Pumpkin Patch

Kiwi is sleeping so I thought I would take this time to update my blog.  Also because last night I heard about how I hadn't updated my blog again in a long time from B.  Funny that he reads my blog when he sees me all the time.

The past while we've done a lot.  We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends (twice - different friends each time). That was a lot of fun.  We walked through the corn maze - first time for all 3 of us to ever go through a corn maze.  Than we shot apples from a sling shot. I was the only one in our group to actually hit the target.  You get 3 apples and I hit the target 2 out of 3 times!  Oh yeah!  Yes they skimmed across the ground each time but they still popped up and hit the target.  One of them even exploded as it hit :)  That made me happy.  Weird. It also reminded me of my summer at Circle Square Ranch.  They put me in charge as the archery instructor.  Um...I'm a city girl!  By the end of the summer I was called a tree hugger because in the middle of the archery station stood a tree and it had so many dings in it from being hit by the arrows.  So before each session started I would make the kids all grab hands and we would give a collective hug to the tree, after all we were at "our-tree".  Wow, did that go off on a tangent.

After the sling shot we grabbed some lunch.  Of course Kiwi wanted his lunch right than too.  It's like a server always asks a question just as you have taken a bite, a baby is always hungry just as you're about to eat.  So Kiwi had his lunch and then I had mine. After lunch we went on a hayride.  After our hayride our friends had to leave for nap time (for their kids I'm assuming).  So we stayed behind and I proceeded to take a million pictures of Kiwi with the pumpkins.  Ok, it actually ended up being just over a hundred.  

So many things

Dear Blog, I suck at keeping you updated even when I remind myself of what my next post is going to be about.  Yoy!  I don't even know if I remember what I did last Thursday it's so long ago.  I remember the night before I had done all the laundry, to the point when B got home from work I made him get into his PJ's so I could wash the clothes he was wearing.  That way when we woke up on Thursday morning we could choose anything! to wear because everything was clean!  I am such a nerd but that was a fantasy come true.  It always bothers me when you do all the laundry and then that evening you have dirty laundry already.  So I fixed the problem and it was blissful to wake up the next morning feeling like there was already a head start on the chores. 

I immediately threw our bedding into the wash as soon as we got out of bed and went straight to dusting. After the dusting I cleaned the washrooms (out of order from my usual cleaning routine, I usually end with washrooms). After the washrooms I swept and swiffered the floors. I ran out to the store for a couple of last minute items. I set both tables, the inside one and the outside one because I didn't know what the preference was going to be. I swept the deck because there were some "treasures" still out on the deck from when B had his workmates over. I iced some sugar cookies with an amazing icing recipe I came across on the inter web.  I cleaned up downstairs a little bit (cleared the hallway and cleaned up the garbage/loose ends of reno stuff. Oh right, I took care of Kiwi all day too! And he was having a don't put me down kind of a day so on went the moby wrap and my hands were free! Than I prepped the items for build your own pizza. Cutting the veggies and getting everything into some really cute serving bowls that I had found on my adventure out to get the last minute items. Than I prepped the items for build your own sundaes. I feel like I'm forgetting something but like I said it was almost 2 weeks ago so I can't remember everything.  But I do remember that I was so tired by the end of the evening that I started to fall asleep while we visited with B's aunt and cousin.  

Now for the last week or so I don't remember what all has been happening. Ha!  What a great update that was!  I had a dentist appointment today when they did a deep root cleaning.  It wasn't as nearly as painful as they had played it out to be.  I guess they prepare you for the worst but after all the dentistry I've had in the past this wasn't too bad. 

B has been really sick since last Wednesday so that wasn't very fun. He's on the mend now so that's happy news. Kiwi has been practicing rolling over.  We're up to 4 times now!  He usually just rolls over but gets stuck on his one arm so I don't count those times.  He is so cute!  Lately he's been waking up really early (not really that early but it feels that way when you're up every 2 hours). But it's so hard not to laugh because he'll wake up and he's talking and laughing and as soon as he catches your eye he's got you sucked in!  He LOVES to socialize!  

