Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Peyton's birthday and what she's like today.
Three short years ago, Peyton entered our lives, and changed us forever.
I remember the day she was born in such great detail, like it happened just yesterday.
A couple of weeks before she was born at a routine OB appointment, the Dr., while feeling around my belly, had this strange look come over his face.
"Hmmm," he said, "I'm not so sure that's a bum."
He was referring to the decent sized lump just below my right rib cage. For a while now, that lump was giving me a bit of grief - trying to burrow into my rib cage and causing me to be short of breath all the time. We thought it was a bum, so I lovingly patted it on a regular basis, encouraging it to move down, just a bit.
But at this appointment, Dr. H. suggested that it was maybe a bit too hard to be a bum - the baby MIGHT be breech.
An ultrasound confirmed it - at 37 weeks, our little one had not yet flipped to be head down.
Without hesitation, we decided to try an ECV - which is a procedure used to flip a breech baby into proper position. Paul & I HAD attended the prenatal classes, but truthfully didn't pay much attention to the whole "c-section" part. After all, we had NO reason to suspect that I'd need one.
So, one our one year wedding anniversary, and with a little bit of nervousness, we went to the High Risk Unit to see a specialist who would attempt to flip our baby. We were ready to deliver that day - this procedure can sometimes bring on labour.
I had a very extensive ultrasound on a more sophisticated machine than I'd been used to, to-date (little did I know, I would be becoming much more familiar with this unit two short years later!) We watched our munchkin sleeping away, comfortably as the technician took all the measurements. Then she called in the specialist, who looked at her report and the baby for no more than 30 seconds before declaring that "this baby has no room to flip" and he turned and walked out of the room.
Ouch. So c-section it was.
Initially I was devestated. This wasn't how women are supposed to have babies. I wanted to experience the surprise of water breaking and tracking down my husband to meet me at the hospital, and naturally (well, ok maybe somewhat naturally) pushing my baby out in a quiet, comfortable delivery room. I did NOT want an appointment card with my baby's birthdate written on it. I did not want to have a baby in a cold, sterile, stainless steely looking operating room. That wasn't in my vision.
Once we found out that the babe would be delivered by c-section, I spent those last couple of days pouring over books and surfing the net - and speaking with everyone I knew who'd experienced it. Knowledge is power, right?
And by the time Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 rolled around, I felt a lot better about the whole thing. I was 38wks + 5 days pregnant, and we were having our baby.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7AM and I went through a battery of tests - blood work, etc. Oh, and an ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech. Apparently, if it had flipped itself, I would be sent home to await natural labour. Ya. After fasting and a sleepless night of anticipation - at that point, I'd have been a bit angry! Before we knew it, I was marched into the operating room and prepped for surgery while Paul was suiting up to stand by and watch.
What happens next is something that continues to strike some sadness in me today - I panicked the moment I lost feeling in my lower body. The doctors and nurses were assuring me that what I was feeling was totally normal, but obviously I didn't mentally prepare myself and in the end, the anesthesiologist "upped" my drugs so that I'd be relaxed and comfortable. Which is fine, I suppose, but I remember VERY little about the procedure, and that's what saddens me.
Dr. H. started operating, and Paul was allowed into the room. He walked up to take his position beside my head, and when he leaned in to say "Hi" - I was surprised to see him. Not sure why - I think it was because he was wearing a mask and hat and scrubs, and that put me off.
A short moment later, Dr. Huard announced that the baby was almost out, then "how would you like a girl??" And Paul's response "GOD, yes!" The time was 9:10 AM.
I heard it all, but didn't quite believe it. I didn't believe that the operation was that quick - and I thought that they were joking.
So Paul leans in close and says "did you hear that Kari? We have a daughter!!"
The rest of the time in the operating room remains quite foggy in my mind. After checking her out, and weighing her (7,2) the nurses handed our daughter off to Paul, and the two of them went to the recovery room to wait (and bond) while the OB finished up with me.
It wasn't long before we were reunited and we started phoning our friends and family. Keeping in mind we didn't know the gender of our baby before she was born, everyone was anxiously awaiting our call.
My mom was the first on our list - the phone was WAY across the room from where I was, so Paul made the call and announced our news - but wait - we hadn't decided on her NAME yet! We'd narrowed it down - although we had a list of 8 girls names (and one boys name!) - we'd narrowed it down to two names prior to delivery. I don't remember what the other name was though!
