Best Friends in the Making

When I first discovered that I was having a precious little girl, I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive. Apprehensive about the kind of relationship my son and her would have. Most people that I know who have a boy/girl combination, the children don't seem to be super close. The children constantly fight, are polar opposites when it comes to playtime interests and have adopted that "Ewh Factor" about being around the opposite sex. I want for my children to have the kind of close relationship that I have with my sister: that best friend and unconditional love one. I worried that a brother and sister couldn't achieve that while they were young and would perhaps come around in their early adult years.

As you can see from this picture, I was obviously worrying for nothing. These two love each other immensely. Masyn lights up like a Christmas tree every time Kaelen is around her and Kaelen, well what more could a girl ask for in a big brother? He is constantly kissing and cuddling her, is very concerned about her if she begins to fuss and is extremely proud of her by telling anyone who will listen that he has a baby sister.

I know to a certain extent, the relationship that your children have with each other is how it is fostered by the parents and the family dynamics. I just hope that when these two begin to embark upon their teenage years, that they will want to be around and support one another.

I know as a Mommy, I will be trying my best to always remain their good friend and someone that they can always come to, to confide their fears, worries and successes with.

A Giggle for Sunday

Courtesy of my friend Karen and in light of recent posts on breastfeeding, I thought that this was cute:

Students in a Biology class were taking their final exam. The last question was "Name seven advantages of Mothers Milk"; worth 70 points or none at all. One student was hard put to think of seven advantages.

He wrote:
1. It is perfect formula for the child.
2. It provides immunity against several diseases.
3. It is always at the right temperature.
4. It is inexpensive.
5. It bonds the child to mother, and vice versa.
6. It is always available as needed.

And then, the student was stuck. Finally, just before the bell indicating the end of the test rang, he wrote:

7. It comes in such cute containers.

He got an "A"

Looking for Suggestions

Does anyone have a tried, tested and true suggestion out there on how to get your child to eat or take medicine when sick?

The little man is still not feeling well and today it seems like it may be a sore throat. Last week it was snot, earlier this week it was a fever and since yesterday it is seemingly a sore throat although he tells me it is a sore tummy. However, every time he tries to swallow he breaks out in tears so I am pretty sure it is a sore throat.

I have tried everything from Popsicles, to apple sauce, to yogurt to juice. He is SO MISERABLE because he is hungry but refuses to put anything in his mouth because it hurts. I managed to bribe him to take some Tylenol and the reward was to go out and buy some bubble juice (aka. Bubbles).

This mother is desperately seeking some help ..... for her sanity of course. Thankfully, the other child appears to be in a good disposition today for if I had to take another day of them both under the weather, I am pretty sure that it would give me cause to become a raging alcoholic. (insert big wink here).

Natural Beauty

Steph over at Adventures in Babywearing is hosting a contest. It is a fabulous contest really as it just hits home that we as women are beautiful regardless of wearing makeup or not. Her contest is simple: post a photo of you without makeup on.


This is my just rolled out of bed with only three hours of sleep look. I included Masyn in the picture for two reasons: 1. To show my daughter that she is beautiful in her natural glory and 2. To distract you and hide the fact that I hadn't had my first cup of coffee yet. I am truly a little better looking after a cup or two.

Okay, I am kidding. I really don't wear makeup as it is so this is me. Usually the hair colour and style changes though .....


Want to play along? Just visit Steph's site or let me know in your comments.

Learning a New Game Called Patience

Yesterday was a long day for me. Aside from a successful dentist visit, the rest of the day was a bit of a gong show. The cold that Kaelen has been fighting for the past week reared it's ugly head in the afternoon and brought along with it a nice raging fever. And, Masyn was extremely fussy throughout the entire day and for the life of me, I couldn't get her to settle down. Both kids wanted Mommy's attention and I found myself faced with who do I give it to?

