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Brad and I took Sophia to Cultus Lake yesterday. Seeing as how it’s been unbearably hot, I thought that we might as well go somewhere where we can cool off. A day before yesterday I went out to Superstore and bought Sophia a pool so that she has some place to cool off on days like these, it’s not like she is content standing over an air conditioner all day like I am Here are some shots of her enjoying her little red pool…

I just love that face

“mommy it’s cold”

Enjoying time with Grandpa

And here are some shots from our afternoon at the lake. I wish there wasn’t so much duck/goose poo there. Why do kids find poo so interesting? I think it’s quite gross, and as soon as she sees any sort of reaction from me she has to keep touching it over and over again. I have to learn to have a better pocker face. Anyway here is our family day out yesterday.

Swimming with daddy

Swimming with mommy, yap that’s right I wore a bikini

Being bad and running away…

Well that is it for pictures, not like I didn’t have enough I updated my belly pictures as well.

I know I know, I always say that I am going to keep up with my blog and I write one post and then neglect it for months at a time. I just find myself getting so lazy by her nap time that I would rather take a nap myself. I can’t write mush today or do any sort of updates as I am getting ready to go to the beach, but here are some recent pictures of Sophia and I have my belly pictures updated..well almost

Big girl underwear… she loves them… yes we are potty training and it’s going fairly well

THE END.

Brad and I had our 3D ultrasound which was AMAZING!!! The baby was being so cooperative and I just loved being able to see all the features. This baby looks nothing like Sophie to either of us. Well, I won’t bore you anymore, here are some pictures from our scan…

Oh yah….IT”S A GIRL!!!!!!! I won’t put up any gender shots cause of all the creepy weirdos out there.

I don’t know if I am noticing it more this time or if I really do go to the bathroom more often, but it is really starting to get on my nerves. The little pregnancy bladder sucks to have. It really is not helping that I have tiny little feet kicking it all night long, but that’s a whole another story. I think I caught the flu a few days ago and I have been feeling pretty miserable. I’ve been trying to be extra careful with Sophie because I really don’t want her getting sick from me. She is a fairly healthy child and really does not get sick. She has only had 2 col in her life time, which I think is very little amount compared to other peoples kids.

It’s really hard to be careful around her as she always wants me to give her kisses and I can’t. It’s so hard to not kiss those puffy little lips when she smacks them together for me. Mmmm, I want to go into her room right now and give her lots of them.

Well as most of you know I had an ultrasound on Thursday and the baby looked great. It was measuring a little big, but I am not surprised as I have been growing a lot recently as well. The tech let me have a little peek at what the baby’s gender may be, but being the inexperienced me I am not so sure what to think. I do however have an appointment this coming Monday to a 3D ultrasound where they’re going to confirm the baby’s gender. I am soooo excited to find out who is going to be joining our family. I will make sure to keep you all updated on what this little one is.

Well now that Sophie is napping I am going to catch a few Zzzz myself

Here are the pictures from the ultrasound that we had today. I got to see the baby’s gender, but due to clinics policy they were not allowed to tell me so I had to guess for myself. I am pretty sure I know what this baby is, but not telling until I get it confirmed by my doctor Here are the pictures of our new addition.

WOW, every time I look at my blog I realize just how much of a slacker I am. Most times I feel like I have a lot to say, but I don’t want to waste my afternoon writing. I always have so much to do, that by the time I think of sitting down and writing something I am way too tired. So instead of a blog here are some pictures of this past month.

My little French girl

We’ve had a few people ask us if these two were twins…they’re 4 months apart(yes Sophie is older)

I got this from one of my parenting forums

PARENT - Job Description

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way,
I don’t believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mother, Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Father, Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging
permanent work in an,
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

AND A FOOTNOTE ‘THERE IS NO RETIREMENT — EVER!!!

Sophia had her 15 month doctors appointment and here are her stats:

Weight- 21lbs 3oz

Height- 33 inches. (The nurse measured 32.5 inches, but I checked at home and she was off. The paper moved on the table and made the measurements go off a bit).

So my little girl is getting big

I’ve been hounded by a few people for not updating my blog for a while, so here I am writing. I just really don’t have the desire to write recently. I think it’s because I feel like I don’t have all that much to say. I really don’t enjoy reading blogs where every day it seems like it’s being paraphrased. Life for us going well. Sophie is growing like a weed. I look at her and sometimes I am amazed at just how big she has gotten. She has her 15 month check up tomorrow so I will keep you updated on just how big my little girl is.

The new little bean that we call lumpy is doing well. I have been feeling that baby move for about 4 weeks now. To some it may seem crazy that I started feeling the baby at 10 weeks, but I have and it’s been amazing. It’s still very subtle and I have to be laying very still to actually feel him move. I say him because I strong feel that this one is a boy. I would be very chocked if it were a girl, but very happy. Neither Brad or I care what the sex of this baby is since we know that is is not our last child. I honestly wouldn’t even care  if all of our children were girls. A baby is a blessing no matter the gender. Speaking of gender, we have an ultrasound booked next month to find out who this little one is. We am really excited Brad and I always have a hard time understanding why people wait to find out, knowing makes life so much easier and it’s really fun to be able to prepare for a specific baby.

