Life The Last Few Months

Well, this poor little blog has been sorely neglected lately, and the only excuse I have is that life has been busy! Since my last post we have:

- welcomed a new baby boy into the family, Atlee Macgreggor
- given Cohen his second ever haircut (I had a really hard time parting with his adorable little curls!)
- planted a garden
- ripped out our old deck that was the eyesore of our backyard
- put a new railing on the deck on the front of the house, although I still need to finish staining it
- thrown a 6th birthday party for our oldest son, Xavier
- celebrated Xavier finishing Kindergarten and graduating to Grade one
- visited Winnipeg to see my hubby's family numerous times, including one last final supper with my sister in law and her hubby before they left for South Korea this weekend (read her blog and their adventures here)
- had a dedication ceremony at our church for Atlee
- travelled three hours southwest to my sister's house to celebrate my nephew's birthdays and a baby dedication for their little girl (who is three weeks older than Atlee)
- had a family reunion with my mom's brothers and sisters and their families
- baked 150 cupcakes for a wedding
- gone back to school shopping

And, in the midst of all that, we've been trying to keep up with all the laundry and housework that goes along with having four children! It's hectic and chaotic at times, but we love it! :)

 My little monkey turned two yesterday! It's been a really fun - and sometimes frustrating - two years. He loves to laugh and is a very happy kid. But he also likes to get into mischief - see photo below! He had snagged a bag of icing sugar out of the pantry and was playing very quietly in his sister's room. When we went to check on him, he had icing sugar EVERYWHERE! Hard to get mad at him when he gives you that little grin, though!

 He loves to pretend play with his big sister. I often will end up with a 'kitty' or a 'puppy' snuggling on my lap - or they'll be crawling around on all fours and licking anything that looks like it might taste good. He also loves being outside and LOVES any kind of ball, especially soccer. He's still a pretty snuggly boy and always has an abundance of hugs and kisses for us. He also loves to wear Mommy's heels and Daddy's ties. And he still has a fascination with toothbrushes! He would brush his teeth five times a day if I let him - future dentist perhaps?!?!

Despite the frustrations - the icing sugar story is one of only a few! - I love this little boy to pieces. He is very sweet and polite and he can make me smile in even my most down moments. He is a pure joy to have in our family and I can't wait to see more of his personality emerge as he grows.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cohen!

 

This picture was taken this past Saturday at 34 weeks along - it's so hard to believe that I only have 6 more weeks to go! Chasing after three other kids every day has made this pregnancy FLY by! For the most part, I've been feeling really well still - tired, but that's pretty normal, so I can't really complain. This little man is sitting quite low, though, so by the end of the day my back has been quite sore. Also hazards of having an almost two year old who still likes to be carried a lot!

As far as getting ready for Baby we haven't started doing too much yet. I was nesting like crazy this past weekend and was able to convince my hubby to set up the crib, so that's all done. We haven't washed bedding or clothes yet - I'm holding out a few more weeks for that, since the aforementioned almost two year old has been going through a phase where he likes to empty out all the dresser drawers that he can get his hands on! I don't feel like picking up and refolding an entire dresser full of newborn clothes if I don't really have to. :) I'm also hoping to make a few meals and get them stocked away in the freezer in the next few weeks. Oh, and we'll need to install the infant seat in our vehicle - but other than that, there really isn't too much to do. Part of the perks of it being Baby #4 - we have pretty much everything we need so it's just a matter of getting it out of our storage shed in the backyard.

Emotionally, I'm getting very excited to meet the tiny little person growing in my belly. He's turned head down now and I can literally feel little feet and legs when he starts kicking. The miracle of having a baby never ceases to amaze me. That you can grow a person inside your body and  that your body knows exactly what to do (in most cases) to get the baby out when it's the right time. And the amount of love you can have for someone that you just met - AHH! Makes my heart melt a little just thinking about it!

Here's hoping the next 6 weeks go by as quickly as the last 34 have gone!

Happy Birthday to my Little Tinkerbell!

We celebrated our daughter's 4th birthday this weekend and it was so much fun! Friday we went out for lunch at her choice of restaurant, and Saturday we had her party at our house with family. She wanted a Tinkerbell theme this year, which I was more than happy to oblige. I made her a Tinkerbell  costume to wear for the day, we had a pink and green cake with Tinkerbell's on it, and we had pink and green everything - plates, cups, napkins, balloons. I had a lot of fun decorating and getting everything ready and I know she loved the party.

