Oh, the Mind of a Toddler

Most evenings after dinner, Matthew and Kayla take a bath in our ensuite bath.  While they play in the bathtub, I sit on the bed and spend time waste time on the internet, while listening to their conversations.

Tonight, Kayla yelled to me, "Mom!  I have to go poo!"

I got up and lifted her out of the bath and onto the toilet.  "Kayla, you should have gone before you climbed in the bath.  That's why I asked you before you went in!"

"It was going on, off, on, off, on, and then I listened to it," she replied.

"Listened to what?  Your bum?"  I asked.

"Yes" was her response.

Too funny.  I love how their minds work at this age.  

God Knows Best

It's so easy to think, and say, that "God knows best" when others are going through tough times, but it just dawned on me that it's so true, for my life too.

Jon and I had hoped to have kids in 2008.  After numerous tests and then going through in-vitro, our twins, Matthew and Kayla, were born in 2011.  That's three years later than the plan we had for ourselves.  And you know what, it's taken me another three years to realize that God knew exactly what he was doing.  I'm actually a little embarrassed that it didn't dawn on me sooner.

Had we gotten pregnant right away, Jon would have still had a couple years of schooling left, and so we would have been living on a maternity leave income that first year.  We would have still been renting our basement suite.  I would have had to return to work full-time, just to support our family.  I would have had to pay for day-care for some of the time.  Wow.

Because we didn't have kids until three years later, Jon was (almost) done school, and I had been working for those three years, full-time.  We still rented the top-floor of a house for a couple years, but we were able to save during that time so that we would have a down payment for a house of our own, which we bought in 2013.  I was able to only return to work part-time in 2012 and had free day-care for the times I was working (thanks, Mom!), and so I was able to spend a lot of time with Matthew and Kayla during that time.
And that's only thinking of it from a financial point-of-view.  I think I would have been ready to have kids in 2008...but would Jon have been ready?  Especially with the financial sacrifices we would have had to have taken then.

Anyways, God definitely knew what was best for us.  And I'm ashamed to admit it took me three years to realize that.  I hope that it's something that I don't forget...who knows what curveball to my plan for our life will be sent our way next!

The Backyardigans

I won four tickets to see The Backyardigans through www.momentsinmommyland.com.  I think that's one of the first contests/giveaways I've ever won!  Well, except that I won a bike through McDonald's Monopoly back in 2002 or 2003 (yes, people actually do win the bigger prizes!).  Anyways, Jon opted to stay home with Nathan (he didn't even know who The Backyardigans were!), so my Mom and I took Matthew and Kayla to the first-ever live performance.  It was at the Orpheum, so we decided to take the skytrain.

That was also a first for Matthew and Kayla - they had never been on the skytrain before!  They loved looking out the window and pointing out passing skytrains.

The show itself was okay.  I never would have spent the $30+ our tickets would have cost, but it was free, so I'm not complaining!  Matthew and Kayla managed to stay focused for the entire show.  Matthew even got into clapping when the audience clapped.

4 Months Old! (And some recent pictures, too!)

I feel like over this past month Nathan has lost any newborn quality he had.  He has grown up so much.  I feel like saying he's no longer a baby...but of course, he is.

At four months old, Nathan weighs 18 lb 5 oz.  He easily wears his 9-12 months clothes and I'm squeezing him into size 2 disposables until my box is finished.  His once-blue eyes are slowly changing to a blue-gray-brown colour.

Nathan has discovered toys.  If you hold out a toy to him he's able to bring his hands together to grab it from you, and then tries to bring it to his mouth.  The toys hanging on his playmat get hit at, pulled on, and sucked.  He loves his playmat still.  Nathan also loves his exersaucer.  He's getting the hang of those toys, and has started jumping in it.  This past month, Nathan was also introduced to the jolly jumper, which he also loves.  It only took a couple times before he mastered the art of rhythmic jumping.  I don't think he jumps as well as Matthew did, but definitely better than Kayla!  It's nice having different stations/activities for him to do, because he's not content to just be left anywhere, and I can't possibly play with him all the time.

