Boys vs Girls

When pregnant with Owen, I prayed for a healthy baby regardless of the sex but secretly hoped for another boy. After Ben, boys were what I knew. I wanted a playmate for Ben. Girls even though I am one (stating the obvious I know) scare me a wee bit for many different reasons. I describe girls as "high maintenance" and well that is just not "me".
I had the pleasure of picking up my little niece Nora from daycare the other day and got thinking that perhaps I was wrong on this whole girl theory. She showed me her adorable little pair of extra shoes in her cubby...gorgeous little silver ballet flats and I melted. Then driving home this sweet little voice came from the backseat of my car and was such a beautiful sound. I adore little girls voices. All kids tiny voices are beautiful but little girls....ohh.
She is starting dance lessons soon and having taken lessons for 15 years myself, I realized instead of warm dance studios, or coffee with the other moms while the girls are in lessons, I will surely be spending my time instead in cold arenas and on hot fields.
When I got her back to our place her and Ben began to play and were very excited to see each other and they had to be told several times not to do things as they were a little crazy. At one point I asked them both to not do something and this sweet little princess looked me in the eye and defiantly said "NO"....that was it, end of discussion, don't talk to me....NO.
And I flashed back to all the horrible horrible things I said to my mother when younger and the things I put her through, how rotten I was to her and I thought "good thing I got boys - payback would surely be a bitch!" .
I figure when I need some girl time I will simply just borrow Nora, take her for a mani/pedi and some shopping and then send her home.
But you know what they say...
A daughter is a daughter for life
A son is a son till he takes a wife

Thanks!

One more weekend. Which means I made it. Ian made it. We made it!! In one sense it has been a very long 4 months, in another it has gone by quickly (more so for us than Ian) but it's almost done. There were many times when I didn't think I would make it. I cried and screamed "I can't do it " and then there was my mother- in- law with a big hug and a reassuring "check your head girl, cause I know its tough but I know you can do it and we're here to help". And boy were they! I would not have survived these past 4 months on my own every weekend with a newborn and a 3 year old without the help of some very wonderful people who ensured that I was not on my own at all, without the phone calls and emails even from as far away as England rooting me on and sending loads and loads of love and support, without the friends who call every weekend and come and visit almost every weekend to try and keep me busy!. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart xxx

That's my boy...

I can not stop watching this and laughing. A few friends have asked where he gets his moves from but my best friend just automatically replied when I sent this to her "well we know he gets his moves from you!" I replied to her "of course...have you ever seen Ian dance...I haven't! God I love this kid....

Really?

So I nip into the grocery store today to get a few things. On the way in I grab 2 packs of the brown organic/yard waste bags as we are out. Upon walking into the store an old man asks me "how much for the bags?". I reply " I'm sorry I don't know, there was no sign". He looks at me with utter disgust and shakes his head. WTF??? Surely he couldn't have thought I worked there as I was not in a uniform and I was pushing a grocery cart containing a baby carrier in it. So why was he so disgusted with me? Perhaps because it is just like us younger generation to consider buying something without knowing the cost??? It wasn't a bloody flat screen TV it was garbage bags....how much could they possibly be?? With a 3 year old and and 4 month old I don't have time to shop around for the best price on garbage bags old man...when I see something I need I buy it!!!
Ah, that feels better! Happy Friday!

He ain't heavy....he's my brother!

Owen is a big baby. He has rolls...many rolls. Rolls that need to be tended to so stuff does not grow in them...I know...ewww.
While he is on the big size I don't find him overly huge or anything...I like to call him " healthy". He was so tiny at birth- 7lbs 1 oz which is a nice size. Ben was 6lb 15 oz and dropped to 6lbs 3 oz before we left the hospital as we had some feeding problems. Owen on the other hand gained from day 1 and sucked back bottles like nobody's business! I remember having to strip Ben naked and try so hard the first few days to get him to eat an ounce of formula. Owen on the other hand was eating about 3 ounces right from the start and I was so happy to not have the added stress of worrying that he was eating enough.
I wonder if you have a tiny baby if people make the same rude comments about how malnourished your child looks....honestly the things some people say! The other day a waitress at our favourite breakfast joint said when we came in carrying Owen "oh my god look at your giant baby!" Giant? What is he the Hulk or something at 4 months of age?
Ben caught up quickly in the feeding department and was a big baby as well although not with as many rolls. On vacation once all in the same day someone said about Ben " oh my look at him, he is a big boy-Hercules Hercules!" Huh? That was followed by some snooty lady walking by him while I was feeding him on a park bench and saying "wow look at the size of his head!". My boys have large heads but Ben grew into his and I know Owen will do the same. My dad said as this b***ch walked away without another word that I should have replied "wow look at the size of your nose" as it was a honker...wish we had thought of that sooner!!
I am sure there are many more of these comments to come...I need to find my inner b**ch and be prepared with some good responses.

