Kaitlyn is 4!

Yes, this is a little late, but my "big" girl (Kaitlyn) turned 4 on May 21st. It was a weekend of celebrating and she loved it. Probably her favourite part was going swimming with her Opa and Oma and cousins. I have to say, swimming lessons were SO good for her! She is really brave in the water, especially with her lifejacket on and will even jump to me unassisted now. She really wanted to jump off the diving board, but chickened out last second. It was a big deal that she walked to the end without me!

Her birthday was Friday and once Ryan got home from work, Kaitlyn opened presents from us and we sang to her. She was then off to her cousins as Ryan and I were going out for dinner without BOTH kids (thank you Rebecca!) for our anniversary. It was really nice to have that break, which again makes me want to force the bottle issue a little more forcefully so we can have a true date night out sometime.

Saturday we went swimming with my family and like I said, she had a blast. Then off to Opa and Oma's for a party to celebrate Kaitlyn's, Owen's and Alyssa's birthdays. Definitely crazy busy but Kaitlyn still had fun. On Sunday after dinner, we finally lit a candle on her cake and sang to her again, and she blew out her candle. She's been having lots of fun playing with all her new toys and wearing new clothes from Oma. Definitely a great weekend!

Comparing...

I've had a few comments that Meagan looks exactly like Kaitlyn. Maybe it's just the Mom in me, but I think they look totally different. So I dug out a couple pictures from when Kaitlyn was 6 months old to compare:

Kaitlyn at 6 months:


Meagan at 6 months:

Meagan - 6 months

Meagan turned 6 months yesterday. Hard to believe - time is just flying by! Today was her 6 month doctor appointment and Dr D was very happy with her and called her the "perfect Gerber baby". He says she is ahead on almost all her milestones (rolling around, very alert, following objects and people very well, very vocal, etc). She is around 50th percentile on all marks: 15.63 lb, 25.6 inches long, 16.73 inches head circumference. He was very impressed with how well she interacts, follows objects, and studies faces. He's not concerned about the strike on all bottles, but suggests we try to have others give her one and see if that works, and to keep trying. It sure would be nice not to be paged to the nursery every Sunday, or even to have a lengthy date one night! Next is solids and we've gradually started with some rice cereal over the last week, and now we can start introducing more and more. More fun adventures!

Busy, Busy

We have been blessed with a wonderful week of sunshine! It is so wonderful to be able to bring out the summer clothes and sandals and enjoy being outdoors.

This past week I had a job interview for a promotion at work. I really had no idea how it would have affected my return to work date if I did get the job, but promotions don't come up in our town very often so it was worth a shot. I did not get the job, but was definitely happy with how I answered the questions and it was good to go through the interview process again to work on my skills.

Ryan has been busy again this week, but not overdoing it. This weekend he is doing another big landscape job, even though he is feeling under the weather. Hopefully the sunshine will help the day fly by for him.

Next week is busy! Tuesday, Meagan will be 6 months old, Wednesday is our 9th wedding anniversary, and Friday is Kaitlyn's 4th birthday. Mix in a visit with a high school friend, Meagan's 6 month doctor appointment, preschool, a family get together, possibly a birthday party, and everything else, the week will be flying by.

Wordless Wednesday

Things that matter...

Yes, the Canucks lost tonight. But while Ryan was starting to watch the game, I was off to Kaitlyn's preschool for a special "Memories with Mom" evening.

It was great. I was determined to let Kaitlyn know the evening was about her and me so I left Meagan with Ryan. I really think I needed to do that since she must feel constantly overshadowed by her sister, especially after a day like yesterday where Meagan screamed for about 3 hours straight due to teething and constipation pain.

We made necklaces, decorated cookies, played with play-doh and had a snack and tea together. And the class sang some cute songs to the mommies.

The most memorable moment of the evening for me was when they presented their moms with the cards they made. It brought a little tear to my eye when Kaitlyn explained in 3 year-old words and phrases almost exactly what it said on the back of the card. And then gave me a great big hug :)

Mother's Day and Sunshine!