So my mom asked Paul what her name was, and he relayed the question. And without hesitation, I said "Peyton. Peyton Maya." And Paul repeated it - yup, that would be her name.
Her name...
We struggled - STRUGGLED - with boys names. As I just wrote, we had no problems coming up with girls names, but we searched and searched for a boys name, and never did come up with one that we loved. I believe, in the end, that the only name on our list was Jared. But even that name - can't say it moved me.
As we searched through the boys section in the names books, I came across Peyton. Mentioned it to Paul who thought - uh, ok. Then I said - no NOT for a boy, a girl. And he responed "definitely not." A few weeks later, he brought it up to me. "What do you think of Peyton for a girl??" That's how we came up with her name.
Maya - well, we honeymooned on the Mayan Riviera. I don't think we had a boy middle name picked. Ha.
We spent a couple of hours in recovery counting her fingers and toes and exploring every inch of her body - this little creation of ours. Then we were moved to the maternity ward where we spent the next few days. Almost five days, to be precise - Peyton had some feeding issues in the beginning, but we worked them all out in the end.
I can't believe that 3 years have gone by - Paul & I can't remember what life was like before her. She was the most easiest going baby, she eased into our lives so seemlessly and made this parenting thing seem such a breeze.
What Peyton is like today...
- thoughtful
- intuitive
- VERY polite
- very sweet & loving
- stubborn & bold at times
- bright and eager
- very VERY physically active.
She loves books more than anything else. She's only 3, yet she hides books in her bedsheets (from me) then crouches over to read by her (fake) fish tank light after I've tucked her in. She thinks we don't know, but what am I going to do? I share the same passion (reading before bed) I just didn't expect it to start this early.
She adores her sisters. She's having a bit of a tough time with the whole "sharing" thing, but we're coaching her through it. She looks out for them, and is also very quick to tell on them ;)
She loves princesses, make belief and fairy tales. I do a lot of eavesdropping on her, for a good giggle.
She loves company - and hates to see anyone leave. She wishes everyone would move in with us.
She loves her bling. She's a girly-girl through & through. (Jewellery, handbags, shoes.) But she's also passionate about sports - as far as she's concerned, there's nothing she CAN'T do.
She's confident and not shy or afraid to speak up about anything - Paul & I have started to really filter what we say around her.
By two, she knew her entire alphabet (first upper, then lower case came at about 2.5) and she could count to 10. We're now working on actually printing out her letters, but she's not quite there yet. She can, however draw some shapes (circle, and a good attempt at a square.) She knows all colors and she even understands the concept of matching. Fun times, when a toddler wont wear brown socks with a pink pair of pants ("they don't MATCH, mommy!")
She loves card games (old maid, go fish.) She enjoys any sort of art & craft.
She loves America's Funniest Videos and hates Dr. Phil.
She's been in underwear since early November - even overnight.
She continues to be a wonderful sleeper, sleeping 11 hours overnight and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. And she can sleep through a lot of noise!
She loves to sing and dance and will recruit everyone to do it with her.
She's loving, affectionate and compassionate. At 3, she still asks to be rocked and cuddled. Crawling into bed with mom &/or dad is a true treat. For us & her.
So as a parent, I'm learning that these birthdays are bittersweet - it's sad, in some aspects, seeing your little one grow up. But the flipside is seeing the potential - seeing what she's growing into. And our Peyton makes us proud every day - no doubt we'll be beeming at her for years to come.
I remember the day she was born in such great detail, like it happened just yesterday.
A couple of weeks before she was born at a routine OB appointment, the Dr., while feeling around my belly, had this strange look come over his face.
"Hmmm," he said, "I'm not so sure that's a bum."
He was referring to the decent sized lump just below my right rib cage. For a while now, that lump was giving me a bit of grief - trying to burrow into my rib cage and causing me to be short of breath all the time. We thought it was a bum, so I lovingly patted it on a regular basis, encouraging it to move down, just a bit.
But at this appointment, Dr. H. suggested that it was maybe a bit too hard to be a bum - the baby MIGHT be breech.
An ultrasound confirmed it - at 37 weeks, our little one had not yet flipped to be head down.
Without hesitation, we decided to try an ECV - which is a procedure used to flip a breech baby into proper position. Paul & I HAD attended the prenatal classes, but truthfully didn't pay much attention to the whole "c-section" part. After all, we had NO reason to suspect that I'd need one.
