Happy Holidays!!

Reporting to you from snowy Salmon Arm. We had the best drive we've had in a long time, on Saturday morning, and arrived to a pile of snow in Salmon Arm. It is beautiful!!!
Hard to believe that Christmas Eve and morning have already happened. Now life has slowed to peaceful lull. We have been eating, sledding and playing games. Very relaxing. Greg and I are staying over at my parents place while they are down at the coast, giving us our own space and quiet at night time. We took Liam over last night with us, and he slept in til 8:30am. So we are getting lots of needed rest.
Christmas was really fun. We went to the morning Sunday service and later the Christmas Eve service with the live nativity, drama and candlelight.



Greg and I set our alarms and arrived at the house before 7am to wake up Riley and tell him that Santa had arrived and it was time to open presents. Then we all spent the rest of the morning opening our stockings and presents. I was so happy to have Greg open his new ipod I got him, and he spoiled me with clothes and a new lens for portraits!! I put it on yesterday, and though Ava was wiggling, you can see the sweet DOF (or depth of field) with lots of fuzzing on the sides.

I'm sure I'll be having lots of fun with that new lens!!
The boys are enjoying the extra attention and new things to play with.
Hope everyone is having just as much fun, family time and rest as we are.

Needing a holiday

I won't lie. Things have been really really stressful around here. Just life. Nothing extraordinary. I have 2 very busy, very strong-willed, very loud, competitive boys. The chocolate and sugar around here isn't helping. I also just pulled Liam off the soother, so he isn't sleeping as well as he used to. I am pregnant. Tired. I don't have a lot of patience or extra energy. I need my family to seriously wear my boys out for me over the holidays. I also need to find some new strategies to get them to behave!! I never thought it would be so hard every single day. I know I'm not alone in this. Being a mom is the hardest job ever.
I haven't finished packing yet. I have been doing a bunch of wrapping and laundry though...so I guess that's something. I can't wait to just be there and put my feet up. Yay for holidays!!
And in case I didn't tell you, we're also planning a trip to Maui in January!! More on that later. And in case I don't update before I leave...HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Ditching the beloved soo-soo

Yes, it was time. Just like with nursing, my boys don't slowly wean themselves off...they wanted to nurse or suck the soother forever. Just before Riley turned 3, we mailed his soother to Santa in exchange for an immediate present. He took a few nights to get settled, but did fine. I knew that time had come for Liam. He is a few months younger than 3 still, but I really didn't want him being the big baby over Christmas with the ugly soother in his mouth. On Sunday evening we asked him if he was ready to send his soother to Santa in exchange for a gift. He immediately agreed and so we gave him a new fancy flashlight thing to hold in his bed at night.
As expected, that night he didn't settle until we went to bed...close to 11pm. He slept til 8am no problems though, and only mentioned the soother once all day. Where is my soo-soo, mom?! It's at Santa's house, remember? He's going to give it to a little baby. Oh ya.
He wouldn't nap this afternoon, even though he had had a late night, but I didn't really expect him to. Then tonight we had our work party for the families hosted at ChuckECheese, and the poor kid had had it by 7pm. He fell asleep on the way home and woke up to ask for his flashlight and blanket and thankfully fell back asleep on his own again. Phew! I think it's over! The soother is history! There's one more thing to check off my list. I still have yet to get this kid potty-trained. We'll tackle that one in the New Year again. I'm praying that Liam will end up napping still, once he gets used to falling asleep without his plug. He still needs his naps, as do I!

Some pics from our Christmas Pageant

My good friend Lisa decided it was high time our kids got to take part in a traditional Christmas pageant. Our church is small and hasn't taken on the task in a few years. I think the last one was when Riley was a baby, and it was such a huge stressful production that no one wanted to tackle it since. Lisa basically narrated the entire Christmas story while the kids just acted out the parts as she read. It went really smoothly, and was so nice to see our kids up there. There were "special numbers" as well, including Greg on his trombone.

Homemade stable by Andrew (playing violin)!! (good job!)

