Building Blocks

Can I just say how proud I am of this guy?  Noah has never sat down and focussed on building blocks before, so when I saw this happening I was beaming inside.  He doesn't usually take the time to "create," but lately it seems like he's really getting interested in figuring things out and accomplishing new things.  Like, for Father's Day Noah wanted to write his own name on the card he made for Joe.  This is a first.  I can never usually get him to do something like that because he lacks the patience to sit long enough to do it.  He was SO proud of himself for writing his own name all by himself!  And so was I.  You could have called my reaction a touch overboard.  It just seems like now that he is officially "FOUR," he feels like he needs to show me how old he's getting.  Sometimes he will randomly tell me things like, "Mom, red and blue make purple."  Or, "4+4 is 8."  He memorizes these little facts and then spouts them off to me almost every day, ...multiple times.  It's really cute.  He's really showing me that he actually WANTS to learn.  Last night we were reading a book together and I was teaching him about sounding out words.  Jackson would do a word and then Noah would do a word, etc.  And he actually WANTED to.  It's fun to see him at this stage.  A total spunge.  Just wanting to soak it all in.  So, I am thinking this creative process with the blocks is just the beginning.  At least I hope it is.  He was so proud of himself he even asked me to take a picture.  What a great idea!
 

Summer Is HERE!

I love Ellie's pose in this first shot.  Haha!  Pointed toe and everything.  "Cheeeeeeeese!"  And yes, Jackson DID wear that hat all day.  He even wore it bike riding to Mac's for a slurpee run later on.  Haha!  I love this kid's sense of style!  And I love days like this. Hanging in the backyard, eating watermelon....
...I love it even MORE when you can be wearing your swimsuit in the backyard, eating watermelon and running through the sprinklers. We've had a few great days in a row like this! So relaxing and so fun for the kids!
My daughter, the Diva.  Help me.

Oh the anticipation!

Noah was entirely fearless when it came to getting himself wet.  Although his face says different.  Haha!
This water-table is a hit in our backyard (thanks to Tarilyn. She has all the cool backyard toys!).    
And thankfully Summer has really just begun. Can't wait for many-a-more days like these! Happy Summer everyone!

My Own Little Pep Talk

I didn't love today.  I think if I were on a cycle I would be having my period right now.  I am eating chocolate and have been all throughout the day.  I want to cry over nothing and I've been yelling at my kids over really dumb things today, ...and then saying sorry two seconds later because I know I am being the irrational one.  I think I am being stretched here.  I miss my husband.  He works all day and then goes and chips away slowly on the house all night all by himself trying to prepare it for our renters while I am here at our basement suite taking care of the kids with no real break.  We are both working hard and long hours.  Some days I am really good and am even cheerful as a Mom and occasionally have energy to put on a happy face for my husband when he gets home.  But then there are days like today where I just want to cry and have no responsibility because the monotony kills me.  This pregnancy is also becoming really painful which makes it difficult to do even the slightest of chores (making my monotonous chores even MORE painful, if that's possible).  By the time Joe gets home at night, we are both spent.  I just feel so imperfect.  I complain about things I know I should be grateful for.  I am impatient with my totally healthy and beautiful children.  My husband works long hours and I know it's so I don't have to.  And I complain for lack of sleep and comfort because I am growing one of God's miracles inside of me.  Sigh.  For night-time songs, we sang "When I am Baptized" which talks about our wrongs being washed away and how we can be forgiven and improve ourselves each day.  I needed that reminder.  I think I just finished yelling at the kids to stop moving around so we could SING darn it!  Haha!  Nothing like yelling to invite the Spirit.

And then I got totally condemned.

I'm glad I did.  I needed the slap on the hand.  (I wish someone would slap my hand right now for eating too many Mint Aero Bubbles.  The bag is almost empty!).  Thank goodness kids are so forgiving.  They were so sweet going to bed and still wanted me to give them a kiss goodnight, etc.  Man, when you get older, things change.  Grudges are held.  If Joe blew up at me as much as I did with my kids today, I would not be wanting him to give me a kiss at the end of the night, nor would I be gentle back.  Kids are awesome that way.  That is a blessing since I mess up so often.

I think what I need to take out of today is that tomorrow can be a brand new start.  Nay.  Not even tomorrow.  The next second could be a new start.  I just need to take a breath and relax and be patient with myself and remember that although I am not perfect, I can keep trying to do better and NOT beat myself up for slipping up

Every.

Single.

Day.

*Now would someone be kind enough to put away my laundry?  I even folded it.  And without any word of sarcasm, I want my Mommy.  Don't Moms always make things better?

