Mother's Day Weekend

The Vancouver Canucks are playing tonight and even though I am interested in the outcome, I find it impossible to just sit and watch an entire hockey game. So, I will blog the events of the weekend while keeping one eye on the TV :)

The new sleeping arrangements are going really well. There has been no problem with the boys sharing a room. Silas is usually just waking up once a night to eat now. Micah doesn't even stir when Silas cries at around 3 am for his feed. They've both been waking around 6:30 am but this morning everyone slept past 7 which was great.

Cute :o)


I think Keziah is happy to have her own room. It's my favourite bedroom because of the 2 bright windows and it will be fun to "girl" it up a little bit.


She's been having a little bit of a tough time staying in her room though. Nothing like what we went through with Micah, but I think she's still adjusting to the new arrangement. The other night we came up the stairs and found her fast asleep in the hallway again...


We moved the playpen downstairs the other day so that I would have a safe place to lay Silas down (safe as in no poking Keziah fingers or jumping Micah feet). We've also been letting him catnap there in the evenings. He's been pretty content to spend long periods of time in there staring at the ceiling :)


The kids' latest favourite activity is baseball. Erik will often take them to the park after supper and pitch balls to Micah. Keziah's main job is back catcher which she is glad to do! Erik told me how well Micah is doing at batting and I got a chance to see for myself the other night when I joined them at the park. I woud say Micah hit about 75% of the pitches and can actually hit the ball pretty far!

Just to prove I was actually there...


Here's a video of one of Micah's hits. I almost missed it because I was distracted by Keziah's back-catching (and the couple making out in the grass behind the fence...)



Sunday was, of course, Mother's Day. Here are Micah and Keziah ready to head off to church:


The afternoon included a trip to Birchwood Dairy for fun and ice cream. I'm not sure how both the kids ended up in white shirts while they ate their "gubble-bum" ice cream but it made for some cute pictures!


Wow - it's been a long time since we've taken a picture of just the 2 of us!


Just being cute!


Sitting up on the wagon seat:




Here are the kids on the same wagon almost 1 year ago!


And on the topic of how the kids have changed, I realized this week how much Micah has grown up. Every 6 months I take the kids to the health unit to get a flouride varnish on their teeth and every single time Micah screams his head off. I had to take them again this week and I knew going into it that, this time, Micah would do OK. We talked about it beforehand and, sure enough, he was very brave and co-operative even though I could tell he was a little anxious.
Also, when I first mentioned preschool, he would get very anxious and not want to talk about it. Now when I bring it up, I can tell he's starting to get excited. It's a relief to see him growing out of his over-anxious behavior and developing the ability to cope with stressful situations.

Silas spends so much of his day swaddled up or in his car seat, but he looked so handsome yesterday that I had to snap a few pictures:


Silas is doing really well. Everyone always asks me if he's a good baby and it's hard to know how to answer that question. I don't think he's an exceptional baby, but I definitely think he's a good baby. He doesn't often cry for no reason at all and he's generally content to be in the swing or the playpen for awhile after he's been fed.


One unique thing about Silas (from our other 2) is his cry. It has a raspy sound to it that is really different and cute :) I should record it sometime so that I'll always remember what it sounds like.


Silas is smiling at us more and more. I took a video of him the other day and even though there aren't any huge smiles, it was still cute enough to share:

Zits & Timbits

I couldn't resist the title when I realized that 2 of the things I want to blog about actually rhyme... :P

Let's start with the zits. Silas has the worst case of baby acne of any of my kids. It was so bad when it first broke out that we worried that it was something more serious. But, it's only been on his face and chest and it already seems to be fading away, so I'm quite confident that it's just a bad case of pimples. Someone told me that when breastfeeding Moms eat strawberries (or straw-ba-berries as Keziah would call them) it can make it worse. This makes a lot of sense since I'm probably eating more of them now than I did with my winter babies.

It's hard to see it well in this picture, but you get the idea...


However, I'm glad to report that Zit-Boy has started smiling at us more this week! I'll try to get a video or picture of his little grins, but here he is looking quite cute on his change table yesterday morning giving me a pleasant pre-smile look.