Nathan has fallen deeply in love with me.  He doesn't show strange to others, but he definitely loves me the most.  Even if Jon is holding him at night, he will often just ignore Jon and stare at me.  I love it.  He also loves Matthew and Kayla, watching their every move.  Matthew and Kayla also love him.  Yesterday, I caught them piling tons of stuffed animals on him while I was busy cleaning our shower.  When I saw it I freaked out, and when I removed them from Nathan's head he was smiling.  Kayla has really taken an interest in Nathan this past month.  She talks to him and likes to try and carry him.

He still loves to suck on his thumb/a finger/all fingers/whole fist all day long.  He gags himself every other day because he's shoved a finger too far in his mouth.

I'd say he's getting better at lasting longer than two hours between feeds during the day, but he seldom goes longer than three hours.  He likes to hold the pinky and thumb of my bottle feeding (right) hand while drinking his bottle.

Nathan loves to hear his own voice.  He started 'talking' on February 5th (3.5 months old), and hasn't stopped.  I call it 'squaking'.  It's pretty funny.  Matthew has picked up on me calling Nathan 'noisy boy' when Nathan's talking a lot, and so you'll often hear Matthew referring to Nathan as 'noisy boy' too.  I think I had a giggle from him on February 15th, but haven't really heard it since to I'm not sure.

Although Nathan has rolled twice now, I think it was more a coincidence now because it's not something he's doing daily.

Nathan's sleeping habits have definitely regressed over the past month.  He was down to only one bottle during the night, but for the past month it's been two bottles a night.  I would love for him to at least drop one feed during the night.  Especially since I don't like to go to bed early and so I'm often only getting six hours of sleep a night.

Anyways, Nathan (as well as Matthew and Kayla, of course) is still such a blessing to us.  So often I find myself just smiling at him while he's staring up at me, just thinking how incredibly lucky we are to have him.  He survived being grown in the petri dish to be a day five embryo when the others didn't...and then he survived being frozen for two and a half years and then thawed and implanted.  He's such a miracle.

And...some pictures from Jan 18-Feb 18:

Nathan's first time in the exersaucer.

Matthew and Kayla's very first shower.

Nathan's first time in the jolly jumper.

Bad Dreams

For as long as I can remember, I have been a vivid dreamer.  And most of these dreams are actually nightmares, ones that leave me paralyzed in fear laying in bed.  It's horrible.  Last night was another rough night, where I could barely move when I woke up.  I managed to turn on my bedside light and pull out my crossword puzzle work and puzzle away until the memory of the dream lessened.  Most of the time I am able to fall asleep again within an hour, but definitely with my bedside light on.

Last night, Kayla came crying to my room.  When I asked her what was wrong, she said that Matthew had been splashing her and she was all wet.  LOL.  I believed her at first, but then quickly realized that it was the middle of the night and it had probably just been a dream.  Back to bed she went.  I hope her dreams stay as simple as being splashed.  Mine definitely aren't like that.

Sleep Talking

Quite frequently I go to bed before Jon.  And quite frequently I'm already fast asleep by the time he comes.  And on occasion he somehow disturbs me so I half-awake, and have a conversation with him (I am SO my mother's daughter).  Anyways, Jon decided to write down our conversation from last night:

Laura:  Where's Kayla?
Jon:  In bed.
Laura:  Nathan?
Jon:  In bed.
Laura:  Matthew?
Jon:  In bed.
Laura:  In our bed?
Jon:  In his bed.
Laura:  Where's his bed?
Jon:  What?
Laura:  I guess you didn't go home and come back.

LOL.  I remember waking up and talking to him last night and being slightly confused, and then realizing I'm talking nonsense...but had no recollection of what I had all said.

How I (Try to) Save Money

Yes, this is a completely random post...but these are different ways that I try to keep our costs low and save money:

1.  Keep our Thermostat and Hot Water Tank Heat Low.  We have natural gas heating on our main floor, but electric heating in the basement and upstairs in the hallway/bedrooms.  The basement thermostats (one in each room) is completely off.  On our main floor, I drop the thermostat to 17C at night, and bring it up to 19C during the day.  If company is coming over, then we bring it up to 21C.  In our bedrooms, the thermostats are set to 15C (so they pretty much never go on).  Nathan's bedroom is the one exception...he has his room heated to 19C during the night.