Birthday Boys

A couple of weekends ago we made the trip to Lacombe to celebrate with the Burnhams not only Noah's birthday, but Grandpa's (same day), along with Madilyn's, Eliza's and Bethany's (who celebrated theirs June 6, 9, and 12. In order too!).  It was a beautiful weekend, so one of our favourite ways to enjoy such a day as this is go for a nature walk at JJ Collette.  It is a beautiful place minutes away from where Granny and Grandpa B live.  The baby didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked to (contractions!), but it was still enjoyable spending the time outdoors with family.  All of the men (and the boys) were wearing their white shirts from church still and I had a mini-moment where I was watching them from afar off (I was walking slower because of my contractions) and they all just looked like angels in the midst of God's beautiful creations.  I also had a good spiritual thought that day at church too.  There was a Canadian Broadcast that Sunday and Elder Packer was one of the speakers.  One of the things he spoke about really stood out to me and I felt was a direct answer to one of the things that has been on my mind lately (I even blogged about it.  My "paranoia" one).  He talked about how the world has so much evil in it and many parents feel that it is hard to know how to raise their children in such a world.  But of that he said that if I am diligently praying and seeking to do that which is right and good, the Lord will direct me in that very moment what I need to do or say.  It was a comforting thought.  It is also a good kick in the pants to make sure that I am doing those things in my life to allow the Spirit to teach me and guide me, etc.  We talked about that today in Relief Society, how the Spirit speaks to us each in a different way.  I know I have had many experiences where I have felt the Holy Ghost speak to me/touch me/comfort me, but how often do I feel it in my life right now?  Am I seeking to understand and truly listen to the Spirit?  Am I living my life in accordance so that the Spirit can speak to me in a way I can understand?  It was a good reflection day for me today.  I've decided I need to better understand how the Spirit speaks to me.  And to listen.  And act.

After a lovely BBQ dinner, we enjoyed some cupcakes.  But of course, before the cupcakes were served Matt had all the kids doing a military-march to earn their dessert.  Haha!  ...and also to stall while Granny was getting the ice cream from the freezer.  It was so cute to watch.  The kids love their Uncle Matt.

I kept telling the girls to say "Cheeeese!"  Charlie obeyed while Ellie muttered it under her breath and did not bother to look up at me once.  The little Toot!  Nothing was going to distract her from demolishing her cupcake.  I don't blame her.  They were delish!

Cousins!  Madilyn and Jackson are such good little buddies!  It's sad to live so away from each other, but it was nice to have these few (very short) weeks to spend some time together.  Thank goodness for Skype!  Usually the kids just show off for each other by jumping on their beds and falling down, or making silly faces at each other.  Who needs words to communicate?

All the kids got to have a turn getting swung around by Joe.  Yes.  Even Taylor got a turn.


For the grandkids birthday gifts, they each got bubbles and some money.  They had a fun time with those bubbles!  They lasted all of... well, a few minutes.  But they were a fun-filled few minutes!  Thank you Bethany for being the Bubble-Lady.

Although this shot is pretty fuzzy, I thought this capture was pretty neato thank-you-very-much.

Jackson was so funny that day.  He took my camera off my hands for a good hour or two and was just taking picture after picture.  He is turning into a mini-Mom when it comes to snapping pics.  He loves it.  Here's a fun capture of my cute little guy wearing Celeste's sunglasses.


Such a photogenic group!  It was a really fun weekend, as it always is at Granny's and Grandpa's.  A lot of chaos and a lot of fun.  A little bitter-sweet because ALL of us were there and that will be the last time that happens in a LONG time.  Taylor and Bethany's crew have already moved to Arizona (just last week) and will be there for at least a few years for school, and then Joe and I and our crew will be heading out to Ontario at the end of the Summer, and then Matt and Tarilyn are moving to Red Deer in a month or so (but I guess that's closer to Lacombe so that's kind of a treat really!) ...and then every one else will get to enjoy all of these gatherings without us!  It will be a change, but I am going to just try to drink in all of these moments now so I can take them with me when we go.  I am also trying to remind myself that two years will be a snap and that this time will be an adventure and allow us to grow together as a small little family!  That's how I convince myself not to cry as much.  Haha!  It only works half of the time.....