Notice the spit-up covered sleeper? He goes through several outfits a day...

I've had 2 FANTASTIC nights in a row with Silas sleeping about 6 hours between feeds. There had been some bad nights last week as Silas fell into a deep sleep at about 8 pm and didn't want to wake for a final feed when I was ready to go to bed. Of course, then he only lasted until midnight or so. But the last 2 nights I've tried to keep him up more, just letting him doze in the living room if he gets really sleepy and then waking him at around 9. I've also added another feed in the evening so he's tanking up on some extra calories before bed. It seems to be doing the trick.

We had another room switcheroo this morning. Silas has been in his own room and the other 2 kids sharing a room. But the room-sharing wasn't going so great. We couldn't put Keziah down until Micah had fallen asleep because she would bug him like CRAZY if he was still awake - climbing into his bed, talking to him, etc. So, if Micah was having a particularly hard time falling asleep, sometimes we wouldn't put Keziah down until almost 9 pm - and then she was often over-tired and unable to fall asleep until almost 10! And Keziah is sometimes able to sleep in, but with Micah waking before 7, she usually doesn't stand a chance.

This morning Erik mentioned the idea of Micah and Silas sharing a room and Keziah having a room to herself. I hadn't really considered this option, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Initially I decided to wait a few more weeks before trying it, but you know how it is once you get a good idea in your head.... I just couldn't help myself. I spent about an hour this morning switching all the furniture around and right now the kids (minus Micah) are napping in their new rooms. A bonus of doing it this way is that we can make Keziah's room really feminine and girly and the other room can just be all boy! I'm not going to do any major decorating yet though. We'd better see first if this new set-up is going to work!

Now on to the "timbits" portion of the post...


I've been meaning to take Keziah on a Mommy-Daughter date ever since Silas was born. As the middle child, she often seems to get our left-overs. Keziah is testing her boundaries like crazy these days, but I know that a lot of it is an effort to get our attention. So, after a day of giving her time-outs repeatedly, I decided it was time to give her some one-on-one time. So, off to Tim Hortons we went...

25 Degrees

We had a picnic lunch with Grandma and the Aunties (& Uncle Keith!) earlier today...


Cucumber sandwiches, fresh salsa, fruit... Mmmm. Feels like summer.




We have an outdoor pool in our townhouse complex and it actually opens tomorrow! If it's anywhere near as beautiful as it is today, you'll know where to find us... :)

1 month

Today marks 1 month since Silas Paul joined our family. When I was overdue and anxiously waiting for labour to start, my mom commented that before I knew it this baby would be one month old. She was right!


They've started giving new parents a DVD about crying when you leave the hospital with your newborn. There really isn't a whole lot of information in it that's new to me, but I did learn that the peak crying period for babies is between 2-6 weeks. So, we are right in the midst of it! It's reassuring to know that it can't really get any worse than this. Silas is a pretty good baby but there has been a lot more crying in the last week. Mostly as he struggles to get himself to sleep and stay sleeping. If I can persevere and get him to have his whole nap (instead of giving in and letting him wake early) he will take in a much better feed, be more content and be able to stay awake for longer. Of course, hearing him cry is easier said than done...

Catching a little cat nap by the window:


He continues to do quite well at night - giving me 4 hours minimum and sometimes 5 (one night almost 6!) The problem last week was that for the next half of the night he wanted to get up every hour or 2. I figured it was probably because he was sleepy and wasn't taking in a full feed in the middle of the night so I've started unwrapping him and sometimes changing him after his long stretch so that he'll nurse for longer. So far it seems to be working.

This kid loves the swing - thank goodness!


I'm really trying to be intentional with the older kids to give them their "mommy time". It's easy with Micah since him and I have time to ourselves when Keziah is sleeping. We often play Candy Land or work on activity books for part of that time. But it's a little more tricky with Keziah. The only time I have alone with her is when we've put Micah to bed (he still goes down before she does). So, I'm going to try to use that time to read books with her and give her some focused attention so she knows that Mama still loves her! She calls me Mama all the time now, and what's really cute about it is that she emphasizes the 2nd syllable instead of the first :)

I bought her these new jammies over the weekend and I LOVE them:


My creative juices have been flowing as I try to think of activities to keep everyone busy and happy these days:


We've also been enjoying some sunny spring weather!






