I Am Proud To Be A Canadian!

Ever since I can remember I have been a huge fan of the Olympics - both winter and summer, but especially winter!  Living in Mexico doesn't lend itself, naturally, to many opportunities to follow Winter Olympic coverage.  That made me sad. I love the sports, I love the medal presentations, I love the national anthems, I love the opening and closing ceremonies, I love the flags, I love the human spirit, I love the stories of inspiration behind the athletes, I love the hard work and competition, I love the looks of determination and of victory, I love the information about the culture of the host country...I love it all!  A lot of emotions can be experienced during the games :) Although we didn't get great coverage of the events these past 2 weeks...we watched what little we could and felt so thankful today to be able to watch the gold medal hockey game and the closing ceremonies.  I am proud to be a Canadian.  I am proud of all of our medals and especially the gold ones :)  I just think it is pretty cool to remember my great Canada and all it has to offer!  Apparently, my son is just like me because tonight Chase literally broke down into a heap of tears.  I thought it was because we told him it was bedtime but then he hugged me and blubbered, "but I don't want the Olympics to be over!"  Too sweet.  My boys loved watching all the winter sports and had more questions to ask than I ever knew possible.  It was fun to experience this with them ~ blew my mind when I began to tell them how old they will each be the next time the winter Olympics roll around. Craziness.  But until then - good job Team Canada!  Love you!

Hide and Seek

I am so tired this morning....a few bad nights in a row regarding sleep.  So imagine my appreciation towards Piersen when, after getting the older two boys out the door and off to school, I begin to tackle the necessary job of bathing Hudson.  Thankfully, he loves to be in the water so it was a nice quiet moment between him and I - the door closed, the heater on so it was nice and toasty warm, Hudson was smiling.  As quick as it often happens, Pierce barges in so as not to miss any of the action.  He wants to crawl up there and be apart of it all...I am wanting to finish before Hudson gets cold.  I remind Pierce that he needs to close the door so it stays warm inside when he announces - with his toddler enthusiasm - "let's play hide and seek".  Unfortunately, my first response was to interrupt his joy with "not right now buddy I need...." BUT before I could get a word in I heard him announce "I'm gonna hide right here".... (he normally has a pretty accurate concept of the game, so this surprised me).  I just went with the flow...continued on with Hudson - taking my turn at announcing my hiding spot (which was exactly where I had been standing this whole time)...Piersen hid his eyes, counted to 10 in spanish, and was soooo very pleased to find me easily before he took his turn hiding again (also, in the same place he had hidden the previous time - which, mind you, required no effort on my part to even turn around!)  This went on several rounds and I realized the gift my sweet son gave me this morning - an effortless energy-less game....exactly what I needed...and apparently all he needed too!!  Thanks Pierce!

Hungry Hudson

 Hudson received these silver spoons and fork as a baby gift from his Bear & Honey!  I snapped a few pics to send them a "thank you" and I thought they turned out soooo cute with his chubby tummy and his serious look about e-a-t-i-n-g...then his content smile.  The boy is already a healthy eater (as evidenced by his fine physique!) and as quickly as time seems to be flying it won't be long until he is eating solids.

 

 

1 for 4 Fish Update

For those of you who are curious about our pet fish dilemma, well....it isn't going so well.  

Chase's first fish died and was replaced right around the time Reece's fish began to look a little, shall we say, tilted to one side.  Reece's fish held on for days but eventually gave up the fight and stopped puckering.  

All the while, Pierce's fish swims strong, much to his dismay (simply because he wants the special trip to the pet store to pick out a new one - no loyalty here!)

And within days, Chase's new zippy little fish was apparently too zippy and ran out of zip.  Yes, it is true, he died too.  So 0 for 2 for Chase!  He handled the loss a little better this time around.

All the while, Pierce's fish swims strong, much to his dismay.

My conclusion: I told my sweet husband we would have been financially better off to spend the 85 pesos on the water drops that he refused to purchase when they tried to sell them to us at the pet store - maybe it would have saved us in the long run....but what do I know? :)

Good thing: the "replacing the fish activity" is not mentioned too any times anymore so we haven't made it a priority yet to follow through.  In the meantime, Pierce's eats really well and seems just as healthy as can be.  Go fish go!

Cute Chaser Quotes

Here are a few cute things that have been said around here lately....worth remembering! As you will see, Chase is a part of all of these conversations. He is quite the boy!!  I am sure there will be many more in the future but enjoy these for now...

Chase: "Mom, me and Hudson are gonna be best brothers forever...wanna know why?...because we rubbed noses" :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me (after the boys had just showered and jammied up): "Wow boys, I love you guys when you are all clean and smell good."

Chase: "So you mean you don't love us when we are dirty?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chase (after receiving repeat instructions too many times without an obedient response on his part....slapping his hand to his head and a pathetic, sad look on his face): "grrrrrr....it's just that my head never remembers to do what it should!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me (after reading the boys a bedtime Bible story of the Prodigal Son): "So, see guys, isn't it so good that even when we do wrong, God is like a Father and still comes to give us a big hug and tell us He loves us?"