I did up these letters so the kids could tell what each letter stands for. C is for Christ child...etc. I'm up there holding the mic...Riley on the left.

I think having the kids act out and see the entire story of Jesus' birth will help them to remember and understand the true meaning of Christmas. That made it special for us parents.

Last week to shop!!

I actually really love Christmas shopping. I wish it wasn't so hard to entertain 2 boys while doing so. We have friends coming over tonight to watch the boys so we can hopefully finish our last few gifts. I had to stand in a line at Walmart for 40 min. this week. It wasn't so bad cuz a friend I hadn't seen in months ended up behind me, and we chatted it up the whole time, but I was 15 min. late picking up Riley from Awana. Yup, guilty momma. As if I was going to jump out of a line I had been standing in for half an hour with a cart full of presents I had pain-stakenly sp? chosen one by one.
This year we've done a draw with the Davidson family. We even picked a theme of "games/entertainment" in hopes that we'll all get to share in the joy of each present! and just to keep it easier. I like it. Should work well. And then it's always fun buying for kids...especially buying for the littlest Davidson, a girl, my niece Ava.
Right after Christmas is Rileys' 5th birthday!! I'm actually considering getting him a drum set. I know, crazy. But our boys are musical and going to make a band someday, so we gotta start early. There is this drum set on half price at Canadian Tire, so I'm going to check that out today as well. Greg brought out his trombone this week as he's playing for the Christmas program at church, and you should see Liam play it!! So cute, it's on tape...I'll upload it soon.
Hope you're almost done and having fun!!! See you Salmon Armites soon!!

Remembering a great icon

(this is a cute forward...)
:)

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications, from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Tests

Uggh. Had to go in for a routine pap test and internal exam today. Don't we all love those!? I always wonder what it must be like to have a job like that where you have to deal with various types of muffs during the day.
I wanted to ask you about the urine test though. Have you ever actually followed the correct directions to attain a "proper urine sample" ? How do you actually hold yourself and the cup over the toilet while catching an uninterrupted stream of urine midway through its course?? I don't get it. It goes along with those ultrasound tech's who tell you ...Go ahead and pee just a few ounces of the 8cups that you had to drink 2 hours ago which is totally bursting your bladder. How do you let out a few ounces?? Once I start, it's coming.
Ahh...being a woman. Actually Greg has an ultrasound story I'm sure he won't mind me sharing with you, would you honey? (Just so you men folk don't feel left out here.) A few years ago Greg had to go in for an ultrasound to look at some organs...I don't even remember what. Anyway, he did his duty of drinking the recommended amount of water before his appointment. As soon as his ultrasound tech turned on her little machine and took one look, out loud she was like...OH MY GOODNESS! and Greg was freaked out! What is wrong with my organs?! And the lady was like, I have never in my life seen such a full bladder!! Oh. poor guy. He thought he was dying and she was just surprised at how much water he can intake. I'm not. He can drink like a camel.
Anyway. There's my doctor stories for the week.
I'd love to hear yours.

16 weeks

I promised a picture, so here we are.
I'm really pushing it out for your viewing pleasure.
I think my butt has gotten even flatter, now that I look at it.
At 16 weeks, the baby is about "five and a half inches tall and six ounces in weight. The child can grasp with his hands, kick, or even somersault".

(no this is not MY baby...but it is 16 weeks)

Set up the tree

Here's the boys in front of our short and wide little charlie brown tree. They enjoyed decorating it, and it makes the house look more like Christmas.

More photo fun

I'm feeling like I'm coming out of the haze I've been in the last few days. I had a super bad sinus headache and was really sick because of it. Not fun. The headache is slowly easing off, but I still have clogged nose and ear problems. Anyway...life goes on. Today I had another photoshoot for a church friend. Here's her little guy...






I'm really lucky to have such a cool hobby. I think it's so great to go visit with people in their home and just chill out while taking pictures of their cutesy babies.

Tis the season...

