowship luncheon. It should be fun...lots of babies and little kids running around. Emily is even coming home for lunch to see all the babies, Carter on the other hand is grouchy and doesn't want anyone over.

Well I better get going my daughter has to get to school and I need to take the boys shopping.

Here are some pictures from Nov.18th to recent of last night.

Batteries Are Charging.....

stay tuned for some new cute pictures tonight!!

My signature....lol

Check out my new favorite song and video...
It's the greatest ever!!

http://www.myspace.com/robinsparkles

scroll down and watch the video if you haven't seen it on the new hit show "How I met your mother"......it will totally bring some memories back for you 80's kids

BIRTHDAYS and POOPDAYS

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Kristin, Grandma Paulette, Emily and Grandma Tammy
Happy Birthday to you.

We have had quite a few birthdays happening in our family. I wish we could have celebrated all of them but that would have amounted to a ton of travelling. My daughter Emily turned 8, can you believe that...8 years old already. Justin and I are still in complete shock. She is just growing up TOO fast. We had a fun birthday party for her, but it was just like in the movies, a household of screaming girls. She received wonderful gifts and we played fun games and had some super cool girly prizes. Today Emily had some good luck. She found a beehive and then soon after that she found a boy's tamagotchi and returned it to him so he was super happy, then she found her lost bracelet and when she got home from school we got a call that she won the coloring contest she entered and she get's two tickets to the new Charlotte's Web movie in December. She now has a lucky beehive with supposedly magical honey.

Also today Cohen is 3mths old. He's doing so many new little baby things. It's such a joy watching him grow. He's lifting his head up and trying to roll over. He's really observant and totally interacts with all of us, smiling and cooing. He's fascinated with his mobile and other little hanging toys but his favorite is definitely the mobile.

As for Carter, he has been making a lot of new friends. His newest friend is little Maria...oh is she a darling. She just loves Carter and he quite likes her. Today at preschool the teacher said they were inseperable, they even had to paint a picture together and when I arrived I was able to witness the wonderful sharing of a sand shovel.

As for Poop.....well let me tell you something. I've never seen so much poop in my entire life. I had some people over for coffee and playtime and the little girl pooped in her pants and then ALLLLL over my floor and stepped in it and smeared it all over my daughter's room (on her birthday) and down the hall and all over the bathroom. She then had a bath and had poop all over my tub. Cohen has been pooping NON stop...up to 12 poops in a day. Carter is lactose intolerant and has been pooping up a storm because he's too stubborn to let go of dairy. Then I went and visited the same lady whose daughter pooped on my floor to discuss homeschooling and her daughter poops on her rug... yeah poop poop and more poop.

Alright, I have been so slow at blogging and I have to apologize for taking so long to get things up. Anyways I killed the batteries in my camera and I'm recharging them and then I will upload some photos and post a bunch for y'all....I have some ubber cute ones.

Miss you all...

Remembering to Remember...

Justin and I have been taking as many photo's of the kids as we can so we can capture all these special moments in our children's lives. They just grow up so fast and before we know it they are off on their own. Emily's 8th birthday is coming up this friday and it just seemed liked yesterday that she was as little as Cohen. If only there was a way to stop time for awhile and enjoy each day a little longer. On Remembrance day my sister lost her brother in law at the age of 17 due to heart failure and it really got us thinking that we really don't know what God has planned for our lives and we can't even begin to try thinking we just need to enjoy and love it because at any minute it could be over. We find that the more we get older the more we become aware of what is happening in the world around us and it just is so sad that people are taking so many things for granted. Even to just stop and remember on remembrance day...life just zips by, people barely take the time to stop and thank all the soldiers that passed for us and our country. To stop and remember the true meaning of Christmas, advertising happens earlier and ealier every year because it's all about presents and santa and decorating...what about Christ what about the true meaning. It's so frustrating what's happening to the world around us. Innocent people losing their lives, children being abducted and worse, people fighting and adultery and abuse and just pure crap going on everywhere. Justin and I were driving in the walmart parking lot and every person that was about to cross or pull out we stopped and waved and smiled and it totally put a smile on another persons face and we just thought to ourselves you know if everyone tried to do the same thing this world would be so much happier, if everyone just treated everyone with an equal amount of kindness and respect we would have such a happier healthier earth. Anyways after this rant I guess it boils down to a challenge, a pay it forward challenge...try and take a moment to remember, remember those you've lost, those that have fought for our country, and most of all God and Jesus and why we are here in the first place and try and just do special things through out the day that might take a little longer but as long as it puts a smile on someone's face it shouldn't matter...and maybe just maybe if not the world around us will be happier but at least our village or crescent or community will be.