I have been gaining weight way slower this time around, which is odd since I have been eating like crazy. I have found that I have a lot more food aversions than I did with Sophia. It’s so weird how every pregnancy is so different.

On another note, Brad, Sophie and I took a little vacation to 108 mile house a couple of weeks ago. It was a really nice relaxing time. I really liked it there, the atmosphere is very different. I think it’s a wonderful place to visit, but I could never live there. it made me realize just how much of a city girl I really am. I don’t like the country life one bit, the whole red neck truck thing is not us at all. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s great that people enjoy that kind of life style, it’s just not for our family. I like living close to a city, civilization is very important to me.

Ohhh, my chicken is ready and I am hungry. Here are some pictures from our vacation.

Today I we got to see the little bean swimming around in my belly. I hadn’t been feeling well for the last couple of days and I made an appointment with my doctor to make sure that everything was ok. I found out that I had a fever of 37.5, which for me is pretty high and that also the fetus’s heart rate had gone way up to 180 bpm, which is not good. The doctor then took me in for an ultrasound the next day to make sure that everything was ok and that the baby was not under any stress. He/she looked great and by that time the heart rate had gone way down. It was really fun to see the little one in there, it brought me back to being pregnant with Sophie. Brad thinks I am crazy, but this new baby looks just like Sophia to me. Maybe I am a little crazy, but who cares. We got to see all the little limbs moving around and the baby even had hiccups, I didn’t know they get those so early on. I also got my heart doppler in the mail the other day, so now I can hear the heart beat anytime I want. I LOVE IT!!!! Anyway, just wanted to write a quick little post about that. I have the 11 week belly pictures up as well. I think my belly is changing shapes.

I have NOT been in the mood to blog at all. I always have all these things to say, but no motivation to actually sit down and write the stuff. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

 This is how I found her sleeping in her crib. She was asleep for 3 hours so I went in to wake her up. She looked really cute so I just had to have a picture.

Sophia was being a typical whiny toddler so I pulled up a chair and let her do dishes with me. Please excuse the frumpy looking mommy, I had just gotten out of bed from a rough no sleep night. The new fetus thinks sleep is overrated.

I guess people are right when they say that you can’t leave a toddler alone for even a short little while. I was working on my laptop and she was sitting by my feet. I thought it was a little too quite and when I looked down this is what I found. She seems to think that tearing toilet paper into tiny little pieces is really fun…

The new chair that we bought for her…

And reclined…

I updated the expanding belly blog, but it’s not from this week, this weeks will be up later on…

I’m such a slacker when it comes to blogging. I know I love reading other people’s blogs, and get all frustrated if they don’t write for a while, and here I am not posting anything. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have anything interesting to say, but then again I have a 14 month old toddling around the house, how can I not have something interesting to say.

Sophie is growing like a weed. I look back at the pictures of when she was first born and I am blown away at how much this little girl has changed and how much she has grown. At first it seemed like the newborn stage was never going to end, and now I wonder where the time went. She’s turning out to be such a little girl now. She just cut her 12th tooth today and I see the eye teeth coming in the very near future. I was always told that molars are really hard on kids and that I should expect her to be hard to handle, not the case with this little one. I didn’t even know that she had cut the first 3 until they were completely through, and the 4th I knew because I was keeping an eye on it. I am so happy that she handles things so well. I know that all moms tend to brag about their kids, but Brad and I really are blessed to have the child that we do. She is very well mannered and she listens very as well. I think my biggest pet peeve is when people ask me how she is and tell them that she is a very easy going no tantrum girl, and they tell me to wait a few months and it will all change. It’s like they’re waiting for her to turn bad, and maybe her attitude will change in a few months, but so what?? It’s all a part of growing up. She is happy, she doesn’t throw fits when she doesn’t get what she wants, she doesn’t bite or kick when she is upset, I’d say I’m a pretty lucky mommy.

Onto another note…I think she has forgotten how much fun swimming is. Ever since I found out that I am pregnant I have stayed away from the pool since I am not allowed to go in the hot tub. Yesterday Brad and I decided that it would be fun to take her out swimming for a short little while. My little water baby whom just adored swimming just screamed and cried and then cried some more. It’s like she has completely forgotten how much she used to love the pool. I still wonder if she got so upset because there were too many people there, or if she just doesn’t remember going to the pool. We took her into the kids hot tub where she just clung to Brad the whole time, and anytime he tried pulling her away from him she would just stick her bottom lip as far out as she could and make a huge pout. I was disappointed that she didn’t have a good time, and I guess now I have to go sing up for swim lessons again.

I tried to only sit in the kids hot tub for a min at a time not to overheat myself, it was so nice to be in there though. I have missed being able to take hot baths, showers are just not the same.  While I was sitting on the ledge of the hot tub this lady threw a ball and it hit Sophie right on the back of her head. She of course got a dirty look from both Brad and I. Seriously, if you don’t know how to throw properly, the kids hot tub is not the place to learn that. She came over and said that the ball was not meant to hit Sophie but  her friends baby whose baby was not more than 4 months old. I think that lady a few marbles that were missing. Who throws a ball at a baby?

Well I am off to rest and play some Zuma, hope everyone is having a good weekend.

