Maybe one day I will not start a blog commenting about how horrible I am about updating and ya-dee ya-dee ya-da! Well I have given myself 12 mins so let's get to the chase.
A TON has happen since my spring post, which I hope to actually break down in the next week into proper postings. Items covered will be:
1) The birth of our DAUGHTER
2) The sale/moving of our home
3) the building (or lack there of) of our new home
4) living at the farm
5) Starting Kindergarten
But for now let's cover NOW.
We are currently living with my inlaws, who have graciously welcomed us into their home since we sold our house on Aug 21 - so its almost already been 4 months! And, thankfully, general consensus of the house is a good 4 months. Winter is in full force, as to be expected. But it started later than usually and has been fairly kind. We did have about 4 days of -40, but hey I kind of like those days. You hunker down and power through and have the satisfaction of knowing not only did you survive -40, but you lived. Still did errands with the kids. Still kept going!
Life at the farm is pretty awesome, and will be that much more awesome when we are in our own home! But I am loving being out of town, away from the hustle and bustle. Even though going into town 2 or 3 times a day can be exhausting, and you work harder to be more strategic about getting EVERYTHING done once you are there, we are all really loving it .The boys love running around and having more freedom. I enjoy knowing I don't have to be constantly supervising them so they don't get kidnapped or hit by a car!
Lincoln is finally getting into the routine of Kindergarten. Even though each school day is met with "Is it full day or half day?" And a larger protest if it is full day, it is getting easier for him. We were very proud when his teacher awarded him student of the month for November - he was the second student to receive it in his class. And since the first month was spent with him crying every morning on his way to school - it was a big surprise and he has made great improvements! He can easily spell his name, and can identify almost all the letters. He recently came home with a picture that he drew of the Nativity scene - and it's pretty much the best thing ever. Joseph has 'giant arms and little feet' and Mary looks like an angel. And the angel doesn't look like an angel. And the sheep looks like porcupine and it is AWESOME. We are constantly amazed about how smart he is - he can grasp big concepts and has amazing follow up questions when he and Stephen discuss things like WW2. He also still has his moments when he doesn't get his way or Jack ruins something and its full on crying. But those getting farther between.
Jackson, wow, what do I say? Well let's start with the fact we went to a community supper tonight and in the course of the 2 hours there Jack ran around, jumping on random people's backs, climbing on other peoples tables to get a drink, and tried to shove the light saber he got up his nose. Stephen and I kept looking at each other like - who's kid is that?!?!? He is still completely fearless and a huge risk taker, which is most of the time, a lot of fun. We are really proud of the way he jumps whole heartily into life - always up for something new. He does take more energy than Lincoln - Jack will just decide it's time to go, whether we are at church or the store, and he will leave. So we have to watch him closely. It will be a bit more relaxing when we are out of the "Where is Jack?" stage. We also noticed recently he seems to identify with the villains more the super heros. As he runs around the house yelling, in the CUTEST deep voice "I AM CAPTAIN HOOK!" Or growling "I AM MEGATRON".... I hope this doesn't mean anything. But it is a bit concerning, ha ha ha. He would love to go to school with Lincoln, but I have told him he can't go until he is 4. In the mean time I have told him the the childcare at mom's group is his class. And he takes it quite seriously. He normally wouldn't stay in the child care, but since we have started going to 'school at church', he packs his backpack and enjoys his class. We even saw his 'teacher' at superstore the other day and he was quite excited! And of course we can't forget his trick that Stephen taught him ' pop his collar, point his fingers and say "EH!" Like the fonz. But of course Jack can't remember its 'eh' and always says 'D!".What a kid!
Ellianna.....our beautiful gift from the Lord, our sweet baby girl, Ellianna! Elli is a joy. She is cute and lovely and all things baby :) She is 4 months and can roll stomach to back, has a very strong neck and loves to talk. I am so glad to finally have a girl to talk to :) She loves to hold toys and is now even getting bored, and has to switch scenery or people to keep her entertained. She likes to sit in her bumbo chair on the counter best so she can be a part of all the action. When we lay her on her back, she always pulls her head up like she is trying to sit up - she has been doing that pretty much since birth. So strong. She can easily get to the middle of her back pulled up now. She has started teething, no teeth have cut yet but she loves to chew on everything, especially your hand. The boys ADORE her, and she is smothered in love from the moment she wakes until she goes to sleep. She is the first one Lincoln looks for when he gets home from school and there usually is a fight over her in the morning as each boy wants their own special cuddle time with her while waking up. She has decided not to use a soother, which is totally new for me. So far its been ok - but might be a problem when we start leaving her with Nana for the evening now that she is older. She is pretty good at napping, I'm able to lay her while she is still awake on our bed and most times she will just go to sleep. She is also a stomach sleeper, which is another first for us. She HATES her car seat, and has since birth , which makes life more difficult when we need to do errands or go anywhere with her. As soon as I lay her in her seat she starts screaming, and generally doesn't stop until we take her back out. Sometimes she falls asleep which is such a treat :) More often than not I have to pull her out of her seat and hold her while grocery shopping, which can be hard pushing the cart with one hand and managing a curious 3 yrs old, but some how we manage!