I thought that I had figured out a solution by putting Masyn in a sling and wearing her. That way, she would still have Mommy's cuddling while it would free up my hands to play with Kaelen. Unfortunately Masyn had other plans and being in the sling was not one of them. In fact, nothing worked for her and it got to the point where after a day's worth of fussing from her, I opted for some Infant Tylenol in hopes that would help calm her down. Meanwhile, my son was crying and wanting to be cuddled by Mommy and would get so desperate that he would jump on my back and just cling to me. Neither one of them were content to lie in bed with Mommy so that made it for a very long day.

There were points in my day that I felt like a really bad Mommy. I felt that I was constantly saying "No" to Kaelen and even at one point found myself yelling at him because he wasn't listening to me. His rambunctious nature was getting him into everything and the house looked like a tornado had passed through it. If things didn't go his way, then he would full out cry his little heart out. I usually try to find the humour in out of control situations, but yesterday I found that I just couldn't find any. And because of this, my children suffered Mommy's wrath on more than one occasion.

Last night, as I put my precious little angels to bed, I reflected on the day and promised myself that I would be a much more patience Mommy today. It is a little late to apologize to my children now as they have likely forgotten all about yesterday, but it is a lesson that Mommy is planning to take with her: Life could be a whole lot worse off for me, so I need to take the enjoyment out of the tough days.

Grin and Bear It

Today was Kaelen's first big visit with the dentist. Okay ... well in the sense of it establishing a regular routine. As some of you may or may not recall, Kaelen has done his best efforts in the past to knock out his four front top teeth. In December of 2005, he knocked them so bad that the pediatric dentist suggested that we get them taken out as they were 100% embedded at an angle into his gums (and had moved around the adult teeth), but due to a miscarriage for me that resulted in an emergency laparoscopy, we missed the appointment to do so. I think that it was the big man's way of saying hang in there, for his teeth that were given a 99% chance of never coming back, came back down about three weeks later. And to this day, with two more serious knocks to them that again, we were advised to have them pulled as "they were going to die" due to root damage, these four teeth remain straight and beautifully white.

As with doctor's appointments, I prepped Kaelen on what to expect for his first official dentist visit. We played pretend with a little mirror and he practiced opening his mouth nice and wide. Our appointment today is what the dentist refers to as a "Happy Visit". He and his staff entertain the kids with chair rides, introduce Mr. Slurpy (the saliva suction wand) and turn up the LCD TV nice and loud with a children's show. After encouraging their potential new patients to open their mouths so that the doctor can take a peek, each child whether the exercise was successful or not, gets taken over to a tickle trunk to pick out their hard earned prize.

We are lucky as we happen to be personal friends with our dentist, so Kaelen knew Dr. Otto going into the appointment and insisted on calling him Peter (in a rather loud voice at that) . Needless to say, both Peter and Kaelen were excellent and each got what they had wanted out of the appointment: Kaelen a new water bottle that he promptly proclaimed was his new "goalie water" and Peter, a nice long look combined with a few pokes with that hook like apparatus to reassure Mommy that all was good with her son's teeth. There were no tears, no fears and lots of giggles. In fact, Kaelen wants to know when his next appointment with Peter is going to be.

Now hopefully Kaelen's oral hygiene can continue in excellent health and he can keep his teeth. Although ... with his fixation on hockey, we are prepared to have a good dental mechanic on speed dial for the future.

Wordless Wednesday

Mommy's Little Girl

Blood Thirsty Fan

First lets just start off by saying: "Yay Canucks!!!" Due to their fine play that they stepped up at the start of the second period last night, they will not be swinging the clubs on the links today. Instead, they will be boarding a flight down to Anaheim to play the Ducks in Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And let me tell you, Kaelen and I were yelling, cheering and yes at times, swearing at the TV, while living vicariously through our hockey heroes to win game seven last night. Poor Daddy, who is truly the biggest fan had to miss the game due to work but Kaelen and I both made up for what would have been lack of noise in this household.

We are so very damn excited here and feel like doing a victory lap around the city waving the Canucks banner and flags everywhere. But to do that, would pretty much ensure a lynching from the more than unhappy Flames fans who were left disappointed in the game six loss here on Sunday.

