busy busy

This week I'm hosting a recipe club dinner at my house so I've been cleaning and organizing and shopping like mad. It was driving Ed crazy. I mean 'was' because now that everything has finally come together (minus a few details) he is very happy with the results. We've lived in this humble little apartment for two and a half years now and just in the last week it's really started to feel like a home. It's amazing what a few throw pillows and some plants will do to brighten up a living room.

Our theme for this months recipe club is French Cuisine. It's been a real challenge to think of something that I could attempt to make. Do you want to know what my crazy mind came up with? Creme Brulee. Whew. Wish me luck. I'm doing a sample one this afternoon. Just in case I need a couple of days to rethink my food choice.

Noah was sick again. Does anyone have any idea's on how to naturally boost children's immune systems? It seems every time I turn around he's caught something someone has been walking around with. I love my little boy, but he is miserable when he's sick. Who can really blame him? I hate being sick just as much as the next guy. I'm just asking for a breather in between the bouts of illness. Plus I'm a tad worried about his little body not being able to ward off most bugs easily.

This time when he got sick we were driving on the highway, heading to a BBQ in Okotoks. It was projectile, I was trying to catch it in my bare hands, and it was disgusting. Give me a thousand dirty diapers to change and I'd gladly do it, but the puke? I have a really hard time handling that. To top it all off, we got lost shortly after that and took the longest detour in the history of really long detours. If you can imagine that. He was back to his old self quick enough and was running around the back yard like nothing had happened. But now he has this icky cough. It never ends! Please help.


And because I always like to read a post with pictures, here's some from our week:

Noah asks to play Guitar Hero at least once every day. He especially loves it when his best friend plays with him.

It would seem my husband cannot keep his eyes open for the picture.

These little beaut's are the shoes I bought for Lu Lu Bean. At least twice his size. He didn't take them off the whole afternoon.

Awww aren't cousins sooo cute?

Adorable.

Let's do a quick recap of the last couple of weeks shall we?

We've officially survived exam month which puts to rest one more year of education. It feels so nice to be that much closer to our goal of applying to Dental school. The online applications open in June and Ed will write the DAT in November. They say by December we'll know if we've been accepted. We're both nervous and excited.

I am so proud of Ed for all of the effort and work he put into his schooling which paid off when he went over and beyond what he thought he would and did fantastic during his finals. I am also grateful that he's the one with the Math smarts. Our children would be hopeless without him.

Right now we're just chilaxing at home, waiting for the warmer weather to show up, and fighting off sickness. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, let's rewind a couple of weeks.

To Easter.

This was taken at the Easter Egg Hunt that we did at Uncle Josh's house. I left the video camera at home thinking that Noah wouldn't really be into it. Well I stand corrected. He.took.off. Running down the road and through the field picking up every colorful "ball" he spotted. His bucket was starting to get so heavy we had to sneak up behind him and grab hand fulls of Easter eggs just to lighten the load a bit so he could keep going. We did a smaller hunt at home the next day but the video is long and boring so I won't share. I'm glad I didn't go overboard with the candy. I still have some hiding in my closet and no one is really interested in it. Maybe I'll send it to Amanda - I know she has a love for all things chocolatey.

Oh and excuse me, but when did my baby boy grow up?

He looks so big to me.

Worlds of difference from this wouldn't you say?

I wish I would have taken more time to kiss that adorable belly and tickle those delicious rolls. Sigh. I have a bad case of baby fever.

Oh and props to Auntie Janay for those strategically placed blocks on the floor. I'm sure one day he will thank you for the serious lack of nudie pictures we have of him.

This is what happens when you make your mother-in-law's amazing guacamole and your son uses it as body paint. (after he ate more than his fair share of course)

And this is what you do with said Son after dinner :

Chuck him in a nice soapy tub.

