Mama Barrett

Big Kids

2010-11-16T12:26:00.004-06:00

When I was nursing Drew he was able to get my chin with his little foot while he waved it around!

Oh my goodness how did he get to be 7mths old!

As we were going to sleep yesterday (yes we still have a family bed) I realized, sooner then I want, I will not have this little baby snuggling up to me and smiling in the morning. What a privileged I have had 3 beautiful and very different babies. I know the baby stage of Jeff and my family life is drawing to an end and it saddens me. However watching Drew, pull himself up on furniture and walk around tables shows me the toddler stage does not me Drew is independent, he still needs me close by as he tests out his limits.

Now if I could only get Thom to realize he doesn't need to grow so quick, luckily Beth shows me it is not all bad to grow up a little as she is very against the growing up idea :)

2010-10-30T09:35:00.002-05:00

Last week Beth started to say Thommy! She has only called him brother for the last 1 1/2 years! Now as an added bonus yesterday she said her name for the first time! It was amazing one of the best words I have ever hear said!

Now I just have to wait for 'I love you' and everything I hoped for at the begining of speech therapy will have been accomplished. She has the I and the you so I just need the middle word and I am sure it will be music to my ears, just like hearing her say her own name for the first time was :)

Birdshill park

2010-10-25T09:12:00.004-05:00

Almost all the water gone from the lake, means alot more beach to play in

my kids cannot pass a bridge without laying down and checking out what lives in it, I think it is from all the times we have gotten the walking kit from clearlake for the bog trail.

my best group shot

we always have to take the dog Thomas tells me. However about 10min into any trip to the park the kids ditch the dog with me and go racing ahead.

My little monster, he is too cute for words!

We go to Birdshill park fairly often, its çlose, free and there is lots to do. Other then the beach we have not done the same path twice! However I believe the campground playground we will return to alot in the future.

Here are some pics around thanksgiving

2010-10-25T08:43:00.003-05:00

Like every child Drew loves the 'office'. My parents bought this exersauser while I was pregnant with Thomas and the child can walk back and forth and it has a keyboard for the feet to play and lots of bells and wistles. It was nicknamed the 'office' 5 years ago and every child big and small that goes to their house loves it (the seat can be removed so toddlers can still use it)

We took the kids to a corn maze (Deer Meadows by birdshill park) for the first time this year. Thom enjoyed being king of the world! We had a very nice visit and I think we will have to make it an annual thing. We planned to go thanksgiving weekend then invited my Mom, sister, Jake and Ava which very fun and a great way to get the kids to run off some energy before thanksgiving dinner!

Andrew realized someone was in the bathtub with him during his first solo bath in the big tub
It was very funny because he kept sitting up looking'and babbling at the baby in the 'mirror. Now when ever I start the bath be it for the bigger 2 or him his legs start kicking and he starts lunging for the bath, loads of fun!

My little celery head getting eaten by her big brother :) They played with the celery for quiet sometime, who knew it could be used as a toy?

Drew's 1st taste of solids (@24weeks) which he absolutly loved. He wanted the bowl, spoon and a quicker hand feeding him. He had mashed up cantalop which he still alway loves. He also likes chicken so pureed it is more like soup and rice cereal but the other cereals he could pass on. He thinks that when people sit down he will be fed and if he isn't he gets frustrated! This is my first child that likes solids at such a young age the other 2 we had to encourage more, perhaps that is why Drew is such a chubber.

where does the time go...

2010-07-28T20:27:00.007-05:00

Beth always trys to turn herself into a cat when we paint or use markers... Cute Andrew lovely smile on June 5th

Cuddles before bed

April 20th Drew asleep in his chair

My big girl all ready to go out

Thom's 1st apple pie which he made from scratch even peeling and coring the apples!

Beth helping with laying the flooring in the play room

At the beach in Stonewall this week

Very tanned Thom all ready for bed with his carebear -same one I had when I was little!

1st time siting together in Jeff's car in April -look at the other pictures to see how big Beth is!

Summer is almost 1/2 over I realized today! I was putting away laundry in Thom's room and had to remove some clothes that no longer fit, then it came to me only about a month and a half till Thom starts school (they stagger the start for kindergarden). Wow! Am I ready? I going to miss having him around everyday, he is my big helper with Drew, Beth and getting things I might need. On the flip side, he also argues with his sister and is another person that I am cleaning up after during the day. I am going to miss everything! This chapter of his life is about to end and he will be going to school for the next 13+ years. I am glad that kindergarden is only 1/2 time so I get baby steps befor the everyday full day starts.

Drew is growing like a weed 18lbs and counting and over 26 inches long. Definatley no newborn, he really sped through that stage! He loves; chewing on his hand, fingers, toys, whatever he can fit in his mouth, also holding his feet and talking to them. He rolls over back to front by holding one foot and tipping to the side them letting go of the foot and he's on his tummy! His favourite ryme is patty cake and just in the last 2 days he started laughing for ring around the rosie.

Beth is trying to hold bigger conversations with us and loves to talk about her cloths and acessories- like her honey bee bathingsuit, horse PJ's, Dora pants, monkey purse, basically anything thing on the clothes.Beth runs thru the house to find Jeff and me then start the show and tell! She just this week reaaly started loving the pool! Previously she would only go in with a death grip on Jeff or my neck-now she gets her life jacket and floater and crys when it is time to get out of the pool!

Such changes in all the kids in a small time period!

2010-07-07T20:56:00.003-05:00

I think I am started to get over my fears of my children going by water! The kids were allowed to walk down to the dock without life jackets and did not have to wear a jacket when sitting beside someone while watching the fireworks on canada day!!

Nope, I am wrong, I still have water fears, everytime I go to the beach with the kids anxiety levels sky rocket! With the pool no problem since I can see the bottom however lakes and beaches-oh my!

2010-05-20T09:55:00.002-05:00

Although I have not posted in a long time I thought I would try leaving a post today. It is suprising hard to sit down and have enough time to complete a post and the ones I start I never go back to finish....

Since I posted last I had another son, Andrew Walter, who was born April 7. Beth and Thom were both born on days ending in 6 so I did hope he would follow the trend but Drew bucked the trend and came the next day.

It wasnt a long labour, I had contractions on and off on the 6th but they went away before I went to sleep that night. I woke up around 3:30am with contractions but wanted to wait to find out if it was real before waking up my Mom. I had slept at her house because my midwife thought it would happen soon and to stay closer to the hospital as my labour from Thom to Beth had decreased in time and she thought I might not have enough time til the baby was born with driving into town (I might wait to long to leave). I woke my mom up at 4:30 and called Gordana my midwife, she said she would meet me at the hospital around 5:30am but call if it seemed to be speeding up.

I texted Jeff because I didnt want to wake up the kids that I was in labour and my mom and sister were going to be my help while in labour. My goal was to try to relax, be happy and enjoy as much of the experence as possible since this was my last time. My mom drove to the hospital (practically flew she was going so fast) picking up my sister on the way. Ang asked a funny question before going 'what should I wear'? (she has never been in a room during natural drug free vaginal labour and delivery before). We got to the hospital around 5:30 and Gordana got there about 5:45am. Once we got thru the nurses station it was 6:10 in my LDRP room (lucky me 3x I got the delux room!). I was skipping stages and Drew as born at 7:04am it was a very intense fast labour. I think I did a pretty good job of enjoying the labour and making note of what was happening at all times. Drew's heart rate plummited during labour and Gordana had the resessatation team called and I was totally aware of that and what was said. (the same thing happened to Thom and I wasnt as aware, I just knew there was a problem, I was consentrating on myself too much). That being said knowing what was going on was better, and although everything was so intense it was a really good labour.
Of course now at home everything is great and although it is hard at times this 3 kid family is not that much harder then 2 kids (just alot more laundry as Drew is a spitup and vomiter). I think the transition from 0 to 1 child was the hardest adjustment so far, however we still have puberty to compare to :)
Thom is a great help he will hold Andrew while I make lunch or help Beth. The potty training for Beth has deceased but once a couple more weeks go by I hope to ramp it up again.
With the beauiful warm spring we have spent lots of time outdoors and the pool was opened up this weekend with Beth Thom and Jeff all swimming. Hopfully we have a lovely relaxing summer.

I miss my Gramma!

2009-12-12T02:55:00.005-06:00

Here is a picture of her back in 2002, she is in the pink with the red hair! A very cool Gramma!

I was looking through my gramma's recipe box that she gave me back in 2001 choosing recipes to make today and all day I have been struck with how much I miss her.

My gramma is still alive for anyone now wondering but she doesnt remember me.

I am so fortunate that I have a gramma that I can miss and have so many wonderful memories of doing things with her.

My wish for everyone this Christmas season is that they get to spend time with their loved ones and build wonderful memories that can last a life time.

thommy

2009-12-03T22:45:00.002-06:00

Thomas' Christmas that he decorated himself

Pre hair cut (dec 2/09)

new doo (dec 2/09)

2009-11-10T12:23:00.004-06:00

Amazingly it has been more than a month since my last post. Not much has changed other then my pant size. I am super excited about Friday for my ultrasound to find out when the baby is coming and the GENDER!!! I am flip flopping on what I think it is so we will hopefully find out Friday if Cletis corporates.

Thommy and I jumped into piles of leaves on Sunday at my parents. The leaf jumping is so much better this year then last as the leaves were more wet and moggie smelling but on Sunday they were crisp crunchy yummy smelling. Yeaa for the sun and warm weather!

Beth

2009-09-29T14:44:00.002-05:00

Dancing to Jeffs music on the deck

Thommy blowing out the candles at his birthday party last weekend

Beth trying out Thomas' present

At Ava's birthday party this weekend and colouring at home

Pool

2009-09-28T13:38:00.007-05:00

oh course the Barrett's decide to put up their new pool in the rain, why not:)

finishing putting up the wall for the pool

Thom carried all the edge piece outside then Beth got the glory by them to Grandad

last peice!

1st time in the pool, too cold!

still too cold!

The pool was finally the perfect tempature, then we had to drain it due to a slow leak. Luckly we got a new liner with no hassels and Goni and Dave came over again to help set it up!

A few days later after we knew there was no leak this time Jeff set up the solar pannels and the pool heated up to 26C, turns out that is perfect for our family. Amazingly the kids still stay in so long their lips turn blue and they come out teeth chattering!

1st time having guests over in the pool

Last swim -unless, summer comes back!

Oscar??

2009-09-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

We were at the Bulk Barn getting supplies for Ava's awesome birthday cake this week and Thommy was talking to the clerk.
Beth went from sobbing to ecstatic because I finally pd for the chocolate and the kids both got some. Thommy explained to the clerk that this baby (as he pointed to Beth) is called 'Baby Beth'. The clerk then asked Thom what his name was which of course he said 'Thomas the Tank Engine', then he walked up to my belly and pointed to it and said 'this baby is called Ol.... Ol.... Mama what is this baby called?' before I could answer he goes 'oh yeah I know, This baby is called Oscar!'

Oscar, really now, I dont think so! but I was chuckling and the clerk, she seemed to believe him!

2009-08-12T11:10:00.003-05:00

I am very excited for the weather we have had the last couple days! We went to the beach yesterday like hundreds or thousands of other people and had a super time! Beth looked super cute in he little swim diaper and pink hat, I will try to get a picture today as we follow the masses to the water. Thommy, Ava and Logan were in the water almost the whole time we were there except when the french fries came:)
Our winter holiday (due to unexpected circumstances) became up in the air and we didn't know if we would reschedule, cancel or what we should do about it. We had been talking about getting an above ground pool next fall when they are on sale and have been looking at what we like so we know what to watch for when the sales come. Low and behold we made our decision on our trip, thanks to a great pool sale we decided to cancel our trip this year and buy an above ground pool.
Thommy (and Jeff) are very excited, now that the weather has warmed up we want to get everything and set it all up as soon as possible so that we can all enjoy it befor the swim season ends.

Jeff was going to look at renting a sod cutter for our new lush lawn(thanks to all the rain and cool temps) as we are going to have to remove some of it for the pool -that is probubly the sadest part that after 3 years we have a lovely lawn in the area which we are putting the pool which needs to be cut out. Luckly we have some areas that still need lawn which we never planted so hopfully we can move it to infront of the deck sucessfully.

I will hopefully post some pictures soon of the kids and setting up the pool.

2009-07-18T22:47:00.002-05:00

So my parents went away again (first time since Beth's accident). And I thought I would pose a question you all, if something happens while a loved one is away, do you call and let them know? Does the circumstances that you would call vary?

My parents were in Cuba when she almost died and I did not call. Jeff and I different in opinion and he felt I should call, however, what could they have done. By the time we knew what was happening would they even be able to leave the island before their vacation ended? I told them the day they got home which was wretched but worth not ruining the fun they had (I thought). My parents disagree, if anything ever happens they what to know although they know they could not have done anything other than wait for Baby Beth they want to be able to hold our hands, be shoulders to cry on and pray with us. (However they did let me know that evening that if something had happened while I was on vacation they too would not have called)

Before someone you love leaves their home location I suggest you talk with them and find out what their wishes are.

New nephew and pics

2009-07-18T22:11:00.011-05:00

Unc took Thommy, Ava and myself to the Reptile Expo to our delight. Thom's very funny response to what Dada would say if he brought one home 'ohhh, throw that out in the garbage' hee hee

fun with the new rope swing at the trailer

Beth is enamored with Jake! the tea party came to an abrupt halt once he came for a visit!

A first responders job stop when on holidays! This sliver needed a professional touch!

boat pictures from 'July long' weekend

So, my sister finally had her baby!

She, Brad and Ava welcomed little Jake to the world June 28th very early that Sunday morning (she was due on the 12th - he was 9lb 7oz).

He is very large, and he makes my heart melt! I am very excited to become an aunt again. I feel so fortunate, since I watch Ava I get to see him almost everyday. With Jackson and Cayman I was working so I didn't see them as frequently and Ava was born while Ang and Brad lived in BC, this situation is so much better!

I had a condensed version of the birds and the bees talk with Thom while Ang was pregnant - yikes. He already knew the boys had penis' and girls had vagina's so we built upon that. When we found out he was going to get another cousin we said the baby will be here once it is beach weather - then beach weather came so we changed to once he doesn't fit in her tummy. So Thom asked how the baby will come out and I figured lets go so I built upon the girls and boys are different and where babies come out yadda yadda. Low and behold Ang had a c-section and now he knows babies like Jake come when Auntie Ang gets cut. Confusing, I think I will try again next time someone we are close with has a baby or when he is 6 or maybe Jeff will try next time and do the full birds and bees - bah, I shudder at the thought of my baby needing to know all the information so early but I would hate for him to learn at school from another little kid. I wonder what the average age children learn about 'the circle of life' is?

2009-05-22T09:17:00.003-05:00

Well time is flying by as always. Thom is excelling in swimming lessons, and Beth is happy and wild.

One thing I didn't post after Beth's accident she has added more excitement to our lives. In the weeks after, Beth has tried sticking things into power outlets, learnt to climb into her booster, she scales up Thomas' chair (which is like a bar stool in height) and even onto the very top of the toilet. She had demonstrated for me this past weekend that she can go to the patio doors and raise and lower the locking levers - she was oh so proud with a huge grin! (I was very glad she showed me her new skill, we then fixed it with an extra child proof lock she has not figured out yet!) I think that she figures that she cheated death once, bring on the danger, she can take it!

