Kelowna, Vernon and Big White

Hi everyone!

This past weekend we decided to take a trip off the island to visit my dad in Vernon before he heads back to Ontario. Mark's brother's family was also up at Big White skiing for the March break so it was fitting to go and see them as well. They hadn't met Julean yet and Kian wanted to see his cousins again.


Boy! There sure is lots of snow!

The trip went surprisingly well. I was somewhat dreading it with two children under 5 for 9 hours in the car, but I must say that I am extremely proud of them both for being so well behaved. All I could think of before we set out was the trip from hell when Kian was 6 weeks old and we tried to drive from Ottawa to Niagara. Mark mentioned that there was no train option this time for the way home, good thing I was thinking ahead and packed the gravol! I am very happy to say that it was not needed and would not hesitate to take the boys somewhere for a long ride in the car again. Although I would get some other movies from the library. I think Mark and I have both had enough of Babar for a very long time!

It was very nice to see Jeremy, Leanne and the girls again. Kian had a fantastic time playing in the snow with them. It was the only snow that he saw this year and I think he really enjoyed it. He is also really excited to start skiing next year seeing all the skiers on the hill. Mark and I decided that we wouldn't ski this year. He is at the tail end of his recovery from his break and should still be taking it easy and since I'm nursing I would have to be off the hill every hour to feed Julean. It wasn't worth the big expense this year. Next year Kian will be three and ready to start skiing so it will be more fun to do it as a family.



Uh... I think I'm stuck...


I am stuck!


I think we need to call Fireman Sam!

Some more photos to keep you updated.



Apres ski


Advertisement for Phil and Teds strollers!


Cousins on the gondola


Mom and boys on the gondola


It sure is bright out here!


Cousins going for a slide


Uncle Jeremy, Sophie and Kian


Kian enjoying the snow

The reason we moved to BC - the scenery!



The wall of fog on the Coquihalla

Photos Update

Julean 3 1/2 months

I thought I would update some photos since I have some. It is definitely harder to take photos with two kids and I see why the second child has no photos! I have been trying to rectify this problem but I'm not sure how successful I am being. I guess this blog is actually forcing me to take some so I have something to post!

Enjoy!


Chocolate face


Missing the goats over the winter



Julean playing in the "circle-of-neglect"


Julean in his high chair (3 months)


Cuddles for my gymnastics instructor, Lynn


Gymnastics with daddy


Mountain goats: Shauna, jacob and Kian


Kian smelling the daffodils

Definitely Spring

Plum blossoms


Leisure suit Larry!

It is definitely spring in Victoria now. Mark and I have been out in the garden for weeks now and the trees have been blooming since mid January, the flowers are all in bloom and have also been for weeks but today Mark was cutting the grass! Okay, big deal you say, but we don't cut our grass until we feel guilty because the neighbours have cut theirs 15 times before we cut ours once. In fact, last year we cut our grass a total of 4 times in the entire year. Kian was out helping daddy cut the grass today. I was afraid the neighbours would come out and call it child labour or something.


Plum blossoms

We have been spending more and more time outside now. The weather has been beautiful and we have been working our butts off in the garden so that we can plant some vegetables this year and get our flower beds to start looking like they are loved. They have been neglected for so long now that the bulbs have taken over and it has been a struggle to get them all out of the garden. I think this will be a battle for years to come. We have also been rebuilding the rock walls and make new beds to line the driveway. Kian has been very Buddhist and relocating all the worms to new homes in the other gardens. I looked up as he asked me a question the other day, and to my horror saw that he had a riggiling hand of worms that needed homes. Yuck!


Daffodils

Kian and Julean have been enjoying the new environment to play in after being inside for the "winter". I am starting to get a little bored with play groups myself and enjoy the change of scenery. Kian's favourite thing is to play "fireman Sam" and unroll the garden hose and drag it all around the yard to put out various fires. Julean loves watching him and I'm sure that eventually he will be playing fireman with his big brother. He is already playing the role of the "damsel in distress" as the play house catches fire and Kian has to put it out.


Jolly jumper in the tree outside so mom can garden!

Other than that not too much is new in our lives. We are planning to visit Mark's brother and family when they go to Kelowna at the end of this week for a ski vacation. Not too sure if they will have snow, but we would love for them to finally meet Julean regardless. Mark is at the tail end of the no jumping, running and heavy impact portion after the cast came off his leg so he won't be skiing and there really isn't any point to me skiing on my own since I would have to be off the hill every hour to feed Julean. So this year is all about the visiting and NEXT year will be all about the skiing! We will also be seeing Opa before he heads back to Ontario for the sailing season.


Julean as Gilligan (3 months)

Hope all are well and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new baby cousin for Kian and Julean any day now. Jessica and Andre are expecting their first child sometime in the next week (if they aren't having it as I write this!).