Sniffles and Wipes

It has officially hit us: The Plague. The Plague has infected Kaelen and Mommy and now poor little Masyn is showing signs of the disease; sniffles, cough, sore throat and aches. We are going through Kleenex and Tylenol quicker than one can blink and oh ... that Children's Triaminic disolvable cold tabs, well they are the cat's ass I tell you. If only they could make something for breastfeeding Mommy's to take ....

And to top it off ... it is snowing here again. At the risk of jinxing this city, thankfully it isn't really sticking.

Wordless Wednesday

Hockey Hound

This is what I woke up to this morning. After hearing "Mommy .... Mommy", I opened one eye and was greeted by this sight and before I could get a giggle out, the next question was "Will you come shoot pucks on me NOW?".

Yep ... he is definitely a bit of a hockey hound.

2 Months Old!

Wow ... time just truly flies by when you are having the time of your life! My baby is two months old today!






Oh ya .... and because we are so obsessed with the Vancouver Canucks in this household we are even dressing Miss Masyn up for the game tonight as an additional lucky charm. For every Canucks game Paul and Kaelen pull out their matching jerseys and watch the action cheering with gusto but tonight we are pulling out all stops and Mommy and Masyn are going to be wearing the gear as well. Yes ... pathetic ... I know.

Changes Coming Soon

Sigh ... it is happening just like I always knew that it would eventually some day. My sister is moving away from me. While this is a fabulous opportunity for her and her career growth, it is also very sad for my family. Auntie Tee Tee is such an important person in our lives and not being able to see her on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis is going to be a HUGE adjustment in our lives. My sister aside from Mommy and Daddy is the most important person in Kaelen's life and he will dearly miss her. And ... no one, including my hubby and I, can get Masyn to smile the way my sister can.

I won't go on as my sister is likely reading this and crying. I know that the move will be hard for her, but I also am the one who encouraged her to take this incredible opportunity.

I guess that we are just all going to have to learn how to live without her for a while. And in the meantime, invest in a great long distance phone plan, have scheduled web cam conversations and make a rule about having to email on a daily basis.

This is going to be so tough .....

A Sad Party

As I had mentioned last week, I made the long trip back to my hometown to attend a funeral. The trip on a good day takes anywhere 6 - 7 hours depending on the traffic; add into the equation a preschooler and a breastfeeding infant and well ... you are basically guaranteed to make it a 9 hour road trip. Luckily, I have an aunt that lives half way so she graciously accepted to take Kaelen for the night so I could attend the funeral (bringing Masyn with me seeing as I am breastfeeding). Aside from having to attend the funeral, this would be a hard emotional trip for me as it was going to be the longest that I would have been away from Kaelen since having him.

Anticipating that Kaelen might have issues of me leaving him with my aunt, I explained to him during the drive that Mommy had to attend a sad party for Auntie Leigha. That Auntie Leigha's Daddy left suddenly and she would not be able to see him again. And that there would be a lot of people crying because they were sad. I had tried to explain heaven to Kaelen earlier at home and all I got was a blank stare of incomprehension so I figured I would try to explain the situation to him on his level. Kaelen seemed to understand my story quite easily and was quite excited to stay with his Aunt Janny knowing that he would be having fun while Mommy and Masyn were going to be sad.

As I was driving away from my Aunt Janny's house continuing on with my road trip to my hometown, it felt very lonely and quiet. Looking over my shoulder and seeing no car seat with an energetic and exuberant little boy smiling back at me, I braced myself for a very tough 18 hours to come. Three hours later I arrived to my mom's house and settled in for a long night of missing Kaelen and getting up to feed Masyn. Again ... it felt lonely and quiet but I took solace in cuddling with Masyn and knowing that my son was being well cared for. That morning I of course had to call my aunt to see if all was okay and wouldn't you know it: Kaelen was having the time of his life, totally forgetting all about his Mommy for the short term.

