*A Sigh of Relief*

Last night Justin put Cohen to bed at 8:20 and he was asleep by 8:46 and today I put him down for his nap at 11:47am and at 11:49 he was sleeping *SMILES*

It feels so good to have Cohen back on a schedule and now this time is actually going to be me time. We've realized how important it is for children to have "family" time and "alone" time. We always always do everything as a family, we're never a part but what we're trying to do is Cohen has his time with me in the morning, when Carter gets home from school he has Mommy time while Cohen sleeps and when the boys go to bed early at night we've been keeping Emily up to have Mommy and Daddy time and Justin spends time with the boys separately by doing little sports games for Carter or trips to the store to help. It's making a world of a difference, the children are handling my recovery time a lot better.

And to think none of this was drastic changes all simple......except maybe with the endless crying but in the end I can now say IT WAS ALL WORTH IT :)

..........and shorter yet!!!!

Thank you for bearing with me during this adventure in parenting Justin and I are facing. It's nice to have a venting system.

So my last quick post was Cohen's first nap, reason I say first is he woke up 40 minutes later, so tired he could barely hold his head up. I thought I better nurse him again since it was lunch time and he was falling back asleep so I placed him back in his crib at 12:47 and he cried until 12:57 and then he was FAAAAAASSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTT asleeeeeeeeeep. HE SLEPT UNTIL 2:30pm. I was so happy. So hopefully tonight goes alright. I'm nervous and sleep deprived but trying to remain positive. I didn't think we'd be able to go through with this but we did and I'm shocked and overwhelmed and I'm left with the worry of "is this going to affect him"...?

.....and it gets shorter and shorter

So I thought I better keep up with the ferberizing today, 1) I'm too tired and sore to run after Cohen all day and 2) I can't stop now. So when it was nap time I nursed him and he fell asleep, as soon as I placed him in his crib.....he woke up. So I gave him a hug and an I love you and his blankie and I quietly left the room as he was howling at the top of his lungs. However the good news instead of taking an hour and a half like last night, he only cried for half an hour. So I think we're making progress... Whoppee!!

Crappy n' Cranky

So after Cohen finally went to sleep at 3:50 I was so wound on frosted flakes that I couldn't sleep and Carter was having issues so I got back to bed at about 5am and Justin's alarm went off and I was sleeping by about 5:30ish to only be woken up once again by Mr. Carter at 6am. When I finally got him back in bed he decided to throw a fit and Cohen woke up.

I just can't win. When I let Cohen cry it out more I went in his room to check on him and he had a poopy so screw it we stayed awake and got ready for school.

When is nap time?? :0((

3:50am HE DID IT, HE'S SLEEPING, ALONE IN HIS CRIB!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it...this is great. He has the heartbreaking baby sobs :0( but he did it.

I shouldn't have had two bowls of frosted flakes because now I'm wide awake and so far from being tired it's not even funny ha.

losin' my ever lovin' mind

It's 3:30am and I'm awake listening to Cohen scream. It all started with Carter getting up at 2am thinking it was time to get up and that sleeping sucks and he was mad that he had to stay in bed now it's the baby's turn. Up until tonight I have been getting up with him and feeding him back to sleep usually resulting in falling asleep with him (bad habit to get into). Cohen used to be so good at night. We would place him in his crib, wind his mobile and he would put himself to sleep up until he was 6mths old then he could stand in his crib and one day snapped it in half. So tonight was my breaking point. I'm sore, tired, grumpy, emotional and the boys just wouldn't cooperate, I finally got Carter settled but the baby is learning how to put himself to sleep. IT'S SOOOOOOOOOOOO HARD. I'm seriously ready to jump off my balcony (ok maybe that's not such a good idea but ugh seriously)!! Can't I have a break already. Aside from me needing my big break so does my husband, the poor guy has to be up in an hour and a half for work. So I put my stubborness aside and shut his door (I have no idea how he sleeps through this but thank God he does). Hopefully he won't be a total disaster tomorrow. At least if I'm a total disaster tomorrow I can laze around which is exactly what I've been doing anyways.
3:36am - the cries are getting weaker.........oh maybe not.
The hardest part is going in his room every 10-15mins to let him know I love him and that I haven't totally neglected him but I almost think it's harder on him having me in there time and time again.
3:40am - getting ready to cave ........ not gonna do it ugh maybe I should....nope we've gotten this far it would all be a waste if I stopped now dammit
3:41am - I'm going to lose myself in text twist for awhile...
WISH ME LUCK!!

the little lights in my life

Nothing makes me giggle more than the words that come from my little kids mouths. Cohen, Emily, Carter and my nephew Dante are doing all they can to make me feel better and it's sure working. Although it hurts to laugh it's hurting less and less everyday (that and I was prescribed new meds but they don't need to know that *wink*)

So Cohen he does nothing but run around all day trying to get into whatever he possibly can. It's hillarious. Just this morning Justin was changing his diaper and he got away from him stopped looked right at his daddy and peed on the floor then smiled and ran away.