 Sophia opening presents…

I like my presents

my cool very noisy boat

mommy loves me

great grandma and I

Grandma killing turkey & my favorite mouse

I thought it was time for some pictures. I haven’t posted any in a while… December 2007

I have had something on my mind all day, and I was wondering whether I should write about this or not, and in the end decided that I should. I have found recently just how little I know some people. I can have numerous conversations with someone, and think that they take into account what I have to say, only to find out later that they turn right around and talk about everything behind my back. It’s not their gossiping that gets to me, it’s the fact that someone can be so incredibly two faced. I don’t understand why you would act like you care about a person, only to the complete opposite after the conversation. That just really gets to me. If you don’t like me, if you think I am boring, nosy, whatever, just tell me. I would rather have someone say that to my face than act like a fool behind my back. It only makes you look immature and sad. Now that I have gotten it out of my system, I will move on and not think about this issue anymore. Being two faced only diminishes your character, and in the end hurts you more than the person that you’re looking down on.

Life here has been pretty good. As you all know, Brad and I are expecting our second child. We are very happy and looking forward to the new baby’s arrival. I had my fist prenatal appointment this past Friday and it went really well. I really like my doctor and I wish that she would be the one to deliver my baby, unfortunately she will not be. I have learned that the Chilliwack hospital does not administer epidurals, and now that I have gone through the whole birthing process I know that would like to have one, thus we’re going to have our baby at the Langley hospital.

This Christmas season is busy, as they all are with parties and get togethers. Tomorrow we’re having our Christmas celebration with Brad’s family in White Rock. I am looking forward to some good turkey eating. I hope that everyone is having a good holiday so far.

I think I may be returning to the blogging world sometime very soon. Just wanted to share some news….. Brad and I are expecting our second baby this coming August!!! We are very happy. I am just about to make some lunch for Sophia so this is going to be very short. This is what I got a few weeks back….

Father came home and found his three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on
the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.
He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked another bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?”

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today ?” “Yes,” was his incredulous reply?

She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.”

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I am going to take a little break from blogging for a while. Brad and I are currently very busy and I just don’t have the time to keep up. I will return sometime soon

This is a little post to wish my baby a happy birthday. I feels just like brought her home from the hospital.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS, WE LOVE YOU SOOOOO MUCH

When I was pregnant with Sophia I did a lot of research on baby products and how I wanted to handle having a newborn. I was sure that I wanted to breastfeed and have her sleep in her own room, but I was a little on the boarder line about diapers. I couldn’t decide whether I was going to go with cloth or with disposable diapers. Cloth diapers seemed a little harder to take care of and a little more work, but for some odd reason looked really appealing to me. It must be all the cute little designs that they put on the bum. I wanted to go with cloth, but we didn’t have a laundry facility in out suit and that made things a little complicated. To get to the laundry room I had to go out of our master bedroom through the back yard and then into the laundry room. For summer that was fine, but as most of you know Sophia was born in November and it’s not exactly warm in Edmonton at that time. In the end I decided to go with disposable diapers, I just couldn’t go out into the cold so often. I told myself that once we move and have a laundry available I was going to switch.

There are so many benefits with going with cloth diapers. Sure, initially they’re pretty expensive, but in the end you only have to buy them once and not go out to Costco every month and spend $50.oo on diapers. They are very Enviromentaly:

• In 1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that year.⁴ Based on our calculations (listed below under “Cost: National Costs”), we estimate that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.
• The instructions on a disposable diaper package advice that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.
• Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.
• In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.
• No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.
• Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.
• Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.
• The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.
• Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.
• In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers was made in the city of Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.

Health:

• Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S.
• Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.
• Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. A similar substance had been used in super-absorbancy tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome.
• In May 2000, the Archives of Disease in Childhood published research showing that scrotal temperature is increased in boys wearing disposable diapers, and that prolonged use of disposable diapers will blunt or completely abolish the physiological testicular cooling mechanism important for normal spermatogenesis.

Dryness:

• The most common reason for diaper rash is excessive moisture against the skin.
• Newborns should be changed every hour and older babies every 3-4 hours, no matter what kind of diaper they are wearing.
• At least half of all babies will exhibit rash at least once during their diapering years.
• Diaper rash was almost unheard of before the use of rubber or plastic pants in the 1940s.
• There is no significant difference between cloth and disposables when it comes to diaper rash.
• There are many reasons for rash, such as food allergies, yeast infections, skin sensitivity, chafing, and chemical irritation. Diaper rash can result from the introduction of new foods in older babies. Some foods raise the frequency of bowel movements which also can irritate. Changes in a breastfeeding mother’s diet may alter the baby’s stool, causing rash.

Cost:

• We estimate that each baby will need about 6,000 diapers⁷ during the first two⁸ years of life. The following estimates are based on prices in San Francisco, California.

Disposables. For these calculations, let’s assume that a family needs about 60 diapers a week. In the San Francisco Bay area, disposable diapers cost roughly 23¢ per store-brand diaper and 28¢ for name-brand. This averages to 25.5¢ per diaper. Thus the average child will cost about $1,600 to diaper for two years in disposable diapers, or about $66 a month.

Diaper Services. Subscribing to a diaper services costs between $13 and $17 each week depending on how many diapers a family decides to order. Let’s assume the family spends roughly $15 a week for 60 diapers a week. This equals $780 annually and averages to $65 a month. Over the course of two years, the family will spend about $1500 per baby, roughly the same cost as disposables, depending on what type of covers are purchased and what type of wipes are used. If one adds in the cost of disposable wipes for either diapering system, the costs increase.

