Keeping myself busy too!

I'm also scrapbooking at a fairly crazy pace these days and having tons of fun with it. I'm trying to get some memories into books for the boys as well as just scrapbooking some family outings and holidays. This is one I did recently of some pictures of Nathan and I after a nice walk a couple of weeks ago.


I love this hilarious picture of Kyle and his big Elmo all tucked in bed with him and even with his blankie!

I'm really looking forward to going to my scrapping weekend next month too. Mum and I have gone the last two years and George gets the boys for the weekend again this year! We go up Friday evening and come home Sunday after lots of scrapping, not much sleep and tons of food! A great weekend!!

Well, better go get a few other things done while the boys are still both napping!
Cheers,
Colleen

Where does the time go??

I just have no idea how it got to be almost the middle of October already! I see it been longer than I thought since I posted here - as usual!!

Let's see...what have we been up to? Well, the colds that are going around certainly have hit us in the last little bit. Both the boys have now had 2 colds fairly close together. I managed to miss the first one, but not so lucky the second time around. That meant that we spent the better part of last week at home trying to get all of us healthy again which was really too bad considering how gorgeous the weather has been.

Nathan seems to have been hit hardest by the bugs. Finally took him to the Dr last Friday after him just being sick for a while and seeming out of sorts. Good thing I did as I found out he had an ear infection. The Dr put him on antibiotics since he was all congested and had been sick for a while as well as having the ear infection. Well, I took him back again today since he didn't really seem much better and the Dr agreed. We're going to finish the course of antibiotics he's on as well as give him some Dimetapp and hope he gets better over the weekend. If not, we may have to try something else, but I don't want to give him another antibiotic if I can help it! Wait and see.


We had a busy long weekend last weekend with Thanksgiving. Kyle is still going to his music class so we did that on Saturday morning and did some picking up around here and getting ready for Monday. Sunday night we went out to mum and dad's and Tracy, Brian and Sophia were back from New Foundland in time to come too! It was great to get together and we had a little extra time to visit since mum and dad's oven wasn't cooperating and the turkey took a little longer than expected. Poor dad was stressing, but we all told him it wasn't a big deal and we weren't going anywhere!

Then, on Monday, we had all of George's family over here as well. There were 14 of us for dinner I think and we cooked the turkey and everything. George's mum did a ham too. George did the turkey on the barbeque and it was great! Just had lots of dishes to do afterwards!

George took Tuesday off as well because we wanted to take Kyle to the pumpkin patch, so we didn't have to do it on the weekend when it's crazy. We did it last year on a Saturday and it was nuts! Anyway, we get there and they're NOT OPEN!!! They said is was because they didn't have any groups booked, so they decided not to open.

I have called there twice now and they have someone calling me back because I'm MAD!! It's ridiculous when it says nothing to that effect on their website (like they may or may not be open depending on group numbers) and they advertise as being open!! I want free tickets considering we now have to go on the weekend when it's nuts. One of the girls said they'd had lots of complaints and I'm not surprised!

Poor Kyle was so disappointed he was crying when we left. We've been telling him for days we were going and he was so excited! I think we're going to try and go early tomorrow before the crowds and the rain that's forecast for later in the day.



So, Tuesday we ended up going over to George's parent's since they live not far from the barber that he goes to. Nathan and I stayed there while the Daddy and Kyle went and got their hair cut. We have to keep Kyle's short because he has a double crown and when it gets long at all, it sticks up like Alfalfa! We stopped to see Opi on the way home too.


I guess that's about it for us right now. Keeping ourselves busy for sure. And it's hard to believe that Nathan is 9 months old today! He's into everything these days and though he's not crawling, he gets around "commando style"! I'll have to get my monthly pictures of him taken today sometime and we're trying to get him into Sears for a few too.

Well, better run for now, but hope to have some good pumpkin patch pics to post this weekend with any luck!

Cheers,
Colleen

Snapshots of Summer

Just got this layout done of some pictures of Kyle at the water park recently. He'd be there all the time if we had his choice! He sure loves being outside.