...to be sickly,
cough cough cough cough gag, sneeze, barf and ache.
We would like to get a break now,
cough cough cough cough gag, sneeze, barf and ache.
Liam still has a fever,
you would think the tylenol is his friend.
Riley is hacking but doing better,
but now me the mommy has a nasty throat.

Ya. Still sickies around here. Liam and I went in to the doc today. I'm having such a hard time swallowing that I figured I should go be sure I don't have strept. I nearly barfed, and did gag like crazy during the throat swab...man, I hate those things! The doc says Liam looks ok, but if we want to rule out anything more serious because of his re-occurring fevers, then we'd need to do a urine sample and blood work for him. Have you ever been through that with a 2 year old?? It is absolute torture. We did that with Riley when he was two, and it was really traumatic for all of us and the results came up with nothing. We're willing to risk that he's just catching bug after bug and leave it for now. We managed to avoid all sorts of bugs during the fall, but are making up for it now. Praying we'll be over it before Christmas.

Baby update

Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there is another little life in our family of four, who will be here to meet us in only 5 months!! I am at 15 weeks now.

...Baby Development
Your baby weighs about 1.75 ounces and is about 4 to 4.5 inches in length. His or her heart is growing strong and, even though it is little, it is pumping between 20 and 25 quarts of blood every 24 hours.

I finally feel like I am getting enough sleep, even without an afternoon nap! I love having my energy back and am trying to make the most of it while I've got it!! I am feeling the sweet little taps from the inside as well. I still haven't gained weight, but my belly seems to be protruding out from under my ribs already, so I have been scrounging through my basement to bring up my old maternity clothes...sort of wanting to wear them but thinking I should wait as long as possible!
I would take a picture, but seriously, I still look like I've just got bloat. I think I will start doing official photos starting next week and carrying on every 2 weeks. I'm one of those unfortunate types who tends to go from just kinda square looking at 6 months to mammoth basketball by 8 months...which brings on many a stretch mark :( Oh well. War wounds, right? I totally need to post some pics of myself at 9months with Liam.

In other news...the boys are doing better. Riley climbed out of bed on Saturday morning with a smile on his face, which I hadn't seen since the previous Saturday. He had been SO sick and missed all but one day of school. Liam came down with something again on Thursday night, and had a massive fever again on Friday and Saturday. They both are snotty and sneezy, but we didn't let it keep us in the house all weekend though, and went bed shopping on Saturday. I was so happy to get out of the house finally!! We found Riley a much needed bed. He hasn't had one since Liam took over the car bed, which has been a few months already! Here he is...it's his second night in it and he keeps telling us how much he LoVeS his new bed.

(you can sorta tell Riley still has a stuffed head by his puffy eyes!)
Cute bed, though, hey?! We found it at Jysk.

Snappy Sugar-Socks

A big sigh of relief...the birthday is over and Christmas is on its way!! I am really hoping to get our tree this weekend and decorate a little. We've been gone 7 of our 8 Christmas' together, Greg and I...home to be with the family. We don't often go too crazy with decorating as we aren't home to enjoy it much. Next year will be different, HOORAY!
My boys are both sick now...yes, Liam has his fever back again, 2 weeks later. My life as a hermit has officially begun. I'm just relieved it's the weekend and Greg will not be working this one, so maybe I'll get a chance to get out of the house.
But back to the happy, I am so looking forward to Christmas which is coming up fast. We'll be driving out in 3 short weeks. To get us all in the spirit...here's a site to find your Elf name!!

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Also a special congratulations to my childhood friend Jen who had her 4th baby, a gorgeous girl she named Cara Ryanne. Hugs to your busy family!! You're probably getting less sleep than I, so my thoughts and prayers are with you!!

Thanks y'all

It ended up being a quiet day at home. Riley is still feeling lousy, so we had our own little party here. I've been busy on the phone though, and we'll make up for the party another year!
Thanks for all your kind wishes.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Hey All, it's G here and I have commandeered my Wifey's blog to let you know that today is her 30th Birthday. I am one of the three Hounds that "The Fox and the Hounds" is based on. Anyways...Happy Birthday Honey — The boys and I love you so much and we hope that you have a great day today. To the rest of the loyal readers here...stop by and post a comment for Sarah.