Stephen is working hard at building our house. He is very dedicated and excited to be homesteading. We built and awesome woodshed this summer - just using a hand saw, nails and hammer. It took a bit longer than if we were to use power tools but it was almost therapeutic doing it the old school way! He loves to chop wood and I lovingly call him my lumber jack. He has an awesome beard right now, as it's winter, and I really love it! My rugged mountain man!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Spring + New Life!
Life is wonderful, for the most part, these days. May finds us with Lincoln about to graduate preschool. Jackson becoming more mischievous everyday. I am 29 weeks pregnant with our third baby. Stephen is busy as always with the spring season at Paintball. We are in the midst of selling our house and gearing up to build out at the farm. Life is BUSY! But good!
Lincoln is 2 weeks away from being done preschool. He had a pretty good year. It was a battle getting him out the door most mornings - he is not a morning person. But he always had a great time at school. His teacher talked to us a few times about how quiet Lincoln is in class and how she would like him to relax more. So its been a process of us encouraging him to talk nice and loud to Mrs Geradts and other kids in his class. He's getting there :) He continues to amaze me at what he is learning from life, from us and at school. Literally a sponge. Letters continue to not be his strong point, but he is brilliant at building with duplo and lego and loves hot wheels and dinosaurs. He also can have the WORST attitude ever, and it can be very frustrating to deal with. He gets his mind set on something he wants and when we say no he does not take it well. We are trying to be consistent and cut out how much time he spend on the computer and ipad. Its much easier now that summer is here to keep them busy without all the gadgets! He has been our biggest challenge as parents, wouldn't should be surprising since he is the oldest and is the first to introduce us to the next stage of development.
Jackson continues to keep me on my toes and about 2 heartbeats away from a heart attack! He is 3 now and is only about 27lbs, which is really small for his age. Most 2 year olds are bigger than him. We recently under went a round of blood, urine and xray tests that would ordered through a pedatrician. We are still waiting for the results. It was not fun for him or for us to have to put him through all that, but we are thankful that we live in age where we might have some answers as to why he isn't growing. He is still mischivious as ever - likes to let himself out of the house if I don't keep the doors locked. Loves to climb up on my counter and eat sugar out of the sugar bowl or try to cut up his own orange, in the mean time cutting himself. Or how about the time he grabbed my longest knife and waved it up and down singing "I got two pickles, I've got to pickles,". Never. A. Dull. Moment. But at the same time he is my cuddliest, sweetest, most darling little boy. He likes to take my face in his hands and give me the sweetest 3 yr old kisses. He is ALWAYs good to cuddle, and most times his wrestle time with daddy will spontaously turn to cuddle time when mid wrestle he lays down on Stephens chest and snuggles in. He eats, breaths, and sleeps dinosaurs. Its amazing how many dinosaurs he can identify. Of course his ultimate is T-rex King of the dinos! "Draw T-rex mom!" Which is always followed by "Draw spinosaurus!" and then without fail "Draw stegosaurus!" He also has recently developed a love of transformers and I will often hear him, when playing buy himself, commanding his dinosaurs, to "Autbots! Transform + roll out!" He lowers his voice so deep, its darling :) For the most part he is a fairly obedient child, and is just starting to discover what asserting his own will is like. It will be an interesting next 6 months! He is the reason parents have developed leashes - he is wild and unpredictable, always marching to his own beat.
Stephen and I found out we were expecting in November. After holding our breath for 13 weeks we received an ultrasound and verified the baby was healthy and growing. We were so releaved and said many prayers of thanks. Its been a good pregnancy, but I'm not sure if its because its my third pregnancy or if its because I am just getting older, but i sure don't remember it being so hard on my body! I've had low blood pressure, which thankfully straightened itself out. I know have low iron, which I need to bring up before birth in order to reduce the chances of bleeding too much. I always get a sciatic nerve in my pregnancys, but this one seems to be the worst. Granted I am running after 2 (sometimes 7 if I have all the kids I babysit) and we have been packing, and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning as we try to sell out house. So I have been demanding a lot of my body and back. We are all anxious to meet this little one, feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to bring another one into our family and are all rooting for a girl :) Even the boys want a little sister. Lincoln sees that math just doesn't make sense - 3 boys in our family and only 1 girl? We need a girl mom! It has been amazing to watch Lincoln fall in love with this baby, as my tummy gets bigger and baby gets more active. He daily asks to give the baby a hug, wrapping his arms around my belly. He will talk to the baby saying "Hey! Are you a boy or a girl?" If I tell him the baby is kicking he eagerly trys to feel too. He has come to terms that it might not be a girl and told me the other day, "Mom even if its a boy I will still love that baby!" And he has also told me "Mom, I am going to love you so much more when you bring that baby home!" or the classic "Mom, I'm going to still love you even when you tummy gets this big!". Jack has been surprisingly indifferent, and actually a bit annoyed. This big belly gets in the way of his cuddling and mom isn't nearly as fun now that she can't wrestle or be jumped on! But he LOVES babies so I am sure he will warm up to his new sibling once he/she is here.
