Today is the last day of work for Kristi, and I am sooo excited for you!!! With baby arriving anytime now, you will need these next few days (weeks?) to get ready for baby...which in mommy terms means...SLEEP!!! Sleep long, sleep lots!! Because as incredible as having babies is, and y'all know I love havin' babies, sleep is the main thing I miss when one is born.
But, the good really does outweigh the hard times, and you are already a wonderful, caring, loving mom. The excitment you've had throughout your pregnancy for your baby to be growing inside you, and now, to finally meet you, is proof enough that you are already an amazing mama.
I really can't wait to see your baby. This baby has been so prayed for and wished for by so many people and I can guarantee he/she will be worth the wait. Worth the tears. Worth the wondering.
Because you are about to have your very own baby...and that truly is one of the most wonderful, most completing things in the world.
I love you Kris.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Boy to Babe
We had a really nice weekend. Kier is now back to school :(, but he was actually looking forward to it, so that was nice. That, and the fact that it's a 4 day week, and then he has 4 days off for Easter, doesn't hurt either. One of the funniest parts of the weekend happened on Sunday afternoon. I was on a cleaning rampage (again), Cait and Daddy were napping, and the older two were playing in the basement. I should've known something was up when Rory came upstairs looking for girls underwear...for Kier. :s But, I was in my bubble, and just said that Kier doesn't wear girls' underwear...obviously.
A few minutes later, this is what appears at the door....
Isn't he pretty?
Oh my.
Friday, March 14, 2008
A Fitting End...
So, March break is almost over. I've already started 'prepping' my little boy for his journey back to school. He's actually looking forward to going back and telling everyone about everything he did on March Break...but, that's about all he's looking forward to right now. :)
Today I took Kier and Rory to the Milton Mall to a one hour magic show. Very cheesy, yes. Did they love it? Yes! Rory kept looking at me saying, 'how did he do that?' Kieran, on the other hand, would look at me and say,'I know exactly how he did that!' They're pretty cute. Then we came home and took Cait with us to the park and on a nice walk. Yes, I said the park. There's still tons of snow here, but it was beautiful here today, so we trudged through the snow and had a great time! The house desperately needs to be cleaned, laundry desperately needs to be done, but all that was left for tomorrow...and we had a great day!
Anyway, I was gonna post some pics from our trip to Ottawa and other random pics, but I can't find my card reader, sooo....maybe sometime soon.
Love you kris...have a great weekend with Jay! And the rest of you too!
Today I took Kier and Rory to the Milton Mall to a one hour magic show. Very cheesy, yes. Did they love it? Yes! Rory kept looking at me saying, 'how did he do that?' Kieran, on the other hand, would look at me and say,'I know exactly how he did that!' They're pretty cute. Then we came home and took Cait with us to the park and on a nice walk. Yes, I said the park. There's still tons of snow here, but it was beautiful here today, so we trudged through the snow and had a great time! The house desperately needs to be cleaned, laundry desperately needs to be done, but all that was left for tomorrow...and we had a great day!
Anyway, I was gonna post some pics from our trip to Ottawa and other random pics, but I can't find my card reader, sooo....maybe sometime soon.
Love you kris...have a great weekend with Jay! And the rest of you too!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Quick Little Update
We are home. Arrived just after supper last night. My baby didn't sleep until about 1/2 hour from home, and then woke up after 10 minutes, but all in all a good trip home.
We had a GREAT time with Alex and Marie. They really are awesome. Marie is just as sweet as ever, Alex is just as funny, and their boys, Issac and Eli, are sooo cute! My kids are already asking when we can go back.
Things we did on our trip: relaxed over coffee, chatted, played in the SNOW, of which there was SOOO much! The snow on either side of their driveway, was well over Rob's head...and he's 6ft. tall. We went to a sugar shack and went on a sleigh ride there...sooo fun and sooo cold! Went swimming (indoors, of course), and then Marie and I shopped for a few hours and went out to eat at an amazing restaurant! I ate way too much over the weekend, but it was so good! We also went to the Children's Museum in Ottawa, and it was awesome! The kids loved it and it was alot of fun! And, of course, Marie and I jetted off for one last shopping trip to our favorite store, Value Village. Where, I found out, that Value Village hires the most rude, impatient managers in all their stores, not just the ones around here. But, we still found some good stuff. :)
So, now we're home. Rob is back to work, Cait's napping, and the older two are building a fort. And me, well, I'm trying to decide what to tackle: getting pictures developed and finally put up on my walls, finally organizing and digging out the clutter in our store room, figuring out what and when to do Rory's 4th birthday party, as it falls on Good Friday this year or waiting on all that because I only have today, and then clean houses for the rest of the week. I'll probably just wait.
