Matt, Kayleah, Benjamin, Jonathan and Mya

2012-01-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas...

Wow!! Our Christmas was very busy but also very special. We spent time as a family (just us 5) but also with our extended family (both sides).
This first post is from our pre-Christmas activites, including Christmas Eve and it goes on from there...

At Nanna and Bubba's after the Christmas Eve service at our church. Every year I get to enjoy more of the service as the kids last longer before needing to be removed. This year I got to enjoy all the singing and the special music but heard the sermon from the nursery. Much better than last year when Mya peed on me 5 minutes in.

We enjoyed a special dinner with my parents, and the boys enjoyed sparkling juice in a special cup.

Mmmm, Ben and I's favourite, creme brulee and this time it was basil infused dark chocolate. It was amazing.

I was trying to get a pic of Mya in her Christmas pajamas but of course blankie is always in the way. Still you get the jist.

I LOVE this picture!!! It was totally a fluke, I took many after it trying to repeat or perfect it, none came close.

For the first time, Matt took the kids to cut down a tree. It was awesome, they had fun and the tree was so fresh it hasn't dropped needles all over the house. It is almost as tall as the ceiling. Ben did awesome reaching to put on our star.

It was hard to take a good picture of Ben in his Christmas concert. I think if you click them each you can see him better. He did awesome!! All the kids sang with so much heart and enthusiasm. We ordered a copy of the DVD of the whole concert and Ben can hardly wait to watch himself.

2012-01-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Christmas Morning

We always seem to let Titan go first. Maybe so he can take his snack and stay out of the kids snacks!

Mya definately enjoyed her stocking. She was smart to dump out the whole thing and pick out the candy.

I think I liked Jonny's hat better than he did, oh well.

Ben wrote a Christmas story at school to read to us on Christmas morning. It was very special.

Mmmmm, homemade buttermilk waffles with berries and whip cream. Ben and Jonny's request.

Three cuties!! We actually didn't start opening our presents until 10:30am, pretty impressive for three kids 6 and under!

I made the boys these housecoats. One benefit of homemade is you can choose fabric they'll love, and they did love it!

More gift opening. Gotta love Matt's face in the last one! A boys movie (Nacho Libre) from the girls.

2012-01-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

Boxing Day/ Titan's 8th Birthday

Ths isn't the best photo, colour wise but I love Mya's excited look as we sang "Happy Birthday" to Titan. A year ago we definately didn't think he'd be celebrating another birthday but he's actually doing quite well, all things considered.

Very eagerly but also patiently awaiting his "cake".

2012-01-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Christmas with the Jansen's

2 Days after Christmas we had Matt's family over to open gifts. Sarah and I made some appetizers (wait make that lots of appetizers).

Titan was thrilled to also have company, him and Sadie were confined to the back hall and the back yard. Sarah had to work on Christmas but got home Boxing Day so her and Neil joined us.

Mya, Matt, Jonny and Ben with their favourite gifts of the day.

Neil brought the best gift of all, JIF peanut butter for Matt, which you can now only get from the states.

2011-12-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Mya Turns 2!

Last Sunday we celebrated Mya's 2nd Birthday (which is actually tomorrow) and also dedicated her to the Lord.
Here's some pics!

Thanks to Shanna for lending me this cute cupcake holder. It worked great.

Mya loved all the attention on Sunday. This was taken when only a few people had arrived and she still felt comfortable to dance around and smile lots. When the house filled up she was a little more reserved.

Sharing babies with Ella.

She was delighted as we all sang to her and even blew out the candle right on cue.

I had to take a picture of Joel and Darren entertaining all the kids. I can't remember what they were playing with but they were all right into it for quite a while.

2011-11-05T20:27:00.000-06:00

Last Weekend at Race City

I should clarify, this is not from last weekend but was actually the last weekend Race City was open. One thing Matt often takes the boys to do is watch the cars at Race City. If I'm working on the weekend, he'll pick up lunch at Tim Horton's and take them for a picnic at the track. The boys love it! They always pick their favourite car/bike and see whose wins.
The city of Calgary has decided not to renew the track's lease after this year so it will close down. The boys (including Matt) and quite sad. This was a great bonding time for them and with it about 5 minutes from our house a great outing.
A couple weeks ago a friend of Matt's had invited him to join his club (not sure that's what you call it) and come to the track for a day. He was going to be racing his Porsche. I clearly instructed Matt that watching was great but our kids were not going to be doing any racing. As you can see below, that's not exactly what happened. I totally trust Matt with our kids, and when Dave offered to take Ben for a slow ride, on the last day of Race City ever, Matt thought Ben should take the chance. Ben was a bit reluctant, but Dave promised to go slow and by the end of the ride Ben was telling Dave to hurry and win the race. Matt and his Dad also got a ride :) Ben was so excited to have pictures of him in the Porsche and especialy to tell his Bubba that he'd ridden in a Porsche GT3 (his Bubba has a GT2).