We are excited to be finally building our own house, and are blessed to be able to do it on Stephen's parents land. We have our house listed and are believing for a sale quickly so we can start selling. Winter threw us off a bit this year as it just kept going! We didn't see all the snow gone until the end of APRIL! And its only been gone from the farm since mid-may! We had record breaking amounts of snow this year. So everything is behind from getting the land subdivided to listing our house (we kept waiting for the spring market, except Spring just wouldn't come!)But we are hoping to start in the next couple of weeks and are really excited. It will be crazy with welcoming a new baby in the middle of it all. Especially since I won't be able to help as much as I would like too until probably a month after the baby comes, but we believe this is the right timing and the housing market is really strong here so we should do well on our house. We hope to have chickens, goats, a big garden and to really become more self reliant and get back to our roots. we want to raise our children working hard, doing chores, playing outside all day long.
So that is where we are in May 2013! I'm looking forward to no longer watching kids and just focusing on my, soon to be, 3 blessings!
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Lincoln is 2 weeks away from being done preschool. He had a pretty good year. It was a battle getting him out the door most mornings - he is not a morning person. But he always had a great time at school. His teacher talked to us a few times about how quiet Lincoln is in class and how she would like him to relax more. So its been a process of us encouraging him to talk nice and loud to Mrs Geradts and other kids in his class. He's getting there :) He continues to amaze me at what he is learning from life, from us and at school. Literally a sponge. Letters continue to not be his strong point, but he is brilliant at building with duplo and lego and loves hot wheels and dinosaurs. He also can have the WORST attitude ever, and it can be very frustrating to deal with. He gets his mind set on something he wants and when we say no he does not take it well. We are trying to be consistent and cut out how much time he spend on the computer and ipad. Its much easier now that summer is here to keep them busy without all the gadgets! He has been our biggest challenge as parents, wouldn't should be surprising since he is the oldest and is the first to introduce us to the next stage of development.
Jackson continues to keep me on my toes and about 2 heartbeats away from a heart attack! He is 3 now and is only about 27lbs, which is really small for his age. Most 2 year olds are bigger than him. We recently under went a round of blood, urine and xray tests that would ordered through a pedatrician. We are still waiting for the results. It was not fun for him or for us to have to put him through all that, but we are thankful that we live in age where we might have some answers as to why he isn't growing. He is still mischivious as ever - likes to let himself out of the house if I don't keep the doors locked. Loves to climb up on my counter and eat sugar out of the sugar bowl or try to cut up his own orange, in the mean time cutting himself. Or how about the time he grabbed my longest knife and waved it up and down singing "I got two pickles, I've got to pickles,". Never. A. Dull. Moment. But at the same time he is my cuddliest, sweetest, most darling little boy. He likes to take my face in his hands and give me the sweetest 3 yr old kisses. He is ALWAYs good to cuddle, and most times his wrestle time with daddy will spontaously turn to cuddle time when mid wrestle he lays down on Stephens chest and snuggles in. He eats, breaths, and sleeps dinosaurs. Its amazing how many dinosaurs he can identify. Of course his ultimate is T-rex King of the dinos! "Draw T-rex mom!" Which is always followed by "Draw spinosaurus!" and then without fail "Draw stegosaurus!" He also has recently developed a love of transformers and I will often hear him, when playing buy himself, commanding his dinosaurs, to "Autbots! Transform + roll out!" He lowers his voice so deep, its darling :) For the most part he is a fairly obedient child, and is just starting to discover what asserting his own will is like. It will be an interesting next 6 months! He is the reason parents have developed leashes - he is wild and unpredictable, always marching to his own beat.
Stephen and I found out we were expecting in November. After holding our breath for 13 weeks we received an ultrasound and verified the baby was healthy and growing. We were so releaved and said many prayers of thanks. Its been a good pregnancy, but I'm not sure if its because its my third pregnancy or if its because I am just getting older, but i sure don't remember it being so hard on my body! I've had low blood pressure, which thankfully straightened itself out. I know have low iron, which I need to bring up before birth in order to reduce the chances of bleeding too much. I always get a sciatic nerve in my pregnancys, but this one seems to be the worst. Granted I am running after 2 (sometimes 7 if I have all the kids I babysit) and we have been packing, and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning as we try to sell out house. So I have been demanding a lot of my body and back. We are all anxious to meet this little one, feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to bring another one into our family and are all rooting for a girl :) Even the boys want a little sister. Lincoln sees that math just doesn't make sense - 3 boys in our family and only 1 girl? We need a girl mom! It has been amazing to watch Lincoln fall in love with this baby, as my tummy gets bigger and baby gets more active. He daily asks to give the baby a hug, wrapping his arms around my belly. He will talk to the baby saying "Hey! Are you a boy or a girl?" If I tell him the baby is kicking he eagerly trys to feel too. He has come to terms that it might not be a girl and told me the other day, "Mom even if its a boy I will still love that baby!" And he has also told me "Mom, I am going to love you so much more when you bring that baby home!" or the classic "Mom, I'm going to still love you even when you tummy gets this big!". Jack has been surprisingly indifferent, and actually a bit annoyed. This big belly gets in the way of his cuddling and mom isn't nearly as fun now that she can't wrestle or be jumped on! But he LOVES babies so I am sure he will warm up to his new sibling once he/she is here.