I do...

A good friend got married this past weekend. I love weddings! I love "love". It was a beautiful day despite the rain and black clouds that lingered throughout the day but just as I told her that morning when she called frantically for a weather report the sun came out just before she walked down the aisle. She looked at me while walking down the aisle and said "you were right!". They are a wonderful couple with two beautiful little girls and it was so nice to witness them become husband and wife. The reception was a blast and a good time was had by all. Ian could not be there and while I did have such a good time that my hips hurt the following day from too much dancing (?) I missed him horribly. Together at weddings I can usually be found on the dance floor and Ian at the bar but its nice to have that home base to come back to and to check in with from time to time. When I needed a break from dancing I would look around and realize he wasn't there. I have no idea how single people do it and the next time I want to start an argument with him over something silly I will definitely think of this and how fortunate we are to have each other.

Sleepy

6:50pm. Is it bedtime yet? I could go to bed right now. How is it the kiddies look anything but tired and I am trying with everything I have to not fall asleep sitting up right now. Ben recently gave up his afternoon nap and by this time he is on his tenth wind and is just plain silly! Not sure why I am so tired since I have basically only had one child all weekend-Nannie Pat had Owen all day yesterday and Ben pretty much all day today....what a godsend! Must be the weather making me sleepy. That and the fact that I spent the day at an amusement park with Ben yesterday and even though he went to bed at 10pm last night he still felt the need to rise at 6am! On a happy note Ian is on 2 weeks vacation as of tomorrow! Woo-hoo...he should be calling work begging to go back early by about Wednesday!

Pieces

Ben did not make any attempts what-so-ever to get out of his crib until he turned 3. I think it was about 2 days after he turned 3 and less than a week after giving up his soosie that he climbed out. Almost as if to say "well if I had to give up my pacifier cause I am a big boy then I'm not sleeping in this thing anymore...you can no longer contain me you fools!". After the first time it became a morning ritual. Because he has always been a great sleeper and seemed so content in his crib we were in no hurry to get him out but after 3 days of him scaling the walls we decided it was unsafe and converted it to a day/toddler bed until we could get out shopping for a new bed. He chewed the sides of his crib as a baby and it was looking pretty rough. When he came home to see us converting his crib he cried and screamed that we broke his crib and to put it back together....bless him! So much change lately for such a little guy! He got new bunk beds this week and the crib was fully disassembled and taken to the dump in a million pieces(Goodwill would not take it so there were not many other options). He loves his new bed and does not seem to be having half as hard a time as me saying goodbye to his crib...he's getting too old too quick! Off for a good cry now.

Life

Favourite time of day? Morning when I wake up to my two beautiful boys and their gorgeous smiles. They are so happy in the morning! Nothing better than those sweet little faces in the morning.
Second favourite time of day? Sunset after the kiddies are tucked snugly in bed and all is quiet. There have been some gorgeous sunsets the last few nights. If it weren't for the houses across the street we would be able to see it set over the entire city and lake. Life is good isn't it?

Nighty Night

Ben has gotten to the age where bedtime has become one big drama fest. It is amazing the stall tactics children learn to delay bedtime....i need water, i have to pee, one more story...and on and on.
We begin the process after a bath, teeth brushing and putting on pj's by sitting on a rocking chair we have in his room and allowing him to choose 2 stories from his basket of books. It goes in cycles and out of about 50 books he will go a week or so with always choosing the same 2 stories before finally tiring of those and the following week going on a new kick of 2 different books. He usually wins me over with a third but I try to limit it to 2 as when he hops in bed we have to read the 2 stories that he sleeps with- Gossie and Gertie and Oh my Oh my Dinosaurs. These 2 have been in his bed and have been a nightly ritual for over 6 months now so it is increasingly hard to read them with any enthusiasm!
When those are finished its lights out and onto the newest ritual of back rubbing while I sing 3 songs- You are my Sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle and a song that has been in Ian's family for many years-one his grandmother Vera created that goes a little something like this...ne na ne ne na ne ne na.....
Ian's grandmother sang it to all of her kids, Ian's mom sang it to her 3 kids and now we sing it to ours. I can only hope they will one day sing it to their kids! Just singing it makes me drowsy and the last few nights Ben has been so tired that he has fallen asleep while I was singing it. It was so sweet to watch him drift off and feel his body do that one last jolt before he entered into dreamland. So precious...I hope he feel asleep feeling safe, secure and loved.