Well with Emily's birthday this coming weekend we have a lot of crafts to get finished so she can pass out her invitations tomorrow. She wants a strawberry shortcake party so that should be fun and cute. Carter is working on his big boy chart so he can feel safer going to school without me. Funny how a little picture of me and him in his pocket helps calm his nerves. And Cohen well he's growing and growing. I had him at the dr's on thursday and he was over 12lbs, so he's almost doubled his birthweight and he's only 2 1/2 mths...so that's pretty good. He's started smiling and cooing all the time and he loves swatting at little toys on his aqua gym. Justin and I are still doing ok, we wish we could be home to help support what my brother in law and sister are going through. Also we're doing awesome at dance class, we have one more class and then there is a formal dance night that sounds fun.

Take care all and have a blessed week!!

Hard day at the office.

E
Emily's Show n tell.

Practicing his trick or treat technique...remote controls and coffee coasters.

Little teddy bear.

Emily's star award for good behaviour at school.

Pumpkin Carvin'
Ooooh Scarey ninja!!
The good witch.

Ribbit...

Waving hello!!


My attempt at taking after my Gramma Billie.
The butterfly cake for the cake walk and the oranges pumpkin for Em's school party.

What's Up?

Happy Halloween!!
I will post pictures of the kids in their halloween costumes later when all is said and done. I feel bad but I can't wait for halloween to be over. This is one of my most disliked holidays....I'm a scaredy pants and halloween totally creeps me out but I put up with it so my kids can have fun in costumes and get tons of candy (and I can sneak it after their sleeping).

We've been pretty busy lately. Cohen had his 2mth needles, 4 of them and they gave two in each leg. Poor baby was all swollen and sore and cranky and just not himself for about 2 1/2 days afterwards. Now he's going through a growth spurt. Last week he weighed in at 11lbs 6oz and he's only goin up which is good. He's started cooing and smiling and playing with his handing toys on his bouncer. It's adorable. The kids are having a little more fun with him now that he's noticing them.


Here is Carter practicing his trick or treating. He was collecting everything from toys to remotes. Carter has been enjoying preschool. He's been making friends and he has a couple close buddies now. Finn, Henry and Blaize are his little buds. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are full of fun and surprises for him. He finally has a little something he can call his own. I've also been taking him to preschool storytime at the library here in the village and he's enjoying that. It's a full hour with crafts and songs and stories. Wednesdays they started a preschool and mom program at the community church so we're going to check that out tomorrow and see how we like it. Oh it's funny, Carter was being a stinker and decided to try swinging on the freezer fridge door which he knows is a big no no and I said Carter you can't misbehave like this and he replies with..."well hippos can do it so so can I". I love hearing what will come out of his mouth sometimes.

Emily is doing really good in school as well. She's finally understood that listening to the teacher at all times sure pays off. She was presented with a star award for her good behaviour during the school assembly. It was so cute. We were really proud of her because she has always been a little chatter box. This year all her teachers say she doesn't take her eyes off them and she only talks to the other kids when it's recess time. Her school has been busy with a ton of activities and we had to contribute a little. It was kinda fun though.

