Christmas

I am taking a couple days off to do "normal" things which is nice for a change of pace. Today I did some laundry, finally saw the eye doctor and ordered some new glasses and contacts (a little overdue, especially if you saw the condition of my current glasses), tomorrow will consist of more laundry and a hair appointment.

Ryan has received some preliminary results from his tests which indicate a parasite. Although this is very treatable with a medication with some side effects, the doctor is also still not ruling out Crohn's and we are awaiting the results from his day exploratory surgery still before he starts treatment for the parasite, to see if there is anything else which should take precedence for treatment. Unfortunately the specialist is away on holidays so we probably won't hear anything for at least another week.

We had a wonderful Christmas with family this year and Kaitlyn was spoiled. She has a new doll which she loves to feed bottles to and takes with her everywhere she goes. She even has a Dora hockey stick and puck (you know you're Canadian when...). Here are a few pictures from our holidays. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and has a wonderful 2008!

You know you're a big Johnny Cash fan when people start buying you Johnny action figures??


It's amazing how quickly she figures things out:


Her new best friend:


Hamming it up:


Being a goof:

Some New Pics

Kaitlyn helping decorate the tree:



She loves bathtime. Here's a pic pre-tubes. She now hates the beginning of her bath when she has to get her hair washed. She won't keep her plugs in her ears so one of us has to cover her ears while the other dumps water over her head to rinse.



And here's one of Kaitlyn in her "new" (used but still good) Gymboree outfit. She's our little ballerina.

Job

Well, I just got the letter confirming I did not get the job. All I can say is I gave it 100% and there's nothing I can do about it I suppose.

Diagnosis and Perspective

Firstly, I want to say that our family's thoughts and prayers are with Nick and Lisa right now and the trials they are facing with Amryn's diagnosis and now as they take her home until the Lord calls her home. Wishing you God's strength today and always.

Which brings me to perspective. We've been so wrapped up in our lives, it's hard to believe sometimes we get so caught up in what we believe is so important. Money troubles, disagreements, body discomfort and job interviews... It's really all so trivial yet we get so wrapped up in it. Sometimes it's so hard to just let go and let God, and I'm one of the worst ones for over worrying about the little things.

And now to update you on the little things ;)

Kaitlyn is above and beyond at her 18 month checkup. She's healthy and developing above par which is great news since I was worried about her language development.

My job interview went okay. I absolutely hate job interviews and like I said, I over worry about everything. The news should be out mid-next-week about who got the job.

Ryan has been 99.9% diagnosed with Crohn's disease. He has to back to the hospital for further investigation (which involves day surgery again) in the next few weeks. The good news is we finally have a diagnosis and now they can form a treatment plan. He was not able to run the physical test for the sheriff program as he was still recovering from surgery but they were very gracious about it and told him they will contact him with the next physical test date and hopefully he can get into the April program. (Which the sheriffs tell me at work is better anyway because then you're not doing pushups in the snow!)

So that's our update for now. Hopefully we'll have some good news to post next week about my job!

Finally - Some Halloween Pics

First, an update on us. Ryan went back to emergency on Monday because of more bleeding and pain. He was admitted into emergency surgery where they cut out a hard mass from his intestine which turned out to be a calcium buildup which should have been apparent from his ultrasound. Of course, they haven't yet called us with the results of his ultrasound... The good news is he is on the road to recovery and the bleeding has stopped. The pain is less and less everyday and he is scheduled for his physical test for the sheriff program on Nov 21.

I have applied for another job - same job title I had in Court of Appeal and I am hopeful to get it. It would mean more time off with my daughter which is the most important thing. Will keep you updated!

And now for some pics from Halloween. Kaitlyn was dressed as Snow White complete with a dark wig - until she started eating and choking on it. Ryan carved the pumpkin which Kaitlyn immediately recognized as her favourite fiction character Dora...

With the wig on...



Sans wig:



And Dora Pumpkin:

Surgery and Post Surgery

Today was not a very fun day - I knew it wouldn't be fun of course - and I'm glad it's over.

I woke up around 5 am and was worried that maybe I had read the surgery notice wrong and it wasn't in Chilliwack Hospital and maybe I got the time wrong? So me being me, I got out of bed and double checked the notice and it was definitely in Chilliwack and we were to check in at 6:45. So I went back to bed but of course didn't sleep. Kaitlyn woke up on her own around 6:15 and was just quietly sitting in her crib with her doll in her lap, her blankie in hand and had turned on her Aquarium and was watching the fishies. As soon as she saw me she gave me a huge smile and said "hi" and I felt so bad because I knew she wasn't going to have a nice day.

We arrived at the hospital pretty much on time and waited in the waiting room. Ryan went to have his ultrasound done while I had Kaitlyn prepped for surgery. Kaitlyn was not allowed to have any food or drink after midnight the night before and was rather upset that she couldn't have a bottle or juice and was pretty upset by the time we had to prep for surgery. She completely lost it when the nurse put her id bracelet on her ankle as well as the numbing cream on her hands. She kept on trying to take off her tiny little hospital gown and already I was getting upset about the whole thing and just wanted it to end. I was escorted into the surgery room finally with Kaitlyn in my arms and I was supposed to hold her hand while she drifted off but instead she was sobbing so hard and fighting everyone and all I could do was hold her arms down so she wouldn't attack the anasthesiologist. I have never heard her cry that hard before and hope to never again.

