Oh hungry?

I think I may have found something that makes Carson sleep better. It has worked twice now, but I know that doesn't warrant it as "fixed". I've been feeding him more before bed, a banana, or cereal, on top of his bottle. Seems so simple, I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. I also just feed him more altogether throughout the day. He is one hungry, growing boy. Anyway, he has had 2 really good nights, not needing to feed again until 7am. He still wakes up, but I've been ignoring him, and he usually falls back asleep within a couple minutes. Last night he was very upset at 3am, I couldn't ignore it, so I gave him his soother and he was out til 7am. This is improvement. I hope he'll sleep through the night soon. Oh, and he also has his first tooth, FINALLY! I'm sure it helps to have that pesky pain out of the way.

We're all fighting some kind of mild flu/cold around here, even the renter. I took Leah to the doctor on Monday because her gums have been red and swollen since Saturday, fevering, and sores on her tongue. She couldn't eat, definitely couldn't brush her sensitive teeth/gums. Turns out to be a good ol' case of herpes simplex. Her first outbreak of coldsores, and it should be the worst one. Poor kid. To know that she'll suffer from that like me ( I get canker sores a lot, especially from stress), I feel for her. Doc gave her an anti-viral and it's almost healed.

We're in transition. Only 1 girl living downstairs at the moment, and she's leaving in 2 days. I've had an ad out looking for renters but there's barely a response! Sometimes we really regret moving into this house. It was a bit of a rushed decision (our realtor had made a BIG mistake by making us sign off the papers to our old house, guaranteeing us that our offer had gone through on a different one. But it hadn't. Now there was a bid war, and we lost, and we had to be out of our house in 3 weeks). So we bought this house and we love it, but it's at the top end of what we can afford. 3 weeks after moving in, Cam gets laid off from his job at Points North, going back to ArcTech, thankfully!, but also back to $1000 less per month. So now we do rely on renters to keep us in this house. We've been blessed to be in connection with Maple Education, who has been supplying us with Nigerian students, even 3 at a time. But right now, they don't have enough students to share with us:) Can we hold out til January (when there will be students), should we sell and downsize, wait for a renter? These are the options. We're praying about it. Last night I got a reply from a female teacher from Kelowna needing a room to rent, which is an answer to prayer.

The kids are all up now, and impatiently waiting for breakfast. Here goes another day.

8 months!

He can pull himself up onto things now...still doesn't have great balance though. Here he is watching daddy and Kelsey bike riding.

This too shall pass....right?

Man, Carson has been really grumpy lately! I've been saying it must be teething for the past 2 months, and still no teeth! Last week he was fevering for 4 days, had diarrhea, and now has a horrid diaper rash that's not going away. I guess that's something legit to whine about. My pharmacist suggested using an anti-fungal cream, since it's likely a "yeasty" rash. I'm trying that now, so hopefully it improves. Poor guy. But other than that, he's just generally unhappy when he's awake. He follows me around the house whining/crying. Doesn't like to be left alone, or even out of sight. At night he has been waking up every 1.5-2hrs. I just go pop his soother back in his mouth and he's good for another short stint, and I repeat. I don't feed him until after 5 or 6am. I'm glad he always goes back to sleep, but when I get up that often, I'm just not getting sufficient rest. The last few nights, I haven't been able to get back to sleep. He was sleeping through the night a few months ago....what gives? In this respect, my girls were much easier. They were much more content. However, when we're uptown or visiting someone, he's very happy. Maybe he hates our house.

He is fully weaned now, and today he is 8 months! I forgot to take his monthly picture, maybe tomorrow.

We went down to Whiterock for our vacation this year and had a fabulous time! Yikes, was it ever hot. I loved every minute (except for trying to sleep with no a/c). It was far too hot for Cam, he was always seeking out shade. Kelsey and Leah were like that too...actually whining about the sun. ha. Not me. We spent quite a bit of time at the beach, and I got some great shopping in! Spent a day at Stanley Park with the kids. There was a 2.5hr wait to get into the aquarium, which doesn't fly with 3 kids, so we took them on the miniature train instead, and to the spray park. Was a big hit....and cheaper too :) Our friend Brennan and his girlfriend Kirsten were great hosts. She has a 4 yr old son, Dougie, who the girls had a lot of fun with. We also went over the the island for 2 nights in Nanaimo. Some friends from FSJ were there, staying with their dad, so we got to stay with them.

I'm the proud auntie of a new nephew, Samuel Christopher. A real cutie. I'm having a shower for Hannah here next weekend.

7 months!

He won't stay on the blanket for long!

Where did June go?

