Weekend Project

This weekend Erik and I tackled a project that I've been wanting to do for a couple of months now - paint Keziah's bedroom! What other colour would be perfect for a little girl's room than PINK! Erik did all the work while I made sure the kids were happy and Micah stayed out of his way. Micah did get to help Daddy a little bit though :)

Here is the finished product. The pink is pretty dramatic actually but I wanted a warm pink rather than a cool pale pink. I think the room looks girly but also fun. I'd still like to hang up some things on the walls to finish it off. I'm not sure how well the bumper pads go with this new wall-colour (they worked better in Micah's room) but maybe I could cover them in a different fabric...

Me & Keziah in her new pink bedroom!

Yesterday we tried to get a good picture of me and the kids -- easier said that done!! This one turned out pretty good...

Well, Micah is hanging on my arms as I type, so I'd better go play with him for a little bit before naptime!

February already?

Yesterday Keziah had her first immunizations - 4 shots all together. She was already crying ferociously after the first one and then they just kept coming! She had a bit of a rough afternoon, but then appeared to be her happy & contented self later on that evening. Here she is with her legs covered in bright orange bandaids!

My big helper posing for the camera...

Sometimes things can get a little chaotic in the late afternoon - Micah is getting bored/tired/hungry, I'm trying to get supper ready and Keziah's just being a needy 2-month old. But, yesterday afternoon things were abnormally peaceful and quiet. I had to take a little video to capture the rare moment:

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Lastly, I was tagged last week by a new blogging acquaintance, Summer, to list 6 random facts about me. I'm finally getting around to it now. I've done this before, so it was hard to think of some new things, but here goes...

1) I LOVE microwave popcorn and could eat it every single night for a snack.
2) I am particular about keeping my kids noses free of boogers - I have to stop myself sometimes!
3) I still own and wear a bathing suit that I've had since high school (10 years ago!)
4) When I was younger I wanted to be an actress.
5) One of my favourite kids' TV shows is The Berenstein Bears and I've been known to finish an episode even when Micah loses interest :)
6) I've been to Peru twice.

OK, now I tag Renee & Erin - two more new bloggers that I've only "met" recently. Have fun!

Lounging

I propped Keziah up in her big brother's chair this afternoon. I had to snap a couple of pictures before Micah yanked her out - he's pretty possessive of his favourite seat!
She looks like such a big baby already! She must be a big baby since she's already wearing 3-6 month clothes at 2 months old. She's sporting some new duds in these photos - thanks to a baby girls' wardrobe borrowed from Kelly and Taeya:

The Weekend

Erik and I kicked off the weekend with a trip to IKEA on Friday night. We have been wanting to get a dresser for our bedroom for awhile and we finally took the plunge and used some of our Christmas money. We were thankful that Micah and Keziah both behaved really well during the shopping trip. It helped that we spent awhile in the kid's area so Micah could run around and play. He got really excited when he saw a whole pile of "naughty stools" :)
It was a bit of an ordeal getting the two giant boxes home in our car and then constructing the dresser the next morning, but we are both really happy with it!

On Saturday afternoon Erik & Micah went on a boy's date with Erik's dad and brothers to a Motorbike show. Erik got some great pictures of Micah enjoying some of the big boy toys!




Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the sunshine and went to Mill Lake for a walk and some playtime in the park for Micah. I think the whole city of Abbotsford had the same idea because the place was PACKED!
We ran into E and her two boys K & S who I used to babysit before Keziah was born. Micah recognized them right away and had a blast running around with some other boys.




Keziah slept peacefully in the stroller for the entire outing...














Now we look ahead to a busy week with Erik's hockey games, care group and our current involvements with TREK leadership eating up the evenings. I'm thankful to have the days at home but I know Erik feels extra busy when he's working full days and then has plans every evening. We're both thankful for nice weather these days though and we're supposed to have sunshine all week!

And one last thing I wanted to blog about: I was inspired by Drea's blog to post some comparison pictures of both of my kids as babies to see how much they look alike. Here they are dressed in the same overalls and lying in the crib (Micah on the left and Keziah on the right):




















And I couldn't resist trying to recreate the crying picture I had of Micah on the same day (I'm such a mean Mommy!):

The many faces of Keziah

But this one's my favourite...

