That Happy Thing ;)

Gnomes. Just 'cause they are so darn cute!!

2012-01-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

That's all! ;)

A little weiner

2012-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Dog. For Rachael. A request for a weiner dog. I finished him last night, and although I was sick of looking at him then, today I think he's kind of cute. I hope she likes him!!

A different perspective of my father

2012-01-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

The inside! Dad had his accident a few weeks before Christmas. He was driving his motorcycle downtown, and a woman pulled out from a parking lot (obviously didn't see his BRIGHT RED bike) and hit him. He spun around, fell and slid. Luckily some awesome people helped him and found my mom (who was out walking!) and got him to the hospital. One broken shoulder, three
broken ribs and a broken collar-bone, and one extensive surgery later, here is his shoulder now:

Lots and lots of healing to do though. His physio starts next week, and he's Mr. Anxious to get to it!
Get better soon Dad! We want you back to normal!! ♥

Lexie's new hat

2012-01-19T06:51:00.001-08:00

It's a pink skunk!! I love it!

Christmas!!!! ♥♥♥♥

2012-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures!!! We had a completely wonderful Christmas day. It was just...perfect. :) ♥♥♥♥

Ella, ecstatic with her Barbie camper!
Rick, with his new tee on (note the movie?) and taking videos!
A DRAGON! Happy day!!!
Zoe eating chocolate. Not that she is addicted or anything...

Stockings!!! Wow...lots of stuff in the stockings!!

What's this? A light saber?Oh Max you got one too!
WE ALL GOT ONE!
And cue the jedi-fighting. ;)

A gnome? HOW did you know? ;)
Note the dragon slippers? ♥

"I'm a gummi bear, yes I'm a gummi bear..." etc. etc. etc...

Lexie finally woke up (barely).

Cinnamon buns for breakfast. YUM.

Holy Christmas mess Batman.

A happy boy with his alien lego from Santa. ♥
A happy Daddy playing with his son's lego from Santa. ;)

Lexie: "So, WHAT is going on today?"
What? A Grumpy-Guss on Christmas?
NOPE! Just silly Zo!!!! ♥
My beauty Ella-Bells. Happy to be colouring. ♥

Christmas dinner (turkey and gravy made by Rick!! ♥)

♥ OMG is she not the cutest? ♥

Thus ends one of the best days EVER. ♥♥♥♥ (Plus one for Rick ♥ of course!!)

The Mini-Van Express!

2011-12-23T18:13:00.001-08:00

Tonight we went on our first every "Mini-van Express"! It was AWESOME!

I was so worried that Rick would have to work late, but he got home in perfect timing and I had everything ready - it was perfect!!!

Rick took them downstairs to brush their teeth and put them to bed, while I made the popcorn and put the chocolate suckers on the van seats. I made hot chocolate too, and grabbed the camera and had housecoats and slippers ready.

Once they found their tickets their eyes lit up with excitement..really! It was awesome. TOTALLY worth it! They came up and I punched one letter on their tickets each, then we piled into the van.
We drove around the town for about an hour and had a wonderful time. They were so happy!
When we were almost home I finished punching their tickets.
Ella: hope
Max: love
Zoe: laugh.

Ella wants to scrapbook her ticket! We are so doing this again next year! <3<3<3

Here is Lex all ready to go, and looking quite exited - don't you think? ;)

Wahoo we are on our way!

What a perfect night. I'm so happy! :)

Goat hat!

2011-12-19T07:20:00.001-08:00

This is a goat hat I did for an order. Specifically a 'boer goat'. They LOVED it! Whew!

Hats and Snow

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've been making hats like CRAZY this fall. Hence no time to update my poor blog! I think I made up for it today though. ;)
This one was for a friends' little boy. It's SUPER cute on him, on Lex...not so much. She looked like she was ready to drive a train...!

OH! I found the pic of Emerson with his hat on! Isn't he cute?

The first day of real snow. The kids could NOT get outside quick enough. It was so cute!!

The skunk hat. I want to make one for Lexie-Loo. *sigh* Alas, someday I'll get some time...!

The little boy I made this for was 'over the moon' excited with it. He LOVES skunks! YEAH! :D

Gee, a Weir-dly Older Christmas 2011!

2011-12-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

This year I held the 'Older' Christmas at my house instead of mom's. It worked out perfectly because Mom was a bit preoccupied with my father after his accident.
<<2 weeks before the party Dad was driving his motorcycle downtown. A woman pulled out from a parking lot and hit him, causing him to spin around, fall and slide down the street. He broke 3 ribs, his collarbone, and his shoulder. At first we thought he wouldn't need surgery, but turns out he did. A scheduled 4 hr surgery turned into 6 hrs...! He's healing now...with LOTS and LOTS of staples>>
But the party was good, and Dad didn't have to have his surgery until the following Monday, so we were all a bit anxious about it, we tried to enjoy ourselves!!

I should have had Rick get a better picture, but I have a black butterfly fascinator in my hair!! It was just too cute - if I do say so myself!! ;)

Colby and Shaylyn slept over, making for MORE fun in the morning! They were angels. Can't wait to have them sleep over again!

WHAT IS THIS? Yes, it's a beautiful smiling pic of all my mom and dad's grandkids. Happy, and still in their jammies!!

All the Vries's (and there is a LOT!)

2011-12-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

Here we are. All of us! 15 pictures later...this is the best shot. Unfortunately, MY kids are the only ones not smiling. But Zoe will have to make up for the other 3 I guess!
(From Left to right) Top row: Ron Demaiter, Dianne Demaiter, Amber Demaiter, Alexis Vries, Rick Vries, Deb DeZwart, Jerry DeZwart, Erin Vries, Olivia Vries, Kevin Vries, Samantha Vries, John Vries
Second row: Mark Russett, Christy Russett, Stacey Vries, Cindy Vries, Rachael DeZwart
Front row: Justin DeZwart, Maxwell Vries, Ella Vries, Jennie Vries, Joe Vries, Zoe Vries, Colin DeZwart
Sitting on Grandma Jennie's lap is Grace Russet, and front and centre is Evan Russett!!

WOW!

My 'gnomey' bathroom...finally!

2011-12-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the 'Older' Christmas at our house this year, we finished the downstairs bathroom, and the theme? (YES there is a THEME to my bathroom - duh!) GNOMES! I love gnomes, and when trying to decide what to do for our bathroom (that wasn't the same ol'-same ol' - you know me!) I thought I would take advantage of my weird 'gnome' love, and show it off! I'm VERY happy with it. I can't help but to smile now every time I pee. (!)

The 'toothbrush' gnome. Thanks to my Mama for that one! (His name is Roy)

My 4 baby gnomes on the wall! The BEST part of the room by far!

These are the wooden gnomes I made for the bathroom. I have kids, so I embraced the fact that they needed something to 'play' with in the new bathroom.

My prettiest gnome. His name is also Roy. (Sigfried is my gnome that stays safe upstairs...)

YEAH! So if you want to smile while you pee, come visit me and my gnome bathroom. ;)

A little update on... ALEXIS

2011-12-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

Lexie-Loo-Loo-Belle is a whopping 6 1/2 months old, and 21 lbs. WOW. She's growing and thriving like crazy. She is happy - pretty much ALL of the time. Zoe calls her "Wexie-Woo-Woo"!! LOVE IT!
We have started solids, and she loves everything, especially Cheerios. I'm totally impressed with how well she can already pick them up and shove them into her little mouth!
From day one, she has been sleeping through the night - from 7pm to 7am...which was (weirdly) wonderful! THEN...around 4 months she decided she should get up once or twice. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Last night she only got up once though...and all I had to do was pop her soother in, so WHEW! Hopefully she'll be sleeping through again soon. At least a mother can hope right? It doesn't really bother me too much, I know it will happen soon, and knowing she is my last baby, I want to cherish every single moment of her littleness even if it makes me yawn throughout the day...LOL!
Rolling over is her new hobby. 2 weeks ago she discovered how to roll over, and now she is already rolling across the room. Funny how fast it happens!!
She absolutely ADORES her brother and sisters. There's simply nothing they can do wrong (most of the time that is...), and when they aren't around, you can see Lex looking around for them! It's quite adorable.
That's all I have for now, and as everyone and their brother keep telling me, I am busy...so I have to jet onto something else now! Laundry perhaps?

Halle is a big help around the house now too. She comes before and after school and blends in like nothing. Plus...she loves Lexie. And how could you not? I mean really....

Halloweeeen! 2011

2011-11-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

On Halloween day we decided to cook up some pumpkins seeds! The kids LOVED fishing them out of the sink. (It DOES feel good!) Then we added the yummy stuff, and baked them. YUM! They took FOREVER to bake, but they were scrumptious when they came out!!

Here is Lexie in her 'monster toes'! So cute!! (But really only applicable for one day/year...LOL!)

Time to eat "Goulish Goulash"! YUM!

YEAH! Time to 'Trick-or-treat'!!
(Chloe as a spider-witch, Madison as a nurse, Max as Optimus Prime (transformer), Ella as Spider-girl, and Zoe as a gnome)

This pic cracks me up!!

Lex and Grandpa...desperately waiting for the kids to return with CHOCOLATE! (Ok, Grandpa more than Lexie...!)

And my little flower, this was originally Ella's costume, then Zoe wore it for her first Halloween and now Lex! We really should have put Max in it too...darn!

Oh, this is Lexie modelling a 'gender neutral' owl hat I made! (She loved the string attached!)