I decorated a cake for the halloween cake walk and I made a little snack for her class party today. I'll post the pictures to give you blog readers out there some ideas if ever you need.
Justin and I are awesome as usual. We are finally starting to settle into a better routine having three kids and finding time to be husband and wife. I have to give my hubby kudo's because he agreed to take a ballroom dance class with me. He's such a trouper. If any of you have every witnessed Justin dance you'll know what I am talking about. He totally dancing with his shoulders instead of his feet. It's so funny. But he is doing super at the dance class and he's having fun at that. Also I finally let go of my cleaner. I absolutely love love my cleaner who has become a good friend now. She helped me through bedrest and recovery of the c-=section and saved my sanity while I was trying to get used to our growing family life. She helped my husband so much. He had so much on his plate during the past year and household chores was hard to get to and he wanted to spend his free time playing not cleaning and Nikki helped him accomplish that. I let her go because well for one I'm now fully recovered and I needed to start getting used to busy life again and do stuff on my own. I was becoming too dependent on a clean and perfect house and messes were making me too anxious so I needed to work on it in my own way. However when I do big cleanups like spring cleaning and what not I'm going to call her in to help me wash walls and baseboards. I feel pretty fortunate though to have had her while I did because man did it help us out.

Anyway I'll post some photos now so you can visualize what we've been up to.
Hope you have some fun tonight.

L8er G8er's

P.S. I'm having trouble posting pictures so I"ll do a pictures post later

Say "Cheese"

So we went to walmart on the weekend and attempted family photos and I think they turned out all well. Photo day is always so stressful and do you ever notice how hot it gets in the studio..yikes... It was interesting, Cohen decided to be fussy and then poops and needs to be fed as Emily and Carter are both getting annoyed and sick of smiling so they just finally put on the fake smiles and Justin and I just tried to keep everyone calm and say cheese....
These are how the photos turned out...
Not bad hey!!

"Lovin' every minute of it..."

Living in the moment and loving it and respecting every minute of it is the greatest feeling. Life has been busy but I wouldn't ask for anything more. I've had a bit of a turn around this past week which has felt amazing I must say I still have a long way to go but knowing that it's only been a few weeks since the birth of our third child I feel a bit more at peace knowing it's still soon and it will come together even more every day. After having a baby my body is what I thought a horror zone but my husband keeps telling me how beautiful I am and I was getting all depressed thinking he was wrong and I was putting all my energy into feeling unattractive and gross. What I just realized is my husband loves me for me and all of me and he respects the way my body has changed because I gave birth to his son and he loves me more for that. I felt so guilty because it was pretty insulting to him to hear me degrade myself when he's sitting there telling me I'm pretty and I'm rolling my eyes and it was starting to affect my overall happiness. Stupid stupid. So the other day I decided to wake up believe in myself a little more and trust my husbands judgement and just look in the mirror and see what my husband sees. Let's just say I've been a million times happier just changing the nasty tapes in my head. It's helped me to enjoy my children more and my husband more and just life in general.

Speaking of life...we were back in Saskatoon for Thanksgiving which was nice. A lot of my family and friends I hadn't seen in a whole year and that's so hard. I definitely need to make it home more often. Life is just too short to not visit our loved ones more often. We will be taking the Calgary route all the time, we decided to drive through Cranbrook on the way to Saskatoon and it was ridiculous it took us 20hrs. On our way home through Calgary it only took us 15hrs. I'm so proud of the kids. Emily and Carter had a little bicker fest here and there but nothing over the top and they were so patient and entertained themselves very well with little sleep and lots of excitement. The baby did so well. He just needed to be nursed often and changed a lot also but other than that not a wimper out of the little dude. I sure miss every one...aww man I wish I could have everyone out here for Christmas or something, especially my little nephew.

Since we've been back it took us a bit to get all unpacked and organized and errands errands errands. Emily was busy attending birthday parties this past weekend and Carter is getting used to sharing a room with little Cohen. Cohen has started smiling a lot yet he's still so serious and still content (thank goodness). Justin's article was released and publised in the Sys Admin magazine and he just cracked a huge code in a contest the US put on and he was sent a bunch of goodies.

Well here are some photo's of our time in Saskatoon and some recents of the baby.
Enjoy and happy belated Thanksgiving.
Blessings to you all!!
Cohen w/ friend Peter who's only 2wks older..what a difference hey!!




Auntie Jenna and Emily











Dante and Carter playing.














Grandpa Corky

Gramma Billie













Grandpa Ron
Gramma Rose















Carter in daddy's sweatpants.
Emily with Daisy.


















My bro Nathan aka Norman and the Justin's a la geeking!!