Saturday, March 31, 2012

My Life

My life lately has consisted hearing 'The Wheels on the Bus" over, and over, and over!  Ben can't just sit on the chair and watch, but he has to be right up on the desk (usually pushing buttons).  I found him like this this afternoon, though he was totally faking it.  I had to laugh at him!

This is usually how he is when I turn around - pointing at the screen and asking for more before the song is even done the first time!
I was getting ready to head to our 'Webster Gals' retreat this weekend and was making brownies to bring with me.  Emma decided she needed to help taste test them.  I love seeing how excited she was to get a taste of chocolate!
I had such a good time being able to go visit with a bunch of my aunts and cousins.  It is always nice to get a break and relax. We didn't 'do' much, but we were able to watch part of General Conference on Saturday morning after a yummy waffle breakfast.  I'm thankful that Lennard was willing to watch the kids so that I could go. 

I got home in the early afternoon and we headed in to Lethbridge to attend the BYU vs Lethbridge Pronghorns rugby game.  Unfortunately, Emma wasn't feeling too good and we had to stop for her to throw up.  Yuck!  Thankfully, Shauna was still willing to watch the kids during the game.  Lennard had to drive the bus home with the high school team, so I got the kids from Shauna's and headed home.  I got Ben in to bed and then went to get Emma.  As soon as I layed her down she got sick and I raced into the bathroom with her.  She was very sick all over everything.  Once I got her cleaned up and her bed remade, she went right to bed and slept all night.  I'm glad she's hardly ever sick!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Helper

Lennard's been working on getting our ensuite done.  He's got all the mudding, taping, priming and painting done.  He finished laying the sub-floor and putting down the lino.  We now have the vanity installed and though we ran into some plumbing issues, we are hoping to having running water and a working toilet by the end of next week!  So exciting to see progress being made!

Ben LOVES to be right where Lennard is... and if there are tools involved - even better!  Here he is 'helping' daddy put the door handles onto the vanity.  Such a good helper!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Kid Talk

EMMA
Emma says the funniest things lately.  Of course, as soon as you try to write them down you can't think of all of them!  She repeats everything, so we're definitely catching ourselves watching what we say in her presence.

This morning as I was taking her to change her diaper she looked at me and said, "Soggy, mom!"

She calls herself a 'little monkey', 'scamp', 'turkey', etc and whenever she's doing something that she shouldn't she looks at me and says, "Funny" (not so much!).

Every afternoon (lately), Emma asks where daddy is and then looks at me and says, "Daddy coaching 'rubby' ball" (rugby).  So cute!

Emma will tell Ben off when he's doing something she doesn't want him to do.  The other day they were playing with a ride in car at my mom's house and Ben was trying to get in for a ride.  Emma didn't want him anywhere near the car and exclaimed, "Ben, don't touch my door!"

Emma LOVES music and will jump and twirl around the room.  She also loves to sing and have songs sung to her.  At night it's quite entertaining as she tries to get just one more song out of us!  The regular songs are "Rock-a-bye Baby", "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam", and "I am a Child of God" (in English and in French).  She also loves: Once there was a Snowman, Nephi's Courage, Popcorn Popping, We are a Happy Family, If you chance to meet a Frown, I Love to See the Temple, etc.  Just about anything and everything!

BEN
When I went to go get Ben out of his crib this morning, I opened the door (the hallway light was on) and he sort of cringed, looked up and said, "Bright".  (Not completely clearly, but enough that I knew what he was saying!)

Ben also says (very clearly): bite, no, more, move, don't, Emma, all done, up, bus, milk, foot, burp, night-night, bye, and oh no!

He also says (not as clearly, but definitely enough that you know what he's meaning): open it ('opent' is more how it sounds), bright, thank you (tan to).

Every car is called a 'bus'.  He loves to bug his sister and will grab her blanket, the toy she's playing with, etc and get quite the little twinkle in his eyes when she starts screaming. 

It's so fun to watch them grow and learn.  They are changing so fast!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Much Too Fast

I sat in church today... by myself...

It feels strange not having either Emma or Ben in my arms at church.  I find it hard to concentrate on the lesson as I keep one ear listening for cries in the hallway.  Everytime the door opens, I check to see if it's going to be for me.

It's been three weeks today since Ben started going to Nursery.  He loves being able to get down and run.  He doesn't love having me NOT there!  It's a struggle to try to sneak out and then listen to him cry for 'mama'!  It's a constant battle to know whether to leave him crying or 'rescue' him.  Thankfully, we have really good Nursery leaders that have given him lots of cuddles and reassurance that I will return!  I'm told that he only cried for about five minutes today (as opposed to the 20 minutes the first time).  I feel guilty sometimes that I don't go running to save him, but I know that he needs to learn to do things without me glued to his side!  Emma never had this issue.  She saw toys and other kids and she was gone!  Not that she wasn't glad to see me when I came to get her, but she didn't ever freak out when I left. 

