Christmas

We spent last weekend in Vancouver as the Toews family. Other than two bad nights (the first due to poorly sleeping children and the second due to me getting the flu) it was as good as could be expected considering what these last months have held for our family.

On Saturday we went to Stanley Park to ride the Christmas train - it probably would've been better in the dark but late afternoon tickets were the best we could get :) Still fun though! Micah & Keziah were both mesmerized by the visual stimulation!

Waiting to board our train:


Here it comes!

All aboard!

Visiting the petting zoo afterwards:

Hanging out at the hotel - Keziah and Caleb were playing play peek-a-boo:

Back at home and enjoying the latest craze - Guitar Hero!!

We said good-bye to Kristi who is in Ontario visiting her boyfriend this week and then off to Bethany College (yay Bethany!) for the winter semester...

Christmas eve...

A special Christmas hamper of joy!

Stockings and presents:

The tackle hug:


A little bit better :)

Thank you Oma & Opa Toews for the fun John Deere trailer!

More Guitar Hero! I'm proud to say I've found something I can beat Erik at :)

Christmas morning...

Oooh, power tools! (Thanks G & G Harder!)

Hmmm, what could this be??

We got an extra Christmas present this year - Kristi passed along Oreo to us when she left for Bethany. So far life with a kitty is going well and she has been very tolerant of the kids' rough treatment...

Christmas day also brought another snowfall - it was nice to have a white Christmas. This morning it was perfect snowman-making texture, so Micah and I made a bigger and better snowman than our last one:

Peace

Wishing you all a blessed and peace-filled Christmas...

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,

The mighty God,

The everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

And She's Off!

Keziah has ventured out on her feet quite a bit this week and seems to be gaining confidence as a walker. It's so fun to watch her take off and Micah even cheers for her and says "I'm so p-zoud of you!"


Keziah gave us an early Christmas present on Monday night. She decided to throw up the entire contents of her supper in the car while we were on our way to our friends' place. We turned right back around and headed home where Erik put on his heavy-duty work mask :) and cleaned up her car seat while I dealt with our sick little toddler. We were up with her several times until midnight when she finally seemed to have finished emptying her stomach and gave in to her exhaustion. We were so afraid that the rest of us were going to get it next but so far we all seem to be fine. Keziah appears to be doing better as well but still doesn't seem to have her full appetite back.

Micah is learning that he needs to play up on his bed if he doesn't want Keziah to bug him.


And here is Micah trying on Erik's new headlamp this morning. He was enthralled by this flashlight on his head :)


Last night Erik's bosses took us on a Christmas Carolship dinner cruise through Vancouver. It was a nice night with NO rain and the city views were beautiful.

The Lion's Gate Bridge at night:

Just after we passed under the bridge (for once my huge winter coat came in handy!):


Erik & Greg in front of the Pan Pacific Hotel:


I've said it before, but Erik loves his job and I love it for him! We are thankful for how it has worked out and feel blessed by his bosses.


Tomorrow we are headed into Vancouver again with Erik's family for the weekend so I'm off to do some laundry and start packing...

Birthday Boy

Guess what! I'm three!

We started the day by heading off to our regular Thursday morning playgroup. I had planned to bring some cupcakes for the kids and ended up finding some party hats and a game to go with our Disney Cars themed birthday.

Here are a few of Micah's friends waiting for the fun to begin...

Micah was the first contestant for "Pin the sticker on Lightning McQueen"...

He was very upset that he didn't get the sticker right on - a perfectionist already!

Watching while his friends try out the game...


Classic!

Keziah trying on a party hat...


Then came the cupcakes, juice boxes and Christmas oranges. Micah even got a few gifts - which I wasn't expecting!

After a much-needed nap, we started getting ready for a family birthday supper. Rosanna and Micah share a birthday so the Toews' ate together with Rosanna's family.

Some of the Cars birthday decor:

The birthday boy and girl after the candles have been blown out... and after Micah swiped a finger full of icing :)


Grandpa cutting the ice cream cake while Micah points to the piece with his name on it!

Two K.T.'s :)

Time for presents - Micah & Mommy read a card and practice holding up THREE fingers!

A "My First Leap Pad" from Mommy & Daddy:


Micah was frustrated when he couldn't figure out these glow-in-the-dark bath toys from his Auntie Kristi. But, hey, it's his party and he can cry if he wants to...

Playing with the huge container of play food from Auntie Rosanna:

All in all the day was a success and Micah seems to be enjoying his new age. It seems it may have finally pushed him into the no-napping phase but I am still managing to keep him in his room for a long "quiet time" (right now I can hear him hammering on his toy workbench but at least he's staying in his room!)

Three

Happy Birthday Buddy!



When Keziah had her birthday 3 weeks ago, it felt like it really snuck up on us. But it feels like it's taken forever to get to Micah's 3rd birthday. He seems like such a big boy to me already!

Micah is definitely a talker - but maybe all three-year-olds like to jabber! He has officially entered the "why?" phase of preschool-hood. He is full of questions about everything and my patience is being tested as I try to answer them all. He speaks really well but still comes up with funny ways of pronouncing things. He got a Chirp magazine subscription as a birthday present from Doug & Elissa and he was so proud to be reading his very own "zanga-bean"!

Erik and I are constantly surprised at the phrases that Micah picks up - from us or from the TV. A few weeks ago I had Ellen on while I was feeding the kids their lunch, and during a commercial break Micah piped up and said, "Mommy, have you called Jenny yet?"


I just love the things that come out of his mouth - whether it's using the word "otherwise" in a sentence, or the wrong verb tense ("she grewed up, Mommy!"), or an exclamation of "for Pete's sake!" (which he picked up from Daddy, I think). One day I asked him to throw out one of Keziah's diapers and he responded with, "Nope. Sorry, Mommy. I can't." And then a few seconds later, "Oh well."

Micah has had a year full of changes starting with the adjustment to a new baby sister. It hasn't been an easy road and Micah has spent a lot of time in the "naughty corner" as he learns how to relate to her appropriately. It has been fun, though, to see them bond more and more. Their favourite thing to do together is play on the big bed...

The next adjustment Micah had to make was getting rid of his soothers. That was a hard one. We basically had to start from scratch with sleep training and I'm happy to report that things are very much improved from what they once were! I went to wake him up from his nap the other day and was struck by what a big boy he is already. I had one of those "where-did-the-time-go" moments and had to snap a picture of my handsome napper.


The next hurdle to face was potty-training. Micah originally caught on quickly but he is still working on getting to the bathroom on time and keeping his underwear dry.


One last major adjustment for Micah been dealing with the loss of a special uncle. Nathan was a huge part of Micah's life and it has been hard to watch Micah wrestle with the reality of his death. We are very intentional in talking about Nathan - especially about the most recent memories that we shared with him in the summer. Micah often mentions these experiences but it's tough to know if he actually remembers them, or if he's only remembering because we've reminded him. Every once in awhile he'll make the comment that he misses Uncle Nathan. One morning he told me that he wished Uncle Nathan could come over and play hockey with him. I knew he was remembering that Nate would sometimes come over and play in the driveway with him. Just two nights ago Erik and I were praying with him at bedtime and when it was time to pray for Auntie Rosanna, Micah prayed that Uncle Nathan would come back. Erik and I were quiet and unsure how to respond. Then Micah started jabbering on about heaven and asked if there would be toys there. That put a smile on my face.


To end off, here is a slideshow of Micah's 3rd year...

Make a slideshow!