Big Girl

This morning I left Micah at home with Grandma and took Keziah for our 2-month post-birth check-up. I had timed it nicely so she would wake up and eat right before we left, but of course the doctor was really behind and by the time we got into the examining room, she was getting fussy and tired. We did her check-up quickly and then the doctor gave me a few minutes to settle her down before it was my turn. Thankfully she fell asleep in her car seat just as he came back in the room! Keziah now weighs 12 pounds and is about 23.5 inches long. As I suspected, she's at the 75th-90th percentile for her weight and length. I checked back this morning and Micah was 11 and a half pounds at two months. Otherwise the check-up was pretty standard. My only concern was her belly-button which still doesn't seem completely healed over, but the doctor told me it's not a big deal and as long as it doesn't get infected it should heal over eventually - he said it could even take up to 4 months before that happens!

We finally got some sunshine today and I am anxious to get out and enjoy it. Right now Micah is sleeping (he's been having wonderful 3-hour naps this week!) and then I hope to be able to get the kids organized to attempt another walk. You can see the sunlight streaming through the window in this picture of me and Keziah this afternoon.

Last night after supper Micah was entertaining us with his latest music and Erik and I figured we'd better start video-taping him more often. Here are his renditions of Baa Baa Black Sheep and the ABC's. My only disappointment is the terrible sound delay in these little video clips. Does anyone know of a different video program that works better?

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I think Micah may be coming around a little bit with the adjustment of having a new baby sister. He still needs lots of Mommy/Micah playtime and he's quick to suggest I put Keziah in her swing or crib anytime I'm holding her :o) But yesterday morning he played by himself for ONE WHOLE HOUR! That's amazing and I don't think he's done that in months. I remember that he used to be able to entertain himself a lot better before Keziah came along. Hopefully this will be a growing trend!

Monday

Erik made it home from Saskatchewan at about midnight last night. We were all happy to have him back! The weekend on my own went well, though. Friday night Grandma babysat Micah while I had a girls night out with my sister-in-laws and some friends. Saturday was a day trip to Bellingham with the Toews sisters. I was trying to hold back on my spending since I didn't want to pay any duty at the border, but in the end I probably could've bought way more! Oh well, I will have to convince Erik to take me again soon. It's really not that far and SO worth it for the prices at Target! That night we ordered in from Swiss Chalet and watched "The Lakehouse" which I thought was really good even though I'm not a huge Keanu fan. Also that night Micah decided not to go to bed until 11 PM!! He didn't want to miss the party I guess... Yesterday we ventured to church and made it through the singing and then spent the rest of the service in the nursery - still worth it since I got to visit with some of my friends and Micah was able to get out and be around some other kids.

Erik and his brothers were able to play on the same team for the tournament and they won 2nd place. Here's a picture of his team - shamelessly stolen from Janelle's blog :)

Today marks two months since Keziah's birth! She is getting to be much more social and a little more generous with her smiles - though she's pretty serious a lot of the time... I still don't know how much she weighs but we've got an appointment on Wednesday so I'll give an update on her stats then. I'm guessing she's over the 50th percentile for her size. She's almost out of her 0-3 month clothes and several people have guessed her to be 3 months when she's only 2. I wonder if she will outgrow her puny big brother who still hasn't surpassed the 25 lb mark!


As for my personal recovery, it's been so much easier than with Micah. The one thing that seems more difficult this time around is losing the baby weight. I know many of you will tell me not to panic since it's only been two months, but it's frustrating to know it's not coming off as quickly as it did last time. And it's way harder this time to get out and exercise - not only does having two kids make it more challenging, but also having rainy/snowy weather for most of the past 2 months hasn't helped... I just hope that by the time summer rolls around, my body will be a little more back to normal (if there is such a thing after having two kids...)

The weather has been pretty wet around here but I actually noticed some buds on the trees in our backyard today! BC may have lots of rain, but we could be enjoying spring weather as early as next month...

Here's a future blogger in the making:

His new favourite TV show is The Doodlebops and they're only on in the morning but he was asking for them so much that finally I looked up their website where you can watch videos and listen to their songs. I was trying to teach Micah how to operate the mouse so he could click on the songs himself, but that may take a bit more practice!