We just got back from camping on Friday (2 days ago) though we should have been coming home today. Tracy and Brian took Sophia up yesterday and the plan was to all be there, but Nathan had other ideas. He just wasn't sleeping well and was having problems with teething. I was tired from getting up all the time at night too and trying to make sure he stayed relatively quick so as not to wake up everyone around us. We all had lots of fun while we were up there though.

The weather didn't really cooperate with us either though. We went us Tuesday to rain later in the day and ended up wet in the tent that night. Well, let me correct that, I was dry and George ended up wet! The next night we were both dry, but the rain sort of came on and off. Even when it wasn't raining, it didn't really clear up completely or get warm.

Poor Kyle! Mum and dad had told him they'd take him to the water park near the campsite because they went there last year. Every day we were there, he'd ask. We would tell him we'd take him when the sun came out. Dad took him for a walk down to the beach and the sun peeked through on their way back and he asked if he could go! The last day, the first thing he asked about when he woke up was the water park! We never did end up being able to take him with the weather being what it was, so mum and dad have promised to take him another time!

Well, I'd better be off for now, but will add some camping pictures later!

Colleen

Slow Saturday

It's one of those days when there's not really any urgency to do anything. I like days like this. I'm hoping to get the house a little more picked up today, but there's always tomorrow. I'd also like to do some scrapping, so I hope the boys nap at the same time.

We've been out already this morning though. Ran a few errands - Canadian Tire, Toys R US and Future Shop. George picked up the things he needs to work on his truck. He wants to fix it up before he goes up to Clinton next weekend for an SCA event. I'm going to stay at home with the boys as it's just too much this year for all of us to go. Maybe next year when Nathan is a little bigger. I picked up a birthday gift for a little boy that I goofed on. I bought him a game that I got him last year - DUH! Kept that one for Kyle and got another for the birthday gift. Also picked up more ink for the printer. Mundane things that need to be done, but nice that we can go out and do them all together.

We are planning on going camping soon though. We're going with mum and dad and hoping that Tracy, Brian and Sophia might be able to come up for the weekend too. That'll be fun with the kids. I know Kyle will love it!

I haven't been doing too much scrapping lately as I've been having this horrible allergic reaction to something that's making me itchy! We've been trying to figure out what it is and the only thing I can think it may be is a different kind of Tide we bought. I didn't think it would be the Tide as that's the only thing we buy, but it was a different kind of Tide. I'm now washing all my clothes twice (once without soap) and hoping that'll do the trick!

I did manage to scrap something earlier this week. Mum gave Tracy and I a bunch of pictures of when we were kids.

I love these pics and this one reminds me of family dinners when we used to get dressed up. I know Grandma always liked it when we were a little bit dressed up - at least no jeans!

Well, better be of to get a few things done!
Colleen

Hot Hot Days of Summer!!

WOW! I have to say that this heat and I simply do not get along! There's a reason that I came home from Japan before my contract was quite finished years ago - to avoid another hot summer! Sunshine is great, but let's dial down the heat!

With things being in the low to mid 30s here the last few days and it looks like for a couple more, we have been doing everything we can to try and beat the heat. We have a great little park near us that has a water park that Kyle loves, so we've headed down there more often lately!



Kyle loves it down there and I don't have to run around with him anymore. FOr the longest time, he wouldn't go run around by himself, but that's certainly not a problem these days. The hardest thing is getting him out of there sometimes!

Tracy has been down there with us a couple of time lately and she took the pictures. Mum was out visiting on Thursday/Friday too, so she came with us and we made it a family fun day! Kyle has lots of fun showing off and running around trying to soak not only himself, but any other kids he could soak too!


I may be the only one, but I'm looking forward to the called for lower temps and possible rain for Wednesday!! In the meantime, we have fans in every room and throw the kids in a cool bath when it just gets too warm and we want to keep them out of the sun!

Colleen

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

Not enough hours in a day!

I can't believe it's been this long since I posted. I was at least getting here once a week with my {Snapshots of Saturday}, but then our digital camera has been out of commission for a few weeks and I've been using my 35mm. Love the pics, but not as easy to get up online! I hope to be back later with some pics to post if the boys cooperate and nap at the same time (though I always wish for this and it never quite seems to happen).