Talking about locking levers, on the kids bedroom window I have taken the window cranks off because I think Thom might open his window and fall out (which is maybe 10 feet above the ground) . So I have them up high above the molding that the kids cannot reach even if on a chair. If Jeff or I want to open the window it is never open too wide and we put the cranks back into the hiding spots so the kids could not open them further. Well, with that intro guess what happened.... I had opened the window in the house on Mother's day and put the cranks back to their spots. In our living room our window is about 8 inches above the floor of the porch, we (I) have never removed the cranks on that window, well, I was making a cake for desert because my in-laws came over and I had not heard Thom for a few minutes, I called him and he answered he was just pooping, but yet the reply sounded further away then it should! I went to check the bathroom and saw the screen was out of the window in the living room and the window was completely open. Thom had decided to go outside to poop! He was on our front path pooping! I sent him inside to the bathroom and I had to tell Goni and laugh without him hearing before I reprimanded him further, once I had finished my quiet laughter I went back to him and he was gone! I had not yet removed the cranks and he was outside finishing his poo! This time I removed the cranks then went outside to get him and give him a lesson on safety.

I have two crazy kids and they make everyday exciting!

As a side note Beth is doing great, there are no side effect to her accident other then her wanting to become 'Super Dave' and I am doing better too.

2009-05-17T23:41:00.002-05:00

Thom getting ready to go to swimming lessons with his 'swim teachers'

In the deep-end swimming for the very 1st time, He also went off the meter dive board to his instructors without any buoyancy device!

Beth got rosy cheeks after too much time in the sun. The SPF diddn't cut it after a full afternoon at the zoo. She loved modeling her hat and sunglasses for the camera, but only indoors

2009-04-20T10:56:00.006-05:00

I haven't been blogging because I don't feel I can update my families life without adding this experience yet I still get a tightness in my chest just thinking about this story, it makes me think this is how a heart attack feels. I was horrible and I don't feel comfortable talking about it (that was a typo but honestly that is how I feel). When I recanted what happened for my parents, a week later, I tried to add a laugh here and there to make it not sound so wretched. (My parents had just left for Cuba that morning and I didn't want to tell them till they came home as not to ruin their vacation.) The laughter did not help and in my head I could tell it made me sound like I thought the situation was comical almost like I didn't realize the seriousness of what happened.

Beth almost died Saturday, March 28.

The admittance notice at Children's Hospital stated near drowning. But to me it was and is so much more, worse... thankfully we have a happy ending our story could be very different. I still get caught up in the wretchedness of it.

Jeff and I were working on our basement that day. We had almost finish the drywall the the spare room and needed to clear out all of the stuff in the play room and spare room in order to mud. I had just started organizing/cleaning out the utility room to make space for everything. Beth had been cranky and clingy all morning then when she woke up from her afternoon nap and pooped she was finally happy and content. She was really starting to walk well that day, going through the rooms just holding on to the odd piece of furniture as needed. Thom wanted to play hide and go seek with Beth and Dada and found a great spot by me behind our luggage. Beth had just been in the other room with Jeff handing him tools. Thom got bored as no one was coming to find him and went in search of Beth. I had just finished cleaning out as spot for our tubs of baby cloths and decided to go use the bathroom before moving them since I had no children hanging on my leg. As I walked out the the room following the same path as Thom had taken I happened to glance to the right. Out of a bucket I saw some feet, at first I thought it was Beth's doll Annabell that she had gotten from Ava for her birthday. Then I noticed a pink hood, Annabell doesn't have a hood. I rushed over to the bucket and grabbed the feet and out came Beth, blue limp and floppy just like her doll.

(As I type this my heat beat is rising just from the mental picture. The bucket was there to catch water that came out of our hot water tank. we had had it there for at least 2 years and never thought anything of it. I can't believe that we had never thought of it. When Beth started crawling I had changed the dog's water bowl from a 4-5 inch bowl to a 1 inch bowl which we have to fill up at least 2 times a day because I didn't want her to drowned in it! I am in disbelief with myself that I would change a dog bowl and not think of a bucket that we had in our basement that we could have easily and should have changed to a different system.)

Beth was not responsive, she had no heart beat and was not breathing, I dont know why but I carried her floppy body to the floor in the playroom (which is around the corner) before I checked. (Moving her was just like moving a doll, she was not warm but sopping wet from the water in my basement-I can still feel her in my arms. I had her doll hidden for a while but have now brought it out, the sight of it no longer makes me flash back but I know I avoid touching it.)In my head I was calling Jeff, however he told me he came because he heard me screaming 'oh my God! oh my God! oh my God!' (oddly I consider taking the Lords name in vain a swear maybe I ment it as a prayer, I don't recall anything but Beth in those first moments). Jeff came running into the room I can remember him asking where the phone was and saying he was goning to call 911. As he ran for the phone Thom asked me if Beth was dead - I dont know what I said, but I know that was my worry too!

I started to do CPR, chest compressions and breaths, I don't know for how long but she wasn't as blue anymore. I felt a rapid pulse but I didnt know if it was mine or hers so I kept pumping her heart and breathing. She started to breath on her own but it seemed like it was once a minute, I knew it was not often enough so I still gave her air inbetween her own breaths. I was giving her at least 2 breaths for everyone of hers, at this time her head/neck was starting to crack in my hands I was worried she broke her neck in the fall. I yelled this upstairs to Jeff and the 911 operator told Jeff to get me to stabilize her upper body. I tilted her forward hoping the water that I thought was in her would drain out and I took off her wet cloths then went back to the breathing for her as Jeff walked down the stairs and told me stabilize her neck and he covered her with a towel to keep her warm.

The 911 operator said she had dispatched an ambulance, I asked Jeff to stabilize Beth and I ran upstairs to get dry cloths on and change Thom and pack him some stuff. I also got more blankets for Beth a pullup for Thom (I didnt know how long we would be) a sleeper and a diaper for Beth and packed toys with Thom for at the hospital. He even chosed toys for Bethie. I got back down stairs and Beth had started to cry and was trying to move. I took over from Beth and he went to go watch for the ambulance. After what felt an hour an emergency SUV from Lockport arrived and the paramedics came downstairs. They looked at her and were going to give her oxygen but their tank would not work, her colour wasn't perfect but it was better then when I found her. The ambulance from Selkirk arrived shortly after and they brought in the oxygen from that vehicle. They checked her vitals asked me if she had opened her eyes and I said no, Jeff said she did once while I was upstairs (the o2 in her blood was 42% and at the hops they told me they are happy if it is 92% or higher) and we brought her upstairs they asked me where we wanted to take her and I said the best place so we drove into Winnipeg to Children's she was not happy, she was crying, not a cry I had ever heard before. I don't know when I started to cry but I know I was when the paramedics were there. (Jeff gave me a hug at the top of the stairs and I know I was crying from all the feelings I knew we both had).

Jeff and I kept trying to not exclude Thom so we would say things like 'you are such a helper carrying that bag, wow how nice that you packed Beth some toys too, thankyou for being so patient, why dont you go into the living room with Dada and watch for the ambulance-Thankyou for helping with that! Put on that shirt it looks great, why dont we race to put on our pants! - I dont know about Jeff but for me it sounded so forced each time I heard one of us say something to him because all I wanted to think about was Beth.

Beth's eyes were open when we were in the ambulance and the paramedic asked when she ate last, which was before her nap, she woke up at 4:30pm so she would have been hungry if she was acting normal. On to clock in the ambulance it said it was 6:35 (later in the drive I noticed that the clock had not changed time-batery must have been dead). I tried to nurse her after the paramedics said it couldnt hurt her. She suckled, but then she could not cry so I could not tell if she was alive that scared me, I prefered the crying because then she had to breath. The whole time her eyes were closed I can remember telling her "keep breathing, keep breathing', between my blubbering. The paramedic was monitoring her oxygen levels and I know she said they were getting better, but we were still blowing air into her face, she wasn't improving on her own (in my mind).

An odd thought went through my mind while in the ambulance, I had alway wanted to ride in one my whole life, and I remember Evelyn telling me about being one and telling me it wasn't all that and yet I was jealous. I was not jealous on that day, I felt like I couldn't breath, I couldn't do anything to make my baby better, it was an awful waiting game.

We got to the hospital then the paramedics put me in wheel chair so I could hold Beth and keep giving her air while we went to the entrance and got triaged. The nurse took her O2 levels and they were in the 80's. Her eyes were so dialated she had no iris just black pupils dialates so much they were ringed only with white. She still was not responding to me. I was still telling her to breath. That was the first time she coughed. it was in the hall there, 2 coughs. I was told there I think that children don't usually died in water with in there lungs, but that their throat closes up and they affixiate only from lack of oxygen. Part of the closing up could be locking the jaw, which could have accounted for the cracking/popping we heard and felt while laying on the floor in our basement. Thinking back I could remember the 911 operator told Jeff to have me check Beth's airways (which I had forgotten to do) and I could not get her mouth open far enough to check for an obstruction and vomit.

They hospital pushed me to a room luckly with a tv. I remember it was on Chef Ramseys show on that was not calming at all. This is when I remember starting to pray, and thinking I can't ask God not to take her, it might be her time and not to be brain damaged what if that is God's plan, and how will this affect my marrage if Beth died or was brain damaged would that push us together or apart, were we strong enough? how will everything effect Thom? but what about Baby Beth? How long will we wonder what will happen to her? I wished I could turn back the clock and start the day over. So I sat there in a near dark room while Chef Ramsey was swearing, asking God to do what ever He thought best for my family and Beth.

Eventually, my in-laws and Jeff and Thom arrived, they seemed to come in at the same time. Jeff said he did 150km the whole way to Children's as he couldnt leave till he changed out of his wet clothes and have Thommy use the bathroom. I saw Jeff sob for the first time ever in memory when his Mom hugged him (he had not shed a tear to my knowledge the whole time up till that point, and I did not see him cry again). My brother showed up shortly after and then my sister and her friend Dana, my brother couldnt get ahold of Ang or Brad so he drove to their house on the way to the hospital and told Brad at the door, he then called her as she was out at Chop for dinner and they all came to the hospital support us)

The reason I was thankful for the TV was I knew it could be used to babysit Thom. Even with 6 adults (Ang left to drive Dana home at one point) it was hard to concentrate on anything. Dave, my father in law took Thom for a bunch of walks, Tim, Jeff and Goni all read stories to him (ones we brought and ones full of germs from the hospital - yuck!) but in the hours that we were there Jeff and I needed help from treehouse. I have no clue what time we got there, Jeff and I figure 'IT' must of happened between 6 and 6:30pm because we didnt eat dinner. Yet neither of us were hungry, Goni got Thom some mac n cheese to eat when they brought us coffee. After Ang got back she brought us all some subs but we were not hungry - only Thommy.

When Beth would fall asleep in the hospital her o2 levels would drop, so we kept giving her air. When Beth awoke and saw Goni she obviously wanted her so she held her while I finally went to the bathroom. Everyone was happy she did that but that was not a large enough sign for me I wanted to see her do more, her eyes were still only big black pupils and she kept falling asleep. Jeff gave me another hug on the way out, I kept my crying in check though until I got the the bathroom it was a nice place to go and sob great big heaving sobs, I am certain the people in the rooms around the bathroom were all looking at me when I left. My brother wanted to see her wag her tonge like she does for him, Dave was trying to get her to honk his nose, Ang wanted a great big Beth smile, I wanted a 'hi' and I think Goni was happy with anyting and everything. We went to x-ray to check out her chest for water and as a base point to check her the next day as she could get a secondary infection in her lungs from the water. At this point it was just monitoring her hourly, checking her blood work, lungs and waiting, there was nothing they could do to check her brain then. We were lucky that Beth saw more doctors then nurses while we were there. Due to so many people coming in and out of our room we did have to recount the story numerous times, I was shock that social services never came to talk to us.

The waiting was awful! Beth woke up at one point and Jeff tickled her and she tryed to tickle back and did a small smile, people in the room were happy, but it still wasnt enough for me. During the evening she puked 4 times and was given tylenal for a fever and an IV. (Jeff figures the fever was because I was holding her so tight with blankets and a hot pack, the fever went down with the lack of wraping as she vomited up the tylenal - at the time an elevated temp could have ment she was getting an infection). I think my brother and sister left between midnight and 1am. The doctor came in and told us her blood work was better then expected but she still needed to be monitored and would be kept at least overnight. They were waiting on a room, I think it was about 2am when we were told one was not available right then but it could change.

Later we were told one would not become available and we would be staying in the ER. Jeff, Thom and my inlaws left then and the nurse put in an IV and checked her levels. I tried to get some sleep (didnt work).

It was about 4:30am when we switched rooms to the C4 ward we were in the a room that was 1 nurse for 2 patients so that the children could have constent monitoring. At the time of the move we stopped giving her O2 which was about 4:30 in the morning because her levels were stable even when sleeping 90 to 94%. At the 4:30 check, her eyes were still dialated but you could see her iris which was nice, but still I was worried. At 5:30 after her check her O2 levels were within the normal ranges so the doctor decided to change the monitoring to every 2 hours. At that point I fell asleep until Beth's roommate awoke unhappy around 7:10am. Beth also woke up and for the first time her eyes were normal, it was very nice! She peed for the first time and that was exciting! She ate a little food when breakfast came but was nursing alot. She still had her IV aswell. She was very content to be in my arms gazing at me but she didnt seems as tiredas the night before. We called Jeff at home to ask for some clothes around 9:30 and she wanted the cell phone, of course I gave it to her and she said 'hi' and was smiling.

After a couple hours she started to want to move. I asked the nurse to unpluge the IV from the wall and switching it back to battery power. Beth changed into a walker that weekend, she could go all the way out of our room and down the hall to the next ward, where we would turn around and go back (a nurse told me there was some VERY sick contagious kids over there). The ward wanted to release us after doing another chest xray, as Beth appeared fine, but they needed her doctor to sign off. There was a woops, they wrote down the wrong doctors name on the file and Dr. D, Beth's doctor had just left when they had figured it out. After talking to the doctor telling her what happened she told the staff that she didnt want us released until the next set of blood tests were in and the xrays were done. Jeff then brought me McDonalds for breakfast and new cloths and tolietries. We went for the xray (both times she sat on a little bike seat and there was a tube that went around her from her hips to the top of her head, and it was velcroed closed with her arms lifted above her head)

After the xray I met my sister and brother in the hall, they were bringing us snacks and clothes as they did not know if we had gone home. After a visit with Beth and seeing how interactive she was they left (releived I would assume).

Later the doctor came in and told us that her blood work came back and was pristine! The night before it was better then expected but today, pristine! Her xrays came back with no changes. Everything seemed okay, however if she seems more sleepy then currently (using Sunday as the guidline since she was still more doopy then normal), develops a fever and has any flu like symptoms to come straight to the ER and tell them we were just released for a near drowning. I of course asked if they could tell if she suffered any brain damage but they cannot however with her moving around, saying hi and interacting with people she seems fine from there veiw point. I recall saying to Jeff during this conversation, how will we not think everytime she brings home a poor mark that it has to do with 'this'?

Anyways, by the time we left it felt like a huge amount of our time and energy had been spent. I was shocked to see the sun still shining when we left!

Jeff and I estimate Beth as unaccounted for maybe 5 minutes leaving her in the water for 2 to 5 minutes. Then it took about 2 minutes of CPR before she started to breath (unsure how long until she started to breath at regular intervals).

The therapist I saw after the fact said I need to understand that this story is personal and no one will be able to feel the same as I do as it is my story. I don't know if you wanted to read about my nightmare. I don't really want to relive the day, I want to keep this to my elf -along with my shame. But, I can only pray that as a result of reading this people will take another look around their homes and outside the home and see any potential water dangers. Unfortunately we can't see everything. Because accidents happen either at home or elsewhere everyone needs to take first aid & CPR and ensure anyone watching their children has taken first aid & CPR.

