Give Me Strength

This is a layout that I managed to finish yesterday for Kyle's scrapbook and it's all about the little things that he's doing to drive me crazy these days. I want him to know that while he really is a good boy, there were days when he tried to drive me around the bend. His scrapbook makes him look like such a shining star! And he is most of the time!

The journaling on the layout reads:

It's amazing that this shining little face can be the cause of so much frustration and irritation some days. I really can't complain because most of the time you're really good, but I have to say that the phase you're going through right now can drive me pretty much crazy some days. I think Daddy wonders what's happened when he comes home and I pretty much run to the kitchen to make dinner if only to get a few minutes to myself.

I know this is good for you in the sense that you're fighting for your independence and trying to find your own way. I'm sure this is all part of the development of your personality too, but it makes it hard some days. You're famous these days for "I SAID"... and then repeating whatever it is that you want at the top of your lungs now when you don't get what you want. I have absolutely no idea where you heard this as it's not something Daddy or I say, but you sure know how to use it. The only thing you haven't figured out yet is that not only does it not get you what you want, but you get in trouble for talking to us like that. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough.

You also have this thing now of repeating the same thing a hundred times. I could answer the same way 99 times and you'd ask again. It's to the point sometimes that my response is "I don't know", but that doesn't even stop you most of the time. Your favourite question to repeat is "Mummy, what that sound?". It might be a car, a door, music, whatever, but you want to know. The funny thing is that most of the time when you ask, I'm pretty sure you know what it is before you ask the question.

We often spend time with Auntie Tracy and Sophia these days. It's really nice to be off on maternity leave at the same time and be able to get together as much as we do. You're really not very happy though some days if I tell you we're not going to see them. There was one day last week that you were incessant about asking to see them. We were all sort of sick and I had decided that maybe since we weren't going to see them that it would be a good day to just relax at home, but by late morning, I had to get out of the house because you just wouldn't stop. We headed up to London Drugs which is in the direction of their place, so I guess you figured somehow that even though I had told you a million times we weren't going there that we were. You asked another thousand times on the way up and back about going over there. It was to the point that I just stopped answering you at all on the way back. I was ever so grateful that day that you still nap because we came home and ate and then you went to bed. I'm glad that you love your Auntie and Sophia, but that was one day I'd rathered you'd just not loved them quite so much!

You've also started pinching and hitting a bit. Now, I can honestly say that these aren't big things in my opinion and certainly nothing that I worry about in terms of you really hurting someone, but we're still trying to teach you that it's not OK. Sometimes, you want to just play drums on my knees for example and it's fine when you start, but it gets harder and harder to the point that it hurts. I don't know how many times I've had to say "Gentle" to you when you're playing with Nathan. You just get so excited playing sometimes that I think you forget. The pinching is very recent and you don't do it often, but it's almost like you're checking for a reaction when you do it. It's like you're watching my face as you pinch to see what I'll say or do. Mostly I want you to learn that these things aren't OK so that you don't do it to another kid and end up paying for it.

All of these things are just part of you growing up, but they certainly do make some days hard. The best part for me though is that no matter what happens during the day, when it's time for bed, I can cuddle up with you for a few minutes and we can sing songs and talk and you'll always give me a big hug and kiss.

No matter what you say or do, I love you ever so much and I hope you always know that...


Colleen

Birthday haircut

We've had a full day today! Seems like this morning was a couple of days ago! I even managed to get mum's birthday gift almost finished this evening! *No hints here!*

The other thing we managed to get in was a haircut for Kyle. After Kyle woke up from his nap, I got him and Nathan organized and into the car to go and meet George at the mall after he got off work. The funny thing was we pulled into the parking lot at almost exactly the same time and he ended up parking beside me!





We went into the hair place and it wasn't busy, so she took Kyle right away. She asked what we'd like, so I told her and she showed me about how long and I said good and ran off to the toy store. I wanted to pick up this bubble making hand held machine thing for Kyle's birthday. When I got back, I was a little surprised because it was shorter than she had shown me. George wasn't bothered though and it does look cute - just short. I think part of it is that he always looks so much older to me after a haircut too! I also think he looks like Kevin and John now (the twins - our nephews).

Better go put the big boy to bed!
Colleen

Proud Auntie!

