My name is Mom

2012-01-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

When Kolby was 3 I caught him trying to fish candy out of the garbage can at the hockey arena.

Not embarrassing

AT.ALL.

Just thought I'd document that little tidbit ;)

EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING.

2012-01-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

Laying in bed, I hear it first in the distance.

A soft thud.

I strain my ears because I know what is coming.

Thud, thud, thud... the quiet footsteps grow louder.

I can hear the pitch of the steps change as they move from the soft carpet to the cool linoleum, and then back to carpet.

He is getting close now.

Waiting patiently, I can finally hear his breathing as he enters my room. Moving silently from the door to my bedside, straining his eyes to see in the darkness.

He carries the softest blue blanket, usually a couple pieces of lego, and as always... his hair stands on end atop his head. I wait for it, as the thinks I am still asleep.

"Mommy" hes whispers so softly that even I can hardly hear.

"Mommy"

"can I be awake if I promise to be thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis quiet" he says, stretching his tiny arms out as far as he possibly can to either side.

"Yes baby. " I reply.

"oooh, kay" He says in a sing song voice, and then he is off.

This is how my day starts...
EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING.

Love you Kolby Andrew!

2011-10-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

August 20, 2011

It is January 23rd today, and I'm still trying to document what I can remember from the babies first months, I've been far too busy until now, so I just hope my memory doesn't fail me! I'll put all the posts in chronological order still, so that they're easier to follow :)

I took Knox and Kullen to the ER because they were quite Jaundiced. This was the start of a 4 day stay in the hospital, under the Billi lights for both of the boys... By the end of our hospital stay they had both lost over 1lb and were the skinniest little peanuts I ever did see!

Cliff Note version:

Kullen was down to 5lbs 9oz, and Knox was down to 5lbs 11oz when we were released from the hospital. We started them both on formula now -to get their weights up, but still breastfed too.

Knox's first night under the lights resulted in mom getting a whopping 15 minutes of sleep, every time the poor little guy moved in there he would freak himself out and flail around ... I ended up having to 'restrain him'

Sunday night after asking the nurses SEVERAL times if we could test Kullens Billi again, because he was more yellow now than Knox... Tyson finally came in and took him down to the ER. His Billi was through the roof, and into the lights he went as well.

I just remember how TINY you guys looked in those big incubators, all naked except for your styling shades...

AUGUST 17,2011 One day old

2011-10-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well. It is January 2012, and I'm still trying to document the early days after babies arrived... so this is going to be the cliff notes version of Knox and Kullen, Day 1

-Knox had a little trouble breathing just after birth and had to have some 'Kangaroo time' with momma, I didn't mind one bit!

-Boys boys got to room in with me that first night!

-Found out they are AB-

-Had their blood sugar monitored several times a day

-Kullen had the first bath...Mommy missed it but was told he did not like it one bit...Knox seemed to enjoy his

-Both of you had to have car seat tests done to make sure they could keep their O2 sats up well enough in their seats so we could leave the hospital

-Knox was a great eater but quite sleepy... Kullen refused to eat... also very sleepy...and the nurses refused to help me... or listen to me that you were NOT eating AT ALL. I discovered you were BOTH tongue tied...asked several medical professionals, and they ALL said it wasn't a problem...despite the fact that you wouldn't eat...The nurses pushed formula rather than help me get you to latch/ stay awake for a feeding.

-At one point both babies were being quite fussy, so I put them naked, side by side, and wrapped them together...they snuggled up to one another and calmed right down

-6:00pm , February 17...approx 26 hours after you were born... We were released from the hospital...You guys were rock stars! I have never been more excited or terrified of anything in my life, than that 3 hour trek home with two 36 week infants. Yikes!

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

August 16, 2011

5:00am: Woke up to get ready for the day

6:00am: Grandma arrives to follow us to the hospital, we head out

8:45am: Arrive at the hospital and are escorted to the Induction area.

10:00am: Have a cervix check prior to starting the induction. I am already 4 centimeters!!

10:30am: We're all checked into our labor and delivery room, We have met our Doctors, Dr. Tsui and I believe Dr.Campbell. As well as our Nurse Laura, and met a couple people that will be on the babies NICU teams. Laura starts me on a drug to induce labor. Starts with an O. cant remember the name.

12:00pm: I get my epidural BEFORE the pain even gets bad. Can anyone say AWESOME!? They do another cervical check and I am only 5cm. At this point I'm discouraged and think this is going to be one LONG labor as I've only went 1cm and contractions were almost constant. I think this is also the point where they break baby A's water.

From here on out I don't remember times... There was music on the radio... a couple foot rubs... and Laura was kind enough to let me chew gum even though I wasn't supposed to in case we ended up needing a C-section. At one point Baby A was having some decels so almost instantly the room filled with people. they put one of those little monitors onto his scalp... and everything looked perfect once again. Turns out, Baby A just wanted Laura's attention. I kid you not. EVERY SINGLE TIME she left the room he would have a decel and the alarms would start ringing... If she stayed in the room, all was good!

3:30pm: after staying 30 minutes past the end of her shift Laura finally left after determining babies were going to be stubborn and NOT be born during her shift. Literally 5 minutes after Laura left I told our new nurse (sorry, her name escapes me right now) That I was starting to feel some pressure. a few minutes later Dr Tsui was in the room and doing a check. I was 10cm! She asked me to give just a little push and see what happens...at which point she excitedly tells me to stop NOW unless I want baby A born right here right now, without any of the other doctors or the NICU teams!

3:40pm: the people start to flood in, there is a flurry of activity as both NICU teams prepare for the babies and both Doctors get all of their gear on and get the bed ready for me to push.

I'm going to guess here and say 3:45pm... they tell me to push with the next contraction.. I think I pushed twice during that contraction and Kullen Benjamin was born at 3:47pm... All I could say is 'Does he EVER look like Kyler'

I didn't get a chance to hold him right away as the NICU staff whisked him away to assess him (he was the anemic twin)

Dr. Campbell breaks baby B's water and informs us that Baby B has done exactly what he is supposed to and dropped right down... They seem shocked it went so well... and tell me I can already push again with the next contraction... It seems like forever before there is another. Finally I can feel the contraction start and it is time to push- again... and Knox Greyson is born with that contraction at 3:52pm, five minutes after his brother.

This time Daddy is able to cut the cord ( he wasn't allowed with baby A) They sneak me a quick peek and Knox is off with the NICU team as well.

Kullens NICU staff calls over to tell us he is a whopping 6lbs 9ounces (That is HUGE for 36 week twins) They bring him over to me and tell me he is doing GREAT... He is a little pale and that when I see Knox it'll be clear who the donor and recipient twins were. Knox's NICU team calls over telling us he is 6lbs15ounces! Everyone is completely shocked by

a)how smoothly their birth went
b)how HUGE they both are and
c)how well they are doing.

Dr. Tsui informs us that it NEVER goes this well and she is just amazed.

NICU team 2 Brings Knox over, he is doing great as well, and I am able to hold both of my baby boys together for the first time! Holding both boys I knew what the NICU team meant when they said it was obvious who the donor and recipient twins were... Here I have pale Mr. Kullen, and Mr. Knox looks like a tomato! They detected the TAPS soon enough that there were absolutely NO problems aside from the drastic color difference.

Coming soon, The babies first 24 hours, and home coming!

Life.

2011-10-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Life gets very busy when youre expecting twins. It gets even busier when you have infant twins... So no explanation should be needed regarding my LOOOONG overdue posting.

August 2011, a very busy month in our house.

We went for our routine MFM appointment in Edmonton on August 11, 2011... the appointments we had been going to bi weekly since 20 weeks to monitor the babies... On August 11th was the first time we had had a less than stellar 'review' from the doctors.

Up until this point we were always told how EXCELLENT we were doing. On this day we were told that there were some concerns regarding baby A's bloodflow to his brain and they wanted us back in four days to check on them again. I left the appointment wanting to cry, we didnt know if there was a problem or not... but it was a big hit for me to go from being told every appointment how great the babies looked, to suddenly there may be a problem.

August 15th, 2011... we headed back up to the city for our followup... the shock of a possible problem had worn off by now and we were expecting to hear everything looked great and there was indeed no need for concern. After a very long ultrasound in which the tech struggled repeatedly to get any blood flow readings from baby A, and assuring us it was nothing, and then an even longer wait for the doctor... we were told that babies would need to be born the next day due to what they figured was TAPS . Twin Anemia Polycythemia sequence. A form of the TTTS which is what we had been watching for all along...

We drove the 2.5 hours home to pack a few things and make arrangements for the boys as we didnt know how long we would be in the city and how much extra care the babies would need once they were born... We were told to expect them to need blood transfusions and a NICU stay... so we were most definitely worried...and just wanted one more night at home with our other three babies :)

To be continued. I do after all have 5 kids to watch, so I have to keep blogging short! Coming soon, The big birthday!

Ready or not...

2011-07-28T08:31:00.001-07:00

Today's post is going to be short and sweet. Ready or not... these babies will be here soon...

My main thought regarding that?

BABIES. as in plural.

I'm not sure that the shock/disbelief will ever wear off.

Sure I'm used to the idea.

However.

Last night as I lay in bed... with the pack n play set up bedside for when they make their arrival. I once again could not believe it is twins. Literally. How did this happen? LOL. I see them every two weeks on the ultrasound...I have two of almost everything... The boys have names. And yet I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that very soon I will have not one. BUT TWO babies sleeping(hopefully) in the pack and play beside me. I've always had a hard time envisioning that there was indeed a tiny human being in my belly... now to know there is two in there. Still shocking. I'm not sure the reality of it will really sink in until they are in my arms... so for now I'm stocking up on baby stuff, and catching up on sleep.

In other news. Keaton and Kolby are at their Grandpas for the week so it has been just Kyler and I since Monday... It's pretty quiet- which I suppose is a good thing considering how noisy I'm sure things will be before I know it!

It's been a long time coming!!

2011-07-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

A new blog post that is! Wow. Where to start? It has indeed been a very long time... and I’ve been a very busy lady.

So first for some updates!
1) I am 33weeks and 6days along. Up 34lbs. And my waist has grown to a gigantic 49 inches!
2) At our last ultrasound (which, if I am counting correctly is ultrasound #11) The boys were both doing great still, and measuring in at a whopping 4lbs 11ounces and 5lbs 3 ounces!
3) We have not had a SINGLE complication this pregnancy... no high blood pressure... no gestational diabetes...Pre-eclampsia...significant growth disparity or signs of the dreaded TTTS... Nothing.
Which I am SO thankful for considering the risk we are at with Baby A’s 2 vessel cord and them sharing a placenta
4) A few ‘interesting’ things we’ve seen at ultrasounds? One baby’s face right on the other ones butt. Baby A cracking baby B in the face repeatedly with his elbow... and Baby B was kicking his brother in the face at the last ultrasound.

How am I feeling?
Hmmm. Not sure! I feel great considering I’m carrying at LEAST 10lbs of baby right now! If anything my biggest issue is space... the babies are running out of it and things are starting to get quite painful. But I am not one to complain considering how much harder this pregnancy COULD have been on me. It’s just in the last month that I’ve really felt a need to slow down ( as hard as that may be for me!) Right around the 20 week mark I had some issues with severe pelvic pain that had me on the couch for a week or so... Then in June when the weather started getting really hot my feet started turning blue... Both of those issues thankfully went away. My current issue is the belly! If I lay too reclined on my back it is so heavy now it cuts off blood flow to that main artery that runs down your spine... we discovered this when during a NST my blood pressure plummeted to 70/40 or so If I remember correctly. SO- fun stuff! Not that you all care about these things... I just want to have a record of EVERYTHING so I don’t ever forget 

Are we ready?
We are as ready as we will ever be I suppose. How do you really prepare for Multiples? The nursery is ready... I’m stocked up on everything possible... so I think now it’s whether or not we’re mentally ready... which I am not- I’m still in the ‘I want my sleep and sanity’ phase. The boys all seem ready. Kyler talks to my belly daily telling babies he wants them to come out now... Keaton cant wait to see what they look like, and Kolby just loves to tell the babies he loves them. Tyson keeps saying he is ready and cant wait to see them... but I can already hear him complaining at 3am when I drag him out of bed to help me. LOL.

Have we picked names?
First names, Yes. We had Greyson and Garrett, Liam and Noah, Knox and Kayle, We decided on Knox and Kullen. Middle names still to be determined.

So that is sort of where we are at now. Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll try and answer them! I'm going to try to do a little blogging each day as an attempt to get caught up on the last couple months before babies get here... which could be any time!

We're still here

2011-06-03T09:18:00.001-07:00

This is a photo of my 25.5 week baby bump! I'm hoping to get on here next week to do some updating... thing have been hectic here with the Doctors appointments... managing 3 boys... fitting all of my photography clients in before I'm done working at the end of June... and trying to landscape our yard.

Hoping to finally get around to a birthday post soon, and since I missed posting all THREE of the boys birthdays I'm going to share about all of them together :)

Change of plans

2011-05-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Since I last wrote...