Nothing too exciting and lots of thoughts running through my head today, but no time to type 'em here, and that's probably best. Think I'll go finish my coffee and have some time talking to God.
Oh, but one last thought......I'm REALLY looking forward to spring. :)
We had a GREAT time with Alex and Marie. They really are awesome. Marie is just as sweet as ever, Alex is just as funny, and their boys, Issac and Eli, are sooo cute! My kids are already asking when we can go back.
Things we did on our trip: relaxed over coffee, chatted, played in the SNOW, of which there was SOOO much! The snow on either side of their driveway, was well over Rob's head...and he's 6ft. tall. We went to a sugar shack and went on a sleigh ride there...sooo fun and sooo cold! Went swimming (indoors, of course), and then Marie and I shopped for a few hours and went out to eat at an amazing restaurant! I ate way too much over the weekend, but it was so good! We also went to the Children's Museum in Ottawa, and it was awesome! The kids loved it and it was alot of fun! And, of course, Marie and I jetted off for one last shopping trip to our favorite store, Value Village. Where, I found out, that Value Village hires the most rude, impatient managers in all their stores, not just the ones around here. But, we still found some good stuff. :)
So, now we're home. Rob is back to work, Cait's napping, and the older two are building a fort. And me, well, I'm trying to decide what to tackle: getting pictures developed and finally put up on my walls, finally organizing and digging out the clutter in our store room, figuring out what and when to do Rory's 4th birthday party, as it falls on Good Friday this year or waiting on all that because I only have today, and then clean houses for the rest of the week. I'll probably just wait.
Nothing too exciting and lots of thoughts running through my head today, but no time to type 'em here, and that's probably best. Think I'll go finish my coffee and have some time talking to God.
Oh, but one last thought......I'm REALLY looking forward to spring. :)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Sigh...
Well, it happened again. I went to bed late (midnight...crazy i know), and slept all the way through the night (thanks to Cait), woke up at 6:20, to give Cait a bottle, and slept until 6:50 (yes, that extra half hour was worth it!)....and yet, here I am still more tired than when I get up once or twice a night with the kids.
Weird. Bodies are weird. Sometimes I feel like just as my body is finally adjusting to regular sleep patterns, I go and get pregnant and then I'm back to square one. :) Oh well. Makes the coffee much more enjoyable. Which is what I'm drinking now.
So, what's new here? Well, not a whole lot. March Break starts Friday, and we are heading out to visit Marie & Alex for about 4 days, and I'm super excited!!! :) Marie is such a sweetie, and we always have alot of fun when we hang out. Plus, Ottawa is really nice, and it's just close enough to not be too big of a 'trip' (5 hours away), but still far enough that you feel like you're really 'away' from home. Ya know?
So, yesterday at supper, I had another cool conversation with Kier. He is just growing up so quickly and is really 'clueing' into alot of different things all at once. It started because he had a punishment right after school until supper, because he had not obeyed the babysitter we had the night before. So, after informing him of all he'd lost due to that (a lollipop I had picked up for him...right into the garbage....made him watch and everything...lots of tears there and a tv show that he wanted to watch), I decided that he was to write a letter to Maggy (the babysitter) apologizing. I wrote down four words I wanted him to include in it, and told him to add whatever else was on his heart. So, here is a summary of the note:
"Maggy, I am sorry for disobeying you. Will you forgive me? You're the best babysitter. love, Kieran to maggy"
Cute. And he really got what he had done, and was really repentent for it. I love those instances where, as a mom, I know my child so well, that I know exactly how to communicate with him to really help him understand what he did, and the consequences. The real test of how well he got it will be the next time she babysits...so, we'll see.
Then, at supper, he mentioned that a boy on the bus had hit him. I asked him if he had done anything to provoke the boy, and he initially said no, not really. But because, as a rule, the kids on his bus don't randomly walk around hitting kids, I pushed him to get the whole story. Turns out that this kid was being mean to his friend, and Kieran wanted him to leave his friend alone, but then the boy called kieran a 'name.' When he told me that, and was almost crying when I asked him to tell me what name he had called him, I thought for sure, we'd entered the stage where he was going to be hearing bad words. So, I braced myself, and after alot of coaxing and being reassured that we wouldn't get mad at him, he finally whispered in my ear the word.......
Bum bum face.
