Matthew can Clap!

It just took me five minutes to show him, and he got it!  Now all he does is clap :)

Better late than never...part 1: Christmas!

Our classic pre-BLG Christmas dinner picture.  Kids this year!

Trying to keep Matthew and Kayla busy for long enough to cook dinner.

Kayla's main Christmas gift from Jon and I (what she doesn't know is that it is a second-hand toy I was given for free before they were born, from a couple in our church!).

Matthew's main Christmas gift from Jon and I (what he doesn't know is that it is a second-hand toy I got for free from a kids swap Facebook group I am a part of!).

Jon's gift from Matthew and Kayla: a Canucks hat, a cool toque, and some chocolates.

Some times the wrapping is more fun than the gift itself...

Trying out Kayla's gift.

I've bought a Precious Moments Christmas tree ornament for each year that Jon and I have been married.  This year I bought three: one for 2011, and one for Matthew's first Christmas and one for Kayla's first Christmas.

Their gifts from Jon and I.

Their gifts from Great-Grandma Vander Ende.

"Helping" Grandma make dessert.

Waiting patiently for the gift opening to begin with the Vander Endes.

Grandma letting Matthew and Kayla play with the ornaments on the tree.  I think she's already broken most rules that she had for us as kids...

Time to open presents!

Matthew and Kayla's gifts from the Vander Endes.  They were spoiled!  

Opening stockings on Christmas morning.  

Matthew got a toothbrush, shampoo, two books, and some 'Cars' bandaids.

Kayla got a toothbrush, toothpaste, two books, and some 'Princess' bandaids.

Relaxing after church on Christmas Day, before heading off to Mike and Pauline's to celebrate with the Struiks.

Stealing Cheerios from cousin Justin.

Envious of cousin Nick's gift.

Opening her gift.  It seems that there were no pictures taken of Matthew!  Likely because he had fallen asleep for some of the evening.  And gift opening is chaos (as to be expected with 15 grandkids!) so he must have gotten lost in the crowd :)

Oma & Opa had accidentally forgotten Matthew and Kayla's gift at home, so they opened them later that week.

Gifts from the Struiks...spoiled again!

Our Christmas card e-mail that was sent to some of our family.

I bought a new stash of cloth diapers as they had outgrown their 'smalls'.  Because it was close to Christmas I decided to buy a red one too so that they could be Christmasy :)

Kayla fell in love with the ornament she's holding. Every evening when we went to my parents' for coffee she would want to go and see it on my parents' mantle in the living room.  She knew exactly where to find it.  We were hoping that by letting her hold it we might get a smile.  Wishful thinking.

I'm going to sneakily touch the poinsettia behind me and see if anyone notices...

Gotta love a good bum shot :)

My parents' winter candy bowl.  They loved it!

Matthew's Creeping!

...FINALLY!  You don't know how long I've been wanting to do this entry for!

I noticed this evening as I walked past our living room that he was in the middle of the room as opposed to the edge, where I had placed him.  It's nearly impossible to roll to get anywhere in the living room, as toys and furniture litter the floor, creating quite the obstacle course.  Later on in the evening he proved to us how he did it - he crept!  Yay for Matthew!

Kayla just took 5 steps...

...and is so proud of herself!

Kayla's First Steps

Not sure if I ever blogged about it...but in November Kayla had started standing on her own, and for long periods of time.  I had gained enough confidence in her ability to stand that I decided to videotape her doing it one day.  She had been standing for about 30 seconds, when all of a sudden she fell backwards, straight as a board.  Since that horrific fall, she stopped standing.

The past few weeks Kayla has gotten over her fear and has started standing again.  She's definitely back to the point she was at a few months ago, and can often be found standing playing toys, rather than leaning or holding on to something.

This past week, she has also started to take steps, unassisted.  Thursday she took one step, away from the coffee table and to her toys.  Yesterday, she took two steps.  It shouldn't be long before she's walking on her own!  She's very good at walking with only holding one of my hands.

Her favourite thing to do right now: play with a ball (like the dollar store, classic kid-type, ball).  She LOVES walking around and kicking it (which she is great at) or sitting and throwing it on the ground to bounce it to you (which she is really good at too).

Matthew and Kayla napped at opposite times this afternoon so I had an hour of just Kayla and me time, and we had a blast.  She was in such a good mood!  We did a lot of ball playing and walking, and then she played with cars while I did some dishes.  Once Matthew woke up we went for a walk, went on the swings, and jumped on the trampoline (with Grandma too!  Haven't seen her on there for a long time...).

I love clear days.  Doesn't have to be sunny out, just not rainy!  Our days are so much more enjoyable when we can go outside for a bit.  Looking forward to spring...

Finding a Balance

The longer it took Jon and I to get pregnant, the deeper I fell into unhappiness.  I longed for a life of having and raising kids...but it just wasn't happening.  And then we did in vitro, they were born, and I was ecstatic.

I knew I loved my job, and that I would have a hard time leaving it to go on maternity leave.  I was only off for a month before I started working from home again.  I just couldn't give it up. 

I thought that I would be upset that my maternity leave is almost up.  I'm going to miss the 'free' money (!), but I don't think I'm upset it's up.  I think I'm actually looking forward to going to work.  The closer I get to going back, the more excited I get.

