Crazy Campers!

Since the beginning of July the kids and I have been spending most of our time out camping.  It has been so much fun lounging around, swimming, walking, cooking smores, and bike riding.  We are frequent visitors to the petting zoo and the village store for ice cream.  It really has been an awesome way to spend the warmest days of the year. 

This week our whole family is here as Daddy is on holidays and the kids are enjoying every minute showing him all the stuff they have been doing.  With Daddy here he was able to watch Matthew while Rebecca, Michael, and Daniel went for a ride on Grandpa's boat.  They had a good time and liked it when Grandpa stopped the boat and they could jump in the lake and spend some time playing on the diving dock off the back.  Michael and Rebecca played around with the knee board but were still too afraid to try it out. 

Rebecca and Michael are quite the Skipbo players now and Becca has even beaten me and Grandma a few times.  All the kids got new bikes and are having a blast riding them around.  We got Daniel one of those Kinderbikes and he is so proud riding it all around.

Matthew is doing really well.  He is so funny and when he gets tired of being held we put him down and he plays on the gravel and dirt.  He has only tasted a couple of big rock by licking them.  I had him to his pediatrician last week for a check up and we were sent up to the Childrens to have some xrays taken of his hands.  He's having a few problems with some of his fingers so right now we are ruling things out. 

Water logged

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."

I remember saying this millions of times as a kid, I truly believed it. 

Ever see a duck in the rain or in the water?  Every droplet rolls off the duck, the water never seems to weigh the duck down.  I applied this principle to my life along time ago.  I am a duck.  I let hurtful words roll off my back, they will not weigh me down.  They are just words. 

Today, this duck is starting to sink.  Sticks and stones could break my bones that part is still true however names and hurtful words have caused my heart to bleed. 

Tonight I am raw, I am hating. 

Say Mama...

Matthew has been chattering away the last little while.  His favorite things to say is "ahhhh" and "mamama".  I was so impressed that he learned to say "mama" before "dada".  Finally one of the kids gave me the recognition I deserve after carrying them for nine months, breastfeeding them, staying up all night cuddling them when there couldn't/wouldn't sleep in their crib.  Finally, one said mama first. 

WRONG!

I was at the speech clinic today.  He isn't saying mama, it's dada.  He isn't capable of making the d sound so it comes out nanana which sounds really close to mamama.

I give up, Dad wins.

Moving Forward

Oh Ya!  Just look at who is on the move, the forward move.

I snapped this picture just as he was figuring this whole crawling bit out.

Isn't his face priceless, it's like he's saying:

"How in the heck do you do this?"

Go Matthew Go!

We are all so proud of you.

(Oh, see that empty space leading down the hallway...it is now sporting a safety gate.  I don't think he's ready to tackle the stairs.)

If your wondering...

...iPhones can not swim.  In fact they don't even tolerate jumping into a puddle well.

How do I know this?

My iPhone fell out of my pocket today right into a puddle.  Until my "Genius Bar Appointment" it's taken up residence in a zip-lock baggy snuggling up to some uncooked rice.  Here's to hoping a very nice, friendly, and sympathetic apple employee will take pity on me on and help me fix it.

Stuck

I have been working really hard with Matthew to help him catch up on some of his development.  He finally was able to get up on his hands and knees.  Problem being is that he can only go backwards. 

I was putting some laundry away last week when I heard him crying from the living room.  I came downstairs to find him stuck between the chair and the entertainment unit.

Poor baby  :o(

Spring Show

My little ballerina had an awesome opportunity to dance in Peter and the Wolf this past month.

She was excited to be in a "real dressing room, with lights and everything"!

Lots of time to spend playing with friends before she was to be on stage.

Here she is as a "Mushroom" on the second day of performing.

(I don't have a picture of her as a Little Bird.)

It was a great weekend and a fantastic production!

A look through his eyes.

I couldn't understand why my iPhone was taking so long to download the few pictures on it.  It would appear that my three year old got a hold of it.

Everyone needs to have a few pictures of:

Little feet.

Or maybe just one foot.

A good close up of piggy toes.  