He had his hands over his mouth nervously after saying it, and was like, "are you mad that I just said it?" We told him of course not, but I still wanted to know what led to the boy hitting him. He said, "Well, he called me that name, and was still being mean, so I called him the name too". Oh. Now, I really understood where all the nervousness and guilt was coming from....not only the fact that he heard the word, but more the fact that he said it too. We told him that we were proud that he told us the truth, and I said that now that Jesus is in his heart, whenever he would make wrong decisions, he wouldn't feel good about them, because Jesus wants to help us make good decisions and doesn't want us to have peace when we make bad ones. It was obvious he knew it was wrong, so we had a good chat about better ways to deal with bullies, and he had some great ideas....obviously, don't call them bad names back; also, move to another seat on the bus to get away from them, or my favorite, ignore them.
So, that's life around here lately. Lots of life lessons for my boy, my middle girl turning 4 in a couple weeks and soooo excited about it, and my little baby turning 15 months next week, and showing no signs of slowing down. And I love it.
Ok. No more sighs. Coffee's gone, and lots to do. xo
Weird. Bodies are weird. Sometimes I feel like just as my body is finally adjusting to regular sleep patterns, I go and get pregnant and then I'm back to square one. :) Oh well. Makes the coffee much more enjoyable. Which is what I'm drinking now.
So, what's new here? Well, not a whole lot. March Break starts Friday, and we are heading out to visit Marie & Alex for about 4 days, and I'm super excited!!! :) Marie is such a sweetie, and we always have alot of fun when we hang out. Plus, Ottawa is really nice, and it's just close enough to not be too big of a 'trip' (5 hours away), but still far enough that you feel like you're really 'away' from home. Ya know?
So, yesterday at supper, I had another cool conversation with Kier. He is just growing up so quickly and is really 'clueing' into alot of different things all at once. It started because he had a punishment right after school until supper, because he had not obeyed the babysitter we had the night before. So, after informing him of all he'd lost due to that (a lollipop I had picked up for him...right into the garbage....made him watch and everything...lots of tears there and a tv show that he wanted to watch), I decided that he was to write a letter to Maggy (the babysitter) apologizing. I wrote down four words I wanted him to include in it, and told him to add whatever else was on his heart. So, here is a summary of the note:
"Maggy, I am sorry for disobeying you. Will you forgive me? You're the best babysitter. love, Kieran to maggy"
Cute. And he really got what he had done, and was really repentent for it. I love those instances where, as a mom, I know my child so well, that I know exactly how to communicate with him to really help him understand what he did, and the consequences. The real test of how well he got it will be the next time she babysits...so, we'll see.
Then, at supper, he mentioned that a boy on the bus had hit him. I asked him if he had done anything to provoke the boy, and he initially said no, not really. But because, as a rule, the kids on his bus don't randomly walk around hitting kids, I pushed him to get the whole story. Turns out that this kid was being mean to his friend, and Kieran wanted him to leave his friend alone, but then the boy called kieran a 'name.' When he told me that, and was almost crying when I asked him to tell me what name he had called him, I thought for sure, we'd entered the stage where he was going to be hearing bad words. So, I braced myself, and after alot of coaxing and being reassured that we wouldn't get mad at him, he finally whispered in my ear the word.......
Bum bum face.
He had his hands over his mouth nervously after saying it, and was like, "are you mad that I just said it?" We told him of course not, but I still wanted to know what led to the boy hitting him. He said, "Well, he called me that name, and was still being mean, so I called him the name too". Oh. Now, I really understood where all the nervousness and guilt was coming from....not only the fact that he heard the word, but more the fact that he said it too. We told him that we were proud that he told us the truth, and I said that now that Jesus is in his heart, whenever he would make wrong decisions, he wouldn't feel good about them, because Jesus wants to help us make good decisions and doesn't want us to have peace when we make bad ones. It was obvious he knew it was wrong, so we had a good chat about better ways to deal with bullies, and he had some great ideas....obviously, don't call them bad names back; also, move to another seat on the bus to get away from them, or my favorite, ignore them.
So, that's life around here lately. Lots of life lessons for my boy, my middle girl turning 4 in a couple weeks and soooo excited about it, and my little baby turning 15 months next week, and showing no signs of slowing down. And I love it.
Ok. No more sighs. Coffee's gone, and lots to do. xo
Monday, March 03, 2008
Watch This Video
If you've ever taught a child to swim, swam with a baby, or remember learning to swim yourself, you will find this video pretty unbelievable. I've decided to make some predictions as to how some of you will react when watching the first little bit of this video...lemme know if I was right. Don't read the prediction until you've watched the video. :)
Here are my predictions:
Kristi: will say 'Oh my word!' about 20 times, hand over your mouth, but smiling, even nervous laughing a bit.