I realized that I don't have a single picture of myself since I left the hospital a month ago. Erik never takes pictures. But Micah is a very willing photographer!

Keziah being a goof:


A little bit better:


On a side note, Erik came home with this little beauty the other night:


I am thrilled to have a 2nd TV for our bedroom - especially with hockey playoffs coinciding with shows like "The Biggest Loser"!

Also, if you can get a good look at the cabinets in our kitchen, Erik has been working hard to refinish them. They were an "early 90's" style when we moved in. Erik took off the doors and framed each one and repainted them. We just need to add some new hardware, but they already look so fresh and new! It really makes a big difference in our kitchen.

Anyway, I hear my youngest mewing for his milk so I'm off...

Do I Have to Have a Title?

Today marks the start of another week and it was a beautiful day - shorts and t-shirt worthy even!

So, it looks like Silas is going to be a spitter. In the last couple of days he's been having huge spit-ups after some of his feeds. It might just be a Toews boy thing. Micah was a huge puker too, while Keziah rarely spit up. I could confidently burp her on my shoulder without a burp cloth in place (which sometimes freaked out other parents who wouldn't dare burp their babies without having something to catch the fountain of spit-up...) I really got used to it, but now, after going through several outfits (his and mine), I realize I'm going to have to be more careful.


Naptime was getting to be a bit of a challenge with Silas in the last week. I found I was holding him and rocking him for a good chunk of the day so that he would fall asleep (or fall back asleep after waking too early from a nap). I am stubbornly sticking to our 3 hour schedule as best as I can (roughly 1 hour of being awake and 2 of napping). So, today I started letting him fuss a bit when I put him down for his naps. I had to go in several times today to settle him, but I already noticed by the end of the day that he was settling quicker and actually staying asleep for his whole nap. I heard him fussing a few moments ago after the 1 hour mark of his nap (when he usually thinks it's time to wake up), but he fell right back asleep without me having to go in there. So, hopefully this will continue! And as for nighttime sleep, he's given me a couple of 5 hour stretches which are the longest yet. So, we're going in the right direction!


My kids look so much alike as babies - especially Keziah & Silas - can you tell which one is which in these pictures?
Read to the end of this post for the answer...

This weekend it became quite evident that Keziah is becoming a daddy's girl. I know that a big reason is the fact that Mommy just doesn't have the same amount of time for her. But it's gotten to the point where, if Erik is around, she will not let me do ANYTHING for her. I tried to take her to the bathroom during the church service and she threw a fit! I made her come with me anyway, knowing that she had to go, and she flat out refused to sit on the potty. I knew there was no way I could make her pee. And sometimes you just have to choose your battles. It's been interesting to see this shift in her. Part of me feels an eensy bit hurt, while another part is kind of relieved that I'm off the hook for helping her when Erik is around :)


I love finding the kids in strange sleeping positions. Here they were the other night when we checked on them at 10:30...



And the other night when we headed to bed we were surprised to find this in the hallway:


Unfortunately we also noticed the strange lump in the back of her pull-up. Yep. Poop in the pants. So disgusting to clean up after spending the day cleaning tiny little newborn poops.

On Saturday we went up to Erik's job-site at Cultus Lake and met some of the family for a picnic lunch at Spring Bay:




We have been getting SO much food from people which has been wonderful! My freezer is still packed with meals from before and I've barely had to touch them. I won't have to make supper for weeks yet :) The only problem is that I'm so hungry. All. The. Time. I can't stop thinking about food and there is way too much yummy stuff to munch on throughout the day. I've been trying to go out walking (usually alone after Erik gets home from work) and/or do my 20 minute pilates video (which can turn into an hour - or remain unfinished - if the kids interrupt me enough times...) but I've still got a ways to go to be back to "normal". I've never had a baby this close to summer and I just don't have enough time to fit into my summer clothes! I may be wearing sweat pants until the end of August :P


And the answer to the trivia question is... Silas is on the left, Keziah is on the right. I think she looks just a touch more feminine than he does :)