Well, today's adventure was going for a walk. This was my first solo attempt since Keziah's birth and I wasn't sure how it would go since we don't have a double stroller. So, I put the stroller seat all the way back and lay Keziah down and left enough room for Micah to sit up at the front. I was surprised he didn't seem to mind. It took me awhile to get Keziah calmed down enough to lay her down, but once we started walking she fell asleep. I had dressed a little too warmly for the walk and needed to cool off so I decided to stop at the park - bad idea. It had rained and then frozen overnight so all the playground equipment was slushy and dirty. I tried to wipe off sections for Micah, but it didn't get "clean enough" for him and he was really upset about having to use his mittens to touch all the dirt (even though I assured him they could be washed!) 
Meanwhile Keziah woke up in the stroller since she noticed we are no longer moving. So, I left Micah crying at the top of the slide (since he's too paranoid to go down with a little bit of dirt on it) and tried to console Keziah. At this point I'm thinking - these are my own offspring and I can't even control them! I was very thankful nobody else was around. I decided to abandon the park idea and head home. So, I stuffed both crying kids back into the stroller and began the trek for home. Micah started into his whine, "want nukie too sleep big boy bed all night!" and I knew I needed to think of something since we had a good 15 minutes yet before we were home. So we started playing a colour game, "Can you find a blue car? How about a red truck?" 
Micah hasn't grown tired of all the Christmas festivities yet...
Here's Keziah in her Christmas dress from Auntie Erin. I'm sad that she won't be able to wear it for much longer! Today she is 5 weeks old and getting chubby. She has a double chin and rolls on her legs - two things Micah never really had :)
Micah and Keziah hanging out...
So peaceful...
The kids getting ready for bed on Christmas Day. I think Micah and Keziah look alike in this picture - something in their expressions, maybe...
Today Keziah is one month old! It is going by way too fast! It makes me sad that she can barely squeeze into the newborn size diapers anymore (but we're going to keep trying since we have so many to use up!). Even some of her first onesies and sleepers are getting put back in the clothing box because they no longer fit! I'm guessing she's close to the 10 lb mark but I haven't had her weighed in about a week and a half. I am glad, though, to see her growing because it assures me that she must be getting enough to eat!
<-- Keziah having some play time on the floor. She loves watching the fire - I remember this was a favourite with Micah as well. It's a nice way to give her some stimulating activity after eating.
It's been fun watching Micah enjoy Christmas this year. He's much more excited about everything than he was last year as a one-year-old. Him and Nathan had fun playing behind the Christmas tree (check out N & R's blog for more cute pictures).
Micah playing with his new Fisher-Price Alphabet Zoo from Grandma & Grandpa.
Some shots of Keziah with her eyes open. She is almost 4 weeks and I think she's starting to look a bit more awake and aware these days.
Here's a little glance into Keziah's closet - she's already got more clothes than Micah does, I think! But girls need more clothes than boys, right? (At least that's what I tell Erik when he complains that my side of the closet is over-taking his!)
"CHEEEESE!!"
Keziah is getting to be a bit more of a handful these days. She sleeps a lot of the time still, but when she's awake she likes to be held. I'm discovering ways to do a lot of things "one-handed" but I'm starting to seriously consider investing in a sling of some sort. I'm not sure if she's just fussy, or maybe really social and wants to be with people all the time. I have a tough time remembering what this stage was like with Micah. I probably just had more time to hold him and maybe didn't notice how much he needed to be held. I was worried that she may have thrush (Micah had a long bout of it when he was about a month old) but the doctor assured me earlier in the week that it just looked like milk solids built up on her tongue. And I've also been surprised at how quickly she eats, but reading Kerri's blog reassured me this morning when she wrote that her 1-month old seems to eat very quickly too. Keziah definitely looks healthy and all of her plumbing seems to be in great working order! I think she's about 9 and a half pounds now and has a bit of chub to her!
And Micah is a handful as always and I suppose I should expect it now that we've hit the "terrible twos" :o) This morning Erik was on the phone trying to sort out the whole car-situation and I was holding a crying baby - who apparently wanted to eat again even though it had only been a couple of hours since her last feed - and trying to tell a whining toddler that I wasn't going to open his play-doh right now! I'm not sure how to keep up with all the regular things that need to get done around here - i.e. washing dishes from 2 nights ago!
Another strange phenomenon - Micah has decided to go back to having 2 naps since we got back from our trip - I don't think this is really typical for a 2-year-old. It's not so bad, but I wouldn't mind getting him on a more predictable schedule. If it wasn't for having a newborn around I could probably keep him busy and distract him from his sleepiness, but with two to care for I don't have the energy to do that and I admit it's kind of nice to have that extra peace and quiet.