2011-10-12T20:53:00.001-06:00

Back to Sewing

I love sewing wait, make that quilting. I used to do a lot of it but with 3 kids at home there wasn't much time. With Ben at school full-time now, I am making time to quilt, wait make that sew. I have completed a few simple projects so far, including these aprons for the boys. I love them and so do they. I have ordered a few more patterns to try and have even made a top for Mya (haven't taken a pic yet). I am hoping to get a permanent space set up in my basement soon so that I don't have to drag everything upstairs every time I want to sew. But for now, that will not be an excuse, and I am going to continue to make time to sew.

2011-09-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

Only Jonny,
Or So I Thought...

We often bring the kids upstairs to play in the bonus room when we have things to get done up there. Yesterday, Matt discovered the hard way that maybe that is too much freedom for Jonny. Especially when, unknown to Matt, he has the scissors from craft time in his pocket. As Matt moved around upstairs and started discovering hair on the floor, he knew it couldn't be good. It is unbelievable how short Jonny cut his own hair, a shave was the only option.
I guess cutting his own hair wasn't enough, he also gave Mya's ponytail a few good chomps. Hers is not as noticeable as his as there are various, smaller short patches. We aren't sure what to do with hers at this point, let it grow or cut it short.
The cutest part of this story, for me, was Ben, who told me that "Daddy was too hard on Jonny, he just wants to be a hairdresser".
I thought this was the craziest thing a kid has ever done, but after sharing my story with co-workers, friends and family, I was amazed at home many similar stories I heard.

2011-09-11T20:05:00.000-06:00

Beach, Beach and More Beach

It was awesome to have the beach/ocean right behind us. The kids had so much digging, searching for treasure and even swimming a bit.
I have so many pictures from the beach but these are some ofmy favourites.

This picture is taken from the backyard of the house, you can see how close the beach is.

2011-09-02T11:37:00.000-06:00

More of PEI!

We had 2 weeks in PEI which was great as it allowed for lots of days to relax and also lots of day to go do some touristy things!
Here are some of the places we visited.

I had to start with the COWS Factory as it was the place we went the most. The first time we took the tour and after that just came back for the ice cream. To go on the tour you have to wear the hat. Besides ice cream, they also make t-shirts. When Ben saw the guys making them he exclaime, "I've changed my mind, I want to work here!".

One of the most amazing things about PEI is the Confederation Trail which goes all over the island. The cottage we stayed at had 2 bikes, which Matt and I used on the trail together (I spent most of the time laughing as both the bikes were meant for someone 5'3 - 5'6, Matt looked hilarious). Matt and the boys rented bikes one day and had a great time pedaling along the ocean, they went over 10km! Jonny had the most fun, you can see why.

Lots of afternoons while Mya napped, Matt would take off with the boys and do some exploring. Their favourite thing to find were lighthouses and there are lots. The yucky weather didn't deter their fun at all.

On our last day in PEI we saw an open fire house. Jonny loves firemen, fire engines and anything to do with it. The fire chief was so nice, he took Jonny all through the fire house and even gave him this hat. He let Jonny pick any fire truck and sit in it. This is the first thing Jonny will tell you about our trip to PEI.

2011-08-31T14:38:00.003-06:00

Its been so long since I've posted on our blog, I almost thought I never would again! But, I am recommitted to doing it more often and excited to share the pics from our summer. After this much time I have a lot so I am going to start with some from our trip to PEI and we'll see where it goes from there!

2011-08-31T14:33:00.000-06:00

Spending Time With Family

One of the best things about PEI was getting to spend time with family that we don't see that often. It was so amazing how quickly our kids warmed up to relatives they rarely see and some they'd never met.
The last time we saw my Aunt Kathe I was expecting Jonny!

Great Aunt (Kathe)Mother and Daughter (Nanna and Grandma Sheila)

Great Aunt (Kathe and our Kiddos)

Jonny, Auntie Kathe, Ben and Nanna. (Matt in the background).

Grandma Sheila and her daughters (Auntie Kathe and Nanna)

Sisters and Granddaughter/Great Neice (Nanna, Kathe and Mya)

2011-06-28T22:04:00.000-06:00

Ben Turns 6!!!

These pics are old (Ben's birthday is May 9) but I really wanted to post them anyway. What Ben really wanted to do for his birthday was celebrate with those closest to him. He also really wanted to go play laser tag. So we opted for a celebration dinner with grandparents after a family game of laser tag, which I won by the way. I'm not proud of beating my boys but quite proud of beating Matt and Opa!

Looking so big, yet only 6.

Party guests.

Party guests with party masks!

Party dog with party mask!

Ben chose his cake, he still loves batman.

I really enjoyed Ben's party. Its a lot less work with a shorter guest list and a request for spaghetti dinner.