Things have been a bit crazy around here since both of the boys have been sick. Kyle has been sick for about 2 weeks and then suddenly developed a fever and bad cough in the last day or so. Took him to the Dr yesterday to find out he has a chest infection. I have to try and get this horrible antibiotic in him for 10 days 2X a day! Nothing like a little bribery! After the 10 days, we have to go back to the Dr to have him checked out again to make sure everything is out of his system. *fingers crossed*

Kyle hasn't been very happy with all this being sick because we've been missing his music class and his Multisport class. He just loves the other kids. Yesterday when I put him down for his nap (after the class would have already finished), he said to me "Mummy, after nap, gym class". I had to tell him once more that we wouldn't be going. Then when he woke up at the crack of dawn this morning he asked about going again and has asked about 3 or 4 times since. I should be thankful though because he's pretty good even when he's sick!

Well, better be off to do a few things before Nathan wakes up from his nap. Kyle is currently completely engrossed in his French toast that he helped make!

Cheers,
Colleen

{Snapshots of Saturday} - Vaisakhi Parade

It's been a great long weekend so far and thankfully the rain held off today for the Vaisakhi Parade that celebrates the birth of Sikhism. Of course, this area has a large Sikh community and they were out in full force for this celebration today! One guy that we were talking to said that there would probably be over 100,000 people out today for the Surrey parade and more than that again downtown for another parade.

It was an amazing celebration of religion and culture. There were people offering you unbelievable food every time you turned around. The very first plate I got I enjoyed the most and it was a chickpea curry and a flatbread to go with it. Delicious! The colours were amazing and orange seems to be the predominant colour though I'm honestly not sure of the reason. At one point during the parade someone came around with orange pieces of fabric and asked us to cover out heads and I think it was because of the religious aspect of the parade. The sights and sounds were fabulous!

At one point someone came up with a TV camera from the multicultural station to interview me. They just asked what we thought about the parade and how important it was for cultures to celebrate together. They asked if I thought the Indo-Canadian community participated enough in other types of celebrations as well. I think I said "It's great" about 4 times during the short interview, but it really was! A few people also filmed the boys, particularly Kyle, in the stroller watching the parade. It was great to be able to share in a different type of cultural celebration and people were very friendly stopping to explain things to us periodically and to give us food!



On our way home, I was really happy when George asked if I wanted to stop and get my new cell phone! We have been talking about it for a while and just haven't done it. We managed to get that in this afternoon ad I stopped for my Vanilla Latte at the Starbucks that was next door to the cell place!

The only thing I didn't get in today was a trip to the scrapbook store. I had a coupon and they have a scratch sale on today. Oh well, not the end of the world as I don't really need anything anyway.

We've got the boys sleeping for a bit and I'm making candied sweet potatoes for dinner at Tracy and Brian's tonight with mum and dad. We're making things easy and just getting a couple of bbq chickens and doing the extras. No turkey and that's fine by me! Too much work! Who am I kidding, we'll be doing turkey on Monday with George's family anyway! Better go do my sweet potatoes!

Colleen

It's a great day to be alive!

Funny, I was on my way back from the hospital visiting Tracy, Sophia and Brian when I heard this on the radio...

Feelin' pretty good and that's the truth
It's neither drink nor drug induced
No I'm just doin' alright
And it's a great day to be alive
I know the suns still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

Today just seemed like one of those days to be thankful for everything you have in your life. Kyle and George got up before Nathan and I. Thankfully Nathan slept a little longer after I nursed him about 5:30am and we got up before 8am. Mum and dad popped over this morning to pick up the vase for the flowers for Tracy and they were here when we had Nathan in the jolly jumper for the first time. Kyle was funny trying to get in the way when we were taking pictures and then showing Nathan how to jump.

