Happy Birthday, Babies!

Hi Everyone!

It's been awhile, and we've been busy for awhile! I guess a lot has happened since I posted last. The twins turned one on August 30th! We had a party with family the week before (pictures to follow!). I am in awe and am amazed with how far they have come and how much they have grown in one year. I was looking at pictures throughout their first year and can't believe their miracle. Thank you God! I am working on a DVD compilation of photos, so hopefully one day I'll get it done. ANd if I can figure out a way, I'll share it with you.

Then it was time for their one year immunization shots. I now have very mixed feeling about shots. Apparently they are important but they sure cause a lot of problems! Not to mention the crying when it actually happened. About two weeks later they both had a reaction. So in short they both had a shortened form of mumps, measles and rubella. Lovely! At the same time Sophia was teething with her molars, first the top and then before they were completely through started with the bottoms. So there has been a lot of sleepless nights. Even more then before, if you can imagine! But Sophia has slept through the night for the last three nights, so I'm very excited about that! One of these days maybe Ethan will join in the sleeping bandwagon!!

Agrifair

We did get to Agrifair last weekend! We started out quite early. Just before we left our house Drew fell on the drive-way and skinned his knee pretty good. We cleaned it all up. It took awhile and some screaming but it couldn't stop Drew from going to the FAIR! (He had seen the Ferris Wheel from Grandma's balcony, and had been asking to go to the fair for two days already. He was SO excited!! We had to write it all down on his calender so he would understand that he would not miss the fair and rides if we went on Saturday!)

When we got there not all the rides and exhibitions were open, but we did get to see the Pigs and Ducks race before we headed home for lunch and a nap for the twins. Drew was a little disappointed that we had to go home already. So after lunch Mark took Drew back and they spent all afternoon going on rides, checking out the old farm equipment and exploring every corner of Agrifair. He even saw Drifter, the horse he rode at Connie's house! The twins and I and my brother Steve joined up with them in the late afternoon for a bit more Agrifair before supper. For Mark and Drew it was a day well spent. They were both happy, but tired! Following a 3 year old around all day is hard work!! Sorry, I have more pics but having a little trouble getting them posted!

Late nights, Early mornings = No Sleep!

Well this week has gone by really fast. Too fast! Mark has been off from work this last week and is off next week as well. I am so glad that he is off for two weeks this time, although it will be harder to let him go back to work!!

We haven't done any day trips, although we would've love to. But it seems that our children have gone back to not sleeping during the night! Any tips? How long can this last? It is getting very frustrating. The twins are almost a year and still not sleeping through the night. Drew was sleeping through the night early - like at 3 or 4 months i think.

Last night Ethan woke up every 1/2 to an hour until midnight, then Sophia woke up around 11:30pm and only went back to sleep at 2am. Then Ethan got up every two hours until he got up for the day at 7am. Drew got up during Sophia's awake time but at least I was already awake :I !

I dream of a night filled with sleep! Please pray for us! The more people praying the more it will help!

Mark's Week Off Part 3

My last part of the series. On Thursday to Friday, Mark took Drew camping to Rolley Lake. Just the two of them. We packed up my parent's camper van and then in the afternoon, they were off. My cousin, Lance dropped in that morning. He was here for a vehicle drop-off/pick-up and maintenance run. He is a tow truck driver. The repair took much longer than anticipated so he got to come with us. It was great to catch up. A bunch of us joined Mark and Drew for supper at the camp site - Steve, Lance, Mom, Ethan, Sophia, Myself and later on, Dad.

Sophia, Ethan and I had to leave after supper so as not to disrupt their night schedule too much. Didn't really want a replay of Monday night, especially that I was going to be by myself. So you'll have to ask Mark for the stories and details!

Although just before we left Mark, Steve and Drew were on their way to take the canoe out. (Borrowed from Tina and Frank. Thanks guys!) Drew tripped and fell. Hardly hurt at all, but Drew is in this band-aid phase. He seemed all right at the time, but apparently whined/cried a lot of the way to the beach (on ground and in the canoe) because he needed a band-aid and they didn't have one in the canoe, surprise, surprise! Luckily they met up with Mom at the beach, who did have a band-aid in her van. Dad talked it over with Drew and then things were okay again. Let's just say the canoe ride back was a lot better. The rest of their camping trip was pretty good. As good as it can be with a three year old, namely Drew. Apparently it took awhile to get to sleep, including finding out how all the windows worked and three visits to the outhouse, after bedtime. All in all, they'd do it again. Drew even said a couple days ago that he'd like to go camping with Daddy again. So that's a good sign! Maybe next year the twins and I can go too! We'll see. . . : )



(Drew's latest thing is turning away from the camera when we want to take a picture!! Nuts, this one could have been so great!)

Mark's Week Off Part 2

On Wednesday, A friend of my parents, Connie, called us up to invite Drew to her house to ride her horse. I couldn't let the opportunity go and I knew Drew would love it. Mark was mowing the grass, Sophia was at Mom's house so I packed up Drew and Ethan and we were off . . .