Pumpkinfest

2011-10-23T05:37:00.001-07:00

Yeah for Pumpkinfest!! Ingersoll has this every year now, and it's all free! I spent a total of $3 yesterday - and that's only because I bought a few drink boxes! We had a blast, and the weather was perfect. (Well, not raining at least...LOL!)

The kids got their faces painted, balloon animals, bounced in the bouncy castle, decorated cookies (and ate them promptly), made a craft ghost, pet some animals and played games. It was great fun! Nana and Grandpa even came to join in the fun!

Not the best pic of Lexie-Loo-Loo, but she was sleeping, stuck in the stroller the entire time.

Colleen came and brought her two; Chloe and Madison. Here, we attempted to take a pic of Chloe and Max, quite successfully.

Here we attempted to take all 5...um, didn't work out quite as easily...LOL!!

If you got your pumpkin passport stamped at least 4 times, you got a FREE pumpkin! And no little ones...noooo - FULL size pumpkins! So glad Nana and Grandpa came to help me carry them all home!

Here was the easy way Grandpa got to walk home. Most of the time he had to hold Zoe too...

My little pumpkin!

Good times had by all! :)

More hats, more cutie-pies!

2011-10-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

I finished the hippo hat today! LOVE it!! I modelled it on Lexie Lou Lou Belle, she loved it too... ;)

Max, modeling the new snake hat...

And Zo...standing in front of her MONSTER mess she made. It's hard being two sometimes.

This is a new newsboy style hat I tried. It was too big for the little boy I made it for, but it fit Zoe pretty good! LOVED this pic...cracked me up!

Birtch Farms, on a perfect day

2011-10-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

We did Birtch Farms today, and boy have they stepped it up! They have an entire new area (that you pay for of course!) that the kids just LOVED! It was great fun, and the weather could NOT have been nicer! We had a FAB time...wow, what a great weekend!

Zoe loved the little play-house. It was perfect for her!

This was the best part...the dune buggies. We all played for hours on them!

Lex slept through most of it *sigh*, maybe next year she'll get some use out of it all!

I think this might be my fav pic of the day...I don't know - there's so many!! <3

Lex finally woke up for the tractor ride. Then she wanted to eat and eat and eat...yup, that's just about right. :)

An 'Older' Thanksgiving

2011-10-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving weekend. YUM.

Mom made us a turkey with all the trimmings today. It was FAB-U-LOUS!! All I had to do was bring my gang, and a pie. How easy is that? ;)

The trees outside were absolutely PERFECT, and the weather could not have been better. Over all it was an awesome, awesome day. Not to mention a great photography day too!! LOL!

First, we started by the kids filling their shoe-boxes. Ella and Max did our 4 (as Zoe was sleeping, or supposedly sleeping...she never did. She just stood up in her playpen for an hour and a half! Then we gave up and let her come play!), and with a little story from their Mama (aka me!) I think they understood why we do this a little better. Well, ok...Max now understands better. Ella gets it. She's 'gotten it' for a few years now. ;)

Then we went outside to decorate pumpkins, make crafts and JUMP IN LEAF PILES!!!

Later, after I put the camera down (she's not safe for long) Jeff, Colby and Shay came...with Melanie! We had a great time visiting and eating. It was an absolutely wonderful day. :)

Max took this pic of mom and me! <3

Ella took this pic!

Lexie-Loo-Loo eating her bib (yum) and Ella-Bells. Two of my great beauties. :)

I love this pic. Doesn't he look devilish?

Laughing at Nana!

Sleeping outside...again. ;)

Craft time!

Singing in the truck, oh...singing in the truck!

She informs me that she is 'Mother Nature'. Duh.

Alexis and Daddy, happily pondering...

LOVE how the leaves look in this picture!

Little Miss Poser.

Action shot.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm so thankful for my PERFECT family. And I totally mean perfect. :)

Thorndale Fair FUN!

2011-09-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today we finally got to a fair...the Thorndale Fair! It was lots of fun, a great fair for our kids ages. We had a blast, and the kids were exhausted when we got home! (Zoe was asleep before we started backing out of the parking spot I think!)
Here!! A pic of all 6 of us!! (Spiderman included...!)

Daddy and Zoe enjoying some pie.

Zo had a great time looking at these two pics, she smiled for this one, because she wasn't for the next one..."Happy Zoe"

"Sad Zoe" :(

Spiderman!

Ella eating lemon meringue with a dolphin on her cheek.

Talking to Oprah about different farm animals. They could NOT figure out how she was talking, yet she was a puppet...huh.

Ella's whale balloon animal (no waiting in lines!)

Riding a pony...

This was our first ride (yes, my pics are completely backwards!) And if you can see Zoe, she is hysterically crying. I was so busy trying to get them in a pic that I wasn't noticing that. Luckily she had a Daddy standing beside me nudging my ribs... Oops! (The operator stopped it so she could get off - whew!) After that, she was happy again!

What fun! When we got home I made a pail with a small cut in the top, and the words: "Fair Fund" on the outside. Now the kids can save for the fair all year round, 'cause it's FREAKING expensive!! Wow...

Worth it? TOTALLY. ;)

Arrrr...!! Some Halloween Pirate Fun!

2011-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today is our first PD Day of the year. Since I have Halle before and after school, I now have her on PD Days too! I decided that we needed to have an extra-fun day here...so we had a Halloween treasure hunt!
I made clues and hid them all over the house and outside (it's raining today, so the outside ones were limited!) then the kids followed them till they found the treasure!

"I know where that is!"

Treasure!!

Part of the treasure were these little foam things stuck in capsules that you had to put in water to find out the shape. That was a good 15 min of fun. ;)

Painting their treasure chests...they are DEEP into painting here.

So I interrupted them and asked them to smile!!! :D

After more crafts, it was time to make Rice Krispie pumpkins!

Um, Zoe ate most of hers, especially the decorating parts. ;)

Whew!! What a morning! It was lots of fun, but now all they want to do is play, so I'm enjoying some Lexie time. :)

Gosh...not sure how to 'top' this PD Day for the next one...LOL!

Zoe started Preschool!

2011-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, 3 kids in school. Crazy/unbelievable isn't it? I sure think so!

Zoe goes one morning per week to Phoebe's (preschool), and she LOVES it! I was worried that she might make a fuss when I dropped her off, but she was so excited, and THEN she saw the toys...Phoebe had to make her come back to give me a kiss and hug goodbye!
I was happy though, and when I picked her up, she was the most excited about the painting they did. Gosh how kids love to paint!!

Here she is getting ready to go...

*A quick shot of Lex*

At Phoebe's!!!

And...home, ready for a nap. ;)

A few more hats I've made...ready for the store!

Babies, clothes and a hat.

2011-09-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

Lexie is just so darn cute. I mean really cute. Wow, we create some cute babies, Rick and I... ;)

I got Zo-J some new clothes last night. So today she had a fashion show for me! I was surprised how easily she changed over and over for me (and I only bribed her with 2 candies!) Haha!!!

Twirling. :)

This bubble skirt is TDF!!! She is in mid-jump here.

Small break to give her sister a kiss <3

Right before Alexis was born, we finished Zoe's room in a hurry. I still had a few things I wanted to add...so today I got it all done. I even hung everything myself, and did it all perfectly! I'm so proud!
The "Z", "O" & "E" I created yesterday. Hard to see all the detail, but it's all 'underwater' themed. It was fun to make!

Oh, and while I was taking pics, I looked up at the top of our game cupboard (the one I need to clean off - IT'S ON THE LIST!) and I saw Zoe's little pink puppy behind the 'Guess Who' game! It's a bit smaller than it once was...so cute!

Yeah...she likes her room. ;)

Time for bed.

Another hat. Since I'm selling them now, I'm making them like crazy!! This is one of my favs. I may have to make one (or two, or three?) for my girls!

HATS! Hats for sale!!

2011-09-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

It's official! My hats are for sale in Dwell!!! :D
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Dwell-decor-design/127119104012372

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2011-09-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

Back to school today! I can't believe Max is old enough, but he was raring to go this morning! I choked up a couple of times, but Nancy (Halle's mom) kept me distracted enough...oh I don't know, maybe I will break down after all...!

Here we are freezing our butts off waiting for the (late) bus!

Lil'Lex in another hat...

2011-08-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

I've been busy busy busy making hats now to SELL!! :D I'm pretty excited about it. Plus, I found a few I've not taken pictures of yet.

Here is Ella Bells holding Alexis modeling my latest hat. Sooo cute! Oh, and the hat too... ;)

Sweet face! <3

That's all for now...off to crochet! ;)

Ella's 6th Birthday Party!

2011-08-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ella had a rainbow themed party this year. I had a WONDERFUL time organizing it. Oh, so glad to have 4 children - which simply means planning FOUR awesome birthday parties every year!!! :D

Invite:

Here is the sidewalk leading up to the house...

And the goody-basket (and centerpiece)
A balloon rainbow. No party is complete without it. ;)

Sprinkle-rimmed glasses of pink juice, and fruit kabobs. YUM.

The girls - ready for the excitement!!

Chloe, obviously enjoying her drink. ;)

Time for the experiment. (Drops of food colouring in milk...)

...add some soap and swirls of colour appear! SO COOL!

Next up: a hand-print rainbow. (It must all tie in with the theme don't 'cha know)

A little pool time

Then PRESENTS! (Ella decided she wanted presents this year, it's hard when you go to so many other friends parties, and they all get presents. Methinks it might be the last year though. I don't find it necessary. We had enough fun without adding MORE toys to our house!)

[Drum roll please...] THE RAINBOW CAKE! (Yes, made by ME!)