-Got the call that the appointment was set up with the MFM specialist...For this PAST FRIDAY! That was WAY sooner than I was anticipating getting in!

-Had our MFM appointment/ultrasound... Two Ultrasounds in less than 2 weeks!

And we officially have a game plan!

Both babies 'look fine right now'
It looks as though we will be going up to Edmonton every two weeks from now on at a minimum... Our next appointment is Friday the 13th! Yikes! That appointment will be the same as this past one, but she is also having us go somewhere else to have a fetal echo(ultrasound) of both babies hearts that day...If all looks well then, she said that we will try to work out a plan so that I wont have to go there any more frequently than bi-weekly... we'll set it up so I still do all of my regular monitoring here and then am up there every second Friday.

We discussed delivering in Edmonton... and from the sounds of things... It looks like that is where that is going to happen...

There was a whole lot of, if this,
this
or this happens you will deliver in edmonton,
or this... and you'll deliver in Edmonton...
OR, Just because of all the risks associated with what we're dealing with,
we might just want you to deliver in Edmonton irregardless.

So we both got the inclination that she wants to deliver in Edmonton. I think I am still in denial about that...

I'm planning to make it as far as they'll let me (38weeks)... and then I'll deliver here... without a cesarian...

She also discussed possibly finding me an OB in Edmonton and then I'd have to do everything there... so really. Looks like we might be going up there quite a bit- which is a hassle... but if it means me delivering two healthy babies it is all worth it!

So that is where we are at right now.
at the last ultrasound baby B had caught up to A in size... Now this Ultrasound he was AHEAD of his brother by almost a week! I'm a little worried about that...but if they keep telling me all is fine then I'm going to trust them and go with the flow... I'm lucky enough to have them monitoring me very closely so It definitly puts my mind at ease!

Coming later this week. Less Medical mumbo jumbo baby talk... and more BOYS! Kyler got an early birthday gift and I've got some really cute photos of him showing it off!

20 weeks

2011-04-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Had an Ultrasound yesterday, Appointment with new doctor today... and I FINALLY have someone who EXPLAINED things to me!!

What I know

My due date is officially Sept 8th. It only took me 20 weeks of pregnancy to get someone to tell me an actual date!

Babies ARE indeed monochorionic/diamniotic

Babies are both measuring a little AHEAD!! And within a day of each other. This is a HUGE relief as at my other ultrasound they were measuring 6 days different...and although they told me not to worry, of course I still did!

Babies are... BOYS. wow. Not really any words to say.

FIVE BOYS

Yep. that about sums it up. I'm going to be one busy hockey mom!

Baby B has a 2 vessel cord which can indicate problems and birth defects, but he is looking PERFECT...and I was told not to worry about that... so the only worry with the 2 vessel cord is then Growth restriction or problems with TTTS...

Which is sort of a double whammy since we were already concerned about the growth restriction and TTTS because we believe they share a placenta... But they are going to watch that VERY carefully now.

I'm waiting on a call To see a MFM (Specialist for high risk pregnancies who will do an in depth ultrasound to check for TTTS and cord problems) So I'm not sure when that will be...

Starting at 24 weeks (but actually 25 because the lab couldnt get me in any sooner) I will begin bi-weekly ultrasounds... Bi-weekly Dr. appointments... and somewhere around that time I will also have to do weekly non stress tests. So I'm going to be a very busy lady very soon! But it is ALL worth it if these boys are born healrhy.

In other news... My cervix looks great. Nice and thick... I'm sure you're glad you know! The placenta is anterior, which means we can attempt a vaginal birth... IF baby A is head down... Baby B's position doesnt matter so here's crossing my fingers that A will do his thing and flip around since they are both currently breech.

I think that is about it! Hope you enjoyed the medical mumbo jumbo... Coming soon, the newest ultrasound photos!

Twins FAQ

2011-04-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Are they identical? Yes. click here to read what we've been told and why we believe they are identical. Our Next ultrasound on Monday should confirm it, but I'm quite positive a second placenta has not grown since 12 weeks!

Are they boys, girls, or one of each? Well. We believe they are identical, so they are either two girls, or two boys. Identical twins cannot be boy/girl.

But I know a set of identical Boy/Girl twins!? Okay. I have heard this SO many times. Unless everything I've been told or researched online is wrong. That really is not likely. I've taken the following information from About.com... but I've read the exact same thing elsewhere many times.

Can Boy Girl Twins Be Identical?

The short answer is No!

The terms identical and fraternal don't describe what the twins look like, but actually how they form. Identical (monozygotic) twins are always of the same gender because they form from a single zygote that contains either male (XY) or female (XX) sex chromosomes. Therefore, boy/girl twins are always fraternal or (dizygotic); they can only form from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm. Fraternal twins can be either two girls, two boys, or one of each.

Let's break it down further.

Identical=monozygotic. Monozygotic means that the twins formed from a single fertilized egg that splits into two. It starts as one, splits into two. When it splits, it is either male or female. After it splits, there are either two males or two females. Fraternal twins are dizygotic. Dizygotic = two zygotes. They are two separate eggs that are fertilized by separate sperm. The resulting egg/sperm combination can be male or female. The result is either two male twins, two female twins, or one male and one female.

Therefore:
•Two girl twins can be either identical or fraternal (monozygotic or dizygotic).
•Two boy twins can be either identical or fraternal (monozygotic or dizygotic).
•A set of boy/girl twins can only be fraternal (dizygotic).

Boy/girl twins can not be identical (monozygotic).

Except....
However, there have been a few reported cases of a genetic mutation in monozygotic male twins. For some reason, after the zygote splits, one twin loses a Y chromosome and develops as a female. The female twin would be afflicted with Turner Syndrome, characterized by short stature and lack of ovarian development. It's extremely rare; less than ten cases have been confirmed. Given the odds, it's safe to assume that 99.9% of all boy/girl twins are fraternal. Okay,

One More Exception... Of course, another explanation for gender differences in identical twins is an identical twin who undergoes a sex change operation.

WOW. that was sort of long.

One last question.

Do twins run in either of your families? Not that we were aware of. However if they do/did... Only the females family has any influence on whether or not you will concieve twins... So if your husband has twins in his side of the family, you're outta luck... Your daughter might one day have twins though! As for the female side... if there is twins on your side, there is a chance you could concieve Fraternal(non identical) twins. Identical twins are not a trait passed down genetically. They are a random occurence.

Now if I'm wrong on any of this? Let me know :) But from all of my google hours/multiples book reading hours... this is what I have found to be true .

How many is too many?

2011-04-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

When it comes to children, How many is too many?

I had always said I would have 2... or 4... I did not want an odd number. However after I had Kyler I said three was enough. I was done.

Enter Newborn Photography. With the amount of newborns that have been in my studio in the past year I was suddenly having that... Hmmm. maybe we're not done feeling again. So when we decided to add a fourth child I was a little nervous, but I was okay with it, because we had always said two or four.

UNTIL God blessed us and we discovered the magic number was 5 instead.

I would be lying if I were to say this wasnt overwhelming. It wasnt so much the idea of having twins that seemed overwhelming to me, It was when I thought of it as FIVE, five children. WOW. I am going to have FIVE CHILDREN... by the age of 29!

I had seen families with that many children,
and I always thought,

wow.

They are crazy...

or possibly that their religious values lead them to having large families...

I never thought that Normal people...
you know,

people like ME

have five children!

Point of my post?

Lady at Kingsway Mall who was telling her friend to look at me because I had three boys in Towe and was pregnant again(as if it were a bad thing)

I am pregnant again.

And its TWINS.

AND ITS WONDERFUL NEWS.

Children make you feel young, children show you the wonder in the things we no longer see... Children make you laugh, smile, giggle, act goofy... and they make you LOVE... There is never enough love. And there is no such thing as too many children as long as they are loved with all their mommy or daddy's hearts.

So I say to my former self.
No the lady at Walmart with 5 kids is not crazy
(although I'm sure SOME days she might agree that she is!)
She is LUCKY.

Now that's real life!

2011-03-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was having twins and decided I was also going to cloth diaper,
my thoughts,as well as I'm sure anyone who has seen the usual state of my Laundry room were

'how the heck is she going to handle MORE laundry!?'

Well. Two weeks ago. Thanks to my mother in law... I got all caught up on the laundry... got everything folded. and put away.

You see, I have a TINY problem where I tend get overwhelmed and just STOP folding clothes or putting them away...

so usually my laundry room is FULL of baskets of clean, unfolded clothes. eek. Enter my personal goal.

Project Laundry.
I am trying to prove to myself that I can keep up on it prior to the babies arrival.

Here is my laundry room today,

Almost two weeks in.

I must say that I am proud.... now to keep it up indefinitely!

Now.

Onto another tale from the laundry room.

This.

This has been hanging on the Laundry room door for months.

Today it actually spoke to me.

Do you know what it said?

You fit me (and looked darn cute) three short months ago!

My reply?

I hate you. HA!

If that isnt real life I dont know what is.

Dear Lasenza Lingirie. We will be reunited one day....you will see!

What really matters.

2011-03-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

What really matters to me? giggles. I always want my kids to have a reason to giggle. health. happiness. snuggles. sitting together at the supper table. having someone I love's hand to hold. being asked to scratch one of their tiny little backs. hearing tiny footsteps running through the house after bedtime because they forgot to kiss the babies in my belly goodnight. reading stories, building clubhouses, or playing walmart in their bedroom. knowing that if they are hurt, sad, or scared I can make it better. It is not about having the coolest gadgets, the shiniest jewelry, the most fancy ride, or the biggest house. For a LOOONG time I thought these were the things that really mattered to me, That along with my perception of how other people viewed my 'success' but now...

Watching my family grow.

I realize this is what is important to me.
Being here for them.
Watching them.
Not missing a thing.

That is success. Having a hard working husband who enables me to be here for my kids.

You may notice health is also on that list.
Thank goodness I have a healthy family.

I *think* I have finally gotten to the point...
Where I will be just FINE if God plans on us being a family with 5 boys.

Sure, I may have a moment of disappointment or those odd moments when I'm driving to hockey... wishing I was going to dance... but my boys have brought SO MUCH JOY into my life! How could I NOT want more just like them!?

As long as they are healthy, I am happy. Girls/Boys. Does not matter Sure Pink would be nice... But I get plenty of what I need as a mommy from the little boys in my life.

I would be SO BLESSED if 5 boys is what God's plan is for me. Because its just that. Gods plan. Not mine. I'm sure whatever he has chosen to bless us with, that there is a plan behind it. After all, who would have thought we'd be blessed with TWO babies instead of one. So obviously he has great plans for us in the works!

16 weeks

2011-03-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

From the right angle,

and if I bunch my shirt a bit,

I kind of sort of look like my old self!!

But then I turn,

and...

KA-BAM

There it is! The 16 week baby bump!
So what is going on in my pregnancy this week?

Well. For one. There are TWO BABIES growing inside me! (I know it, I'm excited by it now, but yet I still have those moments when I think...'Really!? REALLY!?'
Yes Elisha, really.

I am SO forgetful. Never before have I been this bad in a pregnancy. This morning I looked for a pen in my spice cupboard. Yes. I'm that good.

I'm SO tired. Thank goodness both big boys are in school every other day, because then Kyler and I can snuggle on the couch while mommy naps... I'm usually awoken a couple times each nap when Ky has to give me a kiss on the nose. SO. CUTE.

Cravings? Slurpee's maybe? I don't have them that often but if I'm craving anything its a good ole Coca Cola Slurpee... and Milk.
No. Not TOGETHER. Gross.

Weight gain. Oh my. I knew it was coming... but I really did not prepare myself for it. In the past 4 weeks, if my scale is not lying to me... I have gained nearly 7 lbs! Shocked the heck out of me since I hadn't weighed myself for a while... but two days ago when I found my paper recording my weight, and the last one was at 12 weeks I thought I better get a new 'reading'. So with my 7 lb weight gain I am now officially back at my pre pregnancy weight... which is good... but it is still always depressing to see that scale number move up, no matter how noble the reason.

Nose bleeds. Wow. I'm getting glamorous here I know. But a nosebleed a day. Really? Not enjoying that.

A lot of this pregnancy update is sounding negative... so here we go... We have movement! I have been feeling flutters for a few weeks now(must be a multiple time mom thing, because with my first I did not feel a THING until after 20 weeks!), but this week they are definitely getting more substantial, grow babies grow! I LOVE feeling them move... and I cannot wait to feel it even more as they grow.

So there we have it, 16 weeks, hopefully 20-22 more to go :)

My little men

2011-03-21T14:53:00.001-07:00

We have had so much baby talk around here lately that I thought I would share one random photo of each of the boys from this past month...

Here is Keaton... and Steven. Where he got the idea to name his fish Steven I will never know. This was a photo I took for him because he had to take a photo of him and his pet to school this week. So since the other boys are allergic to cats/dogs... Steven is the family pet!