Cloth Diapers. For cloth diapering, each family will probably need about 6 dozen diapers¹⁰. The cost of cloth diapering can vary considerably, from as low as $300 for a basic set-up of prefolds and covers¹¹, to $1000 or more for organic cotton fitted diapers and wool covers. Despite this large price range, it should be possible to buy a generous mix of prefolds and diaper covers for about $300, most of which will probably last for two children. This means the cost of cloth diapering is about one tenth the cost of disposables, and you can spend even less by using found objects (old towels & T-shirts).

National Costs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were about 19 million children under four in 2000. We could probably assume that there are about 9.5 million children under two and therefore in diapers at any one time. Based on previous studies, we estimate that 5-10% of babies wear cloth diapers at least part time. We will average these figures to 7.5% of babies in cloth diapers and 92.5% in disposables. This means that about 8.8 million babies in the U.S. are using 27.4 billion disposable diapers every year.

Based on these calculations, if we multiply the 8.8 million babies in disposable diapers by an average cost of $800 a year, we find that Americans spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year. If every one of those families switched to home-laundered cloth prefold diapers, they would save more than $6 billion¹⁴, enough to feed about 2.5 million American children for an entire year. Coincidentally, the 2002 U.S. Census reveals that 2.3 million children under 6 live in poverty

This is where I got the information from..

Anyway, I am relly happy to have switched to cloth. I decided to go with FUZZI BUNZ because they’re so soft and really cute. Tune in for some pictures of her cute little cloth diaper bum

I know that I said that I was going to set up the privacy block on this blog on the 6th, but I am actually going to do it by the end of this week. I have already sent some of you invitations for the blog, but as you can tell you have to subscribe to wordpress to be able to read it.

On Saturday Night Brad and I got to go out to a Football game in Vancouver. It was really fun because I had never been to a game and football didn’t make sense to me either. I finally get it, I guess all I needed was to see the game to understand it, and for Brad to explain it to me. It was my parent’s gift to Brad and I for our anniversary. I must say that the BC Lions cheerleaders are TERRIBLE. I have never seen such unenthusiastic group of cheerleaders in my life. Maybe it’s because I had never been to a real game and have only seen them in then movies, but that was really pathetic. Even I, who is very uncoordinated could be a BC Lions cheerleader. I wouldn’t want to be one, but I could be.

On Tuesday Brad and I celebrated our actual anniversary. I can’t believe how quickly 2 years had gone by. Didn’t I just say my vows, has it really been 2 years already??? I remember the day that we were getting married I went shopping with my mom for some lingerie and the girls at the store were shocked at how calm I was about the whole thing. I guess most brides on their wedding are sitting in hair salons for hours trying to get each strand to look just right, and there I was shopping just a few hours before the ceremony. Ahhh, the joys of not having a big wedding. I still don’t regret one bit of not doing things the traditional way. I am so happy to have such a beautiful memory in my head, the day that we got married was perfect. It was so smooth and quiet, everyone was calm and right after we got married it began snowing. It was the first snow fall of the year. That really was the best decision that I have ever made. Marrying Brad was the most wonderful and beautiful time of my life (before having Sophia). I have the best most handsome husband, wouldn’t trade my life for the world.

Today I took Sophia to a big group play date in Yarrow. Sara picked me up and on the way there Sophia just lost it. I had not hear that girl scream so loud in a long time. Of course as soon as we go tout of the car she was fine, but she did not make the ride very pleasant. The funny this is, is that Arianna didn’t even wake up from all that screaming. Sophie had a good time at the play date, she was very fascinated by all the little kids. It was a really fun thing to do. I think that we may do it again sometime. On the way back the freaked out and screamed even louder, to the point that she screamed herself to sleep. It was 1 hour past her nap time and she didn’t waste a second letting me know how unhappy she was about it. She cried so hard that she began hyperventilating. It was really sad to listen to, but once she fell asleep she was gone. I was able to take her out of the car seat, take her clothes off, and put her in the her crib without even a twitch. She is currently napping away. Poor little kiddo.

I am hungry so I will finish here. Like I said before, if you want to continue reading my blog you need to email me for an invite.

Sophia waiting to go for a walk

Since Sophia was about 9.5 months old I put her on a very regular schedule. She would take her nap at noon and go to bed at 7. For the last couple of days it seems as though she has a different schedule in mind. Today I tried putting her down for a nap and she started giggling, then grinding her teeth, then trying to poke he in the eye, and then she kept say “boo” which means book. Finally I took her out to the living room to play and she was as happy as can be. She chased the cats, played with her toys, danced around a bit. Normally by this time is falling over from being tired, but not today. Finally about 45 min later I took her in again and she started doing the same thing. I think it was her way of saying that she is not going to sleep and I can’t make her. It took me a while to get her down, but she did finally fall asleep. I really hope that she in not in the process of dropping her nap. That would not be good for mommy, mommy needs her couple of hours a day to herself. Brad’s mom told me that Brad had given up napping by about 1, so I hope that our daughter is smarter and follows her mommy’s footsteps.

