Boys will be Boys!

I just got back from a 2 night trip to Three Hills. Now that my "free money" is up (ie-EI) and because I have decided that i will not be going back to work at my old salon I will be making monthly trips out to Three Hills to cut some hair! Why Three Hills you may ask! Well, i have free childcare there! My mom as well as my mother-in-law have both volunteered to watch my darling boy while i galavant around to different houses cutting hair! Now not only do I appreciate the services that my dear mother provides for me, my sister has been using these services as well! And because she needed to be de-mulletfied she decided to come at the sametime as I. Well poor Nana's house looked something like this

who done it??

"It was Jack!!"

Colby looking pretty guilty!

Oh well lets mess them around a little more!

As far as I know my mother survived..she was still standing when i left her this morning! However the far off stare that she was starting to get in her eyes was starting to concern me! It was sure cute to see the cousins interact though..Lucas was learning what it would be like to be the second child and Colby..well he was using Lucas for practice should there be a threat of any future siblings! Lucas is no longer sure if it is safer to back himself into a corner and hide from the rampaging older cousin or too fake being tired so that he can be placed in his playpen in a quiet room! Either way he shall be found..so walk around he does. Hes learning how to pick himself up off the floor a lot faster thats for sure! I do think that for the rest of his life however, when the word "football!" shalt be shouted within range of him he will shudder and freeze waiting for the inevitable contact of his cousin tackling him to the ground! What doesnt kill them makes them stronger right?? right?? However crazy Colby can be Lucas adores him..i have proof!

eating grapes together

it may appear that he is stealing his bowl but is moving it closer so that Lucas can get at the grapes!

monkey see monkey do

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just chilling eating some grapes

I am excited to see the adventures these two boys will experience together as they grow up! Although the mom inside of me is cringing...slightly.

Too many faces?

I have been reading a lot of inspiring blogs lately. Or people that have found inspiration or lack there of! I am probably listed under the category of lack there of. I was never one to find inspiration but throughout my life it has landed upon me in the most uninspiring moments. I seem to be inspired by stories that usually end in tragedy. Why? I'm not sure. I think it is because these stories and people seem to inhabit the strength and empowerment that I am not sure I could possess if I was to be faced with the same situation! Sure I would like to think that I could but in all reality in the back of my mind I'm not so sure. For example: the Coble family in the states who lost their 3 kids in car accident! To go from Parents with children to just parents! (there was a miracle that happend a year after the accident that you should look up and read!)When i hear of stories like that the fear creaps in that God will one day test me with that..with a tragedy that i'm not sure i could withstand! But than that verse comes into my head about God not giving us more than we can handle. He must know what we can handle..cause there are days that I sure dont know! And i am sure that these people had at one point thought these things as well. But it is the faith that perseveres...that brings them through. God doesnt let us down! So that is what i have to be inspired by..by faith that is smaller than a mustard seed at times but able to possess the strength to bring down mountains of fear. Cause God is so much bigger than these mountains!! I as well can not live in fear of something happening to my child..yes i would like to put him in a bubble, but i know that i cant, so i need to trust God! I leave you with the many faces of my little monkey...someone commented on his different expressions at the swimming pool yesterday..he does have a lot! He shows every emotion..something that i think we tend to loose as we get older cause we dont want people to know our different "faces"!

Up to Something face

Bored face

whining face

i'm so cute face

mad face

i'm a cheese face

snuggle face complete with the sound effects of "awwww"

Cookie Monster style!