Micah was way more interested in his gifts this year than he was last year, and he took the time to play with each one before moving on to the next. Some of his gifts included a Magna Doodle from Granny & Grandpa Harder (to encourage his colouring skills without encouraging his skills of drawing on the furniture), a cell phone from Auntie Rosanna & Uncle Nathan and a broom and dust-pan set. For those of you who know Erik's incessant love for cleaning, sweeping the floor is just another way that Micah LOVES to be like his Daddy!
We enjoyed some homemade chocolate cake as well as a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake. Micah loved the candles and had them almost completely blown out before we could even finish singing "Happy Birthday"!
Yesterday when I asked him what today was he would say "birthday cake!" He knows there will be balloons and candles and cake - and I suppose that's all that matters :)
Here's a picture of me and my firstborn exactly two years ago today!
Freshly Born...
In the last two years, Micah has become an active and entertaining little person! We often find ourselves laughing at the things he says and does. He seems to take after me in his looks, but his daddy in his personality. He can be high-strung and emotional (like Erik) and keeping his mind focused on one thing for more than a few minutes isn't an easy task! He loves everything his daddy does - drumming (especially on Daddy's real drums), hammering nails into his toy work bench, and playing hockey!
Happy Birthday Buddy - We love you!!
Erik and I both agreed that this past week wasn't one of those "restful" vacations since we came home more tired than when we left. Of course, that has mostly to do with having two kids. Micah is pretty inflexible when it comes to sleeping arrangements, so we had to be creative in order to get him to sleep in the various places throughout the week. In the end we were extremely thankful we had brought our laptop on the trip since Baby Einstein came in handy several times in helping him to nod off. Here he is watching his favourite DVD in the bed that we made for him in my parents' walk-in closet...
My family definitely enjoyed having a newborn around and Erik and I barely held her since she was passed around so much.
The cousins had a good time together as we could tell by the noise level in the house! There were lots of treats and gifts and even some crafts that Auntie Laura had up her sleeve...
Finally a family photo!
Here's a great shot of all ten cousins. Granny bought matching outfits for all the older kids.
My sister Erin and her husband Steve took some family shots. It was a bit of a challenge with all the kids. One of the best pictures was this silly one that we took right at the end:
Yesterday we boarded the plane with TWO extra suitcases FULL of stuff! Thanks to everyone for all the baby, Christmas and even birthday gifts! And we came home to a wonderfully clean house (thanks to Rosanna & Nate) and a full freezer (thanks to our care group)!
Today I will attempt to unpack our many bags and get things back in order. I also have to think about Micah's 2nd birthday which is in TWO days! We are just planning a simple family get-together this year but I would still like to make a fun cake for him. I have a couple of ideas, but I will need to do some more thinking about that before Wednesday.
Here was the scene on the plane ride from Calgary to Winnipeg. There were TONS of empty seats on the plane so Erik and I were able to spread out with the kids. Here's Micah stretched out on three seats for his nap:
And here's Keziah stretched out on one seat!
Me and the kids enjoying a lazy morning at Granny's...
Erik has been looking forward to snowmobiling on the farm and there was just enough snow for him to get out a few times. He even took Micah out and we got a couple of shots of them going around the yard. Micah had fun but it was a little too cold for a long ride. Micah also enjoyed meeting "Sheba" - the dog that used to belong to Erik and his family when they lived in Calgary and has now retired with my parents on the farm...
Micah and his Grandpa Harder. He's really warmed up to his Grandpa & Granny this week.
Now we are in LaSalle at Brad & Nichole's and today we've had a long day. We went to my Aunt Martha's funeral earlier this afternoon and then we went ahead with our Harder family Christmas this afternoon and evening. It was a zoo with all the kids, but it was fun watching them open presents and enjoy playing with each other (minus a few scraps here and there which is to be expected!) There will be lots more pictures to come, but for now I need to feed my daughter and get to bed!
And finally a picture of me and her together where I look half-decent! I admit I've been living in sweat pants for the past week...
I have felt so blessed this week when I look at my little family. It's amazing to have two children and it seems especially amazing to have a rambunctious little boy and sweet baby girl! It's like the best of both worlds!
Here was the scene this morning at around 8 am...
Today Erik bundled Micah up to enjoy the snow. This was Micah's first real experience with it. We don't really have proper winter-wear for him since it's not generally needed out here in BC, but we piled on lots of layers and he seemed to stay warm and dry. Erik took him down the "slide" that Uncle Nathan made in the snow the other day. And then Micah helped Daddy shovel the sidewalk.
Keziah and I stayed warm and dry indoors while "the boys" played. Today she is one week old!
Keziah saw the doctor on Monday and is almost 9 lbs already! She is also a little bit jaundiced. The doctor said if she stopped feeding well and didn't have alert times in the day, that she may have to go under the lights at the hospital nursery. I've been praying that this won't happen because of our trip and so far she seems to be doing fine. My mom told me to lay her in the sun and yesterday we had lots of sun and it seemed to help a little bit. The doctor gave us a letter stating that she is our daughter and seems to think that should satisfy airport security. I'm certainly hoping so!