It was time to get everyone ready so that Kyle could go to Kindermusik. George took him to class, but I dropped them off so that I could go pick up something pink for Sophia! I went up to Winners since Tracy told me that was where she got the blue Calvin Klein onesies for Nathan. I sure enough found then in pink as well and got another diaper shirt (mostly for Brian) that says "Hazard - Dirty Diaper". Nathan was sleeping, but woke up while I was shopping. He was good as gold as usual. I popped into Starbucks and got myself a latte and headed off to pick up the boys.

Then, we headed off to the hospital. Unfortunately, of course, we found out that we had just missed Sophia because they had taken her down to the nursery to keep an eye on her and get some antibiotics into her. We had a nice little visit with Tracy and Brian though.

We picked up lunch on the way home. We got everyone fed and then I think we all managed to sneak in a nap of some kind. By that time, it seemed like we were thinking about dinner already. I called Trace after dinner to see if she wanted me to pop up there and she said that was fine.

I stopped in at the drugstore to get her a little treat and I was on my way. I, unfortunately forgot I had taken the camera out of my purse to download pics earlier, but Tracy had her camera anyway. I was lucky enough to get to go down to the nursery with Tracy and see Sophia while I was there. We had to totally scrub up before we went in. She was so cute all bundled up in there though one of the first things you see is the IV in her hand. It looks so big compared to her. She was sleeping away when we got there, but I got to hold her anyway. Didn't hear a peep, but what a little doll! So precious... So much to be thankful for...

I said my goodbyes because Trace and Brian were getting a little more company at the hospital. On my way home, I dropped of Kyle's movie at the video store and it was after that when I heard that Travis Tritt song on the radio and I was just thinking about how lucky we all are. So much family and so much love.

Came home and cuddled Nathan when he woke up and spent a few extra minutes with Kyle tonight at bedtime reading and singing. It's a great day to be alive...

Colleen

{Snapshots of Saturday}

Well, my pictures for today aren't what I thought they were going to be! With Tracy having baby Sophia at 12:41am this morning, I figured I would take pics when we all went up to the hospital this morning after Kyle went to Kindermusik. We got there only to find out that they had taken Sophia to the nursery shortly before and that she would be staying there for 2-4 days. Her white blood cell count is up for some strange reason that they can't figure out, so they want to give her some antibiotics. The pediatrician said that everything is probably completely fine and that she's the picture of health, but they simply want to make sure she stays that way. The hard thing, of course, is that Trace will have to go home before Sophia does.


Now, the funny thing is that Tracy had Sophia in the same room that I had Nathan in about 3 months ago! We told Kyle that when Tracy had the baby that we would go to the hospital and all he was thinking about was washing his hands in the big sink like he did when he was there after Nathan was born!


My other funny pictures are also indirectly related to Sophia being born! When I had Kyle, my mum and dad brought me flowers in this little pink lamb vase that my dad bought flowers for my mum in when I was born. They dressed that vase up with blue ribbon and some blue flowers, but it is pink after all! My mum wanted to be able to give it to Tracy as well, so I went digging in the closet this morning to get it. In doing so, we also found the jolly jumper, so George put Nathan in it for the first time. Well, he quite liked it and happily bounced bounced away to our surprise! The funny thing was that when we went to take pictures, Kyle kept standing in front of the camera for his picture to be taken! Then, Kyle got into the bouncing act on his own and ended up all red in the face and sweaty "showing" Nathan how to jump!



Anyway, I'm waiting for Tracy to call me after her nap so that I can go back up to the hospital for a visit to see her and keep her company for a while. I actually had a little nap this afternoon myself after not getting much sleep last night with being at the hospital! Mum was up there for a while this afternoon while Brian slept since he's been up for ages! It sounds like I'll be able to go see Sophia in the nursery with Tracy too and I'm hoping I can take some pictures then!

Colleen

{Snapshots of Saturday} First Concert

Well, it's been far too long since I posted anything and I do have a million things to write about too! This challenge that Shirley is doing to post a little something about your Saturday every week has thankfully gotten me on here today!

