july "long" weekend

i know it wasnt a long weekend for everyone, but derek did stay home for 4 days! yay! he worked at home on the saturday so we went out to the zoo with our friends (photos here).

so i bought this slip n' slide type thing and thought it would be fun to set it up on our hill (i'm sure this is against manufacturers suggestion and it is strictly meant for kids not adults...). anyway, we wont have the hill much longer as we plan to get our yard levelled. the kids did not like the spraying water on the one side so derek had to go down with them.

here's my very mini garden. the peas are up top, carrots along the bottom with yellow squash to the right.

here is our lumber yard. derek worked to stack and sweep all the good lumber and finally go that done this day! however, there is still quite alot of debris that needs to be sawed up and given away for firewood...any takers???

the yard still in progress. those 4x4 beams over there are going to be used for the front yard's retaining wall which should be constructed first, then a fence put up before the backyard gets attacked. (deck torn down, hill levelled, deck rebuilt, hot tub put in place and a shed built).

here's me on the slide...yikes, big momma. but it was sooo hot in the sun!

cuddling kids. they really do enjoy being together :)

diedre wanted me to take pictures of her jumping into the camera.

squatting. jumping.

cuddling and watching a show.

waterpark & park

i think diedre is getting too big for this bike. we found one at Walmart that she LOVES but we are still waiting to check out SportMart and SportChek to see if there are cheaper bikes.

at the waterpark, ezekiel's eyes looking very brilliant here.

my friend joanna took pictures for me as i held Ezekiel's hand.

running back to mom

the water started up and the kids scattered

david trying to rally the kids to go for another try

June 28/29 week 28.
forgot to take my pic on saturday AGAIN! so its one day late.
this was my first day feeling OVERHEATED b/c we went to church (no a/c) then out for lunch. other than that, life is very bearable because i usually do stuff with the kids in the a.m. and then head home for an air conditioned nap around noon. perfect :)

i got the results of my Gestational Diabetes Test and it was negative, so that is very good news. the baby is very much all out front and i can feel all his/her movements perfectly. its quite nice. i am getting asked/told almost daily if i'm ''done" or "due any day now" or "having twins" or "about to pop" ahhh, the joy of being pregnant and out in public! 12 +/- weeks to go!!!

i also had my dr.'s appointment and i measured right on 28cm for 28 weeks, so there! ha ha, it just sticks out when i stand up. sadly though, i'm way ahead for weight gain, so i'm not sure what will happen there...i reached exactly the same end weight with both pregnancies but not this one...i am sort of trying to eat better and am committed to doing aquafit at least twice a week on tuesdays and thursdays. but thats really just about feeling stronger rather than for any weight issues.

Grandma sleeps over for the weekend

we went to the children's festival

diedre got her face painted which she has been wanting done for weeks!!!

just after this picture, diedre was chasing a balloon over gravel and fell, scraping her hip and leg and getting chunky dirt in her ankle. i brought her to the first aid station and she FREAKED out. i guess after having chicken pox she is way more sensitive to forced medicine on cuts and she still cries and says no to having baths (whereas she used to love them). poor kid. she had a major tantrum and i wasnt sure if we'd have to leave, but i tried to be compassionate give her a chance to calm down and enjoy the day, she was injured after all and probably scared :(

my mom and i and the kids had a great weekend together while derek worked a long day on saturday and then my step-dad and him milled all the wood on sunday. diedre got to go to church for the first time in 3 weeks and was so excited to play with friends again. we have been trying to get out more as i see that my kids social needs are as high as mine :)

another exciting thing is my mini-garden is growing!!! yay! i cant wait for peas and carrots. should be tasty :)

27 weeks + one day

well, i have been pretty tired, bad sleep and forgetful...i forgot to take my 26 week picture and then i forgot to take my 27 week picture until the next day. so here it is.

yes, almost daily i have someone ask if i'm "about to pop" and are very very very surprised when i respond, "no, i have quite a bit to go yet." thankfully, i am in my last trimester now (just barely).

i enjoyed the second trimester, when the belly became firm and was definitely showing. but then my belly button popped WAY out (and is a little herniated i think and is painful if poked or accidentally hit) and i started feeling very self-conscious and basically unhappy with how it looked.

now a few months later, being so big, having so many people comment on it in public (some totally innocently, some are rather rude although i'm sure they dont mean to be...the best one was this man who said "you, uh, look, kind of crazy." because i had 2 kids and was so pregnant. but it was actually funny to hear that from him.) i'm feeling pretty unattractive and helpless because its just my body's way of carrying a baby...