As time has passed I no longer have 'flashbacks' it feels almost like a bad dream, like a nightmare that was all in my head. Sometimes when the kids are quiet in the van or I am alone, I still get that tight feeling and my mind thinks back to those horrible moments. I know that I just need to be thankful that God chose to leave me my child and give me such a wonderful ending to what could have been heartbreaking. Everytime I see her do something new I cheer, it makes me feel so bless to have my perfect baby back when she was at deaths door. I am so lucky God let me keep her! I just know I will gain so much from Him letting me and my whole family be with her and hopefully grow old watching her.

Please, make sure everyone has first aid and CPR

I am comfortable with people sharing this story via email, blog or verbal. I do hope people can learn from what happened to us to help prevent a tragedy.

2009-04-14T15:17:00.006-05:00

I just saw the craziest thing at the park today;
a mom and her friend were both wearing short sleeves and capris both walking with a stroller, now one of them had an older daughter maybe 4 and she was wearing a parka and mitts! Luckily she was wearing rain boots. Now I didn't converse with them so I am unsure of if she decided on what she would wear or her mom but I had a good chuckle when I saw them coming towards me ;)

Boy I havnt posted in a while...

2009-03-19T18:10:00.003-05:00

Thom was in the car a couple months ago and said, 'mama do I have big hands?'
to which I replied 'bigger then Beth's'
Thom said okay and then began talking to Beth saying 'Beth, you have a small hand and I have a big hand (he held her hand up and compared them) Come put your little hand in my big hand. Lets hold hands together."
Just imagine how sweet that was to hear, such a beautiful moment!

When I was putting the kids to bed a couple weeks ago Thom was stroking Beth's face
I said to him 'that is so nice'
he responded 'well, I love her'
I then told Thom 'I love her too!'
Thom's response was 'well, I loved you first!'
In my head I was thinking first, hmmm, like the most or because he is older he loved me before she was born?

Goni and Dave came back from about 6weeks away and we the 1st day they were back I brought the kids over (they babysat so me and Jeff could go out for our anniversary - 7years). I pulled into the driveway and Goni opened the garage door and Thom unbuckled his boosted (he switched over a month ago) and stood trying to get out of the van going 'Gramma, gramma, gramma, gramma. gramma.....' even as he ran out of the van towards here he kept repeating himself till he got to here- so cute.

When Beth turned 1 year all of a sudden now she can get off of items like the couch or the bed, she can also go down a short flight of stairs. Her walking is also getting much better, she can go across an average sized room without falling, most of the time, but if she seeing you looking she will lift her arms to indicate you should pick her up. No new words, I think she has said Unc, Opa, Omi and Gramma, but it is not very clear.

2009-02-17T21:28:00.003-06:00

This is how my babies sleep. I think it is so cute!

febuary has begun

2009-02-08T16:44:00.008-06:00

Thom's favourite snow sculpture

Beth enjoying the mess she made

Thom's new big boy booster seat

At the hospital, 1 1/2 weeks ago when I thought Thojm broke his arm-he is fine no worries

Beth helping Opi on his Captin's red phone (there are different coloured phones in his office that are for different things)

Beth loved the big machines and was fasinated

Thom getting ready to drive and run the pumper

Beth on the Vibration Therapy Machine-her favourite toy in the house!

Like always the kids are doing new things in our house!

Beth is growing in leaps and bounds... she learnt a new word 2 weeks ago 'Hi' and now she can do all sorts of variations of the word - 'Hey' 'Hiya' and just this weekend 'Hello'. When she says 'hi' it has 2 tones, like a doorbell. And like previously, she learnt this new word and forgot all of her other words. Last week she got 'Dada' back and the end of this past week she got 'Mama' back.

Beth also strung 2 words together last Saturday Jan 31 she said 'Hi Dad' very sweet. Jeff had been out all day with Tim snowboarding and when he got home she greeted him with that-her very 1st time. (we did know it was coming as she was trying to say hi to her Omi on the Thursday however she cannot say 'Omi' at this time)

So in order to recap she can say, Mama, Dada, more (which is more like mamar) and all the Hi greetings.

Beth's walking with fingers has increased as well, she is more then happy to walk around with someone to hold on to and just this past week, she occasionally will walk holding on to one hand. I keep thinking today is the day she will take her first step and keep standing (unlike the one before Christmas when she followed Thom and crashed into the weight bench and got the bruise on her cheek).

Today, Monday Beth stood up all by herself in the middle of the room today! TWICE! Let's see where that gets her.

Thom is finally getting the potty thing, thankfully. A few weeks ago I declared I was ready to hire a professional to get this potty thing going, I was definitely at my wits end! We still have accidents occasionally but at least there is a day or two or even three between! It is great, Thom has been accident free during the night since Christmas and his days hopefully will continue to get better and better! We have completely ended pull ups during the day and I look forward to only changing one child's diaper. Next comes teaching him how to wipe ;)

Well can't think of any other changes the kids have had, other updates about the family would be lots of time spent outside, we are walking, sledding and going to the Forks and have visited firehall. I am prepping the kids for Baby Group ending, Beth turns one on the 16th and then we are done.

2009-01-22T09:43:00.006-06:00

Updates and Milestones:

Our first trip the the zoo this winter. We had a fantastic trip to the zoo on Wednesday! A lot of the animals were out and very active! The cats were coming right to the front of the cage and meowing-very cool! We started out the trip with Beth and Ava in the stroller then it was just Beth as Ava and Thom ran around then Thom and Ava in the stroller and Beth in the carrier. We were there for over 3 hours the weather was perfect and we did not see any other visitors until we went into the barn at the very end of our visit. It was like the city created a Zoo just for my family!

Going clockwise from the top:

At the entrance, Thom was my navigator-atleast until we got to the 1st playstructure,

Ava and Thom checking out the Llamas-book suggestion 'llama llama red pajama' soo good,

play structure by the camels,

Thom by the koi in the greenhouse-I have a picture of him at this exibit from every visit (except 1) we have taken to the zoo, usually you can see other people we dont know in the photos.

Beth learned to point on Tues night Ava slept over and Beth pointed at her at least half a dozen times,

Thom taking the girls for a spin on the plasma car

She willingly walked with fingers with very smooth steps again on Tuesday,

She slept through the night for the 2nd time on Dec 25 - I think it was a Christmas present to me since it hasn't happened again :)

Thom went down the big wooden slide at the park (with me and Ava) - That I found very scary the sides were alot shorter than I remember and I was nervous about a child going over the edge 10ft up in the air. However the kids loved it while Beth was asleep in her sled we went up and down

Beth used the potty for the first time December 28,2008!!!! She wanted to go up on the toilet after the big kids finished so my mom put her up there to humor her and low and behold a very proud girl peed. the next day she peed on the wooden potty. When she was crawling around naked she has gotten to the potty and tryed to get up and has peed. the best day yet was the 18th to 19th, she by herself peed 4x. she thought there was a potty in the corner at my parents and she climbed over the handle turned herself around and peed on Thoms old booster (that we had just removed from the chair), I cleaned it all up and her, then maybe 20 min later she did it again!!! the next morning she got into the wooden potty I took from my parents (she cant get on Thom's it is to award) and peed-unfortunately she cant get her feet down so she peed with her legs in the pot but at least she is trying. Thoms success is really plateaued, we are at 100% peeing in the potty at home or another house but when we are out say at the mall or a restaurant it is hit or miss, it depends on how distracted he is. Poo is 75% at home and 0% when out,

She is very confident with going up, she did a whole flight of stairs by herself the first week in January. (she still doesn't go down and now has NO interest in learning. she often will climb up about 8inches into our bookshelves and be very proud smiling and 'talking' then after about 30 seconds start to demand I get her down)

Beth loves to shriek, any emotion she has she lets it be heard with gusto! I have been trying to get her to talk instead because I know she is using this ear shattering noise to get her point across. I am sad to report, not yet, so it is constantly like I have been to a concert.

Beth drew her first picture, not just a scribble crumple eat the paper. she drew with multiple colours and did not crumple it but let me have it- jan14. very exciting!

For the second year in a row we went to the show Magic and Miricles, a magic show that benifits the firefighters burn fund - a good time! (unfortunatley Ang was in the hall and my mom took the picture so you down see us all and this was the best photo with the most people)
Beth had a little vomit accident in the car seat so I washed all 3 car seat covers, here is Thom and Ava looking cute while sharing. Beth puked up her appleoatmeal, and again after she had lunch, so I was just nursing and she did not get an upset stomach, so now when she has her appleoatmeal Thom says`give her milk Mama she needs it so she dosen`t puke`it is very cute!

favourite foods

Beth-pickerel, pineapple and cheese

Thom-mac n cheese, cheese and yogurt

Christmas has come and gone

2009-01-11T12:18:00.005-06:00

Here is our pictures from Christmas Eve with Santa at the Howie's
Beth prefers Santa when she is not in his lap

Thom talking to Santa

Jeff and I getting our present

Beth and Thom checking out their presents

Beth trying to steal Thom's bells off of his present

So another Christmas has come and gone and we are back to the regular grind.

We all recovered from the flu and enjoyed the family get togethers and holiday festivities. Unfortunatley Jeff also succumbed to the flu (as did everyone else I know) but thankfully he didnt get sick until the evening of the 26th.

We celebrated NewYears by making pizza with the family-one of Thom's jobs was to wash the mushrooms. Previously when we had friends over Jeff made mushroom caps, Thom's job was to break off the stems. When he was preping the mushrooms Thom snapped off all the stems because that is the 'correct' way to prep them

Exciting begingings to the family get togethers

2008-12-23T12:59:00.003-06:00

So on Friday we had a gathering with my great aunts and uncles and there children and children's children on the Klassen side. We got together at Eastveiw as per the norm which is great because the kids race and scream in the gym and we 'grownups' can visit.

The point of this post is that Thom decided to end off the festivities with a bang! After i had Beth and him in their PJ's already to go home we were in the back foyer when his puked! All over his winter boots and the floor. He had told me his tummy was spicy 3 or so times that evening but I thought he had to poo (potty training this week-he avoids the potty but trys not to mess his pull ups the results in him complaining about his tummy hurting).

It was exciting to all the were still at the church, but the most exciting part for me was that my Dad cleaned up ;)

I hope that all of you have a wonderfully festive and loving Christmas!

and I will end the post with our families 2008 recap;

In the Barrett household we started our ‘new year’ a little bit earlier then the rest of the world. Jeff, left his position as territory manager at Ecolab and pursued a new career in residential sales with Creative Door Services not only was he excited with the prospect of a new job but he got a new vehicle (no more minivan) Hello Toyota Tundra, Jeff’s dream vehicle! My sister Angela, with her family, Brad and Ava returned home from living away for the last 2 years. Then on December 14, I left my position at Plezia Insurance to become involved in maintenance (a mom at home). Jeff and I celebrated by going for a whirl wind vacation to Florida for Kelly Saltel’s wedding in Disney World while Thom stayed both at his Gramma and Grandad’s and Omi and Opi’s.
Onward we plugged away adjusting to our new jobs and all of a sudden it was February. Jeff was at hockey (I had wanted him to go) and I called him too tell him not to go home; we needed to go to the hospital to get our baby (only 8 days late). Elizabeth Shannon Barrett was born February 16, 2008 with lots of hair weighing in at 7lbs8ozs. After a quick recovery period the 4 of us, at the end of March, with Tim, Lois and Harold went off to Ambergris Caye, Belize to have some fun.
We had a lovely summer, going to the cabin for a couple weekends spending time with Goni, Dave, Suzanne and Jackson and enjoying time at the trailer in Stonewall with Lois, Harold, Brad, Ang and Ava, swimming at the beach and Goni and Dave’s pool and 2 glorious visits to Clear Lake. I began watching Ava in August while her daycare was on summer vacation and I decided to keep her and will continue to watch her. It is very interesting to watch Thom and her interact, although she lived 24hours away for just over a year of her life, Thom and her interact like siblings.
Jeff did change his work vehicle in September; with all the driving he does he changed to a Toyota Camry Hybrid – which he has fallen in love with! A large portion of our family had birthdays in September and it was a very busy month so October was catch-up time. Now it is time to complete Christmas shopping, writing cards and enjoying the company of people we love!
From our family to yours a very Merry Christmas and only the very best for the New Year!
Love, The Barrett Family-Jeff, Chelle, Thom and Beth

Beth is 10 mths today! wow

2008-12-16T23:12:00.003-06:00

Here she is riding the horse like a big shot at my mom's school today!
(She,my mom, teaches at the Adolecence Parent Centre - school age mom's with babies or pregnant trying to finish high school. they have a large need for donations as many moms are living on working only part time or on assistance while in school full time. If anyone is sorting through their stuff household items, womens clothing childrens cloths or toys in the new year or anytime and would like to donate to them let me know)

checking out the handles on the horse, and showing off her big chompers

the high chair I just bought her last week, I didnt have one for Thom and just used a boster for space saving but it is nice to have!
the weekend before last here we are standing infront of our soon to be Christmas tree. Brr the wind was just a gusting, but boy was it ever fun tromping through the snow, drinking hot chocola,te around the fireplace they have inside and checking out the holiday display area. We brought my F-I-L Dave along to get his own tree and cut to down our tree aswell- lol (Goni was out of town)
Here is Beth with her nose as red and Rudolph`s inside at Winddrift tree farm

2008-12-05T01:51:00.006-06:00

The ginger bread houses that we decorated

How I dress my children when my dad serves them blueberry pancakes (every sunday)

2008-11-26T23:37:00.002-06:00

By the pictures it appears that Noreen and Ryan took Thom, Ava, Beth and their son Logan to see the Santa Claus parade. Yep, it appears like Ang and I had a nice relaxing evening, warm, not outside. Ah how pictures can be deceiving

Beth and Noreen
Thom and Ava standing up in the stroller watching for Santa

Ryan and Logan (isnt that the cutest snow suit!)

Beth at baby group about 3 weeks ago - she was very proud of herself for standing up with the assistance of the chair

Thom this summer jumping off a rock

2008-11-17T15:19:00.002-06:00

So I just gave my notice at work that I am not coming back. It was a pleasant 4min and 53second conversation (and part of that was being transferred to my boss). Weird that after 5 years that is how long it takes to end a profession. It was a fun place to work and at times I know I will miss it but I would miss being with Beth and Thom so much more.

I have changed from being H M Friesen then Barrett RMT and CMT to H M Barrett Insurance Broker with a CAIB3 to Mama to HMBarrett Level 2 Insurance Broker with a CAIB3 and Mama to just Mama, well and Auntie as I will be watching Ava still (and Ava's friend).

There you have it fokes I will be in maintenance, maintaining the home and family.

On a side note I talked to someone who is considering conceiving and having a child by herself (IE without a partner). I don't blog often about Jeff but I would not want to be a parent without him. During the pregnancy you don't really need help unless you want someone to side with you while you wait in waiting rooms. Well actually what I just wrote is a lie, when I was told my unborn child had a neural tube defect and my levels were so high there was no chance for the fetus, I didnt share that with anyone but Jeff, we kept that information to ourselves until after our genetic councilling (which was after 3 weeks of waiting) we pulled strength from each other and had discussions forcing the reality of the situation to sink in. Then once Thommy (as a perfect baby) did arrive after 3 weeks I got sick, I couldnt walk down the hall without help because my sence of balance disappeared - Jeff would move Thom around the house, cook, and look after our 3 dogs which up till that time had been our babies. Jeff helps me with backing my decisions up infront of the kids and the general public (even if he doesnt agree with me). When people nitpick at your parenting you can become doubtful in your ability which a partner can help hold you up. He also helps when I am tired after a long day, and am being a wishy washing parent (re Kids are Worth It, Barbra Coloroso) he will remind me I already warned it is time to follow through. Or when i am frusterated and need 10min alone or a 1hour bath, I dont have to worry about the kids, Jeff will take care of them.