2011-04-18T08:46:00.002-06:00

Family Time

Lately we have been finding it hard to have much needed family time. With 2 working parents and one in school there isn't often time when we are all home. With Ben's spring break came 2 weeks where his schedule was free so on Matt's days off, I took some vacation time and we went to Edmonton. Matt and I had fun planning our trip and then about 5 minutes before we were to leave, we told the boys. I had found a little slide show on the internet about West Edmonton Mall (our destination) and as it played for them their excitement built. We left Saturday afternoon, visited the malls aquariums Sunday morning (pics below), did the Waterpark Sunday afternoon, had dinner with friends Sunday night, shopped at the mall Monday morning, went on the rides Monday afternoon, had dinner with family in Rocky Mountain House Monday evening and drove home Monday night. Whew..... we got home exhausted but in a great way.

2011-04-18T08:37:00.001-06:00

Waterpark Fun Our first big excursion was to visit the Waterpark. We weren't really sure how appropriate it would be for the ages of our kids, or how long they'd last. In the end, we couldn't believe how much we all had or that we'd stayed for over 3 hours. This girl is such a trooper. With no nap and not a great sleep the night before, Mya played happily in the water for over 2 hours and then curled up in her stroller and slept (in one of the noisiest places) well her brothers had more play time. She is definately a lover of the water. This was her first time swimming since she was 4months old and she was quick to be splashing and even putting her head under.

2011-04-18T08:29:00.000-06:00

Day 2 On our second day we visited Galaxyland (or Fantasyland as I knew it). Being a Monday, it was really quiet and the boys could basically walk up and get on any ride. They could even stay on for a second turn if they wanted. As you can tell from the pictures they had a great time.

It did not surprise us at all that Mya loved the rides. Even the train that goes through a dark tunnel was great fun for her. She will definately make a good companion for Jonny with her "no fear" type of personality. I'm a little scared as to what they may challenge each other to do when they are bigger.

This picture was taken on the first trip round the rollercoaster, Jonny still looks a little unsure. I love the look on the kids face behind them, definately not a fan. We were thankful to find this coaster as the Jonny was about a 1/2 inch too short for the bigger one and was quite disappointed that Ben could go and he couldn't.

2011-03-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Mya... and her many faces.

I had some fun practicing with my camera the other day while Mya had a snack. Her hair has really grown the last while and when I look at these pictures I am struck by how much older she is looking, almost 15 months now.

2011-03-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Ben...

Already this picture taken for school last September looks so out of date. He has definately grown up so much these past 6 months, I guess that's what happens when you introduce school. For Ben the biggest change has been socially. From the timid boy who never spoke at school unless someone spoke to him he has grown into one who gets the most excited about getting to see his friends.
He received his second report card today and has been described as the "dream student" that "other mothers often comment is so well behaved". I have loved being able to volunteer in his class and witness him at school first hand. You can quickly see his focus is completely on the teacher and wanting to be doing exactly what she asks. (I wonder how long that will last?!) Its funny, he loves when the other boys push the limits and often tells us about what they were doing and laughs, but he would never dare do it himself. (Again, how long will that last?!) We have been blessed to be able to send Ben to a private christian school and just that school is not only growing him in the expected ways but also growing him spiritually. Its hard to believe there is only 3 months left his first year but I am looking forward to summer and more time to play as a whole family.

2011-02-23T10:46:00.002-07:00

Update, its about time.

Its been a little while without any posts, sorry. I haven't really taken many pics of this kids, they have all been sick, but we are back to normal and so here is a little post for each of them. Ben's will be coming soon, I'm having computer issues and can't get his pics to post. Maybe tomorrow.

2011-02-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Jonny - 3 1/2 years

When I look at these picutes it reminds me how big Jonny has gotten but how some things never change. With Ben in school, both Matt and I have been able spend some great quality time with Jon and he has been able to spend time learning to play with his sister. I say learning because up until Ben went to school Jonny really had no interest in Mya, he world still revolved mostly around Ben. He really has had to "learn" to be the older brother.

I love this picture because it shows how serious Jonny is when he is in character. He loves to pretend and takes his "roles" very seriously. Yesterday, he was being Ironhide??, a transformer, he roared at Ben and scared him! It was quite funny to see Ben on the receiving end of that.

Some of you may remember seeing all the baby pics of Jonny asleep in his high chair or just curled up on the floor. He is that kid who goes, goes, goes and then just stops and sleeps. Nothing has changed, just the other day he informed Ben he was going to sleep between the fire place and the chair and that's what he did. Matt thought he was kidding, but a few minutes later he hadn't moved and was gone. Sometimes I wonder when he'll grow out of this, maybe never.