It's crazy to think she's 4 already and yet at the same time, she feels like she's 4 going on 6! Her older brother is in Kindergarten this year and Shaela is a little sponge - she soaks up absolutely EVERYTHING that he comes home and tells her. I swear she'll be reading by the time she starts school! She's also an adorable little bundle of energy. She loves to sing and dance and play "mom" to her babies. I love her to pieces and I'm so thankful for the last 4 years we've had with her. She makes me smile every day and that's the best gift a Mom could ask for! :)

They Always Joked it Would Skip a Generation

 

This is just one of a thousand pictures (literally!) that our son, Xavier has drawn in the last year. He has a serious love affair with markers and crayons and drawing pictures, and it makes my heart smile to see his creative mind at work.  In the drawing above "Puke Man" (left) is saving Santa from "Pusher-Man" (right) by letting Santa ride on his puke - how lovely! But seriously - where does he come up with these things?!?! It makes me laugh!

It also makes me incredibly sad. My father-in-law was a very talented artist and sadly, passed away almost three years ago due to brain cancer. My husband and his siblings aren't creative when it comes to drawing/painting at all, and they always joked it would skip a generation. Apparently it has and if Dad were still here, I know that he would LOVE to sit and draw and colour with Xavier. I can see Grandpa giving art lessons and helping him develop his skills. It would have been incredibly endearing and it just kills me that it can't happen. I am, however, very excited to see where this talent will take Xavier as he gets older. I hope that as his parents we can continue to foster a love and appreciation for art in his life - and hurry up and make a chalkboard wall in our basement so we can stop killing so many trees with the amount of paper Xavier uses in a day! :)

Organized Chaos

Sometimes I feel like that describes my life perfectly - organized chaos. Being a mom of three is never an easy job. It's insanely busy, there are no breaks, not even when you have to go to the bathroom - if they're not in there with you, they're banging on the door wanting something that just can't wait! Some days I find myself just counting down the hours until they're finally in bed for the night and I can relax! Of course, growing Baby #4 doesn't help the situation. I'm over-tired and not nearly as patient as I know I should be. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids - they make my heart smile in ways I didn't know possible! But the longer I parent, the more I realize how much I need organization in my life.

I've always been a bit of a neat freak. My room was never super messy as a kid and I liked having a 'certain' spot for everything. I'm still that way today, especially in my kitchen. Some may think I'm crazy or slightly OCD, but when the power went out a few months ago and it was pitch black in the house, nobody complained that Mommy knew exactly where to go to find candles and a lighter. :)

This past weekend, my compulsive organizational nature struck again. My husband sometimes gets annoyed with me, as I like to rearrange furniture or move this or change that - but I feel better once I've accomplished what I set my mind to. I often find myself sitting and envisioning, "If I move this here, then that will fit better over here", etc. I find it cathartic in ways I never knew possible. Case in point this weekend was our basement. It frequently becomes known as a 'disaster zone', mainly because of our very active 20 month old who would rather empty out every single toy bin and bookshelf than actually sit and play with the toys. But I found myself also feeling like things just weren't quite arranged in the most efficient way possible. So I set to work moving bookshelves and organizing papers. I'm still working on it today, but I'm almost done and it's like a breath of fresh air to feel organized and on top of things! Of course, by this point in the day, the 20 month old has already emptied one of the bookshelves and gotten into the colouring papers, so they are laying strewn about half the basement. *Sigh* Organized chaos indeed!

More Sewing Projects

It's that time again when we are ready to transition our 'baby' into a big boy bed. He's more than ready and I've been very excited about this for over a month already. However, we knew we had to wait until Christmas to have money for a new mattress for Cohen's bed. We ordered it last week and it was finally in today, so it's all set up and ready for him to sleep in tonight. The most excited part of putting a child into a new bed (for me, at least) is picking out new bedding for said bed. As the comforter we bought for Shaela is not holding up well at all, I didn't relish the idea of spending another $60+ on something that wasn't going to last more than a year or two. I decided that for Cohen I would attempt making him a quilt. I had some material left over from making the valance and crib skirt and I envisioned it would look fantastic on a quilt. Having never made one before I just sort of winged-it, and although it is far from perfect, it turned out a lot better than I imagined it might. It looks so great on his bed and I'm so excited for him to sleep with it tonight!

 All spread out on his bed. It's hard to really get the full effect in this shot, since the safety rail blocks it from falling over the edge of the bed, so you can get a better view of it in the next two shots. The four corners are the same material as the valance on the window. 

 

 Side one. This one is made of cotton and will be on the top for now. In the summers he can flip it over to have the 'cool side' down.

 Side two. This side is flannel and the colours are opposite of Side one. Made it this way so that this side can be down in the winter to help keep him warmer. We also invested in some fleece sheets, so hopefully he'll be nice and toasty tonight. :)