Today while I was grocery shopping he started talking as soon as we entered the store and didn't stop until we got home from the store.  One lady had seen us a few different times within our shopping trip and on the third or fourth time of crossing paths she said, That's one of the most vocal babies I've ever seen!  I just laughed, I have no idea where he gets it from.  He is the biggest social butterfly and he is so happy.  I love his little spirit!  

TMI - Alert - today I have been dealing with a little bit of a dilemma. It's that time of month that I could get pregnant. We wanted to start trying right away but my doctor has advised us to wait until at least December before trying to allow my body to heal from the c-section. The reasoning is because if I wait until December than I have the choice of trying to have a natural birth or a c-section next time, however if I don't wait than I will be forced to have a c-section.  A part of me wants to say who cares lets go for it since my body PP (pre-pregnancy) only worked 2 maybe 3 times a year. And here it's working this month and I don't want to just let the opportunity pass by. The reason we want to start trying right away is if it's going to take 2 years again than we would like to get that ball rolling, however if it were to happen right away we are ok with those consequences too.  I don't even know if this paragraph makes sense.  And like I said it's much info. I just wish I could rely on my body being "normal".  I have heard that girls that have PCOS have had their bodies re-start themselves after pregnancy and then they have become normal.  I guess I'll know next month if this is going to be a monthly thing or if we're back to the twice a year chance and even then it's only a 20% chance, oy!  I will have faith that my body will work. It did it once before. Just something I'm dealing with mentally...I'm quite distracted today.  

Well I think that catches you up...probably more than you were wanting to be caught up on. But there you have it.  Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend.  I am so excited!  I think we might be taking Kiwi to a pumpkin patch!  I already have an outfit picked out for him for pictures.  I think it will be a very fun family outing!  

Until next time,
Michelle

This and That and the Other

Wow, again it's been a long time since I last updated my blog.  Life has gotten busy.  I didn't know that having a baby would increase my social life.  I figured I would be busy with baby things, but the visiting and errands that take much more time to just "run out and grab something" have seemed to eaten up my time.  I don't mind in the least but it's you who follow my blog that have nothing new to read for several weeks that suffer.  Maybe you haven't even noticed.  Whateves, no biggy.  

Today I was happy to help out a friend.  I didn't even know her son had autism and she put out a shout on a popular media site for some help.  I asked her what her deal was and she told me and I was first surprised he had autism (he's very high functioning) and also had run into the same issue with 3 of the kids I have worked with so I told her what worked for me with those kiddos and she seemed happy with what I suggested.  Hope it works for her and him.  

I went to the snoring doctor and he said that it looks like if I had my tonsils removed that could help solve the problem because I have abnormally large tonsils.  I was not shocked with this info because I've been told multiple times by doctors about it.  Funny that none of them put the two and two together.  However, he's reluctant to take them out until after an extensive lab sleep study to make sure there is nothing more serious going on before putting me under.  Waa!  I am in the mentality of "Let's get er done!" and having to wait for this will take a minimum 6 months.  Grr.  That is not conducive to my little life plan.  

Our neighbourhood just opened up a new neighbourhood park and it's super cute.  I know kiwi is going to have a lot of hours of fun there.  Well, once he's able to walk and such. But he seemed to enjoy standing (with support) and watching the kids play.  He's such a funny guy. When there are other people around him he's quite quiet, but as soon as we're in the car or at home he's a talkative little man.  He usually wakes up talking and has occasionally talked in his sleep.  He's always laughing and smiling.  I just can't get enough of him.  

Loves his football

Tummy Time

3 Months old

Loves his new reading chair (It's a minature recliner chair)

Let's see what else have we been keeping ourselves busy with?  Lots of going out and about and walks every day.  Well last week we didn't go for many walks because it was appointment central week.  Dentist/massage/snoring doctor and then on Thursday we did a bon voyage party for B's mom because she was going to visit B's dad in Korea (where he's teaching for a year).  I'm going to do another post soon of Thursday's events because lets just say I'm still recouping from that day, tuckered me out good it did.  

Today we went and saw B's Grandparents. It was so fun and they are both so witty. I had an ulterior  motive for going there other than the awesome visit.  I am working on a project for them for their Christmas present and I needed to get a little bit of information from them without them knowing.  So mission impossible esk!  I even got asked out right what I was doing and I somehow avoided that bullet.  