I know there are many 1 parent homes, and mothers who have no support network that are able to be wonderful parents. But that is not for me, I would not choose that for myself, I know I need help and am glad to say that I have a parner.

2008-11-16T22:49:00.003-06:00

The G3 meeting with the turtle, sweet pea, and bear aka Elliott, Ava and Beth

Beth again - I dont have 1 picture of her with the head on whoops!

Thommy my frog 3years old and his 1st very short hollween (he had a fever all day from the moment he woke up, till about 7pm and once it broke he was his normal self)

Thommy and Ava standing in the stroller to watch the parade, in the background Noreen is holding Beth.

A picture from the summer of Thom and my Dad- cute eh!

We hit some more mile stones since my last post...

Thommy no longer calls Jesus in the manger 'baby jesa' as he did last year, it has changed to be plain 'baby Jesus' makes me kinda sad that he has grown past that. He is also inlove with Santa and the idea that he could get toys from him (and gramma - at the store he when he wants something and I have said no he will responed with 'maybe, I ask Gramma?' -that is his grammer and everything)

He watched the movie 'Cars' and he has a Lighting McQueen car which he calls (and the movie) Queen Lite. He asked Ava 'Do you want to watch Queen Lite with me?' and he calls out to me 'Mama, where is my Queen Lite?" it is soooo funny.

On Friday (nov 14) he repeated everything my brother said in conversation a very annoying development. Luckly that ended with the conversation.

Beth is 9mths old today 18lbs4.5oz Height 26.5inch(she is significantly smaller that Thom was at this age and much easier to carry around).

She danced for the 1st time to music on friday nov14 - to Ava's wiggles music and then with my brother (he was very proud to have helped both kids develop new milestones)

On thursday nov 13 she let go of me at baby group and stood - with her legs bent - for a couple seconds, she did this again on friday a couple times and has continued every day since.

Both kids went to the santa claus parade on Sat with my sister Ava and Ang's friends Noreen, Ryan and their son Logan. That was different then the parades I remeber, 1 float was a transit bus wrapped in christmas lights. The kids seemed to enjoy it. Thommy got a free plane that was handed out by some float and today as he was playing with it he told me santa gave it to him at the parade ;)

2008-11-12T09:24:00.002-06:00

Well, Beth finally slept through the night. On Nov 1 to 2nd while sleeping with Thom she slept from 11pm till 6am wow! Now I am just waiting for it to happen again 8)

We have had a good couple of weeks, Thom had a sleepover at his Gramma and Grandad's while I went to a wine and cheese party and Jeff went to his hockey game and a social (Beth came with me)

I lost my voice and Thom got hand foot and mouth disease, impetego and cold sores - poor kid.
Luckly Beth did not catch anything from Thom and we are all healthy now.

Sadly it is our last week at once upon a ryme-such an awsome program through resd. We will hopfully be able to go to one more session before I start working again...

2008-10-22T09:11:00.003-05:00

So my Beth is just flying these days,
She tells you what she wants in her own way. My Dad whom she adores will come through the door and she plays coy, hiding her head in my shoulder, then if in a reasonable amount of time he does not pick her up (usually about 1 minute-just enough time to take off shoes) she will start to yell/ cry and it is completely directed at him, and she lunges her body around, until either he leaves or comes and gets her. She does this with Jeff too, he will be sitting beside me on the couch and she will crawl across my lap to him but we have arm rests and she cant get over them, so she will pull herself up to standing and jerk her body back and forth while she yell/crys at him until he picks her up for her cuddle (Jeff loves it!)

Her crawling is crazy good, she defiantly knows where she wants to explore, I have to have the baby gate locked because she goes to it and will pull herself up it. She was in the kitchen playing one day last week and I went to talk to Thom in the living room (at my parents), when I came back in the room she was gone and I had left the basement doors open yikes! but we found her in the entry (they have 2 entrances to the kitchen) pleased as punch!

Beth laughs when Thom gets caught for doing something wrong. She laughs when he does something I would prefer not to have a repeat performance of. She encourages and mocks.

She trys to wave when people leave, it is a very jerky hand up in the air-so cute. And if she wants me and she is being held by someone and unable to fallow me she calls/crys mama-a-mama-a-mama-a mama-a-mama.

Thom went to the Falk farm this weekend and had a wonderful time and has not yet stopped talking about his 2nd cousins which he has not seen since Easter. It is amazing the difference being able to play with kids makes. I can sit and watch and guide not be a main participator. Bliss.

Forgotten Milestones

2008-10-15T08:55:00.002-05:00

I forgot to list that Beth can clap-she has been clapping (closed fist) for at least 3 weeks (Jeff figures a month)
She also started to wave good bye (or is attempting to) this weekend.
Can pick rasins up with her fingers to eat
and had her fist temper tantrum with her legs kicking on Sunday (I put her on the table and she was sitting but my tea up was there and she was eyeing it, I moved it out of her reach and she had a melt down -SO funny)
and ofcourse her crawling is getting better and better.

Beth's milestones

2008-10-08T11:45:00.002-05:00

Beth reached some new milestone lately;

At Ava's birthday party (Sep 28) Beth sat up by herself for the very 1st time!

Then on Tuesday Sep 30 she pulled herself up to standing - using Thommy's potty to assist her, I found the potty use very funny if she is comfortable climbing over it - perhaps that means she will climb onto the potty and start using it?

And the last recent accomplishment, a couple hours before Thom's birthday part on Oct 4 Beth crawled for the 1st time. Jeff had his drill on the floor in the living room about a foot and a half in front of her. Apparently that was what she needed to make the knees move forward. (Beth has been getting onto her hands and knees for about 2weeks and would just stay there rocking back and forth until she would lie back down on the ground and slither like a snake to where she wanted to be.) She doesn't crawl when she can slither but she is using this new skill at least once a day for short distances.

And she still loves to be held upright while she stands, she has discovered she can pull herself up to standing while sitting on our bed (it is a sleigh bed with slats perfect for her to hold) and loves to stand there and laugh - she is so proud of herself she just smiles away (She actully only stood by herself holding onto the bed frame when I put her there the weekend of the 19th)

Thoms birthday is done for another year

2008-10-07T15:30:00.003-05:00

So we celebrated Thom's 3rd birthday with a birthday party at our house. It was a zoo! There were 6 kids 5 of which were 3 years or younger, The noise level went higher and higher as more sugar was introduced to the blood stream! But after 3 hours everyone was gone and we were left with the feeling of sucess (also feeling of 3 hours + prep time disapearing from my life).

I really like the idea of making birthday cakes (baking and decorating) plus getting all the other food ready and finding just the right dish to hold everything makes me feel like maybe I should pay someone to do this work for me? But as the days pass the feeling will fade and I will get back on my horse telling Jeff it was worth every minute and he will have these fantastic memories of what we did for him.... I will post a picture of Thom's Dino cake and Ava's Monkey cake once I get them from my sister they were a lot of fun to make.

Thom got some fun toys to enjoy which I have enjoyed as well. The best in my mind would have to be the storage containers, the living room is already looking cleaner! My grampa got Thom a semi which holds his cars which is nice to be able to have Thom clean up the cars and not have to look through 3 toy bins to find the cars all at the bottom of the boxs and he got a zip bin full of knex (one of my favourite built it toys)! The point of me mentioning the knex was this awsome zip bin http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2006/11/review_zipbin_p.html this is a review for one of the 'zip bin's that are available. It is great he just loads the peices on the mat and zip it up put on the lid and all the knex are out of sight! I want to get the med size dino one for all of his dinosaurs, and the large train one for the train tracks and trains. It is wonderful! Obviously I am all over the tidying up today :)

Thommy is 3 wowzer

2008-09-27T02:19:00.010-05:00

Well Thom turned three today, amazing! Amazing that he got so big so fast and amazing that everything in his last 2 years past by so quickly!

I think he weighed more today when I lifted him up, he seemed bigger.

This is his first birthday that he could tell me how old he was and knew the number when I held up my fingers. (Thom thinks getting big is an insult, he wants to be small like Ava, but not as small as Beth - funny story, in the car as we were driving in to town to pick up Ava we were making up new humpty dumpty rymes. Thom out of the blue asked how big Humpty's brain was, to which I replied, very small since he fell off a wall. Thom then asked about Ava's brain and I said it was smaller than his because she is smaller. After I said this Thom said 'I want a small brain like Ava and Humpty, I don't want a big brain like Brad (Brad is Ang's husband, a smart fellow). Thom repeated this for emphasis, while I laughed)) Anyways back to how big Thom is...

Today Thom wanted to be big, like his other cousin Jackson - I would like to note the only part of being big I would like Thom to take is the potty training, other than that he can stay my baby for a little longer.

But as I think about it every little bit older he gets the more amazing things he learns, and he absorbs everything and teaches me things and his imagination is growing so big - about a month ago Thom was having his diaper changed and he looked at the was and said his feet shadows were fighting, he started to move his legs about and was saying ' take that' 'I've got you' 'I'm going to get you' it was so funny to see him playing like that with his shadows, he would not have done that 6mths ago.

When he is sick he now tells me, my tummy hurts, my head hurts, I fell bumped my head/leg/arm etc.

This past year, we were having chinese food for dinner and he had a fortune that said something about doing great things or being sucessfull to which he replied that he was going to go to school. He loves the idea of school, riding the bus, playing with the other kids, reading and he just turned 3 wow!!

To some up Thom's past year he has been fiesty (SP?), spirted, lovable, cuddlable, sick (pneumonia 3x, lungs now keeping up asthma medications), giving (he loves to give people gifts, of course he also loves receiving them), playful all with a thirst for knowledge-he love to find something new to explore, read a new book or song (on that he only started knowing words to songs in the last 6mths before that he always just made up his own words), and asking me and everyone else endless questions - why is a very popular word in the last few months.

I realize it is now actually a day after his birthday, but he was born just after 11pm on the 26th so I am not far off.

Yesterday at the park - Thom's last day being 2

Ava pushing Beth on the swings (how cute!)

The koi kissing Thom earlier this summer

On Opi's motorcycle - such a big boy!

Thom skipping rocks at Clear Lake

Beth playing in the sand at Clear Lake (sept 11)

Thom ready for a walk

Same path different spot back in May - from the rear he looks a lot smaller ;)

2008-09-19T21:40:00.002-05:00

So a couple weeks ago, my Great Aunt Kae took Thom, Beth, my sister Ang, Ava and myself out to Smitty's for dinner. It was a long day I had all three kids and was ready to go home but if I didnt go out with her that Tuesday it would be months befor I actually followed through and had dinner with her. Unfortunatley after playing all day together as Thom doesnt nap, his fuse gets shorter, he gets crabby faster, becomes more demanding, and his attention span shortens

I dont like going out for dinner very much... I use to like it when Thom was still in the bucket seat, but now that he is active not so much fun....

At home even if we have take out I load his plate befor he sits down so that he isnt waiting using up his good sitting behavour before the food is ready for him. At a restraunt however you wait to get seated, order drinks, look through the menu, wait for your dinner to be ordered, order dinner, wait for your dinner, get dinner, wait for it to cool off enough to eat, eat, wait for the bill, pay, wait for the slip to sign, then finally dinner is over. For an active 2 almost 3 year old you have to have a lot of toys, colouring and books to read to keep them entertained.

At Smitty's that evening, it took forever to get our meals, I even asked for the kids mac'n cheese to come out as soon as they were done so the kids would not get cranky-still it was a long time. I took Thom for a walk through out Smitty's to give him a change in scene ory as a booth is a bit confiningm and also to talk the seniors that were eating -thank goodness for friendly seniors they were our saving grace!

The point of this post is eating out has changed drastically for me in the past 3 years, I have to bring in two bags, a diaper bag and entertainment bag. I need to be hyper villigent to ensure Thom is not bugging the people on the other side of the booth as he is standing up on the bench after 45 minutes to look around and he gets interested in what the other kids are playing with. With potty training I am asking all they time if he has to go potty, then as he needed to twice during the evening, I have to go into a tiny stall, help with his clothes, hold him so he doesnt fall in (the collapsable potty seat will not hold his weight 38+lbs) scrub his hands clean after he touches the toliet (gross). And during this whole time entertain a 6 month old too. (Thankfully everytime I left the table Ang or my Aunt held Beth.)

My Dad, Ang, Ava, Beth, Thom and myself did all go to the Thirsty Duck for my birthday lunch on Wed. I will admit going with my Dad verses my Aunt was much more comfortable, my Dad sees Thom all the time and know how he will react and how to react aswell as my parenting style, so I do not need to worry about backup reinforcment on my rules. Also the location - very relaxed environment with people very interested in chatting with the kids and the food came so much faster a 45 min lunch verses 2+hour dinner!

I miss going out and just relaxing, but I dont want to leave Thom at home. It is odd, I think it is good for him to be comfortable in a restraunt and know how to behave but teaching patients and manner can be such a pain in the butt for me! This also inclued trying to exhibit these qualities myself once I get frustrated with how long the server takes for every request or the juice spilling, or opening creamers to drink (both Ava and Thom think that is the best milk - from the tiny coffee creamers), or inside voices not being used.

On the flip side now that I have complained, I would like to say in a restraunt or anyplace I love when Thom can feel comfortable asking a server or clerk for an item be it juice or a toy from a high shelf and he says 'could you please...' and 'thank you' or 'please may I...' in those moments I just feel so proud, it makes my heart happy you know that warm feeling that spreads and it just makes you know it is going to all work. Maybe I should also say thank goodness for grandparents when you want to enjoy a relaxing meal ;)

the feeling of love...

2008-08-11T20:52:00.003-05:00

I just left Thommy's bedroom. Both kids are asleep and I am still filled with the warmth of my son's love.

Thom cannot or will not go to sleep without me. If I am not with him he is fine but if I am, he needs me. Jeff and I have tried to get him to go to sleep by himself and/or with Jeff to no avail. Some days I think if only - there is so much stuff to be done why must it be this way. But every night I am there reading books, singing songs, making up stories, praying then sitting or laying with him until he falls asleep. Occasionally it is 10 minutes most days it is 30 or 45 min or more. I have to admit the day he stops wanting me to stay with him it will be hard. I am lucky, I have a 2 almost 3 year old who will cuddle towards me with his clammy hand touching me to know I am there either in a chair or his bed. When I am in his bed, he will fall asleep and I get to hear how his breathing changes or see which way he prefers to turn his head. I love it, who cares about the dishes, laundry or tiding up one of these days he will be maturing and may be uncomfortable with displaying affection for his Mama.

There are so many thing I treasure about my kids and the fact that they both want me in order to fall alseep makes me feel treasured in return.

Everyday is a great day...

2008-08-11T14:57:00.003-05:00

My family has been having a wonderful summer!