Rainbow layers! They were YUMMY if I do say so myself. ;)

Rainbow hats and rainbow lolipops. My job here is done. :)

Loren was here visiting the same week - we had a BLAST!

Just a pic of all the rainbow hats for the girls. :)

My latest hat

2011-08-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I much prefer to make my OWN hats (designed by me) rather than following a pattern. Especially if I intend on selling them. :) So...here is my octopus hat. I'm pretty happy with it, and the kids love it, so I guess it's a hit!

On to the next hat...!

Another great trip to Storybook Gardens!

2011-08-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

What fun, and what PERFECT weather! This pic we had a lady take for us - our first family picture! (Not that you can really see Lexie, but she IS there, in the stroller...somewhere.)
(I LOVE that it says the "Dutch Windmill" behind us! LOL!)

Lil'Lex, because she simply could NOT be left out. She slept most of the time though...!

Two beautiful ladies, so happy!

Here was Zoe dancing while waiting to meet the mascot!

Max, in a tree. This is just after the 'incident'. He fell off the playground equipment FAR. I thought he broke his arm :S but luckily he's made of rubber and recovered quite quickly. WHEW!!

Methinks Max takes after his father when pictures are being taken. This is normally what we get:

The little dog laughed to see such a sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon!

The rides...oh what fun!

LOVE this sweet pic of my boy!

Zo had a little moment with Daddy, and posed like crazy for him in front of the black-eyed susans. What a sweetie-pie!

On the shoe-house!

This pic TOTALLY cracked me up! I wanted a shot of them all together. We got a great one last year with the 3 of them, so why not one this year of all 4? Yeah...wasn't happening. Then I saw this shot once we got home. You can see the top of Max's hat on top of Humpty, Ella is smiling and paying attention, Lexie is even looking away, and Zoe...I see she has pulled her hat over her face, and is facing sideways!!!! LMAO!!!
(Can't you just hear it? "I'm NOT posing for this picture!")

Once we got home, I had Lexie model her new hat. I used the hat she had for her newborn pictures done as a template, and made my own version. I would still like to tweak it a bit, but it looks REALLY cute on her! Nice for the fall...
I LOVE the attitude here. The little pinky up and everything!
And cue the chub cheeks. Gotta love them. (I DO!) :)

Bizarre clouds...

2011-08-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I happened to look out my window to this:
Isn't it freaky?!? Rick figures it was 2 fronts meeting. All I thought was that it was eeeeerie, and I don't like eerie clouds!!

Clovermead, our new love

2011-08-01T15:16:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Clovermead - the "Bee" place! It was tonnes of fun, and we are so going back! Although, I might vote to go back on a slightly cooler day - as it was VERY warm. Not bad, except when you have to hold a newborn...(not that I mind holding Lil'Lex!) but I did feel bad for her...
Anyway, there was lots to do for the kids, and we had a good time. Tonight for dessert we had the creamed honey from there on crackers. WOW...you would not believe how exciting that could be!!

If you put food in the can, and pulled it up, the goat would climb all the way to the top of this structure and eat it! BUT...you had to watch out for the "M&M"'s on the ground...(let's just say they were NOT real M&M's!!! LOL!

And last, but not least, here is Ella-Bells holding Lil'Lex. She is a GREAT babysitter. She holds her all the time, and they both love it! Poor Lex got the shaft during picture taking time today. It doesn't help that she spends most of her time in her chair, in the stroller - SLEEPING! ;)
Last night I found out something: Lil'Lex and Zo-J look almost IDENTICAL as babies. Oh dear. Luckily Zoe has her "V" on her forehead which can help me decipher the photos...!

I've been crocheting again...

2011-07-23T06:29:00.001-07:00

It's taken a while, but I finally finished Zoe's mermaid doll! Whew!! She loves it too (another WHEW!) Oh, I should say she's almost done, I need to add stars on her chest...oops!

This is the latest hat I've made for Lexie, she was in a modeling mood this day! ;)

Smiles :) I LOVE our new smiles!!

Max.

2011-07-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is my son. He's got the *tiniest* addiction to band-aids. ;)

Ella-Bella went and turned SIX on me! Gasp

2011-07-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ella turned six on the 7th...I can't believe she is SIX already. My, how time flies!!

Here she is opening her present from Max - he (and I) made her the elephant, and he wrapped it all up for her. So cute! <3

FINALLY she got her baby. (She wanted one for Christmas too, but Santa gave it to Zoe instead. Oops!)

And Zoe posing for me. Um...she does NOT like her picture taken anymore, but she wanted to smile for me this time. What a weirdo!

Ella woke up to pink and purple balloons all over her room!

Ready to go see Cars 2! (After some splash pad fun)

Lexie, sleeping, again.

The Colbster!

Shaylyn reading her invitation to Ella's birthday party.

Uncle Jeff, the entertainment.

...Soon after this, Uncle Jeff dropped Zoe into the pool!!

Supper! Spaghetti and burgers. (Can you guess what Ella wanted?)

Lexie and Daddy, would you believe she WASN'T sleeping?

Intently waiting for cake...

"Happy Birthday to Ella...!"

Earlier that day I realized just how tiny Alexis is. So, I had to take a pic. She is sooo precious!

Summer days...

2011-07-09T11:27:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a bonfire, at lunch. ;) Mom and Dad came over and we roasted some weenies, and made some s'mores. What fun! The s'mores were BEYOND messy, but oooh, so yummy!

Look at that beauty of a Nana...holding her newest lil'grand. :)

Zoe, stuck to herself. ;)

I know, no Lexie face per se, but SUCH a cute little bum!

4 little monkey sitting in a...whale?

2011-07-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the lot. Someday, when things are a little less hairy, I plan on posting here again...more often than once/month..LOL!

Alexis on fire - TO GET OUT!

2011-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

My little movie star, Lexie.

I've decided that if you decide to come into the world with all the drama of a good movie, then you are destined to be something wonderful! So watch out world...here comes ALEXIS!!

Thursday evening Rick's parents called to say they were back from their month-long trip to The Netherlands. I completely did not think that they would be in the country when I gave birth this time, but...they lucked out. Yeah for them. (Needless to say the end, especially, of this pregnancy was hard on me...I was SO ready to have her!)

All evening I had small contractions, and figured something would be happening soon (oh, how I started to detest that word!), but not yet. Then, at 12:34am, I woke up to a REAL contraction. I can't say I've been happier in my life at that point. I was just desperately hoping that they wouldn't go away! I timed them for a couple hours, then finally woke Rick up at 2:00ish so he could have a shower and help me decide when to call the midwife. Around 3 we figured it was time, so I called Mom and Dad, and Jackie (my midwife) and once Mom came over (to watch the other hooligans), we left for the hospital.

Once there we were told I was only 1cm dilated. BOO-URNS! So we walked around the hospital (slowly) for an hour, then when she checked again, I was only 2-3cm dilated. Jackie gave us 2 options, go home and let things progress on their own, or stay, and probably be medically induced (which she, and I were not a fan of). I was nervous to drive all the way back home since things were DEFINITELY starting, but I figured she knew what she was talking about, so...we went home. The drive home was uncomfortable to say the least, as the contractions were getting more and more intense, but do-able. (They were also turning out to be posterior contractions (or back-labour) as Lexie was facing sideways! OUCH!)

I got home to the kids just waking up and noticing that Nana was there. It didn't phase them AT ALL. I mean, how often does Nana sleep over at OUR house? You'd think they might have asked, but they simply took it all in stride. Well, that, and the tv was on...LOL!

I went directly to bed, and attempted to turn Lexie naturally by leaning on my hands and knees while riding out the contractions. Let's just say that they intensified rather quickly, and I turned into a "NOT happy camper" very soon. In fact, as Rick was snoring beside me, I kind of wanted to whack him on the side of the head! HOW could he sleep through ME being in this much pain?!? Tee hee...

Around 8am I finally decided it was time to call Jackie again, and see if she could help out with the pain. She said to meet her at the hospital, and we could discuss different ways of dealing with the pain. It was all so easy to say...

Rick and I climbed into the van and started the trek to St. Joseph's again that morning. I jokingly said to him: "Well, this will be a fun ride!" He laughed, but really, we had no idea.

As we got closer to London, my contractions became VERY intense, and when we were nearing the airport, my water broke. No wait...it EXPLODED. Once that happened, my body thought it was time to push. Oy! I tried to breathe as much as I could and obviously NOT push, but it's hard to argue with Mother Nature. I told Rick that I needed to push, and that's the first time EVER I have seen my husband's face go nearly white, and panic set in. With very big eyes, he calmly took my hand and said: "Don't push."

He then told me to call Jackie to find out what to do next.

With shaking hands I called Jackie, and once she called us back, she just kept saying: "Keep breathing, don't push." Haha...easier said than done!

When we FINALLY got to the hospital (seriously, longest drive in HISTORY) Jackie was waiting for us at the entrance with a wheelchair. Slowly I got out, and with her telling me over and over: "Don't push, just breathe" she wheeled me VERY fast throughout the hallways, up the elevator, and past the nurses station yelling: "I NEED A ROOM - STAT!"

She got me into the room, helped me on the bed, and with 2 nurses helping (who I met later) helped get my pants off, and then said it was time to gently push. At that point I felt a hand on my right side that didn't feel like a nurses hand...luckily Rick had caught up with us just in time!