I find it scary how fast they are both growing up.  Ben is saying more and more words.  Emma speaks in complete sentences and definitely knows what she wants... and when she wants it!  They are so funny to watch together.  They mimic each other and definitely copy everything that Lennard and I say (which is a little unnerving at times). 

I love how excited they get to see each other after naps.  Ben has started giving Emma hugs - which is cute to watch, but Emma's not a huge fan of them! 

It's a constant chore trying to keep up to the two of them.  They both LOVE to run and usually in the opposite direction of where I need them to go!  I try not to take them in to stores by myself unless there is a cart to strap them in to!

Truly, I feel blessed to be their mom.  It's been a definite adjustment and there are days where you just have to shake your head, but overall - it is the best feeling in the world when they wrap their arms around me and give slobbery kisses.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Escape Artist

This is what I saw when I came out of the kitchen ... Ben - in Lennard's shoes - heading out the front door!  He was pretty determined to get outside!  Too bad there was snow on the ground at that point and there was no way mommy was letting him out to explore like that!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Good Deal

Gotta love it when you can find good deals.  Just got home from Extra Foods where I got the following items:

1 pair of girls boots - regularly $24 - I got them for $1.94

2 pairs of ladies gloves - regularly $8 each - I paid $1.00 for both pairs

1 winter hat for Ben - regularly $10 - I paid $0.50

1 winter hat and gloves for Emma - regularly $14 - I paid $0.50

6 packs of 4 pairs of socks (size 1-3) - regularly $6 each - I paid $3.00

2 packs of 4 pairs of socks (size 3-5) - regularly $6 each - I paid $1.00

1 pack of 6 pairs of socks (size 3-5) - regularly $6 - I paid $0.50

2 packs of 3 pairs of ladies socks - regularly $6 each - I paid $1.00

2 packs of socks (7 pairs in total) (size 11-2) - regularly $6 each - I paid $1.00


All of this would have been $142 if I'd paid regular prices.  I paid $10.44.  Not too shabby!!!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Tender Mercies

Found this quote today while reading blogs and it made me stop and think about how there are so many people around us right now that are going through some pretty horrible trials. 

I'm so thankful for the Lord's tender mercies.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Wipeout!

Wednesday afternoon I took the kids with me to the library.  I had already pre-ordered my books, so I thought it would be a simple in-and-out trip... I guess there's no such thing!  I got my books checked out and went to look for the kids in the children's section of the library (just around the side of the desk where I was standing).  They had both grabbed books, so I thought I would sit and read them a story.  That lasted for about two minutes and they both ran off.  I stood up, put the books away, turned to get Emma and then heard a boom!  Ben had wiped out!  He immediately starting wailing - who wouldn't?!  He had the carpet imprinted into his forehead and a raw nose.  Poor baby.  Needless to say - that ended our library trip right there!

Wednesday evening at about 5:00pm.

Thursday morning at 8:00am.

Thursday evening at 5:30pm.

This morning at 7:30am.

It's looking progressively worse every day, but hopefully it will heal soon!  What a boy!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ups and Downs

The last few weeks have been quite the 'adventure'.  It's hard to even know where to start.  I could try to do individual posts, but quite honestly - it's a bit overwhelming to even think about everything.  I guess the easiest thing (for me) will be to write one BIG post and hope that I remember everything that needs to be included!