An armless lego droid.

An empty, dirty breakfast plate.

A picture of your favorite bath toy.

The best TV program around,

Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse.

Last but not least, the photographer.

It's Great to be Eight!

In our faith children have the opportunity to be baptized once they have turned eight. 

Well in April our twins turned the magical age of eight. 

They were baptized by their Grandfather.

Rebecca got a new dress.  Michael got a new suit.

It was such a special day, they even were treated to supper at Red Lobsters...just the twins and Mom & Dad.

Need something to do this weekend??

My daughter Rebecca is dancing this weekend in Jeunesse Classique Ballet's performance of Peter and the Wolf. I have been to a couple of the rehearsals and I am so excited to be able to see this, let alone have my little girl be apart of such a fantastic production.



So if you looking for something to do, please come and support our local young dancers!


This production is suitable for all ages.


Les Sylphides is the archetype of the abstract ballets that flourished at the dawn of the twentieth century: subline in its beauty and the delicacy of the dancers, it is more "poem" than "story": a simple depiction of sylphs dancing by moonlight with the poet.


Choreographer: Mikhail Fokin

Peter and the Wolf, also an early twentieth-century piece, is the beloved children's story told as an introduction to the musical instruments comprising the orchestra.


Choreographer: Bernard Courtot de Bouteiller


Saturday: May 15th, 2010 at 2:30 PM


Sunday: May 16th, 2010 at 2:30 PM


Wright Theatre, Mount Royal University


Location: 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW, Calgary, Alberta (map)


Artistic Director: Umran Sumen


Tickets available at College Ticket Center


Phone: 403.440.7770


Online: www.mtroyal.ca/tickets


Adult: $30


Senior, Student and Children: $20


Produced by: Jeunesse Classique Ballet Society

Just for Her

Mom, I look at you
and see a walking miracle.

Your unfailing love without limit,

your ability to soothe my every hurt,

the way you are on duty, unselfishly,

every hour, every day,

makes me so grateful

that I am yours, and you are mine.

With open arms and open heart,

with enduring patience and inner strength,

you gave so much for me,

sometimes at your expense.

You are my teacher,

my comforter, my encourager,

appreciating all, forgiving all.

Sometimes I took you for granted, Mom,

but I don’t now, and I never will again.

I know that everything I am today

relates to you and your loving care.

I gaze in wonder

as I watch you being you—

my miracle, my mother.

By Joanna Fuchs 

 

 

My Mother.

She is strong.

She is compassionate.

She is loving.

She is faithful.

She is my best friend.

Most of all, she is an example of

what and who a Mother should be.

I am honoured and grateful to be her daughter.

I love you Mom

Happy Mothers Day!

It's Time!

It is time to spread the word!

Below is the correct way to weigh yourself:

I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years!

25 lbs down!

Ya me!

Girls and Chocolate

Daniel: Mom, I like girls.

Me: Good, I like little boys.

Daniel: I like chocolate.

Me: I do too.

Daniel: Can I have chocolate?

Me: No, we don't have any.

Daniel: I hate girls.

One little step, a bit of growth

One year ago my world shook.

My heart burned with fear and sadness.

I closed my eyes and prayed like I had never prayed before.

I asked why, I took blame.

I asked for a miracle.  

He sent me a tiny baby boy.

Part of my miracle came.

His broken heart was healed.

Then my God blessed a man.

His blessed hands were able to do this.

My heart still at times weighs heavy.

I still feel bits of guilt and blame.

I still pray, I still have faith.

I know this;

"For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more

exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

2 Cor 4:17

Oh Snap!

Last week my little dare devil went to retrieve his fastest race car to have a go around the track his big brother built in the living room.  He was just about down the stairs when he fell.  He landed on his arm and you guessed it, snap.  He has a supracondylar fracture, level 2.  He has been such a little trooper through out his whole ordeal.  On Tuesday while up at the Children's Hospital we were waiting for a trauma room so that they could sedated him to try and get the dislodged bone into place and set it.  It was taking far too long for him and he kept calling to everyone "Hey Doctor!" or "Hey Lady!".  Once he had their attention he would very politely ask to go home.  If that didn't work he would wiggle his little fingers and say "See, it's still alive".  It was adorable and he was a hit with all the staff. 