2 pushes with my eyes squeezed tight (and a *tiny* bit of moaning...um, that's how Rick found me, he could hear me down the hallway!!) and Alexis head was out! 3 more small pushes, and she was born. They laid her on my stomach, and told me to open my eyes and see my baby! *tears* They asked Rick to tell find out what we had, and he exclaimed it was a girl!! I was absolutely over-joyed. I immediately felt completely full-filled, and REALLY REALLY happy that it was over-with! Let's not forget that she is perfect. Jackie checked her over - complete with counting all her tiny (but long) fingers and toes. She gave us the a-ok, and I was happier than could be.

Alexis (Lexie) Roberta* Vries born on June 3, 2011

8lbs 15oz, 21.5 inches long and perfect. Just what I ordered...well, I could have gone with earlier, but 3 days before her due date? I'll take that. :)

*Roberta is after my dad, Robert. As well as my grandfather. It's just a good name. :)

Zo-J's new room!!

2011-05-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! We got her room done! Well, not done-done, but it's well on it's way. It still needs pictures on the walls, the top half of her armoire finished, and all of her clothes put away, but...it's looking pretty darn good! YEAH!!!

I was a little nervous when my Dad came over the other day to put the mermaid up. I was worried (at the last minute...might have been good to think of it BEFORE I got it printed out 6 feet high?) that it might 'freak her out', but thank the Lord, she LOVES it! She promptly named it Ariel, and talks to her all the time. Whew!

Max was almost as excited as Zoe was about her new room...he DESPERATELY wanted to sleep there tonight. No doubt Zoe will get an unexpected visitor in her bed at some point!
(Oh, see the pink on her bed? Yeah, that's Zoe...trying to hide under her covers. LOL!)

Here is Max, absolutely desperate for me to take a pic of his scary octopus.

My old white chest of drawers that my wonderful father painted lilac, and I fitted with new knobs! It's perfect! And the bottom of the armoire (Rick is to finish the top tomorrow!)

ARIEL! I think Zoe is pointing to her. She couldn't look at me long enough for a smile because Ariel was RIGHT THERE! (Oh, and I have since added a mirror flower thing above her name too. I'll take more pics once I've got more pictures on the wall.)

Pointing to Ariel.

I kicked the kids out for this shot. I thought I'd better get at least ONE with her bed made. No doubt it will be rare. ;)

The shelf my dad made me for my office when I first started at Norampac - since I no longer have my office, I stole it back, and here it is! The mirror is "Zoe-level". It's so cute to see her look in it! (Thanks to my friend Liisa!)

And MOST IMPORTANT: Hippo and baby waiting on her bed. :)

Max's FIRST soccer game!

2011-05-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it started out great, but went downhill from there. The reason? Rain. Max does NOT like to be wet. If he gets splashed from something, he immediately needs to get changed. So playing in the rain - and getting soaking wet? Not his cup of tea, that's for sure! I hope this weeks weather is better...*cross your fingers!*

Here he is practicing with a little girl - Awwww...!!! <3

Listening attentively to his coach.
Making his first attempt at a goal...
YEAH from his coach!! So proud!! <3

A Spring Fashion Show

2011-05-22T11:56:00.001-07:00

We got some new clothes in the mail, and Ella-Bells simply HAD to do a fashion show. A bit of a ham that one is...!

Max wasn't quite as excited about the fashion show, and would only put on one thing. Then, he decided that he needed desperately to take his band-aid off. Whatever floats your boat!

Easter bunnies

2011-05-22T11:50:00.001-07:00

Yes, Easter was a while ago, but the slacker in me hasn't put the pictures up yet!

Ella, Max and Zoe got little Easter bunny piggy banks to paint. I cannot express how much my children like to paint!! After tossing the crappy 'made in China' paints, and got the good stuff out, they were OFF! I LOVED the determination on their faces. It was awesome. We clearly need to paint on a regular schedule, but again...once this little energy-sucker is out of my belly!!

I swear the cleaning up afterwards was JUST as exciting as the painting for Zoe!! Can you see her belly covered in soapy bubbles? Yeah...time for another outfit!

Happy Zoe!!! :D

Max's FIRST school trip!

2011-05-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

This year Max has been going once a day to Phoebe Campbells' - a preschool. He has LOVED it! And last week was his FIRST school trip ever! He was VERY excited about riding the city bus, and then he and Mommy had some nice one-on-one time together. :) We EVEN went to Wendy's for lunch! Who knew how exciting that could be?

Yes, it was raining that day, Murphy's Law! Oh well, at least we only had to walk in the rain for a tiny bit when we transferred buses!

Excited Max!
He was as good as gold on his first trip - SUPER adorable! It was nice and easy for the 3 and 4 year olds...!

Ella's first

2011-05-22T11:34:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I've been slacking on the updating lately...I'll try to get back on track, it might help if my little 'energy sucker' would pop out...LOL! 2 more weeks...then get ready for some serious baby pics!! (Just warning you!)

Ella had her first soccer game last week, and sadly I didn't bring my camera...Bad Mommy Alert! Then she had her last ballet class yesterday, and yes...I didn't bring it again! Oh well, at least I had my phone. Not the best pics, but they will simply have to do!

Here is Ella and her BFF Chloe - break time again... ;)

Max, helping Ella with her snack!
Ella in ballet class!
So cute! She says it's all about karate next year, so we'll see if she comes back to ballet at some point. We might try Zo-J at it in a year or so...(I'm so going to miss the cute little outfits!)

Ella's new hairdo!

2011-04-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

For weeks Ella-Bells has been asking to get her hair cut off. It's really surprised me, because she has always wanted long hair. So...after hearing that she wanted it cut off about 50 times, I told her we would do it, but after her ballet recital.

So...Sunday morning we headed over to Colleen's house, and CHOP it went!! It's adorable, and she simply can't stop smiling!!! Colleen dried it, so it was straight, but after her bath, it's now curly. She still loves it. Yeah! And hardly any knots!! EVEN BETTER! :D

Ella's rehearsal...

2011-04-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Ella had her ballet rehearsal. Since it started at 4:30, mom took her (bless her heart!). They were to be there at 4:30, but weren't likely to go on stage until 5:00pm. 2 1/2 hrs later...they finally got on. Mom loved it all - seeing all the costumes, and all the little girls, so adorable! I can't wait to see the show on Friday! No pics then though...but I will be buying the DVD for sure! (Much to Rick's chagrin...!)

Niagara Falls Weekend

2011-04-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we took Ella and Max to Niagara Falls, and Great Wolf Lodge. We had a BLAST! We left Zoe with Nana and Grandpa, since she was a little too small for this trip, but NEXT year...she's coming!!!
Of course, what's a trip to Niagara Falls without a pic of them?
The American Falls

Lots of photo ops here!! The kids LOVED climbing on the rocks, but we put our foot down when Max tried to stand here - there will be NO falling down the other side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CUTE pic!!!!

Daddy and two of his babies! He was really happy this weekend. :)

I'm not exactly sure what Max was doing, but he was happy, so all is good. :)

Ella found a BIG moose in the gift shop...

Great Wolf Lodge!! The kids LOOOOVED it, and so did the parents!! LOL!

Max thought it was hilarious to sit ON the bear. Ella, of course did the proper thing.

The HUGE fireplace. Everything was just so cool.

The freaking huge indoor water park. We had so much fun there! No pics while we were swimming though, no way was the new camera venturing where it might get wet, and ooooooh, it would have gotten wet!!

Ella and her lolipop. One of the BEST things about the place, from her perspective. ;)

The kids went to the "Cub Club" for a couple hours for some crafts, stories, snacks and fun! They LOVED it! They both wanted to go back the next day!

They both coloured a pillowcase. The teacher said to us: "Does he like colours?" to which I said: "His favourite colour is black - is that all he used?" ..."Yes!" LMAO!

We were in a Kids Cabin. It was PERFECT, PLUS...there was a TV IN their room. Oooooh happy day.

Note my little pink Zombie?

After a few tries, Max figured out how to climb up and down from the top bunk. It was VERY exciting.

On our second day we swam ALL morning long - having a blast. Then just before lunch, we were waiting in a short line, when Max asked if he could go up a ramp behind us. No probs, so I let him. Of course, he started running (can you see where this is going?) up the ramp, stopped at the top in huge smiles, then started to run down. He slipped, and fell on his elbow, and immediately started to wail. At first I thought he had broken his arm :S but luckily it was just a scrap. (Whew!) He cried and cried, so we decided to call it quits. Then he started to get pale, so we got him to the change room as quick as we could. After tossing up his breakfast, he promptly fell asleep on Rick. It was so sad! We changed him up, and made our way back to the van. I guess it was his way of telling us he'd had enough...poor little guy!
He woke up before we left Niagara Fall, as happy as could be!!! Whew again!!

Before we left we simply HAD to visit the Hershey store. Since Max was asleep, Rick dropped Ella and I off, and drove around the block, while we shopped for chocolate. Ooooh, what fun!

On our way home we stopped at the Welland Canal, and just happened to see a big ship go through the lock! The captain even came out and talked to us, and honked the horn for the kids!!

The ship coming in, very low...

And it's up now!!

Then we got to see the bridge lift itself up for the ship to go through. Neat to see that kind of bridge. The kids loved it. (as did we!)

We got back to Nana and Grandpa's in time for dinner (Yeah Nana!!), and Zo-J was happy to see us all. (Ok, except for me. I think she might have been a tad bit mad at me for leaving her? Mind you, she warmed up to me once we got home. Finally, #1 with her again... Whew!)

What a great weekend. I can't wait to go back again!