Seeing as today it’s Halloween Brad and I took Sophie for a walk this morning in her monkey suit. She got smiles from everyone that passed us. Why wouldn’t she, that outfit  is adorable. She doesn’t seem too fond of it, but I like it and she is going to wear it. We did take some pictures, but I won’t have them ready today s check back tomorrow and I will some up.

I did have my ultrasound yesterday and it was a complete joke. The guy has absolutely no clue what he was doing. He kept asking me which side he should be looking at and what exactly he’s looking for. I made a doctors appointment for Friday and I will try to get another requisition from him to get it redone. It as seriously a complete joke, and I think that something like that should be taken seriously.

Brad’s mom is coming to visit today so I better get this living room cleaned up. Check back for monkey pictures.

As of November 6th, 2007 I will be making this blog private. I do not wish for all the world to know exactly what’s going on in my life, but I do need a place where I can express it. I find that there are too many weirdos out there that do not need to know about our life and our family.  If you wish to be a reader just email me and I will send you an invite. The email is k.richert@ualberta.ca

I am a little tired right now but I though I better write something soon, Being hounded for no posts is no fun. We had a pretty good weekend. I threw Brad a surprise party on Saturday and it turned out ok. I was a little disappointed that more people were not able to make it, but all in all I think it went well. Brad had no clue that I was planning all of this behind his back. I had to keep on lying to  him about all the things that I was doing so that he wouldn’t find out what was going on.

Well I was going to write much more, but my poor sick baby is miserable and I don’t have the time. Enjoy some pictures

I must admit that I am feeling a bit down right now. I think that my irrationality is getting the best of me. I have been having a very strong desire to have another baby right now even though I know that practically that is not the wisest thing to do. Brad and I are in a very unpredictable phase in our lives it’s really hard to be in a situation where you don’t know that’s going to happen next. We don’t know whether we’re going to stay in BC or go out of province. We don’t know what school he is going to attend or what kind of a job he is going to get. We have no clue how we’re going to pay off all our student debts that we have. We don’t know where we’re going to live or how we’ll manage. It’s tough not knowing what to do. Our primary thing to do right now is to eliminate as much debt as possible. And it’s not even the debt that’s getting us, it’s the interest that we pay on it. I wish that I could just get rid of it, I swear having debt is the biggest burden.

I have been very used to having income coming in. I have had a job since I was 14 years old, and when my doctor told me that I could no longer work due to my pregnancy situation my plan crumbled. Because of that my maternity leave was much lower. Now that Sophia is almost one I no longer get maternity leave money and we’re again at a point where we don’t know what we’re going to do. Because Brad got hurt at work about a month ago he has not been working. Sometimes I feel like things are not going well, but other times it doesn’t worry me all that much. We have a good support system and and that helps us a lot.

As for the baby thing, I have to say that I have been a little upset over it. I know that there is something wrong with my body, I have been feeling it for a little while now, but it’s only recently that I have been able to prove it. For some odd reason when Sophie was born I had a thought that we’re going to go through infertility. It was almost like a reminder to enjoy this baby because it may be a while before the next one comes. I’m not saying that we have infertility issues (we may) but I am obviously unable to get pregnant right now. In a way I know it’s a good thing, but in another way I know what a blessing it is to have a child and I can’t imagine not being able to have another one. Right now worrying is really dumb since we don’t have concrete answers, but I do think that I know my body well an I know when something is not right. It’s a really good thing that our birthday’s and Christmas is coming up, it will help us pay off some debt. I never used to like getting money for my birthday, now it’s nice because it gets us that much closer to being free.

Sorry for the whiny blog, I guess we’re all allowed to have down days.

I guess I haven’t blogged in a while. Sometimes i get really bored of it and have to take a few day of. I mean it’s not like I have something new and exciting happen every day, and I find that when people write about the same old stuff all the time to be boring. I enjoy reading others blogs, but when they become repetitive I get a little bored and not read them as much. I

Anyway, time for some updates. Yesterday Brad and were playing with Sophia and she took her very first 5 steps. We have been trying to encourage her to stand by herself, but usually she either starts crying or immediately sits on the floor. We tried teaching her how to walk between the two of us and all of a sudden she took 3 steps towards me and 2 towards Brad. It was so exciting to see my little girl doing it all by herself. I can’t believe how quickly my baby is growing up. Last year at this time I was 36 weeks pregnant praying that she would already come out. I was so tired of being pregnant and just wanted to see my baby. It’s amazing how quickly the year has passed and my girl is going to be one. I think that she will probably start walking on her own within a month or two. I think that because she crawled a little weird for a while that one of her legs is stronger than the other and makes it a little hard for her to balance. She just needs a little time and a little confidence.

Now onto something more serious. The month before I got pregnant with Sophia I went to get an ultrasound done to see what was causing pain on my right side. The doctors found a fairly large cyst on my right ovary. They said that they would keep an eye on it and see if it will go away by itself, or whether they will have to remove it. I was monitored all through my pregnancy and it never got smaller or bigger. Once Sophia was born I was supposed to go back for a check up and because we moved I never went in. A few months ago Brad and I had discussed the possibility of having another child in the near future and decided that if it happens than great, if not then just as well. After a few months had passed with no pregnancy I thought that I would see what’s going on. It seemed a little odd to me that when we were avoiding I got pregnant, and when we weren’t I didn’t. Once I started charting I realized just how much of the same symptoms I have now that I had when they found my cyst. I began paying very close attention to my body and realized that not only was it still there, but it hurts more now. I went in to see my doctor and he gave me a requisition to get an ultrasound. I also asked him about the possibility of the cyst affecting my fertility and he said that it’s unlikely, but once I did my own research I found out that in fact it could be a huge cause. Sometimes (actually most times) I don’t really trust what doctors have to say unless they specialize in that subject. A family doctor will not have the answers I need about fertility, but a fertility specialist will be more inclined and educated to give proper advice.