We are excited to be finally building our own house, and are blessed to be able to do it on Stephen's parents land. We have our house listed and are believing for a sale quickly so we can start selling. Winter threw us off a bit this year as it just kept going! We didn't see all the snow gone until the end of APRIL! And its only been gone from the farm since mid-may! We had record breaking amounts of snow this year. So everything is behind from getting the land subdivided to listing our house (we kept waiting for the spring market, except Spring just wouldn't come!)But we are hoping to start in the next couple of weeks and are really excited. It will be crazy with welcoming a new baby in the middle of it all. Especially since I won't be able to help as much as I would like too until probably a month after the baby comes, but we believe this is the right timing and the housing market is really strong here so we should do well on our house. We hope to have chickens, goats, a big garden and to really become more self reliant and get back to our roots. we want to raise our children working hard, doing chores, playing outside all day long.
So that is where we are in May 2013! I'm looking forward to no longer watching kids and just focusing on my, soon to be, 3 blessings!
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Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Typical
It seems to be a trend that I post faithful for a season, and then drop off the face of blog earth. This time I intentionally stopped blogging in June. We walked through a very sad time in our little families life. And I didn't not have the energy for quite a while to celebrate and track what was going on. On June 12th, 2012 I miscarried our 4th child (we have had one previous miscarriage). I was 9 weeks along and the bleeding started out of no where. Initially I wasn't worried, I choosing to be hopeful and positive, giving my body the benefit of the doubt. When the bleeding didn't stop, but nor had it increased, by the next morning, we decided I should go into ER to get checked out - since it was a Sunday. We were unable to schedule an ultra sound until the following day, so the Dr took my blood and checked my levels. At that point, since I was not cramping, and my levels were still good they were still optimistic. But told me if anything changed to come back in. By afternoon the cramping started and I knew it was the end of our pregnancy. We were heart broken to say the least. There is something about miscarrying AFTER you have had the joy of carrying one (or more) babies to full term and having the privilege of raising them. I simply rested, it was all I could do. I continued to bleed and cramp, but thankfully it wasn't that painful. The next day, Monday, I went into the ER to have my ultrasound. This is my second time having an ultrasound far to early in a pregnancy. The second time I have laid on the bed in the hospital holding back tears as I knew what they would say. After waiting a while the Dr called us in and confirmed that yes, the ultrasound showed no sign of life, the baby had probably died around the 6 week mark. Of course, there wasn't anything they could do. They offered to give me a medication to help everything pass, but we declined. I didn't want to interrupt what my body had started. So we went home, and continued to wait. By this point I had been bleeding for 2 full days, and cramping for a day and a half. It wasn't until the third day, a Tuesday, that mercifully, I miscarried our wee one. I was prepared, and had pulled out an old baby blanket both the boys had used. I was able to save the remains, and wrapped them in the blanket - I tried to give our precious baby a tiny bit of dignity.
The miscarriage itself was painless, which I can only say was the Grace of God. Our first miscarriage was extremely painful, almost violent. It was fast and left me in shock as to what my body had just been through. I was very concerned during this miscarriage that it would be just as painful, and that my boys would see me in such pain. But on the Tuesday morning, I woke up and realized my cramps were gone. When I did pass the baby, I felt incredible amount of peace and reassurance. Not that it was extremely sad, don't get me wrong, my heart was breaking - but I felt safe. I felt His presence in the midst of my pain.
About a week after I miscarried we bought a Dahlia Perennial bush and planted it, as well as the baby blanket with the remains of our baby, our at Stephen's parents farm. His mother has a beautiful garden that she takes much pride in - I knew it would be a safe and respectful place to lay our baby to rest and to honor him/her with a beautiful bush that I will watch bloom every year.
When I was in the midst of miscarrying, we saw a seat sale come up for Turkey. We were already planning on Stephen doing a big trip this year, a birthday gift from in honor of his 30th birthday. The price of the tickets were perfectly priced that we could both go to Turkey for what I had already saved for a ticket for him. We saw the timing as nothing short as a small blessing from the Lord. So we booked 2 tickets (well actually 3, as his brother was coming with us) for October. Our trip was amazing, and a great time for us to reconnect as friends, and as husband and wife. But it was also bitter, in the fact that I knew the only reason I was there was because we had lost a baby. On my flight home, I was reading my Bible, and I felt the Lord say "The grieving period is over. Another child is coming!".
So that is it. It took a lot longer to heal from our miscarriage than I imagined. Which is why I didn't feel right about blogging. There are still evenings that I cry, especially as we draw closer to our due date - Jan 15, 2013. And the pain ran much deeper than I imagined as well. But if anything it reaffirmed that I am truly a mother. And that parents are not supposed to out live their children.