Here he is getting his I.V all set up.

His poor broken arm.  (Elbow)

Getting ready for his sleepy drugs. 

All the staff, including Mommy were wearing matching Shrek stickers. 

Just after a few days, he's already gearing up for a good old game of ball.

Boy oh Boy...

What do you say when your 3 year old takes a large package of shredded cheese and spreads it all over your living room?  Well, I didn't know what to say except "Daniel, Mommy is very upset about this big mess, now please go find something to do while I clean this up".  
It took me an hour to clean up all the cheese he had spread all over the leather couches, the coffee and end tables, and the carpet.

After I finished I headed back upstairs to find Daniel had found something to do. 

This:

12 Hour Protection??

I was out to supper with my kids, my parents, and one of my sisters and her family.  We ate at a family dinning place and everyone was having a good time.  Matthew was getting a little fussy so I took him out of his chair and held him on my lap while I ate my food.  He was happy to be sitting their playing with my napkin and the straw from my drink.  Daniel needed to use the washroom so I handed Matthew to my Mom and followed Daniel.  He was half way to the ladies room when I noticed that he didn't have his shoes on.  He had taken them off and I knew that we didn't have time to put them back on before he did his business.  While in the washroom I noticed that my pants were feeling a little damp where Matthew was sitting and that he probably needed a change.  I returned Daniel to his seat and pick up Matthew and the diaper bag.  I layed Matthew on the change table only to come to the realization that Matthew was in bad shape.  Lets just say the diaper was full to capacity and there was no way that this diaper could last the full 12 hours the manufacture had advertised.  Oh and the leakage protection they promised, well they lied.  Matthew was not able to wear this sleeper anymore so I plunged my hand into the diaper bag searching for clean clothes.  None.  Crap.  Now what.  So I cleaned him up using all but four of his baby wipes and came out with my poor baby in a clean diaper and a blanket.
I gently urged the other kids to quickly finish eating and I didn't dare look around to see if anyone had noticed my naked baby. 
Lets just say in this case one had no shoes, one had no shirt,  but at thankfully we did get great service.

 

Proud Momma!

Just about a month ago I got a call from the lady who leads our church Cub pack.  Michael's first day of cubs was to fall on the Cub Car Rally night and she invited Michael to start coming a few weeks earlier so that he could work on his car.  Michael was so excited and was funny to watch the first time he put on his cub shirt.  I caught him in front of the hall mirror saluting his reflection.  You could see just how proud he was of his uniform and how dignified he thought he looked.  I will admit that it stung to see my little baby looking all grown up.
Well tonight was the big event.  Micheal weighed in his car, got his number and was ready to have his "Stingray" take it's first trip down the ramp.  I cringed as I watched his car jump off the track crashing into the gym floor.  It was at that point that I started to prep the conversation we would have on the way home, you know the one where I tell him that he should be proud of all the hard work he put into his car, and that someone has to be last.
Well people, he didn't come in last... 

HE CAME IN FIRST PLACE!!! 

Sweet Music

After his lip repair last December Matthew was really restless and we had a hard time keeping him sleeping and comfortable.  I made a little joke to the nurse that he must not be used to all the quiet since he's the youngest of four.  She laughed and left the room to come back with a small box that she plugged by his bed.  She turned it on and it played soft "black" noise to help him.  It worked once his swing came and the Morphine kicked in.  ;)

At Matthew's 6 month check up at the cleft clinic his plastic surgeon was thinking about having his palate repair done sometime in September. I am not looking forward to having my poor little one year old in so much pain and discomfort. (Yes, you read that right...he'll be one!)
Tonight I was blog surfing and came to this blog.  (This blogger is quite amazing, she really is inspirational.)  Picture a little light bulb go on above my head as I read about this give away.  Wouldn't this be so soothing and amazing for my little boy to listen to while he recovers??  I think so, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

Some days are harder than others.

