Tag: Milestones

Christmas 2012

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Christmas was lovely, despite my terrible cold. I was actually feeling better on Christmas eve but I may have overdone it that day and kind of did myself in for the next few days.

Livi singing carols at her preschool performance the week before. 
Sofie had to miss it because she was sick. 

Christmas eve my side of the family came over for our Christmas fruit crepe breakfast, presents and then a turkey dinner before church. A lot of family but that’s how we roll! Crepes are a family tradition and I would have been happy with just that for dinner too!

Playing with the stuffed nativity while waiting for presents to start!
Maggy was very excited.
One of Livi’s presents from Marmee was a Hello Kitty Snuggie. She loves it 🙂
Sofie all wrapped up in her snowman blanket.
We were well enough to make it to church thankfully! Sofie didn’t go up with her class because it was past her bedtime but Livi went and “recited” part of the Christmas story. She had missed some weeks recently so she was a little unprepared, plus she goes between the preschool class with Sofie and the K-2 class with her friend so she isn’t always consistent. She was excited to be first in line though because she was the shortest 🙂
Livi with her K-2 class!
After church we went to look at a few Christmas lights. The last house had a hologram Santa in the window and Livi freaked out with excitement. She didn’t even want to stay. “We have to leave and get to sleep! Quick before Santa comes!” It was the fastest bedtime routine ever! After she went to the washroom Jon went outside the girls window and rang Santa bells and said “Ho Ho Ho”. Livi was so excited she couldn’t handle it. She nearly started crying and just buried her face in my neck. It was perfect.
Setting egg nog and cookies out for Santa.

Ready to pop at 40 weeks

Christmas morning was just with us four. We opened presents and had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, topped off with egg nog to drink. After a short quiet time we headed off to Jon’s mom’s house for the girls to get more spoiled! There is something about being the only grankids on both sides! The dinosaur from uncle Tony and Auntie Lisa was the winning toy this year. Livi has barely put it down!
Opening presents on Christmas morning! 
Santa got her a “real pedal” bike! It was what she had been asking for since Thanksgiving.
It’s a little big for her but I think she will grow in to it by summer!
Sofie got a tricycle to help her learn to pedal! She was already doing really well on it 🙂
Yes, I bought my girls matching pj’s for Christmas Eve!
Sofie heard the mention of desert and climbed up to the table signing to eat at Gramma’s house.
Boxing day was a little rough. I was so tired and such a mess the next morning. I think the two days of Christmas was hard on my cold and I was back to being sick. Jon was a little grumpy too because my coughing had kept him up. I also thought I might  have been slowly leaking amnio fluid for a few days so my midwife wanted me to get it checked out. We finished packing our hospital bag, just in case, and headed off to get checked out. I think everyone had the same idea and the maternity ward was packed. Everyone waited through Christmas and came on boxing day! It wasn’t amnio but there is some extra discharge to keep an eye on. Fun times! Thankfully, one of my midwives happened to be there and did all the checking for me. No nurses needed 🙂
I’m still just less then 2cm dilated and haven’t had much else change. The full moon is coming on Friday, which is my period based due date. That tends to bring out the babies so I’m still hopeful for this week! I  saw the midwife again today for our regular appointment and got the midwife to strip my cervix to hopefully get things moving along. 
I still need a lot of prayer to get healthy though to make it through labor. Coughing hurts during braxton hicks, I’m scared to cough during the real thing! This is really wearing on me and my family. I’m feeling guilty for neglecting my kids for sleep and putting so much pressure on Jon. He is still getting over the cold too. Livi is acting over compensating a little for attention and dealing with her own worry about me I think. I’ve tried to reassure her as best as I can but she doesn’t understand all my emotional ups and downs. I don’t cry often so I think that worries her the most, and I cried a lot yesterday. 

Thanksgiving 2012

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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving… mainly because it gets me starting to think about Christmas! I LOVE Christmas 🙂 I’m already starting to talk about Santa with the girls and plan Christmas decorating and parties! Not that the Christmas partying will be too involved this year as I’ll be 9 months pregnant.