After the surgery the nurse called for me and let me in. Kaitlyn was still sobbing and waking up from the sedation (she was only under for about 20 minutes). She continued to sob for about 1-1/2 hours, even after we got home. She is on a prescription ear drop and lots of Tylenol and her ear is still draining a pinkish discharge which the nurse said would happen for the next 48 hours or so. The dr seems happy with the results and said there was so much fluid and her hearing difference will probably be like night and day. We have a followup appointment in 3 weeks where we can have her fitted for plugs for water exposure but until then we cannot get water in her ears.

Now she is back to her same old self and is being super affectionate. Besides the pink fluid draining, you can't even tell anything happened to her today which is a blessing! Oh, and I did take the camera with me today to the hospital but couldn't bear to take any pictures of my child in so much misery.

Ryan's ultrasound also seems to have gone well. The dr was called in at the end who told Ryan there was nothing to worry about and the results would be sent to our family dr. Hopefully we'll get some answers for his discomfort soon!

Well, there's the update from today as promised! Hopefully I get better at this blogger thing now that some stress seems to have been alleviated from our household. Hope to post again soon.

Kaitlyn Is Getting Tubes

Kaitlyn finally saw the ear-nose-throat specialist this week and she definitely needs tubes. Her surgery is scheduled for October 25 and of course I'm much more concerned than she is ;) They will be putting her under which is the scariest part of all of it. And I have no idea what this means as far as care. I was going to schedule her for mom-tots swimming lessons but now I don't know if she's even allowed in the water.

We'll be at the hospital most of the day as Kaitlyn's surgery is at 6:45 and Ryan's ultrasound to confirm or not confirm his probable gallstones is later in the day at the hospital. Should be a long day.

Anyways, here are a couple pictures of our princess - the first at the hockey game and the next showing she does have hair that can support clips (finally!). Please excuse the runny nose - another condition which will hopefully be fixed by the tubes.



We're Number One!!!



Yes, I know I'm cute.

I am Now Full-Time!

It is official starting today! I am a full-time court clerk and am ecstatic. We had a courthouse meeting (I was given the heads up before hand) and due to some staffing changes, I am now full-time permanent! It has been a frustrating last few months but I am so relieved to know I don't have to worry about being sent home at noon anymore or seeing that dreaded FTE sheet being dragged out every week anymore. Plus I'm now being trained in Supreme Court which is very interesting as well. Where my career is headed? I still have no clue. Right now I'm just happy to have a guaranteed paycheque and hopefully we can start having date nights again.

Kaitlyn went to her first Canucks game last week and had a blast. Too bad she didn't last the entire game - she was happy just to run the corridors and have everyone compliment her on her jersey. It was too cute though when she decided to wave at the players as they skated by our seats. We were given tickets to a Chilliwack Bruins game in a few weeks but I think we'll be leaving Kaitlyn with a sitter that night and enjoy a night out on our own.

Anyways, it is getting late but I hope to post some new pics sometime this week including Kaitlyn's first Canucks game! Stay tuned...

Check this out

I absolutely am in love with this! My friend, Sara, who I met online through babycenter.com when we were pregnant and now both have babies born in May 2006, designed this for me. I just love how it captures Kaitlyn's great big blue eyes. I just had to share!

September 11, 2007

We will never forget ...

On September 10th as I was setting the date stamps in courtroom 205 for the next day, it suddenly hit me that tomorrow was September 11th. We will never forget - where we were, what was going through our minds when we heard the news. And the lives lost. Truly, unbelievable and unforgettable. All the wives, husbands, children, never to hold their loved ones again. And all the brave individuals who have fought and lost their lives for the cause since that day.

We were getting up that morning for a regular day when the usual clock radio (JRFM radio station) was non-stop with news and after hitting snooze a few times, Ryan said something to the effect that there is something serious happening and we need to turn on our tv. Unbelievable what we saw when we did turn on our tv...

Today, this song just hits a cord, thinking about all the spouses that never were able to see their loved ones again and the ones who make that sacrifice every day out in the Middle East and all over the world - THANK YOU!

My Typing Test

Well, I had my typing test today for the full-time position I applied for about a month ago. This is the job I applied for which is exactly what I'm doing now at the same place, only guaranteeing me full-time hours. I really wasn't sure I should even apply for it since I am up against 2 other court clerks which have been court clerking in Chilliwack for a number of years already but have never been able to secure full-time status. My manager kept on telling me to apply anyways since you never know what will happen. So I took my typing test and was disappointed to only get 67 words per minute. We were allowed 3 tries and I asked if I could do it again. My manager said it wouldn't matter since I already passed and it was only a pass/fail test and didn't matter what your overall score was. So I left it. At the end of the day, I found out that the other 2 girls failed the typing test as well as another former court clerk who works in the Registry. I have no idea what this means for the next step of the competition since typing 50 words per minute is a minimum requirement for applying... I will definitely keep you posted!