This was Actually in February, Kolbys hockey team was drawn to go play during intermission for the Edmonton Oilers... He looked forward to this for MONTHS, constantly needing me to reassure him. 'Mom, I'm going to play for the Edmonton Oilers right?' Yes honey. ' But mom... I'm scared I wont be good enough' Don't worry honey, The Oilers don't have the highest expectations. HA! In the end he was the goalie, and let something like 9 goals in, in the 3 minutes they were on the ice... so he was distraught, but it was the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm sure he will never forget it!
And last but not least. Kyler. This was last week, when I was writing that last post... He helped himself to half a box of fruit loops in a huge Tupperware container. When I came upstairs he had the blankets all laid out on the floor for his 'picpic'(picnic). What a waste, but can you blame him? Aside from the lack of nutritional content, Fruit loops ARE delicious. Just ask the twins, they've been having them every couple days as a snack ;)

2011-03-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

So, now that we've had some time to adjust and the initial shock of TWINS has worn off... we've begun to think of the logistics of things.

What do we really need?

What do we need two of?

How will we get things done?

I plan on breastfeeding/pumping, but do we need to stock up on bottles as well? If so how many? I've never done the bottle thing other than the odd bottle if I was going out and someone was babysitting.

Diapers, wow. the diapers!
-How many do we need?
-I want to cloth diaper, but plan on using disposables for the first little bit (until the babies are
at least 8lbs and will fit most one size cloth diapers)
-What size of disposables do I buy if I want to start stocking up now? Newborn? or Preemie,
because I have no idea how big these babies will be!

This is what I've figured out, Month 1, I am estimating we will use SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY DIAPERS! That is about 9 of the big boxes of diapers... Which is $171 IF I can get them on sale, If not we're looking at $225... for DIAPERS... for ONE MONTH! This is estimating with 12 diapers a day per baby... so it may be a little less, but I'd rather over estimate than under estimate and be un-prepared!

I read somewhere online that on average a set of twins will use 13,000-15,000 diapers by the time they are potty trained! So for those of you who question WHY I would ever want to cloth diaper, that my friend is why! I cant even begin to imagine that many diapers in a landfill if I can avoid it, or PAYING for that many diapers in the next 3 years, ouch! My cloth diapering may cost me close to $1000 initially for two babies, but that is significantly less than I would spend on disposables, a huge burden off of our landfills, AND... I can sell them and get at least SOME of my money back when I am done with them!

So that my friends, is another of the many things floating around in my head these days... I'm off to the elementary school now... Gotta love it when you forget to pack your son a sandwich in his lunch! I'm sure he wont mind since that means he gets a sub now :)

2011-03-16T06:48:00.001-07:00

It has been a while, But today was one of those days that I woke up and thought...

Was that real?

Am I really having twins?

Unlike the last time I woke up and had that feeling, I did not get the urge to throw up and then have a good cry.... Rather, this time I just smiled!

I'm not sure if my initial reaction is a normal reaction to finding out that you are carrying two babies. But I must admit that my first reaction was nearly dread, How could this be? I was already feeling overwhelmed that we would be adding a fourth child to our family, So how could this happen!? Five, I was going to have FIVE children!?

Now that I have had a couple weeks to get used to the idea, although I'm still overwhelmed at how I will manage 2 newborns and 3 older children, I am now also starting to get excited! We will have double the first smiles, double the baby giggles, and HOPEFULLY a couple little girls for mommy to do girl things with! I know I have probably jinxed myself by saying that I hope it is girls, But I really truly do. I also hope that if these babies are not indeed girls, that God will help me come to terms with the fact that I will not be getting a daughter.

When I thought we were having one baby I was okay with another boy, I actually HOPED for another boy. Because I KNOW boys, I can DO boys.

Since finding out that I am carrying TWO babies however it seems greed has gotten the better part of me. I find myself saying that I better get my girl, because really, all that I've ever wanted is a daughter, and if I give birth to FIVE children and don't get a daughter I will not be impressed.

I don't want to feel like that.

I know that these babies are a blessing and their sex should be the LEAST important thing to me... I just wish my heart could FEEL that. Does that make sense? Maybe one of you moms out there will get it, and hopefully before my next ultrasound I will have a change of heart. I love these babies irregardless, and if they are in fact boys, the LAST thing I want to feel at my next ultrasound is disappointment, because there are FARRRRR worse things out there that I could have to deal with than not getting my daughter.

The belly and other random thoughts

2011-03-10T18:17:00.001-08:00

So here it is!! I am, 14 weeks and I believe 2 days today. Please do not look too closely at the photo. I was tempted not to post it as you can see the hideous-ness that is my hair in the mirror.

On another subject? How do you moms find time to do your darn hair!? Mine is in a pony tail so often that when I actually wear it down I am shocked by how much it has grown since the last time it was down!

Flipping subjects again, I bought the double stroller and car seats yesterday! I feel like it is so soon to be doing anything like that, but the way I see it... In the event that I end up on bed rest, I will be glad I got everything organized so early! Not that I'm planning on being on bed rest, but you do see the size of me right? At 14 weeks? These babies are going to start growing FAST now and it should be interesting to see how ginormous I get!

Another random subject? Sure, why not!

Has throwing up become a contest in your house? If not then you are not in a house full of boys! Keaton was up sick most of last night... so tonight at bedtime I told Kolby to go straight to sleep so he can get lots of rest and hopefully not get sick as well. His reply.

'But mom!! I'm already sick! I just puked in my mouth and swallowed it'

Great dude. I'm glad you felt the need to share. Yet another reason I hope that I may get a daughter out of this twins deal... enough of the puke/fart talk for me... I need makeup and shopping! STAT!

Prenatal appointments

2011-03-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

So today was my first prenatal appointment since the Ultrasound that told us we were having twins...

To say it was underwhelming would be an exaggeration.

I was expecting him to sit down, tell me about what to expect differently with twins, tell me a little about how my prenatal care will differ as opposed to a singleton pregnancy, measure the fundal height, take my blood pressure...listen for heartbeats...send me for blood work...You know... all of the regular pregnancy stuff, plus prepare me a bit for how this pregnancy could be different.

INSTEAD.
-The nurse weighed me ( and as I predicted, I Have gained a pound, putting me at -6 but I'll take it since I was -8!), The doctor told me he got my Ultrasound report and it is indeed twins... That he'd like me to see another Dr. in town(but that's as far as that went), asked how I was feeling, said things were looking good and he'd like to see me back a week after my April 18th Ultrasound. So if you're looking at a calendar... That would make my next prenatal appointment in 7 weeks.

So lets look at the stats here

I am 14 weeks along with Twins. I have not had blood work done since the initial blood work at 4/5 weeks. He has not once listened for a heartbeat/heartbeats, not once checked my blood pressure or measured fundal height, and now we're going 7 weeks between appointments in my second trimester.

This cant be normal can it? I was really excited for today because I thought I'd leave the appointment with a better understanding of what to expect in the months to come. Instead I'm just as confused as ever... and frankly now quite frustrated by the situation.

Introducing...

2011-03-07T09:41:00.000-08:00

In their first blog appearance, Baby A and Baby B!
They even look identical via ultrasound! HA!

I'm really confused by this identical vs. fraternal idea. The tech told us that it is highly likely that they are identical since they share a placenta. HOWEVER based on what he told us and again, Google... Everything I have read says that in our scenario(one placenta) the twins are identical...I did read however that occasionally two placentas will fuse together giving the appearance of one, thus being misleading... So that must be why they wont say that they are 100%. Or at least that's the conclusion I have come to.

A... For Alex or Ainsley?

B- For Brad or Bertha?

For those of you who may be worried about the name choice of Bertha, have no fear! That name is actually not on the list ;)

Random thoughts today:

-Im feeling pretty darn good. I'm very tired... and having crazy dizzy spells/headaches... but I'll take it over all day sickness!

-I *think* I gained a pound!

-Current snack of choice would be strawberries and cream loaded with sugar. I tell myself that the strawberries balance out the cream and sugar.

-I bought my first two boxes of diapers, and a Medela dual electric breast pump.

-May be getting ANOTHER crib this week as well as the double stroller and two carseats.

-I think I might be buying too much too soon, but I'm a planner so it feels SO GOOD to be buying. LOL

Crazy Coincidences

2011-03-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

Now that we know we are having twins, when I look back there are SEVERAL strange, almost 'warnings' if you would.... Further proving to me that this is meant to be...

Are you ready to have your mind blown? I thought so. HA!

1)Since I was 5 years old I told my mom when I grew up and got married I was going to have identical twin girls(strange considering there were no twins in the family, and I'm not sure we even KNEW anyone with twins). WELL, when I grew up, got married, and had THREE boys I pretty much threw that idea out the window. Now, now it seems it may be a possibility- who EVER would have thought!?

2) Kyler, Oh my dear Kyler. I am sorry that Mom and Dad have been lying to you for months. Since the day we found out we were expecting and told the boys, Kyler has continually told us that there were TWO babies in my belly. I have continually told him that he was crazy and mommy was only growing one baby. oops!

3) I bought two cribs. HOW CRAZY IS THAT!? I was determined to buy as much as I can used this time since baby #4 was definitely going to be the last baby. I had made a rush decision to purchase an ikea crib on kijiji, without really looking at it first. Well when I got home I discovered(and remembered) that ikea cribs are shorter than regular cribs-almost like a playpen, and that was not what I wanted. WELL, two days later to my surprise the identical crib to the one that I had sold months earlier was for sale on kijiji, so I bought it as well, with plans to re-sell the ikea crib. So here we are. TWO CRIBS.

4) a couple weeks ago Motherhood maternity had an AWESOME sale online.I bought a ton of stuff, I bought half of it in Medium, and half in large since I know that I usually end up quite big. A week or so later I was disappointed to find that some of my items were out of stock and I would not be receiving them... HOWEVER imagine my dismay when I received the items that were in stock, and they were all size Large, and all absolutely HUGE, there was no way, no matter how big I got... that these would fit me. That doesn't seem to be the case now, since I'm bound to get bigger than I ever have before!

5)I receive daily emails from a pregnancy site with different things to expect during your pregnancy, diet and excersise ideas, that sort of thing.

I had my ultrasound this past Monday, I bet you will NEVER guess the subject of the email they sent me on Sunday ?

The subject was 'Expecting Twins?' I opened it up and it was an article about signs that could mean you are expecting twins! I thought that had to be a terrible omen and deleted it immediately. HA!

So there we have it, little coincidences that I thought nothing of at the time, but now I cant help but think WOW!

Identical, or not identical? That is the question!

2011-03-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, so at the ultrasound we were told it was 'highly likely' that the babies are identical as they are sharing one placenta, and just a thin membrane seperates the babies in the amiotic sac. Below I will share what I have learned about that since:

A) I was addicted to google BEFORE this happened.

and

B) I am double addicted to google now.

So first, a photo. They believe We are the second photo down in the following series and considered 'Monochorionic diamniotic twins'

Monochorionic means they developed from a single egg and a single sperm
Diamniotic means they are in two amiotic sacs. Sort of. As you can see in the photo.

I found this explanation online that explains it clearly. I think. HA! I have made the font red for the sentance that describes us :)

Here goes...twins can be identical (30%) or non identical (70%). Dichorionic means two placentas, and diamniotic means two amniotic fluid filled sacs. A non identical twin pregnancy is always dichorionic diamniotic, which means that your babies, despite both being in your womb at the same time, have their own placenta and amniotic sac. It becomes more complicated with identical twins. They are originally from one embryo that split into two. If the embryo splits very early on, then the twins are identical but have separate placentas and amniotic sacs (dichorionin, diamniotic). If the embryo splits a little later, the result is identical twins that share a placenta (monochorionic) but are in separate sacs (diamniotic). Very late splitting of the embryo is rare but can result in conjoined (siamese) twins, or two babies that have the same placenta and are in the same sac (monochorionic, monoamniotic). This type of twins is at highest risk of various complications of pregnancy.

Now, any of you who know me know I'm slightly OCD, and slightly a paranoid freak when it comes to being pregnant. I read the following and now am totally freaked out, yet determined to deliver two healthy babies that do not require nicu stays. That is my goal!!

'Twins in general are at increased risk for certain complications including premature birth, death, and anomalies. When monozygotic twins split later than 3-4 days after fertilization, they are called 'monochorionic' twins(which is what we are) and they have complications which are many-fold higher that those of dichorionic twins. Monochorionic twins are at especially high risk of complications and death because they often share the placenta and have one outer membrane (chorion) as compared with dichorionic twins which have a separate membrane (dichorionic). Monochotionic twins have a significantly higher risk of complications such as twin-to-twin-transfusion-syndrome (TTTS) and require more intensive surveillance during pregnancy. Many doctors deliver monochorionic twins around 36 weeks to decrease the risk of complications.

So yes, I am now officially a REALLY paranoid freak. Thank you google...for freaking me the heck out.

Part II

2011-03-03T07:49:00.001-08:00

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, MAKE SURE YOU CLICK HERE TO READ PART I FIRST.

So there we are, Tyson, Kyler and I... all hanging out in the Ultrasound room.

The tech put the thingy to my belly(so technical, I know!) and I thougtht I saw something funny, TWO 'blobs' but the tech moved around quick so I took a deep breath and told myself to stop freaking myself out, how could there possibly be something else in there!