I’m so thankful for so many things in my life, which I sometimes shocking to me. I don’t mean that in an ungrateful way. I just mean that sometimes I feel SO frustrated and tired yet I’m still authentically able to be purely thankful for what I do have. Maybe that is a growing up thing. I’m sure my old self never would have been content, let alone thankful, for my life. But, I truly am! My life rocks! That doesn’t mean I wish some things were different, or that I never complain. I’m sure I complain way more than I need too. I still have some epic meltdowns after long, hard days, (sometimes at the beginning of those days).
I asked Livi what she is thankful for this year and she listed off Mommy, Daddy, Sofie, Parker and Monster (her imaginary friend). That almost sums up my feelings exactly… minus Parker. I hate that cat. The only reason he is still around is because she loves him so much. 
Here is my list….
I’m Thankful for:
  • Jon. He is a great partner and fabulous father. I don’t know how I was able to end up with someone who is so good for me. I never expected that. I was sure I would be a single mom. He is patient, kind, dependable, and a great comfort to me. Not to say we don’t have our issues but we always manage to work through our crap, together and separately as needed. I’m thankful he is willing to work for the lives we are building together. I’m not sure all men truly understand what that means. He does.
  • Livi. She is incredible. I love her spunk, her intelligence, her zest for life, and her attitude even! She is so creative and such a daredevil. She makes me laugh and can frustrate me with her stubbornness and ability to negotiate with real logic!
  • Sofie. She is our miracle. She is growing and developing daily. She survived unimaginable hardships and amazes us daily. She is her own person. She learned to understand an entirely new language in a matter of months. She is learning so much and has such a pure joy when she accomplishes something new. She is an inspiration.
  • My mom. I would be no where with out the support of my mom. She is everything good.
  • My sisters. They are there for me when I need them and can always make me laugh. Plus, Maggy gives the best hugs. 
  • My home. I love my new house. It is perfect for us. I feel so terribly blessed. 
  • Co-living. Living with your family is so perfect. I honestly don’t know why more people in our North American culture don’t do it. It has countless benefits for everyone involved. 
  • My baby Evie. I’m thankful that I have one more amazing little girl coming to round out our family. I’m thankful I get to feel the movements and kicks of new life in my belly one last time. I’m also thankful this is the last time 🙂
  • Family and Friends who love me. I love the encouragement and support that they are all to me in each their different ways. 
  • My job. It really isn’t a job! I get paid way to much to hang out a few hours a week with a little girl who has Aspergers and take her riding and to Color Me Mine. I have a really good working relationship with her parents too which is so nice and something I’m so thankful for. 
  •  My life. I love my life.

Beginnings

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My girls started 4 yr old preschool on Monday. This was a big step for our household. We are entering our the school system! This is still really hard for me I think. These are my babies! Can they really be ready for school? Is this going to be good for Sofie? Is Livi going to feel too much pressure and responsibility? Will they both be successful and make good friends?

So far, both girls are loving it. Livi is excited for the projects she gets to do at school and is very excited for her turn at show and tell in a few weeks. Sofie excitedly runs in to the classroom and plops herself down at one of the activity tables exploring the activity. I kind of think I’m imaging it but I think I’m seeing Sofie develop already! She seems to be responding more to questions and talking way more! After just a week? I kind of feel like she is just a walking miracle sometimes.

I’m pretty happy with this school so far. They seem to be doing a lot of different activities that are challenging each of my girls. There is so much more parent involvement here too, which I love. The preschool that Livi went too for a few months last year is not even comparable to this school. This is so much better for my girls. Sofie’s TA seems to be pretty in tuned for Sofie too!

Livi is watching out for her sister, as I expected, but I think staying close for her own feelings of security too. It’s not all for watching out just for Sofie’s sake. This week she has started out playing with Sofie for a few minutes before going off on her own, but for each circle time she always finds Sofie to sit beside her. I think it is interesting that she searches for Sofie during transition times. She loves her sister and I love that Sofie is a comfort for her 🙂 She will figure it out though, make friends and feel confident in her new surroundings.

What am I going to do with those 2.5 hours, three times a week? Well, for the first few months, I’ll be trying to nap! And after the baby comes… well, I’ll still probably be trying to nap!

This month also started our extra curriculars! Gymnastics is something we’ve all been looking forward too. Sofie is in the parent and tot class right before Livi’s class. Sofie did A.MAZE.ING! By the second week she blew me away. She ran with all the kids for the warm up game, did most of the stretches, and walked on the balance beams with just holding my hands! I was so impressed. Livi, unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy her first class. She had an EPIC meltdown just as class was starting. I felt so bad for her but we had to stick to the consequence. She was removed from the situation kicking and screaming. It was terrible. I think her melt down was caused by numerous things… too excited for gymnastics to sleep well, she had to wait an hour through Sofie’s class first, and then she wanted to go on the slide, which is reserved for after class. Cue epic meltdown to proportions we have never seen. The following week was much better though 🙂 She did great, waited patiently and got put in the group with 5 year olds! I was proud of her 🙂

Music class starts next week. We went to a demo class today. Sofie loved it as usual, even though there is a new teacher. It will be different but I think Sofie will flourish! She jumped in singing with two feet! This class is so great for Sofie and excellent for her speech development.

This is going to be a busy fall with preschool, gymnastics, music, a speech development class I’m taking to help Sofie, and all the doctor appointments for the pregnancy and a few for Sofie. Wish us luck!