2011-02-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Mya - 14 months

Mya is growing and changing so quickly these days. She is not walking yet but has started using one foot, one knee and no hands to "scooch" around. I guess that's one step closer to walking than traditional crawling. More and more we are getting to know her personality. She is silly and soooo stubborn. She has started saying a few words although not always in context. Her favourite is "Hi Dad" which of course, melts Matt's heart. She can also say "all done" and we have started to not only ask her to say it but not let her down from eating until she does.
One thing that we have noticed is the effect having two brothers has already had on Mya. This morning after cleaning her up from breakfast I got really close to her and asked her to say "all done". She looked at me, proceeded to head butt me and laughed so hard. Trying not to laugh, I asked again for her to say "all done", I got head butted again and kind of hard this time. Again, she though this was so funny. I backed away before asking again and this time got her foot shoved in my face and more giggles. I wonder where she could have picked up these kind of behaviours?? I think I have a clue!

2011-01-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Bathtime Beauty

Mya is always happy in the tub and the boys like it when I comb her hair funny. I couldn't resist capturing these smiles and Ben was sweet enough to go and get the camera.

2011-01-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Christmas!!, Finally.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Christmas Eve we went to Matt's sister's house. We had a great time opening gifts, eating turkey, and the boys enjoyed their hot tub. We also went to Christmas Eve service at our church and some of us got to enjoy hearing and singing about their real reason to celebrate. (I say some of us because about 5 min into the service Mya peed all over the front of me and so I spent the rest of the service sitting soaked in the nursery).

We had a nice quiet Christmas morning at home. I didn't take too many pictures, I was busy enjoying my family. Here are a few I did catch.

Mya was not into the gift opening at all. We tried to entice her with the paper, ribbon, toys, nothing worked. She did however get excited over this piece of plastic.

Titan "opening" his stocking.

Ben and Jon, sporting their new Ironman and Storm Trooper helmets. A great addition to their dress up trunk.

2011-01-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Christmas with the Myers

2011-01-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

It had been a running joke leading up to Christmas that my parents were going to buy the boys rocks for Christmas. My parents often heard, "Bubba/Nanna, what did you get me for Christmas?". Their response, "ROCKS!"
Before the boys opened any of their gifts, they got their first "special" gift, rocks!

Mya, reluctantly trying on her new mitts.

It was so special to have my sister here, even if it was only for a week. She had not been home for Christmas in 3 years, it was about time.

2011-01-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

Mya's First Birthday!

Hard to believe this was almost a month ago! I still wanted to make sure I put up the pictures. Unfortunately I didn't get a great photo of Mya on her special day but go some great pics during her party.

Mya was so tired after eating her cake and having a bath that we didn't open her presents until that evening.

She loves the play table we got her and even pretends to talk on the phone.

2011-01-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the Cake

At first, Mya was unsure about eating her cake. I gave her a little taste on my finger and that was enough to get her over the dislike of the feel.

Good to the last lick!

2010-12-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Too Much Fun!

It has been quite a while since I have updated our blog. We have been busy celebrating and having fun.
Some of the highlights have been,

Celebrating Mya's 1st birthday
A Visit from Auntie Jenn
Christmas with both the Jansens and Myers
Taking the boys skating for the 1st time

Hopefully soon I will have time to put up the pictures from these special moments, for now here are some I love of the boys (including Matt) sledding on Christmas Day.

2010-12-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

2010-12-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

The Friendly Beasts

Today was Ben's Christmas presentation at school. He was THRILLED to be asked to be the sheep (because he got to wear a costume).

It was so cute, Ben did not sing a word of the song until it was his verse and then he stood up and belted out his part.

Thanks to Shanna's zoom lens I actually got some decent pictures. We were sitting quite far away.

2010-12-03T20:47:00.001-07:00

Second Will Have To Do

For both of the boys 1st Christmas' I did a little photo shoot with them. This is Mya's 2nd Christmas (she was 8 days old last Christmas) but she wasn't exactly up to a photo shoot last year. It wasn't easy to keep her in one spot but I did manage to get a few good shots.

2010-12-03T07:33:00.002-07:00

Growing = Tears

As Matt read devotions last night both the boys climbed up on my lap. As a minute went by I realized I wasn't going to be able to hold them both much longer. Their combined weight coupled with the edge of the bed position I had was too much. As I asked Ben to sit beside me instead, a tear. How they are growing.

2010-11-01T09:07:00.000-06:00

First Halloween
Some cute pictures of our little pengiun.

2010-11-01T09:03:00.000-06:00

Trick or Treating with Batman, Anakin Skywalker and a Penguin.

All ready to go.

Matt carried Mya just like this the whole time. She loved watching all the kids running around and hearing them yell, "trick or treat". She stayed out the whole 1.5 hours with the boys.

Her favourite were definately the lit up pumpkins, she was mesmorized.

Ben and Jonny with our neighbor's kids. This is the second year we've gone trick or treating together.

2010-11-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

Visiting Friends.

In the afternoon, the kids and I stopped by 2 of their friends houses to deliver some Halloween cupcakes they made and show their costumes.