I was at doctors appointments all day today and for a break I took Daniel to a McDonald's play place.  Matthew needed to eat and it was time for his lunch consisting of creamed corn and strawberry puree.  Matthew doesn't sit yet so I put a few of his blankets around him in a highchair to hold him up and we got down to business.  Matthew was uber distracted watching all the kids playing and screaming around him that it was hard to get him to stay focused.  About half way through the feed I could hear the ladies at another table talk about how young my baby was and how he wasn't old enough to be eating solids.  I was getting a tad annoyed when Matthew sneezed and his food came out his nose.  For him, this is normal and we don't clean his face unless it is bugging him.  It may not look pretty and can even be alarming but for Matthew he doesn't know or have a choice.  What goes into his mouth also ends up in his nose.  Enter the busy body ladies at the other table again commenting on how he was choking and the look of discust on their faces.  It was like I was waving a soiled diaper under their noses.   
Today I was jolted back into realizing that Matthew will forever have challenges.  He will one day have to face children who will tease him because of his scars, his split gums, his misplaced teeth.  A school photographer who may insist he shows his crooked teeth in school pictures.  Maybe the parent volunteer who will over correct him during one on one reading time because he can't say the proper phonetic sounds.
I know that we have lots of time to prepare, but for today i feel it and I'm overwhelmed.

Different Shapes and Sizes

This evening while we were eating supper Daniel got all of our attention to let us all know that his Daddy is a triangle.  Yep, apparently my husband is not rectangle, square, or circle...he's a big triangle. 

On Friday Daniel asked for a piece of bread.  I told him he could and he headed off to the side counter where we keep the bread.  As I was heading into the living room he calls me back and while standing in front of the counter exclaims, I'm not tall...can you reach it?  It was so cute and yes my poor boy, you are not tall. 

The other day Daniel climbs up on the side of my rocking chair to sit with me and asks: Are you a girl?  I tell him I am a girl to which he replies, I love girls. 

I just love this boy and he says the cutest things.  Maybe one day he'll be taller that a baseball bat.  ;)

*Sorry for the blurry picture, taken with my cell phone.*

Full

While out at our local home improvement store today I was approached by an elderly lady.  She was pushing her cart past mine which held Matthew in his car seat.  The other three where sitting around two small tables enjoying a late lunch. 
Our conversation went something like this:

Are all these kids with you?
Yes, these beautiful kids belong to me.
Your the Mother to all these kids?
Yes, I am their proud Mother.
Well you sure have your hands full.
She then told me to have a good afternoon and she walked away.

This is a typical conversation between curious strangers and I.  Usually I don't think twice about it however this lady got me thinking.  Yes, I am the Mother to four great kids.  I am very proud of my children and the are used to being in public and behave very well.  We are not immune from the odd melt down but for the most part, we hardly ever have problems.

So to this lady and others who ask, my hands are not full...my arms are.  They are the best huggers, the sweetest kissers, and my greatest joys. 

10 Second Rule?

I bought the kids pizza tonight for supper.  Knowing that my husband hates pizza I bought his usual order of 20 hot wings.  They are a bit pricey but hey, the guy really hates pizza.  As I am bringing the food into the house the box of wings falls and hits the garage floor.  Every single wing was laying on the concrete of our dirty garage.  Just my luck, in my attempt to avoid cooking I ended up getting take out and making supper.  ugh, what a day.  (And if your wondering, yes the thought did cross my mind to pick up the wings and "dust" them off.)

I'm taking it all off...