Maybe a minute went by when the tech finally asked if this was our first ultrasound with this pregnancy.

Yes...

WELL. You're having twins.

WHAT!?

Okay. at this point I zoned out, rambling and babbling to the tech. But all I could think was. Okay, I know I'm looking at two heads side by side on the screen. But this CANT be right.

There was not a lot of logic in those moments! lol

So there we are. We left if up to god, tried once, were shocked to find out we're expecting, and then KA-BAM. Its TWINS!

They appear to be identical (I've got another post in the works to describe all about that)

So long story short. When you are prepared to trust God and let him make decisions in your life. Also be prepared for the fact that he may trust you with more than you thought you could ever handle. But rest assured there is a reason behind it!

PART I

2011-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I've updated. And a LOT has happened. A LOT. I have discovered that god must really have some plans for us since I put the future of our family in his hands and he has never failed to amaze me... Here is the story.

Tyson and I were unsure about whether our family was complete and in December decided to leave it up to God. We tried ONCE, and decided that if it was meant to be it would happen that once, and if it werent meant to be then our family was complete and we would be okay with that too.

I really wasnt expecting to find out that we were pregnant, but that is exactly what we discovered on December 29, 2010. We were shocked but figured it was meant to be. I was nervous about our family becoming 6 but that soon wore off and we began to get excited.

NOW. this is where things get a little hairy. I was extremely sick. It got to the point where I was sick 24 hours a day for just over a 2 week period. I could not look at, smell, or eat most foods. I lost 8 lbs in those 2 weeks! Never before had I been this sick, or this tired during a pregnancy... but I thought nothing of it, I was hoping that perhaps that meant we were having a girl this time, despite the fact that it really doesnt matter to me either way. The all day sickness eventually faded to just the occassional bout with nausea, which sounds great to me! So here I was... 12 weeks 5 days along, still down about 7 lbs, and headed to our first ultrasound.

TO BE CONTINUED...
YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO READ PART II.

Kyler is 3

2010-05-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Kyler,
As of 7:11 am today you turned 3 years old. I'm not sure how this happened but I cannot believe my baby... my BABY is three!

We had your party a couple days ago and you had a blast. you got 'KaChows' (Disney Pixars Cars) and Choo Choos. Thank GOODNESS. I love you and all... but If I had to endure one more fit as we drove by Walmart about you wanting choo choos I may have lost it.

Three.

*You still continue to say you're two when asked... we've been working on it
*You can count to 3 but only because that's our warning system for when you are bad
*Your favorite food is Yogurt
*You love to ride your tricycle... you don't pedal yet but you are a maniac... I am surprised we've had no serious wipe outs.
*You still aren't talking a lot... which I think has something to do with the fact that you STILL have a sucky. I'm going to have to get tough on you and 'lose' it one of these days... but it is your best friend
*You say Welcome instead of Thank you
*You CAN say I LOVE YOU perfectly... but usually say Uh-OOh instead.
*You still love to snuggle
*Every day when you wake up in the morning or after your nap you say 'Good Seep'
*Now that your pretty much potty trained you like to get out of bed 50 times at bedtime to pee.
*You are still just the tiniest little peanut... You are finally just wearing size 2 clothes... and a couple size three shirts... Your shoes are size 9. Your Ginch are Disney Pixars Cars as well.
*You need to bath every day... if not 2 times a day because you love to swim.

You are the tiniest... sweetest... MOODIEST boy I know and I love every little part of you. Happy birthday baby... I wish I could make time slow down!

Believe it or not Im still here!

2010-03-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

The move was psychotic... the week and a half since have been pretty uneventful... I was without phone or internet for the first week and a half... and am still waiting on the Satelite to be installed.

I've noticed without TV in the house it is eerily quiet. So quiet in fact that yesterday while Kyler was napping and Kolby was playing Xbox I sat on the couch. Fell asleep... and was awakened by the school calling to see why I hadn't picked Keaton up from school. Yes. It was only his second day of classes. And no. I would not even like to guess what the teacher thought of me for that. I FEEL TERRIBLE!

After a Pizza Bun and a good talk I think all was forgiven on Keatons end... Now to ensure I don't fall asleep in the afternoon again- I hooked up the stereo to the computer today in hopes that music will keep me awake. lol. So FAR So GOOD!

I also put up curtain rods that have been sitting in the box for two weeks while tacks held the bedroom curtains up... I'm on a roll!

More later on the move... The new house... The new STUDIO!!!

February 8, 2010

2010-02-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

February 8 ,2010 is the date we went to put an offer in on a house that we were only about 75% sure we wanted to buy...because we only had 2.5 weeks to find a house and be moved... It was also the day that our realtor told us there was another down the street coming up for sale soon... It was also the day we knew 100% that that 2nd house was the house for us...It wasnt scheduled to be finished for a month but the Contractor is AWESOME and pulled some trades off other jobs to get this one done in time for us!!

So if you wonder if I have forgotten about my 365 day photo challenge... or my promise to blog often. No I have not!! I have been trying to take care of my three boys while Tyson is away working... Trying to Pack and Clean... taking kids to and from school/occasionally hockey if I have the energy... Trying to run a business in the next to no spare time I have right now... So I have been harshly neglecting my blogging. With that said... This is our new house. Not quite finished... Should be done this week and then we will be in it come 1 week from today! I will be MIA a while again... but I promise as soon as I get the computer all set up at the new house I will post some more pictures of our new place :)

WHO KNEW!?

2010-02-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Over at Kellys Korner Blog she made snow ice cream last week... I had never heard of it which seems crazy to me that I can 'bake' with snow... something we usually have a wealth of for...oh... 11 months of the year(or so it seems) So when I read about it I decided that we needed to try it out. My boys weren't really diggin the idea until I told them that we could make it any color they wanted and then they were pumped. It was super easy... took 2 minutes flat... which is about the time it also took them to devour it. They loved it. So yeah. You should try it one day!

ON A ROLL.

2010-02-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right folks. Three posts in three days... and are you ready to be amazed!? I GUARANTEE one for tomorrow too. Now that could be due to a) I'm incredibly ambitious and on a blogging roll or b)I wrote all of the posts at once and scheduled them to all publish day after day knowing that likely once I turn the computer off it will be a good week before I get the urge to blog again. Yes. It is 'probably' B. But irregardless. Here is a photo that I promised you weeks ago... The bracelet Kolby made me at Playschool!! As well as a photo showing that even though you painted your nails at midnight and were tired and lazy ... you should ALWAYS put away the nail polish or you will wake up to a two year old with bright red finger and toenails... Tyson wasn't so happy... me on the other hand... I was SO EXCITED by what a good job he did I had to congratulate him .

Handy Manny? Not too sure

2010-02-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well. Frankly Im not really sure what he had going on here...but he seemed to be enjoying it... and I am not one to complain when my kids are entertaining themselves so without further Adieu... Handy Kyler. Notice the upside down glasses. Thats a fad that Im sure is going to catch on like wild fire. He is definitely fashion savvy... The pretty woman-esque over the knee boots are really hot right now and theres my thrifty boy... who needs to spend money in a shoe store when you can pull off the look simply with a pair of oversized white sweat socks. Always thinkin.

My little big Men

2010-02-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

So.

Today I happened upon something that I had to share....

That made me realize I cant ignore the inevitable...

My little boys are in fact becoming men!

How do I know this?

Well.

I caught Kolby on the toilet today doing his business while reading his Star Wars book!

Before I know it I'm going to be the weeping Mother sending her baby off to College ( If any of you have seen Transformers 2 you know exactly what Im talking about...and exactly what you can expect from me in another 10 years).

Ketchup

2010-02-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

It's time for me to 'Ketchup' again. Yes. I've been slacking on the blogging. Yes I have also been slacking on the 365 picture challenge. It may just end up being a 72 photos a year type challenge for me. SO. I have actually been taking the odd photo for the challenge. I have also been forgetting to write down the exact date of the photo. I could check in my camera... but come on. that would make WAY too much sense so instead you are just going to have to enjoy a slew of photos simply marked. JAN .

This is my baby ... sweet little baby. Who really isnt much of a baby any more but I can try and fool myself right!? I absolutely love my boys' wrinkly fingers when they have just gotten out of a long bath so I thought it was fitting to document it. Before I know it those hands are going to be bigger than mine and Im not ready for that!

2010-01-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Pause the music at the bottom of the blog before you hit play!

YAWN!!

2010-01-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

Really there is not a heck of a lot to update on... Keaton lost his other top front tooth on Sunday...Kolby made me the sweetest bracelet ever at playschool today... and yesterday at nap time Kyler puked his bologna sandwich up all over me because he didn't want to nap and was crying so hard... That child - I tell you... has the strongest gag reflex I have ever seen... Crying fits usually end either with him gagging or barfing...I bet you are all glad that you know that now!

If you hadn't noticed I am failing miserably with the 365 day photo challenge... I apologize... and I swear that one of these days I will get my act together and get back on track... I've just been so out of sorts with Tyson gone working all of the time and everything else going on in my life...Busy Busy...and when I'm not busy I'm so exhausted that all I want to do is sleep... which I'm headed there shortly :)

As for the afore mentioned video... It never actually came to fruition but I HOPE that Kolby will perform again one of these days so I can catch it on the camera and share on here. Its so cute. Now you are just going to have to wait and see if I can get a video before you get any hints on what it is about.

Well. I've been slacking on posting AGAIN so I just thought I would type up something... really anything that might be flowing through my head before I go to bed.

Tomorrow I am going to get a picture of that gorgeous bracelet for you.

Was this post random enough? lol. Sorry about that !

The Mystery Revealed!

2010-01-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Kolby I want Ketchup... Yep. Good thing he has a mom who can translate!

On the house front it is not sold ... Financing fell through for our buyer at the last minute so now its a waiting game again... which... on the bright side. I no longer have to move before the 25th of this month which means I can get a few boudoir sessions in before Valentines Day!! Woo hoo.

Im going to attemp to post a video on here later... I have no idea how to do it so dont go getting your hopes up... but If I can get it to work then you're in for a laugh!

A way with words

2010-01-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

10 points to whom ever can decipher what exactly Kyler meant when he said the following at supper last night:

'Towby...I On Tupaws'

$10 bucks says no body will get it!

**note . there is no actual money being given away here... the 10 points are pretty much useless as well.

No News... But Im over it now :)

2010-01-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

No News on the house today... I guess we will know officially tomorrow but its not looking hopeful. But I'm over it now. lol. If anyone knows me well they know that I am VERY laid back but you know there are just times when everything feels like it is bombarding me... So I need to have a little meltdown... let it all out... and then I am good.

Which I am now. Good.

What else is good?

Well.

this picture below!

I'm late. I know. I'm a slacker. I know. but its alright... this is my blog so I can slack just as much as I want to! I know what you are thinking about the above photo because it was exactly what I was thinking so I asked the boys.... 'What the heck are you guys doing??'

Well Geez. I totally should have known by the Hockey stick being used as a gun... They are playing Ancient Spy Shooters. YUP. I know we've all heard of that game.

Where do my kids get this from. crazy. But it makes me giggle :)

Keeping it real.

2010-01-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

I've determined that it is far too easy for me to blog when life is good. Yet when I find myself getting stressed out or having a bad day I completely avoid my blog. (which my explain my absence!)

I know the reason I started this blog. It was to give me some 'me' time. A place that I can talk freely also a place that I can record the happenings of my life. Yet somehow I have found myself avoiding talking about what is REALLY going on. Its easy to let readers think... oh life is great... my Husband is perfect... And my children are even more so but in reality I have problems. I have stress...

I love Tyson... I love my boys.... and I thank God every day for the small/huge/crazy/wonderful things that they bring to my life.

Yet I find myself struggling. Things are tight right now... With Tyson gone working all of the time we are looking at close to $600 a month in FUEL ALONE for him to drive back and forth from work. That's $600 that I really do not have. I really don't know where to go from here. I cant work more to bring in that extra income we need right now because... my husband is gone... and I have three kids to take care of...hence not a lot of time for Photography.

Today is the day that we should find out if our house is sold and I find myself praying a lot. We need for this to go through... To save our sanity and our pocketbook.

I just keep trying to calm myself - this will all work out the way it is supposed to... God had a plan and He already knows what the outcome will be so no amount of stress on my part will change what he has in plan for our family. What is really important is not where we live or how much money we do/don't have... Its that we have each other... And trust me I take a lot of joy in that.

I just had to get that out there... because I have a LOT of jitters about whether or not the sale will go through and it is really the only thing on my mind lately. PLEASE let it work out. It would make my life so much easier and would help us get back to a better place in our lives... a place where our family can be together every night... a place where I have time to do the Job that I love so much... and a place that I would have the SPACE to take that job to a new level. Yes I'm talking studio space in the new house that we have an offer on. Oh how sweet that would be!

Playing Catch up

2010-01-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

Okay firstly this is My Husband. And yes. that is plastic wrap.