Well that's all for now.  I hope you've had a wonderful couple of weeks.  
Michelle

Life tinkers on

The little man is sleeping so I thought I would take this moment to do an update.  Things are going along nicely.  Yesterday was my little sister's birthday (she's actually my sister in law).  That was fun.  We took Kiwi with us and he got passed around a lot, which I didn't mind because I actually got to eat my dinner -hot!  I have yet to eat a meal that's suppose to be hot, cold though.  I try to strategize my meals for when he's sleeping, so far it is working but that might not be a forever thing.  In fact I know it won't be, but it works for now.  

I have heard from the surgeons office.  I don't know if I mentioned that on here before.  I have looked into surgery for my snoring.  I have tried all the other non-invasive routes and none of them work for me so surgery is the next step.  I talked to my doctor only a couple of weeks ago and she referred me but told me I most likely won't hear from them until October.  Here it's still August and I have an appointment in two weeks to see him and take the next step.  I am looking forward to becoming a non-snorer.  Also it will help erase the problem of sleep apnea (when you stop breathing in your sleep) which will also be a super bonus!  I'm so hoping I'm a candidate!  

In this picture I'm using my moby wrap - in my opinion this is a must have. Kiwi falls asleep within 5 minutes any time he's put in it

Enough about me though, back to Kiwi.  I am so in love with this little guy.  He is really into his jolly jumper (even though he can barely see out of it since he's still so small).  He loves to wiggle all the time!  And he's started kicking his legs up in a motion that makes his body turn so he's been doing 360's on his playmat for about a week now.  He's definitely smart in that he knows how to manouver his body to get it to move.  His cries have been distinctive since pretty much the first week.  His coughing cry means he's hungry, his cry that reminds me of Waluigi from mario kart is his tired cry and his scream is saved for when he's in pain (I've only heard it twice).  He loves to coo and in the last two weeks he's started the deep throat sound like a gurgle talk and thinks it's hilarious when I try to do it back to him.  

Oh it looks like he's waking up so I better go.  Until next time
Michelle

Hello again

Oops I forgot I had a blog and I have not updated in a long time.  It has been 3 weeks since I last updated and seriously a lot of it has been a blur.  I know there has been a lot of laundry in there because there has been a serious increase in laundry since Kiwi came along.  My cousin from out East came to visit and it was so nice to visit with her.  

We also did our first over the border trip to the states with Kiwi.  It was so much fun.  Every evening we went down to the pool and he loved it!  I was so excited that he was happy in the pool and not a screamer because I am in fact a fish and I love to be in the water.  I had to buy a special swimming diaper for him because they don't make the disposable swimmers in his size.  The smallest size for them is 18 pounds and well he's still 5 pounds away from that so we got him a reusable cloth swimmer and it is super duper cute with dinosaurs on it.  However you couldn't even see it because it was under his full body swimsuit that is so very adorable as well!  Our trip overall was so fun.  We did a lot of shopping and a morning in the park where we watched a triathlon take place.  Well, the final moments of it where they run to the finish line. Very exciting.  

Kiwi did a great job travelling.  He slept the first 4 hours of the trip.  When he woke up he was super hungry so we stopped for over an hour to let him eat and have lunch ourselves.  Then the last 3 hours I rode in the back of the car with him  (he was being fussy) but as soon as I was back there with him he was smiling and laughing and cooing and it was fun.  He stayed up for the entire time.  We ended up taking a wrong turn and found ourselves in a short cut to our destination so it was actually a great mess up.  Coming home Kiwi travelled really well again.  He slept for the first 3 hours and then we stopped for lunch and got him some food. Than he fell asleep again shortly after and we only had to stop on one other occasion to give him a snack and then we were on our way again.  Super traveller!  

B and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary yesterday.  We went for dinner to Earls on Top, overlooking the lake on the patio.  We took Kiwi with us and I had dressed him up in his onesie that has a tie on it.  He was very stylin!  After diner we got some ice-cream and went for a walk through the park.  After our walk we headed to camp to see some friends who are in town and then came home.  It was a fun evening.  The last 3 years have been packed with adventures and I am looking forward to see what is yet to come. To sum it up we have been to Flordia (Disney World), California (Disneyland), Mexico, Sicily, Scottland, England, many camping and road trips, we bought a house and had a baby all in that short time.  I know I'm missing some other things but I believe those are the majority of the large events.  And there is nobody I would rather have this adventure called life with than B! 