It has been a crazy, hectic, but really fun day. We started off the morning with a bit of confusion. George rushed off to get his hair cut this morning and we had talked about him taking Kyle to Kindermusik as well (though the conversation was last night). The barber was busy and when I called him at 10am, he was next to get his hair cut and had forgotten about music class. I wasn't anywhere near ready to go, but I jumped in the shower and had myself ready and Kyle, Nathan and I in the car in about 23 minutes, so I thought I had done pretty well.

It was off to Kindermusik and we had fun there as usual. George actually showed up about halfway through the class because I think he was wondering how I was doing with both boys there. Nathan was actually being quite good thought he didn't sleep which I expected considering I had woken him up to bring him. After class, we rushed off home and made a quick lunch - half of which George put in a baggie for Kyle to take with him.

Then, it was off to pick up mum/Nana for Kyle's first concert - the Doodlebops! Yes, he's 2 and has been to his first concert! They are a group of 3 people that sing and dance for kids. It was funny when we went to park because you could certainly tell we were in the right place what with the tons and tons of parents and kids. Kyle was excited just by all the kids! We went in (in the rain) and Nana bought Kyle a Doodlebops flag that lights up with blinking lights (for a frightening $20 I might add!!). Then, we went upstairs to our seats and we were in the second row of the dress circle (on the second level) and the seats were quite good!


When the music first started, it was quite loud and being that Kyle doesn't exactly like loud noises, he covered his ears. I had this sudden fear that he was going to spend the whole show like that, but thankfully after I sat him in my lap and he realized it was just going to be music (and Doodlebops music no less), then he was fine. They did about 40 minutes and then had a 20 minute intermission. Kyle was quite upset at the intermission when he thought it was over! We went out into the hall and had a snack that I had packed. It was funny to see all the other mums digging in their bags for snacks too! We went back in for about another half hour. Kyle was getting into it waving his flag, clapping, doing a little dancing, and waving his arms when they asked. The Doodlebops waved goodbye after singing the song they sing on every show and Kyle waved goodbye.

We headed back to the car with the tons of other families. Kyle got in and seemed reasonably awake considering he had been up late last night (my plan was to have him up late and sleep late) and then got up at 5:30am again this morning! I have to say though that he started eating what was left of his grilled cheese sandwich and then about 15 minutes later, I heard snoring from the back seat - he was out! He managed to get a little more sleep when we got home too thankfully.

Nathan had stayed home with Daddy and it was the first time for just the two of them together, so that was good too. Nathan slept some and then even manages to take a bottle from George and then catnapped again before I got home.

Just got Kyle off to bed. Funny the little things we do every night that I think are so cute and that I know will someday stop and I'll miss. I always lean against the wall when we;re singing our songs, so Kyle has to sit up and do the same. We always have to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and then the alphabet song. He barely stops inbetween now!

We're also finally going through the process of getting rid of his binkie (or soother). He has only had it for bedtime for ages, but it's time to get rid of it completely and the opportunity presented itself a few nights ago when we couldn't find it. I did find it under the bed the next morning, but he doesn't know that. I won't say it's been easy and there have been some tears, but he's getting better. I keep telling him that I know it's hard, but that he's doing a good job. Tonight he said to me in his shortened sentence version with a very serious look "Binkie hard". All I could do was smile and tell him I knew it was.

I guess I'll stop there for now because I could go on for ages! I just need to get back here and write more often! Everyone had a good if not busy day! I guess this will end up being just another crazy day with 2 kids!

Colleen

Wearable Collection

I've collected a lot of different things - stamps, dolls, shot glasses, etc. What I collect now are charms for my Italian charm bracelet! I love it!

I was actually in a mad panic a couple of weeks ago when I thought I lost it. I got a new charm on it with a blue "K" for Kyle and I could only get the charm half on, so I knew I had to take in in to the place I got the charm for her to put it on. It was in my purse when we were out for dinner and I too kit out to show Kyle. After dinner, we went to the mall to pick up our family pictures and I was going to get my bracelet fixed. I got to the jewelry place and it wasn't in my purse. I was in a mad panic! All the charms had been gifts and represented different things in my life. I was horrified to think it was gone. We went back to the car planning on going back to the restaurant to see if it was there, but I very thankfully found it on the floor of the car. My purse must have tipped over and I didn't notice it fall out when I picked it up. Happy! Happy! I went back in the mall and had her fix it right away so that I could put it on again!

