Walk at Campbell Valley Regional Park

I love going for walks.  There's something about being outside (and burning calories!) that makes me happy and gives me a lot of energy.  The kids really enjoy it too, and do really well at walking most of the way.

{Matthew proudly displaying the map of the park}

I wanted to take advantage of the dry day today so we packed up the kids (and Grandma!) and headed to Campbell River Valley Park.  We've never been there before!  

We did the Little River Loop (2.3 km) and the Deer Trail (1 km).  The Deer Trail leads to the Historic Langley Speedway - so cool!  Jon looked up a photo of what it looked like when it was used as a racetrack in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  Really, really cool to stand there and to imagine what it was like.  

Matthew decided to burn even more calories and ran around the track TWICE!  For a kid that learned to walk to late (16.5 months old!), he sure is a great runner.  (I hope running is something that he continues to be good at - so healthy!  I've always wanted to be a runner...maybe one day!).  I chased after the kids for the first half of the first loop and then ran the last half of his second loop with him.  He was all smiles!

Such a beautiful park, even in the winter.  I definitely hope to return sooner, rather than later.  I would love to do all of the trails there eventually - even the Shaggy Main Trail (11km!).  Maybe in a year or so when the oldest three kids are another year older.

The kids love getting their photo taken on a park bench.  When they asked for us to take their picture, it reminded me of them a year ago:

{Kids at Tynehead Park in February 2014.  Look at Matthew's shoes and jacket....}

{Kids (minus Olivia) at Campbell Valley in January 2015.  Now check out Nathan's shoes and jacket ...the size difference between the boys is getting smaller the older they get...so crazy}

The Kids' Bedrooms

Matthew and Kayla share (and have always shared) a bedroom.  When they were four they were allowed to bunk their beds (which were handmade by my Dad), with Kayla getting the top bunk because eventually (whenever eventually is) Matthew and Nathan will share a room and then Matthew will get the top bunk then.  Honestly, it's been 10 months and not once has Matthew complained about being on the bottom bunk.

Both of their bedding sets (Matthew = stripes & sports, Kayla = stripes and flowers) were from Jysk, and they sleep with a fleece blanket they had each received from Auntie Candice at Christmas last year (2014).  They love those blankets.  Kayla has 'matured' and no longer brings her blanket downstairs with her in the morning, but Matthew definitely does.  If I bring it back upstairs he eventually realizes it's missing and goes and retrieves it.

Kayla also used to sleep with just as many stuffies as Matthew, but she must have 'matured' out of that, too.  They both still sleep with their "noise makers" as we call them.  They are Fisher-Price Soothe and Glow seahorses that light up and play music when they are squeezed.  If they wake up during the night I'll hear the music go on to help them fall back asleep.

Nathan and Olivia are fantastic roommates.  It's been about 3.5 months of them sharing and it's going really well.  Nathan is very quiet when she is sleeping in there, so as not to disturb her.  Nathan's nap typically overlaps with one of Olivia's each day, and neither are disturbed as I lay a child down for a nap or get them up from a nap.  If (who am I kidding?  WHEN!) Olivia wakes up crying during the night, Nathan seldom even stirs.  The opposite is just as true, too.  Nathan sleeps with all of his own stuffies that he's received since he was born.  He must have his 'blanket' (with dots, which is his 'baby' blanket), his puppy (which he received from Great-Grandma for Christmas last year (2014)), and his baby (his doll which he received in his stocking last year (2014)).  He also likes to have his noise-maker (we bought him once this Christmas to be like M&K.  Correction:  I bought Kayla a pink one because she had a blue one and then put the blue one in the pink one's box for Nathan to receive!).  He also received a fleece blanket from Auntie Candice this past Christmas.  His bed sheets are mine from when I was a teenager and his duvet and duvet cover are Jon's from when he was a teenager.  He doesn't care!  I keep debating whether or not to buy him a 'kids' pattern but would prefer to hold off until him and Matthew are sharing a room and then they can both get new sets.

Olivia gets to use the crib bedding that her older siblings used.  Yay for gender neutral :).  She has her own stuffies in her crib, and a noise-maker that she received from Jon and I for Christmas this past year.  She always gets swaddled in her polka-dot baby blanket, with a flannel blanket on top (made by Auntie Leanne when Kayla was born), and a knit blanket on top of that (from Great-Grandma when Kayla was born).  Their room is only heated to 18 degrees, so she needs the blankets for warmth.  The two top blankets are for her waist down, so I'm not worried about them being in there with her. 

