2 down 2 to go!

Actually, because I am posting mid-day, it is more like 1 1/2 days to go until Sean gets home...........although, who's counting?? I wouldnt waste my time figuring out that there are only 34 hours 26 min left until Sean arrives at our door. There have definitely been challenges over the last few days but there have been good times too.

Caileigh only has one more stickers until she gets her big treat, which she has decided will be chocolate. When she talks about it she gets wide eyed and her whole body quivers with excitement. What can I expect when I ate a pound of chocolate a day while pregnant with her. She is still waking up around 5 but she isn't getting out of bed in the middle of the night. I will worry about the early mornings next.
Aiden has decided that he would much rather sleep in bed with me than earn a treat but hopefully once Sean gets home we can work on that. When I am already waking up a lot at night, taking Aiden back upstairs is the last thing on my mind.


Mikayla weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz yesterday. It's good to know that all that milk is going somewhere. My little snacker loves to eat all the time. Maybe she got that from me eating all the time while pregnant with her? I wouldn't be surprised.
Aiden has been very encouraging lately. As I lay on the floor attempting to do Pilates he exclaimed, "Good job Mommy! You are doing just what that lady on TV is telling you to do!" Or today while I vacuumed, "You are vacuuming really well Mommy!" I like to think I was doing a good job too.
We enjoyed eating popcorn and watching Animal Planet last night. I just love hearing the kids comments while we watch. Very comical!
Today we are hoping to get outside and enjoy the sunny, although cool day. I may pile the kids in the car and drive across town to deliver a thank you note all because it will burn an hour of time. Maybe I'll cash in my Starbucks certificate too.......now I'm on to something!

Happy One Month Miss Mik

You are so content, relaxed and easy going. You are starting to smile and interact with us more each day. You are awake for an hour or two at a time. You settle for the night around 8 or 9 and wake up every 3 hours (or so) to eat. You love to be snuggled and held close and you don't seem to mind tummy time. Your enjoyment of the car has yet to be determined as well as your interest in Safeway. You melt my heart everytime I look at your sweet face.

Bon Voyage to Nanee and Bupee who are heading off to Mexico for 6 weeks. I'll have to stay updated so they can see what's going on in our northern world.

I won't comment on our sleeping situation because no one wants to hear how the kids are up several times a night and still starting the day before 6, although it was funny to wake up at 4 the other morning and find Caileigh sleeping at the bottom of our stairs.





















Aidenl spends his days building and creating. He loves it when I spend time with him building although I am seldom right in my choices. "No, Mommy, that was a good idea buuuuut, it would be much better if you put that block over here." or "Why don't you take a coffee break mommy because you look tired." I suppose he enjoys just having me close, not necessarily how I build.





















We're still trying to get out each day. We made it to strong start this morning and the kids had a great time, although it was super busy. Aiden came running to me so excited because he had organized the recycling. "Recyling?" I wondered. I went in to find all the boxes, milk jugs and egg cartons that make up the play kitchen, had been crushed and sorted. Whoops! That boy sure likes to organize.


























I have a ton of little video clips that family never get a chance to watch, so I'll test one out and see if it is easily accessible. This is Caileigh discussing a picture of a bear rug from my Dad's (Bupee) house.





Sean is heading out of town until late Sunday and "may" be taking the computer so I will have to see when I can update next. Sean's good childhood friend recently passed away from Muscular Dystrophy. Sean is giving the eulogy at the service on Saturday. Miss Mik is one month on Thursday and is getting weighed on Friday. I will have to post her sweet smile soon too!

Quiet Time?

I think quiet time has officially started and I am safe to post. I have been trying for the last hour to get everyone settled. Mikayla is currently sleeping beside me, it is quiet in Caileigh's room and I can hear the clinking of lego from Aiden. The older two know that they dont have to sleep, but they must stay in their rooms for an hour. Aiden loves quiet time and starts asking for it around 11. Caileigh tolerates quiet time and usually falls asleep. It is nice to have this time to regroup, have a coffee, putter.......or whatever.




The time of day that is a struggle in our house is between 4-6. Because the kids are up so early, they are usually pretty close to being done around this time. There are many meltdowns and the kids seem to struggle too. There is dinner, bath and all the other important things to take care of. Aiden has been begging to go to bed at 5:30 so it is a challenge to keep them occupied, rather than tearing each other apart. One thing that seems to be working, is having them help with getting dinner on the table. Aiden helps with chopping veggies, Caileigh gets out the condiments and they both help set the table. It is actually a huge help because I usually only have one free arm and it frees me up. I hope that this continues to work well. I know that Aiden thrives on being helpful. He was picking toys up off the floor today (of his own choice) and was telling me that he loves things to be tidy. He also loves to organize! Hmmmm, I wonder where he got that from. Makes my heart swell!