...and by all off I am referring to the extra padding I happen to have on my 5.5 frame.  I have mentioned before that a few of my family members started a challenge on January 2nd.  We all set a goal and a little friendly competition to loose weight.  We all weighed in together and marked down our weights and put them in an envelope.  We also all put in $50 to help with the motivation.  We are going to keep going until our final weigh in on July 2.  The person who has lost the most weight, by percentage of course wins.
Stepping on that scale in front of my whole family was super hard for me.  I did it with a kitchen full of my family and announced the large, scary number that was staring me in the face.  2.4.1.  Yikes I can't believe that I put this on my blog but yes my weight was an ugly 241 lbs.
Leaving my sisters house that day I realized that I had no game plan.  I didn't know where to begin.  So I came home and made a few changes, changes that I knew I could live with.  First thing first, no eating after 9:00pm.  It is still a late hour but sometimes by the time I get my kids settled, I haven't had my supper.  Eating breakfast every morning.  Making the decision that if I didn't want my kids to eat it, I wasn't allowed to.  It was only about a week into my new life style when my iPhone came to the door.  I saw a free application called Loseit.  I downloaded it and it has helped me to keep my calories in check.  I log everything I eat everyday and log any exercise I might get in.  I also record my weight so that I can see that little graph line dropping.  I also added my two sisters and my brother as friends.  They can see what my daily calorie intake is and if I happen to go over.  They also can see if I am getting off my butt and moving each and every day.
My goal is to drop 91 lbs. Hopefully I will reach this goal in November/December of this year.  If I don't not a huge deal, I want to do this in a healthy and safe way.  No crazy dieting and no pill popping for me.  I'm not able to go to a gym, and I won't be ordering any of Richard's or P90X DVDs in the near future.  However I will do this by facing the crazy woman who lives in my head.  The one who has been hiding for a long time leaving me to think that I would be forever fat.  She is slowly loosing her grasp on me and I am no longer in denial.  I have willpower.  Who knew??  I sure didn't.  I have to thank my sweet Matthew for this little gift.  After I found out that he was allergic to dairy I cut all dairy out of my diet so that he could still get my milk.  Breast feeding is something I have strong feelings about and believe that it is the best form of nutrition for any baby.  I was shocked to see that I was able to do this without any problems.  I was willing to give it all up just so that my son could have the best milk?  It took a few tears and a real shake of my head to apply that same logic to loosing weight.  Why was it so hard for me to leave the snacks, fast food, crappy junk food alone? Didn't I want all my kids to have the best, a healthy Mom?  
I am down 22 lbs and feeling great.  I am so proud of myself and know that I will be a better person and mother when this is all said and done. 

I am SO done with germs and bugs!

We have had quite the eventful house.  It started a few weeks ago when I happen to get yet another plugged duct.  (I'm pumping milk for Matthew since he is not able to breast feed.)  So take my word for it, if your doctor comes in and says she's going to use a large needle to drain out the infection...its going to hurt.  The bonus is it clears up really fast and doesn't hurt like a son of a gun.  ;)
Matthew had an appointment with his cleft team at the children's hospital.  Everything was going well until his ears started to drain clear fluid.  So after failing his hearing test again, they gave him some drops.  5 days later he had gross green pus coming out of his ear.  It happened at church so I decided to wait until the morning so that I could call his surgeon who put his tubes in to look at him rather than some one different.  The good news is tubes are still in place and everything is looking good. 
Becca had a cold with a mild cough.  She didn't get too sick and bounced back really quickly.  That's my girl, doesn't seem to miss a beat unless she is super ugly sick. 
Michael managed to one up his sister and got strep.  He then ended up have a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotic and ended up with hives covering his whole body and facial swelling.  The poor boy even had hives in his mouth.  He spent a couple of hours at the hospital getting dose after dose of medication to reduce the allergic reaction.  We got the lovely lecture from the  ER doctor that we need to call an ambulance the next time he gets a bad reaction like this.  I'm just hoping that he doesn't have a next time.   
Daniel must have been feeling left out of the loop of sickies cause he now has strep and pneumonia.  He is just in the beginning of his ordeal and we are waiting to see how bad his chest x ray is.  The poor boy is quite ill and spends most of the day on the couch with his monster truck. 
I can't leave DH out of the blog...he had his gout flair up in his ankle and has been limping around.  
I think that we have had our share now so I have spent the day cleaning like mad to try and rid our house of any remaining germs trying to hang out.  I would really like to get my hands on some of those CaviWipes, you know the super germ killer ones they have at the hospital.  They probably would be safer than my home made water/bleach spray bottle I carefully take around my house.  (I have dark blue carpet through out the house so I have nightmares about spilling it.  Can you imagine, YIKES!) 