This rocking chair has fed a lot of kids during the night.  Matthew and Kayla were both sleeping through the night before they were three months old, so I think Nathan was and now Olivia is, trying to make up for the oldest two being so good.  I've gotten smart and put a blanket over the top so that when the kids horse around on it and let it knock the wall that it doesn't scratch the wall anymore.  

Each kid also has a cross-stitching done by my Mom hanging on their walls (note to self: Matthew and Kayla's still need to be re-hung since they switched bedrooms 10 months ago!).  Matthew and Kayla's were the exact same pattern, but with customized colours so became less gender-neutral and more gender-specific.  We even went so far as having Candice recreate the outer border in excel so that we could play around with the colour schemes.  My Mom and I are extreme perfectionists, so we will go to great lengths to make sure that it's exactly how we want it.  Jon just rolls his eyes at us.

Nathan's is my favourite for some reason.  I don't think we changed anything of his.

Olivia's cross-stitching does not really even resemble the original pattern, in terms of colours.  The original was very gender-neutral with a lot of oranges.  I'm a huge fan of pinks and purples for girls, so almost the entire cross-stitching was customized.

And that, my friends, is the kids' bedrooms.  Definitely nothing fancy, that's for sure!  

Olivia is 5 Months Old!

At five months old, Olivia weighs 17 lbs and is 27.25" tall.  She is wearing size 6-9 month clothes and size 2 diapers comfortably.

Olivia has taken her roll as the youngest in our family very seriously.  She lives up to being the "baby of the family."  Long story short, she is spoiled.  She cries (screams!) when you put her down, and settles instantly when you pick her up again.  When she's angry, she raises her arms above her head, clenches her fists, and screeches.  It's cute, in a not-so-cute way.

{She still has blue eyes!  We were discussing at the dinner table with the kids who she is like.  We decided she has Matthew's eye shapes, Nathan's chubby cheeks, Kayla's personality, Jon's hair colour.  I couldn't think of what she had that was like me, and then Kayla piped up, "Mom, she has your blue eyes!"} 

She has also become a little picky when it comes to eating.  She will only eat when she feels like eating.  She was even offered ice cream tonight when we were having dessert and she refused!

Olivia loves her soother, and when that is not available, she loves to chew on her fingers or her whole entire fist.  If her own are not available, she'll reach for the hand of whoever is holding her so that she can chomp on theirs.

Just this week Olivia has learned to sit on her own.  This is a great accomplishment and enables us to occupy her time when we can't hold her.  Just throw a feeding pillow around her and she'll sit and play for a good 30 minutes.

{Opening her very first Christmas present}

Olivia is a pro when it comes to jumping in the jolly jumper.  She loves jumping, and can do it really well.

Olivia has starting laughing at her siblings.  If they are acting silly towards her or if they are playing peek-a-boo with her she giggles.  She'll also giggle if she's being tickled.  I was tickling her so much the other evening that she started to cry.  Oops!

She still loves being on her tummy.  Put her on her back and she quickly rolls to her front.  She can even push herself up so that her arms are fully extended.

With all of her other accomplishments, Olivia has regressed in the sleeping department.  She is up every 3-4 hours for a bottle.  Lucky for her, she shares a bedroom with Nathan and so I don't want her to cry too loudly/too much in fear that she wakes Nathan up, so I give in to her.  She only likes to drink between 4 to 4.5 ounces of formula every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day, so she's not getting "too much" by having bottles during the night.  She typically falls right back asleep, and if she doesn't, I quickly bring her into our bed where she sleeps in the middle.

Even though she does not sleep as well during the night, she falls asleep for a nap or for bed at night amazingly well.  The secret?  A tight swaddle.  Swaddle her tight enough so that she can't grab for her soother and her eyes start to close almost immediately.

{She's my only child to ever get curious about the things around her while having a bath.  She often rolls onto her side to grab at the kettle.}

Her schedule (roughly!):
7:15am Wake up
7:30am  Bath time
8:00am  Bottle
9:00am  Nap time
10:00am  Wake up
10:30am  Bottle
12:00pm  Nap time
1:30pm  Wake up
1:45pm  Bottle
4:00pm  Nap time
5:00pm  Wake up
5:15pm  Bottle
7:30pm  Bottle
8:00pm  Bed time

Enjoying the Cold Weather

Yesterday, Jon took the kids down to the fields behind the greenhouses which have frozen over.  They didn't enjoy ice skating, but did enjoy walking around on the ice!