Carter and his stories are something else indeed. Sometimes it's hard to know what's real with that boy. Maybe he'll come out with a bestseller one day. He has this little mini PDA he got from his Auntie and he asked to have some phone numbers in it so I put Mommy's number and Daddy's work number and he then asked for Uncle Eric's number and I said ok and he acted all suspicious and said "well you know mom in case of an emergency I gotta call my dawg" so last night he did just that except there was no emergency he just wanted Eric's number to call him whenever. Thank you Kristin and Eric for being so patient when he calls and remember this is only the beginning I won't blame you if you need to block our number eventually haha.

Emily....oh boy, she's getting prettier and prettier and the boys know it. She came home yesterday and told me that there is this boy in her class head over heels in love with her. He offers to do everything for her and he told her that he will try anything to get her to be his girlfriend. She says but we're only in grade 4 we have lots of time for boyfriends and girlfriends yet I don't want to be your girlfriend. And he said well Emily I'm not quitting until your mine. Grade 4 oh goodness oh gollie this is just the beginning.

My nephew Dante.........one word to sum him up is sweetheart. He's so funny and so thoughtful and I miss him like crazy. He just learned how to call our number and he has been calling us up to 10 times a day. He likes to play webkinz over the computer with Em and Carter so he calls to organize the play except yesterday. It all started in the morning he called bright and early (he doesn't understand the time difference) and he informed us that he was grounded from webkinz for the day because he pushed his lil bro so he called just to talk. Then he called afterschool a few times but I was waiting for the doctor to call and forgot to call him back so he called again and says Auntie Carissa I've been waiting all day to talk to you....so I sat down and talked to him and we had a great talk and he said "if you're good at my school in grade one you get a gummie worm ... do you like those".. I said I love them...so he said..."well I will be extra good so I can maybe have two and then I will send one to you in the mail" My heart just melted then he thought it wouldn't be fair if he didn't send one for everyone so he's going to tell the teacher he'll be super good if she gives him 4 gummies haha I wonder what she'll say to that!!

Thanks for my babble Justin is home after taking the kids to school so I better pass the computer off to him so he can get some work done.....till next time

This n' That

As I lay here I can't stop thinking about how much I want to get back to my normal life. Being layed up really sucks when I'm so active and involved with my kids. I feel like I'm missing out on everything. However I'm so happy my husband is the one filling in for me. He has really really stepped up and is doing a magnificent job being Mr. Mom. He's managing to get his work done for Itiva, cook, clean, do laundry, feed the kids, pack their lunches, get them ready for school all while running after Cohen making sure he's not zapping himself in a new found plug in, fielding phone calls, and making me more comfortable. I'm still in a lot of pain, my left side is cramping and throbbing and my meds just aren't keeping up so I'm sitting here waiting for my doctor to call and hopefully he can prescribe something a little more manageable. I want nothing more than to get up and move around more but walking to the bathroom is enough for now, this time I'm trying hard not to push it because the last thing I want to do is tear something and end up back in the hospital and my husband doesn't need to miss anymore work than he needs to. Times like this I wish my parents were around to relieve some of the stuff Justin has on his plate. We're just thankful he works for such a good company that's understanding of our situation. When I get the go head to start picking up Cohen and resuming acitivity will be a very good day until then I gotta find ways to stay relaxed in bed. So I'm reading a really good book, I just finished the first book "Even Now" by Karen Kingsbury and I'm on the second book "Ever After" and Justin found me this awesome magazine called "Real Simple Family" Its fabulous. It all down-to-earth realistic parenting tips, meal planning for kids and just simple topics mom's have on their minds day to day. Anyways I best be getting back to my book.

The Doc prescribes

the pills!

My husband prescribes the chocolate!!