Summer seemed to leave us as quick as it came. The last couple weeks have been cloudy and windy, but I guess I shouldn't complain. No snow at least.

Kelsey graduated from preschool a couple weeks ago. She is/was so excited. All the parents watching her walk down the aisle was unnerving for her though, she was trying to hide her face. I'd post a picture, but the look on her face breaks my heart. Didn't seem to phase her for long though. As soon as she was out of the limelight, she was having a great time, and she speaks highly of her experience.

I'm so amazed at the growth I've seen in her over the last year. It doesn't take her long at all to join other children at play. I also like how she talks about her shyness and she can choose to be brave to do something out of her comfort zone. Another big thing she did recently was give up her blankie. She has been very attached to one particular blanket since she was about 10 months old. The poor ol' thing is barely holding itself together. Grandma has sewn it up numerous times. I've been warning her that we'd have to put it to rest soon, keep it somewhere special so it doesn't fall right apart and have to be trashed. Last night she decided it was the night. We stuck it in her treasure chest of special knick knacks, and I let her pick a new blanket to sleep with out of the closet. My big girl.

Cam and I got to be part of Mantracker on Sunday. If any of you haven't seen that show, I recommend you watch it. It's on OLN. A man on a horse (and his sidekick) tracks a team of 2 people through the wilderness. The "prey" have a map and a finishing point they have to make it to in an alotted time. We were not on the tv show, but there was a local game here. What a blast! A lot of work was put into it and a lot of people were there. We were on a team of 4 people. We trekked between 11-12km, and we never got spotted once! We spent a fair amount of time in really thick brush, and got our feet soaked walking through swampy marshy stuff. Very hilly, rooty rough terrain. I'm losing at least 1 toenail, but 3-4 of my toes are very tender. This was 2 days ago and I can barely walk today! Oh, my hips, and calves, and ankles...I'm a hurtin' unit. I was really paranoid about bears since we had been warned many times of tons of bears in the area. No one on our team had any protection, not a knife, bearspray..anything. Cam had brought his defender, but saw that no other teams were carrying guns, so he left it in the van. God answered my prayers and we didn't even have a sighting. Would have been fun to see Mantracker at least once though, just to get that adrenaline rush. Turns out our trackers were watching the wrong team for awhile (there were 4 different teams out there, wearing different coloured armbands). By the time they realized it, we had made some good distance. Great weekend.

Went camping at Charlie Lake the weekend prior. It was a rainy/overcast weekend but it was okay. The heater in the tent trailer wasn't working, so night #2 was FREEZING, literally. I think I can honestly say one of the worst nights of my life. I was so cold, and I was so concerned for Carson that I put all my effort into keeping him warm. He was far too cold by himself in his playpen, so I brought him into bed with me. Kept blankets on him, but he didn't like them touching his head, so I'd hold them up with my arm (ouch). What a night. Leah got some kind of bug bite that over 2 days made her eye turn purple and swell shut. The bite was on her forehead. Took her to ER on the Sunday morning but the doc wasn't concerned at all. "Just a reaction to the bite". I wonder what that was.

Carson is now creeping around! It seems so early to me. He's 6- 1/2 months. My girls didn't do that until 8 months, later for Leah! Time to get a baby gate again. He is so discontent to sit still. It's driving me crazy! Not sure if he's teething or something, but he's had some randomly cranky days recently. Loves to eat solid foods, sweet potato and avocado in particular. He's also on formula now too. I've gradually been weaning him. Not done yet. He weighs 19 lbs and is 27".

Had a ladies' get-together here last week for the church. Only a handful of people RSVP'd, so we had to guess at the amount of food to make. It wasn't a potluck, this time the church gave us a budget to supply all the food and make it seem like a treat for the ladies. My 2 girlfriends and I prepared all the food. We had burgers and salads and fruit and black forest cake. Was a good night.

Niomi, Tina, and myself, all prepared before the ladies showed up.

Kelsey at the park. Cam was experimenting with different angles. I really like this one.

Carson and I waiting for breakfast. This was our friends trailer that we ate in that morning.

Carson's first camping trip. The kids all love being in the tent trailer. Leah's giving him some snuggles before bed.

Sitting up alone...one of my favourite milestones.

Update

Summer has finally arrived in Fort St John! This has been a beautiful, hot week. Time to whip out the ol' pool and start running through the sprinkler.

Some highlights of the past month:

Kelsey learned to ride her bike without training wheels--big achievement. She is so excited! We've gone on a couple fairly long rides as a family and she keeps up well.