I don't know if it's the season/weather, but I'm getting tired of being stuck in the house.  We can't go anywhere because we don't have a vehicle when Jon's working...but even if we did, where would we go?  The weather is horrible, and the amount of work it takes to get out makes it not worth it.  I find myself falling into an unhappiness of being home 24-7.  Please don't get me wrong though, I love my kids...but I also love my job...using my brain, crunching numbers, problem-solving, being a leader, etc.  

Problem is though, I don't want to (can't!) do both 100% of the time...so I have to find a balance.  I need to work enough so that it fills that desire to be "Corporate Laura", but I can only work certain times/days depending on vehicles/babysitting.  I want to be home enough so that it fills my desire of being "Mommy Laura"...but without losing any of "Corporate Laura".  I don't think I can be a good "Mommy Laura" without a little bit of "Corporate Laura" in my life.  What's a good balance, so that I can do both without letting one suffer?  Every day different scenarios run through my mind...what if I work this day, this day, and this day, how will I get there, who will watch the kids?  etc etc etc.  Is it worth insuring a second vehicle (the golf) just so that I have a little more flexibility with what I do and when?  Is it worth paying someone to watch Matthew and Kayla for a little more flexibility?

Praying for some sunny weather so that we can get out and play outside!  Come Spring, come!!!

10 Months Old!

Kayla:

• loves soft dolls and stuffed animals.  When she sees them, she'll grab them and give them a tight hug.  Her favourites are the dolls my parents brought back with them from Ontario for herself and Matthew, her "baby" - a small OshKosh doll (hand-me down), and "Mr. Monkey" - a monkey with a "Someone from TWU loves me" t-shirt that I had bought Jon my first year at TWU.
• knows what she wants to eat.  We struggled a little more this past month in getting her to eat dinner, because if she didn't like it there was no way she would eat it.  She loves cheese and prunes, so that's all she had for dinner a couple nights.
• knows how to spray food out of her mouth if she doesn't like it.  This started out as being cute, but quickly resulted in her getting a little slap tap on the cheek.  She's learned now (I think!).
• loves being tossed around on the couch and wrestled with.  She squeals in delight!
• has started getting angry when Matthew tries to take a toy away from her.  She likes to tease him with the toy, and then when he attempts to grab it she gets angry and looks at me to make sure I see what he's doing.
• enjoys reading the "MOO" book her and Matthew received for Christmas because there are a lot of fuzzy animals to feel and flaps to open.
• has begun to open and close her first when she wants something.
• is learning how to wave.

Matthew:

• loves hard toys that he can chew on.
• loves knocking down towers of toys.  He's expressionless when he does it...but he must enjoy it because as soon as I have two blocks stacked on top of each other he quickly knocks it down.
• loves all food (that`s my boy!).  He eats way more than Kayla at every meal.  He will eat anything.
• loves lying down in the bath and having water dripped on him.  He squeals and splashes around like crazy.
• has learned how to walk around furniture.  He loves standing by our windows in the living room and walking along them.
• loves it when you`re "goofy" with him.  I can do a short, but loud, yelp and he`ll burst out laughing.
• enjoys reading books (yes!).  Unlike Kayla, he can actually sit through a story.  His favourites are: "Where`s My Bear?", "Counting Peas", "Oh Where, Oh Where", and "MOO".
• smiles for the camera as soon as he hears it turn on.
• gets scared if you scream out of surprise.  For instance, if something is going to fall off the table and you scream when you notice that he'll burst out crying and will be cautious of you.  

Our typical daily schedule:

7:00am - My "alarm clock" (Matthew) wakes up.  I make them breakfast (rice cereal), get Matthew out of bed, and then wake Kayla up and feed them both.  After breakfast they get a bottle (3oz) and play toys while I eat my breakfast.  Lately, they've been helping me eat my breakfast (peanut butter, jam, and banana sandwich).  The highlight for them is when I let them finish my last swallow of milk.

7:30am - Bath time!

8:00am - Play time

9:00am - Bottle (3 oz) and then nap time.

10:00am - Bottle (3 oz), a few Graduates for snack, and then play time.

11:00am - Lunch (3/4 slice of bread, chunks of cheddar or marble cheese or cheese slice, some sort of fruit, sippy cup with water)

12:00pm - Bottle (3 oz) and then nap time.

1:00pm - Bottle (3 oz), yogourt and/or fruit for snack, and then play time.

3:00pm - Bottle (3 oz) and then nap time.

4:00pm - Bottle (3 oz), some sort of wheat item for snack (Gerber Graduates, Cheerios, Mum Mum), and then play time.

5:15pm - Dinner (Either what we're having, or 12mth baby food mixed with homemade baby food (they aren't fans of plain vegetables anymore, so I'm trying to use up my frozen baby food supply + keep the cost of store-bought baby food down) and prunes, sippy cup with water)

6:00pm - Bath time!

6:30pm - Bottle (2 oz)

6:45pm - Over to my parents' house for a quick visit.

7:30pm - Home again.  Brush teeth and story time, followed by bottle (2 oz).

8:00pm - Bed time!

January 16 - Kayla fell out of the bath tub.  She was standing and watching me change Matthew, but leaned too far over the edge and fell out.  Luckily I was there to catch her!

January 17- Matthew and Kayla shared a sippy cup of chocolate milk with their lunch.  They absolutely LOVED it!  I made them share the same cup, so they had to take turns.  Every time it was their turn they would get super excited.