My Mother in law had brought us a roll of that plastic wrap that people use for furniture/whatnot . Not sure why she brought it for us. Which is what we were discussing last night when I decided it would be so much fun to use it in the 'whatnot' category and to wrap each other up. HA! I am not a dork. So Tyson did me first... I was trapped... Pulled out every ounce of 'HULK' I had in me and still could not escape. So he kindly freed me. Then while the Bachelor was on Commercial I decided it was his turn!! WOOT! I was determined there was no way he was getting out so I wrapped and wrapped... then wrapped some more. Took a time out because I was dizzy and exhausted from giggling. Then wrapped a little more.

It took him 10 seconds flat to escape my plastic wrap prison. So not fair. But all in all it was fun... we laughed so hard that I may have peed just a little. HA. totally joking. but it was quite funny and a vast departure for the usual stress we deal with.

Speaking of stress. I 'think' I'm moving. Hence my absence. We have an offer accepted on the house... and if all goes through(we should know in the next couple of days) then I am moving on the 25. Yes. 25!!! of this month. So its going to be a little hectic to say the least.

That's it for now. I have another photo to post... but I'll save it for another day when I'm lazy and have nothing to show you. which very well could be tomorrow.

MIA

2010-01-12T08:32:00.001-08:00

Yes I have been missing in action... there has been alot going on around my house lately leaving me no blogging time :(

HOWEVER.

I do have a couple great photos for the 365 challenge that I am doing so well at(roll of my eyes) More with that later tonight as well as what I've been up to.

Make sure you check back. These photos are totally going to make you laugh and help you to know what a dork I am! HA!!

Told you!

2010-01-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

See I told you that I was going to miss days in the 365 challenge... what is this... Day 4 for me and I am already photo less.... But I AM blogging so I'm sure that counts for something

today was a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

well not really. I just really like that children's book.

and today was rather hectic. I've been emailing people like crazy trying to get some things lined up for a Boudoir Marathon that I want to get together and hold on Jan 16 ... so I really need to find a hairstylist makeup artist first thing... then book the hotel room... Oh wait. And then advertise and hope I get enough bookings on short notice! Oh well. It will all fall together and it is going to be SO MUCH FUN. I think I'm going to call it "I'm Bringing Sexy Back" HA! I thought it was a fitting theme for a little pre valentine event!

today was also Kolbys first day back at playschool since the break and the boys first days back at hockey which is ALWAYS fun for me... You know... the whole juggling three kids down to the arena and getting two of them in all of their hockey gear while I try not to lose the third in the arena. FUN fun times.

so that's it. It was a busy day... and my camera did not leave my desk. so no pictures.

The Tooth Fairy also forgot to visit last night even after I posted that she had to remember. She better not forget again tonight or I will have a very unhappy 7 year old!

Good night :)

A little creative cooking

2010-01-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

Last night before bed I made sure to take out some fish for supper tonight... when it came time to start preparing it I pulled it out of the fridge to discover it was still frozen...

So what did I do?

Improvise. Back in the fridge with the fish until tomorrow and I started to scavenge for something else to make... which is when I found this Old El Paso Soft taco bake kit that I bought ages ago. Only problem... I have nothing to make it with.

BUT THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM.

Because I'm creative like that.

So Out came 6 frozen hamburger patties... a jar of salsa my mother in law made ages ago that I forgot was stored in the crawl space... and a container of expired. Yes. expired sour cream. There was no way I was getting out of my pajamas and loading three kids up to go to the grocery store by myself at 5:00. Sour cream is that- sour cream right? So how bad can it really go! Then when it came to the point that I was mashing up the hamburger patties in Tyson's favorite frying pan with a metal(eek! don't tell him! lol) potato masher I just thought that the situation was so sad that it warranted a photo and its own blog post. In the end it turned out alright... meaning the kids loved it... and I thought it was mediocre. So there you go... Next time you think you have nothing good to make for supper look to me for inspiration! HA!

In other news today... I got the date right on my photo!! I had another one chosen of Keaton and Kolby together but then when my camera made its way in for bath time with Kyler I fell in love with the photos so much that I had to use one... So Kolby and Keaton can wait for another day... There are 365 you know so I'm sure they will have their time to shine!

Also on the menu today... One seven year old who is growing up far too fast... but more on that and my depression of 'my babies are growing up' later. For today I have to share that while I was constructing our Gourmet supper Keaton was being suspiciously quiet in the bathroom... at which point he emerges... coming quickly to the stove to share some new with me. He just pulled out his own tooth.

Yes you heard me right.

I cannot imagine doing that myself at 7... I probably would have cried and fainted.

So with that I have reminded myself to run back downstairs so the tooth fairy can make her 4th visit in less than a year... with three more coming soon judging by the crazy amount of loose teeth my boy has.

365- Day 3

2010-01-03T19:18:00.001-08:00

SO. here is todays picture...When putting the date on I put the second because this is the second day I have done it... Forgetting that I skipped the first day and that today is actually the third. oops. Ah well. So without further adieu... This is Kolby today playing Star Wars Lego on the XBOX wearing a crown of knex on his head !

365

2010-01-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

For quite some time now I have been reading this super talented lady's blog.. She is a photographer in Florida and I am firstly absolutely in love with her daughter... she is the perfect example of why I always dreamed of having a daughter. Gorgeous . Little . Girl.

Secondly Rachel( American Mum ) is an AMAZING photographer. She has such bright , sharp , bold photos... I am BEYOND in love with her work.

She mentioned on her blog yesterday that she was going to partake in a 365 challenge. What is that? Its a challenge to post one photo a day for 365 days. Rachel mentioned that she planned to make a book out of all of her images this year and what a great idea that is... So I'm jumping on the band wagon. Now any readers who know me well know that I blog blog blog... For like a week straight and then I forget about my blog for a week... a month or even more. So this really is going to be a challenge for me. I will make you one guarantee though. I most definitely will forget and miss a few days here and there... That's just me... I'm great like that :)

So here goes. In true Elisha fashion I have already missed the first day! On with Jan 2.

This was my little man today cleaning up his room before bedtime

Here comes Santa ....

2009-12-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

It is the season for eating too much, buying too much, and seeing too much of one other person. SANTA. he is everywhere! Now I notice most families have problems with their children at one point being scared beyond belief of the man... Personally in my house it is quite different. NEVER ONCE out of 3 children have I had one refuse to see him or act scared in any way. Most years it is quite the contrary... they want to be his best buddy and this year is no exception...

Amidst wrapping up a few gifts this morning Keaton came to ask me if I would come downstairs and do something for them...I come down to find that they have the little rocking chair set up beside the tree... with Kolby in his Bath-Robe and a Santa hat ... He needed the belt tied so he could be Santa

So I obllige and he sits in the chair

at which point Kyler screams SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTA!! runs over and hops on his big middle brothers lap... all smiles and giggles...

'Santa' whispers in Kylers ear... "what would you wike for cwistmas wittle boy?"

"teehee" Santa and Kyler giggle

They took turns playing santa for half an hour!

PRICELESS. these are the things I love so much about motherhood.

2009-12-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

SO many stories ... so little motivation to blog about them!!

One:

Last week we were eating supper and my middle man said he didn't want his milk ... he wanted water instead which is typical for him... he's a water nut.

SO. I tell him no... He has to drink is milk to get strong bones.

silence

I continue eating

then a minute later look up to find

he is drinking his milk... okay not all that exciting. BUT each time he takes a sip of his milk he puts his arms up and flex's his muscles to apparently see how strong his bones are getting!

It was cute and I am not the most eloquent so I'm not sure I portrayed it to its full capability but at least its out there !

Fix it Friday

2009-12-11T10:05:00.001-08:00

Its that time of the week again... Head on over to i♥faces to join in this weeks fun! Personally I enjoy going through everyones edits more than actually doing my own... Its neat to see how others do their processing and maybe learn new tricks ... This edit is actually I process I do on alot of my photos because I love it so much... Its very old looking I think... The first is the before

And here is the after
Again this is pretty much all with TRActions...

1.adjusted the curves a bit
2.Oh snap 100%
2.Bitchin B+W 100%
3.Cinnamon Toast 26%
4. Oh snap again 100%
5. Dirtbag Texture by TRA aswell 26%( I erased it then off select areas as it was too much)
6. Highlight seperator 100%
7. Shadow seperator 100%

Wham bam thank you mamm.

3 minutes flat... maybe- I wasnt keeping track.

Now on to check out all of the other edits this week.

2009-12-04T10:51:00.001-08:00

Today is fix it friday again over at i♥faces and it was an easy one... This picture was great so it didnt need a heck of alot... Here is the before...

And here is my after... I played with the curves to brighten it up... Levels to warm it up... used the sponge tool to saturate the background and ran the Pioneer Woman action- Sharpen this at 22% on the eyes. Easy Peasy...

What a cutie!

Time flies...

2009-12-01T21:13:00.001-08:00

I was looking through some 'old' pictures and by old I mean this past summer... Canada Day... and it almost broke my heart. My babies are growing up. I cannot believe how big they are all getting and I just want time to stand still. I want back the sleeping newborn on my chest ... the two proud 'big' brothers ... one in his pull up and the other with the chubbiest cheeks and biggest brown eyes...who want to give the baby sloppy kisses and get in on the snuggle time. I want the boys that need their mommy for kisses everytime they get hurt. Instead I now have StarWars or Transformers battles in my living room daily... fighting over the nintendo DS... and 'Private time' in their bedrooms. That is THEIR room you do know. lol. Dont get me wrong. These things are great and Im sure memories that I will also one day cherish... I just wish it would have taken MUCH longer for us to get to this stage in our lives.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
deep breaths. I will make it ... right? I cant imagine the mess I will be one day when they are getting their diplomas. Oh gosh. CANNOT even go there!

2009-11-30T09:09:00.000-08:00

Over at I♥Faces this week they are straying from the usual face photos and featuring 'Tooshies'!! I was excited when I saw this a) because I have a lot of faceless photos... not sure why... I just really like them and b) because I have a great tooshie shot from the last engagement session I did and I finally get a chance to share it!

Without further adieu... My entry :)

This is a great couple who's wedding I will be shooting this coming summer... I am so excited because they were just so fun to hang out with and he was a riot. Cant wait :)

2009-11-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

In the Zone

2009-11-26T07:41:00.000-08:00

So this morning I slept in... let me justify that by saying that Kolby was up ALL NIGHT throwing up...and now is fine!? SO. when my alarm went off at 7:30 it seemed like the logical thing to turn it off and lie back down. Only its not logical to then fall back asleep until 8AM when your oldest child needs to be out the door for school by 8:20. So to say the least it was a rushed morning but we made it! Once I got Keaton off to school I decided to pop upstairs quick to check emails and such... Only on my way upstairs I could hear Kolby following me so I stopped on the landing part way up the stairs to wait for him... And here he comes... carrying a transformer.... trying to transform it and walks right past me... within INCHES... up to the top of the stairs where he turns in my bedroom and says. Can you...Mom!? Where are you!? Thanks for noticing me buddy... I know you love your transformers and all but come on!

On another note. This weekend Old Navy has some crazy great deals on... I might try and drag my husband to the city for some of that action :)

2009-11-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

Go down to the bottom and pause the music first :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-11-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

This weeks challenge over at I♥Faces is ... SUN FLARE! Now anyone who knows me knows that I am absolutely CRAZY about sun flare... I try and get some sun flare pictures every time I do a shoot... And I say try because it doesnt always want to work for me. I have yet to perfect it which is the case with pretty much all of my Photography skills... I am a work in progress :) Below is a beautiful girl who I had the pleasure of doing some grad photos for this past summer... and I thought this turned out great with the sun just peaking through the tree... I hate to admit it but it is not my favorite flare photo - my favorite is far from perfect so It cant go in the contest :)

Without further adieu my Entry:

and just because its my favorite... but this is NOT MY ENTRY. just sharing time. lol

I love emotion... I love catching the moments Im not meant to during the shoot... and thats why I love this... It may be far from perfect... But really. could it be MORE perfect?

2009-11-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

It is fix it friday again over at I♥Faces... And frankly. Im sure this must be a record for me. 3 weeks in a row!!

Okay here's the original... not hard to work with considering how darn adorable this little girl is. LOVE her.

Okay and here is my first edit.

I played with the curves and cropped

increased the saturation a wee bit

ran the following actions at different opacities: green with envy(on the leaves) yin/yang, o snap, and pro retouched her cheeks a bit :)

I then selected her eyes and ran the unsharp mask.

And for #2 all I did after the above was run the actions:

Grandmas Tap Shoes at about 40%

Boutwell Magic glasses 100%

and added the texture... Dirty Diana which I erased off of her face. BTW... all of the above actions are Totally Rad Actions and they are just that. TOTALLY RAD. love em.

Things my Mother never told me.