Oh that.

Last night I was watching the late night news as it was talking about how with wind chill it would be in the -40's today!! YIKES! I don't know how people are walking to school in this weather like I would be (but Riley is sick). They were saying that skin exposed for only one minute at those temperatures will freeze!! I was imagining myself bundling the boys up in all our outdoor gear plus sticking them in a sleeping bag on top of the sled while pregnant me pulled them up the street. Hmm...I don't know if it would work. Hopefully it warms up by the time Riley is feeling better.
Anyway...it brought on some stories in my head of previous cold days in my life...
When Michelle and I were at Prairie Bible College, there were some mighty nasty cold days. (It's located in Three Hills, a few hours north of here.) We had this volunteer position at the hospital where we went to feed some elderly ladies. That's kind of a story in itself! Anyway...one day we had to bring a new volunteer with us to show her the ropes. She was this quiet little thing. Of course it happened to be freezing cold out and we had to do the 10 minute walk all bundled up like penguins. I remember we would occasionally force our mouths out of our scarves to small chat with her and figure out who she was and how she was enjoying school etc. One time when I looked over at her, I noticed her nose was looking a little weird!? Ya! Like one section of it was changing color from the usual skin tones to more of a dead grey color! I quickly looked over at Mich and gave her the eyes as to say...are you seeing what I'm seeing here? We sorta kept quiet about it and kept looking over at her as we were talking to check out the nose situation. We were starting to get those nervous giggles like we get at funerals or in church when we should be doing anything but laughing. I don't know who it was, but finally one of us piped up..."UMmm, your nose is looking pretty cold...does it feel ok?"
"Oh that". She said. Then she filled us in with a story of how her nose actually had frostbite when she was a child, and it always changes color now when she goes out in the cold. Poor thing. But man, Mich and I were relieved to find out we weren't witnessing frostbite occurring right before our eyes.
I was thinking of this whole story when I was in bed last night, about 5 minutes after I had said goodnight to Greg. I started to giggle out loud and so of course he wanted to know why. I was laughing so hard as I was telling it to Greg...my quiet laugh where all you hear is my tonsils flapping. I could barely finish the silly story cuz the tears were streaming down my face and my stomach was hurting. (Everything is so much funnier at midnite and when you're pregnant!)
And I was also thinking of this old watch I had when I was about 12 years old. It was one of those watches that would never die and I wore it everywhere everyday. It had a nice beeper on it, and a light and everything. One day sadly, on my way to school, it dropped somewhere and was lost. I backtracked a few times to no avail. Then one day, like over a week later, I was walking back from school when I heard this familiar beeping noise! My watch! It was calling out to me!! I bent down near the ground to listen for it and there it was about an inch under some ice...my favorite watch! I got a rock and literally had to chip it out of the ice! Yeah! It was on it's second life. Then eventually the strap broke off, but I still carried the face of it around in my pocket. One day I couldn't find it yet again and figured it must have dropped out of my pocket. I didn't grieve too long...but I swear, it was like a ghost watch, cuz I would hear it beep from time to time when I was out sledding, but could never find it when I checked my pockets. Then one day I was doing up my skates in the basement and heard this beeping noise coming from the dryer. I ripped open the door and it was beeping in there. I stuck my ear close to every clothing item and finally found it down in the hem of my snowpants. I guess the pocket in my snowpants had a hole, and the watch had fallen down through my pocket all the way down to my ankle. Ya, weird. It was life #3 for that watch, and I think it's still ticking somewhere down in the basement.

Baby Wipes

When my friend Michelle came up for her visit, she brought along her own homemade baby wipes. I was so intrigued...who knew you could make your own!? She told me how she did it, but I didn't write it down...so I just googled it and found some recipes. (Michelle...you'll have to tell me if this is similar to what you do...)

