This time last year

This time last year I could barely walk
This time last year I finally got your crib set up and your room together
This time last year I sat rubbing my belly every time you moved, wondering who you were and when I was going to meet you.
This time last year a bee stung me in the butt which led to labour a few hrs later.
This time last year I yelled "Drive FASTER!" on the way to the hospital as the contractions came fast and furious
This time last year the evenings were still warm but with that slight, slight nip in the air which told me fall was coming.
This time last year you came into this world with your easy going nature and a year later you are the same.
This time last year I saw your little face for the first time and fell in love once again.

Alex, you are one years old next week....
You are:

Sweet, sweet sweet. You are always smiling and even that night we spent in sick kids you managed to smile at every nurse and Dr. that came to check on you.

Funny: You know what makes us laugh (including Hayden) and will do what you can to crack us up. Like when you lift your arms in the air, throw your head back and scream "yea!!!!"

Annoying to put to bed: You sit and watch me with one eye and will not let me leave the room until you are fast asleep. If you hear one creek of the floor up your little head goes and a big smile brings me back.

Curious: You have to get into EVERYTHING! You need to be where the action is and of course where your big brother goes.

Agile/Athletic (lol can you say that about a baby?) You bounced that jolly jumper right off of its hinges.

Loving: You constantly give me hugs and kisses and always give me a smile when I walk into the room.

Alex, you are a wonderful little boy and I am so glad I got to spend this last year with you. I will forever think of this time - the ups and downs and will smile.

Thank you, my second little gift.
We love you.
xo

Walking baby #2

Nighttime Party

Last night at about 11:00 Hayden woke up screaming for me to clean his hands. I went into his room, checked his hands and assured him that his hands were clean. That's when I realized he was sleep talking but with his eyes wide open.  He then woke from his "dream" only to be freaked out by something on his far wall. His eyes grew large and he started to scream, which in turn freaked me right out too. (I know, shut up -but it's a full moon so you never know....shut up).

Anyway, I scooped him up to stop his crying because I didn't want to wake Alex up (and to get away from the boogie man in his room).  Into our bed he went where I calmed him down.

2:00am my back is in a cramp because my body is in some contorted position to accommodate my sleep talking two year old. So once I again I pick him up and bring him back into his room.

3:30am he wakes again because of that darn boogie man and cries for me to come get him (so I go because once again we don't want to wake Alex). So back into our bed he goes.

4:50am he decides it's time to get up but with a little convincing I get him to lie back down. At this point I wasn't really sleeping anyway because once again Hayden is owning the bed.

6:00am hes up for the day.

Did I mention that Marcus slept like a log and missed the party as well as the boogie mans appearance.

So two coffees later this morning I'm counting down the minutes until their nap so I can finally get a good nights sleep.

blah.

P.S Alex JUST snapped me out of my feeling sorry for myself sleepy funk. As I typed this I just watched him take 5 or 6 steps across the room! Freekin adorable!

Good one

I wrote this nice little post the other day about how wonderful life is with the kids and how we have come to terms with the early mornings. Well after a restless night of listening to Lui snore toss and turn Hayden decided to come to my side of the bed and wake me up at 5:30am. If I tried putting him back to bed he would have cried which in turn would have woken up Alex which would have led to an inevitable long and grumpy baby day, so I got up. Bumping into things and navigating through the early morning darkness I stub my toe and broke. "F-bommmmmmb" in clear earshot of Hayden.

Good one. Mother of the year.
"We understand that early mornings are the norm" - YA RIGHT! 5:30 is NOT normal. It's still night time. NIGHT.... TIME!  :)

Things must be getting easier

Life must be getting easier because I noticed I'm speaking less about my spaz outs, on-going fatigue from lack of sleep or irrational teary breakdowns in Canadian Tire. I can`t complain because to be honest, the kids are such a source of joy in my life.  I swear once those first six months of sleepless nights are past, life feels somewhat normalish again. 
Marcus and I have excepted our daily early mornings with no more weekend sleep ins as just part of the every day now. We understand that meal times are messy, loud and rushed. We get that flu season means the kids are sick most of the time and trips to the zoo are tiring.  We've learned to re-appreciate little things like thunder storms as Hayden squeals ``yeaaa rain drops!``.  Car rides mean singing A,B,C 1000 times and when the kids fall asleep it`s one of the best opportunities to enjoy a coffee and chat. 
Getting puked on is more funny than gross and nothing is nicer than hearing your kids say I love you.

Life is different, wonderful and hard and I wouldn't change one moment of it for anything.

Love you forever

Is anyone else out there disturbed by the book "Love you forever" by Robert Munsch?

This book SCARES me and here is why, but first a short synopsis should you not be familiar.

It's a story about a mother and her son.  She rocks her son to sleep repeating a cute little poem about how she will love him forever. 

This idea is somewhat sweet (gag) until you come to the part when he's a teenager and the rocking continues.  Already completely inappropriate but it gets worse.

The story goes on and the son becomes a man who then moves out of the house.  This is when it really takes a turn down crazy street. Allow me to quote the next few pages:

"But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town".
(Isn't every night dark? and why does it have to be really dark? why you ask? -HERE IS WHY!!/)
*The images with this paragraph is of an old woman driving at night with a ladder on top of her car.

"If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed.  If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth."

This woman scares me.
The author scares me
Anyone who isn't disturbed by an old woman scaling the wall of a two story home to break into her sons bedroom and "crawling across the floor" to pick him and and rock him, scare me.

Is this not how serial killers are produced?

Anyway, enough about that....

On another scary note, Hayden had projectile vomit this weekend so needless to say we laid low.  All of us managed to dodge whatever bullet Hayden took so all in all not such a raw deal. Poor Hayden...
he really has had his fair share of illnesses. I should sneak across his floor tonight (if its dark enough) and rock him while hes sleeping to let him know that I will love him forever too.

Making Deals

I'm sitting here tonight making ridiculously irrational deals with myself. I can eat this pizza and ice cream cone because I should really not start my diet until Monday because I basically ruined it for the day by eating Hayden's left overs AND my lunch today.  I can't diet this weekend because we will probably be at the cottage and really, who can diet at the cottage with those butter tarts, wine and smores lying around.  So yes, tonight I may have the ice cream (wine and pizza) because it alllll starts on Monday.   (Along with my daily runs and promise to drink more water).

I have had this conversation with myself since the week Alex was born, LAST YEAR. 

Typing this does not distract me, but makes me want it more. Why? because I deserve it! I TAKE CARE OF A 1 YEAR OLD AND A 2 YEAR OLD ALL DAY LONG SEVEN DAYS A WEEK 24 HRS A DAY.

The diet can wait until Monday...again. Helloooooooooooooooooo ice cream. (See how I always win?)

Sunny afternoon