Jax, the bunny

2011-04-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

FINALLY I finished my bunny. This is Jax. He's really big!! No wonder he took so long - LOL!! I'm sad to say I'm giving him away (but to a good cause - it's the Relay for Life we raise money for, and he's going into an Easter basket that we will raffle off). But now that he's finally all done, I want to KEEP him!!! Ella found him this morning, and OF COURSE wanted him, but I had to tell her he was leaving us. Oh well, hopefully someone will win him and give him to some child that will *hopefully* love him all up. I'm thinking the Velveteen Rabbit. He can one day become a REAL purple bunny...*in my dreams*. ;)

Anyway, I'm happy with how he turned out, but really, he's much cuter in person. :)

Zoe's Birthday - PRESENTS!!

2011-03-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

Friday was Zoe's birthday, so after supper she got to open her presents!! LOOOVE! She's very good at unwrapping paper (um, and please ignore the fact that it IS Christmas wrapping paper..it's all I had!), and she always makes sure to hand all the paper to me once she's ripped it off. *Gush* Such a clean little lady...

Max was desperate to help...
Oh, and this was the crochet pillow I made her to go in her next present...

Deep concentration...

"Ere Mommy!"

A crib for her babies! I made a crochet blanket for her too! She took it to bed with her that night! Glad she liked it... ;)

Kisses for baby.

She is singing to her baby right now. I think it was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", her fav song.

Feeding her baby.

Kraft Dinner - her fav ;)

Blowing out her candles. She's been practicing...

Time to eat the frosting!

Ella Bells...yum, brownies!

Mr. Max, deeply into his brownie.

Awww, Ella and Daddy. And Murphy's Law, a pic with his eyes actually OPEN, and he's looking somewhere else! GAH!
Happy Birthday little Monkey! Can you believe she is TWO already? Wow...

Who knew I was growing a weed in March?

2011-03-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I have a weed. Actually, a couple. And...at least they are cute. ;)

Ella is growing so fast...it's crazy. Obviously got that tall 'Vries' gene, that's for sure! 2 weeks ago she wore pj's that fit just fine. Sunday night at J&J's we put the same pj's on her, and they were so small they looked like floods on her legs, and her belly was showing. Oy!! I'm simply amazed at how FAST it happens too - I noticed her belly getting bigger last week - then over the weekend BOOM it's going, and she's not fitting in anything. Oh MAN!!!

With the big growth spurt, comes a lot of tiredness. She was so exhausted yesterday morning (plus it was Monday) she was super-touchy, and when I dropped her off at Trish's house before school, she broke down. My heart broke. She wanted to go anywhere with me. :( I tried everything with her (normally you can reason quite well with her) but NOTHING worked. I had to leave her crying in Trish's capable hands. ((Today I find out that she got over it pretty much before we left the driveway at least!!))
I did talk to Colleen who dropped Chloe off at school that morning, and she said Ella seemed 'chipper', so I was relieved. It's so hard to leave crying children, especially if they don't usually do that.

Anyway, I cried my words out to mom in an email yesterday, and she took a pic of Ella-Bells after school - obviously just FINE!!! YEAH!!!
Sometimes working full time just sucks. BUT...it's short-lived for now at least! ;)

Max & Mommy

2011-03-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Cutest pic ever. Thanks Lisa...!!

Ella Bella Ballerina!

2011-03-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ella had to get her picture taken for ballet - as they are having a concert this year. She is 'fairy dust' (can't you tell?). She was so excited to dress up in her pretty dress! It was so cute! I was desperately trying NOT to mention how itchy the dress looked - and luckily it didn't seem to bug her much, but it DID but some of the other girls. They might have a few red spots on them for their pics!!!!! Poor things!

Max and Zoe's SUPER party..

2011-03-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had Zoe and Max's birthday party! It was a super-hero party, although Zoe didn't want anything to do with her cape!! LOL!! Oh well, it's her party right?

Here are Ella and Max, ready, and waiting...waiting..."When will they get here?"

So cute! (I had to bribe her to wear this outfit. She picked out this old brown knit dress...ugh! Luckily, she is easily swayed...!)
Max, drooling over the cakes...
SUPER ZOE and SUPER MAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our SUPER suckers!

Presents!!!

Spiderman pj's. Who would want anythine else?

Zo-J getting into it after she finally woke up!

Zoe, putting on her 'show'!!

Pretty Shay

Um...crazy Max?

Chloe, Ella and Madi - happily eating way! LOVE sliders!!

Max, patiently waiting for the cake part. He has already told me that one of the hair ties on Zoe's cake looked like it was falling off, so he ate it. LMAO!!

Methinks Madi wants some cake too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Note the 'helper' off to the left?)

(Still helping...)

(She's determined to blow one of those candles out if Max can't!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HIP-HIP HORRAY! HIP-HIP HORRAY! HIP-HIP HORRAY! TIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And she did it. She blew them out all by herself! Wow...my baby is two! And Max is FOUR...Gosh..when did this all happen?!?!?!

Oy - 2 more months to go?

2011-03-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

I had Rick take a pic of me the other day...I can't believe that I still have 2 more months to go! WOW! But at least it was a good 'before' hair pic. I got my hair done last night - new style!!!!!!!! Yeah!! It's about time! Now I need another NEW preggo pic methinks!

And now onto a happy pic - my new hair!!!!!! It's was soooooooooo time for a change!
Ella was so excited this morning - she exclaimed: "Mommy! You put pink in your hair for ME!"

Yes, yes honey, it was all for you. ;)

Spiderman

2011-03-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

I got this email from Mom today: "I gave Max Spiderman PJ's and he put them on immediately. That was a hit apparently. Then Rick asked him to make his hands like Spiderman, as if he was spinning his web. It took several tries but he did it! ha ha!"

***

Sunday, when we were just hanging out enjoying the 'after party glow', I put Zoe down for her nap. While I was patting her back, I noticed it was quite lumpy, like her shirt was all pushed up. I pulled it down, but still felt a lump, so I looked under, and hiked way up on her chest, was Max's Spiderman mask. She obviously wanted to wear it too!!!!! LOL!

Clothes in the mail...

2011-03-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love clothes in the mail! The kids do too, so they got to do a mini fashion show for me. Max CRACKS me up!! Ella is posing away, while he's being the biggest knob...LOL!!!! He LOVES his vampire teeth - not sure where they were from, Louie's maybe? Oh what fun they are!

Zoe wanted in on the action too...kind of! ;) (Note the ketchup on her forehead? Classy....)

Aaaaand, it was over. :)

Bathtime hair...!

2011-03-21T07:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we didn't do a whole lot. We were recovering from Max and Zoe's birthday party the day before, so we took it easy, and just cleaned up a little. (Ok, so I cleaned up a little...!) The weather wasn't too bad, so I got to put up my first laundry on the line!!! Actually, I did put a load out on Saturday too, but it was a small, small load, so it barely counts. ;) Yesterday I put out 3 loads! Oh, it felt good, and smelled even better. I wonder where this 'drying clothes on the line' obsession of mine comes from? Oh well, I don't care - because I love it. :D
I figured the kids needed to get outside and 'blow the stink off them', so I sent Ella and Max out, then I brought Zoe out when she woke up from her nap.

She is soooo and outdoors girl! I was worried I wasn't going to be able to get her back INside when we were done, but since she simply HAS to do what the other kids are doing, she followed them when Daddy said the bath was ready. Ooooh, and how they needed a bath! When Ella and Max were outside, they discovered MUD!! What fun! Needless to say the outside play made for an early bath, and an extra load of laundry...tee hee...oh, right, plus some vacuuming for me tonight, because Max put his boots on this morning, and got mud all over the backroom. Ella was HORRIFIED! LOL!

While washing them in the bath, Rick yelled at me to grab the camera quick. Seriously, does he not realize how SLOW I go lately? I waddled up the stairs and back down again only to find my little munchkin Zo-J with a big, long pixie point on her head!! It was so cute!

Oops, it kept falling over. WHEN did her hair get that long?

Modeling.

Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum...they only look a *tiny* bit alike right? ;)

Zoe, hamming it up. Love it!

For future reference, Max should be happy that his Mommy can easily edit photos, otherwise there might be more of him showing in some of these pics than he might want people to see...!!! ((As for right now though, he's probably disappointed!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!))

St. Patricks Day at Nana & Grandpa's

2011-03-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the kids got to stay at Nana and Grandpa's all day! They were SOO excited! I just LOVE their excitement about seeing their grandparents. It just makes me so happy!

It also happened to be St. Patricks day yesterday too! So I dressed them in as much green as I could find, and then let Nana take over from there. They ate green jello, and made green shamrock art for Daddy (it's his birthday today!). What fun!

Dad was there too - since he is laid off right now (bummer, but nice for the kids!) so the kids were in even MORE heaven that normal! AND Dad took off for a ride on 'Red' for the afternoon. Heaven, again!

Mmmm...green jello! There was one extra, Nana wanted to leave it for Daddy, but Max wasn't too happy about that. ;)

Ella is reading like a champ. All of a sudden she 'got it' and reads REALLY well, and loves it. I've started getting her some chapter books, and the beginner chapter books seem even too easy for her now too! WOW!
Nana and Grandpa took the kids to the library yesterday too (it was a FULL day for them! No wonder mom was just about falling asleep on the couch at 8pm last night!!!!!!!!!!!!), and the kids all got books. Ella's was a "Fancy Nancy" book, her fav lately. She read the entire thing at the library, but still wanted to bring it home for a bit.
Zoe, LOVES to read too. It's really cute, she will say: "Where is Doey goin?" when she reads her "Zoe's Snowy Day" book. Then she will look up at me and say: "I readin'!!" LOVE IT! A reader already!!