We went to my inlaws cottage on Lake of the Woods with Christy, Phill and Cayman and had a super time. We stayed up late while the kids slept and just had good oldfashioned fun. Thom roped Christy into doing some puzzels which was entertaining, they were not puzzels for 2 year olds but 10 year olds so Christy did most of the puzzel except the pieces she told him to put in ;)

On the Sunday night we went home and packed, before we left for the cottage I washed every piece of wash in the house thankfully, I had to pack for Thom Beth and I as we were going to work with Jeff for a week. I also made our lunchs for the first couple days, made snacks (baking ofcourse), and packed 2 coolers of food as the we were spending 4 nights in a cottage a Clear Lake. It was almost 3am when I went to bed and Jeff and I were up a 6am (plus up at night to feed the little one) so I was exhausted. Luckly I slept while Jeff drove to Brandon. Jeff cleared everything out of his truck and made room for a cooler in his vehicle which held our snacks lunch and items needing refridgeration -thank goodness for those new plugin coolers, so convenent!

In Brandon we went to this giant playland while Jeff visited customers, which was just fantastic. Thom got to run off some steam and Beth and I climbed behind him as adults can go on the structure too. Beth tried out an exersauser for the 1st time and loved it! When Jeff was done in Brandon he picked us up and we were off to a couple more buisnesses in small towns. When we (he) was done we ended up staying the night in Virden, MB.

The next morning we were off bright and early as Jeff wanted to get his work done and the family to Clear Lake as early as possible to unpack and enjoy the evening. The towns blured together we saw some amazing view and stopped in towns I am sure we would never go to if Jeff didnt have customers to see. The most amazing views I saw was in Birtle - wow I cant imaging being a settler tired cold or sweaty seeing this valley and not stopping, it is one of those places you know only God could make no man made locations could be so beautiful and insperational!

We got to Clear Lake around 7pm unloaded the truck and went straight to the beach for a little splash! A wasp stung me on the way to the beach and the cold water felt great! Thom just loved our location. we were right across the street from the beach, there was a warm pool just outside our door and we were on the main drive perfect to go out for walks in the evening when Jeff got home! We had one rain day but the rest of the weather was perfect. The kids and I went for some hikes, the gift shop has a rental of up to 4 fish nets, a magnifin glass, a tray and a book about bugs for $2 (it was the best $2 spent the whole time) Thom caught leaches, minnows, little fish, all sorts of larvae and he was in awe of it all - it was magnificent!! We hung out by the beach, playstructure, pool, walked, swam, took in a movie at the theater (Kung Fu Panda - Beth's 1st movie) and ended up staying an extra day as it was just perfect! Beth learnt to sit by her self out there ( July 23)Our 1st vacation ever including before kids that we went by ourselves, every other trip has been planned with family or friends either all going together or meeting up. Going with friends and family is wonderful but so is all the family time when there is no one else. I am looking forward to including both alone and group trips in the Barrett future!

After Clear Lake I had a week to wash and put everything away, then I was going to be watching Ava during Ang's daycares 3 week holiday. Unfortunatley, Thom got impetego somewhere and on the Monday got antibiotics. Since it is very catchy I had to be hyper viligent about making sure he didnt give it to Beth as he loves to touch, hug and kiss her. Luckly I went to my Grandparents trailer out in Stonewall Quarries where my Mom entertained/distracted Thom and thus kept Beth safe.

I have had a wonderful first week watching Ava, as had Thom and Ava. I know that we are very lucky to have Ava living back in Winnipeg so we get the opertunity to see so much of her. I love how much fun we have been having and look forward to it continuing.

So there is a catch up from the last 3 1/2weeks I will post a few pics shortly but I think my little ones are waking up.

Beth is growing...

2008-07-15T19:58:00.003-05:00

Friday was a very busy day for my little Beth.

In the morning she was able to accomplish the other half of her roll. She loves rolling onto her stomach and Friday she rolled back onto her back. She then rolled back and forth a couple times in a row (I think she was just checking to ensure she could keep doing it). We went to the childrens museum with Aunty Christy and Cayman in the afternoon, where the boys played away the hours and Christy and I had a nice chat. Beth was very content in her carrier which was wonderful, I nursed her and she went back into her carrier till it was time to leave. I am so happy she likes the carrier so much I although I brought in the stoller (which I will not next time) it was nice that I could just park it along the wall and not be force to have it right by me squishing into all the people.

On the drive home Beth became insistant that she had to eat. So we stopped at my parents (who were on a vacation last week) and Thommy and his Unc played away while I nursed Beth. On a side note Thom has been just inlove with Unc lately. My parents just came home from vacation and yesterday when he got to see them for the 1st time he probubly spent half his visit with my brother. Then again today I left him with my mom while I went to Superstore, when I came back he was not with my mom but had left her to go play with Unc. The reason this is so amazing is 8 months ago Thom went through a period when he didnot want Unc to talk to him nor did he want to be with him. (Tim was not so impress as he is Thom's godfather) luckly those days are over now Thom love to be with him so much my brother is worrying over where to put his liquer cabinet in the house, Thom (and Ava) are so lucky that they have an Unc that loves them so much (too bad he doesnt read my blog lol).

Anyways back from the segway, when we got home I changed Beth's diaper and while I was talking to her she put her feet in her mouth for the 1st time, wow!

That evening I got the new baby centre update on 5month olds (yes crazy, she'll be 5mths on the 16th) and it mentioned that babies will focus in on one task and practice it repeatedly to master it for example blowing raspberries. And no suprise Beth loves to purse her lips and blow to make a raspberry noise!

She also is trying to crawl on her belly she moves her legs back and forth like you would if you were crawling, however she hasnt gotten her body up highenough yet. (She use to do an inchworm like crawl, where she would lift her but in the air then lower it and lift it up again and continue along till she would run into something but she hasnt done this in at least a week to a week in and half)

Just if anyone is interested in her size these days, at her 4mth appt, she weighed 15lbs and was 24 inches long. (when she was born she was 7lb 8oz and was 20 inches long). It seems like a lot of growth to me, on the chart she is in the 75percentile for weight and something higher for height (I cant remember oops) but with the new World Health Organization breast fed only chart she is in the 50th percentile - average. I like that chart better just because it is based on breast milk not formula and breast. Thom in comparison was in the 95th percentile for height and weight-more like a lot of chubbiness and he could not get his feet to his mouth until he started moving and lost a little of the roundness.

In my mind, I would love to have 20 kids and see the differences between all of them. Here are some differences between my two so far; Beth has WAY more drool then Thom did. She also is like an owl turning her head all over to see what is going on, Thom moved his body back and forth to check out what was happening. Thom was startled by flashing lights and noises when he was little, Beth went in the exersauser my parents have with all the bells and wistles and loved it (I think Thom broke her in with lots of noises while she was still in the womb). Beth likes to sleep, Thom fought it, and he still fights sleep. Beth sleeps on her stomach (not by my choice) and Thom still seldom will sleep on his stomach. Beth likes to be cuddled, cozy and warm, Thom likes that only when he chooses (like a cat). Beth talks more, Thom laughed more.

Oh and I read on a friends page that when you have the second child you get triple the use out of all of your toys, in my house it is true. Thom played with his toys when he was a baby. Beth comes around and uses all of the toys and while she is using the toys Thom gets reinterested in them and trys them all out again.

pics and stuff

2008-07-10T19:49:00.004-05:00

Thom in his 80's shirt (which he choosed) jumping on the bed at the trailer with Ava
Decorating cookies for baby Elliott's parents
Beth in the bike trailer which I was using as a doulbe stroller, Thom squeezes in beside Beth
At the paths in Brandon
In my in-laws pool, Thom wants to keep swimming

Ava and Beth sharing a ride
Happy baby
Beth has a long toung- like my brother Tim and Gene Simmons
Thommy at the lake in the boat
Beth at the beach in Stonewall - loves the sand

Driving home today Thom saw a Saab convertible driving on the hwy and he said to me 'that's a fancy fun car, I want that fancy fun car'! So funny!

Thom at the trailer this past weekend was talking to my mom and said to her - 'I played with my boys' we all snickered, then she asked who his boys are, his reply 'Julien and Cayman' Again very cute.

My MIL took us for lunch today to the Olive Garden, and I was very proud of Thom he was content for almost the whole meal! The salad helped when he started getting bored, he loved the tongs, because they are joined together he could serve it. I always plate the food then bring the plates to the table perhaps at home I should let Thom plate the food for me - I am envisioning a large mess with alot of laughter.

Beth this afternoon as I was visiting my brother was laughing at Thommy. He was rolling on an exercise ball and every time he would mover around she would laugh. It was very relaxing!

Oh, if anyone uses Teddy's Choice diapers they are $10 off a box.

2008-07-09T00:11:00.002-05:00

With the nice sunny weather we were having I didnt feel like sitting at the computer to post anything. Now with the rain, I guess it is time.

Thom the other day did something cute in the car as we were driving. Beth started to cry and Thom's ever ready response (which he must have learnt from his Dada) 'Beth's hungry Mama feed her'. Well I had just fed her and it was time for her to sleep, which she was fighting. Thom leaned over in his car seat and picked up her hand and as he did this he said 'your little hand in my big hand'. Well, I just thought that was the nicest thing, it makes me abit teary thinking about it.

Beth loves to roll over onto her stomach. Because she doesnt roll back on to her back easily I had been flipping her back onto her back. It is pretty commical because she rolls over, and I wait until she is in a deep sleep. Once I thinks she is sleeping soundly enough I flip her back onto her back. No more than 10 seconds go by and she flips back onto her stomach - she knows how she wants to sleep.

I was going to end this post with some 'pics' as Thommy say however blogger keeps giving an error so, until next time...

Rolling over

2008-06-25T08:06:00.002-05:00

Beth loves to turn herself over. If I put her down on her back and she is not sleeping, flip onto her stomach she goes. When she gets onto her stomach she lays there chewing/eating her hands making unusual noises. She still cannot roll front to back so once she gets there she is stuck - no run away rolling babies yet =)

Beth in her sleep when she gets hungery starts to look for me, before she would just wimper and flaile her arms then scoot over to whereever she felt me (if she didnt find me in a couple seconds, sometimes she would go back to sleep). Now she wimpers and rolls over then she gets very frusterated that there is no milk coming from her hands that she wakes up.

This has gone on for the last four nights, I wonder how long it will continue.

It is so sunny yeah!

2008-06-21T09:08:00.003-05:00

It has been so hard to come and post with this nice weather that has been sent to us! Even with the rain on the weekend it was still warm enough to go swimming at my nephew Jackson's 7th birthday party and plant more trees/shrubs on Sunday. The count is at 50 planted this year, 1 of these is a transplant from a different area of the yard and the 11 we planted last year brings us to 60 trees/shrubs minus 4 that didnt make it through the winter - that seems like a lot - yet there is not shade in our yard yet (thank goodness for the porch), I guess in a couple years though we will be looking for sun light!
The work week started beautifully, Cayman and Christy came by for a visit and we played out side, flew a kite and had the usual wonderful time with them over!
Tuesday, Jeff was working in Brandon, so we joined him for the ride and got dropped off at
Riverbank Discovery Centre and walked some of the 17 kms the non profit group has created since 1995 (Assiniboine River Corridor) and enjoyed the Eleanor Kidd Gardens. It was just beautiful a real shock to find that this wildlife areas and paths all begin right in the city. Anyone going through Brandon stop and enjoy this gem.
Wednsday, Jeff was working in the interlake so we got dropped off at my grandparents trailer at the stonewall quarries trailer/rv park and we enjoyed a lovely day, just relaxing, playing in Thom's kiddie pool and just wasting the day away - again a great day!
Thursday we have baby group so Jeff dropped us off at my parents, then we had breakfast with them, and just bummed around that day (thanks to my grampa lending me his truck every thurday). As we were driving to my parents from Healthy Baby, Thom was counting in the truck and he got all the way to 11! Amazing he cant count higher then 4 when I want him to perform for me but he obviously know. (He also says the alphabet ELLOMNRSTBCD and so it continues - he has letters just not the order, he also goes in the kitchen and asks for dello - which is jello too cute!) Then in the evening I got my minivan back whoo hoo :) Now I just have to get use to filling up a vehicle with gas again ouch! Ava and Ang came to my parents after work so the kids got to play. It was a great evening, Tim was home, my brother in law brad came with pizza and my mom was there, a good visit.
And yesterday we were outside for alot of the day just enjoying the yard. we of course had to water and with at almost 3 year old helper it probubly took about 1 hour extra and we were both wet, luckly Beth slept in her carrier even when she got a little wet. When we were watering the trees we count to 40 before he can move on to the next tree, which seldom works ;) but he got to 28 - good for him!!

On a side note, I barely had to wear Thom in the summer, he was born in late sept and by July he was walking and trying to run. Okay that was just background, what my point is, I am so hot! Everytime we go out side I start sweating, we walk to the store or where ever but I cant take her off when we get there as I have sweat marks! yuck! even the small of my back gets it. We went to visit another little boy in town and I carried her in my arms to prevent this. When we were in Belize, I switched from a front carrier and went around carrying her on the side in a sling however, now Beth does not like being carried on the side and prefers the front as she likes to look around.
Does anyone else like to wear there children as a large accessory to their outfit? (I relate Beth to a large broch as she rarley cries when she in in her carrier and she is very happy and people come up and comment about her (usually asking about him in the navy coloured item) Do anybaby wearers have a suggestions, Jill?

Another Day Goes By...

2008-06-09T11:39:00.005-05:00

Beth,
So often I post about Thom and I feel like she might need a little more blog time. Seeing how she isnt terribly active, no chasing her around greenhouses yet, what to say it a bit more limited!
Amazing how with the first child, every first I would call people and tell them about it.
Lets me write about a couple new things for my beautiful, happy second child.
-Yesterday, I put Beth down directly on the grass, usually I place her on a blanket but I didnt bring one onto the lawn & I just put her down. So that was her first time with grass. She suprisingly did not fuss and just laid there contently while everyone was around her Omi, Thom, Jeff and me. (Thom was unsure about the first time he was on grass Apr, 06)
-I am pretty sure if I recorded the imatations she does as someone talks to her, you would believe she is talking as she repeats you stories. She is just fantastic at imitations, I believe she said 'I love you' the other day - or she at least wanted to I could see it in her eyes :) (Thom was not nearly as much of a talker, he was more of a fusser).
-Her eye lashes seem to be growing longer and thicker! It really showcases her lovely blue eyes (and makes her look more like a girl, as she is a very sturdy looking child)
-I have now packed away all the new born to 0-3mths clothing. It was very sad as Ava has so much clothing I dont think Beth wore 1/2 of it as she is growing so much quicker then her cousin. Also very different body shapes so the clothes look different on Beth then Ava, it is like it is a whole new wordrobe. I was very excited that yesterday, Beth fit a dress I bought for Ava when she was a year old (the dress is size 9mths)- so cute like a dress tennis players wear. Then I felt sad as my baby is almost four months and is growing and changing so fast. I will say she looked so cute with her little nike runners (an impulse buy, totally impractical) and the sporty dress!
-Next week she goes to the doctors for her 4mth checkup and shots. She would not take tylenol at 2 mths and spit it all out so I am interested to see how this time goes. as a side note she also will not take Oval or gripe water if gassy either. only milk from the source for her.