Flying Solo

Yesterday afternoon Erik left for the weekend with his dad and brothers to play in the Alumni Hockey Tournament at Bethany College in Saskatchewan. It would've been fun if we could've all gone as a family, but the idea of a long drive with the two kids in the wintertime didn't really excite me :)

So, I'm all alone with the kids until Monday afternoon! It seems like a long time but thankfully the rest of the Toews women will be around for back-up!







We helped Daddy pack his bag yesterday before he left. At one point Erik left the room and I told him I had found something he needed to bring. When he came back into the bedroom he found this cute little package in his duffle bag:



Micah was a bit big for the duffle bag, but I thought maybe I could sneak him into the trunk for the trip...


Well... No such luck but Erik said he would definitely miss the little guy. Do you like their matching buzz-cuts?

I wasn't sure how this morning would go. Micah is used to getting up and eating breakfast with his Daddy. Erik usually lets me sleep until he has to leave for work. This morning Micah decided to get up promptly at 6! Thankfully he's in a good mood this morning and hasn't asked for Daddy too much!

Micah's Bedtime Friends

When Micah goes to bed now he has several requirements before he can settle down to sleep. He has to have all four of his favourite stuffed animals: Froggy, Duck, Monkey & Cow. He also has to have his blankie and don't forget his nukie! (Sometimes he cries until I give him TWO soothers - one for his mouth and one for him to hold...) And lastly we must have the Christmas lights on and sometimes even the fan on. It's quite an ordeal and apparently last night there was a bit of melt-down when Froggy went missing. I was out and Erik was putting Micah to bed. Erik decided to make up a long story about how Froggy was taking a ride in the washing machine until morning and it worked - though they did end up finding him eventually.
Here's Micah the other day watching Dora. He had to have his milk cup in his hand, his blanket over his legs and all of his animals on the little chair with him...

Pretty in Pink

Yesterday Keziah wore this cute little dress to church. She's got a few 0-3 month dresses to wear yet and she's almost 2 months! I had to take some pictures since she may only have a chance to wear each dress once!

And this little angel slept 8 hours for me last night! In other words, I didn't have to get up in the night at ALL for EITHER child. Quite amazing. I could really get used to this!

And here's another little video for your viewing pleasure :)


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Rooster Tail and other stuff

I had to post some pictures to draw attention to Micah's hair. It's been growing out from his buzz-cut for awhile now and I keep waiting for it to get long enough to lay flat on his head, but so far it's still sticking straight up like a rooster tail at the top. I used to think he had my hair (fine and thin), but now I'm convinced he didn't get my hair genes...



Keziah's starting to enjoy this little playtent. Sometimes I catch her smiling at the hanging toys :)


Here are Daddy & Micah enjoying some quality time the other night after supper. Micah has grown even more attached to him since Keziah was born. He gets SO excited when Erik comes home at the end of the day. I do too because I know Micah will be a happier kid!
Here they are playing hockey in the hallway (one of Micah's favourite things to do with dad OR mom) and the other shots are just some good father-son fun!

Here is Keziah in her bouncy chair. I think she's enjoying sitting up a bit more and watching what's going on around her. She hasn't really smiled at Micah yet, I think she is mostly startled by his craziness!
It's requiring a lot of my time during the day to get her to nap. Sometimes she goes down easy and other times it takes me up to an hour of holding, rocking, etc. to have any success. And I wish she would STAY sleeping. I was really frustrated with her the other day but then yesterday was a bit better. I think it's harder this time around because I see the time it takes away from Micah when I have to hold Keziah so much.
With that said, she is also a lot more fun these days - smiling more and responding to our voices. I really want to enjoy this baby stage and I often remind myself to savour the feeling of holding her since she will be big before we know it!

That's all for today. Erik and I are on a cleaning rampage and there's still more to do!

Relaxin' all cool...

Didn't I read someone's blog recently about the reclinability of these foamy chairs?


So far Micah doesn't appear to have caught our cold. And the rest of us are feeling a bit better today, but we're still laying pretty low. I don't plan on heading out for a couple of days, especially now that we're getting another dump of snow. We've had such crazy weather here the last couple of months - last night there was even lightning and hail before the snow started. We sure didn't have those kind of winter storms in the prairies...