My Daredevil

Yes, Kaitlyn is quite the daredevil. She will climb up and onto everything. Ryan was surprised the other day when he was in the kitchen, turned around and Kaitlyn was right there looking at him at eye level. She had moved a chair into the kitchen and climbed on top of it. She is constantly climbing on top of the coffee table and since we don't keep anything on it, we find the easiest solution is to just flip it over most of the time. She also likes to climb up on the couches and either jump up and down or hide behind the cushions. Her newest thing which really scares me is climbing onto the baby gate - on the other side of the baby gate is a very steep, very long flight of stairs so we have to be really careful with keeping an eye on her at all times. She hasn't figured out climbing out of the crib yet but I give her a month. According to Ryan's mom, Ryan was a real climber as well at Kaitlyn's age so apparently it's hereditary. I think Mom said Ryan was crawling out of his crib at 18 months already?

Here are some pics of our daredevil daughter. She would go down the waterslide on her own if I let her (not that I would).

Waterslides

Do you think Kaitlyn enjoys the waterslides?? Good excuse to post some new pics. And yes, that's another new swimsuit [$2.99 from Fancy Pants - gotta love Fancy Pants (used consignment store)!].

And Summer Continues...

Well, summer is almost over and we haven't done much this year. Between feeling like an on-call at work and Ryan's injury causing lack of money this year, we haven't been able to have any holidays and mainly are breaking in our new place. I've applied for 2 full-time positions, basically what I'm doing now only guaranteed full-time, but probably won't hear back for a few weeks. I'll keep you posted! It's really frustrating some days to go to work and think you're working 3 full days only to find out you're working 2 half days and that's it. I'm still guaranteed half-time (35 hours every 2 weeks) but I would still love some more hours. I stayed extra hours the other day and finished some online training with no pay to try to show my dedication so we'll see how that goes next week!

Kaitlyn had her one year shots finally today and did really great. The morning was a bit busy for her and we went swimming at the Leisure Centre for Brant's birthday while Ryan worked out, so unfortunately she fell asleep right before her shots were to be administered at 12:35. She started screaming during the 2nd shot, right through the 4th, and then stopped about 30 seconds after the 4th (and final). It was much better than we had prepared for! She had a little diarrhea after and has been fussy/crying off and on since, so we're staying at home and lying low for tonight while Ryan goes over to Brad's to play poker.

So that's it for us right now! Send lots of prayers and well wishes for the jobs I applied for! As well as Ryan who reapplied for the sheriff program after his one-year deferrment from last year. Hopefully he'll be in this January and be a sheriff by March.

Take care everyone!

New Pics from Summer

OK - this is my first attempt at doing this but I've loaded some of my favourite pictures into a slideshow. Hopefully it works!

Kaitlyn's 1 Year Pics

Our computer appears to be back up and running with a minor problem that we've noticed so far but other than that, so far so good! I want to post some pics of our fabulous summer so far but have to figure out where the Olympus software is hiding them once I download them... Once I figure that out, I'll show everyone some updated pics of Kaitlyn. Until then, here is the scanned proof sheet from Sears of her 1 year pics (I know, a little late but I think they turned out great!).

Computer STILL in the shop (grrrr)

Yes, our computer is still in the shop. If I have learned anything from this experience it is to never buy a computer from Staples unless I buy the store warranty. Silly me, thinking the manufacturer's warranty would still enable to have things fixed in a timely fashion. Nope, if you haven't paid for the store warranty, Staples seems to think they can just string you along for months and months. Ryan is on his way to the store right now to complain about the latest voicemail message they left for us saying there's nothing wrong with our computer and it's ready to be picked up (yet again). Hopefully by week's end we'll have some sort of solution to this problem...

In the meantime, we are enjoying (?) our record high temperatures of 36. Kaitlyn's kiddie pool is set up on the deck and she goes in it daily. Work is still cutting my hours to half time which is great because I get to spend more time with Kaitlyn but not so great in the financial department. Ryan is working solo this week with Colin being away for his parents' anniversary in Edmonton so he's still super busy. He's feeling better these days with less headaches and seems to be on the mend.

Oh yes - the concert! It was fabulous!! It was so wonderful to get away for an evening. We stayed at a hotel minutes from GM Place so it was just a quick walk there and back after the concert and we didn't have to fight with traffic. Our seats were incredible and the show was unbelievable. They did their classic hits plus a few new songs and even some unexpected ones like "It's Only Love" by Bryan Adams. I don't think they expected a standing ovation for that one but hey, this is Bryan Adams' territory after all. They performed 2 encores and I was on my feet singing along the entire concert. And it was wonderful to come back and hear Kaitlyn had slept great for my parents and they had a super time bonding.

Other than that, I see my blog needs some updating as far as Kaitlyn's crawling (she now walks everywhere) and the concert countdown. Take care everyone! Hopefully I'll have some new pics once we have a working computer again...

Our Computer is in the Shop (again...)