On the 17th (of February), Lennard and I took a much needed break and went away for a night by ourselves (Thanks to my mom and dad for babysitting!).  We couldn't really afford to do much, and to be completely honest, it didn't matter where we went as long as we were alone!  We ended up in Lethbridge... and had a blast!  We were able to go out to dinner and enjoy every single bite.  Then we sat in the hot tub at the hotel and just relaxed!  It was so nice to just be able to visit and not have any interruptions.  We were able to wander around the mall the next morning.  I even got a few new outfits (shocker!).  At about noon, we decided to go see the movie "War Horse".  We both really enjoyed it.  It was after the movie that the afternoon went downhill... quite literally.  We happened to see a senior lady that we knew from church sitting behind us at the movies.  We visited with her for a bit and found that she had misplaced her car keys.  We looked around the theatre for her and then walked with her to the lobby.  She isn't very steady on her feet, so we didn't want to leave her alone.  She told us she was with someone else, so we left her sitting on a bench in the lobby.  As we walked out into the parking lot, Lennard saw her car and decided to check to see if her keys were there... sure enough, they were hanging in the ignition.  We headed back into the theatre to let her know and she got completely flustered wondering what to do.  We found out that she has AMA, so we made the call for her to have them come unlock her car.  As Lennard was on the phone with them, I was helping her down the stairs into the main lobby.  Just as we'd reached the bottom step, I heard Lennard call my name.  I turned around and he was sitting on the floor.  He was still on the phone with AMA as I helped him stand up.  He put on a good show of everything being okay and letting lady know where to wait, etc.  We said goodbye and headed out to the truck.  We were just outside the door, when Lennard let me know he was really hurting.  He managed to get to the truck and we headed straight for Cardston.  (He didn't want to sit at the ER in Lethbridge).  Well... to make a long story a bit shorter... we waited in the ER for a fair chunk of time, finally got in, had Lennard's foot x-rayed, waited longer and then were finally told it was a bad sprain.  Not the way we wanted to end our weekend out!  Thankfully we didn't have to worry about the kids as well! 



The next day, Lennard stayed home from church and I attempted church by myself with our two crazy kids!  It went okay until Sacrament meeting.  By then, they were both tired and did not want to sit still another minute.  We made it through til the sacrament was passed and then I gave up.  We headed home and they both were asleep in bed before church even let out!

Monday morning (Family Day), we got a phone call from Lennard's dad telling us that his mom wasn't doing well and not expected to live much longer.  Within a few hours, Lennard had flights booked, bags packed and headed to Calgary (once again, my parents saved the day by driving him to the airport).  Thankfully I was able to put a flag on his ticket for wheelchair assistance within the airport, so at least he didn't have to try to walk with his crutches the entire way!  He made it to the airport in Vancouver without any problems and met up with his sister, Alicia, who had flown in from Omaha.  They were both able to be there when in the early hours of Wednesday morning (the 22nd), their mother passed away.  There were so many mixed emotions letting her go.  She'd been sick for so many years and getting worse quickly, that it was a blessing she didn't have to suffer any longer, but at the same time, it was heartbreaking to lose their mom.

I got pretty much everything packed up on Wednesday and by Thursday morning we were headed out to Vancouver.  Again - my parents stepped up and came with me!  I don't know what I would have done without them.  They truly save the day.  Keeping the kids entertained and helping me drive was an amazing gift to me.  We made it to Vancouver about 9:30pm that night and were very grateful to be out of the car.  I have never been so scared driving as I was driving that night.  The roads had been pretty good, but we hit a bad section and ran out of windshield washer fluid at pretty much the same time.  Let's just say my knuckles were white!

The time in Vancouver was spent helping out where we could.  A lot of items were sorted through and cleaned up.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed getting to know their cousins (who met Ben for the first time!). 

Bit of a crazy picture, but Emma enjoyed playing with some of her grandma's old costume jewellery!

We took a trip to the pilot store for a bit of a break Saturday afternoon. 
There's definitely no brain-washing happening in this family...

We took the kids out later that day.  They enjoyed walking with grandma & grandpa and playing with the umbrellas!

On Sunday, Ben became known as the "Amen Boy" - as he loudly declared AMEN at the end of the Relief Society meeting!  Emma enjoyed herself in nursery.

We took some time to go see the temple Sunday afternoon.

Monday was the funeral for Lennard's mom.  It was a beautiful tribute to a very spunky lady!  She definitely spoke her mind and got things done.  I never knew her before she was sick, but she could still out walk me on her good days!  My parents watched the kids during the funeral for us, so we were able to sit and enjoy the service.  It was a bit interesting when we got to the grave site, as Emma wanted to go down the 'slide' - the pile of dirt covered by artificial grass.  She wasn't very happy that we didn't let her get down and play!






We spent the evening together as a family at our favorite Chinese food restaurant in Vancouver.  It was a fitting tribute to my mother-in-law, who loved going there to eat just as much as we do!  The whole time I sat there, I could see her putting food on Len's plate or drinking her green tea. 


We headed out the next morning and, with a very full van, made it home at about 11:30 that night.  Such a long day!

Lennard decided to take the rest of the week off and we enjoyed being able to relax and spend quality time together as a family.  We managed to get a bunch of errands done that have been needing done (ie. passport applications are finally submitted!). 


A huge thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, flowers, cards and acts of service we have received.
It has been a roller coaster ride this past few weeks.  Lots of highs and lows, but thankfully, life goes on.  We learn, we grow and we keep going.  I am grateful that I have a forever family and that we will be together throughout the eternities.  What a comfort and a blessing to know that we will see our loved ones again.