Kyle, Nathan and I got over to see Tracy and Sophia this morning. Poor Sophia has the cold that the rest of us have, so I hope it doesn't get too much worse for her (and Tracy's) sake. We watched "Winner" (aka The Price is Right) because Kyle is currently IN LOVE with game shows. Then we got out for a walk on this gorgeous day before heading home for lunch and naps.


Tracy also kindly gave me some pictures while I was there and I had asked her for a couple of Sophia and I when she was in the hospital. After getting the boys in bed, I quickly went and added the pictures to a layout that I had already started and then did the journaling for it. So cute! I get scrap in pink with flowers for a change!

Better go do a few things before the boys wake up since we're off to meet George in Richmond after work. Kyle really needs to get his hair cut and we'd like him to look less like a shaggy dog for pictures of his birthday party on Sunday! We're going to meet George at the mall, so I have some help if Kyle decides he's not happy about the electric razor and Nathan isn't very happy for some reason!

Colleen

Wiggley Morning already

Kyle is sitting here beside me this morning looking through the box that arrived yesterday for his birthday. I NEVER order online, but I made an exception for this box since we couldn't find anything in a Wiggles theme that he wanted for his birthday. The key thing was something to put on a cake and when I decided to order that, then I added a few other things too! He got party hats, plates, cups, napkins, stickers, and the cake topper. Yeah, I know, just a few things.

I was a little worried when it hadn't shown up on Wednesday and was going to call the company if it didn't show up yesterday, but it most certainly did and it made both Kyle and I happy! George now has something to put on the cake he's going to make! Save paying the outrageous price for a kid's cake and Kyle can have the fun of helping too!

We had another nice evening out at the park last night. George has taken the afternoon off since he had a dentist appointment in the afternoon. As Trace and I were walking back to the house with the kids in the morning after being at the park, George drove by on his way to the dentist and honked and waved. Kyle was soooooo upset that he didn't actually get to see George that I think he cried for about 15 minutes. I told Kyle that Daddy would take him to the park after dinner and since Nathan was up and it as so nice, we all decided to go up to the school. There were two little girls up there, so Kyle had lots of fun following them around though I don't know how much they liked it! George tried the kite again (another kite that he and Kyle went and got tonight), but the wind wasn't cooperating again.


I got some scrapping done again in the afternoon while the boys napped. Here is one of the two "works of art" that I created! I love this pictures and it sure doesn't seem that long ago, but Kyle sure looks different!

Better be off and go do a few things other than enjoy my coffee since Kyle has finished his breakfast!

Colleen

Another layout!

I've actually been managing to get quite a bit of scrapbooking done lately! I think it's just a matter of making it more important and realizing that it's a good release for me. Something fun and creative! This is the last one that I finished yesterday of the boys in the park in February.

I've been helping Tracy get some thing together for a book for Sophia too and I think we'll be able to get together and scrap once in a while too. I know when Kyle was about the age Nathan is now that I started going out once in a while to the scrapbook store on a Friday night to scrap. A good social thing and a chance to get out! My only problem now is that with all the stuff I have that it's easier to scrap at home! Just have to be more organized if I want to do that!

Colleen

A Beautiful Morning

Just popping in to see if I can get a few more pics uploaded here. It's a gorgeous morning and I've got a coffee already, so things are pretty good. Kyle is eating his breakfast after waking me up. OK, so he had to say "Get up Mummy" more than a couple of times, but I'm up! I think I was in some really deep part of a dream when he came in this morning. Nathan is sitting in his chair playing with some toys. Basically, all is good for about 5 minutes!

The first three pictures here are of a picnic we went on this past weekend at a local park. We've managed to find all kinds of wonderful parks around here and, of course, we also have Burns Bog. We love walking around on the trails in there and would love to see more of them though the main thing is to protect the wildlife in the bog!





These two pictures of Nathan are of the day he rolled over recently! I just think they're quite funny - almost as if he's like "WOW! What did I do?!"



Well, the boys won't hold out any longer, so I'm off!
Colleen

New pictures

OK, let's just say I'm swamped in pictures these days. Nathan is growing so quickly and Kyle is just plain funny all the time! I have more than enough to keep me busy scrapping for ages and that's fine by me!

I have to say that Kyle certainly makes me laugh these days, but there are days when I think "Give me strength!". He now has this habit of asking the same thing a hundred times and you could answer it the same way 99 times and he'd ask again! His favourite question these days seems to be "Mummy, what that sound?" and it's all the time let me tell you! His other favourite expression is "Just kidding". Like he starts to tell you something and then you ask something about it because you didn't understand and that's his response all the time.