So, one our one year wedding anniversary, and with a little bit of nervousness, we went to the High Risk Unit to see a specialist who would attempt to flip our baby. We were ready to deliver that day - this procedure can sometimes bring on labour.
I had a very extensive ultrasound on a more sophisticated machine than I'd been used to, to-date (little did I know, I would be becoming much more familiar with this unit two short years later!) We watched our munchkin sleeping away, comfortably as the technician took all the measurements. Then she called in the specialist, who looked at her report and the baby for no more than 30 seconds before declaring that "this baby has no room to flip" and he turned and walked out of the room.
Ouch. So c-section it was.
Initially I was devestated. This wasn't how women are supposed to have babies. I wanted to experience the surprise of water breaking and tracking down my husband to meet me at the hospital, and naturally (well, ok maybe somewhat naturally) pushing my baby out in a quiet, comfortable delivery room. I did NOT want an appointment card with my baby's birthdate written on it. I did not want to have a baby in a cold, sterile, stainless steely looking operating room. That wasn't in my vision.
Once we found out that the babe would be delivered by c-section, I spent those last couple of days pouring over books and surfing the net - and speaking with everyone I knew who'd experienced it. Knowledge is power, right?
And by the time Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 rolled around, I felt a lot better about the whole thing. I was 38wks + 5 days pregnant, and we were having our baby.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7AM and I went through a battery of tests - blood work, etc. Oh, and an ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech. Apparently, if it had flipped itself, I would be sent home to await natural labour. Ya. After fasting and a sleepless night of anticipation - at that point, I'd have been a bit angry! Before we knew it, I was marched into the operating room and prepped for surgery while Paul was suiting up to stand by and watch.
What happens next is something that continues to strike some sadness in me today - I panicked the moment I lost feeling in my lower body. The doctors and nurses were assuring me that what I was feeling was totally normal, but obviously I didn't mentally prepare myself and in the end, the anesthesiologist "upped" my drugs so that I'd be relaxed and comfortable. Which is fine, I suppose, but I remember VERY little about the procedure, and that's what saddens me.
Dr. H. started operating, and Paul was allowed into the room. He walked up to take his position beside my head, and when he leaned in to say "Hi" - I was surprised to see him. Not sure why - I think it was because he was wearing a mask and hat and scrubs, and that put me off.
A short moment later, Dr. Huard announced that the baby was almost out, then "how would you like a girl??" And Paul's response "GOD, yes!" The time was 9:10 AM.
I heard it all, but didn't quite believe it. I didn't believe that the operation was that quick - and I thought that they were joking.
So Paul leans in close and says "did you hear that Kari? We have a daughter!!"
The rest of the time in the operating room remains quite foggy in my mind. After checking her out, and weighing her (7,2) the nurses handed our daughter off to Paul, and the two of them went to the recovery room to wait (and bond) while the OB finished up with me.
It wasn't long before we were reunited and we started phoning our friends and family. Keeping in mind we didn't know the gender of our baby before she was born, everyone was anxiously awaiting our call.
My mom was the first on our list - the phone was WAY across the room from where I was, so Paul made the call and announced our news - but wait - we hadn't decided on her NAME yet! We'd narrowed it down - although we had a list of 8 girls names (and one boys name!) - we'd narrowed it down to two names prior to delivery. I don't remember what the other name was though!
So my mom asked Paul what her name was, and he relayed the question. And without hesitation, I said "Peyton. Peyton Maya." And Paul repeated it - yup, that would be her name.
Her name...
We struggled - STRUGGLED - with boys names. As I just wrote, we had no problems coming up with girls names, but we searched and searched for a boys name, and never did come up with one that we loved. I believe, in the end, that the only name on our list was Jared. But even that name - can't say it moved me.
As we searched through the boys section in the names books, I came across Peyton. Mentioned it to Paul who thought - uh, ok. Then I said - no NOT for a boy, a girl. And he responed "definitely not." A few weeks later, he brought it up to me. "What do you think of Peyton for a girl??" That's how we came up with her name.
Maya - well, we honeymooned on the Mayan Riviera. I don't think we had a boy middle name picked. Ha.
We spent a couple of hours in recovery counting her fingers and toes and exploring every inch of her body - this little creation of ours. Then we were moved to the maternity ward where we spent the next few days. Almost five days, to be precise - Peyton had some feeding issues in the beginning, but we worked them all out in the end.