At this point, I do and I don't take comfort that I have 2 children in Heaven. It feels weird. And wrong, even though I know in my head that they are in a perfect place with our Savior who has perfect love, I can't help feel like what is more perfect than a mother's love (don't get me wrong, i know my love has a plethora of short comings). Its just not as simple as being thankful they are in Heaven, bc selfishly, I want them here, with me. It hurts my heart more than anyone can know when I think about that fact that I never had a chance to even hold those children, to know their gender - to smell their scent. I'm sure the Lord is not done his work in me in this area yet.
So that was our summer. And now we wait, for our next child!
The miscarriage itself was painless, which I can only say was the Grace of God. Our first miscarriage was extremely painful, almost violent. It was fast and left me in shock as to what my body had just been through. I was very concerned during this miscarriage that it would be just as painful, and that my boys would see me in such pain. But on the Tuesday morning, I woke up and realized my cramps were gone. When I did pass the baby, I felt incredible amount of peace and reassurance. Not that it was extremely sad, don't get me wrong, my heart was breaking - but I felt safe. I felt His presence in the midst of my pain.
About a week after I miscarried we bought a Dahlia Perennial bush and planted it, as well as the baby blanket with the remains of our baby, our at Stephen's parents farm. His mother has a beautiful garden that she takes much pride in - I knew it would be a safe and respectful place to lay our baby to rest and to honor him/her with a beautiful bush that I will watch bloom every year.
When I was in the midst of miscarrying, we saw a seat sale come up for Turkey. We were already planning on Stephen doing a big trip this year, a birthday gift from in honor of his 30th birthday. The price of the tickets were perfectly priced that we could both go to Turkey for what I had already saved for a ticket for him. We saw the timing as nothing short as a small blessing from the Lord. So we booked 2 tickets (well actually 3, as his brother was coming with us) for October. Our trip was amazing, and a great time for us to reconnect as friends, and as husband and wife. But it was also bitter, in the fact that I knew the only reason I was there was because we had lost a baby. On my flight home, I was reading my Bible, and I felt the Lord say "The grieving period is over. Another child is coming!".
So that is it. It took a lot longer to heal from our miscarriage than I imagined. Which is why I didn't feel right about blogging. There are still evenings that I cry, especially as we draw closer to our due date - Jan 15, 2013. And the pain ran much deeper than I imagined as well. But if anything it reaffirmed that I am truly a mother. And that parents are not supposed to out live their children.
At this point, I do and I don't take comfort that I have 2 children in Heaven. It feels weird. And wrong, even though I know in my head that they are in a perfect place with our Savior who has perfect love, I can't help feel like what is more perfect than a mother's love (don't get me wrong, i know my love has a plethora of short comings). Its just not as simple as being thankful they are in Heaven, bc selfishly, I want them here, with me. It hurts my heart more than anyone can know when I think about that fact that I never had a chance to even hold those children, to know their gender - to smell their scent. I'm sure the Lord is not done his work in me in this area yet.
So that was our summer. And now we wait, for our next child!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Another Winnipeg Trip
We just got back from another quick trip to visit with my family. Stephen has started a paintball team through Prairie Storm Paintball, and they were playing in their first tournment in Steinbach this weekend. So it worked out great for us to tag along and see my family.
On Friday we took the boys swimming at the water park in Steinbach. Saturday was my lovely sister in-laws birthday so my mom and I whisked her away and took her for icecream (all 3 of us are quite fond of chocolate + peanut butter) Later that evening we celebrated Corissa's and my dad's birthdays. On Sunday my mom and I were able to get to the mall for a few hours without the kids, which was a treat for me! The rest of the weekend was spent in my parent's amazing backyard, the kids could not get enough. To top it off, on Monday I was able to see my gorgeous friend Danene at the womens program she is running with Teen Challenge outside of Brandon. We toured the farm they are running and finally got see where she has been putting her passion and skills for the last 6 months. It was a great weekend.
On Friday we took the boys swimming at the water park in Steinbach. Saturday was my lovely sister in-laws birthday so my mom and I whisked her away and took her for icecream (all 3 of us are quite fond of chocolate + peanut butter) Later that evening we celebrated Corissa's and my dad's birthdays. On Sunday my mom and I were able to get to the mall for a few hours without the kids, which was a treat for me! The rest of the weekend was spent in my parent's amazing backyard, the kids could not get enough. To top it off, on Monday I was able to see my gorgeous friend Danene at the womens program she is running with Teen Challenge outside of Brandon. We toured the farm they are running and finally got see where she has been putting her passion and skills for the last 6 months. It was a great weekend.
Guardian Angels
May has been a busy, typical month. In consistent weather, as usual has marked our Canadian spring. Some days as warm at +27 then we will have a week of +5 and rain. But as the month comes to an end the weather is warming, flowers are blooming and gardens are being planted. Of course not MY garden, oh no, it would not be a typical spring if I wasn't a good 2 weeks behind everyone else getting their garden in!