I love bath time pictures. They're always so happy and full of smiles. Which I am indeed grateful for since this last week Noah came down with the flu and smiling was the very last thing on his mind. We had just walked in the door from an evening walk when I look over at Ed holding Noah, both of them covered in an unpleasant, smelly muck. I immediately start dry heaving into the kitchen sink. All the while Ed is rubbing Noah's back saying calmly

"Good job buddy, get it all out. It's okay, Daddy's here"
What?!

Isn't that supposed to be my job? Isn't Ed the one that's supposed to be plugging his ears running from the room shouting that vomit makes him nauseous?

Yes well, it wasn't one of my finest moments.

And given Ed's past history with his innate need to be clean, I think he deserves a good round of applause!

Thankfully Noah bounced back to his old self this weekend and we are enjoying having a little boy in our house again instead of a crusty bear.

We celebrated Lulu Bean's 3rd birthday this month as well. Fun was had by all. I wish there were pictures to share. Noah is her number one fan and when the two of them get together it is trouble. Once they closed themselves in the bathroom when no one was looking, threw a cellphone into the toilet and started splashing around so loudly I came to see what the commotion was about. You should have seen the looks on their little faces when I flung the door open. It was priceless. Ed wasn't very amused but it still makes me laugh when I think of it. They talk on the phone a lot about who knows what and Noah throws his head back with a hearty fake laugh and pats his little protruding belly. I will try and tape it one day. It's to die for.

Since there was barely a handful of nice days these last couple of weeks we've had to make our own entertainment indoors and frankly I'm running out of ideas. This morning we listened to the 'Scatman', blew bubbles in our living room and danced in our underwear. True story. I thought of it on a whim (as you can tell) but it was a huge success. Noah kept running over to me with a big grin on his rosey little cheeks and giving me kiss after kiss. I think I won the best Mommy award for that. It motivates me to be more spontaneous and crazy. After about an hour of that we both crashed and had a nice two hour nap. Have I mentioned how much I love being a mother? And that naps are one of the best perks? ( besides dancing in your underwear that is)

I wanted to put the last picture on here to just clear a few things up...

#1. YES, we know Noah's hair is ridiculously long. He looks cute and we like it this way.

#2. NO, we are NOT planning on cutting it.

SO STOP ASKING.
thanks.

Oh and lastly this is video Auntie Janay has been requesting for awhile now. We had two different versions and the other one was cute, but I opted for the one where you can't hear Janay and I cackle with laughter. It was pretty scary stuff. So here it is, in all it's cuteness.

Enjoy!

my dearest Noah

Today you were particularly difficult. Destructo-boy. Everywhere you went, a mess was left in your wake. It was so exhausting! Your bedtime could not have come fast enough. I'm always telling your Dad that it's a good thing you're as cute as you are, or we would have sold you to the gypsies a long time ago.
For me, one of the biggest challenges in being a new parent, is adjusting to the inconsistency of childhood. I've expected that if I tell you not to touch something once, it will register and we won't have to talk about it again. Or that when you begin sleeping through the night, you will continue to do so for the rest of your life.
Hah.
I've quickly learned that I have expected too much from you. For one, you're still a little guy. And two, that's not how our relationship with God works either. If it was, there would hardly be a use for repentance. If we all learned our lesson the first time we would live in a much different world. As mortal beings we make plenty of mistakes ( heck, I'm still not done making all of mine.) and we all have our off days. But we have a Father in Heaven who knows what it's like to grow and learn and to experience and to be challenged. Thankfully he is also patient and kind and incredibly understanding. I want to be more like that for you.
I know one day it will click in that adorably big head of yours that if you continue to hit people, you will continue to sit on the time-out chair. That me saying "No thank you" does not in fact translate into "that was fun. Please do it again" And even that remaining still during a poopy diaper change is actually a very brilliant idea.

Here's to that day!

Love you,
Mom

and the randomness continues

Today has been one of those really good days. I think it has something to do with the go-orgeous weather right outside my window. I love spring!