Just letting everyone know that our computer is in the shop for warranty work and probably a new hard drive so we are pretty out of touch on our email and internet right now. Once we are back up and running, I'll let you know! Thanks for your patience with my lousy computer...

The Arrival & Work Update

Well, after a few lousy nights, I found the reason why Kaitlyn's been so miserable at night. Tooth #5 has arrived! Last night was particularly bad. Kaitlyn went to bed around 9, fell asleep without crying (yay!!) but woke up at 12:30 screaming. After 2 minutes of cuddling, she was sound asleep again and back in her crib. Same thing at 2:30. Then at 3:30 she woke up screaming yet again. This time I made her a 4 oz bottle and gave her some Tylenol due to the nature of her scream. This morning she was singing and I looked in her mouth and there it is. My baby is getting so big.

The other major event in our house is the budget cutbacks at work. Yesterday they sent me home at 12:30 after announcing last week that they would be cutting back on part-timers' hours. Today will be the same by the sounds of it. Tomorrow or Thursday I will probably be off for the entire day. It's lousy for work but I did enjoy spending some extra daytime hours with Kaitlyn yesterday.

Anyways, off to work.

Update on our House!

Finally! Yes, after being called out by Yvonne on my unfulfilled promise, here is an update on our house.

We were supposed to get the keys on Monday, the 28th, but our real estate agent, Richard, phoned us on Friday evening and asked us if we wanted the keys on Saturday morning instead. The condition was that the old owners would leave behind the old windows which had recently been replaced. No problem! So with a move in day of Saturday opposed to Monday, we were able to enlist lots of help including Jaco and his trailer, Rob and his truck, Jesse and his truck and some other fit men (which were very much appreciated, especially considering Ryan's current condition from the car accident). Everyone was so wonderful and so helpful and we were all moved in by Saturday evening. Greg was then anxious to move in to his place as well and he joined us Monday evening. Slowly all the boxes are getting unpacked and put away and we are absolutely loving our new place. There was an issue with the washer and dryer which we hadn't anticipated (we knew we had to buy one - we didn't know that none of the plumbing was done yet). But Ryan saved us some money and did the work himself.

I hope to post pictures of our new place soon and book a housewarming party date as well! Stay tuned!

Some New Pics of Kaitlyn

Here are some newer pictures of Kaitlyn. I'll try to post an update on our new house soon - I promise.

Ryan's Accident

Yes, we are moved in and trying to settle in but first I wanted to update everyone on what happened to Ryan last week. Hopefully I'll be able to post again tonight or tomorrow on the move and the new place (which we are loving!!!!).

Last week Wednesday, Ryan was supposed to meet his mother for lunch so he dropped Kaitlyn and me off and took the van to work. At about 12:40, I happened to be at the court clerk desk at work when the phone rang. I could see on the call display it was Ryan and I picked it up and asked him how his lunch was going with his mother. He said he didn't go because he was in an accident. Of course, I right away started to panic and showered him with questions. After dropping me off, he was travelling down Chilliwack River Road which is quite curvy. When he was turning a bend in the road, a vehicle was coming straight at him in the wrong lane. He swerved to avoid a collision and ended up in the ditch. 3 hours later he woke up to 19 missed calls on his cell phone from Colin and his mother wondering where he was. There is only $30 damage to the van (bent hubcap) and Ryan was taken to hospital by his mother once she got a hold of him. He was diagnosed with whiplash and a concussion. The following night involved waking him up every 3 hours and making sure he was coherent. He was ordered not to drive for 10 days. He was checked out again a couple days later and failed the light/sight test and the cognitive test. He is definitely on the mend now but it made the move a lot harder for everyone since he wasn't allowed to drive or lift anything too heavy.

He went back to work for half a day today and hopes to work another half day tomorrow.

We are so thankful it wasn't any more serious. He narrowly avoided a tree and could have easily ended up in either a collision or in a ditch full of water if conditions were different. Just 400 metres from where his accident happened another man passed away in very similar circumstances the next day.

Anyway, that is just what is happening in that department. Ryan is definitely improving every day and is even driving again, despite the 10 day restriction since he is very anxious to return to work and return to normal life. Again, we are so thankful it wasn't any more serious.

My New Favourite Song

Less than a month to the big concert!! Woo hoo!!

Alone in the Courtroom...

Today two court clerks were booked off for vacation and another called in sick. So guess where I am? In the courtroom, running it, by myself. Totally unprepared... Totally don't know what I'm doing. I have a very gracious judge who is doing most of the work for me thankfully...

Anyways, back to work...

Update On Us

Well, since our cruise we've all been hit with a bit of a cold virus. Kaitlyn had it pretty bad for a few days and was running a temperature of about 39 so I took her in to see the doctor to make sure she didn't have another ear infection. (I was also forced to call in sick to work on Thursday when I realized she had a fever. I was not expecting to get sick days already but my manager said I do qualify already which was nice.) The doctor did not see any evidence of an ear infection on Thursday. Friday and Saturday night Kaitlyn woke up multiple times screaming. Finally Monday after work I took her into the walk-in clinic to check her ears again and she indeed has another double ear infection. Because the amoxicillin took quite a while to work last time, the doctor prescribed a different antibiotic which is much stronger and is only a 3-day round. Of course the doctor mentioned the word "tubes" again which scares me but since she has had about 7 ear infections and is not even a year old, is really not that surprising. Other than that, she has adjusted so well to daycare with Krista and loves going there. Krista's 2-year-old, Parker, came running up to her this morning when I dropped her off and gave her a big hug so I think everyone is enjoying the arrangements.