May has been a month of hair raising events as we have learned the hard way that Jackson is to adventurous for his own good. The first event took place one day when I had the boys in the backyard. I had latched the gate and ran back inside to grab my phone from the living room. All week I had an unexplainable nagging anxiety about Jackson getting out of the backyard and making his way to our street. I couldn't explain why I felt that way, as our backyard gate has a high lock on it that I was certain he was safe back there. As I was in the living room, grabbing my phone, for some reason I looked up and out my front window onto our street. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I say my itty bitty Jack walking down our street in his blue and red rubber boots. My heart stopped, I screamed "JACKSON!" and sprinted through the front door, across the yard and scooped him up. I couldn't figure out how he got out of the yard. I was pretty shaken up, as we live on a some what busy street and right near a corner that is very busy. I definitely shed some tears as I held him that night whispering prayers of thanksgiving to God for his hand of protection on my little Jack. (after the incident, I put Jack into the backyard and hid to see if he had let himself out or if one of the kids I had been watching forgot to latch the gate. To my amazement Jack did not waste anytime climbing the bottom part of the fence, reaching as tall as he could go and successfully unhooking the latch. We have since move the latch higher, much to Jack's disapointment.)
The second incident took place at Chapters a few nights later. I was watching both boys, as Stephen and I take turns going and looking at books that interest us. I had taken my eyes off of Jack for no more than 3 seconds to make sure Linc was still playing ok and when I turned around, Jack was gone. I have had boys wonder off before, but usually are not far. But this time as I quickly checked the rows of books that were closest to Jack and realized he was not in any of them, my anxiety grew. I continued to make my circle of search larger and larger, dragging Lincoln along with me with an undeniable look of panic on my face in my movement. A wonderful grandmother who had her grandchildren there noticed my panic and simply said "Can you find him?" I said "No." And she began to search with me. Thankfully Stephen returned and I told him panicky, "I can't find Jack." He took off up the main aisle. As I turned around to expand my search further, my mind taking me to worse and worse scenarios as every second ticks by, I glance up and see Jackson trailing behind a chapters working who was saying, "is your mom back here?". I ran to him and grabbed him whispering "Im sorry." She told me she had found him at the front of the store. The kids section was at the back. Once again, his guardian angels were working over time.
The final incident that happened was only a few days after the Chapters incident. Jack has discovered how to let himself out of the backdoor at Stephen's parents house. He had let himself out, but Stephen's dad and brother were sitting on the patio so they were watching him. They were unaware that Jack is, what we lovingly call, a runner, and so stopped watching him for a minute or two. When Stephen's dad realized Jack was no where to be seen, he started the search. He found Jack had walked down the hill, through the garden, over the dirt road that leads to the paintball (and it was a sunday, so a busy day at paintball) and was walking down the hill that leads to the the highway. THE HIGHWAY.
I have learned 2 things during that time period. 1. Jackson is extremely adventurous and we now watch him like a hawk, and even have this cute frog backpack he likes to wear that has a leash on the back. 2. God has BIG plans for Jacksons life, for the amount that he has spared him in just that short week, it is exciting. But I am sure I have shortened my life my several days, if not years, with the amount of stress I have experienced with him. Lincoln was never like that, always cautious, always aware, always satisfied to explore with us.
May has been a month of hair raising events as we have learned the hard way that Jackson is to adventurous for his own good. The first event took place one day when I had the boys in the backyard. I had latched the gate and ran back inside to grab my phone from the living room. All week I had an unexplainable nagging anxiety about Jackson getting out of the backyard and making his way to our street. I couldn't explain why I felt that way, as our backyard gate has a high lock on it that I was certain he was safe back there. As I was in the living room, grabbing my phone, for some reason I looked up and out my front window onto our street. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I say my itty bitty Jack walking down our street in his blue and red rubber boots. My heart stopped, I screamed "JACKSON!" and sprinted through the front door, across the yard and scooped him up. I couldn't figure out how he got out of the yard. I was pretty shaken up, as we live on a some what busy street and right near a corner that is very busy. I definitely shed some tears as I held him that night whispering prayers of thanksgiving to God for his hand of protection on my little Jack. (after the incident, I put Jack into the backyard and hid to see if he had let himself out or if one of the kids I had been watching forgot to latch the gate. To my amazement Jack did not waste anytime climbing the bottom part of the fence, reaching as tall as he could go and successfully unhooking the latch. We have since move the latch higher, much to Jack's disapointment.)
The second incident took place at Chapters a few nights later. I was watching both boys, as Stephen and I take turns going and looking at books that interest us. I had taken my eyes off of Jack for no more than 3 seconds to make sure Linc was still playing ok and when I turned around, Jack was gone. I have had boys wonder off before, but usually are not far. But this time as I quickly checked the rows of books that were closest to Jack and realized he was not in any of them, my anxiety grew. I continued to make my circle of search larger and larger, dragging Lincoln along with me with an undeniable look of panic on my face in my movement. A wonderful grandmother who had her grandchildren there noticed my panic and simply said "Can you find him?" I said "No." And she began to search with me. Thankfully Stephen returned and I told him panicky, "I can't find Jack." He took off up the main aisle. As I turned around to expand my search further, my mind taking me to worse and worse scenarios as every second ticks by, I glance up and see Jackson trailing behind a chapters working who was saying, "is your mom back here?". I ran to him and grabbed him whispering "Im sorry." She told me she had found him at the front of the store. The kids section was at the back. Once again, his guardian angels were working over time.