Okay now I will go onto another very exciting topic . . . I bought a new breast pump yesterday and some glass bottles. I had the Avent Isis pump and Avent bottles which I just did not feel comfortable using as they have been removed from the shelves due to BPA's. I still have the pump, as I dont feel right throwing it out but I dont want to use it. (I threw out all the plastic sippy cups and bottles earlier (with a couple exceptions for brands that are okay) Beth will still get BPA's from any store bought canned foods, store grade food wrapings, and who knows then other places she will get them. Although I do not have any other plastics to be worried about in my house she will go to friends and may eat a plastic single serve fruit cup which is a 7. So long story short, I just want to limit the kids exposure as much as 'I' can. Anyways, back to my excitment, I have been looking at a new pump since Beth has been born but havent been able to justify it, since I have one in my cupboard, but since I am not comfortable with it, I have only pumped by hand once and that was far to hard (worring about Thom bumping me or the milk I was expressing). So now if we ever desire, in the future once I have built up a supply and make sure Beth will take a bottle Jeff and I can go out without the kids! I know that Jeff and I did not leave Thom very often when he was a babe and only for very short times as he would not take a bottle. But Thom is very excited to try to feed Beth with Jeff and I think it would be nice if they could try that in the future - I dont know what I will do but I would love to get a pedicure and I would prefer not to bring Beth with all the chemicals in the air.

Yesterday

2008-06-06T12:40:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Beth sat unassisted for the very first time! yeep is it not much to soon for that first! I look at her and am so amazed by what she has learnt, smiling, laughing, engaging us in a conversation of coos and happy shrieks. She from her back even rolls up to 90 degrees then her arm get in the way and she stays in that position. I love that she is so interactive but at the same time I am sad because with every first, it means there will not be the antisapation of something happening and eventually she will be 5 going to school, 12 and babysitting, 16 driving a car and finishing school then moving away. I know this is abit early to be lamenting about her moving out but she is our last baby. I will never again have the first smile, when she first raised her arms to get picked up (side note the first person she did that for was my mom to her joy!) and those other amazing moments again. I know, I have hundreds of firsts still to come with Beth and Thom and it is amazing to see there diferences and I know they will continue to amaze me for the rest of my life - think positive glass half full.

Yesterday, was a big day for the girl. Usually people ask me about my 2 boys, however at Dollerama, a sales clerk asked me about my 2 girls (how someone could mistake Thom for a girl I have no idea but it was a nice change to have Beth's gender correct) Tim also said after Beth got out of the bath yesterday that she looked like a girl to him aswell. (Tim believes if you paint on a beard and give Beth an ugly shirt she could go a Jeff for Halloween)

Thom went into the sprinkler for the first time yesterday and loved it. he remembered the rule you dont go in the sprinkler with your clothes on so he went to my moms friend and asked her to undress him - he has only me her a couple times very briefly! He also told her to take of her clothes and come play in the sprinkler - however she declined. Very Funny!

Our Weekend

2008-06-01T13:28:00.007-05:00

hard to tell due to the camo out fit but I would have to say it is Jeff playing crocket
Omi, with her only grandchildren Thom, Ava and Beth the
Thom and Beth
Thom on the swing in the yard - check out the grass 8)
Beth 14wks old

Beth 12 wks old - 1st trip to the lake
Ang and Ava at the ceremony
Thommy and Ava running
Leanne and Glen
Ava and Omi after the ceremony

So we went this weekend to my cousins wedding in Gimili - Thomas, Jeff, Beth and I. We put the dogs in the kennel, and drove up Friday. The location was lovely, and the weather took a break from the raining and was wonderful. It was an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception.

I am going to recant the ceramony for you the way it occured for me:

We got there 20 min before the ceremony and quickly ran to mom and dads room and got dressed, My parents helped change the diapers, wash them and dress the kids. Then 4 min before the ceremony we left the room and took our seats. Right after my Aunt walk down to take her seat Thom informed me he peed his pant-which I felt in my hand as I was holding him up. So before Leanne and the bridesmaids walk down the isle, we ran back to the room where I changed Thommy into some jeans with his dress shirt. We ran back to the ceramony and arrived just after the bridal procession. A few minutes in my sister who was holding Beth a few rows up brought her back to me as she was hungry, some readings had just begun so I feed her (cant beat breast feeding in a place like that - no bottle to heat up). The pastor begain to tell a story about Paul and wives sumitting and what it ment. Maybe 10 min in Thom and Ava got bored, my Dad got up and brought them to the water (which was so beautiful and calm!). If you are wondering where Jeff was during this all he kept jumping up and taking pictures. And you need not feel bad for my Dad since Thom has been born he alway leaves the formal occations and takes care of the kids it is his 'out' and he loves them too much not to take it. Anyways, Beth is still eating the vows have begun and Thom goes and makes friends with a man that is drinking by the water and this guy is skipping rocks for Thommy as Thommy keeps handing more rocks to him. Leanne and Frank are pronouned man and wife and are about to kiss. Beth is done eating I sit her up and she lets out the noisest, loudest, longest poop! The row in front of us all bends over shaking with laughter! I leave again to change a diaper and return as the wedding process walk out. Thom has finished playing with the man and him and Ava are running around, Jeff is still taking pictures and Grampa takes Beth to go show her off. Tim (my brother) brings Thom back to the lake to play and skip rocks, and us girls chat until Jeff comes back to us. We all agree it is a perfect time for a family photo and all set up for it. After a couple takes Thom and Ava leave and I try to get Thom back for a pic of the 4 of us. We get one attempt but Thom was way to distracted by Ava playing and off they went to play in the newly soded lawn - picking it up runing, getting grass stains the usual fun times at an outdoor ceremony! So that was all I picked up from the ceremony - nothing I diddnt even see the kiss because I was laughing to hard I had tears in my eyes! Oh well I can see the pictures at another time.

The reception was nice and relaxed I think it was the most comfortable time I have had at a wedding since I before I had kids. We were far enough from the head table that the noise the kids made was not overwelming and each table had shakers so everyone was noisey at times.

Beth was held a lot, and eventually went to sleep in my lap and was transfer to her car seat around 10pm and slept the rest of the evening. Thom stayed up and partyed -even tryed to dance - and he and I went to bed around 1am a very late nite!

Once Jeff downloads his camera I will post some family pics.

In the morning Thom, Beth and I had almost the entire olympic size pool to ourselves. We stayed in for over 1 1/2 hours and it was the first time Beth enjoyed being in a pool! We rushed to pack up our room ate a late breakfast with my grandparents, parents, siblings, neice, kids, husband and Karli!

In the late afternoon we planted 38 small trees and bushes and Thom went to bed eary so Jeff and I set up he new weight bench - I can bench press 200 lbs!

Today we flew kites and have just been enjoying more family time.

2008-05-21T22:48:00.002-05:00

So, Beth had her first weekend at the lake and it was pretty uneventful. All four of us had a nice relaxing weekend, we did a couple opening up chores, played some games and ate too much. Thom stayed up way to late every night and enjoyed playing with his older cousin Jackson. And ofcourse Beth enjoyed being cuddled, and loved by the family (and I enjoyed the extra hands to help with the kids which increased my one on one time with Thom and Beth)

Now back in the village it is the same old routine. Pick up rocks, pick up more rocks, pick up lots more rocks, then explain to Thom why he cant go to my pile of rocks and move them back on the mud. Thom loves to go outside and is loving that we are trying to get the yard ready for grass. He has his back hoe, 2 dump trucks, a grader, and a bulldozer all set up to 'help' me. He even askes if it is time to go play in the mud. hmmmm I like to think that is a good thing.

Today we did break our routine. We took out the bike trailer for the first time because it was too windy in our yard-days like today the soil blows in our faces while picking at the rock yuck! So I figured it would be a perfect time to start training, I figure that by August I would be able to make it to Evelyn's house and back for a visit by bike- about 32kms round trip.... I am pretty sure I am wrong it will take years to train for that trek who am I trying to kid. It took about 1 hour to get set up then figuring out how to get the car seat with Beth and Thom crammed into the trailer. After we biked to the store because apparently the air disapeared from all of the wheels. Let me tell you I was sucking air to make the .7km to the store (in my defence I had a trailer with 60lbs of kids and kid stuff in it with four very flat tires and I am only 12 weeks post partum). The bike ride did get better after adding air to the wheels and all three of us did have a great time, especially the break that we took at the park :)

On a side note, I realize that my excuse of only 12 weeks post partum is pretty weak and I will continue to 'train' with the bike and trailer. However I am realistic and I think I will be driving to Evelyn's in the future then maybe biking to the park from there. And perhaps I will bike with Beth in the baby carrier on my front and only Thommy in the trailer. I am open to any sugestions people have on how to get my two kids comfortable for the bike riding I see in my near future.

Out of the mouth of babes

2008-05-14T11:18:00.005-05:00

So it seems Beth is almost ready to talk lol!

Jeff swears she has said 'Dada', on the weekend my Mom and Dad both said she repeated 'Opi' and yesterday as I was talking to her she said 'baby Beth'! I gave birth to a wonder child ;)

Thomas last weekend while on the phone to my parents said that Beth was his 'best friend' (I don't know how he has any knowledge of a best friend, but it sure was a wonderful moment). On Friday night my parents brought over chinese food and Thommy's fortune said that he would be very sucessful in buisness. To this he replied 'I am going to take the school bus and go to school'. When I told Jeff the story we both found it amazing that he figured out that he needed to go to school to get an education for his sucess! Or perhaps he thinks it is sucessful to be in school, either way I was impressed!

It was very interesting going to the zoo with Thom this weekend, very different from our last visit. It took over 4hrs to see only about 1/2 or the zoo! Thomas was so interested in everything, asking questions, explaining things to me, running around, looking, watching, touching! Amazing the difference, when we were there over Sept long weekend, it was fun, but to see how much his little brain has grown filled me with awe. This little boy is growning not only physically but mentally and every question he asks and comment he makes displays that fact. (On a side note about 2 wks ago the word why became very predominant in his vocabulary!)Unc teaching Thom to skateboard

Thom telling me about the dragon

checking out a leaf in the conservatory

entrance to the tigers

the zoo keeper talking to us about what might be the oldest black and white lemer in captivity in the whole world. Our Zoo has many of the oldest animals in captivity and 2 of which are in the Guiness Book of world Record, they are currently looking into if the black and white is the oldest

Thom telling me about his very first horse ride

Dad Beth and me outside the Discovery Centre

Thom checking out the rabbits in the Barn at the Zoo

Tidying Up Thommy's room

2008-05-09T09:08:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, my in-laws came over to set up a shelf they were giving us. It is a very large cube shelf which I thought we could use to store some of Thomas' toys and books. (what it really means was I hoped the shelf would help me take over the living room again lol). So while Jeff is away again (for 6 nights at a trade show in Tunder Bay) Thom and I tackled rearranging his room and organizing this shelving unit.

If I do say so myself it looks great - and I know it will never look the same again so I took pictures :) We organized his books by type for the different blocks put toys he loves lower down - I was having a great time! Thom rediscovered all sorts of books we hadden't read in a while and got in some good reading. Beth of course just watched.

Thom on his bed-if you notice the pool noodles, Thom moves so much while he is sleeping he gets brused all over from his custom race car bed so since my f-i-l made it the solution we came up with was to put the noodles over the areas he injures his face in.

The book shelf how it will never look again. In the living room it looked like he had so many books but now looking at this picture, it shows me for his birthday Thom 'needs/wants' more books.

Thomas helping me haha

Beth blowing bubbles before bed last night

More fun times with the Barrett's

2008-05-02T22:16:00.003-05:00

We have had a great week!

We went to a new group on Tuesday and Thomas and I really enjoyed it. It is called Wiggles Giggles and Munch out of St Andrews C.C. It was a super time, and was so nice for Thommy because it was a time just for him to be crazy - there is free play, crafts, singing, snack and specified play- it is a jam packed hour! Afterwards, we went for lunch with a couple people and their kids from the group (for the second time) and really enjoyed ourselves. Thom is really excited about his new friends lulian (Julian) and Sam. - A big thanks to my new friend Leanne for the invite and letting us know about this super program.

Thom has started something new - he has gotten more clingy recently, and for the first time Thom wanted to leave his Saturday sleepover! He called me Saturday night after I left him at my parents wanting to come home. I with my parents help, convinced him to stay and I would see him the next morning for brunch (as I have Sunday brunch at my parents every weekend). Apparently he woke up during the night and tryed to convince my parent to take him to me again. Since then Thom has begun waking up at night again (2 or 3times) - he had gone 5 days in a row without waking up :(

Beth, is laughing more now - she laughed for the first time March 22 and has slowly begun doing this more. She had laughed first for me and then at my brother. Near the middle of April, Jeff got to hear it for the first time and then during bath time Apr 30 she was laughing at me repeatedly. So much that Jeff could hear it in his office from the bathroom!

Beth also is moving her feet tons! She is still sleeping in our bed, and when she wakes up for her feedings she always sticks her hand in her mouth and trys to get milk. She trys to get closer to her hand (to get the milk she thinks is in it) and wiggles and moves her feet. With her movement she can move quite a bit, she has gone up to 8inches before she has started to cry for milk, I am curious if she wasnt hungry or I didnt feed her how far she could go? However I am not going to find out, I figure I should feed her when she is wimpering for food :)

Beth also has a new group this week - Christy went back to the Healthy Baby site she ran while Thom was an infant! It was very nice almost like coming home, yet the dinamix changed, new women in the group of course but it was more then that I have changed. Before I just worried about me and Thom, this time- though he is in the child care area and (for the time he was in there) I was straining my ears to hear if he was laughing or if he sounded happy. Then when he was out I to watched him, held Beth and tryed to have conversations with other women. I am sure as the weeks go by it will change and we will both have our routine there. Thom did have lots of fun with the other kids, I had fun and well Beth ate and slept.

I am not going to be going to the Beausejour site as it conflicts with Wiggles Giggles and Munch and I would rather go where Christy is, it is a great situation I get to go to baby group and see my bf at the same time. It is so nice that each kid of mine has their own special group, I think I said that above but truly I cant say it enough!

Just one more thing to bring up about one of my children, one of them has begun to run away from me (again)! I thought that was cured however, the running has returned with a vengence!
On the plus side, it keeps me on my toes and may help me lose the rest of my baby weight, there alway must be a plus =)

The hair cut

2008-04-26T14:32:00.004-05:00

Thom got a hair cut on Thursday, it shouldnt be a big deal, he gets his hair cut about every 3 months now. At dinner while we were talking about how he needed a hair cut, he said he wanted cut like Dada's. Yikes!

Jeff has always wanted to cut Thom's hair but I insist he goes to my hair dresser at Urban Star. She alway does a super job my Dad takes him and everyone fawns over Thom - it is a good ego boost. I know I love it when I get my hair done. So since Thom's first hair cut everytime Jeff talks about cutting his hair I say, lets go see Nicole and Thom always tells Jeff no I dont want a hair cut from you.

Anyways, Thursday it changed, and I cried.

I told Jeff it had to be the longest setting, which he did and it actually was looking pretty cute much to my suprise. Then Jeff did around Thom's ears, it kept looking better and he had these cute little sideburns. Then Jeff got out his little razor to do the side burn, a little zip up the side and OH NO the guard wasnt on it!!! Jeff tryed to even it out on both side and it just looked worse. All the hair came off. No cute little curls, you can't even tell his hair colour! I teared up, but kept complementing Thom, I dont want him to dislike his cut. (he has told us he misses his hair but we just have to wait for it to grow back).

He is proud of his hair cut like Dada, I think it will just take some time to get use to it, especially for me.

Pics

2008-04-26T13:45:00.008-05:00

two twelve pound babies

Christy and Thom The boys swinging
Cayman walking around the park
Jeff and Thom playing in bed
Beth in her bucket before a drive

How do you become more Green...

2008-04-26T13:27:00.003-05:00

So I thought I would try to be kinder to my environment on Tuesday when I went shopping.
I was only running into the store to pick up a couple items, namely cheese and fruit for Thom and me (Jeff doesnt eat fruit unless it is in a pie lol).