The other thing Kyle does these days is "play guitar". He's very into music and loves to sing. When I was watching American Idol, he would pretend to rock out by sining into the drum stick he has. That same drumstick is used for a guitar that he plays all the time. Getting a birthday gift for him was easy - a kids guitar!

Anyway, thought I'd put up some new pictures as well. The first couple are just of my two boys sitting on the sofa.





Nathan was 5 months on the 13th and I take monthly pics, so this is one of those.




We had a nice evening! We're trying to "bribe" Kyle into trying new foods these days since he has his stnd-bys and that's about it. The deal is that if he tries whatever is on his plate (what we're eating!), then we'll go up to the local park for a bit after dinner and it seems to be working. Got some vegetables he hasn't tried and rice in him. That's not saying he'll like them right away, but he won't even know unless he tries!

Anyway, we all went up to the park and had a nice time! George took the kite, but there wasn't enough of a breeze tonight. Kyle was busy with his bucket and shovel in the sand. Nathan and I sat under a tree and played. Enjoyable!

I'll see if I can add a few more later since this thing doesn't seem to be liking me this evening!!
Colleen

More of Daddy's Day!

Can't believe I'm getting here to write two days in a row! It was a nice day here yesterday, so we managed to get out a bit in the evening. It was also thanks in large part to Kyle since he actually asked to go pee on the potty, we rewarded him with a trip to the park.

Yes, we are into the potty training and overall, he's really not doing too badly. Now, I can't say we've ventured out very far with just the underwear on, but he only wears a diaper at night and if we're going to be out for a while, we'll put on a Pull-up just in case. Though most of the time, he waits until we get home, the Pull-up thing is going to have to change because it's too easy for him.


Kyle and I made homemade pizza for George for dinner last night. Kyle is a great helper in the kitchen. He loves cooking these days and also like helping with the dishes. Well, OK, he likes playing in the water! After dinner, we packed ourselves up and headed out to the park with a stop at Dairy Queen first for a Daddy treat. Well, Kyle and I had a cone too!



We went to this park that is down on the Fraser sort of over where mum and dad used to live (that's so weird to think!). There were a lot of people out and we had a nice walk and Kyle and Nathan both got a swing. I'd like to go back and have a picnic there sometime.



Now if only Nathan had had a better night's sleep! He woke up at 3:30am to eat and that was fine, but the he decided he didn't want to go back to sleep, so I was up with him until 5:15 when he fell asleep. Thought I'd go back to bed after George got up for work at 5:30, but about 5 minutes after I got in bed, Kyle woke up! Let's just hoe they both nap at the same time this afternoon, so I can have one too!

Colleen

{Snapshot of Daddy's Day}

Well, once again, I haven't been great about posting here, but the truth is we seem to have been more than busy and more than a little sick these days. Kyle was sick for about 3 weeks and after 2 ended up with a chest infection. We treated that and thought he was better, but now he's got another cold. This time Nathan and I both got it too. I have to say that a 5 month old with a dry cough just sounds horrible. That's the worst part of what I've got left too - the dry cough.


Unfortunately for George, this has meant that we aren't doing too much for Father's Day, but he's getting a chance to do a few things he wants to do. The picture is of him using his Christmas and Father's Day presents (router for Christmas and router bits today) to work on the canvas tent he's building. I think he's hoping to get it done in the next few weeks because there's an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event coming up.

It hasn't been a very eventful day. We did our usual Sunday morning grocery shop, came home and had lunch and now both the boys are napping. I'm trying to get a few things done around here too. I sure wish those cleaning fairies would hurry up and get here!



Just thought I'd post a couple of other pictures that were taken recently too. The first is of our "little" boy Nathan in the Jolly Jumper - which he loves! And the other is of Sophia (my niece - Tracy's daughter) and Nathan together. It's great that Tracy and I are off on mat leave together as we see a lot of each other. Kyle love seeing her and Sophia these days and is quite upset if there's some reason we're not getting together with them during the week. Tracy and I even took Nathan and Sophia to a movie last week while Kyle was visiting his grandma and Opa.

I think I just heard Nathan waking up, so I'd better be off!
Cheers,
Colleen