Work is going well. I'm still doing my online training and usually spend at least half a day in court to watch the clerk. Some days are interesting, some days it's hard to keep your eyes open because the cases are so boring. All in all, they seem happy with me and say that I am catching on quickly and am intelligent (it's always nice to be called intelligent!).

Ryan is working like crazy but hopefully it will slow down a little bit as some days I hardly see him at all. But he loves to be busy! He also wants to start carpet cleaning again on the side but before that can happen, it's my job to find liability insurance for him.

Last week we also welcomed a new niece into the family - Alyssa Marie Aikema. She's a beautiful girl - check out Katrina's Blog and Andrea's Blog for some pictures. Rebecca and family are all doing well and baptism will be on Sunday.

And of course we move in 2 weeks! We're so excited and cannot wait to get out of the old house we are living in. Sometimes it seems like we're always sick and seeing the mould on the inside of the bathroom walls makes you want to leave asap. I'm in love with our new house and cannot wait to move in!

Well, that's it for now. Sorry I've been so bad at keeping in touch with a lot of you. Until we're moved, I expect I won't have much time but hopefully things will slow down soon and I'll adjust to our new pace of life.

Back to Work After Our Cruise

Well, I am back to work after having a fabulous time on our little cruise to Oregon and back. Kaitlyn did beautifully (if I believe everything my sister and brother-in-law tell me) while I was away and even slept through the night 2 nights out of 3. She was a little whiney the first day when she realized I abandoned her but then was apparently a joy the rest of the time. And I only called once to check on her - aren't you proud? (don't ask how many times I called and there was no answer though...)

I took about 120 pictures and our software is not working properly so my apologies for some of the red eyes and bluriness on the photos. We had lots of fun getting to know my parents' friends better as well as their children and had a blast. Who knew my Dad had some dancing skills? And who knew Greg could sing like that (definitely not me!). Great times were had by all, except poor Matt who caught a bug on the trip.

Work is going well. So far I am just in training and have to complete an online course (while at work) before they will allow me into the courtroom on my own. So far I am petrified by the idea as Provincial runs at a much faster pace than Court of Appeal (where I used to work as a Judicial Admin Assistant) does so it's a little intimidating. Today was my first day in the courtroom job shadowing and it was very interesting. I'm sure I'll get a lot more out of it when I realize exactly what's going on, but in the meantime, things seem to be running smoothly.

Kaitlyn has adjusted to the sitter (a girl from our church until Rebecca is back on her feet after baby #3) so well. Krista (the sitter) cannot get over how easy she is and says it barely feels like she has another child for the day. She naps great and babbles and smiles all day. And the last two nights at home, she has been in bed before 9 and slept until past 7!!! Smiles all around in our home.

Anyway, here are a few pics from our trip. Enjoy!

Ryan getting ready for the lifeboat drill:

Leaving the Vancouver Harbour:

Dad showing off his moves while Greg (completely oblivious) sings and thinks the crowd is cheering for him:

The girls, Mrs. L, me, and Ellen (and half of Mom too!):

Ryan and I enjoying our dinner (and wine obviously too since my face matches my shirt):

And Tomorrow We Cruise!

I am so excited! 4 days of relaxing and eating and just recuperating from the past few weeks. Perfect timing I would think! The hardest part will be leaving my daughter for 4 days but I'm sure she'll do well. If not, we're not that far away and we'll have the cell on at all times. Andrea will hopefully enjoy having a daughter for a few days. Kaitlyn is honestly a total joy during the days and the nights are a work in progress. I won't be surprised to return from our trip to find out Kaitlyn is walking on her own though. She is so close! Today she let go of the table and made an attempt but quickly lost her nerve and dropped down to a crawl.

So I will be back Sunday and hopefully will have some great pics to share with you all! Have a fantabulous weekend everyone!

Want to See Our New Home?

I don't know how long this will be up for, but if you go to this site: http://www.ehomes4sale.ca/ , click on "Listings", scroll down and right now it is the second listing (described as "better than a townhouse!).

3 More Sleeps!!! (if we can call them that...)

First, I have to tell you. My computer is a piece of garbage. Actually, the hard drive is a piece of garbage (I'm keeping this reader-friendly for all my readers despite the language I would rather use to describe my computer's hard drive). I made this huge, awesome post with pictures scattered throughout and it took me about 1/2 hour (when a child is napping, this is very precious time). When I hit the "publish" button, my computer rebooted. Did it save my post? Of course not. I got so mad. I called up Staples. I told them, I don't care how they do it, but they are giving me a new computer today and taking this piece of "garbage" back even if it costs me another $500. Well, I was talked off my limb and the tech convinced me instead to call Cisnet (my computer manufacturer) and have them send me a new hard drive since it was still under warranty. I still haven't done it, mind you (and don't tell Ryan). Life is so hectic right now! Let me explain...