Since our little destructo-boy has figured out how to make the liquid in his non-spill sippy cup come out, I have found patches of dried juice and milk all over the house. Remarkably none of it has made it's way onto my carpet. I should be grateful for this, except for the fact that I have been wanting to get rid of that carpet for months now, but a certain husband won't allow it until it really needs replacing.. All I'm saying is a big, crusty, juice stain right smack in the middle would move things along a bit...

I was tired of walking around with sticky feet and heaven forbid if any relatives stopped by and say my unsightly, icky floors. gasp what would they think of me!

So this morning I did some floor washing and my sweet Chocolate Lovely did the dishes for me. Thanks Babe. Is there anything more appealing than a man doing dishes? Oh help, I'm there! You know you've been married for awhile when you start to think that watching your husband wash the dishes is a sexy activity.

*Note to self: must get out more.

In between all of that Noah and I played Mario kart on the Wii. He brings me a controller several times a day asking me to 'play'. And oh I'm a sucker for that cute face so of course I give in. We have a good ol' time, and with all this practice I'm becoming such a pro that even Ed can't beat me! That in itself is an accomplishment. Because you see, he refers to himself as a 'Gamer' which I take to mean 'nerds who justify playing video games all day long' Well he has another thing comin' that's for sure. Look out!


I have some random pictures for you all to enjoy of.... you guessed it. Our Son. Who else would it be?

Looking all cute and small in Daddy's school backpack.

Oh those teeth. They get me every time. All spacey and cute!

Rare moment #1 captured on film. Noah playing all.by.himself.

He adores babies and little Noor got plenty of rough love from him that afternoon.

Notice his other appendage: the Wii remote. It makes him feel powerful and important. Sometimes he needs one in each hand.

He has that stink eye down pat.

Rare moment #2 : playing alone in his room. Although this lasted approximately 2 minutes, it's nice to see him gaining just a little bit of independence. I wonder if I will ever miss his little need to have me play with him all the time. And yes, I do see the junk in his trunk. He did not get that from me.

I love it when he squats and plays. Especially when he shows a little bum cleavage. It's the only time that showing a little crack is acceptable and even considered cute of all things. Why is that?

Guess who dressed me this morning?

Yup, that's right. My Dad.

He's the coolest.

We're in the middle of this lull in our home life right now. Nothing is really happening. We've just been hanging out. Going out occasionally. But mostly it's just too darn cold. I drove two blocks to the 7 Eleven the other evening and by the time I got home 5 minutes later my fingers felt like they were about to fall off. You know when they're so cold they hurt? Ya, that was my fingers. Ouch.

I feel so bad for Noah. I'm sure he feels like a caged animal. We walk the halls of our apartment building. Alot. Just to get a change of scenery. He's getting so big. A couple of weeks ago, before the cold snap, Janay and I took the kidlets to the play place in Market Mall. They loved it. Noah was particularly taken with the airplane slide. He kept lifting his little arms up to me and pumping his hands open and closed, which of course, is code for help me climb up! After awhile I got sick of that so I taught him how to climb the airplane's wing all by himself. Nicely done Mommy. Right? Not so much. The next day he was scaling everything in our house. Up until this point the thought never occurred to him to try and climb up the kitchen chairs, or the coffee table. I was thinking..."Noooooo! I had it so easy before!" Totally my fault, but just another testament to how big he is getting. I'm starting to get the question. You know... "So when are you having your second?" Hmmmm, I'll let you know when I know.

Ed and I have also been getting out with friends lately. Birthday parties, movie nights, dinner. Good times all around. Yay! We're dating each other again! It's really easy to slip into a bad habit and forget about each other and how much we need time alone. Having said that, it's nice to get out and relax without having to worry about Noah and his needs, but the whole night you feel kind of off. Like something is missing, or you've forgotten something. And always when we come home, I'm so excited to wake him up the next morning and play with him.