30 weeks

Today I am officially 30 weeks!  It feels so much closer to the end now that I am in my "30s."  Seems like every one I know is poppin' out babies or are just about to!  My two besties just had babies this Spring (Amelia and Alysha), my sis-in-law Brooklyn just had a baby girl, Jenny is due in weeks, Christie's due date is not far behind mine (although she may have to have hers a touch early, so our babies could really be due at the same time!) and Nicole just announced that she is expecting in December!  Wow!  Lots of babies!  It's all becoming more real to me.  Today I was Skyping with Jenny and she was talking about all the fun pregnancy pains that go along with the last several weeks of pregnancy and I'm realizing that is RIGHT around the corner for me!  Sheesh!  All of her complaints brought back so many memories with my last pregnancy.  This is Jenny's third pregnancy, and I can tell you flat out that my third was WAY harder in ALL ways than my other two.  I have seriously been so nervous as to what this last trimester holds for me as this is my fourth.  Already I am feeling braxton-hicks every day, swollen/heavy crotch at the end of every night (all I have to do is exert myself in the slightest, like buy some groceries, and my poor "down-there" lady parts hurt so bad).  A few days ago I even got to feel my first "real" contraction in my lower-back at the end of the night.  It begins.  I also experienced a first for me- AND it was the same night that I felt my first real contraction... my feet. were. swollen.  NOOOOOOO!  I haven't experienced it since, and I hope I never will again.  It's not cute.  I WILL say this though:  I am so grateful for diclectin!  This week I thought I would be brave and wean from 3 pills to 2.  I've done it before with each pregnancy and it always takes a good week of queasiness before my body adjusts and is back to 100%.  Well, this time by day three (which was yesterday), I was throwing up ALL DAY!  Like worse than how I was all throughout my first half of this pregnancy (probably because I was taking more diclectin at that time to ease the nausea).  I was literally non-functional.  It was awful and I never want to feel that way AGAIN!  It's only been a month and a half of nausea-free pregnancy for me and already I have forgotten how awful it is to throw up like that.  Blegh.  I had to turn on the TV for the boys (like a good Mom) and slept for two hours in the afternoon while Ellie napped, just HOPING and PRAYING that my nausea would subside.  It did not.  So needless to say, I am back to the full three-pill dosage.  And I don't think I am going to re-attempt that again.  Not worth it.  Thank you, diclectin, for existing!  I did, however, go to bed at 10pm last night (even with my 2 hour afternoon nap!) and slept in until 9am.  Ridiculous.  I know.  It was amazing!  But then I had the audacity to attempt Costco today.  I was feeling alright and we needed groceries, but I did NOT take into account how weak I would feel after throwing up so much the day before.  My body ached so bad from heaving and laying around all day, so I was extremely out of breath pushing the cart after only a minute or two.  I was so close to turning around and saying forget it!  But I endured and ended up sitting down every couple minutes to catch my breath so I wouldn't faint, or crouching down because standing up was too much effort.  I hope tomorrow will be better and my strength will return.  Oh the joys of pregnancy!

Now for the REAL joys:

The internet tells me that my baby is around 15 inches or so long, and 3-ish lbs (depending on the site), ...which I believe.  There is NO more room.  When I hear that my baby is that big already, it makes me feel so proud of myself for making it this far.  I am SO close to the end!  It also helps me justify feeling so big.  I am big because there is a big baby in there!  I am also feeling a lot of "HEY!" kicks these days.  The ones where you can really see the baby's limbs poke out or move around, and quite frankly, they surprise me every time (hence the "HEY!"), and I love it.  I had a dream last week that this baby was a girl.  She looked like a cross between Ellie, but with Christie's Burnham-blue eyes and her name was Amelia.  She was so beautiful!  And so real.  That dream honestly made it feel more real for me (except for that I didn't have to deliver her.  She just showed up in my arms and I was like, "Oh good!  I've had my baby!"  If only it were that easy....).  Right now Zoe and Amelia are tied for our girl-names.  Amelia is not only the name of one of my best friends (whom I love and she does the name justice!), but also Grandpa Kay Burnham's Mother's name (so my great grandma on Joe's side).  So it's also in the family!  Joe doesn't want to make a decision until we have the baby and know the gender for sure, but I think that's a mistake.  At least we are still set on Gibb for a boy, so if this IS a boy then we are in the clear.  If it's a girl? ...I will likely get my way because I just pushed out a darn baby.

The end.