I can't believe that 3 years have gone by - Paul & I can't remember what life was like before her. She was the most easiest going baby, she eased into our lives so seemlessly and made this parenting thing seem such a breeze.
What Peyton is like today...
- thoughtful
- intuitive
- VERY polite
- very sweet & loving
- stubborn & bold at times
- bright and eager
- very VERY physically active.
She loves books more than anything else. She's only 3, yet she hides books in her bedsheets (from me) then crouches over to read by her (fake) fish tank light after I've tucked her in. She thinks we don't know, but what am I going to do? I share the same passion (reading before bed) I just didn't expect it to start this early.
She adores her sisters. She's having a bit of a tough time with the whole "sharing" thing, but we're coaching her through it. She looks out for them, and is also very quick to tell on them ;)
She loves princesses, make belief and fairy tales. I do a lot of eavesdropping on her, for a good giggle.
She loves company - and hates to see anyone leave. She wishes everyone would move in with us.
She loves her bling. She's a girly-girl through & through. (Jewellery, handbags, shoes.) But she's also passionate about sports - as far as she's concerned, there's nothing she CAN'T do.
She's confident and not shy or afraid to speak up about anything - Paul & I have started to really filter what we say around her.
By two, she knew her entire alphabet (first upper, then lower case came at about 2.5) and she could count to 10. We're now working on actually printing out her letters, but she's not quite there yet. She can, however draw some shapes (circle, and a good attempt at a square.) She knows all colors and she even understands the concept of matching. Fun times, when a toddler wont wear brown socks with a pink pair of pants ("they don't MATCH, mommy!")
She loves card games (old maid, go fish.) She enjoys any sort of art & craft.
She loves America's Funniest Videos and hates Dr. Phil.
She's been in underwear since early November - even overnight.
She continues to be a wonderful sleeper, sleeping 11 hours overnight and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. And she can sleep through a lot of noise!
She loves to sing and dance and will recruit everyone to do it with her.
She's loving, affectionate and compassionate. At 3, she still asks to be rocked and cuddled. Crawling into bed with mom &/or dad is a true treat. For us & her.
So as a parent, I'm learning that these birthdays are bittersweet - it's sad, in some aspects, seeing your little one grow up. But the flipside is seeing the potential - seeing what she's growing into. And our Peyton makes us proud every day - no doubt we'll be beeming at her for years to come.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
4 years ago...
What a fantastic day - lots of very fond memories. I still maintain that it was the best wedding I've ever been too - how lucky I am that it was mine!!
And the best part? Paul & I get to live happily ever after.
Sigh.
And the best part? Paul & I get to live happily ever after.
Sigh.
Monday, January 29, 2007
We're sleeping again.
We'll forever refer to that time as "the three weeks of hell."
Somehow, we manage to function through the fog of sleeplessness. Lots of coffee, lots of early nights, little talking...it's all behind us now.
We're still not sure what came over the girls (Paige) but I'm not going to dwell, as it appears to be long behind us now (and it's so easy to forget just how bad it was!)
We've got a white noise maker up in the shared bedroom, we've turned off the baby monitor - forever - and we're back in business. It's all good.
Having said all that - Paige has cut another tooth. Top, front right. (Now you're all thinking - THAT's why she wasn't sleeping. Really? Three weeks?? Because she's got a lot more teeth to cut, you know....)
So official teeth count:
Paige = 3 (bottom front two, top front right.)
Leah = 2 (bottome two.)
And...wait for it....LEAH IS CRAWLING!! We're so proud of her! She finally figured it out, about a week ago.
It's the funniest thing - we're so used to Paige motoring around, constantly at our feet in the kitchen, or off looking for trouble. And Peyton flying around, of course. Well joining us in the sense of mobility is the gentle giant herself. I can't explain how cute it is to see her rounding the couch (that we have blocking the kitchen from the family room) with this huge wet grin, and joining her sisters who are bugging us in the kitchen while we're trying to prepare dinner. Ya. Fun times.
Poor Peyton. Now more that ever, she's learning how to share. Poor thing didn't see what was coming. Nothing is HERS anymore. Except all her "chokable" toys, which we keep in her bedroom.
That's it for news, for now. Big Birthday Party on Saturday - missy's turning 3.
Of course, before then there are a couple of other special days:
4 years of blissful (right Paul?) marriage celebrated tomorrow, &
PAUL will be 37 on Wednesday!!
I'll sign off with a couple of pictures.