After a nice drive in the country we got there. Connie quickly got to work collecting all the gear, showing Drew their new kitten, and getting Drew to help with the grooming. Drew did really well and once again had no fear of the horse. Which is good in some regards. I asked Connie if the horse was okay with Drew walking all around him. She said yes and that "Drifter" was an excellent horse for kids. I was grateful. Later on though we found out hoe good this horse really was. First of all Drew walked under the belly of the horse, while grooming, and later on I noticed that one of the horses hooves was on top of Drew's foot! Drew was just standing there, not screaming. So obviously the horse had not put all it's weight on Drew! Now Connie really felt she could brag about the horse.

He also loves the kitten, and wanted to carry it everywhere! The kitten's name is Purplegreen. Last name, Brown. Actual color of the cat, Black!! Such an odd name, but with a story behind it. It came from someone at her sons wedding, who thought it would be neat if it were named something to do with the wedding. You guessed it, the colours were purple and green. I'm not sure where Brown comes from! After Drew had his turn on the horse, I was given a turn too! Yay! I love horses, especially watching them run fast. But when I ride, and I so seldom do, I am such a chicken. I got it to trot a bunch of times but slowed him down quite quickly each time. Maybe if I'd do it more often, I'd get used to it and be more gutsy.

While I was riding Connie took Drew and Ethan. They played in the sandbox with some cool tractor machines and played with Purplegreen some more. When we were bring the horse in I noticed Drew playing with the kitten near the horses water barrel. And soon the cat was wet!! I quickly went to check it out. Luckily her head stayed dry. Apparently Drew wanted to give her a bath! We gave Purplegreen a break after that. The rest of the time though, I couldn't believe how good the kitten was, at one time, she was actually purring in his arms and it looked like she was falling asleep!

Next Drew got to jump on their trampoline and we had some ice tea. A friend of Connie's then came to collect her horse from Connie's field. We were watching the process and then we about to leave when Connie asked if we had time for Drew to have a tractor ride? (Ride-on lawnmower) DO WE HAVE TIME FOR A TRACTOR RIDE? FOR DREW? OF COURSE!! Ethan and I chatted with her neighbours while Connie took Drew on the tractor. (She chatted a little too as Drew sat on the tractor waiting for his turn, but it soon became Drew pressing all the buttons and moving the gears!) She let him steer and everything. She said she only corrected him when he was about to run into something. He absolutely loved it! What a great day for him. And Ethan and I had fun too!






A quote from Connie: "That was so fun yesterday with Drew. He's a character - When I told Kendra that the cat got his first bath, Charlie said that he "baptized" the cat."

Mark's Week Off Part 1

I was going to post this last night, but the pictures were giving me some trouble, but today I think I got it under control. So here goes . . .

Mark was lucky to have last week off, and so were we. It was nice to have him around and "relax" at home. We also got out for a couple of day trips.

On Monday we went into the big city after lunch and morning naps, yes all five of us, plus my Sister and Mom. First we stopped in at Debbie's place and found out where she lived. (Debbie, and Mom, took her car in.) Drew loved her roommates cat! He wanted to carry it all over the place. The cat was very good with Drew but occasionally had aother things in mind. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the cat and Drew. Then we went to Burnaby Museum to ride on the carousel. That was a lot of fun and we ALL had a turn!







(Notice how all of my boys think along the same lines . . . on picture three Mark is looking up to see how things work, on pictures four it is Drew's turn and in picture six it's Ethan's turn. Sophia and I are just along for the ride : ) ! )


Then we went over to Metro Town and took a ride on the train that runs thru the mall! It was a little squishy but it worked.




The train took us to the other end of the mall, where we stopped for a potty break and then headed back on feet to meet Mom. On our way we saw a sand sculpture being built. Then Debbie and I took Drew to "Build-A-Bear Workshop". Such a cool process. Drew enjoyed creating his puppy, whom he named "Staybie"! It all comes from his head!





Then we had supper at the food court, and headed back to take Debbie home. Drew got to enjoy her cat, once again and we got the twins in their pajamas, just in case they'd fall asleep and we could transfer them into their beds! Well, they did fall asleep, but woke up when we got home thinking they had just had a nap. needless to say, it was a very late night for Mark and I. But at least the babes did so well on the trip, and so did Drew. It was a lot of fun to get out for the day with the whole family.

Well, it is getting late, so I better save the rest of the outings for another day!

Goodnight!

More pics from Apricot Jamming!

Anybody there?

WOW! It's been awhile. Not even sure if anyone will still be reading this.

Well our family is just getting over a throat/chest infection. It seems to have hit us all a little differently. Four out of Five of us ended up on antibiotics. Ethan was the only one who only got the cold part of this thing. Sophia and I got the chest infection and Drew and Mark got it in the throat. By next week this time I hope that we will all be better! Mark just started his meds today!