I was blessed the other day to finally be able to meet face-to-face Amber and her beautiful family. Amber and I met on Babycenter and started a life-long friendship when we were both due in May 2006. We have chatted on the phone and on Messenger so many times. Sometimes I can't go to bed at night until I have a little chat with my friend up north (she's in northern BC) - speaking of which - where are you tonight? Baking up another cake? Anyways, due to some health issues, she was referred to a specialist in Vancouver and we managed to meet briefly for coffee last week in Chilliwack. Woo hoo! Her kids are adorable and Andy is a total sweetheart. No matter how brief it was, I will never forget our first meeting. Her kids are all super adorable, but I have to say, Eliana is absolutely enchanting. Her eyes are full of excitement and she just overflowed when I asked her how the Vancouver Aquarium was. "It was soooo fuuun" and she just lit up. What a doll with such a beautiful smile!!!

A couple days later I was blessed again to be able to meet another friend I had met on Babycenter who I also met due to our mutual due dates of May 2006. Cathy lives in Langley and yes, it seriously has taken me this long to get my behind in gear and go out to her home and meet her and her gorgeous clan as well. Cathy has just moved into the home of her dreams and rightfully so! What a gorgeous house for a gorgeous family! Here are a few pics from our meeting with Cathy and her clan and Amber and her familia:

I met with my new manager at the Courthouse the other day to discuss wages and start dates and we decided I would start on next week Monday as I required this Thursday and Friday off for the cruise and it was just easier this way. No problem for me! Gives me more time to prepare for our holiday and things around the house. Today was spent trying to figure out what is wrong with our phone line and swimsuit shopping (sarcastic yay). Oh, and plus closing on the offer on the house.

Our offer has been accepted and all the subjects have been removed. I have given our 30 days notice to our landlords and we will be moving out somewhere between May 28 (when we get posession) and May 31 (when we have to be out of here). So exciting!!! Our first home. I think Greg is super excited too. His suite is really nice and I think he really sees himself and all his toys having a great new home down there.

So 3 more sleeps until our cruise! I still feel really guilty for having to leave Kaitlyn with my very pregnant sister (Andrea) while we relax and have fun but she keeps telling me to stop it and all will be fine. Still, Kaitlyn's having a lot of sleep issues lately so I hope she behaves for Aunty Andrea! I am reading the book "No Cry Sleep Solution" and really enjoying it - mostly because I have found someone who is going through the exact same thing I am going through and was able to solve the sleep issues without crying it out. Hopefully all works out well!

Anyways, this is a super long post and I congratulate anyone who was able to read the entire thing. So hopefully when I hit "publish" it doesn't delete the entire thing...

I am Now a Court Clerk!

Yes, I got the call a couple hours ago that I am definitely the newest Court Clerk at the Chilliwack Courthouse. Apparently they want me to start as early as Monday. That's the funny thing about government - things will take forever and then suddenly when it's done, it's done. I met with Krista from our church today for lunch who will be watching Kaitlyn most of the time for the first while and we finalized the technicalities of it all. I am so excited!

As for the house, our offer has been accepted and we are now going through the process of financing and home inspection. The conditions are to be removed from the offer by next week Monday and if all goes well, we should be moving in to our new home May 28. Again, things moving quickly on that end as well!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes. They have all meant so much to us. We will keep you updated on everything!

Updates for us!

Well, our computer is having issues again, so I may be without for a little while next week while they try to fix it (again). Luckily it is still under warranty so hopefully this will all get resolved rather quickly. We had to have our old hard drive completely wiped out so I lost a lot of contacts - which reminds me - Esther - can you email me again? I don't have your email anymore now that our hard drive is starting over.

First, the job update. I have moved on to the next phase of competition for the Court Clerk job and go in on Monday for "behavioural interviewing". Such a horrifying title for a normal interview. They will ask me questions and I will need to respond using examples and supply witnesses as well for things like, how did I react in the past when faced with a stressful situation at work? etc. Woo hoo (sarcasm). It's looking good though and hopefully I will be a Court Clerk by week's end.

We put an offer on a house tonight! It's actually half a duplex and we're oober excited. It's in a nice culdesac with church people right down the road. I'm actually just waiting up until midnight to see if the owners are counter-offering any further tonight but am super tired so I should really be in bed.

Anyways, that's where we're at. Sorry for the further lack of details but I'm having a hard time staying awake after the excitement of today. Hopefully I can post some more good news next week.

Yvonne, aren't you proud of me? No cutting and pasting this time ;)

Housing and Job Markets

I mentioned a few posts ago (I believe) about our visit from our landlord last week. He and his wife are expecting their first baby and want to move back into their house in July sometime. Well, we decided we are sick and tired of throwing our money away on rent so we spoke to a mortgage broker and real estate agent about entering the housing market. We have figured out some solutions and are taking a look at a house tomorrow! It's definitely an exact fit according to the description. It has a 3 bedroom suite upstairs and 3 bedroom suite downstairs so we can rent out one of the floors and use that as a mortgage helper. And each floor is 1000 sq ft - bigger than anything we've ever lived in before! It's such a nice area too. The downside is it already has an offer but it looks like the offer is falling through which is why we're still going to look at it.