Ben and Jonny posing at the Ziebart's.

Trying to get a picture of the boys and Devin. We kept moving them closer together (for the pic) and they kept moving apart, looking unsure at each other. This was the best one. Devin looked so adorable as a shark.

Next stop, the Shepherd's. Again, not the best picture. They were having so much fun playing at Evan's, although they look out of it here.

2010-11-01T08:50:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Carving

Jonathan was right into cleaning out the pumpkin.

Ready to cut!

Ben was less sure about touching the inside, as usual. He agreed to try with a spoon.

Finished pumpkins, Blues Clues and an Alien.

2010-10-23T20:13:00.002-06:00

Goodbye, Maggie.

Last Sunday, we took the kids to visit Maggie before she was put down. Matt wanted to have some pictures with her and the kids. Matt has had Maggie since he was 7 years old. She definately lived a long and happy life. Even still, it was a sad week and seems strange she is not around.

2010-10-10T21:55:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving Weekend.

The boys have been asking to decorate for Halloween. Jonny and I had gone shopping to find some decorations but everything at the dollar store was too scary. Luckily, Nanna found some great "non scary" stuff and the boys were thrilled. They had a great time stuffing all the bags and getting to take turns on the ladder to hang them up.

These lights are so cute and of course, the boys love them. They have yet to forget to plug them in as soon as it starts getting dark.

Since Mya was born I complained about all the shirts for girls that have sayings about their daddy (daddy's girl, my heart belongs to daddy) and so on. Recently, my parents were visiting my sister in the US and found this shirt. They knew they had to buy it. If you can't see, it says, "Thankful for Mommy" and I love it.

2010-10-10T21:45:00.000-06:00

Working up an Appetite.

Lately, Ben loves climbing trees. We don't have any worthy of climbing at our place, but Opa and Grandma have lots. This one took a bit of a beating, its one of the smaller ones.

Jonny and his fascination with sticks. I think its a stage, I seem to remember Ben going through the same thing.

What a great Grandma, willing to lay in the leaves. I love this picture! Dale, you look beautiful.

2010-10-08T16:13:00.000-06:00

Enjoying the weather!

I got some great pics of Mya enjoying her exersaucer on the deck. Gotta love her hair in the bottom left corner. It may look like this all the time soon.

2010-09-23T12:05:00.000-06:00

Matt has been really looking forward to having some one on one time with Jonny now that Ben is in school. Yesterday we finally had some decent weather so they went on a hike together.

Titan hasn't been hiking in quite some time. The problems with his neck have been getting worse and he's just not up to it. Yesterday we decided to let him go and have some fun! He probably only has a few months left in him and we think its better spent doing what he loves, even if we have to give him more pain meds the next day. You can see how happy he is!

2010-09-23T11:56:00.000-06:00

Matt got some great pictures of Jonny enjoying their hike. I especially love his face in the 3rd one.

2010-09-23T11:51:00.000-06:00

2010-09-12T20:17:00.000-06:00

Matt wanted me to post this. Its been 3 weeks since his Jasper run and this is how his feet look now.

GROSS!

2010-09-03T15:34:00.000-06:00

Off to School!

This morning, Ben was very excited to go to school for the first time. Here he is, eating his favourite for breakfast, sausages. He actually had a hard time eating, too excited.

Posing before we got in the car, he didn't want any pics without Jonny.

I managed to catch one of just Ben, still looking happy.

By the time we got to school, Ben's mood had significantly changed. He was still ready to go, but much more tentatively. Here he is with his cubby outside his classroom.

2010-08-29T12:34:00.000-06:00

Matt's Jasper Running Trip

Last week, Matt ran the Glacier Trail and more (roughly 114 km) over 2.5 days. A friend drove Matt up and back, thankfully since Matt's feet were in no shape to drive. (Thanks, Jon). Here are some pics from his adventure.

2010-08-29T12:26:00.000-06:00

Matt makes a friend:)

2010-08-29T12:22:00.000-06:00

End of Glacier Trail

2010-08-13T21:17:00.000-06:00

The Long Awaited Fishing Trip

For Christmas last year, my parents got Matt a fishing trip with my Dad to River's Inlet Lodge. Its a floating fishing lodge off the BC coast. They just arrived home yesterday and had a great time. They both have told how much they enjoyed the others company and that they make good fishing partners. They took so many pictures so this could be a long post.

Matt driving the boat.

Matt checking to see how deep the water is while my Dad drives.

My Dad driving the boat.

Looking down from the plane at the lodge.

2010-08-13T21:11:00.000-06:00

The FISH

Red Snapper

Halibut

Matt's first catch, a coho salmon.

2010-08-13T21:09:00.001-06:00

My Dad's catch on the final day.

Matt's catch on the last day. Whatever you catch on the last day you can bring home fresh (no time to freeze it). This is my favourite part, eating salmon that yesterday was swimming. It tastes soooo good.