Well, I looked all through the fruit dept at the Family Foods in Selkirk - nothing was grown anywhere close to us. Which makes sense it is only spring. How many km should an item be driven before I veoto the item at home. banana - Ecudor (Thom's favourite fruit this month). Apples - well the bag said BC, oranges - USA, strawberries - USA.

How am I suppose to give Thom a varied diet of fruits and veggies following the Canada Food Guide? I did by potoatoes, carrots and onions which were all from Peak of the Market. But the lettuce we had for dinner in a salad was not grown anywhere close nor the peppers....

I then went to pick up some cheese, well New Bothwell is made in MB but wow what a difference in cost. I went to the No name brand which is packaged in SK. Then I have to ask myself where did originate from. Did the cheese get made in MB driven to SK to be packaged then driven back to MB to sell? or could this cheese be from BC or NS .

We had cod for dinner too, I know that was not from Winnipeg....

Apparently, if I want to do my part I will have to make some changes. I will start with baby steps I think I will start a compose this year and purchase all my veggies from Smitty's a road side stand they who grow organically and their feilds are very close by.

Tonight ham, with a potato carrot onion casserol made with eggs everything made in MB except that darn salad....

our week

2008-04-19T09:42:00.004-05:00

The three of us have had a great week.
Sunday, morning Thom and I made breakfast and cream brulee for dinner. Then Thom and I put together his new playstructure (that took all afternoon with his help and stopping to feed Beth). Beth went in the outside swing for the very first time and loved it. It really helped out outside time because Thom could push the swing and I could put the stuff together. All of a sudden it was 4:15 and we all had to rush to get ready and go to my parents for a delish meal. We then spent the night with Thoms favourite Ava and her parents, my brother, parents and grandparents.
Monday, although it was terribly windy, Thom and I cleaned his room and did laundry. We also drove into town.
Tuesday still pretty windy so Thom and I made two different types of cookies.
Wednesday, Beth had her 8 week shots, that was unfortunate. Every time Beth took tylenel she would spit everything up from her tummy. I did find her size entertaining, she now weighs 12lb 1 oz with her diaper on and in the 95% for weight, her height however is the 50%. She truly is our little porker =) We then went to check on my brothers house to see the changes. From there we went to Goni and Daves and spent the afternoon enjoying their company and the kids getting some good bonding time with their grandparents after not seeing them for 3 weeks!
Thursday, Thom, Beth and I went with Jeff to work for the day. That was fun all four of us together, but I will say it was alot of driving. We went to Ericsdale, Dauphin, Ste Rose du Lac, and one other place.
Friday, we tidied up at home in the morning and Beth had a nice long nap. The 3 of us then went for a walk with Christy, Cayman, Erin, Dominic and Miguel. We went to the park and Thom and Cayman raced around on the play structure, swings and sandbox. When we were done at the park Phill joined us and we went for icecream yum! It is funny how Thom didnt like icecream before Belize and now he can eat all of the icecream in a cone (he doesnt eat the cone though!)
Now today, Thom and I had some alone time. Beth and Jeff stayed at home and we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for breakfast. It was very nice. and now I am spending some alone time with Beth and Thom and Jeff went for a drive to his parents. Sweet!

A bathtime breakthrough

2008-04-12T18:29:00.002-05:00

I am thinking Beth may not hate water!

This is very exciting to me as bathing her has been a headache since she was born. With the revalation that she has sensitive skin, I have only washed and bathed her with hypoallergenic soap.

However, today for the first time I bathed her only in clean water with no soaps. She was smiling and splashing in the water for the first time ever!

I have also stopped putting lotion (which also was hypoallergenic) on her as she gets very upset, I think that must be irratating aswell.

I don't know how much milk and spitup is removed with only a rinse but the washcloth must remove some stuff.

Dreams

2008-04-11T09:53:00.002-05:00

I have been having the same basic principle of a dream lately, I keep being kidnapped with different member of my family.
Before we left on vaction I dreamt, Beth's passport was at the airport office and I went to get them. After chatting with the very nice fellow I went back to our gate where Jeff was waiting for me. When I got there, I looked at the 2 passports in my had and they were for a older couple. I had to rush back to get the right paperwork and Thom refused to be left behind so I took him and ran. Once we got back to the office the fellow apoligised and gave me the correct passports. Our plane was going to leave very shortly and we had to change terminals. The fellow felt so bad he offered us a ride from the terminal we were in to the correct terminal. The fellow had a friend in his car and drove away from the airport to a cleared patch in a forest. There Thomas and I were told what horible things they would do to us. I told Thom (he was older then 2 in my dream) to run and they could have me. The abductors also threatened Beth (who was not with us) if we would not comply with their demands. They said they would take one of my children and if I would not choose they would harm them both. So I could call Thom back or wait for them to get him and Beth.
I woke up terrified!

Now twice since I have been back;

Thom, myself and both my parents were taken and locked in a room in the middle of small town with nothing around. After many hours my Dad was able to remove a small window very high up and jump out. I tossed Thom out the window to him (the drop was 3 meters), and jumped out after him. My Mom couldn't reach the window as she is shorter and was going to try to rush the guard at the door and would meet us in the forest. We had not met/seen our abductors so we did not know if this was going to be a hard task.
Thom then woke up and I dont know if we would have been able to make our escape.

Then last night, Jeff, Thom, Beth and myself were abducted and put on a houseboat at someones cabin (out the window at night we could see no other lights so we beleived there was no other cabins around). We still had our cell phones but Jeff's had no service where we were and mine was broken when we were kidnapped. Jeff's scuba gear was there and my diaperbag. After the second night we were joined by 2 children who were also kidnapped. Jeff decided to try to go out a open window with his scuba gear and see if he could find a cottage with inhabitants. He came back with the sad news that there were other cottages however, very far away and every one he came to was empty. Beth was beinging to smell because I was rationing diapers not knowing how long we would be there since we still had not met the abductors. The 2 other children would not interact with us and just cryed in the corner (they were clean and nicely dressed). I was trying to put my phone back together to see if I had a signal and maybe with GPS tracking someone could find us from the signal.
And Thom woke up again so I dont know what was going to happen to us.

I don't know why I keep dreaming dreams about kidnappings and abduction. I am eating the same food before bed - no, have I watched a scary movie or tv show like CSI - no or read a scary book - no. I tried to look it up on the internet this morning and the meaning I got are ones from below. Since I alway am taken with a family member I looked up family, kidnapped and abduction.

Family To see your own family in your dream, represents security, warmth and love. Consider also the significance of a particular family member or the relationship you have with them
Kidnap To dream that you are being kidnapped, denotes feelings of being trapped and restricted. Someone or some situation may be diverting your� concentration and your attention away from your goals.
To dream that someone has been kidnapped, indicates that you are not letting aspects and characteristics of that person be expressed within you. You are trying to contain and/or suppress those qualities of the kidnapped person.
Abduction To dream of being abducted, indicates that you are being controlled by your circumstances or by someone.

Okay, I know I am very attached to Beth and have only left her once (with Jeff) to run to the corner store for milk while she slept and I am on mat leave because I had her (she is only 7weeks old). Maybe it is because I feed Beth on demand and we have no schedual. But how does security with love relate to being trapped or restricted?

Regardless, I am glad there has been no threatened violence again as that made me very fearful. I had to go check that the alarm was on and I felt like someone was watching me. I was even afraid to check on Thom but felt I had to. Luckly Beth was in our bed so I knew she was safe with Jeff and slept in the chair beside Thoms bed for a couple hours.

Oh well, I will see what happens in the next couple nights. Maybe I should just be thankful that Beth sleeps in long enough stretchs that I can dream.

Trip part 2

2008-04-10T10:49:00.002-05:00

I am done writing about the trip I decided, as there is only one thing I really wanted to still post.
As the trip progressed it was amazing to see the progression in Thom's swimming skilled and confidence in the water. At the Captin Morgan's resort Thom could swim a couple feet from on person to another with no help. On the last day Thom ran and jumped into the pool from the side and he also swam from one end of the pool to the other with only the assistance of a 2 pool noodles. (we need to work on the floating part).
Beth however still hates the water, pools, baths anything that makes her wet and or cold.

milestones

2008-04-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

Thom is doing somethin else new this week.
On Tuesday when we went for our walk with the jogging stroller my sister gave me the night before-very nice for our gravel and mud roads. Thom was spashing in a puddle, and slipped in the mud and fell on his bottom. His pants were soaked. Now a couple weeks ago he would have put his hands down on the ground and use them to help him get up. But on Tuesday, he rocked his body back and forth and propelled himself out without getting his hands wet and dirty.
Now just to show it wasn't a fluke, yesterday while we were out side cleaning upfor spring, he asked to play in the ditch. Of course I said yes and we discussed how he could only do that with an adult watching as the water could be deeper then expected. Low and behold what happened after a couple minutes, he fell in. Again he rocked his body ans propelled himself out of the water without getting his hands dirty or wet!

Another milestone was as I was reading him his book for bed last night, he noticed I skipped a page. Before he could flip to any page in a book - the back front then middle and be happy.

How come the parenting books dont mention these milestones?

Trip part 1

2008-04-09T09:28:00.003-05:00

Well we got back from our trip very early on Monday morning after being caught in a snow storm on the way home. It worked out okay for us as we stopped in Albertville for some shopping and left later then planned (4:10pm) my parents however left in the morning and they were in gridlock travelingback to Winnipeg - they didnt get in to town till 10:30pm, thank goodness for the outlet malls :)

We, had left last Friday at 12:30 and made the drive to MN, the kids were fantastic which relieved me! Thommy talked to us, slept and watched 'Toopy and Bino' and we stopped 4 times so I could feed Beth. The next day we left the hotel for the airport at 7am and unfortunatley Thommy was coming down with a cold. He was very subduedand although he was great on the planes his cold continued to get worse. By the time we got into the condo at 6pm Thom's breathing had become laboured.

The owner of the condo had waited for us (we missed our connecting flight in Belize City and had to take a later one) and after showing us around the condo she took us for a mini tour of Ambergreis Caye in her golf cart (the main transportation on the island is a golf cart-we rented a 6 person while we were there). While we were getting our tour my Dad and Tim took off in our golf cart and went to get groceries for dinner. By the time we were all back at the condo Thom's breathing was worse and his chest was rattaling - I was thinking he had pnemonia again, and I had left his puffers at home (although he doesnt have asthma the instent steriod when he has laboured breathing in the past has helped open up his airways. The doc says it is because he was sick so much this winter, his lungs need extra help.)

Thankfully on Sunday Thom woke up and his chest wasnt as rattaley, and we decided to see how he was later that afternoon before bringing him to the island doctor. After a day in the heat and the humitity Thom was doing better!

The week passed quite quickly, while I didnt do any snorkeling, diving, or day trips I dont feel like I missed out on anything. (my parents went diving, Mom, Dad and Tim went snorkeling Jeff went diving and snorkeling and Mom Dad and Tim went on a cave tubing zip line adventure on the main land). I spent quite a bit of time down town exploring their 2 main roads, talking to people, playing with and watching Thom play on the beach and in the water, playing in the pool at the condo with the whole family (except Beth who HATES the water) and of course feeding Beth.

The only thing I am sad about was on Friday when I was planning to sit on the beach all day with the kids and Jeff, there was a large wind during the night which pushed thousands of jellyfish to the shoreline. As we walked to a beach side restraunt as far as I could see there were jellyfish! This hotel/restraunt which has a man made reef where eels and all sorts of marine life live which children can play and swim in - unfortunatley it was all murky from the churning waters and we could not see anything much less swim in due to the jelly fish. Oh well, next time.

We did have a scare with Beth aswell on the trip. The doctor said due to being in the tropics, if she is okay with it put sunscreen on her to ensure she doesnt burn. So the first morning there, I sat her up and put on her sunscreen which she made no fuss about. Then I put on mine. While I was doing that, Beth started shreking- and she is a very calm baby who doesnt doesnt cry very much. I was terrified. I rushed her to the bathroom where my mom was giving Thom a bath, put Beth in the sink and started washing her. It turns out she is very sensitive to sents, creams and wipes. I use wash clothes at home instead of baby wipes. For the trip I bought wipes for sensitive bottoms for both kids (I dont have enough wash clothes for 2 kids over 10days) which on Beths bottom turned it all red and sensitive. We all had to be careful the rest of the trip not to put any creams on ourselves and then pick her up.

Well, I have more to write but Thom is ready to play with me and Beth is waking up.

Updates

2008-03-26T09:50:00.003-05:00

Just a little update on baby Beth,

On Friday while I was changing her diaper she made a sound that made me think she was laughing or trying to laugh. Then again yesterday while Tim was holding her she made the same sound - exciting. Now this morning she did it again! I really think that she has begun to laugh!

Also last night, Beth did a spontanious roll! This morning in my arms I saw/felt how it could have happened, she throws her arms up and lifts her body at the same time.

I am pretty sure the roll was an accident, but one she may be repeating =)

Easter Monday

2008-03-25T09:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday,the kids and I got to spend the afternoon with Ava! We made plans to get together with Christy (as she was off work) and Cayman, 4 kids under 2 1/2 years old wow! It was amazing to see the differences between them all. Thom is 2 1/2 tomorrow, Ava is 18mths, Cayman is almost 14mth and Beth is 5 wks.

Thom, Cayman and Beth are all bigger kids and Ava is small (she is shorter then Cayman and wieghs less). Auntie Christy weighed Beth she is now 10lbs 11 oz naked, Ava was just over 20lb (with her clothes on) and Cayman was just over 24lbs (with his clothes on).

Thom is more of a bulldozer, Ava is dainty and a polite lady, Cayman could hold his own, but not a wirlwind and Beth - well she slept =)

Thom talks alot, Ava is more 1 to 2 words at a time maybe a short sentence, and Cayman was replying to questions and saying about 1 word at a time and Beth grunts, groans or coos.

The kids were all so close in age, and the three older ones could all play with the same toys but each one played differently for example Thom and Ava could get the lids off the markers but Cayman wasnt quite old enough yet to do that.

Well, I could go on for you but Beth is smiling at me and talking in her way, and Thommy just asked for oatmeal with milk :)

Easter

2008-03-24T09:33:00.003-05:00

As I begin typing Beth is cooing and smiling at me, she has been doing this for the last 20 minutes! It is the first time we have had a conversation without her wanting to nurse or her groaning and grunting or getting the hiccups. Oops, I spoke to soon - I am nursing now.

O.K. I can continue - Tom is eating his second breakfast and Beth is now asleep.

We had a fantastic weekend together! Friday we had a relaxing morning, making and eating pancakes! Then all of a sudden it was time to leave for the Barrett Easter dinner!

Saturday we went shopping to get items we needed for our trip but the stop was at costco and the store and traffic was horrible so we called it a day and relaxed at my parents house instead! Thom was invited for his usual Saturday night sleepover so Jeff and I went home to pack.

Sunday, was a big rush in the morning - I woke up by getting spitup in my face so Beth and I got cleaned up and did some laundry and packed for Beth. After feeding her we rushed to my parents to get Thommy to drive to the farm for a late lunch (lupper). Beth got to meet dozens of people, or at least they got to meet her! Thommy had a great time playing with Ava and his second cousins Cole and Kade. All Thom ate of Easter dinner was one bun and a cookie, to much playing to be done (however he ate paska on the drive home - thanks to my Aunt Erna's care package!).

We had an interesting bed time thou, for the first time we did not have his favourite dino which he sleeps we everynight at home (it was left at my parents in our haste). Together, Jeff and I were able to get him to go to sleep after many tears were shed.

Today the first stop I will be making is to get the dinosaur!