You will need:

* 10 cup air-tight container (eg. cylinder rubbermaid, w/lid)
* Bounty paper towels
* 2 Tbsp. of baby oil
* 2 Tbsp. of baby bath (your favorite)
* 2 cups of water

Cut a roll of paper towel in half, remove center cardboard, mix liquid ingredients, pour on top of paper towels (that are already in your container), pull first towel up.
Let them sit for about 1 hour so all the liquid has enough time to absorb the entire 1/2 roll. You may ask, why Bounty towels?? Well it seems that Bounty expands when wet and the others seem to shrivel up. Remember do not shake the liquid, it will foam up. Each roll of towels makes 2 containers of wipes, which lasts approx. 3 weeks.

I am sure this will save us all a load of money, and it can be argued that this is way healthier for your baby because of chemicals found in regular wipes. You can also find it helpful if your baby reacts to certain scents, by using your favorite brand of goats milk baby bath (that's what we use here) or other organic products. This would also make a great baby gift for a friend...buy the container and towels and include the recipe (this is how Michelle got into it).
Let me know if you try it!?

Brrrrrr naked

I like saying that. Or another term we use around here...."IT's AS COLD AS A WiTCHS' TITTY."
It is. I think it's like -28 with wind chill making it around -33. Our house isn't really all that warm even though the heater has been running all day. We've got a lot of windows that aren't the best quality I guess.
It was a bit of a cranky weekend. Riley ended up getting sick now, after all his friends and Liam had it, he held off til now. He is actually pretty reasonable and snuggly when he's sick. He only has a high fever which makes him nice and chill-axed. He also gets quite philosophical and will come up with some deep questions at times like these. It is Liam though that drives you batty. He somehow senses that Riley is weakened, and he's like an animal, taking advantage of the fact that he suddenly has more power than his big brother.
Greg has been working like a banchee. He has this big project deadline for tomorrow, so he's been up late or working whenever he gets the chance. I'll be glad when that is done, as I'm sure will he.
I decided to take Liam to church with me, so that Greg and Riley could catch up on sleep without the Liamster pouncing on their faces. I was teaching SS, and turns out Liam would not stay in the nursery and they had to bring him into my class sobbing. That was fun.
So now I'm getting caught up on dirty dishes, floors and laundry before I brave the upcoming loooonnnnngggg week. I won't be sending Riley off to school. Too bad I couldn't send Liam in his place and tell his teacher...have fun!!

Out for dinner with a toddler

...isn't that fun? We had a 30 minute wait for a table, so we went next door to a coffee shop so we didn't have to stand in the busy lobby. We finally went back for our table and still had to wait for a good 10min. to get our order taken and a few more til the food arrived. This is where all your talent comes in...how creative are you at passing time with toddlers? Yes, they had crayons and paper, but that doesn't last long with a hungry 2 year old. We had to move all the shakers and sugar packets to the next table over, because they were close to being thrown at nearby onlookers. Who doesn't know what I'm talking about. When the food arrived, we wolfed it down, because it was practically bedtime already and we didn't want the meltdown to happen while we were still at the table. I have a bit of indigestion. But it is always fun to have someone else cook you a meal that doesn't consist of just a burger and fries. At least once every 3 months, it's worth the effort.

Little hunnies

These boys are going to be tall dark and handsome when they grow up!!

Have any of you heard of Shutterfly?? It's an online photo spot where you can make cards and order prints etc. It is American, so can be a little expensive for shipping and all that. My friend from the States ordered some cards for me, made with my photos, as a baby gift when I had Liam, and they were really sweet. If however, you are interested in just making online e-cards to send out with your email Christmas letter...you can make cards on Shutterfly and then just copy them.
I'll show you some examples...made with those pics above...




I thought they were pretty cute! And I always love to teach friends my little online finds of mine! (They also have cute baby announcements.)