Surgery

For those of you that didn't know I used to have a lot of problems with my ovaries. Almost two years ago I had my left ovary removed. Two months later I got pregnant with Cohen so my cycles had only been normal after the surgery for a couple months and they were sore and tender but once I got pregnant I obviously didn't have to worry about ovulating anymore. Funny thing was I was still having pain on my left side throughout my pregnancy. 4 months ago my cycles started back up and the pain was getting worse with each cycle lasting anywhere from 5-12 days. I booked an appt. to see my specialist and also had an ultrasound booked but not for a few weeks yet. Thursday the pain was back, and it wasn't getting any better by Friday morning so I decided it was best to go in instead of laying around the house feeling too rotten to move. So I had some tests done and things were coming back fine but the pain was getting worse so they scheduled an ultrasound, more pain meds and called my gyno to come down. From my history he was concerned and though doing an exploratory lap would be the best route to take, he gave me all my options and possibilities to consign to. The result. Two years ago the doctor that was supposed to remove my entire ovary, left a chunk inside (not good) the fallopian tube left behind was damaged and there was a lot of scar tissue and a cyst on my right ovary. So the doctor was able to clean everything out and remove the leftover ovary and remove the tube and tissue and sewed me up and now I"m on the road to recovery. I think it will be ok and I look forward to having less painful cycles in the future. I've got good pain meds and good help and now I'm going to get some good rest!! Thank you to everyone for your concerns and thoughts and prayers. :0) We'll keep you guys updated!!

Kindergarten Kid

Carter is officially a Kindergartener. His first day was yesterday and he absolutely loved it. I cried, I tried not to but I just couldn't hold back the tears. We all went as a family, Justin and I, Emmy, Auntie Shannon, Uncle Dallas and baby Cohen. Carter was so happy to be with his friends again. He just loves Maria and his buddies Hank, Henry, Blaize and Bryce. His teacher is wonderful. She's perfect. She's so in tune with the kids and young and vibrant and cheery and playful and structured and organized and just a very nice person. He has a great group of a kids in his class and it's going to be an awesome year for him. He loves being able to participate in school activities and routines just like Emily. Packing a snack, having recess, gym, and library time are all perks for him. He wants homework soooooo bad so the teacher assigned him to come up with a list of his favorite websites. I'll have to take a picture of him tomorrow with his new haircut. I wasn't able to make it into town today so I decided to try and cut it myself and it looks "sweet" as he puts it!!

Family

It feels good to have family around. The great thing about family is that you can start off just where you left off and it feels so natural and as if no time was lost. We're having a fun time with Justin's brother and sister. Justin's brother is a doctor and it was so funny last night. Carter has been sick and to help him breath better at night Justin would take him for a drive with the windows rolled down to let the cold air clear up his airways. So last night Carter was coughing, and coughing good but after we gave him some medicine the coughs became a little forced and he was trying to go for another car ride. So I told him that Uncle Dallas is a doctor and the he knows when kids are real sick and when they are faking it. So today we're sitting at the dinner table and Carter very seriously says, if you're a doctor can you fix my toe haha oh boy we all broke out laughing.

On a side note we had the boys to see the pediatrician today. The trouble with Cohen's growth seems to be no trouble at all. Just as we suspected he's following in his father's footsteps. He might be a little low in iron but that is an easy fix. Carter is doing good he might be dealing with some asthma issue's/ reflux issues brought on when he gets a cold. Nothing we haven't heard before and good news as it's something we can manage also. As for Emily's excitement, she was feeling better today (she's been sick) and there was a bat at school. She got a close up and we're all headed to the school right now to have our own peek at it.

Ciao

Justin's brother Dallas and sister Shannon have officially arrived safe and sound!! Time for some yummy KFC...

The up in up

I've been thinking a lot about the events going on in our family here and back home and I am left feeling shocked and relieved and blessed. So much has been going on with people we love and it's been just overwhelming but Thank GOD the outcome has been great. So my Aunt is out of the hospital YAY. She got out last week. She is still suffering from the westnile meningitis and it will take awhile before she feels 100% but she's home, with her family and starting to improve.

My brother was involved in a head on collision Friday afternoon. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt. His car is completely totalled but because he wasn't at fault he should see something good from his insurance. We are all so grateful that he walked away with whiplash, he is in pain but no scrapes or bruises and no fatalities.