I also finally received a phone call today from the Chilliwack Courthouse and am going in for testing on Wednesday morning for a court clerk position. It's not the exact job I want but it's a job and a foot in the door. Hopefully I do well on the testing and they offer me the job before April 27 when my benefits are cut off!

And to top off the day, Dad told us they oversold the inside cabins on the cruise we're going on in a couple weeks so we've been upgraded to a cabin with a balcony. Woo hoo! It will be nice to open our eyes and know if it's still the middle of the night or morning already.

So, it sounds as if the prayers are working. I've been praying so hard lately for things to start working out and have been losing weight just from being stressed about it all. Thank the Lord things are finally looking as if they're coming together!

Good Morning!

Good morning everyone! Sorry I've been slacking in the posting department lately. Kaitlyn has been a miserable sleeper for a few nights now and it turned out to be a double ear infection. This is her 3rd one already and she's not even 11 months old! The sub doctor (mine was off yesterday) mentioned the dreaded word "tubes" already. Let's hope we don't have to resort to that!

As far as work is concerned, I still don't have anything lined up. I had a nice long talk with my boss yesterday who was so great about everything. He's going to do some asking around as well and hopefully we'll have some good news next week. I sure hope so - this is so stressful knowing that my benefits will be cut off in 2 weeks.

The other stress we have right now is being informed by our landlord he wants us out in July because him and his wife are expecting and want to move back here. It would be wonderful to find out where I'm returning to work so we can meet with the bank and get pre-approved for a mortgage and start house (or mobile unit) hunting! We know if we don't get into the market soon, it will never happen and we are sick and tired of throwing away our money towards someone else's mortgage.

Other than that, life is continuing as normal. Our cruise tickets arrived which is exciting. It's just a short coastal cruise to Oregon and back from May 3-6 but it will be nice to have a few days to ourselves - maybe even in sleep in for once??? Wow, what a concept!

I guess the other exciting thing happening around here is the Canucks are in the playoffs. But what a pathetic game last night! Come on guys, you get paid how much??? Put the puck in the net. It's not that hard (not that I'm volunteering for the job of course).

OK - a smell is requiring my attention so that's all for now. Take care everyone!

Kaitlyn's First Macaroni and Cheese

Kaitlyn's eating solids has been a struggle pretty much from day one. It was even so bad, I took her to the doctor's office where she was diagnosed as a picky eater with a high gag reflex. She would gag and vomit almost daily. The doctor's advice was try every baby food and see which ones she likes, and which she doesn't. I've been surprised at a few things she does like such as carrots. Just gobbled them up.

But today I decided to switch gears. I dug out a Gerber Little Entrees Mac and Cheese out of the cupboard which I thought I would be hanging onto until she was much older considering all the food failings we've been experiencing thus far. But I thought, why not? Let's try it. So I just let her go at it and she loved it. I will be trying to find more "people foods" and make them kid-friendly so she can eat with her hands. And yes, she had a bath afterwards.

Yay! I finally did it!!

I finally sent off my application form for a job posting at the Chilliwack Courthouse. I am such a perfectionist, it was really hard hitting that "send" button - so final! I have been working on this job application form for about a week and this morning was still fiddling with it - using the thesaurus on words I wasn't too fond of, moving sentences around, etc. Let me add - I am so not qualified for the job I applied for which is why I was having such a hard time completing the application. But it is done!

As far as returning to work, it's a work in progress. So far, I have dropped off a general application form with the Chilliwack Courthouse and have spoken with the manager a few times already. We seem to get along which is definitely a good thing. If anything auxiallary comes up, I basically will get slotted in and start as soon as they need me (how terrifying is that?). In the meantime, I have to check the Government Job Site everyday for new job postings and apply for those separately. There is also a Court Clerk position at the Chilliwack Courthouse which is up for grabs, but I don't know if I qualify to return to work part-time. I have put a call into my manager and she is supposed to get back to me on that. Tomorrow I also plan on heading down to the Abbotsford Courthouse and dropping off a general application there. I spoke with the manager and she is quite sure there will not be any vacancies coming up, in fact, they are cutting back. But in government you never know and people quit or move all the time.

So that is my employment (or shall we say non-employment?) status at this time. I'm just hoping and praying something auxiallary comes up soon at the Chilliwack Courthouse. I hate all the testing involved in competitions - very stressful!

The Stubborn Bottle

I refuse to wash dishes by hand. I have a working dishwasher, why would I wash dishes? It makes no sense in my brain.

Which brings me to the story of the stubborn bottle.

I should preface this by saying, this is all Ryan's fault. He was trying to be helpful the other day and ran the dishwasher - but he forgot (or failed to but we will use the word forgot) rinse out the baby bottles before placing them in the dishwasher.