Awww...all SO happy to have some Grandpa time too!! Time to retire Dad... ;)
(Oh, but a pretty new door in the blue room though eh - with windows in it so the sun can shine through! A bonus since Dad put that in since he's been off work!)

The day ended great with Rick and I coming to pick the kids up and staying for dinner. That's right, I didn't have to cook!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing makes my night like not cooking! AND I got an ice cream cake for Rick for his birthday! The kids gobbled it up like I was not expecting! Awesome. :)

Little things...

2011-03-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

This morning on the way to Nana's, Max says: Remember when Lady Gaga was dancing in her underwear?
((insert wicked laughter from him and his big sister!))

(Note, we typically don't watch Lady Gaga videos, but I need to distract Zoe with something in order to get her dressed after her bath the other night, so I put it on MuchMusic. Much to my dismay, Lady Gaga came on and sang us while wearing her skimpiest underwear. Oy!)

***

Last week was Jeff's birthday, so we obviously sang him "Happy Birthday" a few times. Zoe, has not stopped singing this song since. And even when it was MAX's birthday on Monday, she's still singing to Uncle Jeff: "Ab-birday do unndefffff" LOL!! It's so cute! Every once in a while she'll throw a "Ab-birday do Doey", but mostly it's all about Uncle Jeff. ;)

***

Then last night Zoe found a little tiny water bottle magnet (from Ella's ballet set), so she was pretend drinking from it, but it just looked like she was smoking a reefer!!! LMAO!! It was hilarious! Then she told me that it was "unn-deff's jus" (aka beer)!!!!! Even though I said it was probably a water bottle, she assured me that - NO, it was Uncle Jeff's juice.

...Alright there Zo...I'm just going with it. :)

Jeff's birthday

2011-03-10T10:49:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday. He's 36! Hard to believe he's that old...yet here I am only 3 years behind him! AHH!!
We had a pizza and cake party last night at Mom's for him. He requested cherry cake. Seriously, WHY is there any other kind of cake other than chocolate? Really? There's no need. And SO frustrating (because I still ate it) that it didn't even taste like chocolate. Ugh. I think I need to make myself a chocolate cake because, well, um...tomorrow is Friday. Or maybe for March 11th? Yes, I think that March 11 is now officially called "Make a chocolate cake, eat the entire thing, and DON'T feel guilty" day. Ooooh, I'm drooling just thinking about it!

So Colby and Shay obviously did some shopping for their Dad (how nice!) and made him some nice cards too. So cute! I love how Colby is looking so intently at Jeff. :)

What's this? A pic of ME?!?! Yes, all because these are all stolen pictures from my mom... bless her heart for getting her camera out for a moment last night!!!

And the pregnant profile. Oy. And I still have 2 1/2 months to go!!!!!!!!!!

This pic CRACKS ME UP!!! Mom figured we should get a pic with the kids, so we know EXACTLY who I'm pregnant with in the pic. Yup...they are all here. Ella with a bow on her head, Crazy Max, and silly Zoe...complete with jammies & strawberries. Oh what fun!!! LOL!!!

Jeff and his own craziness... ;)

And last, but certainly not least, my NEW purse!!! Isn't it cute? It's totally dragon scales (for Max) and it makes a great clicking noise when the wooden beads clink each other. LOVES IT!

Our Port Elgin Weekend AWAY!

2011-03-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year Rick asked me what I wanted to DO, so I told him that we needed a weekend away - just the two of us, before this baby comes! After much discussion - we decided on Port Elgin (thanks to my co-worker Cathy!). We dropped the kids off Saturday morning at J&J's, and were off! We had a good time. Funny, but the best part was the long drive. Just talking (and me crocheting!) and watching the landscape...it was great. On the way there the weather kind of sucked, but we made the best of it!

North of Grand Bend we started to see the windmills...but there weren't as many as I though, but still saw lots...

Just 5 min North of Port Elgin is South Hampton. (We SO have to come back in the summer!) We did some driving around the small town, and stopped at this little market for a bit of shopping! This is the big lighthouse there...

Wait.....what is this? Is that a SMILE...ON CAMERA from my husband? Wow. Weird. Unique. ;)

Ok, so it was only this past weekend, yet I can't remember where we saw this...duh. But it was all pretty!
And a close-up of the lighthouse waaaaaay out!

Lake Huron. Although the weather wasn't the best, I still thought I'd see blue water. I guess I just had to wait one more day...!

Yeah! Sun on Sunday!! AND...we discovered where all the windmills were hiding - in the fog! As far as we could see them - a 'sea' of windmills on our way home!

The blue sky Sunday was just fantastic. I tried to capture just how BIG these suckers are. It's hard to really see it in pics. I really wanted to go up and touch one, but I was too cold... ;)

All the power lines from Bruce Hydro - with MORE windmills in the background!

And last, but not least, blue water. Finally!!
What a wonderful weekend! But next time - I want nice, warm weather! :D

Zoe, the beginning

2011-03-03T10:31:00.000-08:00

Last, but not least - but not for long!

It's all about Zo-J...
It all started on Sunday morning, at about 3 a.m. Contractions. Oooooh the fun was just about to begin! (Little did I know how LONG the fun would last...!!)
After a few hours of those, I decided to get up and have a shower, fully intending (although *trying* not to get my hopes up...) to have my new baby that day! After getting out of the shower, Rick woke up, and with his "I love my kids so much" smile, looked at me and said "So...is it time?". I was sure hoping so!
So we after Ella and Max woke up, we got them fed, and sent them off to Nana Dianne and Grandpa Bop's for the day. I stayed home thinking that I would rest a little, and by the time Rick got back, the contractions had stopped. WHAT?!? So we decided to go for a drive to London anyway, walk around the mall a bit and see if we could get things 'going' again. Once in the van, the contractions started again, and were getting more regular, so I was quite happy - again!
We walked around the mall, even went to see a movie, all while having contractions, but they weren't too regular, they were more sporadic. I was so tired by 5pm that I suggested we at least go get 'checked out' at the hospital.
Off we ventured to St. Joseph's, where they told me I was only dilated 1cm, and to go home, and wait for more 'regular' contractions, that were closer together.
On the way home, they started getting regular again, and were consistently 10-15 apart, and getting a bit stronger. Rick laughed that we would have to turn around once we got to Ingersoll, just to go back to London again! (Didn't quite happen though...)
We made it home, and after a nice bath, and relaxed, and after going to bed, they stopped.

Monday I woke up with more contractions, but still sporadic. I raced over to Nana's to see the babes, (I hated waking up to a house empty of my kids!) and after a nice reunion, just had an easy day of Mommy sitting in her chair lots, having contractions on and off.

Tuesday was more of the same, until around 4pm. Once I started this lovely dinner for everyone, my contractions started to *really* kick in, and were regular at 10 apart. Rick got home, and after I let him finish making dinner, at about 6:30, I had 5 min apart, regular contractions, that were starting to hurt. We ate supper, got the kids all ready for Nana's once again, and drove over to drop them off.

We arrived at St. Joes around 8:30pm, and were admitted right away. I was already 4-5cm dilated, and I was keeping very regular (or even closer together) 5 min apart contractions. I debated and debated about getting an epidural, and after being checked again (around 7cm dilated) decided to go for it because it seemed like it would be another few hours at least, and I was pretty tired by then. The anesthesiologist came in shortly after, and administered my epidural, and it didn't take too long to kick in. Once it did, the nurse told me to tell her when I felt 'bearing down contractions or pressure' , to let her know, and as she told me this, it started. Major, and I mean MAJOR pressure to push started immediately, and didn't stop until our little Zoe came out! It lasted about 20 min long - continuous, overwhelming pressure to push. It was CRAZY. The nurses told me it was my 3rd time, so to just do what I thought I needed to. (I was still a bit confused though, as I had never felt pressure that intense before, so kept asking if I was supposed to push? Or wait..?!? It was so weird!) I was quite squirmy, because I couldn't get comfortable with all the pressure, but I just kept on pushing. It didn't take long to feel Zoe come down the birth canal, and because I DO remember from before, I didn't let completely go of 'pushing', so she stayed there until I pushed again, and very quickly I heard her first little squeak!! The doctor laughed and said she was crying, but only 1/2 way out!! I pushed one more time, and they brought this little purple thing out and put her on my belly. Everyone was talking while I was trying to ask if it was a boy or girl, when they FINALLY told me. My little Zoe was born! It was at 1:01am. (Like Ella, 1 min after the hour!)

She has a 'stork bite' on her face, which in time will fade, but as the pediatrician said: will always let us know when she is lying!! Too funny! Already it fades when she is at rest, but when she gets worked up goes quite pink! But she's still as cute as a button. LOVE IT!

Rick thinks she has Max's nose, which I agree. Her cheeks aren't quite as big as the other two, but they are still chubby. She's adorable, with long fingers and LONG feet.

She picked up breast-feeding VERY quickly, and is a great eater.
Yesterday I went through Ella's tub of newborn clothes, and had a MARVELOUS time picking out all the outfits she used to wear that I LOVED that now Zoe can wear again!!! I can't believe I have TWO girls!!! Don't get me wrong, I would have loved another boy too, but my Max will just have to do!