Troubles in the kitchen

The other day I was so out of it, that I opened a box of goldfish crackers up, cut open the bag, and was thinking to myself...man, they jipped me...this bag isn't very full.
Only to realize that I had already opened this very box of goldfish the day before, but on the other end. (Try pouring goldfish gracefully into a bowl when both ends of the bag are opened.)
I also tend to ruin those bags that have the resealable zip locks, because I cut the opposite end of the bag. G has pointed this out to me a few times on random bags of frozen corn, or baby carrots. Opps.
I have sort of committed to "seeing what I can produce" in the way of a photo, or a collage, to put on the front of our upcoming church cookbook. I had better get on that. I'm thinking of random kitchen utensils and baking supplies...kinda like that whisk pic I put on flickr. Or to use a picture I took yesterday of an old fashioned pantry....

Hmm....time to be creative here while the sun is shining.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Michelle, I hope you're move is going well!?

The good ol' days

Ok, so last night I dreamt (dreamed??) in short sentences.
I couldn't stop thinking of things that I would add to the list.

So today we went to Heritage Park. Every year they have an event called The 12 days of Christmas which runs on the weekends. It's the only time we've ever gone to the place, and it's a really good time. There isn't a tight schedule to follow, and you spend most of the time outdoors. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but we were dressed for it.
Here's some photos...








Santa just so happened to be strolling the streets. We caught up to him and gave him 5 and got a quick photo. The boys didn't say much, but as we walked away Riley said..."Now we know what the guy looks like who gives us our presents!"
We took a nice horse drawn wagon ride, ate some cinnamon buns, went through some mazes, went in an old pool hall filled with mini electric trains, played in the hay...just good ol' fashioned fun. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