Today was Lucas' 1st birthday party! I know he turned one a week ago but it wasnt until his party that I felt it really hit me that he is no longer a baby! Hes on his way to wanting to be more and more independent! I know that he will always need his momma but there are times that i wish i could just snuggle him to bits and never let him go!(as long as he is quiet and not whining in my ear while i am doing it! haha!) One year of one of the most challenging and rewarding times of my life! Before he was born i had an image in my head of what motherhood would be like and more importantly what my child would be like! I think that God had a little chuckle up there in them heavens of His when he listened to the thoughts of us soon to be parents; cause He knows what lessons are to be taught and what tears are going to be shed and what struggles each parent is going to have to deal with and of course how much we are going to have to rely on HIM! The immense love that you feel for your child the second they are born is nothing like you will ever experience in your life! To know that God loves us like that, and how many children he loves like that is unfathomable to us, but in that second you get a glimpse of what that kind of love is like! Nothing prepared me for the rollercoaster of the first months of my child's life. The issues with jaundice, with feeding (getting him to nurse properly) and his slow weight gain. There were days that felt like eternity and i felt like the worst mother in the world! I remember thinking how it was never ending and this stage would last forever and than all of a sudden he is up and walking around! How did that happen?? How did we get here?? Where did my little tiny (if 8lbs can be tiny!) little yellow tanned boy go? The toll that labour and pregnancy can take on ones body and emotions is crazy!! I think that each woman is going to have a little chat with Eve when we get to heaven!! But the human body is amazing and God is amazing and just when you think that you will never ever feel normal in your body again you start to..just a little..you start to see those little numbers on the scale start to drop away (maybe not as fast as you would like them too!) and your emotions start to level out again! Although if you were to ask my husband he might say they are never level!! Pssh what do men know anyways? But even though my body is coming back and a little piece of my mind, i am no longer that same woman i once was! I feel like i can call myself a woman now more so than ever. I feel like that person before Lucas was more of a "girl"! This little person has taught me patience (or lack thereof sometimes!), simple pleasures, compassion (i'm a lot more weepy now than i ever was before!), unbreakable love, that i am too self-centered at times and need to rid myself of that, that smiles are all you need to break you out of a terrible fog in the morning, that coffee really is your best friend, that my husband is a great great man, and that God is huge, bigger than any problem, and loves me like my child loves me through his little innocent eyes even when mommy looses her cool with him! So today we celebrated. Some might say that i went a little overboard with a birthday party that my son will never remember but for me it was a celebration that i made it through a year; that my son is no longer that teeny tiny baby and I am no longer that "girl"!! We have changed and morphed as a family and as individials! Today we celebrated that! (i think my husband is pretty clueless that was what we were really "celebrating" but i will fill him later..or he will read this blog!haha!) Thank you Reuben for standing by me through my many ups and DOWNS and my body changes! I love you! And than you Lucas for putting up with a less than perfect mommy who loves you as perfectly as i know how, but most of all you are God's child before you are mine and he has blessed me with you!! So here are some pics of how we partied it up cookies monster style!!

Good Morning World!

Today is my lucky day!! I was awoken to the fresh smell of coffee and my darling son playing quietly on the floor, already fed and dressed, the newspaper laid out on the table ready to be skimmed over and my breakfast hot and piping waiting on the table! OH WAIT..*poof*..that was just a dream! I was greeted by the coughing fits of my still sick little boy (did i mention that his bday party is on saturday and we are both sick as dogs??) "Oh boy" i thought as i rolled out of bed swallowing past the still sore lump in my throat, "Another sick day at home...so much for getting shopping done for the party!". You see, you would think that i would have been greeted by the stench of his exploded diaper when i walked in his room but my nose has been gloriously plugged since yesterday and he is still in his growbag and all jammied up! Poor little guy decided that his morning mosturizer would consist of rubbing his now draining nose all over his face!! (sorry for you that are a little queasy!) "Ok, easy fix!" A little rubbing of the kleenex and we are good as gold! I am still nursing him in the mornings so proceeded to do so..in the meantime my nose had decided that it is going to unpack its bags and allow me to breath again!! BIG MISTAKE!! The only time i wish it hadnt decided to do so!! As my darling boy looked up at me and smiled and batted his long little eyelashes at my now scrunched up face!! "What mommy??" Maybe all that butternut squash soup i fed him last night was not such a good idea afterall! "How bad can it be!" i thought! So the morning ritual of changing his diaper began and i was ready to call in the troops! "Why cant i have one more hand?" i thought as i peeled back his onsie that was now glued to his back almost to his neck! Did i mention that my tub is unusable at this time due to renovations? Our baths have recently taken place like this