Last night when the kids finally returned, and Rick was home (holding Zoe), I looked at them all and it just felt sooo right. We were so meant to have her. *eyes welling up* I'm so happy right now. And keep thanking God for three perfect babies. Gosh we are lucky! *and...tears*

Zoe christens the house:Thursday morning we arrived HOME! Zoe needed to be changed, so I took her to the change table while Rick was having a bit of lunch. I took her diaper off and she POOPED! Yes, AFTER the diaper was off! All over the change pad! So I cleaned it up just in time for her to do it TWO MORE TIMES!!! I was laughing at this point...yelling at Rick for a bit of help, when - low and behold - she peed. It was just too funny! Luckily Rick was there to give me an extra hand! It was hilarious.

The Story of Mad Max

2011-03-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

Again, pics to be added later! Imagination caps on people!!

Max's story
About 4 days before his due date, I was home attempting to play with Ella (20 months old at the time) slowly getting up and down from the floor. Once I gave up to watch a movie with her, I noticed that I started to have some labour pains. This was all new - as my water had broken with Ella, so of course, I assumed this would happen again with this pregnancy. I sat there wondering if this was really 'it', and even called a friend to confirm. She said it probably was, so I started to time it all. Sure enough, they were contractions, and they were getting closer and closer together. Shocked, scared and yet excited, I called Mom to come and take Ella, so we could go to the hospital! For some reason, Mom was gone, and Dad was home, so Grampy Bob came to take my little angel away, and I cried thinking it was the last time she was my only child.
Rick came home to get me, and off we went to the hospital. I was having contractions 5-10 min apart, so the nurses told me I could either walk around the hospital to get them coming faster, or even go back home. Rick and I decided to just drive down the street and walk around the mall. THAT was fun. Between my Braxton Hicks contractions and the real ones, I could only take 2 or 3 steps, then I had to stop and breathe…I swear it took an hour to get through Sears…! BUT I had motivation, I simply needed an ice cream sundae. So I managed, with my poor husband being extremely patient beside me to make it to Dairy Queen. While he ordered me my sundae, I went pee, and discovered that it was time. (I'll save you the details!) So I waddled out quite slowly to get my sundae and told Rick. He said he would go back and get the van while I got to sit and eat my sundae.
I remember someone sitting near me asking if I was due soon. Um..yes!! They were shocked that I was IN labour right then!
I finished my strawberry sundae (which was REALLY good BTW), and waddled to the closest entrance.
Once back at the hospital, my contractions were closer together and I was dilated even more. Whew! I could stay!!
I tried to just 'deal with the pain', but at some point I gave up and asked for an epidural. A couple hours after it kicked in I started into hard labour, and 20 min of pushing, my baby boy was born!!!
As soon as the doctor pulled him out - everyone started predicting his weight. They figured he was a ten pound baby for sure. I was shocked - I mean, compared to Ella he was TINY…but I was wrong. 9lbs 14oz - almost 10 pounds he was!! Oh, and cheeks to match! He was huge. His hands were big, and he even had a wrinkle between his eyebrows. His name was beyond perfect. Our little "Mad Max"!

The following day Aunt Janet came into my room - she was on shift!! She immediately told me that she needed to come see this baby with the HUGE hands!! She said all the nurses were commenting on this big baby boy! Yes, that's my Max!

Rick was SO proud! I was in complete bliss, and shock that he was so big! We gave him some formula as a supplement because he wanted to eat SO much, and my milk just wasn't in yet. But that didn't last long. Once we were home, he just needed lots of breast milk, and he was happy.

Oooh, he was so happy. He was so content, ALL THE TIME. He loved watching Ella, and did NOT want a soother. I swear he must have been the most subdued baby of all time. It was funny how happy he was just watching us, and smiling lots. Already, we knew he was a lot like his dad. We are so lucky. :)

***Info from Nana Dianne***

March 15, 2007
Happy news!
Maxwell Joseph was born March 14, 2007 at 10:45 p.m. at St. Joseph's Hospital. He is 9 pounds 14 ounces and 20 ½ inches long with big cheeks and reddish-blond hair.
Talked to Stace this morning and everyone is doing fine. Janet Gee is working today and has visited Stace and Max several times! How nice to have a family member as your nurse.
Bob, Ella and I are going to visit today.

Later that day...
Rick was there and Ella was fascinated with little brother. We gave Max a long legged lion. Max was wearing a blue hat that I believe Rick bought at the Gift Shop.

March 16, 2007
Max and Stacey came home from the hospital this morning. Bob, Ella and I picked them up and brought them home about 10:30 a.m. Ella was glad to see her Mommy and Stacey looks and feels great! Ella came to stay one more night at our house and Max got to sleep in his own house. Yeah!

The Story of Ella

2011-03-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

I wanted to include the kids birth stories on here, before they get lost! So, although I want to add pics, they will have to be added at a later date...so just put on your imagination cap!

The Story of Ella

After waiting desperately for July to come from the moment I found out we were pregnant, it finally came, heat and all! One of the hottest years since 1950! Hot and muggy for almost the entire month of July! And yet nothing could upset me, because I knew our baby was on her way…due July 18.

July 1^st finally came, my first day being finished work for the year, and it was the big garage sale day in Embro. Rick, Nikki, Colby (watched by Grandma Darlene) and I all sold our goodies all morning (and made a nice little profit of $250!). It was perfect weather – one day that was a break from the humidity…and there weren’t many of those days! The following week was my first entire week off, and I used every moment I had doing some last minute shopping, organizing her room, and enjoying the time off, while trying to keep cool. Rick had already put together the crib, and we had bought the change table from Tricia (my hairdresser) – all in white. We only needed something to keep all of her clothes in, which we ended up buying just after she was born. Grandma Dianne and Nikki painted the baby’s walls mauve and baby blue, and we picked out the curtain material to be made by my mom – the little seamstress she is!

On Tuesday the 5^th I went to Vina's with Grandma Dianne, Nikki and Colby to visit with Vina, Jennifer, Eryn, Rebecca and new baby Georgia (almost two weeks old) and swam in the pool in a bikini!!!!! (Ella's first swimming lesson.) I wished my baby was here to hold!!! Grandma Dianne remembers me standing up with Georgia in my arms, a tiny little girl in my arms with dark hair on her head and a sweet little bum on my arm and then my baby arrived soon afterward, a tiny, female with dark hair!!! How amazing!

On Wednesday I put the final touches on Ella’s room, and then went to St. Marys to pick up some parts for Rick at Ford. After that I drove to Stratford and Tavistock in search of a dresser without any luck. I was worn out that night, but on a high from getting so much done that day, including putting the crib sheet on her bed.

I went to bed late, and woke up about 12:30am for a bathroom break (one of the many I did every night being pregnant!). Once I got back to bed, I thought I felt something funny, but didn’t think it could possibly be my water breaking because I was totally sure that I would be overdue…except every time I moved in bed, something was happening. At first I thought maybe I could go to the hospital myself, just in case I was wrong and it wasn’t time yet, then I wouldn’t have to wake up Rick. Then if it was time for Ella to come, I could call Rick and have him come meet me there. (At the time it made sense…) After really thinking about it, I figured I’d better just let Rick know that I thought something was happening. I first whispered to him: “Are you awake?”, and once he answered, I still hesitated not wanting to worry him. Finally I told him that I thought my water was breaking, and just as I said it, I rolled over and the waterfall began! I ran to the washroom just in time to soak the entire floor! At that time, it was painfully obvious what was happening – and she was early! A week and a half before she was due!

Since my water broke – we had to go to the hospital right away, but not before a quick shower! It was extremely nerve-racking thinking of what was to come in the hours to come…and again because my water broke, I knew we would have her within 24 hours!

I can’t explain all the thoughts/questions/concerns, etc. that were running through my mind as we were getting everything together before we left the house – my mind was just racing! I lined the seat in the car with a garbage bag and large towel, just in case anymore ‘waterfalls' began, but we lucked out, and I maintained all my fluids till we got to the hospital. All the way there, again, my mind was racing – I was in complete shock I think because I hadn’t expected her to come yet – it had just seemed so far away, and now it was here! I remember thinking “Gosh, are we really ready for this?” Although by then it was a little too late…!

We got to the hospital (St. Joseph's in London) at 2 a.m., and Rick dropped me off out front of the admitting doors, and I waited patiently (kind of…) while he parked the car. When he finally came to meet me we ventured upstairs to the prenatal triage department (luckily we had just gone for our hospital tour 2 days before so we knew exactly where to go). Once we were admitted, we were put in a triage room and I had monitors put on my belly to read her heartbeat, and my contractions (which were non-existent, except for those lovely Braxton-Hicks!). We were there for a little over an hour, when they finally brought us to a delivering room.

Right away I was hooked up with an IV so they could inject oxytocin to help start my contractions. At this point I was barely 1cm dilated. In our room we had a t.v., so at least Rick could relax in his uncomfortable chair for a bit, and tried to sleep, but it was pretty hard for him – especially when the contractions really began! They started really slowly and didn’t hurt very much, but they kept getting more and more intense. I had hard contractions for almost 2 hours (starting around 10 a.m.), and around 11:30 I gave up trying to deal with them (they HURT!) and asked for my epidural. While I waited for the anesthesiologist to come, we decided to try some different positions to help out with the labour pain. I liked the one where I hung off Rick’s neck, the only problem was I wanted to completely let go of my legs when I was having a contraction! The nurse suggested using the exercise ball, but after sitting on it (it was fun to sit on and bounce) I had a contraction and it was completely uncomfortable! So she put that away pretty quickly!

Just after 12 p.m., the anesthesiologist came with my epidural. It was nerve-racking while he was putting it in, but Rick was a great help, and it was pretty easy overall. By this time I was 3-4 cm dilated. The epidural was completely wonderful, I could still feel my toes, and I could still move around (I’m sure I couldn’t walk, but I could still move over in bed), but the contraction pain slowly just melted away! That (and the comfy chair that our nurse, Mary brought him) made it possible for Rick and I to get a little sleep for a few hours.