Vegas baby!

Also enjoying Katy Perry's new song Waking Up In Vegas..makes me want to dance! I have only woken up once in Vegas..actually went to bed that morning at 7 and slept till noon but I am pretty sure I did wake up with some glitter on my clothes. Was visiting my best friend who lives in LA shortly after she moved out there when we were 22 and after spending the week with her and her sister I was due to fly home Saturday but at the last minute Friday night we decided to drive to Vegas. I changed my flight to Sunday (and gave up a first class ticket to do so) but wow was it worth it. The drive from LA is incredible. We left LA about 7pm after the girls finished work and got into Vegas about 11pm. An hour outside of Vegas you can begin to see sin city as the entire sky is lit up by all the lights. We checked into our hotel, left our watches behind and hit the clubs and casino. What a great night. Walked out of the last club not knowing what time it was but realizing it was light out. Asked the doormen at the hotel the time and was surprised to find it was already 7am!. After a few hours of sleep we spent the day by the pool and then changed in the hotel lobby washroom as we had checked out of our room. We hit the casinos until 2 or 3 am Sat night and then headed back to LA where they dropped me off at the airport just in time for my flight home. Ah...those were the days. This is a pic of us by the pool that day!

The Climb...

Driving Ben to preschool this morning both him and Owen in the backseat were crying....Ben about a pirate sticker he had dropped on the floor and Owen not quite sure-a combo of still a bit hungry and tired. As I was envisioning myself on a beach with a pina colada Miley Cyrus's hit "The Climb' came on the radio. I am not ashamed to admit that I love this song...ok I know this may sound funny coming from a 32 year old and not a 10 year old Hannah Montana loving gal but whatever-my taste in music can be cheesy at times.
Anyhoo...I turned the volume up and instantly both kids stopped. Silence. Not a peep out of either one of them until the song ended and Ben said "that was a nice song Mommy, play it again"!

Nap time

Lately I have been very tired. Physically and more so emotionally. This morning I had the pleasure of sleeping in until 8am (the equivalent of noon in my time)as Ian was home to get up with the kids because he is on the afternoon shift. Owen went down for a nap at 10am and I crawled back into bed with a book which I got 2 pages into before falling back into a fast sleep. I was awoken by Ian 3 hours later with a delicious strawberry milkshake he had prepared for me to cheer me up...yummy and so so sweet!

July 16

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary! Very excited about a nice evening out with my hubby of 5 years tonight! What a great day we had 5 years ago..everything was perfect! It is amazing to think how far we have come in 5 years and how we have grown from 2 to 4! Love the above pic of Ian coaching Ben on as he took his first steps...so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father to my 2 boys!

I miss u...

This is my sister-in-law Jenn (Ian's sister). Being an only child she is the closest thing I have to a real sister and in my eyes she is my real sister. I have known her since she was 7 years old. I have watched her grow into the wonderful, caring, loving person that she is today. She went on a holiday to England 2 years ago and didn't come back. Well she has been back for a few visits but she now lives there with her wonderful boyfriend Dean. Ian and his brother were born in England and moved here when Ian was about 5. Jenn was the only one in the family born here in Canada so I find it ironic that she is the one living in England. She is surrounded by family in England and has met some wonderful friends but I know she misses this lot back here dearly especially the kids...she is now the proud auntie to 3 little boys and one adorable little girl. The only birth she wasn't here for was Owen's and I can't wait for her to meet him. It makes me sad that she was not here...she loves babies and I will always remember how happy and excited she looked the day Ben was born but I know I will see that same face again when she meets and cuddles Owen for the first time.
I can't wait for her to visit again soon and to hopefully meet her boyfriend...he seems like such a nice guy which makes me so happy for her.