2.  Online Clothes Shopping.  I have fallen in love with this.  I buy most of Matthew and Kayla's new clothes (the few they do get...see #3 and #5) from the clearance sections.  Combining an online clearance price (which is cheaper than an in-store clearance price) with whatever promotion they have going on makes for some great deals.  I will never pay for shipping, so I will only buy from Children's Place when they have a free shipping offer, and will always make sure that my Old Navy orders meet the $50 minimum in order to receive free shipping there.  I love that stores accept returns easily.  I've never had an issue making a return.  I've even started shopping for myself online.  Not that I ever buy clothes for myself...see #5.

3.  Facebook Swap Group(s).  LOVE these.  This is one way to pick up some great condition clothing for dirt cheap prices.  I pick up toys off of here too.  It's also been my tool for getting free formula samples (because I have to give Nathan one bottle of formula a day because I don't have quite enough milk for him).  Breastfeeding Moms graciously give away the free samples they receive in the mail, or I trade formula coupons for formula samples.  Nathan's not picky as to brand, so I take what I can get!

4.  Ebates.ca.  This is a fairly new discovery for me.  I saw a commercial for it and looked into it and love i!  It's great for online shoppers because you practically get paid to place an online order.  Rather than going straight to the company's website to shop, you go to ebates.ca first, find the company you want to shop at, and link to it through there.  You then get a percentage of your total order paid back to you.  I just received a cheque in the mail for $7.15.

5.  Hand-me-downs.  I buy my cousin's kids' clothes from her for Matthew, and I use hand-me-downs from Jon's niece Annika for Kayla.  I myself get hand-me-downs from Candice.  :)

6.  Me Cooking.  I'm a much simpler cook than Jon, resulting in fewer specialty groceries required.  The more often I cook (as much as I dislike it), the cheaper our grocery bill.  I've actually noticed a significant decrease in the amount we spend on groceries in a month (see #7) since Jon started working full-time with Surrey School District and doesn't have time to cook during the week.  I also try to cook one meal a week of boiled potatoes (free from Grandpa Vander Ende) and boiled vegetables (free from my parents).  The only cost for that meal is the meat I've chosen.  It's actually even one of Matthew and Kayla's favourite meals.  The more often I can use potatoes or vegetables, the better!

7.  Tracking our Spending.  Everything we purchase gets entered onto a spreadsheet and categorized so that I can see our monthly/yearly spending.  I don't operate on a budget, but this allows me to see how our expenses are each month and discuss it with Jon.

8.  Cloth Diapers.  Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan have all used the same batch of cloth diapers.  I have 7 newborn ones, and about 13 one-size-fits-all ones.  With only Nathan wearing them right now I have to wash them only every three days.  I only put Nathan in a disposable overnight, so I seldom have to buy diapers.

9.  Shopping at Superstore/Costco.  Not only do they have the cheapest prices (in my opinion), but when you shop at Superstore during one of their $250 weeks (when you spend $250 you get a $25 gift card) it's like receiving 10% off.  Not very often (i.e. seldom) can I spend a full $250 myself, so my Mom and I always spend $250 together, and then calculate the portion of the $25 gift card we each get.  I actually don't do much grocery shopping on a non-$250 week...I just pick up fresh fruit / milk to get me to the next $250 week.

10.  Generic / Bulk Buying.  I (almost) always buy the cheapest brand of each product.  Superstore is great because on the price tag is gives you the price-per-unit/weight, so it's easy to compare product sizes and brands against each other to see which is cheapest.  I (almost) always have everything in stock.  It's only happened a handful of times where I was mid-dinner and didn't have an ingredient I needed.

11.  Sale Shopping / Price Matching / Using Coupons.  I check the flyers each week to see what is on sale at each store and will also price match these to the same products in Superstore.

12.  Using my PC Financial Mastercard.  Every purchase I make that I charge to this credit card gives me PC Plus points which I can redeem at Superstore for dollars off of my bill.

13.  PC Plus.  Superstore now also offers PC Plus points on select products in their store.  Each week I compare the offers that my Mom, Jon, and myself have received to see which products will give me extra points to redeem (see #12).

14.  Tanking up at Superstore.  When you tank up at Superstore you get money back in the form of SuperBucks, which can be spent in the store on groceries.  Their gas price is the same (if not cheaper) than other gas stations in the area, PLUS you get the SuperBuck.  It also doesn't hurt to look at the gas pumps as you drive past on your way to do a grocery shop to see if anyone has left their SuperBuck.  Every little bit (even $0.29 like the one I found last week) helps.