Friday night we enjoyed a lovely dinner with some friends in Penticton, Jackie made a yummy tortellin alfredo and I made a rolo cheesecake. We ate so much we all had food coma's afterwards. When we got home we were ready for a nice, peaceful sleep after a long week only that didn't happen. Carter woke up at 3am with a barky cough and his breathing was very laboured it was scarey. He hadn't had an episode like that since we lived in Saskatoon. So off to the ER he went and the doctor gave him pulmicort in a nebulizzor and it seemed to settle it down a little. But again Thank God he's alright. We've all got a little bug of somesort but that's minor, we're alive and happy.

Saturday I was able to have some mommy time out for my friends baby shower. It was such a fun time. We played cute shower games and ate yummy yummy food. We all made a freezer friendly dish so when baby comes she doesn't have to worry and we each had to bring a charm to put on a bracelet so when she's in the hospital she can have a piece of everyone with her without having us all crowd the labour and delivery room. The closest charm I found to symbolize something in our friendship was a feather. She used to clean my home while I was on bedrest and we would visit and visit as she cleaned and we just became really good friends. Then I went home and we were supposed to attend our block bbq but because Carter was sick we didn't feel it was fair for some to go and some to stay back, so we hung tight as a family and played the Wii and watched a movie. Today we were still feeling yucky so we stayed quiet however Justin busted his buns outside in the yard.

This week will be fun. We have a lot of excitement storing up for the week ahead. Justin's brother Dallas and sister Shannon are coming tomorrow and they are here for a week. We haven't seen Dallas since our wedding and Shannon was here a year ago so the kids are very excited. Justin took the week off of work and I took the time off babysitting and we are going to have a great family bonding time with his brother and sister.

Oh and tomorrow Carter has his Kindergarten interview. Then he either starts Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm so happy Justin will be here to help take him for his first day. We were thinking back to the day we walked Emily to her first day of KIndergarten and how I cried and cried and didn't want to leave her. I'm not one of those mom's that looks forward to sending their kid off to school. I would homeschool but I don't think I have the smarts for it and I figure I better leave it to the professionals.

There is a lot to look forward to this week. A good positive week!! I'm going to fold my laundry and watch Fracture now that the children are all fast asleep, I should also be sleeping but I wanto to be ahead tomorrow so I can rest when Cohen sleeps. Nighty night!

Is School Cool?

My daughter thinks so..

Here she is on her first day back..... GRADE 4. I'm totally having separation anxiety, she was begging and begging to eat lunch at school and I wanted her to come home and have lunch with me but then i realized I gotta stop being such a needy geeky mom and let her have some breathing room and yeah she ate lunch at school today. Carter starts next week, stay tuned for a therepeutic blogging session :0))

Oh Mr. Sandman

.....bring me some sleep!! Justin and I daydream of sleep. Our weekend was wonderfully filled with a lot of quality family time and the only thing it was missing was sleep. Our little Cohen has been teething for days. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night all nights with a maximum of 2 hours of consecutive sleep, Cohen would awaken at 4am and be up for the day. 4 our of those nights were accompanied with a fever. Yesterday Cohen cut his 4th tooth, 2nd one on the top, and by the looks of it out teething sleepless nights are far from over. This poor little guy has two more coming in at the bottom and two more at the top. As hard as it is on Justin and I, I feel so bad for Cohen and his little mouth. As parents we have prescribed Cohen, Orajel, Motrin, icecream cones, cuddles, lullaby's and lots and lots of love. Emily and Carter each had some Daddy time and Mommy time so they will be happy so maybe this afternoon I can sneak a nap :)

Another Long Weekend

Oh I love the long weekends. Today started off a great day, I mean everyday is great but this morning Cohen had me up at 4 and we snuggled in bed and then got up at 5 with Justin. Normally I'm soooooooo tired and a little cranky *wink* but Justin poured me a warm cup o' java and I layed in bed and visited him while he got ready and I feel great and energetic ready to start my day. And it's a Friday, I get my husband home 3 days in a row YAY! The kids are so excited to have a fun filled family weekend. With school approaching next week we're doing nothing this weekend but having fun fun fun. Games, beach, a little shopping and a BBQ etc...