Well, enough about the sicknesses. It seems like that's all I've written about lately. About three weeks ago Drew and I headed out to IKEA and met up with my sister Debbie. It was a fun trip and great to do something with just Drew. It is also really important for him. My Mom was a little worried that day to have two babies by herself because her back was just getting better from a strain she pulled while working in the garden. So we called Oma in to help out. When we got back I couldn't believe what I saw. They were almost finished making Apricot Jam!!!! These two women are the hardest working women I know! And they never stop! Just try making them take a break! My hats off to you!

Here are some photos of the day! Enjoy!

It's been Awhile . . .

Yes, it has. Over a month in fact. Or more. My apologies! Life is very busy. It seems that by the time everyone is in bed, the bottles for the night are made and I've cleaned up a little, my energy is depleted and just want to veg out for a little bit before I go to sleep or the next baby wakes up again.

What's new with us:
We have all gone through the flu - our family of five, plus my parents and siblings. Mark and my sister had it the worst, but there was a lot of diahrea with the twins. And in the midst of it all, our washing machine stopped working so we had to bring clothes across the street to wash. It's not far, I know, just inconvienient when it's diahrea. Mark fixed the washer. But the first time we used it something else had broken and when I went down to add some clothes from the rinse cycle to the wash cycle I noticed there was water on the ground. The washing machine was over flowing with water. Mark wasn't home but I called him and he came quickly. It was in the evening so everyone was in bed. At least I didn't have to deal with kids at the same time. I shut the washer off, but we still got about an inch of water in the laundry room and ajoining bathroom. It took a little while to soak up all the water, but I am glad that I caught it in time and didn't go into our entire downstairs. It turns out that one of the hoses was crinked. I also feel lucky because usually I wouldn't have gone downstairs to check on the laundry. I think God was watching over us.

During the time the twins were sick, they were getting up more at night. Sophia got up at least once during the night, which is still pretty good, but Ethan was back to getting up every two or three hours. Now that he's better, he's still getting up that often. So when my Mom got sick and couldn't help out it was really tiring. I mentioned this to my doctor and he thought he may not be getting enough food during the day. So we have started real food. This is their third day on carrots and it seems to be going well. Also making sure that we feed them cereal/vegtables at breakfast, lunch and dinner. He did sleep a little better last night. I am wondering if he needs ceral for snack before bed too - but that may be too much. Plus they are both teething.

Drew is doing very well with his toilet training. He does have some accidents but overall is dry most of the time. We have started night training and don't always have dry nights. More laundry. So far we have to wake him up a night to take him potty. But it's getting better. I've also been taking him to music lessons at our church - "Mommy, Music and Me". He seems to enjoy it, but doesn't always follow directions, or get into the songs as much as some kids, but I can see that he is starting to sing more and be comfortable and free to sing at home and on Sunday mornings. And I've taken him to drop-in gymnastics. He really enjoys that and soon he will start one round of lessons - we'll see how he likes it? We have to keep him busy or he goes stir-crazy.

Well I think that is us up-to-date. What's new with you all? We'd love to hear from you too! I'll try to write sooner this time and next time I'll add some picture - the twins are definately growing. (Ethan is already rolling over)

May God Bless you all and have a great day, enjoying this sun!

Happy Birthday Drew!

Actually his birthday was on Tuesday, but didn't get around to blogging it. It was a pretty good day. Mark and I took Drew out for the morning - just the three of us. First we went to the John Deere store, and he got to pick something out. He is in the John Deere kids Club and they sent him an $8.00 gift certificate for his birthday. We kicked in the rest. He picked two small tractors - a skid steer and a backhoe loader, and a semi to go with the trailor we got him for Christmas. He also picked out a green trailor that we will go back for once he has finished his next stage of potty training! Then we stopped at Home Depot so he could pick out a light cover for his bedroom light. (It's a big deal as he saw his light as something that needed to be fixed. And he loves fixing things!) He was very excited about the soccer ball cover he picked, and it looks great in his room. Next we went out for Lunch at the Swiss Chalet, compliments of the birthday club - they sent him a gift certificate for a free lunch. What a great day! And it was even better that we had the gift certificates. After we got home, Mark and Drew "fixed" the light and put up his new cover. Later, Mark found out he could have the day off because it was slow at work. And finally, Nana and Grandpa dropped by to bring Drew a gift, Lego Bob the Builder, a puzzle and activity sticker book, and stayed for dinner. One of Drew's favorite - Spaghetti, Corn, fresh red peppers cut up, and pickles!

And one of the best things for me was that he decided he was a big boy and was going to wear underwear! He only had one accident. Hopefully he can keep it up!

We were thinking of having a party with some friends, but now that the twins had/have RSV, we'll have to save that for next year. We aren't supposed to get together with other babies until they are totally over this as not to pass it on.

On Saturday we are going to have a small party with cousins, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents. He is also looking forward to this and counting down the days. Every once in a while he let's me know what he wants. Today he told me he wanted a cake with candles at his party! And when I tell him it's a little party, he informs me that it's a big party! I guess I'll have to pick up the party supplies in the next few days!