Cam surprised me with a new grill for our barbeque. Not a new barbeque, just the grill that is placed inside. Our old one was totally charred and left gritty yucky things on our food, so he built us a new one at work. It is shiny stainless steel. The picture does it no justice. He is so talented and creative. Can you tell what it says?

Carson is 6 months. I can hardly believe it. He has really changed recently--he's starting to show me how busy he'll be. He can't quite sit up, only for a very short time before toppling over. Lunges for everything infront of him and shoves it in his mouth. I find that he can't sit still. Even when I'm holding him, he's constantly squirming or reaching for something. He's been sleeping really well too. We've got a great routine going (I hate writing this in fear that it will change). He sleeps from around 8pm-6-6:30am, then has a quick feed and back to sleep for a couple more hours. I feel so great. I sleep in as long as I can and as often as I can. Here's his 6 month picture. Looking back, I notice that Leah seems to show up every time for some of the shots. Carson seems to enjoy it.

I guess this was more of a picture blog, but there's not much news here. Cam is working late tonight, (which we're thankful for) and I'm having a couple girlfriends over to watch a movie.

Oh I forgot to mention that Cam's brother is letting us "store" his Bowflex here. We're really excited to be able to work out at home together. So far, so good. We've done a few now and haven't lost our motivation yet :) I hear Carson babbling in his crib, gotta run.

I had a really nice Mother's day.  Cam and the girls surprised me in the morning with a gift of perfume, which I adore.  Then they cooked me scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast.   After church we had crepes with strawberries and whipped cream, which I had been craving for some time, and then we went on a bike ride.  Nice day, except for when we went to Dunvegan Gardens, and the kids got super whiny.  Leah sat on the ground the whole time picking rocks out of her sandals (wouldn't keep up with us), while Kelsey complained of hunger.  Then for a minute they would fill the cart with little trays of flowers which they weren't supposed to and we'd tell them to put them back.   And of course everyone had to pee.   But hey, if it wasn't for them Mother's day wouldn't be special for me!

Leah turned 3 a couple weeks ago.  The terrible 2's have rolled over into this new year. :)   She still throws a lot of tantrums and I think they're even louder now that she's 3.  I unfortunately had to spank her just before bed on her birthday.   She had poured out the entire contents of her shampoo bottle into the bath and I was very annoyed.   This is something she does far too often, and she doesn't listen!  I'm tired of buying shampoo every time I run to Walmart, and finally her shampoo sits up high out of her reach.  

My girls have not been playing nicely lately either.  It seems as though they're fighting and crying more than anything.  I hear so much inaudible sobbing.  "Leah hit me/punched me" is a common one.  So is "Kelsey didn't let me do it" or "She says I can't".   Leah gets physical when she's mad, and Kelsey plays mind games.  lol  Tonight when Leah wouldn't get out of the bathroom, Kels told her that there were bears out there, or something like that, which freaked Leah out.  Fun times.  

Bought some new running shoes hoping they'll inspire me to jog.....nothing yet.  

We're doing the "Fireproof Your Marriage"  6 week bible study at our house on Wednesday nights.  5 couples are here.   We're 2 weeks in and it's really great.  

5 months

My sister is so funny!

5 months old and rolling over!

This is the "real" us.  I'm telling mom she doesn't know how to take pictures, while Cam tells Leah to look angry.

Here are the posers.

Leah and Uncle Jay pretending to be mad.

Trying to feel the baby move.

Trying

I feel overwhelmed with stuff to do.   A mother's job is never done!   I've been slowly trying to declutter the house, but to no avail.  It appears the piles are just moving.  Piles of stuff really stress me out.  I can't fully relax until everything is neat and tidy, and not just look that way.  Cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding Carson every 3 hrs, oh yeah, and the girls that deserve some attention too!  

It has been really nice outside lately so the kids and I have had fun catching some rays.   Cam's work didn't get any slower so we're thankful.  I'm staying on at the pharmacy just covering shifts whenever needed.  

We had a great time in Edmonton for Easter.  The kids loved the waterpark, especially the wavepool.  

Carson is crying, I best go.  He's not feeling great.  If he has the same sore throat that I have, I really feel for him.   He sounds really hoarse.   I'll post pictures.

5

Kelsey turned 5 today.   I told her that she could pick whatever she wanted for supper and I would make it.  "Kraft dinner".  I encouraged her to think of something more special, something that is really her favourite dish.   She was very adamant that there is nothing better than Kraft dinner.  So that's what we had...with hot dogs too.  But Kelsey wouldn't have a hot dog.  That wasn't on her list.  I like 5.  It's going to be fun.

