Nanna Roon Tine

There are some highlights in my day that are probably pretty standard for stay at home moms. Nap time is a great one to get some things done, or sometimes sleep if it’s been a rough night. I also love the 8:00 hour. The kids are in bed, the house is cleaned up, and I get a bit of time with Dave to relax. Also, for the past few weeks I have been getting up around 5:30ish to start my day with a hot cup of tea and bubble bath, followed by a devo before anyone needs me. It’s been a super refreshing start to the day and I don’t know if I will ever go back to sleeping until the kids do.

However, in regards to time with my kids, I have a favourite time of day too. It’s our pre- nap ritual after lunch time. We all head upstairs to Janna’s room for a little play time, and then Janna’s lunch. Janna’s room is pretty big and I have some of Jesse’s favourite toys and books in there, as well as his little play hut. For some reason, Jesse is usually totally happy at this point of the day . He sinks into his own little world to play, and briefly surfaces to say hi to Janna and give her a kiss, or hug my arm while I rock and feed her. It’s a great half-hour to just sit back (literally) and watch my little man grow and play. He is becoming so imaginative and has always been so expressive, and I get a chance to really appreciate it. I love having Miss Janna fall asleep in my arms and just rock her a while all snuggled into me. I love this calm time of day when everyone seems happy and relaxed.

I took my camera upstairs with me today and snuck a few shots of our “Nanna roon tine”(as Jesse calls it). Love my babies.

Wow! It’s been a busy and fun weekend! Father’s day and Jesse’s birthday all shoved into one. We had Jesse’s party on Saturday at A Gym Tale with 6 of his closest little buddies and their parents, who are all great friends of ours. The kids had a blast playing on the structure, and in the gymnastics area, and were pretty wiped after an hour. After some quick cake, present opening, and a group photo, everyone was on their way home for lunch and nap time! Dave, Jesse, Janna and I all napped for almost 3 hours!

Yesterday evening, we spent lots of time in Jesse’s new house- a joint gift from both sets of grand- parents, and ourselves. He woke up this morning, on his real birthday, asking if the house was still in the backyard. He was just tickled when he discovered it was still here, and then was over the moon when his aunt Katie surprised him with a trike after breakfast. Dave was away all morning and into the afternoon playing at both services in church today. We had another afternoon nap after church (YAY for the weekend) and celebrated Fathers Day/Jesse’s real birthday at supper time.

Growing up, my mom’s thing was that she always cooked us whatever we wanted on our birthdays/special occasions. I have continued this tradition with my family. Jesse had cheeseburgers, and Dave wanted Nacho Dip. We topped off a yummy supper with Gluten free cake, and opened a few more gifts sent from family. And oh yes, we got Dave a nice card and a fancy watch for Father’s Day. It will be fun when the kids can come up with their own ideas as to what Dave might like for Father’s day.

I’m thinking of my own dad today, also. My mom and 3 brothers and us all chipped in to purchase him a little BBQ, as he’s been missing having one since they moved, and I would have loved to be home to eat some steak and potatoes with him. My dad is pretty awesome. He is super kind, and understanding, and goes out of his way to help people with the smallest to the biggest of things. He has been an amazing example for me in many areas of life, and I am looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the family when we head home for summer vacation in a little over one month!

Weekend s like this weekend, full of memories and firsts (or seconds) for the kids, make me miss my family. They also make me feel very blessed with the friendships we have made in Ottawa. I am so thankful for such a great group of friends and kids we were able to celebrate Jesse’s 2 years in life with.

I can’t believe my little Jesse Bear is 2. It is so strange to watch back videos of him as a wee baby and even a one year old. Because he was essentially the same in personality and temperament, but he is learning and growing so fast! Tonight, when I put him to bed he stayed awake for an hour. Usually he chatters and sings, sometimes he whines, but I NEVER go into him once it’s bed time. He usually falls asleep in 30 minutes or so. Tonight though, I heard him calling, “mommy, mommy” over and over again..... which is strange, because he rarely does that at bed time. So, I went in to check on him. He gave me a big hug and just clung to me for a bit. Then he squeezed my face and smiled and asked to go downstairs. I decided since it was his birthday I would savour a bit of time with him. So, I fixed us some toast and we sat beside each other in the dim lit stair well munching and chatting away about his favourite things. Toast...Cooper...cars...bikes...Dora...houses...Daddy... And I felt so lucky to have this little boy in my life.