Eight Years

It's official. Today Joe and I have been married for eight whole years.  We ended up celebrating over the weekend and silly me, I didn't take one picture on our date (so here's a recent one that Jax took of us last weekend).  We went to the Cactus Club which is quickly turning into one of my favourite "fancy" restaurants and then went to a movie.  Inbetween we went "ring shopping."  Haha!  Well, kind of.  Joe's wedding ring no longer fits him quite the same (one of the perks of being married this long-we have both put on a little weight!), so he has been without for a few months.  Don't even think about it ladies, he's taken!  Anywho, we got him sized up so we can find something hopefully online to replace it for now.  It reminded me of our first date a little bit.  We jokingly pretended to be a couple in love getting engaged and we went ring shopping for me.  Yes.  First date.  I got to try on a $40, 000 dollar ring!  Yikes!  Joe kept saying stuff like, "Nothing but the best for my girl."  Haha!  It was hard to keep a straight face in front of the workers.  So, they went back and unlocked that thing from a vault.  I felt a little guilty that we were only pretending at the time, but it was fun to try it on "the best."  And Joe kept his word about nothing but the best for me.  Obviously, we ended up getting married and he's been trying to give me just that every day we have been married. He has been patient and kind with me, he encourages me and supports me, he cooks for me, makes me laugh and is such a fantastic Dad.  Last night we even made out.  (Still a fantastic kisser!).  Bottom line, I have never doubted his love for me.  I joked today to Joe about how these eight years have been a breeze!  And although some days DO feel that way, many of those days have been a lot of work.  I've found that the more effort we put into our relationship, the more we both get out of it.  A lot of time and prayers have gone into our marriage and I'm so grateful that we are at the place we are at today.  I've learned so much about myself and about Joe.  He is worth every second of energy (and with three and a half kids that is sometimes hard to give at the end of the day).  It seems like more and more couples around me are falling apart and although it is discouraging to see that happen, it only makes me want to try harder to make our relationship the best that we know how to make it.  Thank goodness for the atonement.  Thank goodness we can make mistakes and say sorry and try harder the next day.  And thank goodness my husband is good at humbling himself, ...because then it makes it easier for ME to do the same.  Haha!  Seriously though, I look at this picture and I feel so at home in his arms.  So glad Joe is mine.  I am pretty sure he was made just for me.

I love you Joe!  Thanks for an awesome eight years!

The Beach

Maybe I should have entitled this "The Beached Whale."  That is how I feel looking at this picture of me alongside all of my beautiful friends!  Haha!  But alas, I will still post it because I can't always look amazing in every shot like I usually do, right?  Haha! (Just kidding in a MAJOR way of course).  Anywho, so yesterday I met up with some of my girlie-friends and their kids at Summerside Beach.  (L-R:  Charlie, Moi and my tummy-YIKES!, Jordana Fitzner, Sarah, Alysha Sladek, Barb Butler, Tarilyn, Cassie Bayly, Jolayne Burnham, Kelli Gordon, Kristi Dupont).  I love how Charlie snuck up in this picture.  Haha!  One of the girls!  Anywho, it makes me kick myself sometimes that Joe and I couldn't find a place here when we were looking for a house.  HOWEVER, it pays to have friends that live here so I can enjoy the spoils too!  Thanks Barb and Jolayne!  It was such a fun and relaxing day (minus the part where Noah wandered off TWICE!!  I swear that kid is always in his own world!), AND two of my dearest friends were there from out of town, Alysha and Jordana, so it was an extra special treat!  Not as relaxing for them because they have wee babes!  That will be me again soon enough.....

Thankfully it wasn't TOO hot out yesterday (just perfect), so the kids stayed close to the shore and just built sand castles literally ALL afternoon! Either that or ate snacks.  And there were PLENTY of those with all those Moms... so when I ran out, they just found other random food laying out on the picnic table.  Haha!
If I was really on the ball I would have tried to get all the kids together for a group shot.  But, ...I obviously wasn't!  AND the saddest part was a LOT of my pics didn't turn out.  I was playing with my manual settings, so although I took a lot of pictures, not a lot of them turned out because the varying degrees of sunlight were constantly changing, ...so I'm a little bummed, but here are a few mediocre ones anyway!  I love this one of Ellie below looking longingly at Noah and Hannah, just wishing she could go out that deep!  Haha!  Thankfully she is not the curious/adventurous type, so I usually don't have to worry too much about her.  Sigh....  At least I hope I don't any time soon.  She IS thinking about it....

Charlie and Ellie shovelling and dumping sand into the water.  I'd say they did this 90% of the time.  It was cute to watch them play together.

Cheeeeeeeese!

It was honestly the perfect way to spend an afternoon!  I want to really utilize our last Summer here and make sure I am really enjoying Edmonton one last time over these last beautiful months!  So an afternoon like this with the kids and good friends really hit the spot!  Thanks again to those who planned this and made it possible!  You are inspiring and wonderful!  It really hit the spot!