Sick , Sick , Sick again...

Okay, so I started a post a week ago and thought I would add photos to it later. It was supposed to be about the party that we had for Mark on his birthday and maybe about going to the Chinese New Year celebrations downtown but as you can se that never materialized. In fact we didn't make it to the New Year celebrations at all and Mark's party, it turned out, sort of happened between all the sickness.

Last Thursday Kian got up from his afternoon nap and told me that his stomach hurt. I thought it was because he had eaten this HUGE cookie with his lunch. As it turned out he threw up all over the floor, not once but three times. He likes to call it barf. So he barfed all over the floor, the couch, his bed.... Mark came home from work a little early to help me out. Julean was also having a tough day but that was because he was - is - teething. Not so much fun for mom that day.

The next morning Kian woke up in a good mood and everything was back to normal. The party would be a go and we could get ready for the on-slot of parents and children to come to our house for Mark's birthday. We had a great time and there were may left overs to be had.

That night Kian was sick again, this time in his bed at 2 am. Great time to give a toddler a bath, so Mark took him to the spare room and lay down with him. He was sick again. Needless to say, by this time the washing machine has been going non-stop. THe next morning he was back to his usual self. We went about our routine as usual, but as it turns out the following night Mark and I were both sick at the same time. Mark seemed to recover fairly quickly. It took me the better part of the next day to get through before I was feeling a little better. Thankfully Julean never got the flu.

After the flu leveled the house, Kian got a lovely chest cold which lead to the ear infection and a couple trips to the doctor's office. Mark and I both managed to get the out-skirts of the cold, Julean seemed to get the cough part which is now bronchitis. Now everyone is on some sort of antibiotic and hopefully on the mend. I have been to the doctor's office for one or the other 4 times this week.

Other than the sickness part, Julean went for his three month check up. He is now 15 lbs! That's half of Kian's weight! Guess he is eating well. The weather has been gorgeous despite what the weather forecasters have been saying. We have been outside everyday working in the garden and BBQing. Things are starting to come along outside and we can't wait to actually start planting stuff. Apparently it is still early and we need to wait just a little longer. All the crocuses are out as well as the daffodils, snowdrops, forsithia, plum and cherry blossoms and a number of other things that I don't know the names of. Things are starting to look a lot like spring around here.

Stepping in Pee-School

Chatter box!

How time flies! This past weekend Mark and I signed Kian up for pre-school. I can't believe that he is already 2 1/2 years old! The pre school is will be going to is really nice and Mark and I really struggled to get Kian to leave after the open house was over. I guess he isn't going to have a hard time there at all! I was surprised with myself actually. Not getting all emotional about my baby going to pre school and actually asking all the questions and doing all the paper work. Maybe I just really need a break! Or I have just gone to too many play groups and they all blend together. It's a co-op pre school which means that I put in a day a month. I don't mind because I will get to see what he is doing and get involved with the school. We will see how I do when September comes and he is off to pre school for the first time!


Smartie face. Do you eat the blue ones last?

Kian is also signed up for a class called "stepping up to pre school", or as he calls it "stepping in pee school", which he started today. The first hour he spends in the kindergym with the parents around. The second hour is spent in the class with the instructors and the parents get a break. Kian was so busy playing he didn't even notice that I had left. I think next week during my toddler-free hour I'm going to take Julean swimming. We have been taking the boys swimming on Sunday mornings but the pool can get busy for Julean so Monday mornings might become our day for swimming.


Ha ha! Your funny mom! 11 weeks

Julean got his first set of shots last Friday. He is 14 lbs and 11 weeks now! Mark finally got to come along to watch one of his children get jabbed with a needle! I hate taking them and it just happened to be his flex day. Poor Julean. He wasn't feeling great over the weekend and to top it all off the teething also got worse at the same time. Now he doesn't have a fever from the needles it is from the teeth. It's a good thing that we don't remember all that pain when we get older! He started teething a full month before Kian ever did.


Can't you see I really don't want to do tummy time and just want to have a nap? 11 weeks

The weather here has been beautiful. The rain had started to slow down and the days are getting longer again. Kian wants to go outside as soon as he gets up in the morning and play fire truck with his cars in the backyard. I can't get him in for lunch or a nap unless I drag him in. I guess that is good in a way. He does get really worn out outside and any trouble he might get into stays outdoors. Although I am doing more laundry since he gets so muddy and dirty outside! Julean has to deal with me gardening and either gets mud and dirt all over him while in the carrier or gets stuck in the stroller having to watch Kian and I have fun. One day he will be running in the dirt as well. As for right now, I get to garden and maybe will get to plant stuff this year without anyone eating the dirt!