one good thing about the way i carry is that the baby seems to be outside of my body and i can feel all the movements and see them very clearly. that's kind of fun! i am really loving all the moving this one is doing.

i guess i'm not loving the attention, but then on the other hand i'm still recording pictures and posting them...i guess i think its interesting to see the changing shape and its really looking very much like my body with ezekiel.

i wonder if its because of the way my abs healed after having my first baby, or if its the way i carry boys (i guess we'll find out soon enough). i definitely dont think i exercised enough after my first or second pregnancies to fully recover/heal. even now, i really would love to go for more walks but diedre seems to want to go in a stroller more and i cant push two kids at this point. and as in previous pregnancies, the baby's head drops very early and makes walking difficult/painful.

as far as life and parenting go, i'm really trying to cut out tv for the kids. it has become an insane amount which i will admit: 6.30am to 8.30/9am (2-2.5hrs) and then a movie for diedre during quiet time (1hr) and then sometimes tv in the afternoon/evening (either kids or adult programming) 4pm to 6pm (2hrs). Poor diedre! wasting her life away with TV. of course when kids are totally sick, i think tv is fine, fine, fine. but when they are healthy, they should be playing and doing stuff...anyway, we have gone a few days with no or very limited tv (i offer the choice of either a show in the morning or a movie later in the day) and that has gone totally fine. ezekiel seems to ask for tv before bed or when he first wakes up, but he's easy enough to say no to.

derek took time on sunday to get all the logs milled in our backyard (yay!!!) so now there is lots of lumber to stack for drying. slowly our yard is being reclaimed and usuable for kids which also helps with keeping them away from tv. we also have been driving to the park alot because i didnt want to try to make diedre walk when she still had scabs on her legs from chicken pox.

going to the zoo

there were many baby animals at the zoo

baby giraffe

the kids were so cute, holding hands and running around. i could not believe how much running ezekiel did. he was very active and energetic.

ezekiel wants to try everything now, even pushing the stroller. he did it with both hands at times.

ezekiel and diedre play in the forest path, throwing pebbles into the bush.

my mom taught ezekiel how to climb up the fence. here he is admiring the baby bison.

there's a great playground there too, we spent a good hour there at the end of the day.

diedre getting frustrating with the rockclimbing. she could do it better on the other side.

there was a boy that threw pebbles at diedre's belly before climbing up this huge tower to a snake slide. diedre came back out, upset for having had rocks thrown at her, but i told her to be tough and just keep going. she climbs up and i hear her say "weeeeee" all the way down the big snake (its a long tunnel slide and you come out the mouth of the snake). i was very proud that she could shake off someone being mean to her and still have that purity to enjoy the ride. i need to be more like that! ha ha

technology: start them young

here is ezekiel on facebook. derek was impressed with him typing away and even using the mouse sometimes.

Father's Day weekend

since we had such a tiring week with chicken pox, derek decided to put off his work until next saturday and took a family day this saturday. derek got started working on our front yard. diedre was well enough to putter around with him.

lots of spots...so much healing to go.

Father's Day

diedre presents the gift to daddy. derek is such a great dad. he is fun, caring, positive, kind, verbally tells the kids how much he loves them and how special they are on a regular basis, is very involved with bedtimes and mornings and diaper changes and baths. i am so happy that my kids have him as their dad. he totally impresses me. Happy Father's day honey.

ezekiel takes off with daddy's jelly beans.

we headed off to my parents house after church.

diedre wanted to ride together in the car.

dad wanted to get derek's help in building a set of stairs.



ezekiel grabbed this big branch after derek and pepere pruned it.

wheelbarrow ride

diedre wanted both kids together. its so nice to see the kids playing together again after so many days of not feeling up to it.

when it came time to leave, diedre said she didnt want to leave, so derek (probably joking) said she could stay. both my parents were not working the next day so they agreed and they kept her for a sleepover. so now i'm trying to plan some fun things for ezekiel and i to do today :)

thanks for all the thoughts and encouragement this week. i am thankful the kdis got the chicken pox and will be immune from them now. it was terrible but at least its over (sort of) now.

done and done

its strange to say that the chicken pox are done here when there is still much healing to take place. but at least the virus is gone and is no longer active in our kids' little bodies.

diedre had a great sleep on thursday and friday nights, phew!

thursday was definitely the height of the pox. we estimate that although ezekiel had what our doctor called "a very good case of" the chicken pox, poor diedre's case was at least 5 times worse! so thursday being the worst day, she was really uncomfortable and couldnt eat or be pacified and was very lethargic. she was saying "i can't stand, i can't walk, i don't like these on me."