The list thingy

1. I’m going to try to make this list of 100 things, cuz it seems to be the thing to do.
2. I am extremely tired.
3. I am supposed to be doing my devotions homework for our Bible study.
4. But I’m not, I’m writing out this list, of course.
5. I had a very busy day with my kids, but don’t feel like I got anything done.
6. I am really wishing I had a hot cup of tea but I don’t want to get up.
7. I wonder what it would be like to live with all my friends in the same town.
8. I never was in the same place for longer than 7 years growing up.
9. I never went to the same school for longer than 3 years.
10. I wish I knew my extended family a little better.
11. I love to take pictures. Mostly of people.
12. I wish I could go back to school to learn more about taking pictures!
13. I would also like to learn some other trade eventually.
14. I really do enjoy writing and used to write letters to myself when I was bored.
15. I wrote letters to my hubby (then boyfriend) every day while I was in Mexico.
16. He is my first love…sigh.
17. I went to Bible school at Prairie and thought I was supposed to meet and marry someone there…isn’t that what they teach you when you are little…Bridal college?
18. I loved living in a dorm. I would go back tonight.
19. I was the one who kept everyone awake during the sleepovers in the lounge.
20. I even got written-up by my RA who said I was too loud.
21. I’m usually a very huge rule-follower, aka goodie goodie.
22. Though I did get put out in the hall once in grade one.
23. I really enjoy animals, but don’t intend on having any pets, at least right now.
24. I would get a kitten, but they grow up to be cats I’ve been told.
25. I really hate when people let their animals defecate in my yard.
26. One day I would like a reasonable sized yard with a good garden.
27. I would grow all kinds of fruit and veggies and get really dirty nails.
28. I used to work in a hospital.
29. I was officially titled, a Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant.
30. It was a good job while it lasted but you see I got prego and very unstable so I wasn’t much help!
31. I don’t know what I would do now if I was forced to go back to work tomorrow.
32. I am a PK. A pastor’s daughter. Well, except he just changed careers. But I still would be called a PK, right? Oh oh, identity crisis.
33. I have webbed toes. Not all of them.
34. I love to swim, and the doctor predicted that when I was born.
35. I take water fitness classes and love it all except the bouncing booby part.
36. I would love to jog, but I really wasn’t built for it.
37. I have a big bro and little sis and said I would never have 3 kids, but I can’t imagine 4!
38. I went on the Dwight D. Eisenhower.
39. I have been on two helicopter rides, and it is really quite thrilling.
40. I want to take my kids to Disneyland when they are still young.
41. If I could go somewhere today it would be Hawaii.
42. I am pretty good at baking and love to except for the mess.
43. I wish my house was cleaner but I can’t keep up.
44. I have a hard time getting my clothes into the washer, dryer, folded and put away all in the same week. Usually the clothes sit folded in the hamper for awhile.
45. I never had braces, but I wore really round ugly glasses in gr.8.
46. I would like to be more musical, but it really doesn’t come naturally to me.
47. I would play the violin if I was skilled enough.
48. I loved going to summer camp.
49. I rocked at doing the polar dip.
50. I am half way done this crazy long list!
51. I have a lot of decorating ideas in my head but have never managed to pull them off in my home.
52. I love watching all those home reno shows and moving in or house-hunting stories.
53. I guess maybe I’d be good at showing houses?
54. I want to be a better friend than I am.
55. I teach Sunday school to 4/5/6 yr. olds.
56. I deliver large babies.
57. I have long legs, a short waist, and a small head in comparison to my boobs.
58. I should have worn an extra hair piece on my wedding day to make my head look larger in comparison to my huge dress (oh, and boobies).
59. I wash my face with Oil of Olay foaming face wash every night.
60. I do not use soap in the shower, just shampoo and conditioner.
61. I have very soft skin.
62. My favorite color is blue.
63. I’m not very adventurous in what I wear.
64. I have the same few pairs of shoes and they just don’t wear out. I even have some undies from when I got married, and my hubby has named them cuz they are so familiar.
65. I like eggnog but I don’t really like runny eggs, go figure.
66. I like thriller movies and being scared, but not gory stuff.
67. I think I’d be scared to get on a horse.
68. I don’t know if I can stay awake long enough to finish this.
69. I speak really broken Spanish and not French.
70. I’m almost 30.
71. I don’t know what we’re doing for my birthday.
72. I once had a birthday party where the girls slept in my room and the moms had their own sleepover upstairs.
73. I have a young mom.
74. I haven’t started Christmas shopping yet. But I am listening to Christmas music.
75. I never believed in Santa.
76. I was Hark the Herald Angel in my church pageant. I got the part the week of the show, cuz the guy who had the part suddenly got diabetes and was very sick.
77. It was a “boy” part, but I didn’t mind.
78. I think the baby just kicked me.
79. I am waking up a lot during the night and thinking of baby names.
80. I would like a proper headboard.
81. I love having a laptop.
82. I named her Delilah, when it used to be my hubbys’…cuz I thought he spent too much time with “her”. But she is very addicting.
83. I am really sad that Lost is done for the season as it’s the only show I’m following.
84. I laid the sod in my backyard. The yard is only like 15x14 feet!
85. The roller we rented had no plug to keep the water inside it so it was totally useless.
86. I convinced a girl once that this manure in our backyard was actually edible. It was in a bag, and she totally believed me.
87. It wasn’t pretty.
88. I led my grandma down a really bumpy trail on our new mountain bikes. She fell on some tree roots, but was a real trouper and kept following me.
89. I remember singing The Teddy Bear Picnic song with her when she took me on walks down in the ravine…that was a long time ago.
90. I wonder what my grandkids will remember about me.
91. I keep a diary.
92. I have a diary from when I was 9 and would love to drag it out and share some of it on my blog. I’m sure its crazy hilarious.
93. I am scared of motorbikes. I have only been a passenger.
94. I used to get perms that never worked.
95. I have naturally straight and boring hair.
96. I am worried that one day my hair will thin out to nothingness.
97. I love it when people laugh. I hope you got at least one laugh from reading this.
98. I can’t imagine being overly crazy screaming if I met a celebrity. Although I did touch Bono and it was very special.
99. I am going to be up to 11 trying to finish my devotions.
100. I did it, I did it!!

