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!!

Yup!

It's midnight and Justin and I are still wide awake ... well trying to be anyways. Cohen has been a little cranky the past few days and nights and Carter is sick and up watching the old Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We're wiping noses, bums and tears. Not a lot of fun. Emily on the other hand is sleeping peacefully in her bed, oh how we wish we were her right about now dreaming of barbie dolls and tea parties.

Yes the joys of parenting. As tough as it is to be up all night and have screaming whining children and boogers and poopies. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. It's even harder to look in your childs eyes and see them feel so sad and sick. It's heartwarming to know that our love for our children is the best medicine.

Hopefully we're getting all the colds and yuckies out of our system before we head back to Saskatoon. Before things took a peak we were in Penticton checking out some mini vans. We brought one home for the weekend to test it out and see how we like it make sure everything is aok and good for the highway etc. Hopefully the vehicle turns out because it is so roomy and convenient.

Well I guess I better try and convince Carter to take some more medicine to keep his fever down.... hopefully catch some zzz's before the sun rises or resets haha. Anyways till next time.
Toodles!!

It's Officially Fall!!

I have waited so long for this season. Fall and Spring are my favorites especially Fall I absolutely love it when the leaves start changing and falling to the ground and all the rain...oh I'm in heaven. Here in the Okanagan the summers I feel can be somewhat unbearable especially during a pregnancy...ouch it was a scorcher. I'm so glad it's over. Even though most of the time I was on bedrest we were still able to have a lot of fun and visits throughout the summer. It all started with my sister coming out to tend to my every need which was awesome but then I missed her a gazillion times more when she left and I'm still having Jenna withdrawal.

Then my parents came out to help us prepare for the arrival of our baby and lucky then the baby was able to see their grandparents before they left. We did a lot of fun things. We played mini golf at Loco Landing and then toured the SS Sicamous and then had a picnic by the water (no mosquito's bugging us I might add) and then had icecream at tickleberry's.

It was sad to see them go but it was good that at least they got to meet their new grandson and have some good quality time with Emily and Carter.

After they left we tried getting used to life with a new baby and then Justin's sister came to visit. While Auntie Shannon was here we had Gramma Vonn out of the nursing home everyday to visit the kids as well which was really nice for her and the kids and good bonding time for her and the baby. That was pretty special also because we haven't seen Shannon since our wedding and she's busy moving to Boston so who knows when we'll be able to see her next. Thank goodness the baby made his way to the world in time for Shannon's visit also. It was too short but every minute was spent visiting and catching up. While she was here she helped my husband with his new hobby of home decorating and helped him actually did all the set up of Justin's new Debbie Travis shelves. It was pretty cute she had the kids helping with measuring.


Right after Auntie Shannon left we had another special visit from Grandpa Harold and Gramma Paulette. We had a birthday party for Harold because he is turning the big 60 actually today or maybe it was yesterday ahhh man I always forget the birthdays and I feel bad because the birthday's we tend to forget are the ones who remember the most. Happy Birthday Grandpa WE LOVE YOU!! While they were here visiting we had a nice German meal one night and a Russian meal the next. It was so yummy but oh did poor little Cohen suffer from me eating onions. It was hard seeing them go because we knew that was the last of family for a little while and it's so hard to say goodbye and not see family as frequent as we wish we could.

Last weekend we had our friends Kristin and Eric over for a Chinese Potluck. It was yummy. Kristin brought a few dishes and I attempted to make salad rolls with rice paper. Not knowing how to do the rice paper properly I stuck a bunch of paper in boiling water and they came out all gluey...NOT GOOD. So as my little lunchbox needed to be fed again I was unable to finish my dinner project so my dear Kristin and hubby finished and found that you have to use cold water to get it to work properly. I was so out of it from not sleeping..heck I"m still out of it..,.but anyways I forgot the pork chops were sitting on the bbq and let's just say I figured out a way to make my own pork jerky...yummy yummy yuk. After they finished all the rice papers we got down to eating and man was it scrumptious. Now I just have to figure out how to make my own fish sauce and we're good to go. The next day we took some time to have family time. Emily helped me back a Strawberry Apple pie and a Ravioli dish that is to die for...(now I'm hungry again) and Carter played some mindless video games with his dad and Cohen just slept in the kitchen which in his own little baby way that's spending quality time with us.

Now we have no company and are left with a quiet weekend. We are preparing to go back to Saskatoon for Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately we're only there for the long weekend. I wish we could stay longer since it's been over a year since we've been home. But I guess a weekend is better than no weekend.

Tonight we went to McD's to celebrate the release of Justin's article which will be in the Sys Admin magazine on shelves Oct. 1st so if you want to check it out just stop in at McNally and take a peek. I'm so proud of him and I can't wait to see the article officially printed. I have no understanding of technology whatsoever but I love the article. Tomorrow we are planning on checking out the Bizarre Bazarre here in Naramata...it's a big town yard sale at the community church. Hopefully we can find ourselves a good bargain.

Well I think my baby might be ready for another feeding and then hopefully bed because boy do I need some sleep. This is an example of just how out of it I am. Well at McD's Material Girl by Madonna came on the speakers and I totally invisioned myself dancing on the counters in sequence frills and tutu's and when I snapped out of my daydream and found myself dancing in my chair...yup a little coocoo indeed.

Here's one last picture of the baby. He's gotten so big at 1mth he's now 10lbs. I guess my frequent nursing is really paying off.

I'm 3wks old and 8lbs 2oz

My first week alone.

Justin's holidays were over on Tuesday and back to work he went. I was so sad when he left I actually cried liked a little baby. I just had so much fun with him around and he is my main support that when he went back I just felt lost. It was a sad day on Tuesday because Justin went back to work Emily went back to school and Carter decided to fill my day with trial after trial after trial. He discovered how to climb walls with his bare feet and swing off the fridge doors and climb cupboards and wash floors with buckets of water. It took me a few days a lot of advice from people around me and we finally found a comfortable way to deal with his behaviour troubles. It turned out that Carter was worried that we were going to love the baby more than him and he did not like the fact that I had to feed Cohen all the time. So during the feedings Carter gets something special out to play with and we sit down together so he can have some attention just like Cohen. It is not perfected yet but it is coming. Both kids are slowing starting to find their place. Carter is improving his behaviour slowly every day and Emily is improving her attitude slowly everyday also. My nerves are also slowly improving however my sleep deprivation is not. Baby Cohen is now 2wks old and he is still such a good baby. Life has been busy but I love it. I am just so anxious to be completely healed up and get back to my normal everyday activities. As I've already discovered getting organized is challenging with three kids. It seems that as soon as we have something to do, get ready for or go everything happens all at once. We've got Cohen pooping or feeding, Carter pooping or getting into mischief and Emily needing to get off to school or somewhere. I'm trying to find tricks to organize myself better and prepare for things in sequence instead of all at once. I better get some rest while Cohen is sleeping and the family is in Penticton shopping. I will post some pictures of all the company we have had out and our adventures with everyone. Justins dad and stepmom are here visiting right now and we have a lot of pictures of the little birthday party we had for Grandpa who is turning the big 60 in a couple weeks. But for now here are some more pictures of week number two with Baby Cohen. Sleeping peacefully like always!!
Mom and baby snoozing.
Cohen is actually awake and enjoying tummy time.
My boys!!
My little mother hen!!
Lil Goldmember
Our Mr. Fixit!!
Our Favorite Drama Queen....with the neighbourhood girls.
My sleeping beauties :0P
Justin, his sister Shannon with baby.