Chase: "well Mooooom, how can God give us a hug when we are down here and He is waaaayyyy up there?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chase (cutting out different clothing articles for his homework): "I am gonna cut out this dress"

Pierce: "what's a dress?"

Chase: "its clothes that girls wear.  But just girls.  Mommy's don't wear dresses, just girls do" 

(oops - guess we aren't very formal around here!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chase(at the dinner table, asking in a very sincere way): "Mom, why don't you ever let Dad make our food?"" Ha,ha,ha

Me: "I sure wish he would."

Benjy: "Ummmm, I don't know how to cook anything."

(Riiiigggghhhht - that must be it :)

Love Day!

We had a fun Valentine's weekend....a nice time with family and friends. Lots of lovin'! The boys are quick learners and have begun to plead for candy or cookies on the basis of what "special" day it is. We didn't have nearly as much sweet stuff around as at Christmas or Easter but they asked their fair share of times anyway. We made some cookies, we made some valentine cards so I grabbed the opportunity to take advantage of this rare occasion to pull out a little bit of pink paper :) We exchanged some small gifts like flowers, chocolate, candy and a little game for the kids.  And, as always, I had the camera along to capture the moments.

Flowers from my one true love!

A "hugs and kisses" game for my sweet boys.  We have already gotten quite a bit of mileage out of this one! :)

My little "You are mine, Valentine's":

Chase - this is the updated version of his smashed up face - the bruise got quite a bit worse than that first day.

Reece - the strongest boy in our bunch!  

Pierce - he requested to do his own hair..."with spikey's like a dinosaur please!"

Hudson - who can be all smiles when he wants to be!

We made some valentine cookies for the boys' teachers....and we snuck a few ourselves too :)

 

 

 

Making valentine cards for the kids in our house church group on Sunday morning.  

 

Hope your day was full of love too!  Happy Valentine's Day 2010!!

Not Forgotten

Just a few short and simple words tonight as I remember that 2 years ago today we learned of the loss of our first baby to miscarriage.  That little one forever changed me and has not been forgotten - even in the middle of holding a happy, coo-ing and beautiful baby in our arms tonight. I am thankful that the connection I felt with that unborn child has not been dismissed - that the deep love for a child, appreciation for the miracle of life, and the sting of loss were fully experienced in those days and still linger in my memories and in our hearts. 

Just last week Chase had to make a presentation in front of his class about his family tree.  He came home from school that day and sadly told me that we had forgotten to put our 2 babies on the poster.  It made me smile to realize that those sweet babies even reached into the lives of their older brothers...and I am thankful for that.

Tonight, I remember, with a smile on my face our sweet little one - not known or held, but very, very loved.

In Time for Valentine's Day

To avoid the CONSTANT disagreement for a certain colored plate or cup at mealtimes I mistakingly shared a childhood rhyming game with my boys that me and my siblings played when we were young.  You simply rhyme colors with words, like "white, white - let's not fight".....but, especially with boys, it normally & quickly downslides into something like...."red, red - you peed the bed" or "yellow, yellow - you're a stinky fellow".

Although Pierce is rapidly becoming "all boy" and also giggles at potty humor and even initiates it at times, some sweetness still remains.  His favorite "rhyme" as of late is...  "pink, pink - I love you!"   Smile!

What A Week!!!

We have had an interesting past few days in respect to health and safety! Things began on a good note for Hudson. We took him in for a check up after just a plain old horrible week of nights with him. He was waking every 1 - 2 hours and I was exhausted by the time the weekend was approaching. We had been suspecting that he maybe had acid reflux, as he was showing some similar signs to what Chase had as a baby. Our good pediatrician confirmed it and assured us that that things would be much better with a bit of medication. Although I feel bad for Hudson, knowing that he wasn't getting good rest due to pain, I m thankful now that he can find some relief and hopefully begin to feel better. By the first night he was doing a whole lot better (like a 4 - 5 hour stretch) of this....

 

sweet sleep!

Then Sunday morning rolled around and we headed off to church. We meet in the home of Fer and Cristi's and had been all enjoying coffee and sweet bread when we heard "the cry" (you know, the cry in your kid that immediately signals something more serious). Chase left the back room holding his hand above his eye as the blood from his gash spilled into his Daddy's hands. It did not take us long to realize he would need to be seen because it looked pretty deep. There had been some car parts (a motor or brakes or something - metal anyway) and Chase slipped and smashed his forehead into it. Off to the ER we went. Chase stopped crying and by the time we were at the hospital he was a happy boy! They got him set up for stitches and Chase was super duper brave - not a tear shed, even as they stuck the shot in the wound to locally freeze it. We were very proud of him and I believe he walked out of the ER a few inches taller than when he walked in! He needed 2 stitches deep inside and then they sealed it all up with glue. Amazingly, the wound doesn't look too bad.