4 months

Spring Break

Thank goodness March is over and welcome spring!  I went for a walk today and it was so refreshing.  The kids and I strolled down to Tim Horton's and enjoyed chocolate dipped donuts and chocolate milk.  Even Carson seemed to enjoy himself as he got plenty of smiles from sweet elderly ladies.  There are still huge piles of snow everywhere, but they're surely melting.  

Cam and I have been feeling very stressed with our finances.  His work has slowed down dramatically, but thank God he hasn't been laid off.  That's his worst fear right now.  So far they're keeping him busy, even if it's cleaning, small jobs, etc.   Made for some small paychecks last month but we made it through.  I've been trying to cut back on our spending, especially groceries.   One way we're saving is by baking our own bread.  I'm actually really enjoying it.   Once a week or so I try to do up a big batch of bread/buns for the week.  Cam likes to help to so it's something we're enjoying together.  Bonus!  Also, I'm babysitting part-time for a friend from church.  It's very convenient as she lives just down the street from me.  I'm caring for her 8 month old son which can be more challenging than I anticipated with a baby of my own, but all goes well.   It only gets a little hairy when both babies are hungry/cranky at the same time.  How do people take care of twins, let alone multiples?  Yikes.   I'm also picking up a few shifts at the pharmacy in the next couple weeks which will really help and I'm looking forward to it.  I kind of miss it.  

On a brighter note we're taking a little holiday and going to Edmonton over Easter.  I booked the hotel a couple months ago, and recently we've been debating whether or not we should even go because of the money situation, but we're going to do it.  We decided that we really need this break and it will be fun for the kids.  We're budgeting it very well, and hopefully our income tax cheque will be in by then for an extra boost.   Leah's super-stoked about going to Chuck E. Cheese even though none of us have ever been to one!  We received a coupon in the mail for that place, and Leah was sold instantly just from the picture.   In my head, I picture a very chaotic, noisy restaurant full of kids hopped up on pop.  I'm preparing myself.  

Even amidst stress, I feel that our life is so full of richness and blessings.  I don't want to take anything for granted. 

3 month pictures

I feel guilty that I've only been posting pictures of the baby, so here's a picture of my girls taken today.  This is a typical afternoon, they're having quiet time in their room listening to an audio CD of "Cinderella".  Good kids.

Routine

Life with 3 kids sure is more challenging than 2!   I was rarely on time before, now it's unheard of.   I still have to schedule my day around Carson's feeding times.  He eats every 3 hrs, and still needs a nap between each feed.  At night he's sleeping 6-7 hours.   This is great.  I feel good as long as I get at least 4 hrs of sleep in a row.  He seems to wake up at 4 or 5am consistently, so this week I'm playing around with his bedtimes a bit to see if he'll still sleep that long.  Tonight I'll try putting him down around 8:30pm.   He is almost 3 months old.   Kelsey and Leah were both sleeping 10hr nights at 7-8 weeks, so I might've been a bit spoiled with them.  

He weighed 14lbs 13oz last week at his immunizations.  That was with his clothes on so he's actually slightly lighter.  That put him at the 97th percentile!  23 & 3/4 inches long.  At least he's proportional. :)  He has rolled over a few times because he really hates being on his tummy and he thrusts himself over in anger!  I don't really count that as rolling, but today, he rolled over twice in a row and it seemed very deliberate.  I grabbed the camcorder, then he didn't do it again.  

Kelsey's really coming out of her shell lately.  She's doing well in preschool, and when we're shopping or walking she'll wave at strangers and then look at me grinning, hoping for my praise/approval.  She's also in swimming lessons and she has to go  in by herself.   She just loves it and is always RIGHT beside the teacher following every little instruction and proudly showing how she can do it.   So fun to watch.  
Leah is excited to go to preschool.   I think she has learned a lot of stuff from Kelsey.  She just knows a lot and says big words like "distinguished".  She and Kelsey play great together, but Leah's mood can change in a second if things don't go her way.  She loves to throw objects on the floor dramatically  and run to her room and shut the door.  She's also super affectionate.  I definitely get the most hugs/kisses from her, and she tells me she loves me several times/day.  So sweet.  

We're thankful Cam is still busy at ArcTech.   The work seems to really have slowed down in the oilpatch around here, and Cam gets worried when he sees people coming in his shop looking for work.   They've had to lay 1 guy off so far but Cam's high enough up the chain, that shouldn't happen to us (I hope).  

I am so done with winter.   I am getting tired of being stuck indoors playing "Sorry" and "Memory" and "Perfection".  Please bring the grass and heat so we can go outside!

I'll leave you with some pics of my chubby boy.