:)
Somehow, we manage to function through the fog of sleeplessness. Lots of coffee, lots of early nights, little talking...it's all behind us now.
We're still not sure what came over the girls (Paige) but I'm not going to dwell, as it appears to be long behind us now (and it's so easy to forget just how bad it was!)
We've got a white noise maker up in the shared bedroom, we've turned off the baby monitor - forever - and we're back in business. It's all good.
Having said all that - Paige has cut another tooth. Top, front right. (Now you're all thinking - THAT's why she wasn't sleeping. Really? Three weeks?? Because she's got a lot more teeth to cut, you know....)
So official teeth count:
Paige = 3 (bottom front two, top front right.)
Leah = 2 (bottome two.)
And...wait for it....LEAH IS CRAWLING!! We're so proud of her! She finally figured it out, about a week ago.
It's the funniest thing - we're so used to Paige motoring around, constantly at our feet in the kitchen, or off looking for trouble. And Peyton flying around, of course. Well joining us in the sense of mobility is the gentle giant herself. I can't explain how cute it is to see her rounding the couch (that we have blocking the kitchen from the family room) with this huge wet grin, and joining her sisters who are bugging us in the kitchen while we're trying to prepare dinner. Ya. Fun times.
Poor Peyton. Now more that ever, she's learning how to share. Poor thing didn't see what was coming. Nothing is HERS anymore. Except all her "chokable" toys, which we keep in her bedroom.
That's it for news, for now. Big Birthday Party on Saturday - missy's turning 3.
Of course, before then there are a couple of other special days:
4 years of blissful (right Paul?) marriage celebrated tomorrow, &
PAUL will be 37 on Wednesday!!
I'll sign off with a couple of pictures.
:)
WHY WHY WHY?
Little Missy P has entered a new stage. One that I arrogantly thought she would never go through. Which is why I smugly bought this shirt, like 4 months ago.
Ya. Cute at the time. Now? Not so much.
Why are my jeans blue? Why is my bedroom upstairs? Why can't I take these toys away from my sister? Why do I have to poop? Why is milk cold? Why are there pages in my book? Why do I always have to eat?
Today..."Why does my shirt say WHY WHY WHY?"
I've been patient. I've explained things thoroughly and as best as my educated self can (even though I'm not educated in biology, I think my explanation of why one must poop was pretty good.) But this glazed, distant look comes over her face about 10 seconds after I start talking. Not good.
So in one of my (many) moments of weakness this past weekend, I begged her to Please.Stop.Asking.Why. For a few minutes, PLEASE!
Her response? "How come?"
Shoot me now.
Proof that she's not mine.
This morning as I was changing Leah, from behind me Peyton says:
"It was chocolate, mommy."
"Huh?" I ask.
"It was chocolate. On the bottom of my foot," she replied.
Silent moment as I'm trying to digest what she's talking about.
"Um, Peyton?" I ask. "Where did you put this chocolate?"
"In my mouth. It was only chocolate, mom."
She must've been switched at the hospital in error. NO child of mine would pick something brown off her foot and put it in her mouth!
"It was chocolate, mommy."
"Huh?" I ask.
"It was chocolate. On the bottom of my foot," she replied.
Silent moment as I'm trying to digest what she's talking about.
"Um, Peyton?" I ask. "Where did you put this chocolate?"
"In my mouth. It was only chocolate, mom."
She must've been switched at the hospital in error. NO child of mine would pick something brown off her foot and put it in her mouth!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
A brand new year!
Wow! Did the holiday season ever pass quickly! I can't believe it's all over :(
But what good times we had.
In December, Paul & I were able to attend both of our work holiday parties - his at the NAC, and mine at a funky restaurant called the Social. Our kids had two parties of their own too - the Bell party and the Multiples Family at Midway. Loads of fun, with lots of Santa sightings!
My brother's family drove into town on the 22nd. On the 23rd, we had our annual neighbour get together - this time at Jeff & Heather's across the street. Paul & I were lucky to have a built-in babysitter by having my oldest neice Amy stay with us, so we were able to enjoy a good night of poker. Ya - nothing says Christmas like losing your money a couple of days before - ha!