Naked Toes

We 'celebrated' Family Day by going out for breakfast with my Mom and Candice.  Before we had to leave I decided to try a bunch of clothes on Matthew to see if they fit him yet, including a pair of crocs.  When I went to get him dressed in his actual clothes, I had to take the crocs off.  Matthew looked at me, and started to say, "Mom, can I wear...can I wear...can I wear..."  I could tell that he was trying to think of the words, but was struggling.  When he finally figured it out (or so he thought!), he asked, "Mom, can I wear naked toes?"  He wanted to wear bare feet :)

Why?

Yes, we've entered that stage with Matthew and Kayla.  The stage of the never-ending question of, "why?".  Funny thing is, I didn't even notice until it was pointed out to me.

2 Minutes This Morning

Matthew, while watching cartoons, hears Nathan in the baby monitor:  "Nathan waking up!"
Kayla:  "I going to see him."
Matthew:  "Me too."
They run upstairs.  I hear them go into his room and turn the light on.  Kayla moves the stool from the rocker to the edge of the crib to stand on.  Matthew tries to climb on as well, but he can't.  I then hear him running to the bathroom to look for the stool.
Matthew:  "It not there, Da."
Kayla:  "Here, you go on here.  I go and get it downstairs."  She climbs off the stool and starts coming down the stairs.  "Mom!  Mayew needs stool."  She finds it and brings it upstairs.  "Get off stool.  I will go reach monkey there for Nathan.  Maybe not, maybe not (it's too far for her to reach).  This one?"

Matthew's Eye Doctor Appointment

Matthew had his eye doctor appointment yesterday with Dr. Cline, a pediatric opthalmologist (to discuss Matthew's left eye, which turns inwards).  He's an older man, and so very nice!  Matthew enjoyed having one-on-one time with me, not having to fight for attention while playing toys in the waiting room etc.  He was very excited and while we were driving there we were discussing what types of toys might be in the waiting room.  He was hoping for some Elmo books, but alas, there were none.  Luckily there were some Berenstain Bear books though!

During the actual appointment, Matthew sat on my lap in the 'big chair'.  Dr. Cline had some moving/light up toys on the far wall, and he played those one by one so Matthew would watch them as Dr. Cline watched his eyes.  He then asked me if it was okay to dilate Matthew's eyes, and then come back in 15 minutes.  I agreed, of course, and so Matthew received 15 more minutes of play time in the waiting room.  When we returned, Dr. Cline let Matthew watch a movie on the far wall while he looked inside his eyes.

The result of this visit?  Dr. Cline said his eyes are healthy (no disease or cancer) and he doesn't feel Matthew is any more far-sighted than any other child, which was Dr. Samra's guess as to why Matthew's eye turns inwards.  Dr. Cline did notice that it tends to move inwards when he tries to focus on something nearby.  He was hoping his eye would be overly far-sighted because that would be a simple fix by prescribing glasses for Matthew.  The other possibility is that he'll potentially need eye surgery.  We have an appointment booked for March 4th, with a different eye doctor (in the same office) to test the strength of the muscles in Matthew's eyes.

As much as I hate paying MSP premiums each month, I'm definitely grateful since we've used the medical system so much since 2010 (in vitro, head x-ray and doctor's appointments for Matthew, frozen embryo transfer, Nathan's rash, now this...)!  

   

Kayla's Expressions

While discussing what our favourite colour is, Kayla randomly said that, "My friends are Dora and Princess."

When Remy and Carly were visiting, the four kids made a huge mess with my Mom's peg boards.  My Dad said if they helped him clean it up he would let them have a chocolate egg from the candy bowl.  All of the kids quickly helped him.  After they finished eating their chocolate, I asked them all where my chocolate was (because I really wanted one and was expecting for someone to rush to bring me one).  Kayla looks at me with a super-straight face and said, "But you didn't help clean up."  I was speechless.  

On our way home from my parents' house yesterday Kayla told me to drive carefully.  "You don't want to crash," she said.  

"Don't drive too fast."

"Okay, Kayla."

"You should slow down more," she advised.

Such a backseat driver.  No idea where she got that from...