Nathan: "Sometimes when I see someone in my room at night I am afraid."
Matthew: "Nathan, remember the angel Gabriel said, 'Do not be afraid!' to Mary and Joseph. So you shouldn't be afraid at night."
After struggling with infertility for three years, we were blessed with the birth of Matthew and Kayla in March 2011 (by in vitro) , Nathan in October 2013 (by frozen embryo transfer), and Olivia in August 2015 (naturally!). We are loving every moment (well, almost!) of our lives as parents.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Matthew, on the Trinity
As I was loading the kids into our vehicle after celebrating Auntie Candice's birthday last night, Kayla mentioned that she was scared to walk outside when it was dark and slippery, when I wasn't around. I reminded her that even if I'm not there, someone else always is....God. Matthew piped up and said, "Good thing we have room for three people in our hearts: God, Jesus, and....the dove." (They had just learned about Jesus' baptism and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove this past week in Children's Church).
Sunday, January 1, 2017
New Year's Eve
This year for New Year's Eve we had my brother, David and his wife Laura and their five kids over. We had appies for dinner and then the kids played. Around 7:15 we realized how much snow had accumulated outside and how beautiful is was looking, and so I suggested that we go outside and play. I managed to find four extra pairs of snow pants, boots, and gloves for the other older kids and outside we went. It was SO MUCH FUN.
The snow was all practically untouched and there was absolutely no traffic around. We started out by building a snowman in our front yard while some of the kids ran around in the street, and then we headed to our "little park" for some small hill sledding while David and Jon built an 8-foot tall snowman. At around 8:30 we headed back home, get the kids changed into their pjs, and headed down to our basement to watch the movie "Storks". When the movie ended at 10:30 the kids all went to bed and us adults watched the new movie "The Jungle Book". It was a fun stay-at-home evening.
{Photo with our across-the-street neighbour's tree. Kids, left to right: Emma, Liam, Nathan, Kayla, Matthew, Carly, Remy, Olivia and Brayden (in front). Yes, there are nine kids under 6. It's great because in this group, each child has a cousin their exact same age...except Brayden. Poor guy, he didn't get a 2016 cousin from Jon and I!}
The snow was all practically untouched and there was absolutely no traffic around. We started out by building a snowman in our front yard while some of the kids ran around in the street, and then we headed to our "little park" for some small hill sledding while David and Jon built an 8-foot tall snowman. At around 8:30 we headed back home, get the kids changed into their pjs, and headed down to our basement to watch the movie "Storks". When the movie ended at 10:30 the kids all went to bed and us adults watched the new movie "The Jungle Book". It was a fun stay-at-home evening.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Nathan's Cyst
Nathan had an appointment with a dermatologist in New Westminster this afternoon because he has a reddish bump, about 3mm in diameter, on his right cheek. It has been there for 6-9 months (or longer?) and our family doctor didn't know the cause of it.
The dermatologist says that it's a cyst, but very unlikely cancerous (because I don't think it's grown in size since I've noticed it, and cancerous cysts typically grow quite rapidly). What likely caused it is that there was a foreign object that entered his skin (could even be like a facial hair being trapped in a scratch/cut on his face) that the body grew a pocket around because it was foreign, causing a cyst. He says they typically don't go away on their own, and that the only way to get rid of it is to remove it surgically. We are going to go back again in 3 months to confirm that it hasn't grown, and then get further details on what surgery would involve.
{See the purple dot in the middle of his right cheek? That's where the cyst is.}
The dermatologist says that it's a cyst, but very unlikely cancerous (because I don't think it's grown in size since I've noticed it, and cancerous cysts typically grow quite rapidly). What likely caused it is that there was a foreign object that entered his skin (could even be like a facial hair being trapped in a scratch/cut on his face) that the body grew a pocket around because it was foreign, causing a cyst. He says they typically don't go away on their own, and that the only way to get rid of it is to remove it surgically. We are going to go back again in 3 months to confirm that it hasn't grown, and then get further details on what surgery would involve.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Enchant
We had the opportunity to visit Enchant in Vancouver this past Wednesday evening, thanks to some tickets from my sister and a couple of her friends. I can't pass up the opportunity to do something festive when it's free admission for all of us :).
We left Surrey at 4:30pm and it took us an hour to get to Enchant. Not too bad. What made it even better was that Jon found us free street parking only a five minute walk away from Enchant. Yahoo!
The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a few degrees below zero, so it was cold, but that also meant that all of the snow on the ground was not melting so it was perfectly winter-y.
Matthew was the most enthusiastic about the maze portion. He kept running so far ahead of us that we couldn't see him and would have to hunt for him. He needed a leash :).
The kids all loved searching for the reindeer. Thank goodness we found them all relatively quickly or I would have been frustrated. :):
We chose to not visit the food trucks or the marketplace because we had no intention of purchasing anything anyways. It was about 7pm when we left Enchant and had no traffic on our way back, so at least the kids got to bed at a decent time.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Olivia is 15.5 months old!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Olivia! I've been meaning to do a '15 month' post about you for a few weeks...and it's been so long that it's no longer relevant to put it as '15 months'...so you get an extra .5 month added to the title :)
You continue to grow and develop, which is always very entertaining. I think a "highlight" in your development this past month is your ability to throw a really good tantrum. I'm talking about a "screaming/crying while laying on the floor" tantrum that I always vowed my kids would never have (oops!). You definitely know what you want and don't want, and you don't like it when you don't get your way.