my mom surprised me and was able to come over in the morning even though she normally would have been working (for which i am so thankful--that morning i was wracking my brain thinking, is there anyone i could call for help?).

i was able to take ezekiel out to the park and give him a bit of attention after being stuck in the house with TV on all the time. i stuck to the tylenol & benadryl schedules and diedre settled in to sleep quite well that night.

i'm actually embarassed to say that we hired a babysitter thursday night because we had music practice at the church. i was gone for exactly 1.5 hours but i still felt guilty that i wasnt there for that short time on her worst day.

here she is friday, taking a turn for the better.

you can see the mat of chicken pox on her belly from her scratching.

a smile! a smile! finally! it had been a few days.
my mom came over again and we were able to take both kids to the park after a very very good nap (ezekiel and i slept for 2 hours and diedre slept for 4, and still went to sleep by 8.30pm or so). there were no kids at the park so we were able to play there for a bit. it was so comforting and helpful to have my mom around for this.

chicken pox has its own schedule

well diedre's chicken pox is hopefully at its worst today. she is so uncomfortable and has spots upon spots. its so sad to watch and leaves me feeling so helpless. i basically made her have a bath this morning and put polysporin all over. then later she asked for more cream by her ears and back and so i was able to reapply all over.

she doesnt want any popsicles or drinks or anything and just keeps saying "i dont want this" pointing to her spots. :(


just a quick note from last night: here's derek teaching our young lad how to play guitar.

diedre's very bad night

last night was TERRIBLE at our house!

i was telling a friend that diedre has been a bit of a diva with the whole chicken pox thing. she will not let us apply calamine lotion or polysporin or even to look at her spots.

the spots have come out like crazy over night and in the last 24 hours she has allowed polysporin on some parts but doesnt seem to like calamine or the soothing oatmeal bath.

last night she stayed up, totally awake, until 2.30am and then slept for an hour and a half before she peed and needed a change. the poor kid prefers underwear, but she's not nighttime trained so its a bit of a battle (so what i do, is wait for the opportunity and slip a diaper on when she's not fighting about it).

she basically had tantrums all night: if her cup was put in the wrong place, wanting a new diapers, wanting no diapers, wanting underwear, demanding that mommy is there, then demanding that daddy is there, then demanding to sleep in our bed...i'm so thankful she has a queen bed.

so this is a groggy recollection, but it went a little something like this:
11pm last night i started in my bed (derek was with diedre),
12.45am then i moved to hers, zeke woke up and after derek tried to deal with him for awhile, we let her watch a princess movie in bed to try to stop a tantrum,
2.00am ezekiel came into her bed too (i think he was awake, not only because she was being so ridiculously loud, but also because he felt sorry for her. he seemed to want to comfort her),
they were both asleep around 2.30am
3.00am i put him back in his crib and went back to my bed,
4.00am diedre woke up needing a change so i went back to her bed
5.00am zeke woke up so i brought him back to my bed,
6.00am diedre woke up needing more cream and wanting no diaper, i dealt with her back in her bed where she demanded to be in mommy & daddy's bed but ezekiel was sleeping there so i really didnt want her to wake him up either...but she went in and cuddled with derek, i climbed in next to zeke again
shortly after that she wanted to go back to her bed with me so i went there for a short time until ezekiel walked out to find me around 7am or so
at this time, diedre was having a major tantrum again about not wanting a diaper on and derek was getting up for work so he went to see her while i got ezekiel his usual early morning banana and went and started watching kid's tv hoping to lure diedre out of her tantrum.

so diedre slept from 2.30 to 4am, then 4am to 6am and thats what she's functioning on today. she's doing pretty well for such little sleep.

ezekiel slept from 9 until 1am then 2.30 until 5am, then until 7am. wow. its almost naptime now and things are breaking down. gotta go!

i'm surprised she even let me take her picture as she seems to be saying "don't look at me," "don't touch me," "i don't want to look in the mirror because i don't like them."

here she is after trying not to smile

ezekiel is still feeling pretty good

showing off her belly spots a little bit

ezekiel showing off his belly.

chicken pox update

june 5

ezekiel's definitely "over" the chicken pox now. the sores have covered over and are starting to fall off.

his nights are going better and we are just waiting for diedre to get them. the doctor things they will come the week of the 9th.

june 10

diedre got some spots last night and they spread out a little.

we offered her a soothing bath but she doesnt seem to itchy yet. derek had a difficult night with her last night and we expect the next ones to be worse.