6 Wonders for a Wonderful Boy

Happy 6 month birthday Matthew!

Here's 6 things all about you.

You:

smile

roll over

love rice cereal

giggle

sleep through the night

play peek-a-boo

growl

We love you!

Cupcake Galore!

This was a short week for the kids at school and since Valentines day is creeping up, I sent in some cupcakes for Michael and Becca's classes.  I am so proud of myself, just check them out...

Sharks for the boys...

Butterflies for the girls...

They were so much fun to make and my sister and I had a blast making about 80 cupcakes.

This was quite the undertaking let me tell you.  At several points in the day I was sure buying a box of cookies or a few bags of chips would have been a better idea.  Walking the cupcakes into the school reminded me why I wanted to do this in the first place, Mike and Becca brought the coolest snack that day!

Also this week Early Intervention came in to do Matthew's assessment.  Part of my wanted them to say that he was fine and that I was overreacting.  The other part of me was worried that they would over look what seemed so obvious to me.  If you watch Matthew play beside his cousin (who is the same age) no one can deny that she is leaps and bounds past him in development.  Matthew does have some delays and weaknesses.  We have been assigned to a theripist that will come every three weeks to help me work with Matthew.  In the mean time she gave us some exercises to do with him and I am excited to help him catch up. 

As for myself, I am STILL stuck on 16.5 lbs lost to date.  I'm trying really hard to remember that I only started my new lifestyle on Jan. 2 and that 16lbs is really good.  Ugh, I hate not having enough patience. 

Super Stars!

Rebecca is getting ready to take her RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) ballet exam.  She is in Grade one and is doing so well.  After speaking to her dance teacher last week Bec is more than ready and should do very well again this year.  Bec also got the highest Math test score this past week.  She was so proud and excited that everyone in the class clapped for her.  She continues so shine in her class at school and is so keen.  I love listening to her read to Daniel some evenings and she uses fun and cute voices to tell the stories.  Daniel just giggles and it's a great thing for a Mom to hear.

Michael's creativity sure does shine at home and school.  His art/math teacher is completely smitten with him and it shows.  He tries his very best for her and has learned alot.  I just love reading his weekly journal and the stories he write in his creative writing book.  He is excited to be starting soccer this spring and is SO excited for Cubs in April.  Every day he asks if we can go by his Cubs shirt and sash.

Daniel is such a good big brother.  I will often see him getting down on the floor with Matthew to play with him.  Daniel is now potty trained and is so proud of him self, he was so ready and trained himself.  Every morning Daniel packs his back pack and fills it with a few toys and his blanket.  When the twins get out of the van he always asks to go with them on the bus.  Daniel is so good about brushing his teeth, I swear he has his brush in his mouth every hour or so.  

Matthew is getting better with his development.  We are waiting for Early Intervention to come to our house to work with some of his delays.  He just started to put his fingers back up to his mouth this past week.  Matthew mostly plays with his feet, apparently they are the cats meow!  Matthew learned how to play peek-a-boo with his Grandma last week.  He has started solids and liked his rice cereal.  We tried oat cereal and that quickly became his favorite.  He is doing quite well with eating solids and shocked his speech pathologist and nutritionist.  

As for me, I am changing my life...for the better.  I have lost 16.5 lbs since Jan. 2/10 and if you find them, consider them a gift.  :P 

    

There isn't words...

...to fully describe how grateful I am for Matthew's doctors. 

Before:

After:

I only hope that one day I will be able to turn the table and help someone else as much as we have been helped and blessed. 

My Heros

M-masterful

I-imagination

C-charismatic

H-humorous

A-attitude

E-example

L-loving

R-reliant
E-energetic
B-brave
E-elegant
C-caring
C-curious
A-adorable

D-daring
A-adventurous
N-nailbiter
I-imaginative
E-elaborate
L-loving

M-mighty
A-adaptable
T-teeny
T-tenacious
H-happy
E-elect
W-willing