Speaking of that, I'll admit I'm a little worried about having a second baby. Do you love the second just as much as you did the first? Is that even possible? I'm worried that I won't be able to give the attention to Noah that he needs when I have to divide my time between 2 children. I'm sure everyone goes through the same fears. I just want some advice. What helped you when you expanded your family with a second child?

*Not that I'm expecting, I'll just use it for future reference ya know?

an update for uncle Josh

Who has nothing better to do on this blustery snowed-in day than sit at home and watch bad day time television.

Despite popular belief, our day was not that much more exciting than your own. I promise.

Today my baby brought home his first nursery picture

*tear, tear*

The usual age for nursery is 18 months, luckily the nursery leader took pity on us. But seriously. Have you met this kid?

The little ham. Sure he looks all cute and innocent. But trust me, if you were to meet us in the halls at church you would feel sorry for me too. No amount of snacks or toys can distract him. He's on a mission. To make the three hours of church feel more like three weeks. And he's extremely good at it. I'm quite a sight in a skirt and heels sprinting after a baby who is also running, full speed toward the large set of stairs that he loves to climb up and down fifty times. So fun.

I got a little teary eyed when I saw his pretty picture. His very first piece of artwork to hang on the fridge. Go ahead, say it...

Awwwwwww

Notice his attention to detail and staying in the lines with the suit jacket??

Smarty pants.

just like daddy

Noah wants to be wherever his Dad is and do whatever it is that his Dad is doing. He wants to dance like his Dad, play basketball like his Dad, and eat whatever his Dad is eating. I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight. For both of them. Sometimes I wonder just where it is that I fit in. Other than maid, chef, and incubator for nine months.

I do love to see them together though and there's nothing better than hearing the two of them laughing together over some kind of inside joke.

I love my boys.

keeping it real

I am such a stressful person. Not that I cause others stress, well actually, come to think of it I probably do. But I mean that I attract stress. You could say it's drawn to me. It's very draining. Plus I'm waaay to young to be getting crows feet and other unsightly facial lines.

The moment I'm faced with responsibility, a stress avalanche inevitably follows. Like the day our son came into the world?? Ohhh yah. It's been intense ever since. I'm terrified that if I make one wrong move, if I make even the tiniest mistake I will ruin his life. Like, forever.

After over a year of living with this fear every moment of my life, I decided I needed to kick it to the curb. Show it who's boss ya know? One of my many life changes I plan on making this year was to live more stress free. Spontaneity comes to mind. So does positive thinking and enjoying life more. Living in the moment and 'letting go' of things that are out of my control.

I can already feel the glorious release. It could all be in my head, but I feel like Noah is responding positively to the new change as well.

It's all very liberating. Like, the other day, instead of worrying about having my dishes done by the time Noah had his first nap, I played with him all. day. long.

I know. I'm that rebellious.

This is what it looked like...

But do you think I cared? Naw...
I believe Noah was thinking "C'mon Momma, this is getting a little bit ridiculous I mean, you could at least sweep" And I did. But we still had a lot of fun that day. Joy in motherhood comes in the moments right. I really believe that.

Ed has been sick for the past couple of days. It makes me grateful for all the days that he isn't under the weather. I have felt like a single mother with him being out for the count. He doesn't get sick very often, but when he does it's long and hard. It's always particularly hard for me to watch him fight off sickness. He's a man. Aren't they supposed to be strong, and muscly, and like indestructible? In any case, we could sure use your prayers that he returns to his healthy self quickly.

Noah is totally in love with water. It's because of my own insecurities that I haven't taken him to the pool yet. I have been feeling bad about this, especially when I found him like this yesterday.

He was all pruney by the time I took him out.

Who could resist this cute little face I ask you? Not me, that's who. We'll be going to the pool later on this week. He knows just what to do to make me cave.

a boy and his birthday

I'm almost 3 months late with this post, but in my defense the pictures were allll the way in Strathmore, and according to my mother, we never visit anymore. So you can see the problem.