This is a friend of my Dad's and him and his son caught some record breaking salmon (58 and 56 lbs). If you keep these ones you have to get them smoked, they don't taste very good when they are this large.

My dad with his first fish.

2010-08-13T21:04:00.000-06:00

Beautiful Scenery

These are some of my favourite pics Matt took. It must have been incredible to be there.

2010-08-13T20:59:00.000-06:00

Whales!

You might have to make this one bigger to see but his tale is sticking straight up just in the centre of the pic.

2010-08-13T20:57:00.000-06:00

River's Inlet Lodge

Matt and My Dad's Cabin

The fishing boats all lined up.

More of the lodge.

Dining Room

2010-08-13T20:54:00.000-06:00

The plane coming in to get them.

Looking out from the plane as it gets ready to take off.

Looking down at the lodge.

Just to give you an idea how small the plane is. My Dad is at the front left. This plane is over 80 years old. The pilot has to use a crank to lower the wheels to land at the airport and there is a window in the floor to look out so he can see if the wheels are all the way out. I'm glad I didn't know all this until after, its a little scary:)

2010-08-02T20:59:00.000-06:00

A walk with Daddy.

Mya absolutely loves to be outside, especially if you're walking. She also loves being able to see everything and loves the view from Daddy's chest.

2010-07-28T22:29:00.006-06:00

My favourites, so far.

Last week I purchased a new camera, a DSLR. I promised myself I would not rely ono the auto settings, so I have been practicing a lot. So far the kids aren't sick of me taking their photo, and I'm excited about some of the great pics I've gotten already.

2010-07-21T23:22:00.002-06:00

My Cutie Patootie

I've been having trouble posting pics lately. Thought I would just try one and hopefully if it works I can add more.
Here is Mya, now 7 months. She is weighing in just over 13lbs and is 26 inches long. She is starting to learn to sit up and is really starting to show her personality (we are preparing for some drama). I couldn't feel more blessed than when I think about what a perfect fit she is for our family.

2010-07-07T21:59:00.001-06:00

Mmmmm!

Mya was 6 months old in June and started on solid foods. We started out with rice cereal and it did NOT go well. After tricking her into opening her mouth a few times, she promptly shut her mouth and looked the other way. No matter what we tried, she refused to even engage with us if we were trying to feed her. This went on for close to 2 weeks, every morning and was becoming very frustrating.
We decided that getting her to eat was more important than what she ate and so I cooked up the three foods in the top pic, hoping one would peak her interest. We tried the mango first, and SHE LOVED IT! After a few days, she was a whole new baby. Now when she sees you getting the food ready, she literally shakes with excitement. She still won't eat the rice cereal, but will tolerate the oat if there's some good fruit to go with it. This week we even tried the squash and she gobbled it up. Tomorrow I will back in the kitchen to add sweet potato, avocado and peaches to the menu. Mmmmmm!

2010-06-29T16:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Retirement Mom and Dad!

As of a few weeks ago both my parents are retired! To celebrate, we joined them for a night in Banff.

The boys loved having a swimming pool at the hotel.

Even Mya took a little swim.

2010-06-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

A Hike up Johnston's Canyon

2010-06-17T14:46:00.000-06:00

Mya is 6 months old today. Amazing how time flies and how much she has changed. I took a bunch of pics of her today and was pleasantly surprised to see this one. To me, this really captures how Mya looks a lot of the time, content.

2010-06-04T13:28:00.000-06:00

Exersaucer Fun

We put Mya in the exersaucer for the first time today. It took a bit of adjusting and a couple blankets to get her steady and she was happy. She looked so serious the whole time, just taking in her new surroundings I guess.

2010-05-18T14:57:00.000-06:00

Ben's FIFTH Birthday

The boys with their cousin Madison, trying out Ben's new remote control car.

Ben was very excited to have some of his own hockey gear. He plays hockey outside with some other boys on our street atleast a couple times a week.

Cousin Mia, enjoying the wrapping.

2010-05-18T14:54:00.000-06:00

Trying out the hockey set.

After most people had left Ben and Jon wanted to try out the new hockey set. This would be the only in house hockey allowed:)

2010-05-05T16:20:00.000-06:00

Haircuts!

The boys have both needed a haircut for quite sometime. It is not my favourite thing to do, they always look older after:(. They love going though (there's a deep ball pit to play in) and it does make their hair easier to wash.

2010-05-03T20:37:00.000-06:00

Getting Stronger!

2010-04-03T19:49:00.000-06:00

Community Easter Party

Every year they have an Easter Party at the park behind our house. It kicks off with an egg hunt. Here the boys are waiting to get to go ahead to start searching. Notice all the eggs on the ground behind them.

2010-04-03T19:46:00.000-06:00

Other outdoor fun!

Mya slept through most of the festivities.