Happy Birthday Baby Ben...I mean Big Boy Ben

Today is Ben's 3rd Birthday...feels weird to say that..how is my baby 3 already? The time goes by by so so fast...it really does feel like yesterday that we welcomed him into the world. I keep thinking every age/stage is the best and it can't get any better but it does. We had been talking about giving up his "'soosie" (pacifier) this coming week because when he turns 3 he will be a big boy and big boys don't need soosies. He asked if we were going to throw them in the garbage and I told him we would when he turned 3 and he still had a few days to go. The next night he went to bed and for the first time in 3 years didn't ask for it and we have not looked back since. It was almost as if he was saying save me the soosie funeral mom...I don't need it and can do this on my own! Guess I was more attached to it than he really was. We had his party Friday and when he came home from daycare and saw all the balloons and preparations he hugged me and told me he was proud of me...such a sweetheart. Happy Birthday Ben!

My fridge runneth over..

This is what I like my fridge to look like...clean, somewhat organized and full. I have a problem. I have for years made fun of my mom who grocery shops daily and who's cupboards and fridge-make that 3 fridges are always full...overflowing in fact. I don't think I have ever asked for something at their place and been told...sorry I don't have any/I am out of. They spend a few months down south every year and I think that it is hilarious that when they return home from being away a few months she will only buy milk, butter and bread and will wait for the flyer's to come out before she does her shopping. She goes to several stores to buy things on sale but I know her shopping habits must equal hundred of dollars in groceries a week. She will pick things up for me when on sale and drop by with the odd thing-mustard this week! Bless her, she is very thoughtful and generous! Last time I counted there were 9 bottles of salad dressing in her fridge-who needs that much salad dressing?
Well, I have turned into my mother. I love the grocery flyer's and this week I have visited not 1, not 2 but 3 grocery stores to get things on sale. Could be worse things to take after right?

Wanna play?

This is what our living room floor looks like on any given day lately. I won't lie it has looked like this for 3 days now and I haven't bothered to clean it up yet. I am trying to teach Ben to tidy up his own toys but funnily enough he doesn't do as good of a job as he does at daycare or his grandparents! He did tidy this mess up a few times but somehow at the end of each night it is back to looking like this and both him and I are too tired to do it come 8pm. Only takes a few seconds but at the end of the day I sometimes don't even have enough energy to bend over and take the few seconds to do it. I used to be a clean freak but things started to slide once I went back to work after my first maternity leave and they haven't improved since. I figure I will get back to keeping a tidy house when the kids move out so stop by for a visit in about what 18-20 years?

Flex

This is my new car..a 2009 Ford Flex. The ultimate mom car. I LOVE it. Never thought I would say that about a vehicle that looks like this one but times have changed. It's a station wagon in my eyes (and Ian's for that matter as he keeps reminding me) but they have disguised this by calling it a "crossover"..a cross between a car and a SUV.
6 seater, lots of room, dual screen dvd players built into the headrests for the kiddies...I am on my way to soccer mom extraordinaire!

Huh?

Made the mistake of telling Ben his birthday is Sunday and his party is Friday therefore this is his "birthday week". Should have just sprung it on him at the last minute as it is all he talks about. Last night before bed he asked me tell him about his party AGAIN so off I went telling him about all his friends who will be coming, about the pizza, the cake, the firetruck, all of the fun things he and his friends will play with and last but certainly not least about how he will get wonderful presents. His reply "and carburetors" ??? I asked him three times to repeat it and when I said "carburetors?" I got "yes mommy carburetors!"

Chicken Nuggets?

Driving in the car the other day...
Ben: "Oh my GOD"
Ian: "Gee Kari, who does that sound like?"
Me: Eyeroll to Ian follwed by "Ben we don't say that"
Ben: "Why, is it rude?"
Me: "Yes"
Ben: "Rude like talking with food in your mouth?"
Me: "Yes exactly- we say oh my goodness"
Ben: "Oh my CHICKEN NUGGETS"!!