By 2 p.m. I was dilated to 6cm, and then at 3:30 I started to feel some extra pressure. I asked the nurse if ‘bearing-down’ contractions felt much different than regular contractions. She looked at me funny (not expecting me to have progressed that quickly), and explained what I would be feeling if they were ‘bearing-down’ contractions. Once I agreed that I was feeling that extra pressure like what she explained, she check me again and found that I was completely dilated and ready to go! She asked me if I could not push, but wait for about an hour to let my body do some of the work for me. I agreed, and by 4:15 Mary said it was time to do some pushing.

She explained to me how to hold myself during pushing, and to take deep breaths in between contractions, then hold my breath when they started and count to 8, take a quick breath, then hold it again for another count of 8.

Right away both Rick and Mary told me how well I was progressing, and that they could see Ella’s head already! I honestly thought they were just being encouraging, and it wasn’t possible to be going this quickly – I figured we still had hours to go! After about 15 minutes of pushing, Mary asked if I wanted the mirror (which I had previously not wanted), and I agreed – mostly to see if they were lying or not about how quickly she was coming!

When she brought out the mirror I was amazed that they really weren’t fibbing after all! And seeing Ella’s head as I pushed made me want to push harder and longer!

At 4:45 p.m. Mary called in the doctor, which meant Ella was coming very soon. I was shocked, I still couldn’t believe that it was almost over, and we would have our little angel soon! The doctor, a resident and another doctor (observer - it is a teaching hospital) came in to deliver Ella. They were all women! Another resident tried to come in to see the birth, but my nurse Mary stopped him as he hadn’t even met me before, and she thought that would be rude!

Mary explained that at one point they would tell me to stop pushing, and that meant the baby’s head was out. And a few minutes later when she did tell me to stop, I was again skeptical as I figured we still had a long way to go! She wasn’t joking though, the baby’s head had indeed come out! And with one more little push, Ella was born at 5:01 p.m.

They declared that it was a girl, and placed her on my stomach. Ella had loads of dark curly hair, and looked so tiny! Rick cut the cord, and the nurse took her to the warmed table to clean her up. She was weighed, measured and completely checked over – and then they brought her to me again, and said she was perfect. I had to agree!

Once they were done with me, we were wheeled over to our room, and awaited the family arrivals to see our little bundle of joy. Grandma & Grandpa Vries came first, followed by Grandma Dianne and Grandpa Bob, Aunt Nikki & Colby. At 8pm visiting hours were over, so everyone left, and it was just mommy, daddy and baby together, finally a complete family.

A little after 9pm, I told Rick to go home, although he was prepared to stay with us through the night, I knew he wouldn’t sleep very well (if at all) and he needed to stay strong to look after us now! So he reluctantly went home for the night, promising to be back in the morning. That just left me alone with my new little angel. I think I was supposed to be tired, but I just couldn’t stop looking at Ella…I was just so amazed, and so in shock that it was all over, and we had a baby!

Throughout the entire night, between feeding her, looking at her, and holding her I got little rest (not that I minded). I was just happy when the sun finally came up so I could stop trying to sleep (because it just wasn’t happening!). Rick came back just in time for the nurse to come in and show us how to bathe Ella. And she really didn’t like her bath! So then mom and dad had to hold her and look at her for the rest of the afternoon to make her feel better. (Or was that to make us feel better?)

In the afternoon Rick went down to the gift shop to get me a few supplies, and came back with a little pink hat for Miss Ella. He said there were other ones with animals, etc., on them, but she needed a pink one. (Awwww…)

During visiting hours that night Marie-Eve came to visit (who works at Norampac with me, and was due 1 week after me, but who ended up having Camille 3 weeks exactly after Ella was born). Then Grandma Dianne & Grandpa Bob came again, followed by Aunt Nikki, Uncle Jeff, the Colbster, Diane & Dave Borman, (Diane works at Norampac too) Great Uncle Gary, Great Aunt Jeany, Lindsay & Carlie. Everyone brought presents, especially Grandma Dianne and Aunt Nikki, they had quite the time shopping for ‘pink’ stuff – and BOY did they shop!! Ella got everything a little girl needs that you could think of, from dozens of pink outfits (plus one ruffly blue one) to bibs, slippers, toys and even her own purse! (Including a pink soother, a pink brush and comb, and 2 dimes*). She even got a pink soccer ball (since I called her my little soccer player in the womb, because she kicked so much!).

The second night in the hospital I tried to get a little more sleep, (I was definitely tired by then!) but all Ella wanted to do was nurse! By the wee hours of the morning, I was so sore I didn’t know what else to do. She would be contented by sucking on my pinky finger, but then I couldn’t sleep! Finally I went out to the nurse’s station and asked what I could do. The nurse said I could try supplementing her with formula (which I didn’t want to do, nor did I think she needed it, as she was drinking fine, she just wanted to suck) or try a soother. Duh! That was all I needed. Since we had just received a soother as a present from Grandma Dianne, I tried that out, and it worked! That helped a great deal, and then I could get some sleep.

Saturday morning came (not nearly as fast as I’d hoped, as I just wanted to go home by then!) and Rick came to take me home. We had so many presents, my bags and a ‘baby girl’ balloon, it took 2 trips down to the car. I rode in the backseat with Ella as Rick drove home. I was so happy to be going home at last! (Although the hospital was great, it had good food, and lots of nurses ready for all my questions! But nothing is like home.)

That afternoon Nikki brought over lasagna and garlic bread, along with Grandma Dianne who brought over loads of treats and goodies to eat. It was sure nice not to have to think about cooking, just napping! Over the next few days Great Aunt Norma brought over many casseroles and desserts! We had so much food we didn’t know what to do with it all! We also had our neighbours across the street bring us soup and goodies! There were so many people that gave us presents, cards and good wishes– it was completely overwhelming, but felt so nice that so many people cared.

Overall my pregnancy and delivery were wonderful, especially since they brought my perfect Ella to us. We are now so happy to finally have her! She amazes us every day! And this is only the beginning…

*By Nana Dianne*

*On the day Ella was born Grandma Dianne was doing laundry while trying to keep busy…busily waiting!!!

"Stace had called at 9:01 a.m. cheerfully reporting that she was at St. Joseph's Hospital and in labour with pains a few minutes apart! I was shocked! She was over a week early and I had not expected this to be "the day"! I wished her well and prepared to wait by the phone. I called Grandpa Bob and then, to keep myself busy, I finished the laundry and was ironing in the basement when I shook out a pair of jeans and a dime rolled out of a pocket and across the floor. I picked it up and smiled, thinking I would keep it for the new baby.

At noon Stace called in a dreamy voice, told me she had had an epidural and was feeling just fine...6 centimeters dilated and ready for a little rest before the big event. I was so excited but to keep myself preoccupied I washed dishes and put away the clean clothes. While folding some jeans, I heard a tiny thunk and another dime was shining up at me. Then I knew it was going to be a girl. I wasn't getting pennies from heaven, I was getting dimes because somebody knew a little tiny shopper was being born! I laughed when Stace called at 5:01 p.m. and told me that Ella had been born. A girl, of course! I had the dimes from heaven to prove it!

When Grandpa Bob arrived home after work we gobbled a little supper, picked up a sub for Stacey and drove to the hospital in a rain storm. As we drove into London I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge rainbow arcing over us and the hospital. Beautiful!! Ella had become our rainbow girl.

The next day I went shopping with Nikki and Colby. I bought my new little shopping partner a tiny lime green purse (very funky!) and filled it with a brush, a comb, a soother and two dimes...Ella's two dimes. "

Written by Grandma Dianne

Kindergarten, vs. Kinder Eggs...?

2011-02-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

FINALLY I had a moment to finish my doll. She's not perfect, but pretty good for my first try, and Ella LOVES her - which is really nice. She held her ALL day yesterday, and has to sleep with her every night. The only thing left is maybe to add a little pink flower to her dress, but otherwise she's done! Yippee!!!
Now I'm onto making my purple bunny. I'm hoping I can easily find these 'safety eyes' and some synthetic beans to put in it's bum and appendages...we'll see!

This morning on our way to the babysitters, I told Max that I have Friday off, and I'm taking him to see a Kindergarten class!! I thought he would be quite excited, but he hesitated (thinking) and then said: "So, do we get Kinder Eggs when I got to Kindergarten?"
LMAO!!! I then explained that it wasn't quite the same thing, and he tried to assure me that he would like a Kinder Egg at kindergarten because he really liked chocolate, and there was lots of chocolate in a Kinder Egg. Oh, my boy!!

Zoe is completely blowing me away with her speech, and the sheer amount of learning she has done lately. She is counting ALL THE TIME...she can make it to 19 (with a few breaks) already!! My little smarty-pants!!! She is also singing constantly. Both Rick and I laugh every time...always a different song (she's learning a lot of new songs from Early Years - the babysitter takes them there almost every day), and she's pretty good at them, considering I can figure out which song it is pretty easily! Wow...

I'm just dying to know this new little baby. I can't WAIT for him/her to come out and show us what he/she looks like and who he/she will be like! So far Ella is like my mom (through and through) but looks like her Aunt Dianne. Max looks like Rick, acts like Rick...pretty much a tiny version of Rick...! Zoe still looks like Rick, but acts like me. I secretly like that, even though she's got my stubbornness among other issues...LOL!!! At least I understand her, so that's good right?