I thought I would tribute Noah's first birthday post by writing about the day he came into our lives. In places it may be a teensy bit graphic and like, reaallly long. So I promise not to hate you if you just skip to the bottom and look at the pictures.

Friday, November 9

Due Date: November 17

I had been feeling contractions for the better part of the afternoon, but really what did I know? I had no idea what this would feel like so I chalked it up to back spasms and called it a day around 9:00. ( for the record I always knew he would come early. I just had a feeling. But let's be honest... if he had come late I would probably have said the same thing. I just really really wanted this to be over)

I couldn't really sleep because of the stupid 'back spasms'. Some would call me a little slow but at 11:00 I finally realized this was it. Kind of. Little did I know this was just the beginning. The VERY beginning. I started timing them and they were 7-10 minutes apart. I tossed and turned from excitement (pain eventually took over and that emotion quickly faded) and finally at about 4:00 in the morning I woke Ed up. He was all disorientated like he usually is at 4am and kept asking me if I was serious. No Babe, I just couldn't sleep and thought I would play a little joke on you. Of course I am serious! Who jokes about that kind of stuff?

So the contractions kept coming, inevitable I know. They got a little closer together but each one was very long and very intense. We called our prenatal instructor,who agreed to be at the birth with us, just to give her a heads up not to plan anything too interesting that day. After that we made the calls to our family. As it was already the morning of the 10th I called Wes and Amanda and asked if Jarom wouldn't mind sharing his birthday with his new cousin.

I really wanted to labour at home for as long as I could before we made our way to the hospital but once again, having never felt anything like this I was ready to go at 10:00 thinking I would get there and have this baby out before supper time. (ohhhh that is soooo funny now that I look back on it) We got there around 10:30ish and was admitted into a triage room. We met the Doctor that would be delivering Noah and I was so grateful because I had met her a couple of times at my prenatal appointments and thought she was very nice. And gentle, which was something I was really hoping to get. Once again, little did I know that "gentle" and "labor" do not belong in the same sentence together. Ever. My first experience with this was when they checked to see how far I was dilated. WHOA. Excuse me for being a tad graphic but I thought her hand was going to come out of my mouth. I had never felt so violated. With that fresh on my mind they told me that I was only 2-3 centimeters at that point. I cried as soon as they left the room. Ed had to go and fill out some paper work so there I lay. Just me and my contractions and my tears. It was a real party.

When Ed got back he talked me out of my little pity sesh and we decided to get moving to see if we could get this baby to come sooner. We took a walk and did some stairs. I felt so out of my element. Stopping to bend over or squat next to a wall when a contraction came with everyone staring at me weird as they walked past. It could have been the pain combined with the hormones in my body but I felt like snapping. I wanted to yell at them. Move it along folks! You've never seen a woman in labor before?! I'd like YOU to try and do what I am dong mister and then we'll see if you still give me that stink eye!

After the slowest hour of my life we made our way back to the triage room and stayed in the room for a while longer before they came to tell us they had a room available in L&D. We met our nurse who was totally cute and totally nice. She also totally saw me in all my naked glory while I labored on the ball in the shower. So hot.

I loved that shower. I would have stayed there the whole time if it wasn't for nazi Ed telling me I needed to try different positions to help the process go faster. (note to self, never listen to Ed again) Kidding. I love you Babe, I couldn't have done it without you. It was around 5:30 that evening that Sue, our instructor walked through the door. It was like a breath of fresh air for both Ed and I. Where Ed was all nervous to get wet from the shower, she practically jumped right in there with me saying " I wore my pants that dry really fast!" It was a nice advantage to have here there. She has 3 children of her own so she knew just where and how to push on my back during a contraction, which freed Ed up to be my verbal and emotional support up by my face. They were life savers and a terrific team.