Needless to say he has loved creating tsunami's in the kitchen! His mother on the otherhand isnt sure were to find higher ground! Anyways back to my story..so my buck naked son at this point is now standing in my tiny bathroom sink while i try to rub him down! That standing didnt last long though and he proceeded to sit and make it that more difficult to try to wash the soap of his little squirmy slippery body! Well somehow inbetween Lucas trying to turn on the taps and burn himself and me trying to hold onto his snake like body and move all the seemingly innocent toys (scrapers, mallets, tile!) away from the clutches of his hands and wash the soap off ,we exited the bathroom in one piece (i think! My mind might be floating somewhere in the sink!) So Good Morning World!! Lucas is now squeaky clean minus the dripping from his little orfices on his face and perfectly whinney to take on the day with his mother covered in "I'm not sure what the slime is on my shirt!" clothes..and of course i just rolled out of bed look! Please no knocking on my door today, you there sales people, ups man, friends, girl scouts or lost little child! I dont need to give anybody the heebeejeebees today!

                                                  This is his i'm about to do something bad face

                                             "Umm, why do you look like that?? So embarrassing!"

Christmas, New Years and Little Birthday boy!

It would appear that I am behind on my posts a little! The craziness of Christmas will do that to a person I guess! Christmas was fabulous! We had my family over on Christmas Day and enjoyed a brunch of crepes and later on a Ham dinner! We were able to fit a little sledding in there and of course some gift opening! I don't do well with Chaos i decided, so thank you to my sister and mom for pitching in and helping!! (maybe this whole hosting thing is not my cup of tea!! oh well..could be the loss of sleep coming through?? maybe..?? We will use that as an excuse until further notice!)

Our next Christmas was spent in Red Deer with my Dad's side of the family..there was oh probably about 30 of us?? Once again Chaos!! haha! But i could handle it cause i wasnt hosting at least! Thanks to my aunt and uncle for doing that! We all got to meet my cousins wife from China for the first time! They both live and work there so it was nice to see them both!

                                       That is my cousin Danny in the middle and his wife Ying on the right

New Years Eve was what it usually was for us..relaxing and otherwise uneventful! (especially now with the little one!)  I'm not on to do resolutions cause i find that if there is something that i need to work on or change i can do that at anytime during the year..so i guess you could say that i make little resolutions all year long! My resolution is to make resolutions all year long! I look forward to watching my son grow and change even more and thus me and my husband change as well! I know there will be challenges but i pray that the Lord will help me through each one! (thus this far i am surviving the sleep one!) Another challenge we face this year is the fact that I am not returning to work. (to my previous shop anyways!) We made the decision because I would not make sufficient enough money to cover childcare! So goodbye EI and hello one income! I will however be doing hair (i am a hairstylist) out of my house and travelling to clients houses as well! Hopefully this will generate enough income to get us by! I trust the Lord will take care of us and I know that all our needs will be met! And i believe that if anything should happen with Reuben's job our family will not let us end up in a cardboard box!! right?? right??  So fears aside we press on and look forward to a year filled with weddings (my best friends are both getting married!), family party's, playdates, moms groups, coffee with friends and the joy of our little boy! We wish everyone a happy New Year and the blessings that it shall bring!


Here a few pictures from our third Christmas with my husbands family in Three Hills. We celebrated my Niece Asha's first birthday as well! It was an enjoyable time with amazing food and cupcakes!

                                                                                     Happy Birthday Asha!

Today Marks the first Birthday of my little monkey Lucas! Its hard to believe one year ago today i was holding you in my arms picturing your little personality and what sort of man you will grow into one day! You are one spirited little boy with the cuteness of a button! Its a good thing your cute cause somedays when you are in getting into trouble it sure comes in handy! You love to snuggle and hug! (a change from your baby baby days...you use to push us away if we held you too close!) Your daddy is the one who started calling you Monkey! And your antics are such that it has stuck!! (and it helps that your little ears stick out a bit! It makes you all the cuter!) You are teaching mommy the meaning of patience and love (a whole new kind!). We would not change a thing about you and pray that God will teach us as your parents the best way to raise you into a man of God!

                                                                    Birthday Pancakes!

                                                       Birthday present from Papa and Grandma

So happy to just play with paper of course!