Amy: will yell 'Oh my!' And will be belly laughing within a few seconds of the 'shocking' part of the video.
Marie: will say 'what? what? what?' 'no, no, no!' 'for real??!?!?', and then some nervous laughing.
Sarah: will let out a little yelp at the 'shocking' part and will spend the rest of the time figuring out how the kids do it.
Here are my predictions:
Kristi: will say 'Oh my word!' about 20 times, hand over your mouth, but smiling, even nervous laughing a bit.
Amy: will yell 'Oh my!' And will be belly laughing within a few seconds of the 'shocking' part of the video.
Marie: will say 'what? what? what?' 'no, no, no!' 'for real??!?!?', and then some nervous laughing.
Sarah: will let out a little yelp at the 'shocking' part and will spend the rest of the time figuring out how the kids do it.
Welcome Back from Lunch Kris!!
It was great 'chatting' with you just a second ago on facebook! I think I'm gonna put one more post up here just to amuse you! Hope you can watch videos at work!
Have a great afternoon, and give that guam baby a belly rub for me! Love ya! xoxoxo
Have a great afternoon, and give that guam baby a belly rub for me! Love ya! xoxoxo
Weekend Life
Our weekends vary from weekend to weekend. This past weekend was one that started out looking like it would be not too bad on the busy scale, but pretty low key. Instead it turned out to be filled with alot of fun and relaxing family time.
Starting Thursday night, we picked Kier up from school and decided to make an impromptu trip to the library. We stopped at the grocery store first (for snacks and a couple necessities), and had a lot of fun there. To let you get to know my kids a little more, here's where their interests were the whole time at the grocery store: Kier--as soon as we walked in, he saw a Life magazine with a picture of lightning on the front, went over and grabbed it, and settled in the cart to flip through the magazine until we were done shopping. A man's man already. :) Rory was focused on getting the free cookie at the bakery, but was easily distracted by the girls' clothes, shoes, candles, cheesies (their treat), dancing in the aisles, and helping me put things into the cart. But, the whole time, she never forgot the cookie at the bakery. And gobbled it up pretty quickly when she finally got it. :) Cait, however, had no choice but to sit in the cart and amused herself pretty well. By grabbing everything she could and either eating it, or throwing it onto the floor, and then pointing and grunting. The kids think she's hilarious so, when she clued in that she was getting laughs, she didn't stop for the whole trip. :) And she enjoyed the cookie too.
So, then we were off to the library. Before going in, I gave each of them an apple to gobble up, in an effort to curb their supper appetite. Kier and Rory finished quickly but Cait was taking her time. It was actually the first time I gave her the whole apple, skin on, to just hold and eat herself, and let me tell you, she loved it! She is already quite an independent little girl, but the sight of her walking around the library, apple in hand, mouth full, waving and smiling to everybody, made the trip that much more fun. I tell ya, that girl is happiest when she is in a room full of people and is the center of attention. (not sure where she gets that.....).
Moving onto Friday night, I had actually picked up some movies at the library (free movies...gotta love that!), so we put on Peter Pan to watch with the kids. Not my favorite movie at all. I have never watched it, and really didn't like it. Peter Pan's attitude is so cocky and rude, and he has girls all over that island...and is quick to ditch one for the next one that catches his fancy. The kids weren't into it, so we ended up playing playmobils for a bit, and then the kiddies went to bed. We invited our good friend, Mitch over to play some games, but we (Rob, Dawn, Mitch, & I) just ended up veggin' and had great conversations. About marriage, divorce, committment, and my desire to tour North America and just help people with their marriages. Alot of sad stuff happening to couples today. We had some laughs too. (i said, 'pardon?'...inside joke.)
Onto Saturday, I usually have music practice on Saturday morning, but it was cancelled this week, so Rob let me sleep in (love that guy!), and then we packed the kids up and went to the Waterloo Children's Museum. It was alot of fun and was perfect for all of their ages. Cait just loved being able to run free and kept looking up at the lights and chinese lanters they had hanging from the ceiling, and smiling. She's so cute. Saturday evening was pretty uneventful, as Rob had to prepare for the next morning, and for some reason, I was pooped. I am convinced that my body works more efficiently on less sleep, because anytime I get extra rest, I seem to be much more tired. Weird.