You continue to say "Ma" for Mom, and have recently added "ba" for ball and "kack" for quack/duck. The words are going to really start coming quickly now, because you are forever trying to talk. You love sitting and looking at your '100 words' book. You love it when I sit with you and tell you the names of the things you are pointing at. You definitely took the initiative with wanting to learn to talk because I have not sat down and read you that book at all until you took interest in it. Being the baby of the family, you know how to get what you want!
You have a deep love for Kayla and Nathan. You love Kayla because she is always watching out for you, and you love Nathan because he loves to "love on" you. You continue to be very tolerant of his never-ending hugs and kisses. You like to sit beside him on the couch. You like Matthew, but the two of you don't really pay any special attention to each other.
We are working on forcing you to a eat a little more. I've realized that you typically only tell me that you don't want more food (by refusing to take another bite) not because you are full, but because you are tired of sitting in your high chair. I usually force you to take another bite or two and then you willingly finish the rest of your portion. When you are done with everything, you try to put your cup on the table and lift up your plate to pass it to me.
You absolutely love fruit. Your favourites are blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. You also love tomatoes. Your biggest love is candy though! If you see it, you ask for it!
Olivia, you have really developed a love for playing with Fisher-Price Little People. You are quite entertained by putting each person in a vehicle or putting them in a house. It's really cute watching you sit and play with them.
You have a larger love for playing with (bald) dolls. You always have a doll with you, held nicely against your chest. You like to also have a blanket for the baby, and if one is not around then you use an extra item of doll clothes as a blanket, and if that is not around, then you pull a wipe out of my wipe container (haha!). You like to put the 'blanket' (or whichever item you are using as a blanket), on top of the baby's face when it's laying in the ground. You love taking your baby for walks around the kitchen in one of our many baby strollers, and you've learned how to feed your baby a bottle.
We've dropped your afternoon bottle, so you know only have a 9-oz bottle just before you go to bed in the evening. We only dropped the afternoon bottle because I forgot to pack one on a Sunday morning and we had no plans to be home that day at all, so you had to do without...and you did just fine!
You weigh an even 24lbs. The older you get, the more you are resembling Kayla's body type. You are a perfect size...large enough to not be overly concerned with your growth, but small enough to be my baby. But let's be honest here, even when you are 40lbs you will still be my baby :).
You continue to grow and develop, which is always very entertaining. I think a "highlight" in your development this past month is your ability to throw a really good tantrum. I'm talking about a "screaming/crying while laying on the floor" tantrum that I always vowed my kids would never have (oops!). You definitely know what you want and don't want, and you don't like it when you don't get your way.
You continue to say "Ma" for Mom, and have recently added "ba" for ball and "kack" for quack/duck. The words are going to really start coming quickly now, because you are forever trying to talk. You love sitting and looking at your '100 words' book. You love it when I sit with you and tell you the names of the things you are pointing at. You definitely took the initiative with wanting to learn to talk because I have not sat down and read you that book at all until you took interest in it. Being the baby of the family, you know how to get what you want!
You have a deep love for Kayla and Nathan. You love Kayla because she is always watching out for you, and you love Nathan because he loves to "love on" you. You continue to be very tolerant of his never-ending hugs and kisses. You like to sit beside him on the couch. You like Matthew, but the two of you don't really pay any special attention to each other.
We are working on forcing you to a eat a little more. I've realized that you typically only tell me that you don't want more food (by refusing to take another bite) not because you are full, but because you are tired of sitting in your high chair. I usually force you to take another bite or two and then you willingly finish the rest of your portion. When you are done with everything, you try to put your cup on the table and lift up your plate to pass it to me.
You absolutely love fruit. Your favourites are blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. You also love tomatoes. Your biggest love is candy though! If you see it, you ask for it!
Olivia, you have really developed a love for playing with Fisher-Price Little People. You are quite entertained by putting each person in a vehicle or putting them in a house. It's really cute watching you sit and play with them.
You have a larger love for playing with (bald) dolls. You always have a doll with you, held nicely against your chest. You like to also have a blanket for the baby, and if one is not around then you use an extra item of doll clothes as a blanket, and if that is not around, then you pull a wipe out of my wipe container (haha!). You like to put the 'blanket' (or whichever item you are using as a blanket), on top of the baby's face when it's laying in the ground. You love taking your baby for walks around the kitchen in one of our many baby strollers, and you've learned how to feed your baby a bottle.
We've dropped your afternoon bottle, so you know only have a 9-oz bottle just before you go to bed in the evening. We only dropped the afternoon bottle because I forgot to pack one on a Sunday morning and we had no plans to be home that day at all, so you had to do without...and you did just fine!
You weigh an even 24lbs. The older you get, the more you are resembling Kayla's body type. You are a perfect size...large enough to not be overly concerned with your growth, but small enough to be my baby. But let's be honest here, even when you are 40lbs you will still be my baby :).
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Nathan's Smooth Skin
While I was changing Nathan into his pajamas after his bath this evening, I was commenting on how smooth and clean his skin felt. I wasn't looking right at him while I helped him step into the pants, but I heard him say, "Feel how smooth my noodles are, Mom!" I looked up and laughed. "Nathan, those are called nipples, not noodles!"
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