Ben thought this was soooo fun. Lately the boys have really been into racing each other, they pretty much turn everything into a race. A real race with a finish line was even better.

Jonny had a harder time with the sac and kept losing his ears but still had a great time. You can see him in the pic above too, on the ground:)

Ben loves any job that has to do with Mya. I love that our stroller's handle bar lowers as Ben can push her. Here he is pushing her home from the Easter Party. The only hard part for him is that he can't see where he's going.

2010-04-03T19:41:00.000-06:00

Nanna and Bubba wanted to bring over some treats they had for the boys.

A shopping cart goes great with their new kitchen, although Jonny prefers to call it a stroller and take his "babies" for walks.

A talking Igglepiggle for Jonny who really likes "In the Night Garden". He gets to watch it pretty often since its always on when I'm cooking dinner and looking for something to distract him.

A talking and skating, yes skating, Wonder Pet for Ben. He's been asking for one of these for weeks and it has been impossible to find. My mom just happened upon one on the clearance shelf at Zellers!

Of course Mya got a treat too. This little teether vibrates when you bite it. She has yet to figure out how to put anything (other than her hands) in her mouth but I'm sure it won't be long.

2010-03-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Matt's Skiing Trip

Last weekend, Matt and a few friends skiied in to a back country cabin. Here they are heading out.

They skiied into the Thunder Meadows cabin near Fernie, BC, stayed there for 2 nights and then skiied back out.

2010-03-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

So sick!

The boys have been fighting the flu for over 2 weeks now. Just when one starts to get better the other gets worse. They have been lounging around in blankets and falling asleep randomly through out the day. Both have been running fevers and have horrible coughs. Last Saturday they fell asleep in the chair together in the afternoon, it was so cute. We definately have been getting more snuggles :) but a lot less sleep. Hopefully a few more days and they will be back to normal, here's to hoping!

2010-02-25T22:13:00.002-07:00

Getting so BIG!

Mya hasn't been weighed in a few weeks, but looking at these pics compared to a few weeks ago, she certainly has grown.

2010-01-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Pretending

Lately, Jonny really likes to mimic real life. Pretending to anything that Daddy or Mommy do is always a hit. Making food, cleaning, driving or putting on makeup are great but lately it is all about caring for "his baby sister" (Curious George). Its amazing to me how detailed he is, bundling the baby just like we do and using the nursing pillow when feeding her. Luckily we have some extra supplies for Jonny's baby. The other day he told me he had put his baby for a nap, about 1/2 hour later, in the middle of our play dough, he pipes up "my baby is crying" and runs off to get her. He returned shortly to tell me he had put her back to sleep. Its been a great way to involve him in Mya and help him adjust, and its just sooooo cute.

2010-01-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Comparing Baby Photos

I came across Matt's baby book the other day and was comparing his picture to Mya. I thought I should add my photo to the mix so I asked my mom to bring them over. Hmmm, tough call on who she looks like. What do you think?

2010-01-27T20:49:00.001-07:00

What's that Noise?

I heard this noise the other night coming from the living room. I knew Mya was asleep out there (or so I thought) and didn't think she could possibly be so loud. I was wrong. She has yet to take a soother and so far has found her hands just as good.

2010-01-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Happy One Month Birthday Mya

2010-01-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Mya with her Brothers

2010-01-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Mya Meeting her Family

Brothers

Bubba

Grandma and Opa

2009-12-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Mya Claire

Born Dec 17, 2009, 2:06pm
4 lbs 8 oz, 18 inches

Mya's Story

It wasn't all that unexpected when I woke up at 10:30pm on Dec 16 having contractions. Just 4 weeks earlier I'd had the same experience. The contractions were fairly close together (4-5 min) but not very strong. I stayed in bed a while longer trying to ignore them but they were not going away. By 1am they were every 3 min but still not that strong. I decided I better call my midwife and just check in. Her advice was to continue resting and call back in an hour. I had not even made it back upstairs when I felt my water break. Now we knew this would be the real deal. We were going to meet our daughter in the next 24 hours and she would be coming 5 weeks early. We headed to the hospital and after an assessment with the midwife tried to get some sleep. The baby was doing great and since it was 3 am our midwife thought better to rest til morning. At 6am I started walking all over the hospital trying to get the labour going. I still had plenty of contractions but they were not very strong. I spent hours walking but nothing was changing.
There is increasing risk to the baby the longer the labour when your water is broken and even more risk when the baby is early. They like to deliver all premies within 12 hours. They gave us until 10am and then they would have to induce labour. By 10am nothing had changed. I even drank a concoction made by my midwives (that was disgusting) to try to speed things along. At 12pm my contractions finally started getting more painful. At 12:30 they gave me some oxytocin and within minutes I was extremely uncomfortable. Only 90 min later our baby girl was born.
It was awesome having midwives. They put Mya right on my chest and just let us snuggle. They don't fuss with the baby at all, no suctioning, cleaning or weighing. Mya did great for the first 20min of her life and I feel so blessed to have had the time with her. At this point she started losing her pink color so was taken to be assessed. She was put on oxygen while we waited for the NICU doc to come. He did a quick assessment and then Mya was taken over to the NICU. Matt was able to go with her, that made me feel so much better. My midwives quickly helped me get cleaned up and then wheeled me over to see her. It was a bit startling to see her all hooked up to IVs, wires and on a breathing machine. They assured me she was fine and would just need some additional support.
Mya spent exactly one week in the NICU, learning to breathe on her own, stay warm and learning to feed. There were many ups and downs but on Christmas Eve we go to bring her home.
She is with us and is doing great. We have many pictures to share and I will try to keep up putting them on the blog.