I've also found that it's a great conversation piece because people ask about the charms. Tracy originally bought mine for me as a thank you for helping with their wedding and I like mine so much that I got one for both her, mum and another friend. The charms make great gifts!

Colleen

What a difference a shower makes!

I started off the day in rather rough shape. I was most certainly tired (though when am I not these days!). I really had no energy nor ambition to do anything. The fact that Nathan woke up screaming didn't help I don't think. Then, I got up to see that it was raining too.

Kyle surprisingly wasn't up when George left, so he came in and said goodbye to me. Nathan started crying about 2 seconds after George left, so I got up and fed him. Kyle got up about a half hour later. I got him something to eat and turned on Treehouse. I was surprised that Nathan went to sleep again. I had a cup of coffee and decided that it was as good a time as any to have a shower.

Wow! What a change. I felt so much better afterwards that I got ready to go out. I called Gina and Tracy to see if they wanted to do anything since they're both off now what with being due anytime. They were actually both wrapping up work related stuff today, so I had to figure out something else. I didn't really want to go shopping and spend money, so I just decided to go up to our little local mall and grab a couple of things at Save-On and maybe have a wander around.

I got all of us ready and piled us into the car. It was starting to clear up though it was still raining lightly. We went into Save-On and got a couple of things. Kyle is just so darn cute and seems to charm the pants off someone every time we're in there. Today it was the female "greeter" at the front of the store. When we were leaving, she was talking to someone and he kept saying bye, but she didn't hear him. I told him he could go up to her and say goodbye if he wanted, so that's exactly what he did. She melted! She told me it reminded her of when her son was little and how she missed that time. He is pretty darn cute I must say myself.

After that, we headed over to Tim Horton's. Kyle got a muffin (which he asked for himself) and juice. I got my bagel and a coffee and we sat down there since Nathan was sleeping anyway. Kyle and I had a really good "chat". We were sitting near the window by the cars in line for drive through. He kept looking at the people in the cars saying "Hi! Me Kyle!". I couldn't help but laugh and then tried to explain to him that they couldn't hear him.

We decided to make one more stop at the dollar store. I know mum used to go in there all the time with him just for something to do as well. We wandered around and I found a toy for him and I found a few good scrapbooking finds for myself for just a dollar too! Gotta love that! The things he says constantly amuse me these days, s it's always fun to go somewhere a little different because you're bound to get all kinds of good conversation out of him!

It was off home after that and we had some lunch and Kyle went down for a nap. I got to spend some time with Nathan alone and then he had about a 45 minute nap too. While he napped, I managed to go through a whole bunch of old papers - something that I've been meaning to do for ages. All in all, it was a very good day and it's not even over! Much better than it started for sure!

Colleen

Four...

Four...
Jobs I've had...
1. dishwasher
2. clerk in a Buns Master Bakery
3. manager in a clothing store
4. teacher

Movies I'd watch over and over...
1. Grease
2. 4 Weddings and a Funeral
3. Doctor Zhivago
4. Love Actually

TV shows I love to watch...
1. Law and Order (all of them!)
2. Survivor
3. The Amazing Race
4. Coronation St (I know, who knew?!)

Places I've been on vacation...
1. Hawaii
2. Thailand (while living in Japan)
3. Cambodia (while living in Japan)
4. Las Vegas

Favorite food dishes...
1. enchiladas/burritos
2. pasta
3. broccoli cheese soup (homemade)
4. vegetarian stroganoff

Cuddles with Kyle

I just had one of those moments that you capture in your heart and never want to let go of. Kyle brought his blankie out to me (I was sitting in the computer chair) and he wanted to "tuck tuck" me (tuck me in). He did this and then went back in his room to bring me his little blue teddy. He then asked to tuck tuck with me, so he climbed up in my lap and we cuddled with his blankie and teddy.