Love of my life

Well you have met the kids so I must introduce you to the husband (isn't he handsome?). This is Ian...my one true love for the last 16 years..eeks! We have now, both at the age of 32 been together for half of our lives. We have been married 5 years but started dating when we were 16 (February 23 will always hold a special place in my heart). We of course broke up a few times and did date other people but in the end we kept coming back to each other. Here we are 16 years later, happily married with 2 wonderful boys. I love him more today than I ever thought possible and can not imagine life without him. Don't get me wrong, we have our share of problems just like everyone else but we truly are the happiest we have ever been right now. We have had a lot of uphill battles lately but it really has made us stronger. I hope we will be "lost together" for many years to come...

Ian & Kari
7/16/2004

Owie

This is Owen, the newest member of our family, also known as "TROUBLE" though I didn't give him that nickname-my ob/gyn did. Owen decided to attempt to enter this world feet first and it was not discovered until I was 10cm dilated, the doc had been called in (thankfully) and I was about to begin pushing. I am still baffled by the whole situation especially that the nurse didn't realize this until the third time she examined me. Minutes later Owen's heartbeat dropped drastically and all I fuzzily remember is the doctor I kid you not yelling at nurses and the anesthesiologist "move move move or we are going to lose this baby!"(straight out of a movie?)! My doc is a fairly big guy but boy did he run with that bed! 6 minutes later I heard the most beautiful sound in the world-that of my newborn son's cry. I was surrounded by so many nurses and was in such a state of shock that I didn't even think to ask where my husband had gone-they had taken him to get into scrubs. He didn't make it in time and they didn't show me the baby-they rushed him off to special care nursery where he was checked over and was then given to his daddy. I had serious complications so my hubby was not allowed into the OR but he managed to yell to me that the baby was fine and beautiful. A great sense of peace came over me and I just laid there and let them do their stuff. I was in surgery for 3 hours due to the complications, another OB came in to assist as well as another doc and there must have been 8 nurses in there..they were yelling to call this person and call that, get this and get that, gave me three blood transfusions and suddenly I began to get very sleepy and cold. This was at about the 2 hour mark and I suddenly began to wonder if I was going to come out of this. I kept asking "why am I shivering so much?" and "why am I so tired?" and honestly they weren't really answering me. I thought how can I want to sleep at a time like this but I just wanted to close my eyes. I fought it as I was too scared to close my eyes for fear that I would never meet that little baby. Maybe I am being overly dramatic but from what I have learned and heard it was quite serious. I did later learn that I was cold because of the surgery and I was tired because of the blood loss. It has changed me a little bit and I think of it often, playing the events over and over in my head. I won't get into all the thoughts that went through my head during that time, they make me too sad. But I will say I am ever more grateful for the wonderful people in my life and all of my blessings. 3 hours later they wheeled me into recovery where I was greeted by the most wonderful people-my husband, my daddy,my mother and father in law and most importantly my son whom they placed on my chest straight away for some "skin to skin" time. Unfortunately my mom couldn't be there as she was home with Ben. I will forever feel cheated out of the first 3 hours of my son's life but those precious few minutes with him on my chest, the 2 of us covered in warm blankets,with my loved ones by my side sure came close to making up for it! 10 weeks later I am fully recovered after another few complications and "trouble" is turning into a real "angel".

Owen Trevor
4/26/2009 9:16pm
7 lbs 1 oz
18.5 inches

I want to be your baby

I am going to give this blogging thing a shot. My favourite bloggers aren't blogging as much lately so I thought I would give myself something to do instead of checking their blogs several times a day anxiously awaiting one of their good humored blogs. Unlike them I am not a great writer, am not creative and please tell me this thing has spell check?
As the mom of 2 kids my blog will most likely being mirrored after my sista- in- laws and mostly talk about the kids but they make for such great stories.
Ben will be 3 next week and Owen is almost 10 weeks old. Life with 2 is crazy yet wonderful. The one thing I was worried about most when bringing home a new baby was of course how I was going to divide my love and find more love in my heart for this second baby...boy was I wrong. I love him to death and although I thought it was not possible, I love Ben even more so.
Last night after Owen had gone to bed Ben was watching TV and I was on the computer looking through photos when I decided to show him some old baby photos...he seemed more interested in The Night Garden.
This morning as we are in front of the computer and TV again Ben just said "Mommy tickle my back, I want to be your baby" and then popped up and asked me to show him his baby pictures again.

Oh Ben...you will always be my baby!

Benjamin Jack
7/12/2006 3:55pm
6lbs 15.5oz
19 inches