 

Fast forward to Tuesday...soccer practice for the boys. Chase is out on the field after warm up, doing their exercises when suddenly - pow - while running he crashes into someones head and requires an ice pack to bring down the bruise and swelling on the other side of his face. He was back on the field before too long.....just looking like a wounded warrior that's all! What a boy!

 

And guess what tomorrow is????  School pictures!!!! Poor kid - looks pretty rough and tumble!

35 Young

 

We celebrated my 35 years of life on the 28th of January. Reflecting on that is actually pretty fun. I have been given a life full of blessings, a great family, many amazing friends, the love of my life and beautiful kids. I have been given many really good life experiences and I just feel rich. The cool thing too, is that I have, hopefully, many great years ahead of me. So, happy birthday to me :)

I had a really special day with my family and friends. I was gifted with some time for me - breakfast with my sweet friend, Erin, and a 1 hour massage (that was a gift certificate from Benjy for Mother's Day in 2008 believe it or not - I guess that shows the busy stage of life I am in - BUT I made time for it on this day and LOVED it!). Also snuck off to the movies with Benj in the eve. Received lots of love from my boys....and a very special gift from Benjy. It is special to me - yes - because of what it is...but even moreso because of the thoughtfulness behind it. Years ago I thought it would be neat to have something for my necklace that represented our little boys. Years later, Benjy remembered that and looked high and low to find the perfect thing....then went and had each of their initials and birth dates engraved on the back. I love it and appreciate it so much. Don't I have a good man?!

 

 

Ummmm, Thanks Reece???

 

What is happening to our firstborn? His personality continues to develop and it must be said that the boy enjoys joking around. He can be a goof! As of late, he has taught all of his brothers the age old childhood game of "no means yes - yes means no"! The hilarious thing is that Reece is convinced that it was HIS invention and won't be told otherwise.

As if my life isn't crazy enough raising these 4 kids - now I get to decipher their communication games....and I'll just say this, the game doesn't work in all contexts, but they think it does! Pierce is quick to play too so, for example, when I ask..."Piersen, do you need to use the potty?" he quickly responds, "no, but no means yes" Or, Chase "please pick up your toys..." and he responds "I already did but yes means no". So to say the least, we are doing double duty in our communicating these days - just to be sure I am "getting" what they are actually saying. Grrrrr.... Thanks a lot Reece!

Tree Climbin'

One morning when me and the two little ones were outside enjoying a beautiful day, Pierce decided he was ready to climb a tree! So I told him to choose one to conquer and away he went. The joy on his face and the giggles that came from him were priceless. He needed a small boost at one point but he made it (we won't mention how close to the ground he still remained - ha - because in his little heart he had climbed Mt. Everest)

 

 

 

The Smiley Faces of Hudson

Life is fun when you have a smiley baby! We have loved this fun stage of interaction with sweet Hudson - the boys love to make him smile and as you can see he doesn't disappoint :)

 

 

 

 

Here is our boy at his 2 month (January 16th) picture!

 

A Lot of TLC

Maybe not so Tender. We may need to change the acronym to Tough but Loving Care as it seems to be a bit of a competition over who can get closer and be more cuddly with little Huds. He will have to be a tough one to endure it all!

Note: there was no small baby hurt in the taking of these photos. I promise :)

 

 

 

 

He's A Keeper!

 

A few days ago Chase came into the room and stated the following:

Chase: "Mom, Hudson is a saver isn't he?"

Me (not sure if he was saying "saver" or "savior"): "what do you mean Chase"

Chase: "Hudson is a saver....like we won't ever give him away, right?"

Me: "aahhhhh, yes, of course - Hudson is a keeper! yes, he is a keeper!

Guess Which Hand?

 

Lately, Pierce has been playing "which hand is it in"....the problem is he ALWAYS has something in both hands when he asks...(hasn't quite captured the concept) but this time, it was just toooooo funny!

"You got a fwend in me, yes you do!" Otherwise entitled: when the big boys are away, the little ones play!

When Reece and Chase headed back to school after Christmas break, Pierce had a little more space to step into his "big brother" role...and oh what fun he has had. While the big boys are away, the little ones play. One of my favorite things as of late is to hear Piersen's little voice (it is the sweetest around!) saying, "Hudson, wanna pway wiff me? wanna pway?" and then if Hudson makes any minimal movement at all (his arm, his head, his foot) Pierce yells - "Mommy, he said yes, he said yes!"

 

 

 

 

So Pierce pushes all the buttons and does all the entertaining while Hudson smiles and soaks it all in. These two are bound to share a special relationship. I have often caught Pierce singing to him, what he has called "that's my song!"...so I recorded it, check it out!! (in case you can't make out what he is singing, it is "you've got a friend in me, yes you do...you've got a friend in me, yes you do".....)



Our mornings are a little less hectic and crazy and I am thankful for the chance to enjoy my two babies :)