We were sitting next to the window so the light was coming in and putting a wonderful soft shadow on his face. I looked down to see his long eyelashes and hear his soft breathing as he was cuddled in next to me. I told him I loved him and gave him a kiss. He replied "Love you mummy" and there are no words more special than these ones coming from Kyle. I was only wishing that Kyle would remember this moment too...

Like mother, like daughter

What is something that you do, or say, that when you are done you realize that you are just like your mother?

This is such a funny question because as a kid there was something mum used to do that I swore I would never do - WRONG! When my mum starts cleaning (to this day), she gets a bit crazy and goes on a rampage cleaning everything in sight. It's quite funny actually because I remember dad asking mum for things after she had cleaned up and she'd have no idea where they were because she had sort of been "glazed over" in cleaning mode when she had put whatever is was away. We called her the "whirling dervish".

I was so sure I would NEVER do this. When I was a kid it drove me crazy (and probably made me feel slightly guilty for not doing my part around the house). The funny thing is that I most definitely have turned into her! I even remember how she would like to do the cleaning either without anyone there or she would get frustrated if we were - particularly if we weren't doing much to help. I can SO understand now and have even gotten to the point where I have occasionally asked George to either help or take Kyle out somewhere! We sometimes also now have the same thing in our house now where George will ask where something went and I'm not sure after my cleaning spree!

On this one I can now say - Like mother, like daughter! Who would have ever guessed?!

My First {Snapshot of Saturday}

There's a new challenge from Shirley to take some a picture or two every Saturday to give a snapshot of your life. I love this idea, so I too this one this morning of Kyle.


I don't know why we even bother buying toys! This is the box from the highchair we just got from mum and dad and Tracy and Brian as a gift for Nathan. Kyle has adopted the box as his hiding place! He also found a fairly large diaper box the other day that I had flattened for recycling, but he now gets in it and puts his train hat one and thinks he's a trainman! We have a million toys he could play with, but these two boxes are far and away his favs right now. Figures!

Colleen

What a day...

Well, here it is not even 6:30am yet and I'm sitting here with my coffee. I never manage to get here at this time of the day, but it's not your typical day!

First, the weather is crazy! We had snow yesterday and then by midday, it seemed to be pretty much gone or at least slushy. Mother Nature wasn't finished though because we got another dump of snow last night and then it's snowing again this morning. I'm hoping to be able to take Kyle out for a bit later since mum and dad got him snow pants and George's parents got him boots. The only thing is that we haven't had snow since he got them! The same thing happened last year when mum and dad got him snow pants. Dad jokingly said he would buy Kyle snow pants every year if it meant we wouldn't get snow!

Kyle was up early this morning - just after 5:30am! He's in the living room having some milk and toast with peanut butter and jam while watching Sesame Street. Quite happy that today's number is the number 10! He keeps telling me every time they mention it!

Nathan is surprisingly sleeping. He woke up about 5am (so I've been up since then) and George changed him and brought him to bed with me and I nursed him in bed and he fell asleep again. He hasn't barley flinched since. I keep going in and checking because he's so quiet and he's usually up at this time of the morning. He may sleep more today though because he had his first 4 shots yesterday. Between the shots and the Tylenol, he may be a bit groggy today.

I've already managed to get the kitchen pretty much clean and make coffee. Quite happy the kitchen is better. It's the one place in the house that drives me crazy if it isn't clean. The island in particular has a way of becoming a magnet for things if you're not on top of it. One of my little pet peeves I guess - the island needs to be clean!

I'm hoping to get a few other things done around here today since it looks like we'll be home for the day. Nathan's birth announcement cards with our new pictures from Sears in them are at the top of the list! Mostly just some picking up and laundry other than that. With any luck, the kids'll sleep at the same time and I might get to scrapbook for a little bit. Well, either that or have a nap!

Well, think I'll go sit with Kyle for a bit and watch Sesame Street! Oh, the things I couldn't imagine myself doing a few years ago! Wouldn't trade it for the world!

Colleen

How old are you?

Well, this actually worked and though it came up with a slightly younger age of *31* (no complaints), it's definitely the right age range for this proud to be 35 year old!

You Are 31 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?