So, church was good, and then we went out to eat with a bunch of people after church which is always fun. There were some 'new' people there who I haven't gotten to know very well yet, so it was nice to just veg and chat. After settling Cait down for her nap at home, and the other kids were off to play scrabble, and daddy was 'watching tv' (ie-napping :), I snuck out with Dawn for a couple hours to power shop. We hit about 9 stores the hour before they closed, and it was fun. We both found what we were looking for, and I hit some sales for the kids too. Then, I went into mommy organizing mode when I got home, and blitzed for about 3 hours, cleaning, vaccuuming, reorganizing and scrubbing. Felt good. Then, Rob and I settled in and watched a movie together. I found it hard to get into, cause it was pretty slow and didn't 'hook' me at the first, but it was so nice to just be with him for a couple hours.
So, that was our Stanley weekend. Nothing spectacular, but got to spend lots of time with most of my favorite people, so it was a good one.
How was your weekend?
Starting Thursday night, we picked Kier up from school and decided to make an impromptu trip to the library. We stopped at the grocery store first (for snacks and a couple necessities), and had a lot of fun there. To let you get to know my kids a little more, here's where their interests were the whole time at the grocery store: Kier--as soon as we walked in, he saw a Life magazine with a picture of lightning on the front, went over and grabbed it, and settled in the cart to flip through the magazine until we were done shopping. A man's man already. :) Rory was focused on getting the free cookie at the bakery, but was easily distracted by the girls' clothes, shoes, candles, cheesies (their treat), dancing in the aisles, and helping me put things into the cart. But, the whole time, she never forgot the cookie at the bakery. And gobbled it up pretty quickly when she finally got it. :) Cait, however, had no choice but to sit in the cart and amused herself pretty well. By grabbing everything she could and either eating it, or throwing it onto the floor, and then pointing and grunting. The kids think she's hilarious so, when she clued in that she was getting laughs, she didn't stop for the whole trip. :) And she enjoyed the cookie too.
So, then we were off to the library. Before going in, I gave each of them an apple to gobble up, in an effort to curb their supper appetite. Kier and Rory finished quickly but Cait was taking her time. It was actually the first time I gave her the whole apple, skin on, to just hold and eat herself, and let me tell you, she loved it! She is already quite an independent little girl, but the sight of her walking around the library, apple in hand, mouth full, waving and smiling to everybody, made the trip that much more fun. I tell ya, that girl is happiest when she is in a room full of people and is the center of attention. (not sure where she gets that.....).
Moving onto Friday night, I had actually picked up some movies at the library (free movies...gotta love that!), so we put on Peter Pan to watch with the kids. Not my favorite movie at all. I have never watched it, and really didn't like it. Peter Pan's attitude is so cocky and rude, and he has girls all over that island...and is quick to ditch one for the next one that catches his fancy. The kids weren't into it, so we ended up playing playmobils for a bit, and then the kiddies went to bed. We invited our good friend, Mitch over to play some games, but we (Rob, Dawn, Mitch, & I) just ended up veggin' and had great conversations. About marriage, divorce, committment, and my desire to tour North America and just help people with their marriages. Alot of sad stuff happening to couples today. We had some laughs too. (i said, 'pardon?'...inside joke.)
Onto Saturday, I usually have music practice on Saturday morning, but it was cancelled this week, so Rob let me sleep in (love that guy!), and then we packed the kids up and went to the Waterloo Children's Museum. It was alot of fun and was perfect for all of their ages. Cait just loved being able to run free and kept looking up at the lights and chinese lanters they had hanging from the ceiling, and smiling. She's so cute. Saturday evening was pretty uneventful, as Rob had to prepare for the next morning, and for some reason, I was pooped. I am convinced that my body works more efficiently on less sleep, because anytime I get extra rest, I seem to be much more tired. Weird.
So, church was good, and then we went out to eat with a bunch of people after church which is always fun. There were some 'new' people there who I haven't gotten to know very well yet, so it was nice to just veg and chat. After settling Cait down for her nap at home, and the other kids were off to play scrabble, and daddy was 'watching tv' (ie-napping :), I snuck out with Dawn for a couple hours to power shop. We hit about 9 stores the hour before they closed, and it was fun. We both found what we were looking for, and I hit some sales for the kids too. Then, I went into mommy organizing mode when I got home, and blitzed for about 3 hours, cleaning, vaccuuming, reorganizing and scrubbing. Felt good. Then, Rob and I settled in and watched a movie together. I found it hard to get into, cause it was pretty slow and didn't 'hook' me at the first, but it was so nice to just be with him for a couple hours.
So, that was our Stanley weekend. Nothing spectacular, but got to spend lots of time with most of my favorite people, so it was a good one.
How was your weekend?
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