The final incident that happened was only a few days after the Chapters incident. Jack has discovered how to let himself out of the backdoor at Stephen's parents house. He had let himself out, but Stephen's dad and brother were sitting on the patio so they were watching him. They were unaware that Jack is, what we lovingly call, a runner, and so stopped watching him for a minute or two. When Stephen's dad realized Jack was no where to be seen, he started the search. He found Jack had walked down the hill, through the garden, over the dirt road that leads to the paintball (and it was a sunday, so a busy day at paintball) and was walking down the hill that leads to the the highway. THE HIGHWAY.
I have learned 2 things during that time period. 1. Jackson is extremely adventurous and we now watch him like a hawk, and even have this cute frog backpack he likes to wear that has a leash on the back. 2. God has BIG plans for Jacksons life, for the amount that he has spared him in just that short week, it is exciting. But I am sure I have shortened my life my several days, if not years, with the amount of stress I have experienced with him. Lincoln was never like that, always cautious, always aware, always satisfied to explore with us.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Lincoln's 4th Birthday(s)
We celebrated Lincoln's 4th birthday three times this year! First was in Winnipeg, when we went up for Easter and my mom threw a birthday party for all three of her grandboys! We went to Kid City where the kids played and played and then we had individual cakes and gifts for each of the boys! They were thoroughly spoiled, and it was a great time spent with my family.
On Lincoln's actual birthdate we spent the day at the farm. It was a sunday so Stephen had to work, but he still had fun playing with his cousins at Grandma + Grandpa's all day. We gave him a few gifts in the morning and I brought out cupcakes to enjoy with everyone after dinner.
As much as I love putting on fun birthdays for my boys, this year our birthday season (what I so lovingly call the period between March 28th - April 21st as Jack, Linc and my birthdays all fall during that period) was exhuasting. So I ended up postponing Linc's birthday party until almost a month after his birthdate, to give me some time to excited about it again.
After go back and forth between Lincoln wanting a lego birthday or a race care birthday, he finally decided that it was going to be Lego this year. I was thrilled as I had a lot of ideas off of pinterest. Plus our little family LOVES lego. Like seriously loves. Let's just say when Lincoln was 3 days old on our first family outing we took him to a toy store where Stephen bought him his first Lego set. A little red fire truck and wagon. We've been collecting lego ever since. Lincoln finally in the last few months has gotten to a point where he really enjoys playing Lego with Stephen, and I am constantly picking up lego pieces scattered around the house. Lego is such a fantastic toy, totally encourages creative thinking, imagination and problem solving. Love it.
We invited Lincoln's 3 cousins, Ezra, Francesca, and Cosette. We also invited 3 children that I babysit, who also happen to be Stephen's cousins kids, Abby, Emma, and Aaron. Abby is Lincoln's 'best friend' right now. So cute. Plus, Stephen's family and my cousin Carey was the lone brave non Dombowsky to come and represent my side!
We started the evening with Pizza and playing. After a little while Stephen set up the ramp for the Lego Stock Car races. They had fun taking turns racing their cars and seeing who won. Most cars fell off the edge before making it to the bottom, but they still had lots of fun!
After the races we opened gifts. Linc got some great gifts, but was most excited about the Dinosaur Lego set we got him. Dinos + Lego? My 4yr olds 2 favorite things. yup it was a hit!
Of course we then moved onto to cake, as the kids were so anxious to get into that cake!
I also had a lot of fun putting together Lego themed favor bags for the kids. I printed their names in the Lego font, made little note pads with their first initial out of lego, made Lego man crayons, and bought lego brick candies:
It was a lot of fun. But I'm glad it over... ha ha ha!
On Lincoln's actual birthdate we spent the day at the farm. It was a sunday so Stephen had to work, but he still had fun playing with his cousins at Grandma + Grandpa's all day. We gave him a few gifts in the morning and I brought out cupcakes to enjoy with everyone after dinner.
As much as I love putting on fun birthdays for my boys, this year our birthday season (what I so lovingly call the period between March 28th - April 21st as Jack, Linc and my birthdays all fall during that period) was exhuasting. So I ended up postponing Linc's birthday party until almost a month after his birthdate, to give me some time to excited about it again.
After go back and forth between Lincoln wanting a lego birthday or a race care birthday, he finally decided that it was going to be Lego this year. I was thrilled as I had a lot of ideas off of pinterest. Plus our little family LOVES lego. Like seriously loves. Let's just say when Lincoln was 3 days old on our first family outing we took him to a toy store where Stephen bought him his first Lego set. A little red fire truck and wagon. We've been collecting lego ever since. Lincoln finally in the last few months has gotten to a point where he really enjoys playing Lego with Stephen, and I am constantly picking up lego pieces scattered around the house. Lego is such a fantastic toy, totally encourages creative thinking, imagination and problem solving. Love it.