2009-11-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Are there any other mothers out there feeling cheated by this whole romantic idea of domestic bliss... you know... the 'happily ever after' that I'm sure we were all deluded enough to dream up when Prince charming was down on one knee... Only now 'Prince Charming' just spent a long day sick in bed while you spent 4.5 hours at the hospital with your 2 year old...Came home to clean up the mess that had accumulated while you were gone... took care of 2 sick children and one perfectly healthy trouble maker... made supper... gave medications... got Jammie's... broke up fights... took away toys... sent boys for timeouts... tried to calm another down when he got so mad that it was bedtime and screamed/cried until he puked all over his bed... Got all that bedding changed... got him calmed down... gave him his inhaler... You put them to bed early thinking PLEASE GOD let them go right to sleep so I can finish this cleaning and park my rear on the couch for the rest of the night. FINALLY this day is over and I can relax.

Only to find Prince charming has miraculously awakened and beat you to the couch now that the children are all snug in their beds... and Hockey is on. GREAT.

Oh I could go on and on.What day is it today. Wednesday. Maybe I will need to start a whining Wednesday where I can throw a pity party once a week over all of the things that drive me crazy in my life. That sounds good. Because really. I could go on like this forever.

My Name is Mom. I'm not Elisha any more folks... I'm the cook... the maid... the doctor...the referee.. the carpenter... painter... landscaper...errand-runner...

That seems to be what it boils down to lately. Me... working my butt off and getting no appreciation or acknowledgement from my Mr. Happily Ever after.

Thank you God for this day... It was hectic and horrible... and now that it is over I can see that it helped me to appreciate all of the wonderful things that I have in my life and all of the great days I have been given...I have three BEAUTIFUL children who are all sleeping peacefully right now :) Is it wrong to want to strangle my husband even if he is sick? lol
Amen.

Good Night... I think I may need to have a hot bath and unwind a bit!

2009-11-15T17:42:00.001-08:00

Well. It was Tysons 30th Birthday on Friday and I held a suprise party for him... It turned out well and he didnt suspect a thing! Pictures to come but for now Im in mommy mode trying to nurse my big boy back to health... They're telling us he has H1N1 so Im keeping him in his bedroom and going crazy with the sanitizer in hopes that no one else will get it- Only time will tell :) But Im really hoping it doesnt spread since Tyson is back to work tomorrow and I'll be on my own again until the weekend... Over and Out.

Fix-it-Friday

2009-11-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Today is fix it Friday over at I ♥ Faces and in an attempt to blog more I am going to partake again :) I did all of the following in Photoshop CS3

Here is the original

Here I tweeked the levels... increased Saturation 22%....Selected the eyes and brightened/increased saturation/and ran the unsharp mask...Deselect the eyes...I then ran the TRA Oh Snap at 51% ... Boutwell Magic Glasses at 100% and Warm it up Kris at 30%

Now one more :) This one is all TRActions... BAMF 100% Oh Snap 100% Cinnamon Toast 46% Yin/Yang to lighten the face a bit...Dirtie Birdie Texture( I removed it from his face) and then good old Oh Snap again :)

2009-11-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today was another completely exhilarating day... Tyson is gone... so I got up with the 3 little men... got the biggest one off to school... middle one off to playschool... and then came home to park Kyler in front of the TV to watch the movie UP so that I could get some work done on the house. The kitchen is now about 95% complete so that's great...

Flash forward... went to pick Keaton up from school so that I could to explain to his teacher that he faked being sick on Tuesday so that he wouldn't have to do the work they were doing in class that day... Got her to send him home ALL the homework . tee hee. I'm so great. He LOVED me for that.

It is now 6:55 and I am patiently awaiting bedtime .. Yay Greys Anatomy and Vampire Diaries... I cant wait to see you old friends.

I
AM
A
DORK

yep.

That's all I've got but come on. I'm making an effort.

Just took a time out to mop some pee off my floor... Oh the wonders of Motherhood never cease to amaze me.

2009-11-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

Okay... so I promised I would get into more detail on my lack of blogging ... and well. I dont have any GREAT reasons... Only great questions... Where the heck do all of these other bloggers find the time/energy/inspiration to blog all of the time!? To be honest with 3 kids at the end of the day blogging is the last thing on my mind... Its more likely that the couch is calling my name.

That said I have had alot going on in the last... oh Several months that I have been slacking big time on the blog scene...

My Photography is really taking off... couldnt be happier but that eats up most of my computer time... Also in the News... We are moving!! Not this instant but Tyson has a new job out of town so while he is there working during the weeks I am here trying to finish our renovations / take care of 3 kids/ run them to school / hockey... You know - all of that fun mom stuff. We are hoping to put the house up for sale next Monday although unless by some sort of Miracle all of the work finishes itself- I do not see that happening. But irregardless wish us luck... I dont want to spend one more day than I have to here and husbandless.

Apparently this month is NABLOPOMO... Is that it? not sure. Anywho... In the spirit of that- and with my flair for slacking I am going to try to post more often... Not every day like you are supposed to ... but Come on. Anything is better than what I have been up to!

2009-11-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well its been a LONG LONG time since I have blogged but I will share more about that and whats going on in my life later... As for now I wanted to take part in this weeks Fix-it-Friday over at I ♥ Faces

Here is the Before:

And Here is my edit :)

I did alot to this photo... Adjusted the Levels.. increased saturation... Then actions galore- Oh Snap, Eye Boost, Pross Crossessed, Highlight and Shadow seperator to bring more definition to the hair and face, Yin Yan to lighten the grass and her shirt a bit, Green with Envy on the grass and a little select-o-sharp on the eyes... All Totally Rad actions. Now I could have gotten away without using so much stuff but I was playing :) and It only took 4 minutes... and I like the result.

Weddings....

2009-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

you can see a sneak peek of the wedding at my photography blog

http://everafter-photography-blog.blogspot.com/

where you can ALSO see the number I did on my foot!

Wedding Day!

2009-08-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I am shooting a wedding today so it would only be fitting to share with you that I was in the hospital until midnight last night after I sprained my ankle loading our vehicle for today...nice right! Luckily I have a friend of mine coming with me today so Im sure she will be alot of help for this old cripple.lol... Keep your eyes on here...Maybe I'll give you a little sneak peek tomorrow! Oh. I forgot to add...its been grey and rainy since yesterday....not great considering its supposed to be an outdoor wedding!!

Favorite Vacation spots...

2009-08-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

First of all... I have not had much...

If any....

chance to travel since having children and seeing as I started that at 19 I think it goes without saying that I just haven't had much of a chance to travel ever.lol.
Before then I did visit the Rocky Mountains which are about a 7hour drive...many lakes...went to Victoria ,BC with my art club in school... AND...wait for it...

Paris, France when I was 15

Those were the days before digital and frankly I don't know where any of the pictures are to scan so you get a google image :)

Although I am not well travelled I would say that is one of my favorite vacation spots... it was so rich with history, culture, and of course shopping... I swear I was depressed for weeks coming home to little prairie town Alberta. lol.It was just beautiful...and hopefully one day I will see it again.

Other Vacation spots? Well I would LOVE to visit Ireland or Scotland...Beautiful right? LOVE IT. Another perk is the whole Gerard Butler with the accent in the movie PS I Love you...Although I'm married I'd still like to meet a man like that! lol

Since having the boys... lets see... Ive been to The Rocky Mountains a couple times... Drumheller,AB

The Calgary Zoo..which was great...and all of which posts are coming soon! Cant wait to see everyone else's favorite vacation spots so I can start dreaming!

2009-08-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Oh wow. What haven't I done this time? Lets see.

This week I finally broke down and decided that maybe, just maybe its time my house needed an all out cleaning. I spent an entire day cleaning all boys rooms , they are now spotless. However I did NOT take anything that I couldn't find a place for and shove it in my bedroom. I have not kept my bedroom door shut since avoiding the disaster zone and I do not need to spend another entire day straightening things out in there. Eek. That's all I can say.

Last weekend we all went on a 3 day vacation in which Alberta saw thunderstorms like it never has before. How those were not Tornados I am not sure but it was NASTY. Just go to you tube and look up Big Valley Jamboree 2009. That's a little taste of what my holiday was like. okay back on topic now. This was not our first time tenting since our honeymoon 5 years ago... and the tent was not utterly destroyed by the storms before we even got a chance to sleep in it. I did not abandon the tent in the campsite and never go back. Not me. I also did not dream about my brand new 5th wheel sitting at home while I was laying in the 6" of water that pooled in our tent...trying to get our air mattress' to safety.

Okay its been an hour. my kids are fed. one is napping... I can hear this soother squeaking from his bedroom... and the other two ran across the street to play at the new park.

I came up stairs to start cleaning the previously mentioned master bedroom. I am most definitely NOT putting that off and trying to finish my not me post. Nope. Not me. I also cannot see 4 glasses, a bag of gummy bears, Tupperware full of change, a months worth of mail, diaper cakes, towel cakes, sticky Velcro, jewelry box, wedding invites, childs toy aquarium, and 3 dead pens in front of me. My room could not be that messy. And I am not sparing you and leaving out the other 99% of the mess. eek. Well I guess I'm off. I have now worked myself into a frenzy and must clean.

Cant wait to read some of the things you did not do this week... I tend to draw a blank when its time to write about it so my not-Me's usually lack the lustre of a professional not-me-er like McMamma. Oh well :) Don't you just love how I always strive to write with proper grammar... that's me. A perfectionist. HA

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-08-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Okay maybe not Alabama... Im heading home to visit my mommy for the weekend. Its okay to still call her mommy even though Im a grown woman right!? So the picture full ... summer catch up excitement is officially on hold until Sunday night... or most likely Monday morning. farewell and I'll leave you with a little food for thought.

You will never guess what my next post is going to be about!! HA

The early morning mind.

2009-08-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

You know when you first wake up in the morning... everything in the house is still silent...and you can actually still hear yourself enough to think? Well this morning I lie in bed thinking about....BLOGGING! (and going to the neighboring town for groceries...but that's not what my point is here). SO. I'm laying in bed thinking of what adventure I should share next...I finally decided I should TRY and go in chronological order. Only to realize. Okay... wait- but my last post was about swimming- which was NOT the first thing chronologically. So that method is out. Then it hits me. I went through all the trouble of coming up with the clever 3 infused title for yesterdays post... referring to our 3 day getaway this past weekend... and then did not blog about it!? Who does that!! Apparently I do. So take that blog land. Totally random post titles! HA.

Well. Don't worry. I will be making a NEW post in the days to come with that SAME title... but this time you will actually get the goods.

So whats on the menu for today you ask? Well todays special is Canada day with your choice of Keaton , Kolby or Kyler .

Just look at those sugar induced glassy eyes. Oh the joys of a parade!

You can just tell by the way hes holding his hand that hes just waiting to jump out into the road at the first sight of someone throwing

THIS. This is a great parade float. To make a long story short. We live in a SMALL town. The people on town council think that our 300 tourists in a 5 year period need a new visitor information center (you know... to tell them they're in the middle of nowhere with nothing to see)
So they fund raise their butts off to build this "Tourist information Eco Center" which is going to be 'green'

Its all about the environment baby... solar panels... motion sensor activated stuff... I don't know what else. Honestly I haven't paid much attention since they miffed me.

So they go to start building this ECO center.

wait for it

ready?

they cut down the 3 oldest trees in town to build on top of them!

If that's not environmentally friendly thinking I don't know what it (roll my eyes) So this is the point that float is making. Kudos to who ever put it together!!

Here's my wild man... he was a machine I tell you! And a Hawk eye. whoo!

The whole gang... since we live right on the parade route there was a ton of friends and family that came over to share a few beers and watch... Here I believe we have my husbands cousin Hillary's elbow... his little cousin Piper... my 3 boys and Honey...His brother behind him... and Tyson's Aunt Kathy in the left hand corner with the camera... Shes a great photographer. LOVE HER.

Well that's it for todays excitement! see you soon! HA.

My Baby and I , 3 days , 3 boys , and 1300 kms

2009-08-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay. In all honesty it was closer to 1600 kms but I was trying to stick with the 3's in order to keep the title 'catchy' for my whole 1-2 devoted readers...HA!

Well. Its been said before. Several times actually. SEVERAL. But I am a slacker. Its been a busy summer for my boys and I ... and it seems the blog has been neglected. AGAIN. Not to worry. I am going to positively overwhelm you in the days/ weeks to come. There's camping trips , a Circus, a Zoo , the Mountains , Birthdays , at home fun... tons of things COMING YOUR WAY!

I'm going to start with this :

SWIMMING LESSONS!

Now. I'm sure whether you know me or not... You know children LIKE my children. You know... the ones who scream bloody murder the second a drop of water touches their face... the kind that refuse to lay down in the bath tub or try to claw their way up your arm as your rinsing their hair. Yes . Those children.

WELL. I have two of them. Water haters since birth. Was it something I did ? God only knows. What I know is that any activity ... be it a bath... running in the sprinkler or having a water gun fight is going to end badly. Screaming , crying , snot flying ... that's the way these boys roll. Can't you tell?

No?

well. That may be because of one week... 45 minutes a day... and one(x2) failed salamander class.

And a new day has come! You could search the world round and you would not find a mother happier than I about the fact that both of her children failed swimming lessons. Why you ask? Well.

1.Kolby did not spend every one of his lessons hiding and crying. He partook. and he had fun!

