diedre helps daddy work

family bowling night

sleepy sunday morning


my latest napping plan has been working really well. i pretend to sleep while diedre falls asleep then i usually have to get up with ezekiel and let him play for awhile before he falls asleep. one day we all fell asleep at the same time and it was glorious!


diedre tries her hands at bowling.


she loved retrieving the balls.


derek and the beautiful kids

Family Celebration: Andrew's Birthday

Grandma enjoying the bouncing baby boy


miles and Grandpa getting in real close


diedre gets a little hlep on miles' cool bike


miles' turn to push


Grandma snuggles the baby


me and my boy


Happy 31st birthday big brother!

One Month til TWO!

i can barely believe we've had the blessing of our little Diedre in our arms and presence for nearly TWO years! my how she has grown and just this week, she has learned more words and counting (mostly as a result of having the flu and watching more TV than usual...see, its not all bad ;)

VIDEO: Diedre Counting

(i love how "five" sounds a little bit like "fries" she sure love fries).

diedre had the flu monday/tuesday, then ezekiel and i got it on tuesday. i was super weak and felt sick until i "got sick" then i felt much better. thankfully derek was near enough that i could call him home if it got too bad. ezekiel only threw up once so that was good for him.

i also found that i am "ok" to call him "zeke" now (sometimes, like when introducing him to kids that give a crazy "what?!" expression when i say "ezekiel") so thats new for me.

i completed my first week back on the weight watchers program and was happy to find i'd lost 3.2 lbs. i will most likely only stay on the program while it is free (i'm not sure if its three months from ezekiel's birth or three months from when i rejoin after having a baby) mostly because i'm too cheap right now and i will have at least 5 weeks to give it a good go. its free because i am a lifetime member who successfully completed the program by maintaining my goal weight before (and a few months during pregnancy) having diedre.

i am really wanting to get back to my pre-pre-pregnancy wardrobe since i have three wardrobes right now...i feel like i'm still wearing other people's clothes (because i am, 50 per cent of the time).

i'm feeling Grammy Salmon's pain these days. diedre's hair is getting long and when its messy, its MESSY so i really want to put it up in piggy tails or something but she always pulls it out. when Grammy Salmon was visiting she kept trying to do her hair but since i rarely do it (probably once a month), she would just pull it out. now i'm wishing i had gotten her used to it, so i could do it now. i will just keep trying i guess.

Celebrating Two Months of Ezekiel

Here are some of the best pictures from ezekiel's TWO month photo shoot :D

















ezekiel got four shots in his legs at his appointment today. he handled it pretty well and fell asleep shortly thereafter.

he weighs 12lbs 6oz. his length is 24 inches. his head circumference is 40cm (5 cm larger than when he was born). he is in the 75th percentile for all his stats.

he eats well. has a terrific smile. but he seems to like to feed every two hour beginning at 11pm (he sleeps from 6 or 7 until 11ish). i've tried to get him to eat more during the day and i think it is helping things but it just takes time for him to get out of the habit. he is still very young and his eating habits are pretty standard for this age (but yes, i'm VERY jealous of other moms who get to sleep for 6 or 7 hours in a row :( thats a distant dream for me as far as i'm concerned).

i do want to try some new things with him, like letting him cry a little to make sure he's hungry and not just going to fall asleep immediately when i offer him to nurse (like he did last night at 1am and 3am). however, i'm having a little disagreement about that with my bunkmate...who doesnt want to get really woken up at night.

i've been getting kind of down about ezekiel's fussiness during the day/evening because he really seems to cry alot. i was feeling like maybe i dont know how to read him and dont know how to soothe him effectively. but i think i'm over it. i was feeling like that but i dont believe that is the reality of the situation. i think i'm doing just fine, its just been a challenging week with the flu and all. i need some sleep.

i just have to say that my derek is awesome! he has been so helpful and so available to me and the kids and its been wonderful! he is such a great dad and i'm so thankful for him :D

fishy fun

diedre and ezekiel hanging out on mom and dad's bed

diedre really enjoys playing with the aquarium that the Gagne Grandparents bought ezekiel for Christmas.


Doing actions to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

I also taught diedre to say "Salmon" today. I tried explaining that those are fish in the aquarium and that she is Diedre Salmon which is a fish too.

our suite is up for rent again :D

Our suite is coming up for rent for March 1, 2007. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please send them to the new blog I created detailing the rental information as well as the renovations that have been done. Thanks!

http://salmonsuite.blogspot.com

i do not have any personal information listed on this new blog. i do not mention the location or any links back to my personal sites or email. i plan to give this out through Craigslist or friends. i don't want people from all over the world contacting me about it. hopefully my plan will work :D

smiling update

he looks so husky here!


beautiful smile


i asked diedre to smile for the camera, and did she ever!


a knowing look


toddler incognito

VIDEO: Diedre's Freestyle Singing

now poor diedre is still struggling (and poor mom is so sad and guilty) with sharing her parents time with ezekiel.