We invited Lincoln's 3 cousins, Ezra, Francesca, and Cosette. We also invited 3 children that I babysit, who also happen to be Stephen's cousins kids, Abby, Emma, and Aaron. Abby is Lincoln's 'best friend' right now. So cute. Plus, Stephen's family and my cousin Carey was the lone brave non Dombowsky to come and represent my side!
We started the evening with Pizza and playing. After a little while Stephen set up the ramp for the Lego Stock Car races. They had fun taking turns racing their cars and seeing who won. Most cars fell off the edge before making it to the bottom, but they still had lots of fun!
After the races we opened gifts. Linc got some great gifts, but was most excited about the Dinosaur Lego set we got him. Dinos + Lego? My 4yr olds 2 favorite things. yup it was a hit!
Of course we then moved onto to cake, as the kids were so anxious to get into that cake!
I also had a lot of fun putting together Lego themed favor bags for the kids. I printed their names in the Lego font, made little note pads with their first initial out of lego, made Lego man crayons, and bought lego brick candies:
It was a lot of fun. But I'm glad it over... ha ha ha!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Jack Jack turns 2!
Besides birthing my children, there is nothing more that I love doing than celebrating their birthdays! I love to celebrate in general, and birthdays are a really special to me. Plus, having kids I find I no longer have as many creative outlets, so I tend to really enjoy putting together themed parties! Enter Jackson turning 2! We decided to go for an airplane theme, since Jack Jack loves anything that has wheels - semis (he calls them prime, as in Optimus), trains, and planes (which living near the airbase he regularly informs me when he hears a plane passing over the house) Plus I found a really great airplane cake idea online! Jack is such a fun loving kid, loves to make people laugh, and is always good for whatever is going down.
On his birthday we decided to take the boys to Regina, their favorite place to go. I know, horribly sad, but if it makes them happy. First we set up this silly streamer and balloon wall for Jack to see when he first woke up. He and Linc loved to run through it. Then we gave him his gift, which was this loud and obnoxious fire truck called Smokey. It's pretty much a toy fire truck on drugs. It sings, dances, shoots balls and apparently says 95 different sayins. But he loved it. Then it was time to go to Regina. First we took the boys to the museum. They liked it, mostly enjoyed being able to run around freely. Jack was definitely terrified of the mechanical T-rex, and Lincoln wouldn't even go in the same room as it, but I think they had fun. Then we had a ton of errands to run for the business and for Jack's party. So we hauled them around and Jack missed his nap, which made for a very crazy afternoon! We got home very late, and I wasn't feeling well so I had a nap while Stephen played with the boys. We then sang Happy Birthday to our little man and put him to bed.
For his birthday party we had so much fun! We invited Great Grandma + Great Grandpa Siggelkow, my Uncle Brent + Aunty Cheryl, Mike + Debby, Aunty Elise, Uncle Luke, Aunty Emily, Uncle Braden + Aunty Nina and cousins Ezra, Francesca, Cosette, Marcy + Dwight with Gabby +Amara, Brent + Janice and their son Soren. It was a packed basement. We let the kids play and adults talk. We ate food and laughed at the kids. We then opened gifts, ate cake and called it a day! The kids are still so young doing any type of organized activity. Jack loved it when everyone sang. I know because he got all bashful and shy. He actually started acting shy for the first time at his birthday party. I do mean literally acting - he is such a ham!
On his birthday we decided to take the boys to Regina, their favorite place to go. I know, horribly sad, but if it makes them happy. First we set up this silly streamer and balloon wall for Jack to see when he first woke up. He and Linc loved to run through it. Then we gave him his gift, which was this loud and obnoxious fire truck called Smokey. It's pretty much a toy fire truck on drugs. It sings, dances, shoots balls and apparently says 95 different sayins. But he loved it. Then it was time to go to Regina. First we took the boys to the museum. They liked it, mostly enjoyed being able to run around freely. Jack was definitely terrified of the mechanical T-rex, and Lincoln wouldn't even go in the same room as it, but I think they had fun. Then we had a ton of errands to run for the business and for Jack's party. So we hauled them around and Jack missed his nap, which made for a very crazy afternoon! We got home very late, and I wasn't feeling well so I had a nap while Stephen played with the boys. We then sang Happy Birthday to our little man and put him to bed.
For his birthday party we had so much fun! We invited Great Grandma + Great Grandpa Siggelkow, my Uncle Brent + Aunty Cheryl, Mike + Debby, Aunty Elise, Uncle Luke, Aunty Emily, Uncle Braden + Aunty Nina and cousins Ezra, Francesca, Cosette, Marcy + Dwight with Gabby +Amara, Brent + Janice and their son Soren. It was a packed basement. We let the kids play and adults talk. We ate food and laughed at the kids. We then opened gifts, ate cake and called it a day! The kids are still so young doing any type of organized activity. Jack loved it when everyone sang. I know because he got all bashful and shy. He actually started acting shy for the first time at his birthday party. I do mean literally acting - he is such a ham!
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