*Update on the sleep chart. It is basically going well. Yesterday the kids were up at 5:30 but stayed up stairs playing until 6:30. Today they both came down at 5:30 and struggled to stay upstairs until 6:15. I am going to go to step B and try the "Alarm Clock", idea. I have heard that it works well because when the alarm goes off, the kids know when they can come down. I will let you know how it goes, but give me time to actually find an alarm clock. Oh and I dont think Mikayla understands the whole chart idea. She is still waking up every 2-3 hours. She is, however, falling into a daytime pattern of sleep and awake time. We have even seen her first smiles and I am just working on catching it on camera.



Her favorite place to sleep during the day. Nestled in her sling.

I had a great time last night at a shower for Mikayla! There was good food, great group of ladies and some really sweet gifts for my girl. Thank you so much ladies for a really fun time.

Sean and I have decided that we are done with night wakings and 5 am starts. (with the older two) Last night, Sean told the kids that if they stayed in bed until morning that they would get a treat. It worked! The kids stayed in bed until 7. I am not always big on the whole reward system but sleepy times call for desperate measures. I have used the chart in the past with good success so today we made up a chart for the kids and if they can stay in their beds for a week than they will get to earn a small treat. Caileigh is so certain it will be something edible. Food sure does talk to that girl. We will have to see what they decide on.
















Think this will work too??

Itty Bitty Girl

Today Mikayla weighed in at 8 lbs. It is hard to believe that at the same age, Caileigh was 10 1/2 pounds and Aiden was 12!!

Numbers

5-The time the older 2 woke up today
4-times I have dust busted this morning
3-The # of injuries by 7am
2-The # of large coffees consumed
1-The # of kids sleeping right now........2 are in quiet time..........blissful peace.

Speaking of numbers, Mikayla is 3 weeks today! I will try and add more #'s later if I get out to weigh her today (probably tomorrow)

Girls Trip

We had a great little visit with Poppa and Gigi. The whole trip was pretty quick as we arrived Tuesday afternoon and left Thursday morning. The first afternoon after we arrived we discussed doing various activities but were all so tired we ended up just sticking around the house and visiting. It was so great to introduce Gigi and Poppa to their third great-grandchild. Tuesday night we received a phone call from Sean well after Aiden's normal bedtime. Aiden couldn't fall asleep because he was so worried that Caileigh might wake up and be frightened. I think it was strange for Aiden to be falling asleep upstairs alone. He felt better after talking to Caileigh although he ended up sleeping with Sean both nights anyway. Wednesday we had a visit with the Great Aunties. Great Auntie Margaret just celebrated her 93rd birthday so we had a cake and coffee party. Caileigh was thrilled that we had cake for lunch. The afternoon was spent between Costco and the mall. Thursday we were on our way home. Caileigh kept saying that she wanted to go back to Gigi and Poppa's because she had such a great time! Mikayla was thoroughly spoiled with a ton of gorgeous new knitting and Caileigh came home with a new baby doll. Thank you again Auntie Margaret, Auntie Ina, Gigi and Poppa!!













On a side note, Caileigh has been extremely interested in bears for the last couple of months. Every day, several times a day, she makes references to "The Bears". Some of the comments she can be heard saying are,
"I better clean up my lunch, so the bears don't get it."
"I will put my feet under my blanket so the bears don't get them."
"We better get home quick so the bears don't get us."
I have several theories about why she is so infatuated with them. It could be because of her nickname, "Caileigh Bear". It could possibly be because she overhead us talking about bear sightings in the summer, or maybe it is from one of her books or a television show. The possibilities are endless I suppose but until we figure out why, it is pretty funny and always puts a smile on my face.

As Aiden was leaving for skating class he commented, "I already know how to skate.......I just need to learn how to do it with a hockey stick."







Heard between his cries at the end of skating................"I dont like skating!"

Sometimes, reality bites.


It has been one of those days for all of us. I will write more about our trip later.

Growth Spurt?

Mikayla seems to be going through a growth spurt. She has been nursing at least every 2 hours all day and night. This morning her cheeks looked visibly fuller. You can imagine my surprise when yesterday I put her in a sleeper that fit her perfectly when this same sleeper had been miles too big a few days prior. I was absolutely shocked that she could have grown so much but figured it was due to her legs stretching out more. Well, it all made a little more sense when this morning I realized that she has two sleepers exactly the same although one is sized 0-3months and the other 3-6 months! Phew! I don't mind Mikayla growing but that seemed a little excessive. I have been enjoying a baby that actually wears newborn diapers and newborn sleepers.