On my ultrasound records it said that it could possibly be endomantrioma, and  when  I brought that up with my doctor he said that when he did my pelvic exam he didn’t feel anything. I thought that was a pretty funny thing to say since the only way that endometriosis can be diagnosed is through a laparoscopy. But he did say that if they do find the cyst is still there I will immediately be referred to a fertility specialist and go from there. I can feel it, I know my body, I know it’s there. So I guess I will have to wait until the end of the month for an update.

No picture today

These are from my parenting forum. I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE A PARENT WHEN….

• You are able to finish a meal in 5 minutes flat.
• You plan your weekly menu around foods that can be eaten with one hand.
• You never have trouble making a bowel movement on the toilet - in fact, you’ve never pooped so quickly in your life!
• When you look in your purse to grab your wallet and there’s a diaper in it!
• When you have a pacifier in your pocket
• When you’re hugging your DH and you start patting his back like you pat your DC to go to sleep
• When you have to put off going pee or going to take a shower so that you could play with your kids
• When you’re at the store and realise you have a bit of baby poop on your arm and you don’t even bother going to wash it off - it’ll wait till you get home and it’s just too much of a hassle to bring a baby into a store bathroom
  
• You smell your childs tooshy with no problem and if you’re still not sure
• You discuss which version of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ you like better
• When getting the boogie out of kids nose becomes your mission for the day
• You can’t stand still, but have to sway from side to side
• You look for paper to give someone your contact info and all you have is a crayon and gum wrapper
• You spend a total of an hour and half in the bathroom on the floor in front of the toilet today–waiting for your toddler to go pee pee in the pa pa
• when it doesn’t bother you that there are spiderman stickers on your butt.
• when you look forward to going “potty” because you knwo it will be quiet in there.when you don’t mind that your “quiet” potty break is interrupted by your toddler barging in to give you “potty paper.”
• when you are able to fish a terd out of the bathtub drain without hurling
• when you have to tell someone 100 times a day not to talk about POOP.
  
• when your car looks like a trashcan exploded inside of it.
  when you eat standing up because if you sit down the beggars will come and you’ll have to share
• When you end up talking to your co-workers with that very sympathetic, slow tone that you talk to your kids with….”I know that must have been upsetting…
• You catch yourself signing to the dog
• You don’t mind spitty, drooly kisses one bit.
  
• You actually kind of like watching kids’ tv shows (gotta love those Wonderpets!)
• You can deal with fishing boogers out of DC’s nose with your own fingers.
  
• You secretly eat junk food out of sight of the kids, because they shouldn’t eat it (but you definately should! Think chocolate cake, cookies, brownies…).
• You have more toys in your house than anything else!
• When you never go to the bathroom alone anymore and your toddler has to inspect what you did and tell you about it.
• When you eat all meals with someone in your lap or go to the bathroom with someone in your lap.
• When you are on a diet and get very little food but still share your food with your child.
• When you sing the wiggles or other children’s songs in your car when you are alone or in the shower.
• You find toys in your bed when you’re being intimate with your husband.
  
• You or DH find all the left over legos or barbie shoes when it’s dark and you’re heading to the bathroom.
  
• You know which kid sat in which chair for a meal, based on the mess on the table and crumbs on the chair.
  
• You need to shower and your shirt is being held together with snot and you don’t mind.
  
• When you use above tshirt to wipe the snotty nose of your beloved child.
• When you eat a cheerio lovingly offered by the saliva covered fingers of your 9 month old.
• aking your toddler to the public bathroom with you and he claps and tells you “good job” and says you need a sticker
• You go to take a shower and find not one, but several cheerios in your bra. (Bonus points if they’re from the day before.)
• You can’t remember the last time you listened to your own CDs while driving in the car. In fact, most of the time when you are driving alone you still end up listening to children’s music out of habit.
• The conversation between your dh and you goes from things like “How about Olive Garden later on” to “Did she poop today? How much…was it a good one?”… And you say these things without flinching

Here are the promised monkey shots

I find it funny when people who don’t have children seem to think that being a parent is easy, and that being a stay at home mom is simply an excuse not to go out and get a real job. I know before I became a parent I thought that having a baby was easy. They are small, what on earth could be so difficult about taking care of a child? It’s also interesting to hear people say that their wedding day is the most life changing day of their lives, yet not all that much changes. People tend to focus so much on their wedding day that they forget that the most important day is the day after and the rest of the days to follow. I don’t mean to bring the value of a marriage down by saying that not much changes, I simply meant that you become husband and wife and after the honeymoon life goes back to being normal. You both have to go to work, you no longer run around like a crazy woman making sure all the details are taken care of. Being married is great, but I do not see it as being a life changing thing. When Brad and I got married it was exciting and thrilling, but neither of us felt that anything had changed. We still loved each other the same, still ate our meals together, only now we lived together instead of being in separate houses. It wasn’t until Sophia entered our lives that everything changed. I think that is why we didn’t want to have a wedding. Neither of us believed that the wedding day is the most important day of our lives, we believed that the days to follow that were the most important. Being with each other mattered more than having a “perfect wedding.”