Antibiotics

2008-03-21T11:28:00.002-05:00

This week I went to the doctor and got a very exciting perscription for antibiotics (with 4 refills)!

After I had Thommy I had mastitis till January on and off (that is over 3 months of pain, reduced workload ie people cleaned my house for me and I just slept or laid around in bed or so it felt) and developed a large abcess. I went to the doctors numberous times and had tests done to find out what was going on. Due to the abcess at a ultra sound I was told it made a pocket in my breast which may or may not shrink over time but would leave me more prone to getting future infections with additional children.

Since I have had Beth everyday I wake up with that pocket painful and enlarged due to a blocked duct which throughout the day Beth and I work on. I worry and check myself numberous times a day thinking 'am I getting sick', and I avoid going out because I dont want to put to much stress on my body.

With mastits you get flu like symptoms, dizziness, exhaution, headache, bodyaches, pain in breast, swelling in breast and you need nurse often, get medication and rest to avoid an abcess and to get better. With Thom I was afraid to carry him when I had the onset of syptoms as I would tip while I was walking. With Beth I am more frightened as I don't know how I could take care of Thom while resting when he has so much energy.

The perscription I have makes me feel much more confident it will be okay because at the first sign of getting sick I can take my medication and hopfully avoid most of the symptoms. The perscription definatley will may my life more relaxing although I am sure I still will be checking myself out often.

Puddle Jumping and Fun Stuff

2008-03-20T22:26:00.003-05:00

It is amazing how little things remind me how quickly time passes:

On our walk today, Thom really wanted to take the sled and find the snow. Thankfully, I dressed him in his rain boots as quickly his interest changed to jumping in the puddles he found =) It made me think back (as we were hunting for the best puddles to jump in) to when I use to take Jackson (my nephew) to toddler swimming lessons. Even if Jackson wasnt dressed appropriatley I would let him jump in the puddles - I figure if we parents dont dress the kids right for the weather if they get wet or dirty or whatever it is our own fault.
When we were running into town on Saturday, as I was getting Beth into the car Thom was playing outside of the garage while he waited for me. Once I was done with Beth, I turned around and found my son sitting in a very large puddle! Obviously, packing rain boots is not enough - rain pants in March may be nessisary! Thankfully, I always carry a change of clothes - however, I do need to carry extra shoes! - Lesson learnt!

Every night before Thom goes to sleep I read to him from a Dinosaur Enceclopedia. A couple weeks ago as Thom was telling me what he wanting read, he started flipping through the book. The really neat thing is, no longer does Thom flip large chunks of a book at a time, he can fan out the pages so he can see them as they flip by. I never really paid attention to how he turned the pages before and now there is this big change and I am in awe, everytime he starts fanning the pages I am shock at this change!

Thom thinks a normal action in our house when he askes for orange juice is Jeff or I put water into the cup first - about 2/3 water and 1/3 juice. Today, after asking for orange juice he got his cup out and told me he could do it. He got out the juice, then pulled a chair over to the sink and filled his cup 95% full of water and asked me to add the juice! It was great, he totally understands that juice gets cut with water.

and just so this post is not all about Thommy...

Beth, did not cry the whole time I bathed her today (only about 75%)
Beth, slept on my shoulder for the full walk we went on today.
Beth no longer smiles at me only when she is about to feed!
I think Beth prefers nursed outside in the sunlight as when ever I put on her snowsuit she wants to eat.
Beth definatley sleeps more than Thom did a newborn which makes me more peppy than I could be with two kids!

HAPPY EASTER

This week...

2008-03-15T11:06:00.003-05:00

We have continued our walks for the rest of the week, the snow is very rapidly leaving for anypeople cheering for spring! The tobaggon has been put away, Thom was wearing rainboots to splash in puddles and hopfully the stroller can be used next week with all the sunlight maybe the road will be dry enough! or if it snows we can use the sled again!

Some things Thom said this week;

'No way' - it has replaced 'No'
'No way, please' - he is slowly adding please due to the response he gets from 'no way'
'a little help here please' - he kept saying this while he was stuck behind the couch (very cute!)
'no poke, no poke pleeease' - he went for his second twin rex shoot this week and I think he remembered seeing Beth get her heal poked in the hospital and unfortunately for the first time cried before he even got shot, infact he was even talking about it in the waiting room!

Beth weighted 9lbs 13ozs naked on Friday! Only ten pounds till she is Ava's size - she'd better slow down or Ava will be wearing Beth's hand me downs (I'd better start saving as I don't know any better dressed girl then Ava!)

On, Friday morning the kids followed their ususal routine - Beth usually wakes up to eat around 7am to 7:30 after many times during the night, then Thom wakesup at 8am (for the 2nd or 3rd time) unfortunately no going back to sleep for me! So, I had Thom in bed reading his book and I was feeding Beth, once she was done, Thom was giving her kisses and everytime he did she would smile at him! It was so sweet, and was a great way to spend the early hours of the morning.

Beautiful Weather

2008-03-11T21:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Thom, Beth and I decided to go for a walk I finally got my custom ordered bra and was going to test it out! When I talked to Jeff on the phone earlier he suggested we go to pick up the mail (1.2km round trip), however I didnt think we were ready for that distance since, I have been avoiding activity since Beth has been born due to my fear of breast infections (more on that in a future post).
So, I got out the sled and figured I would just pull the kids around a bit in front of the house. Thom was in heaven, he was certain I took out the sled for him to pull around the 'baby'. He took the rope after I put Beth in and pulled her about 300 feet, after that though he sat down for his 'ride with his sister baby Baff'. It was much easier then I expected, pulling 2 kids on a sled (I know it will only get harder as they grow) and soon we were 1/2 way to the store. Thom and I were not cold yet and Beth was still sleeping so we continued on.
After getting the mail and a chocolate bar for energy :) we laid Beth down and met a native Garsonite - and elderly lady named Frances. It was very commical, she asked Thom about his baby and Thom told her that we call our baby Baff and 'he' is Thom's. They continued to talk and then Frances bent over to look at Beth, Thom did not like that and said she was his and pulled the sled away - Frances then laughed and said that it is good that you are protective of your sister, you should be. After saying good bye and Thom finishing his chat with her (I am not sure she understood all that he said lol) we headed home - into the wind yuck!
Thom proceeded to pull Beth all the way from Garson Rd to Kingsgate (which is forsure 1/2 way). We stopped and made friends with a cat which I was worried would follow us home, luckly he got distracked by some garbage that he started to eat -I am pretty sure I know what/who tore into my garbage last week now.
At this point, Thom said he was too cold to pull and he gave me the rope. We walked half way to our house from the courner and Beth woke up, Thom said baby need to eat and climbed into the sled so I could quickly pull them the rest of the way home in order to nurse Beth.
Thus ending our 1 1/2 hour walk to get the mail!

To Leash or Not to Leash

2008-03-10T13:37:00.003-05:00

Just a continuation of the running away post, Thom love to play catch me at home!

I think/hope that when he runs away in public locations he is (most of the time) trying to play. So, I have decided on days when I have a to-do list that I need to complete and do not want to have to worry about catching him to carry a boy leash along with me. My goal is to only put it on him once he trys to run away and that will be the penalty, a leash a very short leash.

I am curious to see if I will need to use the leash or if it will just sit on the bottom of the stroller?
I will admit I think I will end up using it.

I am wondering about what kind of looks people will give me, will it be like breast feeding in public where you get positive and negative responses or will it all be negative. I should admit that I have alway felt that leashing you child is/was innapropriate.

However when we were in Disney World in March it was a safety issue, if Thom was out of my sight due to playing further away from me or the rest of our party someone could have stolen him. With the leash I knew no one could get him without my knowledge!

Anyways, I will keep you all posted on the need for a leash and if I have had a feedback from the public!

Jeff is 31 years old now -yikes

2008-03-10T13:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday and a very long day.
Jeff started celebrating on Saturday nite, he dropped a sleeping Thom off at Omi's house then went to Jeffreys (the restraunt/loung) and met up with some friends one of them (ryan), shares Jeff's birthday!
On Sunday, we went to my parents house for brunch as we normally do on Sunday's - however with the time change (and Thom not being home) we slept in. We didnt have brunch till noon! After a visit with Ang, Brad, Ava, Tim and my parents (and an attempt at putting Ava and Thom unsuccefully down for a nap) we were off. Pity for the rest of us Jeff got a Borat book!
We ran off for Jeff's tanning appointment and just made it ontime. Thom Beth and I hung out in the mini van and chatted till Jeff finished (he was only gone 15-20 min however still good practice for our drive to MN in a couple weeks!)
Then on our way to my in-laws for an early dinner we stopped at our favourite Sunday spot Costco - I would like to add there was no line up yesterday! Unfortunatley, we were not doing a big shop all we bought was Jeff a pair of walking shorts but it is worth mentioning there was only 1 person ahead of us in line!
Due to the browsing we did at Costco we were late for dinner, however, Suzanne was not there yet so at least we were not the last to arrive (plus I came with the birthday boy so its all okay!). On the way to Goni and Daves from Costco Thom finally fell asleep and slept for 2 1/2 hours - I cant get him to nap at home but put him in a car in the late afternoon and he is out like a lite!

We got home at 8:30 and Thom had a snack then it was bed time for him since we are working on a consistant bed time routine, with the time change he was quite bright eyed! After numerous books and discussion on how even if he is not tired he needs to stay in bed. Very difficult to explain how he didnt have to sleep but he did need to relax and not race around playing with toys noisely. But after 1 1/2hr Thom & Beth were asleep and Jeff and I relaxed in the living room with a fire and popcorn-yum.
Hopefully Jeff had a very happy Birthday!

History Repeats Itself

2008-03-05T16:56:00.005-06:00

Well, what are the odds that I would be able to tell similar stories as my mother?

Apparently, quite likley!

Story #1
On Monday, at Shoppers Drugmart after the nice encounter with the elderly man while I was paying for Beth and my perscriptions Thom took off running. He had taken a pair of bifocals off of a display and did not want to put them back. Luckly a Dora book display distracted him and he stopped - as I ran up behind him with my bucket car seat in tow and a large diaper bag flapping away.

Story #2
Today, I brought Beth to Sears to get her passport photo taken (which went quite well - I am 99% sure that Passport Canada will accept it), afterwards while I was nursing Beth my 'adventurer' took off his shoes and sweater. Once he had removed his outer clothing and I had started to put Beth into her bucket seat Thom took off yelling behind himself "catch me Mama" and proceeded to run into the main part of the store. Thus I left Beth with the photographer in her bucket and followed the clothing he had downed from the racks and found my son hiding underneath a rack of very long bathing suit coverups - luckly his shoe was showing so I could find him.

It seemed that he had a lot of energy so after collecting my other child and thanking the clerk I took Thom for a speed walk around the mall.

Story #3
By the time Thom had chilled out we were close to Please Mum and I wanted to check to see if they had the UV blocking shirts in a small size for Beth unfortunatley I got side tracked by the dino shirts on sale (6.99) and asked Thom if he'd like one. Of course my dino obsessed child said 'yes'. There were 7 or 8 styles to choose from I was holding them out asking Thom which he liked best by the time we got to the 3 style the 'adventurer' took off again however this time Beth was all strapped in and I was more prepared he only had just passed the exit of the store when I caught him.

I decided to get him a bagel to eat in the car as we were going to get Beth's weight taken, hoping that by feeding he would be well behaved at Christy's office. (Thom tends to act out when he is tired or hungry - like the rest of our family)

Story #4
Anyways we get to Christy's office and go into a family room long story short, I feed Beth a couple times, change her diaper, got her weight (8lb 11 and 1/2 oz naked), Christy holds/cuddles Beth, plays with Thom (who behaved excellently), I open a present for Beth (Thankyou Christy Phill and Cayman) and we chat for about 45 minutes. Then Thom wants to leave the room and does. I get hime back in the room and decide to call our outing to a close. After cleaning up the toys and getting our outdoor clothing on and Beth in her bucket we leave.

Story #5
However, Thom is not done for the day. Once we get to the car I let go of Thom's hand to open the van door (Beth is in my other hand) suprise! Thom takes off. I yell stop we are in a parking lot and run after him between the parked cars and grab his hood (unfortunatley it is the removable zipper kind) and the zipper is unzipping at this time a stranger grabs his arm to stop him. I strap him into the car seat and told him 'he cant run away and he could be killed and that would make Mama cry' then Thom started to cry after the emotional outpour (I did not cry if you were wondering).

Thom fell asleep for what feels like the first nap since Beth was born in the car on the drive home.

Although I did not need to be told or shown that Thom is my child, sometimes he does seem to act just like Jeff. Seeeing my child as a runner like I was really showed how he is a mixture of both of us.

As a side note when I ran away as a toddler I would make friends, if Thom had time I believe he would have aswell since with me he made friends with numerous elderly women and introduced 'his baby Baff' to many people in the mall which really shows that my tenacious child is very much like me. I am going to have a fun next couple of years ;)

Laundry

2008-03-04T13:03:00.003-06:00

I am on my third load of laundry in the last 18 hours, how do people do it having children in apartments without built in laudry rooms. I can walk to the other end of the house and still hear Thom and Beth, however if I had to leave the apartment and go to a different floor or even a common room, what would happen to the kids - I think Thom would start a fire or leave the apartment - carrying Beth, or I am not sure but I am sure it would be bad.

I am curious, how did my Gramma Friesen take care of the large garden on the farm, the kids and the house plus having 7 kids. I am pretty positive that she did not have a washing machine and dryer as they used an outhouse when my Dad was little! I can remember a wringer from when I was little - I dont think it was still used but it might have been. And they had a milk separater and loads of chickens with eggs that needed to be washed. . . .

Or is that why she had 7 kids? I am certain all life could have involved was work except for on Sundays.

I am so lucky and blessed not to have to worry about all that and be able to use wash cloths to wipe my childrens bottom out of choice not because I can't afford wipes or because they havn't been invented yet. I would definetley be using disposable wipes if I did not have a laundry room in my home.

The ability to do laundry in my own home is a marvolous convience that we should all remember to appreciate.

Validation

2008-03-04T12:24:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about starting a blog since I left work 2 months ago, then yesterday an event happened that I would like to share so away I go....

I was at Shoppers Drug Mart at KP mall getting Beth and my perscriptions filled for yeast, and I had not fed her in two hours - a long period of time for her thus I needed to nurse - especially with my 1/2hr drive home still to come. (The waiting area for persciptions to be filled is right by the blood pressure monitoring machine and let me tell you that machine in constently in use!)

Anyways, I was sitting with Thom while feeding Beth on the chair and an elderly man came with his friend - who was teaching him how to use the machine to test his blood pressure (unfortunatley it was high). After he was done and got up to put his coat back on he noticed Beth feeding for the first time.

The gentelman then proceeded to tell me how great it was that I was breastfeeding and how it will be much more convient for me without having to worry about sterilizing bottles, buying formula, getting a larger diaper bag to carry supplies, aways ensuring I have enough to go out, where as breastmilk is always available, the right temp and it will increase her immunity and possibly her intelligence and he continued to tell me how he heard all these fantastic benifts from a Doctor on a radio show. After he completed relating all the benifits he knew about breast feeding he told me to keep up the good work and left.

All I could say was 'Thank you' which seems like such a pathetic response since while he was telling me this, I was thinking about all the dirty looks I have gotten nursing in public and never have I had such a positive verbal reponse from someone much less a man and one whom I would guess to be in his late 70's or early 80's.

I wish that before he walked away I could have related how much his support ment to me and validated what I feel is the right choice for me.