Tomorrow the girls are heading to Vancouver. It will be me, my mom, Caileigh and Mikayla. We are going to visit my grandparents. They are 91 and 93 and it is so important that they can see their new great-granddaughter. Sean and Aiden are staying home to enjoy some "guy" time. I think their plan is to stay up late watching hockey and eating popcorn. Normal guy stuff. We will be home late Thursday.











One concern I had with Mikayla arriving was that the older two would get antsy spending more time at home. We are normally running around to different activities, walks or just playing outside. They have actually adjusted really well and often request "home days". We keep busy with various projects like yesterdays shaving cream in the sink or painting/colouring. Yesterday we decided to get out for a walk and as we were walking along Aiden exclaims, "Gosh it feels good to get some fresh air!" I agree and hopefully we can start to get out more often!

Me-Kay-Wa

These tents have been the best activity for the kids! Over the last few weeks they have spent hours creating different scenarios. Sometimes they are playing in a space ship, other times it is a submarine. It is neat to see Caileigh and Aiden spending so much time together. Being so close in age they seem to have a lot of common interests at the moment.









Aiden thinks that mekaywa is a ton of fun! She graciously accepts copious amounts of kisses each day and even tries to hit her brother in the face.

Mikayla in her first big bath.














My little astronauts enjoying their trip to space. Nice space helmets!!








My dear friend and her family are moving out of town tomorrow. They have been such a blessing to us and we are going to miss them very much. I am so happy that they haven't gone far and we will be able to continue to see them as often as possible. Today the kids enjoyed a playdate while the packing was finished . We love you guys!!

Big girls and Little Girls

The arrival of Mikayla seems to have aged Caileigh in leaps and bounds. I can't believe my "baby girl" turned 2 last month. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since her birth. She is developing into such a sweet young lady (most of the time). My bed sleeping, potty trained, non-stop talking, dancing queen is going to make an amazing big sister. As she kissed Mikayla today she announced, "I love you Mikayla......you are the best in the whole world!" I always wished for a sister and now it will be fun to watch their relationship grow.

Day 6

5 Days old

Mikayla continues to steal my heart. I love every little noise and squirm she makes. I admit that she has yet to sleep on her own. I (or others) have held her for every sleep. I am trying to enjoy every little minute with her. Perhaps once the endorphins wear off I will realize how impractical this will become. Caileigh is adjusting a lot better now. As long as she can stay by my side, she is content. She is already bossing Mikayla around and telling her what she can and cannot do. Aiden has taken to his new sister as though she has always been here. I am survivng on little sleep, although she did have a 4 hour stint last night! It was truly refreshing. We are nursing at least every 2 hours and she is gaining. When we left the hospital, Mikayla was down to 7 lbs and yesterday when the health nurse stopped in, she was 7 lbs 3 oz.
I am doing well, although I still havent figured out how to watch the older two, nurse and talk on the phone. We are doing the minimum during a day and that seems to work well. I have been scheduled for "Mommy Time" in 10min so that Sean can go and shower and get ready for the day. My sweet husband has worked out a "Watson Schedule" so it will be interesting to see if his plan goes into effect. He has been doing a great job with the kids and they are sure enjoying having him around.
I think we may attempt an outing today. I will probably be sore after but it would be so nice to get out of the house for a brief while. If it weren't for everyone telling me to rest and take it easy, I almost feel like I could be back to normal. I have to remind myself that I just had abdominal surgery five days ago. Hopefully I dont crash next week. Well, Mommy Time is beckoning.......

Caileigh meeting mikayla

Aiden meeting Mikayla

Survived the first night home

It is amazing how many things you can forget in 2 years, 1 week and 6 days. I forgot how much newborns like to eat. I forgot how many times their diapers need changing. I semi-forgot what sleep deprivation feels like. I am also remembering. I remember how much your heart swells when you hold your sweet, smelling newborn. I forgot how warm and comforting a new baby is. It has been a great few days. Mikayla is officially 3 days old which is funny because I took her 3 day photo shoot yesterday. I think I am all mixed up on time. It is great to be home in my own environment but there are challenges. Caileigh is really struggling to let anyone do anything for her, other than mommy. I ended up doing way more than I should be doing and was very sore last night. I feel a bit better today and am going to make it my goal to rest as much as possible today. My incision is healing well and I would like to keep it that way. Well, off to feed again..........