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