The sun is here! Yay! This whole week the forecast is great and we're all enjoying it.



Ryan took a much needed day off on Saturday and surprised me with a Mother's Day gift - finally a flower bed out front!

Starting the job:



Working till dark:



Kaitlyn loves it and had to help out:



The finished project (so far - we'll be buying more flowers this week and planting them):



And Meagan's sleep is getting a lot better. Last night she woke up twice, but once was because her sister woke her up. The norm is starting to be one wake-up around 4 a.m. which I can definitely tolerate.

SWAGGER WAGON

This is hilarious - I don't have a Sienna but I love my minivan and everything it brings along with the ride :) Thought it was a good post for Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

May is Here - Randoms

The last few nights Meagan's sleeping has been slowly improving. I've been relying on teething tablets and cluster feeding in the evening. She even enjoyed some rice cereal (not that I think it will help with her night time wakings but she's getting to that age already) last night. Her newest trick is getting up on all 4s and threatening to crawl. Which is funny since she can not sit at all yet.

The weather has been depressing lately but today it is beautiful outside which helps my mood and Kaitlyn's too it seems.

Mother's Day is on Sunday and if Ryan is reading this, all I want is a few dollars to spend at the salon. Maybe a pedicure... maybe some facial treatments... anything would be nice :)

Ryan's business is booming. He is constantly out cutting other people's lawns, cleaning their gutters, destroying hot tubs etc. We haven't seen a lot of him this week but it sounds like he'll be home tonight and Saturday (and of course Sunday) which will be nice. Plus our own lawn needs some attention.

I have an interview next week for a job promotion. It will be tough competition and I have no idea how it will affect my mat leave if I do get it. I won't worry about that unless I actually am offered the job, but I am not prepared to cut my mat leave short for a job promotion at this point. I am so looking forward to summer with my girls :)

Kaitlyn's birthday is around the corner and she is definitely becoming more manageable and less "3". She does say the funniest things sometimes. Yesterday I treated her with a mini blizzard which she loved. And I said "we'll do more fun stuff like this when the weather is sunny all the time" and she said "yeah, that's because we have more money now". Really?! Not that I'm aware of. We also went for lunch at someone's house and she was offered soup. She didn't like it (she's used to chicken noodle which it wasn't). As we were getting into the car to leave she looks very serious and says "And Mom, that there? In that house? That was not soup."

Anyway, that's a few randoms from life around here. Better go since Kaitlyn's cousin is here to play with her.

Birth Control

Anyone considering having children and reads my Facebook statuses on a regular basis is probably seriously reconsidering. Here are a few from the last 2 weeks:

"Teresa really does think watching the sun rising over the mountains from her living room is quite beautiful - but every morning for the last two weeks... could do without."

"Teresa - the baby was up at 2 and 4. Kaitlyn woke up at 5. Woke the baby up at 5:10. Had to walk the baby to sleep until 6:30.... need another coffee right about now..."

"Teresa thinks her daughter has a built in 2-hour alarm clock. 12, 2, 4, 6... how hungry can a 5 month old be??"

"Teresa didn't enjoy having to pack the kids up as soon as they woke up - but we were out of coffee so a Timmy's run was necessary!"

"Teresa was told by her daughter today "no more attitude from you because I'm about done with it". Don't know where she gets this stuff from :P"

"Teresa is really hoping and praying that all the sleep her baby is getting today won't interfere with tonight's sleep. Because, really, could nighttime sleep get any worse than it already is?"

Seriously, who needs birth control when you have me as a friend on Facebook?!

Teething

Yesterday I finally bought some teething tablets. I gave some to Meagan before putting her to bed and again when she woke up 4 hours later. She still woke up every 2 hours but woke up happy and babbling every time instead of screaming. So, I'm guessing she really is teething, but now I have to tackle her constant night waking.

One problem gone, new problem to tackle... such is life as a Mom I suppose.