Anyway, I just thought it is funny to hear people put such high value on their wedding days instead of putting it into their marriage. Once you have a child is when the realization of that most important huge day sinks in. It is when you bring a life into the world you realize what matters most and what is considered a HUGE thing.

I know for me what I dislike the most is when people feel “sorry” for us because we became parents so quickly. Yes she was a surprise, but I would NEVER EVER change that. It’s almost like they devalue our child’s life by asking whether she was a wanted baby. I guess I don’t understand people whom say that they do not wish to have children and even refuse to hold a baby. I have had someone say to me that its selfish to have children, I think it’s selfish to make such a statement. It is not until you become a parent that you know what real love really means. It’s not until then that you become selfless and realize that it is no longer about you. It is not until then that you really grow up.

So in conclusion, if you don’t have kids don’t speak about things you know so little about.

****

We took some pictures of Sophie in her monkey suit that I will put up a bit later

Oh my I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I last wrote anything. Some days just fly by and I can barely remember what I did.

Sophia is currently napping in he crib and I must say I am a bit jealous of her. She looks so comfy there. I know I have said this before, but I really want to climb into her crib and snuggle. She has also started her second set of swimming lessons, and I must say that I do not like our swim instructor. You can obviously tell that she has no clue what she is doing. I know that right now swimming lessons are meant for babies to get used to being in the water, but she still needs to take some charge and actually teach us moms how to do certain things. I have taken this class before so I know what do to and how to properly put Sophia under water, but the rest of the moms have not done that before and the swim instructor  just said to put them under water. No instruction, nothing, poor babies must have been pretty shocked from that. Ugh, I don’t like paying for something and having it a waste of time. It’s a good thing that 2 of my friends and their kids are in the class, otherwise I would have switched to a different class.

I am really excited that it’s thanksgiving this weekend. I have been craving turkey for a long time now and can’t wait to sink my teeth into that bird. Sounds tasty doesn’t it??? We have a big dinner planned at Brad’s grandparents house on Sunday, and then a lunch at his Aunt Helen’s on Monday, and my parents are having one also Monday night. We may be all turkey’d out this weekend.

Ok I don’t know what else to say and I think Sophia is waking up. Bye bye

For the last couple if nights I have been having really odd dreams. I won’t say what they’re about since some people who read this blog might take it the wrong way, but if you really want to know you can email me and I will tell you. I have had a pretty rough time with sleep since Sophia was born, but now it’s just getting weird. I dream very realistic dreams, and sometimes wake up not knowing whether the events actually happened or not. Brad says that I need some closure in my life, I don’t think it has anything to do with that, but what do I know he may be right. I am not upset over my dreams, I just wish they would go away. I guess I am wondering what triggers them to come? When I dreamed about something it usually had to do with me thinking about that person or topic, but this time around that is not the case. I don’t think about the things that I dream about, yet they have been there night after night for the last few days.

Sorry that I am not going into more detail, but I would rather keep something like that more private.

Yesterday Brad and I got to have a day off so we went to Bellingham. My mom watched Sophie for the day while we relaxed and shopped at the BellisFair Mall. It’s nice now that our dollar is equal, we can get things for so much cheaper over the boarder. Diapers are way cheaper and they have my favorite ice- cream there in a bigger box for the same price as the small one here. You really can’t beat the price on that!!!!

Brad is still not able to go back to work right now, it doesn’t seem like his knee is getting any better. I feel so bad for him, I do not like seeing people in pain.  That’s all I have to update about today, have a good Friday afternoon

I have been thinking what I should write about. Nothing new has happened in the last little while, and life is good, I guess I could write all the things that I am grateful for in my life.

1. My husband. He is the most amazing person that I have ever met. We have been through so much together and yet we’re so happy and in love. He is always there for me when I need him, he supports me in anything that I want to do. He loves Sophie and I more then anything. He works hard to support our family. I could go on and on, but I think you all get the point. He is an incredible man and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.
2. My daughter. Sophia is the light of my life. There is nothing more precious than watching your little baby growing up and learning new things. I love it when I walk into her room in the morning she gives me huge smiles and reaches out for me to pick her up. I love seeing the innocence in her eyes when we play. She is so beautiful and I can’t help but be proud for making such a wonderful baby. She is so patient and gentle, I could have a million of her.  I am so in love with my baby girl and so thankful that I have her in my life.
3. My family. They have been so good and supportive when Brad and I moved back to BC. They helped us out in so many ways. They love Sophie so much and I love seeing her eyes light up when she sees her grandma and grandpa. They have given me break when I need to get some sleep. Sometimes my mom would take Sophie for the night just so that Brad and I could get some rest. I love my parents, and I am so happy that Sophie gets to spend time with them.
4. My in-laws. We don’t get to see them very often, but they were so supportive of Brad finishing his degree. They helped him to get through school so that he wouldn’t have any student loans. They are always so excited to see Sophie and play with her. I hope that as time goes by that she will be able to see more of them. It’s nice that our kids will have grandparents to grow up with.
5. My life. I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful life. I am thankful that I am well and happy, and that I have such a wonderful family. I am happy that I do not have a pessimistic outlook on life and that I am able to see the good and get past the bad.
6. All my other extended family. They have been so great and loving and supportive. I wish that everyone had people like that in their lives.
7. There are many more things that I am thankful for, but I only wanted to list the most important ones.