  Kiwi is sleeping.  I did his bedtime routine this evening.  That's usually B's position but his boss is in town and his one co-worker is celebrating being able to walk again (he had broken his leg in like 5 places during a skiing accident) so he went out to hang out with them this evening at a fire.  So I was in charge of bed time routine tonight.  It seems to be helping Kiwi figure things out, he's been getting longer and longer sleeps through the night since we started the routine.  He eats, has a bath, eats a snack, has a little bit of interaction time (song/story/or talking) and then goes to sleep.  There was one other time I did his bed time routine and he just did not like the adjustment to having mommy do it.  He didn't laugh during his bath and only smiled twice (he loves his bath so this was odd).  Tonight however he was talking up a storm and laughing and being his normal self even though it was thrown off with me doing bath time.  Woot!  

Well that's enough of an update for now.  Until next time
Michelle

Shower time

Monday evening there was  a baby shower held in Kiwi's honour.  My sister in law did the decorating and it was super cute.  I had forgotten to take my camera so I am going to have to snag some pictures from someone who had taken photos.  It was sailor ship themed.  On a banner it said, "Ohoy it's a boy".  And she had sewn and stuffed little blue whales and had them hanging as a garland.  (She herself is pregnant and she said she's going to reuse the whales and make a mobile out of them) Seriously this girl has mad-skills!  I'm not doing the decorations justice with my words, just know that they were awesome and so cute!  It's like a pinterest page had jumped out and became real life.  


There was some very yummy food and Kiwi was spoiled with gifts.  He was given many clothes and a couple of gift cards and some toys and a crocheted blanket and sweater.  


I'm tired right now so it's hard to remember everything that I wanted to include in my update. At one point Kiwi wanted to eat so the attention was taken off of him and put on an adorable little girl who was trying her hardest to roll over.  She had an entire room watching her (talk about pressure) but after perseverance she did it.  It was so exciting!  


Kiwi needed a break about half way through the party to eat some evening snack.  Which of course takes a while because he's a slow good eater. I hope he didn't mind but I opened all his gifts for him.  I'll make it up to him one day and allow him to open all his gifts on his own. But that might be a ways down the road. 


All in all it was a wonderful shower and I really liked how people wrote Kiwi a letter of encouragement for down the road.  I think I am going to make him a memory box and put them in it. 

 Serious cuddles with dad

This kid is so cute, I sometimes can't handle the cuteness!  

Insane couple of days!

The last couple of days have been crazy and kind of a blur.  On Sunday afternoon after church we were heading to grab something quick to eat and take it to the park to hang out with family.  Just before we left the church I called my friend to see if she had gone into labour yet.  I didn't get an answer so we just assumed that she might be at the hospital already (her due date was 2 days prior) and since we were going to the hospital later that afternoon anyways (to visit B's Grandma) we would stop in on the third floor and see if my friend had been admitted.  We got in the car and started to head towards KFC something we both haven't had in years.  Well on our way I get a phone call.  It's my friend and she is in labour. She asks me if we would be able to give her a ride to the hospital because her husband doesn't have a licence.  Of course we said yes so we called our family to tell them that we weren't going to come, turns out they had changed their minds on the park too since it was starting to cloud over and get cold.  


We get to my friends house and I run in to grab her.  I ask her if her husband is coming along.  She says no cause he's sick. I asked her if she had anyone coming to be with her at the hospital she says no.  I can't believe she was planning on doing this alone so I told her that I was coming with her.  B's an amazing support person and I was so dumb-founded on what to do (I've only ever been on the other side of labour).  Because Kiwi needed to eat B took her up to the maternity floor. They went into the assessment room and she was hooked up to monitors.  I met up with them once Kiwi was done eating.  We waited there for a couple of hours and they told us that she could go home and labour there because it would be more comfortable.  So we took her home and I told her that she could call me at any time to drive her back.  