Finger painting...

I can't believe how on the ball I have been lately with the blog updates! Guess it could be all the new found time have sitting at the computer waiting for Kian to fall asleep on his own! Now all I have to do is actually take the photos to post on the blog....

Sleep.....

Bob the Builder


9 week Teddy Bear



As I sit here thinking I better update the blog while I'm still awake, I'm listening to one child crying and have the other asleep on my arm. I think I'm happy that it is finally Friday and that maybe tomorrow will be sunny and we can really wear the older one out by running him to death!

We are trying to get Kian to finally fall asleep on his own in his own bed. He was doing great for a while and then things regressed (no this was way before Julean came around) and we are back to Mark having to lie with him until he falls asleep, which usually means that Mark falls asleep too. This, as you can imagine, causes a few problems when you want to do something else during the evening, like clean up the kitchen, watch a movie, go out, etc. I'm just hoping this is not a three hour episode and he will fall asleep soon! Julean, on the other hand, is a fabulous sleeper and is sleeping through all the noise. He actually sleeps better when there is lots going on around him. Oh to be a second child!

As for what else we have been up to, not too much. Mark now had his cast off so he can help out with swimming lessons and gymnastics. His soccer season is done though, much to his disappointment. Gardening has started, actually it never really ended, so we are out when we can be trying to get the beds dug up somewhat before all the bulbs are really in bloom and the roots chock everything else out. That is definitely a job and a half! Our renos were on hold for a bit due to the broken leg but hopefully will get back into the swing of things shortly.

That's about all for the moment. I think that all the crying is starting to get to me and I have to either find a new room to sit in or go and calm him down for a few minutes!

Some updated photos.


Julean is his exersaucer (9 weeks)


Julean (8 weeks) in his bath


Finger painting (Mark decided that Kian needed finger paints so that he could let his creative side out. I said that's fine but you get to watch him. There is a reason we only finger paint at play groups! Mark was then complaining what a mess he was making and the activity was cut short after two beautiful paintings were made.)

Back at the Sydney aquarium with my friend Katie and her mom and dad.

Holding hands with my friend Katie


Touch tank


Cool starfish


Double decker boys

Time?

Julean 8 weeks.


Tiny hands.

If I thought I was busy with one kid I have no idea what I would call being busy with two! Exhausting? I have finally come to realize that I can't clean the house and look after two little ones. Between toys and diapers and play groups and trying to figure out what we are having for dinner we are starting to get swamped. We need a house cleaner. I was feeling guilty about it because I figure I'm home and should be able to do it all but it not going to happen unless someone else wants my kids!

That being said, we had a beautiful week here last week, despite the forecast saying "rain" everyday. It didn't rain once and we got to play outside everyday this past week. (This week might be a different story.) Saturday the whole family was out in the garden in 16 degrees digging and planning for this year's crops. It is very strange to be gardening in January and having all the daffodil, snowdrops, crocuses, and some cherry blossoms out. We can start our vegetable garden in February. Our last winter in Ottawa our garden was under 6 feet of snow! Nice to be on the west coast, I tell you! Kian was out playing with all the gardening tools and decided that his favourite for the moment was the "weed walker".

Kian and Julean are doing great. We are starting to get our routine together now and things seem to be going well. Kian is registered in gymnastics again this session. He loved it so much last fall. He is also registered for swimming on Wednesday nights. We don't get to go swimming during the day anymore because I can't hold on to two kids in the pool so at least he gets to go one night a week. I think we are going to try to go Sunday mornings again as a family. Julean loves the bath and got to go in the pool for the first time this morning. He had a blast and both boys were a sleep in the car on the way home.


Naps together.

Julean is now 9 weeks old and 6.3 kg (about 13+ lbs-ish). Growing like a weed. I have already had to go through the clothing and flip his wardrobe to 3-6 month clothing. He has already been in the exersaucer (aka "the circle of neglect") and, although his legs are too short for the smallest setting, loved to be sitting in it watching his big brother run around in circles in front of him. (That's about all Kian does now a days!) I can tell you that I have been trying my hardest to take as many photos as I can of Julean so that I don't get asked later on in life "so where are my photos?" but that is almost impossible with a 2 year old on the go! Julean better be on the move fast and in the same direction as his brother if he wants any pictures!


Julean 8 weeks old.

I can tell I'm about to be paged by the little one, but before the crying starts, we ordered pizza on Friday night and I asked Kian what kind of pizza he would like. He said he wanted a "purple roni". He has been telling people all weekend that he had purple roni pizza for dinner.

Better sign off and hope that the blogs aren't too long and far between!


Kian let me cut his hair and didn't move once! Guess that is it for Jimmy?!


Does this photo not look like an 8 year old with an attitude?!