2.since the completion of lessons ...BOTH. yes . BOTH of my boys are now SWIMMING! ALONE!! with life jackets of course... but in water that they cannot reach the ground! eek... even water on their faces!

This past long weekend we were on holidays... as you will see in the days to come.

Well our hotel had a pool. And the boys swam like there was no tomorrow!

No tears ...

no screams...

it was a mothers dream!! Thank you failed salamander lessons!

And just so that you don't get to excited... I forgot my camera in the hotel room during that momentous occasion so don't get too excited waiting for those pictures...not gonna happen.

FYI. yes I know these pictures are gigantic. I was trying something new. didnt work. will not be doing that again so no need to worry. lol. Because I know you were.

2009-07-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

It seems to be that time again over at McMammas Place... Kindof snuck up on me! This last week has been so confusing... Tyson didnot work...Tuesday , Wednesday or Friday... then he worked all weekend so It put a royal kink in my ability to remember what day of the week it isHere we go! I did not laugh my butt off just now reading McMammas not me post because I did the EXACT same thing as she did regarding Micheal Jacksons death! Yesterday I did not boost the two littlest Hawryluks onto the kitchen table and encourage them that we should have a dance party... with them table dancing. Not me. that first of all sounds dangerous and second of all is nothing any mother in her right mind would encourage her children to do. For our anniversary Tyson and I had a getaway to the city last weekend - childless! We did not decide at nearly midnight that we would go for a walk down 'whyte ave'(where all the bars and clubs are) Only to spend 10 minutes driving there... and decide it was way too crazy and busy... maybe we were tired and should go back to the hotel. Were not that old that when presented with a lively child free night that we would choose to go sleep. not us. Were wild ones. On the way back to the hotel I did not decide that the city skyline was GORGEOUS. make him park on a dark deserted side street so that we could walk down by the river in an attempt to find the perfect view for a picture. The entire walk was not down a dark steep hill... and my excitement for a 'romantic' mid night walk did not quickly fade as I realized I may die climbing my way back up this mountain. Once at the top of the hill I did not hide my camera when a man was walking past us... freaking out because it was nearly one am in a 'sketchy' neighborhood so he must mean trouble right. Envisioning him jumping me for my new camera ( what hoodlum doesnt want to steal someones camera right!?) and my knight in shining armor fighting him off. Yeeeaah... can you tell Im from a small town. Thats all Ive got. And Im not going to do a spell/grammar check. I used to... and determined that is a waste of my time.Or I didnt.Not me.

Show us where you live Fridays... Saturday.

2009-07-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late :) I was out of town for my husbands uncles funeral yesterday so I didn't get a chance to post... and thought better late than never!

Hop on over to Kelly's http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ to see the rest of the people who joined in... This week was show us your Yard/Garages , I did not take photos of the garage so you all should thank me for sparing you- it is not a pretty site! As for the yard - here we go!

This is the front yard... I LOVE LOVE LOVE that big Apple tree by my deck. It is the most beautiful old tree I have ever seen... nothing is more beautiful than in the spring when it is full of the most beautiful , delicate , white blossoms. If it weren't for that I don't know that I would put up with raking thousands of apples up all summer long!

This is 'the rock' . the rock that I had scouted out on the side of an old road for two years praying no one else would go steal it. lol. When we moved here I finally had a spot that I could put it so Tyson took his picker truck and a friend and got it for me !! He wasn't the happiest camper about my obsessive need for this rock - but I have got tons of compliments on it ... Most people say it looks fake- I love it too.

Flowers hanging on the front porch. if it were not for Tyson I'm sure they would be dead by now. I am not the most reliable when it comes to watering my flowers.

Not the best photo but this is the gate my husband built out of a garden trellis. Love it too. Can I say that too much in one post?

Fire pit. green grass. VERY green grass... Tyson was a fertilizing maniac this spring and I think he may be second guessing that now with how often he has to mow it.

The swing where I sit and watch the boys play... Here.

The trampoline is completely hiding your view of the 'tree house' which is not actually built into a tree but it sounds more manly than play house.All those toys are filling the sandbox... and yes. the grass is dead here. This is the side of the yard that we put the skating rink on during the winter and it absolutely killed our new sod we put on last year. Its slowly coming around... we've discovered grass grows great under the trampoline so we keep moving it to a new dead spot until eventually when we should have none left :)

2009-06-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Twas the night before Saturday and all through the house... not a creature was stirring- not even a mouse ! With Ma in the bath and Ty on his run... A little boy snuck out of bed for some fun! He was slick as could be...never let out a sound- Hid beneath the table - then fell asleep sweet and sound!

With that said... I definately did not think I lost one of my children briefly before spotting this ...

He did not sleep through the entire 'rescue' and not remember a thing in the morning.

That is also not spray foam around the windows waiting for trim for the last ... oh... year since we put them in...or the manufacturers sticker still hung in the left corner... Just in case you were wondering... that is totally not the case.

Oh and in the middle photo... that is not food caked onto the side of the table that I always 'forget' to scrub off.

Its a beautiful day

2009-06-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Today is our five year anniversary... grandma is booked... the hotel room is booked...and I am looking forward to a weekend in the city without my kids. I'll miss them terribly but this happens so rarely that I cant help but be excited! I'll be taking my new camera(yes. I got a new camera-after it being on backorder for 7WEEKS!) so keep your eyes on here next week for pics of our romantic get away.

In other news... Im sick. Ive got a cold and it really kicked my butt yesterday. At bedtime instead of me tucking Kolby in he came into my room... rubbed my back... gave me kisses and tuck-ins... asked if he could get me a glass of water... told me he loved me and whispered so quietly to his daddy while rubbing my back as not to distrurb me. It doesnt get any better than that. He is such a gentle hearted little boy. I love it.

Now he's downstairs belting out the lyrics to his favorite song- had a bad day by by Daniel Powter...

Over and Out. lol.

And FYI... this is where we'll be staying...Ive wanted to stay there since I was a kid so we'll see how it goes!

multi use clothing ideas

2009-06-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago I had an awe inspiring vision of. hold it... wait for it. Convertible pants. Its perfect... from pants to hat... then back again! Who would have thought! lol. Heres some photos from the prototype!

You know you love it!

To Pan or not to Pan?

2009-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

So Ive been taking a very basic photography course hoping my new camera would be in and it would be a great way to learn all about it...(I ordered it oh-5 or 6 weeks ago!) and its not...so I decided that's fine...maybe I would learn some new little secret or technique... However the main thing that I have learned is that panning is IMPOSSIBLE. Hardest thing I have ever tried to do!! So finally I gave in thinking that a merry-go-round would be the answer only to discover...in case you don't know... they are an endangered species! Tyson and I drove around for over an hour to a couple small towns in search of the species only to come home let down... there just aren't any left! OR SO I THOUGHT!

Lindberg, Ab ... the home of the Merry-Go-Round. Thank you! These didn't turn out the best I know but much better than my previous merry-go-round-less attempts.

I have also decided this is the best park ever... They have a gigantic teeter totter ( okay I so do not know how that should be spelled so I'm just going to roll with it.) Tyson and I made fools of ourselves and had a blast on it. I'll be going there again I'm sure... who doesn't like a park with equipment big enough for you!?

2009-06-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This past weekend was finally the first weekend that it felt like summer...so we took advantage of it ...got out the sprinkler and spent the day in the yard...We were letting the boys jump on the trampoline and play with the hose ... And after SEVERAL warnings not to spray Kyler ... Kolby grabbed the hose and aimed is straight for Kylers face. I did not take this as an opportunity to steal the hose and chase my screaming crying two older boys around in circles inside the trampoline (they were trapped!) Spraying them down with everything I had in me. I wouldnt do that! And I most definitely wouldn't think it was hilarious and use it as a lesson not to spray their baby brother ! Some might think that's cruel... so that's why I would never do anything of the sort!

I also have not been staring at this morning cereal remnants on the floor and been pretending they're not there... I'm a clean freak I would never just pretend not to see something like that!

That's all Ive got...Well I'm sure thats not it but that's all I'm sharing for today ;)

2009-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Just a sneek peek of a wonderful , kind , artistic girl named Diana... she will be graduating later this month and is planning on taking photography afterwards!

Show us where you live Fridays

2009-06-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well this post has been many weeks in the making as Ive been meaning to do the Show us where you live Friday over at Kelly's Korner Blog (on my sidebar since I cannot get a handle on the linking) for WEEKS now...And I couldn't have picked a finer week to join in... Now brace yourself for the excitement that is MY BATHROOM! And yes. One bathroom with all those boys. I hate it and long for the day when I will have 2 or 3 again...But I guess that's part of the 'charm' of an old house.

one small bathroom.

So without further adieu-behold-the bathroom I now wish I had livened up a bit before I took these photos. Its looking pretty blah here.

This is my bathtub (no? really!! lol)exciting I know. And look there is soap there! Okay more seriously though. To be honest this pic was taken a while ago after we finished some renos... and I cheated and used it instead of taking new photos...hence the blandness. Now my tub is full of bath toys and baby wash. I also have a BEAUTIFUL candelabra that I found at a garage sale for $5 sitting on the bathroom floor waiting to be hung above the tub. I'll post a picture when I can con - or I mean ask my loving husband nicely to hang it.

To the right of the tub there is a big window. the bottom half is frosted- which is great for men. the top half is not if you get my drift... so I put some nice 'faux wood' blinds up there and have 3 big wood pillar holders with candles sitting there. Wow. It probably would have been so much quicker to take new pictures than actually trying to explain what things are really like in there now.

okay this is the vanity. there's a basket on there now for facecloths... see the garbage can tucked on the floor beside it...Its magic!! No matter how many times the boys try they CANNOT get anything to go inside it... It somehow must repel it so it ends up on the floor.

Amazing.

I know.

That's about it...I have a little chest thingy that matches the vanity and sits on top of the toilet to store q-tips and all that exciting type of stuff. And the inside of the vanity (top and bottom) are both GROSS messy. like open them and stuff is falling everywhere. See I should have taken new pictures I'm sure you would have LOVED to see that. Well hope you enjoyed the tour!

Not Me Monday

2009-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well Its been a busy week at the H's House... Just this morning when I was cleaning the living room I did NOT. repeat. Did not find a petrified Hot Dog still in the wrapper between the couch cushions... And being curious as always I did not squeeze and sniff it just to check it out. That would be gross. And if anyone is wondering. It wasn't rock hard and didn't still smell perfectly fine...

This didn't freak the heck out of me. Hello what have I been feeding my children... 'meat' that doesn't decompose? hmmm.

I knew what was in them... now I know that they apparently don't decompose... and you can bet I will NOT buy hot dogs on my next trip to the grocery store. That would just be gross knowing what I know.

That's it. I'm keeping it short and sweet today- I figured petrified hot dogs were enough for one week. Now head on over to McMammas blog and see if anyone tops that! lol. Oh . and on another note. I wasn't going to take a picture of the said hot dog until I realized my camera was upstairs and that was too much work. Oh and the Hot Dog is not sitting on the counter waiting until my husband gets home so I can share my discovery. Not me.

Hes a workin man.

2009-05-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to trap -or I mean keep our kids safe - Tyson has been working on getting the fence up around the back yard. We got the north side of the yard done a couple weekends ago and now I just have to try and get him motivated to finish the job. Dont get me wrong . He is a handy guy... but follow through ? not so much... he LOVES to start projects just not finish... If you came to my house you would know exactly what Im talking about! I'll post more pictures once the Job is done... So Im warning you it may be a couple years! Okay lets hope not. I want to be able to throw the rascals out the back door and just let them go crazy. That will be a great day

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

2009-05-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the great Idea to make spaghetti for supper and start a food fight with the kids.... When Tyson gave me the heads up I made a run for the camera and he started by throwing a fork full at Keaton. The reaction? Fear! He made a mad dash to his bedroom and hid behind the door. lol. That is until we shared that they were allowed to throw it back at us. As you can see below then it WAS ON!

I threw a strand at my baby... and he BURST into tears!! after a couple hugs and showing him how he could throw it too then he was in.

Kolby is less inhibited... He was in from the start.

Although I made a note to myself that if we are to do it again skip out on putting butter on the spaghetti... everything and everyone ended up greasy.

Below....Kyler had to take a time out to eat some spaghetti off the chandelier. Come on . Were keeping it real on here right.

The Boys were pitching in with the cleaning then
they had a bath and a good talk that they are NEVER to instigate a food fight themselves. So we'll see how that goes.

Keeping it real

2009-05-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

So recently Susie posted on her blog about how in blog land you really do not have to keep things real... when your posting your free to pick all the 'best' pictures... the ones where your house looks spotless...despite the fact that its not... Your children look sweet and well behaved...instead of having faces still streaked with snack time food or red cheeks from the melt down they had earlier. Come on. I'm a mom I always look 'perfect' in photos right. That's probably why there are never photos of me on here. But despite the fact that usually I make it to noon before realizing that I'm still in my pajama pants or my hair is in the same ole pony tail it has been for the last two weeks. SOMETIMES moms get to look pretty!! Today I was supposed to 'model' for a photographer -somewhat friend- of mine. So I got my extensions out yesterday... painstakingly curled them. Only to get a message that we're going to have to reschedule.