Here's a little update on my gang:

Emmy is so ready for school. She misses her friends. I'm going to miss her so much. She has been my partner all summer helping me with EVERYTHING and without being asked. She's just so thoughtful and she sees that we're always doing something so she says she wants to do stuff to help so we have more playtime and it's worked we have a lot more playtime. She is growing up so fast however she's still so little. She loves to go off by herself and play barbies or dolls and then other times she's writing her own songs and singing and dancing. Her poetry is that you'd find in a teens notebook, her writing skills are amazing. Justin is writing a book and loves to write.........wonder where she gets it from ;0)

Carter my little secret agent. He doesn't start school this week. I"m so happy I get an extra week with him before Kindergarten. I miss my kids so much when they go off to school I could really keep them home forever. Carter has been attatched to my hip everyday for the past 5 years it's going to be hard to have him go off and do his own thing. I know he'll be great at it though. He loves to learn and learn and learn. I do think he will be disappointed in Kindergarten as he's wanting to learn how to program software. Yesterday I had to give him a time out and while he was in his room he decided to make me a present, he took a pipe cleaner and little animal shaped foamies and made me an animal flower. He came out and apologized and handed me this beautiful flower and my heart just melted.

Cohen, oh little Cohen. He's such a daredevil. As you see him standing beside this gate that he recently surfed on down to stairs with. His second trip downt he stairs. He is trying to figure out how to do it again. A 12 mths old that thinks this is the funnest thing in the world. Or in the bathtub the little stinker stands up and I try to sit him back down, he'll have none of it. He slides down the curved side of the tub and gets his face all wet and falls in the water and he gets right back up for more. I wrote about the worry in his weight gain and I'm not worried anymore. I figure it was due to his lack of appetite when teething and what not. He's been teething forever and he finally cut on and another one is breaking through right now and it looks like he's getting two on the bottom. He's a tough teether as the older two were and his body is under stress. Lately he has been trying to eat more. Loves soup and crackers. We went to A&W and he loved the teen burger and fries and he is feeling a lot heavier. I'm still going to take him to the pediatrician as planned but I think she'll say he's just a normal boy.

As for Justin and I we're doing great. Justin has been working on his projects and his book proposal is going around to publishers so we're excited about that. I'm so proud of him, he's been wanting to write a tech book for so long and when we were visiting with my parents in Waskesiu my dad was talking to him about it and totally motivated Justin so as soon as we got home he wrote his 17 page proposal and his agent loved it. We've been having a ton of fun this summer. As a couple our marriage is at a great stage of just really understanding eachother and having fun together. He is taking another week of holidays when his brother and sister come out the week after this and I'm really looking forward to having him home yet again :) I could keep him home everyday but I guess he does have to work, but I'm lucky because he has been given two days a week to work remotely and home on weekends so we've been pretty happy and appreciative of that. This weekend is my 10 yr highschool reunion. Part of me wants to go back for it but facebook has really satisfied me in catching up with people for now. It's been a great little system. I've made contact with so many old schoolmates. I also had a prayer request on here for my aunt and she is still in the hospital in Saskatoon and I just want to thank everyone for their prayers. She is at a great place, the doctors are treating her with so much care and attention and they are on her like glue and doing the best to help her. Well Cohen zonked out in his swing as I was typing away so I am going to take advantage of being up early and tend to my morning chores and get a head a little. I hope you all have a wonderful and fun safe weekend.

Say What??

Cohen backtalked me for the first time and it was so funny. We went to the park and I put him back in his stroller and the little man looked right at me and squirmed and said NO! Then I proceeded to buckle him up and he said NONONO!! Too cute....now

+ A Prayer Request +

If you could keep my Auntie MaryJo in your prayers. She has the West Nile Virus and she was in the hospital recently and then was discharged in hopes that she had a mild case and that she was doing alright. She is getting worse and she went back into the hospital this today. They are going to run some other tests and do whatever they can to help her. She has a husband and three children and they run a farm and they need all the help and prayers you can give. The Lord is good and I know she will pull through with His almighty healing.

Thank you!!

OOPS

We burned Emily a CD with all her favorite songs one being "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. I've listened to the radio version only ever and saw her perform it on Teen Choice but I guess I never paid too close attention to the lyrics there is the "F" word loud and clear in the downloaded version. What I never heard the word before until Emily has it blasting in the living room and Carter sings out "lalalala F'in girlfriend". Stop the record...Carter what did you just say, and he repeats ahhhhhhh. So I download the radio version and listen very closely and sure enough it's bleeps out but yeesh why didn't I hear that every other time I listened to the song. That's all I need is them singing that out in the grocery store or church for that matter. Uhh let's just say that song will be skipped from now on ;0))