2009-12-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Decorating for Christmas.

Saturday was the perfect day for decorating. It was freezing out (-30) so we stayed home and got our house ready for Christmas. We had a great time decorating the tree, making a gingerbread house, and watching a new Christmas move, Polar Express.

Jonny taking "pictures" of Ben and Matt unwrapping the tree.

This caught Jonny's perfect "bossy" face. I think he was giving directions to Ben about the lights.

2009-12-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Every year Matt makes a gingerbread house with the boys.

The finished product, before they started eating it.

2009-12-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Decorating the Tree

Fake Smiles!

Impromptu Family Photo

2009-12-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ice Climbing in -30C

This is the route, Matt has named it "Big Slurpee".

Frosty.

Frostier.

Frostiest!

2009-12-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Jon and Matt's Ski Day

Greetings from Bullwinkle!

This is Jon making his way down the slope.

2009-12-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

34 Weeks

The weeks are flying by! Its great having the end of my pregnancy be the weeks before Christmas...it goes by soooo fast. Hard to believe that my due date is just over a month away.

2009-12-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

A Family Walk in the Snow

2009-12-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

More Playing in the Snow

Matt takes the boys to play in the snow almost every morning. I decided I would join them today.

2009-12-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Snowy Day Activites
We've been snowed in our house since Friday, here's what we've been up to.

Decorating Cookies!

2009-12-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Decorating for Christmas and Drinking Hot Chocolate!

2009-12-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Playing in the snow!

The boys played outside together for over an hour, despite the -20 windchill. They were so excited that the snow piles were so big.

Ben had so much fun that he went out again before dinner and played in the snow on the deck.

2009-12-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Silly Boy

We weren't sure what Jonny was up to yesterday when he started unzipping his sleeper. We soon discovered he wanted to put his belly on the cold window...silly boy.

2009-11-17T17:33:00.002-07:00

7 Months (31 Weeks)

Jonny really wanted to be in the pics. He also loves to "sit on sister".

2009-11-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Some other pics from the last few weeks.

Jonny is pretty good at getting himself dressed and undressed now. Sometimes he still gets confused, here he is wearing a shirt on top and bottom!

A special treat, eating breakfast on the couch. Only allowed when you're sick.

Enjoying a little bit of snow. I love when it snows and is still warm out. The boys just want to play outside all day and they are almost always happy outside.

2009-11-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Our Two Trick or Treaters

2009-11-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

We joined our neighbours for the trick or treating. Their kids are very close to ours in age. They had so much fun together.

A very tired giraffe coming home.

2009-10-10T18:51:00.000-06:00

Poor Titan:(

Titan was diagnosed with Wobbler Disease about 2 weeks ago. This disease causes many different problems, for Titan it has mostly been a sore neck and an unstable back end. Unfortunately there are many causes for these symptoms and to find out what Titan had he needed a CT mylogram. Basically, they put them out, do a CT, inject dye into their spine and do another CT and some x-rays. He had this yesterday and well he's looked better. We brought him home today and the poor guy can barely walk. He is not allowed to go on stairs, which poses a "getting out to the bathroom" problem. Matt's been carrying him out. He should feel better in a few days and we will meet with the vet next week to decide what to do next.

2009-10-08T13:23:00.000-06:00

Transforming the boys "new" room to a castle!

The boys are moved in together now and have had one mostly successful night in their new room.

Teresa helping me do the bricks.

We did both around their door and window and it turned out great. I will post the finished room pics soon. We're still waiting for the murals I ordered to arrive.

2009-10-08T13:19:00.000-06:00

Some more pics around the room.

2009-09-30T09:46:00.000-06:00

24 Weeks and Counting

It has been way too long since I have posted on here. Sorry. The last month seems to have flown by, especially since we actually had some great weather to enjoy.
I wasn't very good about getting pics of me pregnant with the boys, I am trying to do better this time. I am 24 weeks now although measuring about a week smaller than that. Being pregnant with two kids has its ups and downs, I am definately pretty tired, but the pregnancy is going by quickly since they keep me so busy.