Sophia being funny

I started this about 3 hours ago…
Yesterday afternoon while Sophia was napping I, was sitting on my couch with my laptop reading up on some things. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see Brad walking by the window. I knew that he had a dentist appointment that day, but he was home awfully early for that. Once he got into the house he proceeded to tell me that he had spent the last 3 hours in the hospital. While he was at work he dropped a very heavy cylinder on his knee and it made the knee cap move out of it’s position, and then it fell onto his foot and broke right through the steal toes boots. Oh I am so happy that we bought those for him, otherwise he would have a few very broken toes. Poor guy is limping around, I hate seeing him in pain. He now has to miss a few days at work since he can’t move around all that well. It’s a good thing that WCB covers his missed days at work.

Right now he is studying really hard for his final. It’s in a few hours and I know that he will do well. I am so proud of him for finishing his BA and doing so well in this class. We’re very excited to fly out to Edmonton this November for his graduation! He put so much work into it and I cannot wait to see him get his graduation papers.

Today Sophia and I took a walk to the pool and then went swimming. She gets so excited when she is in water, I love seeing her so happy. I lost $5 on the way there, or I just have mommy brain and never actually brought the money with me.

Brad just got home from his exam. He is finally done with school. No more papers, studying, no more school(until next year ). He is giving Sophia a bath so I better go and get her bed ready.

I write this with a very loud baby standing next to me. I don’t know what has come over this child recently. I think that she has found her new passion, shrieking. Oh my is it ever loud. I knew that kids get into the throwing fir age far before the terrible two’s hit, but I was not expecting a 10 month old to throw herself on the floor and scream as loud as she possibly can. If she doesn’t get exactly what she wants at the time that she wants it, watch out cause then comes the really loud shrieking.  Anyone know what to do? I would write more, but my attention is being demanded else where. Help!!!

Sometimes when I put Sophia to bed I just st by her crib and watch her sleep. She always looks so peaceful and innocent, it’s so precious. A little while ago Brad and I went to a park with Sophia and we were watching other kids playing and running around. I love seeing the innocence in children, the world hasn’t gotten the best of them yet. They have no perception of worrying about paying the bills, putting food on the table, they just enjoy life. They haven’t experienced hatred, betrayal, disloyalty. They have no inhibitions to walk up to another child and make a friend on the spot. How wonderful would the world be if we all had the forgiveness and the innocence of a child. It’s so sad that we all lose it, you cannot live in this world like a child.

You can see the innocence fading in the older kids that were at the park. You can tell that something is different, that they had experienced pain. I don’t really the turning point, but it’s there and you can see it in their eyes. I wish I could keep Sophia safe from pain, that she would always be happy. I know that is every parents dream, yet none of us are able to fulfill it. I have even heard some people say that having children and bringing them up in this world is a selfish act. I see how some would think that, but I believe you must be fairly broken to really feel that way. To me being a mom is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened. I believe that I didn’t know what truly loving someone meant until I had Sophie. It’s not something that you can describe, it’s something that is just there and you don’t know where it came from.

I have such a hard time hearing stories about child abuse, and murder. I don’t understand how anyone can hurt something so helpless and beautiful. How people can hurt kids that cannot defend themselves, how they can kill their children and claim that they’re better off that way and then be found not guilty. How can someone not live their child?

I always liked being around kids, but I don’t think I ever realized how precious childhood is until I had one of my own. My heart goes out to the kids that don’t have parents, the one’s that have no one to love and care for them. I could imagine how heartbreaking it would be to work in an orphanage. Kids don’t need much, all they want is for someone to love them. I see how much stuff Sophia has, but in the end I know she would be just as much of a happy baby is she had none of those things. She has a family that loves her more than life. I don’t understand why we as adults are so obsessed with stuff, why we think that the more we have the happier we will be. I am one of those. I want a house and a couple of cars, and money, In the end the things that make me happiest are the morning smiles that Sophie gives me, watching her play with her toys, her excitement to see me. Nothing will ever beat that.

I wish that no child would have to go through heart break. I wish that every child would have a childhood will with happiness. If only everyone could experience the joy of being a kid, this world would be a much better place. If i had only 1 wish I would wish that every kid would have unconditional love.

Sophia is now 18 lbs 14 oz and 28″ tall

I am feeling good today. I didn’t sleep the greatest last night, but since Sophie sleeps in until 9 I got a nice and long morning sleep in time. I love just laying in bed and doing nothing. I wish would have savoured my pregnancy time a little more. All I had to do was…. nothing. I ate all day long while lounging on the couch in my pj’s watching TV. Ahhhhh that was the life. Too bad I won’t be able to do it the next time around.

Yesterday Sophia had a nice visit with grandma and grandpa Richert and also her great grandparents