Early on Christmas Eve, we woke to primp (ha) ourselves for our first family photo - like, I mean, ALL of us (on my side.) We met at the RCSS and were done and THRILLED with the results within 30 minutes. Here they are (note, the quality isn't great as they're scanned - apparently on a dirty scanner!) :
We came home after the photos and the kids all had a great nap (Paul & I prepared the house for the next day, did some last minute wrapping.) Then we headed out to Deb's house for the evening. Tanya joined our families (well, she is family!) and we hung out, had festive bevvies and tonnes of great food and got home around 11:30 (I think?) We got the kiddies settled, then Santa and Rudolf paid a quick visit(YES Chantal, Rudolf did indeed CHEW the carrots with his teeth!) and Paul & I were off to bed.
Paul & I were up around 7:15 on Christmas morning to start working on breakfast. Peyton was up shortly thereafter and BURIED in Little People (her Santa gift.) Paige followed not long after and all three were up & playing by 8:30.
Deb's family, followed by my mom & Dan's family were in by 9:00AM, and Paul's parents were moments behind.
A couple photos:
The gift opening was NOTHING short of CRAZY - we have THREE kids to open gifts for! So Paul was busy getting breakfast off the ground, while I was desperately trying to make a mental note of who gave who what - but man, was that hard. My mom and mother-in-law were helping out with the kids and opening their gifts, but needless to say, we have NO pictures of this time - there just wasn't a spare moment to be had!
When it was all over, we sat down to a wonderful breakfast - 15 people - while the twins napped. Everyone helped cleanup, while Paul's father got the turkey ready and everyone was out the door somewhere around 12:30 (phew!) I got Peyton off to bed just as the twins were waking up. So we fed them and then I spent LITERALLY over 2 hours just breaking down the packaging on the children's toys - holy CRAP the toy packaging is just plain brutal, and my hands were killing me!
When Peyton got up from her nap, we bundled everyone up and went out for a nice long walk - note the GREEN Christmas!
We came home, put the twins down for their PM nap while Peyton played with her new things. Erin & Peter came over around 4:00PM followed by Paul's parents about an hour later, and we all enjoyed a (much more quiet) dinner of Turkey + all the yummy fixings. We opened MORE gifts and it was an early night - Peter & Erin were heading to Cuba on Boxing day, after all :)
Boxing day was leisure - I, of course, hit the malls, looking for those great deals. There were some, but I certainly didn't go nuts. Ha. A few pics of the kids and their new playthings:
New Year's Eve we went to Chantal & Colin's place - small, nice gathering. We knew we wouldn't be there for long as both Paul & I were exhausted. It seems something's gotten into Paige, and she's decided to not sleep overnight anymore. I wont harp on it (suffice to say it's not been a fun couple of weeks) but we did enjoy the couple of hours we were out - Peyton was entertained and the twins were spoiled with attention and we got to eat great food (yummy cheese - well most of it anyway!) But we were home by 8:30 and I think lights were out by 10:30. Yeah, lame I know but this is life with 3 under 3!!
We got out for another long walk on New Year's Day, and I wish we'd thought to snap a picture that day too, because it was so different from one week prior - we'd had freezing rain over a bit of snow and the roads were a mess...but it all melted by about 3PM and I'd go so far as to say it was hot out! Weird.
So that was our holidays in a snapshot - wonderful, family time.
This week is Paul's first week back to work (full week) and I am desperately trying to get the girls back into their nice routine. Making some headway - last night was the first in almost 2 weeks that Paige DID sleep the night - but I'm going to continue to cross my fingers...
In other FANTASTIC news - we lined up a Nanny for when I return to work. A sweet girl who's just finishing up Psychology at Carleton, and will be doing ECE sometime in the future. Rachel will be starting to come out - at least once a week - starting next week, and she will be with us full time when her school year is up. Which just happens to coincide with when my mat-leave is up. Man, WHAT a relief!
And in OTHER news - and I'm not sure I've mentioned this yet - but for anyone who doesn't know, Chantal & Colin are expecting # 1 - in May. And we're so very excited and happy for them. Maybe a boy? Likely not, if the girl trend keeps up! Either way, it's all good.
Gotta run ... hope everyone is well and that you've all had a great Christmas too!
But what good times we had.
In December, Paul & I were able to attend both of our work holiday parties - his at the NAC, and mine at a funky restaurant called the Social. Our kids had two parties of their own too - the Bell party and the Multiples Family at Midway. Loads of fun, with lots of Santa sightings!