I think Micah has officially entered a jealous stage. He often throws tantrums while I'm feeding Keziah - deciding at that inopportune time that he absolutely MUST have something. And yesterday when I would hold her, he would immediately insist that I hold him. I hate hearing him cry and whine, and yet I think he's got to learn somehow. I just feel bad - like he thinks I don't love him anymore! He has also discovered how loudly he can scream and how much of a reaction he can get from it - especially when Keziah is sleeping. Do I just ignore it and not give him any reaction, or do I punish him every time? He's definitely been pushing my buttons this week! He sure looks like the doting big brother in this picture. He likes to help me burp Keziah, but his back pats are more like wallops!

Keziah is 7 weeks old today. She is going to be two months before we know it! She is still sleeping well for me at night - up to 8 hours! The other night she only did 5 and I was disappointed but then had to remind myself how blessed I am to have such a good sleeper. I can definitely still remember those short nights with Micah.
I also have worked hard this past week to get her to fall asleep on her own and for the most part it seems to be working as long as I catch her at the right time. I've been getting some good tips from The Baby Whisperer.

That's all there is to report today. Now I'm off to relax a little while both kids are napping:)

Plugged Up

This weekend brought with it a nasty head cold. We all seem to be suffering from it except for Micah - and I'm praying that, by some miracle, he will avoid it! I slept awful last night between blowing my nose and coughing and struggling to breathe through the congestion. I was also up listening to Keziah struggling to breathe through her very stuffy nose. I tried to suction her out a few times but that just made her more upset! Anyway, I hope it passes quickly.

Our weekend was pretty low-key as a result. We had some fun at Nate & Rosanna's on Saturday night eating dinner and just hanging out. Here's a shot of Keziah from that evening (stolen from Rosanna's blog :)...
It's hard to see in this picture, but the bib she's wearing doubles as a soother-clip. I got in on sale this week at Please Mum and it's pretty neat!

Yesterday morning we skipped church since we felt so lousy, but we still attended the TREK pizza supper in the evening. Erik and I went on TREK four years ago to Piura, Peru and now we have been asked to be on the leadership team for the winter program. It was fun meeting all the new Trekker's and it sure brought back a lot of memories for us!

And here's Micah! (I'm posting fewer pictures of him these days!) One of our neighbours "gifted" us this high-chair thing-y that his kids have outgrown. We considered just shipping it off to MCC, but we decided to give it a whirl and it's actually really great. Micah loves sitting right up at the table with us and this seat takes up way less space than his massive high-chair. I just think it looks so funny from the side - like he's hanging in mid-air!

Oh, and I had to add one more bit of good news. My nephew Noah got out of the hospital just in time for their family to take their much-awaited trip to Florida. He's actually doing quite well and the warm weather seems to be helping. His brother Josh & sister Kailyn are beside themselves with excitement from what I hear :) I'm just so happy that they get to have this vacation together!

Fun on the Changetable

I remember when Micah was a baby he LOVED being on the changetable. I'm not sure why. Maybe he liked having Mommy or Daddy right in his face, but more often than not he would just stare at the wall and smile. I thought it was just him, but Keziah loves being up there as well. I went a little nuts taking pictures of her this morning while she was being changed.

How big is Keziah?

Check out the view outside her window - we got another skiff of snow this morning!

Tummy time on the table.

Faces for the camera. Who do you think she looks like? I just can't figure it out...

Happy New Year!

Here's a glimpse of what's been happening in our household so far in 2007...

Micah has a new baby to play with. His Great-Gma & Gpa T bought this little baby doll as a gift for Keziah (thank you!), but Micah has already claimed it for himself. I will have to hide it away if I want it to stay new for when Keziah's ready to play with it :o)



Keziah is 6 weeks old today. She doesn't feel or look like a newborn anymore. It's kind of sad, but also really fun to see her changing and growing.

An afternoon nap in the baby swing. This has got to be one of the best baby inventions ever. Well, I think it's a toss-up between the swing and the soother ;)
















Keziah all bundled up in her car seat to go out to one more holiday party last night. I love this new toque that she got from my friend Erin. It's a little big yet, but I can't resist putting it on her.