The Doctors were constantly checking my dilation which was just as uncomfortable as the previous ones. Each time I was hoping that they would tell me it was time to push, and each time they would tell me I had only progressed minimally. At one point I was so exhausted and in pain I broke down. I was sitting on the edge of the bed sobbing. The Doctors had been asking me every time they walked in "Kevyn, is there anything else we can get for you?" Meaning, "would you like an epidural so we don't have to listen the weeping and wailing?" I said no but as soon as she left the room I told Ed and Sue that I needed it. I couldn't make it any longer. I cried for my Mom and for drugs. For 45 minutes I sat and cried and tried to convince them that I wasn't strong enough. They fought me every step of the way. Sue kept telling me, let's work through one more contraction and then we can discuss it again. She's sneaky that one. We made it through countless contractions and when the Doctor finally returned and checked me I was 9 centimeters. Hallelujah! I could hear the chorus of angels, and I knew victory and the end was in sight.

Then came the 'bad news'. I had what was called a lip of cervix. Sounds kinda nasty, I know. I sort of hate explaining it sometimes but it's part of the story and the story must go on. Basically I was instructed not to push when I felt the urge, which was pretty much every contraction and they were coming fast and hard at less than 2 minutes apart. Now for all those of you who have had children, you know that when you get that 'urge' to push. There's no stopping it. It's like... It's like... well I'm not sure what to compare it to. It's just really almost impossible. I say almost, because I had to do it. For 2 hours. It was ridiculous. Probably the worst part of the whole labour. I would have gladly had contractions for another 12 hours over having to resist pushing. They had me in all sorts of positions that defy gravity so as to help Noah stay in instead of shooting out. If I wasn't ready to scratch my eyes out, while chewing my own arm off, I probably would have thought it funny.

After what seemed like an eternity the Doctor finally gave me the go ahead to push. I nearly kissed her. I sat up, I was focused, I was ready to go, I was ready to be done... and... nothin. Not a thing. I didn't feel a single contraction! It was as if the minute they decided he could finally come out and meet us, he was like.. "oh no you di-int. We'll do this on my time." I was tired, I was sweaty, I was grumpy so I balled up all the energy I had left and I started to push. I didn't care if it was time or not, I was getting that baby out of me. It was 12:00am then. Fifty minutes later our beautiful boy was heard by all as he entered the world. He let everyone know he had arrived. Even my Mom and Mother in law down the hall in the waiting room. I remember Ed's face welling up with tears and then they placed Noah on my tummy. His hair was dark and curly, his eyes were pinched shut and his mouth was wide open with cries of protest. Perfection. 7lbs 2oz of it.

One year later, November 11th 12:50am, I sat in his room watching him sleep. He has more hair but it's still curly. He has big beautiful eyes like his Dad, but my coloring. And he still protests... loudly. But we love him anyways and couldn't imagine life without him.

His birthday was very nice. It was attended by just family which I really enjoyed. I liked how small and intimate it was. He was a champ and was so excited to have all those people adore him.

(I wonder who he inherits that from!)

And now for the pictures:

Of course, he's totally into backyardigans. Those little figurines are practically his favorite toy in the house to date.


Grandpa Prepchuk was appalled that he wasn't going to have a hand made cake so he took the liberty of making one.. or four himself. He put a lot of work and hours into making it. Thanks Grandpa!



The little Bean opening his gift from Mommy and Daddy



Some moooore gifts. He was spoiled. I think these ones were shoes from Auntie Brenda.

Auntie Janay's basketball hoop. His face says it all. Now he can be just like his Daddy

Just about to dig into the cake.

Yummmm. He didn't get all that messy, which as an OCD Mom I was very grateful for!

Oops these are a little backwards. This was just after we finished singing Happy Birthday.

I know, I know. As if we didn't have enough cake going around. We had a traditional Mexican cake as well. Sooo delish.

And finally, a little video for your viewing pleasure. I didn't get any pictures of it, but we had balloons covering the ceiling in the living room. His face at the end is priceless. He's been fascinated with balloons ever since.

Happy Birthday Big Man