Here are a few pics from the weekend. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, I’m out!

My FRUIT BOWL

The kids are asleep, Dave is at practice, Katie is at YA, and I am in a daze. The past 2 weeks have been a rollercoaster of really bad and really good days, and I can’t figure out if the weeks have been crawling or flying by. I’ve had some fantastic days and moments with my beautiful family and great friends over the past little bit, but also some horrible ones. On Monday I thought I was dying, and after seeing my doc, yesterday, it turns out I have both a sinus infection and mastitis. What is worse than the fever and chills, and localized pain, is the intense fatigue and constant body ache. If only I could just sleep....

Speaking of sleep, my darling Janna, who seemed to be settling into being up only once per night, has been getting up 3-4 times per night for the past few weeks. Last night, she did a bit better, but I was having a hard time sleeping with anxiety over the upcoming day.

You see, we had Jesse’s GI appointment on Tuesday. We have an endoscopy booked to look into Celiac and milk issues. But, in the meantime, we were advised to do a pico-salax bowel cleanse to clear out the child. A day on clear fluids only, and lots of poo.... So, I was sort of stressed out about how that was going to go. Every morning when I go into Jesse’s room to get him, he gives me a big hug and says “Hi Mommy. Toast?!” He likes to eat. I thought he would be 100% miserable all day. However, I was totally surprised with him. He was an angel all day! He had an hour of frequent bowel activity, but was otherwise sweet and happy and adorable. I’m not sure if he was on a sugar high from all the juice and freezies? Or maybe feeling lighter? Or maybe feeling better not having a potential allergen in him? Or maybe people were feeling bad for me and doing lots of praying?

Anyways, I’m grateful for that mercy today as my antibiotics are making me feel pretty junky, and I still feel rather exhausted. I took out my camera to snap a few pics of the kids, but ran out of steam after taking one picture of my supposed fruit bowl. I don’t know how, but EVERY TIME I clean this bowl out of it’s random contents, they pile back up. There are meds, and toothpicks, and gum, and our smoke detector, and a dishwand head... and of course fruit. Hmmm....that was off topic. Hoping my next entry will be a little more ...together. Thanks for reading. I’m out.

Some new goals

My baby girl is 4 months old! I can’t believe it. At a whopping 12 pounds (almost), she continues to be a delightful breeze. Because she is so easy going, I find myself going pretty slack when it comes to her schedule and napping and she just sort of goes with the flow. However, I know that routine is the best things for kids and babies. And when babies are happy, mama is happy. And when mama is happy, the house is happy. So I’ve come up with some new goals. With summer around the corner, I think it’s important to set some new goals for the family before I melt into a puddle of laziness with having Dave around to help. So, here are a few of the things I’ve been gearing up to put into action this week.

1. JANNA: I will wake her up at 7 everyday, and respect her napping hours 9-10ish and 12-3ish.

2. JESSE: When Janna goes down for her morning, nap I will get on his level and do some real quality fun play time before getting my other things done.

3. FAMILY: At 4:30 everyday is quiet time. Jesse and Janna can play quietly in their rooms, and Dave and I will breathe and relax for 15 minutes before getting the mad rush of supper, baths and bed on the go.

4. MARRIAGE: 9:30 is tea for two. Dave and I have set this time to bond through reading, talking, praying, laughing, whatever.

5. DAVE: I will make a loaf of gluten free bread everyweek, and try a gf dessert every other weekend

6. KATIE. I will cheer on in all her endeavors!

7. COOPER . I will cuddle him for at least 5 minutes everyday

8. ME. 3 days per week I will run after the kids go to bed. I will only allow myself to binge on chocolate or any other unhealthy thing one day per week. The other days I will take good care to put healthy and moderate amounts of food into my body J

I know I won’t be able to do all of these perfectly all the time. Exceptions are made for summer time, oh yeah.... But, here’s hoping. Keep me accountable, folks. Thanks for reading, I’m out.