My brother's family drove into town on the 22nd. On the 23rd, we had our annual neighbour get together - this time at Jeff & Heather's across the street. Paul & I were lucky to have a built-in babysitter by having my oldest neice Amy stay with us, so we were able to enjoy a good night of poker. Ya - nothing says Christmas like losing your money a couple of days before - ha!
Early on Christmas Eve, we woke to primp (ha) ourselves for our first family photo - like, I mean, ALL of us (on my side.) We met at the RCSS and were done and THRILLED with the results within 30 minutes. Here they are (note, the quality isn't great as they're scanned - apparently on a dirty scanner!) :
We came home after the photos and the kids all had a great nap (Paul & I prepared the house for the next day, did some last minute wrapping.) Then we headed out to Deb's house for the evening. Tanya joined our families (well, she is family!) and we hung out, had festive bevvies and tonnes of great food and got home around 11:30 (I think?) We got the kiddies settled, then Santa and Rudolf paid a quick visit(YES Chantal, Rudolf did indeed CHEW the carrots with his teeth!) and Paul & I were off to bed.
Paul & I were up around 7:15 on Christmas morning to start working on breakfast. Peyton was up shortly thereafter and BURIED in Little People (her Santa gift.) Paige followed not long after and all three were up & playing by 8:30.
Deb's family, followed by my mom & Dan's family were in by 9:00AM, and Paul's parents were moments behind.
A couple photos:
The gift opening was NOTHING short of CRAZY - we have THREE kids to open gifts for! So Paul was busy getting breakfast off the ground, while I was desperately trying to make a mental note of who gave who what - but man, was that hard. My mom and mother-in-law were helping out with the kids and opening their gifts, but needless to say, we have NO pictures of this time - there just wasn't a spare moment to be had!
When it was all over, we sat down to a wonderful breakfast - 15 people - while the twins napped. Everyone helped cleanup, while Paul's father got the turkey ready and everyone was out the door somewhere around 12:30 (phew!) I got Peyton off to bed just as the twins were waking up. So we fed them and then I spent LITERALLY over 2 hours just breaking down the packaging on the children's toys - holy CRAP the toy packaging is just plain brutal, and my hands were killing me!
When Peyton got up from her nap, we bundled everyone up and went out for a nice long walk - note the GREEN Christmas!
We came home, put the twins down for their PM nap while Peyton played with her new things. Erin & Peter came over around 4:00PM followed by Paul's parents about an hour later, and we all enjoyed a (much more quiet) dinner of Turkey + all the yummy fixings. We opened MORE gifts and it was an early night - Peter & Erin were heading to Cuba on Boxing day, after all :)
Boxing day was leisure - I, of course, hit the malls, looking for those great deals. There were some, but I certainly didn't go nuts. Ha. A few pics of the kids and their new playthings:
New Year's Eve we went to Chantal & Colin's place - small, nice gathering. We knew we wouldn't be there for long as both Paul & I were exhausted. It seems something's gotten into Paige, and she's decided to not sleep overnight anymore. I wont harp on it (suffice to say it's not been a fun couple of weeks) but we did enjoy the couple of hours we were out - Peyton was entertained and the twins were spoiled with attention and we got to eat great food (yummy cheese - well most of it anyway!) But we were home by 8:30 and I think lights were out by 10:30. Yeah, lame I know but this is life with 3 under 3!!
We got out for another long walk on New Year's Day, and I wish we'd thought to snap a picture that day too, because it was so different from one week prior - we'd had freezing rain over a bit of snow and the roads were a mess...but it all melted by about 3PM and I'd go so far as to say it was hot out! Weird.
So that was our holidays in a snapshot - wonderful, family time.
This week is Paul's first week back to work (full week) and I am desperately trying to get the girls back into their nice routine. Making some headway - last night was the first in almost 2 weeks that Paige DID sleep the night - but I'm going to continue to cross my fingers...
In other FANTASTIC news - we lined up a Nanny for when I return to work. A sweet girl who's just finishing up Psychology at Carleton, and will be doing ECE sometime in the future. Rachel will be starting to come out - at least once a week - starting next week, and she will be with us full time when her school year is up. Which just happens to coincide with when my mat-leave is up. Man, WHAT a relief!
And in OTHER news - and I'm not sure I've mentioned this yet - but for anyone who doesn't know, Chantal & Colin are expecting # 1 - in May. And we're so very excited and happy for them. Maybe a boy? Likely not, if the girl trend keeps up! Either way, it's all good.
Gotta run ... hope everyone is well and that you've all had a great Christmas too!
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