Now, back to this one bottle. It refuses to become clean. I just emptied the dishwasher and it is still not clean. So did I finally just handwash it and solve the problem? Nope - it's back in there. We'll try this corner and see if it works this time. After all, it's only been in there 5 times in a row now. Surely that's much too early to give up on the dishwasher doing its job? Right?

Right??

How about some new pics?

I decided to clean up the camera and upload some new pics. It has definitely been a while - there are 50 new pictures! Here are some really cute ones. But boy, is Kaitlyn getting big is all I can think. Enjoy!!

We were trying so hard to keep her awake but it didn't really work. These pictures were taken within seconds of each other.

Yes, yes, more Gymboree outfits. I love this spring outfit - it looks so cute on her! And check out that smile - what a cutie!

Playing with "big" cousin Owen and spending some quality time with Daddy.

Monday again... (=babysitting again)

Well, seems like I always post something on Mondays. Lucky for me, the three kids are sleeping. I guess last night was very busy for all of them at Mom and Dad's for the triple birthday celebration (Katrina's, Elayna's and Kristina's birthdays are all right around now) and I think Elayna and Chantel may have been up a bit later than usual for them.

Kaitlyn is trying to stand up today from the middle of the floor. She sticks her butt way in the air, slowly hand crawls back and then tries to push off. She has two new bruises but so far has not mastered it. She was trying for the millionth time today and Chantel asked what she was doing. I told her Kaitlyn was trying to stand and she was too little. So Chantel walks up to Kaitlyn and says to her in a very serious voice, "No Kaitlyn. You're too little. You don't stand yet." It was very cute.

Anyways, back to enjoying the peace and quiet for a little while longer...

Could it be? Is it possible?

Here is a blog report just for my mother. Today Andrea and I went shopping.

And I have to pause here for a minute to comment on the fact that both our children were complete angels the entire time. I have never seen such well behaved children who both missed their naps and yet were so good! I am being serious! Must be the great parenting...

Anyways, back to the point of this story, yes, Andrea and I went shopping and I have to say, I love the Bay! Do you know why? They have name brand stuff for cheap when you hit a sale date!

So that brings me to the whole is it possible question. I used to never care what brands I picked up off the rack, never cared about fit, colour, style and if it matched. Today was different. I went shopping and only looked at brandname items. I bought a Tommy Hilfiger shirt for less than $15 and another name brand shirt for around $12. And they are nice shirts! and they look good on me! and they are in style! Look mom! I grew up! Finally!

Please Vote for Deakon

Here's the address (if someone could please tell me how to insert links I would appreciate it) but until I figure it out, just copy and paste it into your browser address bar.

http://www.photowow.com/new1/?directory=frames_contest/index.asp&page=/new1/templates/photocontest/%3FcontestID="

PLEASE VOTE for Deakon! His entry number is #43384. Please give him a big fat 10 - you can only vote once per computer per entry or your votes will not count. Thanks and have a great day!

I've gone blinkie crazy!!!

Here you go Andrea, as promised:

And one for Amber:

And for all us Moms:

And just because!:

All the Kiddos are Sleeping!!!

Well, I actually have time to post on a Monday for once because all the girls are sleeping. Woo hoo! I just moved Elayna to Becca and Brad's bed because I did not want to risk her waking up when Kaitlyn wakes up.

Poor Kaitlyn is having a miserable time with her teeth popping through today. She just starts crying, screaming actually, when she's standing or sitting there - no one around her, nothing hurting her, and she just starts up. I just gave her some tylenol before her nap so hopefully that helps her a little.

I should preface this next story by first saying I do enjoy watching the girls 2 days a week. They are very loving towards Kaitlyn and it really makes me glad we moved to this end of the valley. She knows her cousins and loves them which is such a great gift to give her. Seeing her play with Chantel is such a treat. Chantel makes her pretend coffee, says "Here Kaitlyn, drink your coffee", hands the cup to Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn drinks the pretend coffee. It is priceless. Elayna loves Kaitlyn too much sometimes and I do have to tell her quite often to "get out of Kaitlyn's face" as she loves to get nose to nose with her and laugh hysterically at her.

Now what happened this morning... I hope Rebecca is busy enough that she's not checking this from work today so she hears it from me first, but I had to intervene before Elayna gave herself a haircut today. I was talking to Andrea on the phone and thought "hmm, those girls are being awful quiet in their room" and then I saw the bathroom door open. Never a good sign on a good day as they are always trying to fill up their toy cups with water when I'm not paying enough attention. Well, I walk in there, still talking to Andrea, and Elayna is up on the counter, medicine cabinet open, pair of real scissors in hand, holding her hair with the other hand and I practically drop the phone. "I just wanted to cut my bangs" she says all innocent. Well, needless to say, the bathroom door is now locked and I am taking Elayna to pee every 2 hours instead of leaving the bathroom accessible for her. I would rather risk an accident than a haircut. Anyways, back to my few minutes of silence before the party begins again. Have a great week everyone!

Happy Birthday Amber!!!

These are for you! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow with your family.

Blinkies!

Here's one for you Yvonne:

And one for Jeanette:

And one for everyone!