Stuck in

Well Liam is still a little sick. We haven't had to pump him full of drugs every 6 hours like the first day, so he must be on the mend but still is not himself. I hate it when someone is sick. I've heard it to be said that a fever is a good thing as it's your bodys way of fighting back...but I'm always scared when Liam has a fever because of what happened that one fateful day just before he turned 2 at Market Mall. For those that don't know, he had what we think was a febrile seizure...we thought he was dying right in front of us...whole body went limp and we couldn't get any response. The ambulance came and took us in to ER where he came to after some medicine and a long nap. It was the scariest mommy moment I've had yet. Not one I would like to repeat any time soon, so that's why we are so scared any time he gets a fever. Anyway...while Liam sits here trying to recover, Riley is having a hard time sitting around being good! We've unfortunately had to watch a lot of videos and even that doesn't work so hot. Thank goodness for kindergarden in the afternoons.

World wide News

I guess it's time to come clean on my blog and fill you in on my little secret.
Any guesses?? It's probably not too much of a shocker...here's a hint.




Ok, I know, I know. It doesn't look much like a bun. It's all I had in the house at the time and I ended up having to tell my family really quickly (cuz the secret slipped) and I wanted to make it somewhat funny. Anyway...no-one really got it. Are you toasting a bagel? Is there a bag on top of the stove?? I don't know.

It's a BUN IN THE OVEN, by the way.

Or maybe this is a better hint...



I did my very first pregnancy test with this, my 3rd pregnancy. I didn't think I would believe a home test if I did one with the first 2. I took this test right after I went on the roller coaster that day back in September. Since then, I've been exhausted, slightly nauseated and seriously lacking an appetite. YES, though. I'm having another baby!! It's "planned" to be our last, so I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it and am feeling so blessed at how easy a time we've had getting pregnant and having healthy babies.
This morning I had my 12 week appointment, where we were to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I was looking forward to Greg and the boys coming along, cuz G is off work today. But Liam woke up and barfed all over me this morning (nice), so they stayed behind. I called Greg on the cell phone right as the doctor was using the doppler to find the heartbeat. She found a strong heartbeat in no time (heaven!) and it's recorded on our answering machine for us to hear over and over again.

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So the story begins...I know you all like following prego stories...at least I sure do!!

Happy Birthday to Heather!!

Heathie heathie bo bethie, Banana nana fo fethie, Me mi mo meathie, HEATHIE!!
HAPPY 25th Birthday!! I'm sure you have lots of plans in the big city...you always keep us hopping trying to guess what you're up to next. You're a super fun auntie and lil sister.
Hugs to you from me and da boyz!!

Photoshoot fun

Well, as most of you know, I love to take pictures and especially of little babies. It is not the easiest skill though. I probably do better at still life flower photos. I don't know all the tricks yet of getting a newborn completely placid and sleeping while you attempt to pose them in the nude with bright sunlight blaring on them and a camera in their face!! I need to get a better indoor flash so I can make it look like I have natural light, even if I don't. I offered my "services" this morning to a church couple who had their first little boy. Our other friends live upstairs as well, and so I took a few pictures of their youngest little girl at the same time (above). Challenging, but fun. Here's just a sampler.



I'm still always attempting to take pictures of the boys, but they are ultimately sick of the camera in their faces. Here's a little scowl from Liam...

Picture update

I've been lacking in the picture department lately. This Friday actually, I've offered to take pictures for a friend of her newborn baby, so that 'll add some to my collection and be a little more interesting than the ones taken in the last while.
Here's Liam this morning. His eye is practically back to perfect again, just a little mark on the side and there's a bump in there when you feel it. But I think it'll heal up just fine.



Here's the two crazies...aren't they looking older? The two of them eat more than I do and are growing. I think Liam is getting more of a neck and chin. He's busy laughing at the camera for some reason and talking his head off as usual.

Here's some artwork by Riley...

His Star Wars drawing (his favorite thing to draw)


His first drawing of a house

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GREAT FRIEND HEIDI HO...in the great white north. I wish I could have been there for your party night with the girls!! It's been great talking to you lately ... many many hugs and 30 big ol' birthday bumps!!