I pack up Masyn and our things and head off to the funeral. It was a truly beautiful service and interesting as half of it was a traditional Russian service. Seeing Leigha who is like a little sister to me, so broken up literally broke my heart and I felt a moment of being completely insignificant; knowing that I couldn't do anything to help ease her pain. I speak that from experience having lost my Dad suddenly albeit 21 years ago. Right at the end of the service, Masyn crapped herself silly and it leaked all the way up her back so I had to make a quick exit back to the van and did not have the chance to give another loving hug to Leigha and her family. Quickly cleaning Masyn up, breastfeeding her sitting in the back of the van and then a costume change for myself, I started getting excited knowing that I was heading back to my little man. As I was driving the three hours back to my aunt's place, I envisioned a heart warming reunion of him yelling "Mommy! Mommy!" as I pulled into their driveway. Um ... no ... he could have cared a less really. He was having so much fun playing with his cousin Nicole and her friend that I did get a "Mommy" but it was more like a fleeting glance and then was back to playing again.

Throughout that afternoon, I kept trying to cuddle with Kaelen and tell him how much I loved him and missed him but he wanted no part of it. Poor Mommy. Things all changed though at bedtime. As I was cuddling Kaelen and putting him to bed, he wrapped his strong little arms around me and said: "Me love you Mommy. Me missed you too!". That was followed by a heart melting hug and big sloppy kisses. I have to admit that I almost burst out in tears right then and there but Kaelen saved the best for last. It went a little like this:

Kaelen: "Mommy go to the sad party?"
Mommy: "Yes Kaelen. Mommy did. It was sad but very pretty."
Kaelen: "Mommy. Know what?"
Mommy: "What is that Kaelen?"
Kaelen: "Me a Super Hero!"
Mommy: " Really now ... what kind of Super Hero"
Kaelen: "A big and strong Super Hero! Me find Auntie Leigha new Daddy so she can be happy!"
Mommy: "Oh Kaelen ... you are the perfect Super Hero!"
Kaelen: "Mommy .... will Leigha still have a sad party with a new Daddy?"
Mommy: "Probably Kaelen but she will be happy"
Kaelen: "Me love you Mommy".
Mommy: "I love you too Kaelen. More than you will ever know."

In that moment, I felt that I must be doing something right in raising this beautiful little boy.

Wordless Wednesday

Chubalicious Cutie

Wordless Wednesday and More

My Little Super Hero

Yes ... that is Kaelen flexing his muscles too. He is all about being a "Big and Strong" boy of late.

On a side note, I will be away for the next few days. I am off to attend a funeral on Thursday in my hometown and then am rushing back as my in-laws are scheduled to arrive on Thursday to spend the Easter weekend with us. So, in the event I do not get to post again nor surf my fellow bloggers websites: Happy Easter to All!!

On a snowy eve 4 years ago ....

Four years ago today, we boarded a plane with 26 friends and family and headed to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It snowed like crazy the night before so Mother Nature certainly made it difficult for us all to arrive safely to the airport for 4:00 am that day. Nevertheless, we all made it safe and sound and eagerly awaited our 6:00 am boarding call.

Amongst the other passengers, there were also about 4 other brides-to-be checking in and talking excitedly on the flight. We shared our planned wedding dates, dress information and how we envisioned our dream days.

We were the last to get married of the five couples in total. Our date was set for April 8th .... oh the fun we had that day. It was such a true privilege and honor to share our precious day with all of the people that came down for the vacation.

Stay tuned for pictures of our fabulous trip and wedding on Sunday .....

No April Fools

Nope. I was desperately trying to convince myself that it was just a silly 'ol hoax being played on me but we have snow again ....

All day yesterday and all day today. We are even so lucky to have the fabulous temperatures to go along with it .... -17C with windchill.

And here, as I watch the news I am seeing places where other bloggers live with temperatures forecasted today: Denver +18C , Phoenix +32C, Tampa +22C ......

I am so done with winter. Anyone have an extra bedroom for me and the kids to make camp at your houses for a while? We would truly love to be able to pack away the winter jackets and pull out the short sleeved shirts. Anyone?