7pm I get a phone call.  She can't take it drug free any more and she needs to get in.  I had pumped one feedings worth for Kiwi so B could feed him so I was able to leave him at home.  I went and got her and took her in.  I tell you being there just 6 weeks ago brought on the water works and so many emotions. Note to all of you ever going to have a baby, your coach probably shouldn't be someone who just had a baby - their hormones are still all over the place and may just start crying for no reason.  I much rather be on the labour side than the support person, but that's just me.  I wanted to take the pain for her. They came in and checked her and said that she hadn't progressed since the last time she had been in so she could go home again.  She refused because she didn't want to keep her husband up with her cries.  So she was admitted.  We moved into labour room 4.  I helped her get 'comfortable' (as comfortable as you can get in labour. ) She had a hot shower to help progress things along.  When she came out of the shower I told her to use the excercise ball to sit on and rock back and forth.  This is where she was when I left at midnight.  (I had to get home before Kiwi woke up for his next feeding).  When I got home it was after midnight and Kiwi decided to wake up every 20mins to either eat or just for a snuggle.  


6am I headed back to the hospital (stopping at my dad's place first to feed his cat and water the plants).  When I got there(back to the hospital) I waked in and asked her how she was doing, she said wonderful, she had an epidural.  Drugs are your friend!!  Like B says, would you get a root canal without freezing?  She was able to get some rest.   She told me that at 1am her water had broke and that's when the contractions got even more intense.  Her doctor had come in at 9 to check her.  She was still only at a 4 so her doctor ordered some drug to help intensify her contractions and them to be more effective.  This was because she had coupling contractions, meaning one would start and before it would finish another one would start but not be as strong so this just made for one stupid long contraction that wasn't very effective.  Because she was going to get some rest I went up to the 4th floor of the hospital to visit with B's Grandma.


When I came back down all things had gone crazy again.  Her epidural had worn off and the drug that intensifies the contractions was in full force.  I jumped into coach mode real fast and helped her with her breathing, giving her water between each contraction,  putting a cold cloth on her forehead and changing it to a colder cloth between every second contraction, holding her hand and cheering her on.  (All tips I had gotten from B!) Her nurse was amazing!  I really liked her.  She had also stepped in as a coach especially when I would have to stop to nurse Kiwi.  Oh yeah, did I leave that part out.  When I had gone back in the morning I had Kiwi with me because B had to work.  I put on my moby wrap and  strapped him in nice and close to my chest where he slept most of the day except when he woke up to eat.  I used the moby wrap because than it freed up both my hands and I was a more affective coach.  The special doctor (because I don't know how to spell) that deals with the epidural came by and gave her another drug that would help bring back relief for my friend.  It took 20 mins to kick in - I'm sure that felt like years for my friend.  Once it kicked in she could still feel pressure in her pelvis but the pain of the contractions was gone.  (I never got to experience this pleasure state because I was already passed the pushing stage in my labour before I received my epidural).  She was able to rest between each contraction but still needed to breath through the actual contractions.  


At 12:15 she had the feeling of needing to push so they called the doctor.  20 minutes later her doctor arrived and it was push time.  She pushed for just over an hour. At one point I told her that she was so close to the finish line and the doctor said, It's not a race, and I told her, it's a slow motion race, at that the doctor laughed.  At one point the resident said he forgot that there was even a baby in the room already because Kiwi was so quiet. He literally slept the entire time, so snuggled in to my chest.  I totally recommend the moby wrap!  At 1:55pm her daughter was born.  It was maybe 10 minutes after she was born that Kiwi started to fuss so I took him out to the waiting area. Perfect timing -after he was settled I came back to the room to hang out for a little bit and then I had to head home because I needed to get ready for the baby shower the church was holding for me that evening.  I got home and I fed Kiwi and rocked him, grabbed a 10 minute nap since I was running on a 2 hour sleep and then quickly got ready and headed to the church.  It was a crazy 2 days for sure!  Needless to say today I'm wrecked and it was another action packed day.  OY!  But that can be for another blog post.  Lots of blog material that's for sure.  So come back for updates cause there should be a few in the next couple of days while things are fresh in my mind. 

I'm still shocked that she was thinking of doing that journey alone. I get that there are doctors and nurses there but it's nice to have someone you know, care and trust for to be there for you.  I don't know, it's crazy!  So I didn't know that that's what my weekend was going to look like, let alone that I would be coaching someone through labour (especially with a baby strapped to my chest) 6 weeks after going through it myself.