But I didn't let that keep my down.. this morning I curled all my hair... put the extensions all in and pinned and primped. Moments later I realized ... yes this hair does not go with my PJ bottoms and tank top... into a dress and I was ready for the day. Slightly overdressed but hey... I spend 95% of my days under dressed so I suppose I will make up for that today. For proof that sometimes moms do get to look pretty I set up the camera and had my lovely husband take a couple pics of me...

Flash forward to 4 minutes ago when I'm editing my photo ... I think to myself. I'm looking good. I should put this up on my blog. Which is when I was reminded that I should maybe keep it real. So without further ado. Here is the said photo. Keep in mind. THIS IS NOT REAL. Heck. its not even all my hair. lol.

Okay this next one on the other hand may be getting a little closer to the real me.

And even more realistic . I'm a dork what can I say

There we go ! That's more like it. Now excuse the quality of the shot. For supper last week my husband and I planned a food fight with the kids... this was mid fight... and the only 'normal' picture I have of myself in past months.

More to come soon on the food fight front.

Keatons loose tooth

2009-05-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a very busy one for me. Saturday I had to shoot a wedding... Sunday we held Kylers birthday party... as well as it was mothers day and my mom was down for the annual 'mothers day green housing' All went great. When I get on my other computer rest assured there will be pictures .

Keaton. Oh Keaton. As shown in the Emotion post... last week my boy lost his first tooth. I had a wee moment where I just wanted to curl in a ball and cry. That tooth... and the other one beside it that was loose were his first two teeth that he got... two days before his first birthday... and now just minutes later(or so it seemed in my mind) they were leaving us to make way for. EEK. I cant say it. (adult teeth! NOOO!!) Well Sunday night I noticed the other tooth was ready to come out. I told Keaton since Dad was at ball tonight we will pull it out tomorrow... so cease and desist Operation Loose Tooth until then. ( Operation loose tooth is code for the extremely classified operation where the day the tooth is going to be pulled Keaton mercilessly wiggles it to get it ready for removal. lol) I was afraid if he 'followed through on his mission' at school the next day that the tooth might actually get lost.

Flash forward to the next day when I have a very upset 6 year old walking home from school. Apparently in Music class... despite my cease and desist order he was still working on his mission... gave the tooth a little twist and it 'popped' right out. He tried get the teachers attention (apparently the teacher was in a bad mood)without luck so he just put the tiny. oh and I mean TINY tooth in his pocket.

Minor I know. But the vision just broke my heart!! My BABY BOY pulls out his own tooth...gets a little freaked out and excited ... needs somewhere to put it but the teacher is apparently angry so rather than interrupt he just quietly puts the tooth in 'a safe place' his pocket. Only for it to be lost at recess. Ending in a weepy little boy telling me the story .Poor Guy. Hes fine now. We determined if he didn't find the tooth... because apparently his other teacher is looking for it. Yeah . I'm sure. lol. So if she doesn't find it ( again. lol) then we're going to write the tooth fairy a note explaining the situation and hoping she'll have it in her heart to still give the boy his money. In my opinion though. No actual tooth. Means less money. Am I a meanie or what!? Hopefully that will deter him from not follow my commands while on a mission.

So that's where we are now... His first teeth were his first to fall out...and that makes me sad-because babies grow too fast.

Emotions

2009-05-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

Hop on over to :

http://nathanlawrensonphotography.blogspot.com/

Nathan started a weekly photo contest of sorts and this past weeks theme was Emotion. Thought up by yours truly. Which is why its so fitting that I didnt have my post up on time! lol

So here goes. I didnt get as much as I would have liked... or get to edit... Its been a hectic week at Hawryluk House.

Down on the farm

2009-05-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Theres more to come but I had to share my new found LOVE. well. I guess its not new. But Im so in love with photoshop. Heres a before and after of my Hunny.

Chloe

2009-05-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

So Ive been avoiding blogland bigtime... and I have SEVERAL posts made...In my head

For now I leave you with a couple pics of this gorgeous baby girl I got to photograph yesterday... and hopefully I'll get my act together soon and post my bench refinishing instructions... As well as Keaton losing his first tooth and a trip to Great Grandma and Grandpa. See lots of plans and very little action- thats what Im all about. lol.

Oh BABY!

2009-04-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

By popular demand(lol) there will be an upcoming post with step by step instructions on

what I did to that bench... And Erin... It cost me 10 bucks!!(canadian...plus the paint and fabric...but still great)

Okay. without further ado. Heres a sneek peek of my BFFs newest addition(and his big sis). Yes Im laughing at the fact that I used that term too.

Another Day...A couple Dollars

2009-04-20T10:26:00.001-07:00

This is how I spent my weekend! Hunting down a deal and re-do-ing it...Turned out pretty cute if I must say so myself...Now I cant wait to use it for pictures. There is a post that has been in the works for a week or two now but Im slacking. Come on. I am nothing else if not a procrastinator- you really should know that by now!

Kolbys Interview.

2009-04-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

1. What is something mommy always says to you? "mmmm. I Wuv you"

2. What makes mommy happy? "uh. put our toys away!"

3. What makes mommy sad? "um when I am bad."Pointing at himself.

4. How does your mommy make you laugh? "um.when you tickle me! "

5. What was your mommy like as a child? "uh. barbies"

6. How old is your mommy? "uh. dis many"Holding up 5 fingers

7. How tall is your mommy? "dis much."holding arms out

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "getting the paper." no clue what hes talking about here.

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? "go upstairs"that's where my computer is

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? "fixing the ice cream"again no clue

11. What is your mommy really good at? "exercising" not sure when hes seen that. lol

12. What is your mommy not very good at? "Bat"Okay seriously. what is this kid talking about?

13. What does your mommy do for a job? "don't know"

14.What is your mommy's favorite food? "soup" we had corn chowder for supper and I told him its my fav. soup.

15.What makes your mommy proud of you? "huggin me."

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? "a mommy. but I will miss you"

17. What do you and your mommy do together? "uhhhhh. pause.love you. snuggles.playing on the puter."

18. How are you and your mommy the same? "uh. me(points to his head)and you(points to mine) " I laugh. "what. why you waffin?"

19. How are you and your mommy different? "why you say that 2 times!?"

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? "sayin wuv you and wuvins."

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy? "ehhh. I dont know."

22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? " ehh. St. Paul" followed by a song of " spankin my butt... spankin my butt... I am spankin my butt"

How can the things they do and say not make you smile!?

Privileged

2009-04-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

I hope you feel special because you are always first to get to see what I'm working on !! I did a maternity session with a super cute couple yesterday and here's one of my fav shots!!

Im still working on Kolbys interview... got about half way there yesterday before he started substituting every answer with something to do with farts or poops. Seriously- what have I gotten myself into here with 3 boys !?

Well. Im off to think of something ingenious to do with my family for the last weekend of spring break... hubby doesn't work tomorrow so were thinking of going somewhere fun either tonight and get a hotel or for the day tomorrow. Honestly we could go to the town 15 minutes away... get a room... go swimming... rent a movie and they would think it was the best weekend ever! Me however... not quite excited by that idea. lol. We're just not sure what to do yet. Seeing as its 4pm we should probably make up our minds! Any Ideas??

HiJacked

2009-03-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

so I stole this from 4 little men. It was too cute not to try my own!

What Keaton thinks of his Mommy

1. What is something mommy always says to you? "Go to your room"
2. What makes mommy happy? "umm. being good!?"
3. What makes mommy sad? "being bad."
4. How does your mommy make you laugh? "tickles. "
5. What was your mommy like as a child? "I DONT KNOW!"
6. How old is your mommy? "23,000 {gag-Im 26}"
7. How tall is your mommy? "3 feet" 3feet? "no 10 feet" {5'6"
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "teach . no fart fart fart fart." wow does he ever have me pegged. can you tell I live in a house of boys!!
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? "watch Kolby and Kyler"
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? "um. spanking!" {wow he has a lot of faith in me}
11. What is your mommy really good at? "cooking"
12. What is your mommy not very good at? "Backing up in the Durango." {Hate to do it ever since I backed into a parked car at 8 months pregnant with Keaton}
13. What does your mommy do for a job? "Teaching Kolby at home"
14.What is your mommy's favorite food? "Banannas"{lasagna}
15.What makes your mommy proud of you? "being good."
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? "fi-fiiiiiiii"{Fifi and the flowertots is on right now}
17. What do you and your mommy do together? "snuggle"
18. How are you and your mommy the same? "our skin.but dont put our. just put skin"{wow}
19. How are you and your mommy different? "hair"
20. How do you know your mommy loves you? "Cuz she tells me. Just put cuz tells me."
21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy? "How he looks."{who doesnt love male pattern baldness! lol. Love you baby}
22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? "West Edmonton Mall"

So apparently my spankings take prevelance over all else. Can you tell its spring break and hes being a trouble maker? At least he knows I love him. Coming soon.... Kolbys version!

2009-03-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

So Ive been meaning to take part in this for a couple weeks now and it just worked out that Im editing pictures today so I added this to my list. Over at I (heart) faces they have a weekly challenge where a bunch of people all edit the same photograph. Its fun to see all the different ideas and even more fun to learn how they did what they did. Head on over to http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to check out the original and other peoples take on editing.
Heres the before:

Heres the after:

Okay I used photoshop CS3 ... Now to try and remember what I did. first I brightened it up using the histogram thingy. technical I know. Then I rotated and cropped...ran the unsharp mask and erased it everywhere but the hair and eyes... played with the saturation...ran the 'bring on the eyes' action that was a freebie from pioneerwoman.com... used the dodge brush a little on her hair and face... It took me maybe 5 minutes in all and I think it turned out pretty cute. Also dont take my word for it that that is everything I did. I dont have the best memory so Im hoping I didnt forget something :)

Making my first fondant

2009-03-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Kolbys birthday is coming up and I decided I want to try making his cake this year and I want to do it with fondant...l good Old YouTube... found instructions and voila. my first fondant cake. It didnt turn out too bad. Although I now know things that Im going to do differently when I do Kolbys cake. Well . thats it for today. Nothing exciting here. Please if your reading this head on over to My Charming Kids(on my sidebar) Poor little Stellan has had a very rough day to say the least and it was not at all expected. This is a very scary time for them and Him and his family could use all the prayers that they can get right now.

Ky

2009-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

K issable cheeks

Y ou are quite a snuggler

L oveable

E asily finds ways to get into trouble

R eally loves to get into the snack cupboard.

What day is it again

2009-03-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I come on thinking ... I need to think of something brilliant to post. hmmm. what subject can I touch on that I could title with a 'T' for tuesday. Wait... I just read Mcmamas blog and she had a Wordless Wednesday Post. Silly silly girl- she thinks its Wednesday.

Oh wait.

No it cant be Wednesday.

Sure enough thats what the computer is telling me!? I guess Im the one that is completely lost! So here we go. Its not really wordless but your getting a picture :) Random old picture at that but I thought it was cute... this shows how he looks the majority of the time....Your sure getting to see alot of Kolby lately arent you !?

My sweet Tooby Doo

2009-03-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

K isses and snuggles for his mom
O ver the moon over StarWars
L oves to act dance and explore
B elieves in make believe
Y es I do wuv you tooby doo

Sneak Peek

2009-03-17T08:59:00.003-07:00

Shh. no body tell. here is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding I shot on the weekend. And thats all your getting until the bride gets the pictures.I LOVE it.

2009-03-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I decided early this morning that I was NOT going to partake this week. So as you can see I am not spending the evening in front of my computer screen updating my blog. My blog that I have not been neglecting... and no that is NOT a common occurrence.

OH MY. this past week. Let me think.

The other day the weather was finally warming up outside... so we decided it was time to introduce my children to the great outdoors ... With the insanely COLD weather that we haven't been having I most certainly wouldn't guess that its been months since we've been able to play outside in the yard. Global Warming my butt...I want to see some of that action up here!Okay. sorry about the little tangent. When we were out there let me just get out there and say this. I did not make as many gigantic snowballs as I could and attack my oldest child. Not me. I'm far too mature for that and what kind of mother would partake in such cruelty. And IF....notice I said IF something like that HAD happened I most definitely would not have enjoyed it thoroughly.Not me. I'm a mother after all... no fun and games here.

What else... what else. Okay. Anyone who actually knows me in real life will find this hilarious seeing as they know my husband...Hes not a small---light on his feet kind of man. ANYWAY... I trust that they will not share the fact that I shared this on here with him. The other night when they boys should have long ago been in bed. Had you been peeking through the Hawryluks windows you most certainly would not have seen Me on the couch with the music CRANKED on the hip hop channel busting a move with my wanna be break-dancing boys. You also would NOT have seen my husband on his head trying to do a head spin for the boys. Being the supportive woman I am I was definitely cheering him on from the sidelines...not laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants... for a good 10 minutes... I'm a very composed person... If I had found something about that funny I most certainly would not have carried on laughing rather psychotically for far longer than necessary. Not me. And it was not the hardest Ive laughed in ages. Poor Guy :)