she yells "no, my mommy" or runs in front of me on my way to pick up a crying ezekiel and says in a sweet voice "hug?" then when i bend down for the hug she says "up."

she's a smart cookie. getting to me first.

my heart has been aching for her. i want to spend time with her but have to tend to ezekiel. i hate how i find myself saying "no, i can't right now. ezekiel is crying...or has to eat...or needs his bum changed." i need some other ways to communicate to her about what i need to do for ezekiel. maybe some ways to include her like "come help me change his diaper." or "go get a book for us to read while i feed ezekiel."

any other ideas?

new pics below

look below yesterday's wordy entry for some great pics from the last few days!

jealousy hits home

i have been reading jamie's blog and our toddlers are behaving exactly the same. they have both started getting really jealous and sad when we are trying to attend to our newborns. its kind of amazing how they both just started now, after around 6 or 7 weeks.

it breaks my heart when diedre cries with such sadness, she's been saying "mommy my" (my mommy) and asking me to hold her. i've been choosing to stay home from playgroups just to try to give her as much one on one as possible (because i think its more valuable then her playing with other kids right now to give me a break from entertaining her).

another thing jamie and i have in common is a sick household. i just wanted to share this with you all as it may be helpful for those suffering from colds:
my brother recommended trying Salinex, a salt-water drop in the nose that helps thin out the mucus to help little ones breathe better.

its good for us, toddler, and babies. we have tried it with Ezekiel and it seems to really help.

Derek couldn't find Salinex but the pharmacist advised him to buy Saline Nasal Mist (which works as a drop if you tip it over rather than try to mist it straight up).

my brother suggested giving it an hour before bed so it has time to work through the system (it tricks the stomach into thinking its blood so it passes through the intestines and cleans out mucus rather quickly). it did change his poop to a very yellow colour.

g2g, fussy time!

first real snow day

today was diedre's first time really playing in the snow. if you recall, the last significant snow days were when ezekiel was born! she did really well and lasted out there for at least an hour!

climbing up the hill beside our house

sliding down on daddy's snowboard

again! again!

smiling for mommy

meanwhile inside...ezekiel was doing his exercises

and looking really cute of course

i came out to see the project they were working on, wow! an igloo!

diedre liked the little bear :)

little sleeper

after bath cuteness

little feet

big baby

six weeks old

smiling ezekiel is actually really sick right now with a head cold. he has had some form of colds since he was one week old but this one is definitely the worst. he woke up every hour during the night (between 2.30am and 5.30am) the last two nights so we (parents) are very tired.

he's looking like a big boy (although strangers keep asking me if he is less than a week old!!!) but i dont know how much he weighs. my guesstimate is 11 to 13 lbs. i'd like have him weighed but so far its been too much of a hassle for me to get down to the Health Unit. we dont have an appointment for him until he's two months old but i may try to get him weighed on Monday (if that is the day the nurse comes to playgroup).

diedre is doing better for napping and going to sleep at night. i pretty much leave her to cry for naps because i have to go nurse right around then (lately anyway) so i'm not sure exactly how long it takes because sometimes i fall asleep.

one thing that is really odd is that she seems to be pooping more lately so that messes up her sleeping too. she had a short nap today and was poopy when i went to get her. it used to be that she would be up for an hour or half an hour before she'd have a BM but now, i guess she must fall back asleep or something...

night time sleep is still a challenge, we read books, pray and sing and usually, if she's not completely tired, we have to sing until she is totally asleep. when she prays, it goes something like this: "dear jesus. mommy pray. daddy pray. baby pray. ezekiel and mommy and daddy and pray." she says "desus" for jesus, and "baby" is her baby, not ezekiel. she still says "e-yellow" for ezekiel, although i heard her say something much closer to it yesterday.

ezekiel has been swinging his arms all around and swatting at each of the four toys hanging above his playmat.

for me, at the six week mark, i'd say i'm 95% healed. nursing is going great. i really dont find it to be as all-consuming as it was for diedre (but thats probably because i can read his tired signs and nursing isnt the only answer this time!). i thought packing the diaper bag would be so overwhelming, but i found it to be pretty easy as long as i stay organized. i even dont find it that difficult to go out with two kids (although getting little miss toddler out the door is a challenge when she decides to do laps around the house instead of getting ready).

i think diedre is doing really well in relating to ezekiel as she is pretty helpful in handing me his blankets (toys are another story). in the last week she has started to get really demanding towards me when i really need to feed ezekiel. i guess she is showing some signs of jealousy for my time. sadly, diedre has not been as eager to help out with cleaning up her toys or messes (although if i help her she will do a little bit) so that's disappointing for me because it would make things alot easier if she'd just pick up her crayons when i ask instead of running laps around the house ;D

and derek is doing great too. he is really making himself available to care for both kids when needed and get me water or whatever i might need. sometimes i feel like i'm always asking him to get me something or help me with something, and it was true, i was over-asking, so i try to limit myself to not treating him like my personal assistant :D but i sure do appreciate the help (and especially the willingness to help).